PAU A very gifted family

A very gifted family                          

Oxford is one of the most prestigious universities in the world and most students in Britain would be more than happy to begin their studies there at the age of eighteen.  That would be too long for Sufiah Yusof to wait, however!  Sufiah is only twelve but she's just got the top grade in her further maths exam and in a few weeks she's going to start at Oxford.

Is this unusual?  Not in Sufiah's family.  In fact, her sister Aisha, who's fourteen, and her brother Iskander, who's ten, are also considering going to Oxford.  The children's father, Farook, who's a freelance researcher, is quite certain that Iskander, who also did astonishingly well in his maths and further maths exam, is mature enough both intellectually and emotionally to benefit from study at university.  Indeed, he maintains that any delay at this stage might well be a source of frustration for his son.

Nor is this just a family of future Einsteins.  Last year, Abbi, the eldest  child, who's concentrated more on his sporting abilities than his intellectual interests, reached the last sixteen of the British under-fourteen tennis championships.  Meanwhile, not to be outdone, the baby of the family, three-year-old Zuleika, has a reading age of seven and is already showing precocious skill at ball games.

(Comprehension (3 points: 1 per question)

Answer questions 1-3 according to the information given in the text.  Use your own words.

1.       What is special about the Yusofs?

2.       What are the children good at?

3.       Why is Farook worried about Iskander?

LEXICON    (2 points: 0.5 points per question)

1.       Find one word in the text that means “cause, origin”.

2.       Find in the text the word which has the following definition: “time lost by inaction'.

3.       Give one opposite of “future” (line 14).

4.     Find one opposite in the text for “doubtful”.

Grammar (1 points: 0.5 points per question)

1.       Put the following sentence into the passive voice: Nobody has helped the children.

2.       Put the following sentence into reported speech: Farook said, “My daughter will become a scientist.”

3.       Join the following sentences with a relative pronoun.  Farook is usually abroad. His children are exceptional.

4.       Complete this sentence with the correct form of the adjective and any other necessary words.

                    Who is (intelligent) of them?

      Production (3 points).

Write a composition (120 words).  Choose one of the following topics. Specify your option.

1.       Does intelligence make people happier?

2.       Exceptional people in my life.

PAU CHILD EXPLOITATION

CHILD EXPLOITATION

    Dhiraj Kumar, who is 14 years old, works at a tea shop at Delhi's bus station. His 12-hour work shift begins at 9 pm.  He makes tea, washes pots, pans and glasses, and serves the customers. For his work, he is paid 50 rupees (a little  less than one euro) a day. When a glass is stolen from the tea shop, he is held responsible. His family lives 1,000km  away, in the state of Bihar, and the smal  piece of land the family owns is unable to sustain everyone. Dhiraj’s pay is  crucial in the family's battle to survive.

     Children under 14 are vulnerable to physical, mental and even sexual abuse. Their exploitation goes unreported and unnoticed inside the closed confines of homes and food stalls. Parents say poverty forces them to send their children, sometimes as young as five, to work in other people's homes and businesses.

    An Indian government law banning children from working as domestic servants or in roadside food stalls came into  effect on 10 October, 2006. Anyone found exploiting children wil  face penalties, including imprisonment.   

    According to  the  authorities,  the  ban  will   affect  185,000  children  working  as  domestic  help  and  70,000  who  work  in  roadside  food stalls. But many people say the real number of exploited children could be as high as 20 mil ion, and consequently they believe the prohibition wil  not solve the entire problem.

(A)  COMPREHENSION (4 points)

a)  ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-2 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN

WORDS.

1) Can a child under 12 work legally as a housemaid in India? Why?

2) Why may the Government’s measure not solve the entire problem of child labour?  (1 point per answer)

b)   ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH WORDS OR PHRASES

                  FROM THE TEXT. 

3) Dhiraj has to work the whole night.

4) His family does not need the money he earns.

5) In India some children start working when they are five years old.

6) Children cannot work in roadside food stalls.

(B)  USE OF ENGLISH (3 points)

7) Find in the text the word which has the following definition: 

“which can be easily attacked or easily hurt” (adjective)

8) Find in the text one opposite for WEALTH (noun).

9) Give an adjective with the same root as SURVIVE (noun) (l. 5).

10) Find in the text one synonym for FORBID (verb).

11) Join the fol owing sentences using a relative pronoun. Make changes if necessary.

A friend of mine is a famous scientist. He was born in India.

12) Turn the following sentence into the passive voice:

They say he is very young to work.

13) Rewrite the sentence without changing its meaning. Begin as indicated.

Many Indian people are too poor to have their own houses.

Many Indian people aren’t …

14) Turn the fol owing sentences into reported speech:

“I am very sorry for what I have done”, he said.

(C) PRODUCTION (3 points)

15) Write a composition (120 WORDS) Choose ONE of the fol owing options. Specify your option.

a)   What are the problems affecting children in poor countries?

b)   Would you like to travel to an underdeveloped country? Give reasons.

