Reading passage 1

A. Passengers aboard a Qantas Airways superjumbo forced to make an emergency landing in Singapore today spoke of their horror as they heard a loud bang and watched pieces of engine fall from the plane soon after it took off for Sydney. The Australian airline immediately grounded all six of its Airbus A380 aircraft the world's biggest passenger jet after the incident, in which all 433 passengers and 26 crews emerged unharmed. Officials from Singapore Airlines also announced that it would delay all flights of its Airbus A380 fleet. B. The flight, which originated in London, experienced engine problems over western Indonesia at about 10am local time, before making an emergency landing at Singapore's Changi airport almost two hours after it took off. Qantas's chief executive, Alan Joyce, said a "significant engine failure" had occurred. "We do take our safety reputation and our standards unbelievably seriously," he told a news conference. "And we're not going to take any risks with passenger safety. As a precaution, we're suspending flights of the A380 aircraft until we're comfortable that we understand the reasons for this. C. "This issue, an engine failure, has been one that we haven't seen before. So we are obviously taking it very seriously, because it is a significant engine failure." Pieces of debris thought to have come from the aircraft were found on the Indonesian island of Batam, according to local reports. Passengers recalled the moment one of the plane's four Rolls-Royce engines exploded. "I was on the plane right next to engine two, which exploded with a loud bang within the first 10-15 minutes of takeoff," Lars Sandberg, a DJ who was due to tour Australia, told the BBC. "I thought something had fallen down in cargo underneath the plane, but the plane started shaking I'm a little bit shaken up. I travel a lot and this is the first big scare I've had." D. Sandberg said the captain had kept passengers updated throughout the plane's return to Singapore. "[He] did a good job in reassuring us, making announcements every few minutes. I'm just happy to be alive and back in the terminal building." Another passenger, Tyler Wooster, said the explosion sounded "like a shotgun going off". "Part of the skin had peeled off and you could see the foam underneath, pieces of broken wires sticking out," he told Australia's Network Nine television. "My whole body just went to jelly and I didn't know what was going to happen as we were going down, if we were going to be OK." E. Transport officials in Singapore quickly ruled out a link between the incident and volcanic ash spewing from Mount Merapi, which has erupted several times in recent days. "The shutdown of the Qantas engine had no connection with Mount Merapi," Bambang Ervan, a transport ministry spokesman, said. "It was too far from the volcano. The sky over Singapore

and Sumatra island is free of dust." A spokesman for Rolls-Royce said an investigation was under way: "The investigation is at an early stage. We are aware of the situation and are working with our client." F. The Foreign Office confirmed that a number of British people had been aboard the flight and said they were being offered consular assistance by the British high commission in Singapore. The incident is among the most serious to have affected the A380 touted as the most economical and quietest as well as largest aircraft in the world since it went into commercial service three years ago. Qantas and British Airways, with whom the Australian airline has a joint ticket-selling and code-sharing arrangement, are expected to fly large numbers of cricket fans to Australia in the coming days to watch the Ashes. G. A BA spokeswoman said the airline was in talks with Qantas about the possibility of taking on extra passengers. But she added: "We don't have a huge amount of spare capacity at the moment." Neil Shephard, a former aircraft engineer who was on the flight, said the plane had circled for about an hour to dump fuel before making the emergency landing. "During the landing, it was a bit wobbly," he said. "We could not tell the extent of the problem until we got out of the plane, where we could see one hole around six to seven inches wide on the wing. The pilot did a good job. It could have been worse." Source: The Guardian Questions You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 to 14 which are based on Reading Passage 1 Questions 1 to 7 Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs A G. From the list of headings below, choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph. Write the appropriate numbers I ix in boxes 1 7 on your answer sheet.

i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix.

No connection with Mount Merapi. The captains sincerity. The consular assistance for the passengers. The emergency landing. An engine failure. The hole on the wing. The difference in enthusiasm. A great worry. Qantas's remarks.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph

A B C D E F G

Questions 8 10 Choose the correct letters, A, B, C or D Write your answers in boxes 8 10 on your answer sheet. 8 The explosion sounded like A. B. C. D. 9 A. B. C. D. 10 A A A A shotgun going off. bomb blast. gun fire. thunder.

The airline was in talks with Qantas about the possibility of taking on Extra passengers. Extra luggage. No extra passengers. No extra luggage. The captain had kept passengers updated throughout the plane's return to

A. B. C. D.

Islamabad. Singapore. Hong Kong. London.

