Підготовка до TOEFL. Try some new dishes

Welcome back, my dear friends :)
Ви вперше завітали до TOEFL cafe і бажаєте дізнатися більше про TOEFL? - прошу сюди

Бажаєте чогось смачненького? До вашої уваги:

• READING: cannabis and driving – some recent research :)
• LISTENING: Game theory – what is that?
• INTEGRATED WRITING = Reading + Listening

READING

Отож почнемо з просто несподіваного, як на мене, відкриття геніальних вчених. Без зайвих слів, просто запрошую вас “скуштувати”, посмакувати. Нагадаю лише важливе правило підготовки: при першому прочитанні не заглядаючи до словника.

Drivers who use cannabis up to three hours before driving are twice as likely to cause a collision as those not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, says a Canadian study. This is because cannabis impairs brain and motor functions needed for safe driving, the researchers suggest.

The study in bmj.com reviewed nine studies of 50,000 people worldwide who had been in serious or fatal crashes.

Experts support the close monitoring of serious accidents involving drugs. The study analysis was carried out by researchers at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada.

They looked at observational studies of collisions between one or more moving vehicles on a public road which involved the consumption of cannabis.

Drivers of cars, sports utility vehicles, vans, lorries, buses and motorcycles featured in the studies.The study found a near doubling of risk of a driver being involved in a motor vehicle collision resulting in serious injury or death if cannabis had been consumed less than three hours before.

However, it added that the impact of acute cannabis consumption on the risk of minor crashes was still unclear.

"This report highlights the danger posed by drivers who have smoked cannabis and adds weight to Brake's calls for widespread testing and prosecution of drivers."

In the UK, 18% of people killed in road crashes have traces of illegal drugs in their blood, with cannabis the most common, Brake says.

The Canadian study cites a roadside survey of 537 drivers in Scotland in 2000 which found that 15% of respondents aged 17-39 years admitted to having consumed cannabis within 12 hours of driving a vehicle.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction found, in 2008, that between 0.3% and 7.4% of drivers tested positive for cannabis from roadside surveys in the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, Norway, the United States, and Australia.

The researchers conclude that despite the increased risk posed by cannabis to car drivers, alcohol remains the substance most often present in crashes.The observed association between alcohol and crash risk is more significant than that for cannabis, the study says.

*the complete article is available from bbc.co.uk here

Here is some useful vocabulary:

• to impair – to make something less good or effective, especially by causing damage that affects the way something works
• prosecution of smb – a government official who decides whether someone accused of a crime by the police should be brought to trial in a court of law
• impact of smth on sth - an effect, an influance
• under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• the risk posed by
• traces of illegal drugs in their blood
• drivers tested positive for

Choose more than one statement that is true:

1. The research was conducted in Canada.
2. In Canada the cause of most of car crashes is proved to be the usage of illegal drugs.
3. Cannabis is the most common illegal drug found in blood of victims of car crashes.
4. The study analysis was carried out by Canadian University.

Choose only one correct statement:

1. Cannabis is the main reason of car crashes.
2. Cannabis is proved to be dangerous if taken less than 12 hours before driving.
3. Cannabis is proved to be dangerous if taken less than 3 hours before driving.
4. Alcohol is the reason of most car crashes.

You are invited to leave your answers in the comments :)

SPEAKING

Speak up: record your ideas on the following topic: What is your favourite holiday and why?

The main ideas and suggestions about TOEFL speaking task you can find in my previous post.

And for those who were there with me last monday, I will just remind you that your answer can have one of the following suggested structures: 

• ствердження + загальне пояснення + / приклад з власного досвіду  + узагальнення
• заперечення + пояснення + приклад з власного досвіду + узагальнення
• приклад з власного досвіду + statement  + узагальнення.

Waiting for your records :))) on my e-mail [email protected]

INTEGRATED WRITING = READING + LISTENING

Спершу, вам пропонується прочитати короткий академічний passage (3 хвилини). Протягом читання бажано робити нотатки, адже за 3 хвилини текст зникає. Далі до вашої уваги уривок університетської лекції на ту ж тему, що і прочитаний абзац. Як ви вже здогадалися, вам необхідно буде ітнегрувати прочитане і прослухане by typing in English 150-225 words.

Attention: you don't have to express your own opinion, but integrate the information that you have received from the two sources.

Just to remind you: turn off your spelling check while typing :)

To put it in a nutshell: фактично вас просять перефразувати і підсумувати.

You will need to distinguish key-points of both reading and listening in order to integrate them. Both, reading and listening have statements, the main idea and some supportive statements or examples.

Strategy 1:

• in the first passage, порівняння головних твердженнь;
• в кожному наступному абзаці порівнювати окремі ідеї з прочитаного і прослуханого.

Оскільки прослуханий уривок або підтверджує прочитане, або йому суперечить, то в нагоді вам стануть наступні слова/ фрази:

• However, ...
• In contrast to...
• Contrary to ...
• Although ...
• Even though ...
• Also...
• In addition to that, ..
• In support of that ...

Strategy 2:

• головна ідея прочитаного;
• перелік supportive statements from a reading passage;
• the main statement of the listening part (STATE IF IT CONTRADICTS OR SUPPORTS THE READING PASSAGE);
• перелік supportive statements from a listening part.

До цієї стратегії можна додати ще і такі linking words:

• First of all,..
• Then, ...
• Next ...
• In conclusion ...

Here is your reading passage (try to do it in 3 minutes) followed by a listening, try not to take any pauses between the two: 

Game theory is a formal, mathematical discipline, which studies situations of competitions and cooperation between several involved parties. This is a broad definition but consistent with the large number of applications. These applications range from strategic questions in warfare to understanding economic competition, from economic or social problems of fair distribution to behavior of animals in competitive situations, from parlor games to political voting systems – and this list is certainly not exhaustive.

In terms of applications, game theory is a broad discipline, and it is therefore not surprising that 'game-theoretic' situations can be recognized in the Bible or Talmud. Also the literature on strategic warfare contains many situations that could have been modelled using game theory: a very early reference, over 2,000 years old, is the work of Chinese warrior-philosopher Sun Tzu.

*from Game theory: a multi-leveled approach by H.J.M. Peters, Hans Peters, text is available from google books

LISTENING:

Now, that's for you to experiment: Write a summary in connected English prose of important points made in the listening passage, and explain how these relate to the key points of the reading passage.

Надсилайте свої ессе на 300 слів на задану чи довільну тему за адресою [email protected], і я з радістю почитаю та надішлю вам feedback. І ніяким чином не копіюватиму ваші ессе ні на сайті, ні деінде.

Стосовно питань про об'єм ессе: відповідно до матеріалів запропонованих офіційним сайтом TOEFL: 

"Test takers write an essay that states, explains, and supports their opinion on an issue. An effective essay will usually contain a minimum of 300 words; however, test takers may write more if they wish."   

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT :)