LD
Exercises adapted from Minna Lipner
A Star Is Made
The Birth-Month Soccer Anomaly
New York Times, May 7, 2006
1.
If you were to examine the birth certificates of every soccer player in next month's World Cup
tournament, you would most likely find a noteworthy quirk: elite soccer players are more likely to
have been born in the earlier months of the year than in the later months. If you then examined
the European national youth teams that feed the World Cup and professional ranks, you would
find this quirk to be even more pronounced. On recent English teams, for instance, half of the elite
teenage soccer players were born in January, February or March, with the other half spread out
over the remaining 9 months. In Germany, 52 elite youth players were born in the first three
months of the year, with just 4 players born in the last three.
2. What might account for this anomaly? Here are a few guesses: a) certain astrological signs
confer superior soccer skills; b) winter-born babies tend to have higher oxygen capacity, which
increases soccer stamina; c) soccer-mad parents are more likely to conceive children in
springtime, at the annual peak of soccer mania; d) none of the above.
3. Anders Ericsson, a 58-year-old psychology professor at Florida State University, says he
believes strongly in "none of the above." He is the ringleader of what might be called the Expert
Performance Movement, a loose coalition of scholars trying to answer an important and seemingly
primordial question: When someone is very good at a given thing, what is it that actually makes
him good?
Questions
1. Read paragraphs 1-2 and answer the following questions:
a. What is the birth-month soccer anomaly? _______________________________
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
b. How many examples does the writer give in paragraph 1 to illustrate this phenomenon?
________________
c. i. Which answer from paragraph 2 do you think is correct? (Circle one.) A B C D
___________________________________________________________________________
Text: A Star is Made / 1
ii. What other possible answers can you think of? _________________________
________________________________________________________________
d. What is Anders Ericssons’ answer to the question in paragraph 2?
(Circle one.) A B C D
4. Ericsson, who grew up in Sweden, studied nuclear engineering until he realized he would have
more opportunity to conduct his own research if he switched to psychology. His first experiment,
nearly 30 years ago, involved memory: training a person to hear and then repeat a random series
of numbers. "With the first subject, after about 20 hours of training, his digit span had risen from 7
to 20," Ericsson recalls. "He kept improving, and after about 200 hours of training he had risen to
over 80 numbers."
5. This success, coupled with later research showing that memory itself is not genetically
determined, led Ericsson to conclude that the act of memorizing is more of a cognitive exercise
than an intuitive one. In other words, whatever innate differences two people may exhibit in their
abilities to memorize, those differences are swamped by how well each person "encodes" the
information. And the best way to learn how to encode information meaningfully, Ericsson
determined, was a process known as deliberate practice.
6. Deliberate practice entails more than simply repeating a task — playing a C-minor scale 100
times, for instance, or hitting tennis serves until your shoulder pops out of its socket. Rather, it
involves setting specific goals, obtaining immediate feedback and concentrating as much on
technique as on outcome.
Questions
2. Paragraphs 3-5 describe Anders Ericssons’ research. What did each of his experiments show?
Paragraph 4 (infer the answer):
________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 5: ________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Text: A Star is Made / 2
3. What was Ericsson’s conclusion from these experiments? (Fill in the blanks.)
Ericsson concluded that even though people are born with different
_________________________________________________ (2-3 words),
it is more important to know how to ______________________________
___________________________________ (2-3 words).
4. How can we become better at encoding information?
Through _____________________________________________ (2 words)
5. a. What are the elements of deliberate practice?
i. _______________________________________________________________
ii ______________________________________________________________
iii. ______________________________________________________________
b. Tali wants to improve her cooking skills. Below are some examples of the things she did.
Next to each example, write which element of deliberate practice it represents (i, ii, iii).
_________ Tali followed the recipe very carefully.
_________ Tali decided to cook one new dish each week.
_________ Tali’s family tasted her food and told her what they thought of it.
_________________________________________________________________________
7. Ericsson and his colleagues have thus taken to studying expert performers in a wide range of
pursuits, including soccer, golf, surgery, piano playing, Scrabble, writing, chess, software design,
stock picking and darts. They gather all the data they can, not just performance statistics and
biographical details but also the results of their own laboratory experiments with high achievers.
