1 số cách Paraphrase

1. Synonym
2. Antonym
3. Give definition
4. Generalize
5. Change the word form
6.
READING 7.0

LANGUAGE DIVERSITY
ANSWER QUESTION PASSAGE
1 - True In the final decades of the twentieth One of the most influential ideas of languages is
century, a single theory of language universal grammar (UG). Put forward by Noam
learning was dominant. Chomsky in the 1960s
For five decades this idea prevailed, …

2 - False The majority of UG rules proposed by Since the theory of UG was proposed, linguists have
linguists do apply to all human identified many universal language rules. However,
languages. there are exceptions.
3 - True There is disagreement amongst More controversially, some linguists argue that
linguists about an aspects of Straits Straits Salish, spoken by indigenous people, do not
Salish grammar. have distinct nouns or verbs.
4 - Not given The search for new universal language Even apparently indisputable universals have been
rules has largely ended. found lacking.
5 - False If Evans and Levinson are right, If Evans and Levinson are correct, language shapes
people develop in the same way no our brains. This suggests that humans are more
matter what language they speak. diverse than we thought, with our brains having
differences depending on language environment in
which we grew up.
6 - True The loss of any single language might Every time a language become extinct, humanity
have implications for the human race. loses an important piece of diversity.
Educating Psyche
ANSWER QUESTION
1-D The book Educating Psyche is mainly
concerned with ways of learning which are
not traditional.
2-A Lozanov’s theory claims that then we try
to remember things, unimportant details
are the easiest to recall.
3-B In this passage, the author uses the
examples of a book and a lecture to
illustrate that his theory about methods of
learning is valid.
4-C Lozanov claims that teachers should train
students to think about something other
than the curriculum content.
6 - False Prior to suggestopedia class, students are
made aware that the language experience
will be demanding.
11 - F : Ritual Lozanov admits that a certain amount of
ritual is necessary in order to convince
students, even it is just placebo.
PASSAGE
Educating Psyche is a book which look at radical
new approaches to learning.
If we think of a book we studied months ago, we
will find it easier to recall peripheral details.
In suggestopia, as he called his method,
consciousness is shifted away from the
curriculum to focus on something peripheral.
Through the meeting with the staff and satisfied
students they develop an expectation that
learning will be easy and pleasant.
Lozanov acknowledge that the ritual
surrounding suggestion in his own system is also
a placebo.
Striking back at lightning with lasers – Gap fill – Cambridge IELTS 8 – Test 3 – Passage 1
ANSWER QUESTION PASSAGE
7-B A laser is used to create a line of ionizationWhen high-powered lasers were revealing their
by removing electrons from [atoms] ability to extract electrons out of [atoms] and
create ions.
8-C This laser is then directed at [storm If a laser could generate a line of ionization in the
9-G clouds] in order to control electric charges, air all way up to a [storm cloud], before the
a method which is less dangerous than electric field becomes strong enough to break
using [rockets] down the air =(charge) in an uncontrollable
surge.
10 - D As a protection for the lasers, the beams To stop the laser itself being struck, it would not
are aimed firstly at [mirrors] be pointed at the clouds. Instead it would be
directed at [a mirror].

The nature of genius – T/F/NG – Cambridge IELTS 8 – Test 3 – Passage 2

ANSWER QUESTION PASSAGE
19 - True Nineteen-century studies of the nature of The difficulty produced by these studies is that
genius failed to take into account the they are not what we call norm-referenced. In
uniqueness of the person’s upbringing. other words, when information is collated about
methods of upbringing, we must take into
account information. [Give definition]
22 - True The skills of ordinary individuals are in What we appreciate in the works of genius are
essence the same as the skills of prodigies. skills which are similar to, but so much superior
(in essence = basically) to, our own.
[Synonym]
23 - True The ease with which truly great ideas are
accepted and taken for granted failed to
lessen their significance.
26 - Not given To be a genius is worth the high personal We should never delude ourselves into believing
cost that genius are different from the rest of
humanity.
Organic food
ANSWER QUESTION PASSAGE
1 - B&E Which two of the following points does the Paragraph B
writer mention in connection with Techniques such as crop rotation = (changing the
organic farming? crop that is grown on an area of land to protect
B. Using the same field for different cropsthe soil) improve soil quality [Give definition]
E. The production of greenhouse gases The amount carbon dioxide emitted by
transporting food [Generalize]
2 - B&D According to the writer, which two factors Paragraph C
affect the nutritional content of food? The health value of different foods will vary for a
B. The weather conditions during growth number of reasons, including
D. When the plants were removed from The amount of sunlight and rain crops have
the earth received [Give definition]
Freshness [Give definition]
3 - B&E Which two negative aspects of organic Paragraph E
farming does the writer mention? The closer a plant is to its natural state, the more
B. Organic food may make people ill likely it is that it will poison you.
E. It is not possible for some countries [Give definition + Synonym + Word form]
Tackling Obesity in the Western world
ANSWER QUESTION PASSAGE
6 - II Hidden dangers Paragraph F
1. Obesity is at epidemic
2. Treatment for obesity concentrated on
behaviors modification, drugs and surgery.
3. How the drugs worked was not understood
and caused side effects and even death.
4. Surgery claimed many lives.
 Treatments such as drugs and surgery can
cause death.
 Treatments such as drugs and surgery can
be fraught with danger to humans.
8 - VIII A very uncommon complaint Paragraph H
Complaint = Minor illness 1. Prof read this research with great excitement
(Research on mouse)
2. Two blood samples had been taken from two
obese young cousins.
3. He hired a doctor to develop test for leptin in
human blood.
4. When one cousin was given leptin, she lost
weight.
5. The 1st proof that a genetic detect cause
obesity.
6. Leptin deficiency turned out to be a rare
condition and there is a lot more research to be
done before the cure for obesity is found.
 Dealing with the problem of Leptin can be a
cure for obesity but not common.
12 - consume … Some people seem programmed to Paragraph E
consume more than others. Many people have genetic variations that
combine to dictate weight and are responsible
for things such as how much we eat, … [Give
definition]
The problem of scarce resources
ANSWER QUESTION PASSAGE
5-B The realization that the resources of the Passage B
national health system were limited From the 1950s onwards, there have been
general changes in outlook about the finitude of
resources as a whole and of health-care
resources in particular.
In 1950s and 1960s,… The new consciousness
that there were also severe limits to health-care
resources.
7-A A belief that all the health care resources Passage B
the community needed would be produced After the 1939-45 World War, all the basic health
by economic growth needs of any community could be satisfied; the
invisible hand of economic progress would
provide
10 - True Health-care came to be seen as a right at Just at the time when it became obvious that
about the same time that the limits of health-care resources could not possibly meet
health-care resources became evident. the demands being made upon them, people
were demanding that their fundamental right to
health-care be satisfied by the state.
Paraphrase:
Health-care came to be seen as a right
= People were demanding that their fundamental right to health-care be satisfied by the state.
The limits of health-care resources became evident
= When it became obvious that health-care resources could not possible meet demands being
made upon them
[Cam 9/ Test 3]

Attitudes to language
It is not easy to be systematic and objective about language study. Popular linguistic debate regularly
deteriorates into invective and polemic. Language belongs to everyone, so most people feel they have a right to
hold an opinion about it. And when opinions differ, emotions can run high. Arguments can start as easily over
minor points of usage as over major policies of linguistic education. 

(1) Language study is not easy to be systematic.

(2) Linguistic debate turns into hostile arguments.
(3) Everyone can hold an opinion.
(4) Different opinions  Evoke negative emotions  Arguments over minor points of usage = Arguments
over major aspects of linguistic education

 People can easily have an argument over language since language can be spoken by everyone 
Arguments may become worse.

Language, moreover, is a very public behavior, so it is easy for different usages to be noted and criticized. No
part of society or social behavior is exempt: linguistic factors influence how we judge personality, intelligence,
social status, educational standards, job aptitude, and many other areas of identity and social survival. As a
result, it is easy to hurt, and to be hurt, when language use is unfeelingly attacked.

(1) Language is a public behavior  different usage can be noted

(2) All aspects of society are influenced by language.
(3) People may get hurt from unfeeling language use.

 Language can affect every aspects of life  Language can easily hurt people.

In its most general sense, prescriptivism is the view that one variety of language has an inherently higher value
than others, and that this ought to be imposed on the whole of the speech community. The view is propounded
especially in relation to grammar and vocabulary, and frequently with reference to pronunciation. The variety
which is favored, in this account, is usually a version of the 'standard' written language, especially
as encountered in literature, or in the formal spoken language which most closely reflects this style. Adherents
(= Supporter) to this variety are said to speak or write 'correctly'; deviations from it are said to be 'incorrect!

(1) + (2) + (3) Prescriptivism: one variety of language > others  Prescriptivism: in relation to grammar +
vocab + pronoun  Prescriptivism: the standard of written language/ formal language

(4) Supporter to prescriptivism

 Prescriptivism: based on formal language/ language have to be correct

All the main languages have been studied prescriptively, especially in the 18th century approach to the writing
of grammars and dictionaries. The aims of these early grammarians were threefold: (a) they wanted to codify
the principles of their languages, to show that there was a system beneath the apparent chaos of usage, (b) they
wanted a means of settling disputes over usage, and (c) they wanted to point out what they felt to be
common errors, in order to 'improve' the language. The authoritarian nature of the approach is
best characterized by its reliance on ‘rules' of grammar. Some usages are 'prescribed' to be  learnt and followed
accurately; others are 'proscribed,' to be avoided. In this early period, there were no half-measures: usage was
either right or wrong, and it was the task of the  grammarian not simply to record alternatives, but to pronounce
judgment upon them.
 (1) + (2) : Studied further about prescriptivism  the nature of the approach is its reliance on rules of
grammar  language have to be correct

These attitudes are still with us, and they motivate a widespread concern that linguistic standards should be
maintained. Nevertheless, there is an alternative point of view that is concerned less with standards than with
the facts of linguistic usage. This approach is summarized in the statement that it is the task of the grammarian
to describe, not prescribe to record the facts of linguistic diversity, and not to attempt the impossible tasks of
evaluating language variation or halting language change. In the second half of the 18th  century, we already find
advocates of this view, such as Joseph Priestiey, whose Rudiments of English Grammar (1761) insists that 'the
custom of speaking is the original and only just standard of any language! Linguistic issues, it is argued, cannot
be solved by logic and legislation. And this view has become the tenet of the modern linguistic approach
to grammatical analysis.

(1) Prescriptivism still exists

(2) + (3) New view is less standard it is pointless for grammarian to stop language change
(3) + (5) + (6) Advocates of the new idea: speaking is natural  issues can’t be solved by logic  become
the foundation of modern

 A new idea was founded and not included rules.

In our own time, the opposition between 'descriptivists' and 'prescriptivists' has often become extreme, with
both sides painting unreal pictures of the other. Descriptive grammarians have been presented as people who
do not care about standards, because of the way they see all forms of usage as equally valid. Prescriptive
grammarians have been presented as blind adherents to a historical tradition . The opposition has even
been presented in quasi-political terms - of radical liberalism vs elitist conservatism.

 The opposition between 'descriptivists' and 'prescriptivists' was so extreme.

Passage

At first, it is not easy to systematic language  evoke many arguments  because language can affect every
aspects of our life  studied further  prescriptivism: language should always be correct  an opposite trend
appeared: language is intuitive  the opposition is so extreme.
 ANSWER QUESTION PASSAGE
1- Yes There are understandable reasons why It is not easy to be systematic and objective
arguments occur about language. about language study. Popular linguistic debate
regularly deteriorates into invective and
polemic. Language belongs to everyone, so
most people feel they have a right to hold an
opinion about it. And when opinions differ,
emotions can run high.

1st reason: It is not easy to be systematic and

2 - No People feel more strongly about language
education than about small differences in
language usage.
 language education > small differences
in language usage
objective about language study
2nd reason: Language belongs to everyone
Arguments can start as easily over minor points
of usage as over major policies of linguistic
education. 
 Arguments over minor points of usage =
linguistic education
 Tidal Power
Undersea turbines which produce electricity from the tides are set to become an important source of renewable
energy for Britain. It is still too early to predict the extent of the impact they may have, but all the signs are that
they will play a significant role in the future

Operating on the same principle as wind turbines, the power in sea turbines comes from tidal currents which
turn blades similar to ships’ propellers, but, unlike wind, the tides are predictable and the power input is
constant. The technology raises the prospect of Britain becoming self-sufficient in  renewable energy and
drastically reducing its carbon dioxide emissions. If tide, wind and wave power are all developed , Britain would
be able to close gas, coal and nuclear power plants and export renewable power to other parts of Europe. Unlike
wind power, which Britain originally developed and then abandoned for 20 years allowing the Dutch to make it
a major industry, undersea turbines could become a big export earner to island nations such as Japan and New
Zealand.

(1) Sea turbines operate on the same principle as wind turbines but the power of tides is constant.
(2) + (3) Britain may become self-sufficient in renewable energy  reduce CO2

(4) Sea turbines may bring benefits to nations

 The benefits of sea turbines: reduce the amount of fossil fuel usage + increase national income

Tidal sites have already been identified that will produce one sixth or more of the UK’s power - and at prices
competitive with modern gas turbines and undercutting those of the already ailing nuclear industry. One site
alone, the Pentland Firth, between Orkney and mainland Scotland, could produce 10% of the country’s
electricity with banks of turbines under the sea, and another at Alderney in the Channel Islands three times the
1,200 megawatts of Britain’s largest and newest nuclear plant, Sizewell B, in Suffolk. Other sites identified
include the Bristol Channel and the west coast of Scotland, particularly the channel between Campbeltown and
Northern Ireland.

 Some sites which can put turbines + turbines can produce a large amount of electricity for Britain

Work on designs for the new turbine blades and sites are well advanced at the University of Southampton’s
sustainable energy research group. The first station is expected to be installed off Lynmouth in Devon shortly
to test the technology in a venture jointly funded by the department of Trade and Industry and the European
Union. AbuBakr Bahaj, in charge of the Southampton research, said: “The prospects for energy from tidal
currents are far better than from wind because the flows of water are predictable  and constant. The technology
for dealing with the hostile saline environment under the sea has been developed in the North Sea oil industry
and much is already known about turbine blade design, because of wind power and ship propellers. There are a
few technical difficulties, but I believe in the next five to ten years we will be installing commercial marine
turbine farms.” Southampton has been awarded £215,000 over three years to develop the turbines and is
working with Marine Current Turbines, a subsidiary of IT power, on the Lynmouth project. EU research has now
identified 106 potential sites for tidal power, 80% round the coasts of Britain. The best sites are between islands
or around heavily indented coasts where there are strong tidal currents.

 Working on installing sea turbines: sites + technology

D

A marine turbine blade needs to be only one third of the size of a wind  generator to produce three times as
much power. The blades will be about 20 metres in diameter, so around 30 metres of water is required.
Unlike wind power, there are unlikely to be environmental objections. Fish and other creatures are thought
unlikely to be at risk from the relatively slow-turning blades. Each turbine will be mounted on a tower which
will connect to the national power supply grid via underwater cables. The towers will stick out of the water and
be lit, to warn shipping, and also be designed to be lifted out of the water for maintenance and to clean seaweed
from the blades.

(1) + (2) Describe the blades of turbines

(3) + (4) There will be no threatens caused by marine animals

(5) + (6) Describe the way to install sea turbines

Dr Bahaj has done most work on the Alderney site, where there are powerful currents. The single undersea
turbine farm would produce far more power than needed for the Channel Islands and most would be fed into
the French Grid and be re-imported into Britain via the cable under the Channel.

 The transmission of electricity which is produced by Alderney site

F

One technical difficulty is cavitation, where low pressure behind a turning blade causes air bubbles. These can
cause vibration and damage the blades of the turbines. Dr Bahaj said: ‘We have to test a number of blade types
to avoid this happening or at least make sure it does not damage the turbines or reduce performance. Another
slight concern is submerged debris floating  into the blades. So far we do not know how much of a problem it
might be. We will have to make the turbines robust because the sea is a hostile environment, but all the signs
that we can do it are good.’

