READING PASSAGE 1 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions I-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below. Since the early years of the twentieth century, when the International Athletic Federation began keeping records, there has been a steady improvement in how fast athletes run, how high they jump and how far they are able to hurl massive objects, them- selves included, through space. For the so-called power events - that require a relatively brief, explosive release of energy, like the 100-metre sprint and the long jump - times and distances have improved ten to twenty per cent. In the endurance events the results have been more dramatic. At the 1908 Olympics, John Hayes of the US. team ran a marathon in a time of 2:55:18. In 1999, Morocco's Khalid Khannouchi set a new world record of 2:05:42, almost thirty per cent faster. No one theory can explain improvements in performance, but the most important factor has been genetics. The athlete must choose his parents carefully’ says Jesus Dapena, a sports scientist at Indiana University, invoking an oft- 88 How much higher?How much faster? — Limits to human sporting performance are not yet in sight — cited adage. Over the past century, the com- position of the human gene pool has not changed appreciably, but with increasing global participation in athletics — and greater rewards to tempt athletes — it is more likely that indi- viduals possessing the unique complement of genes for athletic performance can be identi- fied early. ‘Was there someone like [sprinter] Michael Johnson in the 1920s?’ Dapena asks. ‘I'm sure there was, but his talent was probably never realised’ Identifying genetically talented individuals is only the first step. Michael Yessis, an emeritus professor of Sports Science at California State University at Fullerton, maintains that ‘genetics only determines about one third of what an athlete can do. But with the right training we can go much further with that one third than we've been going’ Yessis believes that US. runners, despite their impressive achieve- ments, are ‘running on their genetics’. By apply- ing more scientific methods, theyre going to go much faster’. These methods include strength training that duplicates what they are doing in their running events as well as plyo- metrics, a technique pioneered in the former Soviet Union.Whereas most exercises are designed to build Up strength or endurance, plyometrics focuses ‘on increasing power — the rate at which an athlete can expend energy. When a sprinter runs, Yessis explains, her foot stays in contact with the ground for just under a tenth of a second, half of which is devoted to landing and the other half to pushing off. Plyometric exer- cises help athletes make the best use of this brief interval. Nutrition is another area that sports trainers have failed to address adequately. Many ath- letes are not getting the best nutrition, even through supplements’ Yessis insists. Each activ- ity has its own nutritional needs. Few coaches, for instance, understand how deficiencies in trace minerals can lead to injuries. Focused training will also play a role in enabiing records to be broken. ‘lf we applied the Russian training model to some of the outstanding runners we have in this country; Yessis asserts, ‘they would be breaking records left and right! He will not predict by how much, however: “Exactly what the limits are it’s hard to say, but there will be increases even if only by hun- dredths of a second, as long as our training continues to improve: One of the most important new methodolo- gies is biomechanics, the study of the body in motion. A biomechanic films an athlete in action and then digitizes her performance, recording the motion of every joint and limb in three dimensions. By applying Newton's laws to these motions,'we can say that this athlete's run is not fast enough; that this one is not using his arms strongly enough during take-off’ says Dapena, who uses these methods to help high jumpers. To date, however, biomechanics has made only a small difference to athletic per- formance. Revolutionary ideas still come from the ath- letes themselves. For example, during the 1968 ‘Olympics in Mexico City a relatively unknown high jumper named Dick Fosbury won the gold by going over the bar backwards, in complete contradiction of all the received high-jumping wisdom, a move instantly dubbed the Fosbury flop. Fosbury himself did not know what he was doing. That understanding took the later analysis of biomechanics specialists, who put their minds to comprehending something that was too complex and unorthodox ever to have been invented through their own mathe- matical simulations. Fosbury also required another element that lies behind many improvements in athletic performance: an innovation in athletic equipment. In Fosbury’s case, it was the cushions that jumpers land on. Traditionally, high jumpers would land in pits filled with sawdust. But by Fosbury's time, sawdust pits had been replaced by soft foam cushions, ideal for flopping, In the end, most people who examine human performance are humbled by the resourceful- ness of athletes and the powers of the human body.'Once you study athletics, you learn that. it's a vexingly complex issue! says John S. Raglin, a sports psychologist at Indiana University. “Core performance is not a simple or mundane thing of higher, faster longer. So many variables enter into the equation, and our understanding in many cases is fundamental. We've got a long way to go’ For the foreseeable future, records will be made to be broken. 