Chuyên Đề Reading

Otto Channel _ Luyện thi Chuyên Anh & HSG_Tài liệu lớp C1 _ HCM _ T6.
2023
G. It follows from the above that sparing use of energy reserves should tend to
extend life. Extreme high performance sports may lead to optimal cardiovascular
performance, but they quite certainly do not prolong life. Relaxation lowers
metabolic rate, as does adequate sleep and in general an equable and balanced
personality. Each of as can develop his or her own ‘energy saving programme’
with a little self-observation, critical self-control and, above all, logical
consistency. Experience will show that to live in this way not only increases the
life span but is also very healthy. This final aspect should not be forgotten.
Questions 6 - 10
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in reading passage?
In the boxes 6 - 10, write:
YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
Your answer
6. The wear and tear theory applies to both artificial objects and
biological systems.
7. In principle, it is possible for a biological system to become

older without ageing.
8. Experience will show that to live in this way not only increases
the life span but is also very healthy
9. Within seven years, about 90 per cent of a human body is

replaced as new.
10. Conserving energy may help to extend a human’s life.
39 | Otto Channel_ KG định kỳ Lớp HSG A1, A2, B1, B2-, B2, C1_HN, C1_HCM, C1C2
Otto Channel _ Luyện thi Chuyên Anh & HSG_Tài liệu lớp C1 _ HCM _ T6.2023
5. ĐỀ THI HỌC SINH GIỎI CẤP TỈNH, THÀNH PHỐ

Task 1
Read the passage and choose the best answer to each of the questions.
RUNNING WATER ON MARS
Photographic evidence suggests that liquid water once existed in great quantity on the
surface of Mars. Two types of flow features are seen: runoff channels and outflow
channels. Runoff channels are found in the southern highlands. These flow features
are extensive systems - sometimes hundreds of kilometers in total length - of
interconnecting, twisting channels that seem to merge into larger, wider channels.
They bear a strong resemblance to river systems on Earth, and geologists think that
they are dried-up beds of long-gone rivers that once carried rainfall on Mars from the
mountains down into the valleys. Runoff channels on Mars speak of a time 4 billion
years ago (the age of the Martian highlands), when the atmosphere was thicker, the
surface warmer, and liquid water widespread.
Outflow channels are probably relics of catastrophic flooding on Mars long ago. They
appear only in equatorial regions and generally do not form extensive interconnected
networks. Instead, they are probably the paths taken by huge volumes of water
draining from the southern highlands into the northern plains. The onrushing water
arising from these flash floods likely also formed the odd teardrop-shaped “islands”
(resembling the miniature versions seen in the wet sand of our beaches at low tide)
that have been found on the plains close to the ends of the outflow channels. Judging
from the width and depth of the channels, the flow rates must have been truly
enormous - perhaps as much as a hundred times greater than the 105 tons per second
carried by the great Amazon river. Flooding shaped the outflow channels
approximately 3 billion years ago, about the same time as the northern volcanic plains
formed.
Some scientists speculate that Mars may have enjoyed an extended early period
during which rivers, lakes, and perhaps even oceans adorned its surface. A 2003 Mars
Global Surveyor image shows what mission specialists think may be a delta - a fan-
shaped network of channels and sediments where a river once flowed into a larger
body of water, in this case a lake filling a crater in the southern highlands. Other
researchers go even further, suggesting that the data provide evidence for large open
expanses of water on the early Martian surface. A computer-generated view of the
Martian north polar region shows the extent of what may have been an ancient ocean
covering much of the northern lowlands. The Hellas Basin, which measures some
3,000 kilometers across and has a floor that lies nearly 9 kilometers below the basin’s
rim, is another candidate for an ancient Martian sea.
These ideas remain controversial. Proponents point to features such as the terraced
“beaches” shown in one image, which could conceivably have been left behind as a
lake or ocean evaporated and the shoreline receded. But detractors maintain that
the terraces could also have been created by geological activity, perhaps related
to the geologic forces that depressed the Northern Hemisphere far below the
level of the south, in which case they have nothing whatever to do with Martian
water. Furthermore, Mars Global Surveyor data released in 2003 seem to indicate that
the Martian surface contains too few carbonate rock layers - layers containing
compounds of carbon and oxygen - that should have been formed in abundance in an
ancient ocean. Their absence supports the picture of a cold, dry Mars that never
experienced the extended mild period required to form lakes and oceans. However,
more recent data imply that at least some parts of the planet did in fact experience long
periods in the past during which liquid water existed on the surface.
Aside from some small-scale gullies (channels) found since 2000, which are
inconclusive, astronomers have no direct evidence for liquid water anywhere on the
surface of Mars today, and the amount of water vapor in the Martian atmosphere is
tiny. Yet even setting aside the unproven hints of ancient oceans, the extent of the
outflow channels suggests that a huge total volume of water existed on Mars in the
past. Where did all the water go? The answer may be that virtually all the water on
Mars is now locked in the permafrost layer under the surface, with more contained in
the planet’s polar caps.
1. The word “merge” in the passage is closest in meaning to .
A. expand B. separate C. straighten out D. combine
2. What does the discussion in paragraph 1 of runoff channels in the southern
highlands suggest about Mars?
A. The atmosphere of Mars was once thinner than it is today.
B. Large amounts of rain once fell on parts of Mars.
C. The river systems of Mars were once more extensive than Earth’s.
D. The rivers of Mars began to dry up about 4 billion years ago.
3. The word “relics” in the passage is closest in meaning to .
A. remains B. sites C. requirements D. sources
4. In paragraph 2, why does the author include the information that 105 tons of water
flow through the Amazon River per second?
A. To emphasize the great size of the volume of water that seems to have flowed
through Mars’outflow channels.
B. To indicate data used by scientists to estimate how long ago Mars’ outflow
channels were formed.
C. To argue that flash floods on Mars may have been powerful enough to cause
tear-shaped “islands” to form.
D. To argue that the force of flood waters on Mars was powerful enough to shape
the northern volcanic plains.
5. According to paragraph 2, all of the following are true of the outflow channels on
Mars EXCEPT:
A. They formed at around the same time that volcanic activity was occurring on
the northern plains.
B. They are found only on certain parts of the Martian surface.
C. They sometimes empty onto what appear to have once been the wet sands of
tidal beaches.
D. They are thought to have carried water northward from the equatorial regions.
6. All of the following questions about geological features on Mars are answered in
paragraph 3 EXCEPT:
A. What are some regions of Mars that may have once been covered with an
ocean?
B. Where do mission scientists believe that the river forming the delta emptied?
C. Approximately how many craters on Mars do mission scientists believe may
once have been lakes filled with water?
D. During what period of Mars’ history do some scientists think it may have had
large bodies of water?
7. According to paragraph 3, images of Mars’ surface have been interpreted as
support for the idea that
A. a large part of the northern lowlands may once have been under water.
B. the polar regions of Mars were once more extensive than they are now.
C. deltas were once a common feature of the Martian landscape.
D. the shape of the Hellas Basin has changed considerably over time.
8. What can be inferred from paragraph 3 about liquid water on Mars?
A. If ancient oceans ever existed on Mars’ surface, it is likely that the water in
them has evaporated by now.
B. If there is any liquid water at all on Mars’ surface today, its quantity is much
smaller than the amount that likely existed there in the past.
C. Small-scale gullies on Mars provide convincing evidence that liquid water
existed on Mars in the recent past.
D. The small amount of water vapor in the Martian atmosphere suggests that
there has never been liquid water on Mars.
9. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the
sentence in bold type in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in
important ways or leave out essential information.
A. But detractors argue that geological activity may be responsible for the water
associated with the terraces.
B. But detractors argue that the terraces may be related to geological forces in
the Northern Hemisphere of Mars, rather than to Martian water in the south.
C. But detractors argue that geological forces depressed the Northern
Hemisphere so far below the level of the south that the terraces could not have
been formed by water.
D. But detractors argue that the terraces may have been formed by geological
activity rather than by the presence of water.
10. According to paragraph 4, what do the 2003 Global Surveyor data suggest about
Mars?
A. Ancient oceans on Mars contained only small amounts of carbon.
B. The climate of Mars may not have been suitable for the formation of large
bodies of water.
C. Liquid water may have existed on some parts of Mars’ surface for long periods
of time.
D. The ancient oceans that formed on Mars dried up during periods of cold, dry
Task 2
Questions 1 – 6
The reading passage has seven paragraphs, A–G. Choose the correct heading
for paragraphs A–G from the list below.
List of Headings
i. Unusual way of hatching the chicks ii. Feeding habit of the red-footed booby
iii. Folding wings for purpose iv. Rearing the young
v. Classification of boobies vi. Diving for seafood
vii. Surviving mechanism during the food shortage period
viii. Mating and breeding ix. Origin of the booby’s name
1. Paragraph A: 2. Paragraph B: Paragraph C: ix
3. Paragraph D: 4. Paragraph E: 5. Paragraph F:
6. Paragraph G:
BLUE-FOOTED BOOBIES 2
A. Boobies are a small group of seabirds native to tropical and subtropical oceans
throughout the world. Their diet consists mainly of fish. They are specialized fish
eaters feeding on small school fish like sardines, anchovies, mackerel, and flying
fish. When their prey is in sight, they fold their long wings back around their
streamlined bodies and plunge into the water from as high as 80 feet, so
streamlined they barely make a splash. They travel in parties of about 12 to areas
of water with large schools of small fish. When the lead bird sees a fish shoal in
the water, it will signal the rest of the group and they will all dive together.
Surprisingly, individuals do not eat with the hunting group, preferring to eat on
their own, usually in the early morning or late afternoon.
B. There are three varieties on the Galapagos: the blue-footed, red-footed, and
masked boobies. They are all members of the same family, and are not only
different in appearance but also in behaviours. The blue-footed and red-footed
boobies mate throughout the year, while the masked boobies have an annual
mating cycle that differs from island to island. All catch fish in a similar manner,
but in different areas: the blue-footed booby does its fishing close to shore, while
the masked booby goes slightly farther out, and the red-footed booby fishes at
the farthest distances from shore.
C. Although it is unknown where the name “Booby” emanates from, some conjecture
it may come from the Spanish word for clown, “bobo”, meaning “stupid”. Its name
was probably inspired by the bird’s clumsiness on land and apparently
unwarranted bravery. The blue footed booby is extremely vulnerable to human
visitors because it does not appear to fear them. Therefore these birds received
such name for their clumsiness on land in which they were easily, captured, killed,
and eaten by humans.
D. The blue-footed booby’s characteristic feet play a significant part in their famous
courtship ceremony, the ‘booby dance’. The male walks around the female,
raising his bright blue feet straight up in the air, while bringing his ‘shoulders’
towards the ground and crossing the bottom tips of his wings high above the
ground. Plus he’ll raise his bill up towards the sky to try to win his mate over. The
female may also partake in these activities – lifting her feet, sky pointing, and of
course squawking at her mate. After mating, another ritual occurs – the nest-
building which ironically is never used because they nest on the bare ground.
When the female is ready to lay her eggs, they scrape the existing nest away so
she can nest on exposed ground. Sun-baked islands form the booby’s breeding
grounds. When ready the female Blue Footed Booby lays one to three eggs.
E. After mating, two or three eggs are laid in a shallow depression on flat or gently
sloping ground. Both male and female take turns incubating the eggs. Unlike most
birds, booby doesn’t develop brood patches (areas of bare skin on the breast) to
warm the eggs during incubation. Instead, it uses its broad webbed feet, which
have large numbers of prominent blood vessels, to transmit heat essential for
incubation. The eggs are thick-shelled so they can withstand the full weight of an
incubating bird.
F. After hatching, the male plays a major role in bringing fish home. He can bring
back a constant supply of small fish for the chicks, which must be fed
continuously. The reason is that the male has a longer tail than the female in
relation to his body size, which makes him able to execute shallower dives and
to feed closer to shore. Then the female takes a greater part as time proceeds.
Sooner or later, the need to feed the young becomes greater than the need to
protect them and both adults must fish to provide enough.
G. When times are good, the parents may successfully fledge all three chicks, but,
in harder times, they may still lay as many eggs yet only obtain enough food to
raise one. The problem is usually solved by the somewhat callous-sounding
system of “opportunistic sibling murder.” The first-born chick is larger and
stronger than its nest mate(s) as a result of hatching a few days earlier and also
because the parents feed the larger chick. If food is scarce, the first born will get
more food than its nest mate(s) and will outcompete them, causing them to
starve. The above system optimizes the reproductive capacity of the blue-foot in
an unpredictable environment. The system ensures that, if possible, at least one
chick will survive a period of shortage rather than all three dying of starvation
under a more ‘humane’ system.
Questions 7 – 10
Complete the summary below, using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the
reading passage for each answer.
The courtship of the Blue-footed Booby consists of the male flaunting his blue feet and
dancing to impress the female. During the dance, the male will spread his wings and
stamp his feet on the ground with his bills
(7) After mating, the booby’s unusual demeanor continues with ritual (8)
that really serves no purpose. When the female Booby lays eggs, the
parental boobies incubate the eggs beneath their (9) which
contain (10) to transmit the heat, because of the lack of brood patches.
Task 1
Read the passage and choose the correct answer
HOW I FOUND MY TRUE VOICE
As an interpreter, Suzanne Glass could speak only for others – but the work provided
terrific material for her first novel.
‘No, no, no! You’ve got to get away from this or you’re going to lose it.’ The voice
reverberating in my head was my own. I was at an international conference. My throat
was killing me and my headphones were pinching. I had just been interpreting a
speaker whose last words had been: ‘We must take very seriously the standardization
of the length of cucumbers and the size of tomatoes.’ You can’t afford to have your
own thoughts when you’re interpreting simultaneously, so, of course, I missed the
speaker’s next sentence and lost his train of thought. Sitting in a darkened booth at
the back of a huge conference hall, I was thrown. Fortunately, my colleague grabbed
my microphone and took over.
This high-output work was not quite the dream profession I had hoped for. Although I
had fun with it in the beginning – occasionally being among the first to hear of
medical and political breakthroughs would be exciting for any 25-year-old –I realized
that this was a job in which I would never be able to find my own voice. I had always
known that words would be my life in one form or another. My mother thought she’d
given birth to an alien when I began to talk at the age of seven months. That
momentous day, she had placed my playpen in the hallway and gone into the
bedroom. In imitation of the words she had repeated to me again and again, I
apparently called out towards the bedroom door: ‘I see you. I see you.’ I was already
in training for a career as a professional parrot.
But how mistaken I was to think that international interpreting would be glamorous.
The speaker rarely stops to think that there’s someone at the back of the room,
listening to his words, absorbing their meaning, and converting them into another
language at the same time. Often, I was confronted with a droner, a whisperer or a
mumbler through my headphones. The mumblers were the worst. Most of the time,
an interpreter is thought of as a machine – a funnel, a conduit, which, I suppose, is
precisely what we are. Sometimes, when those we are translating for hear us cough
or sneeze, or turn round and look at us behind the smoky glass of the booth, I think
they’re surprised to see that we’re actually alive.
Ironically, part of the secret of interpreting is non-verbal communication. You have to

sense when your partner is tired, and offer to take over. At the same time, you have to
be careful not to cut him short and hog the microphone. Interpreters can be a bit like
actors: they like to show off. You do develop friendships when you’re working in such
close proximity, but there’s a huge amount of competitiveness among interpreters.
They check on each other and sometimes even count each other’s mistranslations.
Translating other people’s ideas prevented me from feeling involved and creative as
an interpreter. Actually, you can’t be a creative interpreter. It’s a contradiction in terms.
Sometimes, when I disagreed with a speaker, I wanted to rip off my headphones, jump
up and run out of the booth, shouting: ‘Rubbish. Rubbish. You’re talking a lot of
nonsense, and this is what I think about it.’ Instead, I had to sit there and regurgitate
opinions in violent contradiction with my own. Sometimes, I’d get my revenge by
playing games with the speaker’s tone of voice. If he was being serious, I’d make him
sound jocular. If he was being light-hearted, I’d make him sound earnest.
Eventually, I wanted to find a career where my own words would matter and where my
own voice would be heard. So, to redress the balance, I decided to write a novel. While
I was writing it, I did go back and interpret at a few conferences to get inside the head
of Dominique, my main character. At first, I was a little rusty and a couple of the
delegates turned round to glare at me, but after twenty minutes, I was back into it,
playing that old game of mental gymnastics. Interpreting is like learning to turn
somersaults: you never forget how to do it. But for me, sitting in the booth had a ghost-
like quality to it – as though I had gone back into a past life - a life that belonged to the
time before I found my own voice.
1. In the first paragraph, the writer says she discovered that .

A. there were some subjects she had no interest in dealing with.
B. the standard of her work as an interpreter was getting lower.
C. her mind was wandering when she should have been doing her job.
D. she could no longer understand subjects she had previously covered.
2. What does the writer say about being an interpreter in the second paragraph?
A. It was the kind of job her parents had always expected her to do.
B. It turned out to be more challenging than she had anticipated.
C. It was what she had wanted to be ever since she was a small child.
D. It gave her access to important information before other people.
3. What does the writer say about speakers she interpreted for?
A. Some of them had a tendency to get irritated with interpreters.
B. She particularly disliked those she struggled to hear properly.
C. They usually had the wrong idea about the function of interpreters.
D. Some of them made little attempt to use their own language correctly.
4. The writer says that relationships between interpreters .

A. can make it difficult for interpreters to do their jobs well.
B. are affected by interpreters’ desires to prove how good they are.
C. usually start well but end in arguments.
D. are based on secret resentments.
5. The writer says that when she disagreed with speakers, she would sometimes
.
A. mistranslate small parts of what they said.
B. make it clear from her tone of voice that she did not agree.
C. exaggerate their point of view.
D. give the impression that they did not really mean what they said.
6. The writer says that when she returned to interpreting, .

A. she did not start off very well.
B. she briefly wished she had not given it up.
C. she thought that two of the delegates recognized her.
D. she changed her ideas about the main character in her novel.
7. What is the writer’s main point in the article as a whole?

A. It is not always a good idea to go into a profession because it looks glamorous.
B. Most interpreters eventually become disillusioned with the work.
C. Being an interpreter did not allow her to satisfy her need to be creative.
D. Most interpreters would actually like to do something more creative.
8. Which is the closest in meaning to momentous in ‘That momentous day’?

A. unimportant B. historic C. momentary D. hard
9. Which is the closest in meaning to ‘to glare’?

A. to glower B. to caress C. despise D. wonder
10. Which is the closest in meaning to ‘simultaneously’?

A. all again B. all at once
C. once and for all D. once too often
Task 2
Read the passage and do the tasks that follow
A. Read through the nutritional information on the food in your freezer, refrigerator
or kitchen pantry, and you are likely to find a simple, innocuous-looking ingredient
recurring on a number of products: “natural flavor”. The story of what natural
flavour is, how it got into your food, and where it came from, is the result of more
complex processes than you might imagine.
B. During the 1980s, health watchdogs and nutritionists began turning their attention
to cholesterol, a waxy steroid metabolite that we mainly consume from animal-
sourced products such as cheese, egg yorks, beef, poultry, shrimp and pork.
Nutritionists blamed cholesterol for contributing to the growing rates of obesity,
heart disease, diabetes and several cancers in Western societies. As extensive
recognition of the matter grew amongst the common people, Mc Donalds stopped
cooking their French fries in a mixture of cottonseed oil and beef tallow, and in
1990 the restaurant chain began using 100% vegetable oil instead.
C. This substantially lowered the amount of cholesterol in Mc Donalds’ fries, but it

created a new dilemma. The beef tallow and cottonseed oil mixture gave the
French fries high cholesterol content, but it also gifted them with a rich aroma and
“mouth-feel” that even James Beard, an American food critic, admitted he
enjoyed. Pure vegetable oil is bland in comparison. Looking at the current
ingredients’ list of Mc Donalds’ French fries, however, it is easy to see how they
overcame this predicament. Aside from a few preservatives, there are essentially
three main ingredients: potato, soybean oil, and the mysterious component of
“natural flavor”.
D. Natural flavor also entered our diet through the rise in processed foods, which
now make up over 90% (and growing) of the American diet, as well as
representing a burgeoning industry in developing countries such as China and
India. Processed foods are essentially any foods that have been boxed, bagged,
canned or packaged, and have a list of ingredients on the label. Sometimes, the
processing involves adding a little sodium or sugar and a few preservatives.
Often, however, it is coloured, bleached, stabilized, emulsified, dehydrated,
odour-concealed and sweetened. This process typically saps any original flavour
out of the product, and so, of course, flavour must be added back in as well.
E. Often this is “natural flavour”, but while the term may bring to mind images of
fresh barley, hand-ground spices and dried herbs being traded in a bustling street
market, most of these natural sources are in fact engineered to culinary perfection
in a set of factories and plants off the New Jersey Turnpike outside of New York.
Here, firms such as International Flavors & Fragrances, Harmen & Reimer, Flavor
Dynamics, Frutarom and Elan Chemical isolate and manufacture the tastes that
are incorporated in much of what we eat and drink. The sweet, summery burst of
naturally squeezed orange juice, the wood-smoked aroma in barbeque sauces,
and the creamy, buttery, fresh taste in many dairy products do not come from
sundrenched meadows or backyard grills, but are formed in the labs and test
tubes of these flavour industry giants.
F. The scientists-dubbed “flavourists”- who create the potent chemicals that set our
olfactory senses to overdrive use a mix of techniques that have been refined
over many years. Part of it is dense, intricate chemistry: spectrometers, gas
chromatographs and headspace-vapour analysers can break down components
of a flavour in amounts as minute as one part per billion. Not to be outdone,
however, the human nose can isolate aromas down to three parts per trillion.
Flavourists therefore consider their work as much an art as a science, and
flavourism requires a nose “trained” with a delicate and poetic sense of balance.
G. Should we be wary of the industrialization of natural flavour? On its own, the trend
may not present any clear reason for alarm. Nutritionists widely agree that the
real assault on health in the last few decades stems from an “unholy trinity” of
sugar, fat and sodium in processed foods. Natural flavour on its own is not a
health risk. It does play a role, however, in helping these processed foods to taste
fresh and nutritious, even when they are not. So while the natural flavour industry
should not be considered the culprit, we might think of it as a willing accomplice.
Which paragraph contains the following information? You may use any letter
more than once.
1. examples of companies that create natural flavours

2. an instance of a multi-national franchise responding to public
pressure
3. a statement on the health effects of natural flavours
4. an instance where a solution turns into a problem
5. details about the transformation that takes place in processed
grocery items
6. a comparison of personal and technological abilities in flavour
detection
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
TRUE: if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE: if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN: if there is no information on this
1. On their own, vegetable oils do not have a strong flavour.
2. Soybean oil is lower in cholesterol than cottonseed oil.
3. Processed foods are becoming more popular in some Asian

countries.
4. All food processing involves the use of natural flavours.
Task 1
Read the passage and do the tasks that follow.
A. One misguided legacy over a hundred years of writing on bilingualism is that

children's intelligence will suffer if they are bilingual. Some of the earliest research
into bilingualism examined whether bilingual children were ahead of monolingual
children on IQ tests. From the 1920s to the 1960s, the tendency was to find
monolingual children ahead of bilinguals on IQ tests. The conclusion was that
bilingual children were mentally confused. Having two languages in the brain, it
was said, disrupted effective thinking. It was argued that having one well-
developed language was superior to having two half-developed languages.
B. The idea that the bilinguals may have a lower IQ still exists among many people,
particularly monolinguals. However, we now know that this early research was
misconceived and incorrect. First, such research often gave bilinguals an IQ test
in their weaker language – usually English. Had bilinguals tested in Welsh or
Spanish or Hebrew, a different result may have been found. The testing of
bilinguals was thus unfair. Second, like was not compared with like. Bilinguals
tend to come from, for example, impoverished New York or rural Welsh
backgrounds. The monolinguals tend to come from more middle class, urban
families. Working class bilinguals were often compared with middle class
monolinguals. So the results were more likely to be due to social class differences
than language differences. The comparison of monolinguals and bilinguals was
unfair.
C. The most recent research from Canada, the United States and Wales suggests
that bilinguals are, at least, equal to monolinguals on IQ tests. When bilinguals
have two well-developed languages (in the research literature called balanced
bilinguals), bilinguals tend to show a slight superiority in IQ tests compared with
monolinguals. This is the received psychological wisdom of the moment and is
good news for raising bilingual children. Take, for example, a child who can
operate in either language in the curriculum in the school. That child is likely to
be ahead on IQ tests compared with similar monolinguals (same gender, social
class, and age). Far from making people mentally confused, bilingualism is now
associated with a mild degree of intellectual superiority.
D. One note of caution needs to be sounded. IQ tests probably do not measure

intelligence. IQ tests measure a small sample of the broadest concept of
intelligence. IQ tests are simply paper and pencil tests where only "right and
wrong" answers are allowed. Is all intelligence included in such right and wrong,
pencil and paper tests? Isn't there a wider variety of intelligences that are
important in everyday functioning and everyday life.
E. Many questions need answering. Do we only define an intelligent person as

somebody who obtains a high score on an IQ tests. Are the only intelligent people
those who belong to high IQ organizations such as MENSA? Is there social
intelligence, musical intelligence, military intelligence, marketing intelligence,
motoring intelligence, political intelligence? Are all, or indeed any, of these forms
of intelligence measured by a simple pencil and paper IQ test which demands a
single, acceptable, correct solution to each question? Defining what constitutes
intelligent behavior requires a personal value judgement as to what type of
behavior, and what kind of person is of more worth.
F. The current state of psychological wisdom about bilingual children is that, where
two languages are relatively well developed, bilinguals have thinking advantages
over monolinguals. Take an example. A child is asked a simple question: How
many uses can you think of for a brick? Some children give two or three answers
only. They can think of building walls, building a house or perhaps that is all.
Another child scribbles away, pouring out ideas one after the other: blocking up
a rabbit hole, breaking a window, using as a bird bath, as a plumb line, as an
abstract sculpture in an art exhibition.
G. Research across different continents of the world shows that bilinguals tend to be
more fluent, flexible, original and elaborate in their answers to this type of open-
ended question. The person who can think of a few answers tend to be termed a
convergent thinker. They converge onto a few acceptable conventional answers.
People who think of lots of different uses for unusual items (e.g. a brick, tin can,
cardboard box) are call divergers. Divergers like a variety of answers to a
question and are imaginative and fluent in their thinking.
H. There are other dimensions in thinking where approximately balanced bilinguals

may have temporary and occasionally permanent advantages over monolinguals:
increased sensitivity to communication. A slightly speedier movement through the
stages of cognitive development, and being less fixed in the sounds of words and
more centred on the meaning of words. Such ability to move away from the sound
of words and fix on the meaning of words tends to be a (temporary) advantage
for bilinguals around the ages four to six. This advantage may mean an initial
head start in learning to read and learning to think about language.
Choose the correct heading for paragraph B-G from the list of headings below.
i. No single definition of intelligence
ii. Faulty setting, wrong conclusion
iii. Welsh research supports IQ testing
iv. Beware: inadequate of testing intelligence
v. International research support bilingualism
vi. Current thought on the advantage bilinguals have
vii. Early beliefs regarding bilingualism
viii. Monolinguals ahead of their bilingual peers
ix. Exemplifying the bilingual advantage
0. Paragraph A: vii 1. Paragraph B: 2. Paragraph C:
Write T (true), F (false) or NG (not given) for the following statements.
6. Balanced bilinguals have more permanent than temporary

advantages over monolinguals.
7. Often bilinguals concentrate more on the way a word sounds than

its meaning.
8. Monolinguals learn to speak at a younger age than bilinguals.
9. Bilinguals just starting school might pick up certain skills faster than
monolinguals.
10. What is the most suitable title for the passage?

