Nec Mock Test - Hội đồng thi UNILISH - Test 3

HỘI ĐỒNG THI UNILISH THE UNITEST SERIES TEST 3 Môn thi : Tiếng Anh
Thời gian thi: 180 phút (không kể thời gian ra đề) Ngày thi: 23/10/2021 (Đề thi gồm 16 trang)
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Giám thị không giải thích gì thêm
Pidgins and Creoles are new languages, which function as lingua francas.
They have no native speakers at all.
Pidgins adopt a sort of simplified language based on the most basic vocabulary and grammar of that dominant group's language.
A Pidgin language is a Creole language, and vice versa.
Creole languages are not restricted to English-based ones. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Where does the project team conduct their research?
__________________________________________________________________________________
What are half of the world’s known languages supposed to do in the next decade?
__________________________________________________________________________________
What does the ‘Enduring Voices’ project hope to bring awareness of?
__________________________________________________________________________________
Among whom is the language Apatani widely spoken?
__________________________________________________________________________________
What does the project team teach the locals to use during their research process?
__________________________________________________________________________________ Page 1
What do we learn about the speakers’ foreign language credentials?
A. Both men are fluent in all the foreign languages they’ve studied.
B. The woman is presently studying Spanish.
C. Both men are fluent in at least three languages.
D. Two of the speakers claim not to be proficient in a language they learned.
What do the two men suggest about language learning?
A. Success is largely dependent on the quality of teaching.
B. There is no substitute for effort.
C. The process of learning a language is a life-long one.
D. A desire to speak many languages is more than enough.
In what sense is quality of teaching important?
A. Teachers can act as facilitators to speed up learning.
B. Good teachers motivate their students.
C. Bad teachers create sceptical students.
D. Bad teachers can turn motivated students off learning.
The two male speakers have designed a course that
A. focuses on grammar and structure initially.
B. initially immerses students in a second-language environment.
C. enables students to make progress and see results quickly.
D. is seldom taught in the language being learned.
What happens after the first three weeks of the course?
A. Learners are no longer shown how they are progressing.
B. There is a shift to a more conventional style of learning.
C. The focus of teaching switches to basic practical language.
D. Learners recognise their closeness to attaining fluency.
The digestive system, which is part of chemical and mechanical actions, involves __________.
The breakdown of the food into __________ begins at the mouth.
The food then passes through a bolus when the saliva secretion and the __________ of our tongue happen simultaneously.
The saliva is made up of four matters: water, electrolytes, __________ , and enzymes.
The connection between the mouth cavity and __________ is in the throat.
When we swallow, the larynx (commonly known as the voice box) closes so that the food does not enter the
trachea, which is referred to as __________.
Peristalsis, a series of wave-like __________, helps move the food from the esophagus into the stomach.
The esophageal sphincter, which has a shape like __________, is located at the junction of the esophagus and the stomach. Page 2
. The stomach can store food for up to 2-6 hours until completely digested and eliminate the __________.
Along with pepsin and renin, the __________, a liquid that results from the secretion of the stomach, serves to
perpetuate the process of breaking down the food. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25.
