Category: IELTS Reading

Roman shipbuilding and navigation

Shipbuilding today is based on science and ships are built using computers and sophisticated tools. Shipbuilding in ancient Rome, however, was more of an art relying on estimation, inherited techniques and personal experience. The Romans were not traditionally sailors but mostly land- based people, who learned to build ships from the people that they conquered, namely the Greeks and the Egyptians.

There are a few surviving written documents that give descriptions and representations of ancient Roman ships, including the sails and rigging. Excavated vessels also provide some clues about ancient shipbuilding techniques. Studies of these have taught us that ancient Roman shipbuilders built the outer hull first, then proceeded with the frame and the rest of the ship. Planks used to build the outer hull were initially sewn together. Starting from the 6th century BCE, they were fixed using a method called mortise and tenon, whereby one plank locked into another without the need for stitching. Then in the first centuries of the current era, Mediterranean shipbuilders shifted to another shipbuilding method, still in use today, which consisted of building the frame first and then proceeding with the hull and the other components of the ship. This method was more systematic and dramatically shortened ship construction times. The ancient Romans built large merchant ships and warships whose size and technology were unequalled until the 16th century CE.

Warships were built to be lightweight and very speedy. They had to be able to sail near the coast, which is why they had no ballast or excess load and were built with a long, narrow hull. They did not sink when damaged and often would lie crippled on the sea’s surface following naval battles. They had a bronze battering ram, which was used to pierce the timber hulls or break the oars of enemy vessels. Warships used both wind (sails) and human power (oarsmen) and were therefore very fast. Eventually, Rome’s navy became the largest and most powerful in the Mediterranean, and the Romans had control over what they therefore called Mare Nostrum meaning ‘our sea’.

There were many kinds of warship. The ‘trireme’ was the dominant warship from the 7th to 4th century BCE. It had rowers in the top, middle and lower levels, and approximately 50 rowers in each bank. The rowers at the bottom had the most uncomfortable position as they were under the other rowers and were exposed to the water entering through the oar-holes. It is worth noting that contrary to popular perception, rowers were not slaves but mostly Roman citizens enrolled in the military. The trireme was superseded by larger ships with even more rowers.

Merchant ships were built to transport lots of cargo over long distances and at a reasonable cost. They had a wider hull, double planking and a solid interior for added stability. Unlike warships, their V-shaped hull was deep underwater, meaning that they could not sail too close to the coast. They usually had two huge side rudders located off the stern and controlled by a small tiller bar connected to a system of cables. They had from one to three masts with large square sails and a small triangular sail at the bow. Just like warships, merchant ships used oarsmen, but coordinating the hundreds of rowers in both types of ship was not an easy task. In order to assist them, music would be played on an instrument, and oars would then keep time with this.

The cargo on merchant ships included raw materials (e.g. iron bars, copper, marble and granite), and agricultural products (e.g. grain from Egypt’s Nile valley). During the Empire, Rome was a huge city by ancient standards of about one million inhabitants. Goods from all over the world would come to the city through the port of Pozzuoli situated west of the bay of Naples in Italy and through the gigantic port of Ostia situated at the mouth of the Tiber River. Large merchant ships would approach the destination port and, just like today, be intercepted by a number of towboats that would drag them to the quay.

The time of travel along the many sailing routes could vary widely. Navigation in ancient Rome did not rely on sophisticated instruments such as compasses but on experience, local knowledge and observation of natural phenomena. In conditions of good visibility, seamen in the Mediterranean often had the mainland or islands in sight, which greatly facilitated navigation. They sailed by noting their position relative to a succession of recognisable landmarks. When weather conditions were not good or where land was no longer visible, Roman mariners estimated directions from the pole star or, with less accuracy, from the Sun at noon. They also estimated directions relative to the wind and swell. Overall, shipping in ancient Roman times resembled shipping today with large vessels regularly crossing the seas and bringing supplies from their Empire.

Questions 1-5
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? 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 Romans’ shipbuilding skills were passed on to the Greeks and the Egyptians.
2. Skilled craftsmen were needed for the mortise and tenon method of fixing planks.
3. The later practice used by Mediterranean shipbuilders involved building the hull before the frame.
4. The Romans called the Mediterranean Sea Mare Nostrum because they dominated its use.
5. Most rowers on ships were people from the Roman army.

Questions 6-13
Complete the summary below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 6-13 on your answer sheet.

Warships and merchant ships

Warships were designed so that they were (6) ……………….. and moved quickly. They often remained afloat after battles and were able to sail close to land as they lacked any additional weight. A battering ram made of (7) ………………….. was included in the design for attacking and damaging the timber and oars of enemy ships. Warships, such as the ‘trireme’, had rowers on three different (8) ………………… Unlike warships, merchant ships had a broad (9) ………………….. that lay far below the surface of the sea. Merchant ships were steered through the water with the help of large rudders and a tiller bar. They had both square and (10) …………………… sails. On merchant ships and warships, (11) ……………….was used to ensure rowers moved their oars in and out of the water at the same time. Quantities of agricultural goods such as (12) ……………….. were transported by merchant ships to two main ports in Italy. The ships were pulled to the shore by (13) ………………….When the weather was clear and they could see islands or land, sailors used landmarks that they knew to help them navigate their route.

Climate change reveals ancient artefacts in Norway’s glaciers

A Well above the treeline in Norway’s highest mountains, ancient fields of ice are shrinking as Earth’s climate warms. As the ice has vanished, it has been giving up the treasures it has preserved in cold storage for the last 6,000 years – items such as ancient arrows and skis from Viking Age traders. And those artefacts have provided archaeologists with some surprising insights into how ancient Norwegians made their livings.

B Organic materials like textiles and hides are relatively rare finds at archaeological sites. This is because unless they’re protected from the microorganisms that cause decay, they tend not to last long. Extreme cold is one reliable way to keep artefacts relatively fresh for a few thousand years, but once thawed out, these materials experience degradation relatively swiftly. With climate change shrinking ice cover around the world, glacial archaeologists need to race the clock to find newly revealed artefacts, preserve them, and study them. If something fragile dries and is windblown it might very soon be lost to science, or an arrow might be exposed and then covered again by the next snow and remain well-preserved. The unpredictability means that glacial archaeologists have to be systematic in their approach to fieldwork.