A. Types of intelligence
B. The use of IQ tests
C. Bilingualism and intelligence in children
D. A new discovery in bilingualism
Task 1
Read the passage and choose the best answer to the questions
The first two decades of this century were dominated by the microbe hunters. These
hunters had tracked down one after another of the microbes responsible for the most
dreaded scourges of many centuries: tuberculosis, cholera, diphtheria. But there
remained some terrible diseases for which no microbe could be incriminated: scurvy,
pellagra, rickets, and beriberi. Then it was discovered that these diseases were caused
by the lack of vitamins, a trace substance in the diet. The diseases could be prevented
or cured by consuming foods that contained the vitamins. And so in the decades of the
1920’s and 1930’s, nutrition became a science and the vitamin hunters replaced the
microbe hunters.
In the 1940’s and 1950’s, biochemists strived to learn why each of the vitamins was
essential for health. They discovered that key enzymes in metabolism depend on one
or another of the vitamins as coenzymes to perform the chemistry that provides cells
with energy for growth and function. Now, these enzyme hunters occupied center
stage.
You are aware that the enzyme hunters have been replaced by a new breed of hunters
who are tracking genes – the blueprints for each of the enzymes – and are discovering
the defective genes that cause inherited diseases – diabetes, cystic fibrosis. These
gene hunters, or genetic engineers, use recombinant DNA technology to identify and
clone genes and introduce them into bacterial cells and plants to create factories for
the massive production of hormones and vaccines for medicine and for better crops
for agriculture. Biotechnology has become a multibillion-dollar industry.
In view of the inexorable progress in science, we can expect that the gene hunters will
be replaced in the spotlight. When and by whom? Which kind of hunter will dominate
the scene in the last decade of our waning century and in the early decades of the
next? I wonder whether the hunters who will occupy the spotlight will be neurobiologists
who apply the techniques of the enzyme and gene hunters to the functions of the brain.
What to call them? The head hunters. I will return to them later.
microbe: an extremely small living thing which you can only see if you use a microscope
1. What is the main topic of the passage?

A. The microbe hunters
B. The potential of genetic engineering
C. The progress of modern medical research
D. The discovery of enzymes
2. The word “incriminated” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. investigated B. blamed C. eliminated D. produced
3. Which of the following can be cured by a change in diet?

A. Tuberculosis B. Cholera C. Cystic fibrosis D. Pellagra
4. The word “strived” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. failed B. tried C. experimented D. studied
5. How do vitamins influence health?

A. They are necessary for some enzymes to function
B. They protect the body from microbes
C. They keep food from spoiling
D. They are broken down by cells to produce energy
6. In the third paragraph, the author compares cells that have been genetically
altered by bio-technicians to
A. gardens B. factories C. hunters D. spotlights
7. The phrase “occupy the spotlight” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. receive the most attention B. go the furthest
C. conquer territory D. lighten the load
8. The author implies that the most important medical research topic of the future
will be
A. the functions of the brain B. inherited diseases
C. the operation of vitamins D. the structure of genes
9. Which of the following best describes the author’s tone in the last paragraph of
the passage?
A. Critical B. Speculative C. Appreciative D. Emotional
10. With which of the following statements would the author be most likely to agree?
A. The focus of medical research will change in the next two decades
B. Medical breakthroughs often depend on luck
C. Medical research throughout the twentieth century has been dominated by
microbe hunters
D. Most diseases are caused by defective genes
Task 2
Read the passage and answer the questions
HISTORY OF THE STEAM ENGINE
The first steam-powered machine was built in 1698 by the English military engineer
Thomas Savery (c. 1650-1715). His invention, designed to pump water out of coal
mines, was known as the Miner's Friend. The machine, which had no moving parts,
consisted of a simple boiler - a steam chamber whose valves were located on the
surface - and a pipe leading to the water in the mine below. Water was heated in the
boiler chamber until its steam filled the chamber, forcing out any remaining water or
air. The valves were then closed and cold water was sprayed over the chamber. This
chilled and condensed the steam inside to form a vacuum. When the valves were
reopened, the vacuum sucked up the water from the mine, and the process could then
be repeated.
A few years later, an English engineer named Thomas Newcomen (1663-1729)

improved the steam pump. He increased efficiency by setting a moving piston inside a
cylinder, a technique still in use today. A cylinder - a long, thin, closed chamber
separate from the boiler - replaced the large, open boiler chamber. A piston - a sliding
piece that fits in the cylinder - was used to create motion instead of a vacuum. Steam
filled the cylinder from an open valve. When filled, the cylinder was sprayed with water,
causing the steam inside to condense into water and create a partial vacuum. The
pressure of the outside air then forced the piston down, producing a power stroke. The
piston was connected to a beam, which was connected to a water pump at the bottom
of the mine by a pump-rod. Through these connections, the movement of the piston
caused the water pump to suck up the water.
The most important improvement in steam engine design was brought about by the
Scottish engineer James Watt (1736-1819). He set out to improve the performance of
Newcomen's engine and by 1769 had arrived at the conclusion: if the steam were
condensed separately from the cylinder, the cylinder could always be kept hot. That
year he introduced the design of a steam engine that had a separate condenser and
sealed cylinders. Since this kept the heating and cooling processes separate, his
machine could work constantly, without any long pause at each cycle to reheat the
cylinder. Watt's refined steam engine design used one-third less fuel than a
comparable Newcomen engine.
Over the next 15 years, Watt continued to improve his engine and made three
significant additions. He introduced the centrifugal governor, a device that could control
steam output and engine speed. He made the engine double-acting by allowing steam
to enter alternately on either side of the piston. This allowed the engine to work rapidly
and deliver power on the downward and upward piston stroke. Most important, he
attached a flywheel to the engine.
Flywheels allow the engine to run more smoothly by creating a more constant load,
and they convert the conventional back-and-forth power stroke into a circular (rotary)
motion that can be adapted more readily to power machinery. By 1790, Watt's
improved steam engine offered a powerful, reliable power source that could be located
almost anywhere. It was used to pump bellows for blast furnaces, to power huge
hammers for shaping and strengthening forged metals, and to turn machinery at textile
mills. More than anything, it was Watt's steam engine that speeded up the Industrial
Revolution both in England and the rest of the world.
Steam was successfully adapted to powerboats in 1802 and railways in 1829. Later,
some of the first automobiles were powered by steam. In the 1880s, the English
engineer Charles A. Parsons (1854-1931) produced the first steam turbine, a new
steam technology that was more efficient and which enabled the steam engine to
evolve into a highly sophisticated and powerful engine that propelled huge ships and
ran turbo generators that supplied electricity.
Once the dominant power source, steam engines eventually declined in popularity as
other power sources became available. Although there were more than 60,000 steam
cars made in the United States between 1897 and 1927, the steam engine eventually
gave way to the internal combustion engine as a power source for vehicles.
Question 1-5
Match each statement with the correct person A-D.
A. Thomas Savery B. Thomas Newcomen
C. James Watt D. Charles A. Parsons
Write the correct letter A, B, C or D in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
1. His invention was the first to use moving parts.

2. His invention allowed steam power to be converted into electric
power.
3. His invention was the single biggest step in development.
4. His invention was a simple solution to an industrial problem.
5. His invention was the first continuous power source.
Questions 6-10 Complete the flow chart below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
The Miner's Friend used condensed steam to (6) , which

sucked water from mines.
Design improved: Newcomen (7) using a piston and cylinder

instead of an open boiler.
1769: separating heating and cooling processes meant no (8)

between power strokes.
Further development: became easier to (9) through the use of

the flywheel.
Nineteenth century: steam power (10) for use in various means of

transport.
Task 1
Read the following passage and answer the questions
The reading passage has seven paragraphs (A-G). For questions 1-6, choose the
correct heading for paragraphs B-G from the list of heading below
List of headings
i. Why some early social science methods lost popularity.
ii. The cost implications of research
iii. Looking ahead to an unbiased assessment of research
iv. A range of social issues that have been usefully studied
v. An example of a poor decision that was made too quickly
vi. What happens when the figures are wrong
vii. One area of research that is rigorously carried out
viii. The changing nature of medical trials
ix. An investigate study that may lead to a new system
x. Why some scientists’ theories are considered second-rate
1. Paragraph A: 2. Paragraph B: 3. Paragraph C:
7. Paragraph G:
TRY IT AND SEE
A. In the scientific pecking order, social scientists are usually looked down on by
their peers in the natural sciences. Natural scientists do experiments to test their
theories or, if they cannot, they to look for natural phenomena that can act in lieu
of experiments. Social scientists, it is widely thought, do not subject their own
hypotheses to any such rigorous treatment. Worse, they peddle their untested
hypotheses to government and try to get them turned into policies.
B. Governments require sellers of new medicines to demonstrate their safety and

effectiveness. The accepted gold standard of evidence is a randomized control
trial, in which a new drug is compared with their best existing therapy (or with a
placebo, if no treatment is available). Patients are assigned to one arm or the
other of such a study at random, ensuring that the only difference between the
two groups is the new treatment. The best studies also ensure that neither patient
nor physician knows which patient is allocated to which therapy. Drug trials must
also include enough patients to make it unlikely that chance alone may determine
the result.
C. But few education programs or social initiatives are evaluated in carefully

conducted studies prior to their introduction. A case in point is the “whole-
language” approach to reading, which swept much of the English speaking world
in the 1970s and 1980s. The whole-language theory holds that children learn to
read best by absorbing contextual clues from texts, not by breaking individual
words into their component parts and reassembling them (a method known as
phonics). Unfortunately, the educational theorists who pushed the whole-
language notion so successfully did not wait for evidence from controlled
randomized trials before advancing their claims. Had they done so, they might
have concluded, as did an analysis of randomized studies carried out by the US
National Reading Panel in 2000, that effective reading instruction requires
phonics.
D. To avoid the widespread adoption of misguided ideas, the sensible thing is to

experiment first and make policy later. This is the idea behind a trial of restorative
justice which is taking place in the English courts. The experiment will include
criminals who plead guilty to robbery. Those who agree to participate will be
assigned randomly either to sentencing as normal or to participation in a
conference in which the offender comes face to face with his victim and discusses
how he may make emotional and material restitution. The purpose of the trial is
to assess whether such restorative justice limits reoffending. If it does, it might be
adopted more widely.
E. The idea of experimental evidence is not quite new to the social science as
sneering natural scientists might believe. In fact, randomized trials and
systematic reviews of evidence were introduced into the social sciences long
before they became common in medicine. An apparent example of random
allocation is a study carried out in 1927 of how to persuade people to vote in
elections. And randomized trials in social work were begun in the 1930s and
1940s. But enthusiasm later waned. This loss of interest can be attributed, at
least in part, to the fact that early experiments produced little evidence of positive
outcomes. Others suggest that much of the opposition to experimental evaluation
stems from a common philosophical malaise among social scientists, who doubt
the validity of the natural sciences, and therefore reject the potential of knowledge
derived from controlled experiments. A more pragmatic factor limiting the growth
of evidence-based education and social services may be limitations on the funds
available for research.
F. Nevertheless, some 11,000 experimental studies are known in the social

sciences (compared with over 250,000 in the medical literature). Randomized
trials have been used to evaluate the effectiveness of driver-education
programmes, job-training schemes, classroom size, psychological counseling for
post traumatic stress disorder and increased investment in public housing. And
where they are carried out, they seems to have a healthy dampening effect on
otherwise rosy interpretations of the observations.
G. The problem for policymakers is often not too few data, but what to make of
multiple and conflicting studies. This is where a body called the Campbell
Collaboration comes into its own. This independent non-profit organization is
designed to evaluate existing studies, in a process known as a systematic review.
This means attempting to identify every relevant trial of a given question
(including studies that have never been published), choosing the best ones using
clearly defined criteria for quality, and combining the results in a statistically valid
way. An equivalent body, the Cochrane Collaboration, has produced more than
1,000 such reviews in medical fields. The hope is that rigorous review standard
will allow Campbell, like Cochrane, to become a trusted and authoritative source
of information.
For questions 7-10, choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for
each answer.
FIGHTING CRIME
Some criminals in England are agreeing to take part in a trial designed to help reduce
their chances of (7) . The idea is that while one group of randomly selected
criminals undergoes the usual (8) , the other group will discuss the
possibility of making some repayment for the crime by meeting the (9) . It
is yet to be seen whether this system, known as (10) , will work.
Task 2
Read the passage and choose the best answers (A, B, C or D) to the questions.
Population ecology is the science that measures changes in population size and
composition and identifies the causes of these fluctuations. Population ecology is not
concerned solely with the human population. In ecological terms, a population consists
of the individuals of one species that simultaneously occupy the same general area,
rely on the same resources, and are affected by similar environmental factors. The
characteristics of a population are shaped by its size and by the interactions among
individuals and between individuals and their environment.
Population size is a balance between factors that increase numbers and factors that
decrease numbers. Some factors that increase populations are favourable light and
temperature, adequate food supply, suitable habitat, ability to compete for resource,
and ability to adapt to environmental change. Factors that decrease populations are
insufficient or excessive light and temperature, inadequate food supply, unsuitable or
destroyed habitat, too many competitors for resources, and inability to adapt to
environmental change.
Another important characteristic of any population is its density. Population density is

the number of individuals per units, such as the number of maple trees per square
kilometer in a county. Ecologists can rarely determine population size by actually
counting all individuals within geographical boundaries. Instead, they often use a
variety of sampling techniques to estimate densities and total population sizes. For
example, they might estimate the number of black bears in a national park by counting
individuals in a few sample plots representative of the whole park. In some cases, they
estimate population size through indirect indicators, such as the number of nests or
burrows, or signs such as tracks or droppings.
Another important population characteristic, dispersion, is the pattern of spacious

among individuals within the population’s geographical boundaries. Various species
are distributed in their habitats in different ways to take better advantage of food
supplies and shelter, and to avoid predators or find prey. Within a population’s range,
densities may vary greatly because not all areas provide equally suitable habitat, and
also because individuals space themselves in relation to other members of the
population.
Three possible patterns of dispersion are clumped, uniform, and random. A clumped
dispersion pattern means that individuals are gathered in patches throughout their
habitat. Clumping often results from the irregular distribution of resources needed for
survival and reproduction. For example, fallen trees keep the forest floor moist, and
many forest insects are clumped under logs where the humidity is to their liking.
Clumping may also be associated with mating, safety, or other social behavior. Crane
flies, for example, swarm in great numbers, a behavior that increases mating chances,
and some fish swim in large schools so they are less likely to be eaten by predators.
A uniform or evenly spaced distribution results from direct interactions among

individuals in the population. For example, regular spacing of plants may result from
shading and competitions for water. In animal populations, uniform distribution is
usually caused by competition for some resource or by social interactions that set up
individual territories for feeding, breeding, or testing.
Random spacing occurs in the absence of strong attraction or repulsion among

individuals in a population. Overall, random pattern are rare in nature, with most
populations showing a tendency toward either clumped or uniform distribution.
Populations change in size, structure, and distribution as they respond to changes in

environmental conditions. Four main variables- births, deaths, immigration and
emigration – determine the rate of change in the size of the population over time. A
change in the birth rate or death is the major way that most populations respond to
changes in resource availability. Members of some animal species can avoid or reduce
the effects of another with more favorable environmental conditions, thus altering the
population’s dispersion.
1. According to the passage, which factor might cause the population of a species
to decrease in size?
A. A favorable amount of light and water
B. An ability to hide from or defend against predators
C. A large number of other species competing for food
D. A greater number of births than deaths
2. Which of the following is an indirect indicator of a population’s density?

A. The distribution of food in a given area
B. The number of nests in a given area
C. The number of births in a given period of time
D. The number of individuals counted in a given area
3. The distribution pattern of individuals within a population’s geographical

boundaries is known as
A. population ecology B. population density
C. population change D. population dispersion
4. The word range in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to

A. territory B. control C. history D. shelter
5. The word patches in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to

A. dark places B. family groups C. warm spots D. small areas
6. The word their in paragraph 5 refers to

A. resources B. trees C. insects D. logs
7. All of the following are given as reasons for clumping EXCEPT

A. uneven resource distribution B. territorial disputes
C. mating behavior D. safety from predators
8. The phrase set up in paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to

A. forbid B. establish C. increase D. conceal
9. Which of the following situation s would be most likely to result in a uniform

dispersion pattern?
A. Birds compete for a place to build their nests
B. Fish swim in large schools to avoid predators
C. Whales develop strong bonds among relatives
D. Elephants form a circle to protect their young
10. Why does the author mention immigration and emigration in paragraph 8?
A. To identify factors affecting population dispersion
B. To give examples of territorial behavior in animals
C. To show that populations balance themselves over time
D. To explain why animal populations are uniformly dispersed
(Source: TOEFL reading)
Task 1
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
THE SOUND OF MUSIC
Geoff Brown wonders whether film music can ever be regarded as art.
No one can claim such mastery of the fantasy blockbuster sound as British film music
composer John Williams. It's a style of music he did much to define in Star Wars and
then for many other films for the director Steven Spielberg. There are distinctive
melodies which give the feeling of flying, snatches of music to represent different
characters, and intricate illustrative details. In addition, everything follows the
symphonic style of a hundred years ago. It's what the film industry in Hollywood wants,
it's what John Williams supplies, and what audiences everywhere expect.
Can we call it art, or is it simply an interesting artefact, a sort of factory product? For
the cinema-goer sitting with a popcorn bag the question doesn't arise. But since film
music now spreads to a different audience far outside cinemas, on lavishly promoted
soundtrack CDs and serious concert platforms, it may be interesting to answer the
question.
Composers themselves have expressed very diverse opinions. Interviewed some

years ago, Williams himself proudly referred to film music as 'the opera of the 20th
century'. On the other hand, Richard Rodney Bennett, the composer of the music for
the film Murder on the Orient Express, declared that 'in writing film music one is really
using only a sixth of one's musical mind'. Everyone agrees on one point though: the
rewards are pleasingly high. There are royalties. And if you hit the right buttons you
can spin off into the lucrative sideline of a concert career, regularly mounting live
performances of film compositions.
But if you consider the working conditions that composers put up with, superficially
the odds do seem stacked against film music being classed as art. First of all, film
music is composed in snippets, timed to the second, and written after the film is shot.
Then there are insane deadlines - like having five days to compose 50 minutes of
music. Next, the composer has to live with the fact that he/she wields no artistic control.
Finally, the ultimate insult is that what is written struggles to get itself noticed against a
background of dialogue, squeals, and every possible visual delight from cartoon
character Shrek's green body to actor Tom Cruise's chin. It can't be art, can it?
But think of the German composer Bach in the eighteenth century, satisfying his
employers by writing one cantata a week. Few composers can write without a
commission. And for the true artist, rules and restrictions stimulate. Film scoring can
sharpen a composer's technique, encourage experimentation. The composer Vaughan
Williams was never quite the same again after his work on the film Scott of the Antarctic
caused him to branch into percussion instruments as a way of capturing a frozen
landscape.
Film music can be art then, and has been, in fits and starts. The frustrating thing is that
many film producers have limited expectations of what film music can be. Once the
age of silent movies was over and talkies arrived, music became an integral part of the
projected film and anything was possible. Music didn't have to be poured over the
images like mayonnaise; it could argue with them, puncture them with irony, or rudely
interrupt. In Europe, various composers such as Shostakovich and Hanns Eisler
experimented with timbre and form, showing Hollywood (at the time still stuck with the
sounds of a late nineteenth-century symphony orchestra beavering away) that
innovative techniques were possible.
But even in Hollywood, art raised its head. All film composers look up to Bernard
Herrmann, a giant who colored each score with a different sound and let his music
snake through the images in unconventional ways. The power of the film Vertigo lies
not only in the director's images but in Herrmann's worried woodwind and turbulent
strings and the weird harp solos that dog the characters' footsteps. His scores are
usually so interwoven with their films that it's a futile task trying to carve the music into
selections for concert use. Herrmann proves that it's even possible to write film scores
in bulk without hurtling into an artistic decline.
So, what's my conclusion? Art or factory product? Both in fact, although there's rather
more of the factory product than I would like at times.
1. What point is the writer making about John Williams' music in the first paragraph?
A. It is similar to that produced by other composers.
В. It is too old-fashioned to remain popular for long.
С. It has a better reputation in Hollywood than elsewhere.
D. It has certain characteristics that are easy to identify.
2. In the second paragraph, what does the writer imply about the attitude of cinema-
goers to film music?
A. They are only interested in it if they can purchase the CD.
В. They perceive it as being mass-produced.
С. They are not concerned about whether it has artistic merit.
D. They feel music is an important part of the cinema experience.
3. According to the writer, which view of film music do all composers share?
A. They consider that it is a worthy outlet for their talents.
В. They appreciate the financial gains they make from it.
С. They need it to supplement their main source of income.
D. They can use it as a way into an alternative career.
4. According to the writer, what is the worst aspect of a film composer's working
conditions?
A. The music has to be composed after the film is completed.
В. The deadlines set for the composer cannot be achieved.
С. The music has to compete for attention with other elements of the film.
D. The composer has no control over how the music is used.
5. The writer compares modern film composers with Bach to show that
A. some composers work better under pressure.
В. composers have unreasonable demands imposed on them.
С. composers must aim to please their employers.
D. all composers need some sort of sponsorship.
6. What point is made about Hollywood film music when the 'talkies' arrived?
A. It used less well-known symphony orchestras than before.
В. It did not constitute a major part of the final production.
С. It didn't generally make use of new ideas.
D. It was not considered to make an artistic contribution to the film.
7. What does the writer say is special about Bernard Herrmann's music?
A. It is of high quality because he composed very little.
В. It has a distinctive style which evokes the animal world.
С. It is totally integrated with the visual element of the film.
D. It has considerable potential for concert performance.
8. The word “intricate” is closest in meaning to .
A. elaborate B. perplexing C. myriad D. diverse
9. What does the writer mean when saying “… superficially the odds do seem
stacked against film music being classed as art”?
A. Film music is not at all to everyone’s taste.
B. People who opine that film music is not truly a form of art should have a rethink.
C. Film music is condemned for its superficiality.
D. On the surface, film music does not seem like a form of art.
10. The word “puncture” is closest in meaning to .
A. discredit B. disparage C. eliminate D. upgrade
Task 2
Reading passage has seven paragraphs A-G.
For questions 1-5, choose the correct headings for paragraphs A-F from the list
of headings below. Write the correct numbers, I-VIII, next to Questions 1-5.
List of Headings
i. How the problem of land scarcity has been overcome in the past
ii. Various predictions about future solutions to a lack of space
iii. The effects of population growth on land availability
iv. The importance of the new British Library
v. An expanding population
vi. A description of a mega-city
vii. A film belief that human habitation of outer space will occur
viii. The importance of having an international space station
4. Paragraph D: 5. Paragraph E:
SPACE
Is humanity running out of space or we will find new frontiers?
As populations grow, people have to look for more innovative ways to provide
space.
Paragraph A
The world has changed dramatically since Thomas Malthus’s work An Essay on the
Principle of Population, first published in 1798, argued that by the mid1800s the
unrestricted expansion of the human population would outgrow the agricultural land
available to supply humanity with food. Over 150 years have passed since this
theoretical milestone, but mankind, admittedly somewhat more cramped, is still
expanding and will continue to do so.
Paragraph B
The impact of unfettered population growth is clear for all to see. Urbanization is now
a more evident worldwide phenomenon than previously as even greater numbers of
people drift from rural areas to vast cities all over the world like Tokyo, Mexico City and
Mumbai (26.4 million, 18.4 million and 18.1 million inhabitants in 2000 respectively) in
their quest for a better life. These mega-cities, i.e. conurbations with an estimated
population of more than 10 million people, are springing up in every continent. Now
teeming with humanity, they are hungry for one increasingly valuable resource: land.
While developments in agricultural technology ensure humanity may be able, by and

