Month: April 2024

Reflecting on the Mirror

In all likelihood the first mirrors would have simply been pools of water that reflected the image of the one who looked into it. Nature’s mirror, while cheap and readily accessible, must have also been quite frustrating with the slightest disturbance on the surface of the water making it difficult to see clearly. It is not altogether clear when the first man-made mirrors were produced but mirrors made of brass are mentioned in the Bible, and after that mirrors of bronze were in common use among the ancient Egyptians, Romans and Greeks. In addition to bronze, the Greeks and Romans experimented with polished silver to produce simple mirrors.

Crude forms of glass mirrors were first made in Venice in 1300. Small sheets of glass were cut from disks made by a spinning process. When this glass was backed with a covering of tin or lead, a ‘mirror’ resulted. During the early periods of their development, mirrors were rare and expensive. France had glass factories but only in Venice, Italy was the secret of mirror foiling known. The chemical process of coating a glass surface with metallic silver was discovered by German chemist Justus von Liebig in 1835, and this advance inaugurated the modern techniques of mirror making.

By the end of the 17th century mirrors were made in Britain and the manufacture of mirrors developed subsequently into an important industry in many other European countries. People wore them in their hats, or set them like jewels in their rings. Society glittered and shone like the firmament. A little later on, America was gripped by the mirror craze, only this time they were interested in larger mirrors. In house after house in residential districts and eastern cities there could be found one long mirror after another placed between two front parlour windows.

In the manufacture of mirrors today, plate glass is cut to size, and all blemishes are removed by polishing with rouge. The glass is scrubbed and flushed with a reducing solution before silver is applied. The glass is then placed on a hollow, cast-iron tabletop, covered with felt, and kept warm by steam. A solution of silver nitrate is poured on the glass and left undisturbed for about 1 hour. The silver nitrate is reduced to a metallic silver and a lustrous deposit of silver gradually forms. The deposit is dried, coated with shellac, and painted. Most present-day mirrors therefore, are made up of these layers. Glass is used on top because it is smooth, clear, and protects the reflective surface. A mirror needs to be very smooth in order for the best reflection to occur.

Mirrors may have plane or curved surfaces. A curved mirror is concave or convex depending on whether the reflecting surface faces toward the centre of the curvature or away from it. Curved mirrors in ordinary usage have surfaces of varying shapes. Perhaps the most common is spherical. Spherical mirrors produce images that are magnified or reduced – exemplified, by mirrors for applying facial makeup and by rear-view mirrors for vehicles. Cylindrical mirrors are another common type of shape. These focus a parallel beam of light to a linear focus. A paraboloidal mirror is one which is often used to focus parallel rays to a sharp focus, as in a telescope mirror, or to produce a parallel beam from a source at its focus, such as a searchlight. A less common but useful shape is the ellipsoidal. Such a mirror will reflect light from one of its two focal points to the other.

While the mirror is the focus of the production, the frame plays an important albeit slightly lesser role as the anchor by which the mirror is affixed to its proper place. From the late 17th century onward, mirrors and their frames played an increasingly important part in the decoration of rooms. Complementing the shiny reflective mirror, the early frames were usually of ivory, silver, ebony, or tortoiseshell or were veneered with walnut, olive, and laburnum. Needlework and bead frames were also to be found. Craftsmen such as Grinling Gibbons often produced elaborately carved mirror frames to match a complete decorative ensemble. The tradition soon became established of incorporating a mirror into the space over the mantelpiece: many of the early versions of these mirrors, usually known as overmantels, were enclosed in glass frames. The architectural structure of which these mirrors formed a part became progressively more elaborate. Focusing heavily on the effect created by mirrors, 18th century designers such as the English brothers Robert and James Adam created fireplace units stretching from the hearth to the ceiling. On the whole, mirror frames reflected the general taste of the time and were often changed to accommodate alterations in taste – frames usually being cheaper and hence more easily replaced than the mirror itself.

By the end of the 18th century, painted decoration largely supplanted carving on mirrors, the frames being decorated with floral patterns or classical ornaments. At the same time the French started producing circular mirrors. Usually surrounded by a neoclassical gilt frame that sometimes supported candlesticks, these mirrors enjoyed great popularity well into the 19th century. Improved skill in mirror making also made possible the introduction of the cheval glass, a freestanding full-length mirror, supported on a frame with four feet. These were mainly used for dressing purposes, though occasionally they had a decorative function. New, cheaper techniques of mirror production in the 19th century led to a great proliferation in their use. Not only were they regularly incorporated into pieces of furniture – such as wardrobes and sideboards – they were also used in everything from high-powered telescopes to decorative schemes in public places. Their popularity continues today. Through them, infants are able to develop an awareness of their individuality through ‘mirror games’. This type of emotional reflection stimulates babies to move various parts of their body and even promotes verbal utterances.

Questions 1-5
Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet write

TRUE                         if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE                       if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN            if there is no information on this

1 The Greeks and Egyptians used polished silver to make mirrors.
2 The first man-made mirrors were made of bronze.
3 Only the wealthy could afford the first mirrors.
4 The first mirrors in America were used for decoration.
5 Spherical mirrors are commonly used in cars.

Questions 10-13
Choose the correct letter A, B, C, or D.

10 The type of mirror used for looking at the stars is
A paraboloidal
B spherical
C cylindrical
D ellipsoidal

11 17th century craftsmen
A blended mirror frames well with other household furniture
B hung mirrors above fireplaces
C used mirror frames as a focus for home decoration
D established floral patterns as a standard for mirror frames

12 18th century craftsmen
A designed furniture which highlighted the unique properties of mirrors.
B experimented largely with mirror frames made of ebony and ivory
C built spherically-shaped mirrors
D experimented with ceiling mirrors around fireplaces

13 19th century craftsmen
A used mirrors less than any previous time in history
B introduced mirrors as learning tools
C used mirrors extensively in bedroom furniture
D etched designs into mirrors

Effort and Science to Win

A In Mexico, the Medicine Direction and Applied Sciences of the National Commission of Deporte analyses all aspects of sports science from the role of the auditory system in sporting achievement to the power of the mind and its role in the ability to win. Everything, it seems, is open to scrutiny. Recently, the focus has been evaluating the visual acuity of cyclists and long distance runners but they also focus on the more traditional areas of sports research, among them psychology, nutrition, anthropology, biochemistry and odontology . From budding child athletes as young as 9 to the more mature-aged sportsperson, the facility at Deporte has attracted some of Mexico’s most famous sporting and Olympic hopefuls.

B “The study of elite athletes is now more scientific than ever” says doctor Francisco Javier Squares, “after each competition, athletes are exposed to vigorous medical examinations and follow-up training in order to help us arrive at a program that is tailor-made.” The modern athlete has become big business, no longer is there a one-size-fits-all approach. For example, in the past two people both 1. 70 meters tall and weighing 70 kilograms would have been given the same program of athletic conditioning – now this idea is obsolete. It may be that the first individual has 35 kgs of muscle and 15 kgs of fat and the other person, although the same height and weight, may have 30 kgs of muscle and 20 kgs of fat. “Through detailed scientific evaluation here at our facility in Deporte,” says Squares, “…we are able to construct a very specific training programme for each individual.”

C Whereas many countries in the world focus on the elevation of the glorious champion, the Mexican Olympic team takes a slightly different approach. Psychologically speaking an athlete must bring to his endeavour a healthy dose of humility. As Squares said, “When an athlete wins for Mexico, it is always as a result of a combined team effort with many people operating behind the scenes to realise the sporting achievement. When an athlete stands on the dais, it is because of great effort on the part of many.”

D As is often the case in some poorer countries, sportsmen and women are stifled in their development due to budgetary constraints. However this has not been a factor for consideration with the team in Mexico. The Mexican government has allocated a substantial sum of money for the provision of the latest equipment and laboratories for sports research. In fact, the quality of Mexico’s facilities puts them on a par with countries like Italy and Germany in terms of access to resources. One example of sophisticated equipment used at the Mexican facility is the hyperbaric chamber. This apparatus is used to enhance oxygen recovery after a vigorous physical workout. Says Squares, “When you breathe the air while inside a hyperbaric chamber the natural state of the oxygen does not change. Green plants produced the oxygen, modern technology just increases the air pressure. This does not change the molecular composition of oxygen. Increased pressure just allows oxygen to get into tissues better. Due to our purchase of the hyperbaric chamber, athletes are able to recover from an intense workout in a much shorter space of time. We typically use the chamber for sessions of 45 to 60 minutes daily or three times per week.”

E When pushed to the limit, the true indicator of fitness is not how hard the heart operates, but how quickly it can recover after an extreme workout. Therefore, another focus area of study for the team in Mexico has been the endurance of the heart. To measure this recovery rate, an electroencephalograph (EEG) is used. The EEG enables doctors to monitor the brainwave activity from sensors placed on the scalp. Athletes exert intense effort for a sustained period after which they are given time to rest and recover. During these periods between intense physical exertion and recovery, doctors are able to monitor any weaknesses in the way the heart responds. The EEG has had a big impact upon our ability to measure the muscular endurance of the heart.

F In 1796, the life expectancy of a human being was between 25 and 36 years, in 1886 that number basically doubled to between 45 and 50. In 1996, the life expectancy of an average Mexican stands at around 75 years. People are living longer and this is due in large part to the advances of modern science. It is not all sophisticated medical equipment that is playing a part; basic advances in engineering are also greatly assisting. Take for example, a professional tennis player. In the past, most tennis players’ shoes were constructed with fabric and a solid rubber sole. These shoes were of poor construction and resulted in hip and foot injuries. Today the technology of shoe construction has radically changed. Now some shoes are injected with silicone and made of more comfortable, ergonomic construction. This has helped not only the elite but also the recreational sportsperson and thus, helps in the preservation of the human body.

Questions 14-17
The passage has eight paragraphs labelled A-F. Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-F in boxes 14-17 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once.

14 the natural process of oxygen production
15 standard after-competition procedure
16 the areas of study undertaken to improve athletic performance
17 the Mexican viewpoint on winning

Questions 18-20
Choose the correct letter A, B, C, or D.