The psychologist Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel prize in Economic Sciences for the book “Thinking Fast &
Slow”, which __________ his work on human decision making. A. capitulates B. sanctifies C. levies D. distills
She has been severely criticized for her __________ responsibility to raise the child properly. A. fortifying B. assuming C. abdicating D. flagellating
It would take another 15 years to see the full-fledged deployment of A.I for the __________ amount it costs to exploit. A. voluminous B. palatial C. obscene D. expansive
Because of cutbacks in council spending, plans for the new swimming pool had to be __________. A. stockpiled B. overthrown C. shelved D. disrupted
Owing to the fog, his flight from Karachi was __________. A. belated B. overdue C. uncongenial D. unpunctual
The mass __________ of 15 dogs in Ca Mau province has triggered the general public and many have angrily voiced
for further animal rights in Vietnam. A. manslaughter B. holocaust C. extermination D. assassination
In such circumstances, innovation and excellence are __________ pressure and courage. A. hailed from B. born of C. stemmed from D. emanated by
The five-star Michelin restaurant has cancelled our reservation because they couldn’t rearrange tables to make
room for one or two __________. A. John Dories B. Johnny-come-latelies C. moaning Minnies D. Johnny-on-the-spot
Those white, __________ nights have left her body exhausted and her soul destroyed. A. bleary B. bedazzling C. entrancing D. prostrate
He is a man of dignity, which never doubts me that he would ________ a great father. A. spawn B. make C. foster D. invent
. In a world increasingly fearsome and fragile, this mountainous area represents an __________ of calm and reassurance. A. emaciation B. oldie C. oasis D. acromion
His sense of style and fashion __________ back to that of Hollywood stars in the 1980s. A. retraced B. echoed C. trudged D. hearkened
There have been witnessed to be a __________ of interests in museums lately. A. resurgence B. rejuvenation C. upturn D. revamp
The woman was __________ from the hospital yesterday only a week after her operation. Page 3 A. ejected B. expelled C. evicted D. discharged
. I would leave her immediately if you __________. A. would B. should C. will D. shall 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.
Rachel Carson was born in 1907 in Springsdale, Pennsylvania. She studied biology at college and zoology at
Johns Hopkins University, where she received her master’s degree in 1933. In 1936, she was hired by the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, where she worked most of her life.
Carson’s first book, Under the Sea Wind, was published in 1941. It received excellent reviews, but sales were poor until it was
__________ in 1952. In that year, she published The Sea Around Us, which provided a
fascinating look beneath the ocean’s surface, emphasizing human history as well as geology and marine biology. Her
imaginary and language had a poetic quality. Carson consulted no less than 1,000 printing sources. She had voluminous
__________ and frequent discussions with experts in the field. However, she always realized the limitations of her __________ readers.
In 1962, Carson published Silent Spring, a book that sparked considerable controversy. It proved how much harm was done by the
__________, reckless use of insecticides. She detailed how they poisoned the food
supply of animals, killed birds and fish, and contaminated human food. At the time, __________ for the
chemical industry mounted personal attacks against Carson and issued propaganda to indicate that her findings were
flawed. However, her work was vindicated by a 1963 report of the President’s Science Advisory Committee. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. The
_______ of touchscreen typing didn’t suit everyone initially. Some people, who had grown _______
to using a conventional keyboard, missed the physical feedback on whether they had hit the correct key or not. They
found the touchscreen slow to use, whilst the text they produced was
_______ with errors, a situation that was
_______ if the text was produced on the _______ using a smartphone.
Researchers at Maryland University found that many of these errors resulted from _______ in each
individual’s typing style. For example, a user might be
_______ to hitting the bottom of a key rather than the
centre, increasing the likelihood that they would also hit the key below by mistake, _______ producing so-called Page 4
‘fat finger’ errors. They also found that if typing and walking
_______, there was a tendency for people to hit a
different part of the key if the tap coincided with their foot striking the ground. The data produced by the team
eventually allowed designers to
________ these very human characteristics into account in the next generation of touchscreen keyboards. A. advent B. onset C. input D. upshot A. familiar B. accustomed C. comfortable D. proficient A. strewn B. caked C. stashed D. clogged A. amplified B. deteriorated C. exacerbated D. incensed A. haste B. transit C. foot D. move A. whims B. kinks C. glitches D. quirks A. prone B. apt C. inclined D. liable A. therein B. otherwise C. thereby D. likewise A. simultaneously B. continually C. coincidentally D. intermittently A. hold B. take C. put D. bring 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55.
Odonata is the order of insects that includes dragonflies and damselflies. To the human eye, their shining
colors1 and delicate-looking wings make them beautiful creatures to behold. In the natural world, however, they are
fearsome predators. Dragonflies and damselflies get their name from the powerful serrated jaws they use to tear
apart their prey. The word odonata means “toothed jaw.”
