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Section A

Read Text 1 below and answer questions 1-16 on p.2-4 in the Question-Answer Book.
Text 1

Should we ban dolphin shows? 1

[1] Dolphins are smart and friendly animals. They are almost as smart as humans, and
they can easily be trained to do clever tricks. It is always great fun watching their live
shows, as they wave, jump through hoops and catch balls. Yet, if these creatures could
speak, they would tell us about their pain. 5

[2] Wild dolphins are caught in the ocean and then locked up in tanks for entertainment.
Other dolphins, born in the tanks, spend their whole lives as prisoners. The humans that
put on dolphin shows say that they are educational. Can the audience learn anything
about dolphins by watching them clap and give ‘high-fives’? While many parks claim
that the dolphins give children invaluable education on mammal behaviour, the 10
unnatural surroundings make it impossible to study the dolphins in any meaningful
way.

[3] Animal shows are often cruel. The animals have to do hard training to learn
unnatural acts. Show dolphins suffer the most because they have human-like feelings.
They are forced to perform day after day, show after show. Many of them are so stressed 15
that they get sick. In some cases, they die. Research studies have shown that dolphins
in zoos die much earlier than wild dolphins.

[4] Dolphin shows are inhumane and are banned in Costa Rica, Hungary, Chile and
India. Since 2013, India has recognized dolphins as ‘non-human people’. No people
belong in cages, not even non-human people. Banning dolphin shows is the only right 20
thing to do.

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Section A
Read Text 2 below and answer the questions 17-32 on p.4-7 in the Question-Answer Book.
Text 2
Jack’s Green life: Please save the planet! 1

Posted at 8:10pm by Jack

Our Earth is dying! Certain greenhouse gases in the environment, such as carbon dioxide
(CO2) and ozone (O3), have increased too much. These gases originally keep the temperature of
the Earth stable by trapping the heat from the sun. As a result, the temperature of the Earth has 5
increased in the recent decade. This is the so-called “global warming”.

At present, the global temperature has increased by about 1.5-3.5 degrees. It is because
people have altered the atmosphere with their rising number of coal-burning factories and
vehicles. These activities create a lot of harmful gases and cause air pollution on our planet that
will surely harm our health and upset the ecosystem. 1
0
Now everyone must help to save our planet. We can all contribute by changing our own
habits. To save energy, we should turn off the electrical appliances when not in use and we should
also use energy-saving devices, such as Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) light bulbs. Besides,
to reduce carbon footprint, we should travel by public transport instead of private cars.

If we don’t work hand in hand, the temperature of the Earth will keep on surging, the
permanent ice at the North and South Poles will melt, and the sea level will rise. Also, some 1
islands in the ocean will disappear as well. Please take action before it is too late! 5

Comments on Jack’s blog entry


Thanks Jack! Your blog entry is very informative! In addition, we should stop using disposable
batteries as they contain a lot of harmful chemicals that will harm the environment too. We can 20
try using rechargeable ones to help save the environment.
Jeff
I am concerned about the environment too. There should be more awareness of waste pollution.
For example, people only use one side of the paper and disposable cutlery just for their
convenience. To reduce waste, people should reuse and recycle paper and plastic cutlery. Let’s 25
take action now!
Catherine

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