89Questions 1-6 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this Modern official athletic records date from about 1900. There was little improvement in athletic performance before the twentieth century. Performance has improved most greatly in events requiring an intensive burst of energy. Improvements in athletic performance can be fully explained by genetics. The parents of top athletes have often been successful athletes themselves. The growing international importance of athletics means that gifted athletes can be recognised at a younger age. Questions 7-10 Complete the sentences below with words takeri from Reading Passage | Use ONE WORD for each answer, Write your answers in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet. 7 10 90 According to Professor Yessis, American runners are relying for their current success on Yessis describes a taining approach from the former Soviet Union that aims to develop anathlete’s ........ Yessis links an inadequate diet to ... Yessis claims that the key to setting new records is better ...Questions 11-13 Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Write your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet. 11 Biomechanics films are proving particularly useful because they enable trainers to A__ highlight areas for improvement in athletes. B __ assess the fitness levels of athletes. C select top athletes. D predict the success of athletes. 12 Biomechanics specialists used theoretical models to. A soften the Fosbury flop. B create the Fosbury flop. C correct the Fosbury flop. D explain the Fosbury flop. 13 John S. Raglin believes our current knowledge of athletics is A mistaken. B basic. C diverse. D theoretical.READING PASSAGE 2 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below. Autumn leaves Canadian writer Jay Ingram investigates the mystery of why leaves turn red in the fall A One of the most captivating natural events of the year in many areas throughout North America is the turning of the leaves in the fall. The colours are magnificent, but the question of exactly why some trees turn yellow or orange, and others red or purple, is something which has long puzzled scientists. B Summer leaves are green because they are full of chlorophyll, the molecule that captures sunlight and converts that energy into new building materials for the tree. As fall approaches in the northern hemisphere, the amount of solar energy available declines considerably. For many trees — evergreen conifers being an exception — the best strategy is to abandon photosynthesis’ until the spring. So rather than maintaining the now redundant leaves throughout the winter, the tree saves its precious resources and discards them. But before letting its leaves go, the tree dismantles their chlorophyll molecules and ships their valuable nitrogen back into the twigs. As chlorophyll is depleted, other colours that have been dominated by it throughout the summer begin to be revealed. This unmasking explains the autumn colours of yellow and orange, but not the brilliant reds and purples of trees such as the maple or sumac. C The source of the red is widely known: it is created by anthocyanins, water-soluble plant pigments reflecting the red to blue range of the visible spectrum. They belong to a class of sugar-based chemical compounds also known as flavonoids. What's puzzling is that anthocyanins are actually newly minted, made in the leaves at the same time as the tree is preparing to drop them. But it is hard to make sense of the manufacture of anthocyanins — why should a tree bother making new chemicals in its leaves when it’s already scrambling to withdraw and preserve the ones already there? D Some theories about anthocyanins have argued that they might act as a chemical defence against attacks by insects or fungi, or that they might attract fruit-eating birds or increase a leaf’s tolerance to freezing. However there are problems with each of these theories, including the fact that leaves are red for such a relatively short period that the expense of energy needed to manufacture the anthocyanins would outweigh any anti-fungal or anti-herbivore activity achieved. * photosynthesis: the production of new material from sunlight, water and carbon dioxide 68Reading It has also been proposed that trees may produce vivid red colours to convince herbivorous insects that they are healthy and robust and would be easily able to mount chemical defences against infestation. If insects paid attention to such advertisements, they might be prompted to lay their eggs on a duller, and presumably less resistant host. The flaw in this theory lies in the lack of proof to support it. No one has as yet ascertained whether more robust trees sport the brightest leaves, or whether insects make choices according to colour intensity. Perhaps the most plausible suggestion as to why leaves would go to the trouble of making anthocyanins when they're busy packing up for the winter is the theory known as the ‘light screen’ hypothesis. It sounds paradoxical, because the idea behind this hypothesis is that the red pigment is made in autumn leaves to protect chlorophyll, the light-absorbing chemical, from too much light. Why does chlorophyll need