Reading passage 1

A. Aficionados of Hollywood Westerns know all about the legal code that says "shoot first, ask questions later". But now, Republican legislators in Texas spiritual home of the six-shooter and a John Wayne-style frontier spirit wants to enshrine the principle into law. Sponsors of a new bill in the state legislature call it the Castle Doctrine - the idea that anyone invading your home or threatening your safety deserves everything they have coming to them. Critics are already calling it the "shoot thy neighbour" law and questioning whether Texas, of all places, really needs to give its citizens further encouragement to take matters of crime and punishment into their own hands. B. "I believe Texans who are attacked in their homes, their businesses, their vehicles or anywhere else have a right to defend themselves from attack without fear of being prosecuted and face possible civil suits alleging wrongful injury or death," Texas Senator Jeff Wentworth of San Antonio home to The Alamo - said recently in support of the bill. C. "You've got to assume a criminal's not there to buy girl scout cookies; you could be harmed," the bill's other sponsor, Texas Representative Joe Driver told The Los Angeles Times. "You should be able to meet force with force without getting in trouble." In theory, Texas law obliges citizens under attack to consider a retreat before opening fire. In practice, prosecutors and legal experts find it hard to recall a case where a citizen shooting in self-defence got into trouble for doing so. D. "I've lived in Texas 30-plus years and I'd be astounded to hear of a Texas jury that convicted someone who blasted a guy who was in his house," said Professor Jerry Dowling of Sam Houston State University. This is a state where businesses and home owners have signs that read "We don't call 911" [the US emergency phone number] next to a large picture of a rifle. A few years ago, when ranch owners along the Rio Grande became upset at the number of Mexican immigrants on their land, they started shooting at them, and won the overwhelming support of their neighbours, even as they created a major international incident. E. Still, the bill shows every sign of being passed into law. In the State Senate, 27 of the 31 members have signed on as co-sponsors. In the House, two-thirds of the 150 members have indicated their support for it. The inspiration for the legislation comes less from fears for public safety than it does from pressure from the National Rifle Association, the powerful US gun lobby. Over the past two years, the NRA has inspired similar shoot-first laws in 15 other states, including Florida where legislators are now having serious second thoughts after the killing of a nine-year-old girl who was an innocent bystander caught in a shoot-out in a gang-ridden neighbourhood of Miami. The Florida law theoretically offers

immunity to both sides in the shoot-out on the grounds that they were firing in self-defence. F. Texas liberals - a small but noisy breed - have wasted no time making merciless fun of their state representatives, not least because one of the buildings where the Castle Doctrine would apply is the state Capitol. That, wrote an alternative publication in Austin called In The Pink, "could prove challenging for lobbyists". G. Advocates of gun-control, meanwhile, are worried the new law will do nothing to protect genuine victims of crime. "The current laws won't throw someone into jail for legitimate self-defence," said Zach Ragbourn, chair of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "Monkeying with the law can be dangerous. It could lead to gun fights and the death of innocent people". Source: The New York Times 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.

The Texans safety. The hooligans arent soft. Shoot first, ask questions later. The Texans dont call police. The strategy and its effect. The necessity of the bill. The new law. Monkeying with the law 1 Paragraph A can be 2 dangerous. Paragraph B 3 Paragraph Texas liberals. 4 Paragraph 5 Paragraph 6 Paragraph 7 Paragraph 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 bill shows every sign of being passed into A. B. C. D. 9 A. B. C. D. 10 A. B. C. D. Law. Oblivion. A sub law. Penal code. 911 stands for Hospital emergency. Police emergency. Fire brigade emergency. Taxi emergency. Professor Jerry Dowling works in Sam Houston State University. Stanford University. Oxford University. Princeton University.

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 Texas liberals have wasted no time making 12 ranch owners along the Rio Grande became upset at 13 In theory, Texas law obliges citizens under attack to 14 Prosecutors and legal experts find it hard to recall a case where a citizen shooting in

A Call the police for help. B The number of Mexican immigrants on their land. C Theyve given a lot or some thought to the election. D Merciless fun of their state representatives. E Consider a retreat before opening fire.