8. Their work, compiled in the "Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance," a
900-page academic book that will be published next month, makes a rather startling assertion: the
trait we commonly call talent is highly overrated. Or, put another way, expert performers —
whether in memory or surgery, ballet or computer programming — are nearly always made, not
born. And yes, practice does make perfect. These may be the sort of clichés that parents are fond
of whispering to their children. But these particular clichés just happen to be true.
9. Ericsson's research suggests a third cliché as well: when it comes to choosing a life path, you
should do what you love — because if you don't love it, you are unlikely to work hard enough to
get very good. Most people naturally don't like to do things they aren't "good" at. So they often
___________________________________________________________________________
Text: A Star is Made / 3
give up, telling themselves they simply don't possess the talent for math or skiing or the violin. But
what they really lack is the desire to be good and to undertake the deliberate practice that would
make them better.
10. "I think the most general claim here," Ericsson says of his work, "is that a lot of people believe
there are some inherent limits they were born with. But there is surprisingly little hard evidence
that anyone could attain any kind of exceptional performance without spending a lot of time
perfecting it." This is not to say that all people have equal potential. Michael Jordan, even if he
hadn't spent countless hours in the gym, would still have been a better basketball player than
most of us. But without those hours in the gym, he would never have become the player he was.
Questions
6. Paragraphs 7 and 8 describe the research of Ericsson and his colleagues. Infer from the text:
What was the purpose of their research?
(Complete:) To find out _____________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
7. What 3 cliches are suggested by Ericsson’s studies?
a. ______________________________________________________________
b. ______________________________________________________________
c. ______________________________________________________________
8. What is the message of the quote in paragraph 10? (Complete the sentence.)
People must _____________________________ in order to ________________
_______________________________.
9. What idea does the example of Michael Jordan support?
a. All people are born with equal abilities, but not all turn into geniuses.
b. Superior results are achieved mostly through hard work and persistence.
c. One’s success is determined by inborn abilities as well as hard work.
d. Michael Jordan’s accomplishments result only from his inborn potential
_________________________________________________________________________
11. Ericsson's conclusions, if accurate, would seem to have broad applications. Students should
be taught to follow their interests earlier in their schooling, the better to build up their skills and
acquire meaningful feedback. Senior citizens should be encouraged to acquire new skills,
especially those thought to require "talents" they previously believed they didn't possess.
___________________________________________________________________________
Text: A Star is Made / 4
12. And it would probably pay to rethink a great deal of medical training. Ericsson has noted that
most doctors actually perform worse the longer they are out of medical school. Surgeons,
however, are an exception. That's because they are constantly exposed to two key elements of
deliberate practice: immediate feedback and specific goal-setting.
13. The same is not true for, say, a mammographer. When a doctor reads a mammogram, she
doesn't know for certain if there is breast cancer or not. She will be able to know only weeks later,
from a biopsy, or years later, when no cancer develops. Without meaningful feedback, a doctor's
ability actually deteriorates over time. Ericsson suggests a new mode of training. "Imagine a
situation where a doctor could diagnose mammograms from old cases and immediately get
feedback of the correct diagnosis for each case," he says. "Working in such a learning
environment, a doctor might see more different cancers in one day than in a couple of years of
normal practice."
14. If nothing else, the insights of Ericsson and his Expert Performance compatriots can explain
the riddle of why so many elite soccer players are born early in the year.
15. Since youth sports are organized by age bracket, teams inevitably have a cutoff birth date. In
the European youth soccer leagues, the cutoff date is Dec. 31. So when a coach is assessing two
players in the same age bracket, one who happened to have been born in January and the other
in December, the player born in January is likely to be bigger, stronger, more mature. Guess
which player the coach is more likely to pick? He may be mistaking maturity for ability, but he is
making his selection nonetheless. And once chosen, those January-born players are the ones
who, year after year, receive the training, the deliberate practice and the feedback — to say
nothing of the accompanying self-esteem — that will turn them into elites.
