Modelo 5 – Reading

Part 1

Read the following text, then read the five statements. Some of these statements are true according to the text, some of them are false. Write T for True or F for False in the box next to each statement. 

Despite the many high-tech instruments now available to scientists who study the weather, one measurement remains relatively difficult to make, and that’s calculating how much snow actually falls in any particular place during a snowstorm. This explains why the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in the USA is experimenting with new ways of achieving a greater level of accuracy in snowfall figures. As their representative Ethan Guttmann points out, ‘You’d think it was just a matter of going out and sticking a ruler in the snow and measuring how much is on the ground. The problem is, if you move the ruler over just a few centimetres, you may get a different reading.’ 

In fact, the taking of measurements is complicated by a number of factors. For example, the first snowflakes may melt as soon as they hit warm surfaces, while others are whisked away by the wind, leaving some ground bare and other places buried under deep snow drifts. Guttman’s colleagues have been testing a number of new snow measuring devices, including ultrasonic snow depth sensors, which send out a pulse of noise and measure how long it takes to bounce back from the surface below the snow, and laser sensors which work on the same basic principle but use light instead of sound. 

Another device for measuring snowfall is a type of open container with motor-vehicle antifreeze inside it. The antifreeze melts the snow as it falls and sensors measure the weight of the resulting liquid. NCAR scientists have also experimented with using Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) to measure snow depth. It may be possible for signals sent from these satellites to measure the distance to both the surface of the snow and to the ground beneath it. Not only would this method be more cost-effective than other methods, but it might also be particularly useful for measuring the snow in remote locations such as inaccessible upland areas and the highest mountain peaks and ranges. 

Accurate measurement of snowfall in these areas is important as entire regions may depend on spring run-off of melted snow for their water supply. The scientists also learned that they could improve the results of both manual and high-tech methods of snow measurement by using something known as a snowboard. Basically, this is just a flat piece of white-painted wood on which snow can accumulate. Windshields placed around these can also add to the accuracy of measurements.

1) NCAR accepts the need for more precise methods of measuring snowfall.

2) Researchers make use of ultrasonic sensors and laser sensors evenly. 

3) The device that uses motor-vehicle antifreeze measures the amount of snow both before and after it melts. 

4) Using GPS technology would be more expensive than using the alternative devices being tried out. 

5) GPS technology could allow snowfall to be measured across a wider range of landscapes. 

Part 2

Read the text and fill the gaps with the correct sentences A-H. Write the letter of the missing sentence in the box in the gap. There are two extra sentences you will not need. 

A) A punctual person is a considerate one.

B) As is everything else too.

C) With a rather more flexible approach to timekeeping.

D) It is also a source of deep contentment.

E) In Switzerland’s case they are entirely accurate.

F) Which has to be fulfilled.

G) Is a dying art in many parts of the world.

H) Punctuality is not without its drawbacks.

THE NATION THAT HATES TO BE LATE

The Swiss derive genuine joy from the fact that life unfolds on time and in a highly efficient manner. The alpine nation really is highly efficient. And meticulously punctual. Clean, too. For chronically tardy, resolutely inefficient (not to mention slovenly) people like myself, a visit to Switzerland yields a cocktail of emotions: awe, relief and a dash of irritation. For the Swiss, punctuality is not merely a nicety, a bonbon in the buffet of life.

By contrast, life in Switzerland is sturdy and dependable, like a Saint Bernard dog. If someone says they will meet me at 2 pm, they arrive at 2 pm not 2:05 (or 1:55, for that matter). I like this. For a while. Then it annoys me. The extreme punctuality strikes me as a kind of stinginess, and I find myself agreeing with the English writer Evelyn Waugh who said that “punctuality is the virtue of the bored”. 

That is unfair though, and finally, invariably, I come to appreciate Swiss punctuality for what it is: a deep expression of respect for other people.

It’s not a coincidence that the Swiss are the wrolds’ watchmakers. Which came first – the precise timekeepers or the precise people? Hard to say, but the result is the same: a nation where the trains and everything else really do run on time. Then there are the toilets. 

Part 3

Read the four texts below. There are eight questions about the texts. Decide which text (A, B, C or D) tells you the answer to the question. The first one is done for you. 

