Placement Test (2)

English for Academic Purposes

DATE:

NAME:

NATIONALITY:

AGENT/
CONTACT #:

This test is a provisional placement test only. Students will require further testing on arrival.

The test should be completed under supervision of the agent without the use of dictionaries.

If exam conditions are not observed, assessment of students’ levels will not be accurate and
may lead to students not gaining entry into their chosen course.

The approximate times for each section are as follows (1 hour 50 minutes in total):

Reading 1 20 minutes
Reading 2 25 minutes
Writing 1 (Summary) 25 minutes
Writing 2 (Essay) 40 minutes

Please collect the answer sheet and question sheets from candidates. Question sheets
should be destroyed after the test. Only the completed answer sheets need to be faxed to
PICE.

Note: Tests administered overseas should be faxed to (61 8) 9221 1792 or e-mailed to
info@pice.com.au

Reading 1 /12 %
2 /13 /25
Writing 1 (Summary) /15
2 (Essay) /20 /35
Total Score: /60

COMMENTS / RECOMMENDATIONS:

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READING 1
Questions 1-7 apply to the reading passage ‘The Sydney Olympic Games’

THE SYDNEY OLYMPIC GAMES

1 In September 2000, people from all over the world turned their attention to the city
of Sydney as it took part in the world’s greatest sporting event- The Olympic
Games. Throughout this time, millions of people watched and many thousands
flocked to see this amazing sporting spectacle.

2 The Olympic Games date back to around 776BC, although some people believe that
they took place six centuries earlier than that. These ancient Games were held in
Olympia in Greece every four years, with little formal ceremony. Interestingly, in
these early Games women and slaves were forbidden to attend or take part. At first
the Games only lasted one day and consisted of one event- a short running race.
Later, other events were added including the now famous marathon race.

3 The 2000 Olympics lasted sixteen days and had 28 different sporting events, which
brought together men and women from 199 different countries. The Games began
with a spectacular opening ceremony where, at its culminating point, the Australian
athlete Cathy Freeman lit the Olympic cauldron with a burning torch. Before this,
the torch itself had travelled around Australia in a relay, which covered 27,000 km
and took 100 days to complete. During this time it passed through the hands of
10,000 torch bearers, who passed it on to each other over the long trip.

4 The main venue for the Games was Stadium Australia, an example of an incredible,
modern engineering feat, which took two and a half years to build at a cost of $650
million. It was the largest stadium ever built for the Olympics. A unique feature of
the stadium is a retractable roof, although this was not in operation during the
Olympics as the arena had to remain open to the elements, in keeping with tradition.
These days it is used for concerts and other major sporting events. Near the stadium
was the Olympic village where 17,000 houses were built solely to temporarily house
the Olympic athletes and their coaches. The Games were dubbed the ‘Green
Games’, because of the ingenious use of solar power in the athletes’ village, and for
other environmentally friendly features.

5 For all Australians the occasion marked an excellent opportunity to bring not only
the Olympics, but their country and its culture to every corner of the globe. Both
the opening and closing ceremonies displayed Australiana images commonly
associated with this interesting and diverse continent. The enormous logistical task
of staging the episode was considered by everyone to have been a huge success.

6 Foremost however, the Sydney 2000 Games were a magnificent display of the
world’s top athletes all aiming for gold as well as adhering to the words of the
Olympic creed which states: ‘The most important thing in the Olympic Games is
 not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph
but the struggle.’ The creed emphasises that through sport, people from all countries
can strive for excellence and make the world a better place in which to live.

Read the text and write your answers to the following questions in boxes 1-7 on
your answer sheet.

1. Which noun in paragraph 4 has the same meaning as ‘an impressive

achievement’
2. Which verb in paragraph 6 has the same meaning as ‘to make a very great effort’
3. Were women allowed to take part in the ancient Games?
4. Why can’t the Games be held indoors on a rainy day?
5. Were the electricity bills for the Olympic village houses expensive? Give a
reason for your answer
6. How many people in Australia had the privilege of carrying the Olympic torch?
7. Why is the concept of Australiana better known now?

READING 2

SLOW FOOD
A Slow Food is an international grass roots movement dedicated to preserving the cultural
heritage of good food. It started as a humorous protest against the spread of fast food
around the world and has developed into a major advocate for the world’s unique food
products. The movement’s logo is a snail. Since being founded in 1986 the Slow Food
snail has crept from its home in Italy to 45 other countries around the world and now
boasts over 650,000 members. The movement challenges the loss of flavour resulting
from the industrialisation of food and agriculture. Its approach is ‘eco-gastronomic’.
Slow Food is committed to compiling and distributing information about local foods,
drink and culture. Its purpose is to preserve endangered foods, encourage bio-diversity,
and support small-scale producers of ethnic and local products around the world.

