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Example 4

País Vasco

Fill in the gaps in the following text with ONE suitable word. For questions (1) to (8), write down the correct word on the answer sheet provided. (0) is the example.

For those who see a quadrennial international assessment of how well students perform in mathematics and science as a global horse race, the latest news is that the heavy favourites have won again. A handful of East Asian countries (0) CROSSED the finish line far ahead of their competitors on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) released today, whereas US students once again wound up in the middle of the pack. East Asia has been the top performer for a long time, and the rest of the world is wondering if they will ever (1) up.

But there is more to the TIMSS (2) simply the scores of the graders from over 40 countries who took the test. For the first time, the study also tracked the progress of the same cohort of students by administering a third test in their last year of school. And the results have a sobering effect (3) those trying to improve science and mathematics education around the world. In the nine countries that agreed to participate in that third test, called the TIMSS Advanced, students in their senior year were found to (4) performed gradually worse as they moved from elementary to middle to high school.

Only an elite group of Russian students taking an extra daily dose of maths avoided taking the plunge, with their scores staying well above the midpoint at each level. Slovenian students (5) so in physics but not in mathematics. The East Asian students did not participate in the TIMSS Advanced because it was considered conflicting with the high-stakes final exam that determines university placement in those countries. So the study sheds (6) light on their performance across their entire school careers.

The advanced students also struggled to meet the international benchmark for the tests. In maths, only two per cent of the students scored at an advanced level, and only 43% demonstrated even a basic knowledge of algebra, calculus and geometry. At the (7) time, some of the TIMSS results lend credence to conventional wisdom. For example, eighth grade science students who “rarely or never” (8)  class scored 95 points higher than those who are absent once a week. That suggests time on task does affect how much students learn.

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