Dragonflies and damselflies are often confused with each other because they are very similar. Close
observation reveals the differences between them. The most obvious difference is the way they hold their wings Page 5
while at rest. Dragonflies hold their wings out to the side while damselflies fold their wings back. Dragonflies have
very large eyes that seem to cover the entire face because they are so close together that they touch each other.
Damselflies’ eyes are smaller, and there is a space between them. Dragonflies are larger and stronger animals than
damselflies and fly longer distances. Thus, they can be found in woods and fields away from the water. Damselflies
are not such strong fliers and are most often seen around the edges of ponds and streams since they do not normally fly far from the water.
The largest odonata living today are the Hawaiian endemic dragonfly and the Central American damselfly,
each of these species having a wingspan of 19 centimeters. The smallest is the libellulidae dragonfly, native to east
Asia, with a wingspan of just 20 millimeters. Fossils have been discovered that prove that dragonflies have been in
existence for over 300 million years. The largest dragonfly fossil ever found belongs to the now-extinct meganeura
monyi, which lived 300 million years ago and had a wingspan of 75 centimeters. This giant was a fearsome predator
indeed, which feasted on small amphibians as well as on other insects.
Dragonflies and damselflies both lay their eggs on or just below the surface of the water in a pond or stream.
Some species lay their eggs on the stem of an aquatic plant. The babies emerge from the eggs in the form of nymphs.
They live underwater, breathing through gills and preying upon water insects, tadpoles, small fish, and even other
nymphs. They hunt by hiding in the shadows at the bottom of a pond or stream, waiting for prey animals to swim by.
They have a special lip that they can extend far forward in order to grab their prey when it comes close. Depending
on the species, they live this way for several months or even several years. As the nymph grows, it sheds its skin
several times. Finally, it leaves the water and sheds its skin one last time. The adult emerges, ready to live the next
few weeks or months on land and in the air. The adults do not live for more than four months, and many species live
as adults for only a few weeks.
The exceptional visual abilities and flying skills of dragonflies and damselflies make them very adept hunters.
Their special eyes give them a nearly 360-degree field of vision, and they can detect even the smallest movement or
flash of light caused by other flying insects. They have two sets of wings that can move independently of each other.
This gives them great maneuverability in the air, which is important to these creatures because they catch their prey
while flying. They can hover, make sharp turns, and fly backward. Some species of dragonflies can fly 60 kilometers
an hour or more. Their prey consists of flying insects such as mosquitoes, deer flies, smaller dragonflies, and
butterflies and moths. One species of dragonfly takes spiders out of their webs.
Bloodthirsty predators that they are, dragonflies and damselflies are prey for other animals in their turn. The
nymphs are eaten by fish, frogs, toads, and other aquatic creatures. In the adult stage, they are hunted by birds, frogs,
and larger dragonflies and damselflies. They might also be caught in a spider’s web. What goes around, comes around.
A if it is a fact about dragonflies only
B if it is a fact about damselflies only
C if it is a fact about both dragonflies and damselflies They have sawlike jaws.
They hold their wings on their backs while resting.
Their eyes have a gap between them.
They can be seen in fields at a distance from ponds and streams.
The largest species has a wingspan of 19 centimeters.
The largest fossil has a wingspan of 75 centimeters. Page 6 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. in the air near the water’s surface with their lips nymphs weeks or months tadpoles at the bottom of a pond swimmers fliers months or years with their wings The eggs are laid
__________. The young dragonflies and damselflies, called
__________, live underwater for a few
__________. They eat small water animals, catching their food
_________. When they are almost fully
grown, they leave the water. The adults live for only a few __________. They are skillful __________ and catch their prey __________. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68.
One day in 1874, an explorer, Ernest Giles, struggled up a small hill and was confronted with a sight such as
he could never have dreamed of finding. Before him, impossibly imposing, stood the most singular monolith on earth,
the great red rock now known as Uluru. Hastening to report the find, he was informed that a man named William
Gosse had chanced upon it a few days ahead of him and had already named it Ayers Rock after the South Australia governor.
