PART 3

Window shopping refers to the process of going from store to store — or even website to website — just to look at what is for sale. Available to anyone, it is a leisurely process with no time constraints, but, depending on a person’s personality, it can affect the shopper's finances. Some people use it just to pass the time and dream, while others use it to get inspired or gather information about current trends.

The general concept behind window shopping is that a person walks from store to store, looking at what is in the sellers’ windows. People often do it when they are in more urban areas, as these locations have streets lined with different shops. Another option where the term is used, however, is the flea market, where many vendors are close to each other and a person can travel from booth to booth as she likes. These take place in both rural and urban communities.

While traditional window shopping takes place at a brick and mortar location, the concept can be expanded to the Internet, as well. Websites, unless down for maintenance, are ‘never closed’ so this form of participation can be more accessible. Shoppers also can more easily make comparisons, using tabs in their browser to see what different companies offer, even if those companies are hundreds of miles apart. They also can bookmark the web pages of sellers they like or post links in emails, blogs or chat conversations. Going through the browsing process online is particularly appealing to those who have limited mobility or who are housebound.

Retailers know that people sometimes prefer this mode of browsing merchandise, so they often make it a point to invest heavily in their websites and develop as e-commerce businesses. Many even develop separate ‘mobile’ versions of their websites that people navigate more easily on devices like smartphones. Some companies exist only online, so sometimes a person has no other option but to browse digital displays.

PART 4 Read the article below about meditation for beginners. Five sentences have been removed from the review. Choose from the sentences A to F the one which fits each gap (16 to 20). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Most first-time meditators find it strange to sit in silence, to sit with their innermost thoughts and feelings, to sit and do nothing — the very things that, funnily enough, the mind tends to resist. To a beginner, meditation might initially feel a little alien, perhaps even daunting, but that is okay. People have been meditating for around 3,000 years, and many have doubtless experienced the same reticence, trepidation, or wonder that first-time meditators often feel.

Maybe you want to start meditating because you want to be less reactive, feel less stressed, or be more focused. Maybe meditating is part of a wider personal development plan of some kind. Or maybe you are looking to improve your relationships with those around you. Whatever the reason, training the mind through meditation is training in awareness. 16 (______________).

Our entire existence is experienced through our minds, and our perspective on life can dramatically alter once we begin meditating. Being inspired to start meditating is very different from actually doing it, however, and you will only feel the benefits of meditation by beginning and maintaining a regular practice. 17 (________________).

Meditation is simple to learn and involves some fairly straightforward techniques. When you close your eyes and follow the instructions of your first guided meditation whether in-person or via a recording, you should expect your mind to be busy, easily distracted, and restless, if not more so. 18 .(_______________). All you have to do is close your eyes, stay focused on your breathing, and let your mind do its thing. This is the one skill where you do not have to strive to achieve something — just a place of stillness where no effort is required.

There is no such thing as a good or bad meditation. However, there is only awareness or nonawareness. The moment you realise you are lost in thought, that is awareness, and that is when you return to the object of focus (usually the breath). This is all you have to keep doing — return from your distracted thought to the breath, all the time honing your awareness. 19 (________________).

Before starting, it is good to familiarise yourself with how the mind works and what to expect of it when you sit down to meditate. A good introduction is this short animation that uses the experience of sitting by the road watching traffic to explain how meditation helps change your perspective on 8 your thoughts or feelings by teaching you to observe and let them go without getting caught up in them. 20 (______________).Life, with all its challenges and uncertainty, will still happen. What meditation can do is change how you choose to relate to, react to, and view the circumstances happening around you. Consequently, this leads to a growing sense of awareness and understanding that can ultimately change the way you feel about both yourself and others

PART 5

Read the following text about e-sports from a non-fan’s overview. Answer questions 21 to 25 based on the article.

E-sports or electronic sports is a term used to describe competitive video gaming. It’s different from standard video gaming in that e-sports is competitive (human-vs.-human) and usually has an engaging spectator element to it, like traditional sports.

The main objective of players participating in e-sports tournaments by amateur or professional gamers is to win cash prizes. For example, League of Legends pits five players against another five ina virtual battle arena to destroy each other’s base. Whereas in shooters, like Call of Duty, Over- Watch and Counter-Strike, players are pit against each other in various modes to complete an objective. Think of e-sports as competitive video gaming where skill and professionalism are celebrated. The pro gamers who play at this level know the games inside out, much like a professional footballer or athlete would in their respective fields. Players can either play one-on- one against one another (in games like FIFA and Street Fighter), or in teams. For example, in Halo, two teams of four play-offs against each other, while in Over-watch, two teams of six compete. Rules and strategies can differ greatly depending on the game in question. Professionalteams usually have coaches, analysts and managers who help to get the most out of the playersand organise strategies.

Unlike football, where men’s and women’s football are split, e-sports is technically mixed, with male, female and gender non-conforming players taking part. In recent years, the rise of women players has risen and continues to rise alongside initiatives such as ‘Women in E-sports’.

According to data from Women in Games, it is estimated that 1 in 20 women are involved in the e-sports industry- and even though this number is still quite low, it is gradually on the rise. And there are many women holding various non-player positions in e-sports, such as casting, coaching, production and so on. As well as this, e-sports is also open to all, regardless of physical ability. Some of the most popular e-sports games include League of Legends, Counter- Strike: Global Offensive, Over-Watch, Dota 2 and Call of Duty, but there are many others.

Some games are played on consoles like Xbox One or PS4, while others are played using PCs. Matches can be online over the internet, or at a physical event (usually grand finals) if safe to do so, over a LAN connection.Matches can be viewed by spectators at a live physical event or over the internet via streaming platforms such as Twitch, which broadcast the games in real-time online.

To give you an example of the scale of e-sports, some of the biggest tournaments offer millions of pounds in prizes. The tournaments with the biggest prize pools are the Dota 2 International with $34m and the Fortnite World Cup with $30m, as of 2019. These events are watched by millions of fans, and bring in a lot of interest into the e-sports scene.

Professional players, too, can expect to make a decent salary. While this can vary greatly depending on the team, the game and the player, the top pros can expect to make hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. This can come from a standard salary, as well as sponsorship deals and streaming donations. It can be a very different case for amateur players, however, who may not even have a contract. Instead, they will usually aim to make money from winning low-level tournaments and taking a split of the winnings or to play for fun. Player representation has been an ongoing topic within e-sports in recent years, as has regulation. Currently, the publishers and developers of each game set the rules themselves, and are responsible for ensuring integrity and handing out punishments where necessary.

Overall, e-sports has progressed greatly in recent years, with bookmakers, TV broadcasters and big non-endemic brands like Coca Cola getting involved in the space.