FACULTAD DE HUMANIDADES Y ARTES – UNR

ESCUELA DE LENGUAS
CURSOS DE LENGUAS EXTRANJERAS PARA LA COMUNIDAD

PRACTICE TEST

I – READING COMPREHENSION.
Today's university students have none of the fear of "Big Brother" that
marked their parents' generation. In fact, their fascination with the
notion of watching and being watched has fuelled a dramatic shift in
entertainment programming and ushered in the era of Reality
5 Television.
Mark Andrejevic, an assistant professor of communication studies, says
a number of factors including technology and economy paved the way
for the rise of reality television, but none so much as a transformation of
American's attitudes towards surveillance.
10 As a graduate student at the University of Colorado in the mid- to late 1990s, he studied the way in
which new technology allowed viewers to move from the role of passive media consumers to active
participants. "I was interested in the ways that the promise of participation also became a means of
monitoring people," he says. "All over the Internet people were providing information about
themselves that could be used by marketers. Being watched became more and more economically
15 productive."
Andrejevic believes that the interactivity of the internet led to reality TV mania. He interviewed
producers of early reality programmes such as MTV's The Real World who said that they initially had
a hard time finding people willing to have their lives taped nearly 24 hours a day for several months.
That was in 1992. Now they hold auditions in college towns and thousands of young people form
20 lines snaking for blocks just for the chance to audition. "There are now more people applying to The
Real World each year than to Harvard," Andrejevic says.
The key to that success is connected to people's increasing comfort with levels of surveillance that
were once hated in American Society. Andrejevic has attempted to think about the ways in which
reality TV reconfigures public attitudes about surveillance. He says: "We're trained to make a split
25 between private and public surveillance - to be worried about government surveillance but not
private, which is entertainment or gather information to serve us better. We're moving into a period
where that distinction starts to dissolve. Private surveillance is becoming so pervasive that it's time
to start worrying about it as a form of social control."
That viewers of reality programming don't worry about surveillance or social control is testament to
30 the power of television as a messenger. Andrejevic points out that "The cast members of these shows
are constantly talking about how great the experience is and how much they have grown personally
because of it. It connotes honesty - you can't hide anything about yourself if you're on camera all day
every day. It becomes a form of therapy or almost a kind of extreme sport - how long can you
withstand allowing yourself to be videotaped?"
35 Viewers believe in the benefits cast members describe and crave that opportunity for themselves. In
this way, each programme becomes a kind of advertisement for itself. Millions of university students
watched The Real World and then began clamouring for the opportunity to participate. The same is
true for newer programmes including Survivor, American Idol, Fear Factor and the like.
Andrejevic says he encourages his students to look beyond the characters and the surface glamour of
40 reality television and consider the broader issues of surveillance, privacy, democracy, and technology
that the shows presents.
"I try to cure my students of the habit of watching reality TV uncritically," he says. "The challenge of
teaching popular culture is that students are trained to separate the world of academics from the
world of popular culture. They tend not to think of that part of life using theories they have learned
45 in class. There's a tendency with students to say 'you're reading too much into it.' But TV is so
powerful in conveying messages about the world precisely because people don't think it's doing that.
There's something so vital about reality TV as a cultural form," he continues. "It's always changing,
moving so fast, continuously reinventing itself. It gloms on to cultural trends. It's a good place to
examine and inspect our culture."

A) Choose the most appropriate answer A, B, C or D (4 x4= 16)

1- New technologies helped viewers to
A. passively enjoy the media.
B. be economically productive.
C. become active participants.
D. consume more.
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2- In the beginning, reality TV

A. was more popular that a university.
B. couldn't find people willing to be filmed.
C. had university students lining up to audition.
D. was not popular with students.

3- People consider public and private surveillance to be

A. different things.
B. equally harmless.
C. carried out by the government.
D. a cause for concern.

4- What is Andrejevic's attitude towards Television?

A. It is a harmless and entertaining aspect of popular culture.
B. It is secretly controlled by the government.
C. It can provide an experience that everyone would benefit from.
D. It can teach us about our culture but we should use it cautiously.

B) Choose the alternative which best defines the meaning of the word or phrase in
context. (3 x 3= 9)
5- ..." says a number of factors including technology and economy paved the way for the rise of
reality television"
A. put an obstacle to
B. got things ready for
C. were influenced by

6- "Private surveillance is becoming so pervasive that it's time..."

A. existing everywhere
B. rare
C. limited

7- "It gloms on to cultural trends."

A. to dissolve the boundaries
B. to become disconnected
C. to become attached to something so strongly that it is difficult to break the attachment

II – MULTIPLE CHOICE. (10 X 2 = 20)

1- After the accident her face was very pale and she had a _____ expression I will never forget.
a. hilarious b. flattered c. iconic d. dazed

2- Both defendants were advised to _____ not guilty to burglary in spite of all the evidence
presented by the district attorney.
a. acquit b. witness c. plead d. expel

3- Susan dropped _____ of college two years ago and went straight into her dream job.
a. over b. out c. down d. off

4- Winning the lottery was quite a(n) _____ of luck after the tsunami had swept their home out to
sea.
a. stroke b. overload c. shot d. device

5- Keeley was _____ over by a car outside her house and is now in intensive care.
a. hit b. run c. turned d. crashed

6- More than 4,000 miners were made _____ when the tin market collapsed.
a. sacked b. promoted c. redundant d. self-employed

7- Kim confessed _____ all the brutal crimes she had committed and was sentenced to life.
a. for b. to c. at d. of

8- Samantha _____ with fear at the thought of seeing Jack again.

a. hitchhiked b. attempted c. dreaded d. shivered

9- There’s _____ time to stop and talk, Jim. We must finish before midnight.
a. none b. any c. much d. no

10- You will never understand my point, _____ you?

a. will b. don't c. won't d. would
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III– KEY WORD TRANSFORMATION. (5 X 3 = 15)

Write a second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence
using the word given. Do not change the word given. Do not use more than
five words.

1. "Where do you buy most of your clothes?" she asked KNOW

She wanted to ________________________________________________ most of my clothes.

2. Declan was angry because Claire arrived late. HAVE

If Claire had arrived on time, Declan _________________________________________ angry.

3- Mark can't wait to use his new computer-games console. FORWARD

Mark is __________________________________________ his new computer-games console.

4. Simon was the only student to apply for a scholarship. NONE

Apart ________________________________________ the students applied for a scholarship.

5. Carol decided to leave our town. Her daughter had been killed. WHOSE

Carol, ________________________________________________, decided to leave our town.