 Some of the anticipated problems may appear  need to keep blades robust  there is still no
bad signs
 Information theory – The big idea

Information theory lies at the heart of everything - from DVD players and the genetic code of DNA to the physics of
the universe at its most fundamental. It has been central to the development of the science of communication,
which enables data to be sent electronically and has therefore had a major impact on our lives.

A. In April 2002 an event took place which demonstrated one of the many applications of information theory.
The space probe, Voyager I, launched in 1977, had sent back spectacular images of Jupiter and Saturn and then
soared out of the Solar System on a one-way mission to the stars. After 25 years of exposure to the freezing
temperatures of deep space, the probe was beginning to show its age, sensors and circuits were on the brink of
failing and NASA experts realized that they had to do something or lose contact with their probe forever. The
solution was to get a message to Voyager I to instruct it to use spares to change the failing parts. With the probe
12 billion kilometers from Earth, this was not an easy task. By means of a radio dish belonging to NASA’s Deep
Space Network, the message was sent out into the depths of space. Even travelling at the speed of light, it took
over 11 hours to reach its target, far beyond the orbit of Pluto. Yet, incredibly, the little probe managed to hear
the faint call from its home planet, and successfully made the switchover.

(1) An event took place to demonstrate information theory

(2) The space probe sent images of Jupiter and Saturn
(3) After 25 years, the probe was damaged
(4) Send message to instruct the probe to fix itself
(5) + (6) This was not an easy task because of the far distance

(7) + (8) Ultimately, the probe got the message and made switchover

 A detailed description about a probe taking message from the Earth and fixing itself.

B. It was the Ingest distance repair job in history, and a triumph for the NASA engineers. But it also highlighted
the astonishing power of the techniques developed by American communications engineer Claude Shannon,
who had died just a year earlier. Born in 1916 in Petoskey, Michigart, Shannon showed an early talent for maths
and for building gadgets, and made breakthroughs in the foundations of computer technology when still a
student. While at Bell laboratories, Shannon developed information theory, but shunned the resulting acclaim.
In the 1940s, he singlehandedly created an entire science of communication which has since inveigled its way
into a host of applications, from DVDs to satellite communication to bar codes - any area, in short, where data
has to be conveyed rapidly yet accurately.

(1) + (2) A triumph + achievement of an American engineer

(3) Shannon was endowed with maths ability

(4) Shannon developed information theory  humble

(5) Another achievement

 Background of Shannon

C. This all seems light years away (a long time from now in the past or in the future) from the down to-earth
(sensible and practical) uses Shannon originally had for his work, which began when he was a 22-year—old
graduate engineering student at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1939. He set out with
an apparently simple aim: to pin down the precise meaning of the concept of ‘information'. The most basic form
of information, Shannon argued, is whether something is true or false - which can be captured in the binary unit,
or 'bit', of the form 1 or 0. Having identified this fundamental unit, Shannon set about defining otherwise vague
ideas about information and how to transmit it from place to place. In the process he discovered something
surprising: it is always possible to guarantee information will get through random interference - ‘noise' —
intact.

(1) Intro: It’s been such a long time since Shannon first started develop his original work
(2) + (3) Tell a story: Find out the meaning of information  considered form of information as 1 or 0

(4) Elaborate the ideas  transmit information from place to place

(5) Can keep information intact when let information go through noise

 From the original idea to elaborate idea  find way to protect information when transmit them

D. Noise usually means unwanted sounds which interfere with genuine information. Information theory
generalizes this idea via theorems that capture the effects of noise with mathematical precision. In particular,
Shannon showed that noise sets a limit on the rate at which information can pass along communication
channels while remaining error-free. This rate depends on the relative strengths of the signal and noise
travelling down the communication channel, and on its capacity (its' bandwidth'). The resulting limit, given in
units of bits per second, is the absolute maximum rate of error-free communication given signal strength and
noise level. The trick, Shannon showed, is to find ways of packaging up - ‘coding' - information to cope with the
ravages of noise, while staying within the information carrying capacity ‘bandwidth' - of the communication
system being used.

(1) Noise is an interfere genuine information

(2) Deal with the problem of noise by applying maths

(3) Noises prevents information from passing through channels without any errors.

(4) + (5) The rate (information passing through channels without errors) is dependent on signal strength and
bandwidth of the communication channel

(6) The solution: Packing up information

 Cause: noise  Problem: information can’t get through with error free  Solution: packing up
information

E. Over the years scientists have devised many such coding methods, and they have proved crucial in many
technological feats. The Voyager spacecraft transmitted data using codes which added one extra bit for every
single bit of information; the result was an error rate of just one bit in 10,000 — and stunningly clear pictures of
the planets. Other codes have become parts of everyday life - such as the Universal Product Code, or bar code,
which uses a simple error-detecting system that ensures supermarket check-out lasers can read the price even
on, say, a crumpled bag of crisps. As recently as 1993, engineers made a major breakthrough by discovering so-
called turbo codes - which come very close to Shannon’s ultimate limit for the maximum rate that data can be
transmitted reliably, and now play a key role in the mobile videophone revolution.

 Examples of the method which was mention in the previous paragraph

F. Shannon also laid the foundations of more efficient ways of storing information, by stripping out superfluous
(‘redundant') bits from data which contributed little real information. As mobile phone text messages like 'l CN
C U' show, it is often possible to leave out a lot of data without losing much meaning. As with error correction,
however, there's a limit beyond which messages become too ambiguous (can be understood more than 1 way).
Shannon showed how to calculate this limit, opening the way to the design of compression methods that cram
maximum information into the minimum space.

(1) Suggest another better method to store information: stripping out redundant data
(2) Example: Text message in mobile phones
(3) There is a limit
(4) Shannon showed the way to deal with this problem
 Better method to store information invented by Shannon

Paragraph
An event in which information theory applied successfully  the inventor of this theory + when + how
he made it
[Cam 9/Test 4]

The life and work of Marie Curie

Marie Curie is probably the most famous woman scientist who has ever lived. Born Maria Sklodowska in Poland
in 1867, she is famous for her work on radioactivity, and was twice a winner of the Nobel Prize. With her
husband, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel, she was awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize for  Physics, and was then
sole winner of the 1911 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.

From childhood, Marie was remarkable for her prodigious (colossal, enormous) memory, and at the age of 16
won a gold medal on completion of her secondary education . Because her father lost his savings through bad
investment, she then had to take work as a teacher. From her earnings she was able to  finance her sister
Bronia's medical studies in Paris, on the understanding that Bronia would, in turn, later help her to get an
education.

Structure:

On the understanding that …: a condition that must be agreed before something else can happen

 Brief background of Marie Curies + her achievements

In 1891 this promise was fulfilled and Marie went to Paris and began to study at the Sorbonne (the University of
Paris). She often worked far into the night and lived on little more  than bread and butter and tea . She came first
in the examination in the physical sciences in 1893, and in 1894 was placed second in the examination in
mathematical sciences. It was not until the spring of that year that she was introduced to Pierre Curie. (=She
first met Pier Curie in the spring of 1894)

Their marriage in 1895 marked the start of a partnership that was soon to achieve results of world significance.
Following Henri Becquerel's discovery in 1896 of a new phenomenon, which Marie later called 'radioactivity',
Marie Curie decided to find out if the radioactivity discovered  in uranium was to be found in other elements . She
discovered that this was true for thorium.

Turning her attention to minerals, she found her interest drawn to pitchblende, a mineral whose radioactivity,
superior to that of pure uranium, could be explained only by the presence in the ore of small quantities of an
unknown substance of very high activity.

Rewrite:

Marie, turning her attention to minerals, found her interest drawn to pitchblende.

A mineral whose radioactivity could be explained by an unknown substance, which is superior to that (the
radioactivity) of uranium.

Pierre Curie joined her in the work that she had undertaken to resolve this problem, and that led to the
discovery of the new elements, polonium and radium. While Pierre Curie devoted himself chiefly to  the physical
study of the new radiations, Marie Curie struggled to obtain pure radium in the  metallic state. This was achieved
with the help of the chemist André-Louis Debierne, one of Pierre Curie's pupils. Based on the results of this
research, Marie Curie received her Doctorate of Science, and in 1903 Marie and Pierre shared with Becquerel
the Nobel Prize for Physics for the discovery of radioactivity.

The births of Marie's two daughters, Irène and Eve, in 1897 and 1904 failed to interrupt her scientific work. She
was appointed lecturer in physics at the É cole Normale Supérieure for girls in Sèvres, France (1900), and
introduced a method of teaching based on experimental  demonstrations. In December 1904 she was appointed
chief assistant in the laboratory directed by Pierre Curie.

The sudden death of her husband in 1906 was a bitter blow to Marie Curie , but was also a turning point in her
career: henceforth she was to devote all her energy to completing alone  the scientific work that they had
undertaken. On May 13, 1906, she was appointed to the  professorship that had been left vacant on her
husband's death, becoming the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne. In 1911 she was awarded the Nobel Prize
for Chemistry for the isolation of a pure form of radium.

During World War I, Marie Curie, with the help of her daughter Irène, devoted herself to the development of the
use of X-radiography, including the mobile units which came to be known as ‘Little Curies', used for the
treatment of wounded soldiers. In 1918 the Radium Institute,  whose staff Irène had joined, began to operate in
earnest =(more seriously with effort than before) , and became a centre for nuclear physics and chemistry. Marie
Curie, now at the highest point of her fame and, from 1922, a member of the Academy of Medicine, researched
the chemistry of radioactive substances and  their medical applications.

In 1921, accompanied by her two daughters, Marie Curie made a triumphant journey to the United States to
raise funds for research on radium. Women there presented her with a gram of radium for her campaign. Marie
also gave lectures in Belgium, Brazil, Spain and Czechoslovakia and, in addition, had the satisfaction of seeing
the development of the Curie Foundation in Paris, and the inauguration in 1932 in Warsaw of the Radium
Institute, where her sister Bronia became director.

One of Marie Curie's outstanding achievements was to have understood the need to accumulate intense
radioactive sources, not only to treat illness but also to maintain an  abundant supply for research. The existence
in Paris at the Radium Institute of a stock of 1.5 grams of radium made a decisive contribution to the success of
the experiments undertaken in the years around 1930. This work prepared the way for the discovery of the
neutron by Sir James Chadwick and, above all, for the discovery in 1934 by Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie of
artificial radioactivity. A few months after this discovery, Marie Curie died as a result  of leukaemia caused by
exposure to radiation. She had often carried test tubes containing  radioactive isotopes in her pocket, remarking
on the pretty blue-green light they gave off.

Her contribution to physics had been immense, not only in her own work, the importance of which had been
demonstrated by her two Nobel Prizes, but because of her influence on subsequent generations of nuclear
physicists and chemists.
 The development of Museums
A

The conviction that ( a strong opinion) historical relics provide infallible testimony about the past is rooted in
the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when science was regarded as objective and value free. As one
writer observes: “Although it is now evident that artefacts are as easily altered as chronicles, public faith in their
veracity (truthfulness) endures: a tangible relic seems ipso facto real.' Such conviction was, until recently,
reflected in museum displays. Museums used to look - and some still do - much like storage rooms of objects
packed together in showcases: good for scholars who wanted to study the subtle differences in design, but not
for the ordinary visitor, to whom it all looked alike. Similarly, the information accompanying the objects often
made little sense to the lay visitor. The content and format of explanations dated back to a time  when the
museum was the exclusive domain of the scientific researcher.

(1) There is a common belief that historical remains are true about the past.
(2) People still place their faith in this belief.
(3) People can see it in museums displays.
(4) + (5) + (6) Museums in the past were dedicated to scholars not to ordinary visitors.

 People’s belief can be seen in museums + museums were for scholars not for visitors.
 Museums were the places to showcase what was in the past
 Collections of factual evidence can be seen in museums
B

Recently, however, attitudes towards history and the way it should be presented have altered. The key word in
heritage display is now 'experience', the more exciting the better and, if possible, involving all the senses. Good
examples of this approach in the UK are the Jorvik Centre in York ; the National Museum of Photography,
Film and Television in Bradford; and the Imperial War Museum in London. In the US the trend emerged much
earlier: Williamsburg has been a prototype for many heritage developments in other parts of the world. No one
can predict where the process will end. On so-called heritage sites the re-enactment of historical events  is
increasingly popular, and computers will soon provide virtual reality experiences, which will present visitors
with a vivid image of the period of their choice, in which they themselves can act as if part of the historical
environment. Such developments have been criticised as an intolerable vulgarisation, but the success of many
historical theme parks and similar locations suggests that the majority of the public does not share this opinion.

(1) Attitudes toward history (museums were served scholars) have been altered
(2) Introduce the word “experience” so that all people can involve by all senses.
(3) + (4) + (5) + (6) Point out some examples showing that this trend become popular

(7) Two opposite ideas: Criticism the development >< public enjoy the new way

In a related development (the previous paragraph is discussing about the development of heritage sites so that
everyone can have access to them), the sharp distinction between museum and heritage sites on the one hand,
and theme parks on the other, is gradually evaporating. They already borrow ideas and concepts from one
another. For example, museums have adopted story lines for exhibitions , sites have accepted 'theming' as a
relevant tool, and theme parks are moving towards more authenticity and research-based presentations.
In zoos, animals are no longer kept in cages, but in great spaces, either in the open air or in enormous
greenhouses, such as the jungle and desert environments in Burgers'Zoo in Holland. This particular trend is
regarded as one of the major developments in the presentation of natural history in the twentieth century.

 Link to the previous paragraph: the development of heritage sites so that everyone can have
access to them.

 There is a blurred boundary between historical sites and theme parks.

Theme parks are undergoing other changes, too, as they try to present more serious social and cultural issues,
and move away from fantasy. This development is a response to market forces and, although museums and
heritage sites have a special, rather distinct, role to fulfil, they are also operating in a very competitive
environment, where visitors make choices on how and where to spend their free time. Heritage and museum
experts do not have to invent stories and recreate historical environments  to attract their visitors: their assets
are already in place. However, exhibits must be both based on artefacts and facts as we know them , and
attractively presented. Those who are professionally engaged in the art of interpreting history are thus in a
difficult position, as they must steer a narrow course =( behave in a particular way) between the demands of
'evidence' and 'attractiveness', especially given the increasing need in the heritage industry for income-
generating activities.

(1) + (2) Theme parks now convey more about serious topics due to the market forces  Put historical sites
in a very competitive market.
(2) + (4) + (5) Museums experts do not have to make up stories in the past  Place pressure on them to
attract visitors + generate profits.

It could be claimed that in order to make everything in heritage more 'real', historical accuracy must be
increasingly altered. For example, Pithecanthropus erectus is depicted in an Indonesian museum with Malay
facial features, because this corresponds to public perceptions. Similarly, in the Museum of Natural History
in Washington, Neanderthal man is shown making a dominant gesture to his wife. Such presentations tell us
more about contemporary perceptions of the world than about  our ancestors. There is one compensation,
however, for the professionals who make these interpretations: if they did not provide the interpretation,
visitors would do it for themselves, based on their own ideas, misconceptions and prejudices. And no matter
how exciting the result, it would contain a lot more bias than the presentations provided by experts.

(1) A change in historical accuracy/ facts

(2) Elaborate idea by giving an example
(3) Meet the contemporary perceptions than the true fact
(4) However, it is still better than let visitors imagine what happened in the past
(5) The “new” presentations contain more bias than the old ones which was made by experts

 A change in the historical facts to meet the expectation of visitors  However, it is still a good sign.
F

Human bias is inevitable, but another source of bias in the representation of history has to do with the
transitory nature = (temporary) of the materials themselves . The simple fact is that not everything from history
survives the historical process. Castles, palaces and cathedrals have a longer lifespan than the dwellings of
ordinary people. The same applies to the furnishings and other contents of the premises. In a town like Leyden
in Holland, which in the seventeenth century was occupied by approximately the same number of inhabitants as
today, people lived within the walled town, an area more than five times smaller than modern Leyden . In most
of the houses several families lived together in circumstances beyond our imagination . Yet in museums, fine
period rooms give only an image of the lifestyle of the upper class of that era . No wonder that people who stroll
around exhibitions are filled with nostalgia; the evidence in museums indicates that life was so much better in
the past. This notion is induced by the bias in its representation in museums and heritage centers .

