Reading mini-test 2

Student’s name: …………………………………….

Read the passages below carefully, and then select the correct option A, B, C or D:
PASSAGE 1 – Questions 1-10
Line If parents bring up a child with the sole aim of turning the child into a genius, they will
cause a disaster. According to several leading educational psychologists, this is one of the
biggest mistakes which ambitious parents make. Generally, the child will be only too
aware of what his parents expect, and will fail. Unrealistic parental expectations can cause
5 great damage to children.
However, if parents are not too unrealistic about what they expect their children to do, but
are ambitious in a sensible way, the child may succeed in doing very well – especially if
the parents are very supportive of their child. Michael Collins is very lucky. He is crazy
about music, and his parents help him a lot by taking him to concerts and arranging private
10 piano and violin lessons for him. They even drive him 50 kilometers twice a week for
violin lessons. Michael’s mother knows very little about music, but his father plays the
trumpet in a large orchestra. However, he never makes Michael enter music competitions
if he is unwilling. Winston Smith, Michael’s friend, however, is not so lucky. Both his
parents are successful musicians, and they set too high a standard for Winston. They want
15 their son to be as successful as they are and so they enter him for every piano competition
held. They are very unhappy when he does not win. Winston is always afraid that he will
disappoint his parents and now he always seems quiet and unhappy.

Question 1: One of the serious mistakes parents can make is to ______.

A. push their child into trying too much B. help their child to become a genius
C. make their child become a musician D. neglect their child’s education
Question 2: Parents’ ambition for their children is not wrong if they ______.
A. force their children into achieving success B. themselves have been very
successful
C. understand and help their children sensibly D. arrange private lessons for their
children
Question 3: Who have criticized the methods of some ambitious parents?
A. Successful musicians. B. Unrealistic parents.
C. Their children. D. Educational psychologists.
Question 4: Michael Collins is fortunate in that ______.
A. his father is a musician B. his parents are quite rich
C. his mother knows little about music D. his parents help him in a sensible way
Question 5: The phrase "crazy about" in the passage mostly means ______.
A. "surprised at" B. "extremely interested in"
C. "completely unaware of" D. "confused about"
Question 6: Winston’s parents push their son so much and he ______.
A. has won a lot of piano competitions B. cannot learn much music from them
C. has become a good musician D. is afraid to disappoint them
Question 7: The word "They" in the passage refers to ______.
A. concerts B. violin lessons C. parents in general D. Michael’s parents
Question 8: All of the following people are musical EXCEPT _____.
A. Winston’s father B. Winston’s mother
C. Michael’s father D. Michael’s mother
Question 9: The word "unwilling" in the passage mostly means ______.
A. "getting ready to do something" B. "eager to do something"
C. "not objecting to doing anything" D. "not wanting to do something"
Question 10: The two examples given in the passage illustrate the principle that ______.
A. successful parents always have intelligent children
B. successful parents often have unsuccessful children
C. parents should let the child develop in the way he wants
D. parents should spend more money on the child’s education

PASSAGE 2 – Questions 11-20

Line Most people can remember a phone number for up to thirty seconds. When this
short amount of time elapses, however, the numbers are erased from the memory. How
did the information get there in the first place? Information that makes its way to the short
term memory (STM) does so via the sensory storage area. The brain has a filter which
5 only allows stimuli that is of immediate interest to pass on to the STM, also known as the
working memory.
There is much debate about the capacity and duration of the short term memory.
The most accepted theory comes from George A. Miller, a cognitive psychologist who
suggested that humans can remember approximately seven chunks of information. (A) A
10 chunk is defined as a meaningful unit of information, such as a word or name rather than
just a letter or number. Modern theorists suggest that one can increase the capacity of the
short term memory by chunking, or classifying similar information together. By
organizing information, one can optimize the STM, and improve the chances of a
memory being passed on to long term storage. (B)
15 When making a conscious effort to memorize something, such as information
for an exam, many people engage in "rote rehearsal". By repeating something over and
over again, one is able to keep a memory alive. Unfortunately, this type of memory
maintenance only succeeds if there are no interruptions. As soon as a person stops
rehearsing the information, it has the tendency to disappear. When a pen and paper are
20 not handy, people often attempt to remember a phone number by repeating it aloud. If
the doorbell rings or the dog barks to come in before a person has the opportunity to
make a phone call, he will likely forget the number instantly. (C) Therefore, rote
rehearsal is not an efficient way to pass information from the short term to long term
memory. A better way is to practice "elaborate rehearsal". This involves assigning
25 semantic meaning to a piece of information so that it can be filed along with other pre-
existing long term memories. (D)
Encoding information semantically also makes it more retrievable. Retrieving
information can be done by recognition or recall. Humans can easily recall memories
30 that are stored in the long term memory and used often; however, if a memory seems to
be forgotten, it may eventually be retrieved by prompting. The more cues a person is
given (such as pictures), the more likely a memory can be retrieved. This is why
multiple choice tests are often used for subjects that require a lot of memorization.
Question 11. According to the passage, how do memories get transferred to the STM?
A. They revert from the long term memory.
B. They are filtered from the sensory storage area.
C. They get chunked when they enter the brain.
D. They enter via the nervous system.
Question 12. The word “elapses” in line 2 is closest in meaning to ________.
A. passes B. appears C. adds up D. continues
Question 13. All of the following are mentioned as places in which memories are stored EXCEPT
the ________.
A. STM B. long term memory
C. sensory storage area D. maintenance area
Question 14. Why does the author mention a dog's bark?
A. To give an example of a type of memory
B. To provide a type of interruption
C. To prove that dogs have better memories than humans
D. To compare another sound that is loud like a doorbell
Question 15. In which space (marked A, B, C and D in the passage) will the following sentence fit?
For example, a reader engages in elaborate rehearsal when he brings prior knowledge of a
subject to a text.
A. (A) B. (B) C. (C) D. (D)
Question 16. How do theorists believe a person can remember more information in a short time?
A. By organizing it B. By repeating it
C. By giving it a name D. By drawing it
Question 17. The author believes that rote rotation is ________.
A. the best way to remember something B. more efficient than chunking
C. ineffective in the long run D. an unnecessary interruption
Question 18. The word “it” in line 29 refers to ________.
A. encoding B. STM C. semantics D. information
Question 19. The word “elaborate” in line 25 is closest in meaning to ________.
A. complex B. efficient C. pretty D. regular
Question 20. Which of the following best provides the important information in the highlighted
sentence in the last paragraph from the passage?
A. Prompting is the easiest way to retrieve short term memory after an extended period of time.
B. A memory can be retrieved by prompting, in a case where it has been rarely used.
C. It's easier to remember short term memories than long term memories due to regular prompts.
D. Recalling a long term memory that is often used is easy, while forgotten memories often require
prompting.