@MultiLevelRecord Abror Rahmatullayev
Reading Part 5
Read the following text for questions 30-35.
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The secret of the Yawn
When a scientist began to study yawning in the 1980s, it was difficult to
convince some of his research students of the merits of “yawning
science.” Although it may appear quirky, his decision to study yawning
was a logical extension to human beings of my research in
developmental neuroscience, reported in such papers as “Wing-
flapping during Development and Evolution.” As a neurobehavioral
problem, there is not much difference between the wing-flapping of
birds and the face – and body-flapping of human yawners. Yawning is
an ancient, primitive act. Humans do it even before they are born,
opening wide in the womb. Some snakes unhinge their jaws to do it.
One species of penguins yawns as part of mating. Only now are
researchers beginning to understand why we yawn, when we yawn and
why we yawn back. A professor of cognitive neuroscience at Drexel
University in Philadelphia, Steven Platek, studies the act of contagious
yawning, something done only by people and other primates. In his first
experiment, he used a psychological test to rank people on their
empathic feelings. He found that participants who did not score high on
compassion did not yawn back. “We literally had people saying, ‘Why
am I looking at people yawning?’” Professor Platek said. “It just had no
effect.” For his second experiment, he put 10 students in a magnetic
resonance imaging machine as they watched video tapes of people
yawning. When the students watched the videos, the part of the brain
which reacted was the part scientists believe controls empathy – the
posterior cingulate, in the brain’s middle rear.” I don’t know if it’s
necessarily that nice people yawn more, but I think it’s a good indicator
of a state of mind,” said Professor Platek. “It’s also a good indicator if
you’re empathizing with me and paying attention.” His third experiment
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@MultiLevelRecord Abror Rahmatullayev
is studying yawning in those with brain disorders, such as autism and
schizophrenia, in which victims have difficulty connecting emotionally
with others. A psychology professor at the University of Maryland,
Robert Provine, is one of the few other researchers into yawning. He
found the basic yawn lasts about six seconds and they come in bouts
with an interval of about 68 seconds. Men and women yawn or half-
yawn equally often, but men are significantly less likely to cover their
mouths which may indicate complex distinction in genders.” A watched
yawner never yawns,” Professor Provine said. However, the physical
root of yawning remains a mystery. Some researchers say it’s
coordinated within the hypothalamus of the brain, the area that also
controls breathing. Yawning and stretching also share properties and
may be performed together as parts of a global motor complex. But
they do not always co-occur – people usually yawn when we stretch,
but we don’t always stretch when we yawn, especially before bedtime.
Studies by J.I.P, G.H.A. Visser and H.F. Prechtl in the early 1980s,
charting movement in the developing fetus using ultrasound, observed
not just yawning but a link between yawning and stretching as early as
the end of the first prenatal trimester. The most extraordinary
demonstration of the yawn-stretch linkage occurs in many people
paralyzed on one side of their body because of brain damage caused
by a stroke. The prominent British neurologist Sir Francis Walshe noted
in 1923 what when these hemiplegics yawn, they are startled and
mystified to observe that their otherwise paralyzed arm rises and flexes
automatically in what neurologists term an “associated response.”
Yawning apparently activates undamaged, unconsciously controlled
connections between the brain and the cord motor system innervating
the paralyzed limb. It is not known whether the associated response is
a positive prognosis for recovery, nor whether yawning is therapeutic
for reinnervation or prevention of muscular atrophy. Clinical neurology
offers other surprises. Some patients with “locked-in” syndrome, who
are almost totally deprived of the ability to move voluntarily, can yawn
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@MultiLevelRecord Abror Rahmatullayev
normally. The neural circuits for spontaneous yawning must exist in the
brain stem near other respiratory and vasomotor centers, because
yawning is performed by anencephalic who possess only the medulla
oblongata. The multiplicity of stimuli of contagious yawning, by contrast,
implicates many higher brain regions.
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@MultiLevelRecord Abror Rahmatullayev
For questions 30-33, fill in the missing information in the
numbered spaces. Write no more than ONE WORD and / or A
NUMBER for each question.
A psychology professor drew a conclusion after observation that it takes
about six seconds to complete average yawning which needs
(30) ……………. seconds before the following yawning comes. It is
almost at the same frequency that male and female yawn or half, yet
behavior accompanied with yawning showing a complex (31) ……….....
in genders. Some parts within the brain may affect the movement which
also has something to do with breathing another finding also finds there
is a link between a yawn and (32) ……………. before a baby was born,
which two can be automatically co-operating even among people
whose (33) ……………. is damaged.
For questions 34-35, choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D. Mark
your answers on the answer sheet.
34. According to the passage, the yawning and stretching …
A) isn’t primitive and ancient, as the research suggest.
B) is something we do before we even born.
C) has something to do our bedtimes.
D) is just a response to our stress.
35. The author of this passage concludes that …
A) even the people who doesn’t move voluntarily can yawn.
B) the yawning is still a mystery to many scientists.
C) contagious yawning is a neural disorder.
D) yawning happens inside the brain simultaneously.
