KOÇ UNIVERSITY ENGLISH PROFICIENCY EXAM

SAMPLE QUESTIONS

IMPORTANT NOTE: The whole exam (with answer keys and audio files) will be available on
the ELC webpage on October 1st, 2013.

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 SECTION 1- READING

Choose the best answer according to the text below.

(1) Homeschooling is an educational method that is situated in the home rather than in an institution designed for
educational purposes. It is representative of a broad social movement of families, largely in Western societies,
which believe that the education of children is, ultimately, the responsibility of parents rather than that of the
government.

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(2) Until school attendance became compulsory in the United States in the mid-19 century, apprenticeships and
communal activities were the primary ways in which young children learned. However, this sort of individual
instruction was increasingly replaced by systematized group methods fueled by laws regulating child labor and
other social changes that placed more children in schools. Not long after universal compulsory school laws were
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enacted—a process that was completed in the US by the early 20 century—some parents and educators grew
dissatisfied with the dominant school system and offered alternatives, including learning at home.

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(3) Homeschooling in the US did not become widespread until the last quarter of the 20 century. In the early 1980s,
there were about 20,000 students homeschooled in the US, but two and a half decades later, the figure was
approximately 1.5 million. At about the same time, homeschooling was also increasing in other countries, such as
the United Kingdom, Australia, and India. Reasons for this rapid growth vary, but they generally center on
perceived deficiencies in traditional education, such as a claimed lack of emphasis on teaching moral and ethical
behavior, the threat of peer violence in schools, and ineffectiveness in dealing with learning-disabled and gifted
children.

(4) In the US, educating children at home has always been a legal option for parents though, with the establishment
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of formal education, the right to homeschool was rarely exercised until the late 20 century. Although legal action
has been taken against homeschooling households, it has been prompted by issues such as absenteeism and
educational neglect, not by the act of homeschooling itself. As homeschooling grew, so did the monitoring of
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homeschoolers and by the early 21 century, 40 states had adopted homeschooling regulations, which vary by
state. For example, several states, including New York and North Dakota, are highly restrictive, requiring the
provision of achievement test scores or some other formal evaluation, parental educational qualification (for
example, a high school diploma), state-approved curriculum, and home visits from state officials. Other states,
including Florida and Washington, are more moderately regulated, requiring test scores or other forms of
professional evaluation. States with less regulation include Wisconsin and Utah, which require only that parents
notify the state of their intent to homeschool their children. In some states, such as Texas, no state notification is
required. No parent is required to be a certified teacher in order to teach his or her own child at home in Australia,
Canada, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Norway, the United States, and other countries where homeschooling is
permitted.

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(5) Opponents of homeschooling have argued that social integration cannot succeed unless all children are
compelled to attend schools. Critics also contend that the practice does not adequately prepare students
academically or socially. However, studies have consistently shown that homeschooling is successful both by
social and standard academic measures. Some studies have suggested that, in comparison with publicly and
privately schooled students, homeschooled individuals typically score above average on high-school achievement
tests. Proponents note that their children socialize with non-family members in a variety of settings outside of
school and maintain that homeschooling does not undermine social cohesion. Many parents even enlist outside
help for particular subjects which the parents themselves do not teach, especially at the high school level. Those
with computers can access a wide variety of educational software as well as the resources provided by the
Internet. Also, some communities and schools allow homeschoolers to use their school libraries, classrooms, and
computers. Some states, including Florida, allow the homeschooled to participate in high school sports and other
extracurricular activities, but many states do not. Homeschooling supporters otherwise use local and national
sports associations for team sports, or they create their own teams.

(6) Does homeschooling have a future in America? Will the homeschooling movement succeed in moving away from
the mediocre academic standards that have been set by government schools? There is a widespread demand for
curricula, or programs, that are "easy and fun." Government schools have met this demand by lowering academic
standards. Sadly, many homeschool curricula are still based on the "grade" levels of government schools for the
same reason. Easy and fun curricula sell too well to parents and children who have become intellectually lazy.
This disparity between the lowered standards of public schools and the academic standards that American
children need to excel in the modern world must be resolved. If it is not, elite private schools will prevail over more
affordable public schools and homeschooling.