(1) Another bias comes from the nature of materials.

(2) + (3) +(4) + (5) Nothing can last long  e.g. Castles > Dwellings  same things in other buildings
(6) + (7) + (8) + (9) Museums just showcase upper class  Visitors think that life in the past was good

 Museums bias constructions which are in good conditions.

Passage:

Collection in museums just for scholars  Historical sites + museums change in a way that everyone can access
like theme parks although still have opposite ideas  Theme parks also change in a serious way like museums
 competitive market  experts in museums have to change the way they show things belonging to the past to
attract visitors  show them what they bias  museums also bias not just visitors  they show them what is
still intact in the past.
[Cam 13/Test 1]

Artificial artists
Can computers really create works of art?
The Painting Fool is one of a growing number of computer programs which, so their makers claim, possess
creative talents. Classical music by an artificial composer has had audiences enraptured = enchanted, and even
tricked them into believing a human was behind the score. Artworks painted by a robot have sold for thousands
of dollars and been hung in prestigious galleries. And software has been built which creates art that could not
have been imagined by the programmer.

(1) The painting fool is a computer program which possesses creative talents.
(2) Classical music by artificial composer tricked audience into believing a human created music.
(3) + (4) Artworks painted by a robot have sold for thousands of dollars
 The Painting Fool is an amazing software which can create art.

Human beings are the only species to perform sophisticated creative acts regularly. If we can break this process
down into computer code, where does that leave human creativity? ‘This is a question at the very core of
humanity,’ says Geraint Wiggins, a computational creativity researcher at Goldsmiths, University of London. ‘It
scares a lot of people. They are worried that it is taking something special away from what it means to be
human.’

(1) Human beings are the only species to perform sophisticated creative acts.
(2) There will be no place for human to perform arts if computers get involved.
(3) + (4) + (5) Computers may take place human in performing arts.

To some extent, we are all familiar with computerized art. The question is: where does the work of the artist
stop and the creativity of the computer begin? Consider one of the oldest machine artists, Aaron, a robot that has
had paintings exhibited in London’s Tate Modern and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Aaron can pick
up a paintbrush and paint on canvas on its own. Impressive perhaps, but it is still little more than a tool to
realize (to produce something based on instructions) the programmer’s own creative ideas.
(1) + (2) Where artist stops and computer starts to create itself.
(3) + (4) A successful machine: Aaron + how it can do
(5) However, it is a tool to present the ideas of programmer
 Machine arts still depends on its owners’ ideas.

Simon Colton, the designer of the Painting Fool, is keen to make sure his creation doesn’t attract the same
criticism. Unlike earlier ‘artists’ such as Aaron, the Painting Fool only needs minimal direction and can come up
with its own concepts by going online for material. The software runs its own web searches and trawls through
social media sites. It is now beginning to display a kind of imagination too, creating pictures from scratch. One of
its original works is a series of fuzzy landscapes, depicting trees and sky. While some might say they have a
mechanical look, Colton argues that such reactions arise from people’s double standards = (arise when two
things are treated differently although they should be treated the same way) towards software-produced and
human-produced art. After all, he says, consider that the Painting Fool painted the landscapes without referring
to a photo. ‘If a child painted a new scene from its head, you’d say it has a certain level of imagination,’ he points
out. ‘The same should be true of a machine.’ Software bugs can also lead to unexpected results . Some of the
Painting Fool’s paintings of a chair came out in black and white, thanks to a technical glitch. This gives the work
an eerie, ghostlike quality. Human artists like the renowned Ellsworth Kelly are lauded for limiting their color
palette – so why should computers be any different?
(1) Simon wants to improve his tool
(2) + (3) The Painting Fool does not depend on the ideas of its programmer + finds sources by itself
(4) + (5) It has imagination too  creates works of landscapes
(6) People say arts made by machine are not real >< Colton: it is unfair when treat machine-made products
differently even their products and human-made products should be treat the same way
(7) + (8) + (9) Example  machine also has imagination
(10) + (11) Software bugs may lead to unexpected things  example: painting of chair with low quality
(12) Refer to well-known artist also use limited colors  should treat computers like this way.
 Should apply the concept of creativity to all types of products (human and machine).

Researchers like Colton don’t believe it is right to measure machine creativity directly to that of humans who
‘have had millennia to develop our skills’. Others, though, are fascinated by the prospect that a computer might
create something as original and subtle as our best artists. So far, only one has come close. Composer David
Cope invented a program called Experiments in Musical Intelligence, or EMI. Not only did EMI create
compositions in Cope’s style, but also that of the most revered classical composers, including Bach, Chopin and
Mozart. Audiences were moved to tears, and EMI even fooled classical music experts into thinking they were
hearing genuine Bach. Not everyone was impressed however. Some, such as Wiggins, have blasted Cope’s work
as pseudoscience, and condemned him for his deliberately vague explanation of how the software worked.
Meanwhile, Douglas Hofstadter of Indiana University said EMI created replicas which still rely completely on the
original artist’s creative impulses. When audiences found out the truth they were often outraged with Cope, and
one music lover even tried to punch him. Amid such controversy, Cope destroyed EMI’s vital databases.
But why did so many people love the music, yet recoil when the discovered how it was composed? A study by
computer scientist David Moffat of Glasgow Caledonian University provides a clue. He asked both expert
musicians and non-experts to assess six compositions. The participants weren’t told beforehand whether the
tunes were composed by humans or computers, but were asked to guess, and then rate how much they liked
each one. People who thought the composer was a computer tended to dislike the piece more than those who
believed it was human. This was true even among the experts, who might have been expected to be more
objective in their analyses.
Where does this prejudice come from? Paul Bloom of Yale University has a suggestion: he reckons part of the
pleasure we get from art stems from the creative process behind the work. This can give it an ‘irresistible
essence’, says Bloom. Meanwhile, experiments by Justin Kruger of New York University have shown that
people’s enjoyment of an artwork increases if they think more time and effort was needed to create it. Similarly,
Colton thinks that when people experience art, they wonder what the artist might have been thinking or what
the artist is trying to tell them. It seems obvious, therefore, that with computers producing art, this speculation
is cut short – there’s nothing to explore. But as technology becomes increasingly complex, finding those greater
depths in computer art could become possible. This is precisely why Colton asks the Painting Fool to tap into
online social networks for its inspiration: hopefully this way it will choose themes that will already be
meaningful to us.
 
Questions 27-31
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.

27   What is the writer suggesting about computer-produced works in the first paragraph?
A   People’s acceptance of them can vary considerably.
B   A great deal of progress has already been attained in this field.
= Artworks painted by a robot have sold for thousands of dollars and been hung in prestigious galleries.
C   They have had more success in some artistic genres than in others.
D   The advances are not as significant as the public believes them to be.

28   According to Geraint Wiggins, why are many people worried by computer art?
A   It is aesthetically inferior to human art.
B   It may ultimately supersede human art.
C   It undermines a fundamental human quality.
= They are worried that it is taking something special away from what it means to be human.
D   It will lead to a deterioration in human ability.

29   What is a key difference between Aaron and the Painting Fool?
A   its programmer’s background
B   public response to its work
C   the source of its subject matter
= Aaron is still little more than a tool to realize the programmer’s own creative ideas.
= Unlike earlier ‘artists’ such as Aaron, the Painting Fool only needs minimal direction and can come up with
its own concepts by going online for material.
Aaron still create arts based on the ideas of its programmer >< The Painting Fool can find source by itself.
D   the technical standard of its output

30   What point does Simon Colton make in the fourth paragraph?
A   Software-produced art is often dismissed as childish and simplistic.
B   The same concepts of creativity should not be applied to all forms of art.
C   It is unreasonable to expect a machine to be as imaginative as a human being.
D   People tend to judge computer art and human art according to different criteria.
= Such reactions arise from people’s double standards = (arise when two things are treated differently
although they should be treated the same way) towards software-produced and human-produced art

31   The writer refers to the paintings of a chair as an example of computer art which
A   achieves a particularly striking effect.
B   exhibits a certain level of genuine artistic skill. (Thể hiện một mức độ nhất định của kỹ năng nghệ thuật
đích thực)
C   closely resembles that of a well-known artist.
D   highlights the technical limitations of the software.

Questions 32-37
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-G below.
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 32-37 on your answer sheet.

32   Simon Colton says it is important to consider the long-term view then

33   David Cope’s EMI software surprised people by

34   Geraint Wiggins criticized Cope for not

35   Douglas Hofstadter claimed that EMI was

36   Audiences who had listened to EMI’s music became angry after

37   The participants in David Moffat’s study had to assess music without

List of Ideas
A     generating work that was virtually indistinguishable from that of humans.
B     knowing whether it was the work of humans or software.
C     producing work entirely dependent on the imagination of its creator.
D     comparing the artistic achievements of humans and computers.
E     revealing the technical details of his program.
F     persuading the public to appreciate computer art.
G    discovering that it was the product of a computer program
 
Questions 38-40
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet, write
YES                  if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO                   if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN    if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

38   Moffat’s research may help explain people’s reactions to EMI.

39   The non-experts in Moffat’s study all responded in a predictable way.

40   Justin Kruger’s findings cast doubt on Paul Bloom’s theory about people’s prejudice towards computer art .
 The coconut palm
For millennia, the coconut has been central to the lives of Polynesian and Asian peoples. In the western
world, on the other hand, coconuts have always been exotic and unusual, sometimes rare. The Italian
merchant traveller Marco Polo apparently saw coconuts in South Asia in the late 13th century, and
among the mid-14th-century travel writings of Sir John Mandeville there is mention of ‘great Notes of
Ynde’ (great Nuts of India). Today, images of palm-fringed tropical beaches are clichés in the west to
sell holidays, chocolate bars, fizzy drinks and even romance.

Typically, we envisage coconuts as brown cannonballs that, when opened, provide sweet white flesh.
But we see only part of the fruit and none of the plant from which they come. The coconut palm has a
smooth, slender, grey trunk, up to 30 metres tall. This is an important source of timber for building
houses, and is increasingly being used as a replacement for endangered hardwoods in the furniture
construction industry. The trunk is surmounted by a rosette of leaves, each of which may be up to six
metres long. The leaves have hard veins in their centres which, in many parts of the world, are used as
brushes after the green part of the leaf has been stripped away. Immature coconut flowers are tightly
clustered together among the leaves at the top of the trunk. The flower stems may be tapped for their
sap to produce a drink, and the sap can also be reduced by boiling to produce a type of sugar used for
cooking.

Coconut palms produce as many as seventy fruits per year, weighing more than a kilogram each. The
wall of the fruit has three layers: a waterproof outer layer, a fibrous middle layer and a hard, inner
layer. The thick fibrous middle layer produces coconut fiber, ‘coir’, which has numerous uses and is
particularly important in manufacturing ropes. The woody innermost layer, the shell, with its three
prominent ‘eyes’, surrounds the seed. An important product obtained from the shell is charcoal, which
is widely used in various industries as well as in the home as a cooking fuel. When broken in half, the
shells are also used as bowls in many parts of Asia.
Inside the shell are the nutrients (endosperm) needed by the developing seed. Initially, the endosperm
is a sweetish liquid, coconut water, which is enjoyed as a drink, but also provides the hormones which
encourage other plants to grow more rapidly and produce higher yields. As the fruit matures, the
coconut water gradually solidifies to form the brilliant white, fat-rich, edible flesh or meat. Dried
coconut flesh, ‘copra’, is made into coconut oil and coconut milk, which are widely used in cooking in
different parts of the world, as well as in cosmetics. A derivative of coconut fat, glycerine, acquired
strategic importance in a quite different sphere, as Alfred Nobel introduced the world to his
nitroglycerine-based invention: dynamite.
Their biology would appear to make coconuts the great maritime voyagers and coastal colonizers of
the plant world. The large, energy-rich fruits are able to float in water and tolerate salt, but cannot
remain viable indefinitely; studies suggest after about 110 days at sea they are no longer able to
germinate. Literally cast onto desert island shores, with little more than sand to grow in and exposed
to the full glare of the tropical sun, coconut seeds are able to germinate and root. The air pocket in the
seed, created as the endosperm solidifies, protects the embryo. In addition, the fibrous fruit wall that
helped it to float during the voyage stores moisture that can be taken up by the roots of the coconut
seedling as it starts to grow.
There have been centuries of academic debate over the origins of the coconut. There were no coconut
palms in West Africa, the Caribbean or the east coast of the Americans before the voyages of the
European explorers Vasco da Gama and Columbus in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. 16th
century trade and human migration patterns reveal that Arab traders and European sailors are likely
to have moved coconuts from South and Southeast Asia to Africa and then across the Atlantic to the
east coast of America. But the origin of coconuts discovered along the west coast of America by 16th
century sailors has been the subject of centuries of discussion. Two diametrically opposed origins have
been proposed: that they came from Asia, or that they were native to America. Both suggestions have
problems. In Asia, there is a large degree of coconut diversity and evidence of millennia of human use –
but there are no relatives growing in the wild. In America, there are close coconut relatives, but no
evidence that coconuts are indigenous. These problems have led to the intriguing suggestion that
coconuts originated on coral islands in the Pacific and were dispersed from there.

ANSWER QUESTION PASSAGE

4 - charcoal Inner player (shell)
A source of charcoal
12 - True All the coconuts found in Asia are In Asia, there is a large degree of coconut
cultivated varieties.
Passage 3
The woody innermost layer, the shell, with
its three prominent ‘eyes’, surrounds the
seed. An important product obtained from
the shell is charcoal, which is widely used in
various industries as well as in the home as a
cooking fuel.
 The innermost layer, (which is) the shell.
An important product obtained from the
shell is charcoal
diversity and evidence of millennia of human
use – but there are no relatives growing in
the wild

 In Asia, there is a large degree of coconut

diversity but there are no relatives growing
in the wild.
 In Asia, there are varieties of coconuts but
they can’t be found in the wild. =(they are
cultivated)
 What ever happened to Harappan Civilization?
New research sheds light on the disappearance of an ancient society

A
The Harappan Civilisation of ancient Pakistan and India flourished 5,000 years ago, but a thousand
years later their cities were abandoned. The Harappan Civilisation was a sophisticated Bronze Age
society who built ‘megacities’ and traded internationally in luxury craft products, and yet seemed to
have left almost no depictions of themselves. But their lack of self-imagery - at a time when the
Egyptians were carving and painting representations of themselves all over their temples - is only part
of the mystery.
(1) Time when Harappan Civilization appeared and disappeared.
(2) It was a thriving civilization of Bronze Age.
(3) But they lack self-image which was seen in temples of Egyptians
 A difference of Harappan and other culture of the same period.
B
‘There is plenty of archaeological evidence to tell us about the rise of the Harappan Civilisation, but
relatively little about its fall,’ explains archaeologist Dr Cameron Petrie of the University of Cambridge.
‘As populations increased, cities were built that had great baths, craft workshops, palaces and halls laid
out in distinct sectors. Houses were arranged in blocks, with wide main streets and narrow alleyways,
and many had their own wells and drainage systems. It was very much a “thriving civilisation.’ Then
around 2100 BC, a transformation began. Streets went uncleaned, buildings started to be abandoned,
and ritual structures fell out of use. After their final demise, a millennium passed before really large-
scale cities appeared once more in South Asia.

C
Some have claimed that major glacier-fed rivers changed their course, dramatically affecting the water
supply and agriculture; or that the cities could not cope with an increasing population, they exhausted
their resource base, the trading economy broke down or they succumbed to invasion and conflict; and
yet others that climate change caused an environmental change that affected food and water provision.
‘It is unlikely that there was a single cause for the decline of the civilisation. But the fact is, until now,,
we have had little solid evidence from the area for most of the key elements,’ said Petrie. ‘A lot of the
archaeological debate has really only been well-argued speculation.’.

D
A research team led by Petrie, together with Dr Ravindanath Singh of Banaras Hindu University in
India, found early in their investigations that many of the archaeological sites were not where they
were supposed to be, completely altering understanding of the way that this region was inhabited in
the past. When they carried out a survey of how the larger area was settled in relation to sources of
water, they found inaccuracies in the published geographic locations of ancient settlements ranging
from several hundred metres to many kilometres. They realised that any attempts to use the existing
data were likely to be fundamentally flawed. Over the course of several seasons of fieldwork they
carried out new surveys, finding an astonishing 198 settlement sites that were previously unknown..