16. This may be bad news if you are a rabid soccer mom or dad whose child was born in the
wrong month. But keep practicing: a child conceived on this Sunday in early May would probably
be born by next February, giving you a considerably better chance of watching the 2030 World
Cup from the family section.
Stephen J. Dubner and Steven D. Levitt are the authors of "Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist
Explores the Hidden Side of Everything." More information on the research behind this column is at
www.freakonomics.com.
___________________________________________________________________________
Text: A Star is Made / 5
Questions
10. The writers say that Ericsson’s conclusions may have “broad applications” (paragraph
11). Which groups of people do they bring to support this idea?
a. _______________________________________
b. _______________________________________
c. _______________________________________
11. a. Why do the writers contrast surgeons with most other doctors (paragraph 12)?
Fill in the blanks and circle the correct option to answer the question.
They want to show that surgeons improve MORE / LESS (circle one) than most other
doctors because they have _________________________________ and
______________________________.
b. Which of the above two groups are mammographers similar to?
_________________________________
12. At the end of the article, the writers explain why coaches select players who are born
early in the year for youth soccer teams.
The coaches base their choices on:
a. the players’ natural sports ability
b. the players’ age-related characteristics
c. the players’ high self-esteem
d. the amount of training the players have
13. At the end of the article, the writers give the answer to the birth-month soccer anomaly.
Fill in the chart with the missing causes and effects to explain why many elite soccer
players are born in the early months of the year.
CAUSE 1
EFFECT1 / CAUSE 2
EFFECT 2
Coaches choose the kids
born in the early months of
the year for the teams.


14. What is the author’s main purpose in the article?
a. To explore the factors that account for outstanding accomplishments.
b. To explain the reason why elite soccer players are mostly born in January.
c. To support the view that talent is crucial to success and great achievements.
d. To show how deliberate practice improves one’s ability to memorize.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Text: A Star is Made / 6
Exercises adapted from Minna Lipner
A Star is Made
I. Exercise 1: Pre-Reading
Read the quotes about talent by famous people. Then discuss the questions below with a
partner.
I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
(1879
–1955)
was
a
physicist,
philosopher and author who is considered one of the
most
influential
and
best
known
scientists
and
intellectuals of all time. A German-Swiss Nobel prize
winner, he is often considered the father of modern physics. Einstein published more than
300 scientific and over 150 non-scientific works; he also wrote and commented on various
philosophical and political subjects. His great intelligence and originality has led people to
use the word "Einstein" to mean genius.
(Adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein)
I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost
300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning
shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my
life. And that is why I succeed.
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born 1963) is a
former American professional basketball player and
active businessman. His biography on the National
Basketball Association (NBA) website states, "…Michael
Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." He
holds the NBA records for highest career scoring
average (30.12 points per game). In 1999, he was
named the greatest North American athlete of the 20th
century by ESPN.
(Adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jordan)
Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins
championships.
Michael Jordan
___________________________________________________________________________
Text: A Star is Made / 7
I believe that every person is born with talent.
Maya Angelou
Maya
Angelou
autobiographer
(born
and
1928)
poet
who
is
has
an
American
been
called
"America's most visible black female autobiographer."
Angelou is one of the most honored writers of her
generation. She has been honored by universities (she
has received over 30 honorary degrees), literary
organizations, government agencies, and other groups. Her honors include a National
Book Award nomination, a Pulitzer Prize nomination for her poetry, a Tony Award
nomination, and three Grammys for her spoken word albums.
(Adapted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_Angelou)
Questions for discussion:
1. According to Einstein and Jordan, what is necessary for a person to succeed?
Albert Einstein: _______________________________________________________
Michael Jordan: ______________________________________________________
2. What is Angelou saying about talent?
Maya Angelou: _______________________________________________________
3. What do you think is most important for a person to succeed? Mark all of the answers
that you consider correct. Discuss your choices with a partner.
a. natural talent
b. a lot of practice / hard work
c. loving what you do
d. curiosity
e. a supportive environment
f. financial resources
g. having good role models
h. some other factor(s): __________________________________
III. Post-Reading: Questions for Discussion
1. Think of something that you have achieved in your life. What helped you to succeed?
2. Think of people you know who are very good at something. Why do you think they are so
good at it?
