READING COMPREHENSION

TEXT 1
Read the fragment below and solve the task that follows.

The Triune Brain

The first of our three brains to evolve is what scientists call the reptilian cortex. This brain sustains
the elementary activities of animal survival such as respiration, adequate rest and a beating heart.
We are not required to consciously “think” about these activities. (1) _____ That panicked lurch
you experience when a door slams shut somewhere in the house, or the heightened awareness you
feel when a twig cracks in a nearby bush while out on an evening stroll are both examples of the
reptilian cortex at work. When it comes to our interaction with others, the reptilian brain offers up
only the most basic impulses: aggression, mating, and territorial defence. There is no great
difference, in this sense, between a crocodile defending its spot along the river and a turf war
between two urban gangs.
Although the lizard may stake a claim to its habitat, it exerts total indifference toward the well-
being of its young. Listen to the anguished squeal of a dolphin separated from its pod or witness
the sight of elephants mourning their dead, however, and it is clear that a new development is at
play. Scientists have identified this as the limbic cortex. Unique to mammals, the limbic cortex
impels creatures to nurture their offspring by delivering feelings of tenderness and warmth to the
parent when children are nearby. (2) _____ When we are with others of “our kind” – be it at soccer
practice, church, school or a nightclub – we experience positive sensations of togetherness,
solidarity and comfort. If we spend too long away from these networks, then loneliness sets in and
encourages us to seek companionship. 
Only human capabilities extend far beyond the scope of these two cortexes. (3) _____ Our unique
abilities are the result of an expansive third brain – the neocortex – which engages with logic,
reason and ideas. The power of the neocortex comes from its ability to think beyond the present,
concrete moment. While other mammals are mainly restricted to impulsive actions (although
some, such as apes, can learn and remember simple lessons), humans can think about the “big
picture”. We can string together simple lessons (for example, an apple drops downwards from a
tree; hurting others causes unhappiness) to develop complex theories of physical or social
phenomena (such as the laws of gravity and a concern for human rights).  
The neocortex is also responsible for the process by which we decide on and commit to particular
courses of action. (4) _____ Anticipating a better grade on the following morning’s exam, a student
can ignore the limbic urge to socialise and go to sleep early instead. Over three years, this ongoing
sacrifice translates into a first class degree and a scholarship to graduate school; over a lifetime, it
can mean ground-breaking contributions to human knowledge and development. The ability to
sacrifice our drive for immediate satisfaction in order to benefit later is a product of the neocortex. 
Understanding the triune brain can help us appreciate the different natures of brain damage and
psychological disorders. The most devastating form of brain damage, for example, is a condition in
which someone is understood to be brain dead. In this state a person appears merely unconscious
– sleeping, perhaps – but this is illusory. Here, the reptilian brain is functioning on autopilot
despite the permanent loss of other cortexes.   
(5) _____ Pups with limbic damage can move around and feed themselves well enough but do not
register the presence of their littermates. Scientists have observed how, after a limbic lobotomy,
“one impaired monkey stepped on his outraged peers as if treading on a log or a rock”. In our own
species, limbic damage is closely related to sociopathic behaviour. Sociopaths in possession of

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fully-functioning neocortexes are often shrewd and emotionally intelligent people but lack any
ability to relate to, empathise with or express concern for others.
One of the neurological wonders of history occurred when a railway worker named Phineas Gage
survived an incident during which a metal rod skewered his skull, taking a considerable amount
of his neocortex with it. Though Gage continued to live and work as before, his fellow employees
observed a shift in the equilibrium of his personality. Gage’s animal propensities were now
sharply pronounced while his intellectual abilities suffered; garrulous or obscene jokes replaced
his once quick wit. New findings suggest, however, that Gage managed to soften these abrupt
changes over time and rediscover an appropriate social manner. This would indicate that
reparative therapy has the potential to help patients with advanced brain trauma to gain an
improved quality of life.

