— ARE YOU ADDICTED TO YOUR PHONE? The first thing Alfredo Santos does when he wakes up each morning is check his iPhone. The rest of the day, the 16-year-old from New York City can't seem to put the device down, whether he's in class, at the dinner table, or lying in bed trying to fall asleep. "If I can feel my phone in my pocket, I just want to take it out and check it," says Santos, a 10th grader at New York Harbor School. Santos is far from alone in succumbing to the constant itch to check an Instagram feed, view a friend's latest Snapchat story, or play another round of Word Cookies. On average, Americans check their phones once every 12 minutes.
Many psychologists, teachers, and parents have long worried that teens are spending too much time on their phones, but now, even some people within the tech industry are saying that their products, which were designed to get you hooked, are too difficult to put down. In January, two of Apple's largest investors wrote an open letter to the company pressuring Apple to do more to combat what many people see as a growing health crisis among young people: phone addiction. "The days of just throwing technology out there and washing your hands off the potential impact are over," they explained.
There are millions of different apps available on Androids and iPhones, and they're all competing for attention. After all, the more time users spend on the app, the more companies will pay to advertise on them. The people designing these apps are very cunning and they're doing everything they can to keep us engaged. Some companies even employ neuroscience to find ways to get users' attention. At Neurons Inc, a Danish company that Facebook and others have used, researchers measure the electrical activity of people's brains while they're on app to see which features bring them the most joy and keep them most engaged. Efforts like these seem to be working — perhaps too well. According to a 2.016 survey by Common Sense Media, half of teens say they feel addicted to their phones.
Answer these questions about the text. Use your own words wherever possible (2 points, 1 each).
a. Why did two Apple investors write to the company?
b. How does Neurons Inc. apply neuroscience?

Read the following statements, decide whether they are true or false and justify your answer by quoting evidence from the text (1 point, 0,50 each).
a. Checking his iPhone in the morning is the first thing Alfredo ignores for the rest of the day.
b. Companies pay a fixed amount of money to advertise on apps.

Find in the text the word or group of words which match these definitions (1 point, 0,20 each).
a. A desire to do something. (Paragraph 1)
b. Inside. (Paragraph 2)
c. Ready to be used or obtained, at your disposal. (Paragraph 3)
d. Tell people about a product or service, on television, on the internet, etc., so that people will buy it. (Paragraph 3)
e. Skillful at getting what you want, especially by tricking people. (Paragraph 3)

Complete the text using the correct words from the box below. There are 2 words that you won't need (2 points, 0,25 each).
Phone addiction isn't listed (a) ______ a recognized disorder in the US reference book for mental health diagnoses (b) ______, research shows that obsessively (c) ______ your phone could seriously damage your health. The more time teens spend in front of screens (d) ______, happy they are, according to a 2.018 study by Jean Twenge, a psychology professor. In this study she also found that young people who use social media daily are more likely (e) ______ report high levels of depressive symptoms than (f) ______ who don't. Some countries, especially in East Asia, view internet addiction like an addiction to gambling (g) ______ drugs. (h) ______ China and South Korea view it as a public health threat and have opened hundreds of treatment centers.
BOX: THOSE · ALTHOUGH · TO · THE LESS · AS · HOWEVER · BOTH · CHECK · CHECKING

Write a composition of around 150-200 words on ONE of the following topics (4 points).
a. Imagine you have a friend who is constantly checking his/her phone. You are worried and decide to send him/her an email. In your message explain why you are worried and offer him/her your advice and your help.
b. Express your opinion on the following statement: Social media platforms should have the following health warning on their welcome screen: "Excessive use of this platform can cause severe mental health problems".

— GRAFFITI: ART OR VANDALISM? Where do you expect to see graffiti? Bristol Museum and Art Gallery was the kind of place you went to see classical statues and stuffed animals in cases until the arrival of the 'Banksy versus the Bristol Museum' exhibition in the summer of 2.009. The exhibition hosted more than 100 works by Banksy, one of the world's most famous graffiti artists. For many artists like Banksy graffiti has become a springboard to 5 international fame.
Modern graffiti seems to have appeared in Philadelphia in the early 1960s and by the late sixties it had reached New York. The scene art form really took off in the 1970s, when people began writing their names, or 'tags', on buildings all over the city. In the mid seventies it was sometimes hard to see out of a subway car window, because the trains were completely covered in spray paintings.
In the early 70's a few art galleries in New York began buying graffiti, however, at the same time that it began to be regarded as an art form, John Lindsay, the then mayor of New York, declared the first war on graffiti. When asked by a journalist he explained: "graffiti is always vandalism as it is committed without permission on another person's property or on public property. Whether particular viewers find any given piece of graffiti artistically compelling is irrelevant because its most salient characteristic is that it is a crime".
The debate over whether graffiti is art or vandalism is still going on but graffiti artists seem to be winning the battle. There are more and more cities providing legal graffiti spaces. The DPM Park in Dundee, Scotland, has the longest legal graffiti wall in the UK, known as the wall of fame. Anyone can paint on the wall of fame any time they like. Mike Crilley, the wall of fame organisation believes that artists are reclaiming cities for the public from advertisers and that graffiti represents freedom and makes cities more vibrant and attractive. He intends to highlight the positive aspects of graffiti and 25 even intends to run workshops for local children.
Answer these questions about the text. Use your own words wherever possible (2 points, 1 each).
a. What does John Lindsay think about graffiti?
b. What does Mike Crilley think about graffiti?

Read the following statements, decide whether they are true or false and justify your answer by quoting evidence from the text (1 point, 0,50 each).
a. Graffiti arrived in New York in the 70's.
b. You can paint on the graffiti wall in Dundee whenever you want.

Find in the text the word or group of words which match these definitions (1 point, 0,20 each).
a. An event at which paintings are shown to the public. (Paragraph 1)
b. Something that makes something happen or start. (Paragraph 1)
c. Started to be successful. (Paragraph 2)
d. Giving, making available. (Paragraph 4)
e. Emphasize, centre attention on. (Paragraph 4)

Complete the text using the correct words from the box below. There are 2 words that you won't need (2 points, 0,25 each).
If someone (a) ______ all over your house without your permission, you (b) ______ not be happy. Before you even look (c) ______ it you would call it vandalism because (d) ______ ______ has the right to do such a thing without your permission. But if you saw an amazing complex artwork on an (e) ______ dull and blank wall (f) ______ in the city, would you feel the same way? (g) ______ graffiti vandalism, when it is always illegal, 'Urban Art' is defined as legal artwork. In this case permission to mark the surface has been granted by the owner of the property. Urban Art projects in cities are sometimes recommended (b) ______ authorities as a form of graffiti prevention strategy.
BOX: OTHERWISE · WOULD · AT · ONE · WILL PAINT · HOWEVER · UNLIKE · BY · PAINTED · SOMEWHERE

Write a composition of around 150-200 words on ONE of the following topics (4 points).
a. Does graffiti make a place look run-down or does it make it more attractive? Write a for and against essay.
b. A graffiti artist has painted one of your walls without asking permission. Write a letter to the local newspaper describing what happened and what your opinion is.