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PREVIEW Reading
PREVIEW Reading
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading
Passage 1.
Black bears and grizzly bears are both found in North America, and, because they look quite similar to each
other, are often confused. Although closely related, however, the two species are in fact quite distinct. Part
of the confusion arises out of the fact that both species are characterised by considerable colour variations,
and there are also variations in size and weight. So using those criteria alone. it is not easy to make a
confident identification. A large black bear, for example, could be either a black bear or a grizzly bear, and so
could a smaller, paler individual.
Black bears have a wider geographic range than grizzlies, and can be found in every Canadian province
except Prince Edward Island. Today, grizzlies are found only in western and far northern Canada and in small
pockets of the western U nited States. Black bears are primarily adapted to forested areas and their edges
and clearings. Although grizzly bears make substantial use of forested areas, they also make much more
use of large, non-forested meadows and valleys than black bears do. Black bears have short, curved claws
better suited to climbing trees than digging. In contrast. grizzly bears have longer, less curved claws and a
larger shoulder muscle mass more suited to digging than climbing. This enables grizzlies to forage efficiently
for foods which must be dug from the soil, such as roots, bulbs, corms and tubers. as well as to catch
burrowing rodents. The primary difference between the dietary habits of black bears and grizzly bears is the
amount of meat, fish and root foods eaten. Grizzly bears tend to be more carnivorous. whereas black bears
eat more plant material.
A behavioural difference between black bears and grizzly bears is the length of time cubs are under their
mother's care. Black bear cubs are born in the winter hibernation den, spend the summer following birth
with their mother, stay with her in her den again in the fall, then separate from her early the next summer
as yearlings, whereas grizzly bear cubs can spend up to three and a half years under their mother's care
before separation.
Black bears are generally much less aggressive than grizzly bears and rely on their ability to climb trees to
allow themselves and their cubs to escape predators such as wolves, grizzly bears or other black bears.
Grizzly bears are more likely to rely on their size and aggressiveness to protect themselves and their cubs
from predators or other perceived threats.
One behavioural difference between the two varieties of bears is significant if you hike in the backcountry.
There are two types of bear attacks, the defensive attack and the predatory attack. The former can occur
when hikers are walking into the wind so that bears do not smell them corning.
If you come within three to six metres of a grizzly bear, and it suddenly notices you, he/she may react
defensively and even attack out of response to a possible threat. This is especially likely if you disturb a
mother grizzly bear and her cubs. According to some experts, in this type of attack, you should play dead.
This enforces the impression to the grizzly that you are not a threat and the bear most often walks away
once the perceived threat is gone. The predatory attack. on the other hand, is most often launched by black
bears; this is its natural method of hunting animals. While it is highly unlikely that people will be stalked by
a predatory black bear, if they are, the recommended response is just the opposite to that for a defensive
attack. Shout! Wave your arms and try to appear as large as possible. Don't run. If actually attacked, throw
rocks at them. All bears prefer not to have to fight for their food, and if you put up a strong enough defence.
they will likely leave you alone.
68 ACADEMIC READING
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Questions 1-8
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1 ?
Questions 9-13
A nswer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.
ACADEMIC READING 69
PREVIEWTEST
READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2.
Questions 14-20
Write the correct number, i-x, in boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet.
14 Paragraph A
15 Paragraph B
16 Paragraph C
17 Paragraph D
18 Paragraph E
19 Paragraph F
20 Paragraph G
70 ACADEMIC READING
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African Coins
A I n 1770, the explorer James Cook landed on the east coast of Australia and claimed the territory for
Great Britain. It seems that, contrary to popular myth, he may not actually have been the first European
to set foot on the continent. A new expedition, led by an Australian anthropologist, is investigating the
possibility that ancient exploration may have taken place long before Cook and other Europeans ever
journeyed to the continent. The expedition will follow a seventy-year-old treasure map to a sandy beach
where a cache of mysterious ancient coins was discovered in the 1940s. The researchers are setting out
to discover how the coins ended up in the sand; whether they washed ashore following shipwrecks and
whether they can provide more details about ancient trade routes.
B The coins were originally found by an Australian soldier named Maurie Isenberg, who was stationed
in a remote area known a s the Wessel Islands. The Wessel Islands are part of Arnhem Land, a region
in Australia's vast Northern Territory. Isenberg was assigned to a radar station located on the Wessel
Islands, and during his off-duty hours, he often went fishing along the idyllic beaches. One day in 1 944,
he came across a few old coins and put them in a tin. He marked the spot where he'd found the coins
with an X on a hand-drawn map, but didn't think that he'd unearthed anything of great note.
