EBAU Practice Examination (La Rioja)

Computer Impact!
In 1996, Gary Kasparov, the world’s number one chess player, played six chess games against
the computer Deep Blue. Kasparov won 4-2, but today, a computer would easily beat any human at a
game of chess.
Computers can do this because they are able to process so much information so quickly. The
software finds the best move by calculating every possible continuation in a way that no human brain
could ever hope to do. As a result, the computer sometimes comes up with an astonishing move which
even a chess grand master would never have considered. As well as unexpected, the move is also
extremely good, and human players can ultimately learn from it. So the computer’s different perspective
has given human players a new idea, an insight that they might never have obtained without the
computer’s help.
Something similar is happening in the music industry. To identify new talent, music companies
have traditionally relied on people with “golden ears”, who use their intuition and experience to find
tomorrow’s stars. But increasingly, music companies are starting to use computerised analysis to do this
job.
Using home computers, almost anybody can now make high-quality recordings without the
expense of recording studios and highly paid producers, and this home-made music can be uploaded
to sites like YouTube. Now it’s possible to find out how many people have been listening to this new
music, to analyse all this Internet data and to discover which of these unknown singers is suddenly
becoming “hot”.
Sometimes, the data points to an unknown artist that the human experts would never have
considered. “The other day we were listening to this rap artist and, you know, she seemed pretty awful
really,” comments one music business executive. “But at the same time, the numbers she was getting
were fantastic. And because of those statistics, we had to start taking her seriously … . And then as we
went on listening, we started to think, ‘Hey, actually this lady has got something – maybe it’s not what
we thought we were looking for, but actually she’s really good’… .”
The reality is that nobody knew what humans were missing before we had computers – and that
applies to music as much as chess.

1. Choose the correct answer a, b or c. (3 points, 0.5 each)

1. The computer … .
a) thinks in the same way as a grand master but much quicker
b) has better intuition and pattern recognition than a human
c) can consider every possible move in the game
2. By playing chess, computers … .
a) are helping players to improve their chess
b) usually only play unexpected moves
c) will teach humans how to think and process like a computer
3. Which statement is true regarding the music industry?
a) There are more pop stars today thanks to advances in home computing.
b) The recordings people make at home can never be as good as the recordings made in a
studio.
c) It is much easier to publish music than it used to be.
4. Internet data on music videos is … .
a) used to confirm what human experts think
b) sometimes different to what the human experts think
c) used by unknown singers to promote their music

1/2
 5. The executive thought the rap artist … .
a) thought she was fantastic
b) wasn’t very good at first, but then he changed his mind
c) should be taken seriously even though not many people were listening to her
6. Which is the best summary of the text?
a) Computers can help us to play better chess.
b) Computers can surprise humans with new ideas.
c) Computers are finding new talent in chess and in music.

2. Answer these questions in no more than 5 words. (1 point, 0.25 each)

a) What is Deep Blue?
b) What do people with “golden ears” have?
c) What do performers no longer need?
d) What were the statistics like for the rap artist?

3. Find words in the text for these definitions. (1 point, 0.25 each)
a) intuitive understanding
b) more and more
c) horrible
d) didn’t have

4. Rephrase the following sentences so that their meaning is as similar to the original as
possible. (2 point,) (DO FOUR)
A) He plays so well that he can almost beat the computer.
He’s such …
B) Music companies are starting to use computerised analysis to do this job.
Computerised analysis …
C) We had to start taking her seriously.
We had no choice but …
D) Human experts would never have considered her.
She …
E) The player didn’t train enough so he lost against the machine.
If...
F) He asked Peter: “Why do you always use this chess board?
He asked Peter why...
G) We travelled to a place in the old quarter of the town. Everyone plays chess there.
We...
H) It is not possible that he won the competition.
He ...

5. Write an online article of 150 words on this topic: Do you think playing a game against a
computer is a good replacement for a human player? What are the advantages and
disadvantages? Can you give an example of something you rely on the computer to do
instead of yourself? (3 points)

EBAU La Rioja – Computer Impact 2/2

IH – 014-310