18 The hyperbaric chamber
A helps athletes to breathe more easily
B increases the level of oxygen an athlete breathes
C decreases the pressure of the oxygen for Mexican athletes
D speeds up recovery time for athletes

19 The electroencephalograph (EEG)
A measures how fast brainwaves move during exercise
B helps doctors to determine heart problems
C measures how hard the heart works during exercise
D strengthens the heart muscle in athletes

20 The life-span of individuals in Mexico has increased due to
A medical improvements
B more committed doctors
C better made sporting equipment
D advances in ergonomics

Questions 21-26
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 21-26 on your answer sheet write

TRUE                     if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE                   if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN       if there is no information on this

21 There are limits to the level of sporting enquiry.
22 Specific athletic programs differ mostly between men and women.
23 Mexico and Germany have similar sporting resources.
24 Lack of money is what stops athletic improvement in poor countries.
25 Wealthy countries enjoy greater athletic success.
26 Mexican athletes have the support of their government.

Fuelling the future

The world’s 750 million motor vehicles emit well over 900 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. Traffic-related air pollution has been responsible for 6% of deaths per year and is associated with certain forms of leukaemia, inflammatory lung diseases, increased cardio-vascular disease, low birth-weight babies and male infertility. It stands to reason that tackling traffic-related air pollution should be high on any government’s list of priorities. Thus, in an attempt to minimise this situation many governments around the world have been looking at ways to implement alternative fuel sources. The most widely accepted way of doing this is to replace the crude oil that our vehicles currently run on with renewable, ‘environmentally friendly’ fuels. One serious contender put forward as a solution to the pollution problem is ethanol.

Ethanol is a type of alcohol made by fermenting plant material. Water and organic matter from the plants including corn, sorghum, sugar cane and wood are mixed together and fermented to make ethanol. After fermentation there are three layers remaining. The first is water and small particles of grain and alcohol. It takes on a syrup consistency. The second layer is the remaining grain, which is 17 percent dry matter. The third layer is the actual ethanol – a colourless, volatile, flammable liquid. It is the only layer sold and accounts for exactly one-third of the total dry matter used for its production. There are three primary ways that it is used as a fuel for transportation: as a blend of 10 percent ethanol with 90% unleaded fuel (E10); as a component of reformulated gasoline and; as a primary fuel with 85 parts of ethanol blended with 15 parts of unleaded fuel (E-85). In the 1800s in the U.S.A., it was first used as lamp fuel. Later on, due to skyrocketing oil prices in the 1970s, E10 was produced as a type of ‘fuel-extender’ for vehicles with E-85 being produced in the 1990s. Brazil has also used ethanol-blended fuels. Like America, the high prices in the 1970s prompted a government mandate to produce vehicles which could be fuelled by pure ethanol. Today there are more than 4.2 million ethanol-powered vehicles in Brazil (40 percent passenger carrying) which consume 4 billion gallons of ethanol annually. Today, Brazil is the largest transportation ethanol fuel market in the world.

Given that Ethanol is made from a variety of plant substances when it is used in fuel production, it increases the monetary value of feed grains grown by farmers. In fact, in the U.S.A., the largest ethanol consuming nation in the world, ethanol production adds $4.5 billion to the farm economy every year. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, ethanol production adds 30 cents to the value of a bushel of corn. Another of its benefits, according to Brian Keating, deputy chief of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is that a 10% ethanol blend (E10) would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2 to 5% over the full lifecycle of ethanol production and consumption. Said Keating, “The precise benefits depend on specific factors in the production cycle. An important component of which is the energy source used by the ethanol factory. If it’s being powered by coal or oil, there are obviously associated greenhouse gas emissions.” In America, The Clean Air Act of 1990 and the National Energy Policy Act of 1992 have both created new market opportunities for cleaner, more efficient fuels with many state governments in America’s Mid-west purchasing fleet vehicles capable of running on E-85 fuels.

Although it makes a good fuel, some drawbacks have been documented. The economics of ethanol production are improving as the technology improves but ethanol has two problems: It does not explode like gasoline, and it can absorb water, which can cause oxidation, rust and corrosion. The claims of possible damage to vehicles from the use of ethanol blends above 10% has therefore attracted considerable negative publicity. Compared to diesel – the standard fuel in the heavy moving industry – ethanol is known to have a lower energy content so ethanol trucks require larger fuel tanks to achieve the same range as a diesel-powered vehicle. In Australia, a government review into the impacts of a 20% ethanol blend on vehicles found the information to be insufficient or conflicting, but did identity a number of problems such as the possible perishing and swelling of elastomeric and plastic materials in fuel systems. Stakeholders in the motor vehicle industry have stated that warranties on motor vehicles and pump dispensing equipment could be at risk with the use of blends above 10% ethanol. Principle economist for the Australian Bureau of Agriculture Andrew Dickson points out that the money sugarcane growers get for their cane is not determined by the domestic consumption or domestic demand for ethanol, it is entirely determined by the world sugar market and the world trade in molasses. He believes that the only way the sugar industry can benefit from the existence of an ethanol industry is if they invest in the ethanol industry. “The sugar producer does not get anymore money for their molasses so what incentive do they have to produce any more?” The cost of production also represents some challenges. In Australia, fuel ethanol costs around 70 cents per litre compared with around 35 cents per litre for unleaded petrol. In America, one report revealed that even with government assistance, ethanol is close to 35 percent more than the price of diesel. Consequently, production of ethanol requires government assistance to be competitive. A recent study by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics found that without assistance, large-scale production of ethanol would not be commercially viable in Australia.

Regardless of whether the Australian sugar industry will benefit from a mandated 10% ethanol mix, the expansion of ethanol production would certainly lead to increased economic activity in farming areas. It is inevitable that some expansion would be at the expense of existing industry. If ethanol becomes more popular, there will soon be more plants producing it. This means there will be a need for workers for the plants. The American National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (NEVC) projects that employment will be boosted by 200,000 jobs and the balance of trade will be improved by over $2 billion. The future of ethanol looks promising, for better or worse ethanol looks to be a serious contender for tomorrow’s fuel.

Questions 27-31
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet write

YES                             if the statement reflects the claims of the writer
NO                               if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN            if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

27 The need to control air pollution is why ethanol came into use.
28 Brazil uses more ethanol for transportation than America.
29 Select food crops become more expensive due to ethanol production.
30 The Australian sugar industry will benefit from the production of ethanol.
31 Primary ethanol (E-85) has been extensively tested in Australia.

Questions 32-35
Look at the following list of descriptions (Questions 32-35) and the list of fuel types below. Match each description to the fuel type. Write the correct letter A-D in boxes 32-35 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.

32 costs about half the price of ethanol
33 reacts poorly with some metals
34 is the reason why trucks have been fitted with larger fuel tanks
35 commonly used in the trucking industry

A regular gasoline
B unleaded gasoline
C ethanol
D diesel

Questions 36-40
Classify the following statements according to which country they apply to. Write the appropriate letters A-D in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.

A Australia only
B America only
C both Australia and America
D neither Australia nor America

36 makes ethanol out of sugar cane
37 uses more ethanol than any other country in the world
38 receives government assistance for ethanol production
39 proved ethanol production is costly
40 their government bought ethanol-friendly cars

How To Handle The Sun

The medical world appears to be divided on the effects of the sun upon the human body. From statements like, “There is no known relationship between a tan and health” to “perhaps sun-tanned skin absorbs the ultraviolet rays and converts them into helpful energy”, there are some things which are still the topic of research. Doctors agree on one of the benefits of the sun – vitamin D. It is well known that vitamin D is acquired from the direct rays of the sun – an entirely separate miracle from sun tanning. The sun’s ultraviolet rays penetrate only a tiny amount into the human skin, but in the process they irradiate an element in the skin called ergosterol, which is the substance that stores up reserves of vitamin D received from the sun. This is both healthful and beneficial for human skin.

All around the Western World, people have developed an obsession with the sun. In many western countries, a sun tan has become the trade-mark of a healthy, active, outdoor person. The basic reddish hue just beneath the surface of our skin is the outward reflection of the millions of red corpuscles flowing through tiny blood vessels. This is most noticeable in the pure skin of a baby which can change in a moment from porcelain white (with anger or a switch in temperature) to crimson. In Caucasians, this colouring is somewhat hidden by an acquired layer of sun-made pigment, which varies in tone according to the complexion and occupation of the individual.

Locale plays a big part in the effectiveness of the sun tan. Mountain tops and beaches are nonpareil sun spas because they receive far purer sunlight than the rest of the land. Urban areas with their smoke and smog act as a filter removing all the healthful properties of the sun. Perhaps the seashore is best of all, with its air estimated to have at least a fifth of a percent more oxygen than inland ether – free of city and inland dust, tars, pollen and allergens.

The sun has long been called nature’s greatest health giver and healer and has played a chief role at health resorts ever since August Rollier, the Swiss father of heliotherapy, opened his first high-Alps sanatorium in 1903. Dr. W.W. Coblentz suggests that the sun cure is a major factor in the treatment of at least 23 skin diseases, ranging from acne and eczema to ulcers and wounds. Another specialist, Dr. Richard Kovacs writes, “Sun treatment is often helpful to persons suffering from general debility – repeated colds, respiratory diseases, influenza and the like”. After a long winter, the return to the sun writes Dr. Leonard Dodds, the British sunlight scholar, “is a general stimulus to the body, more potent if applied after a period when it has been lacking which gradually loses its effect if exposure is over prolonged, even when not excessive”.

Over many years of study dermatologists have proven that excessive exposure to sunlight over a period of years is responsible for a large proportion of skin cancer amongst the population. Those with the greatest chance of doing permanent damage to their skin are the year-round outdoor workers – 90% of which occurs on the heavily exposed hands and face. The first line of defence against permanent sun damage is the skins’ own natural fatty matter and sweat, which combine to form an oily acid surface shield against the ultra violet rays. At the beach, the salt water washes away this natural oily coat, the hot sun overworks the sweat glands so that the excess becomes ineffective and the dry wind and hot sun combine to dehydrate the skin itself. Over the years, women have shown far greater wisdom in the care of their skin than men. Since the ladies of ancient Egypt first began to apply the fat of the so-called sacred temple cats to their faces, women have been tireless in waging this battle against damage to the skin from the sun. Both sexes now contribute annually to a multi-million dollar global sun screen business.

Other parts of the human body which tend to suffer from exposure to the sun are the eyes and hair. Many years ago, optometrists undertook studies in America to examine the influence of the sun upon the eyes by studying Atlantic City lifeguards and found that even a few hours in the bright sun without sunglasses could cause a significant loss of vision – a loss that might take several weeks from which to recover. So gradual was the change that the lifeguards were unaware that their sight had been affected. The solution to this problem was to introduce sunglasses as a standard part of the lifeguard uniform. These were dark enough to absorb the sun’s harmful UV rays and most of its infrared and ultraviolet rays.