So you are aware, as you drive to the park entrance, that you have driven 1,300 miles to look at something
you have seen portrayed a thousand times already. In consequence, your mood as you approach this famous monolith
is restrained, unexpectant - pessimistic even. And then you see it, and you are instantly transfixed. There, in the
middle of a memorable and imposing emptiness, stands an eminence of exceptional nobility and grandeur, 1,150 feet
high, a mile and a half long, five and a half miles around.
It’s not that Uluru is bigger than you had supposed or more perfectly formed or in any way different from the
impression you had created in your mind, but the very opposite. It is exactly what you expected it to be. You know
this rock. You know it in a way that has nothing to do with calendars and the covers of souvenir books.
It is a motion too much faint to be understood or interpreted, but somehow you sense that this large,
brooding, hypnotic presence has an importance to you at the species level - perhaps even at a sort of tadpole level -
and that in some way your visit here is more than happenstance. Page 7
I’m suggesting nothing here, but I will say that if you were an intergalactic traveler who had broken down in
our solar system, the obvious directions to rescuers would be: ‘Go to the third planet and fly around till you see the
big red rock. You can’t miss it.’ If ever on earth they dig up a 150,000 -year-old rocket ship from the Galaxy Zog, this is
where it will be. I’m not saying I expect it to happen; not saying that at all. I’m just observing that if I were looking for
an ancient starship, this is where I would start digging.
You realize that you could spend quite a lot of time - possibly a worryingly large amount of time; possibly a
sell-your-house-and-move-here-to-live-in-a-tent amount of time - just looking at the rock, gazing at it from many
angles, never tiring of it. You can see yourself hanging out with much younger visitors and telling them: ‘And the
amazing thing is every day it’s different, you know what I’m saying? It’s never the same rock twice. That’s right, my
friend - you put your finger on it there. It’s awesome. It’s an awesome thing.’
Instead, we stopped at the visitors’ centre for a cup of coffee and to look at the displays, which were all to do
with interpretations of the Dreamtime - the Aborigines’ traditional conception of how the earth was formed and
operates. There was nothing instructive in a historical or geological sense, which was disappointing because I was
curious to know what Uluru is doing there. How do you get the biggest rock in existence onto the middle of an empty plain?
Afterwards we had one last drive around the rock before heading back to the lonely highway. We had been at
the site for barely two hours, obviously not nearly enough time, but I realized as I turned around in my seat to watch
it shrinking into the background behind us that there never could be enough, and I felt moderately comforted by that thought.
It is less red than photographs have led you to expect but in every other way more arresting than you could ever
have supposed. I have discussed this since with many other people, nearly all of whom agreed that they approached
Uluru with a kind of fatigue, and were left amazed in a way they could notadequately explain.
By the time you finally get there you are already a little sick of it. You can't go a day in Australia without seeing it
four or five or six times - on postcards, on travel posters, on the cover of picture books - and as you get nearer, the
frequency of exposure increases.
Climbing up takes several hours and much exertion. Even when it's not too hot, lots of people get in trouble. Just
the day before a Canadian had had to be rescued off a ledge from which he could not get either up or down.
Fortunately, they close it to climbers when the weather is really warm, as it was this day.
It is grounded in something much more elemental. In some odd way that you don't understand and can't begin to
articulate you feel an acquaintance with it - a familiarity on an unfamiliar level. Somewhere in the deep sediment of
your being some long-dormant fragment of memory has twitched or stirred.
In fact, it is almost 300 miles across a largely featureless tract. Uluru's glory is that it stands alone in a boundless
emptiness, but it does mean that you have to really want to see it; it's not something you're going to pass on the way to the beach.