B Modern agri-business has given the world cheap food with little taste, produced at a
high cost to the environment. Slow Food has been instrumental in developing initiatives
to revive products that take time and craftsmanship to create and which are threatened
by global corporate practices. Protecting traditional local products also means
safeguarding the people and ecosystems involved in their manufacture. It also provides
incentives for the pursuit of production methods which are healthier for taste, the
environment and the agricultural economy.

C Statistics on the loss of biodiversity in our food chain are alarming. In less than a
century, over 300,000 plant species have disappeared- one plant species disappears
every six hours. Today less than 30 varieties of plant feed 95% of the world’s
population. In Europe, half the breeds of domestic livestock became extinct during the
course of the twentieth century. The crisis over mad cow disease and the ongoing debate
 over genetically modified food have given Slow Food, with its emphasis on organic
methods, unexpected political influence.

D In the space of a few years, Slow Food has become a major lobbying force in the
European Union on agriculture and trade policy. Agri-business practices that have
become dominant worldwide are geared to production in quantity. This is a carryover
from agricultural policies set in the 1950s in Europe, when hunger from the war was
still a vivid memory. At that time, when the goal was self- sufficiency, farmers received
subsidies according to the amounts they produced. There was and still is no reward for
quality, Two generations ago, the average European family spent about one half of its
income on food. Today it spends about 15 per cent. Surveys conducted by Slow Food
show that a large majority of Italians would be willing to pay 20 per cent for food in
order to guarantee its quality, especially given recent food scares and scandals.

E As national boundaries disappear in Europe and become more open around the world,
food has emerged as an important source of identity. Slow Food’s position on
globalisation is that it has the potential to help as well as harm the small food producer.
On the one hand, globalisation has allowed multinational corporations to extend their
reach to virtually every corner of the world. However, rather than being afraid of the
fast food giants, Slow Food is attempting to offer an alternative choice of ‘virtuous
globalisation’ by choosing to focus on quality and helping the small, local producer to
access the global market.

F The Slow Food organisation had to find ways to ensure its own economic viability. An
initial strategy to generate income through publishing led to a number of food guides
that were quickly successful. Some of the most popular of these feature restaurants
serving authentic, local foods at local prices. Numerous and varied initiatives have
sprung up since. The popular quarterly magazine, ‘SLOW’, features articles about food
culture around the world. Italy’s largest food show, the ‘Salon de Gusto’, sponsored by
the Slow Food Movement, provides an international market to hundreds of small
producers whose goods, until recently, rarely left their villages or region. Now there is
even ‘slow travel’. A growing number of tour operators in Italy, France, Australia and
India subscribe to the movement, promoting ‘cultural and educational journeys using
food and the people that produce it as the learning medium’.

G Another significant initiative of Slow Food is the Ark of Taste, a database of

endangered species of edible plants and domestic animals worldwide. Commissions
have been set up in many countries to seek out and catalogue new products. So far, 800
products from 26 countries have been figuratively brought onboard the Ark in an
attempt to save them. The Ark of Tastes has become an international project and a
resource for agricultural biodiversity around the world.

H So, a movement that began as a humorous protest against fast food has, in its own
organic way, evolved into a versatile and intelligent advocate for the protection of the
environment. The best response to global forces challenging the ability to enjoy our
food and our lives begins, according to the Slow Food movement, ‘at the table’.
Questions 8-20 are related to Reading 2 ‘Slow Food’.

Questions 8-11

The reading ‘Slow Food’ has 8 paragraphs (A-H). In which paragraph can the
information below be found? Write the appropriate letters (A-H) in boxes 8-11
on your answer sheet.

EXAMPLE ANSWER
The growth of the Slow Food movement A

8. a catalogue of domestic animals at risk of disappearing

9. statistics on the loss of variety in agricultural species
10. initiatives to ensure the financial survival of the organisation
11. information on the food budget of an average family

Question 12

Which of the following does the Slow Food Movement NOT promote? The first
one has been done for you. Indicate the letters of the remaining TWO in box 12
on your answer sheet.