3. Do you agree with Ericsson’s conclusions? Why or why not?
___________________________________________________________________________
Text: A Star is Made / 8
A Star is Made – Vocabulary
Find and underline the following words in the text.
Word
Also in
par. #
Word
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 9
1. tend to (v.)
13. possess (v.)
possession (n.)
Also in
par. #
11
2. conceive (v.)
conception (n.)
3. annual (adj.)
2, 16
Paragraph 10
14. attain (v.)
attainment (n.)
Paragraph 5
4. determined (v., adj.)
Paragraph 11
5. innate (adj.)
6. deliberate (adj.)
6, 9,12,15
15. accurate (adj.)
accuracy (n.)
Paragraph 6
16. broad (adj.)
7. obtain (v.)
17. applications (n.) / apply (v.)
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 13
8. colleagues (n.)
18. deteriorate (v.)
9. thus (adv.)
Paragraph 15
10. expert (n.)
11. achievers (n.)
achieve (v.)
achievement (n.)
8
19. assess (v.)
assessment (n.)
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 8
12. trait (n.)
11
20. considerably (adv.)
considerable (adj.)
*Which two words on the list are synonyms?
______________________________ and ______________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Text: A Star is Made / 9
Exercise 1: Words with More Than One Meaning
Several of the words on the list have more than one meaning. Read the sentences below,
and guess the different meanings of the underlined words from the context.
1. a. When couples who want a baby have trouble conceiving, they go to doctors who
specialize in helping women become pregnant.
conceiving: _________________________
b. My mother still conceives of me as a young child; she forgets that I’m nearly an adult!
conceives: _________________________
c. The idea for potato chips was conceived by chef George Crum in 1853, who was
trying to please a customer who kept complaining that his fried potatoes were too soft.
Crum sliced the potatoes as thin as he could, and then fried them in oil – the customer
loved them!
conceived: _________________________
*Which of the above meanings is the same as the meaning in the text?
__________________________________
2. a. Ronit is determined to win the contest – she will do everything she can to make sure
that happens.
determined: _________________________
b. A combination of genetics and lifestyle determines how healthy you are.
determines: _________________________
*Which of the above meanings is the same as the meaning in the text?
________________________________
3. a. After a new technology is invented, companies try to think of ways to apply it in
practice. However, not every technology has useful applications.
apply / applications: _________________________
b. John applied to three universities, but he was only accepted into one.
applied: _________________________
*Which of the above meanings is the same as the meaning in the text?
_________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Text: A Star is Made / 10
Exercise 2: Rewrite the Sentences
Rewrite the following sentences by replacing the words in italics with words from the list above.
(You may have to change the forms of the words.)
1. Tom’s relationship with _____________________ (the people he works with) has
______________________ (gotten worse). _________________ (Therefore), he has decided to
switch jobs.
2. Sara must ___________________ (acquire) correct information from her friend about how to
drive to the party since she doesn’t ___________________ (have) a map or GPS in her car.
3. My sister has many ___________________ (inborn) positive ________________________
(characteristics). For example, she is very curious, which has resulted in her knowing a
___________________ (large/significant) amount about a ___________________ (wide) range of
things.
4. My neighbor is an ___________________ (someone with a lot of knowledge) in ornithology, the
study of birds. He runs an ___________________ (yearly) conference on the topic.
5. People who ___________________ (purposely) practice a skill many times may
___________________ (get results) more than people who have talent but don’t practice.
Exercise 3: Sentence Completion
The words in bold print are from the text. Use your knowledge of their meanings to complete the
sentences below in your own words.
1. In the summer, I tend to ________________________________________, and in the winter, I
tend to ____________________________________________________________.
2. It is more important to be accurate than to be quick when you _______________________
_________________________________________________________________________.
3. My assessment of my classes this year is that they have been ______________________
_________________________________________________________________________
4. I often conceive my best ideas when I __________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
5. I am determined to _________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
6. One application of research in ________________________ is ______________________
_________________________________________________________________________
7. In my life, I have achieved many things. The attainment I am most proud of is
________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Text: A Star is Made / 11