Final Reading Comprehension Test

Video games are good for you!

For years video games have been criticized for making people more antisocial, overweight or
depressed. But now researchers are finding that games can actually change us for the better and improve
both our body and mind.
Games can help to develop physical skills. Pre-school children who played interactive games
such as the ones available on Wii have been shown to have improved motor skills, for example they can
kick, catch and throw a ball better than children who don’t play video games. A study of surgeons who do
microsurgery in Boston found that those who played video games were 27 per cent faster and made 37
per cent fewer errors than those who didn't. Vision is also improved, particularly telling the difference
between shades of grey. This is useful for driving at night, piloting a plane or reading X-rays.
Games also benefit a variety of brain functions, including decision-making. People who play
action-based games make decisions 25 per cent faster than others and are no less accurate, according to
one study. It was also found that the best gamers can make choices and act on them up to six times a
second, four times faster than most people. In another study by researchers from the University of
Rochester in New York, experienced gamers were shown to be able to pay attention to more than six
things at once without getting confused, compared with the four that most people can normally keep in
mind. Additionally, video games can also reduce gender differences. Scientists have found that women
who play games are better able to mentally manipulate 3D objects.
There is also evidence that gaming can help with psychological problems. At the University of
Auckland in New Zealand, researchers asked 94 young people diagnosed with depression to play a 3D
fantasy game called SPARX and in many cases, the game reduced symptoms of depression more than
conventional treatment. Another research team at Oxford University found that playing Tetris shortly
after exposure to something very upsetting – in the experiment, a film of traumatic scenes of injury and
death was used – can actually prevent people having disturbing flashbacks.
The effects are not always so positive, however. Indiana University researchers carried out brain
scans on young men and found evidence that violent games can alter brain function after as little as a
week of play, affecting regions in the brain associated with emotional control and causing more
aggressive behaviour in the player. But Daphne Bavelier, one of the most experienced researchers in the
field, says that the violent action games that often worry parents most may actually have the strongest
beneficial effect on the brain. In the future, we may see many treatments for physical and neurological
problems which incorporate the playing of video games.

Task 1. Choose one of the variants.

1. Only relatively recently have people started to realize ___.
a) the harmful effects of video games
b) the beneficial effects of video games
c) how much we don't know about video games' effects
d) how much video games affect the people that play them
2. Very young children show improved ___ after playing video games.
a) muscle control and co-ordination
b) social interaction
c) decision-making
d) ability to differentiate between different colours
3. Playing video games helps doctors ___.
a) do operations and read X-rays
b) make decisions under pressure
c) operate complex equipment
d) tend to more than one patient at a time
4. Video gamers' decision-making speed is significantly improved by ___.
a) years of gaming experience
b) long periods of game playing
c) playing video games in short bursts
d) certain types of video game
5. Women who play video games demonstrate ___.
a) faster reaction speeds
b) reduced stress levels
c) better spatial awareness
d) better multitasking ability
6. In one research study, the video game Tetris helped people to ___.
 a) improve their concentration
b) overcome depression
c) forget disturbing experiences
d) make decisions faster
7. Research shows that violent video games ___.
a) have no negative effects on players
b) only affect players' brains after extended hours of play
c) may have positive and negative effects on the brain
d) only affect players' brains in beneficial ways
8. In the future, computer games may be used for ___.
a) treating a variety of medical problems
b) training doctors to deal with emotional pressure
c) helping parents to deal with difficult teenagers
d) treating prisoners with a history of violent behavior

Task 2. Fill in the gaps.

Shades, difference, skills, errors, behavior, attention, scans, decisions, field
1. Playing video games improves the speed at which people can make ___________ .
2. Video gamers also demonstrate an improved ability to pay ____________ to several things at once.
3. Pre-school children who play video games have been shown to have improved motor _____________ .
4. Playing video games also has a beneficial effect on vision, increasing players' ability to tell the
____________ between varying __________ of grey.
5. Surgeons who play computer games work faster and make fewer _____________.
6. Researchers from Indiana University investigated the effects of violent video games by doing some
brain _______________ on video gamers.
7. Their research showed that violent video games affect emotional control and may cause more
aggressive ___________________ .
8. Daphne Bavelier is one of the most experienced researchers in her __________________.

Final Listening Comprehension Test

Task 1
Fill in the gaps
Boyfriend, brother, best friend, childhood friend, next-door neighbour
1. Speaker A is talking about her _______
2. Speaker B is talking about his _______
3. Speaker C is talking about her _______
4. Speaker D is talking about his _______
5. Speaker E is talking about her _______
Task 2
Are the sentences True or False?
1. A - Her next-door neighbour also worked with her mum.
2. A - Her next-door neighbour has a healthier lifestyle now.
3. B - He didn't see his brother after he went to university.
4. B - He supports the same football team as his brother.
5. C - She and her friend argued about a boy.
6. C - She is going to go to the same university as her friend.
7. D - He didn't have much in common with his friend when they were young.
8. D - He still sees his friend regularly.
9. E - She didn't like the look of her boyfriend at first.
10. E - She thinks their relationship will last for a long time.