large, to feed the people flocking to these great metropolises, the expansion of the
human race is fuelling an unprecedented appetite for real estate. Space, whether it be
for personal or public use, corporate or national, human or flora/ fauna, is now at a
premium as we move into a new century. Not only is more land required for
accommodation, but also for a wide range of infrastructure facilities. Transport systems
including roads within and between cities need to be constructed or upgraded to create
motorways; green fields are turned into airports; virgin forest is stripped to provide food
and firework. In poorer regions, this newly exposed land becomes desert, completing
the cycle of destruction.
Paragraph C
Hitherto, the most common practice for the utilization of expensive space for living and
working has been to build upwards; hence, the demand for ever higher buildings, both
apartment and commercial, in major cities like New York, Shanghai and Singapore all
vying with each other for the tallest buildings. There has also been a tradition for
building underground, not just for transport systems, but for the storage of waste,
depositories for books etc. as in London, where The British Library housing millions of
books has been built largely underground.
Recent years have seen more novel construction developments around the world. In
the past, in many countries, Holland and the UK included, marshes and flood plains
have been reclaimed from the sea. Like the city of Venice in Italy, housing complexes
and even airports have now been constructed off-shore to amazing effect. In Japan,
Kansai International Airport has been built off-shore on a man-made island at vast
expense and in Dubai a very imaginative and expensive housing complex in the shape
of a palm tree is being built just off the coast on land created by a construction
company. However, these and other developments are at risk from rising sea levels as
a consequence of global warming.
Paragraph D
But where will the human race go when planet earth is full? There have been many
theories put forward about the human population moving to outer space. Marshall
Savage (1992, 1994), for example, has projected that the human population will reach
five quintillion throughout the solar system by the year 3000, with the majority living in
the asteroid belt. Arthur C Clarke, a fervent supporter of Savage, now argues that by
the year 2057 there will be humans on the Moon, Mars, Europa, Ganymede, Titan and
in orbit around Venus, Neptune and Pluto. Feeman Dyson (1999) favours the Kuiper
belt as the future home of humanity, suggesting this could happen within a few
centuries.
Paragraph E
Habitation in outer space in huge station is no longer just a dream, but a reality. A
permanent international space station now orbits the earth. The first commercial tourist
recently went into outer space with more trips planned for the near future. This is only
a beginning, but the development of space hotels is not far-off. There is no knowing
where mankind may end up. But the ideas about off-world habitation are not fanciful
and I am sure I am not alone in fantasizing about summer holidays spent watching the
moons rising in some far-flung planet or on a floating hotel somewhere on the
Adromeda nebula.
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading

Passage? Write
YES If the statement reflects the claims of the write
NO If the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN If it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
6. The destruction of land for food and firewood is linked to

desertification.
7. Shortage of space has also led to underground building
construction.
8. The building of the airport in Japan cost much more than that of the
housing complex in Dubai.
9. Arthur C Clarke was the only person to predict that mankind will
inhabit other parts of the solar system.
10. The concept of the habitation of outer space by mankind is
unimaginable.
Task 1
Read the passage and choose the options (A, B, C or D) to best answer the
questions.
According to airline industry statistics, almost 90 percent of airline accidents are

survivable or partially survivable. But passengers can increase their chances of
survival by learning and following certain tips. Experts say that you should read and
listen to safety instructions before take-off and ask questions if you have
uncertainties. You should fasten your seat belt low on your hips and as tightly as
possible. Of course, you should also know how to release mechanism of your belt
operates. During take-offs and landings, you are advised to keep your feet flat on the
floor. Before take-off you should locate the nearest exit and an alterative exit and
count the rows of seats between you and the exits so that you can find them in the
dark if necessary.
In the event that you are forewarned of a possible accident, you should put your
hands on your ankles and keep your head down until the plane comes to a complete
stop. If smoke is present in the cabin, you should keep your head low and cover your
face with napkins, towels, or clothing. If possible, wet these for added protection
against smoke inhalation. To evacuate as quickly as possible, follow crew
commands and do not take personal belongings with you. Do not jump on escape
slides before they are inflated, and when you jump, do so with your arms and legs
extended in front of you. When you get to the ground, you should move away from
them as quickly as possible, and never smoke near the wreckage.
1. What is the main topic of the passage?

A. Airline industry accident statistics.
B. Procedures for evacuating aircraft.
C. Guidelines for increasing aircraft passenger survival.
D. Safety instructions in air travel.
2. Travelers are urged by experts to read and listen to safety instructions

A. in an emergency B. before locating the exits
C. if smoke is in the cabin D. before take off
3. According to the passage, airline travelers should keep their feet flat the floor.
A. throughout the flight B. during takeoffs and landings
C. especially during landings D. only if an accident is possible
4. According to the passage, which exits should an airline passenger locate before
takeoff.
A. The ones that can be found in the dark.
B. The two closest to the passenger's seat.
C. The nearest one.
D. The ones with counted rows of seats between them.
5. It can be inferred from the passage that people are more likely to survive fires in
aircrafts if they
A. keep their heads low B. wear a safety belt
C. don't smoke in or near a plane D. read airline safety statistics
6. Airline passengers are advised to do all of the following EXCEPT

A. locate the nearest exit
B. ask questions about safety
C. fasten their seat belts before takeoff
D. carry personal belongings in an emergency
7. The word "evacuate" in the second paragraph is closest in meaning

A evade B. vacate C. abscond D. forestall
8. The word "inflated" in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to

A. lifted B. expanded C. extended D. assembled
9. The word "wreckage" in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to

A. damage B. prosperity C. material D. wreck
10. What does the paragraph following the passage most probably discuss!
A. How to recover your luggage
B. Where to go to continue your trip
C. When to return to the aircraft
D. How to proceed once you are away from the aircraft
Task 2
Read the passage and do the tasks that follow.
Choose the correct headings for each section from the list of headings below.
List of Headings
i. The connection between health-care and other human rights
ii. The development of market-based health systems.
iii. The role of the state in health-care
iv. A problem shared by every economically developed country
v. The impact of recent change
vi. The views of the medical establishment
vii. The end of an illusion
viii. Sustainable economic development
1. Section A: 2. Section B: 3. Section C:
4. Section D: 5. Section E:
THE PROBLEM OF SCARCE RESOURCES
Section A
The problem of how health-care resources should be allocated or apportioned, so that

they are distributed in both the most just and most efficient way, is not a new one.
Every health system in an economically developed society is faced with the need to
decide (either formally or informally) what proportion of the community’s total resources
should be spent on health-care; how resources are to be apportioned; what diseases
and disabilities and which forms of treatment are to be given priority; which members
of the community are to be given special consideration in respect of their health needs;
and which forms of treatment are the most cost-effective.
Section B
What is new is that, from the 1950s onwards, there have been certain general changes
in outlook about the finitude of resources as a whole and of health-care resources in
particular, as well as more specific changes regarding the clientele of health-care
resources and the cost to the community of those resources. Thus, in the 1950s and
1960s, there emerged an awareness in Western societies that resources for the
provision of fossil fuel energy were finite and exhaustible and that the capacity of nature
or the environment to sustain economic development and population was also finite.
In other words, we became aware of the obvious fact that there were ‘limits to growth’.
The new consciousness that there were also severe limits to health-care resources
was part of this general revelation of the obvious. Looking back, it now seems quite
incredible that in the national health systems that emerged in many countries in the
years immediately after the 1939-45 World War, it was assumed without question that
all the basic health needs of any community could be satisfied, at least in principle; the
‘invisible hand’ of economic progress would provide.
Section C
However, at exactly the same time as this new realization of the finite character of
health-care resources was sinking in, an awareness of a contrary kind was developing
in Western societies: that people have a basic right to health-care as a necessary
condition of a proper human life. Like education, political and legal processes and
institutions, public order, communication, transport and money supply, health-care
came to be seen as one of the fundamental social facilities necessary for people to
exercise their other rights as autonomous human beings. People are not in a position
to exercise personal liberty and to be self-determining if they are poverty-stricken, or
deprived of basic education, or do not live within a context of law and order. In the
same way, basic health-care is a condition of the exercise of autonomy.
Section D
Although the language of ‘rights’ sometimes leads to confusion, by the late 1970s it
was recognized in most societies that people have a right to health-care (though there
has been considerable resistance in the United Sates to the idea that there is a formal
right to health-care). It is also accepted that this right generates an obligation or duty
for the state to ensure that adequate health-care resources are provided out of the
public purse. The state has no obligation to provide a health-care system itself, but to
ensure that such a system is provided. Put another way, basic health-care is now
recognized as a ‘public good’, rather than a ‘private good’ that one is expected to buy
for oneself. As the 1976 declaration of the World Health Organisation put it: ‘The
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights
of every human being without distinction of race, religion, political belief, economic or
social condition’. As has just been remarked, in a liberal society basic health is seen
as one of the indispensable conditions for the exercise of personal autonomy.
Section E
Just at the time when it became obvious that health-care resources could not possibly
meet the demands being made upon them, people were demanding that their
fundamental right to health-care be satisfied by the state. The second set of more
specific changes that have led to the present concern about the distribution of health-
care resources stems from the dramatic rise in health costs in most OECD countries,
accompanied by large-scale demographic and social changes which have meant, to
take one example, that elderly people are now major (and relatively very expensive)
consumers of health-care resources. Thus in OECD countries as a whole, health costs
increased from 3.8% of GDP in 1960 to 7% of GDP in 1980, and it has been predicted
that the proportion of health costs to GDP will continue to increase. (In the US the
current figure is about 12% of GDP, and in Australia about 7.8% of GDP.)
As a consequence, during the 1980s a kind of doomsday scenario (analogous to

similar doomsday extrapolations about energy needs and fossil fuels or about
population increases) was projected by health administrators, economists and
politicians. In this scenario, ever-rising health costs were matched against static or
declining resources.
Decide if the following statements are True (T), False (F) or Not Given (NG)
according to the reading passage.
1. Personal liberty and independence have never been regarded as

directly linked to health-care.
2. Health-care came to be seen as a right at about the same time that

the limits of health-care resources became evident.
3. IN OECD countries population changes have had an impact on

health-care costs in recent years.
4. OECD governments have consistently underestimated the level of

health-care provision needed.
5. In most economically developed countries the elderly will to make

special provision for their health-care in the future.
Task 1
Read the extract taken from Darwin's book The Voyage of the Beagle then
choose the best answer A, B, C or D to complete each statement.
That large animals require luxuriant vegetation has been a general assumption which
has passed from one work to another; but I do not hesitate to say that it is completely
false, and that it has vitiated the reasoning of geologists on some points of great
interest in the ancient history of the world. The prejudice has probably been derived
from India, and the Indian islands, where troops of elephants, noble forests, and
impenetrable jungles, are associated together in every one's mind. If, however, we
refer to any work of travels through the southern parts of Africa, we shall find allusions
in almost every page either to the desert character of the country, or to the numbers of
large animals inhabiting it. The same thing is rendered evident by the many engravings
which have been published of various parts of the interior. Dr. Andrew Smith, who has
lately succeeded in passing the Tropic of Capricorn, informs me that, taking into
consideration the whole of the southern part of Africa, there can be no doubt of its
being a sterile country. On the southern coasts there are some fine forests, but with
these exceptions, the traveller may pass for days together through open plains,
covered by a poor and scanty vegetation. Now, if we look to the animals inhabiting
these wide plains, we shall find their numbers extraordinarily great, and their bulk
immense. We must enumerate the elephant, three species of rhinoceros, the
hippopotamus, the giraffe, the bos caffer, two zebras, two gnus, and several antelopes
even larger than these latter animals. It may be supposed that although the species
are numerous, the individuals of each kind are few. By the kindness of Dr. Smith, I am
enabled to show that the case is very different. He informs me, that in lat. 24', in one
day's march with the bullock-wagons, he saw, without wandering to any great distance
on either side, between one hundred and one hundred and fifty rhinoceroses - the
same day he saw several herds of giraffes, amounting together to nearly a hundred.
At the distance of a little more than one hour's march from their place of encampment
on the previous night, his party actually killed at one spot eight hippopotamuses, and
saw many more. In this same river there were likewise crocodiles. Of course it was a
case quite extraordinary, to see so many great animals crowded together, but it
evidently proves that they must exist in great numbers. Dr. Smith describes the country
passed through that day, as 'being thinly covered with grass, and bushes about four
feet high, and still more thinly with mimosa-trees.' Besides these large animals, every
one the least acquainted with the natural history of the Cape, has read of the herds of
antelopes, which can be compared only with the flocks of migratory birds. The
numbers indeed of the lion, panther, and hyena, and the multitude of birds of prey,
plainly speak of the abundance of the smaller quadrupeds: one evening seven lions
were counted at the same time prowling round Dr. Smith's encampment. As this able
naturalist remarked to me, the carnage each day in Southern Africa must indeed be
terrific! I confess it is truly surprising how such a number of animals can find support
in a country producing so little food. The larger quadrupeds no doubt roam over
wide tracts in search of it; and their food chiefly consists of underwood, which probably
contains much nutriment in a small bulk. Dr. Smith also informs me that the vegetation
has a rapid growth; no sooner is a part consumed, than its place is supplied by a fresh
stock. There can be no doubt, however, that our ideas respecting the apparent amount
of food necessary for the support of large quadrupeds are much exaggerated. The
belief that where large quadrupeds exist, the vegetation must necessarily be luxuriant,
is the more remarkable, because the converse is far from true. Mr. Burchell observed
to me that when entering Brazil, nothing struck him more forcibly than the splendor
of the South American vegetation contrasted with that of South Africa, together with
the absence of all large quadrupeds. In his Travels, he has suggested that the
comparison of the respective weights (if there were sufficient data) of an equal number
of the largest herbivorous quadrupeds of each country would be extremely curious. If
we take on the one side, the elephants hippopotamus, giraffe, bos caffer, eland, five
species of rhinoceros; and on the American side, two tapirs, the guanaco, three deer,
the vicuna, peccary, capybara (after which we must choose from the monkeys to
complete the number), and then place these two groups alongside each other it is not
easy to conceive ranks more disproportionate in size. After the above facts, we are
compelled to conclude, against anterior probability, that among the mammalian there
exists no close relation between the bulk of the species, and the quantity of the
vegetation, in the countries which they inhabit.
Adapted from: Voyage of the Beagle, Charles Darwin
1. The author is primarily concerned with .
A. discussing the relationship between the size of mammals and the nature of
vegetation in their habitats
B. contrasting ecological conditions in India and Africa
C. proving the large animals do not require much food
D. describing the size of animals in various parts of the world
2. According to the author, the ‘prejudice’ has lead to
A. errors in the reasoning of biologists
B. false ideas about animals in Africa
C. doubt in the mind of the author
D. incorrect assumptions on the part of geologists
3. The author uses information provided by Dr. Smith to .

A. supply information on quality and quantity of plant life in South Africa
B. indicate the presence of large numbers of animals
C. give evidence of numbers of carnivorous animals
D. A, B and C are correct
4. The flocks of migratory birds are mentioned to .
A. describe an aspect of the fauna of South Africa
B. indicate the abundance of wildlife
C. contrast with the habits of the antelope
D. suggest the size of antelope herds
5. The ‘carnage’ refers to the
A. number of animals killed by hunters
B. number of prey animals killed by predators
C. number of people killed by lions
D. amount of food eaten by all species
6. To account for the ‘surprising’ number of animals in a ‘country producing so little
food’, Darwin suggests all of the following as partial explanations except .
A. food requirements have been overestimated
B. rapid regrowth of plant material
C. large area for animals to forage in
D. mainly carnivorous animals
7. The author makes his point by reference to all of the following except .
A. historical documents B. published illustrations
C. private communications D. recorded observations
8. Darwin quotes Burchell’s observations in order to .
A. describe a region of great splendor
B. counter a popular misconception
C. account for a curious situation
D. illustrate a well-known phenomenon
9. Darwin apparently regards Dr. Smith as .
A. reliable and imaginative B. observant and excitable
C. intrepid and competent D. foolhardy and tiresome
10. Anterior probability refers to .
A. what might have been expected B. ideas of earlier explorers
C. likelihood based on data from India D. hypotheses of other scientists
Task 2
Read the following passage and do the tasks that follow.
The reading passage on Deer Farming in Australia has 5 paragraphs (A – E).
From the list of headings below choose the most suitable headings for
paragraphs
A – E. Write the appropriate number (i – viii) next to questions 1 – 4
NB There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use them all.
i. Industry Structures
ii. Disease Affects Production
iii. Trends in Production
iv. Government Assistance
v. How Deer Came to Australia
vi. Research and Development
vii. Asian Competition
viii. Industry Development
0. Paragraph A: v 1. Paragraph B: 2. Paragraph C:
3. Paragraph D: 4. Paragraph E: 5.
DEER FARMING IN AUSTRALIA

Paragraph A
Deer are not indigenous to Australia. They were introduced into the country during the
nineteenth century under the acclimatization programs governing the introduction of
exotic species of animals and birds into Australia. Six species of deer were released
at various locations. The animals dispersed and established wild populations at various
locations across Australia, mostly depending upon their points of release into the wild.
These animals formed the basis for the deer industry in Australia today.
Commercial deer farming in Australia commenced in Victoria in 1971 with the

authorized capture of rusa deer from the Royal National Park, NSW. Until 1985, only
four species of deer, two from temperate climates (red, fallow) and two tropical species
(rusa, chital) were confined for commercial farming. Late in 1985, pressure from
industry to increase herd numbers saw the development of import protocols. This
resulted in the introduction of large numbers of red deer hybrids from New Zealand
and North American elk directly from Canada. The national farmed deer herd is now
distributed throughout all states although most are in New South Wales and Victoria.
Paragraph B
The number of animals processed annually has continued to increase, despite the
downward trend in venison prices since 1997. Of concern is the apparent increase in
the number of female animals processed and the number of whole herds committed
for processing. With more than 40,000 animals processed in 1998/99 and 60,000 in
1999/2000, there is justified concern that future years may see a dramatic drop in
production. At least 85% of all venison produced in Australia is exported, principally to
Europe. At least 90% of all velvet antler produced is exported in an unprocessed state
to Asia.
Schemes to promote Australian deer products continue to have a positive effect on

sales that in turn have a positive effect on prices paid to growers. The industry appears
to be showing limited signs that it is emerging from a state of depression caused by
both internal and external factors that include: (i) the Asian currency downturn; (ii) the
industry’s lack of competitive advantage in influential markets (particularly in respect
to New Zealand competition), and; (iii) within industry processing and marketing
competition for limited product volumes of venison.
Paragraph C
From the formation of the Australian Deer Breeders Federation in 1979, the industry
representative body has evolved through the Deer Farmers Federation of Australia to
the Deer Industry Association of Australia Ltd (DIAA), which was registered in 1995.
The industry has established two product development and marketing companies, the
Australian Deer Horn and Co-Products Pty Ltd (ADH) and the Deer Industry Projects
and Development Pty Ltd, which trades as the Deer Industry Company (DIC). ADH
collects and markets Australian deer horn and co-products on behalf of Australian deer
farmers. It promotes the harvest of velvet antler according to the strict quality
assurance program promoted by the industry. The company also plans and co-
ordinates regular velvet accreditation courses for Australian deer farmers.
Paragraph D
Estimates suggest that until the early 1990s the rate of the annual increase in the
number of farmed deer was up to 25%, but after 1993 this rate of increase fell to
probably less than 10%. The main reasons for the decline in the deer herd growth rate
at such a critical time for the market were: (i) severe drought conditions up to 1998
affecting eastern Australia during 1993-96 and (ii) the consequent slaughter of large
numbers of breeding females, at very low prices. These factors combined to decrease
confidence within the industry. Lack of confidence saw a drop in new investment within
the industry and a lack of willingness of established farmers to expand their herds. With
the development of strong overseas markets for venison and velvet and the prospect
of better seasons ahead in 1996, the trends described were seen to have been
significantly reversed. However, the relatively small size of the Australian herd was
seen to impose undesirable restraints on the rate at which herd numbers could be
expanded to meet the demands for products.
Supply difficulties were exacerbated when the supply of products, particularly venison,
was maintained by the slaughter of young breeding females. The net result was
depletion of the industry’s female breeding herds
Paragraph E
Industry programs are funded by statutory levies on sales of animals for venison, velvet
antler sales and the sale of live animals into export markets. The industry has a 1996
- 2000 five year plan including animal nutrition, pasture quality, carcass quality, antler
harvesting, promotional material and technical bulletins. All projects have generated a
significant volume of information, which compliments similar work undertaken in New
Zealand and other deer farming countries.
Major projects funded by levy funds include the Venison Market Project from 1992 to
1996. This initiative resulted in a dramatic increase in international demand for
Australian venison and an increase in the domestic consumption of venison. In an effort
to maintain existing venison markets in the short term and to increase them in the long
term, in 1997 the industry’s top priority became the increase in size and production
capacity of the national herd.
Task 2.
Read the passage about Deer Farming in Australia again and look at the
statements below. Write
TRUE if the statement is true

FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in Reading Passage
5. Since 1985 many imported deer have been interbred with the
established herds.
6. The drop in deer numbers since 1997 led to an increase in the price
of venison.
7. Only a small amount of Australian venison production is consumed

domestically.
Task 3.
Complete each of the following statements (Questions 8 –10) with words taken
from Reading Passage. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
1. A stringent allows the Australian deer industry to

maintain their excellence of product.
2. Herd stock expansion was made difficult by the killing of

to continue product supply.
3. Foreign and home markets for Australian venison increased due to the
.
Task 1
You are going to read a short text, then answer the questions following each text
by choosing the best answer to each question A, B, C or D.
THOSE BRILLIANT AUTUMN LEAVES
As trees across the northern areas of the globe turn gold and crimson, scientists are
debating exactly what these colors are for. The scientists do agree on one thing: the
colours are for something. That represents a major shift in thinking. For decades,
textbooks claimed that autumn colours were just a by-product of dying leaves. ‘I had
always assumed that autumn leaves were waste baskets,’ said Dr. David Wilkinson,
an evolutionary ecologist at Liverpool John Moores University in England. ‘That's what
I was told as a student.’
During spring and summer, leaves get their green cast from chlorophyll, the pigment
that plays a major role in capturing sunlight. But the leaves also contain other pigments
whose colours are masked during the growing season. In autumn, trees break down
their chlorophyll and draw some of the components back into their tissues.
Conventional wisdom regards autumn colours as the product of the remaining
pigments, which are finally unmasked.
Evolutionary biologists and plant physiologists offer two different explanations for why
natural selection has made autumn colours so widespread. Dr. William Hamilton, an
evolutionary biologist at Oxford University, proposed that bright autumn leaves contain
a message: they warn insects to leave them alone. Dr. Hamilton's 'leaf signal'
hypothesis grew out of earlier work he had done on the extravagant plumage of birds.
He proposed it served as an advertisement from males to females, indicating they had

desirable genes. As females evolved a preference for those displays, males evolved
more extravagant feathers as they competed for mates. In the case of trees, Dr.
Hamilton proposed that the visual message was sent to insects. In the autumn, aphids
and other insects choose trees where they will lay their eggs. When the eggs hatch the
next spring, the larvae feed on the tree, often with devastating results. A tree can ward
off these pests with poisons. Dr. Hamilton speculated that trees with strong defences
might be able to protect themselves even further by letting egg-laying insects know
what was in store for their eggs. By producing brilliant autumn colours, the trees
advertised their lethality. As insects evolved to avoid the brightest leaves, natural
selection favoured trees that could become even brighter.
‘It was a beautiful idea,’ said Marco Archetti, a former student of Dr. Hamilton who is
now at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Dr. Hamilton had Mr. Archetti turn the
hypothesis into a mathematical model. The model showed that warning signals could
indeed drive the evolution of bright leaves - at least in theory. Another student, Sam
Brown, tested the leaf-signal hypothesis against real data about trees and insects. ‘It
was a first stab to see what was out there,’ said Dr. Brown, now an evolutionary
biologist at the University of Texas.
The leaf-signal hypothesis has also drawn criticism, most recently from Dr. Wilkinson
and Dr. H. Martin Schaefer, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Freiburg in
Germany. Dr. Wilkinson and other critics point to a number of details about aphids and
trees that do not fit Dr. Hamilton's hypothesis. Dr. William Hoch, a plant physiologist at
the University of Wisconsin, argues that bright leaves appear on trees that have no
insects to warn off. ‘If you are up here in the north of Wisconsin, by the time the leaves
change, all the insects that feed on foliage are gone,’ Dr. Hoch said. In their article, Dr.
Schaefer and Dr. Wilkinson argue that a much more plausible explanation for autumn
colours can be found in the research of Dr. Hoch and other plant physiologists. Their
recent work suggests that autumn colours serve mainly as a sunscreen.
Dr. Hamilton's former students argue that the leaf-signal hypothesis is still worth
investigating. Dr. Brown believes that leaves might be able to protect themselves both
from sunlight and from insects. Dr. Brown and Dr. Archetti also argue that supporters
of the sunscreen hypothesis have yet to explain why some trees have bright colours
and some do not. 'This is a basic question in evolution that they seem to ignore,’ Dr.
Archetti said. ‘I don't think it's a huge concern,’ Dr. Hoch replied. ‘There's natural
variation for every characteristic.’
Dr. Hamilton's students and their critics agree that the debate has been useful,
because it has given them a deeper reverence for this time of year. 'People sometimes
say that science makes the world less interesting and awesome by just explaining
things away,' Dr. Wilkinson said. 'But with autumn leaves, the more you know about
them, the more amazed you are.'
1. What is stated about the colours of autumn leaves in the first two paragraphs?
A. There has previously been no disagreement about what causes them.
B. The process that results in them has never been fully understood.
C. Different colours from those that were previously the norm have started to appear.
D. Debate about the purpose of them has gone on for a long time.
2. The writer says that Dr Hamilton's work has focused on