protection when it is the natural world’s supreme light absorber? Why protect chlorophyll at a time when the tree is breaking it down to salvage as much of it as possible? Chlorophyll, although exquisitely evolved to capture the energy of sunlight, can sometimes be overwhelmed by it, especially in situations of drought, low temperatures, or nutrient deficiency. Moreover, the problem of oversensitivity to light is even more acute in the fall, when the leaf is busy preparing for winter by dismantling its internal machinery. The energy absorbed by the chlorophyll molecules of the unstable autumn leaf is not immediately channelled into useful products and processes, as it would be in an intact summer leaf. The weakened fall leaf then becomes vulnerable to the highly destructive effects of the oxygen created by the excited chlorophyll molecules. Even if you had never suspected that this is what was going on when leaves turn red, there are clues out there. One is straightforward: on many trees, the leaves that are the reddest are those on the side of the tree which gets most sun. Not only that, but the red is brighter on the upper side of the leaf. It has also been recognised for decades that the best conditions for intense red colours are dry, sunny days and cool nights, conditions that nicely match those that make leaves susceptible to excess light. And finally, trees such as maples usually get much redder the more north you travel in the northern hemisphere. It's colder there, they're more stressed, their chlorophyll is more sensitive and it needs more sunblock. What is still not fully understood, however, is why some trees resort to producing red pigments while others don't bother, and simply reveal their orange or yellow hues. Do these trees have other means at their disposal to prevent overexposure to light in autumn? Their story, though not as spectacular to the eye, will surely tum out to be as subtle and as complex. 69Test 3 Questions 14-18 Reading Passage 2 has nine paragraphs, A-I. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-I, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once. 14 15 16 17 18 a description of the substance responsible for the red colouration of leaves the reason why trees drop their leaves in autumn some evidence to confirm a theory about the purpose of the red leaves an explanation of the function of chlorophyll a suggestion that the red colouration in leaves could serve as a warning signal Questions 19-22 Complete the notes below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 19-22 on your answer sheet. 70 Why believe the ‘light screen’ hypothesis? The most vividly coloured red leaves are found on the side of the tree facing the 19. The 20... .... Surfaces of leaves contain the most red pigment. Red leaves are most abundant when daytime weather conditions are 21... and sunny. The intensity of the red colour of leaves increases as you go further 22.....Reading Questions 23-25 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 23-25 on your answer sheet, write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this 23 Itis likely that the red pigments help to protect the leaf from freezing temperatures. 24 The ‘light screen’ hypothesis would initially seem to contradict what is known about chlorophyll. 25 Leaves which turn colours other than red are more likely to be damaged by ‘sunlight. Question 26 Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D. Write the correct letter in box 26 on your answer sheet. For which of the following questions does the writer offer an explanation? why conifers remain green in winter how leaves turn orange and yellow in autumn how herbivorous insects choose which trees to lay their eggs in why anthocyanins are restricted to certain trees comp 74Reading READING PASSAGE 3 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below. Plant ‘thermometer’ triggers springtime growth by measuring night-time heat A photoreceptor molecule in plant cells has been found to have a second job as a thermometer after dark — allowing plants to read seasonal temperature changes. Scientists say the discovery could help breed crops that are more resilient to the temperatures expected to result from climate change A An international team of scientists led by the University of Cambridge has discovered that the ‘thermometer’ molecule in plants enables them to develop according to seasonal temperature changes. Researchers have revealed that molecules called phytochromes — used by plants to detect light during the day — actually change their function in darkness to become cellular temperature gauges that measure the heat of the night. The new findings, published in the joumnal Science, show that phytochromes control genetic switches in response to temperature as well as light to dictate plant development. B__ Atnight, these molecules change states, and the pace at which they change is ‘directly proportional to temperature’, say scientists, who compare phytochromes to mercury in a thermometer. The warmer it is, the faster the molecular change - stimulating plant growth. C Farmers and gardeners have known for hundreds of years how responsive plants are to temperature: warm winters cause many trees and flowers to bud early, something humans have long used to predict weather and harvest times for the coming year. The latest research pinpoints for the first time a molecular mechanism