Contents
Contents
TEST 1
- The creation myth
- Locked doors, open access.
- National cuisine and tourism
|
E,C,A,D,B C,C,D,A,D
Yes, NG, Yes, Yes, Yes,
|
B,B,A,D solved, computer,other
people, cut-off, team-work, decrease in, team-work, just the same way as;;
touch-tone dialling systems; electronic presence; no longer geographical
|
K, G, F, J, E, D, B, D,C,A
|
TEST 2
- Tea times
- Tyes and greens
- Haydn's late quartets
|
iv, viii, i, x, ii, xii, v, iii,
rituals of hospitality; different blends; contains caffeine; nomadic Bedouin;
sugar and spices; lingering convention
|
A, C, C, D, documented, in use,
cropping up, File's Green, burnt down, owned, two brick, each cottage,
remained, gravel works, one dwelling
|
B,B,D, tense,unlike, more,
quieter, conversely, No, Yes, Yes
|
TEST 3
- The politics of pessimism
- Caveat scriptor!
- Leisure time
|
D, H, I, K, J,---D, C, C,
B===NG, Yes, Yes, NG, No
|
Glamour, research, editing
process, summary, readers, Alterations, writing, ups and downs—A, D,
appraisal, some invaluable advice, radical redrafting, creation period
|
Iii, I, iv, xiii, xi, vii, xiv,
No, Yes, No, NG, NG
|
TEST 4
- In or out?
- Another intelligence?
- Pronunciation and physiognomy
|
Vi, iii, I, endangering their job, [mainly] liberal, widening
participation, academic staff's explanations, reduction of taxes, C, C, A, A, D, B
|
C, I, E, H, F, --C, C, C, D, B,
A, C, NG
|
Vi, ii, iv, NG, No, yes, NG,
Yes, NG, D, A, F, G
|
TEST 5
- Day after day
we hear about how anthropogenic
- What is a
dinosaur?
- Doesn't that
sound terribly yellow to you?
|
D, C, D, D< A, NG,No, Yes,
NG, NG, Yes, in recycled paper, most to lose, B
|
Vi, xi, xiii, vii, iv, v, viii, skeletal anatomy, eosuchians, two long bones, B, G, H, F
|
Yes, NG, Yes, No, D, C, C, A, A,
C, E, G
|
TEST 6
- Propaganda - the good, the bad
and the ugly
- The pursuit of knowledge
- Between the
Inishowen peninsula, north
|
Imagine. citizen. crocodile. obelisk. obelisk. Pharaoh. uprising. minds.
Propaganda, subtle, D, D, A, B
|
English lexicographer, (of)
human knowledge, advent of printing, Renaissance
man, easy access to information
|
|
TEST 7
- Lotte and Wytze Hellinga
- Party Labels in Mid-Eighteenth
Century
- The medical
profession is currently under siege
|
|
|
|
TEST 8
- This is very much the story of
a story
- De profundis clamavi
- Classical and modern
|
|
|
|
TEST 9
- Complementary medicine - an
overview
- The introduction of SATs
- Wittgenstein Freud
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TEST 1 – READING PASSAGE 1: THE CREATION MYTH
Questions 1 - 5
Reading Passage 1 below has 5 paragraphs (A-E). Which paragraph
focuses on the information below? Write the appropriate letters (A-E) in Boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
1. The
way parameters in the mind help people to be creative.
2. The
need to learn rules in order to break them.
3. How
habits restrict us and limit creativity.
4. How
to train the mind to be creative.
5. How
the mind is trapped by the desire for order.
A. It
is a myth that creative people are born with their talents: gifts from God or
nature. Creative genius is, in fact, latent within many of us, without our
realising. But how far do we need to travel to find the path to creativity? For
many people, long way. In our everyday lives, we have to perform many acts out
of habit to survive, like opening the door, shaving, getting dressed, walking
to work, and so on. If this were not the case, we would, in all probability,
become mentally unhinged. So strongly ingrained are our habits, though this
varies from person to person, that, sometimes, when a conscious effort is made
to be creative, automatic response takes over. We may try, for example, to walk
to work following a different route, but end up on our usual path. By then it
is too late to go back and change our minds. Another day, perhaps. The same
applies to all other areas of our lives. When we are solving problems, for
example, we may seek different answers, but, often as not, find ourselves
walking along the same well-trodden paths.
B. So,
for many people, their actions and behaviours are set in immovable blocks,
their minds clogged with the cholesterol of habitual actions, preventing them
from operating freely, and thereby stifling creation. Unfortunately, mankind’s
very struggle for survival has become a tyranny – the obsessive desire to give
order to the world is a case in point. Witness people’s attitude to time,
social customs and the panoply of rules and regulations by which the human mind
is now circumscribed.
C. The
groundwork for keeping creative ability in check begins at school. School,
later university and then work teach us to regulate our lives, imposing a
continuous process of restriction, which is increasing exponentially with the
advancement of technology. Is it surprising then that creative ability appears
to be so rare? It is trapped in the prison that we have erected. Yet, even here
in this hostile environment, the foundations for creativity are being laid;
because setting off on the creative path is also partly about using rules and
regulations. Such limitations are needed so that once they are learnt, they can
be broken.
D. The
truly creative mind is often seen as totally free and unfettered. But a better
image is of a mind, which can be free when it wants, and one that recognises
that rules and regulations are parameters, or barriers, to be raised and
dropped again at will. An example of how the human kind can be trained to be
creative might help here. People’s mind are just like tense muscles, that need
to be freed up and the potential unlocked. One strategy is to erect artifitial
barriers or hurdles in solving a problem. In this way, they are obliged to
explore unfamiliar territory, which may led to some startling discoveries.
Unfortunately, the difficulty in this exercise, and with creation itself, is
convincing people that creation is possible, shrouded as it is so much myth and
legend. There is also an element of fear involved, however subliminal, as
deviating from the safety of one’s own thought patterns is very much akin to
madness. But, open Pandora’s box, and a whole new world unfolds before your
eyes.
E. Lifting barriers into place also
plays a major part in helping the mind to control ideas rather than letting
them collide at random. Parameterrs act as containers for ideas, and thus help
the mind to fix on them. When the mind is thinking laterally, and two ideas
from different areas of the brain come or are brought together, they form a new
idea, just like atoms floating around and then forming a molecule. Once the
idea has been formed, it needs to be contained or it will fly away, so fleeting
is its passage. The mind needs to hold it in place for a time so that it can
recognise it or call on it again. And then the parameters can act as channels
along which the ideas can flow, developing and expanding. When the mind has
brought the idea to fruition by thinking it through to its final conclusion,
the parameters can be brought down and the idea allowed to float off and come
in contact with other ideas.
Questions 6 – 10
6. According to the writer, creative people
A. are usually born with their talents
B. are born with their talents
C. are not born with their talents
D. are geniuses
7. According to the writer, creativity is
A. a gift from God or nature
B. an automatic response
C. difficult for many people to achieve
D. a well-trodden path
A. a gift from God or nature
B. an automatic response
C. difficult for many people to achieve
D. a well-trodden path
8. According to the writer :
A. the human race’s fight to live is becoming a tyranny
B. the human brain is blocked with cholesterol
C. the human race is now cicumbribed by talents
D. the human race’s fight to survive stifles creative ability
A. the human race’s fight to live is becoming a tyranny
B. the human brain is blocked with cholesterol
C. the human race is now cicumbribed by talents
D. the human race’s fight to survive stifles creative ability
9. Advancing technology
A. holds creativity in check
B. improves creativity
C. enhances creativity
D. is a TYRANNY
A. holds creativity in check
B. improves creativity
C. enhances creativity
D. is a TYRANNY
10.According to the author, creativity…
A. is common
B. is increasingly common
C. is becoming rarer and rarer
D. is a rare commodity
A. is common
B. is increasingly common
C. is becoming rarer and rarer
D. is a rare commodity
Questions 11 – 15
Do the statements below agree with the information in Reading
Passage 1? In boxes 11 – 15, write:
Yes If the statement agrees with the
information in the passage
No If the statement contradicts the
information in the passage
Not given If there is no information about the
statement in the passage
11.Rules and regulations are examples of parameters.
12.The truly creative mind is associated with the need for free
speech and a totally free society.
13.One problem with creativity is that people think it is
impossible.
14.The act of creation is linked to madness.
15.Parameters help the mind by holding the ideas and helping them
to develop.
1. The
way parameters in the mind help people to be creative.
|
E
|
the
fact that parameters help our minds to be creative.
|
2. The need to learn
rules in order to break them.
|
C
|
keeping
creative ability in check …… These limitations are needed so that
once they are learnt, they can be broken
|
3. How habits restrict
us and limit creativity.
|
A
|
the
paragraph to show that habits limit our creativity and the habits we need to
survive play a role in this limitation.
|
4. How to train the
mind to be creative.
|
D
|
the
paragraph is how creativity works.
|
5. How the mind is
trapped by the desire for order.
|
B
|
how
parameters help the mind to be creative
|
6. According to the writer, creative people
|
C.
are not born with their talents
|
it
is a myth = are not.
|
7.
According to the writer, creativity is
C.
difficult for many people to achieve
|
|
|
8.
According to the writer :
D.
the human race’s fight to survive stifles creative ability
|
|
Unfortunately,
mankind’s very struggle for survival has become a tyranny
|
9.
Advancing technology
|
A.
holds creativity in check
|
a
continuous process of restriction, which is increasing exponentially with the
advancement of techonology
|
10.According
to the author, creativity…
|
D.
is a rare commodity
|
Is
it surprising then that creative ability appears to be so rare?
|
11.Rules
and regulations are examples of parameters.
|
Yes
|
D: ..
and one that recognises that rules and regulations are parameters
|
12.The
truly creative mind is associated with the need for free speech and a totally
free society.
|
Not
Given
|
|
13.One
problem with creativity is that people think it is impossible.
|
Yes
|
The
difficulty in this exercise and with creation itself is convincing people
that creation is possible
|
14.The
act of creation is linked to madness.
|
Yes
|
D:leaving
the safety of one’s own thought patterns is very much akin to madness; akin
to = like
|
15
|
|
|
TEST
1 – PASS 2- LOCKED DOORS, OPEN ACCESS.
1. The word, ‘security’, has both positive and negative connotations. [1]Most of us would say that we crave security for all its positve virtues, both physical and psychological (tâm lý) – its evocation of the safefy of home, of undying love, or of freedom from need. More negatively, the word nowadays conjures up [2]images of that huge industry which has developed to protect individuals and property from invasion by ‘outsider’, ostensibly malicious and intent on theft or wilful damage.
2. Increasingly, because they are situated in urban areas of escalating crime, those buildings which used to allow free-access to employees and other users (buildings such as offices, schools, colleges or hospitals) now do not. Entry areas which in another age were called ‘Reception’ are now manned by security staff. Receptionists, whose task it was to receive visitors and to make them welcome before passing them on to the person they had come to see, have been replaced by those who task it is to bar entry to the unauthorized, the unwanted or the plain unappealing.
3. Inside, these buildings are divided into ‘secure zones’ which often have all the trappings of combination locks and burglar alarms. These devices bar entry to the uninitiated, hinder circulation, and create parameters of time and space for user access. Within the spaces created by these zones, individual rooms are themselves under lock and key, which is a particular problem when it means that working space becomes compartmError! Reference source not found.Error! Reference source not found.entalized.
4. To combat the consequent difficulty of access to people at a physical level, we have now developed technological access. Computers sit on every desk and are linked to one another, and in many cases to an external universe of other computers, so that messages can be passed to and fro. Here too security plays a part, since we must not be allowed access to messages destined for others. And so the password was invented. Now correspondence between individuals goes from desk to desk and can not be accessed by collegues. Library catalogues can be searched from one’s desk. Papers can be delivered to, and received from, other people at the press of a button.
5. And yet it seems that, just as work is isolating individuals more and more, organizations are recognizing the advantages of ‘team-work’; perhaps in order to encourage employees to talk to one a[3]nother again. Yet, how can groups work in teams if the possibilities for communication are reduced? How can they work together if e-mail provides a convenient electronic shield behind which the blurring of public and private can be exploited by the less scrupulous? If voice-mail walls up messages behind a password? If I can’t leave a message on my colleagues’ desk because his office is locked?
6. Team-work conceals the fact that another kind of security, ‘job security’, is almost always not on offer. Just as organizations now recognize three kinds of physical resources: those they buy, those they lease long-term and those they rent short-term – so it is with their human resources. Some employees have permanent contracts, some have short-term contracts, and some are regarded simply as casual labour.
7. Telecomunication systems offer us the direct line, which means that individuals can be contacted without the caller having to talk to anyone else. Voice-mail and the anser-phone mean that individuals can communicate without ever actually talking to one another. If we are unfortunate enough to contact an organization with a sophisticated touch-tone dialling system, we can buy things and pay for them without ever speaking to a human being.
8. To combat this closing in on ourselves we have the Internet, which opens out communication channels more widely than anyone could possibly want or need. An individual’s electronic presence on the internet is known as the ‘Home Page’ – suggesting the safety and security of an electronic hearth. An elaborate system of 3-dimensional medium of ‘web sites’. The nomenclature itself creates the illusion of a geographical entity, that the person sitting before the computer is travelling, when it fact the ‘site’ is coming to him. ‘Addresses’ of one kind or another move to the individual, rather than the individual moving between them, now that location is no longer geographical.
9. An example of this is the mobile phone. I am now not available either at home or at work, but wherever I take my mobile phone. Yet, even now, we cannot escape the security of wanting to ‘locate’ the person at the other end. It is no coincidence that almost everyone we see answering or initiating a mobile phone-call in public begins by saying where he or she is.
Questions 16
– 19
Choose the appropriate letters A – D and write them in Boxes 16 – 19 on your answer sheet.
16. According to the author, one thing we long for is..
A. the saftey of the home
B. security
C. open access
D. positive virutes.
17. Access to many buildings..
A. is unauthorised
B. is becoming more difficult
C. is a cause of crime in many urban areas.
D. used to be called ‘Reception’.
18. Buildings used to permit access to any users,…
A. but now they do not
B. and still do now
C. especially offices and schols
D. especially in urban areas.
19. Secure zones…
A. don’t allow access to the user
B. compartmentalise the user
C. are often like traps
D. are not accessible to everybody.
Choose the appropriate letters A – D and write them in Boxes 16 – 19 on your answer sheet.
16. According to the author, one thing we long for is..
A. the saftey of the home
B. security
C. open access
D. positive virutes.
17. Access to many buildings..
A. is unauthorised
B. is becoming more difficult
C. is a cause of crime in many urban areas.
D. used to be called ‘Reception’.
18. Buildings used to permit access to any users,…
A. but now they do not
B. and still do now
C. especially offices and schols
D. especially in urban areas.
19. Secure zones…
A. don’t allow access to the user
B. compartmentalise the user
C. are often like traps
D. are not accessible to everybody.
Questions
20 – 27
Complete the text below, which is a summary of paragraphs 4 – 6. Choose your answers from the Word List below and write them in Boxes 20 – 27 on your answer sheet.
There are more words and phrases than spaces, so you will not be able to use them all. You may used any word or phrase more than once.
Example:
The problem of ___________ access to buildings..
Answer: physical
The problem of physical access to buildings has now been (20)________ by technology. Messages are sent between (21)___________, with passwords not allowing (22)_________ to read someone else’s messages. But, while individuals are becoming increasingly (23)_______ socially by the way they do their job, at the same time more value is being put on (24)_________. However, e-mail and voice-mail have led to a (25)___________ opportunities for person – to – person communication. And the fact that job-security is generally not available nowadays is hidden by the very concept of (26)__________. Human resources are now regarded in (27)__________ physical ones.
Word list
Just the same way as, computer, cut-off, Reducing of, computers, overcame, Decrease in, combat, isolating, Team-work, developed, physical, Similar, other people, No different from, solved
Complete the text below, which is a summary of paragraphs 4 – 6. Choose your answers from the Word List below and write them in Boxes 20 – 27 on your answer sheet.
There are more words and phrases than spaces, so you will not be able to use them all. You may used any word or phrase more than once.
Example:
The problem of ___________ access to buildings..
Answer: physical
The problem of physical access to buildings has now been (20)________ by technology. Messages are sent between (21)___________, with passwords not allowing (22)_________ to read someone else’s messages. But, while individuals are becoming increasingly (23)_______ socially by the way they do their job, at the same time more value is being put on (24)_________. However, e-mail and voice-mail have led to a (25)___________ opportunities for person – to – person communication. And the fact that job-security is generally not available nowadays is hidden by the very concept of (26)__________. Human resources are now regarded in (27)__________ physical ones.
Word list
Just the same way as, computer, cut-off, Reducing of, computers, overcame, Decrease in, combat, isolating, Team-work, developed, physical, Similar, other people, No different from, solved
Questions
28 – 30
Complete the sentences below. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in Boxes 28 – 30 on your answer sheet.
28. The writer does not like_______________
29. An individual’s Home Page indicates their ___________ on the Internet.
30. Devices like mobile phones mean that location is ______________
Complete the sentences below. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in Boxes 28 – 30 on your answer sheet.
28. The writer does not like_______________
29. An individual’s Home Page indicates their ___________ on the Internet.
30. Devices like mobile phones mean that location is ______________
READING PASSAGE 3: NATIONAL CUISINE AND TOURISM.
1. To an
extent, agriculture dictates that every country should have a set of specific
foods which are native to that country. They may even be unique. However, even
allowing for the power of agriculture science, advances in food distribution
and changes in food economics to alter the ethnocentric properties of food, it
is still possible for a country ‘to be famous for’ a particular food even if it
is widely available elsewhere.
The degree to which cuisine is embedded in
national culture
2. Within the sociology of food
literature two themes suggest that food is linked to social culture. The first
relates food and eating to social relationships, (Finkelstein, Vissor, Wood),
and the second establishes food as a reflection of the distribution of power
within social structures, (Mennell). However, establishing a role for food in
personal relationships and social structures is not a sufficient argument to
place food at the centre of national culture. To do that it is necessary to
prove a degree of embeddedness. It would be appropriate at this point to
consider the nature of culture.
3. The distinction made by Pierce between
a behavioural contingency and a cultural contingency is crucial to our
understanding of culture. Whilst a piece of behaviour may take place very
often, involve a network of people and be reproducible by other networks who do
not know each other, the meaning of the behaviour does not go beyond the
activity itself. A cultural practice, however, contains and represents
‘meta-contingencies’ that is, behavioural practices that have a social meaning
greater than the activity itself and which, by their nature reinforce the
culture which houses them. Celebrating birthdays is a cultural practice not
because everybody does it but because it has a religious meaning. Contrast this
with the practice in Britain of celebrating ‘Guy Fawkes Night’. It is
essentially an excuse for a good time but if fireworks were banned, the occasion
would gradually die away altogether or end up as cult to California. A smaller
scale example might be more useful. In the British context, compare drinking in
pubs with eating ‘fish and chips’. Both are common practices, yet the former
reflects something of the social fabric of the country, particularly family,
gender, class and age relationships whilst the latter is just a national habit.
In other words, a constant, well populated pattern of behaviour is not
necessarily cultural. However, it is also clear that a cultural practice needs
behavioural reinforcement. Social culture is not immortal.
4. Finkelstein argues that ‘dining out’
is simply ‘action which supports a surface life’. For him it is the word ‘out’
that disconnects food from culture. This view of culture and food places the
‘home’ as the cultural centre. Continental European eating habits may
contradict this notion by their general acceptance of eating out as part of
family life. Following the principle that culture needs behavioural
reinforcement, if everyone ‘eats’ out’ on a regular basis, irrespective of
social and economic differentiation, then this might constitue behavioural
support for cuisine being part of social culture. That aside, the significance
of a behavioural practice being embedded in culture is that it naturally
maintains an approved and accepted way of life and therefore has a tendency to
resist change.
5. The thrust of the argument is that
countries differ in the degree to which their food and eating habits have a
social and cultural meaning beyond the behaviour itself. This argument,
however, could be interpreted to imply that the country with the greatest
proportion of meals taken outside the home would be the one in which the
national cuisine is more embedded in social culture. This is a difficult
position to maintain because it would bring America, with its fast-food culture
to the fore. The fast-food culture of America raises the issue of whether there
are qualitative criteria for the concept of cuisine. The key issue is not the
extent of the common behaviour but whether or not it has a function in
maintaining social cohesion and is appreciated and valued through social norms.
French cuisine and ‘going down the pub’ are strange bedfellows but bedfellows
nevertheless.
How homogenous is national cuisine?
6. Like languages, cuisine is not a
static entity and whilst its fundamental character is unlikely to change
in the short run it may evolve in different directions. Just as in a language
there are dialects so in a cuisine there are variations. The two principal
sources of diversity are the physical geography of the country and its social
diversity.
