א״מר · 2018. 9. 2. · RAMA - 2 - (aple itadi eel) TEXT I (Questions 1-5) (1) The tarantula is a large, hairy spider that inspires fear and horror in many people. Tarantulas

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- 1 - (Sample Mitkadmim A Level)RAMA

This section contains 20 questions.The time allotted is 40 minutes.

This section contains four texts, each followed by five questions. Each question has four possible responses. Choose the response which best answers the question and mark its number in the appropriate place on the answer sheet.

The use of dictionaries is NOT permitted in this section.


TEXT I (Questions 1-5)

(1) The tarantula is a large, hairy spider that inspires fear and horror in many people. Tarantulas can be as large as dinner plates and live for as long as twenty years. They inhabit every continent except Antarctica. So far, scientists have identified 800 different tarantula species.

(5) Contrary to many myths about them, however, tarantulas are usually timid creatures that attack other animals only for food or in self-defense. Like most spiders, tarantulas inject poison into their victims when they bite, but they rarely bite people. Even when they do, the bite is not lethal. Medical literature does not contain a single reliable report of a human death from tarantula venom.

(10) The feeling of horror aroused by tarantulas may have its historical roots in Italy, where the name "tarantula" originated. The name comes from the province of Taranto, where the prescribed remedy for the bite of a "Taranto spider" was wild dancing. A folk dance, the lively "tarantella," developed from this practice. Ironically, the Taranto spider – whose bite is highly toxic – does not belong to the tarantula

(15) family at all.

Recently, as more people have become aware of the peaceful nature of tarantulas, the spiders have become increasingly popular as pets. In fact, so many tarantulas have been taken from the wild for sale as pets that some species have become endangered. Perhaps tarantulas were better off when humans regarded them with fear and horror.


Questions

1. The main purpose of the text is to -

(1) compare tarantulas with other poisonous spiders(2) explain why some species of tarantula are endangered(3) discuss past and present attitudes toward tarantulas(4) provide information about the appearance and behavior of tarantulas

2. Which of the following questions is answered in the first paragraph?

(1) How many years can tarantulas live?(2) What do humans fear most about tarantulas?(3) Where did the name "tarantula" come from?(4) Are tarantulas dangerous to humans?

3. It can be inferred from the second paragraph that tarantulas are incorrectly believed to -

(1) attack people and kill them(2) be timid, harmless creatures(3) inject poison into their victims(4) attack other animals for food

4. According to the third paragraph, the tarantella -

(1) developed from the dancing performed as a cure for spider bites(2) is a type of spider that is related to the Taranto spider but not to the tarantula(3) is the Italian name for the feeling of horror aroused by tarantulas(4) was once considered dangerous but is now known to be relatively harmless

5. According to the last paragraph, the increasing popularity of tarantulas has -

(1) made people aware that they are endangered(2) made people aware that they can be dangerous(3) caused some species to become more dangerous(4) caused some species to become endangered


TEXT II (Questions 6-10)

(1) Antibiotics are a group of chemical substances produced by certain types of micro-organisms. In low concentrations, they can kill or stop the growth of other micro-organisms which cause disease in humans, animals and plants.

Antibiotic research began as a result of Sir Alexander Fleming's accidental(5) discovery of the effects of Penicillium mould in 1928. He noticed that something was

contaminating a laboratory culture of staphylococci, the bacteria which cause blood poisoning. A mould colony had gotten into the culture and had begun producing a substance which had spread and killed the surrounding staphylococci. Tests showed that this substance could also kill or inhibit the growth of a number of other kinds of

(10) disease-causing bacteria. This was a monumental discovery. For several years researchers were unable to identify the active chemical agent in the mould responsible for killing the bacteria. Eventually this substance, penicillin, was isolated in very small quantities. Clinical trials demonstrated its potential medical value and opened up a new field of medical research. However, before the substance could be made available

(15) for widespread use, methods for obtaining it in sufficient quantities had to be developed.

World War II provided the impetus for large-scale commercial development of penicillin; by 1942 penicillin was being produced in large enough quantities to be used to fight infection among wounded soldiers. British manufacturers had commenced

(20) production using the only method available at that time: growing the Penicillium mould on the surface of a nutrient liquid. Once the mould colony had spread over the surface, it was removed and penicillin was extracted from the liquid. Unfortunately, only a very low yield was obtained in this way. Meanwhile, manufacturers in the United States concentrated on improving production methods and eventually

(25) perfected the technique of deep fermentation now used in the production of most antibiotics. This technique was based on the discovery that some species of Penicillium can be grown submerged in liquid rather than on the liquid's surface; this method produces a higher yield of penicillin.


Questions

6. Although Sir Alexander Fleming's discovery was made in 1928, -

(1) some time passed before researchers were able to identify exactly what killed bacteria

(2) researchers were unable to isolate staphylococci for several years(3) until recently, researchers were not sure how to grow a mould colony(4) doctors refused to use penicillin until clinical trials had proved its effectiveness

7. It can be inferred that the "mould colony" (line 7) was a colony of -

(1) staphylococci(2) Penicillium(3) bacteria(4) antibiotics

8. According to the text, what was the disadvantage of the British method of producing penicillin?

(1) The nutrient liquid it required was not readily available.(2) It created an antibiotic that could not kill all types of bacteria.(3) Only small quantities could be extracted.(4) It was too expensive to be used during the war.

9. According to the text, the British and American methods of producing penicillin differed in -

(1) the way in which the mould was grown in the liquid(2) the system of removing the mould(3) the type of nutrient liquid used(4) the type of penicillin manufactured

10. An appropriate title for this text would be -

(1) The Discovery and Production of the First Antibiotic(2) Various Techniques for Eliminating Bacteria(3) The Benefits of Using Penicillin(4) Fleming's Experiments: Methods and Results


TEXT III (Questions 11-15)

(1) Like other famous nineteenth-century novels, Black Beauty – the adventures of a horse by that name – is often published today in abridged editions that omit portions of the narrative and simplify the language. As a result, the work is generally considered to be just another children's story about animals.

(5) Yet Black Beauty was not originally intended for juvenile audiences. Its author, Anna Sewell, wrote the novel as both an impassioned plea and a reasoned argument for the humane treatment of horses. This was an issue of no little significance in post-Industrial Revolution England, where horse-drawn vehicles were the principal means of transportation but the animals that drew them were often perceived as

(10) hardly different from the steam engines that pulled trains. Overworking, whipping, and otherwise mistreating horses were common and accepted practices. In addition, it was fashionable in many circles to harness driving horses with a "bearing rein," which forced the horses to hold their necks high – creating a supposedly elegant look at the expense of the animals' comfort and health.

(15) Appalled by what she saw around her, Sewell conveyed her message in a manner that left no doubt about her opinions. Indeed, today she would likely be accused of excessive preaching. However, in an era when pamphlets on moral issues were commonly circulated and even novelists frequently lectured their readers directly, Sewell was relatively subtle in her approach. She employed the innovative literary

(20) device of telling the story from the perspective of a horse. Black Beauty is not only the main character but also the narrator of the novel, which is subtitled The Autobiography of a Horse.

Since its first publication in 1877, over 30 million copies of Black Beauty have been printed – a number unmatched by any other work of fiction. Shortly after it

(25) appeared, George Ansell, the founder of an American animal welfare organization, arranged for the printing of 100,000 copies, which were distributed to people who worked with horses. In the years that followed, the use of bearing reins was abandoned and the treatment of horses improved significantly.


Questions

11. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that many readers of Black Beauty today -

(1) do not believe that it is appropriate for children (2) find it exciting and full of adventure(3) do not read the complete, original edition of the book(4) prefer other children's stories about animals

12. "Yet" is used in line 5 to indicate that -

(1) the view of Black Beauty as simply a children's book is inaccurate(2) today's editions of Black Beauty are very different from past editions(3) Black Beauty was not originally considered a great novel (4) most children do not actually understand Black Beauty

13. According to the second paragraph, in Sewell's time, the treatment of horses -

(1) was an important issue because horses were widely used for transportation(2) was a greater problem in England than in other countries(3) had become the subject of much impassioned argument(4) received little attention because steam engines were becoming more common

14. The main purpose of the third paragraph is to -

(1) discuss Sewell's method of conveying her message(2) compare Black Beauty with the novels of today(3) explain why Sewell chose to lecture her readers directly(4) show why Black Beauty is subtitled The Autobiography of a Horse

15. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that Black Beauty -

(1) was read mostly by people who loved animals(2) was first published by George Ansell(3) accomplished what Sewell hoped it would(4) encouraged people to join animal welfare organizations


TEXT I V(Questions 16-20)

(1) In 2004, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) conducted a survey of reading habits in the United States. The survey was based on a sampling of more than 17,000 adults from all major demographic groups. The results paint a grim picture.

According to the survey, adults are reading less than they once did, and this trend (5) has accelerated in recent years. For example, over the past 20 years, the proportion of

Americans aged 18 to 34 who read fiction has fallen by 28 percent. At one time the most avid readers, they are now the least likely to pick up a novel. Overall, less than half the adult American population now reads fiction, a 10 percent decline since 1982.

The study also shows a correlation between reading habits and level of education: (10) university graduates are 75 percent more likely to read than people without degrees.

Given that a growing number of people are attending institutions of higher education in the United States, one would have expected to see an increase in reading. Unfortunately, however, this is not the case. Indeed, the past two decades have seen a 15.4 percent drop in reading even among university graduates, in keeping with the

(15) pattern that prevails throughout society.

The findings are particularly troubling because the NEA study shows that serious readers tend to play an active role in their communities. Thus, the decline in reading is likely to adversely affect participation in the arts, volunteerism, philanthropy, and political involvement.


Questions

16. The text mainly discusses -

(1) the National Endowment for the Arts(2) the role of reading in community life(3) higher education trends in the United States(4) a survey of reading habits in the United States

17. According to the first paragraph, the participants in the survey -

(1) were all highly educated people living in the United States(2) represented many different ethnic, economic, and age groups(3) were disturbed by the results(4) worked for the NEA

18. According to the second paragraph, Americans aged 18 to 34 -

(1) now read more than other Americans(2) are the largest demographic group in the United States(3) have shown a dramatic change in reading habits(4) read more fiction than other books

19. The last paragraph mainly presents -

(1) the author's opinion of the NEA(2) reasons for the decline in reading(3) efforts to encourage active participation in the community(4) implications of the NEA survey's findings

20. It can be inferred from the text that the author the survey's findings.

(1) does not believe(2) is deeply troubled by(3) helped analyze(4) is trying to defend

Do not turn the page until you are instructed to do so!


This section contains 15 questions.The time allotted is 2 hours and 20 minutes.

This section contains one text, followed by 15 questions. Each question has four possible responses. Choose the response which best answers the question and mark its number in the appropriate place on the answer sheet.

The use of non-digital dictionaries is permitted in this section.

Why Facts Don't Change Our Minds*

Para. 1 The much-lauded human capacity for reason may have more to do with having one's viewpoint vindicated than with rationality.

Para. 2 In 1975, researchers at Stanford University invited a group of undergraduates to take part in a study about suicide. The students were presented with 25 pairs of suicide notes, each of which comprised one note that had been composed for the purpose of the experiment and another written by a person who subsequently took his or her own life. The students were then asked to distinguish between the fabricated and the genuine notes. The researchers informed some of the students that they had an unerring instinct for pinpointing the real note, scoring 24 out of a perfect 25. Others were told that they were much less adept: they had detected the real note in a mere ten instances.

Para. 3 As is often the case with psychological studies, the setup had been feigned. Though indeed half the notes were genuine and half were fake, the scores of the students were fictitious. The students who had been told they were almost always right were, on average, no more discerning than those who had been told they were mostly wrong.

