READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading
Passage 1 below.
A New Ice Age
William Curry is a serious, sober
climate scientist, not an art critic. But
he has spent a lot of time perusing
Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s famous
painting “George Washington Crossing
the Delaware”, which depicts a
boatload of colonial American soldiers
making their way to attack English and
Hessian troops the day after
Christmas in 1776. “Most people think
these other guys in the boat are
rowing, but they are actually pushing
the ice away,” says Curry, tapping his
finger on a reproduction of the
painting. Sure enough, the lead
oarsman is bashing the frozen river
with his boot. “I grew up in
Philadelphia. The place in this painting
is 30 minutes away by car. I can tell
you, this kind of thing just doesn’t
happen anymore.”
But it may again soon. And ice-choked
scenes, similar to those immortalised
by the 16th-century Flemish painter
Pieter Brueghel the Elder, may also
return to Europe. His works, including
the 1565 masterpiece “Hunters in the
Snow”, make the now-temperate
European landscapes look more like
Lapland. Such frigid settings were
commonplace during a period dating
roughly from 1300 to 1850 because
much of North America and Europe
was in the throes of a little ice age.
And now there is mounting evidence
that the chill could return. A growing
number of scientists believe
conditions are ripe for another
prolonged cooldown, or small ice age.
While no one is predicting a brutal ice
sheet like the one that covered the
Northern Hemisphere with glaciers
about 12,000 years ago, the next
cooling trend could drop average
temperatures 5 degrees Fahrenheit
over much of the United States and 10
degrees in the Northeast, northern
Europe, and northern Asia.
“It could happen in 10 years,” says
Terrence Joyce, who chairs the Woods
Hole Physical Oceanography Department.
“Once it does, it can take hundreds of
years to reverse.” And he is alarmed that
Americans have yet to take the threat
seriously.
A drop of 5 to 10 degrees entails much
more than simply bumping up the
thermostat and carrying on. Both
economically and ecologically, such quick,
persistent chilling could have devastating
consequences. A 2002 report titled
“Abrupt Climate Change: Inevitable
Surprises”, produced by the National
Academy of Sciences, pegged the cost
from agricultural losses alone at $100
billion to $250 billion while also predicting
that damage to ecologies could be vast
and incalculable. A grim sampler:
disappearing forests, increased housing
expenses, dwindling fresh water, lower
crop yields, and accelerated species
extinctions.
The reason for such huge effects is
simple. A quick climate change wreaks far
more disruption than a slow one. People,
animals, plants, and the economies that
depend on them are like rivers; says the
report: "For example, high water in a river
will pose few problems until the water
runs over the bank, after which levees can
be breached and massive flooding can
occur. Many biological processes undergo
shifts at particular thresholds of
temperature and precipitation.”
 Political changes since the last ice age
could make survival far more difficult
for the world's poor. During previous
cooling periods, whole tribes simply
picked up and moved south, but that
option doesn't work in the modern,
tense world of closed borders. "To the
extent that abrupt climate change may
cause rapid and extensive changes of
fortune for those who live off the land,
the inability to migrate may remove
one of the major safety nets for
distressed people,” says the report.
But first things first. Isn't the earth
actually warming? Indeed, it is, says
Joyce. ‘In his cluttered office, full of
soft light from the foggy Cape Cod
morning, he explains how such
warming could actually be the
surprising culprit of the next mini-ice
age. The paradox is a result of the
appearance over the past 30 years in
the North Atlantic of huge rivers of
fresh water - the equivalent of a 10-
foot-thick layer - mixed into the salty
sea. No one is certain where the fresh
torrents are coming from, but a prime
suspect is melting Arctic ice, caused by
a build-up of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere that traps solar energy.
The freshwater trend is major news in
ocean-science circles. Bob Dickson, a
British oceanographer who sounded
an alarm at a February conference in
Honolulu, has termed the drop in
salinity and temperature in the
Labrador Sea - a body of water
between northeastern Canada and
Greenland that adjoins the Atlantic -
"arguably the largest full-depth
changes observed in the modern
instrumental oceanographic record”.
The trend could cause a little ice age
by subverting the northern
Questions 1-4
penetration of Gulf Stream waters.
Normally, the Gulf Stream, laden with
heat soaked up in the tropics,
meanders up the east coasts of the
United States and Canada. As it flows
northward, the stream surrenders
heat to the air. Because the prevailing
North Atlantic winds blow eastward, a
lot of the heat wafts to Europe. That’s
why many scientists believe winter
temperatures on the Continent are as
much as 36 degrees Fahrenheit
warmer than those in North America
at the same latitude. Frigid Boston, for
example, lies at almost precisely the
same latitude as balmy Rome. And
some scientists say the heat also
warms Americans and Canadians. “It’s
a real mistake to think of this solely as
a European phenomenon," says Joyce.
Having given up its heat to the air, the
now-cooler water becomes denser and
sinks into the North Atlantic by a mile or
more in a process oceanographers call
thermohaline circulation. This massive
column of cascading cold is the main
engine powering a deep-water current
called the Great Ocean Conveyor that
snakes through all the world’s oceans.
But as the North Atlantic fills with fresh
water, it grows less dense, making the
waters carried northward by the Gulf
Stream less able to sink. The new mass
of relatively fresh water sits on top of
the ocean like a big thermal blanket,
threatening the thermohaline
circulation. That in turn could make the
Gulf Stream slow or veer southward. At
some point, the whole system could
simply shut down, and do so quickly.
“There is increasing evidence that we
are getting closer to a transition point,
from which we can jump to a new
state.”
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
1. The writer uses paintings in the first paragraph to illustrate
A. possible future climate change.
B. climate change of the last two centuries.
C. the river doesn’t freeze in winter anymore.
D. how George Washington led his troops across the river.
2. Which of the following do scientists believe to be possible?
A. The temperature may drop over much of the Northern Hemisphere.

