Reading Test 25 - 28

Reading Practice Test 25
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on
Reading Passage 1 below.
Ancient SOCIEFIES Classification
A
Although humans have established many types of societies throughout history
sociologists and anthropologists tend to classify different societies according to
the degree to which different groups within a society have unequal access to
advantages such as resources, prestige or power, and usually refer to four
basic types of societies. From least to most socially complex they are clans,
tribes, chiefdoms and states.
Clan
B
These are small-scale societies of hunters and gatherers, generally of fewer
than 100 people, who move seasonally to exploit wild (undomesticated) food
resources. Most surviving hunter-gatherer groups are of this kind, such as the
Hadza of Tanzania of the San of southern Africa. Clan members are generally
kinsfolk, related by descent or marriage. Clans lack formal leaders, so there are
no marked economic differences or disparities in status among their members.
C
Because clans are composed of mobile groups of hunter-gatherers, their sites
consist mainly of seasonally occupied camps, and other smaller and more
specialised sites. Among the latter are kill or butchery sites – locations where
large mammals are killed and sometimes butchered-and work sites, where
tools are made or other specific activities carried out. The base camp of such a
group may give evidence of rather insubstantial dwellings or temporary
shelters, along with the debris of residential occupation.
Tribe
D
These are generally larger than mobile hunter-gatherer groups, but rarely
number more than a few thousand, and their diet or subsistence is based
largely on cultivated plants and domesticated animals.
Typically, they have settled farmers, but they may be nomadic with a very
different, mobile economy based on the intensive exploitation of livestock.
These are generally multi-community societies, with the individual
communities integrated into the large society through kinship ties. Although
some tribes have officials and even a “capital” or seat of government, such
officials lack the economic base necessary for effective use of power.
E
The typical settlement pattern for tribes is one of settled agricultural
homesteads or villages. Characteristically, no one settlement dominates any of
the others in the region. Instead, the archaeologist finds evidence for isolated,
permanently occupied houses or for permanent villages. Such villages may be
made up of a collection of free-standing houses, like those of the first farms of
the Danube valley in Europe. Or they may be clusters of buildings grouped
together, for example, the pueblos of the American Southwest, and the early
farming village or the small town of Catalhoyuk in modern Turkey.
Chiefdom
F
These operate on the principle of ranking-differences in social status between
people. Different lineages (a lineage is a group claiming descent from a
common ancestor) are graded on a scale of prestige, and the senior lineage,
and hence the society as a whole, is governed by a chief. Prestige and rank are
determined by how closely related one is to the chief, and there is no true
stratification into classes. The role of the chief is crucial.
G
Often, there is local specialization in craft products, and surpluses of these and
of foodstuffs are periodically paid as an obligation to the chief. He uses these
to maintain his retainers and may use them for redistribution to his subjects.
The chiefdom generally has a center of power, often with temples, residences
of the chief and his retainers, and craft specialists. Chiefdoms vary greatly in
size, but the range is generally between about 5000 and 20,000 persons.
Early State
H
These preserve many of the features of chiefdoms, but the ruler (perhaps a
king or sometimes a queen) has explicit authority to establish laws and also to
enforce them by the use of a standing army. Society no longer depends totally
upon kin relationships: it is now stratified into different classes. Agricultural
workers and the poorer urban dwellers form the lowest classes, with the craft
specialists above, and the priests and kinsfolk of the ruler higher still. The
functions of the ruler are often separated from those of the priest: the palace
is distinguished from the temple. The society is viewed as a territory owned by
the ruling lineage and populated by tenants who have an obligation to pay
taxes. The central capital houses a bureaucratic administration of officials; one
of their principal purposes is to collect revenue (often in the form of taxes and
tolls) and distribute it to government, army and craft specialists. Many early
states developed complex redistribution systems to support these essential
services.
I
This rather simple social typology, set out by Elman Service and elaborated by
William Sanders and Joseph Marino, can be criticised, and it should not be
used unthinkingly. Nevertheless, if we are seeking to talk about early societies,
we must use words and hence concepts to do so. Service’s categories provide a
good framework to help organise our thoughts.
Questions 1-7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading
Passage 1?
In boxes 1-7 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
1 There’s little economic difference between members of a clan.

2 The farmers of a tribe grow a wide range of plants.
3 One settlement is more important than any other settlements in a tribe.
4 A member’s status in a chiefdom is determined by how much land he owns.
5 There are people who craft goods in chiefdoms.
6 The king keeps the order of a state by keeping a military.
7 Bureaucratic officers receive higher salaries than other members.
Questions 8-13
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.
8 What is made at the clan work sites?

9 What is the other way of life tribes besides settled farming?
10 How are Catalhoyuk’s housing units arranged?
11 What does a chief give to his subjects as rewards besides crafted goods?
12 What is the largest possible population of a chiefdom?
13 Which group of people is at the bottom of an early state but higher than
the farmers?
READING PASSAGE 2
The Development of Plastics
A
When rubber was first commercially produced in Europe during the nineteenth
century, it rapidly became a very important commodity, particularly in the
fields of transportation and electricity. However, during the twentieth century
a number of new synthetic materials, called plastics, superseded natural
rubber in all but a few applications.
B
Rubber is a polymer – a compound containing large molecules that are formed
by the bonding of many smaller, simpler units, repeated over and over again.
The same bonding principle – polymerisation – underlies the creation of a huge
range of plastics by the chemical industry.
C
The first plastic was developed as a result of a competition in the USA. In the
1860s, $10,000 was offered to anybody who could replace ivory – supplies of
which were declining – with something equally good as a material for making
billiard balls. The prize was won by John Wesley Hyatt with a material called
celluloid. Celluloid was made by dissolving cellulose, a carbohydrate derived
from plants, in a solution of camphor dissolved in ethanol. This new material
rapidly found uses in the manufacture of products such as knife handles,
detachable collars and cuffs, spectacle frames and photographic film. Without
celluloid, the film industry could never have got off the ground at the end of
the 19th century.
D
Celluloid can be repeatedly softened and reshaped by heat and is known as a
thermoplastic. In 1907 Leo Baekeland, a Belgian chemist working in the USA
invented a different kind of plastic by causing phenol and formaldehyde to
react together. Baekeland called the material Bakelite, and it was the first of
the thermosets – plastics that can be cast and moulded while hot but cannot
be softened by heat and reshaped once they have set. Bakelite was a good
insulator and was resistant to water, acids and moderate heat. With these
properties, it was soon being used in the manufacture of switches, household
items, such as knife handles, and electrical components for cars.
E
Soon chemists began looking for other small molecules that could be strung
together to make polymers. In the 1930s, British chemists discovered that the
gas ethylene would polymerise under heat and pressure to form a
thermoplastic they called polythene. Polypropylene followed in the 1950s.
both were used to make bottles, pipes and plastic bags. A small change in the
starting material – replacing a hydrogen atom in ethylene with a chlorine atom
– produced PVC (polyvinyl chloride), a hard, fireproof plastic suitable for drains
and gutters. And by adding certain chemicals, a soft form of PVC could be
produced, suitable as a substitute for rubber in items such as waterproof
clothing. A closely related plastic was Teflon, as PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene).
This had a very low coefficient of friction, making it ideal for bearings, rollers,
and non-stick frying pans. Polystyrene, developed during the 1930s in
Germany, was a clear, glass-like material, used in food containers, domestic
appliances and toys. Expanded polystyrene – a white, rigid foam – was widely
used in packaging and insulation. Polyurethanes, also developed in Germany,
found uses as adhesives, coatings, and – in the form of rigid foams – as
insulation materials. They are all produced from chemicals derived from crude
oil, which contains exactly the same elements – carbon and hydrogen – as
many plastics.
F
The first of the man-made fibres, nylon, was also created in the 1930s. Its
inventor was a chemist called Wallace Carothers, who worked for the Du Pont
company in the USA. He found that under the right conditions, two chemicals –
hexamethylenediamine and adipic acid — would form a polymer that could be
pumped out through holes and then stretched to form long glossy threads that
could be woven like silk. Its first use was to make parachutes for the US armed
forces in World War II. In the post-war years, nylon completely replaced silk in
the manufacture of stockings. Subsequently, many other synthetic fibres
joined nylon, including Orion, Acrilan and Terylene. Today most garments are
made of a blend of natural fibres, such as cotton and wool, and man-made
fibres that make fabrics easier to look after.
G
The great strength of the plastic is its indestructibility. However, this quality is
also something of a drawback: beaches all over the world, even on the
remotest islands, are littered with plastic bottles that nothing can destroy. Nor
is it very easy to recycle plastics, as different types of plastic are often used in
the same items and call for different treatments. Plastics can be made
biodegradable by incorporating into their structure a material such as starch,
which is attacked by bacteria and causes the plastic to fall apart. Other
materials can be incorporated that gradually decay in sunlight – although
bottles made of such materials have to be stored in the dark, to ensure that
they do not disintegrate before they have been used.
Questions 14-20
Complete the table below
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Name of plastic Date Original Property Common use

