PRACTICE READING

READING PASSAGE 1:

THE DARK SIDE OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL BOOM

Changes in the way we work and how our offices are structured come at US faster and faster. Waves of state-of-the-art
information technology and instant telecommunications let us reach anyone, anywhere, and speed is the key. Most of US
are too busy struggling to keep pace with ongoing innovations to question the implications of our new electronic authority
figures. According to a number of psychologists, however, the need to stay on top of the information flow and the vent
degree to which we remain in touch with our offices exact a profound toll on US as individuals.

Mass exposure to technological innovations in the workplace has come too recently for psychologists to reach a consensus
on its societal implications. Many agree, however, that one of the first signs of the struggle to adapt to the electronic office
is often ‘technostress, a cognitive shift that results from an over-identification with information systems. Psychologist
Craig Brod says people become accustomed to the patterns set by electronic tools – accelerated time and yes/no logic –
and internalize these patterns. When they leave the office or go home, Brod says, they need complete isolation to recover
from the effects of the technology.

Brod warns that over-reliance on electronic tools could also have serious repercussions on our ability to think creatively
and develop new ideas. Because we don’t create in a vacuum, he points out, we need to avoid the temptation to replace
informal gatherings for bouncing ideas off colleagues with electronic networking. It’s also more difficult to spot errors or
even evaluate the shape of a project displayed in a flat, two-dimensional way on a screen.

Electronically networked offices can also make it increasingly difficult to convince ourselves that we’re doing an adequate
job and accumulating enough information to make informed decisions. Philosopher Daniel Dennett points out that
modern technology eliminates the possibility of unavoidable ignorance. As the opportunity to amass information grows
larger, the obligation to make accurate predictions – the right decisions – becomes more onerous. Instead of consoling
ourselves that we’re doing as good a job as we can, we are tormented by the knowledge that the world of information is
limitless.

For executives near the top of the office pyramid, the benefits of the electronic revolution – like telecommuting and
flexible scheduling – may outweigh the disadvantages of being continuously on call. But in Workplace 2000, authors Joseph
Boyett and Henry Conn describe a future in which millions of people now charged with analyzing information and making
routine decisions will be replaced by less skilled workers using ‘intelligent’ software to make decisions for them. They
predict that a cult of performance excellence will engulf most businesses.

The millions of people on the bottom levels of electronic hierarchies are increasingly likely to spend heir days in an isolated
no-man’s land, subservient to intelligent information systems that report their progress to unseen supervisors far away.
Because computers measure quantity and quality, such systems tend to reward employees who work faster more than
those who work better.

Service people on the telephone or at a cash register curtly terminate attempts at idle conversation because their
performance is being electronically monitored. Once judged on their ability to troubleshoot unexpected situations, they’re
now evaluated by the number of transactions they complete in a shift or the number of keystroke required to draft a
sweatshops’, the computers are running the people, not the other way around.

“I think people are going to feel an increased fragmentation of self. They won’t be able to hold the pieces together,’ human
resources consultant Philip Nicholson says. “How do you keep a coherent space if you’re going in and out of spaces that
don’t exist?’ He likens the psychic numbing of electronic information overload to symptoms of post- traumatic stress
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syndrome (a mental disorder following a horrific event). In office ‘wars’, people become overwhelmed by the sheer
amount of information available, internalize the diversity of the world outside, and fear losing their own lives.

If we are to survive the challenges of information-driven, hardwired offices, says Nicholson, we need to provide
psychological support systems. As no one has yet measured the social cost of the workplace revolution, some
psychologists are mobilizing efforts to pool information as it is derived. Nicholson started the Technostress International
Information Network in Massachusetts to foster an exchange of data and ideas on the effects of computerization and
information technology. Meanwhile, Brod wants to examine the parallels between electronic work environments and
sealed- cabin ecologies’ like space capsules or submarines, both totally automated artificial worlds in which people live in
highly confined circumstances surrounded by technology that dictates the tenor of their days as well as their survival. He
is petitioning other psychologists to convince the American Psychological Association to form a specialized study group.

