Yamile Ferreira

Summary Cambridge Test 1

The lecture main subject is the rewarding system used in some enterprises to supposedly
increase productivity among their employees. According to the lecturer, this system is not
quite as effective as people may think. What about the passage?

Firstly, he explains the psycological effect of the rewards seen as a punishment, used to
control the worker in order to manipulate him to pursue certain objectives in a certain time.
This creates a harsh enviroment in the working place. Secondly, there is the sentimental
impact generated from the disappointment the employee would feel when the target is not
reached. Moreover, when the gain accomplished does not relate with the desirable gain.
This may affect badly on the productivity, instead of what is argued in the reading. In the
text, the writer explains that the reward may cause a positive impulse for the employee.
According to the lecturer, it actually works the order way around.

Finally, the lecturer addresses the relationship between supervisor and employees. This
specific bond can be strongly damage in the rewarding system management. He points
out that the employee may be more reluctant to ask for help to his supervisor, because he
could withhold the possible reward from him in that case. That creates a competitive and
untrusting relationship instead of a confident and supportive one, which, in conclusion,
would cause a negative impact on the productivity of the business. NEVER CONCLUDE.
Yamile Ferreira

Essay Cambridge Test 1

In my personal experience, childhood is in fact a happy time in a person's life, but I could
not subscribe to the idea that it is the "happiest" of them all. This concept about childhood
may be supported in the memory of simpler times, which means not having the difficult
responsibilities that come upon within time. When you see yourself working hard, trying to
pay all the bills, thinking about the mortgage, or seeing the calendar of exams and the
impossible schedule you will have to achieve to approve them all, the games of childhood
and the spare time to watch T.V. or joke around with friends may appear as a vision of the
forever lost paradise.

But the simple life we had as a child, it's as well as difficult and complex as any other age,
especially because it requires the assistance and attention of the grown-ups around us,
from which we depended completely. This is very important to underline because not all
children have equal economic, social or family conditions. Although not necessarily a high
status quo is a determination for a happy life. But I think that it is certainly one requirement
to have, at least, one responsible adult to make sure the needs of the child are covered.
In my case, I remember moments in my childhood where I wish to be a grow-up. In my
school we have classmates who would practice bully randomly on any kid and many of the
words you are told in that age tend to leave a quite intense mark in one’s self-esteem. I
think that many of the ideas you have from yourself could be traced down from that
particular time.

So, I would rewrite the general statement about childhood being the happiest time for it to
say that is false, because it depends in many factors and it is a very subjective feeling. I
think childhood can be as happy as any other moment of life.
Yamile Ferreira

Summary Cambridge Test 2

In the lecture, the advantages of the usage of tidal power are critically questioned. The
lecturer describes how it is not a rather ideal form of alternative energy on the contrary to
what is stated in the passage.

First of all, she mentions that the capacity of tidal power can only generate a fraction of the
total of the energy we consume, so it is not a very effective system.

Secondly, the enviromental impact is more severe than it is thought. For example, she
claims that the water changes that the machinerie provokes can alter the quality of the
water, increasing the salinity and the mud. This effect can change drastically the wildlife of
river estuaries and bays. In fact, it not only affects marine animals, but also birds and their
migration routes. This is not mentioned in the passage as a clearly disadvantage the tidal
power has.

Moreover, even the human life is altered. For instance, she pointed out that because the
landscape of the ecosystem would suffer a great change with the tidal power, the
economic activities of the locals can be drastically reduced, because they no longer can
use their boats.

Finally, the installation of tidal power presents many drawbacks that may be consider
throughoutly instead of assuming easily that it is a useful energy supplement for fossil fuel,
as it is consider in the passage.
Yamile Ferreira

Summary Barron Test 1

The passage and the lecture focuses on the school system. While the passage explains
the structure of the system's organization by graded levels, the lecture introduces aspects
that are considered a disadvantage of such system.

