READING PASSAGE 1
Read the text below and answer Questions1-13.
Daydreaming
Everyone daydreams sometimes.We sit or lie down, close our eyes and use our imagination to think aboutsomething that might happen in the future or could have happened in the past.Most daydreaming is pleasant. We would like the daydream to happen and we wouldbe very happy if it did actually happen. We might daydream that we are inanother person's place, or doing something that we have always wanted to do, orthat other people like or admire us much more than they normally do.
Daydreams are not dreams,because we can only daydream if we are awake. Also, we choose what ourdaydreams will be about, which we cannot usually do with dreams. With manydaydreams, we know that what we imagine is unlikely to happen. At least, if itdoes happen, it probably will not do so in the way we want it to. However, somedaydreams are about things that are likely to happen. With these, our daydreamsoften help us to work out what we want to do, or how to do it to get the bestresults. So, these daydreams are helpful. We use our imagination to help usunderstand the world and other people.
Daydreams can help people to becreative. People in creative or artistic careers, such as composers, novelistsand filmmakers, develop new ideas through daydreaming. This is also true ofresearch scientists and mathematicians. In fact, Albert Einstein said thatimagination is more important than knowledge because knowledge is limitedwhereas imagination is not.
Research in the 1980s showedthat most daydreams are about ordinary, everyday events. It also showed thatover 75% of workers in so-called 'boring jobs', such as lorry drivers andsecurity guards, spend a lot of time daydreaming in order to make their time atwork more interesting. Recent research has also shown that daydreaming has apositive effect on the brain. Experiments with MRI brain scans show that theparts of the brain linked with complex problem-solving are more active during daydreaming.Researchers conclude that daydreaming is an activity in which the brainconsolidates learning. In this respect, daydreaming is the same as dreamingduring sleep.
Although there do seem to bemany advantages with daydreaming, in many cultures it is considered a bad thingto do. One reason for this is that when you are daydreaming, you are notworking. In the 19th century, for example, people who daydreamed a lot werejudged to be lazy. This happened in particular when people started working in factorieson assembly lines. When you work on an assembly line, all you do is one smalltask again and again, every time exactly the same. It is rather repetitive and,obviously, you cannot be creative. So many people decided that there was nobenefit in daydreaming.
Other people have said thatdaydreaming leads to 'escapism' and that this is not healthy, either. Escapistpeople spend a lot of time living in a dream world in which they are successfuland popular, instead of trying to deal with the problems they face in the realworld. Such people often seem to be unhappy and are unable or unwilling toimprove their daily lives. Indeed, recent studies show that people who oftendaydream have fewer close friends than other people. In fact, they often do nothave any close friends at all.
SECTION 1: QUESTIONS 1-13
Questions 1-8
Do the following statementsagree with the information given in the text?
For questions 1-8, write
TRUE
if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE
if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN
If there is no information on this
1 _________________ People usually daydream when they are walking around.
2 _________________ Some people can daydream when they are asleep.
3 _________________ Some daydreams help us to be more successful in our lives.
4 _________________ Most lorry drivers daydream in their jobs to make them moreinteresting.
5 _________________ Factory workers daydream more than lorry drivers.
6 _________________ Daydreaming helps people to be creative.
7 _________________ Old people daydream more than young people.
8 _________________ Escapist people are generally very happy.
Questions 9-10
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREEWORDS from the text for each answer.
Writers, artists and othercreative people use daydreaming to 9
The areas of the brain used indaydreaming are also used for complicated 10
Questions 11-13
Choose the correct letter, A,B, C or D.
11Daydreams are
Adreams that we have when we fall asleep indaytime.
Babout things that happened that make ussad.
Coften about things that we would like tohappen.
Dactivities that only a few people are ableto do.
12In the nineteenth century, many peoplebelieved that daydreaming was
Ahelpful in factory work.
Ba way of avoiding work.
Csomething that few people did.
Da healthy activity.
13People who daydream a lot
Ausually have creative jobs.
Bare much happier than other people.
Care less intelligent than other people.
Ddo not have as many friends as otherpeople.