A. the different purposes of different colours.
B. the use of colour for opposite purposes.
C. the possibility that birds and insects have influenced each other's behaviour.
D. the increased survival rates of certain kinds of tree.
3. Dr Hamilton has suggested that there is a connection between

A. the colours of autumn leaves and the behaviour of insects.
B. the development of brighter leaves and the reduced numbers of certain types
of insect.
C. the survival of trees and the proximity of insects to them.
D. the brightness of leaves and the development of other defence mechanisms
in trees.
4. The phrase ‘ward off’ in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to

A. comply B. occupy C. avoid D. illuminate
5. What is said about the work done by former students of Dr Hamilton?

A. Neither of them was able to achieve what they set out to do.
B. Mr Archetti felt some regret about the outcome of the work he did.
C. Both of them initiated the idea of doing the work.
D. Dr Brown did not expect to draw any firm conclusions from his work.
6. Critics of Dr Hamilton's theory have expressed the view that

A. it is impossible to generalize about the purpose of the colours of autumn
leaves.
B. his theory is based on a misunderstanding about insect behaviour.
C. the colours of autumn leaves have a different protective function.
D. his theory can only be applied to certain kinds of insect.
7. The word ‘serve’ in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to

A. investigate B. ignore C. refrain D. perform
8. In the debate between the two groups of people investigating the subject, it has
been suggested that
A. something regarded as a key point by one side is in fact not important.
B. further research will prove that Dr Hamilton's theory is the correct one.
C. both sides may in fact be completely wrong.
D. the two sides should collaborate.
9. The word ‘awesome’ in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to

A. trivial B. average C. wondrous D. autumnal
10. All the people involved in research on the subject of autumn leaves feel that
A. it highlights the mystery of the natural world.
B. it is one of the most complex areas they have ever investigated.
C. it concerns a phenomenon that ordinary people would like an explanation for.
D. it shows how interesting an area previously thought to be dull can be.
Task 2
The following text has seven sections, A-G. Choose the correct heading for each
section from the list of headings below.
1. Section A: 2. Section B: 3. Section C:
4. Section D: 5. Section E: 6. Section F:
7. Section G:
List of Headings
i. The instructions for old dances survive
ii. Inspired by foreign examples
iii. Found in a number of countries and districts
iv. An enthusiastic response from certain people
v. Spectators join in the dancing
vi. How the street event came about
vii. From the height of popularity to a fall from fashion
viii. A surprise public entertainment
ix. Young people invent their own clog dances
x. Clog dancing isn't so easy
CLOG DANCING’S BIG STREET REVIVAL
A. The streets of Newcastle, in the north-east of England, have begun to echo with
a sound that has not been heard for about a century. A sharp, rhythmic knocking
can be heard among the Saturday crowds in one of the city's busiest
intersections. It sounds a little like dozens of horses galloping along the street,
but there are none in sight. In fact, it's the noise of a hundred people dancing in
wooden shoes, or clogs.
The shoppers are about to be ambushed by the UK's biggest clog dance event.
The hundred volunteers have been coached to perform a mass routine. For ten
minutes, the dancers bring the city centre to a standstill. There are people
clogging on oil drums and between the tables of pavement cafés. A screaming,
five-man team cuts through the onlookers and begins leaping over swords that
look highly dangerous. Then, as swiftly as they appeared, the cloggers melt back
into the crowd, leaving the slightly stunned spectators to go about their business.
B. This strange manifestation is the brainchild of conductor Charles Hazlewood,

whose conversion to clog dancing came through an encounter with a folk band,
The Unthanks. ‘Rachel and Becky Unthank came to develop some ideas in my
studio,’ Hazlewood says. ‘Suddenly, they got up and began to mark out the
rhythm with their feet - it was an extraordinary blur of shuffles, clicks and clacks
that was an entirely new music for me. I thought, “Whatever this is, I want more
of it”.’
Hazlewood was inspired to travel to Newcastle to make a television programme,

Come Clog Dancing, in which he and a hundred other people learn to clog in a
fortnight. Yet when he first went out recruiting, local people seemed unaware of
their heritage. ‘We went out on to the streets, looking for volunteers, but nobody
seemed to know anything about clog dancing; or if they did, they thought it
originated in the Netherlands.’
C. The roots of clog dancing go back several hundred years, and lie in traditional
dances of the Dutch, Native Americans and African-Americans, in which the
dancer strikes the ground with their heel or toes, to produce a rhythm that's
audible to everyone around. In England, clogging is believed to have first

developed in the mid-19th century in the cotton mills of Lancashire, in the north-
west, where workers created a dance that imitated the sound of the machinery.
The style quickly spread and developed a number of regional variations. In
Northumberland, it became a recreation for miners, who danced solo or to the
accompaniment of a fiddle.
‘The Northumberland style is very distinct from Lancashire clogging,’ says Laura
Connolly, a virtuoso dancer who worked with Hazlewood on the programme.
‘Northumbrian dancing is quite neat and precise with almost no upper-body
movement, whereas the Lancastrian style is more flamboyant.’
D. Whatever the region, clogging remains very much a minority pursuit. Yet at the
turn of the 20th century, clogging was a fully-fledged youth craze. Two famous
comic film actors, Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin, both began their careers as
cloggers. But the dance almost completely died out with the passing of the
industrial age. ‘People danced in clogs because they were cheap, hardwearing
and easily repaired,’ Connolly says. ‘Yet eventually clogs became associated with
poverty and people were almost ashamed to wear them.’
E. Fortunately, the key steps of the dances were preserved and handed down in a
series of little blue books, often named after their inventors. ‘It means that we still
know what Mrs Willis's Rag or Ivy Sands's Hornpipe were like,’ Connolly says.
‘It's my dream that one day there'll be a little blue book called Laura Connolly's
Jig.’
F. Her biggest challenge to date was to teach Hazlewood and 100 other beginners
a routine sufficiently accomplished to perform on television, from scratch, in less
than two weeks. ‘I started people off with something simple,’ she says. ‘It's a basic
shuffle that most people can pick up.’ Once Hazlewood had absorbed the basics,
Connolly encouraged him to develop a short solo featuring more complex steps
- though he nearly came to grief attempting a tricky manoeuvre known as Charlie
Chaplin Clicks, so named as it was the signature move of Chaplin's film character
the Little Tramp.
‘To be honest, I never quite got those right,’ Hazlewood says with a laugh. ‘We
came up with a slightly easier version, which Laura thought we should call Charlie
Hazlewood Clicks. The thing about clogs is that they're all surface: there's no grip
and they're slightly curved so you stand in a slightly peculiar way. The potential
to fall over is enormous.’
On the day, Hazlewood managed to pull off a decent solo, clicks and all. ‘I wasn't
convinced, until the moment I did it, that I was going to get it right,’ he admits. ‘But
in the end, clog dancing is not so very different from conducting. Both require you
to communicate a beat - only I had to learn how to express it with my feet, rather
than my hands. But it's a good feeling.’
G. ‘People forget that clogging was originally a street dance,’ Connolly says. ‘It was
competitive, it was popular, and now young people are beginning to rediscover it
for themselves. As soon as we finished in Newcastle, I had kids coming up to me
saying, “Clog dancing's cool - I want to do that!”’
Task 3
Complete the summary below

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.
A CLOG DANCING EVENT IN NEWCASTLE
First the city's shoppers hear a sound that seems to be created by a large number of
(8) , and then over a hundred people wearing clogs appear and dance. Most
dance on the pavement, some on oil drums. One group uses (9) as part of
its dance. The event was organised by Charles Hazlewood, a (10) . He was
introduced to clog dancing by a folk band working with him in his studio.
Task 1
Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
Travel journalist Richard Madden reports on his first trip with a camera crew.
It was books that first captured my imagination about faraway places. TV travelogues
always seemed the poor relation to the classic written accounts, although of course
the pictures were rather better. And then there was the issue of authenticity. All those
pretentious theatrical types dying of thirst in the desert, as if we didn't realise there was
a camera crew on hand to cater for their every need. These days programme-makers
know that the audience is more sophisticated and the presence of the camera is
acknowledged. But can a journey with filming equipment ever be anything other than
a cleverly constructed fiction?
I recently got the chance to find out, when I was asked to present two one-hour
programmes for an adventure travel series. The project was the brainchild of the
production company Trans-Atlantic Films, which wanted the series presented by
writers and adventurers, as well as TV professionals. My sole qualification was as a
journalist specialising in 'adventure' travel. However, I was thought to have 'on-screen'
potential
The first programme was filmed in Costa Rica. Within 24 hours of my arrival, I realised
that this was going to be very different from my usual 'one man and his laptop'
expeditions. For a start, there were five of us - director, cameraman, sound recordist,
producer and presenter. And then there was the small matter of £100,000 worth of
equipment. I soon realised that the director, Peter Macpherson, was a vastly
experienced adventure film-maker. In his case, the term 'adventure' meant precisely
that 'Made a film with X,' he would say (normally a famous mountaineer or skier), before
describing a death-defying sequence at the top of a glacier in Alaska or hang-gliding
off the Angel Falls in Venezuela. Invariably, these reminiscences would end with the
words: 'Had a great deal of respect for X. Dead now, sadly...'
Part of the brief for the series was to put the presenter in unusual situations and see
how he or she coped. One such sequence was the night we spent in the rainforest
canopy near the Rincón de la Vieja National Park in Guanacaste province. I don't have
a head for heights and would make a poor rock-climber, so my distress is real enough
as the camera catches me dangling on a rope some 30 metres up, well short of the
canopy platform.
Ironically, it was the presence of the camera, looking down on me from above, that
gave me the impetus for the final push to the top. By this time, I'd learnt how
'sequences' were cut together and realised that one last effort was required. I had to
struggle to stay coherent while the camera swooped within a few millimetres of my face
for my reaction. In the end, it was a magical experience, heightened all the more by
the sounds of the forest - a family of howler monkeys in a nearby tree, amplified through
the sound recordist's headphones.
Learning how to establish a rapport with the camera is vital and it took me a while to
think of it as a friend rather than a judge and jury. The most intimidating moments
were when Peter strolled up to me, saying that the light would only be right for another
10 minutes, and that he needed a 'link' from one sequence to another. The brief was
simple. It needed to be 30 seconds long, sum up my feelings, be informative, well-
structured and, most important of all, riveting to watch. 'Ready to go in about five
minutes?' he would say breezily.
I soon discovered that the effect of the camera on what was going on around us was
far less intrusive than I had imagined. After a first flurry of curiosity, people usually
lost interest and let us get on with our job. We were also flexible enough to be
spontaneous. Our trip coincided with an 80 per cent solar eclipse, a rare event
anywhere in the world. We were in a village called Santa Elena and captured the whole
event on camera. The carnival atmosphere was infectious and made a welcome
addition to our shooting schedule.
1. One thing the writer used to dislike about travel programmes on TV was
A. the repetitive nature of many of them.
B. the dull images that they frequently contained.
C. their lack of respect for the intelligence of the viewers.
D. their tendency to copy the style of famous written accounts.
2. What reason is given for the writer becoming involved in making TV travel
programmes?
A. Other people's belief that he might be suited to appearing on them.
B. His own desire to discover whether it was possible to make good ones.
C. His own belief that it was natural for him to move from journalism to TV.
D. A shortage of writers and adventurers willing to take part in them.
3. Shortly after arriving in Costa Rica, the writer became aware that
A. the director had a reputation that was undeserved.
B. he would probably dislike working as part of a team rather than alone.
C. he would probably get on well with the director personally.
D. his role in the filming would be likely to involve real danger.
4. The writer uses the sequence filmed in the National Park as an example of
A. something he had been worried about before any filming started.
B. the sort of challenge that presenters were intended to face in the series.
C. something he was expected to be unable to deal with.
D. the technical difficulties involved in making films in certain places.
5. The word “impetus” in the passage is closest in meaning to .
A. stimulus B. hope
C. disappointment D. argument
6. What does the writer say about the last part of the sequence in the National Park?
A. It taught him a lot about the technical aspects of film-making.
B. He was encouraged to complete it when he looked up at the camera.
C. It changed his whole attitude towards doing dangerous things.
D. He was unable to say anything that made sense at this time.
7. The word “intimidating” in the passage is closest in meaning to .
A. satisfying B. thrilling C. thriving D. frightening
8. In paragraph 6 the writer says that he found it particularly difficult to
A. understand what was required of him for a 'link'.
B. change things he was going to do at very short notice.
C. accept certain advice given to him about presenting a film.
D. meet certain demands the director made on him.
9. The word “intrusive” in the passage is closest in meaning to .
A. annoying B. disappointing C. hilarious D. unanimous
10. What does the writer use the experience in Santa Elena as an example of?
A. Something they filmed although they had not planned to.
B. The friendly way in which they were treated by the local people.
C. Something they did purely for their own enjoyment.
D. The kind of thing that viewers like to see in travel films.
Task 2
Read the passage below and choose the correct heading for paragraph A-E from
the list of headings below.
List of Headings
i. How Serious Deforestation Is
ii. Why Deforestation Happens
iii. Deforestation and Biodiversity
iv. The Rate of Deforestation
v. How Deforestation Happens
vi. Deforestation and the Global Carbon Cycle
vii. Industrialisation and Deforestation
viii. What Is the Solution to It?
4. Paragraph D: 5. Paragraph E:
DEFORESTATION OF TROPICAL RAINFORESTS

Throughout the tropics, rainforests are being cut down. By different methods for
different reasons, people in tropical regions of the world are cutting down, burning, or
otherwise damaging forests. The process in which a forest it cut down, burned or
damaged is called ‘deforestation’. Global alarm had risen because of the destruction
of tropical rainforests. Not only are we losing beautiful areas, but the loss also strikes
deeper. Extinction of many species and changes in our global climate are effects of
deforestation. If the world continues the current rate of deforestation, the world’s
rainforests will be gone within 100 years – causing unknown effects to the global
climate and the elimination of the majority of plant and animal species on the planet.
A. Deforestation occurs in many ways. The majority of rainforests cut down are
cleared for agricultural use – grazing of cattle, planting of crops. Poor farmers
chop down a small area (typically a few acres) and burn the tree trunks, a process
called ‘Slash and Burn’ agriculture. Intensive, or modern, agriculture occurs on a
much larger scale, sometimes deforesting several square miles at a time. Large
cattle pastures often replace rainforests to grow beef for the world market.
Commercial logging is another common form of deforestation, cutting trees for
sale as timber or pulp. Logging can occur selectively – where only the
economically valuable species are cut – or by clear cutting, where all trees are
cut. Commercial logging uses heavy machinery, such as bulldozers, road
graders, and log skidders, to remove cut trees and build roads. The heavy
machinery is as damaging to a forest as the chainsaws are to the trees. There
are other ways in which deforestation happens, such as the building of towns and
flooding caused by construction of dams. These represent only a very small
fraction of total deforestation.
B. The actual rate of deforestation is difficult to determine and has been the focus
of NASA-funded scientists for many years. NASA’s projects to study the
deforestation of tropical forests are conducted by analyzing Satellite Imagery
(pictures taken by satellites in space) to view areas of forest that have been
cleared. There are both patches of deforestation and a ‘fishbone’ of deforestation
along roads. Forest fragments are isolated forest pieces left by deforestation,
where the plants and animals are cut off from the larger forest areas. Regrowth
– also called secondary forest – is abandoned farmland or timber cuts that are
growing back to become forest. The majority of the picture is undisturbed or
‘primary’ forest, with a network of rivers draining it. The most recent figures by the
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimate tropical deforestation
(rainforests and other tropical forests) at 53,000 square miles per year during the
1980s. Of this, they estimate that 21,000 square miles were deforested annually
in South America, most of this in the Amazon Basin. Based on these estimates,
each year an area of tropical forest large enough to cover North Carolina is
deforested. Each year! The rate of deforestation varies from region to region. Our
research showed that in the Brazilian Amazon, the rate of deforestation was
around 6,200 square miles per year from 1978–1986, but fell to 4,800 sq. miles
per year from 1986–1993. By 1998, 6% of the Brazilian Amazon has been cut
down (90,000 square miles, about the area of New England). However, due to
the isolation of fragments and the increase in forest-clearing boundaries, a total
of 16.5% of the forest (230,000 square miles, nearly the size of Texas) was
affected by deforestation. NASA-funded scientists are currently analysing rates
of deforestation for the current decade, as well as studying how deforestation
changes from year to year. The much smaller region of Southeast Asia
(Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam) lost
nearly as much forest per year from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s, with
4,800square miles per year converted to agriculture or cut for timber.
C. The cause of deforestation is a very complex subject. A competitive global

economy forces the need for money in poorer tropical countries. At the national
level, the governments sell logging concessions to raise money for projects, to
pay international debt, or to develop industry. Brazil had an international debt of
$159billion in 1995, on which it must make payments each year. The logging
companies seek to harvest the forest and make profit from the sales of valuable
hardwoods (such as mahogany) and pulp. Deforestation by a peasant farmer is
often done to raise crops for self-subsistence, and is driven by the basic human
need for food. Most tropical countries are very poor by U.S. standards, and
farming is a basic way of life for a large part of the population. In Brazil, for
example, the average annual earnings of a single person in is US $5400,
compared to $26,980 per person in the United States (World Bank, 1998). In
Bolivia, which holds part of the Amazon rainforest, the average earnings per
person is $800. Farmers in these countries do not have the money to buy
necessities and must raise crops for food and to sell.
D. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the major gas involved in the greenhouse effect, which
causes global warming. All the things that produce CO2 (like a car burning gas)
and the things that consume CO2 (growing plants) are involved in the ‘Global
Carbon Cycle’. Tropical forests hold an immense amount of carbon, which joins
with oxygen to form CO2. The plants and soil of tropical forests hold 460–575
billion metric tons of carbon worldwide (McKane et al. 1995). Each acre of tropical
forest stores about 180 metric tons of carbon. Deforestation increases the amount
of CO2 and other trace gases in the atmosphere. When a forest is cut and
replaced by cropland and pastures, the carbon that was stored in the tree trunks
(wood is about 50%carbon) joins with oxygen and is released into the atmosphere
as CO2. The loss of forests has a great effect on the global carbon cycle. From
1850 to 1990, deforestation worldwide (including in the United States) released
122 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere, with the current rate being
between1.6 billion metric tons per year (Skole et al. 1998). In comparison, all of
the fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas) burnt during a year release about 6 billion tons
per year. Releasing CO2 into the atmosphere increases the greenhouse effect,
and may raise global temperatures. The role of fossil fuel burning in cars and
industry is well known, but tropical deforestation releases about 25% of the
amount released by fossil fuel burning. Tropical deforestation, therefore,
contributes a significant part of the increasing CO2 in the atmosphere.
E. Worldwide, there are between 5 to 80 million species of plants and animals, which
make up the ‘biodiversity’ of planet Earth (Lawton and May 1995). Most scientists
believe the number of species to be between 10 and 30 million. Tropical
rainforests – covering only 7% of the total dry surface of the Earth –hold over half
of all of these species (Lovejoy 1997). Of the tens of millions of species believed
to be on Earth, scientists have only given names to about 1.5 million of them
(Stork 1997). Even fewer of the species have been studied in depth. Many of the
rainforest plants and animals can only be found in small areas, because they
require a special habitat to live. This makes them very vulnerable to deforestation.
If their habitats are cut down, they may go extinct. Every day species are
disappearing from the tropical rainforests as they are cut. We do not know the
exact rate of extinction, but estimates range from one to137 species disappearing
worldwide per day (Stork 1996, Rainforest Action Network 1998). The loss of
species will have a great impact on the planet. For humans, we are losing
organisms that might have us how to prevent cancer or cure AIDS. Other
organisms are losing species they depend upon, and thus face extinction
themselves.
Question 6-10: Complete the sentences, using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS
taken from the passage.
1. The process in which a forest is cut down, burned or damaged is called .

2. Extinction of many species and changes in our global climate are .
3. The majority of rainforests cut down is cleared for .
4. The has been the focus of NASA-funded scientists.
5. Releasing CO2 into the atmosphere increases the greenhouse effect, and
may rise.
Task 1
Read the following passage and choose the best answer for each question.
GENETICS
In the 1860s, an Austrian botanist and monk named Gregor Mendel began studying
the characteristics of pea plants. Specifically, he was interested in the way in which
pea plants passed on their characteristics to their offspring. Mendel chose to work with
pea plants because they are not self-pollinating. Unlike some plants, pea plants are
distinctly male or female, and require the presence of a pea plant of the opposite sex
for pollination. In this way, they are roughly analogous to humans and all other
mammals, and it is for this reason that Mendel chose to study them.
In his experiments, Mendel selected seven distinct traits in pea plants: such as plants
producing round seeds versus those producing wrinkled seeds, or tall plants versus
short plants. Mendel then spent years breeding plants with different combinations of
traits and observing the results. What he concluded was that each trait is controlled by
a gene which is passed down by parents. For example, there is gene for pea plants
with round seeds and one for plants with wrinkled seeds. Mendel also concluded that
a new pea plant must inherit a full set of genes from each of its parents. In cases,
where a plant inherited the gene for round seeds from one parent and the gene for
wrinkled seeds from the other, the new plants would have round seeds. This led
Mendel to conclude that some genes are dominant and others are recessive.
Characteristics which are controlled by recessive genes, like wrinkle seeds in pea
plants, only surface if an organism inherits the recessive gene from both of its parents.
Although it was greatly expanded upon in the 20 th century, Mendel’s basis theory has
stood up to more than one hundred years of scientific scrutiny, and a whole field of
scientific study, genetics, has arisen around it. It is now known that Mendel’s genes
are actually long strands of a complex. Molecule called DNA. Each gene carries
instructions for the production of a certain protein, and it is these proteins which
determine the traits of an organism. We also know that genes are transmitted in
structures called chromosomes, long chains of genes. Humans have 46
chromosomes, receiving 23 from their mother and 23 from their father. Actually each
set of 23 is basically a complete genetic package, but since some genes are dominant
and some are recessive, the redundancy events out.
Mendel’s observations led him to a simple and elegant theory heredity, but while the
basis of his theory will stand, reality has not proven to be quite as simple as theory.
Any living organism has thousands of genes. For example, fruit flies have about 13,000
sets of genes, and humans have somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 adding to
the complexity implied by the sheer numbers of genes is the fact that many traits are
polygenic; that is, they are controlled by a combination of tens or even hundreds of
genes, rather than by a single gene as Mendel had envisioned. So while his
experiments produced black and white results (a pea plant had either round or wrinkled
seeds), the interactions of genes in determining traits are often not so straightforward,
and there may be hundreds or thousands of possible outcomes.
Genetics has had a huge impact on the first years of the 21 st century. While earlier
scientists were largely limited to investigating the genes of organisms and classifying
which genes controlled which traits, recent advances in chemistry and molecular
biology have actually allowed scientists to begin to alter those genes. The implications
of this development are nearly infinite. While still in its infancy, this new science, called
genetic engineering, has allowed scientists to change organisms in fundamental ways.
Scientists can now deactivate harmful genes, promote the function of useful genes, or
introduce foreign genes into an organism to produce an entirely new trait.
1. According to paragraph 1, Mendel’s reason for choosing pea plants for his
experiments was that
A. they were easier to breed than other types of plants
B. their method of reproduction was similar to that of mammals
C. they passed interesting characteristics to their offspring
D. he was interested in studying why some plants are self-pollinating
2. The phrase “the other” in the passage refers to

A. trait B. seed C. gene set D. parent
3. According to the information in paragraph 2, what led Mendel to conclude that

some genes were recessive?
A. In some cases, pea plants completely failed to inherit characteristics from their
parents.
B. Some of his pea plants produced seeds that were progressively more and
more wrinkled.
C. Some characteristics only seemed to surface if both parents had that
characteristic.
D. In some cases, his pea plants did not seem to inherit a full set of genes from
each parent.
4. The word “scrutiny” in the passage is closet in meaning to

A. investigation B. opposition C. application D. theory
5. All of the following are mentioned in the passage as supplements to Mendel’s

original theory EXCEPT
A. an explanation of how some genes dominate others
B. the chemical description of genes
C. the counting of genes and gene grouping in organisms
D. the manipulation of genes to produce specific traits
6. According to paragraph 3, what is ultimately responsible for the production of

specific traits in an organism?
A. The replication of chromosomes
B. The production of proteins within the organism
C. The use of proteins to create DNA in the organism
D. The structural complexity of the DNA molecule
7. According to paragraph 4, what fact complicates Mendel’s theory?