Of a lesser impact is the effect of the sun upon hair. The penalty of the sun’s parching is a brittle dryness. Hair care professionals recommend a nutritional cream treatment with a substance containing lanolin to bring your hair back its natural softness, these usually come in the form of leave-in conditioners, and should be applied frequently, just as you would a sunscreen for the skin. Or, easier still, wear a hat. Wearing a hat has a dual effect: it protects the hair and helps to prevent the most dangerous of outdoor afflictions: sunstroke.

Questions 1-4
Look at the following people (Questions 1-4) and the list of statements below.
Match each person with the correct statement.

1 Richard Kovacs
2 August Rollier
3 W.W. Coblentz
4 Leonard Dodds

A believes that the benefits of the sun are not scientifically provable
B claims to have discovered the vitamin released in the skin by the sun
C suggests that the sun is an excellent healer
D invented the first sun screen
E suggests that the sun assists with common illnesses
F thinks that initially the sun is of great benefit to the body
G is unsure about the benefits of the sun
H was one of the pioneers of sun healing therapy

Questions 5-9
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 5-9 on your answer sheet write

TRUE                          if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE                        if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN             if there is no information on this

5 Most doctors are in agreement when it comes to the health benefits of the sun.
6 Beaches are best for a sun tan because the air has far less pollution.
7 Women applied fat to their skin for protection from the sun.
8 Extended exposure of the eyes to the sun can lead to blindness.
9 The human eye cannot heal itself when it is damaged by the sun.

Questions 10-14
Complete the summary using the words from the box. Write your answers in boxes 10-14 on your answer sheet.

overcome	quickly	arrangement	maintaining	extended
surprisingly	located	caring	affected	slowly
minding	succeed	triumph	prolonged	combined
mixed	blend

Handling the Sun
Many doctors agree that skin cancer can be caused by excessive exposure to the sun. As far as the human body is concerned, it is primarily the face and hands that are (10)………………………………… When human skin is exposed to the sun, the body has a defence: a (11) ……………………….of the skin’s natural oils and acids. For some time, women have been more effective than men in (12)………………………………..for their skin. Eyes are a significant part of the body which are negatively affected by the sun. The damage often goes undetected because it happens quite (13)…………………………….. On the other hand, hair becomes quite dry and brittle when exposed to the sun for an extended period. A lanolin-based conditioner is recommended by hair care professionals to (14)……………………………..this problem. Perhaps a simple hat may be the best solution for hair.

New Directions – Map Making

A “A map may lie, but it never jokes” wrote poet Howard McCordin. When it comes to getting to our destinations on time, there are few things more important than an uncluttered and accurate map. By definition, maps show the features of the earth graphically, to scale, on a two-dimensional surface. They may be thematic – showing vegetation, wildlife, geology; navigational – showing hydrographic, aeronautical or automotive routes; topographic – showing the natural and man-made features of the land or any other of a number of variations. Their creation is a work of art and science involving a merger between creativity and precision.

B One of the biggest influences upon map creation or cartography was World War II. In the war zone, maps of targets and terrain played a huge part and so topographers and members of the air force alike were engaged in the production of them. The need to accurately measure distances using air photos gave birth to the process of photogrammetry. Great cartographic and mathematical skill was required in a process that was initially limited by a lack of photographic coverage. Planes flying at a constant altitude flew in grid patterns with cameras mounted on them, facing straight down. When the weather was good, this process provided photos in the perpendicular axis – the preferred optical axis for mapping. In order to include both sides of the horizon, some cameras were specially designed to take three pictures at once – one vertical and two side-looking obliques. It was a difficult task to keep the plane running smoothly but the latest refinements of map-making techniques were put to immediate use.

C Using a novel combination of optics and the overlapping of air photos to create three-dimensional pictures of terrain, the stereoscope was the next refinement in map making which was of limited value. Shortly thereafter, the photogrammetric stereoplotter improved upon the technology used by the stereoscope allowing cartographers to precisely measure the elevation of features in air photos and then transfer them to paper. After World War II had ended, this new technology led to an increased interest in cartography. Mappers began to use newly invented devices such as tellurometers, air profile recorders, magnetometers and scintillation counters. From these precision instruments came maps packed with information.

D In 1957, the Soviet satellite Sputnick 1 joined the moon in orbit around the earth. Although it only operated for 21 days, it began the ‘space race’ and shortly after a number of American and other Russian rockets were put into orbit progressing cartography into an even more sophisticated realm. Only a few years later in 1959 the first space photograph of earth was received. Pageos 1, launched by the United States in 1966, was the first satellite with an instrument package on board specifically designed for surveying the earth. Two years later, the American Satnav system was launched utilising six carefully positioned Transit satellites which fed back information for mapping based upon the Doppler effect. The Landsat 1 satellite launched in 1972 was the first satellite to collect data specifically on the earth’s surface and natural resources. More than 20 other equally spaced satellites now orbit the earth every 12 hours at an altitude of 20,000 kilometres. Navstar, the U.S. military’s global-positioning system can determine geodesic positioning accurate within millimetres anywhere on earth. What took months to plot and record in the past can now be easily done in an hour.

E In addition to all the advances in aerial satellite technology, some very advanced computer hardware has been designed to aide cartographers in map production. Storing trillions of bits of information and working with a Geographic Information System (GIS), the system uses geographic position as a common thread. Although it became popular in the 1990s, GISs were developed in the early 1960s. Programmed with topographic information – lakes, roads, rivers and place names – taken from existing sheets and updated from new surveys, a GIS was the next gigantic leap forward for cartographers. Maps, air photos, municipal plans and a host of other things can be scanned and entered and later on, updated and revised in an infinite number of ways on a computer terminal to create a virtually custom-made map every time. The distinction between map producer and map user becomes blurred with a GIS. A map of an urban neighbourhood may be brought up on the screen and by zooming in or out, streets, buildings, fields, lakes, street lamps, bus stops, even sewers can be displayed. But it goes even further: an associated database enables the operator to ascertain the number of people who live in the household, even property values can be listed. There is basically an unlimited amount of information which can be superimposed on a map using this system.

F A brief history of cartography shows that map types have changed to reflect the needs of the time. Thus, early maps depicted concrete, tangible features such as coastlines, rivers, mountains, roads and towns. Later, the focus moved to the spatial distribution of environmental phenomena – vegetation, soils, geology, and climate. Societal issues such as population and disease have also been closely examined. Most recently, attention has shifted to short-lived phenomena such as tornados, air pollution and floods, and to visualization of the results of conceptual modelling of environmental phenomena such as groundwater contamination. The trend has been one of shifting from simply mapping obvious features to discovering relationships and implications between different levels and layers of geographic information. It is clear today that cartography is closely associated with the broader field of scientific visualization. This technique takes the map-reader beyond the printed page and shows them terrain as if they were flying in a helicopter.

Questions 15-19
Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs A-F.
Choose the correct heading for sections B-F from the list of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers i-x in boxes 15-19 on your answer sheet.

List of headings
i transferring air photos to paper maps
ii computers make map production easy
iii maps for seeing into the future
iv the role of weather in map-making photography
v interest grows in map-making
vi map-making responsible for space programs
vii new process enables calculation of distance
viii the future of cartography rests with helicopters
ix the impact of satellites on map-making
x defining map making

Example: Section A             Answer x

15 Section B
16 Section C
17 Section D
18 Section E
19 Section F

Questions 20-23
Classify the following as first occurring
A between 1955 and 1960
B between 1960 and 1965
C between 1965 and 1970
D after 1970

Write the correct letter A, B, C or D in boxes 20-23 on your answer sheet.
20 The first images of the earth are taken in space.
21 Parts of the earth are mapped through use of radio waves.
22 A satellite is launched in search of forests, lakes and rivers.
23 Work began on what would be the most advanced map-making system in the future.

Questions 24-26
The list below gives possible factors that contributed to improvements in cartography.

Which THREE of these factors are mentioned in the text?
A magnetometers
B Sputnick 1
C World War II
D stereoplotters
E aeroplanes and helicopters
F stereoscopes

How Children Learn

The way in which children learn is an ever-growing area of study. It is obvious that children differ from adult learners in many ways, but what is interesting is that there are also quite a number of surprising commonalities across all learners of all ages. A study of young children fulfils two purposes: it helps to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the learners who populate a nation’s schools, and it offers a window into the development of learning that cannot be seen if one considers only well-established learning patterns and expertise. When an observer studies the development of children over time, a dynamic picture of learning unfolds. An understanding of infant thinking mental processes or cognition and how young children from 2 to 5 years old add information to their knowledge ‘data base’ helps child psychologists to better equip students for their transition into formal school settings.

For much of the 20th century, most psychologists accepted the traditional thesis that a newborn’s mind is a tabula rasa or blank slate upon which the record of experience is gradually impressed. It was further thought that verbal communication was a prerequisite for abstract thought and so, in its absence, a baby could not have comprehension. Since babies are born with a limited range of behaviours and spend most of their early months asleep, they certainly appear passive and unknowing. Therefore, it was commonly thought that infants lack the ability to form complex ideas. Until recently, there was no obvious way for them to demonstrate anything to the contrary to researchers.

In time however, challenges to this view arose. It became clear that with carefully designed scientific procedures, psychologists could find ways to pose rather complex questions about how much infants and young children know and what they are capable of doing. Psychologists began to employ new methodologies and began to gather a substantial amount of data about the remarkable abilities that young children possess. Their research stood in great contrast to the older emphases which focussed almost entirely on what children lacked. The mind of young children came to life through this research, it became clear that very young children are both competent and active when it comes to their conceptual development.

A major move away from the earlier tabula rasa view of the infant mind was taken by the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. Beginning in the 1920s, Piaget argued that the young human mind could best be described in terms of complex cognitive or ‘thinking’ structures. From close observations of infants and careful questioning of children, he concluded that the development of the mind proceeds through certain stages, each involving radically different thinking processes. Piaget observed that infants actually seek stimulation from their surroundings thus promoting their intellectual development. He showed that their initial representations of such things as space and time as well as awareness of objects and self are constructed only gradually during the first 2 years. He concluded that understanding in young infants is built up through the gradual coordination of sight, sound and touch.

After Piaget, perceptual learning theorists studied how newborns begin to integrate sight and sound and explore their surroundings. They saw that learning in infants proceeded rapidly when they were given the opportunity to explore the objects and events they encountered. Theories were developed which attempted to describe how the brain processes information. It was around this time that the metaphor of the mind as computer came into wide usage.