In which text does the writer: 

Example: say that age affected his/her self-assurance?  A

1) Chose his ideas by the seat of his pants  

2) Believe that the success is a frame of mind.

3) Assure that a stepwise approach is required to achieve the main target. 

Which text is saying the following?

4) Walking with someone could be an incentive. 

5) Tenacity is a key factor to further triumph. 

6) Daily reiteration in a certain sector booms self-reliance.

7) No malady could cope with a firm demeanour.

Part 4

Read the article and answer the questions. Write a maximum of five words for each answer.

Parenting in the 21st Century 

I decided to write this book for several reasons. I was dissatisfied with parenting-advice literature, finding it to be riddled with oversimplified messages, and often unrelated to or at odds with current scientific knowledge. I also felt certain after years as a professor, researcher, and author of textbooks on child development, that contemporary theory and research contain many vital, practical messages… ones crucial for parents to understand if they are to effectively help their children develop. Furthermore, I’ve been approached on countless occasions by uneasy parents, frustrated by a wide array of child-rearing issues. I became convinced, therefore, that parents needed a consistent way of thinking about their role to guide them in making effective decisions. 

It’s little wonder that parents are perplexed about what approach to take to child rearing. Today’s world is one which makes parenting exceedingly difficult. In many industrialised countries, the majority of mothers of preschool children are in the workforce, though not always through choice. This group in particular tends to lament the lack of practical advice for parents in their child-rearing roles. Many parents simultaneously complain that they’re busier than ever and that due to the growing demands of their jobs, they have little time for their children. Nations of pressured, preoccupied parents have emerged in an era of grave public concern for the well-being of youth.

It would seem from looking at current media that the younger generation are achieving less well than they should and that they often display a worrying lack of direction, manifested at its worst in a variety of social problems. These problems seem to have infiltrated even the most economically privileged sectors of the population, affecting young people who, on the face of things, have been granted the best of life’s chances. Accounts of children being deprived of their childhood and growing up too fast, or the dangers of promoting materialism to young people abound in the media.

In many countries there is a growing sense of ‘youth alienation’ and parents rightly fear for their own children’s futures. But agreement on what parents can and should do to shield children from underachievement and demoralisation eludes those who seek it on the shelves of libraries or bookstores. Parenting advice has always been in a state of flux, at no time more so than the present. While the fundamental goal of parenting – to instil character and moral development – has stood firm amid the various passing fashions in child care over the years, the approach to accomplishing this has varied considerably.

Some authors, convinced that parents are in control of what their children become, advise a ‘get tough’ approach. The educational parallel to this ‘parent-power’ stance is to train and instruct as early as possible, and this has been justified by claims of maximising brain growth or securing high achievement by starting sooner. Other authors, however, attribute many of today’s social problems to the excessive pressure put on children by parents. According to these ‘child-power’ advocates, children have their own built-in timetables for maturing and learning. Waiting for cues that children are ready, these experts say, will relieve the stress that fuels youth discontent and rebellion. The reality, however, is that there are no hard-and-fast rules.

Current thinking on child-rearing advice mirrors historical shifts in theories of development and education. The most disturbing trend in the literature has been a move to deny that parents make any notable contribution to their children’s development. Indeed, according to one highly publicised book, children’s genes, and secondarily their peer groups, not parents, dictate how children turn out. This public declaration of parental weakness comes at a time when many busy parents are poised to retreat from family obligations, and, indeed, it grants them licence to do so.

From the multitude of theories on nature and nurture, I have chosen one to serve as the framework for this book: sociocultural theory, which originated with the work of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky. Early in the 20th century, he explained how children’s social experiences transform their genetic inheritance, leading their development forward and ensuring that they become competent, contributing members of society. Vygotsky championed the idea that as children engage in dialogues with more expert members of their culture, they integrate the language of those interactions into their inner mental lives and use it to think, overcome challenges and guide their own behaviour.

1) The author says that one reason for writing the book was the fact that the available advisory material does not…

2) What does the author say about the concerns parents have? 

3) On what should parents be led according to the author?

4) What view of young people is promoted in the media? 

5) What does the author say in the fourth paragraph about parenting advice? 

6) In the fifth paragraph, what point is the author making about bringing up children? 

7) What criticism of contemporary thinking on child-rearing does the author make? 

8) What did Vygotsky clear up about children’s social experiences?