TASK 1
Five sentences have been removed from this text. Choose from sentences A-E the one
which suitably fits the gap. Write your answers in the table below. 0.2x5=1 point

A. Humans eat, sleep and play, but we also speak, plot, rationalise and debate finer points of morality.
B. Disturbances to the limbic cortex are registered in a different manner.
C. These same sensations also cause mammals to develop various types of social relations and kinship
networks.
D. The reptilian cortex also houses the “startle centre”, a mechanism that facilitates swift reactions to
unexpected occurrences in our surroundings.
E. Strung together over time, these choices can accumulate into feats of progress unknown to other animals.

1= D 2= C 3= A 4= E 5= B

TEXT 2
The fragment below offers tips for spotting fake news. Read it carefully and solve the
tasks that follow.

Every time you’re online, you are bombarded by pictures, articles, links and videos trying to tell
their story. Unfortunately, not all of these stories are true. Sometimes they want you to click on
another story or advertisement at their own site, other times they want to upset people for political
reasons. These days it’s so easy to share information. These stories circulate quickly, and the result
is … fake news. There is a range of fake news: from crazy stories which people easily recognise to
more subtle types of misinformation. Experts in media studies and online psychology have been
examining the fake news phenomenon. Read these tips, and don’t get fooled!
1. Check the source
Look at the website where the story comes from. Does it look real? Is the text well written? Are
there a variety of other stories or is it just one story? Fake news websites often use addresses that
sound like real newspapers, but don’t have many real stories about other topics. If you aren’t sure,
click on the ‘About’ page and look for a clear description of the organisation.
2. Watch out for fake photos
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Many fake news stories use images that are Photoshopped or taken from an unrelated site.
Sometimes, if you just look closely at an image, you can see if it has been changed. Or use a tool
like Google Reverse Image search. It will show you if the same image has been used in other
contexts.
3. Check the story is in other places
Look to see if the story you are reading is on other news sites that you know and trust. If you do
find it on many other sites, then it probably isn’t fake (although there are some exceptions), as
many big news organisations try to check their sources before they publish a story.
4. Look for other signs
There are other techniques that fake news uses. These include using ALL CAPS and lots of ads that
pop up when you click on a link. Also, think about how the story makes you feel. If the news story
makes you angry, it’s probably designed to make you angry. If you know these things about online
news, and can apply them in your everyday life, then you have the control over what to read, what
to believe and most importantly what to share. If you find a news story that you know is fake, the
most important advice is: don’t share it!

TASK 1 Mark in bold the best title for the text. 0.4x1=0.4 points
a. Experts share dangers of fake news
b. Experts share top tips for resisting fake news
c. How to create fake news: a guide
d. Tips on how to read the news online

TASK 2 Mark in bold the correct answers. 0.25x8=2 points

1. Which reason is NOT given for an online fake news story?
a. To convince people of a political view
b. To make people angry or sad
c. To plant a virus in your computer

2. The text says some fake news …

a. is easy to recognise as fake.
b. is funny.
c. comes from the political right.

3. Which of these may mean that a news site should not be trusted?
a. The text is well written.
b. The site has a variety of other stories.
c. The site’s ‘About’ page does not clearly describe the organisation.

4. Some images on fake news …

a. are real images, but come from a different website.
b. are images that have been changed.
c. both the above

5. Fake news stories …

a. are usually only on fake news sites or social media.
b. are not on any websites, only in social media.
c. are often hidden on real news sites.
6. Many fake news stories are written …

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a. without capital letters and with terrible spelling.
b. in a way that makes people upset.
c. inside of advertisements that pop up on your screen.

7. What should you do with fake news?

a. Report it to the police
b. Make a note of it for reference
c. Not show it to other people online

8. What is the purpose of this article?

a. To complain
b. To inform
c. To entertain

TEXT 3
Read an academic text and solve the tasks that follow.
Before reading
TASK 1 Match the words in column A with their definition in column B. Provide your
answers in the table below. 0.2x8=1.6 points

1. a chimpanzee a. the study of language

b. relating to the way in which living things develop
2. linguistics
over millions of years
3. evolutionary c. a species of ape
d. existing in us since birth; natural rather than
4. civilised
learned
5. to mutate e. an object made by a human, especially one that is
of historical interest
6. DNA
f. socially advanced and developed
7. innate g. to change into something different h. a chemical
that carries genetic information
8. an artefact

