____________________________________________________________ENGLISH Area

Prof. Rubin

PreFirst: Make-up (October)

LISTENING

You will hear four different people talking about music. Match the speakers 1-4 with the information (A–
E) . There is one extra letter which you do not need to use.

Which person …

A prefers not to go to large concerts?

B hates not having anything to listen to?

C gets bored with bands when they become popular?

D tells their friends about new musical discoveries?

E discovers new music on social networking sites?

Speaker 1 _D____ Speaker 2 __A___ Speaker 3 __B___ Speaker 4 __C___

READING

Read the article about personality. Six sentences have been removed. Choose from the sentences A–G the
one which fits each gap (1–6). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Why do we have the personalities we have? There has been a long debate over whether we develop our
personality as we grow up, or whether we are born with our fundamental personality. Many believe it is
somewhere between these two. 1 __D___ . However, one factor which is often overlooked is whether we
are an oldest, middle, youngest or only child. In fact, researchers have found quite defined personality types
for each group, suggesting that the order we are born in has an influence on what we are like.

An oldest child often seems like a mini version of their parents; they are responsible, reliable and cautious.
The reason for this kind of personality is the care and expectation put on the first child, where the parents
are overjoyed with any achievement and terrified of any possible danger. 2 _A____ . A middle child is often a
co-operative peacemaker that has to negotiate with both the oldest and youngest child. As such, they
become very skilled at dealing with people. 3__G___ . This is a role which is very much needed for this child
as they deal with their forceful older sibling, and carefree younger sibling. This brings us to the youngest, who
are the free and independent children of the group. 4__F___ . So these children have a sense of freedom
which is often missing from the other groups, and as such they rely on their charm and their sense of fun to
mix with others. These children also often feel the most secure as they, as the ’baby’, often charm their
family who support them emotionally and physically. Lastly, you may think that only children have a rather
lonely life without any brothers or sisters to play with. 5__C___ . Often, they are intelligent and resourceful,
with the ability to cope with things alone and the maturity to talk to adults better than other groups. They
also have a sense of responsibility similar to that of eldest children.

So, can the behavior of mothers and fathers affect these personality types? The most obvious answer is yes.
6___B__ . Perhaps awareness is the first step into changing these patterns of personality, for, in the end,
nobody likes to think that their personality in life is determined so clearly at the start of birth. Children can be
whatever, and whoever, they want.

A Often, they are high achievers and experience a sense of loss when a second child comes along.

B By realising the effect of order of birth on children, and thinking about how they might treat their children differently,
parents and their children do not have to follow this pattern.

C Social ability is generally the talent of this group, and they often build up a tight network of friends who act as their
second family.

D There are many factors which are known to affect our personality, such as genetics, gender and the social life we
grow up within.

E However, this fact doesn’t seem to negatively affect these children.

F In their case, their parents aren’t as concerned with their upbringing as they are already experienced in parenthood.

G We need to find ways for children to look at their personality type and identify the best kinds of hobbies and careers
that will benefit them most.