Reading and Writing 3

Teacher’s Assessment Guide

Unit 4 Test A

Name: ______________________________________ Date: _____________

Unit 4 Test Purposes

 Identify the main ideas in a text (Reading comprehension)
 Understand and use target vocabulary from the unit (pp. 82 and 89)
 Identify if a statement is a fact or an opinion (Reading Skill)
 Recognize the part of speech of a word based on its suffix (Vocabulary Skill)
 Identify a thesis statement in an opinion essay (Writing Skill)
 Use conjunctions “and”, “but”, “so”, and “or” to make compound sentences (Grammar)
 Write an opinion paragraph

I. Reading Comprehension

Learning objective: Identify the main ideas in a text

A. Read the article about advertising. Match the correct headings to the Sections. There is
one option you will not have to use.

1. Section I: ___
2. Section II: ___
3. Section III: ___
4. Section IV: ___
5. Section V: ___

a. What Exactly Is Honesty in Advertising?

b. The Wedding Industry’s Advertising Tricks
c. The Rights and Wrongs of Using AI in Advertising
d. A More or Less Honest Use of Your Data
e. A Less Fair Kind of Advertising
f. Customers Should Control Their Data

Section I
The advertising industry has always been interested in understanding human behavior.
Technology is making this easier and easier. There are billions of Facebook users and even more
tweets shared on Twitter, as well as Google searches completed every second. On top of all this
now we have location-based data from mobile phones and transactional data from credit cards.
With the help of advanced algorithms, we can now understand in detail the motivations of
almost every consumer. These are powerful tools, and no one can blame the advertising
industry for using them. But AI also introduces worrying questions. Advertisers may soon know
us better than we know ourselves. They'll understand our most personal motivations and
weaknesses. And if we are not careful, they may start actually controlling our behavior instead
 Reading and Writing 3
Teacher’s Assessment Guide
Unit 4 Test A

of just trying to persuade us. For these reasons, we need a new set of rules that will guide our
use of AI in marketing.
Section II
One of the new rules marketing professionals should follow is not to mislead customers on
purpose. Unfortunately, some companies currently do this, either by not being honest about
the way how they monitor your online activity, or why they do it. Providing users with
information about these is often not enough, however. If this information is at the bottom of
the page in small letters, it is very hard to notice or understand. Truth telling is more than just
avoiding lying. Consumers should always be told about how their personal data is being
collected and used. In practice this means that companies should make a reasonable effort to
make sure that customers truly understand how they do this. If they present the information in
a way that is unclear to the average consumer, we can’t really say that they’re telling the truth.
Section III
When you look at a webpage, some ads might appear on the side. These are called “contextual
ads” and are related to the webpage you visit at any online session. For example, a consumer
looking at a travel website for airplane tickets to Paris might see some ads for hotels in Paris on
the same webpage. These types of ads are three times as effective as regular online ads. They
are fairly innocent from a privacy perspective. The site collects little information about the
consumer. It doesn’t store much information about the visitor past the visit to this webpage.
Also, customers can immediately see the connection between the page and the ad. In other
words, the consumer is usually aware how the advertiser is using his information.
Section IV
Search engines (such as Google) and free email are more problematic. In 2012, Google put
together all the information it had about its clients from different products. The information
came from cell phones, search engines, email and YouTube. Now they know everything about
us. This is why if you send an email to a friend about getting engaged, Google might
recommend wedding videos to you on YouTube and ads about wedding rings elsewhere.
Google says their goal is to make their ads “just as useful to users as the search results
themselves”. This seems to be an innocent goal. However, it is worrying that as Google users
search the Internet, Google is collecting data about them. In other words, the viewer becomes
the viewed, without even knowing it.
Section V
Consumers must have the opportunity to take control of their own information. They should be
able to decide what data is collected about them and how it is used. They should also have the
freedom to “opt out”, that is, to not participate in this practice. A better system would be if
online marketers could buy consumers’ private information. They would pay for it either with
money or free access to websites. In such a system, consumers would be selling their own data,
instead of others who don’t even inform them of this.
 Reading and Writing 3
Teacher’s Assessment Guide
Unit 4 Test A