1= c 2= a 3= b 4= f 5= g 6= g 7= d 8= e

How humans evolved language

A
Thanks to the field of linguistics we know much about the development of the 5,000 plus
languages in existence today. We can describe their grammar and pronunciation and see how their
spoken and written forms have changed over time. For example, we understand the origins of the
Indo-European group of languages, which includes Norwegian, Hindi and English, and can trace
them back to tribes in eastern Europe in about 3000 BC. So, we have mapped out a great deal of the
history of language, but there are still areas we know little about. Experts are beginning to look to
the field of evolutionary biology to find out how the human species developed to be able to use
language. So far, there are far more questions and half-theories than answers.

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We know that human language is far more complex than that of even our nearest and most
intelligent relatives like chimpanzees. We can express complex thoughts, convey subtle emotions
and communicate about abstract concepts such as past and future. And we do this following a set
of structural rules, known as grammar. Do only humans use an innate system of rules to govern
the order of words? Perhaps not, as some research may suggest dolphins share this capability
because they are able to recognise when these rules are broken.
C
If we want to know where our capability for complex language came from, we need to look at how
our brains are different from other animals. This relates to more than just brain size; it is important
what other things our brains can do and when and why they evolved that way. And for this there
are very few physical clues; artefacts left by our ancestors don’t tell us what speech they were
capable of making. One thing we can see in the remains of early humans, however, is the
development of the mouth, throat and tongue. By about 100,000 years ago, humans had evolved
the ability to create complex sounds. Before that, evolutionary biologists can only guess whether or
not early humans communicated using more basic sounds.
D
Another question is what is it about human brains that allowed language to evolve in a way that it
did not in other primates? At some point, our brains became able to make our mouths produce
vowel and consonant sounds, and we developed the capacity to invent words to name things
around us. These were the basic ingredients for complex language. The next change would have
been to put those words into sentences, similar to the ‘protolanguage’ children use when they first
learn to speak. No one knows if the next step – adding grammar to signal past, present and future,
for example, or plurals and relative clauses – required a further development in the human brain
or was simply a response to our increasingly civilised way of living together.
Between 100,000 and 50,000 years ago, though, we start to see the evidence of early human
civilisation, through cave paintings for example; no one knows the connection between this and
language. Brains didn’t suddenly get bigger, yet humans did become more complex and more
intelligent. Was it using language that caused their brains to develop? Or did their more complex
brains start producing language?
E
More questions lie in looking at the influence of genetics on brain and language development. Are
there genes that mutated and gave us language ability? Researchers have found a gene mutation
that occurred between 200,000 and 100,000 years ago, which seems to have a connection with
speaking and how our brains control our mouths and face. Monkeys have a similar gene, but it did
not undergo this mutation. It’s too early to say how much influence genes have on language, but
one day the answers might be found in our DNA.

TASK 2 In the box below you have the headings that you have to match with the parts
of the text (A–E). Write your answers next to each letter. 0.2x5= 1 point

What we know How linguistic capacity evolved How unique are we?
The physical evidence The tiny change that may separate us from monkeys

A. What we know
B. How unique are we?
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C. The physical evidence
D. How linguistic capacity evolved
E. The tiny change that may separate us from monkeys

TASK 3 Are the sentences true or false? Provide your answers (T or F) in the table
below. 0.2x6=1.2 points

1. Experts fully understand how the Hindi language developed.

2. The grammar of dolphin language follows the same rules as human language.
3. Brain size is not the only factor in determining language capability.
4. The language of very young children has something in common with the way our prehistoric
ancestors may have spoken.
5. When people started using complex language, their brains got bigger.
6. The role of genetics in language capacity is not yet clear.

1= T 2= F 3= T 4= T 5= F 6= T

TEXT 4
The fragment below provides information on giving and receiving positive feedback.
Read it carefully and solve the tasks that follow.

