Involving a lot of different parts in a way that is difficult to understand

Frontiers for Young Minds

How Brain Cells Make Memories

Authors and reviewers

Authors

Elizabeth L. Johnson

I find it incredible that this organ in our heads can make us so smart and so human. I want to understand memory, which allows us to think about so much information and put it all together, and craft identities based on personal experience. When I am not thinking about thinking, I like to explore weird and beautiful places, and share experiences with weird and beautiful people. *eljohnson@berkeley.edu

Randolph F. Helfrich

I am a medical doctor and a neuroscientist. For me, it is fascinating how the interactions of billions of cells in our brains give rise to cognition and behavior. Hence, I want to understand how neurons communicate and why the human brain is so special. When I am not in the lab, I enjoy traveling and playing the guitar or piano. **rhelfrich@berkeley.edu

Young Reviewers

I am a freshman in high school. My favorite classes are physics and history because I love figuring out why things are the way they are. That fascination began when I was little and my mom, who is a neurosurgeon, set up experiments for me to do in her lab. When I am not busy with school, I spend my free time riding my horse and hanging out with my friends.

Abstract

Remembering a lot of things at the same time is difficult. As an experiment, read these numbers: 07041776. Then, close your eyes and try to say them aloud, in order. How did you do? We would guess that you remembered around half of the numbers. Now, try again but think of the same numbers as a date: 07-04-1776. Did you remember more of the numbers this time? You just demonstrated something called working memory. Working memory (“WM” for short) is the ability to hold onto and process pieces of information. WM activates when you experience and remember events in your life, learn new facts, talk to people, read, and do math. WM is a basic human behavior. As shown in the numbers experiment, WM has limited capacity. How does the brain support WM? And, what is happening in the brain that limits our capacity to store multiple memories at the same time?

How Does the Brain Build Memories?

Remembering is a complicated process. We will tell you about a few tricks that the human brain uses to remember a lot of things at the same time; but, first it is important to understand how memory works in the brain. The memory system is built into different parts of the brain. One key player is the part of your brain directly behind your forehead. This part is called the frontal lobe. When you think (or think about thinking!), you use your frontal lobe. Another key player in the memory system is buried deep inside your brain. This part is called the hippocampus, and it is very important for long-term memories, for instance, what you remember about how the brain builds memories tomorrow or another time in the future. For a picture of these brain structures and more information about the hippocampus, have a look at Ref. [ 1 ]. While looking at the brain structures tells us where memories are built, it does not tell us how memories are built. This article explains how brain cells build memories. We will explain why it is difficult to remember many things at the same time and then show you a few ways to improve your own memory.

To investigate the working memory (WM) system, we record electrical signals from people’s brains while they hold onto and process pieces of information. We ask people to remember things, such as numbers, words, or pictures. Then, our electrical recordings show us what brain cells called “neurons” do when people remember things after a short time (usually between 1 s and 1 min) [ 2 ]. When neurons are active, they deliver very small electric currents (much smaller than currents from wall sockets). These WM experiments show that the electric currents change depending on how much information you remember.

Normally, you have to remember a lot of things at once. For example, to understand this article, you have to remember what you just read while you are still reading. Maybe you’re also thinking about what is for dinner, where you’re having dinner, and when you have to be there. Remembering all of these different things depends on an electric current that cycle three to eight times per second [2– 5 ]. This means that some neurons in the human brain fire together over and over again between three and eight times in 1 s [ 3 ].

We use computer tools to analyze different components of the brain signal. In Figure 1, we show you a picture of what the brain signal looks like and what the component for WM looks like. We also show you the component that is active when you process sensory information, such as the things you see or hear. You can see that sensory processing is much faster (between 30 and 100 cycles per second) than the WM component. Our brains have a trick to make memories out of this very fast sensory activity. The brain uses the slower, three to eight cycle waves from the WM system to group the faster sensory activity together [ 4 ]. Figure 1 shows that you can have, for example, seven faster cycles of sensory information within one WM cycle. This is a very effective trick for organizing seven pieces of information in WM. This trick also explains why it is hard to remember more than seven things at the same time. The speed of the WM system seems to be limited to three to eight cycles per second; that is, the same seven things cycle over and over again three to eight times per second in WM. This limitation seems to restrict the number of items that we can remember at the same time.

It should come as no surprise that the brain’s WM function, which helps you think, read, and do math, is complicated. One reason for WM is so complicated is that the memory system is built into different parts of the brain, and these different parts of the brain need to talk to each other. Different parts of the brain talk to each other when neurons fire at the same time. To understand what this means, think about how several different people play instruments together in a band. The tune sounds good when the rhythms are coordinated, which means they go together in time. In the brain, we can see the memory rhythm cycling in different parts of the brain at the same time [2].

Another reason for WM is complicated is that the electrical signals in any one part of the brain are already very complex. As we showed you in Figure 1, researchers have to break down the brain signal in order to make sense of it. The brain signal is so complicated, because the brain does a lot of things at the same time. Our brains do these different things at different speeds, a phenomenon called “multiplexing.” Think about a song being played with different instruments together. By breaking down these sounds, we are able to differentiate the guitar’s rhythm from rhythms made by the saxophone or drums. It is similar with the brain signal, where we use computer analysis to separate the memory rhythm (the slow component) from other rhythms, such as the sensory processing rhythm (the faster component).

Why is Our Ability to Remember Limited?

Think back to the WM experiment where we asked you to memorize the numbers 07041776 in order, and then to try again with the date 07-04-1776. Notice that it was easier to remember the numbers as a date, or set of three pieces of information, than it was to remember all eight numbers in order. And, have you noticed that 07-04-1776 is another way to write July 4th, 1776, the day the United States declared independence? You will probably have no trouble remembering this one piece of information. We show you more examples in Box 1.

