SESSION 28: EXERCISES WORKING WITH THE TEXT

SESSION 28: 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. A university said bilingual people have more powerful brains.

b. Researchers say studying languages increases our ability to focus.
c. Listening to other languages activates a newly-found part of the brain.
d. The researchers say bilingualism enhances attention and memory.
e. The study says bilingual people are better at crossword puzzles.
f. Researchers say good things come automatically with bilingualism.
g. The researchers said bilinguals are good at juggling different objects.
h. A professor said bilinguals totally ignore irrelevant sounds.

1.2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
1. evidence ................. a. especially
2. investigated ............. b. triggers
3. enhances ................. c. advantageous
4. activates ................. d. proof
5. ancient ................... e. intelligent
6. beneficial ................ f. boosts
7. sharp ..................... g. deals with
8. dual ...................... h. inquired into
9. particularly .............. i. twin
10. juggles .................. j. old

1.3 PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from this article (sometimes more than one option is possible):

1. biological ................................. a. part of the brain

2. how bilingualism ......................... b. irrelevant sounds
3. attention .................................. c. to attention
4. an ancient ................................. d. for the brain
5. real consequences when it comes ..... e. sharp
6. so beneficial .............................. f. linguistic input
7. keep their minds ......................... g. evidence
8. She said bilinguals were ................. h. span
9. The bilingual juggles ..................... i. better listeners
10. relevant versus .......................... j. affects the brain

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

ATTEMPT - MEMORY - AFFECTS - POWERFUL - COMES - TUNES - PROVIDES - ANCIENT

A study by the USA's Northwestern University (1) ____________ biological evidence that people who are bilingual have a more (2) ____________ brain. Drs Viorica Marian and Nina Kraus investigated how bilingualism (3) ____________ the brain. They found that studying another language "fine-(4) ____________" people's attention span and enhances their memory. In particular they discovered that when language learners (5) ____________ to understand speech in another language, it activates and energises the brainstem – an (6) ____________ part of the brain. Professor Kraus stated: "Bilingualism serves as enrichment for the brain and has real consequences when it (7) ____________ to…attention and working (8) ____________."

SIMPLY - SHARP - ENCODING - PAYS - PARTICULARLY - BENEFICIAL - JUGGLERS - DUAL

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 (11) ____________ language speakers come automatically (12) ____________ from knowing and using two languages." She added: "It seems that the benefits of bilingualism are (13) ____________ powerful and broad, and include attention, inhibition and (14) ____________ of sound." She said bilinguals were better listeners because they are "natural (15) ____________" of sound. She said: "The bilingual juggles linguistic input and, it appears, automatically (16) ____________ greater attention to relevant versus irrelevant sounds."