Answers:
1. c 2. a 3. d 4. e 5. f

1. The best heading for Section I is option c because this introductory paragraph describes the
current situation in online advertising and then states that “AI also introduces worrying
questions”.
2. The best heading for Section II is option a because this is the paragraph that specifies what
we generally mean by honesty and how advertisers are not really honest enough (e.g.
“Providing users with information about these is often not enough, however. If this information
is at the bottom of the page in small letters, it is very hard to notice or understand. Truth telling
is more than just avoiding lying”, etc.).
3. The best heading for Section III is option d because as the paragraph explains, the so-called
“contextual ads” use customer data still in a “more or less honest” way (e.g. “They are fairly
innocent from a privacy perspective. The site collects little information about the consumer. It
doesn’t store much information about the visitor past the visit of this webpage. Also, customers
can immediately see the connection between the page and the ad”, etc.).
4. The best heading for Section IV is option e because in comparison with the previous
paragraph, in this one the author talks about how search engines and free email are “more
problematic” [= “less fair”] because in them the viewer becomes the viewed, “without even
knowing it”.
5. The best heading for Section V is option f because the topic statement of this paragraph
(“Consumers must have the opportunity to take control of their own information”) is the same
as “Customers Should Control Their Data”.

1 point for each correct answer 5

B. Read the statements. Write T (true) or F (false).

6. ___ It is not clear to consumers why they see the contextual ads they are shown on a site.
7. ___People criticize the ad industry for using technology to collect data about the customer.
8. ___ The author thinks that nobody should be selling anybody’s data.
9. ___The author believes companies should try harder to explain how they handle our data.
10. ___ The author believes it is a good thing that Google ads are as useful to the users.

Answers:
6. F 7. F 8. F 9. T 10. F

6. is False because in Section III, the paragraph that talks about “contextual ads”, the author
says that customers can “immediately see the connection” between the page and the ad.
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Teacher’s Assessment Guide
Unit 4 Test A

7. is False because in Section I the author says that “These (= Facebook, Twitter, Google,
advanced algorithms) are powerful tools, and no one can blame the advertising industry for
using them.
8. is False because in Section V the author describes a “better system”, in which consumers
would be selling “their own data”.
9. is True because in in Section II the author says that companies should “make a reasonable
effort” [= try harder to explain] to make sure that customers truly understand how they do this
[= handle our data].
10. is False because in Section IV the author says that “it is worrying” (i.e. not a “good thing”)
that as Google users search the Internet, Google simultaneously collects data about them. It is
Google that says that their goal is to make their ads “just as useful to users as the search results
themselves”, not the author of the article.

1 point for each correct answer 5

II. Vocabulary

Learning objective: Understand and use target vocabulary from the unit (pp. 82 and 89)

A. Match each word with the correct definition.

11. annoying ____

12. support ____
13. imply ____
14. annual ____
15. donation ____

a. happening every year

b. indirectly suggest something
c. hard to forget
d. making you feel a bit angry; unpleasant
e. give help to, particularly financially
f. precise, exact
g. keep a group of people interested or enjoying themselves
h. an amount of money you give to a charity

Answers: 11.d, 12. e, 13. b, 14. a, 15. h

1 point for each correct answer 5

 Reading and Writing 3
Teacher’s Assessment Guide
Unit 4 Test A

B. Complete the paragraph with the correct form of a word from the word bank.

accurate annoying factor impact relevant specifically suggest support

Cookies
Many consumers don’t know this, but there are some (16) annoying new targeting technologies
that are almost impossible to avoid. In the past, if you regularly deleted the “cookies” from your
computer as (17) suggested by computer experts, your information was safe. Today, however,
there is a new (18) factor affecting who can see your activity. Now sometimes the same tracking
information is coded into other software you need on your computer. One such program is the
common multimedia player Adobe Flash. This means that even if you delete all the cookies
from time to time to protect your privacy, your search history is still available to advertisers. As
a result, they can show you ads that they believe may be (19) specifically interesting for you.
This may be the case if the product or service is somehow especially (20) relevant to your
needs.