WORD FORMATION 1 Use of English

                         

SEE YORK BY RICKSHAW       An _________________________________ doctor who works in York has set up a company which takes  _________________________________ round the city in rickshaws . He got the idea after reading an _________________________ article about the benefits of cycling _________________________________ ; he  remembered   the rickshaws  which he had _________________________________ seen in Nepal, and thought this might be and _________________________________ way of getting fit.     The scheme has been _________________________________; and the passengers who he takes round like visiting places which you can’t ___________________________   get to by car . He has now recruited two __________________________  to help him, and plans to take on some more.

Enterprise Tour Interest Regular Recent Enjoy Success Normal Study

 

PAU A SONG A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY

A SONG A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY

Music therapy may one day be used as standard treatment for all kinds of illnesses. It may even replace traditional medicine.  This is because recent studies have shown that music can speed up a person's recovery after a serious illness.

In 1996, a study which was carried out at Colorado State University in the USA proved that stroke victims who listened to music on a regular basis showed improvement in their ability to walk.  This was in direct opposition to stroke victims who had not been exposed to music at all.  According to this and other similar studies, music evidently stimulates the brain's motor system.  In addition, it improves the spirits of stroke victims, causing them to be more sociable and less depressed.

Music has the same sort of effect on brain-damaged children.  Stevie is a three-year-old boy who was born with cerebral palsy (CP). It is difficult for him to walk or to move his body in any way.  Moreover, he thinks slowly and can hardly speak.  However, all of Stevie's symptoms improve when he visits his music therapist.  As the music plays, Stevie's entire body seems to come alive.  He begins to laugh excitedly as he bangs on the drums and taps on the piano keys.  Stevie's therapist claims, "By following the rhythm, Stevie is learning to balance his body and coordinate his movements."

Although music therapists believe every patient needs music in order to recover, the medical world hasn't yet fully accepted this belief.  Nevertheless, given its rate of success, it probably won't be long before music therapy is just as routine as any other kind of medical treatment.

Questions

1.  According to the passage and using your own words, answer the following:

a)      Why does the therapist believe that music is helping Stevie to coordinate his movements?

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

b)      What prediction does the writer of the article make?

....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

True or False . Give evidence from the text

1.       Music can be an alternative to traditional medicine.  ..........................................................................

2.       Every single stroke victim improved their ability to walk. .................................................................

3.       Music therapy can only be used with stroke victims.  ..........................................................................

4.       Music therapy influences only the body. ..........................................................................................

Find a word or phrase in the passage which means the same as the following: (0.25)

a)  make faster   ...........................................             c)      makes better ..............................................

b)  done            ............................................     d) make stable .........................................................

          Rewrite the following sentences so that the meaning stays the same.

a)    Stevie can hardly speak. (be able to) ....................................................................... .      

b)     b) The medical world hasn't fully accepted music therapy.

Music therapy..................................................................

·        Write a composition of about 120 words on one of the following topics.  Specify your option.

a)      Has music ever improved your spirits?  Give examples.

b)      Why is music important in our lives?

PAU A psychological test

A psychological test

A friend of mine told me recently about a test designed to determine if a child is going to be successful in the adult world.  I'm not sure how scientific the test was intended to be or if my friend remembered the details accurately, but here goes.  four--,,ear-old child is in the psychologist’s office.  There is a delicious looking chocolate en the table.  The chocolate is easy for the child to see and is perfectly accessible.  The psychologist engages the child in conversation for a few minutes and then pretends that she has to leave the office.

          "If the chocolate is still there when I come back," she says, "I'11 give it to you and another one.  But if you eat that chocolate before 1 get back, there won't be another!

Well, most of the children apparently took a 'bird-in-the-hand' view and ate the chocolate while the psychologist was away.  A few, however, exercised self-control and left it well alone.  Ten years later, it seems, the children who didn't eat the chocolate were showing more signs of success in their studies.  Why The idea, it seems, is that instead of being subject to their immediate impulses, they are capable of sacrifice in the short term in order to gain in the long term.

 ( Comprehension (3 points: 1 per question)

Answer questions 1-3 according to the information given in the text.  Use your own words.

1.      What do the psychologist and the child do in the office?

2.      Why does the psychologist leave the office?

3.      Which students were less successful  in their studies?

LEXICON  (1 points: 0.5 points per question)

1.      Find one synonym in the text for "simulate".

2.      Find in the text the word which has the following definition :"easy to reach".

3.      Give one opposite of "gain" .

4.      Find one synonym in the text meaning "triumph".

GRAMMAR  (1 points: 0.5 points per question)

1.      Put the following sentence into the passive voice:  Most of the children ate the chocolate.

2.      Put the following sentence into reported speech:

The psychologist told the child, "Wait here for a moment."

3.      Rewrite the following sentence with no change in meaning:

The child was very hungry, so he ate the chocolate.

The child was so...  '.

4.      Provide a question for this answer: That's the psychologist's office.

 PRODUCTION  (3 points).

Write a composition (80-100words).Choose one of the following topics. Specify your option.

1.      Would you like to be a psychologist?  Why? Why not?

2.     ‘ Fast food is good for your health´ .Discuss