A. The fact that many traits are controlled by several genes
B. The fact that the exact numbers of genes for organism are uncertain
C. The fact that organisms can have very different numbers of genes
D. The fact that Mendel had only thought in black and white terms
8. Based on the information in paragraph 4, what can be inferred about the genetic
make up of organisms?
A. Humans have the highest number of genes that are polygenic.
B. Their traits are actually impossible to predict.
C. Only organisms that lack polygenetic traits are properly understood.
D. More advanced organisms generally have higher numbers of gene sets.
9. The word “envisioned” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. imagined B. required C. represented D. tested
10. Which of the following is not true?

A. According to Mendel, traits were passed down through genes, which could
either be recessive or dominant.
B. Mendel’s basic theory has proved to be very complicated.
C. Humans have 46 long chains of genes.
D. Thanks to genetics engineering, scientists can now make fundamental
changes to organisms.
Task 2
Read the following passage and do the tasks that follow.
THE ALEXANDER TECHNIQUE AND DISABILITY
A. The Alexander Technique is a method of psychophysical re-education developed

by F. Matthias Alexander more than a century ago, initially as a result of trying to
solve a vocal problem. It is a technique for the elimination of ingrained habits of
'misuse' that interfere with the healthy and harmonious functioning of ourselves
as a whole, often the underlying cause of many conditions, such as back pain,
neck and shoulder tension, fatigue, breathing disorders and other stress-related
illnesses.
B. Our natural reflex mechanisms for balance and posture are largely dependent on
the co-ordination of the head, neck and back. The Technique addresses the
causes of 'misuse' and lack of poise that may be interfering with this relationship.
When these mechanisms are allowed to work in harmony, 'good use'
spontaneously returns, resulting in easier breathing, freer, lighter movement and
a greater ability to control our reactions and our movements. In other words, the
Technique enables us to 'use' ourselves better, and, in that sense, is concerned
with helping anybody - the so called 'able bodied' as well as disabled people to
overcome their disabilities. Hence, the Alexander teacher's approach when
working with the disabled is, in essence, the same as with any pupil of the
Technique.
C. For example, if we take a violinist with a 'misuse' problem of the upper limbs
causing technical limitations to his or her playing, the Alexander teacher will work
on improving the pupil's overall 'use' by encouraging the inhibition of the habitual
muscular tension pattern that interferes with the co-ordination of the
head/neck/back relationship in order to enable him/her to play with more ease.
Similarly, when working with a pupil who has lost mobility in the left arm from a
stroke, the teacher will first of all address the head/neck/back relationship, and
the inhibition of extraneous tension that prevents maximum use of the affected
limb. In this way, it is possible to enable the stroke patient to retrain mobility of
the paralysed part of the body.
D. The approach and what results can be expected vary greatly depending on the
disability. For the stroke patient, especially if lessons are commenced early after
the stroke, the Alexander Technique can play an important role in rehabilitation
and mobility retraining. With a blind person, the work is likely to focus instead
more directly on eliminating tension habits that have developed to compensate
for the loss of sight, e.g. insecurity leading to stiff and overcautious walking,
balancing difficulties and poor head poise.
E. Working with the disabled pupil, the Alexander teacher can offer help with
everyday activities, things that the average person takes for granted, such as the
ability to brush one's teeth, shave, tie one's shoelaces or cut a slice of bread. By
looking at compensatory tension patterns, the teacher can, in many instances,
help the disabled person find a new means whereby they can perform these
everyday tasks.
F. In this respect, the lessons may extend to include the disabled person's carer, for
example the person who regularly has to help someone in and out of a
wheelchair. Using the Alexander Technique, the carer learns not only to lift and
give support in the most efficient way to avoid damaging his/her own back, but,
as the two learn together, they also become better skilled at working out
strategies enabling the disabled person to become more independent.
G. There are, of course, several factors which have to be taken into consideration
when working with disabled pupils. They may suffer intense pain and discomfort,
loss of Kinaesthetic awareness (sometimes with total loss of sensitivity in parts
of the body), severe lack of co-ordination, loss of mobility, memory loss,
blindness, deafness, and speech impairment. The effect this has on the person's
emotional and psychological state also has to be taken into account. Some
disabled pupils may need longer lessons, because of the time required to move
them from the wheelchair, take off casts, slings and other movement aids, etc.
Others may only be able to concentrate for short periods of time and, therefore,
require shorter lessons more frequently. It often requires a certain amount of
inventiveness on the part of the Alexander teacher, both as far as practical
arrangements and the approach to teaching are concerned, a challenge that, in
most cases, is greatly rewarded by the positive results.
Questions 1-5
The Reading has seven paragraphs, A-G. Choose the most suitable heading for
each paragraph from the List of Headings below. Paragraphs E and G have been
done for you.
4. Paragraph D: Paragraph E: ii 5. Paragraph F:
Paragraph G: v
List of Heading
i. Co-ordination - important for all
ii. Tension and daily routine
iii. Brushing one’s teeth and slicing bread
iv. Fitting the technique to the disability
v. Challenges for the Alexander teacher
vi. Musical solutions
vii. Potential drawbacks
viii. Helping the disabled through their helpers
ix. Pain problems
x. Better body ‘use’ for all
xi. Retraining limbs
xii. Breaking bad habits
Questions 6-10
Complete the summary below using information from the passage. You may use
NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each blank.
Alexander Matthias developed the technique named after him more than a hundred
years ago. With the Alexander Technique, people are re-educated in a psychophysical
way. The Technique works on the body’s (6) so that they all operate (7)
. As a result, bad habits are (8) and the individual is able to live
a healthy life. Alexander’s technique can help any of us to use ourselves better. As
regards the disabled person, the expected results and exact method used vary,
according to the (9) of the individual, e.g. shorter and more regular sessions in
the case of clients who find it difficult to concentrate. With disabled clients, in fact, a
number of factors have to be considered, and for the teacher, who often needs to be
very inventive, this is (10) .
16. ĐỀ LUYỆN TẬP THI CHUYÊN, HỌC SINH GIỎI GIÁO TRÌNH VĨNH BÁ
You are going to read an article about holidays. For questions 1-6, choose the
answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
HOW TO AVOID TEEN TANTRUMS ON HOLIDAY!
Sarah Tucker has been interviewing lots of teenagers for her new book. Here, with the
school holidays upon us, she tells you what it takes to have a family holiday that doesn't
end in tears.
Given the choice, teenagers prefer not to go on holiday with their parents. Given no
option, teenagers take a holiday with their parents because their parents pay.
According to more than 1,500 parents and teenagers I've interviewed over the past
twelve months for my next book, the concept of the happy family holiday appears to
go wrong when the child reaches adolescence.
Desmond Morris, an expert on human behaviour, says, “At this age, teenagers are
starting to assert their independence. They may begin to resent help from their parents,
seeing it as interference. And, above all, they like to be among their peers - especially
on holiday.” He adds: “There are additional tensions on holiday when families are
brought together for a long period of time and, just like at Christmas, there is an
expectation of everyone enjoying themselves without having to work at it. Only it
doesn't always happen that way.”
So what does work with teenagers on holiday? Specific countries as well as holiday
options proved more popular than others. Italy is becoming the most popular
destination for teenagers, closely followed by Australia and Canada. The popularity of
these countries appears to be as much to do with the personality and culture of the
people as the location and facilities on site. “The people are lively and laid-back,”
commented one fifteen-year-old, who had just returned from a two-week break with his
family. “I met a group of Italian teenagers from Bologna and we would go down to the
beach every evening and play guitars till dusk. The campsite was on the beach, so
parents knew where we were and what we were doing.”
An option many of those families I interviewed had tried included going with another
family who also had teenage children. One mother explained that this only works if the
teenagers as well as the adults are compatible. Personality clashes may make tense
situations worse.
Some 90% of those teenagers I spoke to preferred the guarantee of sunshine and
heat. Teenagers enjoy the beach, as long as they are surrounded by their peers. Their
new companions do not have to be of the same sex or even the same nationality - the
main criterion appears to be that they are of the same age. Get the teenagers to take
a friend with them, so that they can go out by themselves. More than 80% of teenagers
interviewed preferred an outdoor adventure of some sort on holiday. There are many
activity holidays which cater for teenagers, but choose a location which is exotic, if you
have the budget. Some resorts offer discounts for teenagers.
A resounding 99% of the teenagers I spoke to recommended package holidays,

particularly where you stay at a specially-designed resort, like Club Med. However,
parents felt they were a bit too controlled, and they didn't see enough of their children.
The beauty of Club Med (or similar style) holidays is that you can do as little or as much
as you want. Typical activities include horse-riding, football training - and there’s even
a circus school at one Club Med resort!
Most teenagers thought that the other side of the world was more interesting than
anything to be found in Europe. And the destination on most wish lists was Australia.
Those who had visited Down Under claimed it was the best holiday they had ever
experienced, with or without their parents. Teenagers might visit later, in their gap year,
so why not see what it's like before they go by themselves?
A final word on holidays to avoid. A big thumbs down from teenagers for walking,
fishing or cycling holidays. Or any holiday with “leisurely” mentioned anywhere in the
brochure. And if you are planning a holiday to improve your teenagers' minds, forget
it. They also rejected any holiday that claims to be cultural, romantic, scenic or relaxing.
Wherever you decide to go this year, I hope you all enjoy it - as a family!
1. Teenagers generally go on holiday with their parents because they

A. don't have any choice. B. don't want to cause problems.
C. are being punished for something. D. like to make their family happy.
2. What does Desmond Morris say is most important to teenagers?

A. being on holiday B. being with other teenagers
C. getting away from their parents D. helping their parents
3. Why can Christmas be a difficult time?

A. People think no effort is needed. B. Teenagers refuse to help.
C. Many people lose their jobs. D. It’s not easy for families to meet.
4. Teenagers prefer to go on holiday to countries

A. that are more popular with tourists. B. where they can go to the beach.
C. which their parents have chosen. D. which have a relaxed culture.
5. Families going on holiday with other families should make sure

A. everybody is included in all activities.
B. the adults understand the situation.
C. the teenagers do some work.
D. the children get on with each other.
6. What do parents dislike about package holidays?

A. They have to do too many activities.
B. They aren't interested in the activities on offer.
C. They don't have enough freedom.
D. They don't like having so much responsibility.
Read the article and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) for each of the
questions (1-7).
COME FLY WITH ME!
Kites were invented about 2,500 years ago and were made by the ancient Egyptians
and various Asian people. Today kite flying is a popular pastime all over the world.
In Asia, there are special competitions where kites have complex designs and are
equipped with instruments such as whistles that make musical sounds as the wind
blows through them. Although all kites have a similar structure, the variety of shapes
is almost endless. The size of the kites also varies greatly - some are so large that
several people are needed to control them. Kite-fighting contests are also held, in
which competitors use their kites to attack and bring down their opponent’s kites or cut
their strings.
For over 15 years, the Big Wind Kite Factory has been giving kite-making and kite-
flying classes for the children on the island of Molokai in Hawaii. Jonathan Sucher
started the Big Wind Kite Factory in l980. “We were down to our last $300 when
someone suggested we go fly a kite at the hotel,” he explains.
Their kites are made of nylon, and fiberglass is used for the sticks. Their designs are
mostly Hawaiian themes created by Jonathan’s wife, Daphne. These include hula
dancers, palm trees, dolphins, whales and Hawaiian boats, to mention just a few of the
dozens available. The designs are cut out of the nylon with a hot knife that seals the
edges to prevent fraying. The designs are then applied directly onto the kite. On a tour
of the Big Wind Kite Factory, visitors can see the whole kite-making process, from the
cutting and “hot-stitching” of the designs to the final sticking and fitting of the system
that joins the kite to the string.
In one of Jonathan's kite-making lessons, students can make kites in as little as 20

minutes! Provided there is enough wind to fly a kite, they are taken out to the
Aeronautical Testing Facility next door to the factory. That's spelt P A R K! Children as
young as four years old can learn how to fly a kite, and the Big Wind Kite Factory
recently trained a 92-year-old grandmother who had always wanted to fly a kite!
The kite which is used to give lessons is a regular diamond kite with a rainbow pattern.
The difference between this kite and the ones they make during the lessons is that it
is a two-string controllable acrobatic kite. First both lines are stretched out
approximately 22 metres. This is the set distance the kite will fly from the flyer.
Big Wind employees launch the kite and for a few minutes demonstrate how pulling on
one line and then on the other Controls the direction the kite goes in. Then the Controls
are given to the student. Sometimes an employee holds onto their hands for initial
guidance. After about ten or fifteen minutes, several of the students have taken turns
and most are getting used to the idea of it. If they really know what they are doing, they
can be left alone in the park for as long as they wish.
Jonathan insists that it is not necessary to make a huge impressive kite to have fun
making and flying kites. Even the simplest structure can work, and can give hours of
pleasure. Go on, give it a try!
1. How can kites make music?

A. They are designed in a complicated way.
B. They are equipped with musical sounds.
C. The wind blows through them.
D. The wind blows through instruments on them.
2. In kite-fighting contests
A. kite strings are sometimes cut.
B. kite strings must not be cut.
C. kites are always brought to the ground.
D. kites are never brought to the ground.
3. Who designs kites for the Big Wind Kite Factory?

A. Jonathan Sucher B. a Hawaiian designer
C. Daphne Sucher D. Daphne's husband
4. Why is a hot knife used?

A. to iron the nylon B. to stop the edges coming apart
C. to fray the edges D. to prevent sealing
5. What is different about the kite which is used for flying lessons?
A. It has a rainbow pattern. B. It is a normal kite.
C. It is diamond shaped. D. It has two strings.
6. Employees show students

A. how to control the direction the kite goes in.
B. how to pull the strings of the line.
C. how to make the kite fly in the air.
D. how to guide their hands.
7. According to Jonathan, to have fun with kites, you need

A. an enormous kite.
B. any type of kite.
C. complicated structure.
D. a kite which impresses others.
You are going to read an article about water parks. For questions 1-7, choose
the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
LET’S GET WET
Fun in the swimming pool has come a long way in the last twenty-five years. Dawn
Davis looks at the latest generation of water parks.
Back in the 1970s, a typical family day out was a trip to the local leisure centre. Every
town had one and they were basically all the same, with a large rectangular swimming
pool (shallow at one end, deep at the other), a separate deep-water area with several
diving boards, and a kiddie-pool for babies or those who couldn’t swim. If you were
lucky, there was a short, straight slide that had to be kept wet with a bucket of water.
And after your leisure centre experience, there was a drinks machine selling hot
chocolate for mum and cans of fizzy drinks for the kids. And that was it.
How things change! Now - thankfully - we have the water park, based on the notion
that swimming on its own is not the most interesting activity in the world. People get
bored easily, and demand a lot more entertainment for their money.
In Britain, most water parks are a combination of pools in an enclosed area and in the
open air. In Mediterranean countries, because of the warmer and drier climate, they
are more often than not completely outdoors. Some are dedicated water parks, and
others are part of a larger leisure or holiday complex. All, however, provide much more
than the chance to swim a few lengths.
Unlike the leisure centre, there's little point just turning up for an hour or two. This is
partly because there’s so much to do, and partly because there’s usually an entrance
fee which, although quite reasonable if you make the most of what’s on offer, is not
cheap.
So what is there to do? All water parks have a number of slides. These are not the old-
fashioned straight slides of the 1970s, though. They come in all shapes and sizes -
some are open, some are totally enclosed tunnels, some are steep, some are bumpy,
some twist sharply, some you can go down in pairs or on rubber rings. All of them have
water flowing down them. You can often choose how you want to go down - head first,
feet first, on your front or back, sitting up, lying down. Your position affects your speed
- and how much water will splash into your face!
Other attractions often include the rapids - in which you make your way through a man-
made river, surviving the obstacles such as backwards flowing currents, waterfalls and
rapids. It’s exhilarating and - at times - a little scary, and for some reason kids are much
better at getting round than adults. The baby-brother of the rapids is the lazy pool,
where the current gently takes you round a circular channel of water. It’s relaxing more
than exciting, and some lazy pools even have a Jacuzzi half way round.
Some larger water parks have a wave machine in the main pool which makes waves
up to a metre high. That makes the whole swimming experience rather more thrilling
than in the old leisure centre days. Some have a “death slide”, where you hold onto a
bar which slides down a cable over the pool. When it hits the end, you drop into the
water! There’s also a lot more on offer than a drinks machine. Many water parks boast
shops, cafes, bars and restaurants, and a bar actually in the middle of the pool is not
uncommon in many Mediterranean water parks. Just remember to keep your money
dry!
1. What does the word “that” (paragraph 1) refer to?
A. the drinks machine B. a day out in the 1970s
C. the leisure centres facilities D. what you did after leaving the centre
2. The idea behind water parks is that people
A. want more than just a simple swimming pool.
B. felt leisure centres were too expensive.
C. need to be entertained twenty-four hours a day.
D. don’t enjoy swimming.
3. How do water parks in Britain differ from those in Mediterranean countries?
A. Pools in British water parks are always inside.
B. Pools in Mediterranean water parks are always in the open air.
C. Mediterranean water parks are sometimes connected to a holiday resort.
D. British water parks have indoor and outdoor facilities.
4. What point is the writer making in the fourth paragraph?
A. Water parks do not have an entrance fee, whereas leisure centres do.
B. Water parks provide value for money if you stay long enough.
C. People rarely spend more than a couple of hours at a leisure centre.
D. Despite their benefits, water parks are too expensive.
5. How do water park slides differ from leisure centre slides?
A. Water park slides are much faster.
B. Water park slides are connected to a water supply.
C. Water park slides are more frightening.
D. Water park slides are much wider.
6. What do the rapids and the lazy pool have in common?
A. The water is moving.
B. They both take you round in a circle.
C. They are designed for children.
D. They are both very exciting.
7. What is the effect of the word “boast” in the last paragraph?
A. It emphasises that what follow are positive attractions.
B. It shows that water parks advertise heavily.
C. It demonstrates that water parks are always expanding.
D. It reminds us that water parks are very modern.
You are going to read an article from a magazine. For questions 1-7, choose the
answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
MAKING EVERY DROP COUNT
Lisa Campbell looks at the challenge of conserving water.
Drip, trickle, splash. Do you ever think about the water we use every day for cleaning,
drinking, cooking and growing plants? Water is essential to life. It is one of the most
common substances in the universe, and our planet, with its vast oceans, is lucky to
have a generous share of it. Unfortunately, ninety-seven per cent of that share is salty,
and much of the rest is in the form of ice at the North and South Poles. Getting an
adequate supply of fresh water is not always easy, especially in the developing world,
where drought is a constant threat in some areas.
Half of the world’s population still suffer from water services inferior to those available
to the ancient Greeks and Romans. More than a billion people don’t even have access
to clean drinking water and face problems caused by pollution and disease. As the
world’s population grows, there is increasing pressure on agriculture, which demands
large amounts of water. Changing the course of rivers and building dams threaten fish,
with rare species of fish becoming extinct in some seas and lakes.
Throughout the first three quarters of the 20th century, the quantity of freshwater used
by each person doubled. The emphasis was on using more and more water. Large-
scale facilities were built for water treatment and recycling and large numbers of
reservoirs were constructed to store water. However, many people have now realised
that basic human and environmental needs are the top priority. The building of new
water facilities is now less important than using what we already have efficiently and
wisely. Repairing the existing system could have huge benefits. Through leaking pipes
and faulty equipment, Mexico City, for example, loses enough water to meet the needs
of a city the size of Rome.
Over the last twenty-five years, new technology and greater awareness of the problem
have meant that water is used more efficiently. Industrial processes have been
discovered that use less water; it now takes only six tons of water to make a ton of
steel, compared to sixty tons sixty years ago. People around the world are also more
effective at protesting against the effects of water use on their local environment.
Despite this, a lot of water is still wasted. We can all do our bit for the environment by
following a few simple water conservation dos and don’ts.
➢ Bathroom
The bathroom is a key area where you can save water. Short showers use less water
than baths, especially if you have a special water-saving showerhead fitted. Toilets
which use less water can be fitted, and even a plastic bottle filled with water in the
cistern will save a litre with each flush. Up to twelve litres of water is lost every minute
if you leave the tap running while you brush your teeth or wash your hands.
➢ Kitchen and Laundry
Fill a sink to wash up instead of leaving the tap running and you can reduce the amount
of water needed by half. Dishwashers and washing machines should only be used
when they are full, and then on a short cycle when possible.
➢ Outdoors
You can save water outside the home in a number of different ways. If you have a
garden, rainwater can be recycled to water plants, which should be done in the evening
or early morning so that less water is lost through evaporation. Pavements and
balconies should be swept instead of being washed, it can also help to save water if
any leaks or waste in your neighbourhood are reported to your local council.
So, next time you have a shower or open a bottle of drinking water, think about where
the water comes from and where it's going.
1. Why does the writer mention the North and South Poles?
A. They are badly affected by pollution.
B. Most of the Earth’s water is frozen there.
C. They affect the amount of drinking water available.
D. They provide many people with a water supply.
2. The water services in ancient Greece and Rome were

A. more efficient than most people think.
B. designed to provide water for half the world’s population.
C. badly polluted and carried disease.
D. better than those in many parts of the world today.
3. Why are some fish in danger, according to the writer?

A. An increasing population means more fish are eaten.
B. Lakes are becoming increasingly polluted.
C. Humans alter the direction that some rivers take.
D. They are forced into areas with salty water.
4. What do people now think is most important in water use?

A. building large treatment facilities
B. finding less wasteful ways to use water
C. moving water from one city to another
D. storing water so that people can use more
5. What does the writer say has happened in industry?

A. Most steel is now made without using water.
B. More efficient methods are used to create steel.
C. Less Steel is being produced due to a lack of water.
D. More Steel is being made than ever before.
6. The writer says that water can be saved in the bathroom by

A. having showers and baths less often.
B. brushing your teeth in running water.
C. using bottled water instead of tap water.
D. replacing bathroom fittings with more efficient ones.
7. Which of these water-saving measures is not mentioned in the text?

