Topic 2. Reading and Dealing With Information

Task 1.
Read each text and choose the missing word or phrase:

1. If it was predominantly a way of conveying information, why isn’t language more
stable? Even within language groups, it changes from community to community,
from generation to generation. This shows the dominance of the socializing element.
Why? Because language is our way of establishing a group identity, of …… from
outsiders.
a) removing ourselves;
b) protecting ourselves;
c) distinguishing ourselves.
2. There is a popular belief that a goldfish has a memory of approximately seven and
a half seconds. If this is true, it would account for its seemingly endless curiosity
every time it does a …… of a goldfish bowl.
a) complete circuit;
b) full survey;
c) detailed inspection.
3. Currently, there are several options available for dealing with the issue of
endangered languages. One of the most controversial is simply to do nothing. Such a
strategy would …… the assertion made by some people that it is perfectly normal for
languages to change or die.
a) support;
b) counter;
c) weaken.
4. I have been using the article and demonstration videos from your website over a
number of years and continue to develop my own and other people’s memory skills. I
would like to thank you and your wonderful team for helping me …… my true
potential.
a) to understand;
b) to realize;
c) to acknowledge.
5. There seems to be no agreement on what learning to learn actually means. It tends
to be used as a rather vague general term, for any attempts by adults to develop ……
their own particular method of learning.
a) strategies for;
b) insights into;
c) answers for.
6. For many, the mind is synonymous with thought. It’s the conversation which is
going on inside our heads. It’s seen as a private thing which nobody else has access
to. Others can try to interpret what we are thinking, but they can never really know
what’s going on. ……, do we ourselves know what’s going on? Find out from Dr
Berkley.
a) On the contrary;
b) On the other hand;
c) Come to think of it.
Task 2. Read the passage and complete the sentences below choosing the correct
answer.
Dualism in the philosophy of the mind is the theory that the mind and the body
are in some categorical way separate from each other. It can be traced back to Plato,
Aristotle, and a number of the eastern philosophies, but it was most precisely
formulated by Rene Descartes in the 17th century.
Descartes (1596-1650) argued that since the nature of the mind (that is, a
thinking, non-spatial thing) is completely different from that of the body (that is, a
spatial, non-thinking thing), they are entirely separate entities, and therefore it is
possible for one to exist without the other. The theory allowed for the immortality of
the soul, which made it so accepted by religious bodies.
However, the argument also begged a very big question concerning mind-body
casual interaction: if their natures are completely different, how can the mind
instigate bodily movement (for example, raising one’s hand to ask a question), and
how can the body’s sense organs cause sensations of the mind?
Benedict de Spinoza (1632-1677) tried to solve this problem of dualism by
claiming that the mind and body are not two different substances that interact; rather
they are both attributes of one substance. His theory is known as psycho-physical
parallelism.
The current version of identity theory is that the mind and the brain are one and
the same thing. And since there is only one substance, there is no problem of
interaction. Consciousness is the individual’s experience of the brain, and brain
processes that accompany conscious experience are observable.
For example, if you twist your ankle, you will be conscious of pain. On a
physical level, your central nervous system is sending messages from your ankle to
your brain. Or suppose you are sitting down and want to stand up. Your decision to
move your body sends messages from your brain to your muscles and your arms and
legs move.
But has the problem of interaction finally been solved? It’s all very well talking
about things like pain or simple body movements. Things get rather more
complicated when we go beyond such things to more complex concepts. If, for
example, I am thinking of the concept of equality or of a member of my family, how
likely is it that I am using the same physical areas of the brain as someone else who is
thinking exactly the same things, or that a brain scanner could be used to analyze
what we both were thinking.
1. Descartes argued that the mind and the body …
a) cannot operate simultaneously.
b) are independent of each other.
c) should be defined differently.
2. Descartes’ contribution to dualism was …
a) inventing the term.
b) originating the concept.
c) developing the theory.
3. A problem with Descartes’ theory was that…
a) it didn’t understand how the body works.
b) it didn’t explain physical reactions to mental activity.
c) it only considered mental activity.
4. According to Spinoza, mind and body …
a) have a causal relationship.
b) perform exactly the same function.
c) are characteristics of one entity.
5. Current thinking on the subject …
a) has resolved the issue of interaction.
b) accepts Spinoza’s idea.
c) regards all mental activity as physical.
6. More complex mental activity …
a) is untraceable in the brain.
b) is difficult for science to interpret.
c) registers differently with different people.
Task 3. Read the article below and answer the questions.
It’s possible that two million years ago our ancestors spoke some kind of
language, although it would have been very different from what we call language
today. It would be more accurate to call it proto-language - single utterances without
syntax, similar to what we hear from infants.
Language as we know it today, developed when humans left the forests some
120,000 years ago and went out onto the grasslands to look for animals and
vegetables to eat, (hence the term “hunter-gatherers”). In such circumstances, it
became extremely important for those returning from hunting fir food to be able to
indicate where they had found food, which means having to develop symbols that
could be used free of context. In other words, they had to develop a language.
Most experts think that gesture preceded words. This is borne out when we
observe how our more primitive relations (e.g. chimpanzees) behave. And hand
gestures are still an essential part of human communication (even when talking on the
phone). It’s likely that words did not predominate over gesture-based language until
about 100,000 years ago, when some kind of genetic change probably allowed human
speech to develop enough to become a separate system, rather than a series of sounds
to accompany gestures.
1. What is a more accurate name for very early language?
2. From whom would we hear a kind of proto-language nowadays?
3. Why did hunter-gatherers need language.
4. What modern activity shows the continued use of gesture?
5. What is likely to have facilitated the development of speech?
Task 4. Read the article below and answer the questions.
Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who constructed the theory of child
development and learning centered on the idea that the developing child builds
cognitive structures, types of mental maps or “schema” in order to understand and
respond to physical experiences within his or her environment. These schema
increase in sophistication with development, moving from a number of instinctive
reflexes such as crying and grasping to highly complex mental activities. His theory
maps out in great detail four developmental stages and the processes by which
children progress through them.
During each stage, the child experiences his or her environment using whatever
mental maps he or she has constructed so far. If the experience is repeated or familiar
one, the child assimilates it into his or her existing schema. If the experience is
different or new, the child alters his or her schema in order to accommodate it. A
child accommodates because he or she confronts something which is new, he or she
gets confused. Accommodation helps to regain equilibrium. In so doing, the child
builds up more and more cognitive structures.
1. What kind of theory did Piaget construct?

2. What is Piaget’s particular term for mental maps?
3. What does the child do when confront with experiences he or she recognizes?
4. How does the child feel when faced with new experiences?
5. What is the effect of accommodation?

Topic 2. Reading and Dealing With Information

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Task 1.

Read each text and choose the missing word or phrase:

1. What kind of theory did Piaget construct?

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