Remembering a lot of different things at the same time is difficult, especially if something does not have a meaning to you. We asked you to remember the following eight numbers in order: 07041776. Then, we asked you to think about the numbers as a set of three pieces of information in a date: 07-04-1776. Finally, we told you that was another way of writing the single piece of information: July 4th, 1776, the day the United States declared independence. All of a sudden, eight meaningless numbers became one meaningful piece of information – and that was easier to remember. If you did not remember the eight numbers in order, but you could remember Independence Day, then you successfully “chunked,” or grouped together, the information in your memory.

Here are two more examples:

We have long understood that WM capacity is limited to approximately five to seven pieces of information [4]. As shown in Box 1, a piece of information can refer to something relatively meaningless like a single number or a color, or something more meaningful like a date or a flag.

As seen in Figure 1 (gray-shaded area), approximately seven cycles of sensory information fit into one WM cycle. To understand what this means, consider how we represent pieces of information in the brain. Think about Box 1 (Figure 2), where you used the sensory process of vision to study the colors and the colored flags. To memorize a list of numbers, you would use vision to read the numbers; alternatively, you would use hearing if someone were to read the numbers to you. Electrical activity that cycles 30 or more times per second is involved in representing brain activity during sensory processing [4]. So, if you try to remember more than seven pieces of information at the same time, your brain might process all of the sensory information, but you might not actually remember all of the information later. This may be because more than seven items exceeds the capacity of the slower memory component – that is, the WM cycle [4].

Now, let us do the math. If faster electrical currents cycle an average of 30 times in a second and slower electrical currents cycle an average of 5 times in a second, how many faster electrical cycles fit into each slower electrical cycle (30 ÷ 5)? The answer is 6, which is consistent with our limited WM capacity of five to seven pieces of information. The number of times faster electrical currents fit into the slower WM electrical cycles might actually determine our WM capacity limits [4]! Have another look at Figure 1 for a picture of how the number of pieces of information (represented in electrical activity that cycles 30 or more times per second) can fit into a memory cycle (three to eight cycles per second). This relationship between fast- and slow-cycling electrical activities is important to how neurons make memories. Depending on how much information needs to be processed, the brain can speed up or slow down the slower, WM wave within the range of three to eight repeating cycle per second. Therefore, this slow rhythm can adapt, which helps the brain group the fast rhythm into meaningful pieces of information.

Thinking again to Box 1 (Figure 2), it may be easier to remember two-colored flags than to remember six colors in order, but it is more complicated to remember two flags of three colors each than it is to remember two single colors. Scientists are currently doing experiments to figure out how the brain supports WM for more complicated pieces of information – or, “chunks” of multiple pieces of information.

As mentioned above, the slower-cycling WM electrical activity is adaptive. This means that the WM cycle might slow down, from eight to three cycles per second, to incorporate more pieces of sensory information in one WM cycle [4]. Another way that the brain supports WM for chunked information is that the WM cycle organizes the sensory information in order based on timing [5]. In Figure 2, the first red-colored item occurs before the blue item, and the two red items occur at different times, separated in order by three other items. When we only have to remember two items, red and blue, the order of red-then-blue is simple. But, when we have to remember six items, the timing becomes more complicated – and important. This means that as we hold onto and process more and more pieces of information, the order in which different pieces of information enter the WM cycle becomes more and more important to WM function. The fast-cycling electrical activity, which represents pieces of sensory information and reflects the firing of neurons [2], actually occurs in ordered time slots within the slower WM cycle [5].

Putting it all together, electrical signals recorded from the human brain show us that we hold onto and process pieces of information in coordinated patterns of activity [2–5]. Neurons make memories by firing together in specific parts of the brain. That might be one mechanism for remembering multiple pieces of information at the same time. This complicated WM system allows us to make memories, and it may also be the reason why remembering a lot of things at the same time is so hard!

Improve Your Memory with Science

Think back to Figure 2 again. In order to remember all six-colored items, we asked you to think about them as two-colored flags. As we described, this is called “chunking,” in which you combine a lot of information into fewer, more manageable chunks. Chunking is a very effective strategy for remembering multiple things at the same time. As mentioned above, the brain uses the timing of the faster electrical waves to incorporate more and more information into each slower WM cycle. By chunking a lot of information into a single item or event, we are allowing our brains to handle more pieces of information. Usually, the brain automatically breaks incoming information into manageable pieces, making the information easier to process. You can also actively use chunking to improve your memory, for example, when you study to learn information.

You can associate and combine different pieces of information, however, you would like in order to make chunks. Your brain can actually use the timing of different cycles of electrical activity to make sense of relationships based on time, space, emotions, or anything else that holds meaning for you [ 6 ]. For example, think about two events that happened yesterday, such as talking to a friend and eating dinner. Which one happened first? Did they happen in different places? Did one make you laugh? Each of these questions adds meaning to the events, allowing you to chunk the events together in WM. So, make stories!

You may have guessed from our example WM experiments that the first author of this review is from the United States. Barring extensive brain damage, she will never forget the image of the American flag or the date July 4th, 1776, because it has particular meaning for her. What country do you think the second author is from? We showed you the American flag first and the German flag second (… yes, Germany!). It also helps to visualize your stories.

Finally, because we hold onto pieces of information through cycles of repetitive electrical activity, memory improves with repetition. Make sure to tell your stories to help your brain hold onto your memories.

