Vermont Mountain School limits Facebook ties for teens
4.3 To what extent can returning home be challenging for these students?
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
Facebook is extremely addictive. Most surveys a. _________ the conclusion that teens are connected to the internet for an average of 16 hours per week, with a considerable amount of that time coming from the use of Facebook.
Research b. __________ the excessive amount of time c. __________ any internet site by teens which can lead to obesity, impaired relationships between teens and their parents and even psychological problems. Although it may seem a difficult additional task to ask parents to d. __________ teens e. from Facebook for a few hours a week, it is definitely worthwhile.
http://www.radicalparenting.com/2012/02/08/how-parents-can-limit-their-teens-time-spent-on-facebook/
(abridged and adapted, accessed in January 2013)
2. Use the verbs in brackets in the Future Continuous. 10 marks (5x2 marks)
a. Keifer is excited. Next school meeting, he ____________________ (talk) to real people instead of browsing pictures on Facebook and he ______________________ (share) his experience.
b. The next group of students ______________________ (not learn) many school subjects but they
_______________________ (learn) how to survive without their mobile phone.
c. This time tomorrow Floyd _____________________ (fly) home, back to his mobile phone. But he doesn’t really miss it.
3. Fill in the gaps with the correct verb tense. 12 marks (4x3 marks)
a. The director would prefer to have more students if the school ______________________ (have) a larger budget.
b. If the students arrive early, they ___________________ (share) their experiences before dinner.
c. What ____________________ (you / do) if you have been deprived of your mobile phone?
d. If teenagers ________________ (not have) access to the internet in school, they would feel lost.
warn agree keep spend on about with away
Progress Test - Module 3
4. Find and correct the mistake in each sentence. 12 marks (4x3 marks)
a. Facebook can bring many advantages. On the other hand, many people think it is a waste of time.
b. Although being in contact with his family by phone, Oliver missed them a lot while staying at the Vermont School.
c. Some parents forbid their kids to use Facebook but protect them from predators.
d. All the likes on my Facebook page are from people I actually know nevertheless I don’t accept friendship requests from strangers.
D - Written production 50 marks
The Vermont Mountain School is internet and cell phone free. Imagine that you had to live like that for a couple of months.
In 120-160 words, write a text reporting all your feelings, attitudes and how your behaviour changed during the experience.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tests 1-5
A - Listening comprehension
Facebook and my life
If media has shown me anything it is that I and other teenagers have an obsession with the world of social media. Often, I hear about how our generation seems to waste all of its time on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and countless other social networking sites; I hear it more than I care to. Truthfully, I know that I personally have trouble resisting YouTube at the weekends. But social media in particular has received a bad reputation for destroying teenager’s ability to focus.
For adolescents living in the 21st century, the popular media today is clearly social networking, primarily Facebook. As my mom (and countless other adults for that matter) enjoy reminding me, Facebook will do nothing but harm me in the end. There is the constant danger of cyberbullying to deal with, as well as the fact that whatever goes on Facebook is forever on the internet for anyone to see. Yet for many teenagers, Facebook, Twitter, and whatever new site is currently trending, are guilty pleasures.
To be fair, I also had my doubts about the benefits of social networking. Like some kind of drug, it seemed to me that once you got a Facebook account you would never stop using it, so, I was able to resist the peer pressure and temptation until the end of middle school.
At first, I became obsessed and spent way too much time posting mindless wall posts on my friends’
profiles. To any critic of this new medium, the story ends there. Child gets Facebook; child gets hooked.
But I quickly adapted to the changes Facebook brought to my life. Within a few months, right before high school, I immediately cut down on my Facebook usage. I changed my privacy settings. I quickly made friend lists to organize my friends and further improve my privacy settings. My Facebook addiction was quickly controlled. Though I currently only visit the site on my weekends, I still use it to voice my opinions and share relevant information. Being one of the astonishing 500 million people to have a Facebook account, I can certainly say that I do not regret my decision, although it is true that Facebook has added another constraint to my life.