7. The geographical dimensions work
through agriculture to particularise and to limit locally produced ingredients.
Ethnic diversity in the population works through the role of cuisine in social
identity to create ethnically distinct cuisines which may not converge into a
national cuisine. This raises the question of how far a national cuisine is
related to national borders. To an ethnic group their cuisine is national. The
greater the division of a society into classes, castes and status groups with
their attendant ethnocentric properties, of which cuisine is a part, then the greater
will be the diversity of the cuisines.
8. However, there is a case for
convergence. Both these principal sources of diversity are, to an extent,
influenced by the strength of their boundaries and the willingness of society
to erode them. It is a question of isolation and intergration. Efficient
transport and the application of chemistry can alter agricultural boundaries to
make a wider range of foods available to a cuisine. Similarly, political and
social intergration can erode ethnic boundaries. However, all these arguments
mean nothing if the cuisine is not embedded in social culture. Riley argues
that when a cuisine is not embedded in social culture it is suceptible to
novelty and invasion by other cuisines.
Questions 31 – 36
Choose one phrase (A-K) from the List of phrases to complete each Key point below. Write the appropriate letters
(A-K) in Boxes 31 – 36 on your answer sheet.
The information in the completed sentences
should be an accurate summary of the points made by the writer.
There are more phrases (A-K) than
sentences, so you will not need to use them all. You may use each phrase once
only.
Key points
31. The native foods of a country,…
32. The ethnocentric properties of food…
33. Celebrating birthdays…
34. Cultural practice…
35. Drinking in pubs in Britain…
36. The link between language and cuisine…
List of phrases:
A. is a behavioural practice, not a
cultural practice
B. are unique
C. varies
D. is that both are diverse
E. is a reflection of the social fabric
F. is a cultural practice
G. can be changed by economic and
distribution factors
H. is fundamental
I. are not as common as behaviour
J. needs to be reinforced by behaviour
K. are, to a certain extent, dictated by
agriculture
Question 37 – 40
Use the information in the text to match
the Authors (A-D) with the Findings (37-40) below. Write the appropriate letters
(A-D) in Boxes 37 – 40 on your answer sheet.
Authors
A. Finkelstein
B. Pierce
C. Mennell
D. Riley
Findings
37. There is a difference between
behaviour and cultural practice.
38. The connection between social culture
and food must be strong if national cuisine is to survive intact.
39. Distribution of power in society is
reflected in food.
40. The link between culture and eating
outside the home is not strong..
TEST 2 – READING PASSAGE 1 TEA TIMES
A. The chances are that you have already
drunk a cup or glass of tea today. Perhaps, you are slipping one as you read
this. Tea, now an everyday beverage in many parts of the world, has over the
centuries been an important part of rituals of hospitality both in the home and
in wider society.
B. Tea originated in China, and in
Eastern Asia tea making and drinking ceremonies have been popular for
centuries. Tea was first shipped to North western Europe by English and Dutch
maritime traders in the sixteenth century. At about the same time, a land route
from the Far East, via Moscow, to Europe was opened up. Tea also figured in
America’s bid for independence from British rule – the Boston Tea Party.
C. As,
over the last four hundred years, tea-leaves became available throughout much
of Asia and Europe, the ways in which tea was drunk changed. The Chinese
considered the quality of the leaves and the ways in which they were cured all
important. People in others cultures added new ingredients besides tea-leaves
and hot water. They drank tea with milk, sugar, spices like cinnamon and
cardamom, and herbs such as mint or sage. The variations are endless. For
example, in Western Sudan on the edge of the Sahara Desert, sesame oil is added
to milky tea on cold mornings. In England tea, unlike coffee, acquired a
reputation as a therapeutic drink that promoted health. Indeed, in European and
Arab countries as well as in Persia and Russia, tea was praised for its
restorative and health giving properties. One Dutch physician, Cornelius
Blankaart, advised that to maintain health a minimum of eight to ten cups a day
should be drunk, and that up to 50 to 100 daily cups could be consumed with
safety.
D. While
European coffee houses were frequented by men discussing politics and closing
business deals, respectable middle-class women stayed at home and held tea
parties. When the price of tea fell in the nineteenth century poor people took
up the drink with enthusiasm. Different grades and blends of tea were sold to
suit every pocket.
E. Throughout the world today, few
religious groups object to tea drinking. In Islamic cultures, where drinking of
alcohol is forbidden, tea and coffee consumption is an important part of social
life. However, Seventh-Day Adventists, recognising the beverage as a drug
containing the stimulant caffeine, frown upon the drinking of tea.
F. Nomadic Bedouin are well known for
traditions of hospitality in the desert. According to Middle Eastern tradition,
guests are served both tea and coffee from pots kept ready on the fires of
guest ten tents where men of the family and male visitors gather. Cups of
“bitter” cardamom coffee and glasses of sugared tea should be constantly
refilled by the host.
G. For
over a thousands years, Arab traders have been bringing Islamic culture,
including tea drinking, to northern and western Africa. Techniques of tea
preparation and the ceremonial involved have been adapted. In West African
countries, such as Senegal and The Gambia, it is fashionable for young men to
gather in small groups to brew Chinese “gunpowder” tea. The tea is boiled with
large amounts of sugar for along time.
H. Tea
Drinking in India remains an important part of daily life. There, tea made
entirely with milk is popular. “Chain” is made by boiling milk and adding tea,
sugar and some spices. This form of tea making has crossed the Indian Ocean and
is also popular in east Africa, where tea is considered best when it is either
very milky or made with water only. Curiously, this “ milk or water” formula
has been carried over to the preparation of instant coffee, which is served in
cafes as either black, or sprinkled on a cup of hot milk.
I. In Britain, coffee drinking,
particularly in the informal atmosphere of coffee shops, is currently in vogue.
Yet, the convention of afternoon tea lingers. At conferences, it remains common
practice to serve coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon. Contemporary
China, too, remains true to its long tradition. Delegates at conferences and
seminars are served tea in cups with lids to keep the infusion hot. The cups
are topped up throughout the proceedings. There are as yet no signs of coffee at
such occasions.
Questions 1-8
Reading passage 1 has 9 paragraphs (A-I). Choose the most suitable
heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the
appropriate numbers (I-xii) in Boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.
One of the headings has been done for you as an example.
NB. There are more headings then paragraphs, so you will not use
all of them.
1. Paragraph A
2. Paragraph B
3. Paragraph C
4. Paragraph
D Example:
Paragraph
F
Answer: xiii
5. Paragraph E
6. Paragraph G
7. Paragraph H
8. Paragraph I
List of headings
i. Diverse drinking methods
ii. Limited objections to drinking tea
iii. Today’s continuing tradition – in
Britain and China
iv. Tea – a beverage of hospitality
v. An important addition – tea with milk
vi. Tea and alcohol
vii. The everyday beverage in all parts of
the world
viii. Tea on the move
ix. African tea
x. The fall in the cost of tea
xi. The value of tea
xii. Tea-drinking in Africa
xiii. Hospitality among the Bedouin
Questions 9-14
Complete the sentences below. Use
NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage to complete each blank space.
9. For centuries, both at home and in
society, tea has had an important role in ______________.
10. Falling tea prices in the
nineteenth century meant that people could choose the ______________ of
tea they could afford.
11. Because it ______________
Seventh-Day Adventists do not approve of the drinking of tea.
12. In the desert, one group
that is well known for its traditions of hospitality is the ______________.
13. In India, ______________, as well
as tea, are added to boiling milk to make ‘chai”.
14. In Britain, while coffee is in
fashion, afternoon tea is still a ______________.
READING PASSAGE 2 Tyes and Greens
There are a number of settlements in this part
of East Anglia with names containing the word "tye". The word is
Anglo-Saxon in origin, and the Oxford English Dictionary quotes the earliest
usage of the term as dating from 832. Essentially a "tye" was a
green, or a small area of open common land, usually sited away from the main
village or settlement, perhaps at the junction of two or more routes. Local
people and passing travellers had the right to pasture their horses, pigs and
other farm animals on the tye.
In the Pebmarsh area there seem to have
been five or six of these tyes, all except one, at the margins of the parish.
These marginal clearings are all away from the richer farming land to close to
the river, and, in the case of Cooks Green, Hayles Tye, and Dorking Tye, close
to the edge of still existing fragments of ancient woodland. It seems likely
then that, here, as elsewhere in East Anglia, medieval freemen were allowed to
clear a small part of the forest and create a smallholding. Such unproductive
forest land would, in any case, have been unattractive to the wealthy baronial
or monastic landowners. Most of the land around Pebmarsh village belonged to
Earls Colne Priory, a wealthy monastery about 10 kilometers to the south, and
it may be that by the 13th and
14th centuries the
tyes were maintained by tenant farmers paying rent to the Priory.
Hayles Tye seems to have got its name from
a certain John Hayle who is documented in the 1380s, although there are records
pointing to occupation of the site at a much earlier date. The name was still
in use in 1500, and crops up again throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, usually in relation to the
payment of taxes or tithes. At some point during the 18thcentury the
name is changed to File's Green, though no trace of an owner called File has
been found. Also in the 18th century the original dwellings on the site
disappeared. Much of this region was economically depressed during this period
and the land and its dwellings may simply have been abandoned. Several farms
were abandoned in the neighbouring village of Alphamstone, and the population
dwindled so much that there was no money to support the fabric of the village
church, which became very dilapidated. However, another possibility is that the
buildings at File's Green burnt down, fires being not infrequent at this time.
By 1817 the land was in the ownership of
Charles Townsend of Ferriers Farm, and in 1821 he built two brick cottages on
the site, each cottage occupied by two families of agricultural labourers. The
structure of these cottages was very simple, just a two-storey rectangle
divided in the centre by a large common chimney piece. Each dwelling had its
own fireplace, but the two families seem to have shared a brick bread-oven
which jutted out from the rear of the cottage. The outer wall of the bread-oven
is still visible on the remaining cottage. The fireplaces themselves and the
chimney structure appear to be older than the 1821 cottages and may have
survived from the earlier dwellings. All traces of the common land had long
disappeared, and the two cottages stood on a small plot of less than an acre
where the labourers would have been able to grow a few vegetables and keep a
few chickens or a pig. The bulk of their time was spent working at Ferriers
farm.
Both cottages are clearly marked on maps
of 1874, but by the end of the century one of them had gone. Again, the last
years of the 19th century
were a period of agricultural depression, and a number of smaller farms in the
area were abandoned. Traces of one, Mosse's Farm, still partly encircled by a
very overgrown moat, may be seen less than a kilometre from File's Green. It
seems likely that, as the need for agricultural labour declined, one of the
cottages fell into disuse, decayed and was eventually pulled down. Occasional
fragments of rubble and brick still surface in the garden of the remaining
cottage.
In 1933, this cottage was sold to the
manager of the newly-opened gravel works to the north-west of Pebmarsh village.
He converted these two dwellings into one. This, then, is the only remaining
habitation on the site, and is called File's Green Cottage.
QUESTIONS 15 - 18
Choose the appropriate letters A - D and write them in Boxes 15 - 18 on
your answer sheet.
15. A tye was ......
A. a green
B. a large open area
C. common land with trees
D. found at the junction
of two or more routes
16. The Pebmarsh area .....
A. probably had seven
tyes
B. probably had six tyes
C. appears to have had
five or six tyes
D. was not in East
Anglia
17. The tyes in the Pebmarsh area
were .....
A. near the river
B. used by medieval
freemen
C. mostly at the margins
of the parish
D. owned by Earls
Colne Priory
18. According to the writer, wealthy
landowners .....
A. did not find the sight of forest land
attractive
B. found the sight of
forest land attractive
C. were attracted by the sight of forest
land
D. considered forest land
unproductive
QUESTIONS 19 - 29
Complete the text below, which is a
summary of paragraphs 3 - 6 in Reading Passage 2. Use NO MORE THAN THREE
WORDS from the passage to fill each blank space.
Write your answers in Boxes 19 - 29 on
your answer sheet
1380s -
John Hayle, who is ____19____ , apparently gave his name to Hayles Tye.
1500s -
the name of Hayles Tye was still ___20____ , ____21____ again in the following
two centuries in relation to taxes.
18th century -
Hayles Tye was renamed ___22___; the original dwellings may either have
disappeared, or were ____23____
1817 -
the land was ____24____ by Charles Townsend.
1821 -
Charles Townsend built ____25____ cottages on the site, _____26_____ inhabited
by two families, but by the end of the nineteenth century only one cottage ___27____.
1933 -
The cottage, now called File's Green Cottage, was brought by the local
____28____ manager who converted into ____29____.
READING PASSAGE 3 Haydn's late
quartets
By the time he came to write the String
Quartets published as Opus 76 and Opus 77, Haydn was undoubtedly the most
famous living composer in the whole of Europe. He had recently returned from
the highly successful second visit to England, for which he had composed his
last six symphonies, culminating in the brilliant and festive Drum Roll
Symphony (No. 103) and London Symphony (No. 104). This is public music, full of
high spirits, expansive gestures and orchestral surprises. Haydn knew how to
please his audience. And in 1796, following his return to Vienna, he began work
on his largest and most famous choral work, the oratorio, "The
Creation". In the succeeding years, till 1802, he was to write a series of
other large scale religious choral works, including several masses. The
oratorios and masses were also public works, employing large forces for
dramatic effect, but warm and full of apparently spontaneous religious feeling.
Yet at the same time he composed these 8 quartets, in terms of technical
mastery and sheer musical invention the equal of the symphonies and choral
works, but in their mood and emotional impact far removed, by turns
introspective and detached, or full of passionate intensity.
Once again, as in the early 1770s when he
appears to have been going through some kind of spiritual crisis, Haydn
returned to the String Quartets as a means to accomplish a twofold aim: firstly
to innovate musically in a genre free from public performance requirements or
religious convention; secondly to express personal emotions or philosophy in a
musical form that is intimate yet capable of great subtlety and complexity of
meaning. The result is a series of quartets of astonishing structural, melodic,
rhythmic and harmonic variety, inhabiting a shifting emotional world, where
tension underlies surface brilliance and calm gives way to unease.
The six quartets of Opus 76 differ widely
in character. The opening movement of No.2 is tense and dramatic, while that of
No.4 begins with the soaring long-breathed melody that has earned it the
nickname of "The Sunrise". The minuets too have moved a long way from
the stately court dance of the mid-eighteenth century. The so-called
"Witches Minuet" of No.2 is a strident canon, that of No.6 is a fast
one-in-a-bar movement anticipating the scherzos of Beethoven, while at the
heart of No.5 is a contrasting trio section which, far from being the customary
relaxed variant of the surrounding minuet, flings itself into frenetic action
and is gone. The finales are full of the energy and grace we associate with
Haydn, but with far less conscious humour and more detachment than in earlier
quartets.
But it is in the slow movements that Haydn
is most innovative and most unsettling. In No.1 the cello and the first violin
embark on a series of brusque dialogues. No.4 is a subdued meditation based on
the hushed opening chords. The slow movements of No.5 and No.6 are much looser
in structure, the cello and viola setting off on solitary episodes of melodic
and harmonic uncertainty. But there the similarity ends, for while No.5 is
enigmatic, and predominantly dark in tone, the overlapping textures of its
sister are full of light-filled intensity.
The Opus 76 quartets were published in
1799, when Haydn was well over 60 years old. Almost immediately he was
commissioned to write another set by Prince Lobkowitz, a wealthy patron, who was
later to become an important figure in Beethoven's life. Two quartets only were
completed and published as Opus 77 Nos.1 & 2 in 1802. But these are not the
works of an old man whose powers are fading, or who simply consolidates ground
already covturally complex and emotionally unsettling as anything he ever
wrote, alternating between a laconic opening theme and a tense and threatening
counter theme which comes to dominate the whole movement. Both quartets have
fast scherzo-like "minuets". The slow movement of No.1 is in
traditional variation form, but stretches the form to the limit in order to
accommodate widely contrasting textures and moods. The finale of No.2 is swept
along by a seemingly inexhaustible stream of energy and inventiveness.
In fact, Haydn began a third quartet in
this set, but never finished it, and the two completed movements were published
in 1806 as Opus 103, his last published work. He was over 70, and clearly
lacked the strength to continue composition. The two existing movements are a
slow movement followed by a minuet. The slow movement has a quiet warmth, but
it is the minuet that is remarkable. It is in true dance time, unlike the fast
quasi-scherzos of the earlier quartets. But what a dance! In a sombre D minor
Haydn unfolds an angular, ruthless little dance of death. The central trio
section holds out a moment of consolation, and then the dance returns, sweeping
on relentlessly to the final sudden uprush of sound. And then, after more than
40 years of composition the master falls silent.
Questions 30 - 32
Choose the appropriate letters A - D and write them in Boxes 30 - 32 on
your answer sheet.
30. Which one of the following statements
is true?
A. Haydn wrote the London Symphony in
England.
B. We do not know where Haydn wrote the
London Symphony.
C. Haydn wrote the London Symphony in Vienna.
D. Haydn wrote the Drum Roll Symphony in
England.
31. Like symphonies 103 and 104, the
oratorios and masses were ...
A. written in the eighteenth century.
B. for the public
C. as emotional as the quartets
D. full of religious feeling
32. The string quartets in Opus 76 and
Opus 77 were ...
A. the cause of a spiritual crisis
B. intimate yet capable
C. calm unease
D. diverse
Questions 33 - 37
Complete the text below, which is a
summary of paragraphs 3 and 4 in Reading Passage 3. Choose your answers from
the Word List below and write them in Boxes 33 - 37
on your answer sheet.
There are more words and phrases than
spaces, so you will not be able to use them all. You may use each word or phrase
only once.
Example: The six quartets of Opus 76 are very
___________.
Answer: different.
For example, the opening of "The
Sunrise" is not nearly as ____33____ as that of No.2. ___34___ those of
the mid-eighteenth century, the minuets are more frenetic and less relaxed. It
is in the slow movements, however, that Haydn tried something very different.
In contrast to No.4, No.1 is much ___35___ brusque, the former being much
___36___. ___37___, Nos. 5 and 6 are alike in some respects.
Word List
wide
less
different
more
long-breathed
unlike
similarly
subdued
tense
like
conversely
quieter
Questions 38 - 40
Do the statements below agree with the
information in Reading Passage
3?
In Boxes 38 - 40 , write:
Yes
if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
No
if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
Not Given if there is no information about
the statement in the passage
Example: Haydn was well-known when he wrote Opus 76.
Answer: Yes
38. Before the Opus 76 quartets were
published, Haydn had been commissioned to write more.
39. The writer says that Opus 103 was Haydn's last published work.
40. The writer admires Haydn for the diversity
of the music he composed.
TEST 3 READING PASSAGE 1 The politics
of pessimism
Newspaper headlines and TV or radio news
bulletins would have us believe erroneously that a new age has com upon us, the
Age of Cassandra. People are being assailed not just with contemporary doom, or
past gloom, but with prophecies of disasters about to befall. The dawn of the
new millennium has now passed; the earth is still intact, and the fin de siècleJeremiahs have now
gone off to configure a new date for the apocalypse.
It can, I believe, be said with some
certainty that the doom-mongers will never run out of business. Human nature
has an inclination for pessimism and anxiety, with each age having its
demagogues, foretelling doom or dragging it in their wake. But what makes the
modern age so different is that the catastrophes are more "in your
face". Their assault on our senses is relentless. Whether it be
sub-conscious or not, this is a situation not lost on politicians. They play
upon people's propensity for unease, turning it into a very effective political
tool.
Deluding the general public
All too often, when politicians want to
change the status quo, they take advantage of people's fears of the unknown and
their uncertainties about the future. For example, details about a new policy
may be leaked to the press. Of course, the worst case scenario is presented in
all its depressing detail. When the general public reacts in horror, the
government appears to cave in. And then accepting some of the suggestions from
their critics, ministers water down their proposals. This allows the government
to get what it wants, while at the same time fooling the public into believing
that they have got one over on the government. Or even that they have
some say in the making of policy.
There are several principles at play here.
And both are rather simple: unsettle people and then play on their fears; and
second, people must be given an opportunity to make a contribution, however
insignificant, in a given situation; otherwise, they become dissatisfied, not
fearful or anxious.
A similar ruse, at a local level, will
further illustrate how easily people's base fears are exploited. A common
practice is to give people a number of options, say in a housing development,
ranging from no change to radical transformation of an area. The aim is to
persuade people to agree significant modifications, which may involve
disruption to their lives, and possibly extra expenditure. The individuals,
fearful of the worst possible outcome, plump for the middle course. And this,
incidentally, is invariably the option favoured by the authorities. Everything
is achieved under the guise of market research. But it is obviously a blatant
exercise in the manipulation of people's fears.
Fear and survival
Fear and anxieties about the future affect
us all. People are wracked with self-doubt and los self-esteem. In the struggle
to exist and advance in life, a seemingly endless string of obstacles is
encountered, so many, in fact, that any accomplishment seems surprising. Even
when people do succeed, they are still nagged by uncertainty.
