PART I: WRITTEN RECEPTION (70 points)

(ACCESS TO INFORMATION FROM WRITTEN TEXTS)

Read the article below and then answer questions 1–9.
A glossary of the <u>underlined</u> words (numbers 1–3) is provided on the next page.

SUPER RECOGNIZERS: THE PEOPLE WHO NEVER FORGET FACES

I Last month, 53-year-old Mia Carson was waiting for a bus when a man walked past the bus
stop. "Hi, Danny," she said. The man was amazed. "How do you know me?" he asked. "I recognized
you," said Carson. "You were in first grade with me. We haven't met since then, but I never forget
anyone's face!"
5 II Carson belongs to a small group of people who are known as "super recognizers" because they
have an <u>exceptional</u>¹ ability: They can immediately recognize any face that they have seen before.
"Most of us easily recognize only faces we see often – for example, those of people in our
neighborhood," says psychologist Dr. Kevin Shipley. "But for super recognizers, seeing a face only
once is enough. After that, they recognize it whenever they see it again."
10 III This unique skill is useful in a variety of jobs. Some super recognizers, for example, work
for the police, or for newspapers or magazines. Carson herself is a photographer for the American
Sports magazine. "I'm often sent to <u>take pictures</u>² at large sports events, such as football games or
car races," she says. "There, I might quickly identify famous people in the crowd and take their
pictures. Or sometimes I take pictures of the whole crowd, and later identify any well-known people
15 in them. Then the magazine might ask those people for permission to publish their pictures."
IV However, to get a job that requires their special skill, super recognizers must prove that they
really can recognize faces quickly and accurately. Therefore, when applying for such a job they
need to do a series of tests. In one test, for example, they must recognize faces of famous people in
photos that are <u>blurry</u>³ or shown upside down. "Some tests sound easy to do, but are actually
20 difficult even for super recognizers," says Shipley. "Not all super recognizers are equally talented,
and only the best ones do well on all the tests."
V Scientists have recently begun to investigate what makes super recognizers so good at
recognizing faces. One study found that they don't look at faces in the same way that ordinary
people do. "Most of us focus mainly on the eye area," explains Shipley. "But super recognizers
25 pay attention to the other parts of the face as well. Images of all the parts are stored in their memory.
Then, when they see even one part of that face again, they immediately build a picture of the
whole face." Shipley hopes that in the future, scientists will learn more about this amazing ability.

GLOSSARY

<small>בטופס המקורי המילון מופיע גם בספרדית, ברוסית, בצרפתית, באמהרית ובערבית.</small>

<u>QUESTIONS</u> (70 points)
Answer questions 1–9 in English according to the article. In questions 1, 6, 7, and 9, circle the number of the correct answer. In the other questions, follow the instructions.