In addition, Brod suggests that we re-examine our value systems and that we make greater allowances for privacy in order
to circumvent potential revolts against technology. We need to coevolve with technology,’ he says. “These are wonderful
tools, but if we exploit them without imposing appropriate values on their use, they become alienating and dangerous.’

Questions 1-3

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-E, below.

Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

1 The speed of technological changes

2 A dependency on technology and computers

3 A deterioration in personal service

A requires more detailed study by psychologists.

B means people have no time to challenge the significance of the new technology.

C may reduce inventiveness and innovation.

D suggests computers will take over the workplace.

E results from increased electronic supervision.

Questions 4-9

Look at the following statements (Questions 4-9) and the list of people below.

Match each statement with the correct person or people, A, B, c or D.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

4 Technology has placed greater expectations on workers not to make mistakes.

5 People will need time away from technology to reduce the frustrations caused by it.

6 Interacting with others at work contributes to creative thinking.

7 The psychological effect of working with technology is similar to the anxiety felt after surviving a major ordeal.

8 Technology will ultimately increase unemployment for more highly qualified personnel.

9 More counselling is required to help people cope with the demands of the modern workplace.

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List of People

A Craig Brod

B Daniel Dennett

C Joseph Boyett and Henry Conn

D Philip Nicholson

Questions 10-14

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

10 Our knowledge of the effects of technology on workers is still limited.

11 An early indicator of technological anxiety is a tendency to adopt machine-like thinking.

12 We have now started to doubt our ability to perform well at work.

13 Top level managers may be more negatively affected by changes electronic workplace than junior workers.

14 Employees who learn to use new technology quickly will get promoted.

Reading Passage 2:

TITAN OF TECHNOLOGY

Intel, the largest manufacturer of computer chips in the world, owes much of its technological success to the vision of
Gordon Moore. Although he is a witty and self-deprecating businessman, he freely admits to being an "accidental
entrepreneur," preferring to stay behind the scenes and talk shop with the engineers rather than face the public or shake
hands with the company's shareholders. After completing his doctorate, he applied for a position at Dow Chemical, where
the company psychologist determined that he "would never manage anything" despite his technical competence. In 2018,
Intel anticipates a $28 billion revenue year.

Moore was the driving force in research and advancement when he and the extrovert Robert Noyce established Intel
(short for Integrated Electronics) to develop integrated circuits 35 years ago; Moore was the quieter, more introverted
partner. The culture at Intel was typically Californian: casual and democratic, with an emphasis on polo shirts and chinos.
Moore was a typical office worker; he used a cubicle, never had a parking spot, and travelled coach. Nothing here suggests
a lack of ambition. Moore and Noyce had a common vision for the company, understanding that in addition to Intel's
technical prowess, its success would require innovative thinking. In 1961, while still a student at Fairchild Semiconductor,
Noyce was awarded the first patent for an integrated circuit.

Moore and Noyce became wealthy because of the success of Fairchild, but they were unable to fund any research and
development because of this. As a result of their frustration, they left in 1968 to create Intel. It was "one of those unusual
opportunities to get your hands on some cash, "Moore explains. With their first $250,000 investment and a "one-page
business plan that communicated basically nothing," they were able to attract $2.5 million in venture money. Funders and
founders each hold a 50% stake. After waiting for three years, Intel finally unveiled its 4004 CPU with 2,250 transistors in
it. After that, progress accelerated rapidly. Intel had a seven-year research and development advantage over its
competitors before they realised what was happening.
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Intel's Pentium-4 chip had 42 million transistors by the year 2000. "Now," says Moore, "we put a quarter of a billion
transistors on a chip, and we're looking forward to a billion in the near future." Excellent progress in efficiency has been
made. The 4004 operated at 108,000 hertz, or 108 kilohertz, while the Pentium*4 ran at three gigahertz (3 billion hertz).
If car speeds had similarly grown during the same time span, it is estimated that you could today drive from New York to
San Francisco in just six seconds.

