Module 3. Reading. Tips & Practice

Here is a strategic breakdown for each task in your generated AI & Tech exam:

🧠 Task 1: Multiple Choice Cloze (Precision & Register)

• The Nuance of Verbs: In Question 1, while "touted," "hailed," and "exalted" all mean "praised," we use toutedwhen something is being promoted or advertised as being better than it is. It fits the skeptical academic tone of the text.

• Collocation Awareness: In Question 7, human oversight is relegated to a secondary role. At this level, students must know that "relegated" is specifically used when a person or entity is forced into a lower, less important position.

• Trigger Words: Look for prepositions immediately after the gap. In Question 6, "embarking" is the only choice that fits the preposition "on" (embarking on a path).

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📖 Task 2: Long Reading (Inference & Abstract Meaning)

• Decode the Metaphor: The phrase "toothpicks in a hurricane" is a classic C2 testing point. Students should not look for literal meanings (weather); they must identify the disproportionality of the solution compared to the crisis.

• Identify the Writer's Tone: Words like "grandiosity" and "futile" signal that Julian is cynical. When a question asks for his critique of "utopias," the answer will likely involve a negative impact on human society, not a technical failure.

• Avoid the "Word Match" Trap: If an answer choice uses the exact same vocabulary as the text, it is likely a distractor. Look for the choice that paraphrases the core idea using different academic lexis.

  
  

✍️ Task 3: Open Cloze (Grammar & Syntactic Inversions)

• Master the Inversion: Question 4 ("Were") is the most difficult. Teach your students that if a sentence begins with a blank and is followed by a subject and a "to + verb" (e.g., ...privacy to be maintained), it is an inverted conditional.

  • Standard: If privacy were to be maintained...

  • Proficiency: Were privacy to be maintained...

• Fixed Phrases: Students must recognize "at the mercy of" and "on the brink of." These are immovable chunks of English; if they know the phrase, they get the point in one second.

• What vs. That: At the start of a sentence (Question 2), we use "What" as a relative pronoun when it means "the thing that" (What is often overlooked...).

  
  

📑 Task 4: Structural Synthesis (Headings)

• Identify Lexical Chains: Teach students to scan for "word families." In Paragraph D, the words misinformation, content feed, and radicalization form a chain that leads directly to "(vii) Algorithmic echo chambers."

• Distinguish "Main Idea" from "Mention": Paragraph A mentions "manual labor," but the paragraph isn't about labor; it's about the "Myth of productivity" (the contrast between efficiency and human purpose).

• The "Big Word" Connection: Paragraph C uses the term "Silicon Ontology." Students should be taught that Ontology refers to the nature of being. If the text discusses treating people as "data points," the heading must involve "Ontology."

  
  

⚡ Final Pro-Tip: The "Logic" Test

After completing the exam, students should read the entire text again. At the C2 level, the text should read like a high-level journal article (The Economist, Nature, or The Guardian). If a word choice makes the flow feel "clunky" or the argument inconsistent, they should revisit that gap.