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Beyond the Feed: A Global Weekend on Identity and Digital Culture

Why It Is Drawing Attention

As online self-presentation becomes more influential across cultures, Global Civic Forum is launching an event on digital habits, cultural identity, and authenticity. The programme explores the confusion and pressure (1) __________ when personal value is increasingly measured by reaction, trend, and performance.

What Visitors Will Encounter

Across the venue, visitors will move through:

∙        a story gallery featuring accounts rooted in cross-cultural experience and online comparison,

∙        a culturally (2) __________ exploring how public behaviour is affected by algorithmic attention,

∙        and a reflection space where participants are invited to engage (3) __________ questions of image, belonging, and self-worth.

Why the Theme Matters Now

As curated lifestyles grow more popular around the globe, the event aims to (4) __________ visitors with language for discussing digital pressure without reducing it to private weakness. Several installations show how easily admiration can become self-doubt when identity is constantly performed. Those (5) __________ the final evening session may leave written responses for a closing display about concerns often experienced (6) __________ one’s own.

Question 1: A. having caused        B. to be caused        C. caused        D. causing

Question 2: A. behaviour reflective panel        B. panel reflective behaviour

C. reflective panel behaviour        D. reflective behaviour panel

Question 3: A. in        B. at        C. with        D. for

Question 4: A. put        B. hold        C. equip        D. link

Question 5: A. attend        B. attending        C. attended        D. to attend

Question 6: A. by        B. with        C. from        D. on

Question 13:

a. Leo: Great idea. Your recipe card and my lantern photos could make our booth feel more personal.

b. Leo: The school fair is next week. Should we show something from both our families at the cultural exchange booth?

c. Nina: Yes, that would be nice. People usually notice the food first, but the stories behind it matter too.

A. a – b – c        B. b – c – a        C. c – b – a        D. b – a – c

Question 14:

a. Max: That helps. I was afraid I had broken a rule without noticing.

b. Sara: Not at all. You are adapting well, and my grandma already likes how respectful you are.

c. Sara: You seemed lost at dinner with my relatives. Was anything confusing?

d. Max: A little. Everyone kept placing food in my bowl, and I didn’t know if I should refuse.

e. Sara: That is a friendly custom here. Next time, smile, thank them, and eat a small bite.

A. a – c – d – e – b        B. c – e – d – a – b        C. c – d – e – a – b        D. c – d – a – b – e

Question 15:

Dear Festival Committee,

How are you? Thanks again for last Saturday’s warm welcome.

a. It would also help to add clearer signs, a few volunteers with maps, and QR codes for quick updates.

b. Still, several visitors around me seemed confused because the schedule board was small and placed too far from the main gate.

c. With a few changes like these, next year’s event could feel smoother while keeping the same friendly atmosphere.

d. I really enjoyed the cultural festival, especially the student dance stage and the food booths near the lake.

e. As a result, many people missed the pottery workshop, and the area near the ticket desk became too crowded.

Best,

Mai

A. d – b – a – e – c        B. b – d – e – a – c        C. d – e – b – c – a        D. d – b – e – a – c

Question 16:

a. To keep those values alive, schools and parents should create small routines that make traditions part of daily life again.

b. In my neighborhood, fewer children visit their grandparents on weekends now because many stay home with games, short videos, and online shopping.

c. In many towns, traditional values are becoming weaker as young people spend more time following fast trends than joining family routines.

d. Simple habits such as eating together, greeting older relatives first, or helping prepare festival food used to teach patience and respect.

e. As a result, some families still live close to one another, yet they share fewer stories, and younger members know less about their roots.

