2 Extra Exam Practice Name

Read the text and answer the questions that follow.

Where Am I?
I Many people get lost when going to a new place, but imagine having trouble finding your way to and from school
or work. That’s exactly what happens to Katy Letterman. Katy suffers from developmental topographical
disorientation, or DTD. DTD was first identified in 2009 by Dr Giuseppe Iaria, a Canadian scientist.
II According to Dr Iaria, people with DTD are able to recognise landmarks like buildings, but can’t understand how
to get from one place to another. DTD sufferers share several symptoms: They get lost every day in familiar
surroundings, they have no other neurological condition or brain injury, they are of normal intelligence and they
have had the condition since childhood. DTD sufferers have no sense of direction at all. “I’ve always had this
problem,” says Katy. “I couldn’t even find my way to high school. Today, I have a cell phone with GPS, so
getting around is easier.”
III DTD sufferers like Katy are extreme cases, but many of us can relate to getting lost. Dr Colin Ellard is a scientist
and the author of a book called Where Am I?. Dr Ellard got the idea for his book after studying animals with
amazing navigational skills. Ants find the shortest way home from a distance of up to 20,000 times the length of
their bodies and the chickadee bird can store food in 80,000 different places, find them all and bring the food back
home. Yet many of us can’t even find our car in a multi-storey car park.
IV Traditional cultures are usually much better at navigating than modern city dwellers. The Inuit navigate vast areas
of snow using wind direction, and the Bedouin use the stars to help them navigate the desert. So why are some of
us today so bad at finding our way around? Perhaps it’s because most of us live in urban environments that allow
us to get around with no knowledge of the natural world. If we relied less on maps and our GPS and learned to
use the wind and the sun, maybe we wouldn’t get lost so often.

1 Choose the correct answer.

1. Dr Iaria … .
a. was the first person to discover DTD
b. was diagnosed with DTD in 2009
c. has been studying DTD since 2009
2. People who have DTD … .
a. are unable to recognise landmarks
b. only get lost in unfamiliar surroundings
c. get lost every day in places they know well

2 Decide if the following sentences are true (T) or false (F). Find evidence in the text to justify your answers.

 1. Katy has had DTD since childhood.

................................................................................................................................................
 2. Many people suffer from DTD.
................................................................................................................................................

3 Complete the sentences using the information given in the text.

1. Ants and the chickadee are examples of ...........................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................ .
2. Traditional cultures are often better at navigating because ...............................................................
........................................................................................................................................................ .

1
 2 Extra Exam Practice

4 Find words or expressions in the text that mean the same as:
1. confusion (paragraph I) ……………………
2. familiar features (paragraph II) ……………………
3. abilities (paragraph III) ……………………
4. huge (paragraph IV) ……………………
5. surroundings (paragraph IV) ……………………

5 Write a composition of about 100-150 words. Choose ONE option.

1. Write a dialogue between two people who are lost.
2. Do you think using a GPS is a good idea? Explain why.