It turns out that Uluru is what is known as a bornhardt: a hunk of weather-resistant rock left standing when all else
around it has worn away; but nowhere else on earth has one hunk of rock been left in such dramatic and solitary
splendour or assumed such a pleasing smooth symmetry. Page 8
I'm not saying that any of this is so. I'm just saying that this is how you feel. The other thought that strikes you -
that struck me anyway - is that Uluru is not merely a splendid and mighty monolith, but also an extremely distinctive one.
Quite apart from that initial shock of indefinable recognition, there is also the fact that Uluru is totally arresting.
You cannot and don't want to stop looking at it. As you draw closer, it becomes even more interesting. It is less
regular than you had imagined. There are more curves and more irregularities than are evident from even a couple of hundred yards away.
The greater Pacific region, traditionally called Oceania, consists of three cultural areas: Melanesia, Micronesia,
and Polynesia. Melanesia, in the southwest Pacific, contains the large islands of New Guinea, the Solomons, Vanuatu,
and New Caledonia. Micronesia, the area north of Melanesia, consists primarily of small scattered islands. Polynesia is
the central Pacific area in the great triangle defined by Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand. Before the arrival of
Europeans, the islands in the two largest cultural areas, Polynesia and Micronesia, together contained a population estimated at 700,000.
Speculation on the origin of these Pacific islanders began as soon as outsiders encountered them, in the
absence of solid linguistic, archaeological, and biological data, many fanciful and theories were devised.
Pacific islanders are variously thought to have come from North America, South America, Egypt, Israel,
and India, as well as Southeast Asia. Many older theories implicitly deprecated the navigational abilities and overall
cultural creativity of the Pacific Islanders. For example, British anthropologists G. Elliot Smith and W. J. Perry
assumed that only Egyptians would have been skilled enough to navigate and colonize the Pacific. They inferred
that the Egyptians even crossed the pacific to found the great civilizations of the New World (North and South America).
In 1947 Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl drifted on a balsa-log raft westward with the winds
and currents across the pacific from South America to prove his theory that Pacific islanders were Native Americans
(also called American Indians). Later, Heyerdahl suggested that the Pacific was peopled by three migrations: by
Native Americans from the Pacific Northwest of North America drifting to Hawaii, by Peruvians drifting to Easter
Island, and by Melanesians. In 1969, he crossed the Atlantic in an Egyptian style reed boat to prove Egyptian
influences in the Americas. Contrary to these theorists, the overwhelming evidence of physical anthropology,
linguistics, and archaeology shows that the Pacific islanders came from Southeast Asia and were skilled enough as
navigators to sail against the prevailing winds and currents
. The basic cultural requirements for the successful
colonization of the Pacific islands include the appropriate boat-building, sailing, and navigation skills to get to the
islands in the first place, domesticated plants and gardening skills suited to often marginal conditions, and a varied inventory of fishing
and techniques. It is now generally believed that these prerequisites originated with
peoples speaking Austronesian languages (a group of several hundred related languages) and began to emerge in
Southeast Asia by about 5000 B.C.E. The culture of that time, based on archaeology and linguistic reconstruction, is
assumed to have had a broad inventory of cultivated plants including taro, yarns, banana, sugarcane, breadfruit, Page 9
coconut, sago, and rice. Just as important, the culture also possessed the basic foundation for an effective maritime
adaptation, including outrigger canoes and a variety of fishing techniques that could be effective for overseas voyaging.
Detailed studies of the winds and currents
using computer simulations suggest that drifting canoes would have been a most unlikely means of colonizing the
pacific. These expeditions were likely driven by population growth and political dynamics on the home islands, as
well as the challenge and excitement of exploring unknown waters. Because all Polynesians, Micronesians, and many
Melanesians speak Austronesian languages and grow crops derived from Southeast Asia, all these peoples most
certainly derived from that region and not the New World or elsewhere. The pre-Columbian presence in
Oceania of the sweet potato, which is a New World domesticate, has sometimes been used to support Heyerdahl’s
“American Indians in the Pacific” theories. However, this is one plant out of a long list of Southeast Asian
domesticates. As Patrick Kirch, an American anthropologist, points out, rather than being brought by rafting South
Americans, sweet potatoes might just have easily been brought back by returning Polynesian navigators who could
have reached the west coast of South America.
