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In the past, trucks are used to transport large amounts of goods and collect public garbage

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I grew up with precious little choice about anything. You ate what you were given, went to school where you were told, wore your sister's hand-me-downs. And twice a year - birthday, Christmas - you got a present. We weren't poor at all but that was entirely normal and I don't remember feeling remotely deprived. Today, as we can see all around us, children seem to have everything - designer clothes, computer games, fussy eating habits and the attention span of itchy gnats. A report yesterday from the Children's Society found that one in ten kids now has mental illness diagnosed and it concluded that materialistic consumer pressure may be partly to blame, with children from poor backgrounds the main victims. Where is it coming from, this consumer pressure? First, from television, and the false dreams on offer there. Children from poor backgrounds, as well as having less money to buy the latest clothes or electronic games, are more likely to have parents without time to spend with them, and homes without access to outside space, so are far more likely to end up spending hours in front of the telly soaking up adverts alongside the easy gratification offered by cartoon; fantasy or drama. You cannot just blame the parents for this; many will be working hard, with no choice, just to put food on the table; after all, how many can afford a house with a garden in a city or suburb these days? Of course parents can correct bouts of consumerism in their children by teaching them what is and is not affordable, but why subject them to the clever traps of marketing people in the first place? Pressure is bad enough as it is, from schoolfriends and celebrity excess, without allowing some of the cleverest adult minds in the sharpest advertising agencies in the world to manipulate them as well. But why is it in a child's interests to be treated like a consumer? It has yet to be proven that giving even adults a wide range of choices improves their lives. In many instances, from too many yoghurts in the supermarket all the way up to a supposed choice of doctor or school, it is just confusing and stressful. I think the fewer, carefully selected, choices we can give young children, the more we help them. Watch the exhausted face of a six-year-old confronted by all this year's Christmas presents, without the time to play with any of them for more than a few minutes, and see what I mean. We are spoilt, and we are spoiling our children. They need to be taught to look down as well as up; to choose to feel fortunate, and not envious -and to recognise that gratification isn't as easy as buying a new toy or switching on a dream. And, as my mother would have been delighted to hear, it will not cost a thing.
3. According to paragraph 2, what is the major concern surrounding poor children being exposed to the television?

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The Great Barrier Reef is alrealy in a critical state. Rising sea temperatures are killing corals faster than they can recover. As temperatures continue to increase, more and more of the reef will die, along with the rich variety of life and the AUS$6 billion tourism industry that depend on it. The heating of the planet will push many struggling species over the brink. Some will just have no place left to go. For biodiversity, climate change is, in military jargon, a threat multiplier. Worse still, measures to limit warming often don’t take biodiversity into account. Some, such as the push for biofuels, directly harm it. The world has warmed around 1˚C since pre-industrial times. That is already having a dramatic effect on wildlife. In the Arctic, for example, the loss of more and more sea ice each summer is affecting many animals, from walruses to polar bears. Polar inhabitants have nowhere colder to go, but many creatures elsewhere are already moving to stay in their comfort zone. Some marine species, including mammals, birds, fish and plankton, have shifted their ranges by hundreds of kilometres. Rising sea levels, meanwhile, could wipe out species as low-lying islands are inundated. Mainland species are also at risk, such as the few hundred Bengal tigers in the Sundarbans, a network of mangrove forests along the coast of Bangladesh and north-east India. The effects of habitat destruction and rising water levels mean there will probably be no suitable habitat left there for these tigers by 2070. Some threats to biodiversity can’t be forecast with any certainty. For instance, people forced from their homes by disasters or conflict can have a severe impact on biodiversity in the places they flee to, rapidly deforesting vast areas and greatly reducing wildlife populations. Floods and storms displaced 15 million people in 2018 alone, and these numbers will rise as extreme weather keeps on getting more extreme. For all these reasons, there is growing awareness that climate change and biodiversity are inextricably linked, and that we need joined-up policies to tackle both. Many initiatives and studies around the world show that we can protect biodiversity and tackle climate change while offering a better and fairer future for people.
3. According to paragraphs 2, which of the following is mentioned regarding climate change?

