READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
The Concept of Intelligence
A Looked at in one way, everyone knows what intelligence is; looked at in another way, no one does. In other words, people all have unconscious notions - known as 'implicit theories' - of intelligence, but no one knows for certain what it actually is. This chapter addresses how people conceptualize intelligence, whatever it may actually be. But why should we even care what people think intelligence is, as opposed only to valuing whatever it actually is? There are at least four reasons people's conceptions of intelligence matter.
B First, implicit theories of intelligence drive the way in which people perceive and evaluate their own intelligence and that of others. To better understand the judgments people make about their own and others' abilities, it is useful to learn about people's implicit theories. For example, parents' implicit theories of their children's language development will determine at what ages they will be willing to make various corrections in their children's speech. More generally, parents' implicit theories of intelligence will determine at what ages they believe their children are ready to perform various cognitive tasks. Job interviewers will make hiring decisions on the basis of their implicit theories of intelligence. People will decide who to be friends with on the basis of such theories. In sum, knowledge about implicit theories of intelligence is important because this knowledge is so often used by people to make judgments in the course of their everyday lives.
C Second, the implicit theories of scientific investigators ultimately give rise to their explicit theories. Thus it is useful to find out what these implicit theories are. Implicit theories provide a framework that is useful in defining the general scope of a phenomenon - especially a not-well-understood phenomenon. These implicit theories can suggest what aspects of the phenomenon have been more or less attended to in previous investigations.
D Third, implicit theories can be useful when an investigator suspects that existing explicit theories are wrong or misleading. If an investigation of implicit theories reveals little correspondence between the extant implicit and explicit theories, the implicit theories may be wrong. But the possibility also needs to be taken into account that the explicit theories are wrong and in need of correction or supplementation. For example, some implicit theories of intelligence suggest the need for expansion of some of our explicit theories of the construct.
E Finally, understanding implicit theories of intelligence can help elucidate developmental and cross-cultural differences. As mentioned earlier, people have expectations for intellectual performances that differ for children of different ages. How these expectations differ is in part a function of culture. For example, expectations for children who participate in Western-style schooling are almost certain to be different from those for children who do not participate in such schooling.
F I have suggested that there are three major implicit theories of how intelligence relates to society as a whole (Sternberg, 1997). These might be called Hamiltonian, Jeffersonian, and Jacksonian. These views are not based strictly, but rather, loosely, on the philosophies of Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson, three great statesmen in the history of the United States.
G The Hamiltonian view, which is similar to the Platonic view, is that people are born with different levels of intelligence and that those who are less intelligent need the good offices of the more intelligent to keep them in line, whether they are called government officials or, in Plato's term, philosopher-kings. Herrnstein and Murray (1994) seem to have shared this belief when they wrote about the emergence of a cognitive (high-IQ) elite, which eventually would have to take responsibility for the largely irresponsible masses of non-elite (low-IQ) people who cannot take care of themselves. Left to themselves, the unintelligent would create, as they always have created, a kind of chaos.
H The Jeffersonian view is that people should have equal opportunities, but they do not necessarily avail themselves equally of these opportunities and are not necessarily equally rewarded for their accomplishments . People are rewarded for what they accomplish, if given equal opportunity. Low achievers are not rewarded to the same extent as high achievers. In the Jeffersonian view, the goal of education is not to favor or foster an elite, as in the Hamiltonian tradition, but rather to allow children the opportunities to make full use of the skills they have. My own views are similar to these (Sternberg, 1997).
I The Jacksonian view is that all people are equal, not only as human beings but in terms of their competencies - that one person would serve as well as another in government or on a jury or in almost any position of responsibility. In this view of democracy, people are essentially intersubstitutable except for specialized skills, all of which can be learned. In this view, we do not need or want any institutions that might lead to favoring one group over another.
J Implicit theories of intelligence and of the relationship of intelligence to society perhaps need to be considered more carefully than they have been because they often serve as underlying presuppositions for explicit theories and even experimental designs that are then taken as scientific contributions. Until scholars are able to discuss their implicit theories and thus their assumptions, they are likely to miss the point of what others are saying when discussing their explicit theories and their data.
Questions 1-3
Which section contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-J.
1. How non-scientists' assumptions influence behavior:
2. Lack of clarity over the definition:
3. Researcher's implicit and explicit theories may be different:
Questions 4-6
Write YES, NO, or NOT GIVEN.
4. Slow language development in children proves disappointing to parents.
5. People's expectations of education are universal.
6. Scholars may discuss theories without fully understanding each other.
Questions 7-13
Match the statement with the correct theory (A, B, or C).
A: Hamiltonian | B: Jeffersonian | C: Jacksonian
7. Desirable for same possibilities to be open to everyone:
8. No section of society should have preferential treatment:
9. Gain benefits on the basis of actual achievement:
10. Variation in intelligence begins at birth:
11. More intelligent people should be in power:
12. Everyone can develop the same abilities:
13. People of low intelligence likely to lead uncontrolled lives:
READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.
Saving bugs to find new drugs
Zoologist Ross Piper looks at the potential of insects in pharmaceutical research
A More drugs than you might think are derived from, or inspired by, compounds found in living things. Looking to nature for the soothing and curing of our ailments is nothing new... realize that our ancient ancestors too probably had a basic grasp of medicine.
