Bodie: America's most famous ghost town

If you peek inside on of the broken- down buildings in Bodie, California, you
might see dust- covered furniture an old muffin pan, rusty tins, and broken
kerosene lamps or a fully stocked general store with original wooden boxes and
shelves with tin cans Situated in a sagebrush- covered valley in the eastern
foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range the old goldmining town, once
busy with life began in the 1870s, when prospective miners arrived in the town
in hopes of finding gold and becoming wealthy. By the 1940s, the golds was
gone and the last mine closed. Today not many structures remain in Bodie,
there is about 20 percent of the number that stood in the 1870a, when the town
had up to 8.000 inhabitants.
In the 1870s, thirty mines were built and began producing large pieces of gold
in large quantities. The standard Company was one of the first factories in
American to extract the remaining traces of gold using electricity. Chemical
processing was done in two stages. In the first stage, workers washed ground
up ore over copper sheets covered with gold- grabbing mercury, then they
heated in to release and condense the mercury, and turned the melted mixture
into the shape of golf bars. In a second stage devised to obtain any remaining
gold and silver particles, the one, now the consistency of sand was soaked in
watered- down potassium cyanide. This drew the metals out into a form that
could be trapped by trays containing small pieces of zine. This process went on
for about 70 years, until the gold mines dried up.
When the California state Parks Department took over Bodie in 1962, it began
a program of “arrested decay,’ maintaining the run- down structures just as they
appeared at the time the department acquired the town.
According to Charley Spiller, a Bodie maintenance mechanic, the greatest
enemies of preservation are wind, which can gust up to 100 miles an hour on
nearby mountains, and snow, which average 13 feet a year. When snow gets
into a building and sits and.... Into the floors, the condition of the floors gets
worse, and they often rot. Currently, a team of three or four workers spends six
months of each year.
Strengthening walls, repairing roofs, and replacing smashed windows. Spiller
and his team rebuild walls using pine similar to the native Jeffrey pine that was
originally used without constant attention, most houses would fall apart. Nearby
towns similar to Bodie have already disappeared because, for one reason or
another, they weren’t maintained.
While the staff work to preserve the site’s empty look, a variety of natural life
lives on in the remains of the town. California ground squirrels tunnel into the
shrub- covered earth, feeding on meadow grass and bitterbrush. Coyotes- and
from time to time a mountain lion, bobcat, or bear- amble through the town. As
people left their homes in Bodies and no one else moved in, the houses became
popular havens for species that thrive in the empty places, such as deer, mice,
snakes, and lizards. Trillions of microbes, life forms invisible to the human eye,
also live in the soil, some of which can consume the toxic mercury and cyanide
by- products of mining. One microbial ecologist found that deserts, like the one
in Bodie, contain up to twice as many bacterial species, roughly 10,000 per 10
square meters, as do acidic rainforest soils. The deserts of the American West,
where thousands of ghost towns stand, are therefore surprisingly full of life.
It is the life that left Bodies, however, that most interests the tourists who visit.’
Ghost towns like Bodie, 1 cultural geographer Dydia DeLyser explains, 1 are a
powerful draw because they are perceived as authentic- actual abandoned
towns presented more or less as they were left, and therefore as they once
were Delyser says that visitors examine their originality, asking questions like’
was all this stuff really just left here? Or “was it all set up to make it look like a
ghost town? If would be a mistake, Delyser says, for anyone to think that the
plates on the table or other items at Bodie were left behind in a rush to escape.
Questions 1-7
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD AND/ OR A NUMBER from the Passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.
Bodie’s past
About Bodie

 Located in a 1………………………… in the Sierra Nevada.

 In the 1870s attracted people who wanted to be 2……………………….. in order to
get rich.
 Saw the end of gold production in the 1940s.
 Now has about 3……………………...Of the original buildings.

Gold mining and milling

 Large- scale production of gold

 Extraction of smaller amounts of gold required 4………………………..
 Extraction by chemical processing involved:
 First stage:
 Ore was rinsed over mercury- covered sheets of 5……………………………
 Melted mixture was formed into bars
 Second stage (to filter any leftover gold or silver particles):
 Ore with texture like 6………………………………. was immersed in potassium
cyanide.

 Mentals were taken out and caught in containers filled with 7…………………………..