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The Atacama Desert is situated in South America. It is found near (23) _______thirtieth parallel south of the equator. (24) _______, the Sahara and the Rub’al-Khali deserts of northern Africa and nearby Saudi Arabia are 30° north of the equator. (25) _______the Kalahari Desert of Southern Africa is about 30° south of it. The Gobi Desert of central Asia (26) _______a little farther than 30° north, at about 45°, while the Great Sandy and Gibson deserts of Australia fall back into the pattern, lying 30° south of the equator. This pattern is no (27) _______. All the hot deserts are found about the same distance north or south of the equator.

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Fashion is no longer something that is just made of cloth or leather. These days it has become something that needs batteries and is often connected to the Internet. When it comes to high-tech fashion, it might be (31) _________ to your wrist or resting on the bridge of your nose, and it is doing a lot more than just (32) _________ you look stylish. Google was one of the first to burst on the scene with a fashionable item that was also very (33) _________. Google Glass, which looks like glasses, allows wearers to do all sorts of things, from seeing information in a simple viewer to simply saying out loud, “Take a picture.” What you are seeing in the picture that will be taken, (34) _________Google Glass heard you through its microphone and has a built-in camera. If you ask a question, you will (35) _________ the answer in the tiny screen displayed before one eye. Google Glass uses Bluetooth technology to communicate with a smartphone, so it is not a stand-alone item.

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Increasing numbers of parents in the U.S. are choosing to teach their children at home. In fact, the U.S. Department of Education has estimated that in 1999, about 850,000 children were being homeschooled. Some educational experts say that the real number is double this estimate, and the ranks of home-schooled children seem to be growing at the average rate of about eleven percent every year. At one time, there was a theory accounting for home-schooling: it was traditionally used for students who could not attend school because of behavioral or learning difficulties. Today, however, more parents are taking on the responsibility of educating their own children at home due to their dissatisfaction with the educational system. Many parents are unhappy about class size, as well as problems inside the classroom. Teacher shortages and lack of funding mean that, in many schools, one teacher is responsible for thirty or forty students. The children are, therefore, deprived of the attention they need. Escalating classroom violence has also motivated some parents to remove their children from school. Although there have been a lot of arguments for and against it, home-schooling in the U.S. has become a multi-million dollar industry, and it is growing bigger and bigger. There are now plenty of websites, support groups, and conventions that help parents protect their rights and enable them to learn more about educating their children. Though once it was the only choice for troubled children, homeschooling today is an accepted alternative to an educational system that many believe is failing. 
7. This estimated number was presented by _______

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Fathers in today families are spending more time with their children than at any point in the past 100 years. (1) ____ the number of hours the average woman spends at home with her children has declined since the early 1900s, as more and more women enter the workforce, there has been a decrease in the number of children per family and an increase in (2) ____ attention to each child. As a result, mothers today in the United States, (3) ____ those who work part- or full-time, spend almost twice as much time with each child as mothers did in the 1920s. People (4) ____ raised children in the 1940s and 1950s typically report that their own adult children and grandchildren communicate far better with their kids and spend more time (5) ____ with homework than they did. America's children are also safer today than they've (6) ____ been. An infant was four times more likely to die in the 1950s than today. A parent then was 27 per cent more likely to lose an older teen (7) ____ death. If we look back over the last millennium, we can see that families have always been diverse. In each period, families have solved one set of problems only to face new (8) ____. What works for a family in one economic and cultural setting doesn't work for a family in another. What's helpful (9) ____ one stage of a family's life may be (10) ____ at the next stage. If there is one lesson to be (11) ____ from the last millennium of family history, it's that families always have to (12) ____ with a changing world.

