Upper Intermediate Achievement test 3 (Units 5–6)
According to the text:
Reading 1 People can’t read well nowadays. T/F
1 Read the article. Underline true (T) or false 2 Parents sometimes pay more attention to
(F). their mobile phones than to their children. T/F
3 Scientists have been researching into the
Brain change effects of the internet. T/F
4 Exposure to lots of short texts makes it
Do you frequently interrupt what you’re doing to easier to concentrate on one thing. T/F
check your emails or text messages? Or find it 5 People often feel bored when they
difficult to concentrate on reading a long newspaper receive new texts or emails. T/F
article, or a book? Do your children complain 6 People who do more than one task at
because you’re too busy writing tweets or checking a time work less effectively. T/F
social media to play with them? It’s likely that most 7 People who do a lot of multi-tasking are
people nowadays would answer ‘yes’ to at least one usually more stressed. T/F
of these questions. 8 The use of technology can be very good
for the brain. T/F
We are only a decade or so into the internet 9 The arrival of computers and mobile
revolution but scientists are already engaged in technology has had little impact on
a lively debate about the effect it is having on our our lives. T/F
brains. They say that multi-tasking is changing how 10 People have less free time now. T/F
we think and behave, and that our ability to focus on 11 The writer thinks that interaction with
what we are doing is being damaged by frequent other people is less important than
short bursts of information. According to recent making new discoveries. T/F
research, these ‘bursts’ play to a primitive impulse
in us to pay attention to new information. In the 10
past, this would probably have meant danger
nearby: a lion or some other kind of enemy. The
equivalent nowadays is the ping of a new message 2 Read the text again and underline the correct
or email, provoking a feeling of excitement that can answer, a), b) or c).
become very addictive. Without it, people feel
bored. 1 These days many people c .
a) don’t even read short newspaper articles
While many people think that multi-tasking makes b) play with their children on social media
them more productive, this has been shown to be c) are unable to concentrate for long
false. Researchers say that heavy multi-taskers have 2 Scientists believe that is changing our
more trouble concentrating and find it difficult to brains.
ignore irrelevant information. They also experience a) our ability to multi-task
more stress. On the other hand, the use of b) social media
technology can also benefit the brain in some ways. c) how we now view danger
Web surfers are said to be better at finding 3 Research has shown that people are more likely to
information, while some videogames give users become .
better visual coordination. a) bored with messaging after a short time
b) addicted to modern means of communication
Generally speaking, no one would deny that mobile c) productive if they multi-task
phones and computers have transformed life as we 4 People who frequently multi-task .
knew it. People have more freedom to work a) may be prone to higher levels of stress
anywhere. The world has shrunk and computers can b) find it easier to dismiss useless data
deal with boring daily tasks, giving us more free c) are better able to focus on tasks
time to enjoy life. Nevertheless, we should also be 5 It has been found that some videogames .
aware of the dangers of these recent discoveries. a) reduce levels of stress in individuals
The time may soon come when we will cherish our b) aid eye to hand movement
ability to be able to ‘think for ourselves’, of c) improve people’s ability to find information on
switching off the computer and reading a good the internet
book, of being human: in other words, of paying 6 In the future, we might .
more attention to the people around us. a) miss doing repetitive and boring tasks
b) wish we had more free time
c) miss having real human contact
1 PHOTOCOPIABLE © Pearson Education Limited 2016
Upper Intermediate Achievement test 3 (Units 5–6)
2 PHOTOCOPIABLE © Pearson Education Limited 2016