B. It will be colder than 12,000 years ago.

C. The entire Northern Hemisphere will be covered in ice.

D. Europe will look more like Lapland.

3. Why is it difficult for the poor to survive the next ice age?
A. People don’t live in tribes anymore.

B. Politics are changing too fast today.

C. Abrupt climate change causes people to live off their land.

D. Migration has become impossible because of closed borders.

4. Why is continental Europe much warmer than North America in winter?

A. Wind blows most of the heat of tropical currents to Europe.

B. Europe and North America are at different latitudes.

C. The Gulf Stream has stopped yielding heat to the air.

D. The Gulf Stream moves north along the east coast of North America.

Questions 5-9
Look at the following statements (Questions 5-9) and the list of people in the box below.
Match each statement with the correct person A-D.
Write the appropriate letter A-D in boxes 5-9 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
5. Most Americans are not prepared for the next ice age.
6. The result of abrupt climate change is catastrophic.
7. The world is not as cold as it used to be.
8. Global warming is closely connected to the ice age.
9. Alerted people to the change of ocean water in a conference
List of People
A William Curry
B Terrence Joyce
C Bob Dickson
D National Academy of Sciences

Questions 10-13
Complete the flow chart below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26 which are based on Reading
Passage 1 below.

Brunel: ‘The Practical Prophet’