(7) To have a viable future in the US, the homeschooling movement needs to realize that learning is an individual
activity. The academic growth of a student is not a tool to achieve parental self-satisfaction. It is a completely
personal activity that takes place between the student and educational material which parents need only to
provide along with a good study environment and excellent study habits. Anything or anyone that interferes with
this diminishes this activity.

(8) The keys to expanding homeschooling to include most American children (rather than a fortunate few) are self-
learning with non-teacher-based curricula, high academic standards, and an understanding of the importance of
disciplined study habits and a good study environment. These keys can unlock the potential of millions of
American children and can assure them a successful future.

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1) The main aim of paragraph 2 is to ____.
a) explain when apprenticeships and communal activities lost their popularity in the US
b) show how compulsory school laws ended child labor in the US
c) criticize the way homeschooling was replaced by the school system in the US
d) summarize the developments that led to the idea of homeschooling in the US

2) In paragraph 6, the author argues that ____.

a) homeschool curricula should be enjoyable to be effective
b) homeschooling should cater to students who are lazy
c) government schools fail to meet the needs of American students
d) parents and children should be able to design their own curricula

3) The word "it" in paragraph 4 refers to ____.

a) homeschooling b) absenteeism c) formal education d) legal action

4) The word "enlist" in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to ____.

a) express b) offer c) combine d) obtain

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 Choose the best answer according to the text below.

(1) Encouragement and praise can come in many forms, and some ways are better for child development than
others. Researchers studying mother-child interactions over the course of several years have found that the type
of praise children receive affects their attitudes toward challenges later in life.

(2) Specifically, praise about their behavior and the choices they made helped children to cope better with difficult
experiences five years later in contrast to compliments that focused more on the child, such as "You’re a good
kid." This study is the first major study of praise and childhood development conducted outside of a laboratory
setting. "This is something we suspected would be the case based on extensive experimental research, and it’s
exciting to see it play out in the real world," says Elizabeth Gunderson, who led the study. "Praising the efforts,
actions, and work of the kid is going to be more beneficial in their long-term persistence in dealing with challenges
and working hard in the future." Such "process praise" includes comments such as, "You’re doing a great job,"
which emphasize the child’s actions. "Person praise” includes comments which focus on a child’s inherent
qualities such as, "You’re so smart". These distinctions are not new, but exactly how they affect children’s
development has not always been clear.

(3) As part of the study, researchers visited the homes of more than 50 children and filmed their daily interactions with
their parents. Five years later, the researchers followed up with the families, using questionnaires to measure the
children’s attitudes toward challenges and problem solving. The children who grew up with more process praise
were more open to challenges and were able to identify more ways of overcoming difficult problems. They were
also more likely to say that they could improve their intelligence with hard work. While person praise did not seem
to have any negative effect on the children, the study suggests that process praise teaches children that their
talents and abilities can be improved, while person praise implies that their abilities are fixed.

(4) Another revelation from the study involved how praise affects boys and girls differently. Parents gave boys and
girls the same amount of praise, but of the encouragement boys received, 24% was process praise while girls
received only 10% of this type. Previous research studies also suggested this pattern; however, it was unexpected
how great the difference was. The inequality could have consequences for girls in terms of how they evaluate their
abilities as they progress in school and may play a role in intensifying some of the confidence issues common
among female adolescents.

(5) The next step is to investigate whether giving process praise and person praise leads to a difference in behavior.
Current data only indicates that children with more process praise may be more eager to embrace challenges, but
it is not clear whether they actually seek out these challenges and pursue them. For now, however, the findings
send a clear message to parents. The most valuable indication is that parent praise matters. The parents, even
when children are very young, have a hand in shaping children’s motivation, their attitudes toward themselves,
and their approach to the world. Not all praise, it seems, is equal.