A. informing the right people about waste
B. using rainwater to wash your balcony
C. turning the tap off when washing up
D. making sure the dishwasher is full when used
You are going to read an article about healthy eating. For questions 1-7, choose
the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
WHY YOUR HEALTHY DIET ISN’T
Think you’re eating healthily? Think again!
Once upon a time, eating was simple. You plucked food from trees or hunted it in the
wild. You ate when you were hungry and stopped when you were full. Now, due to
improved efficiency in food production, food comes in boxes and cans, with
complicated labels and misleading names. Not surprisingly, the kinds of people who
consider themselves healthy eaters have multiplied as well. There are vegetarians who
abstain from animal protein but eat few vegetables, and snackers who nibble non-stop
to keep their energy up. The problem is that many people become so obsessed with
extremes that they no longer appreciate, or enjoy, food for the good things it provides
(including Aavour). This can lead to poor nutrition. With the help of food and nutrition
expert Dr Elaine Turner, we look at three people’s diets and offer some easy, practical
suggestions to help them get the most out of their meals.
First up is Diana Collins, 19, a university student who wants to lose weight, it might not
be very scientific,” she says, “but I have this idea that if I don’t want to be fat, I shouldn’t
eat fat.” She’s on a low-fat diet and most of what she eats consists of non-fat food like
pasta, cereal bars and fat-free crisps. Because she never feels full, she’s constantly
eating - and consuming far more calories than she needs. “This diet is quite old-
fashioned,” says Dr Turner. “Some fats are beneficial, like nuts and olive oil, and
Staples like pasta contain lots of calories. Diana should add more fat and protein early
in the day. A good breakfast of scrambled eggs and mushrooms will mean that she
eats less during the rest of the day. She should also use olive oil as a salad dressing.”
Our second subject is Gos Hussain. Gos is sixteen and has chosen to be a vegetarian
because of his concern for animal rights. However, some people aren’t so much
vegetarians as they are food avoiders. Gos survives on cheese pizza, pasta, and
sweets. “We’ve got nothing against a meatless diet, as long as it’s approached
properly, but some vegetarians simply don’t eat enough vegetables, not to mention
fruit and protein,” Dr Turner says. She advises Gos to fill his plate with food in a variety
of colours, a quick and simple way to ensure that you get your daily requirement of
important vitamins and other healthy substances. “Gos is still growing so what he eats
is even more important. He should go for toppings like spinach and peppers rather
than cheese alone, and cut down on the amount of cheese generally.”
Finally, there's the snacker, Lisa Chandler. Lisa is eighteen and works as a secretary.
She likes to think that she has a fairly healthy diet and always has quite small meals.
“I'm lucky in that I never seem to put any weight on no matter what I eat, but I want to
look after my body because I know that it's the only one I've got.” Dr Turner agrees that
long-term health is important, but what some people don't realise is that they pick all
day at nominally healthy food like raisins or roduced-fat biscuits and end up eating
twice as much as they should. Lisa might be slim now, but all those mini-meals will
eventually add pounds without boosting energy levels. “The philosophy behind
snacking is that you eat several small meals instead of three big ones,” Turner says,
“but it doesn't mean that you can just eat throughout the day. Lisa needs to avoid
having snacks by her computer where she'll be tempted to use them to relieve boredom
or stress. Stash your goods in the cupboard or refrigerator where they belong and
remember that yoghurt with berries or apple wedges with peanut butler make good
snacks. There's really nothing better than a sensible, well-balanced diet that gives your
body exactly what it needs.”
1. The writer says that food today

A. is produced using artificial methods. B. is worse quality than in the past.
C. is less filling than it should be. D. comes in confusing packaging.
2. What does “This” in line 10 refer to?
A. eating food that is full of flavour but unhealthy
B. taking an extreme view of what a healthy diet is
C. lack of knowledge about dieting
D. constantly changing the diet you are on
3. The problem with Diana's diet is that she
A. doesn't get the energy she needs. B. forgets to eat in the morning.
C. needs to eat the right kind of fat. D. is bored by what she eats.
4. According to Dr Turner, vegetarians
A. should eat less fruit than they do. B. often lack protein in their diet.
C. need to have meat in their diet. D. get no nutrition from what they eat.
5. What does Dr Turner suggest Gos do?
A. eat a broader range of food B. try to avoid eating pizza
C. eat larger portions of food D. stop eating cheese
6. Dr Turner believes that Lisa’s diet will lead to her
A. gaining weight. B. having more energy.
C. developing health problems. D. spending more money on food.
7. Dr Turner says that Lisa shouldn’t
A. spend so much time at her computer. B. feel under pressure to oat healthily.
C. keep food near where she works. D. wait so long between meals.
Read the text. For questions 1-7, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you
think fits according to the text.
ARE YOU A HEARTBROKEN TEENAGER?
If you've been let down by a boyfriend or girlfriend, you're probably hurting. It's not
stupid or childish to feel like this.
Your boyfriend or girlfriend has told you they don’t want to go out with you anymore.
You feel rejected, alone, unwanted and miserable. You had thought that this
relationship would last forever and now it’s over. Let’s be honest - it’s a horrible feeling.
Maybe the worst feeling you’ve ever felt. Perhaps you feel that life’s not worth living
and you’ll never get over it. You probably feel that no-one has ever felt this way before.
It may sound impossible now, but you will get over it. It just takes time. And you’re not
alone - almost everyone goes through this at some point in their life. It’s an important
part of growing up and actually makes us stronger. What you mustn’t do is think that
you have failed. Remember: relationships aren’t like exams.
If a friend came between you and your boyfriend or girlfriend and helped cause the
relationship to end, you’ll be dealing with feelings of betraval as well. If your parents
or friends disapproved of your relationship, you might also feel humiliated and
embarrassed about discussing how you feel. These feelings are normal, but it does
help to talk. Try talking to your parents and friends - they may be more sympathetic
than you think. Ask your parents about their first relationships. The chances are they
went through similar experiences.
Don’t do anything impulsive. It might seem a good idea to go out and get a tattoo or
your nose pierced, but you’ll probably regret it in a few days. That doesn’t mean you
shouldn’t treat yourself: how about buying some new clothes or getting a new hairstyle?
Is there a film you’ve been wanting to see at the cinema for ages? Not sure whether to
go to that party you’d been invited to? Go! And if you’re worried that your ex-boyfriend
or girlfriend might be there, let them see you can have a good time without them. That’ll
make you feel a lot better!
Sometimes couples who split up get back together and sometimes they don’t. Don’t sit
around waiting for your ex to call to say they’ve made a big mistake and think you
should start going out with each other again. The chances are that won’t happen, but
it’s actually more likely to come about if you just get on with your life rather than sit at
home waiting for the phone to ring. It may sound corny, but there are plenty more fish
in the sea. You will - in time - find someone new. But don’t be tempted to rush into
another relationship. This is called going out with someone “on the rebound”. This
kind of relationship rarely works, as you’re not together for the right reasons. Give it a
little time before you start your next relationship.
Here’s one other thing to remember. You’ve just experienced one of the most traumatic
things that people experience. From now on, things can only get better. Each day,
you’ll feel slightly less unhappy. In a week, it will be bearable. In a month, you’ll be able
to laugh about it. In a year, it will all seem ancient history. You’ve got a lot of life ahead
of you - look to the future and go out and enjoy yourself!
1. According to the writer, heartbroken teenagers often feel that they………….
A. have wasted their time being in the relationship.
B. do not understand why the relationship came to an end.
C. are the only person who has experienced this situation.
D. should have been more honest about their feelings.
2. What does the writer say about a relationship ending?
A. It helps us develop emotionally.
B. It helps us understand that we can all fail.
C. It forces us to stop being childish.
D. It reminds us that relationships are not like tests.
3. A heartbroken teenager might have “feelings of betrayal” (paragraph 3) when
A. their parents did not want the relationship to succeed.
B. they don’t feel able to talk about their feelings.
C. their partner was responsible for the relationship ending.
D. someone they trusted got involved in the relationship.
4. What does the word “That” (paragraph 4) refer to?
A. regretting the impulsive behaviour
B. the advice not to do anything impulsive
C. the idea of doing something impulsive
D. treating yourself to something you want
5. How should heartbroken teenagers react if they see their former partner at a party?
A. They should be concerned about their former partner.
B. They should show that they are better off now.
C. They should make it clear that they can survive on their own.
D. They should see what their former partner is doing.
6. A relationship “on the rebound” (paragraph 5) is one…………….
A. in which you fall in love very quickly.
B. which is never successful.
C. in which both partners have just finished a relationship
D. which starts too soon after a previous relationship.
7. What point is the writer making in the final paragraph?
A. Humans are survivors.
B. We benefit from painful experiences.
C. We forget unpleasant experiences quickly.
D. Time will heal the pain.
Read the following article. For questions 1-8, choose the answer (A, B, C or D)
which you think fits best according to the text.
TWO LANGUAGES GOOD,
THREE LANGUAGES EVEN BETTER
Nine-year-old Naomi Gray is like many British children in that when she gets home
from school, she loves to lose herself in a Harry Potter book. What makes her different
is that she will have chatted to her school friends in French on the bus home, and spent
her day with them learning her lessons in Breton.
Naomi is the daughter of Jane and Dug Gray, a translator and stonemason who live-
in Finistere, the heart of Celtic Brittany in north-west France. They have opted not to
bring up their three children bilingually in French and English, but trilingually, by
enrolling them in Brittany’s educational system, Diwan, whereby all lessons, bar
English and French, are taught in Breton. Around 3,000 children in Brittany are
educated via this immersion method that has played an important role in the revival of
the Breton language.
Jane admits that the decision was controversial: “Other British parents said: “How dare
you do that? Don’t your children have enough to take on?” But she had seen how
quickly the girls absorbed French: “I felt sure they could take in another language”. The
girls’ father, Dug, admits to being envious of their abilities. “After 16 years in France,
I’m comfortable with the language, but the kids still pick me upon my pronunciation and
grammar mistakes,” he says.
It was once thought that forcing a child to learn more than one language could slow
academic development but according to Professor Colin Baker, a world expert on
bilingualism, the effect is the opposite. The evidence is that bi- and trilingualism actually
increases mental capacity and that multilingual children tend to do better at school.
“The latest research shows that in intelligence tests, children with two or more well
developed languages have higher scores,” he says. “Bilingual children have two or
more words for objects and ideas, so the links between words and concepts are looser,
allowing more fluent, flexible and creative thinking.” He adds that children learning
languages young also tend to have more confidence and better general
communication skills.
Professor Tony Cline is an educational psychologist specialising in language
development in children. He says, “We used to think [the brain] had a limited capacity,
like a milk bottle, and that it was impossible to pour two pints of milk into a pint bottle.
Now we understand that our brains are capable of making an infinite number of
connections; there is no limit to what we can take in.” He concedes that there might be
minor disadvantages in having a bi- or trilingual childhood: “The child sometimes
applies the rules of one language to another, and so makes mistakes - but these
grammatical “errors” are soon outgrown, as long as the child is exposed to good
models of language.”
It seems that by giving your child the option of becoming multilingual, you are offering
them far more than just the acquisition of a foreign language. That certainly seems to
be the case for the Gray girls. All three are getting top grades at school and are literate
in three languages, Naomi has also successfully taken on German, where she is proof
that bilingualism increases language-learning aptitude. Says Prof Cline: “Multilingual
children pick up other languages quickly because they have a more flexible approach
and are used to handling different forms of syntax, grammar and vocabulary.”
Jane thinks her daughters have gained more than just language; they have also gained
culturally. In fact, the girls are all enthusiastic about Breton culture: Naomi does
extracurricular Breton step dancing and loves singing in Breton and attending dance
evenings known as fest-noz while Nina takes part in the Breton sport of Gouren, a form
of Celtic wrestling. Says Prof Baker: “Multilingual children gain the benefits of multiple
sets of literatures, traditions, ideas, ways of thinking and behaving.”
And, he stresses, if parents have the opportunity to give their child the gift of another
language, they should jump at it. Because in today’s global marketplace, on top of all
the above, multilinguals are far more employable than monolinguals. “I find it a great
shame that languages don’t have a higher place in the classroom in the UK because
English is a mainstream language of business but, in the future, that is going to
change.”
1. What does the writer say about the school that Naomi attends?
A. All of the lessons are taught in Breton.
B. English and French are not taught.
C. It is helping Breton to regain its popularity.
D. The pupils are all fluent in three languages.
2. Some people criticised the Grays for………………
A. not encouraging their children to learn French.
B. helping to promote a minority language.
C. not sending their children to a British school.
D. expecting too much of their children.
3. Dug Gray says that his children ………………
A. sometimes correct him in his use of French.
B. are not as fluent in French as they would like to be.
C. need to improve their French pronunciation.
D. would like to learn another language.
4. Professor Baker says that, compared to other children, multilingual children

A. work harder at school.
B. tend to do better in examinations.
C. have a less rigid way of thinking.
D. are generally mare talkative.
5. Professor Cline uses the example of the milk bottle to illustrate
A. our knowledge that the brain has limitations.
B. how much language can be stored in the brain.
C. the link between brain size and intelligence.
D. a previous way of thinking about the brain.
6. What does Professor Cline say about mistakes made by multilingual children?
A. They are only apparent in childhood.
B. They are only a temporary issue, given the right conditions.
C. They usually only occur in one of the child's languages.
D. They can increase in number as the child grows older.
7. Naomi’s experience is presented as evidence that multilingual children
A. enjoy taking part in group activities.
B. are better equipped to learn foreign languages.
C. take advantage of opportunities they are offered.
D. integrate easily into any new cultural environment.
8. What does “it” refer to in the first sentence of the last paragraph?
A. the opportunity
B. their child
C. the gift
D. another language
You are going to read an article about the Lost City of Atlantis. For questions 1-
8, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the
text.
THE SEARCH FOR ATLANTIS

The location of the Lost City of Atlantis is a mystery which has puzzled humanity for
thousands of years. Since Plato first told the story of this fabulous island city more than
2000 years ago, historians and archaeologists have continually debated whether or
not the story was true and where the island may have been located. In recent years an
international investigation team began searching waters off the south coast of Spain in
an attempt to establish once and for all the true location of Atlantis.
The story of Atlantis begins in 360 BC, when Plato wrote two short works, Critias and
Timaeus which mentioned a great civilisation based on an island in the Atlantic. In
Plato’s account, a large number of people lived on this huge island which he called
Atlantis, and they developed an almost perfect society. They built a wonderful city
surrounded by circular canals and protected at each entrance by huge gates and
towers. After fighting wars against Europe and North Africa, the Atlanteans were
eventually defeated. Some time later, according to Plato, “there occurred violent
earthquakes and floods; and in a single day and night the island of Atlantis disappeared
in the depths of the sea.”
This may seem an unlikely tale, but many people believe even today, that while Plato
undoubtedly invented some of the story, parts of it are based on historical fact. And
like all the best stories, it has been retold many times in different forms. A number of
other ancient historians described similar island civilisations and the tale of Atlantis
was passed down through generations, although it then appears to have been largely
forgotten for many years. However, in the late nineteenth century there was a huge
resurgence of interest in Atlantis, particularly after the American writer Ignatius
Donnely wrote a book suggesting that all the major ancient civilisations were influenced
by the Atlantean Empire.
This controversial work inspired many different theories in the years that followed,
including one that suggested that Atlantis was an island located in the Caribbean
whose inhabitants used fantastical ships and even aircraft. Edgar Cayce, who
developed this theory, also suggested that parts of Atlantis would rise from the sea in
1968 or 1969. As if to confirm his theory, a major underwater geological formation was
in fact discovered in the Caribbean in 1968. Some people believe this to be the true
location of Atlantis and it is still being explored today.
In trying to locate Atlantis, historians have often given close consideration to one
particular issue. Plato described the destruction of the island as taking place 9,000
years before his time, in other words roughly 11,000 years ago. However, modern
archaeologists and historians do not believe that highly developed civilisations existed
so long ago.
Some people believe that Plato may have mistaken his dates and was actually
describing events that happened 900, not 9,000, years before his time. This would
mean that Atlantis disappeared around the same time that the Greek island of Thera,
now known as Santorini, was partially destroyed by a volcanic eruption. So perhaps
Atlantis is Santorini? There is some evidence of a well-developed ancient society on
this island, but as yet no proof that it is the same place that Plato referred to as Atlantis.
If we assume that Plato didn't get his dates wrong, and that other details of his story
are factually accurate, then Atlantis must be located somewhere in the Atlantic. But the
Atlantic is, of course, a vast ocean, and where do we begin to look? Plato also referred
to the Pillars of Hercules in his story and said that Atlantis was “in front of the straits”.
Many historians now believe that these Pillars are in fact the Straits of Gibraltar, in the
western Mediterranean.
A number of islands, such as the Azores and the Canaries have been suggested as
possible locations. The most recent expeditions have focused on a mud bank
submerged beneath the sea, known as Spartel Island. But still no absolute proof has
been found. Despite all of our modern technology and scientific knowledge, Atlantis
stubbornly continues to remain one of the great unsolved mysteries of human
civilisation.
1. The story of the Lost City of Atlantis

A. was first told by an archaeologist.
B. is set on an island near Spain.
C. has led to some disagreement.
D. was in Plato's first book.
2. According to Plato, the Atlanteans

A. lived in large buildings. B. built city defences.
C. kept detailed records. D. lost many battles.
3. According to the text, why are there many different versions of the story of
Atlantis?
A. because it's such a good story
B. because historians can't agree
C. because it was forgotten for so long
D. because Plato made up the story
4. What did Edgar Cayce believe?

A. Atlantis wasn't a true story.
B. Aircraft were used a very long time ago.
C. Atlanteans couldn't have used ships.
D. The sea level would rise in the 19605.
5. Why do some people say that Plate's dates were wrong?

A. because he was not an archaeologist
B. because he failed to consider one important issue
C. because he used a different numbering system from ours.
D. because complex societies are thought to have developed later
6. What happened in Santorini?

A. An ancient civilisation lived there.
B. Part of the island collapsed into the sea.
C. The people of Thera destroyed it.
D. Plato lived there when he wrote about Atlantis.
7. What is the belief of some modern historians?

A. The Pillars of Hercules are in the middle of the Atlantic.
B. Atlantis cannot be found in such a large ocean.
C. Plato's story is completely inaccurate.
D. Atlantis may be located near the Straits of Gibraltar.
8. Where was the latest search for Atlantis carried out?

A. on an underwater island
B. in the Azeres
C. in the Canaries
D. at a number of different locations
The following text was written by Bill Bryson, an American who writes about his
fellow Americans, mainly for a British audience.
Read through the text quickly and choose the best answer A, B, C, or D, to the
following questions.
THE CONVENIENCE SOCIETY, OR CON FOR SHORT
The ether day I took my younger children to a Burger King for lunch and there was a
line of about a dozen cars at the drive-through window. Now, a drive-through window
is not a window you drive through, but a window you drive up to and collect your food
from, having placed your order over a speakerphone along the way; the idea is to
provide quick takeaway food for these in a hurry.
We parked, went in, ordered and ate and came out again. all in about ten minutes. As
we departed, I noticed that a white pickup truck that had been last in the queue when
we arrived was still four or five cars back from collecting its food. It would have been
much quicker if the driver had parked like us and gone in and got his food himself, but
he would never have thought that way because the drive-through window is supposed
to be speedier and more convenient.
Americans have become so attached to the idea of convenience that they will put up
with almost any inconvenience to achieve it. The things that are supposed to speed up
and simplify our lives more often than not have the opposite effect and I started
wondering why this should be.
Americans have always looked for ways to increase comfort. It is an interesting fact
that nearly all the everyday inventions that take the difficulties out of life - escalators,
automatic doors, passenger lifts, refrigerators, washing machines, frozen food, fast
food - were invented in America, or at least first widely used here. Americans grew so
used to seeing a constant stream of labour-saving devices, in fact, that by the sixties
they had come to expect machines to do almost everything for them.
The moment I first realized that this was not necessarily a good idea was at Christmas
of 1961 or ‘62, when my father was given an electric carving knife. It was an early
model and not as light as the ones you can buy today. Perhaps my memory is
playing tricks on me. but I have a clear impression of him putting on goggles and
heavy rubber gloves before plugging it in. What is certainly true is that when he sank
it into the turkey it sent pieces flying everywhere and then the blade hit the plate with
a shower of blue sparks and the whole thing flew out of his hands and shot across
the table and out of the room, like a creature from a Gremlins movie.
My father was always buying gadgets that proved to be disastrous - clothes steamers
that failed to take the wrinkles out of suits but caused wallpaper to falloff the walls in
whole sheets, or an electric pencil sharpener that could consume an entire pencil
(including the tips of your fingers if you weren't quick) in less than a second.
But all of this was nothing compared with the situation today. Americans are now
surrounded with items that do things for them to an almost absurd degree - automatic
cat-food dispensers, refrigerators that make their own ice cubes, automatic car
windows, disposable toothbrushes that come with their own ration of toothpaste.
People are so addicted to convenience that they have become trapped in a vicious
circle: the more labour-saving devices they buy, the harder they need to work; the
harder they work, the more laboursaving appliances they feel they need.
When we moved into our house in New Hampshire it was full of gadgets installed by
earlier owners, all of them designed to make life a little easier. Most, however, were
completely useless. One of our rooms, for instance, came equipped with automatic
curtains. You flicked a switch on the wall and four pairs of curtains effortlessly opened
or closed. That, at least, was the idea. In practice what happened was that one opened,
one closed, one opened and closed repeatedly and one did nothing at all for five
minutes and then started to produce smoke. We didn’t go anywhere near them after
the first week.
Automatic curtains, electric cat-food dispensers and clothes steamers only seem to
make life easier. In fact, all they do is add expense and complication to your existence.
1. What is the author’s opinion of everyday invention?

A. On the whole they make life easier.
B. Some people do not know how to use them very well.
C. They cause more problems than they solve.
D. He likes them now more than he used to.
2. What point is the author making with the story of his experience at Burger King?
A. Fast food restaurants are not very fast.
B. Some aspects of modern life are not always as convenient as they are
intended to be.
C. The driver of the pickup truck had parked in the wrong place.
D. The queues at the drive-through windows are usually very long.
3. What does the author tell us about everyday inventions in America?

A. They were all invented there.
B. They make life less exciting.
C. People assumed they would make life more comfortable.
D. There aren’t as many now as there used to be.
4. What does the author mean by “Perhaps my memory is playing tricks on me”
(paragraph 5)?
A. He is sometimes very forgetful.
B. He cannot remember all the details.
C. What he says might not be completely true.
D. He remembers having fun.
5. What does “the whole thing” in the 5th paragraph refer to?
A. the turkey B. the plate
C. the rubber gloves D. the carving knife
6. What does the author say about labour-saving devices today?

A. People cannot stop buying them.
B. People try to do ridiculous things with them.
C. They are better than the ones in the sixties.
D. They help people to do more work.
7. What does “them” in paragraph 8 refer to?

A. earlier owners B. the gadgets
C. houses in New Hampshire D. the writer’s family
8. What are we told about the automatic curtains?

A. They had been brought from a previous house.
B. Some of them worked as they were supposed to.
C. The room where they were fitted was never used.
D. The author and his family decided not to use them.
Read the article and answer questions 1-8 by choosing the correct answer, A, B,
C or D.
THE MAKE-A-WISH FOUNDATION
Find out all about why volunteers are important for making wishes come true in our
interview with Sophia Giorgi.
When 19-year-old Sophia Giorgi said she was thinking of volunteering to help the
Make-A-Wish Foundation, nobody understood what she was talking about. But Sophia
knew just how important Make-A-Wish could be because this special organisation had
helped to make a dream come true for one of her best friends. We were interested in
finding out more, so we went along to meet Sophia and listen to what she had to say,
Sophia said that the previous year Make-A-Wish had helped her best friend, Andreas,
who was seventeen years old and had been ill for a long time. “Andreas had always
wanted to be a pilot, but he knew it probably wasn’t possible because of his illness,”
explained Sophia. “But, thanks to the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Greece, Andreas
had a brilliant day at the Air Base in Araxo. He flew in a helicopter and learnt all about
war planes.” Sophia said one of the pilots had spent a lot of time with Andreas,
answering his questions and explaining things to him. Andreas certainly had a day to
remember, and Make-A-Wish has helped nearly 90 other children in Greece to “live”
their dreams.
But what exactly is Make-A-Wish? Sophia told us that Make-A-Wish is a worldwide

organisation which started in the United States in 1980. “It’s a charity which helps
children who have got very serious, life-threatening illnesses. Make-A-Wish helps the
children to feel happy even though they are ill, by making their wishes and dreams
come true.” Sophia explained.
We asked Sophia how Make-A-Wish had first started. She said it had all begun with a
very sick young boy called Chris, who had been dreaming for a long time of becoming
a policeman. Sophia said lots of people had wanted to find a way to make Chris’s
dream come true - so, with everybody’s help, Chris, only seven years old at the time,
had been a “policeman” for a day, “When people saw how delighted Chris was when
his dream came true, they decided to try and help other sick children too, and that was
the beginning of Make-A-Wish” explained Sophia.
When we asked Sophia if she could explain how Make-A-Wish worked, she told us the
Foundation tries to give children and their families a special, happy time. “Sometimes
it’s hard for families with children who are really ill to enjoy themselves and laugh
together. They often feel sad a lot of the time,” said Sophia. “A Make-A-Wish volunteer
visits the families and asks the child what they would wish for if they could have
anything in the world.” Sophia said the volunteers were important because they were
the ones who helped to make the wishes come true. They do this either by providing
things that are necessary, like plane tickets or equipment, or by raising money or
helping out in whatever way they can.
We wondered what things the children wished for. Did a lot of them want to meet
somebody famous? Sophia agreed that a lot of children did ask to do this. But she said
other children wanted to own something special or go somewhere, and some children,
like Chris wanted to be a different person or do a different job for a day. “Whatever the
child’s wish is, Make-A-Wish tries to make it real for them,” she said.
So, how did Sophia become a volunteer? She told us she’d had to ring the Make-A-
Wish office in Athens to get some more information. She said she’d become a
volunteer the following week and that she was glad to be doing something to help make
children’s wishes come true. Sophia suggested that other young people could also
volunteer.
Make-A-Wish says that without the help of volunteers like Sophia they would not be
able to perform these “miracles” for children. Why not see if there’s something you can
do to help?
1. How did Sophia find out about Make-A-Wish?

A. Her friend had volunteered to help.
B. Make-A-Wish had helped her friend.
C. It is a special organisation.
D. Her friend had dreamt about Make-A-Wish.
2. What did the pilot do when he was with Andreas?

