Dyslexia, also referred to as “specific reading disability,” predominantly affects a person's ability to read and write. Dyslexics have difficulty connecting visual symbols (i.e., letters) with their corresponding sounds. Many people who suffer from dyslexia also have trouble with enunciation, organisation, and short-term memory. Dyslexia is the most common learning disability in children. It is not related to intellectual ability, vision, or access to education. Approximately 5-10 percent of school-age children in North America suffer from the condition, with each case varying in severity. Children are generally diagnosed with dyslexia during the elementary school years when they are learning how to read and spell.
Determining the definite cause of dyslexia is a difficult task since studies of the morphology of the brain are generally conducted in an autopsy. One hypothesis suggests that dyslexic children suffer from “strabismus," the tendency of the eyes to focus on two different points. When reading, for example, one eye focuses on the beginning of the word
and the other focuses on the end. This theory could explain why dyslexics have difficulty reading. Many dyslexic children read letters and words backwards, often mistaking a */b/* for a */d/* or reading */was/* instead of */saw/*. These reversals are normal for children
under the age of six, but indicate a problem if they persist beyond the early elementary grades. Neurological research points to tiny flaws in the dyslexic brain called ectopias and microgyria. These flaws alter the structure of the cortex, the area of the brain that is responsible for connecting visual and audio processing. Genetic research, often in the
form of twins studies, shows that dyslexia may be passed on in families.
Though most children are not diagnosed with dyslexia until they enter the school system, there are some early signs of the disability. Toddlers who talk much later than average, have difficulty learning new words, or do not understand the concept of rhyming may develop other dyslexic symptoms. As children begin school, teachers are trained to
look for warning signs, such as an inability to recognize letters or spaces between words on a page or difficulty following instructions given with more than one command at a time. Properly screening children for dyslexia is important since other factors can limit reading
abilities, including vision or hearing impairment, anxiety, or other neurological problems.
Dyslexia is a type of learning disorder that can often be compensated for with therapy and provisional techniques. Phonological training, which involves identifying and separating sound patterns, is the most common form of therapy used in the school system. Depending on the severity of the disorder, dyslexic children are pulled from regular classroom activities in order to work one-on-one with a language specialist. Studies have shown that activity in the right temporoparietal cortex tends to increase after sufficient phonological training. Improvements in visual focus can sometimes be achieved when students are given an eye patch to wear while they learn to read. Encouraging children to use many senses while reading also has proven benefits. Some teachers find that having students listen to a book on tape before reading the text can help with information processing as well.
Though it is properly classified as a learning disability, dyslexia is commonly mistaken for a behavioural disorder. Dyslexic children often exhibit behaviour that seems abnormal but is caused by frustration at their own inability to perform at the same level as their peers. Some studies show that attention deficit disorder co-occurs with dyslexia in up to 50 percent of cases. In general, behavioural problems decline as dyslexic students are diagnosed and begin to receive treatment.
Other learning disabilities are neurologically linked to dyslexia, including dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and dyspraxia. People who suffer from dyscalculia can usually perform difficult mathematical tasks, but have trouble with formulas or basic addition and subtraction.
Dysgraphia prevents people from writing in an organized manner. Dyspraxia impedes the performance of routine tasks that involve balance and fine motor skills.
The earlier children are diagnosed with dyslexia, the more likely they are to overcome their disabilities and progress to adult reading levels. Many studies show that children who are diagnosed after grade three have a much lower chance of eliminating the symptoms of
dyslexia. Some dyslexics, especially those who are not diagnosed as children, naturally develop their own coping mechanisms such as an increased visual memory. In some instances, dyslexics develop keen spatial and visual abilities that prepare them for very specialised careers.