A were immense, and Brunel dealt with
In the frontispiece of his book on
Brunel, Peter Hay quotes from
Nicholson’s British Encyclopaedia of
1909 as follows: ‘Engineers are
extremely necessary for these
purposes; wherefore it is requisite that,
besides being ingenious, they should be
brave in proportion.’ His father, Sir Marc
Isambard Brunel (1769-1849), was
himself a famous engineer, of French
parents. He eventually settled in Britain
and married the Sophia Kingdom, an
English woman whom he had known in
France in earlier days. Their only son
Isambard was born on 9 April 1806. He
was sent to France at the age of 14 to
study mathematics and science and
was 16 when he returned to England to
work with his father. Sir Marc was then
building his famous tunnel under the
River Thames. Isambard was
recuperating near Bristol from injuries
received in a tunnel cave-in when he
became involved with his own first
major project.
The Suspension Bridge ion the
Avon Gorge
B Duke of Wellington (of Waterloo fame)
The span of Brunel’s bridge was over
700ft, longer than any existing when it
was designed, and the height above
water about 245ft. The technical
challenges of this engineering project
them with his usual, thoroughness and
ingenuity. Two design competitions
were held, and the great bridge
designer Thomas Telford was the
committee’s expert. Brunel presented
four designs. He went beyond
technicalities to include arguments
based on, among other things, the
grace of his tower design.
Unfortunately, he only got so far as to
put up the end piers in his lifetime. The
Clifton Suspension Bridge was
completed in his honor by his
engineering friends in1864 and is still in
use.
The Great Western Railway
C
While Brunel was still in Bristol, and
with the Avon Bridge project stopped
or going slowly, he became aware that
the civic authorities saw the need for
a railway link to London. Railway
location was controversial since
private landowners and towns had to
be dealt with. Mainly, the landed
gentry did not want a messy, noisy
railway anywhere near them. The
was certainly against it. Again, Brunel
showed great skill in presenting his
arguments to the various committees
and individuals. BruneI built his
railway with a broad gauge (7ft)
instead of the standard 4ft 8½in,
which had been used for lines already
installed. There is no doubt that the
broad gauge gave superior ride and
stability, but it was fighting a
standard.
Atmospheric railway:
D F
Brunel’s ready acceptance of new
ideas overpowered good engineering
judgment (at least in hindsight) when
he advocated the installation of an
atmospheric railway in South Devon.
It had the great attraction of doing
away with the locomotive and
potentially could deal with steeper
gradients. Since this connecting arm
had to run along the slit, it had to be
opened through a flap as the train
progressed, but closed airtight behind
it. Materials were not up to it, and this
arrangement was troublesome and
expensive to keep in repair. After a
year of frustration, the system was
abandoned. Brunel admitted his
failure and took responsibility. He also
took no fee for his work, setting a
good professional example.
Brunel’s ships:
E G
The idea of using steam to power
ships to cross the ocean appealed to
Brunel. When his GWR company
directors complained about the great
length of their railway (it was only
about 100 miles), Isambard jokingly
suggested that they could even make
it longer—why not go all the way to
New York and call the link the Great
Western. The “Great Western” was the
first steamship to engage in
transatlantic service. Brunel formed
the Great Western Steamship
Company and construction started on
the ship in Bristol in 1836. Built of
wood and 236ft long, the Great
Western was launched in 1837 and
powered by sail and paddlewheels.
The first trip to New York took just 15
days, and 14 days to return. This was
a great success, a one-way trip under
sail would take more than a month.
The Great Western was the firsts
steamship to engage in transatlantic
service and made 74 crossings to New
York.
Having done so well with the Great
Western, Brunel immediately got to
work on an even bigger ship. Great
Britain was made of iron and also
built-in Bristol, 322ft in length. The
initial design was for the ship to be
driven by paddle wheels, but Brunel
had seen one of the first propeller-
driven ships to arrive in Britain, and
he abandoned his plans for
paddlewheel propulsion. The ship was
launched in 1843 and was the first
screw-driven iron ship to cross the
Atlantic. Great Britain ran aground
early in its career but was repaired,
sold, and sailed for years to Australia,
and other parts of the world, setting
the standard for ocean travel. In the
early 1970s, the old ship was rescued
from the Falklands and is now under
restoration in Bristol.
Conventional wisdom in Brunel’s day
was that steamships could not carry
enough coal to make long ocean
voyages. But he correctly figured out
that this was a case where size
mattered. He set out to design the
biggest ship ever, five times larger
than any ship built up to that time. Big
enough to carry fuel to get to
Australia without refueling, in
addition, it would carry 4,000
passengers.
The Great Eastern was 692ft long, with
a displacement of about 32,000 tons.
Construction began in 1854 on the
Thames at Millwall. Brunel had chosen
John Scott Russell to build the ship. He
was a well-established engineer and
naval architect, but the contract did
 not go well. Among other things, Scott
Russell was very low in his estimates
and money was soon a problem.
Construction came to a standstill in
1856 and Brunel himself had to take
over the work. But Brunel was nothing
if not determined and by September
1859, after a delayed and problem -
ridden launch, the Great Eastern was
ready for the maiden voyage, Brunei
was too sick to go, but it was just as
well because only a few hours out
there was an explosion in the engine
room which would have destroyed a
lesser ship. Brunel died within a week
or so of the accident. The great ship
never carried 4,000 passengers
(among other things, the Suez Canal
came along) and although it made
several transatlantic crossings, it was
not a financial success. Shortly after
the Great Eastern began working life,
the American entrepreneur Cyrus
Field and his backers were looking for
a ship big enough to carry 5,000 tons
of telegraphic cable, which was to be
laid on the ocean floor from Ireland to
Newfoundland. Although Brunel did
not have it in mind, the Great Eastern
was an excellent vessel for this work
on July 27, 1866. It successfully
completed the connection and a
hundred years of transatlantic
communication by cable began. The
ship continued this career for several
years, used for laying cables in many
parts of the world.