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Have you ever had the feeling that people older than you are hard to understand? Or, have you felt like people from younger generations just don't get it? Maybe you find (23) ____ easier to connect with people who are closer to your age than those who are older or younger than you. You can probably thank the generation gap (24) ____ these feelings.  There are currently six generations (25) ____ in the United States: the Greatest Generation, Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z. Each generation has its own unique set of characteristics and norms. For example, the Greatest Generation (born 1901-1924) is known for its patriotism, hard workers, and loyalty to institutions. The Millennials (born 1980-2000) are (26) ____ by their dependence on technology, detachment from traditional institutions, optimism, and open-mindedness. It is no wonder that many people from different generations have a hard time understanding each other.  Generation gap refers to differences in actions, (27) ____, interests, and opinions that exist between individuals from different generations. So, what causes these differences?

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Throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, citizens of the United States maintained a bias against big cities. Most lived on farms and in small towns and believed cities to be centers of corruption, crime, poverty, and moral degradation. Their distrust was caused, in part, by a notional ideology that proclaimed farming the greatest Occupation and rural living superior to urban living. This attitude prevailed even as the number of urban dwellers increased and cities became an essential feature of the notional landscape. Gradually, economic reality overcame ideology. Thousands abandoned the precarious life on the farm for more secure and better paying jobs in the city. But when these people migrated from the countryside, they carried their fears and suspicions with them. These new urban population, already convinced that cities were overwhelmed with great problems, eagerly embraced the progressive reforms that promised to bring order out of the chaos of the city.  One of many reforms came in the area of public utilities. Water and sewerage systems were usually operated by municipal governments, but the gas and electric networks were privately owned. Reformers feared that the privately owned utility companies would charge exorbitant rates for these essential services and deliver them only to people who would afford them, some city and state governments responded by regulating the utility companies, but a number of cities began to supply these services themselves. Proponents of these reforms argued that public ownership and regulation would insure widespread access to these utilities and guarantee a fair price.  While some reforms focused on government and public behavior, others looked at the cities as a whole. Civic leaders, convinced that physical environment influenced human behavior, argued that cities should develop master plans to guide their future growth and development. City planning was nothing new, but the rapid industrialization and urban growth of the late nineteenth century took place without any consideration for order. Urban renewal in the twentieth century followed several courses. Some cities introduced plans to completely rebuild the city core. Most other cities contented themselves with zoning plans for regulating future growth. Certain parts of town were restricted to residential use, while others were set aside for industrial or commercial development. 
10. Why does the author mention "industrialization"?

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Welcome to Trang An, Vietnam's newest UNESCO World Heritage Site, a place where the water is crystal clear and pink flowers bloom along the shallows. Temples rest on a precipice of rock and water. Here, for 30,000 years, people have lived amongst these limestone giants. To the unfamiliar, this area is a maze of confusing waterways and impassable hills, a place where one could easily disappear from the world. However, to the emperors of the 10th and 11th centuries, this was the ideal setting for a capital city where the inhabitants could be controlled and enemies rebuffed.  This combination of stunning natural beauty and ancient history has led Trang An to be recognised as Vietnam's eighth World Heritage Site. Unlike the previous seven, Trang An is notable for being the only UNESCO site in Vietnam to be classified for both its cultural beauty and natural integrity.  At the ticket office, we are met by the sight of thousands of wooden boats bobbing along the shoreline. Stepping gingerly into the closest dinghy, we are greeted by a young woman whose ability to paddle three adults - all in the midst of Christmas feasting - for three straight hours left me in awe of her strength. What followed was a string of beautiful caves of varying heights and lengths, interspersed with scenes of a peaceful beauty that can be hard to come by in Vietnam.  Dubbed ‘Halong Bay on land’, Trang An’s landscape is reminiscent of its coastal World Heritage neighbour. Dominated by similar karst geography, Halong Bay and Trang An both provide a stunning backdrop lo a tranquil boat cruise. Unlike Halong, however, the boats at Trang An are small, seating no more than five adults, and weekday crowds are minimal. We emerged from a particularly low cave opening and into a small cove ringed by flowering reeds and waterlilies. The steep limestone cliffs block all outside sounds. Underwater reeds stand tall in the clear water beneath our boat, their green spongy limbs waving gently in the current as we paddle past. Brown-and-gold fish dart between grass, their scales glinting in the sunlight, before plunging into the shadows of the towering hills above. Water movement is imperceptible, with the steep hillsides, plunging valleys and clear sky mirrored in its glassy surface. It is as though a parallel world of deep crevices and underwater mountains exists just below our feet.  A parallel world does, in fact, describe how it seemed as we floated through the caves of Trang An. The journey through the first hollow felt like stepping through the back of the wardrobe and entering Narnia. We were suddenly transported into a beautiful, magical world. So at odds with the industrial limestone factories that dominate the Ninh Binh landscape, this small pocket of serenity is surprising.  With more and more visitors flocking to Vietnam's World Heritage Sites, I worry that Trang An will suffer the consequences of unchecked mass tourism. We can only hope that tourism officials will learn from the experiences of other popular tourist destinations and ensure that this place remains as close to paradise as it was on our visit. 
7. Which of the following is true about Trang An according to paragraph 4?

