• ☐ ☐ ☐ the old refrain [exp] - the common expression
• ☐ ☐ ☐ rot [v] - harm, make rotten
• ☐ ☐ ☐ train [v] - practice
• ☐ ☐ ☐ engaging [v] - using
• ☐ ☐ ☐ tax [v] - put pressure on
• ☐ ☐ ☐ cognitive skills [n] - brain ability
• ☐ ☐ ☐ a suite [n] - a set or group of things
• ☐ ☐ ☐ executive function [n] - brain skills involving mental control and self-regulation
• ☐ ☐ ☐ in the face of [exp] - during
• ☐ ☐ ☐ screen out [phv] - remove unnecessary information
• ☐ ☐ ☐ irrelevant [adj] - not important
• ☐ ☐ ☐ go back and forth [exp] - alternate between two things
• ☐ ☐ ☐ zero in on [phv] - focus on
• ☐ ☐ ☐ rigorously [adv] - in an extremely careful way
• ☐ ☐ ☐ assessments [n] - tests
• ☐ ☐ ☐ distractors [n] - things that distract you
• ☐ ☐ ☐ efficacy [n] - effectiveness
• ☐ ☐ ☐ fMRI [n] - functional magnetic resonance imaging - brain scanning machine
• ☐ ☐ ☐ provocative [adj] - interesting
• ☐ ☐ ☐ ultimately [adv] - in the end
• ☐ ☐ ☐ a real bummer [exp] - bad news

[n] - noun,  [v] - verb, [phv] - phrasal verb,  [adj] - adjective,  [exp] - expression

1. What do parents often say about playing video games?
   They are a fun.
   They are expensive.
   They are bad for your brain.
   
   
2. What is Lumosity?
   An app that is supposed to make people smarter
   A company that measures brain activity
   A type of Pokemon
   
   
3. What did Dr. Cable want to find out?
   Whether any video games made people smarter
   Whether brain training apps were effective
   Whether Lumosity was effective
   
   
4. What effects do the brain training apps promise?
   They will make people smarter.
   They will improve people's memory.
   They will make people better at playing video games.
   
   
5. What types of activities do the brain training apps focus on?
   Remembering things while being distracted
   Reading many different things at the same time
   Being able to multi-task
   Improving hand-eye coordination
   Being able to focus in on specific information
   
   
6. What is an example of one of these activities?
   Being able to make a phone call and play a game at the same time
   Remembering 10 different phone numbers at the same time
   Remembering a phone number while being talked to
   
   
7. What is the Stroop Task?
   Remembering the color of words
   Saying the color a word is written in
   Writing words in numerous different colors
   
   
8. How do designers want people to use these games?
   People use them instead of playing regular video games.
   People use them while they are studying or learning other things.
   People use them again and again until they improve.
   
   
9. Who did they compare the brain training app users to?
   Regular video game users
   People who didn't play any video games
   People who read a lot
   
   
10. How did they assess people's cognitive ability and improvement?
    They tested their working memory.
    They measured their brain activity.
    They evaluated their decision making.
    
    
11. How did they measure brain activity?
    They asked the people many questions.
    They used an fMRI.
    They measured how long people slept.
    
    
12. What effects did the brain training apps have?
    None
    The same as playing regular video games
    They improved people's memory marginally.