Reading Test16

Read the text below. Match choices (A-H) to (1-5). There are three choices you do not need to ase.

CLASSIC COLLEGE GRADUATE GIFTS

1.   [a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h]Whether your graduate is going to run their own company or have a small office in a mega company somewhere, they'll most likely want to display their diploma proudly for all to see and for years to come. Many campus bookstores offer framings with college or university logos that will add that extra pop. to your graduate's official degree.

2.   [a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h]This can include anything that best fits your graduate's personality and interests: a sweatshirt, a workout outfit, a duffel/travel bag, an alumni bumper sticker, a portfolio, or even a clock. Many campus bookstores stock up on these kinds of items around graduation day, so there should be plenty to choose from.

3.   [a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h]Is your new graduate moving out from a residence hall and into a new place? Consider getting something that will work in a new place, like a portable tool kit, a gift certificate to a store like IKEA or Home Depot, or even a traditional item like bread and salt (or other culturally appropriate gifts).

4.   [a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h]Your graduate spent the last several years reading hundreds of things to earn their degree, but books that help to reinforce the basics are always a smart gift ides. Oh, the Places You'll Go! by Dr Seuss and The Missing Piece Meets the Big O by Shel Silverstein are timeless graduation presents.

5.   [a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h]A pearl necklace, diamond earrings or bracelet, or even a ring with gemstones that match your graduate's school colours are practically guaranteed to be a hit. Your graduate will have something to remember their special day with- and a piece of new adornment to boot!

A Classic Piece of Jewellery

B A Classic Book

C Frame from the Graduate's School

D Things to Use in Their New City

E Engraved Pen

F College Memorabilia

G Briefcase or Nice Bag Diploma

H Gift for a New Apartment

Read the text below. For questions (1-5) choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D).

A BRAIN-BOOSTING VIDEO GAME

In the video game Tetris, players try to pack as many shapes as possible into a small space. According to a new study, that's not all they're doing.

It sounds like a joke, but the study uses serious science. A team of three researchers from Canada and the United States scanned the brains of 15 adolescent girls, aged 12 to 15, who played Tetris. The scans showed that after 3 months of playing the block-stacking game, grey matter in the girls brains was thicker. (Grey matter is the wrinkly mixture of brain cells and blood vessels responsible for processing information in the brain.) Part of the thicker grey matter was in a region of the brain near the top of the head. This area, called the parietal lobe, is believed to be responsible for collecting information from the senses.

The study shows that "the brain structure is much more dynamic than had been appreciated", says Richard Haier of the University of California, Irvine, one of the three scientists behind the study. Haier says they studied girls' brains because they typically spend less time playing video games than boys.

For comparison, the scientists also scanned the brains of 11 girls who had not been playing Tetris. They found no increase in the thickness of those girls' grey matter-suggesting that certain parts of the game-playing girls' brains grew because the girls had played the video game.

The researchers didn't stop there- they also did real-time brain scans of girls while they were playing Tetris. For those scans, they used a technique called functional magnetic resonance imaging, or FMRI. An FMRI tracks how blood moves through the brain, and allows scientists to see which brain areas are being used.

These scans showed that in the brains of girls who played Tetris for three months, some parts of the brain were being used less. The scientists don't know why. Haier suggests that the drop in activity may be due to the brain actually working more efficiently than before." We're not sure, but we think the brain is learning which areas not to use", Haier says. "As you learn the game, it becomes more automatic." The parts of the brain that got bigger over the course of three months the same parts of the brain that were being used less. This comparison hints that bigger is not always better: just because a part of the brain gets bigger doesn't mean that it's working more efficiently.

" Understanding how the brain works is not easy", says Haier. The scientists don't know if the brain changes due to Tetris will help a person learn new skills or have better memory. We know Tetris changes the brain, Haier says. 'We don't know if it's good for you."

1) Scientists found a connection between playing Tetris and   [A, B, C, D].

A the thickness of the blood vessels inside the brain.

B the thickness of grey matter in the brain.

C the conditions of the brain cells.

D the size of parts of the brain.

2) What does the research of the grey matter show?   [A, B, C, D]

A It was thicker in the brain at the top.

B It was responsible for processing blood in the vessels.

C It was more diluted in the brain near the bottom.

D It was answerable for collecting information from the senses.

3) The scientists who were examining the girls' brain knew that boys usually spent   [A, B, C, D]

A ess time playing video games than girls.

B more time playing video games than girls.

C not so much time as girls who were accustomed to playing video games.

D as much time as girls who played video games.

4) The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging to   [A, B, C, D]

A study the processes of the mental activity.

B study how the girls were playing a game.

C monitor the process of blood circulation through the brain.

D do a scanning of the parts of the brain.

5)What does the word "it" in line 27 mean?   [A, B, C, D]

A Game.

B Learning.

C Grey matter.

D Brain.

Read the text below. Match choices (A-H) to (1-6). There are two choices you do not need to use.

SUPER CELL PHONES

1.   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]Colour screens, MP3 players, Internet access, text messaging, voice activation, games, photo caller ID. personal organizers, e-mail... you name it, cell phones seem to have it all these days. We've come a long way from the early days of cellular communication, when cell phones could barely pick up a signal.

2.   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]We have become a wireless world where cell phones have progressed from long-range walkie talkies to complete communication systems used by young and old. Now you can find cell phones in an array of funky colours and in sizes smaller than your fake ID.

