Questions 42-46 

    George Orwell was born in Bengal, India, in 1903. His parents were members of the British Civil Service in India, and Orwell followed in their 42 when as a young man he joined the Imperial Police in Burma. But ironically Orwell’s experience as a policeman in Burma turned him against British colonialism, as he 43 in a famous essay, “Shooting an Elephant.” Indeed, he became a 44 socialist but a fiercely anti-autocratic one. In the mid-1930s, like many left-wing intellectuals and writers, he went to Spain to fight with the International Brigade in 45 of the recently elected Popular Front government, then under military attack by Fascist forces led by the ultimately victorious General Franco. Orwell was seriously wounded in the Spanish Civil War, and when the Spanish Communists, under orders from Moscow, attempted to 46 out their allies on the left, he fought against them, finally fleeing for his life.

    This year is the 500th anniversary of the death of the artist and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci. The Louvre in Paris expects huge demand for its 47 Leonardo da Vinci exhibition this October, urging visitors to book a time slot 48 their visit. 

    Da Vinci has been regarded primarily as an artist, but the thousands of pages that survived from his notebooks show his 49 interests and achievements, including work on geology, anatomy, flight, gravity and optics. He is often credited with 50 concepts for the bicycle, airplane, helicopter, and parachute some 500 years ahead of their time. Da Vinci produced ground-breaking work as an anatomist by dissecting 30 human corpses, 51 he studied in order to paint the human form more accurately.

 Questions 52-55 

    The history of children’s informational literature is linked to the publication of John Amos Comenius’s Orbis Pictus (The World in Pictures) in 1657. Not only was this the first picture book, but it was also an informational book. This promising beginning was cut short, however, by the Puritan Movement. For nearly 200 years, the vast majority of books published for and read by children were intended for moralistic instruction rather than information. Rapid development of informational literature as a genre began in the 1950s and 1960s in response to the launching of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, by the former Soviet Union. Competing in the race for space exploration and new technology, the U.S. Congress funneled money into science education, and publishers responded with new and improved science trade book. Informational picture books for primary graders were introduced, leading to a trend toward more illustrations and less text in informational books at all levels.

    A linguistics company is using artificial intelligence (AI) to shorten the time it takes to learn a new language. It takes about 200 hours, using traditional methods, to gain basic proficiency in a new language. This AI-powered platform claims it can teach from beginner to fluency in just a few months – through oncedaily 20 minute lessons.

   According to Conrad CEO Darren Campbell, there’s a better way. The platform, which works inbrowser on computer or mobile, features customizable lessons that take around 10 to 20 minutes. Campbell credits both the AI and a systemic approach to language learning for this success. Campbell said, “Fluency first, vocabulary second. Fluency is the ability to manipulate all the parts of a sentence at will.”

   Campbell further claimed, “You then use these sentences to add vocabulary and improve expression. You will continue to learn vocabulary for the rest of your life, but fluency can be delivered in a matter of weeks.” Campbell’s methodology is based on using machines to find patterns that create a learning experience closer to the ideal of being totally immersed in a language.

   Conrad offers a unique learning method that’s guided by AI. However, AI only helps the user focus on the most ideal lessons, ultimately saving precious learning time, but not on instruction itself.