In order to study what babies know and can learn about readily, researchers needed to develop techniques of ‘asking’ infants what they know. Because infants are so limited physically and verbally, experimenters interested in finding out how babies think had to find methods suitable to an infant’s motor capabilities. New ways were developed for measuring what infants prefer to look at and detecting changes in events to which they are sensitive. Three such methods that were used were sucking, habituation, and visual expectation.

Although theories put forward during this time differed in many ways, they shared an emphasis on considering children as active learners, those who actually assemble and organise information. Therefore, primarily cognitive development involves the acquisition of organised knowledge such as, an early understanding of basic physics, some biological concepts and early number sense. In addition, cognitive development involves gradually learning strategies for solving problems, understanding and remembering.

The active role of learners was also emphasized by Vygotsky, who focused on the role of social support in learning. According to Vygotsky, all cognitive skills and patterns of thinking are not primarily determined by the skills people are born with; they are the products of the activities practiced in the social environment in which the individual grows up. From Vygotsky’s research into the role of the social environment in the development of thinking came what he called a zone of proximal development. This zone which refers to tasks learners can do with the assistance of others, had a big impact upon developmental psychology. This line of work has drawn attention to the roles of parents, and teachers in challenging and extending children’s efforts to understand. It has also contributed to an understanding of the relationship between formal and informal teaching as well as learning situations and cognition.

Questions 27-30
Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS for each answer.

27 What did early research into child capabilities focus on?
28 Who thought infants needed to communicate verbally in order to show advanced comprehension?
29 In what period of their growth do infants develop an awareness of time?
30 What TWO things is the infant mind compared to?

Questions 31-35
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 31-35 on your answer sheet write

TRUE                          if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE                        if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN             if there is no information on this

31 In many ways, children learn the same way adults learn.
32 20th century psychologists thought infants were unintelligent because they were usually asleep.
33 The focus of early research methods in child development have been similar to those conducted more recently.
34 Piaget showed that each new stage of learning builds upon the previous one.
35 Vygotsky’s research has had a positive impact upon many primary school teachers.

Questions 36-40
Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage 3. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS.

36 When it comes to learning new concepts, recent research has shown that children are both competent and……………….
37 Not only are young children capable of assembling information they are also able to………………
38 ONE of the ways scientists measured infant preference was through…………………..
39 An indicator of cognitive development is that knowledge must be……………….
40 Vygotsky believed that the key to learning lay in the individual’s………………….

Running Dry

A Government water commission maps in Mexico show 96 overexploited aquifers. Seawater has polluted 17 others because of too much pumping, while toxic seepage is spreading fast. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Mexican children are contracting digestive diseases due to poor water storage. Mexico City, built eight centuries ago atop vast lagoons, cannot adequately supply water for its 22 million inhabitants. Like many cities in the world, less than half of the city’s waste is treated. The rest sinks into underground lakes or flows toward the Gulf of Mexico, turning rivers into sewers. This presents an extremely difficult prospect for Mexico’s future. The Mexican National Water Commission lists some 35 cities that must shrink dramatically unless more water can be found. A forced exodus from parched cities seems far-fetched, and no one suggests it will happen next week but it is a spectre haunting Mexico’s future.

B Much of the water that Mexico depends upon is the same water that is badly needed in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. One forecast is that Corpus Christi, Texas (population: 277, 454), will run out of water around 2018. In the meantime the problem is getting worse. Deputy director of the Mexican National Water Commission Cantu Suarez reports, “In Oaxaca, south of Mexico City, women line up at dawn to fill a few plastic containers from a passing water truck. In Alamos, far to the north, ancient aquifers are pumped at five times the sustainable rate.”

C Mexico is only one example of desperation in a world running short of water. Parts of the earth are dying, with fields poisoned by salt and village wells running dry. And there are legal battles looming. The Colorado River, drained by 10 U.S. states with their own water crises, is a muddy trickle by the time it reaches the rich farmland of Baja California. Under complex water agreements with the United States, Mexico can take water from the Rio Grande but must pay it back. President Vicante Fox has promised to pay the debt, which amounts to enough to put the state of Delaware under a flood of water. But with Mexico already so short of water, it is not realistic to think it can happen.

D Canada with its thousands of lakes and rivers would be viewed by most people as having an inexhaustible water supply. In comparison to Africa and other dry places, most of Canada’s waters are pristine. But the cumulative effect of mistreatment over the years has taken an evident toll. The cities of Victoria on the west coast and Halifax on the east still dump billions of litres of raw sewage into their oceans. The world’s biggest freshwater basin, the Great Lakes, are described as a chemical soup not fit to drink from or swim in. Some concerned experts view them as loaded with toxic chemicals, heavy metals, pesticides and sewage. Far too many rivers and streams in Canada have been badly contaminated by industrial activity.

E Humans can live about a month without food but only a few days without water. Because 70 percent of the human body is water, weight loss in some quick diets is dramatic due to water loss. Of all the water in the world, only about 2.5 percent is fresh and two thirds of this is locked up in glaciers and ice caps. Nobody knows how much water is underground or in permafrost. All life on earth is sustained by a fraction of one percent of the world’s water. If a five-litre jug (about 1? gallons) represented the world’s water, the available fresh water would not quite fill a teaspoon.

F Overall, in most parts of the planet there is enough water to supply human needs. The huge problem however, is the rapidly increasing populations in places that lack adequate water resources, as well as mismanagement of available resources. Canada, with only 0.5 percent of the world’s population, has 5.6 percent of its usable fresh water supply. China, with 22 percent of the population on earth, has only 5.7 percent of usable fresh water. We cannot just move fresh water to where it is most needed – like in the Sahara, Ethiopia, Somalia or India.

G In January 2000, the Newfoundland government identified a dozen of its communities with high levels of potentially dangerous THMs (trihalomethanes) in water supplies. In an attempt to solve this issue the main solution put forward by scientists is sterilisation of the water. However, this approach can also be the cause of problems. Drinking such water over a long period can cause bladder and colon cancers, but health experts maintain the benefits far outweigh these risks. As a result, the bottled water business is booming. In just one decade, sales have surged from $2.6 billion to $7.7 billion in the United States of America alone. This represents a 10 percent growth rate for the past 10 years. But is it safe? Canadian standards for testing bottled water are lower than those for municipal supplies, so there are no assurances that bottled water is any better than tap water.

H At the start of the 20th century, there were 1.65 billion people; 100 years later there are more than 6 billion, and the United Nations estimates there will be nearly 9 billion by 2050. But the annual supply of renewable fresh water will remain the same, so the amount of water available to each person decreases and the population grows, raising the possibility of water shortages. The supply of water to the future is a major issue that will confront tomorrow’s leaders.

Questions 1-4
Reading Passage 1 has eight paragraphs A-H. Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-H in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once.

1 where most fresh water is located in the world
2 a way Mexican women obtain water
3 the effect of waste upon Mexican rivers
4 Mexico’s financial commitment for its water

Questions 5-8
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet write

YES                      if the statement reflects the claims of the writer
NO                        if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN     if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

5 Unhealthy water is causing illness amongst Mexican children.
6 Mexicans are moving to other cities because of water shortages.
7 Mexican food crops will fail without water from America.
8 Drinking water in Canada, has been polluted by industry.

Questions 9-13
Complete the summary of paragraphs F-H below. Chose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

The main issue that confronts cities with poor water supplies is their growing (9)……………………….Canada, which contains (10)…………………………of the world’s fresh water, has dealt with water pollution in some cities through a process of (11)………………………….. Although treated for dangerous pollution, some health experts believe city water to be a cause of (12)…………………………………Not all people are content to drink town water and this has added to a demand for (13)………………………

How to Reduce Employee Turnover

A The chief executive of a large hotel became aware that his company was experiencing annual employee turnover of about 60 percent, at an annual cost estimated between $10 to $15 million. This large amount of money was calculated based on three factors: the money spent hiring and training replacements; the cost to the business in lower productivity due to employees becoming familiar with the requirements of their new job; and reduced occupancy rates, due to poor guest satisfaction levels.

B The Chief Executive knew that in order to save his company, he had to reduce the high turnover costs. Making up for the lost income due to turnover is not an easy task and many companies have not declared war on unwanted employee turnover because they have not taken the time to work out the costs of lost revenues and productivity. But the hotel boss decided to tackle the issue head-on by implementing a 4 point plan. The hotel first took the time to calculate their turnover costs; secondly to evaluate the main causes for the staff turnover and; thirdly to discuss some of the solutions to the problems and lastly to prioritise actions and evaluate future returns following implemented changes.

C Within a two-year period, the results were significant. The annual employee turnover was reduced by 78 percent and this impacted upon down time due to training and guest satisfaction. The result was a $10 million savings for the company.

D Because most do not know the root causes of employee turnover and costs have often not been accurately estimated, causes are usually not known. As a result, solutions are commonly not targeted at a company’s individual, specific causes. The following is an examination of what the Chief Executive did to turn the hotel around.

E Two factors were considered in relation to the calculation of costs: those departments who had the highest rates of turnover and those whose turnover had the greatest potential effect on profit. After some investigation it was shown that some of the positions with the highest turnover rates such as cleaners and gardeners did not carry with them high associated costs. In fact, what was revealed was that only 6 percent of employees accounted for 43 percent of the turnover. Positions that involved a substantial amount of time in training were the ones that attracted the highest costing. Analysis revealed that those positions within the hotel which had the greatest impact on profit were people like the front office receptionists and those working in accounts.

F As unusual as it may sound, it is now a common understanding that offering employees more money is not necessarily a good solution to high employee turnover – often they leave because they simply dislike the work. Therefore, it was important to tackle the analysis from the perspective of what were the chief causes for staff leaving. A holistic approach was undertaken and several key findings emerged. The hotel found that fundamentally they adopted poor recruiting and selection practices. For example, it was shown that almost 35 percent of the cleaning staff left after the first week and a further 25 during the first month. Candidates were being over-sold the job by recruiters and left soon after they encountered unrealistic job expectations.

