Here is another text where you can practise the exam skills on other question types - allow five minutes maximum for this text and exercises.  First decide which are the best headings for the paragraphs.

How the brain reorganises itself

Paragraph 1
The work that Tim Pons and his colleagues published last week is basic research into the portion of the brain, the cortex, that one scientist says 'is responsible for all the interesting things that we do'.  The cortex is a layer between two and five millimetres thick that covers the brain and each area of the cortex has a different function.  The area Pons and his colleagues are interested in receives 'somatic' sensations, in other words, information about touch, position, heat, cold and pain.  The somatic sensory cortex can be represented as a topographical map, sub-divided into specific regions that receive nerve signals from specific areas of the body.

Paragraph 2
About twelve years before Pons and his colleagues carried out their experiments, the Macaque monkeys being studied had the nerves cut which carried signals from the fingers, palm, upper limb, neck and the back of the head.  The regions bordering this part of the somatic sensory cortex receive signals from the face and trunk^1.

Paragraph 3
Under anaesthetic, Pons and his colleagues inserted electrodes into the region of the cortex where the nerves had been cut and recorded the neuronal² response.  They found to their surprise that the whole region, covering an area of between ten and fourteen square millimetres, now responded to stimulation of the lower face.  Previously, scientists had thought that the cortex of adult animals could not reorganise itself over an area greater than one or two millimetres.

¹trunk = the main part of the body
²neuronal = areas of the nerves

Now answer these question about 'somatic' sensations.

Write the answer to this question.

Did you:

			survey the text
			analyse the questions to see exactly what they are asking for
			read the instructions carefully
			notice which questions were about general themes and which were asking for specific information
			know where to look for specific information and what sort of information was required
			go back to the text looking quickly for the information you need
			remember not to try to read every word
			move on to the next question if you could not answer one
			leave enough time to check your answers and to check that you followed the instructions exactly

Use this checklist for the next exercise you do.