Reading passage 2 A. CALCUTTA Lenins statue still rises near the centre of the city, and portraits of Stalin and Marx still hang inside the biggest union hall. Anyone doubting the local political dominance and cold war humour of Indias Communists need only visit the street in front of the United States Consulate: It was long ago renamed for Ho Chi Minh. In the past 33 years, Indias Communists have built a political dynasty here in the state of West Bengal, staging one of the most remarkable runs in any democracy by winning seven consecutive state-wide elections. This would seem to be a ripe moment to expand their influence: India is a nation of deep inequities, with millions of destitute farmers and labourers disconnected from an increasingly capitalistic economy. B. Instead, the countrys Communists are struggling to remain relevant. For years, they have largely failed to capture the imagination and the support of the masses beyond their regional strongholds of West Bengal and the state of Kerala. And now even their three-decade hold over West Bengal is disintegrating as critics accuse them of betraying the rural peasantry and presiding over the decline of a state once regarded as an intellectual and economic centre of India. I never thought I would write against them, said Mahasweta Devi, one of West Bengals most famous intellectuals and a social reformer who is now deeply critical of the governing Left Front coalition, which is led by the Communists. Leftist politicians are losing the battle because they have not cared enough to deliver the goods to the people. C. Only six years ago, the Communists were kingmakers whose support enabled the Congress Party to form a rickety coalition national government. But that influence has steadily diminished; the Communists were trounced in the 2009 parliamentary elections and are facing the strong possibility of losing control of West Bengal in state-wide elections next year. Now the Congress Party is allied with Mamata Banerjee, the fiery political leader whose Trinamool Congress Party is favoured to unseat the Communists next year. At the same time, Maoist rebels in the West Bengal countryside are a constant source of agitation. Analysts trace the Communist decline partly to the inevitable excesses of any party so long in power. D. Institutions like the police, schools, universities and hospitals have become deeply politicized, critics say. But the Communists have also been undermined by the same volatile political forces reverberating elsewhere in India, where industrialization is fuelling conflicts over the control of land. From the Writers Building in Calcutta, known as Kolkata in India, the British once ran colonial India. But in the hulking red brick edifice, which

now serves as the seat of power in West Bengal, there is the feel of the last months of another crumbling empire. E. I dont think it is a crime to be in government for 33 years with the mandate of the people in a parliamentary democracy, said Dr Surjya Kanta Mishra, the state minister of health, sighing when asked whether the Left Front coalition had held power too long. But, he conceded, There has been some erosion in our support base. F. To a large degree, the Communists problems are rooted in their early success. When a Communist-led coalition of leftist parties took power in 1977, they began a sweeping campaign that redistributed land to small farmers and codified legal protections for tenant farmers. Today, roughly 84 per cent of rural land in West Bengal is owned by ordinary peasants, compared with a national average of about 43 per cent. Politically, the Communists also sought to decentralize power by establishing villagelevel assemblies known as panchayats, a model that has since been emulated nationwide. G. It has been the poor and marginal farmers who actually gained the power in rural areas, said Nirupam Sen, the states commerce minister, who, like other leftists, argues that the new land policies broke a feudal structure that had existed for centuries. Yet distributing land into smaller parcels has brought new challenges, as families have kept growing while immigrants have flowed into West Bengal from poorer states, as well as bordering Bangladesh. West Bengal is a top producer of rice and other crops, yet anchoring the economy around agriculture saw the state steadily slip in national rankings of economic output. Source: Time 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. Mamata Banerjee is a communist leader. 16. The Communists support enabled the Congress Party to form a rickety coalition national government. 17. Congress party is the ruler of the country. 18. Politics does not affect the social institutions. 19. The countrys Communists are struggling to remain relevant.