of region
inven
tion
Celluloid 1860s US Clothing
and 14……………
….
15………………. 1907 US can be cast and 16………………,
moulded but cannot household
be softened by heat items and car
parts
Polythene 1930s 17………… Bottles
Rigid PVC 18………………… drains and
gutters
Polystyrene 1930s Germany transparent and Food container
resembled domestic
to 19………………..
Polyurethanes Germany Formation adhesives,
like 20………………… coatings and
insulation
Questions 21-26
Passage 2?
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
21 The chemical structure of plastic is very different from that of rubber.
22 John Wesley was a famous chemist.
23 Celluloid and Bakelite react to heat in the same way.
24 The mix of different varieties of plastic can make them less recyclable.
25 Adding starch into plastic does not necessarily make plastic more durable.
26 Some plastic containers have to be preserved in special conditions.
READING PASSAGE 3
How should reading be taught?
By Keith Rayncr a Barbara R Foorman
A
Learning to speak is automatic for almost all children, but learning to read
requires elaborate instruction and conscious effort. Well aware of the
difficulties, educators have given a great deal of thought to how they can best
help children learn to read. No single method has triumphed. Indeed, heated
arguments about the most appropriate form of reading instruction continue to
polarize the teaching community.
B
Three general approaches have been tried. In one, called whole-word
instruction, children learn by rote how to recognise at a glance a vocabulary of
50 to 100 words. Then they gradually acquire other words, often through
seeing them used over and over again in the context of a story.
Speakers of most languages learn the relationship between letters and the
sounds associated with them (phonemes). That is, children are taught how to
use their knowledge of the alphabet to sound out words. This procedure
constitutes a second approach to teaching reading – phonics.
Many schools have adopted a different approach: the whole-language method.

The strategy here relies on the child’s experience with the language. For
example, students are offered engaging books and are encouraged to guess
the words that they do not know by considering the context of the sentence or
by looking for clues in the storyline and illustrations, rather than trying to
sound them out.
Many teachers adopted the whole-language approach because of its intuitive
appeal. Making reading fun promises to keep children motivated, and learning
to read depends more on what the student does than on what the teacher
does. The presumed benefits of whole-language instruction – and the contrast
to the perceived dullness of phonics – led to its growing acceptance across
American during the 1990s and a movement away from phonics.
C
However, many linguists and psychologists objected strongly to the
abandonment of phonics in American schools. Why was this so? In short,
because research had clearly demonstrated that understanding how letters
related to the component sounds in words is critically important in reading.
This conclusion rests, in part, on knowledge of how experienced readers make
sense of words on a page. Advocates of whole-language instruction have
argued forcefully that people often derive meanings directly from print
without ever determining the sound of the word. Some psychologists today
accept this view, but most believe that reading is typically a process of rapidly
sounding out words mentally. Compelling evidence for this comes from
experiments which show that subjects often confuse homophones (words that
sound the same, such as Jrose and ‘rows5). This supports the idea that readers
convert strings of letters to sounds.
D
In order to evaluate different approaches to teaching reading, a number of
experiments have been carried out, firstly with college students, then with
school pupils. Investigators trained English-speaking college students to read
using unfamiliar symbols such as Arabic letters (the phonics approach), while
another group learned entire words associated with certain strings of Arabic
letters (whole-word). Then both groups were required to read a new set of
words constructed from the original characters. In general, readers who were
taught the rules of phonics could read many more new words than those
trained with a whole-word procedure.
Classroom studies comparing phonics with either whole-word or whole-
language instruction are also quite illuminating. One particularly persuasive
study compared two programmes used in 20 first-grade classrooms. Half the
students were offered traditional reading instruction, which included the use
of phonics drills and applications. The other half were taught using an
individualised method that drew from their experiences with languages; these
children produce their own booklets of stories and developed sets of words to
be recognised (common components of the whole-language approach). This
study found that the first group scored higher at year’s end on tests of reading
and comprehension.
E
If researchers are so convinced about the need for phonics instruction, why
does the debate continue? Because the controversy is enmeshed in the
philosophical differences between traditional and progressive (or new)
approaches, differences that have divided educators for years. The progressive
challenge the results of laboratory tests and classroom studies on the basis of a
broad philosophical skepticism about the values of such research. They
champion student-centred learned and teacher empowerment. Sadly, they fail
to realise that these very admirable educational values are equally consistent
with the teaching of phonics.
F
If schools of education insisted that would-be reading teachers learned
something about the vast research in linguistics and psychology that bears on
reading, their graduates would be more eager to use phonics and would be
prepared to do so effectively. They could allow their pupils to apply the
principles of phonics while reading for pleasure. Using whole-language
activities to supplement phonics instruction certainly helps to make reading
fun and meaningful for children, so no one would want to see such tools
discarded. Indeed, recent work has indicated that the combination of
literature-based instruction and phonics is more powerful than either method
used alone.
Teachers need to strike a balance. But in doing so, we urge them to remember
that reading must be grounded in a firm understanding of the connections
between letters and sounds. Educators who deny this reality are neglecting
decades of research. They are also neglecting the needs of their students.
Questions 27-31
Reading Passage 3 has six sections, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for sections B-F from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-ix, in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i Disagreement about the reading process
ii The roots of the debate
iii A combined approach
iv Methods of teaching reading
v A controversial approach
vi Inconclusive research
vii Research with learners
vii Allowing teachers more control
ix A debate amongst educators
Example
Section A ix
27 Section B
28 Section C
29 Section D
30 Section E
31 Section F
Questions 32-36
Passage 3?
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
32 The whole-language approach relates letters to sounds.
33 Many educators believe the whole-language approach to be the most
interesting way to teach children to read.
34 Research supports the theory that we read without linking words to
sounds.
35 Research has shown that the whole-word approach is less effective than
the whole-language approach.
36 Research has shown that phonics is more successful than both the whole-
word and whole-language approaches.
Questions 37-40
Complete the summary of sections E and F using the list of words, A-G, below.
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.
In the teaching A the phonics method