Questions 11 14 Complete each of the following statements (questions 11 14) with the best endings A G from the box below Write the appropriate letters A G in boxes 11 14 on your answer sheet. 11 The incident is among the most serious to 12 The plane had circled for about an hour to dump fuel before 13 Transport officials in Singapore quickly ruled out a link between the incident and 14 The Captain did a good job in reassuring the passengers

A Making the emergency landing. B Volcanic ash spewing from Mount Merapi. C A terrorist attack. D Have affected the A380. E Panic the passengers in recent years. F Making announcements every few minutes. Reading passage 2 A. President Barack Obama admitted he had been "humbled" today by the worst Democratic midterm election defeat in 70 years, and promised to work alongside the revitalised Republican party in Congress. Obama admitted that the Republicans had given his party a severe beating or as he termed it, a "shellacking" and said it had given him a late and uncomfortable night. "Some election nights are more fun than others," he said. "Some are exhilarating. Some are humbling." At a White House press conference, he portrayed himself as contrite after the election results, which saw the Republicans make gains across the country, capturing control of the House of Representatives with a majority of more than 60 and just failing to win the Senate. B. He admitted he may have been out of touch with the mood in the US, saying that was a consequence of being in the White House "bubble", and maybe he had got the message wrong during campaigning. "The election ... underscores for me that I've got to do a better job, just like everybody else in Washington does." He also offered to sit down with Republican leaders in the House and Senate, John Boehner and Mitch McConnell, along with their Democratic counterparts, to discuss areas where they could work together. "I have been willing to compromise in the past and I am willing to compromise going forward," he said. He said bipartisan co-operation was possible in three policy areas: achieving energy independence, improving education and creating jobs. C. But he offered no compromise on healthcare, on a looming row over tax cuts, financial regulation or cutting the public debt all he was prepared to consider in the way of changes to his health reform, which will extend insurance coverage to millions more Americans in 2014, were "tweaks". This leaves Washington facing a prolonged period of all-out partisan warfare. The divide between the White House and the Republicans, who secured victory partly because of public anger over the billions in public debt, will widen further after today's announcement by the Federal Reserve that it is committing $600bn (373bn) more in government bonds to try to stimulate the economy.

D. Obama has consistently defended the billions already spent on so-called quantitative easing as necessary to move the country out of the biggest recession since the Great Depression, but the Republicans portray it as mortgaging the future of America's children and grandchildren. At his press conference, Obama acknowledged public anger on the issue. "There is no doubt that people's number one concern is the economy," he said. "What they were expressing great frustration about is that we haven't made enough progress on the economy." Meanwhile at a press conference in Congress, Boehner, who will take over as the House Speaker from Nancy Pelosi in January, offered more than a glimpse of the warfare about to descend on Washington. "The American people have concerns about government takeover of healthcare," Boehner said. "I think it's important for us to lay the groundwork before we begin to repeal this monstrosity." E. He saw cutting public spending as another priority. "It's clear the American people want us to do something about cutting spending here in Washington and helping to create an environment where we'll get jobs back," Boehner said. Another Republican wish is to retain tax cuts introduced by George Bush that would benefit millionaires and billionaires. Congress has to decide by 31 December. But Democratic leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, who had been high on the Republican hit list but survived a tough race in Nevada, offered no concessions today. "It won't happen," he said bluntly, in response to the Republican proposal. F. The strength of the Republican swing was shown in races beyond Congress: they took a majority of the 37 governorships at stake and 19 of the state legislatures. The grassroots rightwing Tea Party established a beachhead in the Senate, with two of their favourites, the Republicans Rand Paul and Marco Rubio, winning Kentucky and Florida. They are now in a position to cause problems for the Democrats and mainstream Republicans, who they regard as having betrayed conservatism. G. Despite predictions of apathy, more than 80 million voted, about normal for a midterm election. Alarmingly for the Democrats, though, exit polls showed more voters now identify themselves as conservatives than in 2008, 7%. The Democrats will almost certainly lose control of the Senate in 2012 if the trend continues. Source: The Guardian Questions You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 15 27 which are based on Reading Passage 2 Questions 15 19 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 15 -19 in your answer sheet write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this 15. Barack Obama is not having a good support at the senate. 16. The American people want the government to do something about cutting spending in Washington. 17. Obama has consistently defended the billions already spent on warfare. 18. The strength of the Republican swing was shown in races beyond Congress. 19. The American people have concerns about government takeover of healthcare.