A. c – b – d – e – a        B. c – b – e – d – a        C. c – d – e – b – a        D. c – d – b – e – a

Question 17:

a. This speed can be exciting because it introduces people to other lifestyles and encourages creativity, especially when students use subtitles, comments, and translation tools to explore them.

b. However, constant exposure also has a hidden cost when local songs, regional stories, or careful face-to-face conversations begin to feel slower and less attractive.

c. Through streaming platforms, short videos, and fan pages, music, fashion, and even ways of joking can spread across countries within hours.

d. For that reason, technology should not be treated as the enemy of culture, but as a powerful tool that needs balance so influence leads to understanding rather than imitation.

e. Media and technology now shape cultural influence so strongly that many teenagers learn new habits, accents, and opinions from screens before they hear them at home.

A. e – a – c – b – d        B. e – c – a – b – d        C. c – e – a – d – b        D. e – c – b – a – d

CULTURE SHOCK AS A STAGE OF LEARNING

The term culture shock describes the confusion people feel when they enter an unfamiliar cultural environment. For many exchange students, it does not begin with a dramatic event. Instead, it grows through daily moments such as misunderstanding gestures, feeling uncertain about local customs, or hesitating during interaction. In some cases, even behaviour that seems friendly in one place may be interpreted differently in another, a difference that (18) __________.

Although culture shock is often discussed as a problem, many educators see it as a valuable stage if students respond well. They advise learners to observe before judging, ask respectful questions, and accept that discomfort is sometimes part of adaptation. What often makes the process easier is not full familiarity with the host culture but (19) __________. Students who join local activities, practise the language, and reflect on differences patiently are usually better prepared to adapt.

Over time, culture shock may strengthen a person’s sense of identity rather than weaken it. By comparing habits and expectations across places, learners begin to understand not only the new culture but also their own assumptions more clearly. Many later report that one of the most lasting effects of the experience is (20) __________. For this reason, some schools now treat culture shock as a topic (21) __________ instead of something students should face on their own. When approached thoughtfully, it becomes less a barrier to connection. (22) __________.

Question 18:

A. can make initial misunderstandings considerably harder to anticipate and avoid
B. avoiding misunderstandings early seem easier than anticipating them carefully
C. anticipate misunderstandings into differences that are easier to avoid early on
D. can arise from misunderstandings that learners are slower to notice and prevent

Question 19:

A. the expectation that unfamiliar ways of living open through familiarity
B. a genuine willingness to remain open to unfamiliar ways of living
C. the belief that openness to unfamiliar living comes mainly after familiarity
D. greater familiarity with unfamiliar living and less willingness to remain open

Question 20:

A. to treat earlier assumptions as clear standards for later adaptation
B. the belief that clearer awareness comes from keeping prior assumptions unchanged
C. taking prior assumptions for granted despite gaining clearer awareness over time
D. clearer awareness of assumptions they had previously taken for granted

Question 21:

A. explicitly discussing in formal pre-departure student orientation sessions
B. whose schools should explicitly discuss in formal pre-departure sessions

C. worthy of explicit discussion in formal pre-departure orientation sessions
D. to be discussed schools in formal pre-departure student orientation sessions

Question 22:

A. Instead, learners examine differences more patiently and question their own assumptions more deeply

B. Deeper understanding grows when learners judge differences through familiar expectations alone

C. Examining differences patiently lets learners understand cultures without questioning assumptions

D. Learners gain cultural understanding when differences remain unexamined in the name of connection

STEREOTYPES: WHEN QUICK JUDGMENT REPLACES REAL UNDERSTANDING

In many respects, modern life trains people to judge quickly. At school, online, and even in everyday interaction, we often form opinions before real understanding has time to grow. A quiet classmate may be seen as rude, while a student from another cultural background may be expected to behave in a certain way. These assumptions sometimes seem harmless because they make a complex social world feel easier to read. Yet what appears familiar at first glance may, in fact, be deeply misleading.

Part of the reason stereotypes gain in popularity is that they offer mental convenience. They help people sort others into simple categories and respond without much effort. In unfamiliar situations, that shortcut can reduce confusion and make social contact feel less threatening. On the other hand, it also turns individuals into fixed images. A “positive” stereotype may sound respectful, but it can still be insulting because it ignores difference within a group. Not every tradition reflects the same values, and not every person’s identity is defined by origin, appearance, or cultural features.

