Angļu valoda optimālajā mācību satura apguves līmenī.

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Reading
Reading skills assessment consists of two tasks. The first task focuses on detailed understanding of the text, the
second one assesses your ability to gain a top-down view of the text organisation and overall understanding of text
comprehension.

Task 1 (13 points)

Your classmate has summarized the text below in 13 statements and has asked you to check them. Read the text about
electric cars and your classmate’s summary statements (1–13) below to decide if they are true (T), false (F) or not
mentioned (NM). Tick (✓) the appropriate box. An example (0) has been given.

ELECTRIC CARS

With a new decade starting shortly, it is time for a principled journalist to go through their self-administered decade
performance reviews. I will start – and try to keep it focused. For the past 10 years, I have waged an idealistic
counterattack against electric-car boosterism, raining skepticism on the vehicles’ potential to cure climate change, much
less to be the clean, green wave of the transportation future.
More than a few people (my Tesla-owner friends very much included) have questioned this obsession, and I freely
admit it is an odd one. The electric car advocates do make a credible assumption: Because gas-powered cars are
responsible for between one-sixth and one-fifth of U.S. carbon emissions, electrifying them could make a big difference.
Mass adoption of electric cars, however, cannot happen unless they can do everything gas-powered vehicles can do
– including the ability to go hundreds of miles before refueling, and refueling easily – at a comparable total cost of
ownership. Otherwise, electric cars will be a unique product for upper-income people. And government grants for them
will be a regressive transfer of social resources in return for little climate benefit.
Nothing happened in the past decade to weaken this basic critique. Government, both federal and state, funded elec
tric-car sales and production to the tune of several billion dollars, yet as of March 2019, there were 1.18 million electric
vehicles on the road in the United States – less than one-half of 1 percent of the total. Households earning $100,000 or
more per year own two-thirds of EVs, with many of the owners profiting from a $7,500 federal tax credit. Globally, elec
tric-car adoption is also modest to optimistic forecasts. Of the 86 million cars sold in the top 54 world markets in 2018,
1.26 million, or 1.5 percent, were EVs. That is nowhere near the – Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn’s 2010 prognosti
cation that EVs would account for 10 percent of global sales by 2020.
My biggest error was to underestimate the financial staying power of Elon Musk’s cash-burning Tesla Motors, which I
thought would exhaust investors’ patience long before it conquered the difficulties of mass-producing quality vehic les.
Tesla’s Model 3 is the most popular electric car on the market, with 111,000 sold in the first nine months of 2019. Owners
swear by it. Tesla’s survival, though, may be the exception that proves the rule. The promoted start-ups such as Coda, TH!
NK and Fisker all went bankrupt before 2015 – Fisker after failing on an Energy Department loan at an ulti mate cost to
taxpayers of $139 million. Chevrolet stopped making its Volt, a plug-in hybrid, in 2019 after selling only about 150,000
since the car launched in 2011. That same year, the Obama administration had projected that General Motors would sell
as many as 500,000 Volts by 2015.
But wait. What about recent reports that Volkswagen is making big new investments in electrics? Or Ford’s annou
ncement of a new all-electric Mustang crossover? GM, Chevy’s parent company, says it, too, is preparing a new genera
tion of EVs. Established automakers are indeed about to ramp up electric offerings, providing Tesla with its most serious
competition yet. They are doing so, however, more as a response to pressure from governments – even after the Trump
administration reduced fuel-economy standards – than as a response to demonstrated customer demand, which lately has
favoured gas-powered SUVs – cars that combine elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road
vehicles – and pickups.
The problem is still the same: getting the total cost of owning an EV down to that of a gas equivalent. There is uncer
tainty about key variables such as how much more battery costs will fall and the global supply of rare-earth elements.
Honda CEO Takahiro Hachigo told Automotive News Europe: “I do not believe there will be a dramatic increase in demand
for battery vehicles, and I believe this situation is true globally.”
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Angļu valoda optimālajā mācību satura apguves līmenī. Valsts pārbaudes darba paraugs

A mid-2018 report by JPMorgan Asset Management noted that the median global forecast by industry experts is 125
million EVs on the road worldwide by 2030, which would be less than 10 percent of the total. “I am taking the ‘under’
rather than the ‘over,’ ” the report’s author, Michael Cembalest, added. Me too. Let us meet again in 10 years to see who
wins that wager, and to assess the true costs and benefits of the bet that big government and big business have placed on
the electric car.

(Based on: Lane, Ch. Opinion: Why electric cars still don’t live up to the hype [online]. 2019, December 30.
Available: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-electric-cars-still-dont-live-up-to-the-hype/2019/12/30/242ce200-
2b29- 11ea-bcd4-24597950008f_story.html)

No. Statements T tT FF NNM

M

0. The journalist’s interests are focused on green transportation. ✓

1. The author of the article is sceptical about electric cars being the solution to T
the climate problem.

2. People and the author’s friends support his obsession. F

3. Gas powered car contribution to U.S. carbon emission is significant. T

4. Electric cars nowadays are not as efficient as gas powered cars. T

5. One of the many drawbacks of electric cars is their fuelling – cost and ease. T

6. Electric car users are happy about the benefits that are provided by the country. NM

7. The author expected the success of Tesla. F

8. In the nearest time Tesla will not have any competition in the electric car field. NM

9. For electric cars to become as popular as gas cars they have to be in the same T
price range as gas cars.

10. People buy more electric cars than gas powered SUVs. F

11. The cost of electric cars will soon go down. NM

12. Experts anticipate that by 2030 there will be 10% more electric cars on the road. F

13. By the end of the article, the author views the future of electric cars positively. F

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Task 2 (12 points)
DUNNING-KRUGER EFFECT

