ACA FLEX Reading 23-10

The late 1980's found the landscape of popular music in America dominated by a distinctive style of rock and roll known as Glam Rock or Hair Metal—so called because of the over-styled hair, makeup, and wardrobe worn by the genre's ostentatious rockers. Bands like Poison, White Snake, and Motley Crue popularized glam rock with their power ballads and ashy style, but the product had worn thin by the early 1990's. The mainstream public, tired of an act they perceived as symbolic of the superficial 1980's, was ready for something with a bit of substance.

• Acared more about the quality of their music than money.
• Bwere mainly style over substance.
• Cwere unassuming and humble.
• Dwere songwriters first, and performers second.

Not surprisingly, the crime victims are often called upon to identify the person who robbed or attacked them. For a jury, the victim's testimony is often proof positive that the accused is guilty. After all, who can better identify the wrongdoer than the person harmed. This is just common sense. Yet as is so often the case, common sense can be misleading. As it turns out, crime victims don't necessarily make reliable witnesses. Overcome with fear, they often close their eyes or focus fixedly on the weapon being used to threaten them. As a result, they don't get a good look at the thief or attacker. While it's not true that crime victim testimony is always inaccurate, it's also true that one can't assume a victim's identification is automatic proof of guilt.

• ACrime victims do not always correctly identify those who have harmed them.
• BCrime victim testimony is almost always inaccurate because during the crime, the victim was overcome with terror.
• CThe testimony of crime victims has put far too many people in jail.

The first section of the book covers new modes of assessment. In Chapter 1, Kimbell (Goldsmith College, London) responds to ________ (3) of design programs as formalistic and conventional, stating that a focus on risk-taking rather than hard work in design innovation is equally problematic. His research contains three parts that include preliminary exploration of design innovation qualities, investigation of resulting classroom practices, and development of evidence-based assessment. The assessment he describes is presented in the form of a structured worksheet, which includes a collaborative ________ (4) and digital photographs, in story format. Such a device encourages stimulating ideas, but does not recognize students as design ________ (5). The assessment sheet includes holistic impressions as well as details about “having, growing, and proving” ideas. ________ (6) judgments are evident in terms such as “wow” and “yawn” and reward the quality and quantity of ideas with the term, “sparkiness”, which fittingly is a pun as the model project was to design light bulb packaging. In addition, the assessment focuses on the process of optimizing or complexity control as well as proving ideas with thoughtful criticism and not just generation of novel ideas. The definitions for qualities such as “technical” and “aesthetic” pertaining to users, are too narrow and ill-defined. The author provides ________ (7) of the project, its features and structures, students’ notes and judgments, and their sketches and photographs of finished light bulb packages, in the Appendix.

This course provides students with an in-depth understanding of the exciting disciplines of politics and international relations and commerce. Students will learn about the ________ (8) of political institutions in countries around the world and explore the complex field of relations between nations. Topics in governance, public policy, public administration, national security, border control and commerce ensure that students receive a ________ (9) and current education in the range of issues which are covered under the label of politics and international relations and commerce. In ________ (10) to acquiring specialist ________ (11) and competencies in Politics and International Relations and Commerce, students will graduate with a range of generic skills such as critical thinking, enhanced communication abilities, problem solving and strong capacities to work with others. They will also develop ethically based and socially ________ (12) attitudes and behaviors.

Most important of all is the fact that for each new ballet-pantomime created at the Paris Opera during the July Monarchy, a new score was produced. The reason for this is simple: these ballet - pantomimes told stories - elaborate ones and music was considered an indispensable tool in getting them across to the audience. ________ (13), music had to be newly created to fit each story. Music tailor-made for each new ballet-pantomime, however, was only one weapon in the Opera's explanatory arsenal. ________ (14) was the ballet-pantomime libretto, a printed booklet of fifteen to forty pages in length, which was sold in the Operas lobby(like the opera libretto), and which laid out the plot in painstaking detail, scene by scene. Critics also took it upon themselves to recount the plots (of both ballet-pantomimes and operas) in their ________ (15) of premieres. So did the publishers of souvenir albums, which also featured pictures of famous ________ (16) and of scenes from favorite ballet-pantomimes and operas.

