PhD-02 Reading Test 2

Passage 1:

The more students are determined to pursue self-selected goals, the more likely it is that those goals will be accompanied by expectations of success in areas that matter most to them. From the activities children run to first when released for recess, to the topic a student chooses for a class report, to the careers we select as adults, we choose to participate in those arenas about which we care most deeply and in which we can expect to succeed. This observation is at the core of expectancy-value research. It argues that we are motivated to devote energy to those activities in which we expect to succeed, and we subsequently tend to value those activities over others.

Students’ expectations play a key role in determining how confident they are that they can succeed in attaining a targeted goal; such expectations also play a role in their decisions about whether to stick with something or give up when difficulty is encountered (Wigfield & Eccles 2002). Studies have shown that the level of motivation generated by individuals depends in part on how they answer two internal questions: What reasonable expectation do I have that I will succeed at this activity? How much do I value this activity or its results compared with other things I might be doing?

The first question concerns the student’s perceived competence, his comfort in that context, and the level of support he anticipates receiving. Expectancy-value theory suggests that students routinely calculate their chances of success by considering a host of variables that they believe will affect their ability to achieve (Eccles & Wigfield 1995; Eccles et al. 1983). Some of those variables are internally assessed (e.g., one’s skill level), and others are outward-looking (e.g., the extent to which circumstances will support the individual’s potential to do well). This has enormous implications for the classroom since a teacher’s encouragement and management of the learning community greatly influence students’ calculations of probable success.

The second question concerns both the student’s evaluation of the activity’s merits and rewards and the student’s ability to ignore distractions. Expectancy-value theory suggests that when asked to complete an academic task, students frequently conduct a sort of costbenefit analysis by surveying what other demands and desires might be competing with the current one, and then directing attention and energy toward those that offer the greatest return. Issues of impulse control and delayed gratification are important here, as are the student’s personal goals and the relevance of the activity to both current and future desires and aspirations.

1- What is the main rhetorical function of the passage?

1) Partial Classification

2) Process Description

3) Function Description

4) Definition

2- It can be inferred from the passage that when we observe a researcher doing an experiment over and over despite numerous past failures, it means that he

1) is of the conviction that success is on the horizon

2) is familiar with the underlying principles of the expectancy-value theory

3) has managed to generate sort of motivation stronger than the one with which he probably initiated his endeavor

4) has failed to conduct an apposite cost-benefit analysis at the onset of the project to measure his motivation against the demands of the concerned project

3- According to the passage, the variables that have a bearing on a student’s expectation of success in a given situation depend …………………

1) on their understanding of what success is

2) chiefly on their teacher's encouragement

3) on nothing but their perceived competence

4) on internal and external factors

4- Which of the following best describes the author’s attitude in his discussion of the expectancy-value theory?

1) Indifference

2) Disinterest

3) Subjectivity

4) Euphoria

5- Which of the following does NOT seem to be in accord with the expectancy-value theory?

1) Motivation is a determining factor in forming an individual's expectancies and values

2) Proper goal setting may trigger a motivational process that improves performance.

3) It provides a framework for considering how individuals make decisions based upon expectations and values.

4) Both expectancies and values play an important role in predicting an individual's future decisions, engagement, persistence, and achievement.

Passage 2:

Various studies indicate that 50 to 90 percent of us can recall having had at least one such déjà vu incident in our lives. We experience a vague sense of having encountered a situation before, identical in every detail, even though we can’t say when the first event took place. usually, the sensation lasts only a few seconds. Teens and young adults stumble on the dreamlike state more often than older adults, yet people of all ages experience déja vu, especially when they are either fatigued or overly aware because of stress. A few people sense the inverse of déjà vu, called jamais vu. When they encounter a familiar person or place, they nonetheless insist they have never seen the individual or scene before.

The term “déja vu”-French for “seen already” -may have first been used in 1876 by French physician Émile Boirac. For much of the 20th century, psychiatrists espoused the notion it is an attempt to recall suppressed memories. This “paramnesia” theory suggests that the original event was somehow linked to distress and was being suppressed from conscious recognition, no longer accessible to memory. Therefore, similar occurrences later could not elicit clear recall yet would somehow “remind” the ego of the original event, creating an uneasy familiarity.

Many who have experienced déjà vu share the conviction that the phenomenon must arise from some mystical power or as a sign of a past life and reincarnation. They reason that because logical thought and clear perception reign immediately before and after an episode, some paranormal force must be the only plausible explanation.

Scientists, unsatisfied with such conjecture, have long sought clues about the physical causes behind déjà vu, but investigation has proved elusive, because déja vu never announces itself in advance. Scientists have been forced to rely mostly on the recollections of test subjects. But enough accounts have been examined to allow experts to start defining what déjà vu is and why it arises.

6- What does the paragraph preceding this passage most probably discuss?

1) A description of one specific instance of déjà vu

2) A brief review of literature on the subject of déjà vu

3) Reasons why déja vu is a common experience among people

4) A summary of the findings of various déja vu-related studies

7- Which of the following best describes the primary purpose of the passage?

1) Pointing out certain shortcomings in a long-standing hypothesis concerning a natural event

2) Comparing and contrasting two competing theories regarding a controversial subject

3) Setting the ground for a scientific discussion of a phenomenon

4) Illustrating a process that formerly had been misunderstood

8- The underlined phrase “stumble on” in paragraph 1 could best be replaced by which of the following?

1) become aware of

2) remember

3) get taken aback by

4) come across

9- All of the following are stated in the passage EXCEPT that …………….

1) people are less likely to experience jamais vu than déja vu

2) the "paramnesia" theory is now a widely held theory among psychiatrists

3) those resorting to some mystical power to explain déjà vu have a reason to countenance their belief

4) the research design mentioned in the last paragraph which scientists are obliged to follow mostly is ex post facto

10- The passage would most probably continue with a discussion of which of the following?

1) An account of some test subjects' recollections of déja vu

2) Reasons why studying déja vu is convoluted

3) The true nature of déjà vu

4) Causes of déjà vu

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