community, 37………… B the whole-word method
………………… question C the whole-language method
the usefulness of D traditionalists
research into methods E progressives
of teaching reading.
F linguistics
These critics believe
that 38……………………… G research studies
……… is incompatible
with student-centred
learning. In the future,
teachers need to be
aware
of 39………………………….
. so that they
understand the
importance of
phonics. They should
not, however, ignore
the ideas
of 40………………………….
. which make reading
enjoyable for learners.
READING PASSAGE 1
Going Bananas
A
The world’s favourite fruit could disappear forever in 10 years time. The
banana is among the world’s oldest crops. Agricultural scientists believe that
the first edible banana was discovered around ten thousand years ago. It has
been at an evolutionary standstill ever since it was first propagated in the
jungles of South-East Asia at the end of the last ice age. Normally the wild
banana, a giant jungle herb called Musa acuminate, contains a mass of hard
seeds that make the fruit virtually inedible. But now and then, hunter-
gatherers must have discovered rare mutant plants that produced seed-less,
edible fruits. Geneticists now know that the vast majority of these soft-fruited
plants resulted from genetic accidents that gave their cells three copies of each
chromosome instead of the usual two. This imbalance prevents seeds and
pollen from developing normally, rendering the mutant plants sterile. And that
is why some scientists believe the world’s most popular fruit could be doomed.
It lacks the genetic diversity to fight off pests and diseases that are invading the
banana plantations of Central America and the small-holdings of Africa and
Asia alike.
B
In some ways, the banana today resembles the potato before blight brought
famine to Ireland a century and a half ago. But “it holds a lesson for other
crops, too”, says Emile Frison, top banana at the International Network for the
Improvement of Banana and Plantain in Montpellier, France. “The state of the
banana”, Frison warns, “can teach a broader lesson the increasing
standardisation of food crops around the world is threatening their ability to
adapt and survive.”
C
The first Stone Age plant breeders cultivated these sterile freaks by replanting
cuttings from their stems. And the descendants of those original cuttings are
the bananas we still eat today. Each is a virtual clone, almost devoid of genetic
diversity. And that uniformity makes it ripe for a disease like no other crop on
Earth. Traditional varieties of sexually reproducing crops have always had a
much broader genetic base, and the genes will recombine in new
arrangements in each generation. This gives them much greater flexibility in
evolving responses to disease – and far more genetic resources to draw on in
the face of an attack. But that advantage is fading fast, as growers increasingly
plant the same few, high-yielding varieties. Plant breeders work feverishly to
maintain resistance in these standardized crops. Should these efforts falter,
yields of even the most productive crop could swiftly crash. “When some pest
or disease comes along, severe epidemics can occur,” says Geoff Hawtin,
director of the Rome-based International Plant Genetic Resources Institute.
D
The banana is an excellent case in point. Until the 1950s, one variety, the Gros
Michel, dominated the world’s commercial banana business. Found by French
botanists in Asian the 1820s, the Gros Michel was by all accounts a fine
banana, richer and sweeter than today’s standard banana and without the
latter’s bitter aftertaste when green. But it was vulnerable to a soil fungus that
produced wilt known as Panama disease. “Once the fungus gets into the soil it
remains there for many years. There is nothing farmers can do. Even chemical
spraying won’t get rid of it,” says Rodomiro Ortiz, director of the International
Institute for Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria. So plantation owners
played a running game, abandoning infested fields and moving so “clean” land
– until they ran out of clean land in the 1950s and Had to abandon the Gros
Michel. Its successor and still the reigning commercial king is the Cavendish
banana, a 19th-century British discovery from southern China. The Cavendish is
resistant to Panama disease and, as a result, it literally saved the international
banana industry. During the 1960s, it replaced the Gros Michel on supermarket
shelves. If you buy a banana today, it is almost certainly a Cavendish. But even
so, it is a minority in the world’s banana crop.
E
Half a billion people in Asia and Africa depend on bananas. Bananas provide
the largest source of calories and are eaten daily. Its name is synonymous with
food. But the day of reckoning may be coming for the Cavendish and its
indigenous kin. Another fungal disease, black Sigatoka, has become a global
epidemic since its first appearance in Fiji in 1963. Left to itself, black Sigatoka –
which causes brown wounds on leaves and premature fruit ripening – cuts fruit
yields by 50 to 70 per cent and reduces the productive lifetime of banana
plants from 30 years to as little as 2 or 3. Commercial growers keep Sigatoka at
bay by a massive chemical assault. Forty sprayings of fungicide a year is typical.
But despite the fungicides, diseases such as black Sigatoka are getting more
and more difficult to control. “As soon as you bring in a new fungicide, they
develop resistance,” says Frison. “One thing we can be sure of is that the
Sigatoka won’t lose in this battle.” Poor farmers, who cannot afford chemicals,
have it even worse. They can do little more than watch their plants die. “Most
of the banana fields in Amazonia have already been destroyed by the disease,”
says Luadir Gasparotto, Brazil’s leading banana pathologist with the
government research agency EMBRAPA. Production is likely to fall by 70
percent as the disease spreads, he predicts. The only option will be to find a
new variety.
F
But how? Almost all edible varieties are susceptible to diseases, so growers
cannot simply change to a different banana. With most crops, such a threat
would unleash an army of breeders, scouring the world for resistant relatives
whose traits they can breed into commercial varieties. Not so with the banana.
Because all edible varieties are sterile, bringing in new genetic traits to help
cope with pests and diseases is nearly impossible. Nearly, but not totally. Very
rarely, a sterile banana will experience a genetic accident that allows an almost
normal seed to develop, giving breeders a tiny window for improvement.
Breeders at the Honduran Foundation of Agricultural Research have tried to
exploit this to create disease-resistant varieties. Further backcrossing with wild
bananas yielded a new seedless banana resistant to both black Sigatoka and
Panama disease.
G
Neither Western supermarket consumers nor peasant growers like the new
hybrid. Some accuse it of tasting more like an apple than a banana. Not
surprisingly, the majority of plant breeders have till now turned their backs on
the banana and got to work on easier plants. And commercial banana
companies are now washing their hands of the whole breeding effort,
preferring to fund a search for new fungicides instead. “We supported a
breeding programme for 40 years, but it wasn’t able to develop an alternative
to Cavendish. It was very expensive and we got nothing back,” says Ronald
Romero, head of research at Chiquita, one of the Big Three companies that
dominate the international banana trade.
H
Last year, a global consortium of scientists led by Frison announced plans to
sequence the banana genome within five years. It would be the first edible
fruit to be sequenced. Well, almost edible. The group will actually be
sequencing inedible wild bananas from East Asia because many of these are
resistant to black Sigatoka. If they can pinpoint the genes that help these wild
varieties to resist black Sigatoka, the protective genes could be introduced into
laboratory tissue cultures of cells from edible varieties. These could then be
propagated into new, resistant plants and passed on to farmers.
I
It sounds promising, but the big banana companies have, until now, refused to
get involved in GM research for fear of alienating their customers.
“Biotechnology is extremely expensive and there are serious questions about
consumer acceptance,” says David McLaughlin, Chiquita’s senior director for
environmental affairs. With scant funding from the companies, the banana
genome researchers are focusing on the other end of the spectrum. Even if
they can identify the crucial genes, they will be a long way from developing
new varieties that smallholders will find suitable and affordable. But whatever
biotechnology’s academic interest, it is the only hope for the banana. Without
banana production worldwide will head into a tailspin. We may even see the
extinction of the banana as both a lifesaver for hungry and impoverished
Africans and as the most popular product on the world’s supermarket shelves.
Questions 1-3
Complete the sentences below with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the
passage.
Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet
1 Banana was first eaten as a fruit by humans almost ………………………. years

ago.
2 Banana was first planted in …………………………
3 Wild banana’s taste is adversely affected by its……………………………
Questions 4-10
Look at the following statements (Questions 4-10) and the list of people below
Match each statement with the correct person, A-I.
Write the correct letter: A-I, in boxes 4-10 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
4 Pest invasion may seriously damage the banana industry.
5 The effect of fungal infection in the soil is often long-lasting.
6 A commercial manufacturer gave up on breeding bananas for disease-
resistant species.
7 Banana disease may develop resistance to chemical sprays.
8 A banana disease has destroyed a large number of banana plantations.
9 Consumers would not accept the genetically altered crop.
10 Lessons can be learned from bananas for other crops.
List of People
A Rodomiro
B David Mclaughlin
C Emile Frison
D Ronald Romero
E Luadir Gasparotto
F Geoff Hawtin
Questions 11-13
Passage 1?
11 Banana is the oldest known fruit.
12 Gros Michel is still being used as a commercial product.
13 Banana is the main food in some countries
READING PASSAGE 2
Can we call it “ART” (2)
Life-Casting and Art
Julian Bames explores the questions posed by Life-Casts, an exhibition of plaster moulds of living
people and objects which were originally used for scientific purposes
A
Art changes over time and our idea of what art is changing too. For example,
objects originally intended for devotional, ritualistic or recreational purposes
may be recategorized as art by members of other later civilisations, such as our
own, which no longer respond to these purposes.
B
What also happens is that techniques and crafts which would have been
judged inartistic at the time they were used are reassessed. Life-casting is an
interesting example of this. It involved making a plaster mould of a living
person or thing. This was complex, technical work, as Benjamin Robert Haydon
discovered when he poured 250 litres of plaster over his human model and
nearly killed him. At the time, the casts were used for medical research and,
consequently, in the nineteenth-century life-casting was considered inferior to
sculpture in the same way that, more recently, photography was thought to be
a lesser art than painting. Both were viewed as unacceptable shortcuts by the
‘senior’ arts. Their virtues of speed and unwavering realism also implied their
limitations; they left little or no room for the imagination.
C
For many, life-casting was an insult to the sculptor’s creative genius. In an
infamous lawsuit of 1834, a moulder whose mask of the dying French emperor
Napoleon had been reproduced and sold without his permission was judged to
have no rights to the image. In other words, he was specifically held not to be
an artist. This judgement reflects the view of established members of the
nineteenth-century art world such as Rodin, who commented that life-casting
‘happens fast but it doesn’t make Art’. Some even feared that ‘if too much
nature was allowed in, it would lead Art away from its proper course of the
Ideal.
D
The painter Gauguin, at the end of the nineteenth century, worried about
future developments in photography. If ever the process went into colour,
what painter would labour away at a likeness with a brush made from squirrel-
tail? But painting has proved robust. Photography has changed it, of course,
just as the novel had to reassess narrative after the arrival of the cinema. But
the gap between the senior and junior arts was always narrower than the
traditionalists implied. Painters have always used technical back-up such as
studio assistants to do the boring bits, while apparently lesser crafts involve
great skill, thought, preparation and, depending on how we define it,
imagination.
E
Time changes our view in another way, too. Each new movement implies a
reassessment of what has gone before? What is done now alters what was
done before. In some cases, this is merely self-serving, with the new art using
the old to justify itself. It seems to be saying, look at how all of that points to
this! Aren’t we clever to be the culmination of all that has gone before? But
usually, it is a matter of re-alerting the sensibility, reminding us not to take
things for granted. Take, for example, the cast of the hand of a giant from a
circus, made by an anonymous artist around 1889, an item that would now sit
happily in any commercial or public gallery. The most significant impact of this
piece is on the eye, in the contradiction between unexpected size and
verisimilitude. Next, the human element kicks in, you note that the nails are
dirt-encrusted, unless this is the caster’s decorative addition, and the fingertips
extend far beyond them. Then you take in the element of choice, arrangement,
art if you like, in the neat, pleated, buttoned sleeve-end that gives the item
balance and variation of texture. This is just a moulded hand, yet the part
stands utterly for the whole. It reminds us slyly, poignantly, of the full-size
original.
F
But is it art? And, if so, why? These are old tediously repeated questions to
which artists have often responded, ‘It is art because I am an artist and
therefore what I do is art. However, what doesn’t work for literature works
much better for artworks of art do float free of their creators’ intentions. Over
time the “reader” does become more powerful. Few of us can look at a
medieval altarpiece as its painter intended. We believe too little and
aesthetically know too much, so we recreate and find new fields of pleasure in
the work. Equally, the lack of artistic intention of Paul Richer and other
forgotten craftsmen who brushed oil onto flesh, who moulded, cast and
decorated in the nineteenth century is now irrelevant. What counts is the
surviving object and our response to it. The tests are simple: does it interest
the eye, excite the brain, move the mind to reflection and involve the heart. It
may, to use the old dichotomy, be beautiful but it is rarely true to any
significant depth. One of the constant pleasures of art is its ability to come at
us from an unexpected angle and stop us short in wonder.
Questions 14-18
The Reading Passage has six paragraphs A-F
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-F, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
14 an example of a craftsman’s unsuccessful claim to ownership of his work
15 an example of how trends in the art can change attitudes to an earlier work
16 the original function of a particular type of art
17 ways of assessing whether or not an object is an art
18 how artists deal with the less interesting aspects of their work
Questions 19-24
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading
Passage 2?
YES if the statement is true
NO if the statement is false
19 Nineteenth-century sculptors admired the speed and realism of life-casting.
20 Rodin believed the quality of the life-casting would improve if a slower
process were used.
21 The importance of painting has decreased with the development of colour
photography.
22 Life-casting requires more skill than sculpture does.
23 New art encourages us to look at earlier work in a fresh way.
24 The intended meaning of a work of art can get lost over time.
Questions 25-26
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 25 and 26 on your answer sheet.
25 The most noticeable contrast in the cast of the giant’s hand is between the
A dirt and decoration
B size and realism
C choice and arrangement
D balance and texture
26 According to the writer, the importance of any artistic object lies in