Glossary

Working Memory: ↑ Is the ability to hold onto and process pieces of information.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

References

[1] ↑ Davachi, L., and Shohamy, D. 2014. Thanks for the memories…. Front. Young Minds 2:23. doi: 10.3389/frym.2014.00023

[2] ↑ Johnson, E. L., and Knight, R. T. 2015. Intracranial recordings and human memory. Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 31:18–25. doi: 10.1016/j.conb.2014.07.021

[3] ↑ Rutishauser, U., Ross, I. B., Mamelak, A. N., and Schuman, E. M. 2010. Human memory strength is predicted by theta-frequency phase-locking of single neurons. Nature 464:903–7. doi: 10.1038/nature08860

[4] ↑ Lisman, J. E., and Jensen, O. 2013. The theta-gamma neural code. Neuron 77:1002–16. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2013.03.007

[5] ↑ Axmacher, N., Henseler, M. M., Jensen, O., Weinreich, I., Elger, C. E., and Fell, J. 2010. Cross-frequency coupling supports multi-item working memory in the human hippocampus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107:3228–33. doi: 10.1073/pnas.0911531107

[6] ↑ Craik, F. I., and Lockhart, R. S. 1972. Levels of processing: a framework for memory research. J. Verbal Learn. Verbal Behav. 11(6):671–84. doi: 10.1016/S0022-5371(72)80001-X

What is the difference between «complicated» and «complex»?

I can’t understand: what’s the difference between complicated and complex?

They seem to be used interchangeably. Are they actually different at all?

10 Answers 10

Complex is used to refer to the level of components in a system. If a problem is complex, it means that it has many components. Complexity does not evoke difficulty.

On the other hand, complicated refers to a high level of difficulty. If a problem is complicated, there might be or might not be many parts but it will certainly take a lot of hard work to solve.

I am forced by my nature to add a more pedantic answer to the list. The content of this answer does not reflect my personal opinion, nor does it reflect common usage, but it does explain why the two words are not precisely interchangeable in all circumstances.

Complexity is intrinsic. Something is complex if it involves a lot of [metaphorical] moving parts even when considered as a Platonic ideal.

Complication is extrinsic. Something is complicated by external influences, or because of external influences.

Pedantically, something can be complex without being complicated, or complex because it is complicated. (Things are rarely complicated without also being complex.) In realms where precision is important, there is often a distinct division between the terms. In medicine, for instance, a broken bone may be described as a complex fracture because the fracture is complicated by breaking the skin, inviting the risk of infection.

Here endeth the pedantry.

Involving a lot of different parts in a way that is difficult to understand

Задание №9021.
Чтение. ЕГЭ по английскому

Установите соответствие между заголовками 1 — 8 и текстами A — G. Используйте каждую цифру только один раз. В задании один заголовок лишний.

1. Pluses and minuses
2. Difficult to prove
3. Strategy for success
4. Choosingone’s lifestyle
5. Why they win
6. Useful signs
7. Genre differences
8. Freshstart

A. What sets a musical and an opera apart is that in opera, music is the driving force; in musical theatre, words come first. While listening to an opera, it usually doesn’t matter what language it’s sung in if you know the basic plot – but in musical theatre, the details come from the lyrics. This explanation clarifies why opera stars often sing in a different style than Broadway performers do, why operas and musicals are typically about different subjects, and why musical composition and orchestration vary between the two disciplines.

B. When the Internet was invented, nobody really thought about security. The main aim was to connect computer networks over great distances. Although a lot of money have been spent on making the Internet safer, security has actually become worse. Experts say that the whole net has become so unsafe that it would be best to start all over again. Nobody knows what a new Internet would look like but users would have to give up their anonymity for a bit more safety. Today’s Internet might end up as a bad neighbourhood you just wouldn’t pass through.

C. In the past decades African runners have dominated marathons all over the world. The Ethiopian Abebe Bikila ran barefoot to his first gold medal in the 1960 Olympic Games. He repeated his victory four years later. Experts think that African runners are better because they train in higher places in their home countries. Their legs may also be stronger than ours and they may have the ability to collect and store more oxygen. All of these help them become very good runners.

D. Watching TV shows is a great way to learn spoken English, slang words, understand culture reference and humour. However, people on TV shows sometimes speak with grammar mistakes, which is often a part of character development. Characters talk with an accent, using non-standard English and pronouncing words in a way that is difficult to understand. While it is a great way to practice listening and talking in everyday life, it is probably not a good source for “proper English”.

E. When you are running a marathon it is very important to drink a lot so that your body does not dehydrate. You should run at a steady pace. Don’t start too fast or you will become tired very quickly and won’t be able to continue. This is called “hitting the wall”. In most cases runners then give up completely. On the other hand, you shouldn’t start too slowly or else you won’t reach the time limit you want to achieve. After a marathon most runners feel pain in their muscles. This is normal and it may take a few days before your body becomes normal again.

F. In ancient times, people could only use the power of observation to tell what the weather would bring. They could observe the changing patterns of the seasons. This taught them when to plant and when the crops would grow. People also observed animals and the growing cycles of plants to predict changes in the weather. They could tell when a rainy season was coming and when it would get cold. People used their senses to see and smell changes in the weather. The migration of animals was also a good indication of change.

G. It is not clear who was the first to reach the North Pole. A US explorer called Frederick Cook insisted on having walked there in 1908, but nobody could support his claim. Another American called Robert Peary announced that he had reached the Pole in 1909, but because his men were not trained navigators, none of them could be sure. Because the Arctic is made of ice that floats on the sea, rather than snow and ice on rock like the Antarctic, any evidence of visiting the North Pole will quickly be swallowed up by water.