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In many countries of Northern Europe, including Scandinavia, Finland, Northern Russia, and the Baltic states, ice swimming is closely connected with the tradition of sauna, (25) _____ has led to the creation of a new activity where stays in the sauna are (26) _____ with quick 'pauses' in ice water. In Russia, ice swimmers are called what can be literally translated as 'walruses '. The north of Europe, (27) _____, is not the only place where winter swimming is practised regularly. A large ice swimming movement exists in the UK, based in a famous location: the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park in London. In Harbin, Northern China, about 200,000 people ice-swim in the Songhua River every winter. The oldest ice swimming club in the United States, the Coney Island Polar Bear Club of New York, organises an annual (28) _____ on New Year's Day. In Canada, 'Polar Bear Swims; 'Plunges' or 'Dips' are a New Year's Day tradition in (29) _____ communities as well, the biggest one taking place in Vancouver since 1920

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:
Books are written to provide knowledge and good books enrich the mind. By putting ourselves under the influence of superior mind, we (1) ______ our mental powers. (2) ______ good books, we learn that people everywhere are the same, in all ages, and in all places. This knowledge improves our love (3) ______ others and helps us to live in peace with them. We also recognize that the world was made not only for man alone but for every creature that can feel hunger and thirst, warmth and cold. Though it may be possible for us to travel (4) ______ the world and see the things happening today, it is not possible for us to see the things that happened in the past. But good books (5) ______ us to see not only into the most remote regions of the world today, but also into the world in which our ancestors lived.

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The American southwest is full of deserts. If you ever go there, you might get to see a very strange event. We are talking something called the sailing stones. Sometimes, stones in the southwestern desert move by themselves. Wind doesn’t seem to push them. People and animals don’t touch them. However, these stones still move. Sometimes they travel more than a hundred meters. They always leave a trail in the sand behind them. This is useful because we can look at the trail and figure out how far a stone has moved. How is this possible? How can stones move all by themselves? Scientists have been studying this for years. People have offered all kinds of theories. One of the earliest theories was that wind pushes the stones. That theory isn’t correct, because some of the stones weigh more than 300 kilograms. When it seemed like there was no logical explanation for the sailing stones, people started coming up with crazier ideas. Some people said that aliens were moving the stones, and others said that clever people were playing a joke. Finally, in 2013, a scientist came up with an explanation for the sailing stones. This scientist normally studies weather on other planets, and when he heard about the sailing stones, he became interested in them. He found out that ice forms on the bottom of the stones. When that happens, even a very light wind can push the stone for long distances. To prove his theory, the scientist did an experiment. He put a rock in his freezer and let some ice form on it. Then, he put sand and a little water in a tray. Finally, he put his frozen rock on top of the sand. When he blew on the rock, it moved. Even when he blew very gently, he had no problems moving the rock. Here is something interesting about the sailing stones. Curious people visit the desert in the southwest to see them. A lot of those people don’t like to hear the scientific explanation for the sailing stones. Many people prefer to feel that the stones are still a mystery.
3. Why is it useful that the stones leave a trail?