A the artist’s intentions
B the artist’s beliefs
C the relevance it has to modern life
D the way we respond to it
READING PASSAGE 3
Global Warming in New Zealand
A
For many environmentalists, the world seems to be getting warmer. As the
nearest country of the South Polar Region, New Zealand has maintained an
upward trend in its average temperature in the past few years. However, the
temperature in New Zealand will go up 4oC in the next century while the polar
region will go up more than 6oC. The different pictures of temperature stem
from its surrounding ocean which acts as the air conditioner. Thus New
Zealand is comparatively fortunate.
B
Scientifically speaking, this temperature phenomenon in New Zealand
originated from what researchers call “SAM (Southern Annular Mode), which
refers to the wind belt that circles the Southern Oceans including New Zealand
and Antarctica. Yet recent work has revealed that changes in SAM in New
Zealand have resulted in a weakening of moisture during the summer, and
more rainfall in other seasons. A bigger problem may turn out to be heavier
droughts for agricultural activities because of more water loss from soil,
resulting in the poorer harvest before winter when the rainfall arrives too late
to rescue.
C
Among all the calamities posed by drought, moisture deficit ranks the first.
Moisture deficit is the gap between the water plants need during the growing
season and the water the earth can offer. Measures of moisture deficit were at
their highest since the 1970s in New Zealand. Meanwhile, ecological analyses
clearly show moisture deficit is imposed at the different growth stage of crops.
If moisture deficit occurs around a crucial growth stage, it will cause about 22%
reduction in grain yield as opposed to moisture deficit at the vegetative phase.
D
Global warming is not only affecting agriculture production. When scientists
say the country’s snowpack and glaciers are melting at an alarming rate due to
global warming, the climate is putting another strain on the local places. For
example, when the development of global warming is accompanied by the
falling snow line, the local skiing industry comes into a crisis. The snow line
may move up as the temperature goes up, and then the snow at the bottom
will melt earlier. Fortunately, it is going to be favourable for the local industry
to tide over tough periods since the quantities of snowfall in some areas are
more likely to increase.
E
What is the reaction of the glacier region? The climate change can be reflected
in the glacier region in southern New Zealand or land covered by ice and snow.
The reaction of a glacier to a climatic change involves a complex chain of
processes. Overtime periods of years to several decades, cumulative changes
in mass balance cause volume and thickness changes, which will affect the flow
of ice via altered internal deformation and basal sliding. This dynamic reaction
finally leads to glacier length changes, the advance or retreat of glacier
tongues. Undoubtedly, glacier mass balance is a more direct signal of annual
atmospheric conditions.
F
The latest research result of National Institute of Water and Atmospheric
(NIWA) Research shows that glaciers line keeps moving up because of the
impacts of global warming. Further losses of ice can be reflected in Mt. Cook
Region. By 1996, a 14 km long sector of the glacier had melted down forming a
melt lake (Hooker Lake) with a volume. Melting of the glacier front at a rate of
40 m/yr will cause the glacier to retreat at a rather uniform rate. Therefore,
the lake will continue to grow until it reaches the glacier bed.
G
A direct result of the melting glaciers is the change of high tides that serves the
main factor for sea-level rise. The trend of sea-level rise will bring a threat to
the groundwater system for its hypersaline groundwater and then pose a
possibility to decrease agricultural production. Many experts believe that the
best way to counter this trend is to give a longer-term view of sea-level change
in New Zealand. Indeed, the coastal boundaries need to be upgraded and
redefined.
H
There is no doubt that global warming has affected New Zealand in many
aspects. The emphasis on global warming should be based on the joints efforts
of local people and experts who conquer the tough period. For instance,
farmers are taking a long term, multi-generational approach to adjust the
breeds and species according to the temperature. Agriculturists also find ways
to tackle the problems that may bring to the soil. In broad terms, going
forward, the systemic resilience that’s been going on a long time in the
ecosystem will continue.
I
How about animals’ reaction? Experts have surprisingly realised that animals
have an unconventional adaptation to global warming. A study has looked at
sea turtles on a few northern beaches in New Zealand and it is very interesting
to find that sea turtles can become male or female according to the
temperature. Further researches will try to find out how rising temperatures
would affect the ratio of sex reversal in their growth. Clearly, the temperature
of the nest plays a vital role in the sexes of the baby turtles.
J
Tackling the problems of global warming is never easy in New Zealand because
records show the slow process of global warming may have a different impact
on various regions. For New Zealand, the emission of carbon dioxide only
accounts for 0.5% of the world’s total, which has met the governmental
standard. However, New Zealand’s effort counts only the tip of the iceberg. So
far, global warming has been a world issue that still hangs in an ambiguous
future.
Questions 27-32
Write the correct letter in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.
27 What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

A The temperature in the polar region will increase less than that in New
Zealand in the next century.
B The weather and climate of New Zealand are very important to its people
because of its close location to the polar region.
C The air condition in New Zealand will maintain a high quality because of the
ocean.
D The temperature of New Zealand will increase less than that of other
regions in the next 100 years because it is surrounded by sea.
28 What is one effect of the wind belt that circles the Southern Oceans?
A New Zealand will have more moisture in winds in summer.
B New Zealand needs to face droughts more often in hotter months in a year.
C Soil water will increase as a result of weakening moisture in the winds.
D Agricultural production will be reduced as a result of more rainfall in other
seasons.
29 What does “moisture deficit” mean to the grain and crops?

A The growing condition will be very tough for crops.
B The growing season of some plants can hardly be determined.
C There will be a huge gap between the water plants needed and the water
the earth can offer.
D The soil of grain and crops in New Zealand reached its lowest production
since the 1970s.
30 What changes will happen to the skiing industry due to the global warming
phenomenon?
A The skiing station may lower the altitude of skiing.
B Part of the skiing station needs to move to the north.
C The snowfall may increase in part of the skiing station.
D The local skiing station may likely to make a profit because of the snowfall
increase.
31 Cumulative changes over a long period of time in mass balance will lead to
A alterations in the volume and thickness of glaciers.
B faster changes in internal deformation and basal sliding.
C bigger length of glaciers.
D retreat of glacier tongues as a result of a change in annual atmospheric
conditions.
32 Why does the writer mention NIWA in the sixth paragraph?

