Reading Comprehension

Twice Exceptional Students

During the last decade, increasing attention has been given to the confusing question of high ability students who also have learning disabilities. These learning disabled gifted and talented students, or "twice-exceptional students", need remediation activities. At the same time, they also require opportunities to promote their own individual strengths and talents in one or more domains in which they have previously displayed their superior abilities.

Twice-exceptional students are atypical learners who are often characterized as smart students with school problems. These students assume that learning tasks will be easy for them and are not prepared for the difficulty that arises from activities in areas of their disability. This leads to frustration, tension, and fear that eventually becomes defensiveness. Due to this frustration, these students often tend to be aggressive, careless, and frequently off-task. They also cause classroom disturbances, and, similar to learning disabled students, seem deficient in tasks emphasizing memory and perceptual abilities. In other areas, their learning characteristics resemble those of high ability students. For example, they may excel at assignments involving abstract thinking and problem solving.

These students perceive themselves as deficient more frequently in academic areas, which most likely increases their motivation to avoid school tasks. They feel shy and perceive themselves as less effective in school. It becomes disheartening for these students with eager, bright minds to continuously experience failure in school while learning and creating successfully at home. They also tend to have more creative productive interests. They are able to conceptualize quickly, to reason abstractly, to generalize easily, and to enjoy the challenge of solving novel problems autonomously. Basic automatic skills such as perceptual scanning, sequencing, organization, and study skills are at the center of their difficulties. Hobbies and interests that require keen motivation and creative thinking abilities are often observed outside of the school environment, while their performance in school is poor.

These students are often referred to as street smart with school problems.

Regardless of the method used, when identifying students who are gifted learning disabled, one should search for evidence of a special gift, talent, or the ability to perform at a high level. It is important to remember that the gifts of twice-exceptional students often remain invisible to teachers and sometimes even parents. Often the disability itself masks the student's expression of special gifts and talents. Giftedness in students is often revealed in oral language and memory skills. Creativity is an indicator, but it is less reliable and is much more difficult to assess.

Twice-exceptional students need an environment that will nurture their gifts while attending to their learning disability. It is also important to provide them with the necessary emotional support so that they can better deal with their inconsistent abilities.

Dawn Beckley
University of Connecticut
Storrs,CT
(Adapted)

Comprehensive questions (14 marks)

1/ Choose the correct alternative. (5 marks)

1. The article is about twice exceptional students. These twice exceptional students are:

· physically disabled .

· completely learning disabled.

· gifted learning disabled students (*)

2. These students are seen as:

· helpless cases.

· brilliant elite that should be reinforced.

· challenging cases that should be assisted.(*)

3. According to this research, these students:

· are self-confident and learn very quickly.

· are not interested in learning at all.

· don’t admit their weaknesses and tend to show-off. (*)

4. to hide their weaknesses, these students:

· tend to be aggressive. (*)

· become introverted..

· pretend to be sick.

5. According to this study, these students seem to be very keen in:

· academic areas.

· home creativity. (*)

· physical performance.

2. Read the text and answer the following questions. (3 marks)

a. Why do you think identifying these twice exceptional students seems to be difficult?

· Their disability hides their talents. (*)

· Parents and teachers are often aware of these students’ talents.

· The students’ environment helps unreveal their talents.

b. What kind of environment do you think these students need?

· They need an environment where they feel equal to other students and improve their talents. (*)

· They need a special environment where all disabled learning students are grouped in order to bridge the gaps of the normal class.

· These students need a special environment guided and monitored by specialists.

c. According to this study, to what should teachers and parents pay more attention?

· creativities

· behaviors

· utterances and memorizations (*)

3. What do the following words refer to?

a. That (§ 2): ___________ ( frustration and tension)

b. their (§ 2): ________ ( learning disabled students)

4. Match the words with their definitions. (2 marks)

Words	Definitions
frustration	the feeling of being annoyed and impatient because you cannot do or achieve what you want
deficient	not having enough of something, especially something that is essential
sequencing	arranging things into order, events, numbers. . .
indicator	a sign that shows you what something is like or how a situation is changing.

5. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words in the box to get a summary of the article. (2marks)

Shape – strengths – alternative - communication

Teachers need to help students shape a healthy, realistic self-concept in which students accept their personal strengths and weaknesses. These students need to develop alternative ways for thinking and communication so that they can learn according to their strengths

Language (16 marks)

1. Which alternative best fits each blank? (4.5 marks)

My English is really getting (better and better/ worse and worse /best and best). I have been trying to learn the language (for/in/since) 1985, but only recently have I been able to (do/have/make) some real progress. By the time I started high school in 1988, I (had been studying/studied/ had studied) the language for almost three years; however, I was only able to introduce myself and utter a (many/few/little) memorized sentences. But, nothing worked. I mentioned to a friend that I had been having problems with the language for years. He recommended that I spend a year in (an English speaking country/ a speaking English country/ a country English speaking). I decided to go abroad. I researched exchange programs for a couple of weeks and finally decided (about/ of/ on) a school in the United States. Well, it worked. I (live / have been living/ am living) and studying in the U.S. for more than two years. I am staying here for at least another year before I (returning/ return/ will return) home. By then, I should be completely fluent.

2. Fill in the blanks with words in the box. There is an extra word. Mind capitalization! (4 marks)

have become- radically – development – training - is – handle –mastering – withdraw - deposit

New technologies were for a long time confined to specific occupations and sectors of the economy, but they are now in widespread use. They have become__________ an integral part of daily life and are radically ____________changing trade and the development_____________ of communications around the world. Individual levels of education and training__________ are also constantly rising. If the knowledge economy is ___________ to expand, every individual – not only those in work – will have to be able to use, handle ____________ or produce information. Mastering __________new skills has become a necessity outside the workplace, to watch interactive television, use the Internet or simply withdraw ______________ money at a cash point.

3. Match the sentences parts on the left with their completion on the right to get a meaningful paragraph. (4 marks)

(1) Many educators across the country believe that having students wear the same clothes/ helps decrease envy and negative peer pressure among social groups in the school.
(2) Those who are against school uniforms fear that the dress code policy may/ be difficult to follow.

(3) "It's very hard, especially in poor areas, to mandate school uniforms/ because some families simply cannot afford the required clothes,"

(4) It will destroy the school's /relaxed style and culture of individualism.

4. What do the underlined utterances express? Choose the appropriate alternatives from the bracketed functions. (3.5 marks)

I (1) don’t intend to leave in the near future (intention/prediction/planning) because high qualifications are requested if you want to find an attractive job these days. I have already wondered, however, whether I should continue to live with my parents when I’d finish university, or whether (2) I’d better leave home to be on my own. (advice/probability/certainty)

On the one hand, it would be terribly tempting to live by myself. My parents wouldn’t know what I’m doing and so 3 they wouldn’t be able to criticize this or that aspect of my life style (incapability/impossibility/refusal). It would probably be the best way to see if I’m an adult or not but then I would also have to become more level-headed and more organized than I’m now!

On the other hand, 4 I may choose to stay at home when I leave school (probability/permission/ability). I know that my parents wouldn’t mind in the least and 5 I can actually see quite a few advantages to this situation (capability/certainty/intention). 6 It would be safer than to move out and look for adventure (expressing opinion/expressing hope/ expressing regret). I’ve always felt at ease with my parents because they are rather open-minded for their age. It seems only logical then to take advantage of this comfortable environment in order to make my life easier!

All things considered, 7 I’m sure that the best time to settle down on one’s own doesn’t necessarily coincide with the time when one leaves school ( expressing certainty/expressing hope/expressing fear) As for me why should I decide to move out of my parents’ house if I’m still happy to be there?

Writing (10 marks)

Task 1 (3 marks)

Read this incomplete text and then try to drag the missing sentences and drop them in the right gap to get a coherent paragraph. (3 marks)

1/ but none of them lived in his particular neighborhood

2/ He considered walking to a doctor’s office

3/ within moments, three or four of them offered to drive him and his mother to the nearest hospital

A few years ago my friend Harry experienced a crisis in his life that taught him to appreciate the generosity of people. He had many good friends throughout the city, (1) but none of them lived in his particular neighborhood. A number of casual acquaintances had apartments nearby, but he never said more than “Hello! How are you?” to them. One day, Harry returned home to find that his mother was very ill. He tried to call a doctor, but, unfortunately, the telephone was out of order. (2) He considered walking to a doctor’s office, but the closest was too far. So he ran over to one of the apartment houses where some of his acquaintances lived, and,(3) within moments, three or four of them offered to drive him and his mother to the nearest hospital. Harry was, of course, deeply grateful. After his mother had covered, he realized that, because of his personal crisis, he had gained the friendship of people he had previously taken for granted.

Task 2 (7 marks)

You may have faced some problems in your class. Write a letter to your teacher to tell him/her about your difficulties.

The following hints may help you.

Ø The difficulty may be related to:

The language itself.

The teacher’s way of teaching.

The classroom environment.

The teacher’s behavior.

Ø What do you suggest to achieve a better learning?