A old-fashioned cooking methods

B genetically modified foods
C endangered species of edible plants
D junk food culture EXAMPLE
E the enjoyment of good food and drink
F high yield industrial farming
G rare local domestic animals
H organic methods of production
Questions 13-18

Choose ONE phrase from the list (A-H) that matches each of the expressions
below. There are more phrases than expressions so you will not use all of them.
The first one has been done for you as an example. Write your answers in boxes
13- 18 on your answer sheet

EXAMPLE ANSWER
Eco-gastronomy G

List of Phrases
A a resource for agricultural biodiversity
B a showcase for Italian food products
C a database of Slow Food members
D helping local producers compete in the International market
E published four times a year
F operates in Europe, Asia and Australia
G promotes protection of the environment and good eating EXAMPLE
H produces food using industrial methods

13 slow travel
14 Ark of Taste
15 virtuous globalisation
16 Salon de Gusto
17 agri-business
18 SLOW

Questions 19 and 20

Answer the following questions using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS

from the text for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 19 and 20 on your
answer sheet.

19 Following which crisis did the Slow Food movement become a political
force?
20 This movement was started as a reaction against what?
WRITING TASK 1 (SUMMARY)

Summarise only 1 of the following paragraphs. Write your summary on the answer sheet.

1. River rafting is a challenging sport with important requirements. Planning your trip
carefully will ensure your safety at all times. Therefore, the river-rafting company you
choose should have a good safety record. You can select a river-rafting trip from level
I (no experience) to level VI (the most experience). At the first level, the river moves
slowly and does not have many dangerous rocks and boulders, so you can actually enjoy
the scenery. At each level up the scale, there is an increasing number of powerful waves
and dangerous rocks. When the river is high from melting snow, the current is fast and
the ride is rough. Therefore, it is only for the most experienced river runner. River
rafting also requires special equipment. You ride an inflatable rubber boat with an
expertly trained guide and a group of six to eight people. Everyone must wear a life
jacket and a helmet and be able to use a paddle at the more difficult levels. Finally, you
must be alert at all times. You must stay safely in the raft as it makes its way down the
raging river. The guide will shout instructions and the passengers must obey instantly
and work as a team to avoid disaster. (adapted from Oshima, A & Hogue, A.(1997) Introduction
to Academic Writing. New York: Longman)

2. By the time students have finished their year of studying abroad, most will have
adjusted well to their lives in their host countries. Nonetheless, many of them will have
been looking forward to their return home for some time, unprepared for the fact that
they could find themselves experiencing a different type of culture shock upon their
return. This is called reverse culture shock. Some students will start feeling depressed.
The depression is caused by the feeling that no one really understands what they
experienced in their time abroad. It may seem like people are not really interested in
listening to the stories of the students’ lives overseas. Most students will have changed
in some ways by the time they return, and these ways may seem strange to people at
home. The stages of reverse culture shock are similar to the culture shock of moving to
a foreign country. Initially everything may seem great, once the first bloom of returning
home, seeing family and friends, visiting familiar places and eating favourite foods
wears off, a feeling of alienation may take over. For most people, alienation will be
followed by a gradual readjustment period as the students find ways to incorporate their
new perspectives and values into their lives back at home.

3. Some believe that personality can be categorized into one of four different
temperaments. They believe if you know which temperament you are, you can improve
yourself and your relationships because you will better understand your own
weaknesses and be in a better position to put up with the weaknesses of the people you
associate with. One pop psychologist has developed a system of four temperaments
which uses a lion, beaver, otter, and golden retriever as examples of the four types, one
of which they say everyone’s personality falls into. Personality typing is utilized by
some schools and employers for the information that they believe provides them with
clues as to how a prospective student or employee may perform. However using
personality typing in recruitment decisions is controversial, because it is not a perfect
science which can be counted on to reliably predict behaviour and so can be used to
judge people unfairly.

(Paragraphs 2&3 adapted from Purpura, J.E. & Pinkley, D.(2003)In Charge 2. New York: Longman)

WRITING TASK 2 (ESSAY)

Write the number of the question you have chosen on your answer sheet.
You should spend no more than 40 minutes on this task
You should write at least 200 words

As part of a class assignment you have been asked to write about one of the following
topics:

1. The rising levels of congestion and air pollution found in most of the world’s cities
can be attributed directly to the rapidly increasing number of private cars in use.
In order to reverse this decline in the quality of life in cities, attempts must be made
to encourage people to use cars less and public transport more.

Discuss possible ways to encourage the use of public transport.

2. These days, too many people maintain their health by relying on doctors and
medicine, rather than by following a healthy lifestyle.

To what extent do you agree with this statement? Give reasons for your answer
and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

3. Buying things on the internet, such as books, air tickets and clothing, is becoming
more and more popular.

Do the advantages of shopping in this way outweigh the disadvantages? Give

reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own
knowledge or experience.