Many parents are concerned about the fact that their children play many video and computer games. Perhaps the best way to address concerns over the effects of video games is to emphasize their vast potential to educate. Even games with no educational intentions require players to learn a great deal. Games are complex, adaptive and force players to make a huge number of decisions. Gamers must learn rules through trials and errors, solve problems and puzzles, develop strategies and get help from other players via the Internet when they get stuck. The problem solving mechanism that underlies most games is like the 90% of an iceberg below the waterline— invisible to non-gamers. It is the pleasure of this problem-solving, not the violence which is sometimes included in games, that can make gaming such a satisfying experience. Nobody is using violent games in schools, of course, but other off-the-shelf games such as “Sim City”, which contain model economies, are used in education. By playing them it is possible to understand how such models work. In “Sim City”, for example, in which the player assumes the role of a city mayor, no amount of spending on health care is ever enough to satisfy patients, and the fastest route to popularity is to cut taxes.

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the paragraph?

TRUE if the statement agrees with the text

FALSE if the statement contradicts the text

NOT GIVEN if no information is given

1. The writer believes that video games which are not designed to be educational can still encourage children to learn.
2. The writer believes that decision-making in video games is educational.
3. According to the writer, people who do not play video games know the games are educational but choose to ignore this fact.
4. The writer believes that, for gamers, violent games are not the most attractive ones.
5. According to the writer, “Sim City” is unrealistic because the amount of money a player spends on health care is never high enough.