UNIVERSIDAD DEL NORTE – INSTITUTO DE IDIOMAS

Performance Task 2 Version A

2022-30
Level 3

LEVEL 3 (25%) (50 points)

TASK #1: READING. Each student will read a text. Then, they will complete the task below. (20
points / 50)

TASK #2: LISTENING After listening to the assigned video in class, the students will explain the
3 statements and complete the chart below with specific details from the video. Then, they
will say YES or NO to the 6 statements below. (15 points / 50)

TASK# 3: SPEAKING. Each student will answer the questions given and use expressions of
agreement and disagreement (15 points /50)

TASK # 1: (20 points total)

READING SLO 1 Identify main ideas, details, and purpose in written texts
and in short conversations and talks

READING SLO 3 Interpret and explain main information from simple

diagrams

Instruction: Read the text and complete the activities

Why 14 is the riskiest age for a teenager?

The most dangerous age is 14.

If you know any teenagers this might not come as a surprise, but research has confirmed that risk-
taking peaks during this exact moment in mid-adolescence.
“We calculated the age at which our group of participants made the greatest proportion of risk
choices to be 14.38 years,” writes University College London neuroscientist Sarah-Jayne
Blakemore in her new book “Inventing Ourselves: The Secret Life of the Teenage Brain” (Public
Affairs).
The beginning of puberty (around 11 or 12) to the late teens/early 20s brings about a host of brain
and behavioral changes. Brain scans have shown that teens are not only more prone to
embarrassment, they’re also less likely to respond to punishment and are more visually creative
than adults.
Knowing the neuroscience behind brain development should help us better understand, parent,
teach and relate to those on the cusp of adulthood. “We shouldn’t demonize this period of life.
We should understand it, nurture it and celebrate it,” Blakemore writes.
Here are a few more insights into the teen brain from her book, out now:
________________________________
(P1) Parents, it’s not your imagination — teens are more physically embarrassed (often by you). A
2013 Harvard study scanned participants in MRI scanners and then alerted them that a peer was
watching (in reality, there was no peer). “Observed” teens showed greater activity in their medial
prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with “reflecting on the self,” writes Blakemore.
Even their skin revealed inner turmoil. Teens produced more sweat when they thought they were
being watched.
______________________________
(P2) A simulation driving game asked different age groups to get around a track as fast as possible
while still obeying traffic lights. Yellow lights represented a risky choice — as you would have a
higher chance of causing an accident and losing time and points. Teens ages 13-16 were almost
twice as likely to run yellow lights when playing the game in front of friends. Interestingly, there
was not an increase of yellow-light running when they played alone. “It means that adolescents
don’t always take risks, contrary to the stereotype,” writes Blakemore.
________________________________
(P3) A series of memory tests from the 1980s showed that there is a “dip” in the memory tasks
around age 12. A 2000 follow-up confirmed that 11- and 12-year-olds were 15 percent slower than
10- to 11-year-olds when asked to identify emotions in photographs of faces. “We don’t yet
understand the causes of the possible dip . . . It’s possible that the large changes in sex hormones
at this time might trigger changes in brain circuitry,” Blakemore writes. This supports evidence of
the “educational dip” in early adolescence, between 12 and 14, where some students tend to do
worse in school.

Main idea (5 points)

What’s the main idea of the text?

The dangerous age there kids intro to adolescence and the puberty

Details (3 points)

Match the subheadings with their corresponding paragraphs.

Paragraph 1 (2) __Teens don’t always take risks, but they do when they’re with friends

Paragraph 2 (3) ___ Puberty does a number on the brain

Paragraph 3 (1)__They’re more embarrassed

Analyse the following graph and answer the questions (4 points).

During the pandemic, children's behavior was terribly affected. According to the graph, which of
the following statements is the most accurate:

a. By June 2020 children were feeling a bit less stressed.

b. During June 2020 children were feeling more stressed than in March.

c. Almost half of the children surveyed admitted that they were feeling stressed two to
three times per week during June 2020.

d. Children feeling stressed almost every day of the week during March felt the same way
during June.

Analyse the following graph and answer the questions (4 points)

According to the graph, which of the following statements is the most accurate.

a. Girls show the highest rate of cases in the last three years

b. The percentage of cases in kids was higher than in teenagers from 2019 to 2021

c. The cases through the pandemic were higher than post-pandemic

d. The percentage of cases in kids was lower than in teenagers from 2019 to 2021
 Personal Experience (4 points)

How did you manage your teenage years? (Write 2 ideas to support your answer)

Really bad. For the migraine I’m not living the life.

And my faces emotions are as possible sad. But I’m actually ok.

How can families overcome this stage of life? (Write 2 ideas to support your answer)

No. I have families dead but not overcomer they life.

And my family is religious, they feeling god and the life.

TASK # 2: LISTENING (15 points total)

Identify main ideas, details, and purpose in written texts and in short
LISTENING SLO #1
conversations and talks

Instructions: Watch the following video in class: What’s the smartest age? - Shannon Odell

1. After listening to the video, explain the following statements in each column by
completing the chart below with specific details from the video.

Statement 1 (3 points) Statement 2 (3 points) Statement 3 (3 points)

IQ tests fail to capture the It’s easy for kids to learn and Teenagers are curious and
scope and depth of a master multiple languages adventurous learners
person’s varied abilities

According to the video, the

Yes, because the brain at that due to the constant stimuli of
tests do not help to fully
age is trained to process that finding a reward in learning
assess a person's intelligence
 and ability because there is information more quickly, and being able to motivate
more: creativity, memory and such as creativity and the the adolescent brain, being
learning. development of various more daring in decision-
activities. making.

2. Check YES or NO based on what you listened to in the video. (6 points)

a. For children, concentration games such as chess are easier than learning
languages. __ NO
b. Gabriela is the best partner for chess competitions. __ __ NO
c. For memory games adults are better than children. ____ YES
d. A well-developed prefrontal cortex allows adults to better execute skills that
require learning, focus and memory. _____ YES
e. Older people’s brain abilities may decline in late adulthood. ____ YES
f. Older people can do many different types of work. ______ NO
g. The brain can’t adapt to different skills at various ages. __ __ YES

SPEAKING (15 POINTS)

SLO # 5 Identify and express agreement and disagreement in

conversations and talks 

SLO 8 Accurately produce Level 3 Pronunciation

concepts/features/aspects

SLO 7 Accurately use Level 3 Grammar (past simple/present

perfect)
Speaking in pairs. Answer the following questions. Explain agreement and disagreement when it is
requested. (Your teacher will give you the questions in class.)

Holistic Rubric for Speaking

15 points 12 points 9 points 6 points 0 points

Excellent responses Good responses to Adequate responses Poor responses to No responses to the
to the questions. the questions. to the questions. the questions. questions. No video
Expresses ideas Expresses ideas Ideas are unclear at Questions not fully was shared.
clearly. clearly. times. answered or ideas
unclear.

Excellent vocabulary Good vocabulary Adequate

and grammar for the and grammar for the vocabulary and Poor vocabulary and
level. level. grammar for the grammar for the
level. level. Interference
with understanding
at times.