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1) According to paragraph 2, which of the following can be considered process praise?
a) "You always study hard and receive the highest scores in class."
b) "You are very competitive, so you must join a team at school."
c) "You have proven to be the best student in class as you are so talented."
d) "You seem so cautious; you never leave anything to chance."

2) It can be understood from paragraph 3 that ____.

a) person praise is more likely to have adverse effects on a child’s mental development
b) children receiving person praise possess limited skills compared to those receiving process praise
c) children raised with more process praise face more challenges in life than other children
d) process praise may not only enable children to take risks but also to cope with them

3) It can be inferred from the text that ____.

a) there is definitive evidence on how process and person praise affect children’s development
b) the findings of the current study by Gunderson are parallel to those found in laboratories
c) experimental studies have proven to provide the best results in studies about praise
d) there is a growing inclination among parents to give more process praise to their children

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 SECTION 2- USE OF ENGLISH
Choose the best answer to complete each sentence.

There is a myth that bilinguals express their true emotions in their first language (when they have not acquired
both languages at the same time). Like all myths, there are instances 1 true. For example, an adult Portuguese-
English bilingual who 2 English when he was fourteen might say that if something 3 angry, there is no doubt
that he will use Portuguese to express himself. Additionally, 4 sense that bilinguals who use their first language
with family and friends and their other language mainly at work will express feelings in their first language.

However, as Temple University researcher Aneta Pavlenko writes, things are 5 complex than that. In her book
on the topic, she dismantles this myth and shows that the relationship between emotions and bilingualism
6 differently by different individuals who come from distinct language areas. Basically, it is too simplistic to
suggest that late bilinguals have emotional ties 7 first language and no ties with their other language.

8 a childhood in one language is marked by a lack of affection or distressing events, then bilinguals 9 to
express emotion in their second language. For example, an adult English-French bilingual who moved to France
in early adulthood claims that she found it easier to speak of anything connected with emotions in French, her
second language, 10 in English she was quite tongue-tied. She explained this was because she learned what
love meant in French and stated, "Perhaps one day I'll even manage to say 'I love you' in English."

1) a) where is it b) when it is c) while is it d) which it is

2) a) acquired b) has acquired c) is acquiring d) has been acquiring

3) a) he made b) makes him c) he will make d) which makes him

4) a) it makes b) that it makes c) it is making d) what makes

5) a) too b) so c) very much d) much more

6) a) experience b) is experienced c) experiences d) experienced

7) a) with their only b) only with their c) not with their d) not only their

8) a) Many b) That c) When d) So

9) a) are preferred b) must prefer c) have preferred d) may prefer

10) a) whereas b) despite c) furthermore d) rather

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 Choose the best answer to complete each sentence.

The placebo effect refers to any situation in which the body and mind are influenced by a treatment to a greater
degree than would be expected based on the treatment itself. Most commonly, we think of placebos as pills or
shots that have no active medical 1 in them but which lead to an improvement in health. The placebo effect is
incredibly powerful.

To test the power of the placebo effect, researchers had people drink an energy drink that was advertised as
2 people's mental ability. To 3 the effect of the drink on people's performance, they measured the number of
words that people were able to unscramble. In the study, 4 were told different information about the
effectiveness of the drink. One group was told that a large number of studies suggest that energy drinks resulted
in significant improvements in mental 5 . A second group was told that the drinks 6 a slight improvement in
thinking. Finally, a control group performed the word-unscrambling test without hearing information about the drink
at all.

The control group, on average, unscrambled seven words 7 . Those people who read that the drink was not so
effective overall did worse than the control group while those who read that the drink was 8 effective did better
than the control group. Indeed, the people who got the less-positive information (the drink is only slightly effective)
only unscrambled about four words correctly while those who got the more-positive information (the drink is very
effective) 9 over ten words correctly. Studies like these 10 the power of the placebo effect.