Not surprisingly, feelings like doubt,
fear, anxiety and pessimism are usually associated with failure. Yet, if
properly harnessed, they are the driving force behind success, the very engines
of genius.
If things turn out well for a long time,
there is a further anxiety: that of constantly waiting for something to go
wrong. People then find themselves propitiating the gods: not walking on lines
on the pavements, performing rituals before public performances, wearing
particular clothes and colours so that they can blame the ritual not themselves
when things go wrong.
But surely the real terror comes when
success continues uninterrupted for such a long period of time that we forget
what failure is like!
We crave for and are fed a daily diet of
anxiety. Horror films and disaster movies have an increasing appeal.
Nostradamus pops his head up now and again. And other would-be prophets make a
brief appearance, predicting the demise of human kind. Perhaps, this is all
just a vestige of the hardships of early man - our attempt to recreate the
struggles of a past age, as life becomes more and more comfortable.
Mankind cannot live by contentment alone.
And so, a world awash with anxieties and pessimism has been created. Being
optimistic is a struggle. But survival dictates that mankind remain ever
sanguine.
Questions 1 - 5
Choose one phrase (A-K) from the List of phrases to complete each Key point below. Write the appropriate letters (A-K) in Boxes 1 - 5 on your answer sheet.
The information in the completed sentences
should be an accurate summary of the points made by the writer.
NB. There are more phrases (A-K) than sentences, so you will not need
to use them all. You may use each phrase once only.
Key points
1. Newspaper headlines and TV or radio news bulletins .....
2. Doom-mongers are popular, because people ........
3. Today, catastrophes .........
4. To politicians, people's inclination for fear .........
5. The government ..............
List of phrases
A are not as threatening as in the past
B tell the truth
C blame them
D try to make us believe mistakenly that
we are in a new era
E calm people down
F are uncertain about the
future
G are less comfortable
H are natural pessimists and
worriers
I are more
immediate
J get what they
want by deceiving the public
K is something they can
make use of
Questions 6 - 9
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in Boxes 6 - 9 on your
answer sheet.
6. The housing development example shows
that people ...
A. are not that easily deceived
B. like market research
C. lead their fears
D. are easy to delude
7. Which one of the following statements
is true, according to the passage?
A. Market research uses people's fears for their own good
B. People are scared by market research techniques
C. Market research techniques are used as a means of taking
advantage of people's fears
D. Market research makes people happy
8. The engines of genius are ....
A. properly harnessed
B. the driving force behind success
C. driven by feelings like fear
D. usually associated with failure
9. Continual success ....
A. makes people arrogant
B. worries people
C. does not have any negative effects on people
D. increase people's self-esteem
Questions 10 - 14
Do the statements below agree with the
information in Reading Passage
1?
In Boxes 10 - 14, write:
Yes if the
statement agrees with the information in the passage
No if
the statement contradicts the information in the passage
Not Given if there is no information
about the statement in the passage
Example: Politicians pretend
things are worse than they are.
Answer: Yes.
10. The complex relationship between failure and success needs to be
addressed carefully.
11. People perform certain rituals to try to avoid failure.
12. Anxiety in daily life is what we want.
13. The writer believes that Nostradamus and certain other prophets
are right about their predictions for the end of the human race.
14. Mankind needs to be pessimistic to survive.
READING PASSAGE 2 Caveat scriptor!
Let the would-be writer beware! Anyone
foolhardy enough to embark on a career as a writer - whether it be an academic
treatise, a novel, or even an article - should first read this!
People think that writing as a profession
is glamorous; that it is just about sitting down and churning out words on a
page, or more likely these days on a computer-screen. If only it were! So what
exactly does writing a book entail? Being a writer is about managing a galaxy
of contradictory feelings: elation, despair, hope, frustration, satisfaction
and depression - and not all separately! Of course, it also involves carrying
out detailed research: first to establish whether there is a market for the
planned publication, and second into the content of the book. Sometimes,
however, instinct takes the place of market research and the contents are
dictated not by plans and exhaustive research, but by experience and knowledge.
Once the publication has been embarked
upon, there is a long period of turmoil as the text takes shape. A first draft
is rarely the final text of the book. Nearly all books are the result of
countless hours of altering and reordering chunks of text and deleting the
embarrassing bits. While some people might think that with new technology the
checking and editing process is speeded up, the experienced writer would hardly
agree. Unfortunately, advanced technology now allows the writer the luxury of countless
editings; a temptation many of us find hard to resist. So a passage, endlessly
reworked may end up nothing remotely like the original, and completely out of
place when compared with the rest of the text.
After the trauma of self-editing and
looking for howlers, it is time to show the text to other people, friends
perhaps, for appraisal. At this stage, it is not wise to send it off to a
literary agent or direct to publishers, as it may need further fine-tuning of
which the author is unaware. Once an agent has been approached and has rejected
a draft publication, it is difficult to go and ask for the revamped text to be
considered again. It also helps, at this stage, to offer a synopsis of the
book, if it is a novel, or an outline if it is a textbook. This acts as a guide
for the author, and a general reference for friends and later for agents.
Although it is tempting to send the draft
to every possible agent at one time, it is probably unwise. Some agents may
reject the publication out of hand, but others may proffer some invaluable
advice, for example about content or the direction to be taken. Hints like this
may be of use in finally being given a contract by an agent or publisher.
The lucky few taken on by publishers or
agents, then have their books subjected to a number of readers, whose job it is
to vet a book: deciding whether it is worth publishing and whether the text as
it stands is acceptable or not. After a book has finally been accepted by a
publisher, one of the greatest difficulties for the writer lies in taking on
board the publisher's alterations to the text. Whilst the overall story the
thrust of the book may be acceptable, it will probably have to conform to an
in-house style, as regards language, spelling or punctuation, etc. More seriously,
the integrity of the text may be challenged, and this may require radical
redrafting which is unpalatable to the author. A book's creation period is
complex and unnerving, but the publisher's reworkings and text amputations can
also be a tortuous process.
For many writers, the most painful period
comes when the text has been accepted, and the writer is waiting for it to be
put together for the printer. By this stage, it is not uncommon for the writer
to be thoroughly sick of the text.
Abandon writing? Nonsense. Once smitten,
it is not easy to escape the compulsion to create and write, despite the
roller-coaster ride of contradictory emotions.
Questions 15 - 22
Complete the text below, which is a
summary of the passage. Choose your answers from the Word Listbelow and write them
in Boxes 15-22 on your answer sheet.
There are more words and phrases than
spaces, so you will not be able to use them all. You may use each word or
phrase only once.
Example: Anyone who wants to be a writer should __________.
Answer: beware.
People often associate writing with
(15)___________. But being a writer involves managing conflicting emotions as
well as (16)___________ or instinct. Advanced technology, contrary to what
might be thought, does not make the (17)___________ faster.
When a writer has a draft of the text
ready, it is a good idea to have a (1_____________ for friends, etc. to
look at. If an author is accepted by a publisher, the draft of the book is
given to (19)_____________ for vetting. (20)______________ are then often made,
which are not easy for the writer to agree.
However, (21)_____________ is compelling,
even though there are (22) ______________.
Word List
editing
process
beware
readers
first
draft
glamour a literary agent
alterations
profession publisher
challenges
writing
dictating
research
publishing summary
ups and
downs roller-coaster
Questions 23 and 24
Choose the appropriate letters A - D and write them in Boxes 23 and 24 on
your answer sheet.
23. In the planning stages of a book,
........
A. instinct can replace market research
B. market research can replace instinct
C. market research is essential
D. instinct frequently replaces market research
24. The problem with the use of advanced
technology in editing is that ....
A. it becomes different from the original
B. it is unfortunate
C. it is a luxury
D. many writers cannot resist changing the text again and again.
Questions 25 - 28
Complete the sentences below. Use NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS from
the passage to complete each blank space.
25. Once a text is finished, the writer
needs to get the __________ of other people.
26. Some agents may reject the draft of a
book, while others may offer ___________.
27. Apart from the need for a draft to
conform to an in-house style, a publisher's changes to a text may include
___________.
28. The publisher's alterations to a book
are difficult for a writer, as it the ____________ as the book grows.
READING PASSAGE 3 Leisure time
A. A raft of
forecasts has been made in recent decades, predicting the decline in the number
of working hours coupled with a consequent increase in leisure time. It was
estimated that the leisure revolution would take place by the turn of the last
century with hours devoted to work falling to 25-30 per week. This reduction
has failed to materialise, but the revolution has, nonetheless, arrived.
B. Over the past
30 to 40 years, spending on leisure has witnessed a strong increase. According
to the annual family expenditure survey published in 1999 by the Office for
National Statistics, the average household in the United Kingdom spent more on
leisure than food, housing and transport for the very first time. And the trend
is also set to continue upwards well into the present century.
C. The survey,
based on a sample of 6,500 households showed, that the days are long gone when
the average family struggled to buy basic foods. As recently as 1960, family
spending on food was approximately one third compared to 17% now. Twelve years
later, there was a noticeable shift towards leisure with the percentage of
household spending on leisure increasing to 9%, and that on food declining to
26%.
D. The average
household income in the UK in 1999 was £460 per week before tax, and average
spending was £352.20. Of the latter sum, £59.70 was spent on leisure and £58.90
on food. On holidays alone, family expenditure was 6%, while in 1969 the
proportion spent on holidays was just 2%. And whereas the richest 10% lashed
out 20% of their income in 1999 on leisure, the poorest spent 12%.
E. Among the
professional and managerial classes, working hours have increased and, overall
in the economy, record numbers of people are in employment. As people work
more, the appetite for leisure activities has grown to compensate for the
greater stress in life. The past 5 years alone have seen the leisure business
expand by 25% with a change in emphasis to short domestic weekend breaks, and
long-haul short breaks to exotic destinations in place of long holidays. In the
future, it is expected that people will jump from one leisure activity to
another in complexes catering for everyone's needs with gyms, cinemas, cafes,
restaurants, bars and internet facilities all under one roof. The leisure
complexes of today will expand to house all the leisure facilities required for
the leisure age.
F. Other
factors fueling demand for leisure activities are rising prosperity, increasing
longevity and a more active elderly population. Hence, at the forefront of
leisure spending are not just the young or the professional classes. The 1999
family expenditure survey showed that the 64 to 75 year-old group spend a
higher proportion of their income on leisure than any other age group. The
strength of the "grey pound" now means that elderly people are able
to command more respect and, thus, attention in the leisure market.
G. And the
future? It is anticipated that, in the years to come, leisure spending will
account for between a third to a half of all household spending. Whilst it is
difficult to give exact figures, the leisure industry will certainly experience
a long period of sustained growth. Working hours are not expected to decrease,
partly because the 24-hour society will need to be serviced; and secondly,
because more people will be needed to keep the service / leisure industries
running.
H. In the
coming decades, the pace of change will accelerate, generating greater wealth
at a faster rate than even before. Surveys show that this is already happening
in many parts of Europe. The south-east of England, for example, is now
supposedly the richest area in the EEC. The "leisure pound" is one of
the driving forces behind this surge. But, sadly, it does not look as if we
will have the long leisure hours that we had all been promised.
Questions 29 - 35
Reading Passage 3 has 8 paragraphs (A-H).
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers
(i-xiv) in Boxes 29-35 on your answer sheet.
One of the headings has been done for you
as an example.
You may use any heading more than once.
NB. There are more headings than
paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.
29. Paragraph
A
30. Paragraph
B
31. Paragraph
C
Example : Paragraph
D Answer : iv
32. Paragraph
E
33. Paragraph
F
34. Paragraph
G
35. Paragraph
H
List of headings
i. Leisure spending goes up strongly
ii. Decreasing unemployment
iii. False forecasts
iv. Spending trends - leisure v food
v. More affordable food
vi. Leisure as an answer to stress
vii. Looking forward
viii. The leisure revolution -
working hours reduced to 25
ix. The "grey
pound" soars
x. Rising expenditure
xi. The elderly leisure
market
xii. National Statisticians
xiii. Work, stress, and
leisure all on the up
xiv. Money, yes, leisure time
no
Questions 36 - 40
Do the statements below agree with the
information in Reading Passage
3?
In Boxes 36-40, write:
Yes if the
statement agrees with the information in the passage
No
if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
Not Given if there is no information
about the statement in the passage
Example:
In recent decades, an increase in working hours was predicted.
Answer:
No
36. At the turn of the last century, weekly
work hours dropped to 25.
37. Spending on leisure has gone up over the
past three decades.
38. Long holidays have taken the place of
long-haul short breaks.
39. In future, people will pay less for the
leisure facilities they use than they do today.
40. The 24-hour society will have a negative
effect on people's attitudes to work.
TEST 4 PASSAGE 1 In
or out?
British further education colleges did not
traditionally have any concerns about student drop-out, because the origins of
the sector were in vocational apprenticeship training for employers where the
apprentices could not drop out without endangering their job. In the 70s, this
sector began to expand into more general education courses, which were seen
both as an alternative to school for 16-18 year-olds and a second chance for
adults. The philosophy was mainly liberal with students regarded as adults who
should not be heavily monitored, but rather free to make their own decisions;
it was not uncommon to hear academic staff argue that attendance at classes was
purely voluntary.
In the 80s, with an increased
consciousness of equal opportunities, the focus of the further education colleges
moved to widening participation, encouraging into colleges students from
previously under-represented groups, particularly from ethnic minorities. This,
in turn, led to a curriculum which was more representative of the new student
body. For example, there were initiatives to ensure the incorporation of
literature by black writers into A-level literature courses; history syllabuses
were altered to move beyond a purely Eurocentric view of the world; and
geography syllabuses began to look at the politics of maps.
A turning point came in 1991 with the
publication of a report on completion rates by the government inspection body
for education, Her Majesty's Inspectorate for England and Wales, (HMI 1991).
However, this report was based on academic staff's explanations of why students
had left. It suggested that the vast majority left either for personal reasons
or because they had found employment and that only 10% left for reasons that
could, in any way, be attributed to the college.
Meanwhile, Britain had been going through
the Thatcherite revolution and, in parallel to the Reagan politics of the US, a
key principle was the need to reduce taxation drastically. At this point ( and
to a large extent still ) , further and higher education colleges were almost
entirely funded from the public purse. There had been many cuts in this funding
through the 80s, but no one had really looked at value for money. However, in
the early 90s, the Audit Commission with Office of Standards in Education
(OFSTED) (the new version of HMI) turned the spotlight onto further education
and published a seminal report, Unfinished Business ( Audit Commission and
OFSTED 1993), which showed that drop-out was happening on a significant scale
and, crucially given the politics of the time, attributed a cost to the state
of £500 million, arguing that this was a waste of public (i.e. taxpayers')
money. To quote Yorke (1999), non-completion became political. The Audit
Commission report coincided with government moves to privatise the functions of
the state as much as possible; and with the decision to remove further
education from the control of local government and give it a quasi-dependent
status, where colleges were governed by independent boards of governors bidding
to the state for funding to run educational provision. As part of this, a new
series of principles for funding and bidding were developed (FEFC 1994) which
incorporated severe financial penalties for student drop-out. In essence, the
system is that almost all the state funding is attached to the individual
student. There is funding for initial advice and guidance, on-course delivery
and student achievement, but if the student drops out, the college loses that
funding immediately, so that loss of students in the first term leads to an
immediate loss of college funding for the other two terms. Not surprisingly,
this focused the concern of colleges immediately and sharply on the need to
improve student retention rates.
Recently, therefore, there has been
considerable effort to improve retention but, as Martinez (1995) pointed out,
there was no body of research on which to base strategies. An additional
complexity was that colleges had been slow to computerise their student date
and most colleges were in the position of not working what their retention
rates were or any patterns involved. Where data did exist it was held
separately by either administrative or academic staff with poor communication
between these groups. Colleges, however, jumped into a number of strategies
based largely on experience, instinct and common sense and publication of these
began. (Martinez 1996; Martinez 1997; Kenwright 1996; Kenwright 1997).
The main strategies tried are outlined in
the literature as summarised by Martinez (1996). These includ sorting activities
around entry to ensure "best fit", supporting activities including
child care, financial support and enrichment/learner support, connecting
activities to strengthen the relationship between the college and the student,
including mentoring and tutorials and activities to transform the student,
including raising of expectations and study/career development support and
tutoring.
Questions 1 - 3
Use the information in the text to match
the each of the years listed (1-3) with one of the Key events in the development
of further education (i-vii). Write the appropriate
letters in Boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet. Note that there are more items
listed under the Key events than years,
so you will not use all of them.
Years
1. 1991
2. 1993
3. 1994
Key events in the development
of further education
i. Severe penalties for drop-out are developed as
part of college funding mechanisms
ii. Serious attempts are made to improve student
support
iii. An influential report showing that
non-completion rates are significantly high is published
iv. The lack of a strategical basis is officially
recognised
v. The HMI is created
vi. Data on student completion rates for further
education are published
vii. A minor report showing that non-completion
rates are significantly high is published
Questions 4 - 8
Complete the sentences below. Use NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS from
the passage to fill each blank space.
Write your answers in Boxes 4-8 on your
answer sheet.
4. Further education colleges in Britain were
originally not worried about student drop-out, because students did not leave
college for fear of _____________.
5. According to the writer, the philosophy at
further education colleges was _________________.
6. As people became more aware of equal
opportunities, colleges encouraged students from under-represented groups, as a
move to _________________.
7. The HMI's report focused on completion
rates, based on ______________ of reasons for students' departure from college.
8. In the early 1990s, the political
situation, both in Britain and the US, demanded a drastic ____________.
Questions 9 - 14
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in Boxes 9-14 on your
answer sheet.
9. The report Unfinished
Business ......
A pointed out the politics of the time
B gave £500 million to the
state
C linked drop-out to wasting money
D turned the spotlight
10. The new series of principles
developed in 1994 by the FEFC ....
A gave money to each student
B was quasi-independent
C meant colleges had to turn
their immediate attention to improving student retention rates
D was aimed at improving
teacher retention rates
11. Attempts to reduce the student
drop-out rate were hindered, because ....
A there was a lack of
research data on which to base strategies
B colleges did not know
what to do
C computers in colleges were
slow
D colleges had no patterns
12. Further hindrances in
reducing the student drop-out rate were ....
A colleges' slowness in
computerising data and not knowing their retention rates, nor what patterns of
retention existed
B college inertia and
administrative incompetence
C computer glitches and
strikes, which occurred at most colleges
D colleges not knowing their
retention rates or where the patterns were
13. Colleges' strategies to
deal with the problem of low retention ....
A brought administrative and academic
staff together
B varied enormously
C jumped
D were based on something other than data
14. The main strategies to improve
retention included ....
A "best fit" supporting
activities
B activities to support and transform the
student
C the raising of college expectations
D a summary by Martinez
1. 1991
|
|
|
2. 1993
|
|
|
3. 1994
|
|
|
4. Further education colleges in Britain were originally
not worried about student drop-out, because students did not leave college
for fear of _____________.
|
|
|
5. According to the writer, the philosophy
at further education colleges was _________________.
|
|
|
6. As people became more aware of equal opportunities,
colleges encouraged students from under-represented groups, as a move to
_________________.
|
|
|
7. The HMI's report focused on completion
rates, based on ______________ of reasons for students' departure from
college.
|
|
|
8. In the early 1990s, the political
situation, both in Britain and the US, demanded a drastic
|
|
|
9. The report Unfinished Business ......
|
|
|
10. The new series of principles developed in 1994 by the FEFC
....
|
|
|
11. Attempts to reduce the student drop-out rate were hindered,
because ....
|
|
|
12. Further hindrances in reducing the student drop-out
rate were ....
|
|
|
13. Colleges' strategies to deal with the problem of low
retention ....
|
|
|
14. The main strategies to improve retention included ....
|
|
|
READING PASSAGE 2 Another
intelligence?
Emotional intelligence as a theory was
first brought to public attention by the book Emotional
Intelligence, Why It Can Matter More Than IQ by Daniel Goleman, but the theory
itself is, in fact, attributed to two Americans, John D. Mayer and Peter
Salovey. What is emotional intelligence exactly? According to Goleman,
Emotional Intelligence consists of five key elements. The first is knowing
one's own emotions: being able to recognise that one is in an emotional state
and having the ability to identify which emotion is being experienced, even if
it is not a particularly comfortable feeling to admit to, e.g. jealousy or
envy.