Решение:
Заголовок 7 (Genre differences. — Жанровые различия) соответствует содержанию текста A: «What sets a musical and an opera apart is that. »

Заголовок 8 (Freshstart. — Новый старт) соответствует содержанию текста B: «Experts say that the whole net has become so unsafe that it would be best to start all over again.»

Заголовок 5 (Why they win. — Почему они побеждают) соответствует содержанию текста C: «Experts think that African runners are better because they train in higher places. »

Заголовок 3 (Strategy for success. — Стратегия успеха) соответствует содержанию текста E: «When you are running a marathon it is very important to drink a lot. »

Заголовок 6 (Useful signs. — Полезные приметы) соответствует содержанию текста F: «In ancient times, people could only use the power of observation to tell what the weather would bring.»

Заголовок 2 (Difficult to prove. — Сложно доказать) соответствует содержанию текста G: «It is not clear who was the first to reach the North Pole.»

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Источник: ФИПИ. Открытый банк тестовых заданий
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BEC Higher Reading Practice Test (Marketing)

Part 1

Look at the statements below and the five news items on various companies. Which report (А, В, C, D or E) does each statement (1-8) refer to?

For each statement (1-8), mark one letter (А, В, C, D or E). You will need to use some of these letters more than once. There is an example at the beginning (0).

(0) Some new premises are going to be opened. A

1. This company reports not being able to pass on higher costs to its customers.

2. The sale of part of a company has had an adverse affect on profits.

3. This company’s response to fluctuations in sales has not had the desired effect.

4. Jobs have been lost because a company has ended one of its activities.

5. There are fears about the impact of internal competition within the company.

6. This company has reported contrasting results from different parts of its operations.

7. This company has spent money on moving part of its operation.

8. Efforts are to be made to turn around sales at a store

Parkin’s search for a site for its next store has been ended by Marsden’s misfortunes, with Parkin agreeing to buy half of the latter’s Birmingham store for Ј40m. Parkin’s main store is in London, but it opened its second, in Birmingham, three years ago, and has been seeking sites in other large cities. There was surprise that the new store, likely to open next year, is so close to the existing one, where profits have so far beaten Parkin’s sales targets, in case it draws customers away from the existing outlet.

The packaging industry has typically suffered from a vicious cycle, with rising prices leading to excess capacity, which in turn leads to a collapse in prices, and Johnson Keithley is no exception. The company has been attempting to smooth the boom/bust cycle by better capacity management, but it admitted yesterday that it has been forced to make significant cuts to capacity because of a surprisingly sharp downturn in demand. The group now expects its second-half results to fall below expectations, and warned of further problems on the horizon.

Dorcas Foods has posted a modest rise in interim profits. However, the company says it has had to absorb increased costs at its Quality Sugar subsidiary and the impact of a margin squeeze at its Australian baking operations. In sugar, the continued strength of sterling has capped profits, and with Dorcas’s move out of sugar-beet refining, expenditure on redundancy is having a serious impact. At the same time, floods in Australia have led to higher wheat prices, which in turn have reduced margins in the company’s baking operations

Hit by Higher Costs

Higher raw-material costs have reduced full-year profits at Bonner’s, the plastics manufacturer, with prices of polyethylene, the main component of its business, rising 8% since last year. Profits were also held back by the disposal of its packaging division, which accounted for over half of turnover the previous year. Additional costs were incurred by relocating the head office from Wrexham to Cardiff, and from reorganisation and redundancy in its plastics business. Bonner’s said that trading in the current year has started slowly, particularly in its European markets.

Shares in regional supermarket chain Couldson fell steeply yesterday after the retailer warned of losses at its biggest outlet, in Bristol. The warning was in stark contrast to its trading statement three months ago, which reported a rise in like-for-like sales of 5% in the preceding month. However, trading across the rest of the chain, including seven outlets bought last year from Luxona, showed a healthy improvement. The company has promised to do all it can to stem the decline of the last four weeks at the Bristol outlet.

Part 2

● Read this text taken from an article about future developments in advertising.

● Choose the best sentence o fill each of the gaps. For each gap (9–14), mark one letter (A–H).

● Do not mark any letter more than once.

Future Developments in Advertising

The explosion of new media, ranging from the internet to digital television, means that people working in advertising will have to devise more cunning ways to catch the public’s attention in the future. The traditional TV advertising campaign will not reach the whole family any more. The advertising industry will have to work ‘harder and smarter’ to cut through the ‘clutter and noise’ of the future with this vast array of new media, all competing to catch the consumer’s eye.

People have become more individual in their consumption of advertising. (9) ………… New technology has made experimenting with new forms of advertising a possibility. The monologue where the advert tells housewives that this is the washing powder they should buy is just a cliché now. The internet, for example, has made such ads look old-fashioned. (10) ………… A much closer relationship with the consumer is gradually being forged.

The definition of what constitutes advertising will expand well beyond the conventional mass media. Shopping environments will themselves become a part of the advertising process. (11) ………… The aim will be to ‘warm’ people towards these places so that they will return to purchase goods there again.

In spite of these and other changes, it is highly unlikely that TV, print and radio will disappear altogether as advertising media. (12) ………… But other marketing disciplines, such as public relations and direct marketing, will become as important as advertising. Advertising agencies will have to reinvent themselves. They will no longer be able simply to produce advertisements and then support these through PR, direct marketing or the internet. (13) …………

Thus, creativity will be the most valuable commodity in the future. (14) ………… It will continue to be so in the future. But there will be an increasing premium on the advertiser’s ability to be imaginative, and to think laterally about engaging the consumer in a broader variety of media.