/Do the following statements agree with the information in the reading passage?/
/For Questions 1-7, choose:/
/ *YES* if the statement agrees with the views of the writer/
/ *NO* if the statement disagrees with the views of the writer/
/ *NOT GIVEN* if there is no information on this in the passage/
1. Dyslexia is a disorder related to intelligence.
Yes
No
Not given
2. Dyslexia is usually diagnosed during a child's first years of school.
Yes
No
Not given
3. People with dyslexia often read in reverse.
Yes
No
Not given
4. Children with dyslexia learn to speak at a younger than average age.
Yes
No
Not given
5. Scientists are looking for a drug treatment for dyslexia.
Yes
No
Not given
6. Dyslexia in children is often accompanied by behavioural problems.
Yes
No
Not given
7. People with dysgraphia have difficulty with math.
Yes
No
Not given
8-10.Which of the following are signs of dyslexia mentioned in the passage
choose THREE answers from the list A-F below.//
Select one or more:
A. learning to talk at a later than normal age
B. trouble with new vocabulary
C. leaving big spaces between words
D. problems following directions
E. difficulty turning the pages of a book
F. inability to give commands
Reading Passage 2 Chocolate-Food of the Gods
The cacao plant is believed to have evolved at least 4,000 years ago. It is a small evergreen tree,15-25 feet high, which grows in the tropical forest understory, where it is protected by the shade of larger trees. The scientific name for the cacao plant is /Theobroma/, which
means “food of the gods." Native to the Amazon and Orinoco River basins, it requires a humid climate and regular rainfall. Small pink flowers grow directly on the trunk and older branches. The fruit, a cacao pod, is melon shaped and weighs roughly 1 pound when fully ripened. A mature tree may have as many as 6,000 flowers but will only produce about
twenty pods. Each pod contains between twenty and sixty seeds, called beans. The beans have a 40-50 percent fat content, referred to as /cocoa butter/. (/Cacao/is the plant;/cocoa/is the edible derivative and the primary ingredient in chocolate.)
Chemical analysis of pottery vessels unearthed in Puerto Escondido, Honduras, and dating from around 3,100 years ago show traces of a compound that is found exclusively in the cacao plant. At that time, the plant was already being used as a beverage ingredient. However, it was not the cacao beans that were first used. Instead, the first cacao-based drink was probably produced by fermenting the pulp in the cacao pods to yield a beerlike beverage. Researchers speculate that the chocolate drink made from the cacao beans and known later throughout Mesoamerica may have arisen as an accidental by-product of the brewing process. In all, ten small, beautifully crafted drinking vessels were found at the
Puerto Escondido site, suggesting that even then the cacao brew was not consumed on a frequent basis but was reserved for important feasts or ceremonial events.
The villagers of Puerto Escondido had likely been influenced by the great Olmec civilisation, which flourished for about 800 years beginning 3,200-2,400 years ago in the southern Gulf of Mexico region. Although centred in the modern Mexican states of Tabasco and Veracruz, Olmec influence reached as far south as El Salvador and Honduras. A majority of scholars concur that the Olmec people created the first civilization in the western hemisphere. They built large cities with significant architecture and established commerce extending over hundreds of miles. Relatively little is known about Olmec society because very little archaeological evidence has survived the damp climate of the Gulf of Mexico. What is known, however, is that the later Mayan peoples, who did leave behind a great deal of cultural evidence, based much of their high culture on earlier Olmec traditions.
Mayan civilization flourished in southern Mexico and Central America from around 500 B.C.E. (“/Before the Common Era, that is, before the year 0./”) to around 1500, and the word /cacao/ comes from the Mayan word Ka 'kau’. However, this is not a native Mayan word but is derived from the Olmec language. To the Mayans, the cacao pod symbolised life
and fertility. Many of the bas-reliefs carved on their palaces and temples show cacao pods. It is believed that the Mayans took the cacao tree from its native rain forest and began to cultivate it in plantations. After harvesting the seed pods, they scooped out the contents--the cacao beans embedded in a sticky, white flesh--and allowed it all to ferment until the seeds turned dark brown. The seeds were then roasted and ground into a thick chocolate paste.
From the paste, the Mayans made a hot chocolate drink. However, it was very different from contemporary hot chocolate. The basic drink was made by mixing the paste with water, chili powder, cornmeal, and other ingredients and heating it. Then the liquid was poured back and forth from one vessel held at arm's height to another resting on the ground.
This created a chocolate drink with a thick head of dark foam--considered the best part of the drink. Among the Mayans, as the chocolate drink grew more popular and the ingredients more readily available, people from all levels of society enjoyed it at least on occasion.
The Maya preserved their knowledge of cacao use through stone carvings, some in jade and obsidian, pottery decorations, and written documents that detailed the use of cacao, described in Mayan as “food of the gods." Cacao was used in ceremonies, medical treatments, and daily life centuries before the discovery of the New World by Europeans.