3.   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]So what's new? We already have handsets with Java capabilities. These phones are able to colours, graphics, and motion, enabling us to watch streaming video, play high quality video games, and store pictures on our cell phones. A new app is a built-in Geographic Positioning System, which allows you to pinpoint location. For example, you could use your GPS to find the nearest all-night coffee shop relative to where you are. Also, a tracking capability will soon be available, enabling you to know who else is on their phone at the same time as you. However, the latest thing is often old news by the time it hits your ear. Engineers around the world are continually working to create new uses for your cell phone.

4.   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]As you this, designers are working on phones that will fit into your car dashboard and automatically set preferred radio stations, adjust the temperature, position your meat, and display the best way to get you where you want to go. You should also be able to access your bank account, send and take digital photos, remotely lock and unlock the door of your home and even monitor your heart! Your stored information will hopefully be secure with fingerprint or voiceprint identification capabilities.

5.   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]It was expected that by 2010 more than 60% of all calls in the world would be wireless, and by 2012 wireless phones would outnumber traditional landlines across the globe.

6.   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]It is estimated that 50% of new cell-phone subscribers this year will be from the youth market. Tech-savvy teens using cell phones are an important part of the cellular picture. According to a recent survey, cell-phone users between the ages of 16-24 are heavy, but responsible, cell-phone users. They more often use cell phones to call mum and dad, rather than to call friends. On average, they use phones two to three hours per week and make purchasing decisions based primarily on price, functionality and reception.

This paragraph explains

A why you need only this gadget.

B functions of the modern cell phones.

С the main purchasers of a new device.

D what's new about the wireless phones.

E how to make purchasing decisions.

F the technologies to update the existing ones.

G the ways of developing new applications.

H the expanding world of a new gadget.

Read the text below. Choose from (A-H) the one which best fits each space (1-6). There are two choices you do not need to use.

TWO MONKEYS SEE A MORE COLOURFUL WORLD

For a pair of squirrel monkeys named Sam and Dalton, the world recently got more colourful, Male squirrel monkeys are normally red-green colour-blind, (1)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H] But now, thanks to an experiment by scientists at the University of Seattle, Sam and Dalton see things different they seem to be able to see red and green.

Animals (including people) are able to see different colours of light thanks to proteins in the eye. Proteins are important building blocks of cells, and different kinds of proteins serve specific purposes in a living organism. When an important protein absent or disabled, (2)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]. Male squirrel monkeys normally lack the proteins that detect red and green light, which means they can't tell red and green from other colours. The monkeys can see blue and yellow. Jay Neitz is the scientist at the University of Washington (3)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H] to give the monkeys more colourful vision. He says the experiment wasn't supposed to work. In fact, when he asked other scientists who study vision if they thought colour vision was possible in colour-blind monkeys,every single person said-"absolutely not"- he says.

Neitz and his team were able to add genes that make proteins for detecting red light in the monkey's eyes. A gene is like a recipe for building a protein, and different genes direct the body how to build different proteins. Almost every cell of a living organism contains DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, which is the set of instructions for how (4)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]. These instructions include all the genes, which are segments of DNA.

A gene is also responsible for building the protein (5)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H]. Neitz and his team found male squirrel monkeys that don't have this gene so for their experiment, they tried to give the gene to the monkeys. They injected the monkeys with a virus that contained the gene. Over the next few weeks, the monkeys began to make the red-detecting protein. After about 20 weeks of this gene therapy, the monkeys were making enough of the protein to be able to tell red from green.

Neitz's experiment is good for monkeys but what about the rest of the world? They say it's too early to know (6)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H], or to help blind people see. Plus, it may be true that Sam and Dalton aren't seeing red and green as we know them they may just be seeing other shades of yellow and blue.

Nonetheless, the iden of giving colour vision to a couple of monkeys is capturing the attention of researchers who study vision. "The achievement is technically amazing and conceptually very cool", says Melissa Saenz, a scientist at Caltech in Pasadena, California.

A who led the research

B and may now see after (right) gene therapy to correct his colour-blindness

C if genetic therapy could ever be used to help colour-blind people see colours

D the animal cannot function properly

E that enables an animal to see the red colour

F which means they have trouble seeing those colours

G to make that organism function

H but the monkeys seemed to be able to see and understand the new colours right away

Read the text below. For questions (23-32) choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D).

THE PARK WITH LOTS OF TRADITIONS

Suphen Foster Folk Culture Centre State Park is situated on the banks of the Suwannee River and pays tributute to thr great American composer Stephem Foster,(1)   [A, B, C, D] song by the same name is Florida`s state song. The park`s museum honours the man and his songs and the 97-bell carillon plays his music (2)   [A, B, C, D] the day.

Today, the park is a popular (3)   [A, B, C, D]for music and nature-lovers alike. While the park can be peaceful retreat, there is always something going on. A myriad of cultural (4)   [A, B, C, D] fill the calendar each year- the most popular being the Florida Folk Festival, held Memorial Day weekend each year.

(5)   [A, B, C, D]gift shop that is open daily, artists and craft demonstrators are often on hand at weekends (6)   [A, B, C, D]Florida's early traditions in blacksmithing, quilting, pottery and more. Weekend retreats offer instruction in building and playing early musical instruments,(7)   [A, B, C, D]banjos and dulcimers.

The Florida National Scenic Trail follows the river through the park, so there are miles of (8)   [A, B, C, D] to explore either by bicycling, hiking or horseback riding. The beautiful oak-shaded ampground has 45 (9)   [A, B, C, D]for either RV or tent camping and five riverside (10)   [A, B, C, D] that are located near the canoe launch. Besides canoeing, kayaking or freshwater fishing (fishing licence quired) are popular activities.