C Over a nine-year period, a team of archaeologists, which included Lars Pilo of Oppland County Council, Norway, and James Barrett of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, surveyed patches of ice in Oppland, an area of south-central Norway that is home to some of the country’s highest mountains. Reindeer once congregated on these icy patches in the later summer months to escape biting insects, and from the late Stone Age**, hunters followed. In addition, trade routes threaded through the mountain passes of Oppland, linking settlements in Norway to the rest of Europe. The slow but steady movement of glaciers tends to destroy anything at their bases, so the team focused on stationary patches of ice, mostly above 1,400 metres. That ice is found amid fields of frost-weathered boulders, fallen rocks, and exposed bedrock that for nine months of the year is buried beneath snow. ‘Fieldwork is hard work – hiking with all our equipment, often camping on permafrost – but very rewarding. You’re rescuing the archaeology, bringing the melting ice to wider attention, discovering a unique environmental history and really connecting with the natural environment,’ says Barrett.

D At the edges of the contracting ice patches, archaeologists found more than 2,000 artefacts, which formed a material record that ran from 4,000 BCE to the beginnings of the Renaissance in the 14th century. Many of the artefacts are associated with hunting. Hunters would have easily misplaced arrows and they often discarded broken bows rather than take them all the way home. Other items could have been used by hunters traversing the high mountain passes of Oppland: all-purpose items like tools, skis, and horse tack.

E Barrett’s team radiocarbon-dated 153 of the artefacts and compared those dates to the timing of major environmental changes in the region – such as periods of cooling or warming – and major social and economic shifts – such as the growth of farming settlements and the spread of international trade networks leading up to the Viking Age. They found that some periods had produced lots of artefacts, which indicates that people had been pretty active in the mountains during those times. But there were few or no signs of activity during other periods.

F What was surprising, according to Barrett, was the timing of these periods. Oppland’s mountains present daunting terrain and in periods of extreme cold, glaciers could block the higher mountain passes and make travel in the upper reaches of the mountains extremely difficult. Archaeologists assumed people would stick to lower elevations during a time like the Late Antique Little Ice Age, a short period of deeper-than-usual cold from about 536-600 CE. But it turned out that hunters kept regularly venturing into the mountains even when the climate turned cold, based on the amount of stuff they had apparently dropped there. ‘Remarkably, though, the finds from the ice may have continued through this period, perhaps suggesting that the importance of mountain hunting increased to supplement failing agricultural harvests in times of low temperatures,’ says Barrett. A colder turn in the Scandinavian climate would likely have meant widespread crop failures, so more people would have depended on hunting to make up for those losses.

G Many of the artefacts Barrett’s team recovered date from the beginning of the Viking Age, the 700s through to the 900s CE. Trade networks connecting Scandinavia with Europe and the Middle East were expanding around this time. Although we usually think of ships when we think of Scandinavian expansion, these recent discoveries show that plenty of goods travelled on overland routes, like the mountain passes of Oppland. And growing Norwegian towns, along with export markets, would have created a booming demand for hides to fight off the cold, as well as antlers to make useful things like combs. Business must have been good for hunters.

H Norway’s mountains are probably still hiding a lot of history – and prehistory – in remote ice patches. When Barrett’s team looked at the dates for their sample of 153 artefacts, they noticed a gap with almost no artefacts from about 3,800 to 2,200 BCE. In fact, archaeological finds from that period are rare all over Norway. The researchers say that could be because many of those artefacts have already disintegrated or are still frozen in the ice. That means archaeologists could be extracting some of those artefacts from retreating ice in years to come.

Questions 14-19
Reading Passage 2 has eight sections, A-H. Which section contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.

14. an explanation for weapons being left behind in the mountains
15. a reference to the physical difficulties involved in an archaeological expedition
16. an explanation of why less food may have been available
17. a reference to the possibility of future archaeological discoveries
18. examples of items that would have been traded
19. a reference to the pressure archaeologists are under to work quickly

Questions 20-22
Complete the summary below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 20-22 on your answer sheet.

Interesting finds at an archaeological site

Organic materials such as animal skins and textiles are not discovered very often at archaeological sites. They have little protection against (20) ………………….. , which means that they decay relatively quickly. But this is not always the case. If temperatures are low enough, fragile artefacts can be preserved for thousands of years. A team of archaeologists have been working in the mountains in Oppland in Norway to recover artefacts revealed by shrinking ice cover. In the past, there were trade routes through these mountains and (21) ……………….. gathered there in the summer months to avoid being attacked by (22) ………………. on lower ground. The people who used these mountains left things behind and it is those objects that are of interest to archaeologists.

Questions 23 and 24
Choose TWO letters, A-E. Write the correct letters in boxes 23 and 24 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about the discoveries of Barrett’s team?
A Artefacts found in the higher mountain passes were limited to skiing equipment.
B Hunters went into the mountains even during periods of extreme cold.
C The number of artefacts from certain time periods was relatively low.
D Radiocarbon dating of artefacts produced some unreliable results.
E More artefacts were found in Oppland than at any other mountain site.

Questions 25 and 26
Choose TWO letters, A-E. Write the correct letters in boxes 25 and 26 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about the Viking Age?
A Hunters at this time benefited from an increased demand for goods.
B The beginning of the period saw the greatest growth in the wealth of Vikings.
C Vikings did not rely on ships alone to transport goods.
D Norwegian towns at this time attracted traders from around the world.
E Vikings were primarily interested in their trading links with the Middle East.

Plant ‘thermometer’ triggers springtime growth by measuring night-time heat

A An international team of scientists led by the University of Cambridge has discovered that the ‘thermometer’ molecule in plants enables them to develop according to seasonal temperature changes. Researchers have revealed that molecules called phytochromes – used by plants to detect light during the day – actually change their function in darkness to become cellular temperature gauges that measure the heat of the night. The new findings, published in the journal Science, show that phytochromes control genetic switches in response to temperature as well as light to dictate plant development.

B At night, these molecules change states, and the pace at which they change is ‘directly proportional to temperature’, say scientists, who compare phytochromes to mercury in a thermometer. The warmer it is, the faster the molecular change – stimulating plant growth.

C Farmers and gardeners have known for hundreds of years how responsive plants are to temperature: warm winters cause many trees and flowers to bud early, something humans have long used to predict weather and harvest times for the coming year. The latest research pinpoints for the first time a molecular mechanism in plants that reacts to temperature – often triggering the buds of spring we long to see at the end of winter.