I’d like to add that my focus has improved. My senses of tact and privacy have also drastically grown thanks to Facebook. Social networking sites do not have to interfere with reality and solid work ethics.
With educational competition in high schools at its apex, students have learned to balance work with play.
Work hard, play hard. Social networking does not necessarily mean I cannot focus. It just means that I have to figure out how to manage my focus and my social life. Now that it’s done, I’m going to check my notifications.
http://www.stageoflife.com/Default aspx?tabid=72&g=posts&t=2498, (abridged and adapted, accessed December 2012)
1. a. Facebook, Twitter; b. Cyber bullying,
everything posted stays there forever; c. Social networking; d. 500 million.
time, posting everything and commenting on everything.
2nd phase: he understood he couldn’t be controlled by Facebook and with school work increasing he had to manage his focus on social networking and school work.
Answer key
Test 1
B - Written comprehension 1. Open answer.
2. a. “Adopting and supporting reading habits are duties teachers and parents share.”; b. “Everyone knows that encouraging children to read is as fundamental to parenting as teaching children to brush their teeth.”; c. “… estimated 32 million adults in the USA – about one in seven – have such low literacy skills that it would be tough for them to read anything more challenging than a children’s picture book.”; d. “Parents might find that magazines are a great investment with huge rewards.”
3. a. encouraging (l. 3); b. unable (l. 7);
c. challenging (l. 10); d. helping (l. 11).
4.1 Reading is important because it helps people to integrate into the world, socially, professionally and individually.
4.2 Parents should support and encourage teenagers to read by providing them with the necessary tools, time and place to do so.
4.3 Magazines are inexpensive, recyclable, deal with current trends, and contain fiction, nonfiction, letters to the editor, advice columns.
C – Language
1. a. so that; b. because; c. in order to; d. but.
2. a. Contrast; b. Reason; c. Purpose.
3. a. which. b. whose. c. which; d. who.
4. a. Defining relative clause; b. Non-defining relative clause; c. Defining relative clause.
D - Written production Open answer.
Answer key
Test 2
B - Written comprehension 1. Open answer.
2. a. an old song – catchy new song; b. half past seven am - seven am; c. his shoulders – one shoulder; d. he can’t remember – he has trouble pronouncing.
3. a. catchy new song; b. other teenagers’;
c. every aspect of my life… related to modern technology and the media; d. mine and other teenagers’.
4.1 He feels irritated when his alarm clock goes off even though there is some song playing that he knows but never paid attention to. He doesn’t really want to get up and go to school and he refers to it as being “exhausting”. Besides, it’s only the beginning of the week - Monday!!
4.2 This sentence means that this teenager lives surrounded by technology and the media. His life is dominated by technology – radio, TV, cell phone, iPods, video games, computer and internet. Communication nowadays is very easily established so people can speak to each other around the globe in a fast, permanent way.
4.3 He considers the internet a powerful means to communicate with others, express his opinions and even manipulate the information. As a teenager, he believes it is the only way for him to participate actively in discussions and for his opinions to be considered. having; d. will be resting.
D - Written production
2. a. True; b. True; c. False. One-third of all
American teens are online. d. False. Lee Rainie is the director of a media firm.
3. a. excluding (l. 5); b. personal (l. 7);
c. common (l. 20); d. same (l. 23).
4.1 Most of them spend their time online (16.7 hours per week), watching TV (13.6 hours per week), listening to the radio (12 hours per week), talking on the phone (7.7 hours per week) and reading books and magazines for entertainment (6 hours per week).
4.2 It is young people’s first choice because for them it is very appealing the way they can personalise and control all the contents online – media, surfing…
4.3 Multi-tasking is the capacity to deal with different activities simultaneously, like instant messaging, answering e-mail, researching, watching TV, and phoning – all at the same
4. a. wasn´t; b. would probably spend; c. they would probably choose; d. hadn’t made;
e. wouldn’t have become.
D - Written production Open answer.
B - Written comprehension people’s lives because many people (teenagers and adults) publish a lot of personal information on different sites so predators can easily spot their victims and attack them.