Para. 4 In the second phase of the study, this deception was revealed. The students were told that the real point of the experiment was to guage their response to thinking they were right or wrong. They were then asked to estimate how many suicide notes they had actually categorized correctly, and whether they thought their score was above or below the average number of correct responses. At this point, something curious happened. The students in the supposed high-scoring group said they thought they had exceeded the average score by a substantial margin even though,

*Adapted from an article by Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker, February 27, 2017


as they had just been told, they had zero grounds for believing this. Conversely, the students who had been told they had scored poorly said they thought they had done significantly worse than the average – a conclusion that was just as baseless. "Once formed," the researchers observed, "impressions are remarkably persistent."

Para. 5 A few years later, another set of Stanford students was recruited for a related study. The students were handed a packet of information about a pair of firefighters, Frank and George. The packet included personal information about both men: Frank had a baby daughter and liked to read; George had a young son and liked to play golf. The packet also included the men's responses on what the researchers called the Risky-Conservative Choice Test, in which they were asked to say how they would act in a few given scenarios. In actual fact, there were two versions of the packet. According to the first, Frank was a successful firefighter who, on the test, almost always chose the safest option. George, a second-rate firefighter who had been reprimanded by his supervisors several times, consistently chose the risky option on the test. In the second version, Frank was a successful firefighter who embraced risk. George, however, was described as an unsuccessful firefighter, who did not take risks. Once again, midway through the study, the students were informed that they had been misled, and that the information they had received was entirely fictitious. The students were then asked to describe their own beliefs. What sort of attitude toward risk did they think a successful firefighter would have? The students who had received the first packet thought that a successful firefighter would avoid risk. The students in the second group thought a successful firefighter would welcome it. The researchers concluded that people form opinions based on information they know to be completely unfounded.

Para. 6 The Stanford studies became famous. Since then, thousands of experiments have confirmed (and elaborated on) the shocking contention that people are often irrational. Few psychologists, however, have delved into an essential puzzle: how did we come to be this way?

Para. 7 In their new book, The Enigma of Reason, cognitive scientists Hugo Mercier and Dan Sperber take a stab at answering this question. Mercier, who works at a research institute in Lyon, France, and Sperber, now based at the Central European University in Budapest, contend that, like bipedalism or three-color vision, reason is an evolved human trait that emerged long ago, and has to be understood in that context.

Para. 8 Mercier and Sperber assert that humans' biggest advantage over other species is our capacity for cooperation. Cooperation is difficult to achieve and almost as difficult to sustain because, from the perspective of the individual, taking advantage of others always seems to be the best course of action. Reason, they claim, developed not to enable us to solve abstract logical problems or to allow us to draw conclusions from unfamiliar data, but rather to help us resolve to our personal


benefit the problems posed by living in a collaborative group. "Reason is an adaptation to the hypersocial niche humans have evolved for themselves," Mercier and Sperber write. Habits of mind that seem foolish from a "rationalist" point of view can in fact be seen as shrewd from a social "interactionist" perspective.

Para. 9 Of the many forms of faulty thinking that have been identified, "confirmation bias" is among the best catalogued by psychologists and experts in related fields. Confirmation bias is the tendency people have to embrace information that supports their beliefs and to reject information that contradicts them. One of the most famous experiments on the subject was conducted – yet again – at Stanford, where researchers gathered a group of students who held opposing opinions about the death penalty. Half the students favored it as a deterrent to crime, while the other half opposed it and believed it had no effect on crime at all. The students were given two studies, one bolstering the deterrence argument and the other calling it into question. Both studies were fabricated. They had been carefully constructed to present equally compelling statistics. The students who supported the death penalty rated the pro-deterrence data highly credible and the anti-deterrence data unconvincing; the students who opposed the death penalty did the exact opposite. At the end of the experiment, the students were asked to rate whether they felt less or more strongly about the death penalty. Both groups were even more entrenched in their beliefs.

Para. 10 If reason is designed to generate sound judgment, then it is hard to conceive of a more serious design flaw than confirmation bias. Imagine, Mercier and Sperber suggest, a mouse bent on confirming its belief that cats pose no danger to it. Such a mouse would soon be devoured. To the extent that confirmation bias leads people to dismiss evidence of new or underappreciated threats, it is a trait that should have been selected against and weeded out by nature. The fact that both humans and confirmation bias survive, Mercier and Sperber argue, proves that confirmation bias must have some adaptive function. That function, they maintain, is related to what they term "my-side bias." They point out that we humans are not indiscriminately irrational. We almost invariably turn a blind eye to flaws in our own beliefs, but we are adept at pointing out flaws in the beliefs of others.