D With weather and temperatures set to become ever more unpredictable due to climate change, researchers say the discovery that this light-sensing molecule also functions as the internal thermometer in plant cells could help us breed tougher crops. ‘It is estimated that agricultural yields will need to double by 2050, but climate change is a major threat to achieving this. Key crops such as wheat and rice are sensitive to high temperatures. Thermal stress reduces crop yields by around 10% for every one degree increase in temperature,’ says lead researcher Dr Philip Wigge from Cambridge’s Sainsbury Laboratory. ‘Discovering the molecules that allow plants to sense temperature has the potential to accelerate the breeding of crops resilient to thermal stress and climate change.’

E In their active state, phytochrome molecules bind themselves to DNA to restrict plant growth. During the day, sunlight activates the molecules, slowing down growth. If a plant finds itself in shade, phytochromes are quickly inactivated – enabling it to grow faster to find sunlight again. This is how plants compete to escape each other’s shade. ‘Light-driven changes to phytochrome activity occur very fast, in less than a second,’ says Wigge. At night, however, it’s a different story. Instead of a rapid deactivation following sundown, the molecules gradually change from their active to inactive state. This is called ‘dark reversion’. ‘Just as mercury rises in a thermometer, the rate at which phytochromes revert to their inactive state during the night is a direct measure of temperature,’ says Wigge.

F ‘The lower the temperature, the slower the rate at which phytochromes revert to inactivity, so the molecules spend more time in their active, growth-suppressing state. This is why plants are slower to grow in winter. Warm temperatures accelerate dark reversion, so that phytochromes rapidly reach an inactive state and detach themselves from the plant’s DNA – allowing genes to be expressed and plant growth to resume.’ Wigge believes phytochrome thermo-sensing evolved at a later stage, and co-opted the biological network already used for light-based growth during the downtime of night.

G Some plants mainly use day length as an indicator of the season. Other species, such as daffodils, have considerable temperature sensitivity, and can flower months in advance during a warm winter. In fact, the discovery of the dual role of phytochromes provides the science behind a well-known rhyme long used to predict the coming season: oak before ash we’ll have a splash, ash before oak we’re in for a soak. Wigge explains: ‘Oak trees rely much more on temperature, likely using phytochromes as thermometers to dictate development, whereas ash trees rely on measuring day length to determine their seasonal timing. A warmer spring, and consequently a higher likeliness of a hot summer, will result in oak leafing before ash. A cold spring will see the opposite. As the British know only too well, a colder summer is likely to be a rain-soaked one.’

H The new findings are the culmination of twelve years of research involving scientists from Germany, Argentina and the US, as well as the Cambridge team. The work was done in a model system, using a mustard plant called Arabidopsis, but Wigge says the phytochrome genes necessary for temperature sensing are found in crop plants as well. ‘Recent advances in plant genetics now mean that scientists are able to rapidly identify the genes controlling these processes in crop plants, and even alter their activity using precise molecular “scalpels”,’ adds Wigge. ‘Cambridge is uniquely well-positioned to do this kind of research as we have outstanding collaborators nearby who work on more applied aspects of plant biology, and can help us transfer this new knowledge into the field.’

Questions 27 – 32
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 27-32 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

27. The Cambridge scientists’ discovery of the ‘thermometer molecule’ caused surprise among other scientists.
28. The target for agricultural production by 2050 could be missed.
29. Wheat and rice suffer from a rise in temperatures.
30. It may be possible to develop crops that require less water.
31. Plants grow faster in sunlight than in shade.
32. Phytochromes change their state at the same speed day and night.

Questions 33-37
Reading Passage 3 has eight sections, A-H. Which section contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 33-37 on your answer sheet.

33. mention of specialists who can make use of the research findings
34. a reference to a potential benefit of the research findings
35. scientific support for a traditional saying
36. a reference to people traditionally making plans based on plant behaviour
37. a reference to where the research has been reported

Questions 38-40
Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet.

38. Daffodils are likely to flower early in response to …………………… weather.
39. If ash trees come into leaf before oak trees, the weather in …………………. will probably be wet.
40. The research was carried out using a particular species of ……………………..

The White Horse of Uffington

The cutting of huge figures or ‘geoglyphs’ into the earth of English hillsides has taken place for more than 3,000 years. There are 56 hill figures scattered around England, with the vast majority on the chalk downlands of the country’s southern counties. The figures include giants, horses, crosses and regimental badges. Although the majority of these geoglyphs date within the last 300 years or so, there are one or two that are much older.

The most famous of these figures is perhaps also the most mysterious – the Uffington White Horse in Oxfordshire. The White Horse has recently been re-dated and shown to be even older than its previously assigned ancient pre-Roman Iron Age date. More controversial is the date of the enigmatic Long Man of Wilmington in Sussex. While many historians are convinced the figure is prehistoric, others believe that it was the work of an artistic monk from a nearby priory and was created between the 11th and 15th centuries.

The method of cutting these huge figures was simply to remove the overlying grass to reveal the gleaming white chalk below. However, the grass would soon grow over the geoglyph again unless it was regularly cleaned or scoured by a fairly large team of people. One reason that the vast majority of hill figures have disappeared is that when the traditions associated with the figures faded, people no longer bothered or remembered to clear away the grass to expose the chalk outline. Furthermore, over hundreds of years the outlines would sometimes change due to people not always cutting in exactly the same place, thus creating a different shape to the original geoglyph. The fact that any ancient hill figures survive at all in England today is testament to the strength and continuity of local customs and beliefs which, in one case at least, must stretch back over millennia.

The Uffington White Horse is a unique, stylised representation of a horse consisting of a long, sleek back, thin disjointed legs, a streaming tail, and a bird-like beaked head. The elegant creature almost melts into the landscape. The horse is situated 2.5 km from Uffington village on a steep slope close to the Late Bronze Age* (c. 7th century BCE) hillfort of Uffington Castle and below the Ridgeway, a long-distance Neolithic** track.

The Uffington Horse is also surrounded by Bronze Age burial mounds. It is not far from the Bronze Age cemetery of Lambourn Seven Barrows, which consists of more than 30 well-preserved burial mounds. The carving has been placed in such a way as to make it extremely difficult to see from close quarters, and like many geoglyphs is best appreciated from the air. Nevertheless, there are certain areas of the Vale of the White Horse, the valley containing and named after the enigmatic creature, from which an adequate impression may be gained. Indeed on a clear day the carving can be seen from up to 30 km away.