1 point for each correct answer 5

III. Reading Skill: Distinguishing facts from opinions

Learning objective: Identify if a statement is a fact or a personal judgement (p. 87)

Read the statements. Write F (fact) or O (opinion).

21. It seems that even people who are good with computers can be the victims of advertising.
____
22. Consumers should be aware of the techniques being used to market to them. ____
23. Context-based ads are three times as effective as regular online ads. ____
24. I find pop-up ads especially frustrating when I’m browsing the internet. ____
25. Google processes more than forty thousand searches every second. ____
26. We can now assess an individual's online activity, including all their searches and words.
____

Answers:
21. O 22. O 23. F 24. O 25. F 26. F

21. is an opinion because it starts with the subjective introductory linking phrase “It seems” and
also contains some strong language (i.e. “victims”).
22. is an opinion because it expresses the author’s personal judgment about the matter (e.g. by
using “should”) and people could have a different opinion about it
 Reading and Writing 3
Teacher’s Assessment Guide
Unit 4 Test A

23. is a fact because it contains a concrete number (“three times as effective”).

24. is an opinion because it starts with the personal pronoun “I” and includes a strong
(subjective) adjective (“frustrating”).
25. is a fact because it contains a concrete number (“more than forty thousand”).
26. is a fact because it uses impersonal language and is a statement that can be proven true.

1 point for each correct answer 6

IV. Vocabulary Skill: Suffixes

Learning objective: Recognize the part of speech of a word based on its suffix (p. 96)

Decide which part of speech each word is based on its suffix. Write “adj” (adjective), “adv”
(adverb) or “n” (noun).

27. accurately ____

28. acknowledgement ____
29. memorable ____
30. impactful ____
31. annually ____
32. relationship ____

Answers:
27. adv
28. n
29. adj
30. adj
31. adv
32. n

1 point for each correct answer 6

V. Grammar: Compound sentences

Learning objective: Use conjunctions “and”, “but”, and “or” to make compound sentences (p.
100)

A. Choose the correct function of each conjunction used in the sentences below.

choice contrasting ideas related ideas result

 Reading and Writing 3
Teacher’s Assessment Guide
Unit 4 Test A

37. I regularly buy things online, so I’m a bit worried about who knows information about me.
Function: ___________
38. Most ads that pop up when you’re browsing are annoying, but there are some funny ones
too.
Function: ___________
39. You may see a lot of ads online, but you should never decide to buy anything based only on
an ad.
Function: ___________
40. Many people delete the cookies from their computer, and think their information is
completely protected.
Function: ___________
41. Consumers should be able to keep their privacy, or decide to sell their data by themselves.
Function: ___________

Answers:
37. result
38. contrasting idea
39. contrasting idea
40. related ideas
41. choice

1 point for each correct answer 5

B. Combine the sentences with and, or, but, or so. Add commas where necessary.

42. We often think we would never buy something based on an ad. Research shows we buy
things based on an ad.
43. Advertising is good for professional sports. It is annoying when they stop a match for a
commercial.
44. It would be boring to live without advertising. Let’s enjoy the commercials on TV.
45. Advertisements provide people with information about important issues. They sell some
useful products.
46. Commercials often educate people about certain diseases. Commercials help them avoid
medical problems.

Answers:
42. We often think we would never buy something based on an ad, but research shows we do.
43. Advertising is good for professional sports, but it is annoying when they stop a match for a
commercial.
44. It would be boring to live without advertising, so let’s enjoy the commercials on TV.
 Reading and Writing 3
Teacher’s Assessment Guide
Unit 4 Test A

45. Advertisements provide people with information about important issues, and they sell some
useful products.
46. Commercials often educate people about certain diseases or help them avoid medical
problems.

1 point for each correct answer 5

VI. Writing

Learning objective: Write an opinion paragraph

Write an opinion paragraph (about 140 words) about the biggest problems with online
advertising. Say why these problems are bad.

Points Section VII 20