A On the contrary, there is almost certain to be an increase in every form of advertising in future years.

B Increasingly, they will exist not simply to sell goods, but also to entertain people and to make sure that they enjoy their time there.

C Originality of thinking has always been in short supply.

D There is, consequently, little hope of them surviving for more than another 20 years.

E This fragmentation has already shown the need for a more sophisticated understanding of where and how to reach people in the most effective way.

F Instead, they will have to change the whole way they look at communication and start thinking about ideas which are not specific to one discipline.

G It has made possible a situation in which customers can tell advertisers what they think, and the advertisers can supply information.

H No longer will all members be watching the same programme: some will be watching different channels on their own TVs, surfing the net or doing both at the same time.

Part 3

● Read the following article about Grasmere, a small British company that manufactures steel components, and the questions below.

● For each question (15–20), mark one letter (A, B, C or D).

In a tough climate for UK manufacturers, Malcolm Drake thinks he has hit on a way for his company, Grasmere, to succeed: by becoming a bespoke manufacturer. This involves working very closely with customers to produce precisely what they want. As a result, Grasmere has become indispensable to its big customers, which are based around Europe. Grasmere makes a range of small metal items that are tailored to fit into much larger products, and its customers include big electronics and electrical goods manufacturers. ‘When we start talking to customers about an order, they often have only a rough idea what they want,’ says Drake. ‘We assist them in identifying and specifying their needs, and we advise them on the best way to manufacture the product. Then we fulfil the order, which could involve making anything between 40 and one billion parts in a year.’

Grasmere’s main tools are press machines that stamp out metal items in its Birmingham premises. The company was started by Drake’s great-grandfather in 1903, when its best-selling products were pen nibs, and the company prides itself on never having fallen below the exacting standards which it set then.

While today’s range has moved a long way from those pen nibs, some of the original machinery stands in the reception area, as a memento of the company’s roots. Only in the last year has the company relocated from the cramped and grimy workshop it moved to in 1910, to a more modern and open-plan building on the outskirts of Birmingham, an operation that involved a major logistical exercise to move the machinery. The new site has allowed Grasmere to make itself more efficient. The company has cut staff from 150 to 125 by shedding low skilled employees without reducing turnover.

Malcolm Drake says that 18 of Grasmere’s customers each contribute revenues of more than £100,000 a year, with half of all turnover coming from three of them. ‘It isn’t the usual supplier–customer relationship,’ he explains. ‘We are very open with them and provide them with a lot of internal information about costs. But we select them as much as they select us. If we are asked to do something that is too difficult or expensive, we say “no”. We educate the customer as to what is possible. If you allow yourself to be dictated to, that’s not a partnership – it’s grovelling.’

Grasmere’s business has spread more widely to other parts of Europe in the past few years, though not because of any deliberate strategy to push up exports. As Drake points out, if a company such as his is keen to yoke itself to successful companies that think strategically, inevitably this will mean more overseas sales to relatively farflung divisions of these businesses, to meet their own demand for the components Grasmere can produce.

The company depends on having technically literate people who can talk intelligently to customers. Hence 90 of Grasmere’s employees are engineers employed in a range of jobs including making products, sales, marketing and purchasing. While about 100 of the staff are directly involved in shop-floor production work, they frequently also have an outward-facing role, such as talking to customers about design or manufacturing.

Malcolm Drake sums up his company’s strengths as offering five attributes that customers want: quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and low costs. As a result, the company is flourishing.

Involving a lot of different parts in a way that is difficult to understand

Now we are ready to start.

Foreign languages are very popular nowadays, and it’s not surprising that people want to master them. Today there are lots of ways that make it possible to learn a foreign language and every person chooses what suits them best. There is no shortcut for faster learning, though; it takes the time it takes. The way I learnt Romanian was watching TV in English with Romanian subtitles. Subtitles helped me pick up Romanian words from sentences. It took about a hundred hours or so, but I can now read Romanian and understand the spoken language without having to put any work in it.

In my opinion, the only way you’ll ever truly learn a language is going to the country that speaks that language. I had studied German for four years, but after I spent two months in France, I spoke French much better than German despite all the time and effort I had spent learning it. Travel alone and refuse to be helped in your language. Stay for at least three months at the same place. At first you will feel frustrated but this is normal and you’ll soon get used to the language. I personally speak five languages, and I have never been to a language class.

In my opinion, the fastest and the best way to learn a language is to live in the country where it is spoken. However, not everyone can afford studying abroad. If you can’t do that, I believe that taking classes is an effective way as well. I don’t think it’s a good idea to try and learn a foreign language by yourself, I mean, sure, you can do that as a well as taking classes, but I do think it’s very hard to do it without any help. It is much easier if you have a teacher or a tutor, whom you can ask questions and ask for advice.

My preferred method is using a good textbook with both grammar lessons and vocabulary. Read the lessons and learn new words. Then practise using them with the exercises provided in the textbook. This is an accelerated way of learning, and it’s entirely possible. When starting a new language, memorizing a hundred words per day will come quite naturally. I recommend never falling below 50 words per day and keep them in your working memory. And make sure that the words you learn are the ones that people use commonly, learning odd and rare words is not effective if you are trying to learn quickly.

You can’t learn a language from books, you should hear it sound. While studying French at the University, I religiously listened to the cassette tapes that accompanied our textbook, and it really helped me to better learn the language. Listening doesn’t take up your time. Load the language into your ipod, walkman or whatever is convenient, and just listen to it at home while cooking dinner or in the car on the way to uni. You can also listen to foreign pop music. You know, French sounds are rather difficult and singing French songs really helped me to improve my pronunciation.