1) a) constitutions b) facilities c) ingredients d) paradigms

2) a) altering b) fluctuating c) commencing d) monitoring

3) a) justify b) determine c) maximize d) accommodate

4) a) substitutes b) commissions c) juries d) participants

5) a) integrating b) transforming c) violating d) functioning

6) a) clarify b) validate c) provide d) unify

7) a) principally b) accurately c) abstractly d) explicitly

8) a) increasingly b) inevitably c) highly d) gradually

9) a) identified b) occupied c) abandoned d) devoted

10) a) allocate b) erode c) reveal d) prohibit

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 SECTION 3- LISTENING: WHILE LISTENING (8 minutes)

Listen to an interview about Citizen Science. You have TWO minutes to read the questions. You will hear
the interview ONCE.

1) The purpose of Citizen Science is to ______.

a) encourage more people to become scientists
b) raise funds for community scientific projects
c) increase the amount of scientific knowledge
d) raise awareness of technological developments

2) Which is true about the people with whom scientists work?

a) They come from diverse educational backgrounds.
b) They should be able to speak a foreign language.
c) They need to purchase sophisticated equipment.
d) They must have previously worked as a researcher.

3) According to Alex Smith, people volunteer so that they can ______.

a) network with renowned scientists to obtain a job
b) receive credit for volunteering with an organization
c) reach a mutual objective together more effectively
d) exchange innovative ideas with fellow volunteers

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SECTION 3- LISTENING: WHILE LISTENING AUDIO SCRIPT

Interviewer: Hello. Today, we’re going to be talking about science and the everyday citizens involved in it.
Let me first introduce my guest, Alex Smith. He is one of the individuals involved in the project, Citizen
Science, and has been the technical director in several scientific research projects. Today, he’s going to
give of us some insight into what exactly this program is. Thanks for joining us today Alex.

Alex: Hi. Thanks for having me.

Interviewer: So, I know that citizen science has something to do with science and research and
connecting it to the public. Could you explain exactly what the relationship is in Citizen Science?

Alex: Well, basically, as you said, it’s an opportunity for the public to participate and collaborate in
scientific research. And this is done simply with the intention of increasing the amount of scientific
knowledge. Through this program we can involve the public in the projects scientists are leading by having
them gather more data in a relatively short amount of time.

Interviewer: I see. And who are these people that scientists are working with? Are they also people who
work in science or do research?

Alex: Actually, I know it’s hard for some people to believe anyone besides scientists and researchers
doing scientific research, but the whole point of Citizen Science is that you don’t necessarily have to be an
expert to be involved in science. So, the people we work with have varying levels of expertise. These
individuals range from kids in their backyards to members of high school science clubs. They can even be
amateurs, new to the scientific field, or they might be experienced people in the field who have
sophisticated equipment at home. Of course, scientists and researchers are involved in Citizen Science.
They are certainly a fundamental part of the research, but they are only one element of the project, and
other nonprofessional volunteers are also vital to the process.

Interviewer: I noticed you said volunteers. It must be difficult to get people to participate in so much data
collection without being paid to do so.

Alex: Well, you’d be surprised. Each Citizen Science project can attract hundreds of volunteers. And
these people have various reasons for getting involved in this program. In some cases, teams or networks
of volunteers will get involved because they want to form a partnership with professional scientists to
achieve common goals. You know the saying, two heads are better than one. Well that’s essentially the
same idea we’re trying to employ here. Often times, people have really innovative ideas or projects, but
they just don’t have the time or money to accomplish them. So, Citizen Science allows volunteers and
scientists to achieve their goal, which might otherwise be too expensive or time consuming to do alone. It
might also be that it helps students in a science class practice something they are studying. There are
many reasons why someone would be willing to volunteer.