Firstly, the lecturer explains how the academic readiness of students are not take into
account. This means that the social, mental or physical maturity is not consider when a
person is assigned to a grade. This situation leads into students who are ready to start
formal school at early ages but have to wait until reaching their 6 years old. To continue,
grouping together is also an issue with early teen students, because the differences of
maturity between boys and girls affect directly their learning capacity.

Although that from the passage can be infered that the minimum requirements for each
grade can be easily accomplished, the lecturer points out that this minimum is not equally
reached. This factor regards the promotion rates. The grade-level requirements are based
in group expectations that do not address the individual aspects of learning. Much of the
students, who are asked to repeat the whole year, may just have needed more time to
process certain curricular subjects. And the ones who are faster at learning, have to wait
until the new material is presented. These factors are crucial to understand the drop-out
rates the school system has, and also to revise the standardized tests, as the lecturer
mentions.

All of the above casts doubt on the effectiveness of the current organization of formal
school and the chronological division which grade-level school is based on.
Yamile Ferreira

Essay Barron Test 1

José Batlle y Ordóñez was a two time elected president of the República Oriental del
Uruguay in the early twentieth century. He was from the Colorado’s Party and presented a
quite liberal agenda for the political context he lived. The introduction of matters as vary as
women right’s and worker’s protections are issues that still can be traced from his political
movement which Uruguayans call “batllismo”, and has supporters even nowadays.

In his administration the country approved a number of laws very important for the social
development of the citizenship. For example, there are laws his government enforce that in
the countryside were really rejected by some landlords because they modify time and
payment of the rural workers. To continue, in urban cities the names of some of this social
legislation are still known as “law of the chair” or “law of the 8 hours”.

He can also be consider really progressive in matters that concern female rights, as the
right for vote and for divorce by her only means. Also under his administration occur a
great revolutionary change in the educational system, known as “varelismo” because of
the politician who introduce it whose name was José Pedro Varela. The humanitarism and
civilism were aspects on which the population recognized this period of the political life of
the country.

Although there are many parties in the political life of Uruguay, this particular president is
very appreciated and well-known among all the people, even for those who are supporters
of the other parties, like me. First of all, because of the legislation his government
established, and secondly because of the economic improvement these political decisions
contributed to.

I consider Batlle y Ordóñez as one of the best presidents Uruguay had, and I admire the
progressive point of view he had in comparison with other presidents of the region.
Yamile Ferreira

Summary Toefl Sample

The passage and the lecture refers to the voting system use in the United States election.
While the passage focuses on the advantages that changing the current system for a more
technological infrastructure, the lecture argues the exact opposite, giving various reasons.

First of all, the speaker points out that the computerized system can be easily understood
for a person used to this type of technology, but the person who is not can be feel
excluded from the elections because of this factor. In the passage, one of the advantages
specified is that a voter with poor eye-sight can modify the screen and the letters for better
vision, avoiding in this case voting for another candidate by marking wrongly in the ballot.
Although in the lecture it can be infer that this kind of human error occurs, is minor to the
one a computer can produced. Which leads us to the next point.

Another important disadvantage given in the lecture is the technology. While the passage
approves the counting of the votes being made by computer, the speaker argues that this
is not trusty because of the mistakes a program or even a programmer can make, which
can result in either the miscount of thousands of votes or even being permanently
removed from the record. The speaker points out that the technology used for banking
accounts and so on are machines used in a daily basis, while the electoral system is
usually only used once every two years in national elections, or twice a year in local areas.
This lack of consistency in the usage of computers for election days, according to the
professor, is hardly sufficient to develop a confident computerized voting system.

All of the above casts doubt on the effectiveness of computers for counting votes, as it is
stated in the passage.
Yamile Ferreira

Essay Toefl Sample

It is oftenly said that teaching is one of the most difficult tasks a person can do, although it
can seem to be natural because we are teaching each other all the time, even without
acknowledging it. But in formal education the teaching profession requires many abilities
which unfortunately not every teacher has.