Question 20 23 Look at the following persons (questions 20 23) and the list of statements below. Match each person to the correct statement. Write the correct letter A G in boxes 1 4 on your answer sheet. 20. John Boehner 21. Mitch McConnell 22. Barack Obama 23. Rand Paul A Is the senator from Florida. B Is the senator from Kentucky. C Is the president of the US. D Is apprehensive about the governments policies. E F Discuss areas where they could work together. Has supported Obama.

Questions 24 27 Complete the following statements with the correct alternative from the box. Write the correct letter A F in boxes 24 27 on your answer sheet. 24. The divide between the White House and the Republicans will widen further after 25. The grassroots rightwing Tea Party established 26. Boehner offered more than a glimpse of 27. More than 80 million voted, about A Normal for a midterm election. B Today's announcement by the Federal Reserve. C A beachhead in the Senate. D The warfare about to descend on Washington. E Not normal for a midterm election.

Reading Passage 3 A. Ageing (British and Australian English) or aging (American and Canadian English) is the accumulation of changes in an organism or object over time. Ageing in humans refers to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, and social change. Some dimensions of ageing grow and expand over time, while others decline. Reaction time, for example, may slow with age, while knowledge of world events and wisdom may expand. B. Research shows that even late in life potential exists for physical, mental, and social growth and development. Ageing is an important part of all human societies reflecting the biological changes that occur, but also reflecting cultural and societal conventions. Age is usually measured in full years and months for young children. A person's birthday is often an important event. Roughly 100,000 people worldwide die each day of agerelated causes. C. The term "ageing" is somewhat ambiguous. Distinctions may be made between "universal ageing" (age changes that all people share) and "probabilistic ageing" (age changes that may happen to some, but not all people as they grow older, such as the onset of type two diabetes). Chronological ageing, referring to how old a person is, is arguably the most straightforward definition of ageing and may be distinguished from "social ageing" (society's expectations of how people should act as they grow older) and "biological ageing" (an organism's physical state as it ages). There is also a distinction between "proximal ageing" (age-based effects that come about because of factors in the recent past) and "distal ageing" (age-based differences that can be traced back to a cause early in person's life, such as childhood poliomyelitis). D. Differences are sometimes made between populations of elderly people. Divisions are sometimes made between the young old (6574), the middle old (7584) and the oldest old (85+). However, problematic in this is that chronological age does not correlate perfectly with functional age, i.e. two people may be of the same age, but differ in their mental and physical capacities. Each nation, government and non-government organization has different ways of classifying age. E. Population ageing is the increase in the number and proportion of older people in society. Population ageing has three possible causes: migration, longer life expectancy (decreased death rate), and decreased birth rate. Ageing has a significant impact on society. Young people tend to commit

most crimes, they are more likely to push for political and social change, to develop and adopt new technologies, and to need education. Older people have different requirements from society and government as opposed to young people, and frequently differing values as well. Older people are also far more likely to vote, and in many countries the young are forbidden from voting. Thus, the aged have comparatively more political influence. F. In some cultures (for example Serbian) there are four ways to express age: by counting years with or without including current year. For example, it could be said about the same person that he is twenty years old or that he is in the twenty-first year of his life. In Russian the former expression is generally used, the latter one has restricted usage: it is used for age of a deceased person in obituaries and for the age of an adult when it is desired to show him/her older than he/she is. (Psychologically, a woman in her 20th year seems older than one who is 19 years old.) G. Depending on cultural and personal philosophy, ageing can be seen as an undesirable phenomenon, reducing beauty and bringing one closer to death; or as an accumulation of wisdom, mark of survival, and a status worthy of respect. In some cases numerical age is important (whether good or bad), whereas others find the stage in life that one has reached (adulthood, independence, marriage, retirement, career success) to be more important. Source: Wikipedia.com Questions You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28 40 which are based on Reading Passage 3. Questions 28 32 The passage has seven paragraphs labelled AG. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 28-32 on your answer sheet. NB: You may use any letter more than once. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. Ageing is a physical change in humans. In some cultures there are four ways to express age. Ageing can be seen as an undesirable phenomenon, reducing beauty. Ageing has a significant impact on our social life. The younger people have different requirements from society.

Questions 33 36 Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage 3. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet.

33. 34. 35. 36.

In some cases numerical age . The aged have comparatively more . Chronological age does not correlate perfectly . Chronological ageing is arguably the most of ageing.

Questions 37 40 Complete the summary of the paragraphs A C below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet. Ageing in humans refers to a multidimensional process of physical, psychological, 37 Reaction time, for example, may slow with age, while knowledge of world events 38 . Ageing is an important part of all human societies reflecting the 39 .. The term "ageing" is 40