Social media has made this pattern stronger. Striking labels spread around the globe faster than careful explanation, and simplified stories often attract more attention than nuanced ones. As a result, stereotypes do not only shape opinion. They can influence behaviour, limit opportunity, and create barriers in cross-cultural settings. Worse still, people may begin to adapt to the labels placed on them, losing confidence or feeling pressure to fit an image they never chose.

Yet stereotypes are not challenged simply by telling people to ignore difference. Diverse societies naturally involve comparison, and cultures do differ across places. The better response is to keep an open mind and let real experience correct first impressions. When people interact with curiosity and respect, diversity is more likely to bring people together than divide them. Then understanding becomes not a ready-made judgment, but a more honest and humane way of seeing others.

[Adapted from https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/]

Question 23. In which paragraph does the writer mainly introduce the problem by showing how quickly people form first impressions in daily life and why those impressions may be unreliable?

A. Paragraph 1        B. Paragraph 2        C. Paragraph 3        D. Paragraph 4

Question 24. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Simplistic labels are becoming less popular due to the rise of social media.

B. A "positive" stereotype is generally welcomed as it shows respect for a group.

C. True understanding is a continuous process rather than an instant conclusion.

D. People only adopt labels when they feel confident about their own cultural identity.

Question 25. According to paragraph 2, stereotypes may do all of the following EXCEPT __________.

A. make unfamiliar social situations feel less threatening

B. help people react to others with less mental effort

C. push people into simple and fixed categories

D. encourage people to notice differences within a group more fully

Question 26. The word "it" in paragraph 2 refers to __________.

A. a mental shortcut        B. social contact        C. an unfamiliar situation        D. a fixed image

Question 27. In which paragraph does the writer mainly discuss how stereotypes are strengthened by modern media and begin to affect behaviour and opportunity?

A. Paragraph 1        B. Paragraph 2        C. Paragraph 3        D. Paragraph 4

Question 28. The word “nuanced” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to __________.

A. subtle        B. dramatic        C. familiar        D. direct

Question 29. Which of the following best paraphrases the underlined sentence in paragraph 4?

A. Stereotypes disappear once people stop paying attention to cultural difference.

B. Telling people to act as if differences do not exist is not enough to overcome stereotypes.

C. People should avoid comparing cultures if they want to think more fairly about others.

D. Stereotypes are mainly created by people who focus too much on difference.

Question 30. The word “humane” in paragraph 4 is OPPOSITE in meaning to __________.

A. rigid        B. distant        C. brutal        D. formal

The Everyday Grammar of Cultural Discrimination

[I] A student brings food from home to school, only to notice the table fall quiet before someone makes a joke about the smell. [II] Such moments are easy to dismiss because they arrive in a light tone. Even so, they reflect something heavier. [III] Cultural discrimination rarely begins as open hostility. [IV] More often, it enters daily life through small reactions that make one person feel familiar and another quietly out of place.

Its mechanism is not especially mysterious. People sort the world into quick categories, and stereotypes offer the comfort of speed. As a result, a complex person is reduced to a cultural type, then judged before being understood. Some of these labels sound harmless, even positive, but they still flatten identity and block genuine interaction. Once prejudice settles in, discrimination follows as behaviour. It may be direct, denying equal treatment openly, or indirect, hidden inside rules that appear neutral but create a barrier for certain groups, including those whose dress or customs differ from the norm.

The problem deepens when exclusion becomes structural. Institutions, schools, workplaces, public services, may not openly reject anyone, yet they often reward those who can adapt to the dominant culture with the least friction. On the other hand, people who differ are expected to explain themselves, soften themselves, or blend in before they can fully belong. Over time, those who suffer from such treatment may lose confidence, withdraw from public interaction, or stop reporting unfair behaviour altogether. Not because the harm is small, but because the process is exhausting and the understanding they hope for does not always come.