Interviewer: Yes, that makes sense. Helping others to help each other. Moving on to the history of the
Citizen Science project, I know that it seems like Citizen Science is a relatively new phenomenon, but I’ve
heard that it actually dates back to the late 1800s.

Alex: Yes, that’s right. This concept of working with the public to achieve scientific work is not a new idea.
A man named Wells Cooke was actually a scientist who seemed to develop this idea first. He was an
American ornithologist, that is, he focused on a branch of zoology that studied birds. He began a program
that looked at the patterns of bird migration and formed a network of citizen volunteers. These volunteers
would first collect information on where birds flew to and how their population varied. Then, they would

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record this information on cards. After the volunteers completed their work, Cooke could then go and
analyze the data they had collected.

Interviewer: Interesting. So, besides projects with birds, you’ve previously mentioned other types of
projects. One, for example, was something called a ‘bioblitz.’ Could you talk a little about what a bioblitz
is?

Alex: Sure. A bioblitz is basically an event that focuses on finding and identifying as many species as
possible in a particular area over a short period of time. Basically, its goal is to create a biological
inventory, or a list of the types and number of different plants, animals, fungi, and other organisms native
to that place. One bioblitz in particular took place at a national park in Tuscon, Arizona. At this national
park more than 5,000 people walked the area during a 24 hour event collecting information. And as a
result, were able to add more than 400 species to the park’s lists.

Interviewer: There’s just one last point I’d like to ask you about. Citizen Science has obviously been quite
a success in its organization of volunteers and research projects. Have there been any criticisms of
Citizen Science?

Alex: As with anything, there are always difficulties faced and people who are critical of the work done.
One concern in particular has been that some projects may not be suitable for inexperienced volunteers.
For instance, they may find using complex research methods or repetitive work challenging. Another
criticism is that because volunteers have insufficient training in research or data monitoring, there is a
higher risk of introducing bias into the data. That is, they might lack objectivity because of personal
preferences, or they might even make errors in their data collection or analysis. These are, of course,
valid concerns. However, I feel that these concerns have been seriously considered by scientists who
have taken precautions to prevent them from happening.

Interviewer: Well, I’d like to thank you Alex for helping us all to understand Citizen Science better.

Alex: Sure. Thanks for having me.

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SECTION 3- LISTENING: NOTE-TAKING (12 minutes)

You are going to listen to a lecture on the topic of nonverbals, or body language. As you listen, take
notes under the headings provided. You will use your notes to answer some questions. Your notes
WILL NOT be graded. You will hear the lecture ONCE ONLY. You now have 30 seconds to look at the
headings.

Overview of Nonverbals

Nonverbals and Culture

TURN OVER 
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Nonverbals and Others

Nonverbals and Self-Perception

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 SECTION 3- LISTENING: NOTE-TAKING

Answer the questions below using your notes from the lecture about nonverbals.

1) According to the lecture, one example of nonverbals is the ______.

a) speed at which a speaker talks
b) content of what a speaker says
c) choice of words a speaker uses
d) complexity of a speaker’s message

2) The lecturer mentions the V-shape pose to ______.

a) suggest that physical competitiveness is a universal concept
b) show how some nonverbal concepts are inherent to all people
c) prove that blind people are physically more expressive than seeing people
d) analyze differences in nonverbals between blind and seeing people

3) People react to a high power pose by ______.

a) mirroring each other to show that they are equal
b) making a variety of gestures to distract the other person
c) attempting to occupy more space than the other person to gain control
d) complementing the other person’s nonverbals so as not to compete

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SECTION 3- LISTENING: NOTE-TAKING AUDIO SCRIPT

You are going to listen to a lecture on nonverbals, or body language. As you listen, take notes under the
headings provided. You will use your notes to answer some questions. Your notes will not be graded. You
will hear the audio once only. You now have 30 seconds to look at the headings.

Now listen.