A. He gave him lots of information he wanted.
B. He flew with him in a war plane.
C. He asked him lots of questions.
D. He reminded Andreas about his day.
3. The Make-A-Wish Foundation

A. doesn’t exist in Greece.
B. is only in America.
C. isn’t a charity.
D. is an international organisation.
4. A boy called Chris

A. had the idea that began Make-A-Wish.
B. was the first child Make-A-Wish helped after it had been set up.
C. gave people the idea of starting Make-A-Wish.
D. wanted people to help him to make his dream come true.
5. Make-A-Wish volunteers visit children and their families to

A. find out what the child’s wish is.
B. make the child happy.
C. make the family feel special.
D. see if the child is feeling sad.
6. Volunteers are important for Make-A-Wish because

A. they decide if the wish can come true.
B. they help in lots of ways.
C. they provide all the plane tickets.
D. they know how to make people laugh.
7. Which of these statements about the children’s wishes is true?

A. All the children want to meet famous people.
B. Most of the wishes involve owning something.
C. Lots of the children wonder what to wish for.
D. Some of the children want to meet someone special.
8. When did Sophia telephone the Make-A-Wish office?

A. She rang on the day of the interview.
B. She rang before the interview.
C. She rang the week after the interview.
D. She rang when she had got some more information.
Read the following text. Seven sentences have been removed from the text.
Choose from the sentences A-H the one which fits each gap (1-7). There is one
extra sentence which you do not need to use.
CASA DE CRISTAL
He was invigilating the exam in the Casa de Cristal, a huge glass-fronted building on
the edge of the city used twice yearly as an examination centre. It was a cold December
day and the heating had broken down.
With their coats and scarves pulled tightly round them, the four hundred or so
candidates struggled to forget the temperature and focus their attention instead on the
four examination papers which would take them most of the day to complete. (1)
However, no obvious improvement was ever made.
The job of invigilator was not one he particularly enjoyed, but it earned him some much-
needed cash before the approaching Christmas holidays. As well as patrolling a small
part of the large examination room, answering questions and discouraging cheats, he
had to carry out a number of administrative duties. (2) And then, of
course, there were the question papers to hand out and answers to take in. It was all
rather dull, but it made a change from the rigors of teaching.
To relieve the boredom he set himself several simple arithmetical tasks to perform. (3)
This helped to pass the time and made the whole thing more bearable.
Now and again he would walk up and down the aisles, giving out rough paper,
reminding candidates to use pens rather than pencils and picking up items which had
been dropped on the floor.
He was walking back up the exam room in his soft shoes when he caught her. (4)
The candidates were now on the third paper, which tested English
grammar and vocabulary, and as he neared her desk from behind. he could hardly
believe what he saw. He had heard of some ingenious methods of cheating but nothing
like this.
(5) She was now looking down at the back of her exposed leg, which
was covered with several columns of phrasal verbs and their translations. copied out
onto her skin in fine blue ink. Suddenly, she felt his presence behind her and she pulled
the trouser leg down to her ankle and looked round.
(6) Then she blushed, acutely embarrassed but also uncomfortably

aware of the possible consequences of having been found out and she looked away
to contemplate her fate.
None of the other candidates seemed to have noticed what was happening, which
gave him time to decide how best to deal with the situation. (7)
But this was not a course of action he had considered and as he asked her to
accompany him to the front, he noticed the tears forming in her eyes.
A. The girl was wearing loose fitting trousers and had pulled one of the trouser legs
up as far as the knee.
B. He counted the number of separate window panes (85), worked out the most
popular colour for coats (blue) and calculated the ratio of females to males in the
room (5:2).
C. There were lists of names to make, seating plans to draw and identity papers to
check.
D. This brief delay gave her hope that he might turn a blind eye and forget he had
seen anything.
E. She had obviously not heard him approaching.
F. They had only been writing for some 20 minutes when he received the first
complaint,
G. For a brief moment they stared at each other in disbelief, neither one of them
quite sure what to do next.
H. The cold was terrible and the caretaker of the building had assured him that a
heating engineer was trying to solve the problem.
You are going to read an article about hygiene and health. Seven sentences have
been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-H the one which
fits each gap (1-7). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.
TOO CLEAN FOR OUR OWN GOOD?
It’s a common and natural assumption that germs and bacteria are bad for us.
Cleanliness and good hygiene practices are generally thought to be essential to good
Health. However, research is beginning to show that we may actually be too clean for
our own good.
(1) We wrap food in Cellophane, treat kitchen equipment with antibacterial

products, spray bathrooms with disinfectants and spend only 5% of our time in the
dangerous, germ-filled environment outside of the house.
There is good reason for these fastidious habits. (2) Before we perfected
these techniques, conditions such as cholera were killers in the West, and still are in
countries without the resources to build protection.
But recent scientific research suggests that there may be a price to pay for safe
Western lifestyles.
(3) root only that, but some of our hygiene habits may be creating problems
for the future, causing bacteria to become resistant to our efforts to destroy them.
Scientists believe that by limiting the number of germs that children come into contact
with, we could also be limiting their ability to build up natural immunity.
The increase in the number of different allergies such as asthma over the past 100
years may be evidence of this. (4) Furthermore, it was restricted to those
people who were rich enough to be able to live hygienically. It now affects one in three
people in the UK, while allergies remain rare in less developed countries.
The idea that children need to be exposed to germs early in their lives to develop
resistance to bacteria has been supported by three separate studies in Europe. (5)
It would appear that frequent contact with animals leads to frequent
contact with bacteria, and this builds up protection against allergy.
So have we gone too far with hygiene? Should we leave our kitchens dirty? (6)
Making a conscious effort to expose ourselves to more germs would be full of dangers,
according to microbiologist Professor Tom Humphrey. “It may be true that a little bit of
dirt is good for you, but only as long as you can control the amount of type of dirt it is,
and that’s very difficult,” he says.
He recommends sensible hygiene routines, which do not always involve spraying

antibacterial products. (7) “After you have done the chicken, for example, you
may need to use a basic antibacterial product to clean work surfaces.”
A. They have all shown that children brought up on farms containing animals have
60% fewer allergies than those raised in non-farming environments.
B. Public health experts are in no doubt as to the answer.
C. Man is the only creature on earth to wash its hands before meals.
D. Unlike animals, man is able to develop ways to protect himself from the hostile
elements of the natural world.
E. Most germs can be killed with hot water and detergent, although something a little
stronger may be necessary after preparing raw meat.
F. Hay fever was rare when it was first described in 1819.
G. They go on to recommend a number of products, which, with proper use, prevent

the spread of bacterial infection.
H. In our obsession with cleanliness we have become less capable of fighting germs.
Read the following article. Seven sentences have been removed from the article.
Choose from the sentences A-H the one which fits each gap (1-7). There is one
extra sentence which you do not need to use.
SHOPPING: A CURABLE DISEASE?
An American psychiatrist has launched trials of a drug to help people who cannot stop
spending. Professor Lorrin Koran of Stanford University in California believes he has
found a cure for shopaholics.
The news will come as a great relief to millions of people suffering from compulsive
shopping disorder, a condition which is thought to afflict up to one in 30 American
women. (1) Koran, however, describes it as a “hidden epidemic” comparable
to compulsive gambling, kleptomania and pyromania.
Since the announcement of his test programme, Koran’s office has been inundated
with hundreds of calls from shopping addicts keen to become his guinea pigs. (2)
But just what type of people suffer from it? According to Koran’s research, the
majority of shopaholics are women.
(3) However, an increasing number of men are also becoming addicted to

shopping. They usually collect power tools and car accessories. One man could not
stop buying spanners, even though he already had 4,000, while another had bought
over 200 different seat covers for his car.
Lorrin Koran’s clinic is ideally located in Silicon Valley, the high-tech region near San
Francisco that has seen some of the fastest wealth creation in America’s history. (4)
Whereas the former get pleasure from shopping and only occasionally
splash out on something expensive, typical shopaholics go on a binge at least once a
week. They experience urges to buy items that are not needed and then feel sadness
and remorse. With good reason: they often get into financial difficulties.
“The thrill they have is in the purchase and not in the possession,” said Koran, who
identifies low self-esteem as a common factor. “They are filling their life with things
because they feel empty inside.”
(5) As she made her way through an expensive shopping centre in Stanford
last week, she confessed that she recently spent $35,000 on fashion accessories,
getting herself $22,000 into debt. Saleswomen at her favourite boutiques assume she
is a rich businesswoman rather than a design assistant at a furniture store.
“I’ve been doing it since I was 12 when my father would give me his credit card,” she
said. She has tried giving up her own cards and leaving her handbag at home, but has
never managed to stop shopping. (6) “It is ruining my life,” she said.
In the 12-week trial, Laura and 23 others will be treated with a drug which restores
levels of serotonin. Serotonin carries messages between nerve cells in the brain and
deficiencies are thought to lead to compulsive behaviour. (7) Lee Smith, a
retail consultant, claims that people have always used shopping as a way of cheering
themselves up.
A. Her addiction was the main cause of her split with a boyfriend of nine years.
B. The considerable interest in the supposed cure comes as no surprise to Koran,
who has been aware of the extent of the problem for many years.
C. Design assistant Laura Olsen, who is the exception to this rule, says she has
absolutely no regrets.
D. Koran believes that a clear distinction must be made between recreational
shoppers and those who cross the line to addiction.
E. Until now, few psychiatrists have regarded the problem as worthy of serious
medical attention.
F. However, not everyone agrees that compulsive shopping is a disease which
needs treating.
G. Most buy items that improve their appearance such as clothes, shoes, make-up
and jewellery.
H. For Laura, 44, who has a liking for designer clothes, Koran’s trial is a lifeline.
You are going to read an article about a couple who are travelling round the
world. Seven sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the
sentences A-H the one which fits each gap (1-7). There is one extra sentence
which you do not need to use.
ROUND THE WORLD - WHAT’S THE RUSH?
“Wait a minute. You mean, you’re going to travel all the way round the world, without
taking a plane?” This was the usual reaction when Ed Gillespie told people about his
plans for a somewhat unusual circumnavigation of the globe. After a little
consideration, though, some of them found the adventure intriguing. After all, when
you stop to think about it, the idea of travelling through so many different countries and
cultures at a gentle pace, with time to reflect, and to actually communicate with the
people living there, is quite appealing.
So is Ed Gillespie a fanatical environmentalist or just a reflective traveller? (1)

He’s the director of a climate change company, Futerra, which teaches people
about ways to protect the environment. However, he admits that he’s done plenty of
flying in his time. In his former career as a marine biologist he worked in Australia and
Jamaica, so long-haul travel was a necessity.
Recently he came to the decision that the flying had to stop. “Four years ago, I took
my last holiday flight to visit friends in Malaga in southern Spain. Now I find it
increasingly difficult to justify the environmental impacts of flying purely to indulge
myself.” (2) You travel through a landscape, not just over it,” he points out,
“and see first-hand the transition of scenery, culture, language and people that flying
robs you of when it dumps you dazed and disorientated on the other side of the world.”
When their journey is complete, Ed and his girlfriend Fiona King will have travelled to
20 different countries, covering 65,000 kilometres by a variety of sea and land
transport. (3) A round-the-world air ticket could be found for less than a fifth of
that amount.
Clearly, saving money is not what this trip is about. (4) Another is the sheer
pleasure of moving through the world and appreciating its subtle changes as you go,
rather than simply flying over it. More importantly, they feel they’re making a real
statement about the futility of modern air travel in this age of falling oil supplies.
The first leg of the journey is now over and it has lived up to expectations in many
ways. (5) Next, the train sped them to the ferry port of Portsmouth: journey
time 1 hour 50 minutes. So far, so good. At Portsmouth, however, they hit the first
setback of the trip, perhaps the first of many. The ferry to Bilbao, they were informed,
was delayed by three hours due to bad weather at sea.
Eventually, they boarded the ferry and as the ship pulled out into the open sea, they
quickly discovered that the pleasant cruise advertised in the brochures was about to
turn into a lurching, rolling, seasickness-inducing ordeal. (6) Was this really
any worse than being stuck in an overcrowded airport lounge for 24 hours while air
traffic controllers take a day off to press for higher wages?
Ultimately, Ed and Eiona arrived safely in Spain, where they jumped on a train and are
currently heading east across Europe. Next stop Singapore. (7) From
Singapore , they will travel by container ship to Australia, a yacht will speed them on
to New Zealand and a cargo ship will take them to Los Angeles. Then it's on to Costa
Rica, where a banana boat should be waiting to take them home to England. It will
have been a wonderful adventure for Ed and Eiona, but above all they hope it will show
the world that it is possible to travel widely without doing major damage to the
environment.
A. Not a great start perhaps, but then any type of travel has its difficulties.
B. The total cost of this little adventure will be about £5,000 per person.
C. So these days he does most of his holiday travel the slow way; by boat or train.
D. We don't have to do everything at the speed that modern technology allows.
E. One advantage, according to Ed and Fiona is the greater flexibility of routes.
F. Well, probably a bit of both
G. The journey time is expected to be about four months.
H. From their flat in Brixton, London, they caught a bus to Waterloo station: journey
time 15 minutes.
You are going to read an article about the power of nature. Eight sentences have
been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-H the one which
GONE WITH THE WIND
As hurricane-force winds hit Britain's coasts, John Leavey takes a look at the amazing
power of nature.
Now that the human race has made great technological and scientific progress and is
about to clone whatever or whoever it wants, it is very easy to forget about the forces
of nature. (1) Although the images of destruction which we have seen on our
television screens are horrific, they are, in fact, just the tip of the iceberg compared to
what nature can really do.
Tornadoes, which are the fastest and most violent winds on earth, can reach speeds
of over 500 kph. (2) Roofs of houses, cars, animals, buses and people have
been lifted into the air in this way. Those people whose lives have been put at risk by
“twisters” have described how helpless they felt in the face of such power.
A tornado is a violently spinning column of air that can start to form during a
thunderstorm, of which there are about 45,000 a day worldwide. Of course, not all
thunderstorms bring about tornadoes and not all tornadoes bring about total
destruction. The most destructive ones occur in India, Bangladesh and “Tornado Alley”
in the USA. The worst ever “twister” hit this area in March 1925, when a huge tornado
travelled across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana, killing 695 people and injuring a further
2,027. (3)
A blizzard is another natural phenomenon which affects North America. It is a deadly

mixture of wind, snow and freezing temperatures. (4) Muscles and internal
organs then fail to work when body temperature falls below 30 0 C. In the USA, blizzards
are quite common, with winds travelling at up to 65 kph.
It is believed that global warming, which is causing ice caps to melt, will be the cause
of more blizzards in the future. Even Britain may experience blizzards as violent as the
one which hit New York, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia in January, 1996.
These cities became completely paralysed when snow up to 78 cm deep and weighing
a total of live billion tons covered an area 800 km long. (5)
Apart from causing death and injury directly, tornadoes and blizzards can also cause
floods. Naturally, floods are usually caused by heavy rainfall, but whichever way they
are created, they can be very destructive. The most dangerous and dramatic ones are
known as flash floods. In June 1976, hot air blew north from the Gulf of Mexico, bringing
huge thunderstorms to the Big Thomson Gorge, where they released 25 cm of rain in
six hours. All the mountain streams filled up and met at the Big Thomson Gorge. (6)
The water then flowed through the canyon, removing everything in its
path, killing 139 people and causing damage worth $36 million. Other floods on record
have developed more slowly but have been equally destructive.
(7) If we choose to ignore it and believe we are the supreme rulers of the
planet, we may be in for a big surprise. Remember, lightning can strike twice in the
same place.
A. Anything in their path can be picked up off the ground and dropped hundreds of
metres away.
B. Scientists who explore the Antarctic have learnt a great deal about the earth’s
weather systems.
C. Of these, the wind is the most life-threatening part because it removes the heat
from its victims’ bodies.
D. This week, however, we have been reminded of what nature can do as hurricane
winds continue to cause chaos across the south coast.
E. Wherever we look, we can witness the power of nature in action.
F. As a result, emergency services could not operate properly, however hard they
tried, and more than 300 people died in the “safety” of those cities.
G. Here, the water level rose from two to seven metres within minutes.
H. It moved along the ground for an incredible 352 km, bringing total destruction
wherever it went.
You are going to read an article about digital photography. Seven sentences
have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-G the one
which fits each gap (1-6). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to
use.
Everything You Should Know About
DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
What is a digital photograph?
A digital photograph is a photo, produced with computer techniques, made up of
hundreds of thousands or millions of tiny squares of colour. (1) If you look
at a digital photograph through a magnifying glass you can see the separate dots of
colour. The quality of any digital photo depends on the number of pixels per square
centimetre - the more pixels, the better the photo, which is why you should always try
to buy the best digital camera you can afford.
 Why should I “go digital”?
There are many reasons why people ought to consider changing from ordinary
cameras to digital photography. (2) You don’t waste time going to the
shops for your films or photos, and you don’t have to spend money on films. There is
also the advantage that digital photography is instant. You can view your pictures
immediately allowing you to decide which photos you want to keep and which you
don’t. No more wondering if you should have taken a photo or not - with digital cameras
you can take the picture first and decide later whether or not you want it. Of course,
with digital technology you are able to change your picture so that it looks great anyway
- that’s another huge plus when it comes to digital cameras. Lastly, and something we
all ought to think about, is the fact that digital photography doesn’t use toxic chemicals
that often end up in our rivers and lakes.
 How does it work?
You don't need to be a computer wizard to use digital cameras. Put simply, what
happens is that the camera produces your picture in digital format - i.e., made up of
pixels - so that it can then be “read” by your computer. (3) They can be
saved until you want to use them, included in letters you've written on your computer
or sent to friends and family in an e-mail.
 Which type of digital camera should I buy?
First of all, when you're looking at digital cameras and thinking, “Which one shall I
buy?”, bear in mind that nobody yet knows what a digital camera ought to look like, so
there are lots of strange shapes and sizes. (4)
Secondly, there is the cost. At the cheaper end of the market, there are the “point and
shoot” cameras. These cameras are fully automatic and anybody just starting digital
photography should begin with one of these. They're so simple that after only a couple
of weeks, you should have learnt all you need to know about how to use the camera.
(5) Some of these are a bit too complicated for everyday use. At the top end
of the price scale are professional cameras and digital video cameras - very expensive
and only necessary for the serious photographer.
 Checklist
If you're buying a digited camera for the first time, you can easily get confused.
Therefore, before spending your money you should think about why you want the
camera and what you are planning to use the pictures for. Will you be taking pictures
indoors or outside? What kind of pictures do you want to take - landscapes, portraits,
sports shots, etc? (6) All these questions affect the kind of camera you
should choose. When you’ve thought about all these questions, you should be ready
to make your choice.
A. Once your photos are stored on your computer, you can decide what you want to
do with them.
B. You can change these pictures with your digital camera if you follow the
instructions.
C. However, the design doesn't make any difference to the camera’s performance
and you shouldn’t be too influenced by this.
D. The technical name for these squares is picture-elements or pixels.
E. For more money you can buy one of the mega pixel cameras, which, as their
name suggests, produce better quality photos by using more pixels.
F. Do you want to take pictures of things close up or far away?
G. For a start, digital cameras save you both time and money.
You are going to read an article about winter holidays. Six sentences have been
removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-H the one which best
There is an example at the beginning (0).
WINTER WONDERLAND
Carol Whitely looks at what's available if you're planning on going away this winter.
Holidays are a summer thing, right? Sun, sand and sea? Wrong.
(0) H And we’re not just disappearing to find distant sun, although places like
Australia are very popular winter destinations. From Europe to America, there are
some great breaks if you like your fun served cold. Whether it’s action or relaxation
you need, you’re hound to find something to suit you.
Traditionally, a winter holiday has meant skiing, and we still flock in our thousands to
the slopes. (1) One of the more popular places to find it is in Chamonix,
in the French Alps. Chamonix caters for beginners, but the real appeal of this resort is
the cross country ski trails and ski mountaineering. (2) One of the highest
cable cars in Europe will take you far above the town and you can spend a few hours
getting back down at breakneck speed!
If you prefer a quieter life, treat yourself to a bit of luxury at Jukkasjarvi, a village in
northern Swedish Lapland. Here, every November, 100 tons of ice and 300 tons of
snow become the Ice Hotel. It is constructed in November and lasts until the end of
April, when the spring sun finally wins the battle and the hotel melts. (3)
There are around 300 rooms with beds of ice covered with reindeer skins and thermal
sleeping bags. They’ll keep you warm in temperatures between -4°C and -9°C,
although it has been known to drop to -25°C. Just don’t ask the management to turn
up the heating or you might find yourself without a room!
The hotel includes an ice-art exhibition, an ice sauna and a cinema with a huge screen
carved out of, you’ve guessed it, ice. If that’s not enough for you, there’s lots to do in
the surrounding region, including skating at the local rink, and it’s a short trip to the
town of Kiruna for the Snow Festival. (4) Learn something about the local Sami
culture and find out what it’s really like to spend your life in the snow.
When you’ve had enough relaxation, take the daredevil in you on a winter wilderness
adventure. Fly into Anchorage, Alaska, for the start of your dog sledding tour. (5)
You’ll be shown how to handle your huskies by an experienced guide and then
you'll set off together into the great unknown. (6) Spending the night in
comfortable log cabins and the day exploring the vast icy glaciers with your team of
dogs, you’ll vow never to waste a week lying on a beach again!
Today’s winter wanderer has so much choice that there’s no excuse for just sitting at
home staring at grey skies. More and more companies are realising that we don’t all
want to spend Christmas eating turkey and sitting watching the TV. Find out more from
your local travel agent and get packing!
A. There you can watch concerts, reindeer races and even a winter fashion show.
B. You’ll travel out of town by car and by snowmobile to where your adventure
begins.
C. These demand a little more than your average downhill run, so you need to be
physically fit.
D. There’s nothing like the feeling of freedom as you are pulled along the ground
through spectacular frozen scenery.
E. It has become world famous and attracts guests from all four corners of the globe.
F. Increasingly, though, people are loosing for an extra challenge.
G. This means that a winter break can often be much cheaper than getting away in
the summer.
H. More and more of us are getting away from it all in the winter.
You are going to read an article about a scientist's predictions. Seven sentences
have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-l the one
which fits each gap (1-7). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to
use. There is an example at the beginning (0).
ROBOTIC FUTURE RUSHES TOWARDS US
Narinda Clarkson talks to scientist Phil VShicIcer about what the future has in store for
us
Phil Whicser is head of a team of scientists who are turning science fiction into reality.
I caught up with Phil at his high-tech research laboratory in Kent to find out what they’re
worsing on at the moment.
“We’ve seen major technological advances over the last twenty years,” says Phil, “and
the next twenty years or so are going to be equally exciting (0) I
It may sound unlikely, but Phil believes that some taxi companies will have introduced
robot-controlled taxis before the end of the decade. “It’s going to happen,” says Phil.
“Humans won’t be driving the taxis of the future. They’ll be driven by computers - by
robots - which will respond to electronic signals from navigation beacons. (1)
There are well over a million industrial robots in the world already doing things
like putting cars together in factories. It’s only a matter of time before we see them
being used outside the factory as well. By about 2030, there’ll be more robots than
people in developed countries.”
So does Phil think that there won’t be a place for humans in this robot- controlled
future? “No, not at all. (2) For example, I predict that, by 2015, some TV news
reporters will have had microsensors - tiny cameras - implanted in their eyes and we’ll
be able to see live on our TV screens exactly what they can see. Humans will still be
doing jobs like reporting, but there’ll be incredibly powerful technology to help them.”
“It’s the same with mobile phones.” says Phil. “Twenty years ago no-one had a mobile.
(3) In the not-too-distant future, we won’t want to carry them around, so we’ll
probably implant them somewhere in the body - maybe in our teeth or in our shoulders.
Scientists are already working on this.”
I wasn’t convinced about implants, so I asked Phil Whicker if anyone had actually had
a microchip implanted in them. “Oh yes! (4) Kevin Warwick, for example,
who’s a professor of cybernetics at Reading University, implanted a chip into his arm
to make doors open and turn machines on. (5) He calls himself “part man, part
cyborg’.”
Although I was shuddering a little at the thought of having something implanted in my

body, Phil thinks we shouldn’t be scared about the future. “It’s all about making our
lives better and easier,” he says. “Take going to a cashpoint. At the moment, you have
to remember to take your cash card with you, and you also have to remember your
PIN number. (6) In a few years, you’ll just go up to the machine and a
sensor will recognise the unique iris pattern in your eye, and know that it’s you. No
more bank cards and PIN numbers. Won’t that be great? It’ll help reduce crime, too.”
“So we will at least still be using money in ten years” time.” I suggested hopefully. “Well,
that’s actually an interesting point. (7) It will mainly be digital money.
Supermarkets will probably have iris recognition systems too, so the money for your
groceries will automatically be transferred from your bank account the supermarket’s
bank account as you’re standing at the checkout.”
A. Of course it’s still not commonplace, but it has been done.