According to paragraph 1, all of the following are true statements about Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia EXCEPT
A. Collectively, these regions are traditionally known as Oceania.
B. These islands of Micronesia are small and spread out.
C. Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand mark the boundaries of Polynesia.
D. Melanesia is situated to the north of Micronesia.
By stating that the theories are , the author means that
A. if one of the theories is true, then all the others must be false.
B. the differences between the theories are unimportant.
C. taken together, the theories cover all possibilities.
D. the theories support each other.
Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 2 about early theories of where the first inhabitants of the Pacific islands came from?
A. They were generally based on solid evidence.
B. They tried to account for the origin of the characteristic features of the languages spoken by Pacific islanders.
C. They assumed that the peoples living in Southeast Asia did not have the skills needed to sail to the Pacific islands.
D. They questioned the ideas of G. Elliot Smith and W. J. Perry. The word
in the passage is closest in meaning to Page 10 A. skills B. tools C. opportunities D. practices
In paragraph 3, why does the author provide information about the types of crops grown and boats used in
Southeast Asia during the period around 5000 B. C. E.?
A. To evaluate the relative importance of agriculture and fishing to early Austronesian peoples.
B. To illustrate the effectiveness of archaeological and linguistic methods in discovering details about life in ancient times.
C. To contrast living conditions on the continent of Asia with living conditions on the Pacific islands.
D. To demonstrate that people from this region had the skills and resources necessary to travel to and survive on the Pacific islands.
Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the in the passage?
A. Some people have argued that the Pacific was settled by traders who became lost while transporting domesticated plants and animals.
B. The original Polynesian settlers were probably marooned on the islands, but they may have been joined later by
carefully prepared colonization expeditions.
C. Although it seems reasonable to believe that colonization expeditions would set out fully stocked, this is
contradicted by much of the evidence.
D. The settlement of the Pacific islands was probably intentional and well planned, rather than accidental, as some people have proposed. The word
in the passage is closest in meaning to A. mysterious B. unexpected C. acknowledged D. significant
According to paragraph 4, which of the following is NOT an explanation for why a group of people might have
wanted to colonize the Pacific islands?
A. As their numbers increased, they needed additional territory.
B. The winds and currents made the islands easy to reach.
C. The political situation at homemade emigration desirable,
D. They found exploration challenging and exciting.
Why does the author mention the views of Patrick Kirch?
A. To present evidence in favour of Heyerdahl’s idea about American Indians reaching Oceania
B. To emphasize the familiarity of Pacific islanders with crops from many different regions of the world
C. To indicate that supposed proof for Heyerdahl’s theory has an alternative explanation.
D. To demonstrate that some of the same crops were cultivated in both South America and Oceania. Page 11 Look at the
that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage:
. Where could the sentence best fit? A. [1] B. [2] C. [3] D. [4] 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85.
The internet often tells us what we think we know, spreading misinformation and nonsense while it’s at it. It can
substitute surface for depth, imitation for authenticity, and its passion for recycling would surpass the most
committed environmentalist. In 10 years, I’ve seen thinking habits change dramatically: if information is not
immediately available via a Google search, people are often completely at a loss. And of course a Google search merely
provides the most popular answer, not necessarily the most accurate. Nevertheless, there is no question, to my mind,
that the access to raw information provided by the internet is unparalleled. We’ve all read that the internet sounds
the death knell of reading, but people read online constantly - we just call it surfing now. What’s being read is
changing, often for the worse; but it is also true that the internet increasingly provides a treasure trove of rare
documents and images, and as long as we have free access to it, then the internet can certainly be a force for education and wisdom.
