Вариант 1

You are going to read a newspaper article on education. Read the text and answer the questions that follow. Decide whether each statement is True or False and provide your argumentsdrawn from the text to justify your choice. The proof should be given in your own words.

University students are under intense pressure during exam time. Competition for graduate jobs remains high and both pressure from tutors/ employers and family members can leave young people feeling overwhelmed.

But it’s not just students themselves who feel the strain; so do those people who have been there on the sidelines since the student’s very first school exam – parents.

Many university students consider exam time to be a period of intense isolation – but it’s likely that they’ll have the support of their friends and peers around them. Students can seek advice from their lecturers and tutors, or from a confidential helpline, careers centre or professional counselling service.

Parents left pacing the halls at home, however, do not have the same resources to help them cope. They really are left alone to deal with the stress and anxiety that their child’s impending exams may cause them.

Parents may be concerned about how well their child will do – and the consequent effect on their job prospects. They may worry about their child’s level of revision stress (or lack thereof). The financial implications of a child having to repeat a year adds an extra burden.

Many parents may feel a sense of powerlessness in not being able to make the suffering of their child less severe. It can be even worse if the child is far away and only checks in every now and then.It’s hard as a parent not to reflect your own worry for your child back to them, increasing their distress.

It might be that you’re trying to manage your own stress by easing your child’s worries. If they’re happy, you’re happy, right?

Your job as a parent is to help your child achieve the optimal balance between being too relaxed and being paralysed by anxiety.

Try to listen, absorb, and keep the distress of your child under control through affirmation and reassurance. Make sure they know that their worth to you and others is separate from their achievements.

It also helps for parents to put things in perspective: exams are important but your child’s whole life does not depend on them, although it may feel like that at the time.

Think back to your own youth and remember that when the worst happened, it usually wasn’t as bad as you expected: it’s what you did next that made the difference.

The main thing to keep in mind is that your child is an independent young adult. It’s pointless to try to be a “snow plough” parent and clear all obstacles out of the way of your child’s development.

Engaging with challenging experiences such as finals and important exams is essential for young people to develop internal skills and resources, and will provide them with the confidence and emotional resilience needed to cope with the future challenges of work and adult life.

Seeing exam stress as a necessary part of the learning process should help your own peace of mind too.

1-5. Choose whether the statements are True (T) or False (F) and, to justify your choice, provide your proof from the text in your own words.

Example : (0)The statement is true because the narrator has never read a single book in the original and has not demonstrated any interest in the subject.