A To use a particular example to explain the effects brought by glacier
melting.
B To emphasize the severance of the further loss of ice in Mt. Cook Region.
C To alarm the reader of the melting speed of glaciers at a uniform rate.
D To note the lake in the region will disappear when it reaches the glacier bed.
Questions 33-35
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Research data shows
Questions 36-40
that sea level has a
Do the following statements agree with the claims
close relationship with
of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
the change of climate.
The major reason for
YES if the statement agrees with the claims
the increase in sea
of the writer.
level is connected
NO if the statement contradicts the claims
with 33 ……………………
of the writer.
…. The increase in sea
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer
level is also said to
thinks about it
have a threat to the
underground water 36 Farmers are less responsive to climate change
system, the than agriculturists.
destruction of which 37 The agricultural sector is too conservative and
caused by the rise of deals with climate change.
sea level will lead to a 38 Turtle is vulnerable to climate change.
high probability of a 39 Global warming is going slowly, and it may have
reduction different effects on different areas in New Zealand.
in 34………………………… 40 New Zealand must cut carbon dioxide emission
In the long run, New if they want to solve the problem of global
Zealanders may have warming.
to improve
the 35………………………..
if they want to
diminish the effect
change in sea levels.
READING PASSAGE 1
The coming back of the “Extinct”
Grass in Britain
A
It’s Britain’s dodo, called interrupted brome because of its gappy seed-head, this
unprepossessing grass was found nowhere else in the world. Sharp-eyed
Victorian botanists were the first to notice it, and by the 1920s the odd-looking
grass had been found across much of southern England. Yet its decline was just
as dramatic. By 1972 it had vanished from its last toehold-two hay fields at
Pampisford, near Cambridge. Even the seeds stored at the Cambridge
University Botanic Garden as an insurance policy were dead, having been
mistakenly kept at room temperature. Botanists mourned: a unique living
entity was gone forever.
B
Yet reports of its demise proved premature. Interrupted brome has come back
from the dead, and not through any fancy genetic engineering. Thanks to one
green-fingered botanist, interrupted brome is alive and well and living as a pot
plant. Britain’s dodo is about to become a phoenix, as conservationists set
about relaunching its career in the wild.
C
At first, Philip Smith was unaware that the scrawny pots of grass on his bench
were all that remained of a uniquely British species. But when news of the
“extinction” of Bromus interruptus finally reached him, he decided to astonish
his colleagues. He seized his opportunity at a meeting of the Botanical Society
of the British Isles in Manchester in 1979, where he was booked to talk about
his research on the evolution of the brome grasses. It was sad, he said, that
interrupted brome had become extinct, as there were so many interesting
questions botanists could have investigated. Then he whipped out two
enormous pots of it. The extinct grass was very much alive.
D
It turned out that Smith had collected seeds from the brome’s last refuge at
Pampisford in 1963, shortly before the species disappeared from the wild
altogether. Ever since then, Smith had grown the grass on, year after year. So,
in the end, the hapless grass survived not through some high-powered
conservation scheme or fancy genetic manipulation, but simply because one
man was interested in it. As Smith points out, interrupted brome isn’t
particularly attractive and has no commercial value. But to a plant taxonomist,
that’s not what makes a plant interesting.
E
The brome’s future, at least in cultivation, now seems assured. Seeds from
Smith’s plants have been securely stored in the state-of-the-art Millennium
Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place in Sussex. And living plants thrive at the botanic
gardens at Kew, Edinburgh and Cambridge. This year, “bulking up” is underway
to make sure there are plenty of plants in all gardens, and sackfuls of seeds are
being stockpiled at strategic sites throughout the country.
F
The brome’s relaunch into the British countryside is next on the agenda.
English Nature has included interrupted brome in its Species Recovery
Programme, and it is on track to be reintroduced into the agricultural
landscape if friendly farmers can be found. Alas, the grass is neither pretty nor
useful – in fact, it is undeniably a weed, and a weed of a crop that nobody
grows these days, at that. The brome was probably never common enough to
irritate farmers, but no one would value it today for its productivity or its
nutritious qualities. As a grass, it leaves agriculturalists cold.
G
So where did it come from? Smith’s research into the taxonomy of the brome
grasses suggests that interruptus almost certainly mutated from another
weedy grass, soft brome, hordeaceus. So close is the relationship that interrupted
brome was originally deemed to be a mere variety of soft brome by the great
Victorian taxonomist Professor Hackel. But in 1895, George Claridge Druce, a
45-year-old Oxford pharmacist with a shop on the High Street, decided that it
deserved species status, and convinced the botanical world. Druce was by then
well on his way to fame as an Oxford don, mayor of the city, and a fellow of the
Royal Society. A poor boy from Northamptonshire and a self-educated man,
Druce became the leading field botanist of his generation. When Druce
described a species, botanists took note.
H
The brome’s parentage may be clear, but the timing of its birth is more
obscure. According to agricultural historian Joan Thirsk, sainfoin and its friends
made their first modest appearance in Britain in the early 1600s. seeds brought
in from the Continent were sown in pastures to feed horses and other
livestock. But in those early days, only a few enthusiasts – mostly gentlemen
keen to pamper their best horses – took to the new crops.
I
Although the credit for the “discovery” of interrupted brome goes to a Miss A.
M. Barnard, who collected the first specimens at Odsey, Bedfordshire, in 1849.
The grass had probably lurked undetected in the English countryside for at
least a hundred years. Smith thinks the botanical dodo probably evolved in the
date 17th or early 18th century, once sainfoin became established.
J
Like many once-common arable weeds, such as the corncockle, interrupted
brome seeds cannot survive long in the soil. Each spring, the brome relied on
farmers to resow its seeds; in the days before weedkillers and sophisticated
seed sieves, an ample supply would have contaminated stocks of crop seed.
But fragile seeds are not the brome’s only problem: this species is also
reluctant to release its seeds as they ripen. Show it a ploughed field today and
this grass will struggle to survive, says Smith. It will be difficult to establish in
today’s “improved” agricultural landscape, inhabited by notoriously vigorous
competitors.
Questions 1-7
Passage 1?
1 The name for interrupted brome is very special as its head shaped like a
sharp eye
2 Interrupted brome thought to become extinct because there was no live
seed even in a labs condition.
3 Philip Smith comes from the University of Cambridge.
4 Reborn of the interrupted brome is attributed more to scientific meaning
than seemingly aesthetic or commercial ones
5 English nature will operate to recover interrupted brome on the success of
survival in Kew.
6 Interrupted Brome grows poorly in some competing modern agricultural
environment with other plants.
7 Media publicity plays a significant role to make interrupted brome continue
to exist.
Questions 8-13
Use the information in the passage to match the people (listed A-F) with
opinions or deeds below.
Write the appropriate letters A-F in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once
A George Claridge Druce
B Nathaniel Fiennes
C Professor Hackel
D A. M. Barnard
E Philip Smith
J Joan Thirsk
Choose the people who
8 reestablished the British unique plants
9 identified the interrupted brome as just to its parent brome
10 gave an independent taxonomy place to interrupted brome
11 discovered and picked the first sample of interrupted brome
12 recorded the first ‘show up’ of sainfoin plants in Britain
13 collected the last seeds just before its extinction
READING PASSAGE 2
London Swaying Footbridge
A
In September 1996 a competition was organized by the Financial Times in
association with the London Borough of Southwark to design a new footbridge
across the Thames. The competition attracted over 200 entries and was won
by a team comprising Arup (engineers), Foster and Partners (architects) and
the sculptor Sir Anthony Caro.
B
The bridge opened to the public on 10 June 2000. Up to 100,000 people
crossed it that day with up to 2000 people on the bridge at any one time. At
first, the bridge was still. Then it began to sway, just slightly. Then, almost from
one moment to the next, when large groups of people were crossing, the
wobble intensified. This movement became sufficiently large for people to stop
walking to retain their balance and sometimes to hold onto the handrails for
support. It was decided immediately to limit the number of people on the
bridge, but even so, the deck movement was sufficient to be uncomfortable
and to raise concern for public safety so that on 12 June the bridge was closed
until the problem could be solved.
C
The embarrassed engineers found the videotape that day which showed the
center span swaying about 3 inches side to side every second. The engineers
first thought that winds might be exerting excessive force on the many large
flags and banners bedecking the bridge for its gala premiere. What’s more,
they also discovered that pedestrians also played a key role. Human activities,
such as walking, running, jumping, swaying, etc. could cause horizontal forces
which in turn could cause excessive dynamic vibration in the lateral direction in
the bridge. As the structure began moving, pedestrians adjusted their gait to
the same lateral rhythm as the bridge. The adjusted footsteps magnified the
motion – just like when four people all stand up in a small boat at the same
time. As more pedestrians locked into the same rhythm, the increasing
oscillations led to the dramatic swaying captured on film.
D
In order to design a method of reducing the movements, the force exerted by
the pedestrians had to be quantified and related to the motion of the bridge.
Although there are some descriptions of this phenomenon in existing
literature, none of these actually quantifies the force. So there was no
quantitative analytical way to design the bridge against this effect. An
immediate research program was launched by the bridge’s engineering
designers Ove Arup, supported by a number of universities and research
organizations.
E
The tests at the University of Southampton involved a person walking ‘on the
spot’ on a small shake table. The tests at Imperial College involved persons
walking along with a specially built, 7.2m-long platform which could be driven
laterally at different frequencies and amplitudes. Each type of test had its
limitations. The Imperial College tests were only able to capture 7 – 8
footsteps, and the ‘walking on the spot’ tests, although monitoring many
footsteps, could not investigate normal forward walking. Neither test could
investigate any influence of other people in a crowd on the behavior of the
individual being tested.
F
The results of the laboratory tests provided information which enabled the
initial design of a retrofit to be progressed. However, the limitations of these
tests were clear and it was felt that the only way to replicate properly the
precise conditions of the Millennium Bridge was to carry out crowd tests on
the bridge deck itself. These tests done by the Arup engineers could
incorporate factors not possible in the laboratory tests. The first of these was
carried out with 100 people in July 2000. The results of these tests were used
to refine the load model for pedestrians. The second series of crowd tests were
carried out on the bridge in December 2000. The purpose of these tests was to
further validate the design assumptions and to load test a prototype damper
installation. The test was carried out with 275 people.
G
Unless the usage of the bridge was to be greatly restricted, only two generic
options to improve its performance were considered feasible. The first was to
increase the stiffness of the bridge to move all its lateral natural frequencies
out of the range that could be excited by the lateral football forces, and the
second was to increase the damping of the bridge to reduce the resonant
response.
Questions 14-17
Choose FOUR letters, A-H.
Write the correct letters in boxes 14-17 on your answer sheet.
Which FOUR of the following situation were witnessed on the opening
ceremony of the bridge?
A The frequency of oscillation increased after some time.
B All the engineers went to see the ceremony that day.
C The design of the bridge astonished the people.
D Unexpected sideway movement of the bridge occurred.
E Pedestrians had difficulty in walking on the deck.
F The bridge fell down when people tried to retain their balance.
G Vibration could be detected on the deck by the pedestrians.
H It was raining when the ceremony began.
Questions 18-22
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage 2
Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer
After the opening
ceremony, the
embarrassed
engineers tried to find
out the reason for the
bridge’s wobbling.
Judged from the
videotape, they
thought
that 18………………………
….
and 19………………………
….. might create an
excessive force on the
bridge. The
distribution
of 20………………………..
resulted from human
activities could
cause 21……………………
………. throughout the
structure. This
swaying prompted
people to start
adjusting the way they
walk, which in turn
Questions 23-26
Complete the table below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from Reading Passage 2 for each answer.
Research programs launched
by universities and organizations
Universities / People Activity
Limited ability to have 7-8 footsteps
Test at 23…………………
‘walking on the spot’ at Not enough data on 24…………………