E Now, research published by Dr Yama Dixit and Professor David Hodell, both from Cambridge’s
Department of Earth Sciences, has provided the first definitive evidence for climate change affecting
the plains of north-western India, where hundreds of Harappan sites are known to have been situated.
The researchers gathered shells of Melanoides tuberculata snails from the sediments of an ancient lake
and used geochemical analysis as a means of tracing the climate history of the region. ’As today, the
major source of water into the lake is likely to have been the summer monsoon,' says Dixit. ‘But we
have observed that there was an abrupt change about 4,100 years ago, when the amount of
evaporation from the lake exceeded the rainfall - indicative of a drought.’ Hodell adds: ‘We estimate
that the weakening of the Indian summer monsoon climate lasted about 200 years before recovering
to the previous conditions, which we still see today.'

F
It has long been thought that other great Bronze Age civilisations also declined at a similar time, with a
global-scale climate event being seen as the cause.

While it is possible that these local-scale processes were linked, the real archaeological interest lies in
understanding the impact of these larger-scale events on different environments and different
populations. 'Considering the vast area of the Harappan Civilisation with its variable weather systems,’
explains Singh, ‘it is essential that we obtain more climate data from areas close to the two great cities
at Mohenjodaro and Harappa and also from the Indian Punjab.’

G
Petrie and Singh’s team is now examining archaeological records and trying to understand details of
how people led their lives in the region five millennia ago. They are analyzing grains cultivated at the
time, and trying to work out whether they were grown under extreme conditions of water stress, and
whether they were adjusting the combinations of crops they were growing for different weather
systems. They are also looking at whether the types of pottery used, and other aspects of their material
culture, were distinctive to specific regions or were more similar across larger areas. This gives us
insight into the types of interactive networks that the population was involved in, and whether those
changed.
(1) P and S is examining records to understand details of how people lived
(2) They are analyzing grains
(3) They look at pottery + other aspects of material cultures which were distinctive or similar
 Nhìn và o nhiều aspects while 29 chỉ hỏ i 1 difference/ Đoạ n cũ ng khô ng nêu rõ khá c biệt chỗ nà o.
(4) Gives insight into the types of networks

H
Petrie believes that archaeologists are in a unique position to investigate how past societies responded
to environmental and climatic change. ’By investigating responses to environmental pressures and
threats, we can learn from the past to engage with the public, and the relevant governmental and
administrative bodies, to be more proactive in issues such as the management and administration of
water supply, the balance of urban and rural development, and the importance of preserving cultural
heritage in the future.’
[Cam 13 / Test 2]
MAKING THE MOST OF TRENDS
Experts from Harvard Business School give advice to managers

Most managers can identify the major trends of the day. But in the course of conducting research in a number of
industries and working directly with companies, we have discovered that managers often fail to recognize the
less obvious but profound ways these trends are influencing consumers' aspirations, attitudes, and behaviors.
This is especially true of trends that managers view as peripheral to their core markets.
 Managers can identify major trends but fail to recognize minor trends which have profound impact on
customers

Many ignore trends in their innovation strategies or adopt a wait-and-see approach and let competitors take the
lead. At a minimum, such responses mean missed profit opportunities. At the extreme, they can jeopardize a
company by ceding to rivals the opportunity to transform the industry. The purpose of this article is twofold: to
spur managers to think more expansively about how trends could engender new value propositions in their
core markets, and to provide some high-level advice on how to make market research and product development
personnel more adept at analyzing and exploiting trends.

One strategy, known as 'infuse and augment', is to design a product or service that retains most of the attributes
and functions of existing products in the category but adds others that address the needs and desires unleashed
by a major trend. A case in point is the Poppy range of handbags, which the firm Coach created in response to
the economic downturn of 2008. The Coach brand had been a symbol of opulence and luxury for nearly 70
years, and the most obvious reaction to the downturn would have been to lower prices. However, that would
have risked cheapening the brand's image. Instead, they initiated a consumer-research project which revealed
that customers were eager to lift themselves and the country out of tough times. Using these insights, Coach
launched the lower-priced Poppy handbags, which were in vibrant colors, and looked more youthful and playful
than conventional Coach products. Creating the sub-brand allowed Coach to avert an across-the-board price cut.
In contrast to the many companies that responded to the recession by cutting prices, Coach saw the new
consumer mindset as an opportunity for innovation and renewal.
(1) 1st strategy - ‘Infuse and augment’: To design products that retain its old features but adds more other
features that adapt to new trends
(2) + (3) Example:
Coach – a luxurious brand – then created a sun brand named Poppy which sell cheaper products to response
to the downturn of economy # other brands that cut their prices

A further example of this strategy was supermarket Tesco's response to consumers' growing concerns about the
environment. With that in mind, Tesco, one of the world's top five retailers, introduced its Greener Living
program, which demonstrates the company's commitment to protecting the environment by involving
consumers in ways that produce tangible results. For example, Tesco customers can accumulate points for such
activities as reusing bags, recycling cans and printer cartridges, and buying home-insulation materials. Like
points earned on regular purchases, these green points can be redeemed for cash. Tesco has not abandoned its
traditional retail offerings but augmented its business with these innovations, thereby infusing its value
proposition with a green streak.
 Summary: Another example: Tesco’s response to consumers’ growing concerns about the environment
 introduce Greener Living Program  customers accumulated points for their activities involving protect
environment  may redeem cash later  Tesco hasn’t abandoned its original detail offerings but expanded
their business

A more radical strategy is 'combine and transcend'. This entails combining aspects of the product's existing
value proposition with attributes addressing changes arising from a trend, to create a novel experience - one
that may land the company in an entirely new market space. At first glance, spending resources to
incorporate elements of a seemingly irrelevant trend into one's core offerings sounds like it's hardly
worthwhile. But consider Nike's move to integrate the digital revolution into its reputation for high-
performance athletic footwear. In 2006, they teamed up with technology company Apple to launch Nike+, a
digital sports kit comprising a sensor that attaches to the running shoe and a wireless receiver that connects
to the user's iPod. By combining Nike's original value proposition for amateur athletes with one for digital
consumers, the Nike+ sports kit and web interface moved the company from a focus on athletic apparel to a
new plane of engagement with its customers.
(1) 2nd strategy - combine and transcend: combine aspects of existing value with attributes addressing
changes arising from a trend.
(2) Initially, it doesn’t seem worthwhile
(3) Nike: the digital revolution + athletic footwear  (4) team up with Apple
(5) Combine original value for amateur athletes with that for digital consumers  access to new
potential customers

A third approach, known as 'counteract and reaffirm', involves developing products or services that stress =
emphasize the values traditionally associated with the category in ways that allow consumers to oppose - or
at least temporarily escape from - the aspects of trends they view as undesirable.

A product that accomplished this is the ME2, a video game created by Canada's iToys. By reaffirming the toy
category's association with physical play, the ME2 counteracted some of the widely perceived negative
impacts of digital gaming devices. Like other handheld games, the device featured a host of exciting
interactive games, a foil-color LCD screen, and advanced 3D graphics. What set it apart was that it
incorporated the traditional physical component of children's play: it contained a pedometer, which tracked
and awarded points for physical activity (walking, running, biking, and skateboarding, climbing stairs). The
child could use the points to enhance various virtual skills needed for the video game. The ME2, introduced
in mid- 2008, catered to kids' huge desire to play video games while countering the negatives , such as
associations with lack of exercise and obesity.
Structures:
A third approach involves developing products that stress the values that allow customers to oppose
(1) 3rd strategy - 'counteract and reaffirm': products that allows consumers to oppose the aspects they
view undesirable
(2) ME2 dealt with the negative perception about games
(3) Like other games, ME2 has visually appealing graphics
(4) The difference is the game incorporated the traditional physical activities such as biking and
running
(5) Children have to get involve in these physical activities to earn point to enhance skills in their games
 (6) Encounter one of the most serious problems that is physical inactivity

Once you have gained perspective on how trend-related changes in consumer opinions and behaviors
impact on your category, you can determine which of our three innovation strategies to pursue. When your
category's basic value proposition continues to be meaningful for consumers influenced by the trend, the
infuse-and-augment strategy will allow you to reinvigorate the category. If analysis reveals an increasing
disparity between your category and consumers' new focus, your innovations need to transcend the
category to integrate the two worlds. Finally, if aspects of the category clash with undesired outcomes of a
trend, such as associations with unhealthy lifestyles, there is an opportunity to counteract those changes by
reaffirming the core values of your category.

Trends - technological, economic, environmental, social, or political - that affect how people perceive the
world around them and shape what they expect from products and services present firms with unique
opportunities for growth.

ANSWER QUESTION PASSAGE

31 - D What was original about the ME2?
Original: fresh, new, innovative
# What was the original aim of ME2
D – It was a handheld game that addressed
people’s concerns about unhealthy
lifestyles
What set it apart was that it incorporated the
traditional physical component of children's
play: it contained a pedometer, which tracked
and awarded points for physical activity
(walking, running, biking, and skateboarding,
climbing stairs).
The ME2, introduced in mid- 2008, catered to
kids' huge desire to play video games while
countering the negatives, such as associations
with lack of exercise and obesity.

32 - D It turned the notion that its products could
have harmful effects to its own advantage.
- iToys
(Thay đổ i nhậ n định là sả n phẩ m củ a nó có
nhữ ng ả nh hưở ng tiêu cự c đến chính lợ i
ích củ a nó )
[Đề hỏi iToys đọc ngược lại]
Coach: However, that would have risked
cheapening the brand's image. (Khô ng đề cậ p
đến việc thay đổ i nhậ n định)
A third approach, known as 'counteract and
reaffirm', involves developing products or
services that stress the values traditionally
associated with the category in ways that allow
consumers to oppose - or at least temporarily
escape from - the aspects of trends they view as
undesirable. [Bỏ mệnh đề quan hệ chính giữ a, bỏ
từ gạch nố i bổ sung nghĩa]
 Simplification: A 3rd approach is to develop
products that stress values. The values that allow

36 - C It responded to growing lifestyle trend in But consider Nike's move to integrate the digital
an unrelated product sector.
- Nike
38 - B If there are any trend-related changes
impacting on your category, you should
B: identify the most appropriate
innovation strategy to use.
consumers oppose to trends they view as
undesirable. ( Phá t triển sả n phẩm cho ngườ i
dù ng quyền phả n đố i nếu họ khô ng hà i lò ng).
A product that accomplished this is the ME2, a
video game created by Canada's iToys.
 iToys cho ra mắt ME2
revolution into its reputation for high-
performance athletic footwear. In 2006, they
teamed up with technology company Apple to
launch Nike+, a digital sports kit comprising a
sensor that attaches to the running shoe and a
wireless receiver that connects to the user's
iPod. By combining Nike's original value
proposition for amateur athletes with one for
digital consumers, the Nike+ sports kit and web
interface moved the company from a focus on
athletic apparel to a new plane of engagement
with its customers.
+) Growing lifestyle trend  the digital
revolution  digital consumers ( cá ch số ng số
hó a là new trend)
+) Unrelated product sector  team up with
Apple (technology) while Nike is specialized in
sports clothes.
When your category's basic value proposition
continues to be meaningful for consumers
influenced by the trend, the infuse-and-augment
strategy will allow you to reinvigorate the
category [word form]
+) Reinvigorate: làm mớ i
[Cam 13 /Test 2]

Cutty Sark: the fastest sailing ship of all time

The nineteenth century was a period of great technological development in Britain, and for shipping the major
changes were from wind to steam power, and from wood to iron and steel.

The fastest commercial sailing vessels of all time were clippers, three-masted ships built to transport goods
around the world, although some also took passengers. From the 1840s until 1869, when the Suez Canal opened
and steam propulsion was replacing sail, clippers dominated world trade. Although many were built, only one
has survived more or less intact: Cutty Sark, now on display in Greenwich, southeast London.

Cutty Sark's unusual name comes from the poem Tam O'Shanter by the Scottish poet Robert Bums. Tam, a
farmer, is chased by a witch called Nannie, who is wearing a 'cutty sark' - an old Scottish name for a short
nightdress. The witch is depicted in Cutty Sark's figurehead - the carving of a woman typically at the front of old
sailing ships. In legend, and in Bums's poem, witches cannot cross water, so this was a rather strange choice of
name for a ship.

Cutty Sark was built in Dumbarton, Scotland, in 1869, for a shipping company owned by John Willis. To carry
out construction, Willis chose a new shipbuilding firm, Scott & Linton, and ensured that the contract with them
put him in a very strong position. In the end, the firm was forced out of business, and the ship was finished by a
competitor.

Willis's company was active in the tea trade between China and Britain, where speed could bring shipowners
both profits and prestige, so Cutty Sark was designed to make the journey more quickly than any other ship. On
her maiden voyage, in 1870, she set sail from London, carrying large amounts of goods to China. She returned
laden with tea, making the journey back to London in four months. However, Cutty Sark never lived up to the
high expectations of her owner, as a result of bad winds and various misfortunes. On one occasion, in 1872, the
ship and a rival clipper, Thermopylae, left port in China on the same day. Crossing the Indian Ocean, Cutty Sark
gained a lead of over 400 miles, but then her rudder was severely damaged in stormy seas, making her
impossible to steer. The ship's crew had the daunting task of repairing the rudder at sea, and only succeeded at
the second attempt. Cutty Sark reached London a week after Thermopylae.

Steam ships posed a growing threat to clippers, as their speed and cargo capacity increased. In addition, the
opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the same year that Cutty Sark was launched, had a serious impact. While
steam ships could make use of the quick, direct route between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, the canal was
of no use to sailing ships, which needed the much stronger winds of the oceans, and so had to sail a far greater
distance. Steam ships reduced the journey time between Britain and China by approximately two months.

By 1878, tea traders weren't interested in Cutty Sark, and instead, she took on the much less prestigious work of
carrying any cargo between any two ports in the world. In 1880, violence aboard the ship led ultimately to the
replacement of the captain with an incompetent drunkard who stole the crew's wages. He was suspended from
service, and a new captain appointed. This marked a turnaround and the beginning of the most successful
period in Cutty Sark's working life, transporting wool from Australia to Britain. One such journey took just
under 12 weeks, beating every other ship sailing that year by around a month.
The ship's next captain, Richard Woodget, was an excellent navigator, who got the best out of both his ship and
his crew. As a sailing ship, Cutty Sark depended on the strong trade winds of the southern hemisphere, and
Woodget took her further south than any previous captain, bringing her dangerously close to icebergs off the
southern tip of South America. His gamble paid off, though, and the ship was the fastest vessel in the wool trade
for ten years.

As competition from steam ships increased in the 1890s, and Cutty Sark approached the end of her life
expectancy, she became less profitable. She was sold to a Portuguese firm, which renamed her Ferreira. For the
next 25 years, she again carried miscellaneous cargoes around the world.

Badly damaged in a gale in 1922, she was put into Falmouth harbor in southwest England, for repairs. Wilfred
Dowman, a retired sea captain who owned a training vessel, recognized her and tried to buy her, but without
success. She returned to Portugal and was sold to another Portuguese company. Dowman was determined,
however, and offered a high price: this was accepted, and the ship returned to Falmouth the following year and
had her original name restored.

Dowman used Cutty Sark as a training ship, and she continued in this role after his death. When she was no
longer required, in 1954, she was transferred to dry dock at Greenwich to go on public display. The ship
suffered from fire in 2007, and again, less seriously, in 2014, but now Cutty Sark attracts a quarter of a million
visitors a year.

ANSWER QUESTION PASSAGE

1 - False Clippers were originally intended to be The fastest commercial sailing vessels of all time
used as passenger ships. were clippers, three-masted ships built to
transport goods around the world, although
some also took passengers.

8 - True Captain Woodget put Cutt Shark at risk of
hitting an iceberg.
(Có thể gặ p nguy hiểm nhưng chưa xả y ra)
As a sailing ship, Cutty Sark depended on the
strong trade winds of the southern hemisphere,
and Woodget took her further south than any
previous captain, bringing her dangerously close
to icebergs off the southern tip of South America.
 SAVING THE SOIL
More than a third of the Earth's top layer is at risk. Is there hope for our planet's most precious resource?