Emotional awareness can then lead to
managing one's emotions. This involves dealing with emotions, like jealously,
resentment, anger, etc., that one may have difficulty accepting by, perhaps,
giving oneself comfort food, or doing nice things when one is feeling low. Many
people do this instinctively by buying chocolate or treating themselves; others
are able to wrap themselves in positive thoughts or "mother
themselves". There are, of course, many people who are incapable of doing
this, and so need to be taught. The third area is self-motivation. Our emotions
can simultaneously empower and hinder us, so it is important to develop the
ability to control them. Strategies can be learnt whereby emotions are set
aside to be dealt with at a later date. For example, when dealing with the
success or good fortune of others, it is better not to suppress any
"negative" emotion that arises. One just has to recognise it is
there. And then one just needs to be extra careful when making decisions and
not allow one's emotions to cloud the issue, by letting them dictate how one
functions with that person. The separation of logic and emotion is not easy
when dealing with people.
As social beings, we need to be able to
deal with other people which brings us to the next item on Goleman's list,
namely: recognising emotions in other people. This means, in effect, having or
developing "social radar", i.e. learning to read the weather systems
around individuals or groups of people. Obviously, leading on from this is the
ability to handle relationships. If we can recognise, understand and then deal
with other people's emotions, we can function better both socially and
professional. Not being tangible, emotions are difficult to analyse and
quantify, compounded by the fact that each area in the list above, does not
operate in isolation. Each of us has misread a friend's or a colleague's behaviour
to us and other people. The classic example is the shy person, categorised by
some people as arrogant and distant and by others as lively and friendly and
very personable. How can two different groups make a definitive analysis of
someone that is so strikingly contradictory? And yet this happens on a daily
basis in all our relationships - even to the point of misreading the behaviour
of those close to us! In the work scenario, this can cost money. And so it
makes economic sense for business to be aware of it and develop strategies for
employing people and dealing with their employees.
All common sense you might say. Goleman
himself has even suggested that emotional intelligence is just a new way of
describing competence; what some people might call savior faire or savoir
vivre. Part of the problem here is that society or some parts of society have
forgotten that these skills ever existed and have found the need to re-invent
them.
But the emergence of Emotional
Intelligence as a theory suggests that the family situations and other social
interactions where social skills were honed in the past are fast disappearing,
so that people now sadly need to be re-skilled.
Questions 15 - 19
Choose one phrase (A-I) from the List of phrases to complete each Key point below. Write the appropriate letters
(A-I) in Boxes 15-19 on your answer sheet.
The information in the completed sentences
should be an accurate summary of the points made by the writer.
NB. There are more phrases (A-I)
than sentences, so you will not need to use them all. You may use each phrase
once only.
Key points
15. Knowing one's emotions ........
16. One aspect of managing one's emotions
........
17. Self - motivation .........
18. The ability to recognise emotions in other
people ...........
19. Handling relationships ..........
List of phrases
A empowers and hinders us
F is the key to better social
and professional functioning
B means many people eat chocolate
G is particularly
comfortable
C involves both recognition and
identification H is like having social radar
D is intangible
I is that someone
emotions are difficult to accept
E is achieved by learning to control emotions
Questions 20 - 26
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in Boxes 20-26 on your
answer sheet.
20. Emotional Intelligence as a
theory .....
A is attributed to Daniel
Goleman
B was unheard of until the 1970s
C is attributed to Mayer and
Salovey
D consists of at least five key areas
21. One ways of controlling emotions
is to ......
A hinder them
B suppress the negative ones
C put them to the side to deal
with later
D use both logic and emotion
22. As well as being intangible, the
problem with emotions is that they ......
A are difficult
B are difficult to qualify
C do not operate in isolation
D are compounded
23. Misreading the behaviour of
others .......
A is most common with those close to us
B is always expensive
C is a classic example
D happens on a daily basis
24. Employers need to .......
A save money
B know about people's emotions
C employ and deal with employees
D work scenario
25. Goleman links Emotional
Intelligence to ........
A competence
B incompetence
C happiness
D common sense
26. The fact that the idea of
Emotional Intelligence has emerged suggests that social interactions ......
A happen in the family
B need to be re-skilled
C care becoming less frequent
D are honed
Questions 27
Does the statement below agree with the
information in Reading Passage
2?
In Box 27, write:
Yes
if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
No
if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
Not Given if there is no
information about the statement in the passage
Example
: John D. Mayer and Peter
Salovey wrote "Emotional Intelligence, Why It can matter
more than IQ".
Answer:
No.
27. The author believes that the lack of Emotional Intelligence will
lead to the disintegration of the family as a social unit.
15. Knowing one's emotions ........
|
involves
both recognition and identification
|
|
16. One aspect of managing one's emotions
........
|
|
|
17. Self - motivation .........
|
|
|
18. The ability to recognise emotions in
other people ...........
|
|
|
19. Handling relationships ..........
|
|
|
20. Emotional Intelligence as a
theory .....
|
|
|
21. One ways of controlling
emotions is to ......
|
|
|
22. As well as being intangible,
the problem with emotions is that they ......
|
|
|
23. Misreading the behaviour of
others .......
|
|
|
24. Employers need to .......
|
|
|
25. Goleman links Emotional
Intelligence to ........
|
|
|
26. The fact that the idea of
Emotional Intelligence has emerged suggests that social interactions ......
|
|
|
27. The author believes that the lack of Emotional
Intelligence will lead to the disintegration of the family as a social unit.
|
|
|
READING PASSAGE 3 Pronunciation and physiognomy
Imagine the scene: you are sitting on the
tube and on gets someone you instinctively feel is American. To make sure you
ask them the time, and are right, but how did you know?
When we say someone "looks
American", we take into consideration dress, mannerism and physical
appearance. However, since the Americans do not constitute one single race,
what exactly is meant by "look"? In fact, one salient feature is a
pronounced widening around the jaw, a well-documented phenomenon.
The writer Arthur Koestler once remarked
that friends of his, whom he met thirty years after they emigrated to the
United States, had acquired an " American physiognomy", i.e. a
broadened jaw, an appearance which is also prevalent in the indigenous
population. An anthropologist friend of his attributed this to the increased
use of the jaw musculature in American enunciation. This "change of
countenance" in immigrants had already been observed by the historian M.
Fishberg in 1910.
To paraphrase the philosopher Emerson,
certain national, social and religious groups, such as ageing actors, long-term
convicts and celibate priests, to give just a few examples, develop a
distinguishing "look", which is not easily defined, but readily
recognised. Their way of life affects their facial expression and physical
features, giving the mistaken impression that these traits are of hereditary or
"racial" origin. All the factors mentioned above contribute, as well
as heredity. But the question of appearance being affected by pronunciation, as
in the case of American immigrants (including those from other English speaking
countries) over the course of many years, is of great interest, and calls for
further study into the science of voice production. This can only benefit those
working in the field of speech therapy, elocution and the pronunciation of
foreign languages, and help the student from a purely physiological point of
view. Naturally, the numerous psychological and socio-linguistic factors that
inhibit most adult learners of foreign languages from acquiring a
"good" pronunciation constitute a completely different and no less
important issue that requires separate investigation.
The pronunciation of the various forms of
English around the world today is affected by the voice being
"placed" in different parts of the mouth. We use our speech organs in
certain ways to produce specific sounds, and these muscles have to pratice to
learn new phonemes. Non-Americans should look in the mirror while repeating
" I really never heard of poor reward for valour" with full use of
the USA retroflex /r/ phoneme, and note what happens to their jawbones after
three or four repetitions. Imagine the effect of these movements on the jaw
muscles after twenty years! This phoneme is one of the most noticeable features
of US English and one that non-Americans always exaggerate when mimicking the
accent. Likewise, standard British RP is often parodied, and its whine of
superiority mocked to the point of turning the end of one's nose up as much as
possible. Not only does this enhance the "performance", but also begs
the question of whether this look is the origin of the expression "stuck
up"?
On a Birmingham bus once, a friend pointed
to a fellow passenger and said, "That man's Brummie accent is written all
over his face." This was from someone who would not normally make crass
generalisations. The interesting thing would be to establish whether thin lips
and a tense, prominent chin are a result of the way Midlands English is spoken,
or its cause, or a mixture of both. Similarly, in the case of Liverpool one
could ask whether the distinctive "Scouse" accent was a reason for,
or an effect of the frequency of high cheekbones in the local population.
When one "learns" another
accent, as in the theatre for example, voice coaches often resort to images to
help their students acquire the distinctive sound of the target pronunciation.
With "Scouse", the mental aid employed is pushing your cheekbones up
in a smile as high as they will go and imagining you've got a very slack mouth
full of cotton wool. The sound seems to spring off the sides of your face -
outwards and upwards. For a Belfast accent, one has to tighten the sides of the
jaws until there is maximun tension, and speak opening the lips as little as
possible. This gives rise to the well-known "Ulster jaw" phenomenon.
Learning Australian involves imagining the ordeals of the first westerners
transported to the other side of the world. When exposed to the merciless glare
and unremitting heat of the southern sun, we instinctively screw up our eyes
and grimace for protection.
Has this contributed to an Australian
"look", and affected the way "Aussies" speak English, or
vice versa? It is a curious chicken and egg conundrum, but perhaps the answer
is ultimately irrelevant. Of course other factors affect the way people look
and sound, and I am not suggesting for one minute that all those who speak one
form of a language or dialect have a set physiognomy because of their
pronunciation patterns. But a large enough number do, and that alone is worth investigating.
What is important, however, is establishing pronunciation as one of the factors
that determine physiognomy, and gaining a deeper insight into the origins and
nature of the sounds of speech. And of course, one wonders what
"look" one's own group has!
Questions 28 - 30
Use the information in the text to match
the People listed (28-30) with the Observations (i-vii). Write the appropriate
letter in Boxes 28-30 on your answer sheet. Note that there are more Observationsthan people, so you will not use all
of them. You can use each Observation once only.
People
28. Koestler
29. Fishberg
30. Emerson
Observations
i. Americans use their jaw
more to enunciate
ii. Immigrants acquire
physiognomical features common among the indigenous population
iii. Facial expression and
physical features are hereditary
iv. Lifestyle affects
physiognomy
v. Americans have a
broadened jaw
vi. The appearance of his
friends had changed since they moved to the United States
vii. The change of
countenance was unremarkable
Questions 31 - 36
Do the statements below agree with the
information in Reading
Passage 3?
In Boxes 31-36, write:
Yes
if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
No
if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
Not Given if there is no information about the
statement in the passage
Example: Appearance is affected
by pronunciation.
Answer: Yes.
31. Further study into the science of voice production will cost
considerable sums of money.
32. The psychological and socio-linguistic factors that make it
difficult for adult learners of foreign languages to gain "good"
pronunciation are not as important as other factors.
33. Speech organs are muscles.
34. New phonemes are difficult to learn
35. People often make fun of standard British RP.
36. Facial features contribute to the incomprehensibility of
Midlands English.
Questions 37 - 40
Choose one phrase (A-I) from the List of phrases to complete each Key point below. Write the appropriate letters (A-I)
in Boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.
The information in the completed sentences
should be an accurate summary of the points made by the writer.
NB. There are more phrases (A-I)
than sentences, so you will not need to use them all. You may use each phrase
once only.
Key points
37. Voice coaches .........
38. The Scouse accent ..........
39. Whether the way we look affects the way we speak or the other
way round ............
40. It is important to prove that pronunciation ..........
List of phrases
A can be achieved by
using a mental
aid E is a chicken and egg
conundrum
B is
irrelevant
F get the target
C is worth
investigating G
can affect appearance
D use images to
assist
students
H
is not as easy as a Belfast one
with the desired pronunciation
I makes
you smile
TEST 5 READING
PASSAGE 1
Day
after day we hear about how anthropogenic development is causing global
warming. According to an increasingly vocal minority, however, we should be
asking ourselves how much of this is media hype and how much is based on real
evidence. It seems, as so often is the case, that it depends on which expert you
listen to, or which statistics you study.
Yes,
it is true that there is a mass of evidence to indicate that the world is
getting warmer, with one of the world's leading weather predictors stating that
air temperatures have shown an increase of just under half a degree Celsius
since the beginning of the twentieth century. And while this may not sound like
anything worth losing sleep over, the international press would have us believe
that the consequences could be devastating. Other experts, however, are of the
opinion that what we are seeing is just part of a natural upward and downward
swing that has always been part of the cycle of global weather. An analysis of
the views of major meteorologists in the United States showed that less than
20% of them believed that any change in temperature over the last hundred years
was our own fault - the rest attributed it to natural cyclical changes.
There
is, of course, no denying that we are still at a very early stage in
understanding weather. The effects of such variables as rainfall, cloud
formation, the seas and oceans gases such as methane and ozone, or even solar
energy are still not really understood, and therefore the predictions that we
make using them cannot always be relied on. Dr. James Hansen, in 1988, was
predicting that the likely effects of global warming would be a raising of
world temperature which would have disastrous consequences for mankind: "
a strong cause and effect relationship between the current climate and human
alteration of the atmosphere ". He has now gone on record as stating that
using artificial models of climate as a way of predicting change is all but
impossible. In fact, he now believes that, rather than getting hotter, our
planet is getting greener as a result of the carbon dioxide increase, with the
prospect of increasing vegetation in areas which in recent history have been
frozen wastelands.
In fact, there is some evidence to suggest that as our computer-based weather
models have become more sophisticated, the predicted rises in temperature have
been cut back. In addition, if we look at the much reported rise in global
temperature over the last century, a close analysis reveals that the lion's
share of that increase, almost three quarters in total, occurred before man
began to "poison" his world with industrial processes and the
accompanying greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of the twentieth
century.
So should we pay any attention to those stories that scream out at us from
billboards and television news headlines, claiming that man, with his
inexhaustible dependence on oil-based machinery and ever more sophisticated
forms of transport is creating a nightmare level of greenhouse gas emissions,
poisoning his environment and ripping open the ozone layer? Doubters point to
scientific evidence, which can prove that, of all the greenhouse gases, only
two percent come from man-made sources, the rest resulting from natural
emissions. Who, then, to believe: the environmentalist exhorting us to leave the
car at home, to buy re-usable products packaged in recycled paper and to plant
trees in our back yard? Or the sceptics, including, of course, a lot of big
businesses who have most to lose, when they tell us that we are making a
moutain out of a molehill? And my own opinion? The jury's still out as far as I
am concerned!
Questions 1 - 5
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in Boxes 1-5 on your
answer sheet.
1. The author ........
A believes that man is causing global
warming
B believes that global warming is a natural
process
C is sure what the causes of global warming are
D does not say what he believes the causes of
global warming are
2. As to the cause of global
warming, the author believes that ........
A occasionally the facts depend on who you are
talking to
B the facts always depend on
who you are talking to
C often the facts depend on which expert you
listen to
D you should not speak to experts
3. More than 80% of the top
meteorologists in the United States are of the opinion that .........
A global warming should make us lose sleep
B global warming is not the result of natural
cyclical changes, but man-made
C the consequences of global warming will be
devastating
D global warming is not man-made, but the result
of natural cyclical changes
4. Our understanding of
weather ...........
A leads to reliable predictions
B is variable
C cannot be denied
D is not very developed yet
5. Currently, Dr. James
Hansen's beliefs include the fact that .......
A it is nearly impossible to predict weather change
using artificial models
B the consequences of global
warming would be disastrous for mankind
C there is a significant link between the climate
now, and man's changing of the atmosphere
D Earth is getting colder
Questions 6 - 11
Do the statement below agree with the
information in Reading Passage
1?
In Boxes 6-11, write:
Yes if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
No
if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
Not Given if there is no information
about the statement in the passage
Example : Computer-based weather models
have become more sophisticated.
Answer : Yes.
6. At the same time that computer-based weather
models have become more sophisticated, weather forecasters have become more
expert.
7. Most of the increase in global temperature
happened in the second half of the twentieth century.
8. The media wants us to blame ourselves for
global warming.
9. The media encourages the public to use
environmentally friendly vehicles, such as eletric cars to combat global
warming.
10. Environmentalists are very effective at
persuading people to be kind to the environment.
11. Many big businesses are on the side of the
sceptics as regards the cause of global warming.
Questions 12 and 13
Complete the sentences below. Use NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS from
the passage for each blank space.
Write your answers in Boxes 12 and 13 on
your answer sheet.
12. As well as planting trees and not driving,
the environmentalist would like us to choose products that are wrapped
_______________ and can be used more than once.
13. Big businesses would have us believe that
we are making too much fuss about global warming, because they have ________________.
Question 14
Choose the appropriate letter A-D and write it in Box 14 on your answer
sheet.
14. Which of these is the best title for
this text?
A Global Warming is for real
B Global warming - media hype or genuine threat?
C Weather changes over the last 100 years
D Global Warming - the greatest threat to mankind
TEST 5 READING
PASSAGE 2 What is a dinosaur?
A. Although the name dinosaur is derived from
the Greek for "terrible lizard", dinosaurs were not, in fact, lizards
at all. Like lizards, dinosaurs are included in the class Reptilia, or
reptiles, one of the five main classes of Vertebrata, animals with backbones.
However, at the next level of classification, within reptiles, significant
differences in the skeletal anatomy of lizards and dinosaurs have led
scientists to place these groups of animals into two different superorders:
Lepidosauria, or lepidosaurs, and Archosauria, or archosaurs.
B. Classified as lepidosaurs are lizards and
snakes and their prehistoric ancestors. Included among the archosaurs, or
"ruling reptiles", are prehistoric and modern crocodiles, and the now
extinct thecodonts, pterosaurs and dinosaurs. Palaeontologists believe that
both dinosaurs and crocodiles evolved, in the later years of the Triassic
Period (c. 248-208 million years ago), from creatures called pseudosuchian
thecodonts. Lizards, snakes and different types of thecodont are believed to
have evolved earlier in the Triassic Period from reptiles known as eosuchians.
C. The most
important skeletal differences between dinosaurs and other archosaurs are in
the bones of the skull, pelvis and limbs. Dinosaur skulls are found in a great
range of shapes and sizes, reflecting the different eating habits and
lifestyles of a large and varied group of animals that dominated life on Earth
for an extraordinary 165 million years. However, unlike the skulls of any other
known animals, the skulls of dinosaurs had two long bones known as vomers.
These bones extended on either side of the head, from the front of the snout to
the level of the holes on the skull known as the antorbital fenestra, situated
in front of the dinosaur's orbits or eyesockets.
D. All dinosaurs, whether large or small,
quadrupedal or bidepal, fleet-footed or slow-moving, shared a common body plan.
Identification of this plan makes it possible to differentiate dinosaurs from
any other types of animal, even other archosaurs. Most significantly, in
dinosaurs, the pelvis and femur had evolved so that the hind limbs were held
vertically beneath the body, rather than sprawling out to the sides like the
limbs of a lizard. The femur of a dinosaur had a sharply in-turned neck and a
ball-shaped head, which slotted into a fully open acetabulum or hip socket. A
supra-acetabular crest helped prevent dislocation of the femur. The position of
the knee joint, aligned below the acetabulum, made it possible for the whole
hind limb to swing backwards and forwards. This unique combination of features
gave dinosaurs what is known as a "fully improved gait". Evolution of
this highly efficient method of walking also developed in mammals, but among
reptiles it occurred only in dinosaurs.
E. For the purpose of further classification,
dinosaurs are divided into two orders: Saurischia, or saurischian dinosaurs,
and Ornithischia, or ornithischian dinosaurs. This division is made on the
basis of their pelvic anatomy. All dinosaurs had a pelvic girdle with each side
comprised of three bones: the pubis, ilium and ischium. However, the
orientation of these bones follows one of two patterns. In saurischian
dinosaurs, also known as lizard-hipped dinosaurs, the pubis points forwards, as
is usual in most types of reptile. By contrast, in ornithischian, or
bird-hipped, dinosaurs, the pubis points backwards towards the rear of the animal,
which is also true of birds.
F. Of the two orders of dinosaurs, the
Saurischia was the larger and the first to evolve. It is divided into two
suborders: Therapoda, or therapods, and Sauropodomorpha, or sauropodomorphs.
The therapods, or "beast feet", were bipedal, predatory carnivores.
They ranged in size from the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex, 12m long, 5.6m tall and
weighing an estimated 6.4 tonnes, to the smallest known dinosaur,
Compsognathus, a mere 1.4m long and estimated 3kg in weight when fully grown.
The sauropodomorphs, or "lizard feet forms", included both bipedal
and quadrupedal dinosaurs. Some sauropodomorphs were carnivorous or omnivorous
but later species were typically herbivorous. They included some of the largest
and best-known of all dinosaurs, such as Diplodocus, a huge quadruped with an
elephant-like body, a long, thin tail and neck that gave it a total length of
27m, and a tiny head.
G. Ornithischian
dinosaurs were bipedal or quadrupedal herbivores. They are now usually
divided into three suborders: Ornithipoda, Thyreophora and Marginocephalia. The
ornithopods, or "bird feet", both large and small, could walk or run
on their long hind legs, balancing their body by holding their tails stiffly
off the ground behind them. An example is Iguanodon, up to 9m long, 5m tall and
weighing 4.5 tonnes. The thyreophorans, or "shield bearers", also
known as armoured dinosaurs, were quadrupeds with rows of protective bony
spikes, studs, or plates along their backs and tails. They included Stegosaurus,
9m long and weighing 2 tonnes.
