English assessment Part 1 : written English How to 10X Your Productivity by Playing Pokemon Go You re probably thinking: September 5, 2016 Pokemon Go can t possibly improve your productivity and there s no way it can increase all chances that you can get anything done by playing it. Well, here s the thing. I was sitting at work one day when, suddenly, a coworker arose from his desk and hurried away. Curious, I asked another co-worker where he was off to in such a rush. I was told that he left to go defeat a Gym two blocks away. Frankly, I didn t know what a gym was at the time, but I knew he must be playing Pokemon Go. I was intrigued, and the next thing I knew I was already downloading Pokemon Go right to my phone. What happened next surprised me even more- I really liked it. The Hook And it wasn t just me. A quick walk through town and I saw a lot more people hooked to it. I met a woman in her 40s, a man in his 50s, working professionals, and several other people I never would have imagined would play. It appeared that Pokemon Go s appeal goes beyond just children, teenagers, and young adults. This got me pondering* why people were drawn to this game, and why achieving success in the game was more exciting, presumably than achieving success towards real life goals. Analysis of the Catch *pondering = thinking In Pokemon Go, it s relatively easy to accomplish a variety of tasks and get rewarded for them. For example, you can go for a walk in your neighborhood and achieve a number of V.Charbonniaud-Doussaud / http://thedailyteacher.wordpress.com/ Page 1
things, like leveling up your trainer, powering up your Pokemon and hatching an egg. You can also start working on evolving a Pokemon, taking over a Gym, or discovering new Pokemon to add to the Pokedex. In fact, you could be doing all of the above on any given adventure. Whether it s a big or small accomplishment, you get rewarded in Pokemon Go. The consistency of these rewards is what draws more and more people to the game. The more rewards you get, the more motivated you become to get to the next levels. Compare to Reality In reality, we don t get to celebrate rewards for every small accomplishment. This is largely the reason why many people never complete their goals. Big goals are overwhelming, and even if you break your big goal into smaller chunks, it can be challenging at times to keep up the momentum to keep moving forward. The concept of celebrating small wins has been emphasized by entrepreneurs like Tim Ferriss, Chase Jarvis, and many others. Simply put, the concept is to celebrate your small wins daily. Take this for example: Imagine you are writing a 500-page novel and you write one page every morning. You don t get rewards every day after you write a page, and it will take quite a bit of time before you finish the book and reap the fruits of all your hard work. Now, compare it with playing Pokemon Go. In the game, you ll get rewards for every milestone and level you surpass. Which one do you think will excite you more? While reality is extremely far from the virtual world of Pokemon Go, it doesn t mean that we can t apply its principles to our life goals. While you re laughing at me, I m going to show you how the game can boost your productivity by as much as 10x. Applying Pokemon Go to Your Goals The first two things you need to learn is to define your goals and create rewards for those goals. Defining goals It s simple to define your end goal. It can be about starting a business, publishing a book or getting a new job. V.Charbonniaud-Doussaud / http://thedailyteacher.wordpress.com/ Page 2
These goals can sound simple, but, in reality, it can take a lot of time before you can accomplish them. And the longer it takes means the longer you ll have to wait to enjoy the rewards you can get from them. The trick is to break down these goals into milestones and designate rewards for each of them. Setting up rewards Now, this is the fun part. After setting up your milestones, you re ready to pick out rewards for them. In essence, your rewards should make you feel more motivated to go on and reach the next milestones. Here are some ideas for rewards: 1. Verbal celebration and self-acknowledgement of daily goals. This can be as simple as telling yourself about how awesome you are after completing your daily goals. In addition, you can supplement this by taking 5 minutes of quiet time to just be happy about your accomplishments and think about all the things you re grateful for that day. 2. Pick rewards you ll really enjoy. In case you re able to write 10 pages this week, reward yourself with a ticket to that concert you really want to see. If you re able to write 2 pages today, reward yourself with a good movie tonight. 3. Get a friend in on the game with you. For example, if you get your to-do list all completed, you ll go to an art museum together. You can also make it a double wager so that if you both accomplish your to-do lists, you ll go to that restaurant you re both dying to check out. 4. Pick smaller rewards. It can be as simple as a cup of your favorite coffee, a walk in the park or your favorite TV show. One key thing to remember about these tips is that rewards usually vary from person to person. They don t have to be big but make sure they re meaningful and exciting to you. In the long run, setting up exciting goals can motivate and encourage you to reach your end goal. Follow-Up 1. Clearly define your goals and break them into small chunks and milestones, using the table above as an outline 2. Select and assign rewards to every small chunk and milestone, again utilizing the table as a reference 2. Author: Garik Himebaugh helps freelancers and entrepreneurs be more productive and grow their businesses at TurboResults.com From: website DumbLittleMan V.Charbonniaud-Doussaud / http://thedailyteacher.wordpress.com/ Page 3