Sometimes I think my ability to concentrate is being nibbled away by the internet. In those quaint days before the
internet, once you made it to your desk there wasn’t much to do. Now you sit down and there’s a universe of
possibilities - many of them obscurely relevant to the work you should be getting on with - to tempt you. To think that
I can be sitting here, trying to write something about the Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman and, a moment later,
on the merest whim, while I’m in Swedish mode, can be watching a clip from a Swedish documentary about the jazz
musician Don Cherry - that is a miracle (albeit one with a very potent side-effect, namely that it’s unlikely I’ll ever
have the patience to sit through an entire Bergman film again . Then there’s another thing. From the age of 16, I got
into the habit of compiling detailed indexes in the backs of books of poetry and drama. So if there were a quote I
needed for an assignment, I would spend hours going through my books, seeking it out. Now I just google keywords.
It’s curious that some of the most vociferous critics of the internet - those who predict that it will produce generations
of couch potatoes - are the very sorts of people who are benefiting most from this wonderful, liberating, organic
extension of the human mind. They are academics, scientists, scholars and writers, who fear that the extraordinary
technology they use every day is a danger to the unsophisticated. They underestimate the capacity of the human mind
to capture and capitalise on new ways of storing and transmitting information. When I was at school I learned by
heart great swathes of science textbooks. What a waste of my neurons, all clogged up with knowledge and rules that I
can now obtain with the click of a mouse. At its best, the internet is no threat to our minds. It is another liberating
extension of them, as significant as books, the abacus or the pocket calculator. Page 12
The evidence that the internet has a deleterious effect on the brain is zero. In fact, by looking at the way human
beings gain knowledge in general, you would probably argue the opposite. The opportunity to have multiple sources
of information or opinion at your fingertips, and to dip into these rather than trawl laboriously through a whole book,
is highly conducive to the acquisition of knowledge. It is being argued by some that the information coming into the
brain from the internet is the wrong kind of information. It’s too short, it doesn’t have enough depth, so there is a
qualitative loss. It’s an interesting point, but the only way you could argue it is to say that people are misusing the
internet. It’s a bit like saying to someone who’s never seen a car before and has no idea what it is: “Why don’t you
take it for a drive and you’ll find out?” If you seek information on the internet like that, there’s a good chance you’ll
have a crash. But that’s because your experience has yet to grasp what a car is.
Reservations about the benefits of universal access to it are unfounded. __________
It excels in its ability to disseminate facts. __________
Its power to sidetrack us can be both positive and negative. __________
It assists learning by exposing people to a wider range of ideas than was previously __________ possible.
Much of the material on it is not original. __________
It enables us to follow up on ideas that suddenly occur to us. __________
It is only with time and practice that we can make best use of the internet. __________
The quality of material on it is questionable. __________
It still requires people to process the written word. __________
It has reduced the need to memorise information. __________
Learning is the act of incorporating new facts, concepts, and abilities into our brains. We start learning in the
womb and we never stop; we are always developing new competencies. Every new bit of knowledge we acquire
builds on what we already know and gives us a fuller, richer picture of the world. The more developed our
understanding of the world is, the easier it is for us to adapt and pivot when our circumstances change.
We know from biology that organisms that can adapt to their constantly changing environment survive and
thrive. Those that cannot eventually go extinct. The same holds true for us in our life and work. We all know the
person at work who has not adapted to the changing times. Their unwillingness to stretch themselves and learn
something new makes it seem like they are moving backwards.
Learning something new means you might have to change your mind; however, it is easy to think there is no
room for new ideas. But not wanting to change your mind will keep you stuck in the same place. Overcoming our egos Page 13
can be one of the big challenges of learning. Therefore, being willing to admit when you are wrong and adjust your
thinking is the thing that will help you learn the most. The most important step to learning is recognizing your
ignorance and deciding to do something about it.
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Some people believe that it should be compulsory for every teacher to possess foreign language and informatics
certificates to improve teaching quality and working efficiency; to suggest the contrary would produce harmful effects.
Discuss the statement and give your opinion. Page 14