Question 8-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1
In boxed 8-13 on your answer sheet, wrire
TRUE if the statement agree with the information
FALE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.
8 Wind and snow are the most difficult factors Bodie preservationists have to deal with
9 The maintenance team in Bodie was unable to locate the Jeffrey pine the settlers
10 Lack of funding has caused other towns like Bodie to disappear.
11 Many people left Bodie when wild animals started living in their homes.
12 Acidic rainforest soils tend to contain move microbes than the soil found in places like.
13 Some tourists doubt that items in Bodie were really used by people who lived there.
PASSAGE 2
ELECTRIC DREAMS

A. The days of the internal-combustion are numbered, and the fuel cell represents
the future of automotive transport, says PETER BREWER. A. Some of the
world’s greatest inventions have been
discovered by accident. One such accident led to the discovery of the fuel cell and
another led to its commercialisation. And in around 30 years, when most of the
energy analysts have predicted the oil wells will run dry, motorists will be
thankful for both these strange twists of fate. Why? Simply because without the
fuel cell to replace the combustion engine, private motoring as we all know it
would be restricted to only those who could afford the high price.
B. The exact date of the discovery of the fuel cell is not known, but historians
agree it most likely occurred around 1938 in the laboratories of British physicist
Sir William Grove, who one day disconnected a simple electrolytic cell (in which
hydrogen and oxygen are produced when water contacts an electric current
running through a platinum wire) and reversed the flow of current. As author
records in his book Powering the Future, Grove realized that just as he could use
electricity to split water into hydrogen and oxygen it should be possible to
generate electricity by combining these two gases.
C. The principle behind the fuel cell is simple. Hydrogen and oxygen, two of the
most common elements in the world, are a very explosive combination. But
separate them with a sophisticated platinum coated barrier and an electro
chemical reaction takes place, where positively charged hydrogen ions react with
oxygen and leave the hydrogen electrons behind. It is this reaction, the excess
electrons on one side of the barrier and the deficit of electrons on the other that
creates electrical energy.
D. The early development of the fuel cell was fraught with problems and high
cost. But by 1954 US giant General Electric had produced a prototype that proved
sufficiently effective to interest NASA. The Gemini space programme proved the
viability of the fuel cell to provide electrical power. The spacecraft used six stacks
of cells with three cells in each stack. The electrical power output from each stack
was quite modest – just one kilowatt and as a byproduct, produced half a litre of
water for each kilowatt hour of operation. But the Gemini Cells were very
unstable and required constant monitoring.
E. At this time if anyone had suggested to Canadian Scientist Geoffrey Ballard
that he would become a world leader in fuel cell technology, he would have
laughed. Ballard’s scientific background was actually geophysics, but during the
oil-crisis of 1973, the US government asked the Canadian to explore alternative
forms of energy. Ballard threw himself into the project enthusiastically but soon
became disillusioned by the politics of the programme. Energy systems take a
long time to develop, Ballard said. The short-term vision of politicians, who voted
to fund such projects in the desire for quick results to bolster their re-election
chances, were frustrating for the scientists. However, since the US government
lacked the vision for the job, he decided to tackle it himself.
F. The big breakthrough on Ballard’s fuel cell came by accident in the search for
cheaper materials. Up until late 1986, Ballard’s team had worked with only one
type of fuel cell membrane manufactured by DuPont, but Dow Chemical had also
developed a similar membrane, which had not been released for sale. Ballard’s
team tracked down an experimental sample of the Dow material, put it into a fuel
cell and set up a standard test. Within a few minutes the fuel cell was generating
so much electricity on the test bench that it had melted through the power-output
cable.
G. Ballard immediately knew he had a saleable product. The problem was: Should
he aim his fuel cell at small markets like military field generators, wheelchairs
and golf carts, or try to sell it as a full blown alternative to the combustion engine?
“It was so needed and the world was ready for it,” Ballard said. “Los Angeles is
dying; Vancouver is going to be eaten alive by its own pollution very shortly. It
seemed like a time to go for broke.” Ballard Power Systems first built a small bus
to demonstrate the technology, and then an even bigger bus.
H. As a result a number of multinational motor manufacturers, such as General
Motors, Mitsubishi and Daimler-Benz all tested Ballard’s cells. Finally, Daimler
formed an alliance with Ballard that has yielded some impressive prototypes,
including a fully driveable fuel cellpowered A-class Mercedes-Benz compact car,
known as Necar 4. Daimler Chlysler, as the merged Daimler- Benz and Chlysler
Corporation is now known, says the fuel cell represents the future of automotive
transport. “The significance of this technological advancement ( the fuel cell) is
comparable to the impact the microchip had on computer technology when it
replaced the transistor,” said Dr Ferdinand Panik, the head of Daimler Chlysler’s
fuel cell development team.
 QUESTIONS 14-21
There are 8 paragraphs numbered A-H in Reading Passage 2.
From the list below numbered i- x, choose a suitable heading for the paragraphs.
There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all the headings.
14. Paragraph A
15. Paragraph B
16. Paragraph C
17. Paragraph D
18. Paragraph E
19. Paragraph F
20. Paragraph G
21. Paragraph H
i. A conflict of interests
ii. Science is sometimes a question of luck
iii. Using the fuel cell in different ways
iv. How does it work?
v. Deciding how to exploit the new product
vi. Using the fuel cell to be the first in the space race
vii. A key stage in the development of fuel cell
viii. A first step on the road to a new source of energy
ix. Applying the new technology on a global scale
x. The first fuel cell is tested

