TEXT 1: YOUNG PEOPLE'S SCREEN TIME

1 As we can attest from firsthand experience, regular TV viewership has been decreasing as streaming services like Netflix are
2 becoming increasingly popular. The amount of time kids and teens spend watching TV has dropped. In 2.013, young people spent
3 an average of 3 hours per day in front of the television screen; today, it's an hour and 12 minutes. So, have youth reduced their
4 screen time? Not really. Studies show that they have rather traded the TV screen for their phone and laptop. Now the average
5 youth watches 97 minutes of YouTube and 95 minutes of TikTok per day.
6 A few years ago, two Oxford researchers captured the media's attention by concluding that screen time was as bad for teen
7 mental health as… potatoes! Their paper even stated that social media had no psychological negative effects. However, most
8 evidence points to the contrary. Two Spanish researchers argued that the Oxford study's conclusions were "extremely misleading",
9 after they found that the use of social media was strongly linked to mental health issues, while TV and gaming were only weakly
10 related. Other studies confirmed this and added that the worst effects impacted girls 50% more than boys.
11 It's time to abandon the idea that screen time doesn't matter for mental health. It does. It's just that some screen time matters
12 more than others. Social media seems the most problematic. For practical purposes, that's good news. Parents, policymakers,
13 and teens themselves don't need to consider giving up technology; instead, they can focus on cutting back on social media time.
14 There are other ways teens can stay in touch with friends virtually, like texting, gaming together or meeting on FaceTime or Zoom.

1. According to the text, young people today…
(a) watch Netflix more than other age groups.
(b) use multiple devices for entertainment.
(c) prefer regular television to YouTube.
(d) only watch content online.

2. The Oxford research on social media…
(a) was contradicted by several researchers.
(b) showed it harmed girls more than boys.
(c) is supported by extensive data.
(d) went unnoticed in the press.

3. People watch less conventional TV than they used to.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

4. Spanish researchers studied the effect of videogames on young people.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

5. The author is emphatic that screen devices have an unquestionable psychological impact.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

6. The author suggests that adolescents should avoid interacting with friends online.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

7. FIND IN THE TEXT:

7.1. ONE SYNONYM FOR: "change" (verb)
7.2. ONE SYNONYM FOR: "audience" (noun)

8. FIND IN THE TEXT:

8.1. ONE WORD MEANING: "someone responsible for making new rules, laws, etc."
8.2. ONE WORD MEANING: "to send a message from one mobile phone to another."

TEXT 2: CHARLES DICKENS

1 Charles Dickens is one of the greatest writers in English literature. His stories such as Great Expectations and Oliver Twist
2 continue to shape the way in which we understand nineteenth-century England.
3 Forget the idea that Dickens was always a rich, benevolent gentleman. His family moved around a lot in Dickens's youth, from
4 Portsmouth to Kent, and from there to London. Dickens's father was getting deeper and deeper into debt, and the family were
5 literally running away from their creditors. When he was 12, Dickens was sent to live with a family friend and to work at Warren's
6 shoe polish factory. In his youth, Dickens thought of becoming an actor. However, he fell in love with a woman whose parents were
7 middle-class and disapproved of her association with an aspiring actor —actors being seen as of a low social status at the time.
8 Once he was a famous writer, Dickens became a well-known philanthropist who committed himself to many charities,
9 particularly focusing on issues of child poverty and education. On the same altruistic note, Dickens was also the editor of magazines
10 that, at popular prices, brought literature to everybody. They featured stories by different writers, established novelists, including
11 himself, and also women, like the first salaried female journalist, Eliza Lynn Linton.
12 Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol rapidly, taking just six weeks from beginning to end. He was forced to pay half the publication
13 costs himself as his publishers failed to see the value of a Christmas story. Ironically, it's never been out of print since its publication
14 in 1.843 and it's been considered one of Dickens's finest literary achievements, as well as an inspiration for numerous films.

9. As an editor, Charles Dickens…
(a) published some stories written by women.
(b) focused on promising new writers.
(c) was seeking to make a lot of money.
(d) published stories about working women.

10. According to the text, A Christmas Carol…
(a) was seen as a great story by publishers.
(b) was quite hard to write.
(c) had to be co-financed by Dickens himself.
(d) is claimed to be a minor work.

11. The Dickenses had a hard time due to the father's spending habits.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

12. Dickens did not have experience as a manual worker.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

13. Actors were well regarded in Dickens's times.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

14. Dickens supported numerous good causes.
(Justify your answer with the precise words or phrases from the text, or use your own words.)

15. FIND IN THE TEXT:

15.1. ONE OPPOSITE FOR: "consent" (verb)
15.2. ONE OPPOSITE FOR: "wealth" (noun)

16. FIND IN THE TEXT:

16.1. ONE WORD MEANING: "something done successfully with effort, skill or courage."
16.2. ONE WORD MEANING: "a person to whom money is owed."

17. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH A CORRECT FORM OF THE VERB IN BRACKETS:

17.1. "Please, let me … when you are coming." (know)
17.2. "When you arrived, we …" (already / leave)

18. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH THE CORRECT OPTION:

18.1. "Neither Tom … Claire came to the meeting." nor / or / either / neither
18.2. "You need to follow the recipe step … step." at / by / on / for

19. TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO THE ACTIVE VOICE: "The accident has been caused by a driver using a mobile phone."

20. TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO THE PASSIVE VOICE: "Is somebody going to order the pizzas in the end?"

21. GIVE A QUESTION FOR THE UNDERLINED WORDS: "They sold Anna's car in just one week."

22. JOIN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES USING A RELATIVE. MAKE CHANGES IF NECESSARY: "Detroit is the city. They lived there when they were young."

23. REWRITE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE WITHOUT CHANGING ITS MEANING. BEGIN AS INDICATED: "I'd rather you didn't stay long at the party." You had…

24. COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONAL SENTENCE: "Unless Jake finds a proper solution, …"

25. THERE ARE TWO MISTAKES IN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE. FIND THE MISTAKES AND REWRITE THE SENTENCE CORRECTLY: "Despite of the challenges, we managed completing the project on time."

26. TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO DIRECT SPEECH: "The policewoman asked to see my driving license."

27. TURN THE FOLLOWING SENTENCE INTO REPORTED SPEECH: "'I must return the car to my father next weekend,' Paul said."

28. USE THE WORDS IN THE BOXES TO MAKE A MEANINGFUL SENTENCE. USE ALL AND ONLY THE WORDS IN THE BOXES WITHOUT CHANGING THEIR FORM:

should · apple · for · be · the · everyone · bakery · enough · at · pie · there

29. WRITE A COMPOSITION OF AT LEAST 120 WORDS ABOUT ONE OF THE TOPICS PROPOSED AND FOCUS ON IT. CHOOSE ONE TOPIC ONLY:

29.1. What do you think about using mobile phones in schools? Give reasons.
29.2. "Young people do not read books anymore." Discuss.