The earliest evidence of a horse at Uffington is from the 1070s CE when ‘White Horse Hill’ is mentioned in documents from the nearby Abbey of Abingdon, and the first reference to the horse itself is soon after, in 1190 CE. However, the carving is believed to date back much further than that. Due to the similarity of the Uffington White Horse to the stylised depictions of horses on 1st century BCE coins, it had been thought that the creature must also date to that period.

However, in 1995 Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) testing was carried out by the Oxford Archaeological Unit on soil from two of the lower layers of the horse’s body, and from another cut near the base. The result was a date for the horse’s construction somewhere between 1400 and 600 BCE – in other words, it had a Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age origin.

The latter end of this date range would tie the carving of the horse in with occupation of the nearby Uffington hillfort, indicating that it may represent a tribal emblem marking the land of the inhabitants of the hillfort. Alternatively, the carving may have been carried out during a Bronze or Iron Age ritual. Some researchers see the horse as representing the Celtic*** horse goddess Epona, who was worshipped as a protector of horses, and for her associations with fertility. However, the cult of Epona was not imported from Gaul (France) until around the first century CE. This date is at least six centuries after the Uffington Horse was probably carved. Nevertheless, the horse had great ritual and economic significance during the Bronze and Iron Ages, as attested by its depictions on jewellery and other metal objects. It is possible that the carving represents a goddess in native mythology, such as Rhiannon, described in later Welsh mythology as a beautiful woman dressed in gold and riding a white horse.

The fact that geoglyphs can disappear easily, along with their associated rituals and meaning, indicates that they were never intended to be anything more than temporary gestures. But this does not lessen their importance. These giant carvings are a fascinating glimpse into the minds of their creators and how they viewed the landscape in which they lived.

Questions 1-8
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 1-8 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. Most geoglyphs in England are located in a particular area of the country.
2. There are more geoglyphs in the shape of a horse than any other creature.
3. A recent dating of the Uffington White Horse indicates that people were mistaken about its age.
4. Historians have come to an agreement about the origins of the Long Man of Wilmington.
5. Geoglyphs were created by people placing white chalk on the hillside.
6. Many geoglyphs in England are no longer visible.
7. The shape of some geoglyphs has been altered over time.
8. The fame of the Uffington White Horse is due to its size.

Questions 9-13
Complete the notes below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.

The Uffington White Horse
The location of the Uffington White Horse:
• a distance of 2.5 km from Uffington village
• near an ancient road known as the (9) ………………..
• close to an ancient cemetery that has a number of burial mounds

Dating the Uffington White Horse:
• first reference to White Horse Hill appears in (10) ………………….. from the 1070s
• horses shown on coins from the period 100 BCE – 1 BCE are similar in appearance
• according to analysis of the surrounding (11) ………………….. the Horse is Late Bronze Age / Early Iron Age

Possible reasons for creation of the Uffington White Horse:
• an emblem to indicate land ownership
• formed part of an ancient ritual
• was a representation of goddess Epona – associated with protection of horses and (12) ………………..
• was a representation of a Welsh goddess called (13) …………………

I contain multitudes

Microbes, most of them bacteria, have populated this planet since long before animal life developed and they will outlive us. Invisible to the naked eye, they are ubiquitous. They inhabit the soil, air, rocks and water and are present within every form of life, from seaweed and coral to dogs and humans. And, as Yong explains in his utterly absorbing and hugely important book, we mess with them at our peril.

Every species has its own colony of microbes, called a ‘microbiome’, and these microbes vary not only between species but also between individuals and within different parts of each individual. What is amazing is that while the number of human cells in the average person is about 30 trillion, the number of microbial ones is higher – about 39 trillion. At best, Yong informs us, we are only 50 per cent human. Indeed, some scientists even suggest we should think of each species and its microbes as a single unit, dubbed a ‘holobiont’.

In each human there are microbes that live only in the stomach, the mouth or the armpit and by and large they do so peacefully. So ‘bad’ microbes are just microbes out of context. Microbes that sit contentedly in the human gut (where there are more microbes than there are stars in the galaxy) can become deadly if they find their way into the bloodstream. These communities are constantly changing too. The right hand shares just one sixth of its microbes with the left hand. And, of course, we are surrounded by microbes. Every time we eat, we swallow a million microbes in each gram of food; we are continually swapping microbes with other humans, pets and the world at large.

It’s a fascinating topic and Yong, a young British science journalist, is an extraordinarily adept guide. Writing with lightness and panache, he has a knack of explaining complex science in terms that are both easy to understand and totally enthralling. Yong is on a mission. Leading us gently by the hand, he takes us into the world of microbes – a bizarre, alien planet – in a bid to persuade us to love them as much as he does. By the end, we do.

For most of human history we had no idea that microbes existed. The first man to see these extraordinarily potent creatures was a Dutch lens-maker called Antony van Leeuwenhoek in the 1670s. Using microscopes of his own design that could magnify up to 270 times, he examined a drop of water from a nearby lake and found it teeming with tiny creatures he called ‘animalcules’. It wasn’t until nearly two hundred years later that the research of French biologist Louis Pasteur indicated that some microbes caused disease. It was Pasteur’s ‘germ theory’ that gave bacteria the poor image that endures today.

Yong’s book is in many ways a plea for microbial tolerance, pointing out that while fewer than one hundred species of bacteria bring disease, many thousands more play a vital role in maintaining our health. The book also acknowledges that our attitude towards bacteria is not a simple one. We tend to see the dangers posed by bacteria, yet at the same time we are sold yoghurts and drinks that supposedly nurture ‘friendly’ bacteria. In reality, says Yong, bacteria should not be viewed as either friends or foes, villains or heroes. Instead we should realise we have a symbiotic relationship, that can be mutually beneficial or mutually destructive.

What then do these millions of organisms do? The answer is pretty much everything. New research is now unravelling the ways in which bacteria aid digestion, regulate our immune systems, eliminate toxins, produce vitamins, affect our behaviour and even combat obesity. ‘They actually help us become who we are,’ says Yong. But we are facing a growing problem. Our obsession with hygiene, our overuse of antibiotics and our unhealthy, low-fibre diets are disrupting the bacterial balance and may be responsible for soaring rates of allergies and immune problems, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

The most recent research actually turns accepted norms upside down. For example, there are studies indicating that the excessive use of household detergents and antibacterial products actually destroys the microbes that normally keep the more dangerous germs at bay. Other studies show that keeping a dog as a pet gives children early exposure to a diverse range of bacteria, which may help protect them against allergies later.