QUESTIONS 22-24
Choose the most appropriate letter A, B, C or D.
22. The fuel cell generates electricity because
A. hydrogen and oxygen can be used to create controlled explosions

B. of the reaction which occurs when hydrogen and oxygen are separated

C. hydrogen and oxygen are both gases

D. hydrogen and oxygen both contain electrons

23. The Gemini space programme demonstrated that

A. The fuel cell was too difficult to use in space programmes

B. The fuel cell can only work with pure oxygen

C. Generating a substantial amount of electricity requires many fuel cells

D. The fuel cell could be used successfully

24. The US government asked Ballard to carry out fuel cell research because
A. He was an expert in his field

B. supplies of oil were running out

C. They wanted to find new sources of energy

D. He offered to work completely independently.

QUESTIONS 25-26
Complete the sentences below by taking words from the passage. Use NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS.
25. The key step in the development of fuel cell occurred completely
_________________.
26. Ballard decided that the fuel cell could be used to reduce ____________in
large cities.
 Personality and appearance

When Charles Darwin applied to be the “energetic young man” that Robert Fitzroy, the
Beagle’s captain, sought as his gentleman companion, he was almost let down by a woeful
shortcoming that was as plain as the nose on his face. Fitzroy believed in physiognomy—
the idea that you can tell a person’s character from their appearance. As Darwin’s daughter
Henrietta later recalled, Fitzroy had “made up his mind that no man with such a nose could
have energy”. This was hardly the case. Fortunately, the rest of Darwin’s visage
compensated for his sluggardly proboscis: “His brow saved him.”
The idea that a person’s character can be glimpsed in their face dates back to the ancient
Greeks. It was most famously popularised in the late 18th century by the Swiss poet Johann
Lavater, whose ideas became a talking point in intellectual circles. In Darwin’s day, they were
more or less taken as given. It was only after the subject became associated with phrenology,
which fell into disrepute in the late 19th century, that physiognomy was written off as
pseudoscience.
First impressions are highly influential, despite the well-worn admonition not to judge a book
by its cover. Within a tenth of a second of seeing an unfamiliar face we have already made
a judgement about its owner’s character—caring, trustworthy, aggressive, extrovert,
competent and so on. Once that snap judgement has formed, it is surprisingly hard to budge.
People also act on these snap judgements. Politicians with competent-looking faces have a
greater chance of being elected, and CEOs who look dominant are more likely to run a
profitable company. There is also a well-established “attractiveness halo”. People seen as
good-looking not only get the most valentines but are also judged to be more outgoing,
socially competent, powerful, intelligent and healthy.
In 1966, psychologists at the University of Michigan asked 84 undergraduates who had never
met before to rate each other on five personality traits, based entirely on appearance, as
they sat for 15 minutes in silence. For three traits—extroversion, conscientiousness and
openness—the observers’ rapid judgements matched real personality scores significantly
more often than chance. More recently, researchers have re-examined the link between
appearance and personality, notably Anthony Little of the University of Stirling and David
Perrett of the University of St Andrews, both in the UK. They pointed out that the Michigan
studies were not tightly controlled for confounding factors. But when Little and Perrett re-ran
the experiment using mugshots rather than live subjects, they also found a link between
facial appearance and personality—though only for extroversion and conscientiousness.
Little and Perrett claimed that they only found a correlation at the extremes of personality.
Justin Carre and Cheryl McCormick of Brock University in Ontario, Canada studied 90 ice-
hockey players. They found that a wider face in which the cheekbone-to-cheekbone distance
was unusually large relative to the distance between brow and upper lip was linked in a
statistically significant way with the number of penalty minutes a player was given for violent
acts including slashing, elbowing, checking from behind and fighting. The kernel of truth idea
isn’t the only explanation on offer for our readiness to make facial judgements. Leslie
Zebrowitz, a psychologist at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, says that in
many cases snap judgements are not accurate. The snap judgement, she says, is often an
“overgeneralisation” of a more fundamental response. A classic example of
overgeneralisation can be seen in predators’ response to eye spots, the conspicuous circular
markings seen on some moths, butterflies and fish. These act as a deterrent to predators
because they mimic the eyes of other creatures that the potential predators might see as a
threat.
Another researcher who leans towards overgeneralisation is Alexander Todorov. With
Princeton colleague Nikolaas Oosterhof, he recently put forward a theory which he says
explains our snap judgements of faces in terms of how threatening they appear. Todorov
and Oosterhof asked people for their gut reactions to pictures of emotionally neutral faces,
sifted through all the responses, and boiled them down to two underlying factors: how
trustworthy the face looks, and how dominant. Todorov and Oosterhof conclude that
personality judgements based on people’s faces are an overgeneralisation of our evolved
ability to infer emotions from facial expressions, and hence a person’s intention to cause us
harm and their ability to carry it out. Todorov, however, stresses that overgeneralisation does
not rule out the idea that there is sometimes a kernel of truth in these assessments of
personality.
So if there is a kernel of truth, where does it come from? Perrett has a hunch that the link
arises when our prejudices about faces turn into self-fulfilling prophecies—an idea that was
investigated by other researchers back in 1977. Our expectations can lead us to influence
people to behave in ways that confirm those expectations: consistently treat someone as
untrustworthy and they end up behaving that way. This effect sometimes works the other
way round, however, especially for those who look cute. The Nobel prize-winning ethologist
Konrad Lorenz once suggested that baby-faced features evoke a nurturing response.
Support for this has come from work by Zebrowitz, who has found that baby-faced boys and
men stimulate an emotional centre of the brain, the amygdala, in a similar way. But there’s
a twist. Babyfaced men are, on average, better educated, more assertive and apt to win
more military medals than their mature-looking counterparts. They are also more likely to be
criminals; think Al Capone. Similarly, Zebrowitz found baby-faced boys to be quarrelsome
and hostile, and more likely to be academic highfliers. She calls this the “self-defeating
prophecy effect”: a man with a baby face strives to confound expectations and ends up
overcompensating.
There is another theory that recalls the old parental warning not to pull faces because they
might freeze that way. According to this theory, our personality moulds the way our faces
look. It is supported by a study two decades ago which found that angry old people tend to
look cross even when asked to strike a neutral expression. A lifetime of scowling, grumpiness
and grimaces seemed to have left its mark.
Questions 27-31
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage?
In boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet, 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 that the writer thinks about this
27 Robert Fitzroy’s first impression of Darwin was accurate.
28 The precise rules of “physiognomy” have remained unchanged since the 18th century.
29 The first impression of a person can be modified later with little effort.
30 People who appear capable are more likely to be chosen to a position of power.
31 It is unfair for good-looking people to be better treated in society.