A More than a third of the world's soil is endangered, according to a recent UN report. If we don't slow the
decline, all farmable soil could be gone in 60 years. Since soil grows 95% of our food, and sustains human life in
other more surprising ways, that is a huge problem.

B Peter Groffman, from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York, points out that soil scientists have
been warning about the degradation of the world's soil for decades. At the same time, our understanding of its
importance to humans has grown. A single gram of healthy soil might contain 100 million bacteria, as well as
other microorganisms such as viruses and fungi, living amid decomposing plants and various minerals.

That means soils do not just grow our food, but are the source of nearly all our existing antibiotics, and could be
our best hope in the fight against antibiotic- resistant bacteria. Soil is also an ally against climate change: as
microorganisms within soil digest dead animals and plants, they lock in their carbon content, holding three
times the amount of carbon as does the entire atmosphere. Soils also store water, preventing flood damage: in
the UK, damage to buildings, roads and bridges from floods caused by soil degradation costs £233 million every
year.

C If the soil loses its ability to perform these functions, the human race could be in big trouble. The danger is not
that the soil will disappear completely, but that the microorganisms that give it its special properties will be lost.
And once this has happened, it may take the soil thousands of years to recover.

Agriculture is by far the biggest problem. In the wild, when plants grow they remove nutrients from the soil, but
then when the plants die and decay these nutrients are returned directly to the soil. Humans tend not to return
unused parts of harvested crops directly to the soil to enrich it, meaning that the soil gradually becomes less
fertile. In the past we developed strategies to get around the problem, such as regularly varying the types of
crops grown, or leaving fields uncultivated for a season.

D But these practices became inconvenient as populations grew and agriculture had to be run on more
commercial lines. A solution came in the early 20th century with the Haber-Bosch process for manufacturing
ammonium nitrate. Farmers have been putting this synthetic fertiliser on their fields ever since.

But over the past few decades, it has become clear this wasn't such a bright idea. Chemical fertilisers can release
polluting nitrous oxide into the atmosphere and excess is often washed away with the rain, releasing nitrogen
into rivers. More recently, we have found that indiscriminate use of fertilisers hurts the soil itself, turning it
acidic and salty, and degrading the soil they are supposed to nourish.

E One of the people looking for a solution to this problem is Pius Floris, who started out running a tree-care
business in the Netherlands, and now advises some of the world's top soil scientists. He came to realise that the
best way to ensure his trees flourished was to take care of the soil, and has developed a cocktail of beneficial
bacteria, fungi and humus* to do this. Researchers at the University of Valladolid in Spain recently used this
cocktail on soils destroyed by years of fertiliser overuse. When they applied Floris's mix to the desert-like test
plots, a good crop of plants emerged that were not just healthy at the surface, but had roots strong enough to
pierce dirt as hard as rock. The few plants that grew in the control plots, fed with traditional fertilisers, were
small and weak.
F However, measures like this are not enough to solve the global soil degradation problem. To assess our
options on a global scale we first need an accurate picture of what types of soil are out there, and the problems
they face. That's not easy. For one thing, there is no agreed international system for classifying soil. In an
attempt to unify the different approaches, the UN has created the Global Soil Map project. Researchers from nine
countries are working together to create a map linked to a database that can be fed measurements from field
surveys, drone surveys, satellite imagery, lab analyses and so on to provide real-time data on the state of the
soil. Within the next four years, they aim to have mapped soils worldwide to a depth of 100 metres, with the
results freely accessible to all.

G But this is only a first step. We need ways of presenting the problem that bring it home to governments and
the wider public, says Pamela Chasek at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, in Winnipeg,
Canada. 'Most scientists don't speak language that policy-makers can understand, and vice versa.' Chasek and
her colleagues have proposed a goal of 'zero net land degradation'. Like the idea of carbon neutrality, it is an
easily understood target that can help shape expectations and encourage action.

For soils on the brink, that may be too late. Several researchers are agitating for the immediate creation of
protected zones for endangered soils. One difficulty here is defining what these areas should conserve: areas
where the greatest soil diversity is present? Or areas of unspoilt soils that could act as a future benchmark of
quality?

Whatever we do, if we want our soils to survive, we need to take action now.

* Humus: the part of the soil formed from dead plant material
 Book Review
The Happiness Industry: How the Government and Big Business Sold Us Well-Being

By William Davies

'Happiness is the ultimate goal because it is self-evidently good. If we are asked why happiness matters we can
give no further external reason. It just obviously does matter.' This pronouncement by Richard Layard, an
economist and advocate of 'positive psychology', summarizes the beliefs of many people today. For Layard and
others like him, it is obvious that the purpose of government is to promote a state of collective well-being. The
only question is how to achieve it, and here positive psychology - a supposed science that not only identifies
what makes people happy but also allows their happiness to be measured - can show the way. Equipped with
this science, they say, governments can secure happiness in society in a way they never could in the past.

(1) + (2) + (3) Happiness is good itself

(4) Richard said this – an advocate of positive psychology
(5) The purpose of government is to promote a state of well-being
(6) + (7) + (8) How to achieve + positive psychology will help

 The new science: Positive psychology will help to achieve happiness

It is an astonishingly crude and simple-minded way of thinking, and for that very reason increasingly popular.
Those who think in this way are oblivious to the vast philosophical literature in which the meaning and value of
happiness have been explored and questioned, and write as if nothing of any importance had been thought on
the subject until it came to their attention. It was the philosopher Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) who was more
than anyone else responsible for the development of this way of thinking. For Bentham it was obvious that the
human good consists of pleasure and the absence of pain. The Greek philosopher Aristotle may have identified
happiness with self-realization in the 4th century BC, and thinkers throughout the ages may have struggled to
reconcile the pursuit of happiness with other human values, but for Bentham all this was mere metaphysics or
fiction. Without knowing anything much of him or the school of moral theory he established - since they are by
education and intellectual conviction illiterate in the history of ideas - our advocates of positive psychology
follow in his tracks in rejecting as outmoded and irrelevant pretty much the entirety of ethical reflection on
human happiness to date.
(1) Positive psychology is a simple way of thinking

(2) Advocates tend to ignore things which should consider important

(3) +(4) Jeremy – responsible for this way of thinking  Human good: pleasure + no pain

(5) Greek happiness is self-realization  thinkers have to harmonize happiness with other human values 
Jeremy thinks this is a fiction

(6) Advocates of positive psychology also reject the perception of Greek

 Advocates of PP think that this science is simple concept

But as William Davies notes in his recent book The Happiness Industry, the view that happiness is the only self-
evident good is actually a way of limiting moral inquiry. One of the virtues of this rich, lucid and arresting book
is that it places the current cult of happiness in a well-defined historical framework. Rightly, Davies begins his
story with Bentham, noting that he was far more than a philosopher. Davies writes, 'Bentham's activities were
those which we might now associate with a public sector management consultant'. In the 1790s, he wrote to the
Home Office suggesting that the departments of government be linked together through a set of 'conversation
tubes', and to the Bank of England with a design for a printing device that could produce unforgeable banknotes.
He drew up plans for a 'frigidarium' to keep provisions such as meat, fish, fruit and vegetables fresh. His
celebrated design for a prison to be known as a 'Panopticon', in which prisoners would be kept in solitary
confinement while being visible at all times to the guards, was very nearly adopted. (Surprisingly, Davies does
not discuss the fact that Bentham meant his Panopticon not just as a model prison but also as an instrument of
control that could be applied to schools and factories.)

(1) William agree that happiness is good itself is a way of limiting moral inquiry
(2) Happiness is well-defined in this book
(3) + (4) : Davies praise/ claim Jeremy

(5)

Bentham was also a pioneer of the 'science of happiness'. If happiness is to be regarded as a science, it has to be
measured, and Bentham suggested two ways in which this might be done. Viewing happiness as a complex of
pleasurable sensations, he suggested that it might be quantified by measuring the human pulse rate.
Alternatively, money could be used as the standard for quantification: if two different goods have the same
price, it can be claimed that they produce the same quantity of pleasure in the consumer. Bentham was more
attracted by the latter measure. By associating money so closely to inner experience, Davies writes, Bentham
'set the stage for the entangling of psychological research and capitalism that would shape the business
practices of the twentieth century'.

The Happiness Industry describes how the project of a science of happiness has become integral to capitalism.
We learn much that is interesting about how economic problems are being redefined and treated as
psychological maladies. In addition, Davies shows how the belief that inner states of pleasure and displeasure
can be objectively measured has informed management studies and advertising. The tendency of thinkers such
as J B Watson, the founder of behaviorism*, was that human beings could be shaped, or manipulated, by
policymakers and managers. Watson had no factual basis for his view of human action. When he became
president of the American Psychological Association in 1915, he 'had never even studied a single human being':
his research had been confined to experiments on white rats. Yet Watson's reductive model is now widely
applied, with 'behavior change' becoming the goal of governments: in Britain, a 'Behavior Insights Team' has
been established by the government to study how people can be encouraged, at minimum cost to the public
purse, to live in what are considered to be socially desirable ways.

Modem industrial societies appear to need the possibility of ever-increasing happiness to motivate them in their
labors. But whatever its intellectual pedigree, the idea that governments should be responsible for promoting
happiness is always a threat to human freedom.

* 'behaviorism': a branch of psychology which is concerned with observable behavior

 ANSWER QUESTION
27 - D What is the reviewer’s attitude to advocate
of positive of psychology
D – They are ignorant about the ideas they
should be considering
28 - A
Jeremy Bentham was active in other areas
besides philosophy. In the 1790s he
suggested a type of technology to improve
(1) for different Government departments.
He developed a new way of printing
banknotes to increase (2) and also
designed a method for the (3) of food. He
also drew up plans for a prison which
allowed the (4) of prisoners at all times,
and believed the same design could be
used for other institutions as well. When
researching happiness, he investigated
possibilities for its ,and suggested some
methods of doing this.
PASSAGE
In the 1790s, he wrote to the Home Office
suggesting that the departments of government
be linked together through a set of 'conversation
tubes', and to the Bank of England with a design
for a printing device that could produce
unforgeable banknotes. He drew up plans for a
'frigidarium' to keep provisions such as meat,
fish, fruit and vegetables fresh. His celebrated
design for a prison to be known as a
'Panopticon', in which prisoners would be kept
in solitary confinement while being visible at all
times to the guards, was very nearly adopted.
[Cam 14 / Test 1]

The growth of bike-sharing schemes around the world

How Dutch engineer Luud Schimmelpennink helped to devise urban bike-sharing schemes.

A -   The original idea for an urban bike-sharing scheme dates back to a summer’s day in Amsterdam in
1965.  Provo, the organization that came up with the idea, was a group of Dutch activists who wanted
to change society. They believed the scheme, which was known as the Witte Fietsenplan, was an
answer to the perceived threats of air pollution and consumerism. In the center of Amsterdam, they
painted a small number of used bikes white. They also distributed leaflets describing the dangers of
cars and inviting people to use the white bikes. The bikes were then left unlocked at various locations
around the city, to be used by anyone in need of transport.

(1) The idea was originated in 1965

B -   Luud Schimmelpennink, a Dutch industrial engineer who still lives and cycles in Amsterdam, was
heavily involved in the original scheme. He recalls how the scheme succeeded in attracting a great deal
of attention — particularly when it came to publicising Provo’s aims — but struggled to get off the
ground. The police were opposed to Provo’s initiatives and almost as soon as the white bikes were
distributed around the city, they removed them. However, for Schimmelpennink and for bike-sharing
schemes in general, this was just the beginning. ‘The first Witte Fietsenplan was just a symbolic thing,’
he says. ‘We painted a few bikes white, that was all. Things got more serious when I became a member
of the Amsterdam city council two years later.’

C -   Schimmelpennink seized this opportunity to present a more elaborate Witte Fietsenplan to the
city council. ‘My idea was that the municipality of Amsterdam would distribute 10,000 white bikes
over the city, for everyone to use,’ he explains. ‘I made serious calculations. It turned out that a white
bicycle — per person, per kilometer — would cost the municipality only 10% of what it contributed to
public transport per person per kilometer.’ Nevertheless, the council unanimously rejected the plan.
‘They said that the bicycle belongs to the past. They saw a glorious future for the car,’ says
Schimmelpennink. But he was not in the least discouraged.

D -   Schimmelpennink never stopped believing in bike-sharing, and in the mid-90s, two Danes asked
for his help to set up a system in Copenhagen. The result was the world’s first large-scale bike-share
programme. It worked on a deposit: ‘You dropped a coin in the bike and when you returned it, you got
your money back.’ After setting up the Danish system, Schimmelpennink decided to try his luck again
in the Netherlands — and this time he succeeded in arousing the interest of the Dutch Ministry of
Transport. ‘Times had changed,’ he recalls. ‘People had become more environmentally conscious, and
the Danish experiment had proved that bike-sharing was a real possibility.’ A new Witte Fietsenplan
was launched in 1999 in Amsterdam. However, riding a white bike was no longer free; it cost one
guilder per trip and payment was made with a chip card developed by the Dutch bank Postbank.
Schimmelpennink designed conspicuous, sturdy white bikes locked in special racks which could be
opened with the chip card - the plan started with 250 bikes, distributed over five stations.
E -   Theo Molenaar, who was a system designer for the project, worked alongside Schimmelpennink. ‘I
remember when we were testing the bike racks, he announced that he had already designed better
ones. But of course, we had to go through with the ones we had.’ The system, however, was prone to
vandalism and theft. ‘After every weekend there would always be a couple of bikes missing,’ Molenaar
says.‘I really have no idea what people did with them, because they could instantly be recognised as
white bikes.’ But the biggest blow came when Postbank decided to abolish the chip card, because it
wasn’t profitable. ‘That chip card was pivotal to the system,’ Molenaar says. ‘To continue the project we
would have needed to set up another system, but the business partner had lost interest.’

F -   Schimmelpennink was disappointed, but - characteristically - not for long. In 2002 he got a call
from the French advertising corporation JC Decaux, who wanted to set up his bike-sharing scheme in
Vienna. ‘That went really well. After Vienna, they set up a system in Lyon. Then in 2007, Paris followed.
That was a decisive moment in the history of bike-sharing.’ The huge and unexpected success of the
Parisian bike-sharing programme, which now boasts more than 20,000 bicycles, inspired cities all over
the world to set up their own schemes, all modelled on Schimmelpennink’s. ‘It’s wonderful that this
happened,’ he says. ‘But financially I didn’t really benefit from it, because I never filed for a patent.’

G -   In Amsterdam today, 38% of all trips are made by bike and, along with Copenhagen, it is regarded
as one of the two most cycle-friendly capitals in the world - but the city never got another Witte
Fietsenplan. Molenaar believes this may be because everybody in Amsterdam already has a bike.
Schimmelpennink, however, cannot see that this changes Amsterdam’s need for a bike-sharing scheme.
‘People who travel on the underground don’t carry their bikes around. But often they need additional
transport to reach their final destination.’ Although he thinks it is strange that a city like Amsterdam
does not have a successful bike-sharing scheme, he is optimistic about the future. ‘In the 60s we didn’t
stand a chance because people were prepared to give their lives to keep cars in the city. But that
mentality has totally changed.
Questions 14 – 18
The Reading Passage has seven paragraphs, A-G.  Which paragraph contains the following information?

 Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

 NB You may use any letter more than once.

14.  a description of how people misused a bike-sharing scheme

15.  an explanation of why a proposed bike-sharing scheme was turned down
16.  a reference to a person being unable to profit from their work
17.  an explanation of the potential savings a bike-sharing scheme would bring
18.  a reference to the problems a bike-sharing scheme was intended to solve

Questions 19 and 20

Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Write the correct letters in boxes 19 and 20 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following statements are made in the text about the Amsterdam bike-sharing
scheme of 1999?

     A. It was initially opposed by a government department.

     B. It failed when a partner in the scheme withdrew support.
     C. It aimed to be more successful than the Copenhagen scheme.
     D. It was made possible by a change in people’s attitudes.
     E. It attracted interest from a range of bike designers.

Questions 21 and 22

Choose TWO letters, A-E.
 