The readers of Yong’s book must be prepared for a decidedly unglamorous world. Among the less appealing case studies is one about a fungus that is wiping out entire populations of frogs and that can be halted by a rare microbial bacterium. Another is about squid that carry luminescent bacteria that protect them against predators. However, if you can overcome your distaste for some of the investigations, the reasons for Yong’s enthusiasm become clear. The microbial world is a place of wonder. Already, in an attempt to stop mosquitoes spreading dengue fever – a disease that infects 400 million people a year – mosquitoes are being loaded with a bacterium to block the disease. In the future, our ability to manipulate microbes means we could construct buildings with useful microbes built into their walls to fight off infections. Just imagine a neonatal hospital ward coated in a specially mixed cocktail of microbes so that babies get the best start in life.

Questions 14-16
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

14. What point does the writer make about microbes in the first paragraph?
A They adapt quickly to their environment.
B The risk they pose has been exaggerated.
C They are more plentiful in animal life than plant life.
D They will continue to exist for longer than the human race.

15. In the second paragraph, the writer is impressed by the fact that
A each species tends to have vastly different microbes.
B some parts of the body contain relatively few microbes.
C the average individual has more microbial cells than human ones.
D scientists have limited understanding of how microbial cells behave.

16. What is the writer doing in the fifth paragraph?
A explaining how a discovery was made
B comparing scientists’ theories about microbes
C describing confusion among scientists
D giving details of how microbes cause disease

Questions 17-20
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-H, below. Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 17-20 on your answer sheet.

We should be more tolerant of microbes

Yong’s book argues that we should be more tolerant of microbes. Many have a beneficial effect, and only a relatively small number lead to (17) ……………….. And although it is misleading to think of microbes as ‘friendly’, we should also stop thinking of them as the enemy. In fact, we should accept that our relationship with microbes is one based on (18) ……………… New research shows that microbes have numerous benefits for humans. Amongst other things, they aid digestion, remove poisons, produce vitamins and may even help reduce obesity. However, there is a growing problem. Our poor (19) ………………, our overuse of antibiotics, and our excessive focus on (20) ……………………. are upsetting the bacterial balance and may be contributing to the huge increase in allergies and immune system problems.

A solution
B partnership
C destruction
D exaggeration
E cleanliness
F regulations
G illness
H nutrition

Questions 21-26
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage? In boxes 21-26 on your answer sheet, write

YES                      if the statement agrees with 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

21. It is possible that using antibacterial products in the home fails to have the desired effect.
22. It is a good idea to ensure that children come into contact with as few bacteria as possible.
23. Yong’s book contains more case studies than are necessary.
24. The case study about bacteria that prevent squid from being attacked may have limited appeal.
25. Efforts to control dengue fever have been surprisingly successful.
26. Microbes that reduce the risk of infection have already been put inside the walls of some hospital wards.

How to make wise decisions

Across cultures, wisdom has been considered one of the most revered human qualities. Although the truly wise may seem few and far between, empirical research examining wisdom suggests that it isn’t an exceptional trait possessed by a small handful of bearded philosophers after all – in fact, the latest studies suggest that most of us have the ability to make wise decisions, given the right context.

‘It appears that experiential, situational, and cultural factors are even more powerful in shaping wisdom than previously imagined,’ says Associate Professor Igor Grossmann of the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. ‘Recent empirical findings from cognitive, developmental, social, and personality psychology cumulatively suggest that people’s ability to reason wisely varies dramatically across experiential and situational contexts. Understanding the role of such contextual factors offers unique insights into understanding wisdom in daily life, as well as how it can be enhanced and taught.’

It seems that it’s not so much that some people simply possess wisdom and others lack it, but that our ability to reason wisely depends on a variety of external factors. ‘It is impossible to characterize thought processes attributed to wisdom without considering the role of contextual factors,’ explains Grossmann. ‘In other words, wisdom is not solely an “inner quality” but rather unfolds as a function of situations people happen to be in. Some situations are more likely to promote wisdom than others.’

Coming up with a definition of wisdom is challenging, but Grossmann and his colleagues have identified four key characteristics as part of a framework of wise reasoning. One is intellectual humility or recognition of the limits of our own knowledge, and another is appreciation of perspectives wider than the issue at hand. Sensitivity to the possibility of change in social relations is also key, along with compromise or integration of different attitudes and beliefs.

Grossmann and his colleagues have also found that one of the most reliable ways to support wisdom in our own day-to-day decisions is to look at scenarios from a third-party perspective, as though giving advice to a friend. Research suggests that when adopting a first-person viewpoint we focus on ‘the focal features of the environment’ and when we adopt a third-person, ‘observer’ viewpoint we reason more broadly and focus more on interpersonal and moral ideals such as justice and impartiality. Looking at problems from this more expansive viewpoint appears to foster cognitive processes related to wise decisions.

What are we to do, then, when confronted with situations like a disagreement with a spouse or negotiating a contract at work, that require us to take a personal stake? Grossmann argues that even when we aren’t able to change the situation, we can still evaluate these experiences from different perspectives.

For example, in one experiment that took place during the peak of a recent economic recession, graduating college seniors were asked to reflect on their job prospects. The students were instructed to imagine their career either ‘as if you were a distant observer’ or ‘before your own eyes as if you were right there’. Participants in the group assigned to the ‘distant observer’ role displayed more wisdom-related reasoning (intellectual humility and recognition of change) than did participants in the control group.

In another study, couples in long-term romantic relationships were instructed to visualize an unresolved relationship conflict either through the eyes of an outsider or from their own perspective. Participants then discussed the incident with their partner for 10 minutes, after which they wrote down their thoughts about it. Couples in the ‘other’s eyes’ condition were significantly more likely to rely on wise reasoning – recognizing others’ perspectives and searching for a compromise – compared to the couples in the egocentric condition.

‘Ego-decentering promotes greater focus on others and enables a bigger picture, conceptual view of the experience, affording recognition of intellectual humility and change,’ says Grossmann.

We might associate wisdom with intelligence or particular personality traits, but research shows only a small positive relationship between wise thinking and crystallized intelligence and the personality traits of openness and agreeableness. ‘It is remarkable how much people can vary in their wisdom from one situation to the next, and how much stronger such contextual effects are for understanding the relationship between wise judgment and its social and affective outcomes as compared to the generalized “traits”,’ Grossmann explains. ‘That is, knowing how wisely a person behaves in a given situation is more informative for understanding their emotions or likelihood to forgive [or] retaliate as compared to knowing whether the person may be wise “in general”.’