H. The marginocephalians, or "margined
heads", were bipedal or quadrupedal ornithschians with a deep bony frill
or narrow shelf at the back of the skull. An example is Triceratops, a
rhinoceros-like dinosaur, 9m long, weighing 5.4 tonnes and bearing a prominent
neck frill and three large horns.
Questions 15 - 21
Reading Passage 2 has 8 paragraphs (A-H).
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xiii)
in Boxes 15-21 on your answer sheet.
One of the headings has been done for you
as an example.
NB. There are more headings than
paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.
15. Paragraph
A
16. Paragraph
B
17. Paragraph
C
18. Paragraph
D
19. Paragraph
E
20. Paragraph
F
21. Paragraph
G
Example : Paragraph H
Answer: x
List of headings
i. 165
million years
ii. The
body plan of archosaurs
iii. Dinosaurs
- terrible lizards
iv.
Classification according to pelvic anatomy
v. The suborders
of Saurischia
vi. Lizards
and dinosaurs - two distinct superorders
vii. Unique body
plan helps identify dinosaurs from other animals
viii. Herbivore
dinosaurs
ix.
Lepidosaurs
x.
Frills and shelves
xi. The
origins of dinosaurs and lizards
xii.
Bird-hipped dinosaurs
xiii. Skull bones
distinguish dinosaurs from other archosaurs
Questions 22 - 24
Complete then sentences below. Use NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS from
the passage for each blank space.
Write your answers in Boxes 22-24 on
your answer sheet.
22. Lizards and dinosaurs are classified into
two different superorders because of the difference in their ______________
23. In the Triassic Period, ________________
evolved into thecodonts, for example, lizards and snakes.
24. Dinosaur skulls differed from those of any
other known animals because of the presence of vomers: ______________
Questions 25 - 28
Choose one phrase (A-H) from the List of features to match with the Dinosaurs listed below. Write the appropriate
letters (A-H) in Boxes 25-28 on your answer sheet.
The information in the completed sentences
should be an accurate summary of the points made by the writer.
NB. There are more phrases (A-H)
than sentences, so you will not need to use them all. You may use each phrase
once only.
Dinosaurs
25. Dinosaurs differed from lizards, because
.......
26. Saurischian and ornithischian dinosaurs
........
27. Unlike therapods, sauropodomorphs ........
28. Some dinosaurs used their tails to
balance, others .......
List of features
A are both divided
into two orders.
B the former had a
"fully improved gait".
C were not usually
very heavy.
D could walk or run
on their back legs.
E their hind limbs
sprawled out to the side.
F walked or ran on
four legs, rather than two.
G both had a pelvic
girdle comprising six bones.
H did not always
eat meat.
TEST 5 READING
PASSAGE 3 Doesn't that sound terribly yellow to you?
" I can't say. I'm colour
blind", was my flatmate's response. And that was that for another twenty
odd years, when by chance I came across an article in a newspaper on research
into synaesthesia at a London hospital. At last, I understood my interpretation
of the world through colour.
Synaesthesia is the subjective sensation of
a sense other than the one being stimulated . For example, the sight of a word may
evoke sensations of colour or the sound of music may also have a similar
effect, as may taste. Or, to put it simply, synaesthetes, i.e. people with
synaesthesia, have their senses hooked together, so that they experience several
senses simultaneously.
To those not already aware of it,
synaesthesia seems a new phenomenon. Yet, it is far from new. In 1690, John
Locke, the philosopher, wrote of a blind man with synaesthetic capabilities.
The first reference in the medical field was in 1710, by Thomas Woodhouse, an
English ophthalmologist. In hisTheory of Colour , the German writer, Goethe,
talked about colour and the senses. The poet, Arthur Rimbaud, wrote about
synaesthesia in his 1871 poem Voyelles,
as did another French poet Baudelaire, inCorrespondance . So, synaesthesia has a respectable
history.
Synaesthesia is understandably met with a
certain degree of scepticism, since it is something beyond the ken of the vast
majority of people. Son et
lumière shows in the 19th century were an attempt at combining
the senses in a public display, but such displays were not capable of conveying
the sensations experienced by involuntary
synaesthesia , as the ability
which a synaesthete's experience is called.
There has been a number of well-documented
synaesthetes. Alexander Scriabin, the Russian composer, (1871-1915) tried to
express his own synaesthetic abilities in his symphony Prometheus , the Poem of Fire (1922). And another Russian,
Rimsky-Korsakov, noted the colour associations musical keys possessed. For
example, Scriabin saw C major as red, while to Rimsky-Korsakov it was white.
Arthur Bliss, an English composer, based his 1922 Colour Symphony on the
concept of synaesthesia. He did not claim to be a synaesthete; his colour
choices were arbitrary and the project an intellectual exercise.
In the field of the visual arts, probably
the best known artist with synaesthetic capabilities is the Russian artist,
Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), credited with being the founder of
abstract painting. It is said he experienced "sensory fusion" at a
performance of Wagner's Lohengrin , with the music producing colours
before his eyes. He did not see colours solely in terms of objects, but
associated them with sounds. He even composed an opera, Der Gelbe Klang (The Yellow Sound), which was a
mixture of colour, light, dance and sound.
For many people with synaesthesia, knowing
that what they have been experiencing has both a name and a history and that
they are among a number of notable sufferers is a revelation. Initially, they often
feel that there is something wrong psychologically or mentally, or that
everyone feels that way. Then they realise with a thud that other people do
not. Suppression is an option, but unwittingly some people have managed to make
use of the ability to their advantage. While the condition of synaesthesia may
hamper many people because of its disorienting effects, it can also open up a
range of new skills. It is not unusual for people who have synaesthesia to be
creative and imaginative. As many studies have shown, memory is based to some
extent on association. Synaesthetes find they are able to remember certain
things with great ease. The person who associates the shape of a word with
colour is quite often able to remember a longer sequence of words; and the same
goes for other areas where memory needs to be used.
But this condition like all gifts, has its
drawbacks. Some people see words as colours; others even individual letters and
syllables, so that a word becomes a kaleidoscope of colour. Beautiful though
such a reading experience may be, synaesthesia can cause problems with both
reading and writing. Reading can take longer, because one has to wade through
all the colours, as well as the words! And, because the colour sequences as
well as the words have to fit together, writing is then equally difficult.
Questions 29 - 32
Do the statements below agree with the
information in Reading Passage
3?
In Boxes 29-32, write:
Yes
if the statement agrees with the
information in the passage
No
if the statement contradicts the
information in the passage
Not Given if there is no information about the
statement in the passage
Example: The writer is colour blind.
Answer: No.
29. Synaesthetes experiene several
senses at the same time.
30. Newspaper articles and TV news reports about
synaesthesia are appearing with monotonous regularity nowadays.
31. Mention of synaesthesia can
be traced back to the 17th century.
32. It is strange that many people
are sceptical bout synaesthesia.
Questions 33 - 36
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in Boxes 33-36 on your
answer sheet.
33. Son et lumière shows .....
A attempted to combine public senses
B were frequent in the 19th century
C were both public and involuntary
D did not reproduce the experiences of synaesthetes
34. Both Alexander Scriabin
and Rimsky-Korsakov ......
A wanted to have synaesthetic
abilities
B created a lot of documents
C linked music to colour
D agree with Bliss in 1922
35. The Russian artist, Wassily
Kandinsky, ......
A performed Wagner's Lohengrin
B found abstract painting
C also composed music
D saw objects
36. At first, "sufferers"
of synaesthesia believe that ......
A other people have similar experiences or there is
something wrong with them
B they are a revelation
C they are psychologically or mentally superior
D they are unique
Questions 37 - 40
According to the reading passage, which of
the following statements are true about synaesthetes?
Write the appropriate letters in Boxes
37-40 on your answer sheet.
A Some synaesthetes are
disoriented by their abilities.
B Unusually, some synaesthetes have great
creativity.
C Memory is heightened by synaesthesia.
D Synaesthetes have gifts and drawbacks.
E Some synaesthetes use their ability to help
themselves.
F Their ability can be an obstacle to them.
G Some synaesthetes write in colour.
TEST 6 READING PASSAGE 1 PROPAGANDA - THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE
UGLY
Imagine for a moment that you are an
impoverished citizen of ancient Egypt, hopefully hoeing the desert and
wondering when it will bloom. Suddenly, a cloud of dust appears on the horizon
which eventually resolves itself into a gallop of horses and chariots
commanded by heavily armed soldiers followed, eventually, by a crocodile of
exhausted slaves lugging building materials.
They all come to a halt outside your home
and you make a strategic withdrawal indoors, from where you watch them through
a slit in the wall. In an amazingly short time, the slaves build a 40-foot high
obelisk which is then surrounded by a swarm of stonemasons. Then, when the
work, whatever it is, has been completed, the entire company withdraws as
quickly as it came.
Once the coast is clear, you creep outside
to examine their handiwork. The obelisk is covered with carvings of soldiers,
looking remarkably like those who have just left, engaged in countless
victorious battles, decimating the countryside and gruesomely killing people
who look remarkably like you. Prominently portrayed, surveying sphinx-like the
carnage committed in his name, is the Pharaoh. You can't read, but you get the
picture. You, in consort with your disaffected neighbours, had been
contemplating, in rather desultory fashion, a small uprising. You change your
mind in what is one of the earliest examples of the power of propaganda.
Of course, as is often the case with big
ideas when they are in their infancy, the methods employed in ancient Egypt
were far from subtlle. But over subsequent centuries, the use of propaganda was
conscientiously honed.
It was not until the First World War that
propaganda made the quantum leap from the gentler arts of persuasion to become
the tool of coercion. As Phillip Taylor says in War and the Media: "Before
1914, it simply meant the means by which the proponent of a particular doctrine
... propagated his beliefs among his audience ... propaganda is simply a
process of persuasion. As a concept, it is neutral and should be devoid of
value judgements".
It is unlikely, at least in the West, that
propaganda will ever be rehabilitated as a neutral concept. The very word is
now so loaded with sinister connotations that it evokes an immediate and
visceral sense of outrage. For the use of propaganda reached its apogee in the
machinery of the Third Reich. Hitler and Goebbels between them elevated it to a
black art of such diabolical power that it has been permanently discredited
among those who witnessed its expression. Indeed in 1936 at Nuremberg, Hitler
attributed his entire success to the workings of propaganda. He said: "
Propaganda brought us to power, propaganda has since enabled us to remain in
power, and propaganda will give us the means of conquering the world".
It is therefore unsurprising that Western
governments and politicians are liable to perform the most extreme
presentational acrobatics in their efforts to avoid the dreaded "p"
word being applied to any of their activities. They have developed impressive
lexicons of euphemisms and doublespeak to distance themselves from any taint of
it, real or imagined.
Inevitably, the media is alive to this
hypersensitivity and the "p" word has become a potent weapon in its
arsenal. It is used pejoratively, with intent to discredit and wound, as
governments are painfully aware. For propaganda is the spectre that haunts many
a government-inspired media fest. It is the uninvited guest, the empty chair
which serves to remind the hosts precisely why the gathering has been convened
and forces them to run quality tests on the fare on offer - is it factually
nutritious, is it presented in a balanced and truthful way, is its integrity
intact?
In this one respect, at least, the
negative connotations attached to propaganda actually perform a positive
function. They offer a salutary reminder of all that government information is
supposed not to be, and act as a ferocious curb on any runaway tendency to
excess. Most importantly, the public is alive to the dangers of propaganda and
alert to its manifestations where overt or covert. They know that propaganda is
the serpent lurking in the tree of knowledge; that it is subtle, it beguiles,
it seduces, it obfuscates, it holds out simple dreams and turns them into
nightmare realities, it subverts, it pretends to be other than it is. They know
that it is the poisoned fruit of the goblin market, not the plain bread of
truth that is the staple diet of information. And they will not tolerate it.
They succumd instead to the more blatant
blandishments of advertising, which might be regarded as the wolf of
propaganda, tamed and turned to domestic use. Safe in the knowledge that the
wolf has been securely trussed by the rules and regulations of the Advertising
Standards Authority, the knowingly consent to being had.
Questions 1 - 10
Complete the text below, which is a
summary of paragraphs 1-4. Choose a suitable word from the text for each blank.
Write your answers in Boxes 1-10 on your answer sheet.
You may use any word more than once.
Example:
PROPAGANDA - THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE __________.
Answer:
UGLY.
_____1_____ that you are a poor
_____2_____ living in ancient Egypt, when a band of soldiers accompanied by a
_____3_____ of slaves carrying building materials appears on the scene. While
you are inside your house, the slaves erect an _____4______ and the whole
company disappears. The _____5_____ features figures like those soldiers who
have just left engaged in victorious battles and, in a prominent position, the
figure of the sphinx-like _____6_____. After briefly considering an
_____7______, you and the other inhabitants change your _____8_____ in what is
one of the earliest instances of the power of _____9______, albeit a not very
______10______ one.
Questions 11 - 14
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in Boxes 11-14
on your answer sheet.
11. According to Philip Taylor, propaganda
.....
A. is needed to propagate people's beliefs
B. was a tool of coercion before 1914
C. has always been a neutral force
D. was merely a process of persuading people to do things
prior to 1914
12. According to Philip Taylor, propaganda
.....
A. is not a neutral concept
B. is value loaded up until 1914
C. is a neutral concept
D. was a neutral concept up until 1914
13. Politicians in the West ......
A. will do anything to avoid using the word propaganda
B. like using the word propaganda in the media
C. do not dread the "p" word
D. are consummate acrobats
14. The public ......
A. are happy to be deceived by advertisers
B. are deceived by advertisers
C. are not deceived by advertisers
D. respect the advertisers
READING PASSAGE 2 The pursuit of knowledge
According to the great English
lexicographer Samuel Johnson, knowledge
is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find
information upon it (Boswell
Life vol. 2 p. 383 18 April 1775). In the information-driven world we now
inhabit, the latter has assumed a much greater level of importance.
At the time of the European Renaissance,
which spanned the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it was
considered possible for the educated, well-read man, the so-called Renaissance
man, to possess the sum total of human knowledge. Admittedly, the body of
knowledge then available was restricted, being held firmly in check by several
important factors: the paucity of books in circulation at that time; the
difficulty of acquiring copies of the texts; the need to copy texts by hand;
and the cost of doing so. The example of Lupus of Ferrieres' search for the Ars rhetorica of Fortunatus in the ninth century was
repeated again and again throughout the Latin West until the momentous advent
of printing in the middle of the fifteenth century. Printed books saw the end
of some of the practical limitations placed on the spread of human knowledge.
The first revolution in information technology had begun.
Renaissance man was rapidly left behind by
this development; and, henceforth, it would be increasingly difficult for the
educated man to cope with the expansion of knowledge that flowed through Europe
via the medium of movable type.
In today's world, the scenario could
hardly be more different. The most well-read individual, whom we could
legitimately call information
man, or homo sciens,
would certainly be considerably more knowledgeable than Renaissance man. Yet,
because of the ever-expanding increase in the sum total of human knowledge over
the latter half of the last millennium, and the changes in the world of
technology, easy access to information has reduced the stature of the educated
individual. All that he can hope to be now is an expert in a narrow field, not
the all-knowing polymath of yesteryear.
It is not surprising to see people
overwhelmed by the umlimited stream of information. There is simply too much of
it to assimilate, and it is difficult to know what to do with the data once it
is received; which brings us back to Johnson's words. But we need to add an
other dimension to his dictum, one which was probably true in his time, but is
even more pertinent today: people
need to be able to use the knowledge they acquire and not just know it or know
where to find it. Our deficiency in this regard is, perhaps, the most
singular failure of the modern information age.
Acquisitiveness is a natural human
instinct. Children collect cards of footballers, or whatever is the latest fad.
Stamps, coins and books are targets for children and adult collectors alike, as
their basic instincts are played upon and nurtured by market forces. The desire
to gather knowledge is nothing new. What is astonishing, however, is the way in
which people treat the knowledge once it has been collected. It is as if the
collection were an end in itself, and herein lies the great deception. We have
turned the world into a large machine of information, a veritable vortex into
which we are all being inexorably sucked. People beaver away amassing raw data,
labouring under the misapprehension that they are doing something worthwhile,
when all that is really happening is the movement of information from one place
to another. We should hardly be surprised that, as this becomes apparent,
disillusionment and stress in the workplace are becoming sadly the all too
common consequences.
The world is not really the richer for
having the current wealth of knowledge at its fingertips. It is like standing
amongst the wealth of the British Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris
or other great libraries and not being able to read.
So what is to be done? Training in
collecting and processing relevant information, followed by learning to
collate, analyse and select or discard is the obvious solution. But there is
such a dearth of people who know what to do that one remains pessimistic.
The pursuit of knowledge is sadly not all
it is cracked up to be.
Questions 15 - 21
Complete the sentences below. Use NO
MORE THAN FOUR WORDS from
the passage to complete each blank space.
Write your answers in Boxes 15-21 on your
answer sheet.
15. Samuel Johnson was an
_________________.
16. Renaissance man supposedly possessed
all ___________________.
17. The spread of knowledge changed with
the all important _________________.
18. According to the writer, today's
information man knows more than ________________.
19. The standing of the modern educated
man has been diminished by _______________.
20. The polymath of the Renaissance is
described as __________________.
21. In today's world, people are weighed
down by the endless ___________________.
Questions 22-25
Answer the questions below. Use NO
MORE THAN FOUR WORDS from
the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in Boxes 22-25 on your
answer sheet.
22. How does the writer describe people's
inability in the modern world to use the knowledge that they obtain?
23. What is the desire to collect things
described as?
24. According to the author, what has the
world turned into?
25. What are the consequences in the
workplace of moving large amounts of raw date around?
Questions 26-28
Do the statements below agree with the
information in Reading
Passage 2?
In Boxes 26-28, write:
Yes
if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
No
if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
Not Given if there is no information
about the statement in the passage
Example: The European Renaissance spanned the 14th,
15th and
16th centuries.
Answer: Yes.
26. As the world has a wealth
of knowledge within easy reach, it is now richer.
27. Knowledge processing
courses will soon be obligatory for all library workers.
28. The author believes that
the pursuit of knowledge is worthwhile.
TEST 6 READING PASSAGE 3
Between the Inishowen peninsula, north
west of Derry, and the Glens of Antrim, in the east beyond the Sperrin
Mountains, is found some of Western Europe's most captivating and alluring
landscape.
The Roe Valley Park, some 15 miles east of
Derry is a prime example. The Park, like so many Celtic places, is steeped in
history and legend. As the Roe trickles down through heather bogs in the
Sperrin Mountains to the South., it is a river by the time it cuts through what
was once called the "garden of the soul" - in Celtic
"Gortenanima".
The castle of O'Cahan once stood here and
a number of houses which made up the town of Limavady. The town takes its name
from the legend of a dog leaping into the river Roe carrying a message, or
perhaps chasing a stag. This is a magical place, where the water traces its way
through rock and woodland; at times, lingering in brooding pools of dark cool
water under the shade of summer trees, and, at others, forming weirs and leads
for water mills now long gone.
The Roe, like all rivers, is witness to
history and change. To Mullagh Hill, on the west bank of the River Roe just
outside the present day town of Limavady, St. Columba came in 575 AD for the
Convention of Drumceatt. The world is probably unaware that it knows something
to Limavady; but the town is, in fact, renowned for Jane Ross's song Danny Boy, written to a tune
once played by a tramp in the street.
Some 30 miles along the coast road from
Limavady, one comes upon the forlorn, but imposing ruin of Dunluce Castle,
which stands on a soft basalt outcrop, in defiance of the turbulent Atlantic
lashing it on all sides. The jagged - toothed ruins sit proud on their rock top
commanding the coastline to east and west. The only connection to the mainland
is by a narros bridge. Until the kitchen court fell into the sea in 1639
killing several servants, the castle was fully inhabited. In the next hundred
years or so, the structure gradually fell into its present dramatic state of
disrepair, stripped of its roofs by wind and weather and robbed by man of its
carved stonework. Ruined and forlorn its aspect may be, yet, in the haunting
Celtic twilight of the long summer evenings, it is redolent of another age,
another dream.
A mile or so to the east of the castle
lies Port na Spaniagh, where the Neapolitan Galleas, Girona, from the Spanish
Armada went down one dark October night in 1588 on its way to Scotland. Of the
1500-odd men on board, nine survived.
Even further to the east, is the Giant's
Causeway, a stunning coastline with strangely symmetrical columns of dark
basalt - a beautiful geological wonder. Someone once said of the Causeway that
it was worth seeing, but not worth going to see. That was in the days of horses
and carriages, when travelling was difficult. But it is certainly well worth a
visit. The last lingering moments of the twilight hours are the best time to
savour the full power of the coastline's magic; the time when the place comes
into its own. The tourists are gone and if you are very lucky you will be alone.
