READING MID-TERM TEST

Task 1:

Read the following passage about migrating birds.

A) A tiny bird from the Farne Islands off Northumberland, England has clocked up the longest
migration ever recorded. The Arctic tern’s meandering journey to Antarctica and back saw it
clock up 59,650 miles, more than twice the circumference of the planet. The bird, which weighs
just 100g, left its breeding grounds last July and flew down the west coast of Africa, rounded
the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean and arrived in Antarctica in November. Its
mammoth trek was recorded by a tiny device attached to its leg, weighing 0.7g - too light to
affect its flight.

B) “It’s really quite humbling to see these tiny birds return when you consider the huge
distances they’ve had to travel and how they’ve battled to survive,” said Richard Bevan at
Newcastle University and part of the tracking team. The birds survive the vast journey by
dipping down to the sea surface to catch fish and other food as they travel. “They live in the
fast lane all the time, constantly on the move,” said Bevan. “They have to flap all the time. It is
an incredibly energetic lifestyle.”

C) Like all migratory animals, the birds travel to take advantage of food that is available in
particular seasons. Arctic terns perform the longest migrations but another bird, the bar-tailed
godwit, completes its marathon from the Arctic to New Zealand in eight days straight, without
stopping to feed. Whales undertake the longest mammal migrations and leatherback turtles
and some dragonflies also travel over 9,321 miles.

(Source: theguardian.com)

Choose the best heading from the list below for each paragraph above.

i. Migration and food

ii. Survival of the fittest
iii. A record-setting bird
iv. Other incredible animal migrations
v. A new device for tracking bird migrations
vi. How do migrating Arctic terns manage such a feat?

1. Paragraph A: _____
2. Paragraph B: _____
3. Paragraph C: _____

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Task 2:
Complete the sentences below.
Write ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

BRINGING THE MAMMOTH BACK TO LIFE

Mammoths once lived in large numbers across Asia, Africa, North America and Europe.
However, over time, their numbers fell until the mammoth became extinct. Scientists think this
happened for two reasons. Firstly, the mammoths’ natural habitat decreased in size because of
climate change. Secondly, many mammoths were killed by people who hunted them. The last
population of mammoths lived on Wrangel Island, off north-east Siberia in the Chukchi Sea.
These were woolly mammoths that could survive in very cold conditions, but they also died out
around 4,000 years ago.

Prehistoric cave paintings show us that people ate the woolly mammoths they killed, but also
used their bones and tusks. They used these to make simple animal and human figures, an early
kind of art, and also to create some basic tools. We also know a lot about the woolly mammoth
because the freezing conditions in Alaska and Siberia have preserved them. Researchers have
studied their skeletons, their teeth and even the grass and plants that were still inside their
stomachs. We know that their fur was an orange-brown colour, they had a thick layer of fat,
and they had long, curved tusks. Their ears were short compared to an African or Asian
elephant’s we might see today, so they would not lose so much heat or get frostbite.

In recent years, some researchers have suggested that we could bring woolly mammoths back
to life. Interestingly, not all scientists believe that bringing the mammoth back to life would be a
good thing. They think it would be unfair to create a ‘new’ mammoth and then keep it in a small
space. They think the right thing to do would be to give it a certain amount of freedom, perhaps
in a wildlife park. But where would this be? And the mammoth would also be alone, and like
elephants, mammoths were probably social in the way they behaved. This does seem to be a
strong reason against bringing the mammoth back to life. Perhaps the ‘new’ mammoth might
also develop an ‘old’ disease – and this might have an effect on the ecosystem that scientists
cannot predict. Although the idea of bringing the mammoth back seems like an exciting one at
first, there are many issues that we need to consider

4. The number of mammoths started to fall when their ___________ got smaller.
5. Humans used mammoths for food, and to make art and ___________ .
6. Scientists have examined the contents of mammoths’ ___________ .
7. Mammoths had smaller ___________ than modern elephants.
8. Some scientists think that a ‘new’ mammoth should have some ___________ .
9. Both elephants and mammoths are ___________ animals.
10. There is a possibility that a ‘new’ mammoth could get a ___________ .

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Task 3:
Read the following passage about a study into 'sitting'.

The ease of our modern workday could come at the expense of our longevity. A new study of
older women in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine finds that sitting for long
stretches of time increases the odds of an untimely death. The more hours women in the study
spent sitting at work, driving, lying on the couch watching TV, or engaged in other leisurely
pursuits, the greater their odds of dying early from all causes, including heart disease and
cancer.

Even women who exercised regularly risked shortening their lifespan if most of their daily hours
were sedentary ones. “Even if you are doing the recommended amount of moderate to
vigorous exercise, you will still have a higher risk of mortality if you’re spending too many hours
sitting,” says Dr. JoAnn Manson, one of the study’s authors.

How much sitting can you safely do in a day? In the study, women who were inactive for 11 or
more hours a day fared the worst, facing a 12% increase in premature death, but even lesser
amounts of inactive time can cause problems. “Once you’re sitting for more than 6 to 8 hours a
day, that’s not likely to be good for you,” Dr. Manson says. You want to avoid prolonged sitting
and increase the amount of moderate or vigorous exercise you do each day, she adds.

Are the following statements true, false or not given?

11. The study looked at the effects of sitting on elderly women only.
12. A link was found between hours spent sitting and serious health problems.
13. The warnings about sitting do not apply to people who exercise regularly.
14. Less than 6 hours a day is a safe amount of sitting.

(Source: Harvard Medical School)

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Task 4:
Read the following passage and complete the multiple choice exercise below it.

The Suzuki method is an internationally known music curriculum and teaching philosophy
dating from the mid-20th century, created by Japanese violinist and pedagogue Shinichi Suzuki
(1898–1998). The method aims to create an environment for learning music which parallels the
linguistic environment of acquiring a native language. Suzuki believed that this environment
would also help to foster good moral character.

As a skilled violinist but a beginner at the German language who struggled to learn it, Suzuki
noticed that children pick up their native language quickly, and even dialects adults consider
"difficult" to learn are spoken with ease by children at age five or six. He reasoned that if
children have the skill to acquire their native language, they have the necessary ability to
become proficient on a musical instrument.

Suzuki believed that every child, if properly taught, was capable of a high level of musical
achievement. He also made it clear that the goal of such musical education was to raise
generations of children with "noble hearts", as opposed to creating famous musical prodigies.

Questions 15 – 18:

Which THREE of the following statements are correct?

A) Suzuki saw similarities between learning languages and music.

B) He learnt German using his own method.

C) He found it easy to learn German.

D) He believed that all children have musical potential.

E) His aims went deeper than simply teaching music.

F) He hoped to create the next generation of famous musicians.