IV. Reading Comprehension: Choose the BEST answer to each question/statement belowaccording to what is stated and implied in each passage.
College classrooms are often drab and dreary places. Walls are painted a variation of“institutional gray”; furniture is easy to clean, but uncomfortable and unattractive. Chairs are linedup straight rows facing the teacher’s desk or lectern. In one study, over 80% of university studentsrated their classrooms negatively, describing them as ugly, cramped, stuffy, and uncomfortable.Research by environmental psychologists is beginning to show that unattractive classrooms are notonly unappealing; they may also adversely affect academic performance.
A more carefully controlled study of classroom environments was conducted by Wolling andMontage (1981). They selected two identical classrooms located side by side in the psychologybuilding. The control classroom, which they called the “sterile classroom,” had white walls, a graycarpet, and rows of plastic desks. The experimental classroom, which they called the “friendlyclassroom,” was redecorated with the help of a design consultant. Several walls were painted brightcolors, art posters were hung on the walls, large plants were added to the room, and colorfulChinese kites were hung from the ceiling. In addition to traditional desks, a part of the room wasoutfitted with area rugs, color-coordinated cushions, and wooden cubes to provide nontraditionalseating.
The researchers investigated how these two different environments affected performance inactual college classes. Two professors teaching introductory psychology agreed to participate in thestudy although they were not informed of the purpose of the research. When school began, eachclass was randomly assigned to one of the two rooms. Halfway through the term, the classesswitched rooms. Thus students in both classes spent half the term in the control room and half in the“friendly” room. Students were not told they were being studied； the switch in rooms was explainedas occurring because the original room was needed for videotaping.
The most striking finding from this study was that students performed significantly better onregular course exams when they were in the friendly rather than the sterile classroom.