G Devising solutions to these issues was the other half of the equation. As far as recruiting was concerned, they changed their approach by getting personnel from the hotel to handle it. Once this change was made, the attrition rates decreased substantially. To add to employee motivation, new staff were made aware of the mission and goals of the organisation and how they would be paid above industry standard for striving to attain to hotel values. New staff were shown where the hotel was heading and how they would have a guaranteed, stable employment situation with a major force in the hotel industry – it was even suggested that after a period of employment, new staff might be given the opportunity to contribute to organisational goal setting. They had been losing many of their employees during the first month or two of employment, so they made new staff aware that bonuses would be offered to newly-hired employees at the end of their first three months which greatly assisted in goal setting. Staff luncheons and the in-house volleyball and basketball competitions remained an effective part of staff unity and development and a support program was also introduced to help all staff with any job-related issues which gave employees a heightened sense of being cared for by the establishment.

H Another area of change which proved successful was the introduction of the Valuable Employee Program (VEP). When a person was employed in the past they were assigned a senior member of staff who assisted them with getting used to their new job. Due to the limitations of the senior member’s position however, they were often not in a position to explain any details regarding future advancement. Now, when staff are employed, they are clearly told what is expected in the job and where it might lead for the right candidate. Hotel surveys revealed that over 30 percent of employees were not satisfied with the career opportunities in their current jobs so the articulation of the definite and realistic opportunity for advancement through the VEP led to a major decrease in employee attrition.

I Once the ship had been righted and the relative returns on human resource investments had been calculated, setting priorities became a formality. Although at first a daunting task, the enormous cost of employee turnover offered an excellent opportunity for the hotel to improve profitability. F As unusual as it may sound, it is now a common understanding that offering employees more money is not necessarily a good solution to high employee turnover – often they leave because they simply dislike the work. Therefore, it was important to tackle the analysis from the perspective of what were the chief causes for staff leaving. A holistic approach was undertaken and several key findings emerged. The hotel found that fundamentally they adopted poor recruiting and selection practices. For example, it was shown that almost 35 percent of the cleaning staff left after the first week and a further 25 during the first month. Candidates were being over-sold the job by recruiters and left soon after they encountered unrealistic job expectations.

Questions 14-18
Complete the summary below of paragraphs A-D of Reading Passage 2. Choose ONE OR TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Training new employees; down time as new employees get used to their new job; and unfavourable guest satisfaction levels all led to a large (14)………………………….for a large hotel. It was determined that the solution to these problems, was in the reduction of the company’s (15)…………………………The hotel addressed these issues in 4 ways through the implementation of a (16)…………………………The efforts of the hotel chief executive decreased down time and reduced employee turnover which, in turn resulted in improvements in (17)………………………….The company position was improved by $10 million. It is not common for big companies to experience such (18)………………………because most have difficulty in determining the why these things happen.

Questions 19-21
Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 19-21 on your answer sheet write

YES                           if the statement reflects the claims of the writer
NO                             if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN         if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

19 It was surprising that positions with the highest turnover were not connected to high costs.
20 There was a clear connection between high costs and length of training.
21 New employees were given an incorrect description of their job.

Questions 22-26
Reading Passage 2 gives FIVE effective changes that the hotel introduced for staff. Choose these changes from the list A-K below. Write the appropriate letters A-K in boxes 22-26 on your answer sheet.

CHANGES
A discussed future plans
B introduced regular staff luncheons
C started a regular sports program
D clearly defined job expectations
E did their own staff recruiting
F built new sporting facilities
G involved new staff in goal setting
H offered bonuses to proven, committed new staff
I began meeting regularly with new staff
J implemented a support program
K began recruiting through an employment service

Reading Passage 3

A Political and family values within society have impacted upon the modern family structure. Traditionally, it has been the man’s role to be the breadwinner for the family – providing the funds to pay for food and shelter. However, due to the many new and unique responsibilities placed upon families, in numerous cases both men and women – fathers and mothers – have had to enter the workforce. Generally, the reasons for both being involved in the workforce revolve around the need to add to the family’s current financial base. To a lesser extent, the need to interact with ‘adults’ in a stimulating work environment is another popular reason. Whatever their reasons, for many families, the decision for father and mother to go out of the home and join the labour force has led to a number of side effects within the home which, in turn, impact upon their performance as employees.

B Many researchers agree that attitudes towards work are carried over into family life. This spillover can be positive or negative. Positive spillover refers to the spread of satisfaction and positive stimulation at work resulting in high levels of energy and satisfaction at home. If the amount of research is to be taken as an indication, it would seem that positive spillover is not a dominant occurrence in the workplace with most research focussing on the effects of negative spillover. Often pointing out the incompatible nature of work and family life, the research focuses on problems and conflict at work which has the effect of draining and preoccupying the individual, making it difficult for him or her to participate fully in family life.

C Social scientists have devised a number of theories in an attempt to explain the work-family dynamic. Compensation theory is one which has been widely used. It assumes that the relationship between work and family is negative by pointing out that high involvement in one sphere – invariably the work sphere – leads to low involvement in the other. As an individual advances within a career, demands typically fluctuate from moderate to more demanding and if the advancing worker has younger children, this shift in work responsibilities will usually manifest itself in the form of less time spent with the family. Researchers subscribing to this theory point out that the drain on family time is significantly related to work-family conflict with an escalation in conflict as the number of family members increase.

D The human state is one of change. In exploring the work-family dynamic it can be clearly seen that as the pattern of adult development for men and women differs and as family and career demands fluctuate, individuals may link work and family roles differently at different stages of their life. Hence, the relationship between work and family is constantly changing over a person’s life. The developmental approach therefore adopts a psychological-developmental framework to explore the dynamics of the relationship between individual, family, and career developments in the life-span of a worker.

E Interpersonal climates influence motivation of both family and work-related activities in the family and the workplace. Within the family, the feeling of being valued by one’s partner directly affects a person’s self-determination, while at the same time within the workplace, the feeling of being autonomy-supported by one’s employer was shown to have an effect on one’s self-determined motivation towards work related activities. Studies built on the theory of self-determination point out that if people have a high level of self-determination, they decide which activities to devote themselves to and thus participate in a positive way, making it difficult for family alienation to occur.

F Segmentation theory proposes that work and family are actually two entirely separate domains and individuals are able to maintain a clear demarcation between the two. Theorists subscribing to this view maintain that emotions, attitudes and behaviours enlisted in the two different environments are separate and will not have any impact upon work or family. While this theory is certainly applicable for some, apparently not all men and women are able to neatly divide the two experiences. Winthrope points out that, “Even though a woman may enter the workforce, research has shown that within the context of the family, the care of her husband and children as well as the living quarters is still heavily the woman’s domain.” This kind of idea is tied up in the old adage; a woman’splace is in the home. She is seen as the one who takes care of all domestic duties whereas, stereotypically, it is the man who brings home the food for the family. The degree to which this is felt is certainly based upon societal expectations and behavioural norms. Despite this, there has been no positive link shown that one sex experiences greater difficulty in managing work-family conflicts over another.

G Perhaps the most positive relation that could be established between work and conflict was in regard to irregular work hours. Factors such as having to work on weekends, having to work longer than nine hours per day or having to work during vacation periods all added to the conflict dynamic. Additionally, rank or position and thus expectations of workers and time demands all showed a negative impact upon family and work relations. Many have conducted empirical research in relation to work-family conflict and job satisfaction with significantly varying results. However, one generally recognised outcome about which few researchers disagree is that when work-family conflict arises, job satisfaction decreases.

Questions 27-30
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.

27 The main reason fathers and mothers join the workforce is
A they want to escape the boring environment of home
B they want to be able to retire comfortably
C they need extra money
D they need the mature interaction that goes on between adults

28 ‘Spillover’ is
A mostly positive when it comes to the workplace
B a term researchers use to describe work life
C a dominant area of scientific research
D a term which relates to how work life affects family life

29 The significance of Winthrope’s comment is that working women
A should not do the work of men
B are heavily relied upon to do household duties
C should not work outside of the home
D leave household work for their husbands to do

30 Regarding work and family the writer concludes that
A work itself plays an important role in job satisfaction
B more empirically-based theories are yet to be offered by researchers
C family relationships have a significant affect upon job satisfaction
D work and family are best kept separate from each other

Questions 31-34
Look at the following list of theories (Questions 31-34) and the list of definitions below. Match each theory with the correct definition. Write the correct letter A-D in boxes 31-34 on your answer sheet.

31 Segmentation
32 Self-determination
33 Compensation
34 Developmental

A work and family are totally unrelated
B the relationship between work and family is always varying
C high work involvement results in family neglect
D positive support in work and home leads to success in both

Questions 35-39
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 35-39 on your answer sheet write

TRUE                           if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE                         if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN             if there is no information on this

35 Lack of money is the main reason both fathers and mothers enter the workforce.
36 Conflict between work and family increases according to the size of the family.
37 High income earners balance work and family life better than low income earners.
38 Men handle work stresses better than women.
39 Work-family conflict is due largely to constant changes in work hours.

Question 40
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Write your answer in box 40 on your answer sheet.

What is the best title for Reading Passage 3?
A Family relationships and job promotion
B The psychological effects of work
C Theories on family and work
D Work-family conflict and job satisfaction

The Grapes of Winter

A Icewine, or Eiswein as the Germans call it, is the product of frozen grapes. A small portion of the vineyard is left unpicked during the fall harvest’ those grapes are left on the vine until the mercury drops to at least -7°C. At this temperature, the sugar-rich juice begins to freeze. If the grapes are picked in their frozen state and pressed while they are as hard as marbles, the small amount of juice recovered is intensely sweet and high in acidity. The amber dessert wine made from this juice is an ambrosia fit for Dionysus himself – very sweet, it combines savours of peach and apricot.

B The discovery of icewine, like most epicurean breakthroughs was accidental. In 1794, wine producers in the German duchy of Franconia made virtue of necessity by pressing juice from frozen grapes. They were amazed by an abnormally high concentration of sugars and acids which until then had been achieved only by drying the grapes on straw mats before pressing or by the effects of Botrytis cinerea, a disease known as ‘root rot’. Botrytis cinerea afflicts grapes in autumn, usually in regions where there is early morning fog and humid, sunny afternoons. A mushroom-like fungus attaches itself to the berries, puncturing their skins and allowing the juice to evaporate. The world’s great dessert wines, such as Sauternes, Riesling and Tokay Aszy Essentia, are made from grapes afflicted by this benign disease.

C It was not until the mid- 19th century in the Rheingau region of northwestern Germany that winegrowers made conscious efforts to produce icewine on a regular basis. But they found they could not make it every year since the subzero cold spell must last several days to ensure that the berries remain frozen solid during picking and the pressing process, which alone can take up to three days or longer. Grapes are 80 percent water; when this water is frozen and driven off under pressure and shards of ice, the resulting juice is wonderfully sweet. If the ice melts during a sudden thaw, the sugar in each berry is diluted.