4.2 Teenagers are at risk when they talk on the net especially if they talk with strangers as they are never totally sure who the person on the other side of the keyboard is.
4.3 The text advises teenagers to be smart when using the net, to inform their parents when strange events or people appear, not to post personal information (like address, phone number, or the school they attend) on sites or blogs, not to publish personal pictures, to talk/
chat only with people the teenagers actually know, and to pay attention to the origin of emails as they can carry viruses.
C - Language
1.1 a. – Defining relative clause; 1.2 b. – Non-defining relative clause; 1.3 a. - Defining relative clause.
2. a. who; b. whom; c. which; d. which.
3. a. frightening; b. frustrated; c. worried;
d. exciting; e. fascinating.
4. a. because of/as a result of; b. instead of;
c. along with; d. Because of/As a result of;
e. away from.
D - Written production Open answer.
Answer key
3. a. current (l. 1); b. rural (l. 5); c. liberating (l. 19); d. reintegrating (l. 25).
4.1 This school aims to change students’ habits and opinions in relation to technology and its current usage. The students who attend this school for a few months learn how to live without mobile phones and to have limited access to internet.
4.2 Floyd said it is really liberating because he was not used to talking to people face-to-face but just through the internet. He realised he could have meaningful relationships with people sitting next to them.
4.3 Returning home can be challenging for these students as their friends and family will have the same habits they had before so it will be hard for these students not to get back to their old technology habits and dependence. Many people around them will still be techno dependent.
C - Language
1. a. agree with; b. warns about; c. spent on;
d. keep; e. away.
2. a. will be talking; will be sharing; b. won´t be learning; will be learning; c. will be flying.
3. a. had; b. will share; c. would you have done;
UNIT ________________________________ CLASS _________ DATE ___ / ___ / ___ TERM _________
A - Listening
comprehension B - Written
comprehension C - Language D – Written Prod.
Total Mark
• Short answer (blank filling)
• Correct / incorrect
- Sequencing items will only be given marks if the whole sequence is correct - One mark off in true / false items for each incorrect quotation from the text, when applicable
- One mark off in true / false items for each incorrect answer, if quotation from the text is correct, when applicable
• Short answer (sentence completion;
rephrasing)
• One mark less for each language mistake, up to a maximum of 3 marks
• Incomprehensible or decontextualised answers will be marked wrong
• Short answer (text comprehension) • One mark less for each language mistake, up to a maximum of 3 marks
• The answer should demonstrate the comprehension of the text, using student’s words
• Incomprehensible or decontextualised answers will be marked wrong
• Essay 41 to 50: The student shows excellent writing skills; totally respects the topic or the text type; presents his own ideas about the topic, contextualises and develops them; uses appropriate and varied cohesive devices; organises the text in a coherent manner; mistakes (structure or spelling) are irrelevant for the comprehension of message.
31 to 40: The student shows reasonable writing skills; respects the topic or the text type;
presents some ideas about the topic and contextualises them; uses simple cohesive devices to organise the text, but not always successfully; choice of words is good; makes few mistakes (structure or spelling) which hardly affect message.
21 to 30: The student shows some writing skills; respects the topic or the text type;
presents
some ideas about the topic and tries to contextualise them; uses some cohesive devices but the text is slightly disorganised; choice of words is reasonable; makes some mistakes (structure or spelling) which sometimes make message slightly confusing.
11 to 20: The student shows poor writing skills; mostly respects the topic or the text type;
presents some ideas about the topic but the text is slightly confused; uses few cohesive devices but the text is not well organised; choice of words is poor; makes many mistakes (structure or spelling) which sometimes impede meaning.
0 to 10: The student shows very poor writing skills; doesn’t fully respect the topic or the text
type; ideas are scarce and mostly decontextualised; uses few cohesive devices and the text is disorganised; choice of words is very poor; makes many mistakes (structure or spelling) which sometimes make message incomprehensible.
Note: the student will get 0 marks if the topic or the text type is not respected, or if the whole text is incomprehensible or illegible.whole text is incomprehensible or illegible.