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Many of the major supermarket chains have come under fire with accusations of various unethical acts over the past decade. They've wasted tons of food, they've underpaid their suppliers and they've contributed to excessive plastic waste in their packaging, which has had its impact on our environment. But supermarkets and grocers are starting to sit up and take notice. In response to growing consumer backlash against the huge amounts of plastic waste generated by plastic packaging, some of the largest UK supermarkets have signed up to a pact promising to transform packaging and cut plastic wastage. In a pledge to reuse, recycle or compost all plastic wastage by 2025, supermarkets are now beginning to take some responsibility for the part they play in contributing to the damage to our environment with one major supermarket announcing their plan to eliminate all plastic packaging in their own-brand products by 2023. In response to criticisms over food waste, some supermarkets are donating some of their food surplus. However, charities estimate that they are only accessing two per cent of supermarkets' total food surplus, so this hardly seems to be solving the problem. Some say that supermarkets are simply not doing enough. Most supermarkets operate under a veil of secrecy when asked for exact figures of food wastage, and without more transparency it is hard to come up with a systematic approach to avoiding waste and to redistributing surplus food. Some smaller companies are now taking matters into their own hands and offering consumers a greener, more environmentally friendly option. Shops like Berlin's Original Unverpakt and London's Bulk Market are plastic- tree shops that have opened in recent years, encouraging customers to use their own containers or compostable bags. Online grocer Farmdrop eliminates the need for large warehouses and the risk of huge food surplus by delivering fresh produce from local farmers to its customers on a daily basis via electric cars, offering farmers the lion's share of the retail price. There is no doubt that we still have a long way to go in reducing food waste and plastic waste. But perhaps the major supermarkets might take inspiration from these smaller grocers and gradually move towards a more sustainable future for us all.
1. Which is the most suitable title for the passage?

Read the reading below carefully, and then complete it with the best option A, B, C or D given below:

The story of gold is an adventure involving kings, queens, pirates, explores, conquerors, andthe native peoples they conquered. Throughout history, gold had (1)_____a magic spellover those it touch. Gold is beautiful and rare; a soft shiny metal that can be moulded intomany(2)_____.It has been used for money, jewellery, and to decorate special buildings suchas palaces and places of worship. (3)_____the precious metal was discovered, prospectorsrushed to mine it, starting new cities and countries as they went. Gold and the people who love it have helped shape the world we live in today. Gold is one of many elements, orsubstances that cannot be changed by normal chemical (4)_____, that are found in theEarth’s crust. Gold has a warm, sunny colour and (5)_____it does not react (6)_____air,water, and most chemicals, its shine never fades. In its natural (7) _____, gold is soft andeasily shaped. When heated to 1,062 Celsius it melts and can be poured(8)_____ moulds toform coins, gold bars, and other objects. Stories have been told, movies (9)_____andlegends born about the (10)_____of the world’s great gold deposits. It is a saga of dreams,greed, ambition and exploration.

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An A level is an Advanced level GCE qualification. This exam is (1) ____ taken after two years of A level study, following the O level/IGCSE exams. Students can take any number of A level exams; in the UK, most college students take three or four A level exams for their final two years of study. The (2) ____ of A levels to be taken will often depend on the qualifications that the university (3) ____ requires. A level results can open doors to (4) ____ studies at some of the best higher educational institutions in the world, and to a (5) ____ range of professional and vocational courses that can help build skills for an exciting and (6) ____ career. In many countries round the world, some schools follow the GCE syllabus to prepare their pupils for taking A level exams. Students at these schools should enquire at their school about how they can register and sit (7) ____ the exams. Students who do not (8) ____ a school that follows the GCE syllabus can still take A level exams and can register as a private individual with the British Council.  In order to register for an A level exam one will need to (9) ____ an entry form which will become available at the British Council offices. Forms usually become (10) ____ for January examinations in early August of the preceding year. For May/June examinations, they are available in early December of the preceding year

