Passage 2

Critics of new media sometimes use science

itself
to press their case, citing research that shows
how
�experience can change the brain.· But cogniti
Ye
neuroscientists roll their eyes at such talk. Yes,
every
5> time we learn a fact or skill the wiring of the brain
Passage1 changes; it's not as if the information is stored in the
The mental consequenasof our online
pancreas. But the existence of neural plasticity does
info-crunchiltg ¥e not universally bad.
not mean the brain is a blob of clay pounded into
Certain cognitive skills are strengthened by our us e
shape by experience.
of computers and the NeL These tend to involve
0;,,,. 6C ·Experience does not revamp the basic
s more primitive mental functions, such as hand-eye information-processing capacities of the brain.
coordination, reflex response. and the processing of Speed-reading programs have long claimed to do just
visual cues. One much-cited study of video gaming that, but the verdict was rendered by Woody Allen
reveal� that after just 10 days of playing action after he read Leo Tolstoy's famously long novel
games on computers, a group of young people had f5 War and Peace in one sitting: "It was about Russia.•
10 significantly boosted the speed with which they could
Genuine multitasking, too, has been exposed as a
shift their visual focus betWttn various images and myth, not just by laboratory studies but by the
tasks. familiar sight of an SUV undulating between lanes as
It's likely that Weh browsing also-strengthens the driver cuts-deals on his cellphone.
brain functions related to fast-paced problem ,a Moreover, the effects of experience are highly
15 solving. particularly when it requires spotting specific to the experiences themselves. If you train
patterns in a welter of data. A British study of the people to do one thing (recognize shapes, solve math
way women search fur medical information online puzzles, find hidden words), they get better at doing
indicated that an experienced lntemet user can, at thanhing. but almost nothing else. Music doesn't
least in some cases, assess the trustwonliiness and 75 make you better at math, conjugating Latin doesn't
20 probable value of a Web page in a matter of seconds. make you more logical, brain-training games don't
The more we practice surfing and scanning, the more make you smarter. Accomplished people don't bulk
adept our brain becomes at those tasks. up lheir brains with intellectual calisthenics; they
But it would be a serious mistake to look narrowly immerse themselves in their fields. Novelists read
at such benefits and conclude that the Web is making so lots of novels, scientists read lots of science.
2s us smarter. In a Science article published in early The effects of consuming electronic media are
2009, prominent deyelopmental psy�logist Patricia likdy to be far more limited than the panic implies.
Greenfield reviewed more than 40 studies of the Media critics write as if the brain takes on the
effects of various types of media on intelligence and qualities of whatever it consumes, the informational
learning ability. She concluded that •every medium es equivalent of"you are what you eat.• As with ancient
30 develops some cognitive skills at the expense of peoples who believed that eating fierce animals made
others.• Our growing use of the Net and other them fierce, they assume that watching quick cuts in
screen-based technologies, she wrote, has led to the rock videos turns your mental life into quick cuts or
"widespread and sophisticated development of that reading bullet points and online postings turns
visual-spatial skills.• But those gains go hand in hand
35 with a weakening of ourcapacity fo!" the kind of
9-J your thoughts into bullet points and online postings.

"deep processing" that underpins "mindful

knowledge acquisition, inductive analysis, critical
thinking, imagination, and reflection.•
We know that the human brain is highly
40 plastic; neurons and synapses change as
circumstances change. When we adapl to a new
cultural phenomenon, including the use of a new

medium, we end up with a different brain. says

Michael Merzenid!, a pioneer of the field of
-.s neuroplasticity. That means our online habits
continue to reverberate in the workings of our brain
cells even when we're not at a computer. We're
exercising the neural circuits devoted to skimming
and multitasking while ignqring those used for
�,, reading and thinking deeply.
1- The author of Passage 1 indicates which of the 8- Which choice best describes die relationship
following about the use of screen-based technologies? between the two passages?

A} It should be thoroughly srudied. A} Passage 2 relates first-band experiences that

contrast with the dinial approach in Passage J.
B) It makes the brain increasingly rigid.
B) Passage 2 critiques the conclusions drawn from
C) It has some positive effects.
the research discussed ia Passage I.
D) It should. be widely encouraged.
C) Passage 2 takes a higb-lCYd view of a result that
Passa�e I examines in depth.
D) Passage 2 predicts the negative reactions that the
2- Which choice provides the best evidence for the
findings discussed in Pass3ge I might produce.
answer to the previous question?
(A) Lines (1 - 2)
(B) Lines (9 -13) 9- Unlike passage (1), the tone of passage (2) can best be
(C) Lines (14 - 31) described as
(D) Lines (50 - 57)
A} Analytical.
B) Critical
C) Humorous
D) Informative

3- The tone of passage (1) can best be described as

A} Extremely positive.
B) Extremely negative.
C) Somehow positive.
D) Somehow negative.

4-In line 34, the author of Passage 1 indicates

that becoming adept at using the Internet can
A) make people complacen t about their health.

B) undermine the ability to think deeply.

C) increase people's social contacts.
D) improve people's self-confidence.

c" most n e ady means

5- As used in line 40, •plasti

A) creative.
B) artificial.
C) malleable.
D) sculptural.

6- The author of Passage 2 refers to the

novel War and Peace primarily to suggest
that Woody Allen
A) did not like Tolstoy's writing style.
B) could not comprehend the novel-by
speed-reading it.
C) had become quite skilled at multitasking.
D) regretted having read such a long novel.

7- According to the author of Passage 2 in line 79,

what do novelists and scientists have in c ommon?
A} They take risks when they pursue knowledge.
B) They are eager to improve their minds.
C) They are curious about other subjects.
D) They become absorbed in their own fields.