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

27. What point does the writer make in the first paragraph?
A Wisdom appears to be unique to the human race.
B A basic assumption about wisdom may be wrong.
C Concepts of wisdom may depend on the society we belong to.
D There is still much to be discovered about the nature of wisdom.

28. What does Igor Grossmann suggest about the ability to make wise decisions?
A It can vary greatly from one person to another.
B Earlier research into it was based on unreliable data.
C The importance of certain influences on it was underestimated.
D Various branches of psychology define it according to their own criteria.

29. According to the third paragraph, Grossmann claims that the level of wisdom an individual shows
A can be greater than they think it is.
B will be different in different circumstances.
C may be determined by particular aspects of their personality.
D should develop over time as a result of their life experiences.

30. What is described in the fifth paragraph?
A a difficulty encountered when attempting to reason wisely
B an example of the type of person who is likely to reason wisely
C a controversial view about the benefits of reasoning wisely
D a recommended strategy that can help people to reason wisely

Questions 31-35
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-J, below. Write the correct letter, A-J, in boxes 31-35 on your answer sheet.

The characteristics of wise reasoning

Igor Grossmann and colleagues have established four characteristics which enable us to make wise decisions. It is important to have a certain degree of (31) …………………. regarding the extent of our knowledge, and to take into account (32) ………………….. which may not be the same as our own. We should also be able to take a broad (33) …………………… of any situation. Another key characteristic is being aware of the likelihood of alterations in the way that people relate to each other. Grossmann also believes that it is better to regard scenarios with (34) ………………….. By avoiding the first-person perspective, we focus more on (35) …………………… and on other moral ideals, which in turn leads to wiser decision-making.

A opinions
B confidence
C view
D modesty
E problems
F objectivity
G fairness
H experiences
I range
J reasons

Questions 36-40
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 36-40 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

36. Students participating in the job prospects experiment could choose one of two perspectives to take.
37. Participants in the couples experiment were aware that they were taking part in a study about wise reasoning.
38. In the couples experiments, the length of the couples’ relationships had an impact on the results.
39. In both experiments, the participants who looked at the situation from a more detached viewpoint tended to make wiser decisions.
40. Grossmann believes that a person’s wisdom is determined by their intelligence to only a very limited extent.

Why we need to protect polar bears

Polar bears are being increasingly threatened by the effects of climate change, but their disappearance could have far-reaching consequences. They are uniquely adapted to the extreme conditions of the Arctic Circle, where temperatures can reach -40°C. One reason for this is that they have up to 11 centimetres of fat underneath their skin. Humans with comparative levels of adipose tissue would be considered obese and would be likely to suffer from diabetes and heart disease. Yet the polar bear experiences no such consequences.

A 2014 study by Shi Ping Liu and colleagues sheds light on this mystery. They compared the genetic structure of polar bears with that of their closest relatives from a warmer climate, the brown bears. This allowed them to determine the genes that have allowed polar bears to survive in one of the toughest environments on Earth. Liu and his colleagues found the polar bears had a gene known as APoB, which reduces levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDLs) – a form of ‘bad’ cholesterol. In humans, mutations of this gene are associated with increased risk of heart disease. Polar bears may therefore be an important study model to understand heart disease in humans.

The genome of the polar bear may also provide the solution for another condition, one that particularly affects our older generation: osteoporosis. This is a disease where bones show reduced density, usually caused by insufficient exercise, reduced calcium intake or food starvation. Bone tissue is constantly being remodelled, meaning that bone is added or removed, depending on nutrient availability and the stress that the bone is under. Female polar bears, however, undergo extreme conditions during every pregnancy. Once autumn comes around, these females will dig maternity dens in the snow and will remain there throughout the winter, both before and after the birth of their cubs. This process results in about six months of fasting, where the female bears have to keep themselves and their cubs alive, depleting their own calcium and calorie reserves. Despite this, their bones remain strong and dense.

Physiologists Alanda Lennox and Allen Goodship found an explanation for this paradox in 2008. They discovered that pregnant bears were able to increase the density of their bones before they started to build their dens. In addition, six months later, when they finally emerged from the den with their cubs, there was no evidence of significant loss of bone density. Hibernating brown bears do not have this capacity and must therefore resort to major bone reformation in the following spring. If the mechanism of bone remodelling in polar bears can be understood, many bedridden humans, and even astronauts, could potentially benefit.

The medical benefits of the polar bear for humanity certainly have their importance in our conservation efforts, but these should not be the only factors taken into consideration. We tend to want to protect animals we think are intelligent and possess emotions, such as elephants and primates. Bears, on the other hand, seem to be perceived as stupid and in many cases violent. And yet anecdotal evidence from the field challenges those assumptions, suggesting for example that polar bears have good problem-solving abilities. A male bear called GoGo in Tennoji Zoo, Osaka, has even been observed making use of a tool to manipulate his environment. The bear used a tree branch on multiple occasions to dislodge a piece of meat hung out of his reach. Problem-solving ability has also been witnessed in wild polar bears, although not as obviously as with GoGo. A calculated move by a male bear involved running and jumping onto barrels in an attempt to get to a photographer standing on a platform four metres high.

In other studies, such as one by Alison Ames in 2008, polar bears showed deliberate and focussed manipulation. For example, Ames observed bears putting objects in piles and then knocking them over in what appeared to be a game. The study demonstrates that bears are capable of agile and thought-out behaviours. These examples suggest bears have greater creativity and problem-solving abilities than previously thought.

As for emotions, while the evidence is once again anecdotal, many bears have been seen to hit out at ice and snow – seemingly out of frustration – when they have just missed out on a kill. Moreover, polar bears can form unusual relationships with other species, including playing with the dogs used to pull sleds in the Arctic. Remarkably, one hand-raised polar bear called Agee has formed a close relationship with her owner Mark Dumas to the point where they even swim together. This is even more astonishing since polar bears are known to actively hunt humans in the wild.

If climate change were to lead to their extinction, this would mean not only the loss of potential breakthroughs in human medicine, but more importantly, the disappearance of an intelligent, majestic animal.

Questions 1-7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, write

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

1. Polar bears suffer from various health problems due to the build-up of fat under their skin.
2. The study done by Liu and his colleagues compared different groups of polar bears.
3. Liu and colleagues were the first researchers to compare polar bears and brown bears genetically.
4. Polar bears are able to control their levels of ‘bad’ cholesterol by genetic means.
5. Female polar bears are able to survive for about six months without food.
6. It was found that the bones of female polar bears were very weak when they came out of their dens in spring.
7. The polar bear’s mechanism for increasing bone density could also be used by people one day.