In my personal experience as a student and also as a teacher, the most important feature
that a person who wants to become a teacher should have is patience. A relationship
between the student and the teacher ought to be a trustful one, but specially, a respectful
one, on both sides. I truly believe that the ability to relate with others and to be capable of
growing sympathy for the student is one of the most difficult aspects in the faculty, and in
my opinion this is due to two factors: the economic and social reward of teachers is really
not fullfilling to any person in this profession that I know. And secondly, and as a
consequence of the first factor, because of the distress that having such many hours per
day to teach, turns this job exhausting.

Although is true that the subject and range of academic knowledge of the teacher is also a
really important requirement which may not be neglegted, when it's not balanced with a
good humanly relationship, all that knowledge seems pointless, because of the incapacity
of the teacher to share it with the classroom. An open and friendly charismatic person
could seem to be the ideal teacher, but this is also an untrue statement, because teachers
should regard the respect and a healthy distance also, for the sake of the classroom.
Otherwise, students may not take too seriously the teaching process, mainly with younger
ages.

It is quite a complex relationship the one between a teacher and his or her students, but it
is certainly one of the most rewarding experiences when you get to be in the teaching part
and you are able to be a part of the intellectual and emotional growth of your students. I
think that a really good teacher has to be able to care about his or her relationship with the
class, as a matter of fact, those are the teachers you more likely remember with fondness.
Yamile Ferreira

Summary Cambridge 3

The passage and the lecture are about asthma, which is a medical condition that affects
the airways of a person leading to difficulties in the breathing process. The author of the
reading believes that asthma is intermittent because the airways would return to a normal
state afterwards. The lecturer casts doubt on the claims made in the article. He thinks that
given newer evidence, this belief can be contradict.

First of all, the author points out that after each episode the symptoms can subside. It is
mention that the inflammation is temporary, so it is a episodiac breathing disorder. This
point is challenged by the lecturer. He says that the airways of a asthmatic person do not
ever return to a common condition, but are permanently narrowed. Furthermore, he
argues that this could be due to the remodelling, meaning the scaring of the tubes for
repeated episodes.

Secondly, the author contends that the environment can trigger the muscles of the person
who is exposed to factors such as smoke, fur and dust, being too sensitive. The lecturer
rebuts this argument. He suggests that the remodelling may also be the primary cause of
asthma. In addition to that, he elaborates on this by mentioning the evidence given by
young children, which already have this affection. He puts forth the idea that the underlying
cause is in fact remodelling and it is due to two factors: genetic inheritage and
environment.

All of the above casts doubt on what it is state in the passage, that asthma is a periodic
condition in which and individual reacts to the environment.
Yamile Ferreira

Summary Cambridge 4

The reading and the lecture discuss dowsing. While the author of the passage claims the
reliability of an ancient practice to finding underground water, the lecturer challenges the
claims made.

First of all, the professor points out that the invisible frequencies the dowser is able to
percieve are still unknown to physicians. Although the author of the passage states that
this millenia-old practice is really accurate for finding underlying water, the professor rebuts
this by saying that it goes against the laws of science. She adds that a person with sticks
is not capable of sensing the water or other buried objects or materials underneath.
Furthermore, the lecturer argues that this kind of flowing energy is not possible to detect
even with modern instruments.

Secondly, the lecture elaborates this point by mentioning that there have been scientists
who made numerous attempts to understand the dowsing effect. However, she says that
the conclusions they have reached is that dowsing is a matter of sheer and random luck.
As a matter of fact, she says that anyone who starts digging the ground in the search of
water has the same chances to find is as a dowser has.

All of the above casts doubt on what is stated in the passage, arguing that dowsing,
despite being a popular and satisfactory practice for some people, it does not applies for
scientific standars.
Yamile Ferreira

Essay Cambrigde 4

It goes without saying that everyone has something to learn from anyone, no matter who
she or he is or what is that you can be taught, so I do not agree with the statement that an
uneducated person is not able to teach an educated one. I feel this way for two main
reasons, which I will explore in the following essay. Explore briefly to sum up.

First of all, there are many kinds of knowledge that are not neccesary learnt in formal
education. My own experience is a compelling example of this. For instance, I remember
that when growing up I had a nanny who was not able to finish her education. As a
consequence of that, she was only capable of reading and writing. However, I learnt a lot
of daily life tasks of everyday's routines with her, just as important to me as the things I
was learning at school. The most useful one was cooking, which was really in hand when I
had to start preparing lunch for myself when I grew up.

Secondly, I think that there are many important things that do not enter the school's
programs which you can only learn about when talking with a person. Let's take History
class as a example, and elder people who lived important time periods. My mother-in-law
has a friend who is a hundred and three years old who did not completed her education,
but because of her age, she has lived through a lot of important political and economic
events I have learn in school. In addition to that, she can tell me how things happened in a
different perspective, bringing a more vividly example of experience to the history books
I've read.

To sum up briefly, of couse I believe that formal education is completely neccesary to

everyone, and that every person should be given the chance to be educated. However, I
strongly support the idea, as I tried to point out, that all people has knowledge worth of
spreading, even to a person who already knows that things through school. In my personal
experience, I have learn a lot in school, but there are other you can only learn outside the
classroom.
Yamile Ferreira

Summary Cambridge Test 5

The passage and the lecture talk about groupthink, which is the different ways a large
group of people cooperate with each other for a commom pourpose. While the passage
focuses on the advantages of this kind of work, the lecture challenges the assumptions
made with the following arguments.

First of all, the professor points out that individuals working with other tend to conform with
the whole group. Moreover, the person who tries to raise his or her objection is often
ignored because of the tendency to conform. As a result, many outcomes of working
teams claim to be insatisfactory and even irrational, despite what is claimed in the
passage. The author of the passage states the exact opposite, arguing that the team
discussion brings more relevant solutions than one made by a sole individual.

Finally, the professor says that groups often think of themselfs as invulnerable, mainly
because of two reasons: the pressure to conform with the rest of the team, and the
reassuring sentiment that because the group thinks a certain way, this means they are
definitely right. Furthermore, this invulnerability can lead to disastrous decision making.
For instance, the professor mentions an episode of the Ford Company which came with a
suppostedly revolutionary idea for a car that ended up being an utter failure.

All of the above casts doubt on what is described in the passage as the advantages of
groupthinking.
Yamile Ferreira

Essay Cambridge Test 5

It goes without saying that challenging moments in life make us learn more about
ourselves. In my opinion, a good teacher should always set challenging tasks for his or her
students in order to encourage them to learn. I think this way for two reasons, which I will
explore in the following essay.

First of all, a good teacher should have a lot of abilities to accomplish his or her task
successfully, and acknowledging how to estimulate and motivated the students is certainly
a very important one. Furthermore, I dare to say that is even more important that the
expertise on the subject. For instance, I remember being terrible at Maths, but I had a
great teacher who was unwilling to accept my resistance to her subject, and ask for my
participation in class all the time. And the end of that year, I had stop dreading the
calculations and even having a good qualification because she had make me put all my
effort in the classroom, not accepting a doubtful response as an answer.

Secondly, and as a consequence of this, I also think that challenging tasks can encourage
students to learn from their own, which means that they feel the urge to keep reading and
researching even when the class is over. The teacher can provoke a strong estimulation in
his or her students just by the approach she or he gives to the subject. My cousin is a
compelling example of this. He is a Science teacher and he told me that for his elementary
school class he provide a physics problem and ask the students to solve it, withholding the
right answer. As a result, the whole classroom got caught up in the question and tried their
hard to find a response.

As a conclusion, I truely believe that making a good challenging proposition to a student,

can make he or she feel motivated.