Para. 11 A recent experiment performed by Mercier and some European colleagues neatly demonstrates this asymmetry. Participants who had answered a series of simple reasoning problems were then asked to explain their responses, and were given a chance to modify them if they identified mistakes. Fewer than fifteen percent chose to modify their answers. In the next step, participants were reshown one of the problems, along with their answer and the answer of another participant, who had come to a different conclusion. Once again, they were given the chance to change their responses. But a trick had been played: the answers presented to them as someone else's were actually their own, and vice versa. About half the participants recognized the deception. Among those who did not, nearly 60 percent actually rejected the responses that they had been satisfied with earlier.


Para. 12 The lopsided use of reasoning, according to Mercier and Sperber, evolved in order to ensure that we were not exploited by other members of the group. Living in small bands of hunter-gatherers, our ancestors were intent on making sure not to be the ones risking their lives on the hunt. Compelling others to let that happen was the goal; there was little advantage in reasoning clearly.

Para. 13 Steven Sloman of Brown University and Philip Fernbach of the University of Colorado are also cognitive scientists. They, too, believe that societal considerations are the key to how the human mind functions or, perhaps more pertinently, malfunctions. Their book, The Knowledge Illusion: Why We Never Think Alone, opens with a look at toilets.

Para. 14 Virtually everyone in the developed world is familiar with toilets. A typical flush toilet has a ceramic bowl filled with water. When the handle is depressed or the button pushed, the contents of the bowl are emptied into a pipe and from there into the sewage system. But how exactly does this happen?

Para. 15 In a study conducted at Yale University, graduate students were asked to rate their understanding of how everyday devices – including toilets, zippers, and cylinder locks – work. They were then asked to write detailed, step-by-step explanations of how the devices function, after which they were told to rate their understanding again. Their attempts to explain the process had revealed to the students their own ignorance, and their self-assessments dropped. Toilets, they had discovered, are more complicated than they appear.

Para. 16 According to Sloman and Fernbach, this effect, which is known as the "illusion of explanatory depth," can be seen just about everywhere. People believe that they know much more than they actually do. In the case of the toilet, as with many other devices invented over the millennia, someone designed it so that it could be operated easily by others. So easily, that the people using it are unaware of its complexity. Sloman and Fernbach point out that humans have been relying on one another's expertise ever since they figured out how to hunt together, in itself a key development in evolutionary history. Sloman and Fernbach argue that we can hardly tell where our own understanding ends and that of others begins. "One implication of the naturalness with which we divide cognitive labor," they write, is that there is "no sharp boundary between one person's knowledge and that of other members of the group."

Para. 17 The fuzziness of this boundary is also crucial to what we consider progress. As people created new tools to facilitate new ways of living, they simultaneously created new realms of ignorance. If, for example, everyone had insisted on mastering the principles of metalworking before using a knife, they would have all gone hungry. When it comes to new technologies, incomplete understanding is essential and empowering to the group.


Para. 18 Where incomplete understanding becomes problematic, according to Sloman and Fernbach, is in the political domain. It is one thing to flush a toilet without knowing how it operates; it is quite another to advocate for or against a military incursion without grasping the facts. In a U.S. survey conducted in 2014, not long after Russia annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, respondents were asked two questions: How do you think the U.S. should react to the annexation? Where is Ukraine located on a map of the world? The farther off the respondents were about the geography, the more likely they were to favor military intervention. (Respondents were so unsure of Ukraine's location that the median guess was wrong by eighteen hundred miles, roughly the distance from Kiev to Madrid.)

