Test task I: SWABT
 Identify key ideas of the text
 Check their knowledge on Active and Passive voice through Reading the
given text
Read the text and change some given sentences from Active to Passive Tenses
Being Bilingual Boosts Brainpower
A study by the USA's Northwestern University provides biological evidence that
people 1. who are bilingual have a more powerful brain. Drs Viorica Marian
and Nina Kraus investigated how bilingualism affects the brain. They found that
studying another language "fine-tunes" people's attention span and enhances their
memory. In particular they discovered 2. that when language learners attempt to
understand speech in another language, it activates and energises the brainstem
– an ancient part of the brain. Professor Kraus stated: "Bilingualism serves as
enrichment for the brain and has real consequences when it comes to…attention
and working memory."
Professor Marian explained why studying and learning another language was so
beneficial for the brain. She said: "People do crossword puzzles and other activities
to keep their minds sharp, but the advantages we've discovered in dual language
speakers come automatically simply from knowing and using two languages." She
added: "It seems that the benefits of bilingualism are particularly powerful and
broad, and include attention, inhibition and encoding of sound." She said bilinguals
were better listeners because they are "natural jugglers" of sound. She said: "The
bilingual juggles linguistic input and, it appears, automatically pays greater
attention to relevant versus irrelevant sounds."
Task 1: Grammar tasks:
A. Change the following sentences from active to Passive Form
1. Drs Viorica Marian and Nina Kraus investigated how bilingualism affects the
brain.
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2.… it activates and energizes the brainstem – an ancient part of the brain.
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B: Pay attention to highlighted sentences are they defining or non-defining clauses?
1____________________________
2.___________________________
/3
B: Answer the following questions
1. What idea comes to your mind when you read the word ‘bilingualism’?
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2. Why do you think learning another language is good for the brain?
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3.What are the advantages of being bilingualism?
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4. How sharp is your mind?
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5. Do you think you are better at recognizing and encoding sounds because of your language
studying?
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5 What three adjectives best describe this article, and why?
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/5
Task II:
GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.
Being Bilingual Boosts Brainpower
A study by the USA's Northwestern University provides biological
1__________ that people who are bilingual have a more powerful
2______. Drs Viorica Marian and Nina Kraus investigated how
bilingualism 3_______the brain. They found that studying another
language "fine-tunes" people's attention span and 4________their
memory. In particular they discovered that when language learners
attempt to understand 5_______in another language, it activates and
energises the brainstem – an 6_________part of the brain. Professor
Kraus stated: "Bilingualism serves as _7_______ for the brain and has
real consequences when it comes to…attention and working
8________."
Professor Marian explained why studying and learning another language
was so _9________ for the brain. She said: "People do crossword
puzzles and other activities to keep their minds 10_____, but the
advantages we've discovered in dual 11_______speakers come
automatically 12_____ from knowing and using two languages." She
added: "It seems that the benefits of bilingualism are particularly
powerful and broad, and include attention, inhibition and 13_____ of
sound." She said bilinguals were better listeners because they are
"natural 14_____" of sound. She said: "The bilingual juggles linguistic
input and, it appears, automatically15 ______greater attention to
relevant versus irrelevant sounds."
enhances evidence
ancient
speech
affects
enrichment
brain
memory
encoding
sharp
jugglers
language
pays
powerful
simply
beneficial
II Writing (7 marks)
Task 2.
Write an essay (description) about ‘the capabilities of the human brain’ to the school
magazine
Criteria:
1. You should write at least 120-180 words;
2. Three parts: introduction, main body and conclusion.
3. Use at least 3 sentences for third conditional
4. Use at least 8 relative clauses (4 sentences for defining and 4 sentences for non-defining
clauses).
5. Use at least 3 passive and 3 active voice
6. Use at least 7 new words (intelligence, interpersonal, musical, far-reaching implication and
etc.)
7. Write without spelling mistakes.
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