Moore's foresight in predicting this shift has made him a legend. In 1965, while serving as head of Fairchild's research and
development lab, he wrote an article for Electronics magazine in which he made the following observation: "that over the
first four years we had basically quadrupled the complexity of integrated circuits every year." For the next decade, I
extrapolated blindly and predicted that the number of transistors per chip will increase from 60 to 60,000. Because
integrated circuits were so expensive and mostly used by the military at the time, this prediction came true much more
quickly than I had anticipated. However, I could foresee a huge shift in the economy. One could predict that this would
soon be the most cost-effective method of producing electronic devices.

Moore's Law, which states that the number of transistors in a chip, and hence its performance, will continue to double
roughly once every year, was quickly shown so accurately that a Caltech friend of Moore's, Carver Mead, gave it the name.
The moniker has remained. Since then, the exponential growth of the computer industry has been measured in
accordance with "Moore's Law." When Moore re-evaluated the situation in 1975 and noticed a decline in transistor
counts, he predicted that from then on, the performance of chips would only double every two years. However, the
prediction turned out to be gloomy. Since then, actual development has been right in the middle of his two forecasts, with
performance doubling every 1-8 months.

As Moore also points out, however, there is a corollary."If the price of a particular quantity of computing power decreases
by fifty percent every one to eight months, then the market bursts with new applications that were previously
unprofitable." says one analyst. In his view, the microprocessor has "nearly unlimited elastic" [Link] the price of
these gadgets continues to decline, more and more applications are discovered for them, such as smart light bulbs, flashing
sneakers, and singing "Happy Birthday" greeting cards. Where is the limit?After a number of additional generations of
circuits, the statement "the fact that materials are formed of atoms becomes a significant problem" is validated. You can't
get anything any smaller, really. In reality, though, the inevitable delay occurs because engineers are always coming up
with new and better ways to cram more transistors into a device. When we reached the size of a micron (around the year
1986) and were touching the wavelength of light, I think I shared the general consensus that we had to stop. However,
when we drew nearer, the barriers collapsed.”

The time for nanotechnology has arrived, as traditional chips have reached their limits. Sci-fi-sounding alternatives are
already being developed by scientists, such as molecular computers that are created atom by atom and could theoretically
process hundreds of thousands of times more information than today's processors. To calculate, quantum computers use
the quantum properties of electrons, which could allow for much greater speed. Moore's Law still appears to have a long
shelf life by all accounts.

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Questions 1-3: Choose the correct option, a, b, c or d.
1. Is there anything about Gordon Moore's character that can be determined from the first two paragraphs?

a. There has been a radical shift in it as his career has progressed.

b. Previously, it was deemed inappropriate for the industry he worked in, therefore it was removed from
consideration.

c. It shaped him into someone who is better at manufacturing than selling.

d. It's not as hard as it seems at first glance.

2. What did we find out about Intel back when it was originally created?

a. In contrast to its competitors, it was completely unique.

b. It had an easygoing vibe but a serious purpose.

c. It was unusual in its management style, and that made it stand out.

d. This method rewarded originality more than any other quality.

3. In the third paragraph, what information concerning Intel's founding is presented?

a. The availability of resources was a major driving factor.

b. Involved keeping some details under wraps.

c. It was motivated by the founders' need to get a certain product to market.

d. Its inception can be traced back to the founders' frustration with their company's prioritisation strategies.

Questions 4-8

Are the following claims accurate with the passage's information? Write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

4. Soon, rivals came close to catching up with Intel's advancements.

5. Moore had underestimated the success of Intel's Pentium 4 chip.

6..The forecast made by Moore in 1975 was based on insufficient evidence.

7. Flashing trainers illustrate Moore's theory regarding the relationship between price and utility.

8. Moore has always been convinced that issues regarding the sire of components can be resolved.

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Questions 9-14

Complete the summary using the words provided. Fill in your responses in boxes 9 – 14 on the answer sheet.