Para. 19 Surveys on many other issues have yielded similarly dismaying results. "As a rule, strong feelings about issues do not emerge from deep understanding," Sloman and Fernbach write. And the tendency to depend on other minds reinforces the problem. If your position on a particular issue is baseless and I rely on it, then my opinion is also baseless. When I talk to Tom and he decides he agrees with me, his opinion is also baseless, but now that the three of us concur, we feel much smugger about our views and much more prone to dismiss as unconvincing any information that contradicts our opinion. "This is how a community of knowledge can become dangerous," Sloman and Fernbach observe.

Para. 20 In 2012, Sloman and Fernbach conducted their own version of the toilet experiment, substituting public policy issues for household devices. They asked people for their stance on various proposals, for example, that teachers be paid on the basis of merit. Participants were asked to rate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with the proposals. Next, they were instructed to explain in as much detail as possible the impact of implementing each proposal. Most people at this point ran into trouble. Asked once again to rate their views, they ratcheted down the intensity: they either agreed or disagreed less vehemently. Sloman and Fernbach saw something very positive in this result. If people spent less time pontificating and more time working through the implications of policy proposals, they would realize how ignorant they are and would moderate their views. Thinking things through, Sloman and Fernbach write, might be the only way to shatter the illusion of explanatory depth and make it possible to change one's views.

Para. 21 It may be that science offers the key to rectifying people's natural inclination to not think things through. A well-run laboratory has no room for my-side bias. The results have to be reproducible in other laboratories. And this, it seems, is why methodology prevails over opinions in the laboratory. In Denying to the Grave: Why We Ignore the Facts That Will Save Us, Jack Gorman, a psychiatrist, and his daughter, Sara Gorman, a public health specialist, probe the gap between the hard truth of science and our self-imposed fallacies. The Gormans' concern is with those persistent beliefs which are not just demonstrably false but also potentially deadly, like the conviction that vaccines are hazardous and may lead to autism. Not being


vaccinated, of course, is what is hazardous. That is why vaccines were created in the first place. "Immunization is one of the triumphs of modern medicine," the Gormans note. But no matter how many scientific studies conclude that vaccines are safe, and that there is absolutely no correlation between immunizations and autism, the anti-vaccination camp remains unmoved.

Para. 22 The Gormans agree with those who argue that ways of thinking that now seem self-destructive must at some point have been adaptive. In their book, they dedicate many pages to confirmation bias, which, they claim, has a physiological component. They cite research suggesting that people experience genuine pleasure – a rush of the neurotransmitter dopamine – when processing information that supports their beliefs. "It feels good to 'stick to our guns' even if we are wrong," they observe. The Gormans are hoping that it will someday be possible to overcome confirmation bias. For now, they, like the authors of The Enigma of Reason and The Knowledge Illusion, have to accept that most people simply will not listen to reason.

Questions

1. What is the main idea of this text?

(1) People are more likely to change their minds if new information is presented by a researcher rather than by someone they know.

(2) Once they have accepted an idea, most people will continue to maintain that idea even if it is contradicted by facts or reasoning.

(3) Over the millennia, as people began to cooperate in groups, their ability to reason improved.

(4) People are more likely to have strong opinions about issues that affect their daily lives than about abstract ideas.


2. Which of the following sequences of events applies to the group of students who, in the first phase of the study described in paragraphs 2-4, were told they had scored 24 out of 25 points?

(1) Students were given a score of 24 even though they had not identified 24 genuine suicide notes → students were told they had an average ability to discern the real note → students realized they had scored much worse than they thought they had

(2) Students were placed in the high-scoring group no matter what answers they had given → students were told they had actually picked the fake note almost every time → students changed their answers in the second phase of the study

(3) Students correctly picked almost all of the genuine suicide notes → students were told the true nature of the experiment → students decided that they had probably received only an average score

(4) Students were misled into believing they had picked almost all of the authentic suicide notes → students were told they had been misled → students persisted in believing they were better than most people at categorizing the notes

3. A firefighter, who recently won the Firefighter of the Year award, drives by a burning building while off duty. He is alone and has no protective equipment with him. Nonetheless, he runs into the building and manages to save a boy who is trapped inside. Based on the experiment described in paragraph 5, this firefighter most closely resembles -