Questions 14- 19
Use the information in the passage to match the project Brunel did (listed A-G) with
opinions or deeds below.
Write the appropriate letters A-G, in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.
A River Thames Tunnel 14 The project of construction that
B Clifton Suspension Bridge I.K.Brunel was not responsible for.
C Atmospheric Railway 15 The project had stopped due to
D Great Britain inconvenience and high maintaining cost.
E The Great Western 16 The project was honored to yet not
F Great Western Railway completed by Brunel himself.
G The Great Eastern 17 The project had a budget problem
although built by a famous engineer.
18 Serious problem happened and
delayed repeatedly.
19 The first one to cross the Atlantic Ocean
in mankind history.
Questions 20-22
The reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-G, in boxes 20-22 on your answer sheet
NB You may use any letter more than once.
20 There was a great ship setting the criteria for the journey of the ocean.
21 An ambitious project which seemed to be applied in an unplanned service later.
22 Brunel showed his talent of inter-personal skills with landlords and finally, the
project had been gone through.

Questions 23-26
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage
Using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 23-26 on your answer sheet.
The Great Eastern was specially designed with a 23……………….. for carrying more fuels
and was to take a long voyage to 24……………..; However due to physical condition,
Brunel couldn’t be able to go with the maiden voyage. Actually, the Great Eastern was
unprofitable and the great ship never crossed 25……………….. But soon after there was
an ironic opportunity for the Great Eastern which was used to carry and to lay
huge 26……………….. in Atlantic Ocean floor.