Memorising words is not an effective way to learn languages. You can’t learn a language without speaking it. The only thing you should do is to find some kind of actual verbal interaction, so as to see how the language really works in everyday conversation. I used to know a couple of students who helped each other learn languages. One knew Spanish and wanted to learn English, the other knew English, and wanted to improve his Spanish. They divided the week in half. For half a week they only spoke Spanish, and the rest of the time they spoke English. They both improved rapidly.

You have 15 seconds to complete the task. (Pause 15 seconds.)

Now you will hear the texts again. (Repeat.)

This is the end of the task. You now have 15 seconds to check your answers. (Pause 15 seconds.)

1) Keep listening to the language.
2) Take a language course.
3) Watch a lot of foreign films.
4) Use the internet learning resources.
5) Enlarge your vocabulary.
6) Use the language as much as you can.
7) Immerse yourself in the language environment.

Верный ответ: 372516

Now we are ready to start.

(Knocking)
The woman in the newspaper office: Come in, please.
Mark: Hello.
The woman: Hello. How are you doing?
Mark: Fine, thanks. How are you?
The woman: Very well, thank you.
Mark: Good. I was just walking by and I saw the sign in the window: ‘Journalist wanted’. Are you still looking for somebody?
The woman: Yes, we are. One of our journalists quit last week because she moved house.
Mark: Well, I’d like to apply for the job. I don’t have a lot of experience but I worked for the college newspaper when I was a student and I have written a couple of things on the Internet.
The woman: What did you write on the Internet?
Mark: I just wrote a couple of articles. One was about the village that I used to live in.
The woman: Traditional village? Where was it?
Mark: In Thailand.
The woman: Oh, Thailand. That is very interesting. I have always dreamed of visiting it.
Mark: And another one was about a trip that I did in Australia.
The woman: Mm. Where was it? Did you go into the desert or around the coast?
Mark: Through the desert. It was a safari trip, but we also visited quite a lot of interesting places, for example, Uluru. It is a rock and it’s notable for changing its colour as the different light strikes it at different times of the day and year. The most remarkable sight is at sunset when it briefly glows red. I made lots of beautiful pictures.
The woman: That sounds fascinating. What about your qualifications?
Mark: I’ve got a bachelor’s degree in journalism, and I’m thinking of studying for a master’s degree.
The woman: That’s fine. So you have a bit of experience and a good qualification. So, yes, why not?
I think you can have this job.
Mark: How much is the pay?
The woman: Well, the pay is pretty good, actually. But you’d better discuss it with the manager.
Mark: Aren’t you a manager?
The woman: No, I’m a receptionist. The manager has just gone out but he promised to be in in an hour. So if you wait, you can ask him any questions you like.
Mark: I’d better come back in an hour.

You have 15 seconds to complete the task. (Pause 15 seconds.)
Now you will hear the text again. (Repeat.)
This is the end of the task. You now have 15 seconds to check your answers. (Pause 15 seconds.)

A Mark saw the advertisement about the job in a newspaper.
B The manager fired one of the journalists last week.
C Mark wrote a lot of articles for the college newspaper.
D The woman has never been to Thailand.
E Uluru leaves the most remarkable impression in the evening.
F Mark has got the first university degree.
G The manager is having lunch at the moment.

Верный ответ: 2231113

Now we are ready to start.

Interviewer: It is a proven fact that if you elevate the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, this will have the effect of acidifying the sea, because carbon dioxide, when it dissolves, forms carbonic acid. This acidification, notwithstanding the invariable amount of dissolved oxygen, can change the way that fish react to the world around them. Dr Steve Simpson, who’s from Bristol University, has been looking at how this affects their ability to sense the sound of danger.

Dr. Simpson: My research has focused on the behaviour that coral reef fish show when they’re looking to seek habitat after a period of a few days of developing out at sea in the plankton. My interest has been particularly on the importance of auditory cues, which are sounds produced by animals on the coral reef that the small fish can detect and use to pick specific habitats. Recent research has demonstrated that fish which experience ocean acidification lose their natural sense of smell, which is the other cue that fish use to detect reef habitat. So the question is whether the sense of hearing is unaffected by ocean acidification and so, will be able to compensate for this loss of sense of smell, or whether hearing is also impacted on by ocean acidification.

Interviewer: So what was the experimental technique? What did you actually do and what fish did you test?

Dr. Simpson: We worked with clown fish. Clown fish are similar to Nemo, and are readily available through the aquarium trade. Clown fish are native to warmer waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans, including the Great Barrier Reef but they can be bred in captivity. So for scientists, this is great because it means that we can actually work with the embryos of these fish. So we took embryonic clown fish and put them into different treatments of water that were either based on today’s CO₂, environment, or based on different predictions, for the CO₂, environments later in the century. Then we took the fish and put them into a long tube facing towards a speaker and we allowed the fish to move around in this tube while we played sounds to them and monitored their behaviour.

Interviewer: What did the fish do under those circumstances when you played the sounds of a reef?

Dr. Simpson: We used a recording of daytime coral reef noise, and in the natural environment fish normally move away from this sound. A coral reef is a dangerous place during the daytime because of the high density of predators. And so, the noise of all these predators causes fish naturally to move away from the sound. On the contrary, the fish that had experienced high levels or elevated levels of CO₂, showed no response to the recordings. So they were equally spending time moving towards the speaker as well as away from it.

Interviewer: Gosh! So that’s quite striking, isn’t it? Have you any clue as to why they behave like that?