Gordon Moore's capacity to predict future events is well-known. In 1965, he mentioned the expansion of 9__________of
integrated circuits and predicted that the number of transistors will continue to rise over the next decade. The 10
_________ of his forecasting astonished him. Prior to now, the 11_________ and primary 12____________ of integrated
circuits were the key 13 _________ for their development. Moore, however, anticipated that the 14 _________ of
integrated circuits would improve rapidly. Moore's Law was coined as a result of his subsequent observations regarding
chips.

Design Use Opinion Invention

Cost-effectiveness Failure Sophistication Proposition

Production Influence Understanding Cost

Accuracy Demand Theory Inter-dependence

Familiarity Reception Appearance Refere

Reading practice 3:

PERSONALITY AND APPEARANCE

When Charles Darwin applied to be the “energetic young man” that Robert Fitzroy, the Beagle’s captain, sought as his
gentleman companion, he was almost let down by a woeful shortcoming that was as plain as the nose on his face. Fitzroy
believed in physiognomy—the idea that you can tell a person’s character from their appearance. As Darwin’s daughter
Henrietta later recalled, Fitzroy had “made up his mind that no man with such a nose could have energy”. This
was hardly the case. Fortunately, the rest of Darwin’s visage compensated for his sluggardly proboscis: “His brow saved
him.”

The idea that a person’s character can be glimpsed in their face dates back to the ancient Greeks. It was most famously
popularised in the late 18th century by the Swiss poet Johann Lavater, whose ideas became a talking point in intellectual
circles. In Darwin’s day, they were more or less taken as given. It was only after the subject became associated with
phrenology, which fell into disrepute in the late 19th century, that physiognomy was written off as pseudoscience.

First impressions are highly influential, despite the well-worn admonition not to judge a book by its cover. Within a tenth
of a second of seeing an unfamiliar face we have already made a judgement about its owner’s character—caring,
trustworthy, aggressive, extrovert, competent and so on. Once that snap judgement has formed, it is surprisingly hard to

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budge. People also act on these snap judgements. Politicians with competent-looking faces have a greater chance of being
elected, and CEOs who look dominant are more likely to run a profitable company. There is also a well-established
“attractiveness halo”. People seen as good-looking not only get the most valentines but are also judged to be more
outgoing, socially competent, powerful, intelligent and healthy.

In 1966, psychologists at the University of Michigan asked 84 undergraduates who had never met before to rate each
other on five personality traits, based entirely on appearance, as they sat for 15 minutes in silence. For three traits—
extroversion, conscientiousness and openness—the observers’ rapid judgements matched real personality scores
significantly more often than chance. More recently, researchers have re-examined the link between appearance and
personality, notably Anthony Little of the University of Stirling and David Perrett of the University of St Andrews, both in
the UK. They pointed out that the Michigan studies were not tightly controlled for confounding factors. But when Little
and Perrett re-ran the experiment using mugshots rather than live subjects, they also found a link between facial
appearance and personality—though only for extroversion and conscientiousness. Little and Perrett claimed that they
only found a correlation at the extremes of personality.

Justin Carre and Cheryl McCormick of Brock University in Ontario, Canada studied 90 ice-hockey players. They found that
a wider face in which the cheekbone-to-cheekbone distance was unusually large relative to the distance between brow
and upper lip was linked in a statistically significant way with the number of penalty minutes a player was given for violent
acts including slashing, elbowing, checking from behind and fighting. The kernel of truth idea isn’t the only explanation
on offer for our readiness to make facial judgements. Leslie Zebrowitz, a psychologist at Brandeis University in Waltham,
Massachusetts, says that in many cases snap judgements are not accurate. The snap judgement, she says, is often an
“overgeneralisation” of a more fundamental response. A classic example of overgeneralisation can be seen in predators’
response to eye spots, the conspicuous circular markings seen on some moths, butterflies and fish. These act as a deterrent
to predators because they mimic the eyes of other creatures that the potential predators might see as a threat.

Another researcher who leans towards overgeneralisation is Alexander Todorov. With Princeton colleague Nikolaas
Oosterhof, he recently put forward a theory which he says explains our snap judgements of faces in terms of how
threatening they appear. Todorov and Oosterhof asked people for their gut reactions to pictures of emotionally neutral
faces, sifted through all the responses, and boiled them down to two underlying factors: how trustworthy the face looks,
and how dominant. Todorov and Oosterhof conclude that personality judgements based on people’s faces are an
overgeneralisation of our evolved ability to infer emotions from facial expressions, and hence a person’s intention to cause
us harm and their ability to carry it out. Todorov, however, stresses that overgeneralisation does not rule out the idea that
there is sometimes a kernel of truth in these assessments of personality.

So if there is a kernel of truth, where does it come from? Perrett has a hunch that the link arises when our prejudices
about faces turn into self-fulfilling prophecies—an idea that was investigated by other researchers back in 1977. Our
expectations can lead us to influence people to behave in ways that confirm those expectations: consistently treat
someone as untrustworthy and they end up behaving that way. This effect sometimes works the other way round,
however, especially for those who look cute. The Nobel prize-winning ethologist Konrad Lorenz once suggested that baby-
faced features evoke a nurturing response. Support for this has come from work by Zebrowitz, who has found that baby-
faced boys and men stimulate an emotional centre of the brain, the amygdala, in a similar way. But there’s a twist.
Babyfaced men are, on average, better educated, more assertive and apt to win more military medals than their mature-
looking counterparts. They are also more likely to be criminals; think Al Capone. Similarly, Zebrowitz found baby-faced
boys to be quarrelsome and hostile, and more likely to be academic highfliers. She calls this the “self-defeating prophecy
effect”: a man with a baby face strives to confound expectations and ends up overcompensating.

There is another theory that recalls the old parental warning not to pull faces because they might freeze that
way. According to this theory, our personality moulds the way our faces look. It is supported by a study two decades ago
which found that angry old people tend to look cross even when asked to strike a neutral expression. A lifetime of scowling,
grumpiness and grimaces seemed to have left its mark.
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Questions 1-5

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage?

YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer

NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say that the writer thinks about this

1 Robert Fitzroy’s first impression of Darwin was accurate.

2 The precise rules of “physiognomy” have remained unchanged since the 18th century.

3 The first impression of a person can be modified later with little effort.

4 People who appear capable are more likely to be chosen to a position of power.

5 It is unfair for good-looking people to be better treated in society.

Questions 6-10

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

6. What’s true about Anthony Little and David Perrett’s experiment?

A It is based on the belief that none of the conclusions in the Michigan experiment is accurate.

B It supports parts of the conclusions in the Michigan experiment.

C It replicates the study conditions in the Michigan experiment.

D It has a greater range of faces than in the Michigan experiment.

7. What can be concluded from Justin Carre and Cheryl McCormick’s experiment?

A A wide-faced man may be more aggressive.

B Aggressive men have a wide range of facial features.

C There is no relation between facial features and an aggressive character.

D It’s necessary for people to be aggressive in competitive games.

8. What’s exemplified by referring to butterfly marks?

A Threats to safety are easy to notice.

B Instinct does not necessarily lead to accurate judgment.

C People should learn to distinguish between accountable and unaccountable judgments.

D Different species have various ways to notice danger.

9. What is the aim of Alexander Todorov’s study?

A to determine the correlation between facial features and social development

B to undermine the belief that appearance is important

C to learn the influence of facial features on judgments of a person’s personality

10. Which of the following is the conclusion of Alexander Todorov’s study?

A People should draw accurate judgments from overgeneralization.

B Using appearance to determine a person’s character is undependable.

C Overgeneralization can be misleading as a way to determine a person’s character.

D The judgment of a person’s character based on appearance may be accurate.

Questions 11-14

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below.

11 Perret believed people behaving dishonestly

12 The writer supports the view that people with babyish features

13 According to Zebrowitz, baby-faced people who behave dominantly

14 The writer believes facial features

A judge other people by overgeneralization,

B may influence the behaviour of other people,

C tend to commit criminal acts.

D may be influenced by the low expectations of other people.

E may show the effect of long-term behaviours.

F may be trying to repel the expectations of other people.