Compréhension globale Rédigez (en français) un texte présentant l article How to 10X Your Productivity by Playing Pokemon Go en essayant de ne négliger aucun aspect (type de document, auteur, sujet, thèmes abordés ). V.Charbonniaud-Doussaud / http://thedailyteacher.wordpress.com/ Page 4
Compréhension détaillée 1) How did the author first get hooked to Pokemon Go? In what circumstances? 2) Why did the author start pondering why people were drawn to this game? 3) According to the author, what defines «the catch» in Pokemon Go? What qualifies it? 4) What is the main difference between Pokemon Go and reality (except from catching creatures that don t exist!)? 5) What are the main steps to take to apply Pokemon Go to your goals? 6) So the author defines four categories of reward. Explain what each of them is/consists in: a) b) c) d) V.Charbonniaud-Doussaud / http://thedailyteacher.wordpress.com/ Page 5
Give a definition in English of Vocabulary 7) co-worker: 8) appeal: 9) get rewarded: 10) it can be challenging at times to keep up the momentum to keep moving forward: 11) boost: 12) milestones: V.Charbonniaud-Doussaud / http://thedailyteacher.wordpress.com/ Page 6
1) How often do you play tennis? a. On Tuesday. b. For two hours. c. Almost every day. d. With John. 2) Where do you usually eat lunch? a. Sandwich. b. With Jane. c. At 12:00. d. In the cafeteria. 3) How long did you study last night? a. With Bob. b. In my room. c. English. d. For three hours. 4) What kind of novels do you like? a. Yes, I do. b. I like spy novels. 5) What kind of work do you do? a. I work every day. b. I'm a piano teacher. c. I worked for two hours. 6) How many hours a day do you watch TV? a. About two hours. b. In my living room. c. I watch the news. d. On Tuesday. 7) What is your busiest day of the week? a. In the morning. b. Every day. c. Tuesday. d. Last week. 8) My mother is a good cook. a. I agree with you. b. I agree you. c. I agree to you. d. I agree for you. 9) What does "TV" mean? a. For one hour. b. Yes c. Television. d. For one hour. e. On Friday. 10) How do you spell "dog"? a. No b. D-O-G Quick grammar test Underline the right answer V.Charbonniaud-Doussaud / http://thedailyteacher.wordpress.com/ Page 7
c. No d. I don't e. Cat. f. I have one dog. 11) What did you do yesterday? a. I am swimming. b. I swim. c. I will swim. d. I swam. 12) What do you like to drink? a. Coffee. b. Saturday evening. c. Two. d. With my friends. 13) What did you eat last night? a. At six. b. Spaghetti. c. With my family. d. At home. 14) What are you doing? a. I'm eating. b. I ate. c. I will be eating. d. I have eaten. 15) What will you do this afternoon? a. I play soccer. b. I played soccer. c. I'll play soccer. d. I was playing soccer. 16) Where's Mike? a. At school. b. At eight. c. For three hours. d. No, he isn't. 17) Where do you do your homework? a. With John. b. In the evening. c. About one hour. d. Every day. e. At home. 18) When did you go to that restaurant? a. Spaghetti. b. With Jane. c. Last night. d. About 30 minutes. 19) When was the last time you took a picture? a. A picture of Jane. b. Seven pictures. c. About four days ago. d. With my camera. V.Charbonniaud-Doussaud / http://thedailyteacher.wordpress.com/ Page 8
20) What were you doing last night at 7:00? a. I sleep. b. I slept. c. I will be sleeping. d. I was sleeping. 21) When will you mail that letter? a. Last night. b. To Jane. c. After school. 22) What are you going to do after dinner? a. I took a bath b. I'll take a bath. c. I take a bath. 23) How long have you been playing the trumpet? a. About 50 cm. b. For four years. c. In my room. d. By myself. 24) How many hours a day do you sleep? a. I have slept 7 hours. b. I am sleeping 7 hours. c. I slept 7 hours. d. I sleep 7 hours. 25) How often do you write letters? a. Two pages. b. Twice a week. c. Two people. d. Two hours. 26) Where can I buy beer? a. When you are twenty years old. b. About two bottles. c. With Jane. d. At a liquor store. 27) What's your favorite sport? a. Swim. b. Swimming. 28) When was the last time you went shopping? a. Yesterday. b. Tomorrow. c. Near the Station. 29) How often do you speak on the telephone? a. At least once a day. b. In the evening? c. For about 30 minutes. 30) How many times have you gone camping? a. Three people. b. Three days. c. Three times. 31) Where are you from? a. New York. V.Charbonniaud-Doussaud / http://thedailyteacher.wordpress.com/ Page 9
b. 1982. c. At school. 32) How do you get to school? a. With train. b. In train. c. By train. V.Charbonniaud-Doussaud / http://thedailyteacher.wordpress.com/ Page 10
Expression écrite In the article How to 10X Your Productivity by Playing Pokemon Go, the author explains how you can use Pokemon Go as an example to set up a reward system in order to achieve your goals. This makes sense since the author Garik Himebaugh helps freelancers and entrepreneurs be more productive and grow their businesses. Do you think this is a good idea? Do you think that using rewards is a good system to improve your productivity? Is Pokemon Go a good example of that? In a second part, discuss and explain how you achieve your goals, and what they are What is your own way of being more efficient and productive: managing your time? Super vitamins? Working on motivation? Looking for advice? Etc Or maybe you don t think it is important at all to have goals and achieve them: in that case, explain why you think so. V.Charbonniaud-Doussaud / http://thedailyteacher.wordpress.com/ Page 11
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