A balanced view matters here. Shared norms can help a diverse society function, and not every awkward cross cultural moment is proof of malice. The real cause for alarm appears when awareness turns performative, when institutions praise diversity but fail to respect cultural identity in practice, or when suffering is displayed mainly to make others feel morally awake. What matters more is a deeper habit of public life: to keep an open mind, to connect with people beyond the category assigned to them, and to treat pluralism not as decoration but as a condition for social cohesion.

[Adapted from Council of Europe]

Question 31: Where in the passage does the following sentence best fit?

In a job interview, a candidate is praised for seeming “surprisingly polished,” as if competence were unexpected.

A. [I]         B. [III]         C. [IV]         D. [II]

Question 32. What do the opening examples mainly suggest about cultural discrimination?

A. It often enters ordinary situations through comments that seem minor rather than openly hostile.

B. It is usually recognised only when the speaker intends to insult someone clearly.

C. It becomes serious mainly after institutions turn private bias into formal policy.

D. It tends to arise when cultural differences are too obvious to ignore.

Question 33. In paragraph 2, the word “It” refers to __________.

A. equal treatment        B. discrimination        C. prejudice        D. interaction

Question 34. Which of the following best summarises paragraph 2?

A. Cultural discrimination is mainly caused by unusual clothing and customs, which often make interaction difficult even when people are well intentioned.

B. Once people learn to avoid direct prejudice, positive labels become useful tools for promoting smoother communication across cultural groups.

C. Quick categorisation may feel efficient, but it reduces people to labels and can lead to both obvious and seemingly neutral forms of unequal treatment.

D. Stereotypes help people understand unfamiliar situations more carefully, so discrimination usually happens only when rules are openly unfair.

Question 35. According to paragraph 3, which of the following is NOT true?

A. Institutions may seem inclusive while still benefiting those closest to the dominant culture.

B. People who are treated unfairly may eventually speak up less because the process wears them down.

C. Some people feel pressure to adjust themselves before they are fully accepted.

D. Structural exclusion in institutions mainly operates through open refusal rather than through routine expectations and systems.

Question 36. According to paragraph 3, why might some people stop reporting unfair treatment?

A. They begin to see unfair treatment as too minor to deserve public attention.

B. Repeated exclusion can exhaust them, while the understanding they hope for often does not appear.

C. They know that formal complaints usually require them to prove open hostility first.

D. They prefer private adaptation because it helps them belong more quickly.

Question 37. The word "friction" in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to __________. 

A. resistance         B. attraction         C. confidence         D. movement

Question 38. Which of the following best paraphrases the sentence in paragraph 4: “The real cause for alarm appears when awareness turns performative, when institutions praise diversity but fail to respect cultural identity in practice...” ?

A. The greatest danger is that shared social rules may make cultural misunderstanding seem more serious than it really is.

B. Trouble arises mainly because people confuse ordinary awkwardness with deliberate hostility in culturally mixed situations.

C. The main problem begins when public support for diversity becomes more about appearance than genuine respect in everyday practice.

D. Institutions protect social cohesion most effectively when they display cultural suffering to increase public awareness.

Question 39. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. Cultural discrimination disappears naturally once institutions adopt rules that sound neutral for everyone involved.

B. Most cultural conflicts come from clear hostility rather than from repeated habits, expectations, and everyday reactions.

C. People who adapt successfully to dominant norms are usually untouched by cultural discrimination in public life.

D. Social cohesion is more likely when people move beyond labels and institutions match public claims with fair practice.

Question 40. Which of the following best summarises the passage?

A. Society needs to move beyond superficial displays of diversity to address the deep-rooted, subtle mechanisms that continue to exclude cultural identities.

B. Institutions have successfully utilized mental shortcuts and stereotypes to create a more efficient and predictable environment for all cultural groups.

C. Modern cultural discrimination has been effectively eliminated as individuals from diverse backgrounds now find it easier to adapt to shared social norms.

D. Minority groups should prioritize explaining their unique customs to others to minimize the awkwardness and friction found in cross-cultural interactions.