Southampton
Aim to verify 26………………………..
Crowd test conducted

by 25………………
READING PASSAGE 3
Book review on Musicophilia
Norman M. Weinberger reviews the latest work of Oliver Sacks on music.
A
Music and the brain are both endlessly fascinating subjects, and as a
neuroscientist specialising in auditory learning and memory, I find them
especially intriguing. So I had high expectations of Musicophilia, the latest
offering from neurologist and prolific author Oliver Sacks. And I confess to
feeling a little guilty reporting that my reactions to the book are mixed.
B
Sacks himself is the best part of Musicophilia. He richly documents his own life
in the book and reveals highly personal experiences. The photograph of him on
the cover of the book-which shows him wearing headphones, eyes closed,
clearly enchanted as he listens to Alfred Brendel perform Beethoven’s
Pathetique Sonata-makes a positive impression that is borne out by the
contents of the book. Sacks’ voice throughout is steady and erudite but never
pontifical. He is neither self-conscious nor self-promoting.
C
The preface gives a good idea of what the book will deliver. In it, Sacks explains
that he wants to convey the insights gleaned from the “enormous and rapidly
growing body of work on the neural underpinnings of musical perception and
imagery, and the complex and often bizarre disorders to which these are
prone.” He also stresses the importance of “the simple art of observation” and
“the richness of the human context.” He wants to combine “observation and
description with the latest in technology,” he says, and to imaginatively enter
into the experience of his patients and subjects. The reader can see that Sacks,
who has been practicing neurology for 40 years, is torn between the “old-
fashioned” path of observation and the new-fangled, high-tech approach: He
knows that he needs to take heed of the latter, but his heart lies with the
former.
D
The book consists mainly of detailed descriptions of cases, most of them
involving patients whom Sacks has seen in his practice. Brief discussions of
contemporary neuroscientific reports are sprinkled liberally throughout the
text. Part, “Haunted by Music,” begins with the strange case of Tony Cicoria, a
nonmusical, middle-aged surgeon who was consumed by a love of music after
being hit by lightning. He suddenly began to crave listening to piano music,
which he had never cared for in the past. He started to play the piano and then
to compose music, which arose spontaneously in his mind in a “torrent” of
notes. How could this happen? Was the cause psychological? (He had had a
near-death experience when the lightning struck him.) Or was it the direct
result of a change in the auditory regions of his cerebral cortex?
Electroencephalography (EEG) showed his brain waves to be normal in the
mid-1990s, just after his trauma and subsequent “conversion” to music. There
are now more sensitive tests, but Cicoria, has declined to undergo them; he
does not want to delve into the causes of his musicality. What a shame!
E
Part II, “A Range of Musicality,” covers a wider variety of topics, but
unfortunately, some of the chapters offer little or nothing that is new. For
example, chapter 13, which is five pages long, merely notes that the blind
often has better hearing than the sighted. The most interesting chapters are
those that present the strangest cases. Chapter 8 is about “amusia,” an
inability to hear sounds like music, and “dysharmonia,” a highly specific
impairment of the ability to hear harmony, with the ability to understand
melody left intact. Such specific “dissociations” are found throughout the cases
Sacks recounts.
F
To Sacks’s credit, part III, “Memory, Movement and Music,” brings us into the
underappreciated realm of music therapy. Chapter 16 explains how “melodic
intonation therapy” is being used to help expressive aphasic patients (those
unable to express their thoughts verbally following a stroke or other cerebral
incident) once again become capable of fluent speech. In chapter 20, Sacks
demonstrates the near-miraculous power of music to animate Parkinson’s
patients and other people with severe movement disorders, even those who
are frozen into odd postures. Scientists cannot yet explain how music achieves
this effect
G
To readers who are unfamiliar with neuroscience and music behavior,
Musicophilia may be something of a revelation. But the book will not satisfy
those seeking the causes and implications of the phenomena Sacks describes.
For one thing, Sacks appears to be more at ease discussing patients than
discussing experiments. And he tends to be rather uncritical in accepting
scientific findings and theories.
H
It’s true that the causes of music-brain oddities remain poorly understood.
However, Sacks could have done more to draw out some of the implications of
the careful observations that he and other neurologists have made and of the
treatments that have been successful. For example, he might have noted that
the many specific dissociations among components of music comprehension,
such as loss of the ability to perceive harmony but not melody, indicate that
there is no music center in the brain. Because many people who read the book
are likely to believe in the brain localisation of all mental functions, this was a
missed educational opportunity.
I
Another conclusion one could draw is that there seem to be no “cures” for
neurological problems involving music. A drug can alleviate a symptom in one
patient and aggravate it in another or can have both positive and negative
effects in the same patient. Treatments mentioned seem to be almost
exclusively antiepileptic medications, which “damp down” the excitability of
the brain in general; their effectiveness varies widely.
J
Finally, in many of the cases described here the patient with music-brain
symptoms is reported to have “normal” EEG results. Although Sacks recognises
the existence of new technologies, among them far more sensitive ways to
analyze brain waves than the standard neurological EEG test, he does not call
for their use. In fact, although he exhibits the greatest compassion for patients,
he conveys no sense of urgency about the pursuit of new avenues in the
diagnosis and treatment of music-brain disorders. This absence echoes the
book’s preface, in which Sacks expresses fear that “the simple art of
observation may be lost” if we rely too much on new technologies. He does
call for both approaches, though, and we can only hope that the neurological
community will respond.
Questions 27-30
27 Why does the writer have a mixed feeling about the book?
A The guilty feeling made him so.
B The writer expected it to be better than it was.
C Sacks failed to include his personal stories in the book.
D This is the only book written by Sacks.
28 What is the best part of the book?

A the photo of Sacks listening to music
B the tone of voice of the book
C the autobiographical description in the book
D the description of Sacks’ wealth
29 In the preface, what did Sacks try to achieve?

A make a herald introduction of the research work and technique applied
B give a detailed description of various musical disorders
C explain why he needs to do away with the simple observation
D explain why he needs to do away with the simple observation
30 What is disappointing about Tony Cicoria’s case?

A He refuses to have further tests.
B He can’t determine the cause of his sudden musicality.
C He nearly died because of the lightening.
D His brain waves were too normal to show anything.
Questions 31-36
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading
Passage 3?
TRUE if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
FALSE if the statement contradicts with the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
31 It is difficult to give a well-reputable writer a less than totally favorable
review.
32 Beethoven’s Pathetique Sonata is a good treatment for musical disorders.
33 Sacks believes technological methods is of little importance compared with
traditional observation when studying his patients.
34 It is difficult to understand why music therapy is undervalued
35 Sacks held little skepticism when borrowing other theories and findings in
describing reasons and notion for phenomena he depicts in the book.
36 Sacks is in a rush to use new testing methods to do treatment for patients.
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 The content covered dissociations in understanding between harmony and