So today I’d like to focus on a topic I’m sure many of you are familiar with and that is body language.
However, I’m not only going to focus on body language. More specifically, we’ll also look at what are
called in social science, nonverbals. First, I’ll discuss what these nonverbals are and what they can
represent. Then, we’ll look at how they differ culturally. After, we’ll discuss how nonverbals affect how
others perceive us. And lastly, we’ll consider an area rarely explored with nonverbals and that is whether
nonverbals can shape who a person is.

Ok, before we get into these points, let’s talk about what nonverbals are. Now, the reason we say non-
verbal is because these aspects are not related to the content of what you are saying. In other words,
nonverbals don’t deal with words or meaning of what you say. In part, they are body gestures, but they are
also things like voice quality, rate or volume. Basically, there are several areas to look for nonverbals. One
is posture, which is essentially the way you stand or carry yourself. The second type is eye contact, or
even lack of eye contact. Nonverbals can also be physical gestures, perhaps with your arms or legs.
Another area of nonverbals is a person’s speech rate, so not what they say, but how fast or slow they say
it. And finally, a nonverbal can also be your tone of voice, for example how loud or soft a person speaks,
but not what they are saying. So to review, nonverbals can be posture, eye contact, gestures, speech rate,
and tone of voice. Now that you’re familiar with different types of nonverbals, I’d like to take a look at an
example of one of those, physical gestures. Many are probably familiar with the V-shape pose, you know,
when people throw their arms up in the air in a V-shape. And we usually do this after winning a physical
competition or game. This is basically an expression of pride and a physical reminder to others that we
won and are in power. It’s been found that even people who are congenitally blind, that is, they were born
blind, even they do this pose. Think about that, when a blind person crosses the finish line in a race and
they’ve won, it doesn’t matter if they’ve never seen anyone do the V-shape pose, they still do it. And this
isn’t only limited to the human species. Even in the animal kingdom the most intimidating animals are
usually the biggest. We assume that their size is an indication of their strength and power. The more
space they occupy, the less space we have to move around. So, in doing this they are able to control
others. This shows how this notion of expanding and being large to show power is such a universal and
innate concept. It’s also interesting to consider how a power gesture like this can affect others. What I
mean is that, when it comes to power, we tend to complement the other’s gesture. That means, if
someone is doing a powerful gesture with us, we tend to make ourselves smaller to indicate less power.
We don’t mirror them. We do the opposite. So, as we can see, there are certain concepts regarding
nonverbals that are common among humans.

OK. Having talked about what nonverbals are, I’ll now move on to nonverbals and culture. Now, even
though we’ve been generalizing about people’s nonverbals, they aren’t universal in every case. They can
actually differ person to person, or even, culture to culture. Let me give you an example. In a study of
facial expressions of Americans and Japanese, participants were asked to view a highly stressful film
under two conditions. In the first condition, participants viewed the film alone. But in the second condition,
there was an older male experimenter present with them. So what happened? Well, in the first condition,
there was no significant variance in their facial expressions. They showed disgust, sadness, fear, and
even anger in similar ways. In the second condition, however, cultural differences emerged. While the
Americans continued to express the same negative emotions, the Japanese were more likely to smile.

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Yes, that’s right, smile. So, you might be wondering, how can that be possible? Well, remember that elder
experimenter in the room? That individual had an effect on the Japanese participant. Why? Basically, a
term called cultural display rule was being followed. A cultural display rule is something people learn early
in childhood, and this helps them to modify their emotional facial expressions depending on the social
circumstances. This shows that the Japanese participants tended to mask their negative facial
expressions when in the presence of an elder, who they showed respect for by being positive. As we can
see, nonverbals can vary depending on cultural backgrounds. And this is important to know, especially
when it comes to cross-cultural interactions, where people tend to misinterpret nonverbals.

