Table of Contents
BEST IELTS Academic Reading Test 461
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST 461 – PASSAGE – 2
IELTS ACADEMIC READING TEST – 461
READING PASSAGE – 2
Mind-altering Media
A. Plenty of surveys and studies have linked poor media habits with rising violence, childhood depression, attention deficit disorders and declining educational standards. Yet we also hear entirely the opposite: IQ scores are rising, and have been since at least the 1950s, when television was becoming common in our homes. What’s more, regular gamers seem to perform better at tests of visual attention and spatial awareness. So what are the effects of modern media on the brain – especially young, developing brains? Are TV and computers boosting our mental and social networking skills, or making us stupid, isolated and aggressive, with the attention spans of gnats?
B. One thing researchers concur on is that any technology we use will change the brain. There’s nothing surprising or sinister about this, says Martin Westwell at the University of Oxford’s Institute for the Future of the Mind. “You are who you are largely because of the way the brain cells wire up in response to the environment and the things you do,” he says. “If you change the wiring you will change how we think.” So how is the wiring changing?
IELTS Academic Reading Test
C. Some say we’re getting smarter. Steven Johnson, author of the book Everything Bad is Good for You, argues that the increasing complexity of media presentations and games, with their multiple plots and sophisticated layers, calls for more complex pre-planning and problem solving than ever. Far from dumbing us down, popular culture is stretching us, Johnson claims, and the rising IQ scores are a testament to that. There is some evidence to support such claims.
Shawn Green and Daphne Bavelier of the University of Rochester in New York have shown that regular computer gamers have improved visual attention and can take in more information. They are better able to pay attention to things that are further apart or more rapidly changing, and can switch attention more quickly. Even short-term play produces immediate improvements.Jonathan Roberts of Virginia Polytechnic Institute found that women, who usually fare worse than men at spatial rotation tests, improve when exposed to 3D video games.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
D. When it comes to TV, however, there’s no getting away from the fact that the bad news outweighs the good. One of the biggest studies was done by Jeffrey Johnson and colleagues at Columbia University in New York, who followed more than 700 families for 17 years, recording their viewing habits, health, backgrounds and various behavioural tendencies. Their findings confirm those of previous, smaller studies showing that the amount of TV watched during childhood and teens correlates with changes in attention and sleep patterns, among other things.
The group’s latest analysis will be published next month, so Johnson can’t reveal details yet, but says: “High levels of TV viewing may contribute to elevated risk for a type of syndrome which is often characterised by two or more of the following types of problems: elevated levels of verbal and physical aggression; difficulties with sleep; obesity and long-term risk for obesity-related health problems from a lack of physical exercise; and attention or learning difficulties.”
IELTS Academic Reading Test
E. One of the smaller studies, by Dimitri Christakis at the University of Washington in Seattle, found that young children watching double the average TV viewing hours (which were 2.2 per day at age 1 and 3.6 at age 3) were 25 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with attentional deficit hyperactivity disorder at age 7. Some research even hints at a link with autism, although this is very far from proven.
F. The overwhelming majority of studies about modern media and the mind, however, have focused on violence on and off the screen. Although there has been more than 50 years’ worth of research, most people seem to have the idea that, while these studies suggest there might be a small link, the jury is still out. Wrong, says John Murray, a developmental psychologist from Kansas State University, one of the editors of the book Children and Television: Fifty years of research and author of US government-sponsored reports in 1972 and 1982.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
Murray is exasperated by this kind of ambivalence. He says it is impossible to conclude anything other than that violence on TV has raised the level of violence and aggression in our society – and while research on computer games has begun only recently, what there is suggests violent games have an even stronger effect. “Video games are more worrisome than TV because they are interactive,” says Murray. “Children learn best by demonstration and then imitation, with rewards for getting things right.
That’s exactly what video games do,” he says. Not everyone is affected, and we are not all affected in same way, but overall, media violence does affect viewers’ attitudes, values and behaviour, Murray says. Hundreds of studies demonstrate this, so why the doubt?
IELTS Academic Reading Test
G. One reason is that media reports tend to give equal prominence to the naysayers. The debate also has its hired guns, with industry organisations such as the Motion Picture Association of America sponsoring prominent books arguing against any links. And whatever their motives, it is easy for critics to highlight the limitations of the science.
The ideal experiment would be to divide a large number of children into groups, expose the different groups to different types or varying amounts of TV or computer games for several years while keeping all other experiences identical, and then to follow their progress for life. This will never be possible or ethical. Instead, researchers have to rely on long-term surveys that don’t prove causality, and lab experiments that do not demonstrate long-term effects. Nevertheless, the results from all these different types of studies add up to a compelling case.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
Questions 14-19
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.
NB: You may use any letter more than once
14. proof that playing media games has beneficial effects.
15. four worrying problems caused as a result of over-exposure to one form of media.
16. the perfect research design.
17. a summary of the pros and cons of new media.
18. an immoral suggestion.
19. a point that researchers agree on.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
Questions 20 – 26
Match each name to the sentences below.
A. John Murray
B. Jeffrey Johnson
C. Shawn Green and Daphne Bavelier
D. Steven Johnson
E. Dimitri Christakis
F. Jonathan Roberts
G. Martin Westwell
IELTS Academic Reading Test
20. believes children learn by watching and copying.
21. believes that media games require more planning and skills than previously.
22. discovered that women could benefit from video games.
23. found a link weight problems and TV viewing.
24. believes there is a strong link between violent games and violent behaviour
25. explains briefly how our minds shape our personality.
26. demonstrated that frequent gamers can absorb more information.
IELTS Academic Reading Test
IELTS Academic Reading Test
ANSWERS
14. C
15. D
16. G
17. A
18. G
19. B
20. A
21. D
22. F
23. B
24. A
25. G
26. C
IELTS Academic Reading Test