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. Mamata Banerjee 21. Mahasweta Devi 22. Dr Surjya Kanta Mishra 23. Nirupam Sen A The states commerce minister. B Is apprehensive about the future of the party. C Is the general secretary of the Trinamool Congress. D Fired Worden for his visionary comment. E The state minister of health.

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. 25. 26. 27. The Communists have also been undermined by The distributing land into smaller parcels has The Communists were trounced in Now even their three-decade hold over

A Brought new challenges. B The same volatile political forces. C West Bengal is disintegrating. D Electric propulsion systems. E Bringing the belief back.

Reading Passage 3 A. Biologically, a child (plural: children) is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority. "Child" may also describe a relationship with a parent or authority figure,

or signify group membership in a clan, tribe, or religion; it can also signify being strongly affected by a specific time, place, or circumstance, as in "a child of nature" or "a child of the Sixties." B. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as "a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier." Ratified by 192 of 194 member countries. Biologically, a child is anyone between birth and puberty or in the developmental stage of childhood, between infancy and adulthood. Children generally have fewer rights than adults and are classed as not able to make serious decisions, and legally must always be under the care of a responsible adult. C. Recognition of childhood as a state different from adulthood began to emerge in the 16th and 17th centuries. Society began to relate to the child not as a miniature adult but as a person of a lower level of maturity needing adult protection, love and nurturing. This change can be traced in painting: In the Middle Ages, children were portrayed in art as miniature adults with no childish characteristics. In the 16th century, images of children began to acquire a distinct childish appearance. From the late 17th century onwards, children were shown playing. Toys and literature for children also began to develop at this time. D. The age at which children are considered responsible for their own actions (e.g., marriage, voting, etc.) has also changed over time, and this is reflected in the way they are treated in courts of law. In Roman times, children were regarded as not culpable for crimes, a position later adopted by the Church. In the nineteenth century, children younger than seven years old were believed incapable of crime. Children from the age of seven forward were considered responsible for their actions. Therefore, they could face criminal charges, be sent to adult prison, and be punished like adults by whipping, branding or hanging. E. Surveys have found that at least 25 countries around the world have no specified age for compulsory education. Minimum employment age and marriage age also vary. In at least 125 countries, children aged 715 may be taken to court and risk imprisonment for criminal acts. In some countries, children are legally obliged to go to school until they are 14 or 15 years old, but may also work before that age. A child's right to education is threatened by early marriage, child labour and imprisonment. F. All children go through stages of social development. An infant or very young child will play alone happily. If another child wanders onto the scene, he or she may be physically attacked or pushed out of the way. Next, the child is able to play with another child, gradually learning to share and take turns. Eventually the group grows larger, to three or four children. By the time a child enters kindergarten, he or she is usually able to join in and enjoy group experiences.

G. Children with ADHD and learning disabilities may need extra help in developing social skills. The impulsive characteristics of an ADHD child may lead to poor peer relationships. Children with poor attention spans may not tune in to social cues in their environment, making it difficult for them to learn social skills through experience. According to population health experts, child mortality rates have fallen sharply since the 1990s. Deaths of children under the age of five are down by 42% in the United States, while Serbia and Malaysia have cut their rates by nearly 70%. 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. Children generally have fewer rights than adults. "Child" may also describe a relationship with a parent or authority figure. At least 25 countries around the world have no specified age for compulsory education. Society began to relate to the child not as a miniature adult but as a person of a lower level of maturity. In Roman times, children were regarded as not culpable for crimes.

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.

In the nineteenth century, children younger than seven years old were believed .

34. 35. 36.

Children legally must always be under the care of a . Recognition of childhood as a state different from adulthood began to emerge in . In the 16th century, images of children began to acquire a distinct .

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. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than 37 .. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as "a human being below the age of 18 years unless under the law applicable to the child, 38 . Society began to relate to the child not as a miniature adult but as a person of a lower level of maturity needing adult 39 Toys and literature for children also began 40