Write the correct letters in boxes 21 and 22 on your answer sheet.
Which TWO of the following statements are made in the text about Amsterdam today?

    A. The majority of residents would like to prevent all cars from entering the city.
    B. There is little likelihood of the city having another bike-sharing scheme.
    C. More trips in the city are made by bike than by any other form of transport.
    D. A bike-sharing scheme would benefit residents who use public transport.
    E. The city has a reputation as a place that welcomes cyclists.

Questions 23 – 26
Complete the summary below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 23-26 on your answer sheet.

The first urban bike-sharing scheme

The first bike-sharing scheme was the idea of the Dutch group Provo. The people who belonged to this
group were (23)…….…………. They were concerned about damage to the environment and about (24)
…….……………, and believed that the bike-sharing scheme would draw attention to these issues. As well
as painting some bikes white, they handed out (25)………….………. that condemned the use of cars.
However, the scheme was not a great success: almost as quickly as Provo left the bikes around the city,
the (26)………..……….. took them away. According to Schimmelpennink, the scheme was intended to be
symbolic. The idea was to get people thinking about the issues.
 Motivational factors and the hospitality industry
A critical ingredient in the success of hotels is developing and maintaining superior performance from
their employees. How is that accomplished? What Human Resource Management (HKT) practices
should organizations invest in to acquire and retain great employees?

Some hotels aim to provide superior Working conditions for their employees. The idea originated Tom
workplaces usually in the non - Service sector that emphasized fun and enjoyment as part of work - life
balance , By contrast , the service sector , and more specifically hotels , his traditionally not extended
these practices to address basic employee needs , such as good working conditions.

Pfeifer (1994) emphasizes that in order to succeed in a global business environment, organizations
must make investment in Human Resource Management (HRM) to allow them to acquire employees
who possess better skills and capabilities than their competitors (need to invest in HRM to attract
competent workers). This investment will be to their competitive advantage. Despite this recognition of
the importance of employee development, the hospitality industry has historically been dominated by
underdeveloped HR practices (Lucas, 2002).

Lucas also points out that the substance of HRM practices does not appear to be designed to foster
constructive relations with employees or to represent a managerial approach that enables developing
and drawing out the full potential of people , even though employees may be broadly satisfied with any
aspects of their work (Lucas , 2002). In addition, or maybe as a result, high employee turnover has been
a recurring problem throughout the hospitality industry. Among the many cited reasons are low
compensation , inadequate benefits , poor working conditions and compromised employee morale and
attitudes ( Maroudas et al . , 2008 ). (reasons why there are many workers change jobs)

Ng and Sorensen ( 2008 ) demonstrated that when managers provide recognition to employees ,
motivate employees to work together , and remove obstacles preventing effective performance ,
employees feel more obligated to stay with the company. This was succinctly summarized by Michel et
al. (2013): Providing support to employees gives them the confidence to perform their jobs better and
the motivation to stay with the organization. “Hospitality organizations can therefore enhance
employee motivation and retention through the development and improvement of their working
conditions. These conditions are inherently linked to the working environment.

While it seems likely that employees’ reactions to their job characteristics could be affected by a
predisposition to view their work environment negatively, no evidence exists to support this hypothesis
(Spector et al., 2000). However, given the opportunity, many people will find something to complain
about in relation to their workplace (Poulston, 2009). There is a strong link between the perceptions of
employees and particular factors of their work environment that are separate from the work itself,
including company policies, salary and vacations.

Such conditions are particularly troubling for the luxury hotel market, where high - quality service,
requiring a sophisticated approach to HRM , is recognized as a critical source of competitive advantage
(Maroudas et al . , 2008 ). In a real sense, the services of hotel employees represent their industry
(Schneider and Bowen, 1993). This representation has commonly been limited to guest experiences.
This suggests that there has been a dichotomy between the guest environment provided in luxury
hotels and the working conditions of their employees.
It is therefore essential for hotel management to develop HRM practices that enable them to inspire and
retain competent employees. This requires an understanding of what motivates employees at different
levels of management and different stages of their careers (Enz and Siguaw, 2000). This implies that it
is beneficial for hotel managers to understand what practices are most favorable to increase employee
satisfaction and retention.

Herzberg (1966) proposes that people have two major types of needs, the first being extrinsic
motivation factors relating to the context in which work is performed, rather than the work itself. These
include working conditions and job security. When these factors are unfavorable, job dissatisfaction
may result. Significantly, though, just fulfilling these needs does not result in satisfaction, but only in the
reduction of dissatisfaction (Maroudas et al., 2008).

Employees also have intrinsic motivation needs or motivators, which include such factors as
achievement and recognition. Unlike extrinsic factors, motivator factors may ideally result in job
satisfaction (Maroudas et al., 2008). Hezbergs (1966) theory discusses the need for a balance “of these
two types of needs.

The impact of fun as a motivating factor at work has also been explored. For example, Tews, Micheland
Stafford (2013) conducted a study focusing on staff from a chain of themed restaurants in the United
States. It was found that fun activities had a favorable impact on performance and manager support for
fun had a favorable impact in reducing turnover. Their findings support the view that fun may indeed
have a beneficial effect, but the framing of that fun must be carefully aligned with both organizational
goals and employee characteristics. “ Managers must learn how to achieve the delicate balance of
allowing employees the freedom to enjoy themselves at work while simultaneously maintaining high
levels of performance ' ( Tews et al . , 2013).

Deery (2008) has recommended several actions that can be adopted at the organizational level to retain
good staff as well as assist in balancing work and family life. Those particularly appropriate to the
hospitality industry include allowing adequate breaks during the working day, staff functions that
involve families, and providing health and well - being opportunities
 ANSWER QUESTION PASSAGE
27 Hotel managers need to know what It is therefore essential for hotel
would encourage good staff to remain management to develop HRM practices that
enable them to inspire and retain competent
employees. This requires an understanding
of what motivates employees at different
levels of management and different stages of
their careers (Enz and Siguaw, 2000).
28 The action of managers may make staff Ng and Sorensen ( 2008 ) demonstrated that
feel they shouldn’t move to a different when managers provide recognition to
employer employees , motivate employees to work
together , and remove obstacles preventing
effective performance , employees feel more
obligated to stay with the company.
[Give definition/ Antonym]
29 Little is done in the hospitality industry Lucas also points out that the substance of
to help workers improve their skills HRM practices does not appear to be
designed to foster constructive relations with
employees or to represent a managerial
approach that enables developing and
drawing out the full potential of people , even
though employees may be broadly satisfied
with any aspects of their work (Lucas , 2002).
30 Staff are less likely to change jobs if Ng and Sorensen ( 2008 ) demonstrated that
cooperation is encouraged when managers provide recognition to
employees , motivate employees to work
together , and remove obstacles preventing
effective performance , employees feel more
obligated to stay with the company.
31 Dissatisfaction with pay is not the only In addition, or maybe as a result, high
reason why hospitality workers change employee turnover has been a recurring
jobs problem throughout the hospitality industry.
Among the many cited reasons are low
compensation, inadequate benefits , poor
working conditions and compromised
employee morale and attitudes
(Maroudas et al . , 2008 ).
[Cam 14 / Test 2]
BACK TO THE FUTURE OF SKYCRAPER DESIGN
A. The Recovery of Natural Environments in Architecture by Professor Alan Short is the culmination of
30 years’ research and award-winning green building design by Short and colleagues in Architecture,
Engineering, Applied Maths and Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge.
“The crisis in building design is already here,” said Short. “Policy makers think you can solve energy
and building problems with gadgets. You can’t. As global temperatures continue to rise, we are going to
continue to squander more and more energy on keeping our buildings mechanically cool until we have
run out of capacity.”
(1) A green building design made by Short.
(2) The crisis of building designs  can’t solve  still continue to squander energy to keep building
cool
 The paragraph will discuss the green building design made by Short which will deal with
the problem of building using a huge amount of energy.

B. Short is calling for a sweeping reinvention of how skyscrapers and major public buildings are
designed – to end the reliance on sealed buildings which exist solely via the ‘life support’ system of vast
air conditioning units.
Instead, he shows it is entirely possible to accommodate natural ventilation and cooling in large
buildings by looking into the past, before the widespread introduction of air conditioning systems
which were ‘relentlessly and aggressively promoted’ by inventor Willis Carrier and rival
entrepreneurs.
Short points out that to make them habitable, you have to seal them and air condition them. The
energy use and carbon emissions this generates is spectacular and to a large extent unnecessary.
Buildings in the West count for 40-50% of electricity usage, generating substantial carbon emissions.
The rest of the world is catching up at a frightening rate, China at 31% and rising in 2017.
“Modern buildings cannot survive unless hard-wired to a life support machine, yet this fetish for glass,
steel and air-conditioned skyscrapers continues; they are symbols of status around the world on an
increasingly vast scale.”
Short’s book highlights a developing and sophisticated art and science of ventilating buildings through
the 19th and earlier 20th centuries, including the two chambers of the Houses of Parliament, and the
design of ingeniously ventilated hospitals. Of particular interest were those built under the aegis of
John Shaw Billings, designer of the first Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore (1873-1889).
“We spent three years digitally modelling Billings' final designs and a brilliant alternative design,”
added Short. “We put pathogens in the airstreams, modelled for someone with TB coughing in the
wards and we found the ventilation systems in the room would have kept patients safe from harm.
“We discovered that nineteenth century hospital wards could generate up to 24 air changes an hour–
that’s similar to the performance of  a modern-day, computer-controlled operating theatre. We believe
you could build wards based on these principles for the NHS now. Single rooms are not appropriate for
all patients. Communal wards appropriate for certain patients – older people with dementia, for
example – would work just as well in today’s hospitals, at a fraction of the energy cost.”
Professor Short contends the mindset and skill-sets behind these designs have been completely lost,
lamenting the disappearance of expertly designed theatres, opera houses, and other public buildings
where up to half the volume of the building was given over to ensuring everyone got fresh air. Early
twentieth century climate determinists like Ellsworth Huntington at Yale inadvertently promoted the
export of cool, temperate climates around the world and explicitly condemned the inhabitants of hot
climates as uncivilised and backward.
Much of the ingenuity present in 19th century hospital and building design was driven by a panicked
public clamouring for buildings that could protect against what was thought to be the pernicious threat
of miasmas – toxic air that spread disease.
Bad, malodourous air was considered lethal by huge swathes of the populace. Miasmas and other
quasi-mystical phenomena were feared as the principal agents of disease and epidemics for centuries,
and were used to explain the spread of infection from the Middle Ages, right through to the cholera
outbreaks in London and Paris during the 1850s. Miasma theory attracted the attention of luminaries
such as Florence Nightingale who believed that foul air, rather than germs, was the main driver of
'hospital fever' leading to disease and frequent death. The prosperous steered clear of hospitals.
While miasma theory has been long since disproved, Short has for the last thirty years advocated a
return to some of the building design principles produced in its wake.
“The air conditioning industry has persuaded us that you can’t do this naturally any more and that it
would defy progress to do so. Huge amounts of a building’s space and construction cost are today given
over to air-conditioning instead.
“But I have designed and built a series of buildings over the past three decades which have tried to
reinvent some of these ideas and then measure what happens – publishing what works as well as what
doesn’t.
“To go forward into our new low energy, low carbon future, we would be well advised to look back at
design before our high-energy high-carbon present appeared. What is surprising is what a rich legacy
we have abandoned. There is an analogy with the widespread introduction of affordable antibiotics
and the relaxation in the ferocious cleanliness regimes in hospitals and the frightening consequences
emerging now.”
Successful examples of Short’s approach include the iconic Queen’s Building at De Montfort University
in Leicester. Containing as many as 2,000 staff and students, the entire building is naturally ventilated,
passively cooled and naturally lit, including the two largest auditoria each seating more than 150
people.
Conventional wisdom in the ventilation and heating industry was that this omission of mechanical and
electrical equipment was impossible. Confounding its critics, the building was awarded the Green
Building of the Year and RIBA’s Education Building of the Year in 1995 and was at the time the largest
naturally ventilated building in Europe, influencing guidance in Europe and the USA. The building uses
a fraction of the electricity of comparable buildings in the UK.
Following success there, Short and industry associates have also experimented with theatre design,
including the Contact Theatre in Manchester, which uses the abundant heat sources of theatre lights
and audience to drive air flows around the building and the passive downdraught cooled School of
Slavonic and East European Studies in Bloomsbury, epicentre of the London Heat Island.
Short contends that glass skyscrapers in London and around the world will become a liability over the
next twenty or thirty years’ time if climate modelling predictions and energy price rises come to pass
as expected. He points to the perfect storm of the skyscraper boom in China, where huge high-rise, all-
glass metropolises expand at an exponential rate.  Meanwhile, 550 million people south of the Qin-Huai
line in that country are not allowed to centrally heat or cool their own homes because of the energy
that would demand and consume.
Short is convinced that sufficiently cooled skyscrapers using the natural environment can be produced
in almost any climate, pointing to his research work on cooling an 11-storey tower at Addenbrooke’s
Hospital in Cambridge. He and his team have also worked on hybrid buildings in the harsh climates of
Beijing and Chicago – built with natural ventilation assisted by back-up air-conditioning – which,
surprisingly perhaps, can be switched off more than half the time on milder days and during the spring
and autumn.
“I think you can upscale these designs,” he added. “As you go higher, airspeeds increase and it becomes
easier to control the climate within tall buildings.
“My book is a recipe book which looks at the past, how we got to where we are now, and how we might
reimagine the cities, offices and homes of the future. There are compelling reasons to do this. The
Department of Health says new hospitals should be naturally ventilated, but they are not. Maybe it’s
time we changed our outlook.”
The Recovery of Natural Environments in Architecture: Air, Comfort and Climate, published by
Routledge, is out now.
[Cam 14 / Test 3]
The concept of intelligence

A
Looked at in one way, everyone knows what intelligence is ; looked at in another way, no one
does . In other words , people all have unconscious notions – known as ‘implicit theories’ – of
intelligence, but no one knows for certain what it actually is . This chapter addresses how
people conceptualize intelligence, whatever it may actually be.
But why should we even care what people think intelligence is , as opposed only to valuing
whatever it actually is? There are at least four reasons people’s conceptions of intelligence
matter.
 Everyone knows what intelligence is in the form of “implicit theories” (nghĩa ngầm) 
Why we should care about this  Four reasons

B
First , implicit theories of intelligence drive the way in which people perceive and evaluate their
own intelligence and that of others . To better understand the judgments people make about
their own and others’ abilities , it is useful to learn about people’s implicit theories . For
example, parents’ implicit theories of their children’s language development will determine at
what ages they will be willing to make various corrections in their children’s speech . More
generally, parents’ implicit theories of intelligence will determine at what ages they believe
their children are ready to perform various cognitive tasks. Job interviewers will make hiring
decisions on the basis of their implicit theories of intelligence . People will decide who to be
friends with on the basis of such theories. In sum , knowledge about implicit theories of
intelligence is important because this knowledge is so often used by people to make judgments
in the course of their everyday lives.
 Implicit theories drive the way people evaluate others’ intelligence  e.g. Parents make
assumption about the certain age that their children may perform cognitive tasks + further
examples in daily lives

C
Second, the implicit theories of scientific investigators ultimately give rise to their explicit
theories. Thus it is useful to find out what these implicit theories are . Implicit theories provide
a framework that is useful in defining the general scope of a phenomenon – especially a not-
well-understood phenomenon. These implicit theories can suggest what aspects of the
phenomenon have been more or less attended to in previous investigations.
 Implicit theories leads to explicit theories  it is useful to find out these implicit
theories  provide a framework to define a phenomenon

D
Third, implicit theories can be useful when an investigator suspects that existing explicit
theories are wrong or misleading . If an investigation of implicit theories reveals little
correspondence between the extant implicit and explicit theories , the implicit theories may be
wrong . But the possibility also needs to be taken into account that the explicit theories are
wrong and in need of correction or supplementation. For example, some implicit theories of
intelligence suggest the need for expansion of some of our explicit theories of the construct.
(1) Implicit are useful when people suspects explicit theories
(2) An investigation of implicit theories reveals little correspondence between implicit and
explicit theories  implicit theories wrong and explicit right
(3) Other case: Explicit wrong and need to be corrected

E
Finally, understanding implicit theories of intelligence can help elucidate developmental and
cross-cultural differences. As mentioned earlier, people have expectations for intellectual
performances that differ for children of different ages. How these expectations differ is in part a
function of culture . For example, expectations for children who participate in Western-style
schooling are almost certain to be different from those for children who do not participate in
such schooling.
(1) Understand implicit theories  help people explain cross-cultural differences
(2) (3) People’s expectations for children differ according to children’s ages  the
differences also depend on culture
(4) Expectations for children in Western schools are different from those for children in
other places.