Dr. Simpson: It’s certainly possible that the fish have gone deaf or it may be that the fish can hear these sounds quite well but lose their natural avoidance behaviour. But it’s most likely that their hearing has been partly influenced by the environment because we did look at the growth of their ear bone, which is a central part of a fish ear, and we found there are differences in the shape or the size of the ear bone between the fish from different treatments. Either way, any of those three scenarios would be bad news for the fish in the natural environment.

Interviewer: And what do you think the implications are for what you’ve found?

Dr. Simpson: Well, the implications are that loss of hearing or their natural responses to sound are certainly detrimental to fish, because fish live in a very auditory world, and sounds are important for detecting and avoiding predators, and also for detecting potential prey items. So there would be fairly detrimental impacts on fish populations. We don’t know whether this impact would be seen across the board in terms of different fish species and that’s the focus of our research now. It is also necessary to study whether fish can adapt to CO₂, levels because there can be some rare fish that already have more tolerance that will then be able to keep pace with the change.

You have 15 seconds to complete the task. (Pause 15 seconds.)

Now you will hear the text again. (Repeat.)

This is the end of the task. You now have 15 seconds to check your answers. (Pause 15 seconds.)

This is the end of the Listening Test.

Вы услышите интервью с учёным. В заданиях 3-9 запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2 или 3, соответствующую выбранному Вами варианту ответа. Вы услышите запись дважды.

Раздел 2. Чтение.

A. The overriding idea is to go for simplicity. A quiet basement, a library table or the ground next to a big tree outside allows you to focus on what you’re doing. Examples of poor locations would include the kitchen table, common areas where you’re likely to encounter friends, or even your own room, as it’s usually stocked with a computer, television, and video games that seem a lot more appealing than what you’re doing. You have to remove yourself far enough from any potential disturbance. This is the key to any successful session of work.

B. Making your work relate to your leisure activities or hobbies eliminates much of the tedium associated with it. Whenever possible, make your schoolwork centre around something you love, and run with it. Essay assignment? Write about your favourite hobby. History report? Write about your favourite historical battle. Just pick anything to make your reports and assignments less mundane. As long as you meet all the requirements of the assignment, the rest is yours to choose.

C. It’s okay to reward a long session of hard work with a quick break here or there. Eat something, watch a TV show, play a bit of your favourite video game, pick up a musical instrument and practise a little bit. Trying to work too long at too hard a pace without a break is only going to spoil your work in the end, as you’ll start to tire, grow apathetic, and make mistakes. Taking semi-frequent breaks proportional to the amount of time you spent working keeps your mind fresh and your spirits up.

D. Ultimately, you are going to have to make executive decisions about the importance of various assignments relative to how much time and effort you’re expending on them. Don’t get bogged down worrying about finishing a small assignment that is worth a negligible fraction of your grade if it means that finishing it will cost you important points on a far more important project or paper for another class. Always rank assignments based on their due date and importance. In the grand scheme of things, it’s always best to do what will get you the best overall average of grade points.

E. If you have multiple assignments to do, don’t try and work on more than one at a time. Pick the most immediately due assignment and stick with it like glue until it’s done. Then move on to the next most pressing assignment. This way, you resist the temptation to bypass hard, looming assignments to jump to easier but less pressing assignments for your sense of accomplishment. Concentrating your efforts on one task is the key to any successful session of work.

F. Often, you’ll be tempted to pull all-nighters simply to get things done and out of your head. This is extremely counterproductive. If you feel very tired, you can just drop off at any moment. If you sense you’re giving less and less effort to your work, then stop. It’s always better to pick it up the next day when you’re focused than to run a marathon all night and wind up with substandard work that you aren’t proud of.

G. It’s not always easy to stay on the ball in college, but if you know how to stay calm, and make your assignments work for you, you can simplify things tremendously. If you have no idea how to even start an assignment, always feel free to contact your professor, campus tutoring office, or even your parents for advice. Don’t let your fears get in the way of your doing well. If asking a professor for assistance is the difference between a C and an A on an assignment, you should not care about your pride, you should care about your college marks.

Верный ответ: 1846732

To design spacesuits, vehicles and habitats with enough shielding to keep astronauts safe, scientists need to know A___________. They can estimate this radiation dose using computer models, but a computer model and real-life can be two wildly different things. Until now, researchers weren’t sure B___________.

That’s where the Phantom Torso comes in. He’s an armless, legless, human-shaped mannequin C___________. Scientists call him Matroshka, and like his NASA counterpart Fred, this mannequin is an intrepid space traveller.

Matroshka’s plastic body is loaded with over 400 dosimeter sensors D___________. The sensors are placed in the location of vital human organs. All the data collected is being used by scientists to verify the accuracy of computer models used to predict the safety of space missions for human astronauts.

The Phantom Torso has become a regular sight on the International Space Station over the last four months but now the limbless mummy-like humanoid is back home again. The Phantom Torso has provided the real-world test needed to prove E___________. They’re accurate to within ten percent of the measured dose. That means these models can be used to plan NASA’s return to the Moon or even a trip to Mars.

Lessons learned from Fred and Matroshka have major implications for NASA’s plans to set up a manned outpost on the Moon and eventually to send people to Mars. Protecting astronauts from the harmful effects of space radiation will be a critical challenge for these extended missions.

Now that the Phantom Torso has spent four months on the International Space Station, scientists are learning about the space radiation F___________. The results obtained from this experiment could help in the development of countermeasures to the effect of cosmic radiation experienced by astronauts.