Reading passage 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on Reading
Passage 3 below.
Nature works for Nature WorksTM PLA
A
A dozen years ago, scientists at Cargill got the idea of converting lactic acid made from
corn into plastic while examining possible new uses for materials produced from corn
wet milling processes. In the past, several efforts had been made to develop plastics
from lactic acid, but with limited success. Achieving this technological breakthrough
didn’t come easily, but in time the efforts did succeed. A fermentation and distillation
process using com was designed to create a polymer suitable for a broad variety of
applications.
B
As an agriculturally based firm, Cargill had taken this product as far as it could by
1997. The company needed a partner with access to plastics markets and
polymerization capabilities, and began discussions with The Dow Chemical Company.
The next step was the formation of the joint venture that created Cargill Dow LLC.
Cargill Dow’s product is the world’s first commercially available plastic made from
annually renewable resources such as com:
 Nature Works™ PLA is a family of packaging polymers (carbon-based
molecules) made from non-petroleum-based resources.
 Ingeo is a family of polymers for fibers made in a similar manner.
C
By applying their unique technology to the processing of natural plant sugars, Cargill
Dow has created a more environmentally friendly material that reaches the consumer
in clothes, cups, packaging and other products. While Cargill Dow is a stand-alone
business, it continues to leverage the agricultural processing, manufacturing and
polymer expertise of the two parent companies in order to bring the best possible
products to market.
D
The basic raw materials for PLA are carbon dioxide and water. Growing plants, like
com, take these building blocks from the atmosphere and the soil. They are combined
in the plant to make carbohydrates (sucrose and starch) through a process driven by
photosynthesis. The process for making Nature Works PLA begins when a renewable
resource such as corn is milled, separating starch from the raw material. Unrefined
dextrose, in turn, is processed from the starch.
E
Cargill Dow turns the unrefined dextrose into lactic acid using a fermentation process
similar to that used by beer and wine producers. This is the same lactic acid that is
used as a food additive and is found in muscle tissue in the human body. Through a
special condensation process, a lactide is formed. This lactide is purified through
vacuum distillation and becomes a polymer (the base for NatureWorks PLA) that is
ready for use through a solvent-free melt process. Development of this new
technology allows the company to “harvest” the carbon that living plants remove from
the air through photosynthesis. Carbon is stored in plant starches, which can be
broken down into natural plant sugars. The carbon and other elements in these
natural sugars are then used to make NatureWorks PLA.
F
Nature Works PLA fits all disposal systems and is fully compostable in commercial
composting facilities. With the proper infrastructure, products made from this
polymer can be recycled back to a monomer and re-used as a polymer. Thus, at the
end of its life cycle, a product made from Nature Works PLA can be broken down into
its simplest parts so that no sign of it remains.
G
PLA is now actively competing with traditional materials in packaging and fiber
applications throughout the world; based on the technology’s success and promise,
Cargill Dow is quickly becoming a premier player in the polymers market. This new
polymer now competes head-on with petroleum-based materials like polyester. A
wide range of products that vary in molecular weight and crystallinity can be
produced, and the blend of physical properties of PLA makes it suited for a broad
range of fiber and packaging applications. Fiber and non-woven applications include
clothing, fiberfill, blankets and wipes. Packaging applications include packaging films
and food and beverage containers.
H
As Nature Works PLA polymers are more oil- and grease-resistant and provide a
better flavor and aroma barrier than existing petroleum-based polymers, grocery
retailers are increasingly using this packaging for their fresh foods. As companies
begin to explore this family of polymers, more potential applications are being
identified. For example, PLA possess two properties that are particularly useful for
drape fabrics and window furnishings. Their resistance to ultraviolet light is
particularly appealing as this reduces the amount of fading in such fabrics, and their
refractive index is low, which means fabrics constructed from these polymers can be
made with deep colors without requiring large amounts of dye. In addition,
sportswear makers have been drawn to the product as it has an inherent ability to
take moisture away from the skin and when blended with cotton and wool, the result
is garments that are lighter and better at absorbing moisture.
I
PLA combines inexpensive large-scale fermentation with chemical processing to
produce a value-added polymer product that improves the environment as well. The
source material for PLA is a natural sugar found in plants such as com and using such
renewable feedstock presents several environmental benefits. As an alternative to
traditional petroleum-based polymers, the production of PLA uses 20%-50% less fossil
fuel and releases a lower amount of greenhouse gasses than comparable petroleum-
based plastic; carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is removed when the feedstock is
grown and is returned to the earth when the polymer is degraded. Because the
company is using raw materials that can be regenerated year after year, it is both
cost-competitive and environmentally responsible.

Questions 27-30
Write the letters A-F in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.
27 scientists manage to A make things like clothes
28 Cargill needs to have contacts with B produce plastic from plant
29 Nature work is used for C selling plastic in market
30 Ingeo is used to D fermentation process
E drape fabrics
F wrapping products

Questions 31-34
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage.
Using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 31-34 on your answer sheet.
Process: the production of PLA

Questions 35-40
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 35-40 on your answer sheet.
35 Why did choose the PLA as material
for food packaging?
A It smells good
B It can save food freshness
C It can be used on other materials
D Some other things need to be revised
about it.
36 What is PLA packaging is used for?
A absorbing moisture
B composting facilities
C Packaging fresh food
D manufacturing
37-38 Which two features of PLA are
correct?
A It takes in moisture of skin
B It is waterproof
C comfortable sportswear
D It’s fading under the sun
E It is only made in deep color

39-40 Which two features of PLA are

correct?
A It is made of renewable raw
materials
B It involves the removal of carbon
dioxide
C It is no use of fossil fuel product
D It uses renewable raw resources
E It is sustenance which can absorb
the CO2 in the atmosphere