F
I have suggested that there are three major implicit theories of how intelligence relates to
society as a whole (Sternberg, 1997). These might be called Hamiltonian, Jeffersonian, and
Jacksonian. These views are not based strictly , but rather, loosely, on the philosophies of
Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson , three great statesmen in the
history of the United States.
 3 people created 3 different views

G
The Hamiltonian view , which is similar to the Platonic view, is that people are born with
different levels of intelligence and that those who are less intelligent need the good offices of
the more intelligent to keep them in line , whether they are called government officials or, in
Plato’s term, philosopher-kings. Herrnstein and Murray (1994) seem to have shared this belief
when they wrote about the emergence of a cognitive (high-IQ ) elite, which eventually would
have to take responsibility for the largely irresponsible masses of non-elite (low-IQ) people
who cannot take care of themselves . Left to themselves, the unintelligent would create , as they
always have created, a kind of chaos.

 People are born with different intelligence  High-IQ people should take responsibility
for low-IQ people  the unintelligent would not take control of their lives
H
The Jeffersonian view is that people should have equal opportunities , but they do not
necessarily avail themselves equally of these opportunities and are not necessarily equally
rewarded for their accomplishments . People are rewarded for what they accomplish if given
equal opportunity. Low achievers are not rewarded to the same extent as high achievers . In the
Jeffersonian view, the goal of education is not to favor or foster an elite , as in the Hamiltonian
tradition, but rather to allow children the opportunities to make full use of the skills they have .
My own views are similar to these (Sternberg, 1997).
(1) People should have equal opportunities but do not need use these opportunities equally
and do not need to be rewarded equally
(2) (3) Low achievers are no rewarded to the same extent as high achievers
(4) The goal of education is to offer children opportunities to make use of skills they have

I
The Jacksonian view is that all people are equal , not only as human beings but in terms of their
competencies – that one person would serve as well as another in government or on a jury or in
almost any position of responsibility. In this view of democracy , people are essentially
intersubstitutable except for specialized skills , all of which can be learned. In this view, we do
not need or want any institutions that might lead to favoring one group over another .

 People are equal  people can perform tasks similarly in any organizations  can be
interchangeable  do not bias any group

J
Implicit theories of intelligence and of the relationship of intelligence to society perhaps need
to be considered more carefully than they have been because they often serve as underlying
presuppositions for explicit theories and even experimental designs that are then taken as
scientific contributions. Until scholars are able to discuss their implicit theories and thus their
assumptions, they are likely to miss the point of what others are saying when discussing their
explicit theories and their data.
(1) Implicit theories need to be considered more important
(2) Before scholars are able to discuss their implicit theories  they do not fully understand
each other

Questions 1-3
Reading Passage 1 has ten sections, A-J
Which section contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-J, in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

1   information about how non-scientists’ assumptions about intelligence influence their

behavior towards others
2   a reference to lack of clarity over the definition of intelligence

3   the point that a researcher’s implicit and explicit theories may be very different

Questions 4-6
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 4-6 on your answer sheet, write

YES                  if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer

NO                   if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer

NOT GIVEN    if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

4   Slow language development in children is likely to prove disappointing to their parents.

5   People’s expectations of what children should gain from education are universal.

6   Scholars may discuss theories without fully understanding each other.

Questions 7-13

Look at the following statements (Questions 7-13) and the list of theories below.

Match each statement with the correct theory, A, B or C.

Write the correct letter, A, B or C, in boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet.

NB  You may use any letter more than once.7   It is desirable for the same possibilities to be
open to everyone.

8   No section of society should have preferential treatment at the expense of another.

9   People should only gain benefits on the basis of what they actually achieve.

10   Variation in intelligence begins at birth.

11   The more intelligent people should be in positions of power.

12   Everyone can develop the same abilities.

13   People of low intelligence are likely to lead uncontrolled lives.

List of Theories

A     Hamiltonian
B     Jeffersonian
C     Jacksonian
 ANSWER QUESTION PASSAGE
People’s expectations of what
5 children should gain from education How these expectations differ is in part a
No are universal. function of culture.

Until scholars are able to discuss their

Scholars may discuss theories implicit theories and thus their
6 without fully understanding each assumptions, they are likely to miss the
Yes other. point of what others are saying when
discussing their explicit theories and
their data.
It is desirable for the same
7 possibilities to be open for The Jeffersonian view is that people
Jeffersonian everyone. should have equal opportunities

No section of society should have We do not need or want any institutions

8 preferential treatment at the that might lead to favoring one group
Jacksonian expense of another. over another.
People should only gain benefits on People are rewarded for what they
9 the basis of what they actually accomplish if given equal opportunity.
Jeffersonian achieve. Low achievers are not rewarded to the
same extent as high achievers .
The Hamiltonian view, which is similar
to the Platonic view, is that people are
10 Variation in intelligence begins at born with different levels of intelligence
Hamiltonian birth. and that those who are less intelligent
need the good offices of the more
intelligent to keep them in line
Herrnstein and Murray (1994) seem to
have shared this belief when they wrote
about the emergence of a cognitive (high-
11 The more intelligent people should IQ ) elite, which eventually would have to
Hamiltonian be in positions of power. take responsibility for the largely
irresponsible masses of non-elite (low-
IQ) people who cannot take care of
themselves .
The Jacksonian view is that all people
12 Everyone can develop the same are equal , not only as human beings but
Jacksonian abilities. in terms of their competencies
[Synonym]
13 People of low intelligence are likely The unintelligent would create , as they
Hamiltonian to lead uncontrolled lives. always have created, a kind of chaos.
 SAVING BUGS TO FIND NEW DRUGS 
Zoologist Ross Piper looks at the potential of insects in pharmaceutical reseach

A. More drugs than you might think are derived from, or inspired by, compounds found in living things.
Looking to nature for the soothing and curing of our ailments is nothing new - we have been doing it
for tens of thousands of years. You only have to look at other primates - such as the capuchin monkeys
who rub themselves with toxin-oozing millipedes to deter mosquitoes, or the chimpanzees who use
noxious forest plants to rid themselves of intestinal parasites - to realise that our ancient ancestors too
probably had a basic grasp of medicine.
 Medicines can be seen in nature for such a long time ago (e.g. our ancestors such as monkeys,
chimpanzees)

B. Pharmaceutical science and chemistry built on these ancient foundations and perfected the
extraction, characterization, modification and testing of these natural products. Then, for a while,
modern pharmaceutical science moved its focus away from nature and into the laboratory, designing
chemical compounds from scratch. The main cause of this shift is that although there are plenty of
promising chemical compounds in nature, finding them is far from easy. Securing sufficient numbers of
the organism in question, isolating and characterizing the compounds of interest, and producing large
quantities of these compounds are all significant hurdles.
 A shift from nature to laboratory since there are many hurdles people may face when looking
medicines in nature.

C. Laboratory-based drug discovery has achieved varying levels of success, something which has now
prompted the development of new approaches focusing once again on natural products. With the
ability to mine genomes for useful compounds, it is now evident that we have barely scratched the
surface of nature's molecular diversity. This realisation, together with several looming health crises,
such as antibiotic resistance, has put bioprospecting - the search for useful compounds in nature -
firmly back on the map.
 Lab drugs are successful  people can mine genomes and realize we do not know about
molecular diversity of the nature  go back to do more research

D. Insects are the undisputed masters of the terrestrial domain, where they occupy every possible
niche. Consequently, they have a bewildering array of interactions with other organisms, something
which has driven the evolution of an enormous range of very interesting compounds for defensive and
offensive purposes. Their remarkable diversity exceeds that of every other group of animals on the
planet combined. Yet even though insects are far and away the most diverse animals in existence, their
potential as sources of therapeutic compounds is yet to be realised.
 Insects’ diversity surpasses other species, affecting other animals  however, there is no
proof showing that it can provide a therapeutic benefits

E. From the tiny proportion of insects that have been investigated, several promising compounds have
been identified. For example, alloferon, an antimicrobial compound produced by blow fly larvae, is
used as an antiviral and antitumor agent in South Korea and Russia. The larvae of a few other insect
species are being investigated for the potent antimicrobial compounds they produce. Meanwhile, a
compound from the venom of the wasp Polybia paulista has potential in cancer treatment.
 Several promising compounds have been found

F. Why is it that insects have received relatively little attention in bioprospecting? Firstly, there are so
many insects that, without some manner of targeted approach, investigating this huge variety of
species is a daunting task. Secondly, insects are generally very small, and the glands inside them that
secrete potentially useful compounds are smaller still. This can make it difficult to obtain sufficient
quantities of the compound for subsequent testing. Thirdly, although we consider insects to be
everywhere, the reality of this ubiquity is vast numbers of a few extremely common species. Many
insect species are infrequently encountered and very difficult to rear in captivity, which, again, can
leave us with insufficient material to work with.
 Several reasons why insects received little attention

G. My colleagues and I at Aberystwyth University in the UK have developed an approach in which we
use our knowledge of ecology as a guide to target our efforts. The creatures that particularly interest
us are the many insects that secrete powerful poison for subduing prey and keeping it fresh for future
consumption. There are even more insects that are masters of exploiting filthy habitats, such as faeces
and carcasses, where they are regularly challenged by thousands of microorganisms. These insects
have many antimicrobial compounds for dealing with pathogenic bacteria and fungi, suggesting that
there is certainly potential to find many compounds that can serve as or inspire new antibiotics.
 Why insects researchers?  can catch prey and keep prey fresh + exploit filthy habitats +
protect themselves from diseases + fungi

H. Although natural history knowledge points us in the right direction, it doesn't solve the problems
associated with obtaining useful compounds from insects. Fortunately, it is now possible to snip out
the stretches of the insect's DNA that carry the codes for the interesting compounds and insert them
into cell lines that allow larger quantities to be produced. And although the road from isolating and
characterizing compounds with desirable qualities to developing a commercial product is very long
and full of pitfalls, the variety of successful animal-derived pharmaceuticals on the market
demonstrates there is a precedent here that is worth exploring.

I. With every bit of wilderness that disappears, we deprive ourselves of potential medicines. As much
as I'd love to help develop a groundbreaking insect-derived medicine, my main motivation for looking
at insects in this way is conservation. I sincerely believe that all species, however small and seemingly
insignificant, have a right to exist for their own sake. If we can shine a light on the darker recesses of
nature's medicine cabinet, exploring the useful chemistry of the most diverse animals on the planet, I
believe we can make people think differently about the value of nature.
 

Question 14-20
Reading Passage 2 has ten sections, A-J.
Which section contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-J in boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet.
14. mention of factors driving a renewed interest in natural medicinal compounds

15. how recent technological advances have made insect research easier

16. examples of animals which use medicinal substances from nature

17. reasons why it is challenging to use insects in drug research

18. reference to how interest in drug research may benefit wildlife

19. a reason why nature-based medicines fell out of favor for a period

20. an example of an insect-derived medicine in use at the moment

Question 21 and 22
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 21 and 22 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following make insects interesting for drug research?

 

A. the huge number of individual insects in the world

B. the variety of substances insects have developed to protect themselves
C. the potential to extract and make use of insects' genetic codes
D. the similarities between different species of insect
E. the manageable size of most insects
 The power of play

Virtually every child, the world over, plays. The drive to play is so intense that children will do
so in any circumstances, for instance when they have no real toys, or when parents do not
actively encourage the behavior. In the eyes of a young child, running, pretending, and the
building is fun. Researchers and educators know that these playful activities benefit the
development of the whole child across social, cognitive, physical, and emotional domains.
Indeed, play is such an instrumental component to healthy child development that the United
Nations High Commission on Human Rights (1989) recognized play as a fundamental right of
every child.

Yet, while experts continue to expound a powerful argument for the importance of play in
children’s lives , the actual time children spend playing continues to decrease . Today, children
play eight hours less each week than their counterparts did two decades ago (Elkind 2008).
Under the pressure of rising academic standards, play is being replaced by test preparation in
kindergartens and grade schools, and parents who aim to give their preschoolers a leg up are
led to believe that flashcards and educational ‘toys’ are the paths to success. Our society has
created a false dichotomy between play and learning

Through play, children learn to regulate their behavior, lay the foundations for later learning in
science and mathematics, figure out the complex negotiations of social relationships, build a
repertoire of creative problem-solving skills, and so much more. There is also an important role
for adults in guiding children through playful learning opportunities.

Full consensus on a formal definition of play continues to elude the researchers and theorists
who study it. Definitions range from discrete descriptions of various types of play such as
physical, construction, language, or symbolic play (Miller & Almon 2009), to lists of broad
criteria , based on observations and attitudes, that are meant to capture the essence of all play
behaviors (e.g. Rubin et al. 1983).
 Hard to reach an agreement about the definition of play  definitions can be divided
into many different categories  capture the play behaviors

A majority of the contemporary definitions of play focus on several key criteria . The founder of
the National Institute for Play, Stuart Brown, has described the play as ‘anything that
spontaneously is done for its own sake’ . More specifically, he says it ‘appears purposeless,
produces pleasure and joy , [and] leads one to the next stage of mastery ’ (as quoted in Tippett
2008). Similarly, Miller and Almon (2009) say that play includes ‘activities that are freely
chosen and directed by children and arise from intrinsic motivation’ . Often, play is defined
along a continuum as more or less playful using the following set of behavioral and
dispositional criteria (e.g. Rubin et al. 1983).
 Play is purposeless  based on characters
Play is pleasurable: Children must enjoy the activity or it is not played. It is intrinsically
motivated: Children engage in play simply for the satisfaction the behavior itself brings. It has
no extrinsically motivated function or goal. Play is process-oriented: When children play, the
means are more important than the ends. It is freely chosen, spontaneous, and voluntary. If a
child is pressured, they will likely not think of the activity as play. Play is actively engaged:
Players must be physically and/or mentally involved in the activity. Play is non-literal. It
involves make-believe.

According to this view, children’s playful behaviors can range in degree from 0% to 100%
playful . Rubin and colleagues did not assign greater weight to any one dimension in
determining playfulness ; however, other researchers have suggested that process orientation
and a lack of obvious functional purpose may be the most important aspects of play (e.g.
Pellegrini 2009).

From the perspective of a continuum, play can thus blend with other motives and attitudes that
are less playful, such as work . Unlike the play, work is typically not viewed as enjoyable and it
is extrinsically motivated (i.e. it is goal-oriented). Researcher Joan Goodman (1994 ) suggested
that hybrid forms of work and play are not a detriment to learning; rather, they can provide
optimal contexts for learning. For example, a child may be engaged in a difficult, goal-directed
activity set up by their teacher, but they may still be actively engaged and intrinsically
motivated. At this mid-point between play and work, the child’s motivation, coupled with
guidance from an adult, can create robust opportunities for playful learning.

Critically, recent research supports the idea that adults can facilitate children’s learning while
maintaining a playful approach in interactions known as ‘guided play’ (Fisher et al. 2011). The
adult’s role in play varies as a function of their educational goals and the child’s developmental
level (Hirsch-Pasek et al. 2009).

The guided play takes two forms. At a very basic level , adults can enrich the child’s
environment by providing objects or experiences that promote aspects of a curriculum. In the
more direct form of guided play, parents or other adults can support children’s play by joining
in the fun as a co-player, raising thoughtful questions , commenting on children’s discoveries , or
encouraging further exploration or new facets to the child’s activity. Although playful learning
can be somewhat structured , it must also be child-centered (Nicolopolou et al. 2006). Play
should stem from the child’s own desire.

Both free and guided play are essential elements in a child-centered approach to playful
learning. Intrinsically motivated free play provides the child with true autonomy , while guided
play is an avenue through which parents and educators can provide more targeted learning
experiences . In either case, play should be actively engaged, it should be predominantly child-
directed, and it must be fun.
Questions 27-31
Look at the following statements (Questions 27-31) and the list of researchers below.