B Pharmaceutical science and chemistry built on these ancient foundations... modern pharmaceutical science moved its focus away from nature and into the laboratory, designing chemical compounds from scratch. The main cause of this shift is that although there are plenty of promising chemical compounds in nature, finding them is far from easy.
C Laboratory-based drug discovery has achieved varying levels of success, something which has now prompted the development of new approaches focusing once again on natural products... antibiotic resistance, has put bioprospecting - the search for useful compounds in nature - firmly back on the map.
D Insects are the undisputed masters of the terrestrial domain... Their remarkable diversity exceeds that of every other group of animals on the planet combined. Yet even though insects are far and away the most diverse animals in existence, their potential as sources of therapeutic compounds is yet to be realised.
E From the tiny proportion of insects that have been investigated, several promising compounds have been identified. For example, alloferon, an antimicrobial compound produced by blow fly larvae, is used as an antiviral and antitumor agent in South Korea and Russia.
F Why is it that insects have received relatively little attention in bioprospecting? Firstly, there are so many insects that... investigating this huge variety of species is a daunting task. Secondly, insects are generally very small, and the glands inside them... are smaller still.
G My colleagues and I at Aberystwyth University in the UK have developed an approach in which we use our knowledge of ecology as a guide to target our efforts... These insects have many antimicrobial compounds for dealing with pathogenic bacteria and fungi.
H Although natural history knowledge points us in the right direction, it doesn't solve the problems associated with obtaining useful compounds from insects. Fortunately, it is now possible to snip out the stretches of the insect's DNA...
I With every bit of wilderness that disappears, we deprive ourselves of potential medicines. If we can shine a light on the darker recesses of nature's medicine cabinet... I believe we can make people think differently about the value of nature.
Questions 14-20
Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-I.
14. Factors driving a renewed interest in natural compounds:
15. How technological advances have made research easier:
16. Examples of animals which use medicinal substances:
17. Reasons why it is challenging to use insects:
18. How drug research may benefit wildlife:
19. Reason why nature-based medicines fell out of favour:
20. An example of an insect-derived medicine in use now:
Questions 21 and 22
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
A. The huge number of individual insects in the world
B. The variety of substances developed for protection
C. The potential to extract and use genetic codes
D. The similarities between different species
E. The manageable size of most insects
Questions 23-26
Complete the summary using ONE WORD ONLY.
Research at Aberystwyth University
Ross Piper and fellow zoologists at Aberystwyth University are using their expertise in 23 when undertaking bioprospecting with insects. They are especially interested in the compounds that insects produce to overpower and preserve their 24 . They are also interested in compounds which insects use to protect themselves from pathogenic bacteria and fungi found in their 25 . Piper hopes that these substances will be useful in the development of drugs such as 26 .
READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.
The power of play
Virtually every child, the world over, plays. The drive to play is so intense that children will do so in any circumstances... playful activities benefit the development of the whole child across social, cognitive, physical, and emotional domains.
Yet, while experts continue to expound a powerful argument for the importance of play in children's lives, the actual time children spend playing continues to decrease. Under pressure of rising academic standards, play is being replaced by test preparation...
Through play, children learn to regulate their behavior, lay the foundations for later learning in science and mathematics, figure out the complex negotiations of social relationships... there is also an important role for adults in guiding children through playful learning opportunities.
Full consensus on a formal definition of play continues to elude the researchers and theorists who study it. Definitions range from discrete descriptions of various types of play... to lists of broad criteria meant to capture the essence of all play behaviors.
A majority of the contemporary definitions of play focus on several key criteria. Stuart Brown has described play as 'anything that spontaneously is done for its own sake'... Often, play is defined along a continuum as more or less playful.
According to this view, children's playful behaviors can range in degree from 0% to 100% playful. From the perspective of a continuum, play can thus blend with other motives and attitudes that are less playful, such as work...
Critically, recent research supports the idea that adults can facilitate children's learning while maintaining a playful approach in interactions known as 'guided play'.
Guided play takes two forms. At a very basic level, adults can enrich the child's environment... In the more direct form of guided play, parents or other adults can support children's play by joining in the fun as a co-player.
Both free and guided play are essential elements in a child-centered approach to playful learning. Intrinsically motivated free play provides the child with true autonomy, while guided play is an avenue through which parents and educators can provide more targeted learning experiences.
Questions 27-31
Match each statement with the correct researcher (A-G).
A Elkind | B Miller & Almon | C Rubin et al. | D Stuart Brown | E Pellegrini | F Joan Goodman | G Hirsch-Pasek et al.
27. Play can be divided into a number of separate categories:
28. Adults' intended goals affect how they play with children: 29. Combining work with play may be the best way for children to learn: 30. Certain elements of play are more significant than others: 31. Activities can be classified on a scale of playfulness:Questions 32-36
Write YES, NO, or NOT GIVEN.
32. Children need toys in order to play:
33. It is a mistake to treat play and learning as separate: 34. Play helps children to develop their artistic talents: 35. Researchers have agreed on a definition of play: 36. Work and play differ in terms of whether or not they have a target:Questions 37-40
Complete the summary using ONE WORD ONLY.
Guided Play
Adults can help children to learn through play, for instance by 37 the child to investigate different aspects. It should still be based on the child's 38 to play. Play without adults gives children real 39 ; with adults, play can be 40 at particular goals.