B. There’ll always be things for humans to do but we’ll rely more and more on
technology.
C. This probably won’t happen for another fifty years or so, through.
D. That will make them both safer and cheaper.
E. That can be very annoying, can’t it?
F. Now they’re everywhere and most people couldn’t live without them.
G. It worked perfectly.
H. I think we will, but we won’t rely nearly so much on cash and credit cards as we
do now.
I. There are projects we’re working on now that are going to have a radical effect
on all aspects of our life, from health to travel to the media.
You are going to read a newspaper article about advertising. Choose from the
list A-H the sentence which best summarizes each part (1-6) of the article. There
is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. There is an example at the
beginning (0).
I WANT THE ONE I SAW ON TV

Liz Hollis investigates the ways that children are being targeted as consumers.
A. Children are not completely influenced by the ads they see.
B. Advertisers have to understand how parents and children think.
C. Advertising may give children negative ideas about their parents.
D. Children are affected by marketing at a very young age.
E. Viewers often complain about advertising targeted at children.
F. The increase in advertising targeted at children is due to their increased wealth.
G. New technology creates new opportunities for advertising aimed at children.
H. My daughter has been influenced by the advertising she has seen.
(0) H
We are shopping for T-shirts. My three-year-old has very firm ideas about what she
wants. “Is that one a Barbie T-shirt?” Thankfully, it is. “I want this one, Mummy.” I pay
the extra few pounds for the Barbie logo because I know it is an object of such desire
among her peers that she will actually wear it. Somewhere, a marketing team is
congratulating itself on an ad that hit the target.
(1)
Charlotte is a potential consumer in a pre-school market worth around £4.3 billion a
year in the UK. Children of all ages are legitimate targets. The combined annual pocket
money income of children in the UK is £2.3 billion a year and rising. Add to this the
influence children have over their parents” spending power on clothes, food and even
holidays - and the total market is estimated at £30 billion.
(2)
So what marketing techniques are used to attract children? The first rule is to base
your ads on a good knowledge of child and parent psychology. Dr Dale Southerton of
the University of Manchester says: “The marketing world plays on children’s wants and
needs. Children want peer acceptance, and marketing creates competition between
children by suggesting they will be more popular if they own the product. Marketing
also plays on a parent’s anxiety that their child will not fit in or might be bullied unless
they own the product.”
(3)
A marketing executive’s dream is to secure cradle-to-grave brand loyalty. According to
studies, a child’s awareness of brands may begin as early as two. One marketing tactic
is simply to make sure that children see large numbers of ads, hoping that some of
them will stick.
(4)
More worryingly, another key message of advertising aimed at kids is: “Ignore your
parents.” It is rare to see adults in the ads, and, when they do appear, they are
portrayed as killjoys trying to stop children getting what they want. One recent study
found that children who watch TV on their own are more susceptible to advertising than
those who watch with their parents.
(5)
By the time a child is old enough to use the Internet, she or he will find the advertisers
ready and waiting. Sonia Livingstone, Professor of Social Psychology at the London
School of Economics, monitors their techniques. “Parents mainly worry about
television advertising, but marketing messages are increasingly coming via the Internet
- a medium where children are less able to detect Sales. I would like to see schools
teaching pupils to be more sceptical.”
(6)
Marketing experts argue that children are not as innocent and gullible as parents think.
Nevertheless, many parents fear that their children are becoming corporate targets
before they are mature enough to question marketing messages for themselves. But
there are still parts of childhood that marketing cannot reach. “Kids like going to the
park, playing with friends and drawing pictures just as much as owning branded
goods,” says Southerton. There is research evidence that most would choose a
birthday party with their friends rather than an expensive gift.”
You are going to read a newspaper article by the Jamaican footballer Jamie
Lawrence, who was a criminal before he became a professional footballer.
Choose from the list A-I the sentence which best summarizes each part (1-7) of
the article. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. There is
an example at the beginning (0).
TRIUMPH AND DESPAIR
Jamie Lawrence reveals how being sent to prison for robbery kick-started his
football career.
A. My football career continued when I was free.

B. I was betrayed by someone who I had defended.
C. I was noticed while representing the prison.
D. I made the most of the facilities and activities.
E. I learnt that violence just leads to more violence.
F. I have been extremely successful.
G. I believe you always have a second chance.
H. I let my emotions show.
I. I stole because I needed the money.
(0) I
My parents went back to Jamaica when I was seventeen and suddenly I was in the big
wide world with nothing. So I went and lived with my sister. Neither of us had much
money: the easiest way for me to survive was through crime. Not long afterwards, I
was arrested for the first time. A friend and I were caught driving a stolen car. When I
was nineteen, I was sent to prison for theft, assault and numerous robberies.
(1)
I went to Eltham Young Offenders Institute. Although I was scared, many of my friends
were there and that made it easier. I went to the gym every day, I worked out in my
cell, I did some courses, and I played football constantly because I still believed I could
make it.
(2)
I was released a month before my twenty-first birthday and, just six weeks later, I was
back in trouble. This was with a guy who was having a go at a friend of mine, so I beat
him up, then robbed him. Then the friend who I'd stuck up for did a deal with the police:
he agreed to give evidence against me in return for being let off. I went on the run for
six weeks, hiding out at my sister's. It wasn’t fair on her and when you’re in hiding the
only way of earning is to commit more crime.
(3)
While I was on remand, my mother came over from Jamaica. She visited me and said,
“Son, why are you doing this to me?” She began to cry, which made me cry as well -
the only time I cried through all of this.
(4)
At the trial, I was sentenced to four years for robbery with violence. Even at this stage,
I knew I could make it as a footballer and on Boxing Day 1993, I played for the prison
against a semi-professional team, Cowes Sports. I scored two goals and their manager
asked the prison governor if I could play for them.
(5)
I took it from there. For the first month or so I played against teams on the island and
became a bit of a local celebrity. I continued playing well and professional clubs started
to watch me. This was my big opportunity, but I was never nervous. Nervous, for me,
is standing in a courtroom waiting to be sentenced. I was released in 1993 after twenty-
six months inside. I went up to Sunderland for a trial and managed to do well enough
to be offered a one- year contract. The following Tuesday, I played in front of eighteen
thousand people. When I came off, I received a standing ovation.
(6)
Now, ten years later, I’ve appeared in more than 250 matches, won the Littlewoods
Cup with Leicester, and have thirteen caps for Jamaica. If it were not for prison, I would
never have made it as a professional footballer.
(7)
When my football career is over, I’d like to work in the community with young people.
I’d like to use my experience to show them that if you get into trouble as a young
person, your life is not necessarily over. You can always fight back and make
something of your life.
Read the article and match these headings with paragraphs 1-6.
A. An easy life
B. Less money; less waste
C. Homes like people
D. Not all good news
E. Starting to take control
F. Everything under control
INTELLIGENT HOUSING
(1)
Have you ever thought about how your body works? Every day you make your body
do lots of different actions, such as when you walk, talk or dance. But at the same time
your body automatically does many other things that are essential for everyday life.
For instance, when you blink or yawn or breathe, you don’t have to think about what
you are doing; your body simply carries out these tasks for you. You might think this is
strange, but the latest houses are like this, too.
(2)
Now, thanks to the work of some far-sighted architects and designers, houses have
become more “intelligent”. It isn’t quite true to say that houses are starting to think for
themselves, but some modern homes are now using sophisticated technology to
control many of the routine jobs that up to now have always been our responsibility.
(3)
For years, architects and builders have been trying to find ways to correct temperature
whenever you want to have a shower and the house doesn’t allow you to use more
water than you need. You can even watch television in every room, or use the close-
circuit cameras to see what’s happening in the garden.
(4)
“Intelligent” homes might look a little unusual from the outside. This is because the
builders use a lot of glass and wood to make the walls. Some of the houses even have
a grass roof because it’s kinder to the atmosphere! But, inside, they are comfortable
and bright. The technology, which is similar to that of your TV remote control, makes
sure of this. There are always enough lights on in every room and the windows close
when it starts to rain. The water is always at the houses don’t have to do as much work
to keep their home clean and comfortable - and the hi-tech kitchen means it isn’t
difficult to prepare family meals.
(5)
Until recently, we have always had to think about everything we want our house to do.
If we have wanted it to be warmer or cooler, lighter or darker, we have had to turn the
heating or lighting on or off. However, for some families already living in “intelligent”
houses, daily life has changed in many ways. They don’t worry about turning off the
light or locking the door before they go out. The house does all this for them. Families
in “intelligent” make houses more economical and comfortable to live in, as well as
trying to reduce the amount of damage that houses do to the environment. “Intelligent”
housing seems to be the ideal solution. Clever use of building materials and techniques
has brought us houses that are easier and cheaper to keep warm than traditional
housing. Modern water systems, together with the recycling of washing water from
bathrooms and kitchens, means that “intelligent” houses use 30% less water than
conventional homes.
(6)
However, what happens, for example, if the computer systems that control everything
in the house suddenly break down? What can we do if a computer virus somehow gets
into the system and changes all the automatic programs? What is more, “intelligent”
houses aren’t cheap and not everybody can afford to buy one. Designers are working
on these and other problems, so “intelligent” houses are still improving. Who knows,
perhaps some designers are trying to create a house that can even do your homework!
You are going to read an article about a Service for teenagers. Choose the most
suitable heading from the list A-H for each part (1-6) of the article. There is one
extra heading which you do not need to use. There is an example at the
beginning (0).
A. Job satisfaction B. Not trained for everything
C. The aim of the service D. How do they pay?
E. A range of options F. No-one else to confide in
G. Solution for adults? H. Serious problems only
HELP IS AT HAND
The children's charity Child Power UK has launched a new Service for teenagers
in need of a friendly ear. Charlie Benn investigates.
(0) H
“Being a teenager has never been easy, and, from all our research, it seems to be
getting more difficult every year.” So says Janet Eaulkner, Director of Child Power UK.
Helping Hand, a new service for thirteen to nineteen year olds, is her brainchild. “I
realised that there was lots of help at hand for young people in extreme difficulty. They
can ring ChildLine, for example, if they’re suffering from bullying or have run away from
home, things like that, but nothing for the more everyday problems they face. And so I
created Helping Hand to fill the gap.”
(1)
The concept is simple. A thirteen- year-old girl is being teased hy her older brother. A
teenage boy feels embarrassed every time he goes shopping with his mum. Someone
is jealous of their best friend because they’ve got a cool new CD player. Who do they
turn to? Helping Hand. “They’re little things, yes,” says Janet, “but all problems need
to be sorted out and talked about. And often it’s better to talk to a complete stranger
about these things, rather than someone you know really well. We provide a 24-hour
free service to do two main things - listen sympathetically, and offer advice where
appropriate.”
(2)
Since its introduction two months ago, Helping Hand has already dealt with over 1,000
cases. “If you’re a teenager, you can contact us in three main ways,” says Janet.
“There’s a free number you can call (0909 9090909). you can send us an e-mail and
we’ll get back to you within half an hour, or you can chat directly with one of our
counsellors online through our website (www.childpower.org.uk.helpinghand).
We’re also planning to introduce a service soon that allows teenagers with similar
problems to talk to each other onlline.”
(3)
There are five full-time Helping Hand counsellors at present, all trained in child
psychology and counselling. One of the team, Jenny, described her work. “It’s a great
feeling being able to make a difference to someone’s life,” says Jenny. “This morning,
for example, I helped one teenager who was really upset because none of her friends
at school had remembered her birthday. I think our chat made her feel a lot better. And
there was a fifteen-year-old boy who had seen the film Billy Elliot and wanted to start
doing ballet, but was afraid of what his father would say. He’s going to make his dad
watch the film before he talks to him about it.”
(4)
Helping Hand doesn’t claim to be able to solve every problem. “We can’t work
miracles,” says Andrew Carter, another counsellor, “and we can’t make all problems
disappear just like that, but Helping Hand gives kids the chance to express their
frustrations and anxieties, and that's a help in itself. I had a teenager the other day who
had just split up with his girlfriend. He didn't want to talk to anyone in his family about
it, and his friends just joked about it when he brought the subject up; he really just
needed somebody to listen to him. And that's what we're there for.”
(5)
“Sometimes,” says Jenny, “there are issues we just can't deal with at all. We're not
doctors, so there's no way we can discuss medical problems. All we can really do is
suggest they go and see their GP. And last week someone sent me an e-mail asking
if I knew where they could buy a cheap second-hand digital camera. We don't really
have answers to questions like that!”
(6)
“Helping Hand has been such a success, though,” says Janet, “that a number of other
charities are looking into ways of running similar services for older people. It's not just
teenagers that have problems - everyone has problems sometimes with their relatives,
their colleagues, their neighbours, their boss! And it really does help to talk. Who
knows? Maybe we'll all be using a service like this in the future!”
You are going to read an article about electronic games. Choose the most
suitable heading from the list A-H for each part (1-6) of the article. There is one
extra heading which you do not need to use. There is an example at the
beginning (0).
YOU HAVE TO PAY TO PLAY
Money doesn't go far these days, especially in the world of high tech. Ian Kelly
investigates.
A. An unusual working environment B. Paying for the marketing
C. The consumer's viewpoint D. Some surprising research
E. An interesting experiment F. The designer's defense
G. What should happen H. A bewildering choice
(0) H
Walk into any high street electrical store and the range of products available is
dazzling. From MP3 players to DVDs, from hand-held computers to home cinemas,
today's consumer is confronted by displays of the latest gadgets everywhere they turn.
Recently, though, people have begun to wonder whether they are actually getting value
for money when they splash out on the next piece of electronic wizardry. The theory is
that competition in the market forces prices down and we all benefit from cheaper and
better goods. But does it work?
(1)
I spoke to Vivian Parris of the consumer group Buywatch about one area of concern:
video games. Buywatch carried out an extensive survey over the last six months into
popular games consoles and the games that run on them. The results might shock
anyone without any previous experience of this sector of the market. “Basically,
teenagers and other game players are being ripped off,” says Vivian. “The prices of
the consoles themselves are coining down, but the games are becoming more and
more expensive, and there doesn’t seem to be any clear reason for it.”
(2)
Vivian explains that in computing there is something called Moore’s law. Gordon Moore
was a computer engineer in the 60s and 70s and he noticed that computer chips double
in power roughly every eighteen months. That should mean that faster and more
powerful computers become easier and cheaper to make. Over the last thirty years of
the computer industry that has happened, and a shopper today can afford technology
undreamt of even ten years ago. Yet the prices of games keep creeping, or sometimes
leaping, up.
(3)
To find out why that might be, I visited Softplay, the games software manufacturer
responsible for such hits as Unknown Lands and Earthstalker. On arrival, I was led into
their laboratory by Matt Koenig, games developer. Although they call it the laboratory,
the room of people testing games, shouting their high scores to each other across
pizza boxes and drinks cans couldn’t be further from the image of scientists in white
coats. “This is where it all happens,” comments Matt. “One of the reasons for our
success is that we are all just ordinary gamers at heart.”
(4)
We moved into Matt’s office where I grilled him about the prices of games. “Look,” he
said. “A huge amount of research and development goes into today’s games. You can’t
just create a character and expect people to be happy collecting keys or whatever. You
have to give them stunning graphics, stereo surround sound, the whole works. And
that costs.” I’m not completely convinced. We look at a few recent titles and compare
the prices. “To be honest, we don’t set the prices. That’s up to the individual shop at
the end of the day. All these games are very popular, and if you want something badly
enough, you’ll save up your allowance and go out and buy it. It’s as simple as that.’
(5)
Obviously I wasn't going to get far here. I decided to hit the streets and speak to the
people who matter: the buyers. At a large game store in Central London, I ran into a
group of teenagers, busy admiring the latest releases. “Somctimes you can find a
bargain,” says Jade Mitchell. 14. “Mostly, though, it means putting money by each
week until you can afford the one you want. Either that or start hassling your parents
to get it.” The others laugh. “The console is nothing, and everyone’s got one,” she
continues. “That’s the trick. They get you playing, and then charge you a fortune for
the games.”
(6)
So what have I learned from my brief trip into the world of video and computer games?
First of all, nobody even tries to deny that games are probably the most costly bits of
plastic in the shops. There’s also no doubt that adolescents, who make up the majority
of the game-buying public, want these games and are prepared to save to get them.
What left me feeling uneasy was the fact that these products have huge advertising
budgets, spent on persuading young people how badly they need them, and that
money has to come ultimately from teenagers, or often their parents.
You are going to read an article about instant messaging, a way of

communicating using the Internet. Choose the most suitable heading from the
list A-H for each part (1-6) of the article. There is one extra heading which you
do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning (0).
CHAT WITH A FRIEND IN AN INSTANT
Everything you need to know about instant messaging by Chris Torney
A. Ways to communicate B. Getting started
C. Choose your category D. Speed and flexibility
E. Making new friends F. Long-distance solution
G. Personal identification H. What is instant messaging?
(0) H
Despite the huge popularity of email, millions of computer users have discovered
there's an even quicker way to keep in touch through the Internet: instant messaging.
This lets you type a short note and send it from your computer to another, where it
pops up straight away on the screen. So if you and a friend or relative are both online,
you can “chat” away while using your computer for other tasks.
(1)
Instant messaging - or IM - is more immediate than e-mail as you don't have to check
your inbox for new messages - they appear instantly. Another advantage is that more
than two people at a time can join in an IM conversation, so it's ideal for, say, making
social arrangements among a group of friends.
(2)
Communication hy IM isn't restricted to text. You can send pictures stored on your
computer, and if you have microphones and speakers you can talk - the advantage
being that internet connection charges are usually cheaper than phone calls. If you and
a friend have webcams. you can also make a video call, in which you can see as well
as hear each other.
(3)
John Moran, 13, from Southport uses instant messaging to keep in touch with relatives
on the other side of the world. “When I go online I swap messages with my cousins in
Australia,” says John. “It's much cheaper than phoning them and means I can speak
to them more often.” Carol Taylor, 24, who lives in Argentina, agrees. “My parents live
in the UK, and we prefer using an instant messenger to sending e-mails or text
messages as it's more like a real conversation,” she says. “I'd rather chat online than
call them as it costs so much less.”
(4)
The first step in using IM is to download a piece of software from one of the websites
that offer the service. If you already have friends who use IM, find out which program
they have. It's free, doesn't take long to download and the only costs you face are the
standard call charges while you're online.
(5)
Once you've installed this software and connected to the Internet you can start
exchanging messages with your friends online. Each user of the service has their own
user name. If you find out the user names of people you know, you can create a friends
list. Then, when you go online, the software tells you which of them are also connected
to the Internet, and you can send them a message.
(6)
The features on offer vary depending on which service you opt for, although there is
not much difference between instant messenger packages. As well as allowing you to
use microphones and webcams, most give you a range of options regarding your
status. You can usually appear as “online”, “busy” or “away from PC”. The “busy” status
is useful if you're online but don't want to be disturbed. The “away from PC” status is
usually used by those who are permanently online (people who have broadband or an
office connection) but aren't always at their computer.
You are going to read an article giving advice to teenagers about part-time jobs.
Choose the most suitable heading from the list A-I for each part (1-7) of the
article. There is one extra heading which you do not need to use. There is an
example at the beginning (0).
PART-TIME JOBS FOR TEENAGERS
A. Carry out some research B. Better off working together?
C. They could do with you D. Think positively!
E. Who to contact F. Not always straightforward
G. Working for free H. Pick a service to provide
I. Income and other benefits
(0) I
As a teenager, you are likely to have both a fair amount of spare time and a desire to
earn some money. By working to earn money yourself, you can learn a lot about the
value of things as well as the world of business. Typical and obvious jobs for teenagers
include working at a fast-food restaurant, working as a shop assistant or stacking
shelves at a supermarket.
(1)
What you get out of a job like this depends on your attitude. If your attitude is “I hate
this job” then obviously you won’t benefit much from it; if, on the other hand, you look
at it as an opportunity to learn how a business works from the inside out, then the
benefits can be great. Many of the new generation of millionaires, for example, are
owners of franchise and private restaurants. Owning a restaurant is not easy, however,
and it requires knowledge and skill to be successful, so start gathering this as a
teenager. Try as many positions as possible and ask lots of questions about cash flow,
staffing, etc. Applying this attitude to any job you have will really pay off; you’ll learn a
huge amount.
(2)
For many teenagers, there are a variety of problems associated with getting a job. You
may not be old enough or you may lack reliable transportation. You may not have
enough total time available or a regular enough schedule for someone to be willing to
hire you. You might not even be able to find a job in an area that you enjoy. If any of
these problems holds true for you, then working for yourself on a part- time basis may
be the best way to go.
(3)
Baby-sitting, for example, is a tried and tested way for responsible teenagers who like
being with kids to make money. There are several things you can do to make your
services more valuable. Think about taking a first-aid course so that you know how to
handle emergencies. Secondly, you might want to consider teaming up with some like-
minded friends. That way your group will be able to say yes more often, increasing the
amount of work you’re offered.
(4)
If baby-sitting doesn’t appeal to you, then you might want to consider garden care.
During the summer you mow lawns, trim hedges and so on, in the autumn you rake
leaves and in the winter you shovel snow! Indoor house painting is another option.
Before undertaking this, you need to make sure you know what you are doing by
working with someone with experience and practising at home (but get your parents’
permission first!). Other activities include providing in-home pet care when owners are
on holiday; errand-running for busy people; washing cars for neighbours or teaching
people how to use computers or the Internet.
(5)
One question you will have as soon as you choose an activity is “How much should I
charge?” This is a question which is best answered by doing a market survey. You’ll
need to call around and ask potential customers what they are used to paying and/or
willing to pay, or ask your friends what they charge for similar activities. In the case of
an activity like car washing, you could also call garages in your area and ask what they
charge.
(6)
Another way of gaining experience is to offer your services to a small business.
Although it may not be obvious to you, every community has thousands of small firms
which do all sorts of things: printing, plumbing, computer programming, advertising and
so on. Many of these could really benefit from a part-time helper who is reliable and
mature. In return, you can learn an amazing amount about the business. You will be
surprised at how quickly you become a valued part of the team.
(7)
Volunteer positions are another option. You can volunteer your services at many
hospitals, old people’s homes, and most charitable organisations or political groups.
You won’t earn any money, but you can gain valuable experience and colleges and
universities will be impressed by any voluntary work you have done.

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Otto Channel _ Luyện thi Chuyên Anh & HSG_Tài liệu lớp C1 _ HCM _ T6.

YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer

7. In principle, it is possible for a biological system to become

9. Within seven years, about 90 per cent of a human body is

10. Conserving energy may help to extend a human’s life.

5. ĐỀ THI HỌC SINH GIỎI CẤP TỈNH, THÀNH PHỐ

iii. Folding wings for purpose iv. Rearing the young

v. Classification of boobies vi. Diving for seafood

vii. Surviving mechanism during the food shortage period

viii. Mating and breeding ix. Origin of the booby’s name

1. Paragraph A: 2. Paragraph B: Paragraph C: ix

3. Paragraph D: 4. Paragraph E: 5. Paragraph F:

6. ĐỀ THI HỌC SINH GIỎI CẤP TỈNH, THÀNH PHỐ

Ironically, part of the secret of interpreting is non-verbal communication. You have to

1. In the first paragraph, the writer says she discovered that .

4. The writer says that relationships between interpreters .

6. The writer says that when she returned to interpreting, .

7. What is the writer’s main point in the article as a whole?

8. Which is the closest in meaning to momentous in ‘That momentous day’?

9. Which is the closest in meaning to ‘to glare’?

10. Which is the closest in meaning to ‘simultaneously’?

C. This substantially lowered the amount of cholesterol in Mc Donalds’ fries, but it

1. examples of companies that create natural flavours

TRUE: if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE: if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN: if there is no information on this

1. On their own, vegetable oils do not have a strong flavour.

2. Soybean oil is lower in cholesterol than cottonseed oil.

3. Processed foods are becoming more popular in some Asian

4. All food processing involves the use of natural flavours.

7. ĐỀ THI HỌC SINH GIỎI CẤP TỈNH, THÀNH PHỐ

A. One misguided legacy over a hundred years of writing on bilingualism is that

D. One note of caution needs to be sounded. IQ tests probably do not measure

E. Many questions need answering. Do we only define an intelligent person as

H. There are other dimensions in thinking where approximately balanced bilinguals

0. Paragraph A: vii 1. Paragraph B: 2. Paragraph C:

3. Paragraph D: 4. Paragraph E: 5. Paragraph F:

Write T (true), F (false) or NG (not given) for the following statements.

6. Balanced bilinguals have more permanent than temporary

7. Often bilinguals concentrate more on the way a word sounds than

8. Monolinguals learn to speak at a younger age than bilinguals.

10. What is the most suitable title for the passage?

8. ĐỀ THI HỌC SINH GIỎI CẤP TỈNH, THÀNH PHỐ

1. What is the main topic of the passage?

2. The word “incriminated” in the passage is closest in meaning to

3. Which of the following can be cured by a change in diet?

4. The word “strived” in the passage is closest in meaning to

5. How do vitamins influence health?

7. The phrase “occupy the spotlight” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A few years later, an English engineer named Thomas Newcomen (1663-1729)

1. His invention was the first to use moving parts.

Questions 6-10 Complete the flow chart below.

The Miner's Friend used condensed steam to (6) , which

Design improved: Newcomen (7) using a piston and cylinder

1769: separating heating and cooling processes meant no (8)

Further development: became easier to (9) through the use of

Nineteenth century: steam power (10) for use in various means of

9. ĐỀ THI HỌC SINH GIỎI CẤP TỈNH, THÀNH PHỐ

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

4. Paragraph D: 5. Paragraph E: 6. Paragraph F:

TRY IT AND SEE

B. Governments require sellers of new medicines to demonstrate their safety and