Match each statement with the correct researcher, A-G.

Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.

27   Play can be divided into a number of separate categories.

28   Adults’ intended goals affect how they play with children.

29   Combining work with play may be the best way for children to learn.

30   Certain elements of play are more significant than others.

31   Activities can be classified on a scale of playfulness.

List of Researchers

A     Elkind
B     Miller & Almon
C     Rubin et al.
D     Stuart Brown
E     Pellegrini
F     Joan Goodman
G     Girsch-Pasek et al.

Questions 32-36
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?

In boxes 32-36 on your answer sheet, write

YES                  if the statement agrees with the claims of the winter

NO                   if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer

NOT GIVEN    if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

32   Children need toys in order to play.

33   It is a mistake to treat play and learning as separate types of activities.
34   Play helps children to develop their artistic talents.

35   Researchers have agreed on a definition of play.

36   Work and play differ in terms of whether or not they have a target.

Questions 37-40
Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

Guided play
In the simplest form of guided play, an adult contributes to the environment in which the child
is playing. Alternatively, an adult can play with a child and develop the play, for instance by
37…………………….. the child to investigate different aspects of their game. Adults can help
children to learn through play and may make the activity rather structured, but it should still
be based on the child’s 38…………………………. to play.

Play without the intervention of adults gives children real 39………………………….; with adults,
play can be 40………………………… at particular goals. However, all forms of play should be an
opportunity for children to have fun.
 ANSWER QUESTION PASSAGE
Full consensus on a formal definition of
play continues to elude the researchers
and theorists who study it.
Play can be divided into a number of Definitions range from discrete
27 separate categories. descriptions of various types of play such
as physical, construction, language, or
symbolic play (Miller & Almon 2009)
[Give definition]
The adult’s role in play varies as a
Adults’ intended goals affect how function of their educational goals and
28 they play with children. the child’s developmental level (Hirsch-
Pasek et al. 2009).
Researcher Joan Goodman (1994)
suggested that hybrid forms of work and
Combining work with play may be play are not a detriment to learning;
29 the best way for children to learn. rather, they can provide optimal contexts
for learning.
[Synonym]
Other researchers have suggested that
process orientation and a lack of obvious
Certain elements of play are more functional purpose may be the most
30 significant than others. important aspects of play (e.g. Pellegrini
2009).
[Give definition]
Children’s playful behaviors can range in
degree from 0% to 100% playful . Rubin
Activities can be classified on a scale and colleagues did not assign greater
31 of playfulness. weight to any one dimension in
determining playfulness.
[Give definition]
While guided play is an avenue through
with adults, play can be which parents and educators can provide
40 40………………………… at particular more targeted learning experiences .
Targeted goals.  Parents provide targeted learning
experiences.
[Cam 15/ Test 1]

DRIVERLESS CARS
A
The automotive sector is well used to adapting to automation in manufacturing. The implementation of
robotic car manufacture from the 1970s onwards led to significant cost savings and improvements in
the reliability and flexibility of vehicle mass production. A new challenge to vehicle production is now
on the horizon and, again, it comes from automation. However, this time it is not to do with the
manufacturing process, but with the vehicles themselves.
 Automotive industry is familiar with automation  Automation leads to cost savings and
improvements  a challenge with automation is not in manufacturing vehicles but in vehicles
themselves.
(Tự độ ng hóa đã được áp dụng trong lĩnh vực sản xuất xe từ lâu và có nhiều lợi ích, nhưng bài
này sẽ nói về mộ t thử thách về tự độ ng hóa trong phương tiệ n giao thông)

Research projects on vehicle automation are not new. Vehicles with limited self-driving capabilities
have been around for more than 50 years, resulting in significant contributions towards driver
assistance systems. But since Google announced in 2010 that it had been trialing self-driving cars on
the streets of California, progress in this field has quickly gathered pace. (gather = increase)
 Automation is not new  vehicles equipped with automation has been around for 50 years 
But until Google carried on their self-driving cars project, this field has increased

 Automation has been existed in automotive manufacturing and capability for such a long
time.

B
There are many reasons why technology is advancing so fast. One frequently cited motive is safety;
indeed, research at the UK’s Transport Research Laboratory has demonstrated that more than 90
percent of road collisions involve human error as a contributory factor, and it is the primary cause in
the vast majority. Automation may help to reduce the incidence of this.

Another aim is to free the time people spend driving for other purposes. If the vehicle can do some or
all of the driving, it may be possible to be productive, to socialize or simply to relax while automation
systems have responsibility for safe control of the vehicle. If the vehicle can do the driving, those who
are challenged by existing mobility models – such as older or disabled travelers – may be able to enjoy
significantly greater travel autonomy.

 Mention many reasons why technology is developing: It may help reduce road accidents
which are caused by human. It enables people who have troubles with travelling by themselves.

C
Beyond these direct benefits, we can consider the wider implications for transport and society , and
how manufacturing processes might need to respond as a result. At present, the average car spends
more than 90 percent of its life parked. Automation means that initiatives for car-sharing become
much more viable, particularly in urban areas with significant travel demand. If a significant
proportion of the population choose to use shared automated vehicles, mobility demand can be met by
far fewer vehicles.

 Another advantage of automated vehicles is decreasing the number by using carpool.

D
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology investigated automated mobility in Singapore, finding that
fewer than 30 percent of the vehicles currently used would be required if fully automated car sharing
could be implemented. If this is the case, it might mean that we need to manufacture far fewer vehicles
to meet demand. However, the number of trips being taken would probably increase, partly because
empty vehicles would have to be moved from one customer to the next.
 If automated car can be used, there will be less vehicles which can be produced  increase the
number of trips
Modelling work by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute suggests automated
vehicles might reduce vehicle ownership by 43 percent, but that vehicles’ average annual mileage
double as a result. As a consequence, each vehicle would be used more intensively, and might need
replacing sooner. This faster rate of turnover may mean that vehicle production will not necessarily
decrease.
 Self-driving cars may lead to the reduction in the car ownership, but cars might be replaced
faster  There will be no change in the vehicle production.

 The number of cars produced will remain even though the car ownership falls

E
Automation may prompt other changes in vehicle manufacture. If we move to a model where
consumers are tending not to own a single vehicle but to purchase access to a range of vehicle through
a mobility provider, drivers will have the freedom to select one that best suits their needs for a
particular journey, rather than making a compromise across all their requirements.

Since, for most of the time, most of the seats in most cars are unoccupied, this may boost production of
a smaller, more efficient range of vehicles that suit the needs of individuals. Specialized vehicles may
then be available for exceptional journeys, such as going on a family camping trip or helping a son or
daughter move to university.
 The appearance of automation may change vehicle manufacture  more types of vehicles
will be produced to suit customers’ needs.

F
There are a number of hurdles to overcome in delivering automated vehicles to our roads. These
include the technical difficulties in ensuring that the vehicle works reliably in the infinite range of
traffic, weather and road situations it might encounter; the regulatory challenges in understanding
how liability and enforcement might change when drivers are no longer essential for vehicle
operation; and the societal changes that may be required for communities to trust and accept
automated vehicles as being a valuable part of the mobility landscape.
 Listing several difficulties that automated vehicles have to encounter
G
It’s clear that there are many challenges that need to be addressed but, through robust and targeted
research, these can most probably be conquered within the next 10 years. Mobility will change in such
potentially significant ways and in association with so many other technological developments, such as
telepresence and virtual reality, that it is hard to make concrete predictions about the future. However,
one thing is certain: change is coming, and the need to be flexible in response to this will be vital for
those involved in manufacturing the vehicles that will deliver future mobility.
 Those problems will be addressed in the future by using other technical advances  People
who are in automotive sector need to adapt new changes.

Questions 14-18
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G.

Which section contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

14   reference to the amount of time when a car is not in use

15   mention of several advantages of driverless vehicles for individual road-users

16   reference to the opportunity of choosing the most appropriate vehicle for each trip

17   an estimate of how long it will take to overcome a number of problems

18   a suggestion that the use of driverless cars may have no effect on the number of vehicles
manufactured

Questions 19-22
Complete the summary below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 19-22 on your answer sheet.

The impact of driverless cars

Figures from the Transport Research Laboratory indicate that most motor accidents are partly due to
19……………………., so the introduction of driverless vehicles will result in greater safety. In addition to
the direct benefits of automation, it may bring other advantages. For example, schemes for
20………………………. will be more workable, especially in towns and cities, resulting in fewer cars on the
road.

According to the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute, there could be a 43 percent
drop in 21…………………….. of cars. However, this would mean that the yearly 22…………………….. of each
car would, on average, be twice as high as it currently is. this would lead to a higher turnover of
vehicles, and therefore no reduction in automotive manufacturing.

Questions 23 and 24
Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Write the correct letters in boxes 23 and 24 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO benefits of automated vehicles does the writer mention?

A   Car travellers could enjoy considerable cost savings.

B   It would be easier to find parking spaces in urban areas.

C   Travellers could spend journeys doing something other than driving.

D   People who find driving physically difficult could travel independently.

E   A reduction in the number of cars would mean a reduction in pollution.

Questions 25 and 26
Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Write the correct letters in boxes 25 and 26 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO challenges to automated vehicle development does the writer mention?

A   making sure the general public has confidence in automated vehicles

B   managing the pace of transition from conventional to automated vehicles

C   deciding how to compensate professional drivers who become redundant

D   setting up the infrastructure to make roads suitable for automated vehicles

E   getting automated vehicles to adapt to various different driving conditions

WHAT IS EXPLORATION?

We are all explores. Our desire to discover, and then share that new-found knowledge, is part of what
makes us human – indeed, this has played an important part in our success as a species. Long before
the first caveman slumped down beside the fire and grunted news that there were plenty of wildebeest
over yonder, our ancestors had learnt the value of sending out scouts to investigate the unknown. This
questing nature of ours undoubtedly helped our species spread around the globe, just as it nowadays
no doubt helps the last nomadic Penan maintain their existence in the depleted forests of Borneo, and
a visitor negotiate the subways of New York.

Over the years, we’ve come to think of explorers as a peculiar breed – different from the rest of us,
different from those of us who are merely ‘well travelled’, even; and perhaps there is a type of person
more suited to seeking out the new, a type of caveman more inclined to risk venturing out. That,
however, doesn’t take away from the fact that we all have this enquiring instinct, even today; and that
in all sorts of professions – whether artist, marine biologist or astronomer – borders of the unknown
are being tested each day.

Thomas Hardy set some of his novels in Egdon Heath, a fictional area of uncultivated land, and used the
landscape to suggest the desires and fears of his characters. He is delving into matters we all recognise
because they are common to humanity. This is surely an act of exploration, and into a world as remote
as the author chooses. Explorer and travel writer Peter Fleming talks of the moment when the explorer
returns to the existence he has left behind with his loved ones. The traveller ‘who has for weeks or
months seen himself only as a puny and irrelevant alien crawling laboriously over a country in which
he has no roots and no background, suddenly encounters his other self, a relatively solid figure, with a
place in the minds of certain people’.

In this book about the exploration of the earth’s surface, I have confined myself to those whose travels
were real and who also aimed at more than personal discovery. But that still left me with another
problem: the word ‘explorer’ has become associated with a past era. We think back to a golden age, as
if exploration peaked somehow in the 19th century – as if the process of discovery is now on the
decline, though the truth is that we have named only one and a half million of this planet’s species, and
there may be more than 10 million – and that’s not including bacteria. We have studied only 5 per cent
of the species we know. We have scarcely mapped the ocean floors, and know even less about
ourselves; we fully understand the workings of only 10 per cent of our brains.

Here is how some of today’s ‘explorers’ define the word. Ran Fiennes, dubbed the ‘greatest living
explorer’, said, ‘An explorer is someone who has done something that no human has done before – and
also done something scientifically useful.’ Chris Bonington, a leading mountaineer, felt exploration was
to be found in the act of physically touching the unknown: ‘You have to have gone somewhere new.’
Then Robin Hanbury-Tenison, a campaigner on behalf of remote so-called ‘tribal’ peoples, said, ‘A
traveller simply records information about some far-off world, and reports back; but an explorer
changes the world.’ Wilfred Thesiger, who crossed Arabia’s Empty Quarter in 1946, and belongs to an
era of unmechanised travel now lost to the rest of us, told me, ‘If I’d gone across by camel when I could
have gone by car, it would have been a stunt.’ To him, exploration meant bringing back information
from a remote place regardless of any great self-discovery.

Each definition is slightly different – and tends to reflect the field of endeavour of each pioneer. It was
the same whoever I asked: the prominent historian would say exploration was a thing of the past, the
cutting-edge scientist would say it was of the present. And so on. They each set their own particular
criteria; the common factor in their approach being that they all had, unlike many of us who simply
enjoy travel or discovering new things, both a very definite objective from the outset and also a desire
to record their findings.

I’d best declare my own bias. As a writer, I’m interested in the exploration of ideas. I’ve done a great
many expeditions and each one was unique. I’ve lived for months alone with isolated groups of people
all around the world, even two ‘uncontacted tribes’. But none of these things is of the slightest interest
to anyone unless, through my books, I’ve found a new slant, explored a new idea. Why? Because the
world has moved on. The time has long passed for the great continental voyages – another walk to the
poles, another crossing of the Empty Quarter. We know how the land surface of our planet lies;
exploration of it is now down to the details – the habits of microbes, say, or the grazing behaviour of
buffalo. Aside from the deep sea and deep underground, it’s the era of specialists. However, this is to
disregard the role the human mind has in conveying remote places; and this is what interests me: how
a fresh interpretation, even of a well-traveled route, can give its readers new insights.

Questions 27-32
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write the correct letter in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.

27   The writer refers to visitors to New York to illustrate the point that

A   exploration is an intrinsic element of being human.

B   most people are enthusiastic about exploring.

C   exploration can lead to surprising results.

D   most people find exploration daunting.

28   According to the second paragraph, what is the writer’s view of explorers?

A   Their discoveries have brought both benefits and disadvantages.

B   Their main value is in teaching others.

C   They act on an urge that is common to everyone.

D   They tend to be more attracted to certain professions than to others.

29   The writer refers to a description of Egdon Heath to suggest that

A   Hardy was writing about his own experience of exploration.

B   Hardy was mistaken about the nature of exploration.

C   Hardy’s aim was to investigate people’s emotional states.

D   Hardy’s aim was to show the attraction of isolation.

30   In the fourth paragraph, the writer refers to ‘a golden age’ to suggest that

A   the amount of useful information produced by exploration has decreased.

B   fewer people are interested in exploring than in the 19th century.

C   recent developments have made exploration less exciting.

D   we are wrong to think that exploration is no longer necessary.

31   In the sixth paragraph, when discussing the definition of exploration, the writer argues that

A   people tend to relate exploration to their own professional interests.

B   certain people are likely to misunderstand the nature of exploration.

C   the generally accepted definition has changed over time.

D   historians and scientists have more valid definitions than the general public.
32   In the last paragraph, the writer explains that he is interested in

A   how someone’s personality is reflected in their choice of places to visit.

B   the human ability to cast new light on places that may be familiar.

C   how travel writing has evolved to meet changing demands.

D   the feelings that writers develop about the places that they explore.

Questions 33-37
Look at the following statements (Questions 33-37) and the list of explorers below.

Match each statement with the correct explorer, A-E.

Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 33-37 on your answer sheet.

NB  You may use any letter more than once.

33   He referred to the relevance of the form of transport used.

34   He described feelings on coming back home after a long journey.

35   He worked for the benefit of specific groups of people.

36   He did not consider learning about oneself an essential part of the exploration.

37   He defined exploration as being both unique and of value to others.

List of Explorers

A     Peter Fleming

B     Ran Fiennes

C     Chris Bonington

D     Robin Hanbury-Tenison
E     Wilfred Thesiger

Questions 38-40
Complete the summary below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet.

The writer’s own bias

The writer has experience of a large number of 38………………., and was the first stranger that certain
previously 39………………… people had encountered. He believes there is no need for further
exploration of Earth’s 40…………………., except to answer specific questions such as how buffalo eat.