READ THE TEXT AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW Five authors recounted their experiences, both

personal and professional, with information overload. 1.Shifting the blame But in naming the phenomenon information overload, it seems to place the blame on the informationnot on ourselves, where it belongs. People bemoan the distractions offered by ubiquitous information devices like smart phones and tabletssimilar to the complaints that were made when the telegraph and the printed book were introduced! This seems to us like blaming obesity on food. Gee, theres so much food out there, if I ate it all, Id get really fat. (Yes, you wouldand with an obesity rate running over 30% in many US states, some people appear to be trying to do just that.) If we were to talk about obesity as a food overload, it would sound pretty silly. Though our general abundance is certainly an enabling factor, most people realize that you have to eat intelligently and selectively to stay healthy. Maybe what were all experiencing is better described as collective attention deficit, or of being focus-challenged. 2. The information metabolism Organizations have this problem too, and typically dont fare much better. In my article The Information Metabolism (Competitive Intelligence Review, Fall 1995), I compared the intake and processing of information to the intake and processing of foodeating and digestion. Though my tone was fanciful, I was only half-kidding. I believe they are closely analogous, as my article described: Some organizations are information starvedOthers are fat with informationthey acquire it, but cant use it effectively to create value. Still other organizations binge on informationthey get lots of it at certain times (like strategic planning season), but not enough the rest of the time. This was written at the dawn of the Internet Age, and the situation has accelerated dramatically since then. Ive seen this up close in companies, and it can be quite distressing. Some are literally awash in so much data that it erodes their ability to process and use it effectively to manage their business. 3.Whose problem? But again, its not the datas faultand were not likely to ever return to those pastoral years when there was not much data around. Its our fault, as individuals and as organizations. We control the data, not the reverse. The data serves us, not the reverse. In other words, its a management problem. Then the challenge becomes whose management problem? In whose domain does this, or should this, fall? The CIO? The head of market research? Strategy? The CEO? The Board? The biggest challenge is: as long as its everyones problem, its no ones problem. These are the most insidious kinds of management problems, for just the reason that they are not owned by any one function or discipline. Solving the ownership issue, by assigning someone oversight of and accountability for this the problem, should be our first order of business. Maybe its time for a Chief Focus Officer.
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And just as they say you are what you eat as an individual, an organizations strategies and behaviors are largely a function of the information it intakes and processes. 4.Our answer: build a wire frame When I started managing other business researchers, I would tell them, Dont just go out and start grabing datayou will quickly drown in the data ocean. Work instead like a sculptor. Start by building a wire frame model in the general shape of your finished product. Then collect and hang relevant data elements on the frame in order to create a complete picture. I still use that rule of thumb, though it has now become more formalized. We have recently started using our Knowledge Value Chain model to define enterprise strategic information requirements from the top down. We create a strategic information model of the organization using three basic phases: Mapping the various value-creating elements in a company (i.e., defining the value layer, the itop of the KVC), identifying the drivers in the business environment likely to affect those elements (opportunities and threats), identifying strategic leading indicators of change in those drivers (i.e., defining the data layer, the bottom of the KVC). This approach allows us to define which information is essential, which is not needed, and which is needed but not yet collected. In effect we create an information diet that the organization can use to manage its intake and processing of strategic information as a structured processnot as a boil the ocean data grab. This enables you to not only cut costs, butmore importantlyincrease the focus of your organization on those factors which directly affect your competitive value. Paradoxically, once you do this, your situation may change from a perceived surplus of information, to an actual shortfall of information about those factors that strategically most affect your organization.

READING COMPREHENSION I-Give a title to the text ___________________________________________________________

II-Say whether the following statements are TRUE or FALSE and justify your answers from the text:
1) In section one the author believes that people think information overload is

the consequence of the diversion caused by the ever-present communication tools. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
2) Since the birth of the internet, the phenomenon of information overload has

worsened. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

3) The surplus or deficit of information overload can be quite damaging to firms

and hinder their business activities. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ 4) Sorting out the issue of information surplus can become tougher as no one can be made accountable. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________
I- In your own words explain how information overload is compared to

obesity. _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________

IV-Find in the text four food-related metaphors.

1. _____________________________________________________ 2. _____________________________________________________ 3. _____________________________________________________ 4. _____________________________________________________

V-

Complete the table below with missing information from section 4 of the text about the best method to defeat information overload when doing business. -

Name of the method Information model phases consists of -

Advantages -

Disadvantage(s)

VI- Find synonyms for: 1) Complain about (section 1): ______________________ 2) Pay (verb, section 2): __________________________ 3) Dangerous and subtle (section 3): _______________________
4)

Deficit (section 4) : _______________________

LANGUAGE USAGE Fill in the blanks with the appropriate tense/and or Form of the verbs given

Insert the appropriate article where necessary:

1. Are you shopping for .health club to join so you can get in shape? 2. Shop wisely! You could end up choosing ..wrong club and losing more money than pounds. 3. You may find out too late that.health clubs aren't for you. 4. ..San Diego fitness experts recommend thoroughly checking out several health clubs before you join one. 5. First, know what you want and need in fitness facility, and don't pay for what you'll never use. 6. If you only want exercise classes, .exercise studio without weight machines and locker rooms may work for you. 7. If you're looking for place to only do bodybuilding, you'll be happy in a basic gym. 8. You may be in market for a full-service health club; then, make sure it offers lots of activities. 9. Look for a place near your house, and check out..exercise instructors and personal trainers. 10. They should be educated in physical education or certified by ..organization such as the American Council on exercise.