D To ensure the right temperature is maintained, in Germany the pickers must be out well before dawn to harvest the grapes. Not all grapes are suitable for icewine. Only the thick-skinned, late-maturing varieties such as Riesling and Vidal can resist such predators as grey rot, powdery mildew, unseasonable warmth, wind, rain and the variety of fauna craving a sweet meal. Leaving grapes on the vine once they have ripened is an enormous gamble. If birds and animals don’t get them, mildew and rot or a sudden storm might. So growers reserve only a small portion of their Vidal or Riesling grapes for icewine, a couple of hectares of views at most. A vineyard left for icewine is a sorry sight. The mesh-covered vines are denuded of leaves and the grapes are brown and shrivelled, dangling like tiny bats from the frozen canes. The stems of the grape clusters are dry and brittle. A strong wind or an ice storm could easily knock the fruit to the ground. A twist of the wrist is all that is needed to pick the grapes. But wine the wind howls through the vineyard, driving the snow before it and the wind chill factor can make a temperature of -10° seem like -40°, harvesting icewine grapes becomes a decidedly uncomfortable business. Pickers fortified with tea and brandy, brave the elements for two hours at a time before rushing back to the winery to warm up.

E Once the tractor delivers the precious boxes of grapes to the winery, the really hard work begins. Since the berries must remain frozen, the pressing is done either outdoors or inside the winery with the doors left open. The presses have to be worked slowly otherwise the bunches will turn to a solid block of ice yielding nothing. Some producers throw rice husks into the press to pierce the skins of the grapes and create channels for the juice to flow through the mass of ice. Sometimes it takes two or three hours before the first drop of juice appears.

F A kilogram of unfrozen grapes normally produces sufficient juice to ferment into one bottle of wine. The juice from a kilogram of icewine grapes produces one-fifth of that amount or less depending on the degree of dehydration caused by wind and winter sunshine. The longer the grapes hang on the vine, the less juice there is. So grapes harvested during a cold snap in December will yield more icewine than if they are picked in February. The oily juice, once extracted from the marble-hard berries, is allowed to settle for three or four days. It is then clarified of dust and debris by racking from one tank to another. A special yeast is added to activate fermentation in the stainless steel tanks since the colourless liquid is too cold to ferment on its own. Because of the high sugars, the fermentation is slow and can take months. But when the wine is finally bottled, it has the capacity to age for a decade or more.

G While Germany may be recognised as the home of icewine, its winemakers cannot produce it every year. Canadian winemakers can and are slowly becoming known for this expensive rarity as the home-grown product garners medals at international wine competitions. Klaus Reif of the Reif Winery at Niagara-on-the-Lake has produced icewine in both countries. While studying oenology, the science of winemaking, he worked at a government winery in Neustadt in the West German state of Rheinland-Pfalz. In 1983 he made his first Canadian icewine from Riesling grapes. Four years later he made ice-wine from Vidal grapes grown in his uncle’s vineyard at Niagara-on-the-Lake. “The juice comes out like honey here” says Reif, “in Germany it drops like ordinary wine”.

Questions 1-7
From the list of headings below, choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph.

List of Headings
i. Award-winning wine
ii. Temperature vital to production
iii. Early caution and challenge
iv. A delicious taste
v. Picking the grapes, the only easy step
vi. From grape to wine
vii. The juice flows quickly
viii. Disease brings benefits
ix. The role of climate in taste
x. Obstacles to production

1 Paragraph A
2 Paragraph B
3 Paragraph C
4 Paragraph D
5 Paragraph E
6 Paragraph F
7 Paragraph G

Questions 8-10
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

8 Growers set aside only a small area for icewine grapes because
A not all grapes are suitable
B nature attacks them in various ways
C not many grapes are needed
D the area set aside makes the vineyard look extremely untidy

9 Rice husks are used because they
A stop the grapes from becoming ice blocks
B help the berries to remain frozen
C create holes in the grapes
D help producers create different tastes

10 According to Klaus Reif, Canadian icewine
A flows more slowly than German wine
B tastes a lot like German icewine
C is better than German icewine
D is sweeter than German icewine

Questions 11-14
Complete each of the following statements (questions 11-14) with the best ending A-G from the box below.

11 Franconia icewine makers
12 Famous dessert winemakers
13 Icewine grape pickers in Germany
14 Canadian icewine makers

A use diseased grapes to produce their wine.
B enjoy working in cool climates.
C can produce icewine every year.
D were surprised by the high sugar content in frozen grapes.
E made a conscious effort to produce ice wine.
F drink tea and brandy during their work.

Islands That Float

Islands are not known for their mobility but, occasionally it occurs. Natural floating islands have been recorded in many parts of the world (Burns et al 1985). Longevity studies in lakes have been carried out by Hesser, and in rivers and the open sea by Boughey (Smithsonian Institute 1970). They can form in two common ways: landslides of (usually vegetated) peaty soils into lakes or seawater or as a flotation of peat soils (usually bound by roots of woody vegetation) after storm surges, river floods or lake level risings.

The capacity of the living part of a floating island to maintain its equilibrium in the face of destructive forces, such as fire, wave attack or hogging and sagging while riding sea or swell waves is a major obstacle. In general, ocean-going floating islands are most likely to be short-lived; wave wash-over gradually eliminates enough of the island’s store of fresh water to deplete soil air and kill vegetation around the edges which, in turn, causes erosion and diminishes buoyancy and horizontal mobility.

The forces acting on a floating island determine the speed and direction of movement and are very similar to those acting on floating mobile ice chunks during the partially open-water season (Peterson 1965). In contrast to such ice rafts, many floating islands carry vegetation, perhaps including trees which act as sails. Burns et al examined the forces acting and concluded that comparatively low wind velocities are required to mobilise free-floating islands with vegetation standing two meters or more tall.

The sighting of floating islands at sea is a rare event; such a thing is unscheduled, short-lived and usually undocumented. On July 4th, 1969, an island some 15 meters in diameter with 10-15 trees 10-12 meters tall was included in the daily notice to mariners as posing a shipping navigation hazard between Cuba and Haiti. McWhirter described the island as looking “…as though it were held together by a mangrove-type matting; there was some earth on it but it looked kind of bushy around the bottom, like there was dead foliage, grass-like material or something on the island itself. The trees were coming up out of that. It looked like the trees came right out of the surface brown layer. No roots were visible”. By the 14th of July the island had apparently broken up and the parts had partially submerged so that only the upper tree trunks were above the water. By July 19th, no trace of the island was found after an intensive six hour search.

Another example albeit freshwater, can be found in Victoria, Australia – the floating islands of Pirron Yallock. Accounts of how the floating islands were formed have been given by local residents. These accounts have not been disputed in the scientific literature. Prior to 1938, the lake was an intermittent swamp which usually dried out in summer. A drainage channel had been excavated at the lowest point of the swamp at the northern part of its perimeter. This is likely to have encouraged the development or enlargement of a peat mat on the floor of the depression. Potatoes were grown in the centre of the depression where the peat rose to a slight mound. The peat was ignited by a fire in 1938 which burned from the dry edges towards a central damp section. A track was laid through the swamp last century and pavement work was carried out in 1929/30. This causeway restricted flow between the depression and its former southern arm. These roadworks, plus collapse and partial infilling of the northern drainage channel, created drainage conditions conducive to a transition from swamp to permanent lake.

The transformation from swamp to lake was dramatic, occurring over the winter of 1952 when rainfall of around 250mm was well above average. Peat is very buoyant and the central raised section which had been isolated by the fire, broke away from the rocky, basalt floor as the water level rose in winter. The main island then broke up into several smaller islands which drifted slowly for up to 200 meters within the confines of the lake and ranged in size from 2 to 30 meters in diameter. The years immediately following experienced average or above average rainfall and the water level was maintained. Re-alignment of the highway in 1963 completely blocked the former southern outlet of the depression, further enhancing its ability to retain water. The road surface also provided an additional source of runoff to the depression.

Anecdotal evidence indicates that the islands floated uninterrupted for 30 years following their formation. They generally moved between the NW and NE sides of the lake in response to the prevailing winds. In 1980, the Rural Water Commission issued a nearby motel a domestic licence to remove water from the lake and occasionally water is taken for the purpose of firefighting. The most significant amount taken for firefighting was during severe fires in February 1983. Since then, the Pirron Yallock islands have ceased to float, and this is thought to be related to a drop in the water level of approximately 600 mm over the past 10-15 years. The islands have either run aground on the bed or the lagoon or vegetation has attached them to the bed.

Floating islands have attracted attention because they are uncommon and their behaviour has provided not only explanations for events in myth and legend but also great scope for discussion and speculation amongst scientific and other observers.

Questions 15-19
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 15-19 on your answer sheet write

TRUE                        if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE                      if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN           if there is no information on this

15 Natural floating islands occur mostly in lakes.
16 Floating Islands occur after a heavy storm or landslide.
17 The details of the floating island at sea near Cuba and Haiti were one of many sea-going islands in that area.
18 Floating islands at sea sink because the plants on them eventually die.
19 Scientists and local residents agree on how the Pirron Yallock Islands were formed.

Questions 20-23
Look at the following people (questions 20-23) and the list of statements below. Match each person to the correct statement. Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.

20 Burns
21 Peterson
22 McWhirter
23 Hesser

A compared floating islands to floating blocks of ice
B documented the break up of a sea-going island
C floating islands last longer when confined to a limited area
D studied the effect of rivers on floating islands
E like floating islands, floating mobile ice chunks carry vegetation
F even comparatively light winds can create a floating island
G recorded the appearance of a sea-going floating island
H tall trees increase floating island mobility

Ocean Plant life in decline

A Scientists have discovered plant life covering the surface of the world’s oceans is disappearing at a dangerous rate. This plant life called phytoplankton is a vital resource that helps absorb the worst of the ‘greenhouse gases’ involved in global warming. Satellites and ships at sea have confirmed the diminishing productivity of the microscopic plants, which oceanographers say is most striking in the waters of the North Pacific – ranging as far up as the high Arctic. “Whether the lost productivity of the phytoplankton is directly due to increased ocean temperatures that have been recorded for at least the past 20 years remains part of an extremely complex puzzle”, says Watson W. Gregg, a NASA biologist at the Goddard Space Flight Center in the USA, but it surely offers a fresh clue to the controversy over climate change. According to Gregg, the greatest loss of phytoplankton has occurred where ocean temperatures have risen most significantly between the early 1980s and the late 1990s. In the North Atlantic summertime, sea surface temperatures rose about 1.3 degrees Fahrenheit during that period, while in the North Pacific the ocean’s surface temperatures rose about .07 of a degree.