OK then. Now let’s look at how nonverbals affect the way others perceive us. Depending on how they are
interpreted, nonverbals can potentially impact a person’s life. In one university’s study of nonverbals,
social scientists showed people two 30-second soundless clips. In both clips, they saw real doctors and
patients interacting. In the first clip, there was a doctor who was being a very effective and considerate
doctor, and made the patient feel good about having him as a doctor. In the second clip, however, there
was a doctor who was quite ineffective and even mean to the patient, leaving the patient feeling extremely
dissatisfied. So, of course, as the people were watching those soundless clips, they had no idea about
what the doctors were like. They were simply asked to view the doctors’ and patients’ interactions and
evaluate which was the better doctor, without being able to actually hear what they were saying, just
based on their nonverbals. And of course, as I’m sure you can guess, the viewers could accurately predict
which doctor was the better one. How did they do this? Well, the doctor who was the better of the two
used nonverbals that were open, meaning he was not closing his arms or crossing his legs, but rather
keeping his arms open, relaxed, and making eye contact with the patient. This showed that he was inviting
the patient into the interaction and not keeping a significant distance between him and the patient.

So, from this we can see that nonverbals can affect how others perceive us. But we tend to forget the
other audience that’s influenced by our nonverbals, and that’s ourselves. So in this last part of my talk, I’d
like to talk about how our nonverbals affect how we perceive ourselves. Can our own nonverbals affect the
way we feel? I mean, can you do a high power pose just for a few minutes and actually feel more
powerful? The answer is, yes, actually. So, for example, we know that we smile when we feel happy. For
most of use, it’s a natural expression of happiness. But what if you were forced to smile, say by putting a
pen between your teeth? Many would probably say, well it would force me to smile, but it wouldn’t affect
how I feel. Actually, this isn’t the case. In a recent study, researchers found that when a person is forced
to smile, contrary to what we might think, it does actually make that person feel happy. This is also true
with power and confidence as has been suggested in a recent study that tried to find whether our bodies
can change our minds. And when I say minds, I mean thoughts and feelings and even physiological things
like hormones, which influence our emotions. In this study, two key hormones were considered:
testosterone, which is the dominance hormone. That’s T-E-S-T-O-S-T-E-R-O-N-E. And cortisol, which is
the stress hormone. That’s C-O-R-T-I-S-O-L. What the study found is that confident and high-power
individuals have higher levels of testosterone and low levels of cortisol. So what does that mean? Well,
the higher the testosterone level, the more the feelings of power and dominance, and the higher the
cortisol level, the more the feelings of stress and fear.

So what they did in the study is they asked people to come into the lab. First, they had them spit into a
container so that they could see their hormone levels. Then, they asked each individual to imitate a given
high-power pose for two minutes. So they would just sit or stand in a particular power pose for two
minutes. After doing that, they were asked to discuss how powerful they felt on a series of items. Next,
they gave the person a chance to gamble. Why gambling? Because high-power individuals tend to take
more risks when they gamble, and they wanted to see if they would also do this after their high-power
pose. And finally, they had to spit in the container again to examine any changes in hormone levels.

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And what did they find after doing this experiment? Well, first, they found that 86 percent of the
participants were more willing to take risks and gamble after doing a two-minute power pose. It’s important
to note here that the power pose had no effect, however, on their gambling ability, just on their willingness
to gamble. Second, these same participants experienced a 20 percent increase in testosterone levels.
Third, these people also experienced a 25 percent decrease in cortisol levels. So, after just two minutes
of doing a high-power pose, hormonal changes occurred and this caused the brain to become assertive,
confident and at ease, with the feeling of less stress. So it seems that our nonverbals do in fact determine
how we think and feel about ourselves. They don’t just influence what others think about us, but also what
we think about ourselves. This implies that not only does our mind change our body, but our body can also
change our mind.

That’s the end of my talk. Thank you for listening.

That’s the end of the note-taking section. Now your teacher will distribute the questions. You have 8
minutes to answer the questions.