in plants that reacts to temperature — often triggering the buds of spring we long to see at the end of winter. D With weather and temperatures set to become ever more unpredictable due to climate change, researchers say the discovery that this light-sensing molecule also functions as the internal thermometer in plant cells could help us breed tougher crops. ‘It is estimated that agricultural yields will need to double by 2050, but climate change is a major threat to achieving this. Key crops such as wheat and rice are sensitive to high temperatures. Thermal stress reduces crop yields by around 10% for every one degree increase in temperature,” says lead researcher Dr Philip Wigge from Cambridge's Sainsbury Laboratory. ‘Discovering the molecules that allow plants to sense temperature has the potential to accelerate the breeding of crops resilient to thermal stress and climate change.” 69 2sTest 3 70 In their active state, phytochrome molecules bind themselves to DNA to restrict plant growth. During the day, sunlight activates the molecules, slowing down growth, If a plant finds itself in shade, phytochromes are quickly inactivated — enabling it to grow faster to find sunlight again. This is how plants compete to escape each other’s shade. ‘Light-driven changes to phytochrome activity occur very fast, in less than a second, says Wigge. At night, however, it's a different story, Instead of a rapid deactivation following sundown, the molecules gradually change from their active to inactive state. This is called ‘dark reversion’. ‘Just as mercury rises in a thermometer, the rate at which phytochromes revert to their inactive state during the night is a direct measure of temperature,’ says Wigge. “The lower the temperature, the slower the rate at which phytochromes revert to inactivity, so the molecules spend more time in their active, growth-suppressing state. This is why plants are slower to grow in winter. Warm temperatures accelerate dark reversion, so that phytochromes rapidly reach an inactive state and detach themselves from the plant’s DNA ~ allowing genes to be expressed and plant growth to resume,’ Wigge believes phytochrome thermo-sensing evolved at a later stage, and co-opted the biological network already used for light-based growth during the downtime of night Some plants mainly use day length as an indicator of the season. Other species, such as daffodils, have considerable temperature sensitivity, and can flower months in advance during a warm winter. In fact, the discovery of the dual role of phytochromes provides the science behind a well-known rhyme long used to predict the coming season: oak before ash we'll have a splash, ash before oak we're in for a soak. Wigge explains: ‘Oak trees rely much more on temperature, likely using phytochromes as thermometers to dictate development, whereas ash trees rely on ‘measuring day length to determine their seasonal timing. A warmer spring, and consequently a higher likeliness of a hot summer, will result in oak leafing before ash. A cold spring will see the opposite. As the British know only too well, a colder summer is likely to be a rain-soaked one.’ The new findings are the culmination of twelve years of research involving scientists from Germany, Argentina and the US, as well as the Cambridge team. The work was done in a model system, using a mustard plant called Arabidopsis, but Wigge says the phytochrome genes necessary for temperature sensing are found in crop plants as well, ‘Recent advances in plant genetics now mean that scientists are able to rapidly identify the genes controlling these processes in crop plants, and even alter their activity using precise molecular “scalpels”,’ adds Wigge. ‘Cambridge is uniquely well-positioned to do this kind of research as we have outstanding collaborators nearby who work on more applied aspects of plant biology, and can help us transfer this new knowledge into the field.’Questions 27-32 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet, write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this 27 +The Cambridge scientists’ discovery of the ‘thermometer molecule’ caused surprise among other scientists. The target for agricultural production by 2050 could be missed. Wheat and rice suffer from a rise in temperatures. 28 29 30 It may be possible to develop crops that require less water. 31 Plants grow faster in sunlight than in shade. 32 Phytochromes change their state at the same speed day and night. Questions 33-37 Reading Passage 3 has eight sections, A-H. Which section contains the following information? Wnite the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 33-37 on your answer sheet. 33 mention of specialists who can make use of the research findings 34 areference to a potential benefit of the research findings 35. scientific support for a traditional saying 36 areference to people traditionally making plans based on plant behaviour 37 areference to where the research has been reported Questions 38-40 Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Wate your answers in boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet. 38 Daffodils are likely to flower early in FESPONSE BO ecenecerererneneneeneneneee WeatNEF. 39 If ash trees come into leaf before oak trees, the weather in ............... will probably be wet. 40 The research was carried out using a particular Species OF na eeeeenenee mn mennnvenenee «