1) which collect data from galactic cosmic rays and other radiation sources in space
2) whether their models accurately predicted the radiation dose astronauts experience in space
3) that Matroshka endured
4) how much radiation astronauts actually absorb
5) what to do with him
6) that looks like he’s wrapped in a mummy’s bandages
7) that the models used by scientists are essentially correct

Верный ответ: 426173

Прочитайте текст и выполните задания 12-18. В каждом задании запишите в поле ответа цифру 1, 2, 3 или 4, соответствующую выбранному Вами варианту ответа.

Ill a first-class carriage of a train speeding Balkanward two Britons sat in friendly, fitful converse. They had first foregathered in the cold grey dawn at the frontier line, where the presiding eagle takes on an extra head and Teuton lands pass from Hohenzollern to Habsburg. After a day’s break of their journey at Vienna the travellers had again foregathered at the train side and paid one another the compliment of settling instinctively into the same carriage. The elder of the two was a wine businessman. The other was certainly a journalist. Neither man was talkative and each was grateful to the other for not being talkative. That is why from time to time they talked.

One topic of conversation naturally thrust itself forward in front of all others. In Vienna the previous day they had learned of the mysterious vanishing of a world-famous picture from the Louvre.

‘A dramatic disappearance of that sort is sure to produce a crop of imitations, ’ said the Journalist.

‘I was thinking of the spiriting away of human beings rather than pictures. In particular I was thinking of the case of my aunt, Crispina Umberleigh.’

‘I remember hearing something of the affair, ’ said the Journalist, ‘but I was away from England at the time. I never quite knew what was supposed to have happened.’

‘You may hear what really happened if you respect it as a confidence, ’ said the Wine Merchant. ‘In the first place I may say that the disappearance of Mrs. Umberleigh was not regarded by the family entirely as bereavement. My uncle, Edward Umberleigh, was not by any means a weak-kneed individual, in fact in the world of politics he had to be reckoned as a strong man, but he was unmistakably dominated by Crispina. Some people are born to command. Mrs. Umberleigh was born to legislate, codify, administrate, censor, license, ban, execute, and sit in judgement generally. From the kitchen regions upwards everyone in the household came under her despotic sway and stayed there with the submissiveness of molluscs involved in a glacial epoch. Her sons and daughters stood in mortal awe of her. Their studies, friendships, diet, amusements, religious observances, and way of doing their hair were all regulated and ordained according to the august lady’s will and pleasure.

This will help you to understand the sensation of stupefaction which was caused in the family when she unobtrusively and inexplicably vanished. It was as though St. Paul’s Cathedral or the Piccadilly Hotel had disappeared in the night, leaving nothing but an open space to mark where it had stood.

As far as it was known, nothing was troubling her; in fact there was much before her to make life particularly well worth living. The youngest boy had come back from school with an unsatisfactory report, and she was to have sat in judgement on him the very afternoon of the day she disappeared. Then she was in the middle of a newspaper correspondence with a rural dean in which she had already proved him guilty of heresy, inconsistency, and unworthy quibbling, and no ordinary consideration would have induced her to discontinue the controversy. Of course the matter was put in the hands of the police, but as far as possible it was kept out of the papers, and the generally accepted explanation of her withdrawal from her social circle was that she had gone into a nursing home.’

‘Couldn’t your uncle get hold of the least clue?’

‘As a matter of fact, he had received some information, though of course I did not know of it at the time. He got a message one day telling him that his wife had been kidnapped and smuggled out of the country; she was said to be hidden away, on one of the islands off the coast of Norway I think she was in comfortable surroundings and well cared for. And with the information came a demand for money; a lump sum of 2000 pounds was to be paid yearly. Failing this she would be immediately restored to her family.’

The Journalist was silent for a moment, and then began to laugh quietly.

‘It was certainly an inverted form of holding to ransom, ’ he said. ‘Did your uncle succumb to it?’

‘Well, you see, for the family to have gone back into the Crispina thraldom after having tasted the delights of liberty would have been a tragedy, and there were even wider considerations to be taken into account. Since his bereavement he had unconsciously taken up a far bolder and more initiatory line in public affairs, and his popularity and influence had increased correspondingly. All this he knew would be jeopardised if he once more dropped into the social position of the husband of Mrs. Umberleigh. Of course, he had severe qualms of conscience about the arrangement. Later on, when he took me into his confidence, he told me that in paying the ransom he was partly influenced by the fear that if he refused it, the kidnappers might have vented their rage and disappointment on their captive. It was better, he said, to think of her being well cared for as a highly-valued payingguest on one of the Lofoden Islands than to have her struggling miserably home in a maimed and mutilated condition. Anyway he paid the yearly instalment as punctually as one pays fire insurance. And then, after a disappearance of more than eight years, Crispina returned with dramatic suddenness to the home she had left so mysteriously.’

‘She had given her captors the slip?’

‘She had never been captured. Her wandering away had been caused by a sudden and complete loss of memory. She usually dressed rather in the style of a superior kind of charwoman, and it was not so very surprising that she should have imagined that she was one. She had wandered as far afield as Birmingham, and found fairly steady employment there, her energy and enthusiasm in putting people’s rooms in order counterbalancing her obstinate and domineering characteristics. It was the shock of being patronisingly addressed as ‘my good woman’ by a curate who was disputing with her where the stove should be placed in a parish concert hall that led to the sudden restoration of her memory.’

‘But, ’ exclaimed the Journalist, ‘the Lofoden Island people! Who had they got hold of?’

‘A purely mythical prisoner. It was an attempt in the first place by someone who knew something of the domestic situation to bluff a lump sum out of Edward Umberleigh before the missing woman turned up. Here is Belgrad and another custom house.’

(Adapted from ‘The Disappearance Of Crispina Umberleigh’ by H. H. Munro)