It is not frightening, but there is a power in the place; tangible, yet
inexplicable. The feeling is one of eeriness and longing, and of something
missing, something not quite fulfilled; the loss of light and the promise of
darkness; a time between two worlds. Once experienced, this feeling never
leaves you: the longing haunts and pulls at you for the rest of your days.
Beyond the Causeway, connecting the
mainland with an outcrop of rock jutting out of the turbulent Atlantic, is the
Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Not a crossing for the faint-hearted. The Bridge
swings above a chasm of rushing, foaming water that seeks to drag the unwary
down, and away.
Questions 29 - 33
Choose one phrase (A-E)
from the List of places to label the map below. Write the appropriate letters (A-E)
in Boxes 29-33 on your answer sheet.
List of places
A The Sperrin Mountains
B Dunluce Castle
C Inishowen
D The Glens of Antrim
E Limavady
Questions 34 - 37
Do the statements below agree with the
information in Reading
Passage 3?
In Boxes 34-37, write:
Yes
if the statement agrees with the information
in the passage
No
if the statement contradicts the information
in the passage
Not Given if
there is no information about the statement in the passage
Example: Inishowen is in the north-west of Ireland.
Answer: Yes
34. After 1639 the castle of Dunluce was not
completely uninhabited.
35. For the author Dunluce castle evokes
another period of history.
36. There were more than 1500 men on the
Girona when it went down.
37. The writer disagrees with the viewpoint
that the Giant's Causeway is not worth going to visit.
Questions 38 - 40
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in Boxes 38-40 on your
answer sheet.
38. The writer feels that the Giant's
Causeway is ......
A an unsettling place
B a relaxing place
C a boring place
D a place that helps one unwind
39. Where was this passage taken from?
A the news section of a newspaper
B a travel section in a newspaper
C a biography
D an academic journal on geography
40. Which of the following would be a good
title for the passage?
A The Roe Valley Park
B The Giant's Causeway
C Going East to West
D A leap into history
TEST 7 READING PASSAGE 1 Lotte and Wytze Hellinga
A. As a student at the University of
Amsterdam after the Second World War, Lotte found herself stimulated first by
the teaching of Herman de la Fontaine Verwey and then by that of the forceful
personality of Wytze Hellinga, at that time Professor of Dutch Philology at the
University. Wytze Hellinga's teaching was grounded in the idea of situating
what he taught in its context. Obliged to teach Gothic, for example, he tried
to convey a sense of the language rooted in its own time and environment.
B. Study of the book was becoming
increasingly important at the University of Amsterdam at this period, as the
work of de la Fontaine Verwey and Gerrit Willem Ovink testifies. Wytze
Hellinga's interests, formerly largely in a socio-linguistic direction, were
now leaning more towards texts and to the book as the medium that carried
written texts.
C. Much of Wytze's teaching followed
his own research interests, as he developed his ideas around the sense that
texts should properly be understood in the context of their method of
production and dissemination. He was at this time increasingly turning to
codicology and to the classic Anglo-Saxon model of bibliography in the
realization that the plan to produce a proper critical edition of the works of
Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, the seventeenth-century poet, dramatist and
historian, depended on the application of the skills of analytical
bibliography.
D. Encouraged by his work, Lotte produced an
undergraduate thesis on the printer's copy of the Otia of Constantijn Huygens
(The Hague, 1625). This work, incidentally, has never been published, although
an article was regularly announced as forthcoming in Quaerendo during the early
1970s.
E. On graduation in 1958, events took a turn that
was to prove fateful. Lotte was awarded a postgraduate fellowship by the
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Zuiver-Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek ( or Z.W.O) to
go to England to study fifteenth-century printing, and Marie Kronenberg, the
doyenne of Dutch bibliographers, arranged for her to be "taught
incunabulizing" (as she put it) by Victor Scholderer at the British
Museum.
F. As an honorary Assistant Keeper at the Museum,
then, she came to England in 1959, assisting among other things with the
preparation of BMC volume IX (concerning the production of Holland and Belgium)
while studying the texts of the Gouda printer Gerard Leeu to see if the sources
(and hopefully printer's copy) for his editions could be identified. Although
the subject proved difficult to define immediately so as to lead in a
productive direction, most of this work was nonetheless to find its way into
print in such collaborative publications as the Hellinga's Fifteenth century
printing types, the edition of the Bradshaw correspondence and the 1973
Brussels catalogue, to each of which we shall return. But during her time at
the Museum, Lotte's attention was also attracted by such things as English
provenances on early-printed continental books, an interest which has stayed
with her throughout her career.
G. Wytze's attention too was turning towards
incunabula at this time, at witnessed by the fifteenth-century examples used in
his Copy and Print in the Netherlands (1962), and there began a fruitful period
of collaborative work which was issued in a stream of short bibliographical
articles on Low Countries incunabula, and culminated triumphantly in the
ground-breaking Fifteenth-Century Printing Types of the Low Countries,
commissioned (at Wytze's instance) by Menno Hertzberger in 1961 and published
in 1966. These years saw period of intensive study in the libraries strongest
in the incunabula of the Low Countries, with whole summers passed in Cambridge
and Copenhagen as well as shorter visits to libraries from Oxford to Vienna.
H. The partnership between Lotte and Wytze
was also to lead to marriage and to the birth of their son. Between 1961 and
1975, the Hellingas were in Amsterdam. In 1965, Lotte had obtained a research
assistantship for Dutch prototypography from the Z.W.O., and from 1967 she was
teaching at the Institute of Dutch Studies at the University of Amsterdam. She
continued to develop her interest in analytical bibliography in a number of
directions, perhaps most strikingly in important work on early Dutch printing
and an examination of the Coster question. She also contributed to the
catalogue which accompanied the exhibition held in Brussels in 1973 to
commemorate the quincentenary of the introduction of printing to the
Netherlands, a collaborative work that still provides the best presentation of
the work of the early printers of the Low Countries.
I. The year 1974 saw the award of a doctorate by
the University of Amsterdam for her thesis on the relationship between copy and
print in a fifteenth-century printing-house, Methode en praktijk bij het zetten
van boeken in de vijftiende eeuw. This seminal work, remaining as a Dutch
dissertation of limited diffusion, has perhaps not been as widely read as it
deserves. There followed a year's respite from teaching in 1975 with the
commission from Ensched, to edit Harry Carter's translation of Charles
Ensched's Type foundries in the Netherlands, at length published in 1978.
Questions 1 - 8
Reading Passage 1 has 9 paragraphs (A-I).
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate
numbers (i-xv) in Boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet. You may use
each heading only once.
One of the headings has been done for you
as an example.
NB. There are more headings than
pargraphs, so you will not use all of them.
1. Paragraph
A
5. Paragraph E
2. Paragraph
B
6. Pargraph
F
3. Paragraph
C
7. Paragraph G
4. Paragraph
D
8. Paragraph
H
Example: Paragraph I
Answer: iii
List of headings
i. The classic Anglo-Saxon
model
ix. Lotte's work in England
ii. Lotte to go to England
x. The development of Wytze's research
iii. More recognition
deserved
xi. Back in Amsterdam
iv. Wytze's research in
Oxford
xii. A postgraduate student at university
v. Wytze's interest in
texts and the
book
xiii. A socio-linguistic direction
vi. Lotte
unpublished
xiv. Wytze's interest in incunabula
vii. Lotte to be
published
xv. The birth of a son
viii. Lotte's first
influences at university
Questions 9 - 14
Do the statements below agree with the
information in Reading
Passage 1?
In Boxes 9-14, write:
Yes
if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
No
if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
Not Given if there is no information
about the statement in the passage
Example:
At university, Lotte was first stimulated by the teaching of de la
Fontaine Verwey.
Answer: Yes
9. Lotte studied at the University of
Amsterdam after the Second World War.
10. Prior to his interests in the book,
Wytze's interest was mainly in socio-linguistics.
11. According to Wytze Hellinga, the
production and dissemination of books were not really matters of importance.
12. When Lotte moved to England, she found it
difficult to settle in initially.
13. Lotte lived and worked in Amsterdam during
part of the 60s and 70s.
14. Lotte's postgraduate thesis was widely
disseminated.
Question 15
Choose the appropriate letter A-D and write it in Box 15 on your answer
sheet.
15. The passage is an extract from a much
larger text. What type of text is it?
A a biography
B a newspaper editorial
C a bibliography
D a travelogue
READING PASSAGE 2 Party Labels in Mid-Eighteenth Century England
A. Until the late 1950s the Whig interpretation of
English history in the eighteenth century prevailed. This was successfully
challenged by Lewis Namier, who proposed, based on an analysis of the voting
records of MPs from the 1760 intake following the accession to the throne of
George III, that the accepted Whig/Tory division of politics did not hold. He
believed that the political life of the period could be explained without these
party labels, and that it was more accurate to characterise political division
in terms of the Court versus Country.
B. An attempt was then made to use the same methodology
to determine whether the same held for early eighteenth century politics. To
Namier's chagrin this proved that at the end of Queen Anne's reign in 1714
voting in parliament was certainly based on party interest, and that Toryism
and Whiggism were distinct and opposed political philosophies. Clearly,
something momentous had occurred between 1714 and 1760 to apparently wipe out
party ideology. The Namierite explanation is that the end of the Stuart dynasty
on the death of Queen Anne and the beginning of the Hanoverian with the
accession of George I radically altered the political climate.
C. The accession of George I to the throne in 1715 was
not universally popular. He was German, spoke little English, and was only
accepted because he promised to maintain the Anglican religion. Furthermore,
for those Tory members of government under Anne, he was nemesis, for his
enthronement finally broke the hereditary principle central to Tory philosophy,
confirming the right of parliament to depose or select a monarch. Moreover, he
was aware that leading Tories had been in constant communication with the
Stuart court in exile, hoping to return the banished King James II. As a
result, all Tories were expelled from government, some being forced to escape
to France to avoid execution for treason.
D. The failure of the subsequent Jacobite
rebellion of 1715, where certain Tory magnates tried to replace George with his
cousin James, a Stuart, albeit a Catholic, was used by the Whig administration
to identify the word "Tory" with treason. This was compounded by the
Septennial Act of 1716, limiting elections to once every seven years, which
further entrenched the Whig's power base at the heart of government focussed
around the crown. With the eradication of one of the fundamental tenets of
their philosophy, alongside the systematic replacement of all Tory positions by
Whig counterparts, Tory opposition was effectively annihilated. There was,
however, a grouping of Whigs in parliament who were not part of the government.
E. The MPs now generally referred to as the
"Independent Whigs" inherently distrusted the power of the administration,
dominated as it was by those called "Court Whigs". The Independent
Whig was almost invariably a country gentleman, and thus resisted the growth in
power of those whose wealth was being made on the embryonic stock market. For
them the permanency of land meant patriotism, a direct interest in one's
nation, whilst shares, easily transferable, could not be trusted. They saw
their role as a check on the administration, a permanent guard against
political corruption, the last line of defence of the mixed constitution of
monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. The reaction against the growing
mercantile class was shared by the Tories, also generally landed country
gentlemen. It is thus Namier's contention, and that of those who follow his
work, that by the 1730s the Tories and the Independent Whigs had refused to
form a Country opposition to the Court administration, thus explaining why
voting records in 1760 do not follow standard party lines.
F. It must be recognised that this view is not
universally espoused. Revisionist historians such as Linda Colley dispute that
the Tory party was destroyed during this period, and assert the continuation of
the Tories as a discrete and persistent group in opposition, allied to the
Independent Whigs but separate. Colley's thesis is persuasive, as it is clear
that some, at least, regarded themselves as Tories rather than Whigs. She is
not so successful in proving the persistence either of party organisation
beyond family connection, or of ideology, beyond tradition. Furthermore, while
the terms "Tory" and "Whig" were used frequently in the
political press, it was a device of the administration rather than the
opposition. As Harris notes in his analysis of the "Patriot" press of
the 1740s, there is hardly any discernible difference between Tory and Whig
opposition pamphlets, both preferring to describe themselves as the
"Country Interest", and attacking "the Court".
Questions 16 - 20
Reading Passage 2 has 6 paragraphs (A-F).
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-x)
in Boxes 16-20 on your answer sheet.
One of the headings has been done for you
as an example.
NB. There are more headings than
paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.
16. Paragraph
A
17. Paragraph
B
18. Paragraph
C
19. Paragraph
D
20. Paragraph
E
Example: Paragraph F
Answer: iii
List of headings
i. The
Whig/Tory division discounted
ii. Maintaining the
Anglican religion
iii. The fusion theory
challenged and supported
iv. The consequences
of George I's accession
v. The Tory
landowners
vi. Political
divisions in the early 1700s
vii. The failure of
the Jacobean rebellion
viii. The Tory
opposition effectively destroyed
ix. The fusion of
the Independent Whigs and the Tory landowners
x. The Whig
interpretation of history
Questions 21 - 27
Do the statements below agree with the
information in Reading
Passage 2?
In Boxes 21-27, write:
Yes
if the statement agrees with the information in the passage
No
if the statement contradicts the information in the passage
Not Given if there is
no information about the statement in the passage
Example: Until the late 1950s the Whig interpretation
of English history was the one that was widely accepted.
Answer: Yes.
21. According to Namier, political
divisions in the mid 18th century
were not related to party labels.
22. According to Namier, something
happened between 1714 and 1760 to affect party ideology.
23. George I was not liked by everyone.
24. The Independent Whigs were all
landowners with large estates.
25. Neither the Independent Whigs, nor the
Tories trusted the mercantile classes.
26. Namier's views are supported by
Colley.
27. Harris's analysis of the press of the
1740s is used by Namier to support his own views.
READING PASSAGE 3
A. The medical profession is currently under
siege as never before with a spate of high profile malpractice cases. This
attack is taking place at a time when the National Health Service is undergoing
a "culture change" brought about by a shift in the public's attitudes
to authority, in general, and, more specifically, by the demystification of
medicine. The perception that doctors are a race apart is finally beginning to
wane.
B. These forces have, fortunately, already
led to a number of radical developments in the last five or six years in the
way doctors are being trained, with greater emphasis now being laid on a more
patient-oriented approach. Whilst, in the past, communicating effectively with
patients was left basically to chance, this is no longer the case. As part of
their final assessment, doctors now have to take a practical examination where
their communication as well as clinical skills are carefully scrutinised.
C. If you ask most people what makes a good
doctor, they will not say someone with sound medical knowledge. The first thing
that will spring to mind is a good beside manner; in other words, good
communication skills. But what does a good bedside manner, or communication
skills, entail?
D. All too often people complain about the lack of
sensitivity of the doctors they encounter whether they be generalists or
specialists. Some other frequently voiced criticisms are that doctors sound as
if they are delivering a lecture when talking to patients; pontificating from
on high. Or that they lack basic social skills; or indeed that they are bad
listeners, concerned only with delivering their message rather than becoming
involved with any kind of negotiation with the patient. So it would be safe to
say that the most important aspect of a good bedside manner is good
interpersonal skills.
E. From the patient's point of view, the interaction
they have during their consultation with a doctor is very personal and hence
emotional, while for the doctor it is merely a logical and objective process.
And so, the chances of the doctor/patient communication breaking down are high
if the doctor is not sufficiently skilled in handling the patient's emotional
needs. A doctor must be able to deal with the full range of a patient's
feelings, showing sympathy and empathy especially when handling difficult
situations, like breaking bad news, etc.
F. Another aspect of the good bedside manner,
which is more often than not overlooked, is having the ability to talk to
patients using lay language that they understand, while, at the same time,
avoiding any hint of condescension, or being patronising. The inability to do
this has a number of effects. When doctors use medical jargon, patients feel
that they are trying to hide something. Doctors can also give the impression
that they do not know what they are talking about; or even that they do not
know the solution to a problem.
G. It is also essential that the doctor at all times is
able to maintain authority. For example, doctors need to deal with some
patients' belief that medicine is infallible, i.e. that the doctor has the
panacea for every woe! This is certainly no easy task, as most people's
expectations are raised by the daily diet of wondrous developments in medicine.
H. The other side of the coin is that, as
people's awareness and knowledge have increased, albeit often misinformed by
the internet etc., the stronger their doubts about the medical profession have
become. And coupled with the rise in general educational awareness, the public
have consequently a lower regard for doctors. This, in urn, has affected
doctors' ability to communicate. They are not able to hide behind the veneer
that technical jargon created.
I. At last, the pendulum has swung in the patient's
direction. The onus is now upon doctors to adapt themselves to the patient's
needs rather than the patient approaching some awesome god-like figure. The
veil has been lifted and the temple violated.
Questions 28 - 35
Reading Passage 3 has 9 paragraphs (A-I).
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xv)
in Boxes 28-35 on your answer sheet.
One of the headings has been done for you
as an example.
NB. There are more headings than
paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.
Example: Paragraph A
Answer: xv
28. Paragraph
B
29. Paragraph C
30. Paragraph
D
31. Paragraph
E
32. Paragraph
F
33. Paragraph
G
34. Paragraph
H
35. Paragraph
I
List of headings
i. Still
maintaining authority and patients' raised expectations
ii. Medicine
mystified
iii. What makes a
good doctor?
iv. The burden now
on doctors
v. Good
personal skills
vi. Good
interpersonal skills
vii. The essence of
medical training
viii. Emotion and
logic
ix. Avoiding
medical jargon
x. Doctors -
born or made?
xi. Doctors' status
lowered
xii. Changing attitudes
effect changes in doctors' training
xiii. The swinging
pendulum
xiv. Meeting patients
xv. A culture change in
the National Health Service
Questions 36 - 40
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in Boxes 36-40 on your
answer sheet.
36. The change in people's attitude to
authority has, in part, ...
A mystified medicine
B improved medical training considerably
C affected people's feelings about authority
D effected a cultural change in the health service
37. Which of the following statements is
true according to the information in the passage?
A Doctors need to be able to use lay language with
patients and, at the same time, to avoid talking down to the patient
B Doctors do not need to be able to use lay language
with patients, nor to avoid being condescending to the patient
C For doctors, the use of lay language with patients
is not important
D For all medical personnel, the use of lay language
with patients is important
38. How would you describe the
writer's attitude to the changes in medical training?
A He is in two-minds about the changes
B He is against the changes
C He is lukewarm about the changes
D He is for the changes
39. Which of the following is the most
suitable title for the passage?
A A change of emphasis in the doctor/patient
relationship
B The patient's perspective
C An overview of medical training
D A panacea for all ills
40. The author wrote the passage ...
A to criticise the new developments in medicine
B to show how the public's shift in attitude to
doctors has brought about changes in the doctor/patient relationship
C to show how the medical profession needs to be
changed
D to blame the medical profession for society's ills
1. Siege
(n) : sự bao vây
2. Spate
(n) : nhiều
3. Malpractice (n): sự sơ xuất
4. High profile (a): nổi tiếng, được quan tâm
nhiều (ex: The medical profession is currently under siege as never before with
a spate of high profile malpractice cases)
5. Take place (v) : diễn ra (ex: The
meeting was taken place at the time noone was ready for)
6. Undergoing (a): đang diễn ra
7. Bring about (v): gây ra
8. Authority (n) :
nhà cầm quyền, uy tín (ex: The public’s attitude to authority was low record in
recent months)
9. Demystification (n): sự làm rõ (ex:
Demystification of medicine is essential for patients who directly suffered by)
10. Perceive (v) à perception (n)
: hiểu, nhận thức (ex: The perception that doctors are a race apart)
11. Wane
(v) : suy tàn
12. Radical (a)
: cấp tiến, tiến bộ (ex: Recent medical progresses are the radical development)
13. Emphasis (v) : sự
nhấn mạnh (ex: Doctors are being trained with greater emphasis now being laid
on a more patient-oriented approach)
14. Whilst ~ while: trong khi
15. Be left basically to chance : được chăng
hay chớ (ex: Receiving compensation is left basically to chance)
16. Clinic (n) à clinical (a): phòng khám
17. Scrutinise (v) à scrutiny (n): soi xét kỹ
18. Spring to mind (v) ~ come to mind (v):
xuất hiện trong tâm trí, nảy ra
19. Bedside
(n) : cạnh giường (ex: bedside manner:
người chăm sóc ~ care-taker ~ janitor)
20. Entail (v) ~ need (v) ~ require
(v) : đòi hỏi, yêu cầu
21. All too often : rất
thường xuyên
22. Sense
(n) : giác quan à
sensitive (a) à sensitivity (n) à sensitiveness (n)
23. Encounter (v) : gặp gỡ,
chạm trán
24. General (a) à generalist (n): người chung
chung
25. Deliver a lecture
(v) : giảng bài
26. Pontificate (v) : làm ra vẻ
giáo hoàng (ex: Pontificating from on high)
27. Interpersonal skills (n): kỹ năng giao
tiếp ~ communication skills
28. From someone’s point of view : từ quan
điểm của ai
29. Consult
(v) : tư vấn à consultation (n)
30. Hence ~ therefore ~ thus (adv): do đó
31. Merely (adv) : chỉ, đơn
thuần
32. Break down (v): phá hỏng
33. Full range of somebody’s feelings: các mức
độ cảm xúc của 1 ai đó
34. Breaking (a) : đột
xuất (ex: breaking bad news)
35. More often than not : rất thường xuyên
(ex: Another aspect of the good bedside manner which is more often than not
overlooked)
36. Overlook (v) : bỏ ra
37. Lay language (n):
38. Condescension (n): sự chiếu cố, hạ mình
39. Hint (n) : gọi ý, dấu hiệu
40. Patronise (v) : kẻ
cả
41. Jargon
(n) : biệt ngữ, từ chuyên ngành
42. Infallible
(a) : không thể sai
43. Panacea (n)
: thuốc chữa bách bệnh
44. Woe
(n) : nỗi đau, bệnh
tật (ex: Some people believe that doctor has the panacea for every woe)
45. Diet (n) : chế độ ăn
46. Wondrous (a) : phi thường, kì
diệu (ex: wondrous development in medicine)
47. The other side of the coin is that …: mặt
trái của vấn đề là ở chỗ
48. Albeit (adv)
: mặc dù
49. Misinform (v) : không
được thông báo
50. Couple with (v): cùng với, cộng với
51. Public’s opinion (n): dư luận xã hội
52. Veneer
(n) : vỏ bọc, lớp gỗ bên ngoài
53. Pendulum (n) : con lắc
(ex: At last, the pendulum has swung in the patient’s direction)
54. Onus (n)
: nhiệm vụ
55. Adapt (v) à adaptive (a) à adaption (n):
thích nghi
56. Awesome (a) : kinh khủng
57. Veil (n) : mạng che mặt
58. Temple
(n) : thái dương
59. Coworker (n) : đồng nghiệp
Quarter
(n) : kỳ học
TEST 8 READING PASSAGE 1 This is very much the story of a story
The outline of the tale has been told
before. It can be found in Edward Miller's history of the British Museum.