melody
38 The study of treating musical disorders
39 The EEG scans of Sacks’ patients
40 Sacks believes testing based on new technologies
A show no music-brain disorders.
B indicates that medication can have varied results.
C is key for the neurological community to unravel the mysteries.
D should not be used in isolation.
E indicate that not everyone can receive a good education.
F show a misconception that there is a function centre localized in the brain
READING PASSAGE 1
Can We Hold Back the Flood?
A
LAST winter’s floods on the rivers of central Europe were among the worst
since the Middle Ages, and as winter storms return, the spectre of floods is
returning too. Just weeks ago, the river Rhône in south-east France burst its
banks, driving 15,000 people from their homes, and worse could be on the
way. Traditionally, river engineers have gone for Plan A: get rid of the water
fast, draining it off the land and down to the sea in tall-sides rivers re-
engineered as high-performance drains. But however big they dig city drains,
however wide and straight they make the rivers, and however high they build
the banks, the floods keep coming back to haunt them, from the Mississippi to
the Danube. And when the floods come, they seem to be worse than ever.
B
No wonder engineers are turning to Plan B: sap the water’s destructive
strength by dispersing it into fields, forgotten lakes, flood plains and aquifers.
Back in the days when rivers took a more tortuous path to the sea, floodwaters
lost impetus and volume while meandering across flood plains and idling
through wetlands and inland deltas. But today the water tends to have an
unimpeded journey to the sea. And this means that when it rains in the
uplands, the water comes down all at once. Worse, whenever we close off
more flood plain, the river’s flow farther downstream becomes more violent
and uncontrollable. Dykes are only as good as their weakest link – and the
water will unerringly find it.
C
Today, the river has lost 7 per cent of its original length and runs up to a third
faster. When it rains hard in the Alps, the peak flows from several tributaries
coincide in the main river, where once they arrived separately. And with four-
fifths of the Lower Rhine’s flood plain barricaded off, the waters rise ever
higher. The result is more frequent flooding that does ever-greater damage to
the homes, offices and roads that sit on the flood plain. Much the same has
happened in the US on the mighty Mississippi, which drains the world’s
second-largest river catchment into the Gulf of Mexico.
D
The European Union is trying to improve rain forecasts and more accurately
model how intense rains swell rivers. That may help cities prepare, but it won’t
stop the floods. To do that, say, hydrologists, you need a new approach to
engineering, not just Agency – country £1 billion – puts it like this: “The focus is
now on working with the forces of nature. Towering concrete walls are out,
and new wetlands are in.” to help keep London’s upstream and reflooding 10
square kilometres outside Oxford. Nearer to London it has spent £100 million
creating new wetlands and a relief channel across 16 kilometres.
E
The same is taking place on a much grander scale in Austria, in one of Europe’s
largest river restorations to date. Engineers are regenerating flood plains along
60 kilometres of the river Drave as it exits the Alps. They are also widening the
river bed and channeling it back into abandoned meanders, oxbow lakes and
backwaters overhung with willows. The engineers calculate that the restored
flood plain can now store up to 10 million cubic metres of floodwaters and
slow storm surges coming out of the Alps by more than an hour, protecting
towns as far downstream as Slovenia and Croatia.
F
“Rivers have to be allowed to take more space. They have to be turned from
flood-chutes into flood-foilers,” says Nienhuis. And the Dutch, for whom
preventing floods is a matter of survival, have gone furthest. A nation built
largely on drained marshes and seabed had the fright of its life in 1993 when
the Rhine almost overwhelmed it. The same happened again in 1995 when a
quarter of a million people were evacuated from the Netherlands. But a new
breed of “soft engineers” wants our cities to become porous, and Berlin is their
governed by tough new rules to prevent its drains from becoming overloaded
after heavy rains. Herald Kraft, an architect working in the city, says: “We now
see rainwater as giant Potsdamer Platz, a huge new commercial
redevelopment by DaimlerChrysler in the heart of the city.
G
Los Angeles has spent billions of dollars digging huge drains and concreting
river beds to carry away the water from occasional intense storms. “In LA we
receive half the water we need in rainfall, and we throw it away. Then we
spend hundreds of millions to import water,” says Andy Lipkis, an LA
environmentalist who kick-started the idea of the porous city by showing it
could work on one house. Lipkis, along with citizens groups like Friends of the
Los Angeles River and Unpaved LA, want to beat the urban flood hazard and fill
the taps by holding onto the city’s floodwater. And it’s not just a pipe dream.
The authorities this year launched a $100 million scheme to road-test the
porous city in one flood-hit community in Sun Valley. The plan is to catch the
rain that falls on thousands of driveways, parking lots and rooftops in the
valley. Trees will soak up water from parking lots. Homes and public buildings
will capture roof water to irrigate gardens and parks. And road drains will
empty into old gravel pits and other leaky places that should recharge the
city’s underground water reserves. Result: less flooding and more water for the
city. Plan B says every city should be porous, every river should have room to
flood naturally and every coastline should be left to build its own defences. It
sounds expensive and utopian, until you realise how much we spend trying to
drain cities and protect our watery margins – and how bad we are at it.
Questions 1-6
The Reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-G, in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.
1 A new approach carried out in the UK.

2 Reasons why the twisty path and dykes failed
3 Illustration of an alternative Plan in LA which seems much unrealistic
4 The traditional way of tackling flood
5 The effort made in the Netherlands and Germany
6 One project on a river benefits three nations
Questions 7-11
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage
Using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Flood makes river

shorter than it used to
be, which means
faster speed and more
damage to
constructions on a
flood plain. Not only
European river poses
such threat but the
same things happens
to the
powerful 7…………………
….. in the US.
In Europe, one
innovative approach
carried out by UK’s
Environment Agency,
for example, a
wetland instead of
concrete walls in
generated not far
from the city
of 8………………………. to
protect it from
flooding.
In 1995, Rhine flooded

again and thousands
Questions 12-13
Choose TWO correct letters, write your answers in boxes 12-13 on your answer
sheet.
What TWO benefits will the new approach in the UK and Austria bring to us
according to this passage?
A We can prepare before the flood comes
B It may stop the flood involving the whole area
C Decrease strong rainfalls around the Alps simply by engineering
constructions
D Reserve water to protect downstream towns
E Store tons of water in the downstream area
READING PASSAGE 2
The History of pencil
A
The beginning of the story of pencils started with lightning. Graphite, the main
material for producing a pencil, was discovered in 1564 in Borrowdale in
England when lightning struck a local tree during a thunder. Local people found
out that the black substance spotted at the root of the unlucky tree was
different from burning ash of wood. It was soft, thus left marks everywhere.
The chemistry was barely out of its infancy at the time, so people mistook it for
lead, equally black but much heavier. It was soon put to use by locals in
marking their sheep for signs of ownership and calculation.
B
Britain turns out to be the major country where mines of graphite can be
detected and developed. Even so, the first pencil was invented elsewhere. As
graphite is soft, it requires some form of the encasement. In Italy, graphite
sticks were initially wrapped in string or sheepskin for stability, becoming
perhaps the very first pencil in the world. Then around 1560, an Italian couple
made what are likely the first blueprints for the modern, wood-encased
carpentry pencil their version was a flat, oval, more compact type of pencil.
Their concept involved the hollowing out of a stick of juniper wood. Shortly
thereafter in 1662, a superior technique was discovered by German people:
two wooden halves were carved, a graphite stick inserted, and the halves then
glued together – essentially the same method in use to this day. The news of
usefulness of these early pencils spread far and wide, attracting the attention
of artists all over the known world.
C
Although graphite core in pencils is still referred to as lead, modern pencils do
not contain lead as the “lead” of the pencil is actually a mix of finely ground
graphite and clay powders. This mixture is important because the amount of
clay content added to the graphite depends on intended pencil hardness, and
the amount of time spent on grinding the mixture determines the quality of
the lead. The more clay you put in, the higher hardness the core has. Many
pencils across the world and almost all in Europe are graded on the European
system. This system of naming used B for black and H for hard; a pencil’s grade
was described by a sequence or successive Hs or Bs such as BB and BBB for
successively softer leads, and HH and HHH for successively harder ones. Then
the standard writing pencil is graded HB.
D
In England, pencils continued to be made from whole sawn graphite. But with
the mass production of pencils, they are getting drastically more popular in
many countries with each passing decade. As demands rise, appetite for
graphite soars. According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), world
production of natural graphite in 2012 was 1,100,000 tonnes, of which the
following major exporters are: China, India, Brazil, North Korea and Canada.
When the value of graphite was realised, the mines were taken over by the
government and guarded. One of its chiefs uses during the reign of Elizabeth I
in the second half of the 16th century was as moulds for the manufacture of
cannonballs. Graphite was transported from Keswick to London in armed
stagecoaches. In 1751 an Act of Parliament was passed making it an offence to
steal or receive “wad”. This crime was punishable by hard labour or
transportation.
E
That the United States did not use pencils in the outer space till they spent
$1000 to make a pencil to use in zero gravity conditions is, in fact, a fiction. It is
widely known that astronauts in Russia used grease pencils, which don’t have
breakage problems. But it is also a fact that their counterparts in the United
States used pencils in the outer space before real zero gravity pencil was
invented. They preferred mechanical pencils, which produced fine lines, much
clearer than the smudgy lines left by the grease pencils the Russians favoured.
But the lead tips of these mechanical pencils broke often. That bit of graphite
floating around the space capsule could get into someone’s eye, or even find
its way into machinery or electronics, causing an electrical short or other
problems. But despite the fact that the Americans did invent zero gravity
pencils later, they stuck to mechanical pencils for many years.
F
Against the backcloth of a digitalized world, the prospect of pencils seems
bleak. In reality, it does not. The application of pencils has by now become so
widespread that they can be seen everywhere, such as classrooms, meeting
rooms and art rooms, etc. A spectrum of users are likely to continue to use it
into the future: students to do math works, artists to draw on sketch pads,
waiters or waitresses to mark on order boards, make-up professional to apply
to faces, and architects to produce blueprints. The possibilities seem limitless.
Questions 14-19
Complete the sentences below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer
Graphite was found
under Questions 20-26
a 14……………………….. in Do the following statements agree with the
Borrowdale. information given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 20-26 on your answer sheet write
Ancient people used
graphite to sign TRUE if the statement agrees with the
possession and information
number FALSE if the statement contradicts the
of 15………………………… information
The first pencil was NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
graphite wrapped 20 Italy is probably the first country in the whole
in 16…………………………
world to make pencils.
or animal skin.
21 Germany used various kinds of wood to make
In the eighteenth
century, pencils.
the 17……………………… 22 Graphite makes a pencil harder and sharper.
… protect the mines 23 Pencils are not produced any more since the
when the value of reign of Elizabeth I.
graphite was realized.
24 The pencil was used during the first American
During the reign of
space expedition.
Elizabeth I, people
was condemnable if 25 American astronauts did not replace mechanical
they 18……………………… pencils immediately after the zero-gravity pencils