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Birds that feed in flocks commonly retire together into roosts. The reasons for roosting communally are not always obvious, but there are some likely benefits. In winter especially, it is important for birds to keep warm at night and conserve precious food reserves. One way to do this is to find a sheltered roost. Solitary roosters shelter in dense vegetation or enter a cavity – horned larks dig holes in the ground and ptarmigan burrow into snow banks - but the effect of sheltering is magnified by several birds huddling together in the roosts, as wrens, swifts, brown creepers, bluebirds, and anis do. Body contact reduces the surface area exposed to the cold air, so the birds keep each other warm. Two kinglets huddling together were found to reduce their heat losses by a quarter, and three together saved a third of their heat. The second possible benefit of communal roosts is that they act as “information centers”. During the day, parties of birds will have spread out to forage over a very large area. When they return in the evening some will have fed well, but others may have found little to eat. Some investigators have observed that when the birds set out again next morning, those birds that did not feed well on the previous day appear to follow those that did. The behavior of common and lesser kestrels may illustrate different feeding behaviors of similar birds with different roosting habits. The common kestrel hunts vertebrate animals in a small, familiar hunting ground, whereas the very similar lesser kestrel feeds on insects over a large area. The common kestrel roosts and hunts alone, but the lesser kestrel roosts and hunts in flocks, possibly so one bird can learn from others where to find insect swarms. Finally, there is safety in numbers at communal roosts since there will always be a few birds awake at any given moment to give the alarm. But this increased protection is partially counteracted by the fact that mass roosts attract predators and are especially vulnerable if they are on the ground. Even those in trees can be attacked by birds of prey. The birds on the edge are at greatest risk since predators find it easier to catch small birds perching at the margins of the roost.
7. The word “they” refers to _______

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South-east Asia (1)_____ many attractions, so you could visit many ancient monuments. The attractions range from the beautiful Khmer temples of Angkor Wat to the huge Buddhist temples of Borobudur in Java.    You may be interested (2) _____ the traditions of different cultures. You can (3) _____ different shows – from colorful dances in Thailand to shadow puppet shows in Indonesia. During these shows, you can listen to and enjoy traditional music.    You may prefer the ocean. There (4) ____ a lot of resorts and thousands of kilometers of beaches. You can (5) ______. You can drive and admire colorful corals and fish. You can sail and enjoy healthy outdoor life

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Over the past fifty years or so, the methods used for collecting money from the public to aid the developing world have changed out of all recognition, along with the gravity of the problems (1) ____, and the increasing awareness among the population that something must be done. At the beginning of this period, it would have been common to put money in a collecting box, perhaps on the street or at church. The 1960s saw the (2) ____ of shops which sold second-hand goods, donated by the public, and which also began to sell articles manufactured in the developing world in charitable projects set up to guarantee a fair income to local people. The next development was probably the charity 'event', in which participants were (3) ____ to run, cycle, swim or what have you, and collected money from friends and relatives (4) ____ how far or long they managed to keep going. The first hint of what was to become the most successful means of (5) ____ money was the charity record, where the artists donated their time and talent, and the (6) ____ from the sales went to a good cause. This was perhaps a (7) ____ of the fact that young people felt increasingly concerned about the obvious differences between life in Europe and the United States, and that in most of Africa, for example. A feeling of frustration was building up. Why was so little being done? The huge success of Band Aid, and (8) ____ televised concerts, showed the power of the media, and of music in particular, to inspire and shock. It differed significantly in style from other events. People phoned up in their thousands on the day and pledged money by (9) ____ their credit card numbers. (10) ____ if you have enough money to buy an MP3 player, you can afford something for the world's starving children