Your manager stops you and says she needs to have a word about your performance in the recent
project. You worry about it all weekend, wondering what you might have done wrong. When you
step into her office on Monday morning she begins by praising you for the good work you’ve done
on the project, and you wonder if this is the obligatory praise that starts off the typical ‘feedback
sandwich’. You know how the feedback sandwich goes: say something nice, say what you really
want to say, say something nice again.
In an attempt to inject some positivity into their feedback, many managers rely on sandwiching
negative feedback between two positive comments. However, when feedback becomes such a
routine, employees can start to perceive positive feedback as simply a form of sugar-coating the
negatives, thus diminishing its value. Instead, positive feedback should not simply be seen as
something to cushion the negative, but should be delivered so as to reinforce and encourage good
performance.
Below are three tips to help you make positive feedback count.
1. Don’t always follow positive feedback with negative feedback
When positive and negative feedback always appear to go hand in hand, the positives can become
devalued and ignored. Ensure there are times when positive feedback is given for its own sake and
resist the temptation to offer constructive criticism.
2. Cultivate a ‘growth mindset’
Psychologist and ‘growth mindset’ proponent Carol Dweck spoke of the plasticity of the brain and
our ability to develop skills and talents that we might not have been good at to start with. Many of
us tend to focus our praise on the end result and seemingly innate talents, e.g. ‘You really have an
eye for details’ or ‘You have a real talent for organising events’. However, research suggests that
by focusing on the process of how things are done – praising effort, experimentation and problem-
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solving strategies – we can encourage the development of new skills and the continued honing of
talents.
3. Create a culture of offering positive feedback
Make giving positive feedback part of your team/department/company culture. Don’t just wait for
special moments like appraisals to give feedback. Offer informal positive feedback when making
small talk or when walking down a corridor. Feedback doesn’t have to only come from the higher
ranks either. Encourage peer feedback among team members and colleagues and actively ask them
for positive comments on each other’s performances on tasks. It might take time to counter the
effects of an environment where there is a cynical view of positive feedback, but in the long run, by
embracing positive feedback, you can not only enhance working performance but also enrich the
quality of life in the workplace.

TASK 1 Mark in bold the best answer. 0.2x6=1.2 points

1. What does the ‘feedback sandwich’ involve?

a. Giving positive feedback by accompanying it with negative feedback
b. Giving negative feedback by accompanying it with positive feedback
c. Creating a feedback culture in an organisation
d. Devaluing positive feedback

2. The writer believes that the ‘feedback sandwich’ …

a. can encourage good performance.
b. makes negative feedback more painful.
c. makes employees fearful of feedback.
d. is too predictable to be effective.

3. The ‘growth mindset’ idea is that ...

a. we can become good at things that we might initially not seem to have a talent for.
b. we should focus on honing the talents that we are born with.
c. the end result is more important than the process.
d. we must not tell people that they are good at certain things.

4. How can we create a culture of positive feedback?

a. By offering feedback only during informal occasions such as when walking down a corridor
b. By making sure that only positive and not negative feedback is given
c. By asking your employees to offer positive feedback to their colleagues
d. By not conducting appraisals for employees

5. A cynical view of positive feedback …

a. is irreversible.
b. can make the quality of working life richer.
c. can be healthy.
d. can be changed gradually.

6. What might be a good title for this article?

a. The power of a growth mindset
b. The power of positive feedback

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c. The power of positive thinking
d. The power of the feedback sandwich

TASK 2 Are the sentences true or false? Provide your answers (T or F) in the table
below. 0.2x8=1.6 points

1. In the story at the beginning of the article, the writer describes a scenario in which the employee
assumes they are going to get negative feedback.
2. Overusing the ‘feedback sandwich’ can result in a mistrust of positive feedback.
3. We should not try to inject positivity in our feedback or we might devalue it.
4. We should never give positive feedback and negative feedback at the same time.
5. Carol Dweck believes that the brain is flexible and can be trained to learn new skills.
6. We should give positive feedback when employees make an effort and try new things.
7. By offering positive feedback in a variety of situations, we can get our employees used to getting
positive feedback.
8. You can improve the performance of your employees by embracing their mistrust of positive
feedback.

1= T 2= T 3= F 4= F 5= T 6= T 7= T 8= F