Fill in each blank space with the proper article: a, an, or the:
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At ..beginning of ..twentieth century, East Los Angeles became popular immigrant destination. In early 1900s, Russians, Jews, Japanese, and Mexicans all had significant presence in area. Living east of river and working in nearby factories, or traveling by electric rail into downtown Los Angeles, immigrants and their children helped fuel..prosperity of ..growing metropolis. By ..onset of World War II, East Los Angeles had almost become exclusively Latino community, soon reinforced by influx of Mexican workers who arrived to man the machines in area's burgeoning war industries.

III-Rewrite the following sentences into passive voice. IV-Insert the appropriate preposition:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.

The police have caught the suspected thief and he's arrest. That restaurant on the corner of High Street is new management I've decided to go ..business with John Clarke. We're going to open Visiting Moscow was great but the temperature was 25 freezing. Why are you always late, Mark? Can't you ever arrive time? Unemployment has just risen again; this time ..0.5%. It's now 5.5%. I always visit my sister ..Sundays. Why do you insist going to Spain? We went there last year. Cars left on the street are susceptible theft. I'm a policeman and I'm usually duty at Christmas. Where's Peter? Is he .sick again? I'm not particularly good ..sports. My mother's our cottage this weekend. That man keeps winking ..me. He's addicted chocolate. He's hooked gambling

V-Fill in the gaps with the appropriate collocation: pure/ heavy/ casual/lawabiding/deep/powerful/burst into/waste/totally/quite.
1.
He .laughter when he realised his mistake.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

He assured me he was .sure where the house was. We didn't arrange to meet. It was ..coincidence that I saw him. Please! I'm trying to work here. Don't .my time with stupid questions! He had to go to the hospital because it was a very ..cut. Our neighbour is a very .smoker - 2 packets a day. We managed to get up the steep hill only because our car is very ... I don't know him that well. He's only a ..acquaintance. I'm an honest and citizen.

10. Do you know where we are? If you ask me, we are .lost.

. VI-Circle the correct alternative:

1. harry didnt wave to me so he must have known/cant have known I was there. 2.loook the shops closed. It can have gone/cant have gone out of business. 3.wasnt that Jennifer in the blue convertible? it could/ couldnt. shes moved to Australia. 4. the Angkor vat temple was built in the early 12th century. This can have been/ must have been a great civilization. 5.look! the windows open. Someone cant have been /may have broken into the house. 6.could john have been at home last night? he had to have been /could have been. 7.hes only 23. he may be/ cant be a doctor. 8. he cant have lost/may have lost so much weight so quickly! He can be/ must

Circle the best available answer for each of the following: 1) This newspaper is a BIWEEKLY. a) the newspaper is published once a week b) the newspaper is published three times a week c) the newspaper is published twice a week 2) This medicine is a nasal DECONGESTANT. a) the medicine helps to reduce nasal congestion
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b) the medicine causes nasal congestion c) the medicine makes your nose bigger 3) That shopping bag is REUSABLE. a) throw the shopping bag away, we wont need it again b) dont throw away the shopping bag because we can use it again. c) if you throw the shopping bag we cannot use it again 4) Im sorry I MISREAD the notice and therefore MISUNDERSTOOD the message. a) Did not read the notice correctly and therefore did not understand correctly. b) Read the notice and understood the message correctly c) Did not read the notice and therefore did not understand the message. 5) We usually do not publish articles we dont PREVIEW. a) we usually read articles before publication b) we do not read articles after publication c) we read articles the day we publish them 6) REFORESTATION will help to RESTORE our environment. a) planting trees again will REPLENISH our environment. b) cutting down trees will further help to worsen the environment. c) forests should be cut to improve the worsening environmental pollution 7) DEFORESTATION will cause environmental DEPLETION. a) Means planting trees will help our environment from DEPLETION b) Means cutting down trees will cause further environmental DEPLETION c) Means too many forests will cause further environmental DEPLETION
writing: write an 8 line paragraph about the following topic: you are working as a head manager in a tobacco company and you noticed that the company is no longer achieving the same turnover, so what would be your strategy in ameliorating the companys profit? ( bearing in mind stretching and blurring strategies). 8

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