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SECTION 4- WRITING

KUEPE Number: ___________________________

Instructions: Please answer the following question in essay format, using information from the
reading (on the next page) “Why Working Mothers Are Happier and Healthier than Stay-at-Home
Moms” by Bonnie Rochman.

Some people believe it’s better for children to have stay-at-home mothers while others believe
it’s better for mothers to work. Which do you think is better for a child, a working or a stay-at-
home mother? Use ideas and information from the article to support your ideas.

You may use this space to make any notes necessary or create an outline.

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Why Working Mothers Are Happier and Healthier Than Stay-at-Home Moms

By Bonnie Rochman, December 13, 2011 | Time Magazine Online

Despite the juggling act required to keep a job and care for children, moms who work report
they’re healthier and happier than moms who stay at home when their kids are babies and
preschoolers.

Furthermore, women who worked part-time had much better results than the stay-at-home crowd
and, in some cases, full-time workers, on measures of health and stress, according to a study that
appears in December’s Journal of Family Psychology.

“Employment helps women and their families,” says lead author Cheryl Buehler, a professor of
human development and family studies at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNC-
G), who says the real message of her study is this: get a job, whether full-time or part-time.

Up to now, much of the research on maternal employment has focused on how it affects
children. Results have been mixed and inconsistent: some conclude that the more a mother
works, the more her children benefit, perhaps because a mother who finds meaning outside of her
children is more satisfied in her role as a parent; others find the opposite. Many studies haven’t
been able to find a relationship.

Buehler decided to focus on the mothers by studying how work impacts moms’ well-being and
their parenting in three areas: sensitivity toward their children, involvement in their kids’ schools
and opportunities for learning that mothers provide for their kids (things like books, enrichment
activities and trips to libraries and museums).

Buehler was particularly interested in looking at part-time work because it hasn’t been studied
much. She concluded that it’s a distinct work status, even though it is one that employers too
often don’t take seriously enough. “The data shows that part-time employment helps family life,”
says Buehler, who says that this is one reason why employers should encourage their part-time
employees by offering benefits that are reduced according to the number of hours worked,
training, and opportunities for advancement.

Buehler and colleagues looked at data collected by the National Institute for Child Health and
Human Development, which interviewed 1,364 mothers beginning in 1991 when their babies
were 6 months old. Over the course of 10 years, they checked back in with the moms seven
times, finishing when their children were in the fifth grade.

Buehler compared non-working moms to those who worked part-time (an extremely wide
category defined as between 1 and 32 hours a week) or full-time (more than 32 hours a week).
“In a lot of areas, there was no difference in emotional well-being” between full- and part-timers,
says Buehler.

In general, part-time working moms reported less work-family conflict than full-time working
moms, results which are similar to previous research. Of course, it is reasonable to say that a

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mom who works one hour a week may be under far less pressure to balance work and family than
one who works 32. But while full-time workers reported more work-family conflict, they were
apparently able to cope well with the increased stress: they didn’t indicate more depression or
worse health than part-timers. “It’s not resulting in decreased well-being,” says Buehler.

The most significant differences appeared when comparing moms who weren’t employed to
those who worked part-time. The part-timers were less depressed, had better health, were more
sensitive to their children and were better able to provide them with learning opportunities. That
may be directly related to employment, which improves people’s social skills and increases
awareness of what’s going on in the community. “Maybe that translates to the experience they
bring to their children,” says Buehler.

And it’s likely that because they’re not putting in a full work week, they actually have the time to
take their kids to the library and to museums. “Part-time employment is not such a time drain
that moms don’t have time to do other things that are important to parenting, and it’s enriching
their own lives in ways that enrich their mental health,” says Buehler.

Glossary

juggling act: managing many difficult tasks in a short amount of time

maternal: related to mothers and mothering

cope with: be able to manage or deal with a difficult situation

time drain: uses a lot of time

enrich: make something more satisfying or enjoyable

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