Arundell Esdaile's book on the British Museum Library, rather more chattily, in
Edward Edward's Lives of the founders of the Museum, and most recently, and its
first excursion this century outside the literature of the Museum, in
Christopher Hibbert's new biography of Geogre III.
The December 1850 issue of the Quarterly Review contains a long article reviewing a
number of official reports into the functioning of the British Museum
(including incidentally a review of the House of Commons Select Committee
report of 1836, fifteen years earlier: it is never too late to review a good
report. Although anonymous, it was written by Richard Ford, probably best
remembered today as the author of Murray's Handbook
for travellers in Spain.
The review contains much that is
entertaining and amusing, and I must say it can be recommended today to anyone
concerned with organising Library services, but for our purposes the bit that
matters is the allegation that, among other things, Geogre IV had been
considering selling Geogre III's library to the Tsar of Russia, until the
British government intervened and arranged for its transfer instead to the
British Museum.
This story was picked up during 1851 by a
number of contributors to Notes
& Queries, where various mischievous observations about what happened
and who was involved were made. These comments revolved chiefly round the
suggestion that the King's Library was not the munificent gift to the nation
that it was claimed to be, but that the government had in effect had to buy the
Library, either directly by purchase, or indirectly by agreeing to treat the
King's requests for money more sympathetically than hitherto.
In August 1851, however, came a
communication to Notes &
Queries of a different kind
from the previous notes, which are rather more gossipy in nature. It is signed
"C". He writes: "I have delayed contradicting the stories told
about the King's Library in the Quarterly
Review of last December ...
I am sorry to say still more gravely and circumstantially reproduced by the
Editor of Notes & Queries.
I have delayed. I say, until I was enabled to satisfy myself more completely as
to one of the allegations in your Note."
"C." goes on: "I can now
venture to assure you that the whole story of the projected sale to Russia is
absolutely unfounded". He then goes on to sketch in background about
Geogre IV's wish to dispose of the Library and the government's success in
getting it to the British Museum.
"C." then objects in particular
to the suggestion, made by the Notes
& Queries editor rather
than in the Quarterly,
that Princess Lieven, the well-known socialite and friend of Geogre IV's, whose
husband was Russian ambassador in London at the time, had been involved in the
plan. He explains that Princess Lieven was adamant that she had known of no
such proposal, and therefore that that was that.
But that was not that. The December issue
of Notes & Queries includes a short note, signed
"Griffin", arguing that while Princess Lieven may claim to have known
nothing, it did not mean that there had not been talk about a Russian purchase.
"Griffin" also suggests that one of the King's motives for getting
rid of the Library was to sort out problems arising from Geogre III's Will ( a
suggestion, as has been pointed out before, that is incidentally supported by
an entry from early 1823 in the journal of Charles Greville).
This provoked "C." to return to
the matter in early 1852, when he argued that it was inconceivable that
Princess Lieven would not have known that such a thing was in the air, given
her court and social connections. In other words, the Russian connection is
just idle speculation.
An interesting aspect of all this is that
the initial stirring and rumour-mongering was all to do with money: was the
library, or was it not, paid for? It is the intervention of "C." and
his fervent denials that bring the Russians into prominence.
The identity of "C." is obscure.
Arundell Esdaile identifies him as John Wilson Croker, the veteran politician
and essayist. This seems to me unlikely: Croker was certainly involved in
public affairs in the 1820s, but he was also a major contributor, a sort of
editorial advisor, to the Quarterly
Review, where the original offending article appeared. Indeed he wrote
this own piece for it on the Museum in the December 1852 issue, without
referring at all to the King's Library stories, and referring to Richard Ford's
article in respectful not to say glowing terms. A footnote to his article,
however, states that the Quarterly expected to publish an
authoritative account of the King's Library business in the future: it never
did.
Questions 1 - 6
Do the statements below agree with the
information in Reading
Passage 1?
In Boxes 1-6, write:
Yes
if the statement agrees with the
information in the passage
No
if the statement contradicts the
information in the passage
Not Given
if there is no information about the statement in the passage
Example:
The outline of the tale has been told before.
Answer:
Yes
1. The story that the writer is telling has only ever
been carried in publications relating to the British Museum.
2. When published, the review of several
reports on the workings of the British Museum in the Quarterly Review was anonymous.
3. The writer claims that it was Richard Ford
who wrote the review of several reports on the workings of the British Museum
in the Quarterly Review.
4. Richard Ford alleged that Geogre IV was
planning to sell his father's, i.e. Geogre III's, library to the Tsar of
Russia.
5. Murray wrote the Handbook for travellers to Spain.
6. The British Government bought Geogre IV's father's
library for a very large sum of money.
Questions 7 - 10
Complete the sentences below. Use NO
MORE THAN FOUR WORDS from
the passage to complete each blank space.
Write your answers in Boxes 7-10 on your
answer sheet.
7. Geogre IV's father's collection of books
is known as the ___________________.
8. Doubting that the collection was given to the
nation, some commentators said it was not a ________________.
9. "C." says that the story
about the sale of the books to Russia was _________________.
10. According to "C.", Princess Lieven was not
_____________________.
Questions 11 - 14
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in Boxes 11-14 on your
answer sheet.
11. "Griffin" argued that the
connection with Russia ......
A could not be trusted
B was genuine
C was possible
D was worth examining
12. Charles Greville ....
A does not corroborate Griffin's suggestion that
the sale of the Library was connected with Geogre III's Will
B partially supports Griffin's
suggestion that the sale of the Library was connected with Geogre III's Will
C corroborates Griffin's suggestion
that the sale of the Library was connected with Geogre III's Will
D was Prime Minister in the early 1820s
13. Which of the following is true
according to the text?
A The identity of "C." is obvious
B The identity of "C." is not clear
C The identity of "C." is Arundell Esdaile
D The identity of "C." is John Wilson Croker
14. Croker ....
A had been a politician for a long time
B was an editor
C was someone who advised politicians
D was a minor contributor to Notes & Queries
READING PASSAGE 2 De
profundis clamavi
( The opening words in Latin of Psalm 130:
Out of the depths (of despair), I have cried unto you(i.e. Lord) )
A. But not too loud! According to the Royal National
Institute for Deaf People, there has been a threefold increase in hearing loss
and, in future, deafness will become an epidemic. It is hardly surprising that
new research shows complains about noise, in particular loud music and barking
dogs, are on the increase.So dire has the situation become that the National
Society for Clean Air and the Environment was even moved to designate 7 June
2000 as Noise Action Day.
B. There are so many different sources of
noise competing for people's attention. Travelling on a train as it saunters
gently through the countryside was once a civilised and enjoyable experience.
That delight has all but disappeared. Because we have to reach our destination
more such high velocity. The train is noisier. And so are the occupants. They
have to compete with the din of the train; and the conversation of their fellow
travellers. And then there are ubiquitous headphones (one set if you're lucky);
not to mention that bane of all travellers, the mobile phone - not one's own,
of course, because one has switched it off. The noise sensitive, a growing
minority group, are hit by a double whammy here: the phone going off and the
person answering in a loud voice, because they cannot believe the other person
can hear. And let us not forget computer games making horrid noises given by
parents to keep their children quiet! It is, however, gratifying to see that
some train companies request people to keep the volume of their headphones
down. It still strikes one as strange that people have to be reminded to do this.
Like no-smoking carriages we should have more no-noise carriages: mobile-free,
headphone-free, computer-free zones!
C. And the answer? Stay at home? No, not really. The
neighbours do DIY: if you are lucky between 9 am and 7 pm, and, if you are not,
24 hours a day. They play loud music, sing, play the piano, rip up their
carpets; they jump up and down on bare floorboards to annoy onto bare wooden
floors and make your heart stop. And, because they want to hear the music in
other parts of their flat they pump up the volume, so that you can feel the
noise as well as hear it. And if you are very fortunate, they attach the stereo
to the walls above your settee, so that you can vibrate as well. Even if you
live in a semi-detached or detached property, they will still get you.
D. People escape to the countryside and return to the
urban environment. They cannot tolerate the noise - the tractors, the cars and
the motorbikes ripping the air apart as they career along country roads. Then
there are the country dirt-track rallies that destroy the tranquility of
country weekends and holidays. And we mustn't forget the birds! Believe me, the
dawn chorus is something to contend with. So, when you go to the countryside,
make sure you take your industrial ear-muffs with you!
E. A quiet evening at the cinema, perhaps, or
a restaurant? The former will have the latest all-round stereophonic
eardrum-bursting sound system, with which they will try to deafen you. Film
soundtracks register an average of 82 decibels with the climax of some films
hitting as high as 120! And, in the restaurant, you will be waited on by
waiters who have been taking their employers to court, because the noise in
their working environment is way above the legal limits. Normal conversation
registers at 60 decibels. But noise levels of up to 90 are frequent in today's
restaurants. The danger level is considered to be any noise above 85 decibels!
What is it doing to your eardrums then? Shopping is also out, because
stereophonic sound systems have landed there, too.
F. Recently the law in the United Kingdom has been
changed vis-à-vis noise, with stiffer penalties: fines, confiscation of stereo
equipment and eviction for serious offences. Noise curfews could also be
imposed in residential areas by enforcing restrictions on noise levels after
certain times in the evenings. Tighter legislation is a step in the right
direction. But there is no one solution to the problem, least of all recourse
to the law; in fact, in some well-publicised cases, the legal and bureaucratic
process has been unbearable enough to drive people to suicide.
G. The situation needs to be addressed from a
variety of different angles simultaneously. There are practical solutions like
using building material in flats and houses that absorb sound: sound-proofing
material is already used in recording studios and, whilst it is far from cheap
to install, with research and mass sales, prices will come down. Designers have
begun to realise that there is a place for soft furnishings in restaurants, like
carpets, soft wall-coverings and cushions. As well as creating a relaxing
ambiance, they absorb the noise.
H. Informal solutions like mediation are also
frequently more effective than legislation. And the answer may partly be found
in the wider social context. The issue is surely one of public awareness and of
politeness, of respect for neighbours, of good manners, and also of
citizenship; in effect, how individuals operate within a society and relate to
each other. And, perhaps, we need to be taught once again to tolerate silence.
Questions 15 - 21
Reading Passage 2 has 8 paragraphs (A-H).
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xiii)
in Boxes 15-21 on your answer sheet.
One of the headings has been done for you
as an example.
NB. There are more headings than
paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.
Example: Paragraph A
Answer: xiii
15. Paragraph
B
19. Paragraph F
16. Paragraph
C
20. Paragraph G
17. Paragraph
D
21. Paragraph H
18. Paragraph
E
List of headings
i. Social solutions
ii. The law backs
noise
iii. Some practical
solutions
iv. The beautiful
countryside
v. Noise from mobiles
vi. Neighbour noise
vii. Noisy
travellers
viii. Noise to
entertain you
ix. Noisy
restaurants
x. The law and noise
xi. Rural peace
shattered
xii. A quiet evening
at the restaurant
xiii. Noise on the
increase
Questions 22 - 27
The passage contains a number of solutions for particular areas where noise is a
problem. Match the solutions (A-L) to the problem areas (22-27).
If no solutions is given,
choose Aas the
answer. Write the appropriate letters (A-L) in Boxes 22-27 on
your answer sheet.
NB. There are more solutions (A-L) than
sentences, so you will not need to use them all. Except for A, you may use each
solution only.
22. Trains
25. Homes
23. Cinemas
26. Living in a rural setting
24. Restaurants
27. Shops
List of solutions
A. No solution given in
the passage
B. People should be sent to
prison
C. More sophisticated sound systems needed
D. Soft furnishings
needed
E. People should stay
at
home
F. Sound-proofing materials should be
used
G. Music should be
turned down
H. The noise laws should be relaxed
I Shops should have
restricted opening hours
J. Trains should be
sound-proofed
K. More noise-free carriages should be introduced on trains
L. Visitors should take industrial ear-muffs with them
READING PASSAGE 3 Classical
and modern
In the United Kingdom at university level,
the decline in the study of Latin and Greek, the classics, has been reversed.
As a result of renewed interest in reading classical literature and
history, more and more students are enrolling on classical studies courses. The
purists may deplore this development - "it is yet another example of the
'dumbing down' of tertiary education with students studying classical
literature and history in English rather than the original languages".
And, I must admit, they do have a point. But the situation is surely not as
dire as the ultimate demise of classics as an intellectual discipline.
A classical education is a boon and should
be encouraged. But, before looking at the advantages of studying the classics,
which appear, incidentally, more indirect and less tangible than other
disciplines, let us examine the criticisms that are often levelled against
studying Latin and Greek.
The decline in the teaching of classics
The 60s with their trendy ideas in
education are blamed for the steady decline in studying the classics. But the
rot had set in much earlier, when Latin and Greek were no longer required for
university entrance. With the introduction of the National Curriculum in secondary
schools came the biggest blow. Schools came under pressure to devote more time
to core subjects like English, mathematics, the sciences, history and
geography. This left scant room for the more "peripheral" subject
areas like the classics. There was a further squeeze with the rush into
teaching IT and computing skills. As schools could no longer choose what they
wanted to teach, so subjects like the classics were further marginalised. Take
Latin. In 1997, 11,694 pupils took Latin GCSE, while, in 1988, the number was
17,000. Comprehensive schools now supply 40% fewer Latin candidates, whereas
grammar schools have seen a 20% decline. Latin candidates from Independent
schools have fallen by only 5%. As a consequence, classics has been relegated
to the "better" grammar or comprehensive schools, and the minor and
great public schools. Only one third of Latin GCSE entries come from the state
sector. It can, therefore, be of no surprise to anyone when the pursuit of a
classical education is attacked as elitist.
Tainted by this misconception, the
classics are then further damned as being irrelevant in the modern world.
Having been pushed into such a tight corner, it is difficult to fight free. A
classical education is so unlike, say, business studies or accountancy where
young people can go directly into a profession and find a job easily. For
classicists, this is not an option. Other than teaching, there is no specific
professional route after leaving university. And, with the pressure in the
present climate to have a job, it is less easy than previously for young people
to resist the pressure from the world outside academia, and from their
families, to study something else that will make them money. The relevancy
argument is a hard nut to crack.
The pertinence of a classical education
Latin and Greek have been damned as dead
languages that offer us nothing. The response to this criticism is, in fact,
straightforward. Most European languages are a development of the classical
continuum. And so having even a rudimentary knowledge prepares pupils for
understanding other modern European languages. As for pertinence in the modern
world, learning Latin and Greek are highly relevant. The study of these
languages develops analytical skills that have, to a large extent, been lost.
They teach discipline and thinking and open up the whole of Western
civilisation just as the discovery of the classical world did during the
Renaissance.
Latin has also been called food for the
brain. It gives students a grounding in the allusions in much of European
literature and thought. Modern writers do not use these allusions themselves,
first, because they do not know them, and, second, because their audience does
not know them either. Sadly, most people no longer have the ability to interpret
the allusions in art and the same has happened with the classics vis-à-vis
literature.
The danger to Western and world culture is
great if the classical tradition is lost. The spiral of decline is not just
restricted to the United Kingdom. Other European countries face the same loss
to their heritage. If we abandon the classics, we will not be able to interpret
our past and to know where we have come from. A common refrain in modern
society is the lack of thinking ability among even the best graduates. They
enter work, perhaps as bright as any of their predecessors. But without the
necessary skills they run around trying to reinvent the wheel. As Ecclesiastes
says: nihil novum sub sole
est.
But help is at hand. Concerned by the fact
that fewer and fewer teenagers have access to a range of foreign languages, the
government is harnessing the power of the Internet to introduce a
distance-learning programme, where pupils will study Latin and other minority
languages at their own place. Initially piloted in 60 schools from autumn 2000,
the Internet based courses will enable pupils to access advice from specialists
by e-mail.
Questions 28 - 31
Do the statements below agree with the
information in Reading
Passage 3?
In Boxes 28-31, write:
Yes
if the statement agrees with the information
in the passage
No
if the statement contradicts the
information in the passage
Not Given
if there is no information about the statement in the passage
Example: The decline in the study of Latin and Greek at
university in the United Kingdom has been reversed.
Answer: Yes
28. Fewer students are reading classical
studies at university than before.
29. The purists welcome classical studies
courses unreservedly.
30. The writer agrees fully with the
purists' point of view.
31. A classical education is frowned upon
in political circles.
Questions 32 - 40
Complete the text below, which is a
summary of the writer's opinion on a classical education. Use ONE WORD
ONLY from the text to
complete each blank space. Write your answers in Boxes 32-40 on your answer
sheet.
You may use each word once only.
Example: Latin and Greek are
known as the ______________.
Answer: classics.
The writer considers a classical education
to be a _____________.
He believes that, in secondary school, the
teaching of classics has been _____33_______ by the introduction of the
National Curriculum. This has further led to the studying of the classics being
attacked as ______34_______. In addition, studying Latin and Greek, is wrongly
________35_______ as being ______36_______ because classicists have no specific
_______37_______ route to follow. As young people are pressurised to make
money, the writer feels that the relevancy _______38_______ is difficult to
counter.
In spite of the criticisms levelled at a
classical education, the writer feels that learning Latin and Greek is
highly ______39_______. And he fears that there is a danger that the classics
as a discipline will be ______40______. But help is at hand from a new Internet-based
distance-learning programme being piloted in 60 schools from autumn 2000. The
pilot study will allow pupils to study Latin at their own place.
TEST 9 READING PASSAGE 1 Complementary medicine - an overview
A. The term "alternative practitioner" first became
common currency in the 1960s as part of a movement in healthcare which espoused
a value system quite distinct from orthodox or western medicine. More recently,
"practitioners of complementary medicine" have sought to define
themselves as distinct from "alternative practitioners" in so far as
they seek to work closely with established medical profession to relieve a
patient's symptoms. In a contemporary setting, the terms are often used
interchangeably. But complementary medicine is perhaps a more fashionable term
amongst those who aspire to greater intergration within orthodox medicine - an
attempt to gain respectability in the eyes of the establishment.
B. Complementary medicine comprises a range of physical
therapies, including reflexology, aromatherapy, shiatsu and acupuncture, which
can be used to help ease symptoms associated with a range of conditions. None
of these therapies claims to be a panacea. They simply help to relieve
symptoms, although in some cases they may result in a permanent cure. The basic
principle is that the body ultimately heals itself with the intervention of a
particular therapy "kick starting" and, subsequently, speeding up
this process. The therapies work on an energetic level to impact on a
psychological, emotional and physiological level helping to alleviate
short-term stress-induced conditions and, to a greater or lesser degree,
chronic problems. All complementary therapies can be used as a preventative
measure and to strengthen the constitution. Their common aim is to treat the
whole person, with the goal of recovering the equilibrium between the physical,
emotional and spiritual aspects of the individual. The focus is very much on
improving overall well-being rather than the isolated treatment of specific
symptoms. Where the therapies differ is their particular approach.