C Indeed, it wasn't until 1 979 that Isenberg sent the coins to be authenticated and learned that some
of them were estimated to be of great age. As it turned out, five of them had been produced in the
sultanate of Kilwa in East Africa and are thought to date back to the twelfth century. Kilwa was a
prosperous trading centre in those days, located on a n island that is part of present-day Tanzania.
Australian anthropologist Mike Owen, a heritage consultant in Darwin, is leading the upcoming
expedition, and he says that the coins. 'have the capacity to redraft Australian history'. The copper coins.
which were seldom used outside of East Africa. probably held very little monetary value in Kilwa: 'Yet,
there they were - on a beach ten thousand kilometres to the east.'
D Along with the African coins, there were a number of seventeenth and eighteenth-century Dutch coins
in the cache of the type known as duits. The first record of European activity in the islands actually
dates back to 1 623, when sailors aboard a Dutch ship called the Wesel gave the islands their current
name. However, oral history from the indigenous Yolngu people who inhabit the islands suggests that
they played host to many visitors over the centuries. The expedition's main researcher is Australian
anthropologist Dr Ian Mcintosh, who has spoken in depth with the Yolngu people. 'There was much talk
of the Wessel Islands as a place of i n tense contact history,' he says.
E Mcintosh points out that Northern Australia may have drawn early visitors because it lies close to the
terminus of the ancient Indian Ocean trade route that linked Africa's east coast with Arabia, Persia, India
and the Spice Islands (now part of Indonesia). 'This trade route was already very active, a very long time
ago, and this find may be evidence of early exploration by peoples from East Africa or the Middle East.'
According to Mci ntosh, the shape of the Wessel Islands serves as a 'big catching arm' for any ships
blown off course, which may point to the coins coming from a shipwreck. or even multiple shipwrecks.
F It is difficult to tell whether there was routine contact with the outside world or whether there is any
connection between the Dutch coins and the far older African coins, which may simply have ended
up in the same place, but it is hoped that more evidence may come to light. Adding to the sense of
anticipation is a persistent rumour that, in one of the many caves in the islands, there are more coins and
antique weaponry.
G The expedition is sponsored by the Australian Geographic Society and intends to follow the hand-drawn
map given to them by Isenberg. Included in the team is a geomorphologist, whose task is to examine
how the coastal landscape has changed over time. If shipwrecks are involved, how the coins washed
up may provide clues to the location of a wreck, say the experts. Meanwhile, a heritage specialist has
the job of looking after the documentation and ensuring that the site is protected. and anthropologists
working with local indigenous people hope to identify likely sites of contact with foreign visitors. 'There
is great interest on the part of the Yolngu in this project, and in u ncovering aspects of their own past,'
says Mcintosh.
ACADEMIC READING 71
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Questions 2 1 -26
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each
answer
.
Write your answers in boxes 2 1 -26 on your answer sheet.
21 Maurie Isenberg first discovered the coins in the year ......... ......... ........... .. ... ............
22 The African coins which Isenberg found were made of ......................................................... .
23 The African coins are thought to have been made in the ......................................................... century.
24 The later coins Isenberg found are called ......................................................... .
25 The islands where Isenberg found the coins are named after a .......... ............................................. .
26 Local people think there may be ......................................................... as well as more coins on the islands.
72 ACADEMIC READING
READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading
Passage 3.
ACADEMIC READING 73
Questions 27-33
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
27 The writer accepts that young people are more adept at using electronic devices.
28 The writer is surprised that the Boston researchers chose Ethiopia for their research project.
29 The writer regards the project in Ethiopia as very ambitious.
30 The villagers in Ethiopia were unaware that the gadgets were intended for children.
31 The behaviour of the Ethiopian children was similar to that observed in western children.
32 The researchers would have preferred the textual content on the laptops to have been in the
local language.
33 The researchers predicted that the children would learn how to enable the laptops' camera
function.
Questions 34-37
Write the correct letter, A-N, in boxes 34-37 on your answer sheet.
Although the research project is 34 .. ...... .. ..... , i t is possible to identify some preliminary findings.
. . ..
Firstly, the ability to 35 . .. .. . . the workings of digital hardware and software seems not to
. .. ... ... ...
depend on levels of 36 .. ... ... ... .. nor on experience of using technology. What's more, faced with
. . .. . .
the challenge presented by the computers, the village children behaved in a highly
37 ........ . . .. .. way, with leaders emerging who took on the role of teacher to the benefit of the
. . . ..
whole community.
74 ACADEMIC READING