READING PASSAGE 1 Multitask A Do you read while listening to music? Do you like to watch TV while finishing your homework? People who have these kinds of habits are called multi-taskers ‘Muhttasks are able to complete two tasks at the same time by dividing their focus. However, ‘Thomas Lehman, a researcher in Psychology, believes people never really do multiple things simultaneously. Maybe a person is reading while listening to music, but in reality, the brain can only focus on one task. Reading the words in a book will cause you to ignore some of the words When people think they are accomplishing two different tasks efficiently, what really doing is dividing their focus. While listening to music, people become less able to ‘on their surroundings. For example, we all have experience of times when we talk with they are not responding properly, Maybe they are listening to someone else talk, or are reading a text on their smartphone and don’t bear what you are saying. Lehman henomenon “email voice” ‘computers and its spin offs like smart-phones or cellphones. Now sonal device, like a smart-phoneor a laptop, they are frequently virtual information This raises the occurrence of multitasking :n you work, you work with your typewriter, your cellphone, and some colleagues who may drop by at any time to speak with you. In professional meetings, when ‘one normally focuses and listens.to one another, people are more likely to have a cell phone in. their lap, reading or communicating silently with more people than ever, liven inventions Suclvas the cordless phone has increased mitiltita&King. In'the old days, traditional wall phone would ring, and then the housewife would have to stop her activities to answer it, When it rang, the housewife will sit down with her legs up. and chat, with no laundry or sweeping or answer door, In the modem era, our technology is convenient enough to not interrupt our daily tasks. the c Earl Miller, an expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, studied the prefrontal cortex, which controls the brain while a person is multitasking. According to his studies, the size of this cortex varies between species. He found that for humans, the size of this part constitutes ‘one third of the brain, while it is only 4 to $ percent in dogs, and about 15% in monkeys. Given that this cortex is larger on a human, it allows a human to be more flexible and accurate in his or her multitasking. However, Miller wanted to look further into whether the cortex was truly processing information about two different tasks simultaneously. He designed an experiment where he presents visual stimulants to his subjects in a wax that mimics multi-tasking. Miller then attached sensors to the patients" heads to pick up the electric patterns of the brain. This sensor would show if” the brain particles, called neurons, were truly processing two different IELTS ADVANCED — Dy Doin IELTS INBOX/ZALO: 0982.188.938tasks. What he found is that the brain neurons only lit up in singular areas one at atime, and never simultancously. D Davis Meyer, a professor of University of Michigan, studied the young adults in a similar experiment, He instructed them to simultaneously do math problems and classify simple words into different categories. For this experiment. Meyer found that when you think you are doing several jobs at the same time, you are actually switching between jobs. Even though the people tried to do the tasks at the sametime, and both tasks were eventually accomplished, overall, the task took more time than if the person focused on a single task one at a time. E efficiency when muktitasking, Gloria Mark set office workers as his subjects. He found that they were constantly multitasking. He observed that nearly every 11 minutes people at work were disrupted. He found tha doing different jobs atthe same time may actually save time, spite the fact that they are faster, it does not mean they are more efficient. And we likely to self-interrupt as be interrupted by outside sources. He found that in office 12 minutes an employee would stop and with no reason at all.check a website on attention span might be natural, but others suggest that new With cellphones and computers at our sides at all times, people ‘The format of media, such as advertisements, music, news ‘shortening, so people are used to paying attention to information So even though focusing on one sitiile tabk is the thost efficient way for our brains to"Work, it is not practical to use this method in real life. According to human nature, people feel more comfortable and efficient in environments with a variety of tasks, Edward Hallowell said that people are losing a lot of efficiency in the workplace due to multitasking, outside distractions and self-distractions. As it matter of fact, the changes made to the workplace do not have to be dramatic No one is suggesting we ban e-mail or make employees focus on only one task. However, certain common workplace tasks, such as group meetings, would be more efficient if we banned cell- phones, a common distraction. A person can also apply these tips to prevent self- distraction, Instead of arriving to your office and checking all of your e-mails for new tasks, a ‘common workplace ritual, a person could dedicate an hour to a single task first thing in the moming. Self-timing is a great way to reduce distraction and efficiently finish tasks one by one, instead of slowing ourselves down with multi-tasking. IELTS ADVANCED — Dy Doin IELTS INBON/ZALO: 0982.188.938Questions 1-5 Reading Passage | has six paragraphs, A-P. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet 1 a reference toa domestic situation that does not require multitasking 2. a possible explanation of why we always do multitask together 3 a practical solution to multitask in work environment | 4 relating multitasking to the size of prefrontal cortex $ longer time spent doing two tasks at the same time than one at atime ions 6-10 at the follo + (Questions 6-10) and the list of scientists below. atement with the correct scientist, A-E. : boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter ST nce. pi) ¢ List of Scientists —s A Thomas Lehman B Earl Miller € David Meyer D Gloria Mark E Edward Hallowell 6 When faced with muttiple visual stimulants, one can only concentrate on one of them. 7 Doing two things together may be faster but not better. 8 People never really do two things together even if you think you do. IELTS ADVANCED ~ Dy Doin IELTS: INBOX/ZALO: 0982.188.9389 The causes of multitasking lie in the environment. 10 Even minor changes in the workplace will improve work efficiency Questions 11-13 Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet. to refer to a situation when you are reading a text and cannot focus on your ( of the brain controls multitasking. i solution of multitask in work is not to allow use of cellphone in 13... . ‘IELTS Advence DU DOAN IELTS IELTS ADVANCED — Dy Doan IELTS INBOX/ZALO: 0982.188.9382E 10.E ‘email voice ew = IELTS Adv Tited DU DOAN IELTS IELTS ADVANCED — Dy Doin IELTS: INBON/ZALO: 0982.188.938