SESSION 7: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

SESSION 7: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

NOTE: IN ORDER TO WORK WITH THE TEXT, UNDERSTAND AND PREPARE IT BETTER I RECOMMEND THESE EXERCISES:

THERE WILL BE TWO TYPES OF EXERCISES:

1. EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT: THESE ARE EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE READING COMPREHENSION, WORKING WITH VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS.

2. EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION: EXERCISES FOCUSING ON THE PREPARATION FOR THE DISCUSSION.

1. EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

1.1 TRUE/FALSE: Look at the article and guess whether these sentences are True (T) or False (F):
a. Harvard University has dropped out of the top ten universities.
b. A technology college from California is now the world’s top uni.
c. Stanford and Harvard universities share the same spot on the rankings.
d. Cambridge and Oxford universities are both in the top five.
e. Caltech got the top spot because if found more funds for research.
f. There was a huge difference between Harvard and Caltech last year.
g. Caltech can invest in new ideas before public universities can.
h. Private universities in the U.S. are facing problems getting funding.

1.2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
1. spot ................ a. lucky
2. tied ................ b. the others
3. annual ............. c. more
4. the rest ........... d. drew
5. climbed ........... e. jumped over
6. leapfrogged ...... f. place
7. greater ........... g. chances
8. fortunate ......... h. money
9. opportunities .... i. yearly
10. funds ............ j. rose

1.3 PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from this article (sometimes more than one option is possible):
1. lost its top spot .......... a. Harvard
2. It was knocked off its ... b. second spot
3. tied with Harvard for ... c. places in the rankings
4. dominated the ........... d. list
5. climbed two .............. e. over in its favor
6. Caltech leapfrogged ..... f. in the ranking
7. a significant increase .... g. new ideas
8. tipping the balance ...... h. perch by Caltech
9. steadfast .................. i. in its research income
10. invest in ................. j. donors

1.4 GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text:

COMPILED - KNOCKED - ANNUAL - TIED - DOMINATED - SPOT - REST

Harvard University has lost its top (1) ____________ in the ranking of world universities for the first time in eight years. It was (2) ____________ off its perch by Caltech (the California Institute of Technology). Another California college, Stanford University, (3) ____________ with Harvard for second spot. The (4) ____________, global list of the planet’s top educational institutions is (5) ____________ by London’s Times Higher Education and the Thomson Reuters Corp. Universities from the U.S.A. and U.K. (6) ____________ the list, with 75 American schools in the top 200. Seven of the top 10 colleges were in the U.S. and the (7) ____________ were in Britain. Oxford University (8) ____________ two places in the rankings to fourth; Princeton University came fifth and the University of Cambridge was sixth.

SIGNIFICANT - ELIGIBLE - GREATER - DONORS - EDITOR - RAISING - TIPPING - ABILITY

Phil Baty, (9) ____________ of the rankings, explained that Caltech leapfrogged Harvard because it had found (10) ____________ funding for its research. He said: “The difference between Harvard and Caltech last year was minuscule. What’s happened this year is Caltech has seen a (11) ____________ increase in its research income. A 16 percent increase. It’s quite significant in (12) ____________ the balance over in its favor.” Dr. Jean-Lou Chameau, president of Caltech, said: “Caltech is fortunate to have steadfast (13) ____________ and partners whose support gives [the university] the (14) ____________ to invest in new ideas long before they would be (15) ____________ for public funding opportunities.” Baty said private universities in America like Caltech are becoming more successful in (16) ____________ funds.