C. Reflexology is a treatment which was
introduced to the West about 100 years ago, although it was practised in
ancient Egypt, India and east Asia. It involves gently focused pressure on the
feet to both diagnose and treat illness. A reflexologist may detect imbalances
in the body on an energetic level through detecting tiny crystals on the feet.
Treating these points can result in the release of blockages in other parts of
the body. It has been found to be an especially useful treatment for sinus and
upper respiratory tract conditions and poor lymphatic and cardiovascular
circulation. Anecdotal evidence from various practitioners suggests it can also
be effective in treating migraine, hormonal imbalances, digestive, circulatory
and back problems.
D. Aromatherapy massage is a western medicine
invention. The therapeutic effects of the essential oils used were first
investigated early last century by a French chemist, René Maurice Gattefosse.
Today, the beneficial effects of the oils are dispensed through aromatherapy
massage, bath and shower preparations and the burning of oils. Essential oils
work by entering the body through both the skin and lungs. Powerful molecules
in the oils can affect cells in the nervous and circulatory systems to varying
degress. The effect on the olfactory centres of the brain is both physiological
and psychological. Again, anecdotal evidence suggests aromatherapy is
particularly useful in alleviating symptoms of respiratory illnesses such as
bronchitis and asthma.
E. Shiatsu is a Japanese healing art deeply
rooted in the philosophy and practices of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
It is a hands-on therapy which aims to rebalance tensions and weaknesses in the
body and mind. Shiatsu incorporates the traditional therapeutic massage of
Japan, which in itself is an adaption of ancient Chinese massage therapy.
Embracing its original focus of meditation and self-healing, shiatsu is gaining
popularity in the West. The term shiatsu comes from Japanese: "shi"
meaning finger, and "atsu" meaning pressure. In a shiatsu session,
pressure is applied to various parts of the body which correspond with the
points and energy lines (meridians) used in acupuncture.
F. Shiatsu has been successfully used for treating
headaches, neck and upper back tension, lower back conditions such as lumbago
and sciatica, other muscular-skeletal problems such as frozen shoulder, tennis
and golfer's elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, and osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis.
Along with acupuncture, it can be very effective in treating digestive
complaints involving organs from the stomach through to large intestine and
menstrual problems. It is ideal for people who have an aversion to needles or
who prefer the hands on body contact that shiatsu involves.
G. Acupuncture is a very focused form of treatment
which uses needles to rebalance the body's energetic. According to traditional
Chinese philosophy, our health is dependent on the body's energy - known as Qi moving in a smooth and balanced way
through the channels beneath the skin. Disruptions in this flow are associated
with illness and pain, which may relate to anxiety, stress, anger, fear or
grief, poor nutrition, weather conditions, hereditary factors, infections and other
trauma. The insertion of needles into the skin and then energy channels helps
to stimulate the body's own healing response and to resotre its natural
balance. Acupuncture has over 3000 years of empirical evidence to support its
efficacy. It it probably the most effective way of treating a diverse range of
conditions. These include conditions of a more emotional focus including
anxiety states, depression (including what in the West is known as manic
depression), and sleep related disorders. Other illnesses treated by
acupuncture include arthritis, asthma, circulatory problems (i.e. high blood
pressure), facial paralysis (pre- and post-stroke), fatigue, tinnitus,
infertility, menstrual problems, rheumatism, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's
disease, migraines, sciatica, skin conditions and ulcers.
Questions 1 - 6
Reading Passage 1 has 7 paragraphs (A-G).
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xiii) in Boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.
One of the headings has been done for you
as an example.
NB. There are more headings than
paragraphs, so you will not use all of them
Example: Paragraph A
Answer: viii
1. Paragraph
B
2. Paragraph
C
3. Paragraph
D
4. Paragraph
E
5. Paragraph
F
6. Paragraph
G
List of headings
i.
A panacea
ii.
The René Maurice Gatefosse method
iii.
Current practices in Egypt
iv.
Therapy through the feet
v.
Inserting needles into the bone
vi.
Fingers versus needles
vii.
Shiatsu explained
viiii.
Complementary medicine becomes part of the establishment
ix.
Balancing the body's energy using needles
x.
Treatment for digestive complaints
xi.
Success with shiatsu
xii.
An overview of complementary medicine
xiii.
Treatment using essential oils
Questions 7 - 10
Choose one phrase (A-H)
from the List of
phrases to complete each Key piece of information about
the four complementary therapies mentioned
in the passage. Write the appropriate letters (A-H) in Boxes
7-10 on your answer sheet.
NB. There are more phrases (A-H)
than therapies, so you will not need to use them all.
You may use each phrase once only
Complementary therapies
7. Reflexology .........
8. Aromatherapy .......
9. Shiatsu .........
10. Acupuncture .....
List of phrases
A is based on oils
made from flower extracts
B strives to
rebalance tensions and weaknesses in the body
C is based on several
millennia of empirical evidence
D has been found to
be particularly useful in treating sinus problems
E is based on ancient
Chinese massage therapy adapted from ancient Japanese massage
F is not very
effective in treating migraine
G is based purely on
anecdotal evidence over the thousands of years
H is a form of
treatment which affects centres connected with smell in the brain
psychologically and physiologically
READING PASSAGE 2 Testing
Testing Testing 1 2 3 4 ...
The introduction of SATs
A. These are testing times. In both education and the
field of work, the prevailing wisdom appears to be: if it moves, test it and if
it doesn't, well, test it anyway. I say wisdom, but it has become rather an
obsession. In addition to the current obstacles, like GCSEs, A-Levels, GNVQs,
and HNDs, not to mention the interviews and financial hurdles that
school-leavers have to overcome in order to access higher education, students
are facing the threat of "new tests", scholastic aptitude tests
(SATs).
B. SATs are being imported from the United States,
where they have been in use for nearly a hundred years. As a supplement to
A-levels, the tests purport to give students from poor backgrounds a better
chance of entering university. SATs are intended to remove the huge social
class bias that exists in British universities. But, in fact, they are no more
than an additional barrier for students. The tests, which masquerade as IQ
tests, are probably less diagnostic of student potential than existing
examinations, and, more seriously, are far from free of the bias that their
supporters pretend.
C. First of all, as for any other tests,
students will be able to take classes to cram for SATs, which again will
advantage the better-off. At a recent conference of the Professional
Association of Teachers, it was declared that school exams and tests are biased
towards middle-class children. Further, the content of the tests in question is
not based on sound scientific theory, merely on a pool of Multiple Choice
Questions (MCQs), set by a group of item writers.
D. The questions in SATs are tested on a
representative sample of children. Those which correlate with the school grades
of the children are kept, and the rest discarded. This is highly
unsatisfactory. There is also evidence that in MCQ tests women are at a
disadvantage, because of the way they think, i.e. they can see a wider picture.
And it is worth noting that MCQs are only as good as the people who write them;
so, unless the writers are highly trained, those who are being tested are being
judged against the narrow limitations of the item writers!
Other developments in testing
E. Globalisation has introduced greater flexibility
into the workplace, but the educational system has not been so quick off the
mark. But there are signs that times are changing. Previously, students took
exams at the end of academic terms, or at fixed dates periodically throughout
the year. Now, language examinations like the TOEFL, IELTS and the Pitman ESOL
exams can be taken much more frequently. The IELTS examination, for example, is
run at test centres throughout the world subject to demand. Where the demand is
high, the test is held more frequently. At present, in London, it is possible
for students to sit the exam about four times per week.
F. Flexible assessment like the IELTS has been mooted
in other areas. It has been suggested that students may in future be able to
walk into a public library or other public building and take an assessment test
for a range of skills on a computer. The computer will dispense an instant
assessment and a certificate. The beauty of this system is the convenience.
G. The workplace has been at the forefront of
developing in-house schemes to establish whether people are suitable for
particular jobs and/or careers. Psychological profiles and hand-writing
analysis as well as aptitude tests are now part of the armory of the corporate
personnel officer; an interview and a curriculum vitae no longer suffice. But,
as in the education field, there are dangers here. Testing appears to confirm
the notion that certain people and predestined to enter particular careers. All
of us have heard someone say: he/she is a born actor, a born teacher, and so
on. The recent work on the human genome and the research in genetics adds
further credence to this notion.
H. How long before psychological profiling is introduced
into schools to determine a child's future? With the aid of psychometric tests,
children may soon be helped
to make more informed choices
about the subjects they choose to study at secondary school, and then
university. But people with still be pointed in the wrong direction. In many
cases, the result will conflict with the person's own desires, mainly because
he/she filled in the test wrongly, or the test did not pick up an essential
piece of information. Unless the assessors are highly trained experts, many
more people will find themselves mid-life in jobs that they did not really want
to do.
I. Whilst testing achievement is essential
and indeed inevitable, it needs to be treated with caution. Tests are, after
all, only tools - not an end in themselves.
Questions 11 - 18
Reading Passage 2 has 9 paragraphs (A-I).
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xiv)
in Boxes 11-18 on your answer sheet.
One of the headings hass been done for you
as an example. Note that you may use any heading more than once.
NB. There are more headings than
paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.
Example: Paragraph A
Answer: xiii
11. Paragraph
B
12. Paragraph
C
13. Paragraph
D
14. Paragraph
E
15. Paragraph
F
16. Paragraph
G
17. Paragraph
H
18. Paragraph
I
List of headings
i.
Assessment in the future
ii. The
theory behind MCQs
iii. Not
enough testing
iv.
Problems with SATs
v.
Misuse of testing in schools
vi. The
need for computer assessment
vii. The
future of psychometric testing in schools
viii. Testing
with caution
ix. Testing
in the workplace
x.
Globalisation in testing
xi. The
benefits of SATs
xii. The
shortcoming of MCQs
xiii.
Too much testing
xiv.
Flexibility in language testing
Questions 19 - 23
Answer the questions below. Write NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS from
the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in Boxes 19-23 on your
answer sheet.
19. What according to the writer has the
present vogue for testing turned into?
20. Where do scholastic aptitude tests
come from?
21. Who does the writer think SATs will
benefit?
22. What is it that makes flexible
assessment by computer attractive?
23. What has been at the forefront of
developing testing schemes?
Questions 24 - 26
Do the statements below agree with the
information in Reading
Passage 2?
In Boxes 24-26, write:
Yes
if the statement agrees with the information
in the passage
No
if the statement contradicts the
information in the passage
Not Given
if there is no information about the statement in the passage
Example: In the fields of education and work the prevailing
wisdom seems to be to test everything.
Answer: Yes.
24. Research in genetics refutes the
theory that people are predestined to follow certain careers.
25. Psychometric testing is favoured by
headmasters and mistresses in many secondary schools.
26. The writer of the article is not in
favour of testing in general.
READING PASSAGE 3 Wittgenstein Freud
Ludwig von Wittgenstein has justly been
regarded as one of the major philosophers of the twentieth century, especially
for his writings on the philosophy of language and logic. His work on
psychoanalysis and criticism of his fellow Viennese, Sigmund Freud, have,
however, been generally overlooked.
Wittgenstein is both highly critical of
and at the same time greatly admiring of Freud's work. Perhaps it would be
fairer to say that he is not critical so much of psychoanalysis as of Freud's
claims for it. For Freud, it was essential that his work be regarded as
science: that he had developed a new branch of medicine based on scientific
principles, having established causal relationships between behaviour in
childhood and that in adulthood. Wittgenstein, while accepting the usefulness
of Freud's methods, disputes that these relationships are causal,
therefore denying Freud's theories scientific validity.
In causal relationships we can at least
imagine contradictory cases. For example, I can imagine placing a pan of water
on a hot stone and the water freezing (of course I do not expect it to happen,
and would be very surprised if it did). With Freud's theory, however, this is
not the case. One of the central planks of this theory is the pursuit of hidden
meanings in such things as dreams, works of art, even language (the famous
"Freudian slip". Take the example of dreams. For Freud
these are all sexual wish-fulfilments. While it is clear that some are, clearly
some at least appear not to be. Freud, however, will not accept any
contradiction to his theory, and argues that in these cases the sexual element
is camouflaged, or even repressed. This is a strange notion, for how can a
dream fulfil a wish if the desire is so disguised that the dreamer does not
even recognise it? More importantly, if under no circumstances will Freud allow
his hypothesis to be contradicted, how can we verify it? It therefore behoves
us to recognise that, despite his assertions, Freud's theories are not causal
hypotheses, and thus not scientific.
One might ask, given this analysis, how
Freud came to make this mistake, or rather why he believed that his explanations
were causal. It is a confusion between what we might call the
"depth-grammar" and the "surface-grammar" of certain
sentences. If we say "the window broke because the stone hit it", we
are outlining a causal relationship between the stone hitting the window and
the window breaking, this being designated by the word "because".
However, if we say "he hit her because he was angry", whilst it may
appear that the word "because" performs the same function, this is
not the case. The similarity lies only on the surface; if we look at the
depth-grammar we see that in the first sentence "because" denotes a
causal relationship, whereas in the second we are rather talking in terms of
motivations, reasons and other non-causal terms. Freud's mistake, therefore, is
to believe that both types of sentence are similar: he confuses the
surface-grammar.
Despite all this confusion, I have stated
that Wittgenstein was highly appreciative of Freud's work, and this is because
he essentially reformulates what Freud was trying to do. Freud believed that he
was explaining people's behaviour, while Wittgenstein suggests that he is
redescribing it. To him, Freud is providing a "picture" of human
behaviour which may enable us to make certain connections that other ways of
looking would not reveal, and by showing these patterns and connections the
method may well have therapeutic value. In this case, although the
"picture" described by Freud's method is not a true one (for by
Wittgenstein's arguments it cannot be), nevertheless it is unique, enabling the
patient to have insights into their problems that no other method could
provide.
Questions 27 - 32
Do the statements below agree with the
information in Reading
Passage 3?
In Boxes 27-32, write:
Yes
if the statement agrees with the information
in the passage
No
if the statement contradicts the
information in the passage
Not Given
if there is no information about the statement in the passage
Example:
Wittgenstein was from Vienna.
Answer:
Yes.
27. Wittgenstein was a great moral
philosopher.
28. Wittgenstein owes the high regard in
which he is held, in part, to his work on the philosophy of language and logic.
29. Wittgenstein totally admired Freud's
work without any reservation.
30. Wittgenstein supports Freud's claims
as to the causal relationship between childhood behaviour and that in
adulthood.
31. Freud's theory on causal relationships
enjoys considerable support in spite of Wittgenstein's objections.
32. The writer agrees with Wittgenstein
that Freud's theory re-causal hypotheses is not scientific.
Questions 33 - 40
Complete the text below. Use ONE WORD
ONLY from the passage for
each blank space. Write your answers in Boxes 33-40 on your answer sheet.
You may use a word once only.
Example: The
writer asks how Freud came to make this ____________.
Answer:
mistake.
Despite _____33______ confusion regarding
surface-grammar, Wittgenstein held his work in high regard.
Freud believed that he was ______34______
people's behaviour, while to Wittgenstein he was merely ______35______ it. In
other words, Wittgenstein believes that Freud provides a _______36_______ of
human behaviour, which allows us to look at things in different ways. This,
according to Wittgenstein may be ______37_______.
According to the writer, although Freud's
"picture" is not genuine, still it is ______38______. It allows the
_______39______ to have _____40______ into his or her problems.
1
The plight of the rain-forest has largely been ignored by the media.
FALSE - “Despite the extensive coverage on the popular media of the destruction of rainforests…”
2 Children only accept options on rain-forests that they encounter in their classrooms.
FALSE – “These ideas may be developed by children absorbing ideas through the popular media.”
3 It has been suggested that children hold mistaken views about the 'pure' science that they study at school.TRUE – “Many studies have shown that children harbour misconceptions about ‘pure’, curriculum science.”
4 The face that children's ideas about science form port of larger framework of ideas means that it is easier to change them.TRUE – “These misconceptions do not remain isolated but become incorporated into a multifaceted (…) conceptual framework, making it (…) more robust but also accessible to modifications.”
5 The study involved asking children a number of yes/no questions such as 'Are there any rain-forests in Africa?"FALSE – “Secondary school children were asked to complete a questionnaire containing five open-form questions.”
6 Girls are more likely than boys to hold mistaken views about rain-forests' destruction.
NOT GIVEN – The passage has not discussed the differences between girls and boys in the fourth and final questions, which are about the destruction of rainforests. Therefore, it is inconclusive and can’t be considered as TRUE or FALSE.
7 The study reported here follows on from a series of studies that have looked at children's understanding of rain-forests.FALSE – This seems tricky! This passage only mentions a study that "surveys children's scientific knowledge and attitudes to rainforests," and not "a series of studies." Therefore, the use of "a series of studies" is not correct or not given! I answered FALSE and hoped that luck is on my side.
FALSE - “Despite the extensive coverage on the popular media of the destruction of rainforests…”
2 Children only accept options on rain-forests that they encounter in their classrooms.
FALSE – “These ideas may be developed by children absorbing ideas through the popular media.”
3 It has been suggested that children hold mistaken views about the 'pure' science that they study at school.TRUE – “Many studies have shown that children harbour misconceptions about ‘pure’, curriculum science.”
4 The face that children's ideas about science form port of larger framework of ideas means that it is easier to change them.TRUE – “These misconceptions do not remain isolated but become incorporated into a multifaceted (…) conceptual framework, making it (…) more robust but also accessible to modifications.”
5 The study involved asking children a number of yes/no questions such as 'Are there any rain-forests in Africa?"FALSE – “Secondary school children were asked to complete a questionnaire containing five open-form questions.”
6 Girls are more likely than boys to hold mistaken views about rain-forests' destruction.
NOT GIVEN – The passage has not discussed the differences between girls and boys in the fourth and final questions, which are about the destruction of rainforests. Therefore, it is inconclusive and can’t be considered as TRUE or FALSE.
7 The study reported here follows on from a series of studies that have looked at children's understanding of rain-forests.FALSE – This seems tricky! This passage only mentions a study that "surveys children's scientific knowledge and attitudes to rainforests," and not "a series of studies." Therefore, the use of "a series of studies" is not correct or not given! I answered FALSE and hoped that luck is on my side.
8
A second study has been planned to investigate primary school children's ideas
about rain-forest.NOT GIVEN – Another tricky question. The passage does not
mention any other studies that are being planned to investigate primary school
children’s idea about rainforest.
9 What was the children's most frequent response when asked where the rain-forests where?
M - Rain-forests are found in Africa. “Given by 43% of children”
10 What was the most common response to the question about the importance of the rain-forests?E - Without rainforests some animals would have nowhere to live. “The dominant idea, raised by 64% of the pupils, was that rainforests provide animals with habitats.”
11 What did most children give as the reason for the loss of the rain-forests?
G - People are responsible for the loss of the rain-forests. “More than half of the pupils (59%) identified that it is human activities which are destroying rainforests.”
12 Why did most children think it important for the rain-forests to be protected?
P - Humans depend on the rain-forests for their continuing existence. “The majority of children simply said that we need rainforests to survive.”
13 Which of the responses is cited as unexpectedly uncommon, given the amount of time spent on the issue by the newspapers and television?
J - As the rain-forests are destroyed, the world gets warmer. “Only few of the pupil (6%) mentioned that rainforest destruction may contribute to global warming. This is surprising considering the high level of media coverage on this issue.”
Question 14
Which of the following is the most suitable title for Reading Passage 1?
B - Children's ideas about the rain-forests and the implications for course design.
9 What was the children's most frequent response when asked where the rain-forests where?
M - Rain-forests are found in Africa. “Given by 43% of children”
10 What was the most common response to the question about the importance of the rain-forests?E - Without rainforests some animals would have nowhere to live. “The dominant idea, raised by 64% of the pupils, was that rainforests provide animals with habitats.”
11 What did most children give as the reason for the loss of the rain-forests?
G - People are responsible for the loss of the rain-forests. “More than half of the pupils (59%) identified that it is human activities which are destroying rainforests.”
12 Why did most children think it important for the rain-forests to be protected?
P - Humans depend on the rain-forests for their continuing existence. “The majority of children simply said that we need rainforests to survive.”
13 Which of the responses is cited as unexpectedly uncommon, given the amount of time spent on the issue by the newspapers and television?
J - As the rain-forests are destroyed, the world gets warmer. “Only few of the pupil (6%) mentioned that rainforest destruction may contribute to global warming. This is surprising considering the high level of media coverage on this issue.”
Question 14
Which of the following is the most suitable title for Reading Passage 1?
B - Children's ideas about the rain-forests and the implications for course design.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét