Exploring Diverse Perspectives: From Literature to Animal Cognition

Coetzee Wins Nobel Prize

Coetzee wins Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize has often been misapplied. It evaded Tolstoy, Chekhov, Joyce, Kafka, and Nabokov. Coetzee was born in Cape Town in 1940 and trained as a computer scientist, coming to London in the Sixties to work for IBM, a period recollected in a superb autobiographical novel. According to the text, literary qualities have not always been the main reason for authors to be awarded a Nobel Prize for Literature. Sometimes, the judges have been influenced by political factors. Before writing his first novel, Coetzee was very busy professionally. In the Sixties, he worked for IBM in London and later became a professor of Literature in the United States and finally in Cape Town.

a) unquestionably c) assumptions b) wholly d) swiftly

a) who—last c) whose----was not chosen b) winning—received d) about---his

I'm working from home.

Working From Home: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

For the Spanish, the interaction with the family is a principal reason for homeworking...

Fewer British work from home than in the rest of Europe, although more would like the opportunity to do so. They feel the need to contact their office as soon as they start working in order to show that they are in fact busy. It offers the French the opportunity of leading a healthier life by taking more exercise and eating homemade food.

a) choosing c) opportunity

b) study d) switch

a) have been working__an c) accepted---were taken

b) for---to d) for many workers homeworking would reduce costs.

Should the State Dictate Our Diets?

We eat on the street to a degree almost unknown anywhere else.

A sociologist told me that half of our homes no longer have a dining table."

Many people have become gluttonous, consuming junk food and substituting traditional kitchen utensils with a microwave. In addition, meals are no longer a social event enjoyed by the whole family. Most rubbish consists of plastic wrappings from junk food, as can be seen in the litter bins along the streets. This means that people have replaced homemade meals by fast food.

a) enquiry c) entire

b) almost d) nasty

a) eating—for c) buy---twice

b) ate—loaves d) her something else to eat.

Unveiling the Inner Lives of Dogs

Common sense is sometimes difficult to reconcile with scientific sense.

Today, many scientists are accepting that non-human animals do indeed experience emotions. Because it was generally accepted that animals had automatic reactions rather than showing emotions, they reacted automatically and through instincts to external stimuli. Current scientific investigations have revealed that animals' brains share common structures and secrete the same chemicals that carry information within the brain. In addition, the way animals show several emotions in their behavior is recognizable, just like we are able to recognize grief or happiness in humans.

a) indeed c) increasing

b) in addition d) as well

a) study---will understand c) working---the most intelligent

b) that—have been explored d) that his experiments would prove the existence of the emotional lives of animals