Certain recipes for cacao drinks included vanilla, nuts, honey from native bees, and various flowers./ Ek Chuab/ (meaning “black star" in Yucatec Maya) was the patron god of merchants and commerce. Because cacao seeds were light in weight, easily transported, and of great value, they were used as currency throughout Mesoamerica. Thus /Ek Chuah/ also became the patron god of cacao. Each April, the Maya held a festival to honour this deity. The celebration included offerings of cacao, feathers, and incense, the sacrifice of a dog with cacaocoloured markings, other animal sacrifices, and an exchange of gifts. Given that the chocolate drink could be made only through the direct destruction of currency, one can understand why it was called the “food of gods." The immortals could easily afford it, while for humans it was a precious commodity indeed.
Do the following statements agree with the information in the passage?
For the five statements below, choose:
/ *TRUE* if the statement agrees with the information/
/ *FALSE* if the statement contradicts the information/
/ *NOT GIVEN* if there is no information on this /
11. The mature cacao plant produces about 6,000 pods.
True
False
Not given
12. The cacao plant prefers wet weather.
True
False
Not given
13. Each flower on the cacao plant produces twenty pods.
True
False
Not given
14. Cacao drinks were originally made using the pulp from the pod.
True
False
Not given
15. In ancient Puerto Escondido, cacao drinks were served hot.
True
False
Not given
------------------------------------------------------------------------
/According to the information in Reading passage 2, which ancient civilisations do the following phrases describe? For Questions 16-20, choose:/
/*A* if the phrase describes the ancient Olmec civilisation only/
/*B* if the phrase describes the ancient Mayan civilisation only/
/*C* if the phrase describes both the Olmec and the Mayan civilisations/
16. Collapsed around 2,400 years ago
A
B
C
17. Grew cacao on large farms
A
B
C
18. Influenced the ancient inhabitants of Puerto Escondido
A
B
C
19. Carved images of cacao pods
A
B
C
20. Was located in Mexico
A
B
C
Only got 11/20 for the following answer:
(1)Yes (2)Not given (3)Yes
(4)No (5)Not given (6)Yes
(7)Not given
(8)A (9)B (10)D
(11)False (12)True (13)Not given
(14)True (15)Not given
(16)(C)2400; (17)A
(18)B (19)A
(20)B
Anyone can contribute a full mark solution(?)
========================================================Another set question from website for references
Questions 1-6
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in reading passage
TRUE if the statement agrees with the writer
FALSE if the statement contradicts the writer
NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this
2 . Dyslexia affects language as well as visual and audio processes.
3 . In modern society dyslexia is essentially the inability to distinguish between visual forms.
4 . It has been demonstrated that special reading programmes can teach dyslexic people to read as well
as non- dyslexic ones.
5 . The cause of dyslexia is partly genetic and partly environmental.
6 . The writer of the article believes that dyslexia can most effectively be cured in illiterate societies.
Questions 7-11
Match the items from the reading passage to the definitions. Choose the correct letters A B C D
7 . Ectopia
A. a reduction in the number of layers in part of the cortex of the brain.
B. a collection of nerve cells in a part of the cortex of the brain where they are not normally found.
C. a formation of six layers in the cortex of the brain, where normally there are four.
D. an inability to deal with linguistic information in visual form.
8 . Microgyria
A. a symptom of dyslexia.
B. abnormal pathways of visual information in the brain.
C. an abnormal formation of layers in the cortex of the brain.
D. confusion resulting in inability to distinguish sounds in quick succession.
9 . Phenomes
A. sounds made in quick succession.
B. part of language that dyslexics are unable to identify.
C. brain activity that can be monitored with special scanning techniques.
D. the units of sound which make up a language.
10 . fMRI
A. a scientific equipment for assessing reading skills.
B. a technique for scanning activity of the brain.
C. a technique for stimulating visual and auditory pathways in the brain.
D. a machine to stimulate visual motion.
11 . Brodmann’s area 37
A. a less active part of the brain.
B. an abnormal formation in the brain of dyslexics.
C. where all visual information is handled in the brain.
D. part of the brain where visual and auditory information are handled.
Questions 12-14
Complete the sentences below with words taken from the reading passage. Use no more than
three words for each answer
12 . In the language centres of dyslexics brains, Dr Albert Galaburda discovered two sorts of ———-
13 . One abnormality in the dyslexics brains is the reduction in the cell size in the layers of the ——–
14 . Dyslexia is behavioural problem and also a —————–
Dyslexia answers
- FALSE
- TRUE
- FALSE
- NOT GIVEN
- TRUE
- FALSE
- B
- C
- D
- B
- D
- MICROSCOPIC FLAWS
- LATERAL GENICULATE NUCLEUS
- DISEASE
Could i also have the answer for the first part too ?
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