B While the link between ocean temperatures and the productivity of plankton is striking, other factors can also affect the health of the plants. They need iron as nourishment, for example, and much of it reaches them in powerful winds that sweep iron-containing dust across the oceans from continental deserts. When those winds diminish or fail, plankton can suffer. According to Gregg and his colleagues, there have been small but measurable decreases in the amount of iron deposited over the oceans in recent years.

C The significant decline in plankton productivity has a direct effect on the world’s carbon cycle. Normally, the ocean plants take up about half of all the carbon dioxide in the world’s environment because they use the carbon, along with sunlight, for growth, and release oxygen into the atmosphere in a process known as photosynthesis. Primary production of plankton in the North Pacific has decreased by more than 9 percent during the past 20 years, and by nearly 7 percent in the North Atlantic, Gregg and his colleagues determined from their satellite observations and shipboard surveys. Studies combining all the major ocean basins of the world, has revealed the decline in plankton productivity to be more than 6 percent.

D The plankton of the seas are a major way in which the extra carbon dioxide emitted in the combustion of fossil fuels is eliminated. Whether caused by currently rising global temperatures or not, the loss of natural plankton productivity in the oceans also means the loss of an important factor in removing much of the principal greenhouse gas that has caused the world’s climate to warm for the past century or more. “Our combined research shows that ocean primary productivity is declining, and it may be the result of climate changes such as increased temperatures and decreased iron deposits into parts of the oceans. This has major implications for the global carbon cycle” said Gregg.

E At the same time, Stanford University scientists using two other NASA satellites and one flown by the Defense Department have observed dramatic new changes in the vast ice sheets along the west coast of Antarctica. These changes, in turn, are having a major impact on phytoplankton there. They report that a monster chunk of the Ross Ice Shelf – an iceberg almost 20 miles wide and 124 miles long – has broken off the west face of the shelf and is burying a vast ocean area of phytoplankton that is the base of the food web in an area exceptionally rich in plant and animal marine life.

F Although sea surface temperatures around Western Antarctica are remaining stable, the loss of plankton is proving catastrophic to all the higher life forms that depend on the plant masses, say Stanford biological oceanographers Arrigo and van Dijken. Icebergs in Antarctica are designated by letters and numbers for aerial surveys across millions of square miles of the southern ocean, and this berg is known as C-19. “We estimate from satellite observations that C-19 in the Ross Sea has covered 90 percent of all the phytoplankton there” said Arrigo.

G Huge as it is, the C-19 iceberg is only the second-largest recorded in the Ross Sea region. An even larger one, dubbed B-15, broke off, or ‘calved’ in 2001. Although it also blotted out a large area of floating phytoplankton on the sea surface, it only wiped out about 40 percent of the microscopic plants. Approximately 25 percent of the world’s populations of emperor penguins and 30 percent of the Adelie penguins nest in colonies in this area. This amounts to hundreds of thousands of Adelie and emperor penguins all endangered by the huge iceberg, which has been stuck against the coast ever since it broke off from the Ross Ice Shelf last year. Whales, seals and the millions of shrimp-like sea creatures called krill are also threatened by the loss of many square miles of phytoplankton.

Questions 28-32
The passage has seven paragraphs labelled A-G. Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 28-32 on your answer sheet. NB: You may use any letter more than once.

28 the role of plankton in dealing with carbon dioxide from vehicles
29 the effect on land and marine creatures when icebergs break off
30 the impact of higher temperatures upon the ocean
31 the system used in naming icebergs
32 the importance of phytoplankton in the food chain

Questions 33-36
Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage 3. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

33 Much needed iron for plant life is transported to the ocean by………………..
34 An increase in greenhouse gasses is due to a decrease in…………………..
35 Phytoplankton forms the………………………………of the food web.
36 The technical term used when a piece of ice detached from the main block is…………………..

Questions 37-40
Complete the summary of paragraphs A-C below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

A decline in the plant life located in the world’s oceans has been validated by (37)………………………………..The most obvious decline in plant life has been in the North Pacific. A rise in ocean temperatures in the early 1980s and late 1990s led to a decline in (38)………………………………… In addition to higher ocean temperatures, deficiencies in (39)………………………. can also lead to a decline in plankton numbers. This, in turn, impacts upon the world’s (40)……………

Seaweeds Of New Zealand

A Seaweed is a particularly wholesome food, which absorbs and concentrates traces of a wide variety of minerals necessary to the body’s health. Many elements may occur in seaweed – aluminium, barium, calcium, chlorine, copper, iodine and iron, to name but a few – traces normally produced by erosion and carried to the seaweed beds by river and sea currents. Seaweeds are also rich in vitamins; indeed, Inuits obtain a high proportion of their bodily requirements of vitamin C from the seaweeds they eat. The health benefits of seaweed have long been recognised. For instance, there is a remarkably low incidence of goitre among the Japanese, and also among New Zealand’s indigenous Maori people, who have always eaten seaweeds, and this may well be attributed to the high iodine content of this food. Research into historical Maori eating customs shows that jellies were made using seaweeds, nuts, fuchsia and tutu berries, cape gooseberries, and many other fruits both native to New Zealand and sown there from seeds brought by settlers and explorers. As with any plant life, some seaweeds are more palatable than others, but in a survival situation, most seaweeds could be chewed to provide a certain sustenance.

B New Zealand lays claim to approximately 700 species of seaweed, some of which have no representation outside that country. Of several species grown worldwide, New Zealand also has a particularly large share. For example, it is estimated that New Zealand has some 30 species of Gigartina, a close relative of carrageen or Irish moss. These are often referred to as the New Zealand carrageens. The substance called agar which can be extracted from these species gives them great commercial application in the production of seameal, from which seameal custard (a food product) is made, and in the canning, paint and leather industries. Agar is also used in the manufacture of cough mixtures, cosmetics, confectionery and toothpastes. In fact, during World War II, New Zealand Gigartina were sent to Australia to be used in toothpaste.

C New Zealand has many of the commercially profitable red seaweeds, several species of which are a source of agar (Pterocladia, Gelidium, Chondrus, Gigartina). Despite this, these seaweeds were not much utilised until several decades ago. Although distribution of the Gigartina is confined to certain areas according to species, it is only on the east coast of the North Island that its occurrence is rare. And even then, the east coast, and the area around Hokianga, have a considerable supply of the two species of Pterocladia from which agar is also made. New Zealand used to import the Northern Hemisphere Irish moss (Chondrus crispus) from England and ready-made agar from Japan.

D Seaweeds are divided into three classes determined by colour – red, brown and green – and each tends to live in a specific position. However, except for the unmistakable sea lettuce (Ulva), few are totally one colour; and especially when dry, some species can change colour significantly – a brown one may turn quite black, or a red one appear black, brown, pink or purple. Identification is nevertheless facilitated by the fact that the factors which determine where a seaweed will grow are quite precise, and they tend therefore to occur in very well-defined zones. Although there are exceptions, the green seaweeds are mainly shallow-water algae; the browns belong to the medium depths; and the reds are plants of the deeper water, furthest from the shore. Those shallow-water species able to resist long periods of exposure to sun and air are usually found on the upper shore, while those less able to withstand such exposure occur nearer to, or below, the low-water mark. Radiation from the sun, the temperature level, and the length of time immersed also play a part in the zoning of seaweeds. Flat rock surfaces near mid-level tides are the most usual habitat of sea-bombs, Venus’ necklace, and most brown seaweeds. This is also the home of the purple laver or Maori karengo, which looks rather like a reddish-purple lettuce. Deep-water rocks on open coasts, exposed only at very low tide, are usually the site of bull-kelp, strapweeds and similar tough specimens. Kelp, or bladder kelp, has stems that rise to the surface from massive bases or ‘holdfasts’, the leafy branches and long ribbons of leaves surging with the swells beyond the line of shallow coastal breakers or covering vast areas of calmer coastal water.

E Propagation of seaweeds occurs by seed-like spores, or by fertilisation of egg cells. None have roots in the usual sense; few have leaves; and none have flowers, fruits or seeds. The plants absorb their nourishment through their leafy fronds when they are surrounded by water; the holdfast of seaweeds is purely an attaching organ, not an absorbing one.

F Some of the large seaweeds stay on the surface of the water by means of air- filled floats; others, such as bull-kelp, have large cells filled with air. Some which spend a good part of their time exposed to the air, often reduce dehydration either by having swollen stems that contain water, or they may (like Venus’ necklace) have swollen nodules, or they may have a distinctive shape like a sea-bomb. Others, like the sea cactus, are filled with a slimy fluid or have a coating of mucilage on the surface. In some of the larger kelps, this coating is not only to keep the plant moist, but also to protect it from the violent action of waves.

Questions 1-6
Reading Passage 1 has six paragraphs, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

List of Headings
i The appearance and location of different seaweeds
ii The nutritional value of seaweeds
iii How seaweeds reproduce and grow
iv How to make agar from seaweeds
v The under-use of native seaweeds
vi Seaweed species at risk of extinction
vii Recipes for how to cook seaweeds
viii The range of seaweed products
ix Why seaweeds don’t sink or dry out

1 Paragraph A
2 Paragraph B
3 Paragraph C
4 Paragraph D
5 Paragraph E
6 Paragraph F

Questions 7-10
Complete the flow-chart below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Questions 11-13
Classify the following characteristics as belonging to
A brown seaweed
B green seaweed
C red seaweed

Write the correct letter, A, B or C, in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.
11 can survive the heat and dryness at the high-water mark
12 grow far out in the open sea
13 share their site with karengo seaweed

Two Wings And A Toolkit

Betty and her mate Abel are captive crows in the care of Alex Kacelnik, an expert in animal behaviour at Oxford University. They belong to a forest-dwelling species of bird (Corvus rnoneduloides) confined to two islands in the South Pacific. New Caledonian crows are tenacious predators, and the only birds that habitually use a wide selection of self-made tools to find food.

One of the wild crows’ cleverest tools is the crochet hook, made by detaching a side twig from a larger one, leaving enough of the larger twig to shape into a hook. Equally cunning is a tool crafted from the barbed vine-leaf, which consists of a central rib with paired leaflets each with a rose-like thorn at its base. They strip out a piece of this rib, removing the leaflets and all but one thorn at the top, which remains as a ready-made hook to prise out insects from awkward cracks.

