Instructions
READING 1
READING 2
READING 3
READING 4
READING 5
Instructions
- You have 5 reading tasks, each one of them containing 5 questions. You have a total of 20 questions to answer.
- For reading tasks 4 and 5 the text is on the file, along with the alternatives.
- Read the questions before attempting an answer. If don’t know or don’t understand a question, mark the “I don’t know” option.
READING 1
Read the article and answer the questions below.
Body image — the way people feel about their appearance — is a big issue for many young people today. According to two different studies, more than half the teenage girls in the United States think they should be on a diet, and almost one in five teenage boys are worried about their bodies and their weight.
But what’s the cause? Many blame the media. Turn on the TV, and you’ll likely see beautiful models, handsome actors, and fit sports stars. Open a magazine or newspaper, browse the internet, and it’s unlikely to be any different.
Many young people feel pressure to look like these “perfect” people. But for most, this is just not possible. In the United States, for example, the average woman is 163 centimeters tall and weighs 64 kilograms. The average model is 180 centimeters tall and weighs 53 kilograms.
When people don’t match up to these standards, many develop low self-esteem. Some stop eating properly in order to lose weight. Others lose so much confidence that they start to withdraw from classroom activities at school.
Body image issues do not disappear as we get older, either. In the United Kingdom, for example, women over 50 spend more money on cosmetics than any other age group. Older men spend large amounts of money trying to avoid hair loss.
Body image — the way people feel about their appearance — is a big issue for many young people today. According to two different studies, more than half the teenage girls in the United States think they should be on a diet, and almost one in five teenage boys are worried about their bodies and their weight.
But what’s the cause? Many blame the media. Turn on the TV, and you’ll likely see beautiful models, handsome actors, and fit sports stars. Open a magazine or newspaper, browse the internet, and it’s unlikely to be any different.
Many young people feel pressure to look like these “perfect” people. But for most, this is just not possible. In the United States, for example, the average woman is 163 centimeters tall and weighs 64 kilograms. The average model is 180 centimeters tall and weighs 53 kilograms.
When people don’t match up to these standards, many develop low self-esteem. Some stop eating properly in order to lose weight. Others lose so much confidence that they start to withdraw from classroom activities at school.
Body image issues do not disappear as we get older, either. In the United Kingdom, for example, women over 50 spend more money on cosmetics than any other age group. Older men spend large amounts of money trying to avoid hair loss.
READING 2
Read the article and answer the questions below.
In 2010, a huge earthquake hit Haiti, causing the deaths of over a hundred thousand people and millions of dollars’ worth of damage. The international community jumped into action to provide aid. On this occasion, funds were raised with amazing speed—within a week of the quake, the American Red Cross had raised $22 million. The reason? People were donating via their mobile phones.
Technological advances have changed how charities work. Gone are the days when someone knocked on your front door and politely asked you to make a donation. In today’s world of computers, smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches, charities can now reach more people than ever before.
Social media in particular has had a great impact on charity. News of disasters spreads quickly around the world. This enables charities to raise money extremely quickly, as in Haiti. And the quicker aid can be delivered, the more lives can be saved. Individual fundraising has also benefited. Most people are now so well-connected through sites like Facebook that asking people to contribute to your chosen cause is easier than ever. In the future, it’s likely that we’ll all be giving to our favorite causes more easily and more often.
In 2010, a huge earthquake hit Haiti, causing the deaths of over a hundred thousand people and millions of dollars’ worth of damage. The international community jumped into action to provide aid. On this occasion, funds were raised with amazing speed—within a week of the quake, the American Red Cross had raised $22 million. The reason? People were donating via their mobile phones.
Technological advances have changed how charities work. Gone are the days when someone knocked on your front door and politely asked you to make a donation. In today’s world of computers, smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches, charities can now reach more people than ever before.
Social media in particular has had a great impact on charity. News of disasters spreads quickly around the world. This enables charities to raise money extremely quickly, as in Haiti. And the quicker aid can be delivered, the more lives can be saved. Individual fundraising has also benefited. Most people are now so well-connected through sites like Facebook that asking people to contribute to your chosen cause is easier than ever. In the future, it’s likely that we’ll all be giving to our favorite causes more easily and more often.
READING 3
Read the article and answer the questions below.
A. For a long time, Facebook had a tool that allowed people to report photos as spam or abuse. But of the cases reported, only a small percentage of the photos were actually offensive. One of the designers on the team felt there probably was a reason for this, so he studied the cases carefully. He found that in most cases users just didn’t like the photos of themselves their friends had posted, and wanted them taken down. To enable people to report cases like these, the Facebook team added a new feature. This feature allowed people to message their friends to ask them to take the photo down. But only 20 percent of people used the function.
B. The team worked on the case further—it spoke to communications experts and studied rules of polite language. It discovered that users didn’t just want to tell their friends to take the photo down—they wanted to tell their friends how the photo made them feel. So the team made a small change. People could select a message to explain why they didn’t like it, such as, “It’s embarrassing.” This small change had a huge impact — 60 percent of people who reported photos used the function. Surveys showed that people on both sides of the conversation felt better as a result.
C. While data about how people are using a product can help designers make decisions, it isn’t always as simple as following the numbers. Other factors such as intuition, research, and testing of design are equally important. As design expert Margaret Gould Stewart points out, “Data can help you make a good design great, but it will never make a bad design good.”
D. At one time, YouTube was looking for ways to encourage more people to rate videos. When Gould Stewart and her team looked into the data, they found that most people were only using either the highest rating (five stars) or the lowest rating (one star). Almost no one was using two, three, or four stars. So the team decided to simplify the rating—it gave users a choice between good or bad: thumbs up or thumbs down.
E. YouTube tried to prepare people for this change by sharing data about how the five-star rating system wasn’t being used as intended. It announced that it was going to change the system to match user behavior. When the change was made, it was still frustrating for some users as they had become attached to the old design. However, because of the preparatory steps taken earlier, it was easier for YouTube to get users to accept the change.
A. For a long time, Facebook had a tool that allowed people to report photos as spam or abuse. But of the cases reported, only a small percentage of the photos were actually offensive. One of the designers on the team felt there probably was a reason for this, so he studied the cases carefully. He found that in most cases users just didn’t like the photos of themselves their friends had posted, and wanted them taken down. To enable people to report cases like these, the Facebook team added a new feature. This feature allowed people to message their friends to ask them to take the photo down. But only 20 percent of people used the function.
B. The team worked on the case further—it spoke to communications experts and studied rules of polite language. It discovered that users didn’t just want to tell their friends to take the photo down—they wanted to tell their friends how the photo made them feel. So the team made a small change. People could select a message to explain why they didn’t like it, such as, “It’s embarrassing.” This small change had a huge impact — 60 percent of people who reported photos used the function. Surveys showed that people on both sides of the conversation felt better as a result.
C. While data about how people are using a product can help designers make decisions, it isn’t always as simple as following the numbers. Other factors such as intuition, research, and testing of design are equally important. As design expert Margaret Gould Stewart points out, “Data can help you make a good design great, but it will never make a bad design good.”
D. At one time, YouTube was looking for ways to encourage more people to rate videos. When Gould Stewart and her team looked into the data, they found that most people were only using either the highest rating (five stars) or the lowest rating (one star). Almost no one was using two, three, or four stars. So the team decided to simplify the rating—it gave users a choice between good or bad: thumbs up or thumbs down.
E. YouTube tried to prepare people for this change by sharing data about how the five-star rating system wasn’t being used as intended. It announced that it was going to change the system to match user behavior. When the change was made, it was still frustrating for some users as they had become attached to the old design. However, because of the preparatory steps taken earlier, it was easier for YouTube to get users to accept the change.
READING 4
Read five paragraphs and answer the questions below each one.
READING 5
Read two passages and answer the questions below each one.