… or receive the were invented.
“was”. 26 Pencils are unlikely to be used in the future.
Russian astronauts
preferred 19………………
…….. pencils to write
in the outer space.
READING PASSAGE 3
TV Addiction 2
A
Excessive cravings do not necessarily involve physical substances. Gambling
can become compulsive; sex can become obsessive. One activity, however,
stands out for its prominence and ubiquity – the world’s most popular pastime,
television. Most people admit to having a love-hate relationship with it. They
complain about the “boob tube” and “couch potatoes,” then they settle into
their sofas and grab the remote control. Parents commonly fret about their
children’s viewing (if not their own). Even researchers who study TV for a living
marvel at the medium’s hold on them personally. Percy Tannenbaum of the
University of California at Berkeley has written: “Among life’s, more
embarrassing moments have been countless occasions when I am engaged in
conversation in a room while a TV set is on, and I cannot for the life of me stop
from periodically glancing over to the screen. This occurs not only during dull
conversations but during reasonably interesting ones just as well.”
B
Scientists have been studying the effects of television for decades, generally
focusing on whether watching violence on TV correlates with being violent in
real life. Less attention has been paid to the basic allure of the small screen –
the medium, as opposed to the message.
C
The term “TV addiction” is imprecise and laden with value judgments, but it
captures the essence of a very real phenomenon. Psychologists and
psychiatrists formally define substance dependence as a disorder characterized
by criteria that include spending a great deal of time using the substance; using
it more often than one intends; thinking about reducing use or making
repeated unsuccessful efforts to reduce use; giving up important social, family
or occupational activities to use it; and reporting withdrawal symptoms when
one stops using it.
D
All these criteria can apply to people who watch a lot of television. That does
not mean that watching television, in itself, is problematic. Television can
teach and amuse; it can reach aesthetic heights; it can provide much-needed
distraction and escape. The difficulty arises when people strongly sense that
they ought not to watch as much as they do and yet find themselves strangely
unable to reduce their viewing. Some knowledge of how the medium exerts its
pull may help heavy viewers gain better control over their lives.
E
The amount of time people spend watching television is astonishing. On
average, individuals in the industrialized world devote three hours a day to the
pursuit – fully half of their leisure time, and more than on any single activity
save work and sleep. At this rate, someone who lives to 75 would spend nine
years in front of the tube. To some commentators, this devotion means simply
that people enjoy TV and make a conscious decision to watch it. But if that is
the whole story, why do so many people experience misgivings about how
much they view? In Gallup polls in 1992 and 1999, two out of five adult
respondents and seven out of 10 teenagers said they spent too much time
watching TV. Other surveys have consistently shown that roughly 10 percent of
adults calls themselves TV addicts.
F
What is it about TV that has such a hold on us? In part, the attraction seems to
spring from our biological ‘orienting response.’ First described by Ivan Pavlov in
1927, the orienting response is our instinctive visual or auditory reaction to any
sudden or novel stimulus. It is part of our evolutionary heritage, a built-in
sensitivity to movement and potential predatory threats.
G
In 1986 Byron Reeves of Stanford University, Esther Thorson of the University
of Missouri and their colleagues began to study whether the simple formal
features of television – cuts, edits, zooms, pans, sudden noises – activate the
orienting response, thereby keeping attention on the screen. By watching how
brain waves were affected by formal features, the researchers concluded that
these stylistic tricks can indeed trigger involuntary responses and ‘derive their
attentional value through the evolutionary significance of detecting movement
… It is the form, not the content, of television that is unique.’
H
The orienting response many partly explain common viewer remarks such as:
“If a television is on, I just can’t keep my eyes off it,” “I don’t want to watch as
much as I do, but I can’t help it,” and “I feel hypnotized when I watch
television.” In the years since Reeves and Thorson published their pioneering
work, researchers have delved deeper. Annie Lang’s research team at Indiana
University has shown that heart rate decreases for four to six seconds after an
orienting stimulus. In ads, action sequences and music videos, formal features
frequently come at a rate of one per second, thus activating the orienting
response continuously.
I
Lang and her colleagues have also investigated whether formal features affect
people’s memory of what they have seen. In one of their studies, participants
watched a program and then filled out a score sheet. Increasing the frequency
of edits (defined here as a change from one camera angle to another in the
same visual scene) improved memory recognition, presumably because it
focused attention on the screen. Increasing the frequency of cuts – changes to
a new visual scene-had a similar effect but only up to a point. If the number of
cuts exceeded 10 in two minutes, recognition dropped off sharply.
J
Producers of educational television for children have found that formal
features can help to learn. But increasing the rate of cuts and edits eventually
overloads the brain. Music videos and commercials that use rapid intercutting
of unrelated scenes are designed to hold attention more than they are to
convey information. People may remember the name of the product or band,
but the details of the ad itself float in one ear and out the other. The orienting
response is overworked. Viewers still attend to the screen, but they feel tired
and worn out, with little compensation psychological reward. Our ESM findings
show much the same thing.
K
Sometimes the memory of the product is very subtle. Many ads today are
deliberately oblique: they have an engaging storyline, but it is hard to tell what
they are trying to sell. Afterwards, you may not remember the product
consciously. Yet advertisers believe that if they have gotten your attention
when you later go to the store you will feel better or more comfortable with a
given product because you have a vague recollection of having heard of it.
Questions 27-30
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading
Passage 3?
27 Even researcher find sometimes it is more interesting in watching TV than
talking with others in personal experience
28 Information medium as TV has always been the priority for scientific
research.
29 It is partially unscientific to use the term ‘TV addiction’.
30 Children do not know why they exercise too little.
Questions 31-33
Choose THREE letters, A-F
Write the correct letters in boxes 31-33 on your answer sheet.
Which THREE of the following are benefits of watching TV?
A artistic inspiration
B family reunion
C relieve stress
D learn knowledge and education
E work efficiency
F ease communicative conflict
Questions 34-37
Look at the following researchers (Questions 34-37) and the list of statements
below.
Match each researcher with the correct statements.
Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 34-37 on your answer sheets.
34 Percy Tannenbaum
35 Ivan Pavlov
36 Byron Reeves and Esther Thorson
37 Annie Lang
List of Statements
A It is the specific media formal characteristic that counts.
B TV distraction shows a human physical reaction to a new and prompted
stimulus
C Conveying information is the most important thing.
D It is hard to ignore the effects of TV.
E Whether people can remember deeper of the content relates to the format.
F The heart rate remains stable when watching.
G Clinically reliance on TV does not meet the criteria of addiction.
Questions 38-40
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage 3
Using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
The TV is becoming a
worldwide 38……………
…………. Some people
love it and spend a
great deal of time
watching it. According
to some surveys, a
small group even
claim themselves
as 39……………………..
One researcher
believes that this
attraction comes from
our human instinct,
described
as 40……………………..
which is built-in part
of our physiological
evolution.

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Reading Practice Test 25

1 There’s little economic difference between members of a clan.

8 What is made at the clan work sites?

Name of plastic Date Original Property Common use

Many schools have adopted a different approach: the whole-language method.

In the teaching A the phonics method

1 Banana was first eaten as a fruit by humans almost ………………………. years

26 According to the writer, the importance of any artistic object lies in

27 What is the main idea of the first paragraph?

29 What does “moisture deficit” mean to the grain and crops?

32 Why does the writer mention NIWA in the sixth paragraph?

‘walking on the spot’ at Not enough data on 24…………………

Crowd test conducted

28 What is the best part of the book?

29 In the preface, what did Sacks try to achieve?

30 What is disappointing about Tony Cicoria’s case?

37 The content covered dissociations in understanding between harmony and

1 A new approach carried out in the UK.

Flood makes river

In 1995, Rhine flooded

they 18……………………… pencils immediately after the zero-gravity pencils

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