Questions 8-13
Complete the table below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.

Reasons why polar bears should be protected
People think of bears as unintelligent and (8) ……………………

However, this may not be correct. For example:
• In Tennoji Zoo, a bear has been seen using a branch as a (9) …………………… This allowed him to knock down some (10) ……………………
• A wild polar bear worked out a method of reaching a platform where a (11) …………… was located.
• Polar bears have displayed behaviour such as conscious manipulation of objects and activity similar to a (12) ……………………….

Bears may also display emotions. For example:
• They may make movements suggesting (13) ……………… if disappointed when hunting.

The Step Pyramid of Djoser

A The pyramids are the most famous monuments of ancient Egypt and still hold enormous interest for people in the present day. These grand, impressive tributes to the memory of the Egyptian kings have become linked with the country even though other cultures, such as the Chinese and Mayan, also built pyramids. The evolution of the pyramid form has been written and argued about for centuries. However, there is no question that, as far as Egypt is concerned, it began with one monument to one king designed by one brilliant architect: the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara.

B Djoser was the first king of the Third Dynasty of Egypt and the first to build in stone. Prior to Djoser’s reign, tombs were rectangular monuments made of dried clay brick, which covered underground passages where the deceased person was buried. For reasons which remain unclear, Djoser’s main official, whose name was Imhotep, conceived of building a taller, more impressive tomb for his king by stacking stone slabs on top of one another, progressively making them smaller, to form the shape now known as the Step Pyramid. Djoser is thought to have reigned for 19 years, but some historians and scholars attribute a much longer time for his rule, owing to the number and size of the monuments he built.

C The Step Pyramid has been thoroughly examined and investigated over the last century, and it is now known that the building process went through many different stages. Historian Marc Van de Mieroop comments on this, writing ‘Much experimentation was involved, which is especially clear in the construction of the pyramid in the center of the complex. It had several plans … before it became the first Step Pyramid in history, piling six levels on top of one another … The weight of the enormous mass was a challenge for the builders, who placed the stones at an inward incline in order to prevent the monument breaking up.’

D When finally completed, the Step Pyramid rose 62 meters high and was the tallest structure of its time. The complex in which it was built was the size of a city in ancient Egypt and included a temple, courtyards, shrines, and living quarters for the priests. It covered a region of 16 hectares and was surrounded by a wall 10.5 meters high. The wall had 13 false doors cut into it with only one true entrance cut into the south-east corner; the entire wall was then ringed by a trench 750 meters long and 40 meters wide. The false doors and the trench were incorporated into the complex to discourage unwanted visitors. If someone wished to enter, he or she would have needed to know in advance how to find the location of the true opening in the wall. Djoser was so proud of his accomplishment that he broke the tradition of having only his own name on the monument and had Imhotep’s name carved on it as well.

E The burial chamber of the tomb, where the king’s body was laid to rest, was dug beneath the base of the pyramid, surrounded by a vast maze of long tunnels that had rooms off them to discourage robbers. One of the most mysterious discoveries found inside the pyramid was a large number of stone vessels. Over 40,000 of these vessels, of various forms and shapes, were discovered in storerooms off the pyramid’s underground passages. They are inscribed with the names of rulers from the First and Second Dynasties of Egypt and made from different kinds of stone. There is no agreement among scholars and archaeologists on why the vessels were placed in the tomb of Djoser or what they were supposed to represent. The archaeologist Jean-Philippe Lauer, who excavated most of the pyramid and complex, believes they were originally stored and then given a ‘proper burial’ by Djoser in his pyramid to honor his predecessors. There are other historians, however, who claim the vessels were dumped into the shafts as yet another attempt to prevent grave robbers from getting to the king’s burial chamber.

F Unfortunately, all of the precautions and intricate design of the underground network did not prevent ancient robbers from finding a way in. Djoser’s grave goods, and even his body, were stolen at some point in the past and all archaeologists found were a small number of his valuables overlooked by the thieves. There was enough left throughout the pyramid and its complex, however, to astonish and amaze the archaeologists who excavated it.

G Egyptologist Miroslav Verner writes, ‘Few monuments hold a place in human history as significant as that of the Step Pyramid in Saqqara. It can be said without exaggeration that this pyramid complex constitutes a milestone in the evolution of monumental stone architecture in Egypt and in the world as a whole.’ The Step Pyramid was a revolutionary advance in architecture and became the archetype which all the other great pyramid builders of Egypt would follow.

Questions 14-20
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i-ix, in boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings
i The areas and artefacts within the pyramid itself
ii A difficult task for those involved
iii A king who saved his people
iv A single certainty among other less definite facts
v An overview of the external buildings and areas
vi A pyramid design that others copied
vii An idea for changing the design of burial structures
viii An incredible experience despite the few remains ix The answers to some unexpected questions

14. Paragraph A
15. Paragraph B
16. Paragraph C
17. Paragraph D
18. Paragraph E
19. Paragraph F
20. Paragraph G

Questions 21-24
Complete the notes below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 21-24 on your answer sheet.

The Step Pyramid of Djoser

The complex that includes the Step Pyramid and its surroundings is considered to be as big as an Egyptian (21) ……………… of the past. The area outside the pyramid included accommodation that was occupied by (22) …………………, long with many other buildings and features. A wall ran around the outside of the complex and a number of false entrances were built into this. In addition, a long (23) …………….. encircled the wall. As a result, any visitors who had not been invited were cleverly prevented from entering the pyramid grounds unless they knew the (24) ………………….. of the real entrance.

Questions 25-26
Choose TWO letters, A-E. Write the correct letters in boxes 25 and 26 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following points does the writer make about King Djoser?
A Initially he had to be persuaded to build in stone rather than clay.
B There is disagreement concerning the length of his reign.
C He failed to appreciate Imhotep’s part in the design of the Step Pyramid.
D A few of his possessions were still in his tomb when archaeologists found it.
E He criticised the design and construction of other pyramids in Egypt.

The future of work

According to a leading business consultancy, 3-14% of the global workforce will need to switch to a different occupation within the next 10-15 years, and all workers will need to adapt as their occupations evolve alongside increasingly capable machines. Automation – or ‘embodied artificial intelligence’ (AI) – is one aspect of the disruptive effects of technology on the labour market. ‘Disembodied AI’, like the algorithms running in our smartphones, is another.