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The word ‘grandparents’ is descriptive of the unique dual parenting role that this generation assumes. It emphasises the vital part they play in family life. With a (26) _______ of old world experience behind them, and with the unique ability to metamorphose from advisers or mediators into listeners or friends, they can offer support and stability in an ever-changing world. The underlying sense of responsibility (27) _______ goes with this is tremendous. Grandparents perform a balancing act between the needs of their adult children and those of their grandchildren. This role is varied. It is imperial at times, muted at (28) _______. It goes underground whenever required, but it is solid and absolutely dependable. Grandparents often (29) _______ the gap between parents and children. Rebellious, independent children who are trying to find their feet are almost always at loggerheads with their parents. The role of grandparents can be very important provided that they act as impartial judges and are able to convey this feeling to both parties. One important thing, which seems to be missing in the lives of children today, is a sense of family, values, beliefs and principles. This is where the grandparents step in. (30) _______, instilling beliefs and values is not as easy as it was fifty or sixty years ago

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Where brainpower is concerned, the old edict of 'use it, or lose it' holds true from the start. Babies who receive love and encouragement from their parents develop the neural connections they need to get on in life. But what happens to those who fail to get this support? Do they grow up to be less bright than their nurtured peers? It would be comforting to believe that deprived children escape long-term damage by being too young to speak, or know any different, but the evidence suggests otherwise. At a recent meeting of the Royal Society of Medicine, medics were shown slides taken with a powerful scanner comparing the brains of 'normal' three-year-olds with those who had been raised in deprivation or in orphanages. The work was done by Dr Bruce Perry of the Child Trauma Academy in Houston, Texas. The scans showed that the frontal-temporal areas of the brain, those responsible for personality and enabling a person to display and regulate emotions, showed little activity. For years, scientists have known that animals reared in enriched environments have larger and more complex brains than animals that grow up in deprivation, so experts like Perry anticipated that the same would hold true for humans. However, it is only now, thanks to powerful scanners that allow this theory to be put to the test, that the damage is clearly visible. Perry explains the reason for the abnormality is that the brain develops in a 'use-dependent' way, growing, organising and working according to experience. With the right stimulation, the brain makes the connections it needs. Without it, synapses, junctions between the neurons used to transport the brain's messages, literally dissolve. “Adverse experiences play a vital role in organising the neural system in the developing brain,” says Perry; in other words, ill- treatment in infancy leads to faulty wiring in the brain. Significantly, the rate at which new synapses form is greatest in the first eight months of life. Fortunately, different parts of the brain develop at different rates, so the damage may be confined to the parts that were actively organising at the time of stress or neglect. Perry describes these times as “windows of opportunity” that exist for different brain functions. If the connections between neurons are not developed at the critical period, they may not develop at all. Synapses associated with vision are most active when a child to eight months. A baby born with cataracts, removed at the age of two, will remain blind, as the window of opportunity has passed. Interaction between the child and its carers is vital to teach the brain to function normally. By playing with and talking to her child, the mother distracts the infant from a bombardment of competing noises. This communication trains a section of the brain to regulate emotions so the child is able to function day- to-day without being a hostage to impulses and feelings. Yet, despite the damage caused by stress and trauma in childhood, Perry, like most clinicians, is optimistic that intervention can help, as the cortex, the grey matter responsible for high level brain function, is malleable and capable of changing. He is supported in this belief by child psychiatrist Dr Dora Black, founder of the Traumatic Stress Clinic in London, who works with severely traumatized children. She claims neurological evidence is available that shows that, although trauma can affect the speech area in the brain, this function can return if the child receives help early enough. “Unfortunately,” admits Perry, “what we don’t know is how much deprivation is needed to prevent the recovery of normal expression of various emotional, cognitive or social skills.
1. Which best serves as the title for the passage?