The crows also make an ingenious tool called a padanus probe from padanus tree leaves. The tool has a broad base, sharp tip, a row of tiny hooks along one edge, and a tapered shape created by the crow nipping and tearing to form a progression of three or four steps along the other edge of the leaf. What makes this tool special is that they manufacture it to a standard design, as if following a set of instructions. Although it is rare to catch a crow in the act of clipping out a padanus probe, we do have ample proof of their workmanship: the discarded leaves from which the tools are cut. The remarkable thing that these ‘counterpart’ leaves tell us is that crows consistently produce the same design every time, with no in-between or trial versions. It’s left the researchers wondering whether, like people, they envisage the tool before they start and perform the actions they know are needed to make it. Research has revealed that genetics plays a part in the less sophisticated toolmaking skills of finches in the Galapagos islands. No one knows if that’s also the case for New Caledonian crows, but it’s highly unlikely that their toolmaking skills are hardwired into the brain. ‘The picture so far points to a combination of cultural transmission – from parent birds to their young – and individual resourcefulness,’ says Kacelnik.

In a test at Oxford, Kacelnik’s team offered Betty and Abel an original challenge – food in a bucket at the bottom of a ‘well’. The only way to get the food was to hook the bucket out by its handle. Given a choice of tools – a straight length of wire and one with a hooked end – the birds immediately picked the hook, showing that they did indeed understand the functional properties of the tool.

But do they also have the foresight and creativity to plan the construction of their tools? It appears they do. In one bucket-in-the-well test, Abel carried off the hook, leaving Betty with nothing but the straight wire. ‘What happened next was absolutely amazing,’ says Kacelnik. She wedged the tip of the wire into a crack in a plastic dish and pulled the other end to fashion her own hook. Wild crows don’t have access to pliable, bendable material that retains its shape, and Betty’s only similar experience was a brief encounter with some pipe cleaners a year earlier. In nine out of ten further tests, she again made hooks and retrieved the bucket.

The question of what’s going on in a crow’s mind will take time and a lot more experiments to answer, but there could be a lesson in it for understanding our own evolution. Maybe our ancestors, who suddenly began to create symmetrical tools with carefully worked edges some 1.5 million years ago, didn’t actually have the sophisticated mental abilities with which we credit them. Closer scrutiny of the brains of New Caledonian crows might provide a few pointers to the special attributes they would have needed. ‘If we’re lucky we may find specific developments in the brain that set these animals apart,’ says Kacelnik.

One of these might be a very strong degree of laterality – the specialisation of one side of the brain to perform specific tasks. In people, the left side of the brain controls the processing of complex sequential tasks, and also language and speech. One of the consequences of this is thought to be right-handedness. Interestingly, biologists have noticed that most padanus probes are cut from the left side of the leaf, meaning that the birds clip them with the right side of their beaks – the crow equivalent of right- handedness. The team thinks this reflects the fact that the left side of the crow’s brain is specialised to handle the sequential processing required to make complex tools.

Under what conditions might this extraordinary talent have emerged in these two species? They are both social creatures, and wide-ranging in their feeding habits. These factors were probably important but, ironically, it may have been their shortcomings that triggered the evolution of toolmaking. Maybe the ancestors of crows and humans found themselves in a position where they couldn’t make the physical adaptations required for survival – so they had to change their behaviour instead. The stage was then set for the evolution of those rare cognitive skills that produce sophisticated tools. New Caledonian crows may tell us what those crucial skills are.

Questions 14-17
Label the diagrams below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS.

Questions 18-23
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 18-23 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE                             if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE                           if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN               if there is no information on this

18 There appears to be a fixed pattern for the padanus probe’s construction.
19 There is plenty of evidence to indicate how the crows manufacture the padanus probe.
20 Crows seem to practise a number of times before making a usable padanus probe.
21 The researchers suspect the crows have a mental image of the padanus probe before they create it.
22 Research into how the padanus probe is made has helped to explain the toolmaking skills of many other bird species.
23 The researchers believe the ability to make the padanus probe is passed down to the crows in their genes.

Questions 24-26
Choose THREE letters, A-G.

According to the information in the passage, which THREE of the following features are probably common to both New Caledonian crows and human beings?
A keeping the same mate for life
B having few natural predators
C having a bias to the right when working
D being able to process sequential tasks
E living in extended family groups
F eating a variety of foodstuffs
G being able to adapt to diverse habitats

How Did Writing Begin?

The Sumerians, an ancient people of the Middle East, had a story explaining the invention of writing more than 5,000 years ago. It seems a messenger of the King of Uruk arrived at the court of a distant ruler so exhausted that he was unable to deliver the oral message. So the king set down the words of his next messages on a clay tablet. A charming story, whose retelling at a recent symposium at the University of Pennsylvania amused scholars. They smiled at the absurdity of a letter which the recipient would not have been able to read. They also doubted that the earliest writing was a direct rendering of speech. Writing more likely began as a separate, symbolic system of communication and only later merged with spoken language.

Yet in the story the Sumerians, who lived in Mesopotamia, in what is now southern Iraq, seemed to understand writing’s transforming function. As Dr Holly Pittman, director of the University’s Center for Ancient Studies, observed, writing ‘arose out of the need to store and transmit information … over time and space’.

In exchanging interpretations and information, the scholars acknowledged that they still had no fully satisfying answers to the questions of how and why writing developed. Many favoured an explanation of writing’s origins in the visual arts, pictures becoming increasingly abstract and eventually representing spoken words. Their views clashed with a widely held theory among archaeologists that writing developed from the pieces of clay that Sumerian accountants used as tokens to keep track of goods.

Archaeologists generally concede that they have no definitive answer to the question of whether writing was invented only once, or arose independently in several places, such as Egypt, the Indus Valley, China, Mexico and Central America. The preponderance of archaeological data shows that the urbanizing Sumerians were the first to develop writing, in 3,200 or 3,300 BC. These are the dates for many clay tablets in an early form of cuneiform, a script written by pressing the end of a sharpened stick into wet clay, found at the site of the ancient city of Uruk. The baked clay tablets bore such images as pictorial symbols of the names of people, places and things connected with government and commerce. The Sumerian script gradually evolved from the pictorial to the abstract, but did not at first represent recorded spoken language.

Dr Peter Damerow, a specialist in Sumerian cuneiform at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, said, ‘It is likely that there were mutual influences of writing systems around the world. However, their great variety now shows that the development of writing, once initiated, attains a considerable degree of independence and flexibility to adapt to specific characteristics of the sounds of the language to be represented.’ Not that he accepts the conventional view that writing started as a representation of words by pictures. New studies of early Sumerian writing, he said, challenge this interpretation. The structures of this earliest writing did not, for example, match the structure of spoken language, dealing mainly in lists and categories rather than in sentences and narrative.

For at least two decades, Dr Denise Schmandt-Besserat, a University of Texas archaeologist, has argued that the first writing grew directly out of a system practised by Sumerian accountants. They used clay tokens, each one shaped to represent a jar of oil, a container of grain or a particular kind of livestock. These tokens were sealed inside clay spheres, and then the number and type of tokens inside was recorded on the outside using impressions resembling the tokens. Eventually, the token impressions were replaced with inscribed signs, and writing had been invented.

Though Dr Schmandt-Besserat has won much support, some linguists question her thesis, and others, like Dr Pittman, think it too narrow. They emphasise that pictorial representation and writing evolved together. ‘There’s no question that the token system is a forerunner of writing,’ Dr Pittman said, ‘but I have an argument with her evidence for a link between tokens and signs, and she doesn’t open up the process to include picture making.’

Dr Schmandt-Besserat vigorously defended her ideas. ‘My colleagues say that pictures were the beginning of writing/ she said, ‘but show me a single picture that becomes a sign in writing. They say that designs on pottery were the beginning of writing, but show me a single sign of writing you can trace back to a pot – it doesn’t exist.’ In its first 500 years, she asserted, cuneiform writing was used almost solely for recording economic information, and after that its uses multiplied and broadened.

Yet other scholars have advanced different ideas. Dr Piotr Michalowski, Professor of Near East Civilizations at the University of Michigan, said that the proto-writing of Sumerian Uruk was ‘so radically different as to be a complete break with the past’. It no doubt served, he said, to store and communicate information, but also became a new instrument of power. Some scholars noted that the origins of writing may not always have been in economics. In Egypt, most early writing is high on monuments or deep in tombs. In this case, said Dr Pascal Vernus from a university in Paris, early writing was less administrative than sacred. It seems that the only certainty in this field is that many questions remain to be answered.

Questions 27-30
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

27 The researchers at the symposium regarded the story of the King of Uruk as ridiculous because
A writing probably developed independently of speech
B clay tablets had not been invented at that time
C the distant ruler would have spoken another language
D evidence of writing has been discovered from an earlier period

28 According to the writer, the story of the King of Uruk
A is a probable explanation of the origins of writing
B proves that early writing had a different function to writing today
C provides an example of symbolic writing
D shows some awareness amongst Sumerians of the purpose of writing

29 There was disagreement among the researchers at the symposium about
A the area where writing began
B the nature of early writing materials
C the way writing began
D the meaning of certain abstract images

30 The opponents of the theory that writing developed from tokens believe that it
A grew out of accountancy
B evolved from pictures
C was initially intended as decoration
D was unlikely to have been connected with commerce

Questions 31-36
Look at the following statements (Questions 31-36) and the list of people below.
Match each statement with the correct person, A-E.

31 There is no proof that early writing is connected to decorated household objects.
32 As writing developed, it came to represent speech.
33 Sumerian writing developed into a means of political control.
34 Early writing did not represent the grammatical features of speech.
35 There is no convincing proof that tokens and signs are connected.
36 The uses of cuneiform writing were narrow at first, and later widened.

List of People
A Dr Holly Pittman
B Dr Peter Damerow
C Dr Denise Schmandt-Besserat
D Dr Piotr Michalowski
E Dr Pascal Vernus

Questions 37-40
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-N, below.

The earliest form of writing
Most archaeological evidence shows that the people of (37)……………………………invented writing in around 3,300 BC. Their script was written on (38)……………………………and was called (39)………………………………..Their script originally showed images related to political power and business, and later developed to become more (40)………………………….

A cuneiform	B pictorial	C tomb walls	D urban	E legible
F stone blocks	G simple	H Mesopotamia	I abstract	J papyrus sheets
K decorative	L clay tablets	M Egypt	N Uruk