Doing kind things for people is good for a person’s health. It makes the person receiving the help feel happy, too. It doesn’t have to be a major thing, either. Picking up rubbish in the park or putting your neighbour’s bins out are good examples. In fact, the offer of help, even if not accepted, can be good for people. So how does it make the person being kind feel happy? Well, one reason is that it gives a person a purpose. Another is that it helps them to connect with other people. Humans are social creatures. Technology may have changed the way we communicate, but we still have the same needs. So today the offers of help may come via text message. People who don’t like new technology shouldn’t ignore these offers. They are just kind offers coming in a different way.

• ABeing kind to someone benefits both people.
• BTechnology has made people more social.
• CA kind thing can be something minor.
• DSome kind actions are more useful than others.
• EPeople shouldn’t respond to offers by text message.

Given the record of our political class, the proposal to give tax rebates for political donations will likely meet a similar fate. Instead of cleaning up political life then, the bill runs the risk of being a godsend for fly-by-night middlemen and fixers, and unscrupulous businessmen. The other objection to the bill is a more traditional one, namely that rather than private donations, the solution is in state funding of parties. This not only ensures that there is some sense of proportion and fairness in the quantum of funding available to different parties, but also that funding does not become a means of determining the political agenda. Private funding, in this argument, is an unacceptable form of political lobbying which promotes the specific demands of donors apart from generally favouring conservative, mainstream parties, squeezing out those representing minority voices. Whatever its merits, the most serious obstacle to this kind of reasoning comes from the precarious nature of public finance in the country. At a time when the Indian state is already hard-pressed to find resources for education, health, and other social security activities, can there be a case for it to burden itself with a new category of expenses? In purely economic terms too, the proposed tax breaks do not augur well for the savings sector; and this when the sagging savings graph in the economy is already a matter of increasing anxiety.

• ATo provide better education opportunities to the citizens.
• BServing the health-related requirements of the people.
• CEducational donations to institutions.
• DTaking care of the safety and security of the citizens.
• EThe funds for the proper functioning of transport systems.

Most previous decades saw significant increases in the amount of traffic on the roads, but in the 21st century a new trend has become evident. In some industrialised countries, traffic levels and car ownership are falling. It would be wrong to claim that the car industry has never seen this before. In the 1970s, for example, a rise in oil prices meant that owning a car became too expensive for some households. But this time the change is more likely to be due to long-term social trends. Many people, or certainly those who live in town, have more facilities available in their immediate environment, which has reduced the need for long drives. Indeed, the rise of online retail often means that a trip to the mall is no longer needed at all. The presence of the Internet at home means more telecommuting, and even online socialising can be seen as a substitute for car trips. There are also generational differences. In the past, owning a car was often seen as a milestone on the way to maturity and success, like buying your first home, but young people today are not so attached to this idea of cars and homes as status symbols. How these changes will develop over the next decades is unclear but it is entirely possible that, thirty years hence, private car ownership will have become something of a rarity.

• AOwning a car has become more expensive.
• BDigital technology means that travel is less necessary.
• CPeople in towns are more aware of environmental issues.
• DFewer homes in towns come with space for keeping cars.
• ECar ownership is less strongly associated with success.

There are many benefits to gardening. If you grow fruit and vegetables in your garden, you can walk to get food so vehicles are not needed to carry it from A to B. This reduces the pollution produced by vehicles. Plants can also help remove bacteria from the water in the ground, which helps the things that live in the soil. Having more plants in your garden will be attractive to wildlife, too. However, it is important that the garden is not kept too tidy; many people remove certain plants that they think are growing in the wrong places, but these can be important for bees and butterflies so think before you take them out. Plants can also help to reduce your energy costs by keeping the house warm in winter and cool in the summer. This happens if you plant trees in your garden, but it’s especially true if you grow grass on the roof. Another obvious reason is that plants create a more attractive place – a space where people can relax.

• Ato explain how gardening can help the environment
• Bto warn people against growing certain crops
• Cto encourage people to grow things in their gardens
• Dto highlight an increase in pollution levels
• E to explain how to look after garden plants