(1) Frank, in the first version of the packet(2) George, in the first version of the packet(3) Frank, in the second version of the packet(4) George, in the second version of the packet

4. According to Mercier and Sperber (paragraph 8), humans' ability to reason evolved in order to -

(1) help a group perform its tasks as simply as possible(2) help individuals find ways to be accepted by a group(3) allow individuals living in a group to gain a personal advantage(4) encourage rationalist habits of mind


5. It can be inferred from paragraph 9 that the two studies presented to the students contained equally compelling statistics in order to -

(1) control for the effect of the data on the students' opinions(2) determine whether the students would be able to distinguish between data that is

credible and data that is not (3) guarantee that none of the students would be misled by faulty thinking(4) provide researchers with insight into why the students felt strongly about the

death penalty

6. According to the information presented in paragraphs 10-12, what beneficial purpose does confirmation bias serve?

(1) It helps a person to understand the viewpoint of others in the group. (2) It allows a person to take advantage of others and not vice versa.(3) It helps a person to see the flaws in his or her own conclusions. (4) It allows a person to be indiscriminately irrational.

7. In paragraph 11, line 2, "this asymmetry" refers to -

(1) my-side bias(2) faulty evidence (3) an underappreciated threat(4) a trait weeded out by nature

8. Paragraph 11 states, "Among those who did not, nearly 60 percent actually rejected the responses that they had been satisfied with earlier." What is true about the other 40 percent?

(1) They agreed with the answer that they were told was given by someone else. (2) They realized that they had been deceived. (3) They rejected the answers that they had accepted earlier. (4) They failed to solve the problem correctly.

9. Paragraphs 13-16 mainly discuss -

(1) key developments in evolutionary history(2) the phenomenon of people believing they know more than they really do(3) why some people are better than others at understanding how devices work(4) the complexity of human expertise


10. Which of the following would be an example of the illusion of explanatory depth (paragraph 16)?

(1) a driver who is sure he knows how to get to his destination but gets lost(2) a salesman who lies about a product in order to sell it(3) a new mother who asks a friend who has several children how to get a baby to

sleep through the night (4) a teenager who carefully follows a recipe when baking a cake for the first time

11. The main purpose of paragraphs 17-18 is to -

(1) argue that limited knowledge has only recently become empowering to the group(2) describe what technology and politics have in common(3) discuss when realms of ignorance are helpful and when they are potentially

harmful(4) criticize the widespread ignorance that exists today

12. What is problematic about a community of knowledge (paragraph 19)?

(1) It prevents people from forming strong opinions. (2) It can shatter the illusion of explanatory depth and raise feelings of uncertainty.(3) It promotes the rejection of information that can be crucial to making decisions. (4) It shows people how little they really know.

13. The study conducted by Sloman and Fernbach (paragraph 20) examined the relationship between -

(1) merit-based pay for teachers and the quality of education(2) what people think they know about an issue and the intensity of their opinions

about it (3) the time spent studying a proposal and the time required to implement it (4) pontificating about public policies and understanding the implications of those

policies

14. Based on the information in paragraph 20, Sloman and Fernbach would have "seen something very positive" in the results of the study described in -

(1) paragraphs 2-4(2) paragraph 9(3) paragraph 15(4) paragraph 18


15. It can be inferred that the Gormans (paragraph 21) would cite the position of the anti-vaccination camp as an example of all of the following except -

(1) a remarkably persistent impression (paragraph 4)(2) the ability to draw conclusions from unfamiliar data (paragraph 8)(3) confirmation bias (paragraph 9)(4) a self-imposed fallacy (paragraph 21)

- 20 -

מפתח תשובות נכונות

רמה מתקדמים א׳ לדוגמה

SECTION 1 פרק

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התשובה 31114123113111342342הנכונה

SECTION 2 פרק

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התשובה 243312112133232הנכונה

Documents

א״מר · 2018. 9. 2. · RAMA - 2 - (aple itadi eel) TEXT I (Questions 1-5) (1) The tarantula is a large, hairy spider that inspires fear and horror in many people. Tarantulas