This phenomenon is something you have likely experienced in real life, perhaps around the dinner table at a holiday
family gathering. Throughout the course of the meal, a member of your extended family begins talking about a topic at
length, boldly proclaiming that he is correct and that everyone else’s opinion is just plain wrong. In this case you probably
witnessed the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

Prepare this interview for publication: match the interviewer’s questions about the Dunning-Kruger Effect with the
paragraphs giving answers to each of them. Write down the appropriate letter next to the question. An example (0) has
been given. There are more paragraphs than you need.

0. Do people know how good their sense of humor is? M

1. What is the Dunning-Kruger effect? K

2. What are the historical origins of the Dunning-Kruger effect? I

3. What causes the Dunning-Kruger effect? B

4. Why do people fail to recognize their own incompetence? C

5. Who is impacted by the Dunning-Kruger effect? J

6. Why do people think they know more than they do? D

7. Why is it dangerous to overestimate one’s competence? E

8. How can people avoid the Dunning-Kruger effect? L

9. Do I have the Dunning-Kruger effect? A

10. What can you personally do to fix the Dunning-Kruger effect? G

11. Do smart people underestimate themselves? F

12. What is the criticism towards the Dunning-Kruger effect? H

A. Ask a question, if you have ever heard similar criticisms from different people in your life and ignored or discounted
them. Take a look at those areas in your life where you feel 100 percent confident and think if you were always right.
Maybe you might need to acquire knowledge or practice more.

B.Confidence is so highly prized that many people would rather pretend to be smart or skilled than risk looking inadequate
and losing face. Even smart people can mistakenly believe that their experience and skills in one particular area are
transferable to another without acknowledging that overall intelligence is not the same thing as learning and developing a
specific skill.

C. Many people cannot accurately judge their own knowledge and ability and would describe themselves as above average
in intelligence, humor, and a variety of skills, but they actually are not. In fact, people who are the least skilled are also the
most likely to overestimate their abilities, because people lack the ability to analyze one’s own thoughts or performance, or
the ability to step back and examine oneself objectively.

D. One type of overconfidence is called overprecision, which occurs when someone is exaggeratedly certain that their
answers are correct. These individuals may seem highly competent and persuasive due to their apparent confidence. They
are often driven by a desire for status and power and the need to appear smarter than the people around them.

E. People who feel more intelligent or better frequently engage in wishful thinking with harmful consequences potentially
causing accidents, injuries or unpleasant financial situations. This kind of people may take risks and overextend themselves
beyond their limits, like an athlete pushing themselves to the point of injury.

F. Paradoxically, for many people, the more expertise they acquire, the less confidence they have. Experts know what they
do not know and are able to see complexities that a person with only a little knowledge in that area would overlook. As a
result, they tend to be more aware of any knowledge gaps or weaknesses they may have.

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Angļu valoda optimālajā mācību satura apguves līmenī. Valsts pārbaudes darba paraugs
G. Question what you know and pay attention to those who have different viewpoints. Seek feedback from people you
can trust who you know are highly skilled in your area of interest. Be open to constructive criticism and resist the impulse
to become defensive. Do not pretend to know something you do not. Make it a priority to continue learning and growing.

H. The better-than-average effect of the Dunning-Kruger effect could be questioned. Research showed that regardless of
intelligence, the majority (95 percent) judge themselves as better than they actually are.

I. The concept of the Dunning-Kruger effect is based on a 1999 paper by Cornell University psychologists David Dunning
and Justin Kruger. The pair tested participants on their logic, grammar, and sense of humor, and found that those who
performed in the bottom quartile rated their skills far above average.

J. The Dunning-Kruger effect has been found in areas ranging from logical reasoning to emotional intelligence, financial
knowledge, and firearm safety. And the effect is not spotted only among incompetent individuals; most people have weak
points where the bias can take hold. It also applies to people with a seemingly solid knowledge base.

K. The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people wrongly overestimate their knowledge or ability in a
specific area. This tends to occur because a lack of self-awareness prevents them from accurately assessing their own
skills.

L. To prevent falling prey to the Dunning-Kruger effect, people can honestly and routinely question their knowledge base
and the conclusions they draw, rather than blindly accepting them. Individuals could also escape the trap by seeking others
whose expertise can help cover their own blind spots, such as turning to a colleague or friend for advice or constructive
criticism.

M. In one experiment, for example, Dunning and Kruger asked their 65 participants to rate how funny different jokes
were. Some of the participants were exceptionally poor at determining what other people would find funny – yet these
same subjects described themselves as excellent judges of humor.

N. The researchers attributed the trend to a problem of metacognition – the ability to analyze one’s own thoughts or
performance. “Those with limited knowledge in a domain suffer a dual burden: Not only do they reach mistaken
conclusions and make regrettable errors, but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realize it,” they wrote.

(Based on: Cherry, K., Brenner, G. H. [online]. 2020, April 12. Available: https://www.verywellmind.com/an-overview-of-the-dunning
kruger-effect-4160740, https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/dunning-kruger-effect,
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/ blog/experimentations/202004/the-dunning-kruger-effect-may-be-statistical-illusion)