Questions 32-36
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 32-36 on your answer sheet.
32. What’s true about Anthony Little and David Perrett’s experiment?
A It is based on the belief that none of the conclusions in the Michigan experiment is
accurate.
B It supports parts of the conclusions in the Michigan experiment.
C It replicates the study conditions in the Michigan experiment.
D It has a greater range of faces than in the Michigan experiment.

33. What can be concluded from Justin Carre and Cheryl McCormick’s experiment?
A A wide-faced man may be more aggressive.
B Aggressive men have a wide range of facial features.
C There is no relation between facial features and an aggressive character.
D It’s necessary for people to be aggressive in competitive games.

34. What’s exemplified by referring to butterfly marks?

A Threats to safety are easy to notice.
B Instinct does not necessarily lead to accurate judgment.
C People should learn to distinguish between accountable and unaccountable
judgments.
D Different species have various ways to notice danger.

35. What is the aim of Alexander Todorov’s study?

A to determine the correlation between facial features and social development
B to undermine the belief that appearance is important
C to learn the influence of facial features on judgments of a person’s personality
D to study the role of judgments in a person’s relationship

36. Which of the following is the conclusion of Alexander Todorov’s study?

A People should draw accurate judgments from overgeneralization.
B Using appearance to determine a person’s character is undependable.
C Overgeneralization can be misleading as a way to determine a person’s character.
D The judgment of a person’s character based on appearance may be accurate.

Questions 37-40
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below.
Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

37 Perret believed people behaving dishonestly

38 The writer supports the view that people with babyish features
39 According to Zebrowitz, baby-faced people who behave dominantly
40 The writer believes facial features

A judge other people by overgeneralization,

B may influence the behaviour of other people,
C tend to commit criminal acts.
D may be influenced by the low expectations of other people.
E may show the effect of long-term behaviours.
F may be trying to repel the expectations of other people.
1 Valley 14 II 27 No

2 Miners 15 VIII 28 Not given

3 20 percent 16 IV 29 No

4 Electricity 17 X 30 Yes

5 Copper 18 I 31 Not given

6 Sand 19 VII 32 B

7 Zinc 20 V 33 A

8 True 21 IX 34 B

9 Not given 22 B 35 C

10 Not given 23 D 36 D

11 False 24 D 37 D

12 False 25 By accident 38 C

13 True 26 Pollution 39 F

40 E