Dr Stella Pachidi from Cambridge Judge Business School believes that some of the most fundamental changes are happening as a result of the ‘algorithmication’ of jobs that are dependent on data rather than on production – the so-called knowledge economy. Algorithms are capable of learning from data to undertake tasks that previously needed human judgement, such as reading legal contracts, analysing medical scans and gathering market intelligence.

‘In many cases, they can outperform humans,’ says Pachidi. ‘Organisations are attracted to using algorithms because they want to make choices based on what they consider is “perfect information”, as well as to reduce costs and enhance productivity.’

‘But these enhancements are not without consequences,’ says Pachidi. ‘If routine cognitive tasks are taken over by AI, how do professions develop their future experts?’ she asks. ‘One way of learning about a job is “legitimate peripheral participation” – a novice stands next to experts and learns by observation. If this isn’t happening, then you need to find new ways to learn.’

Another issue is the extent to which the technology influences or even controls the workforce. For over two years, Pachidi monitored a telecommunications company. ‘The way telecoms salespeople work is through personal and frequent contact with clients, using the benefit of experience to assess a situation and reach a decision. However, the company had started using a[n] … algorithm that defined when account managers should contact certain customers about which kinds of campaigns and what to offer them.’

The algorithm – usually built by external designers – often becomes the keeper of knowledge, she explains. In cases like this, Pachidi believes, a short-sighted view begins to creep into working practices whereby workers learn through the ‘algorithm’s eyes’ and become dependent on its instructions. Alternative explorations – where experimentation and human instinct lead to progress and new ideas – are effectively discouraged.

Pachidi and colleagues even observed people developing strategies to make the algorithm work to their own advantage. ‘We are seeing cases where workers feed the algorithm with false data to reach their targets,’ she reports.

It’s scenarios like these that many researchers are working to avoid. Their objective is to make AI technologies more trustworthy and transparent, so that organisations and individuals understand how AI decisions are made. In the meantime, says Pachidi, ‘We need to make sure we fully understand the dilemmas that this new world raises regarding expertise, occupational boundaries and control.’

Economist Professor Hamish Low believes that the future of work will involve major transitions across the whole life course for everyone: ‘The traditional trajectory of full-time education followed by full-time work followed by a pensioned retirement is a thing of the past,’ says Low. Instead, he envisages a multistage employment life: one where retraining happens across the life course, and where multiple jobs and no job happen by choice at different stages.

On the subject of job losses, Low believes the predictions are founded on a fallacy: ‘It assumes that the number of jobs is fixed. If in 30 years, half of 100 jobs are being carried out by robots, that doesn’t mean we are left with just 50 jobs for humans. The number of jobs will increase: we would expect there to be 150 jobs.’

Dr Ewan McGaughey, at Cambridge’s Centre for Business Research and King’s College London, agrees that ‘apocalyptic’ views about the future of work are misguided. ‘It’s the laws that restrict the supply of capital to the job market, not the advent of new technologies that causes unemployment.’

His recently published research answers the question of whether automation, AI and robotics will mean a ‘jobless future’ by looking at the causes of unemployment. ‘History is clear that change can mean redundancies. But social policies can tackle this through retraining and redeployment.’

He adds: ‘If there is going to be change to jobs as a result of AI and robotics then I’d like to see governments seizing the opportunity to improve policy to enforce good job security. We can “reprogramme” the law to prepare for a fairer future of work and leisure.’ McGaughey’s findings are a call to arms to leaders of organisations, governments and banks to pre-empt the coming changes with bold new policies that guarantee full employment, fair incomes and a thriving economic democracy.

‘The promises of these new technologies are astounding. They deliver humankind the capacity to live in a way that nobody could have once imagined,’ he adds. ‘Just as the industrial revolution brought people past subsistence agriculture, and the corporate revolution enabled mass production, a third revolution has been pronounced. But it will not only be one of technology. The next revolution will be social.’

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

27. The first paragraph tells us about
A the kinds of jobs that will be most affected by the growth of Al.
B the extent to which Al will alter the nature of the work that people do.
C the proportion of the world’s labour force who will have jobs in Al in the future.
D the difference between ways that embodied and disembodied Al will impact on workers.

28. According to the second paragraph, what is Stella Pachidi’s view of the ‘knowledge economy’?
A It is having an influence on the number of jobs available.
B It is changing people’s attitudes towards their occupations.
C It is the main reason why the production sector is declining.
D It is a key factor driving current developments in the workplace.

29. What did Pachidi observe at the telecommunications company?
A staff disagreeing with the recommendations of Al
B staff feeling resentful about the intrusion of Al in their work
C staff making sure that Al produces the results that they want
D staff allowing Al to carry out tasks they ought to do themselves

30. In his recently published research, Ewan McGaughey
A challenges the idea that redundancy is a negative thing.
B shows the profound effect of mass unemployment on society.
C highlights some differences between past and future job losses.
D illustrates how changes in the job market can be successfully handled.

Questions 31-34
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-G, below. Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 31-34 on your answer sheet.

The ‘algorithmication’ of jobs

Stella Pachidi of Cambridge Judge Business School has been focusing on the ‘algorithmication’ of jobs which rely not on production but on (31) …………………..While monitoring a telecommunications company, Pachidi observed a growing (32) ……………………. on the recommendations made by Al, as workers begin to learn through the ‘algorithm’s eyes’. Meanwhile, staff are deterred from experimenting and using their own (33) ………………. and are therefore prevented from achieving innovation. To avoid the kind of situations which Pachidi observed, researchers are trying to make Al’s decision-making process easier to comprehend, and to increase users’ (34) …………………. with regard to the technology.

A pressure
B satisfaction
C intuition
D promotion
E reliance
F confidence
G information

Questions 35-40
Look at the following statements (Questions 35-40) and the list of people below. Match each statement with the correct person, A, B or C. Write the correct letter, A, B or C, in boxes 35-40 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once.

35. Greater levels of automation will not result in lower employment.
36. There are several reasons why Al is appealing to businesses.
37. Al’s potential to transform people’s lives has parallels with major cultural shifts which occurred in previous eras.
38. It is important to be aware of the range of problems that Al causes.
39. People are going to follow a less conventional career path than in the past.
40. Authorities should take measures to ensure that there will be adequately paid work for everyone.

List of people
A Stella Pachidi
B Hamish Low
C Ewan McGaughey

Section 1
Read the text below and answer questions 1-7.

Outdoor Activities For All The Family

A Perry Forest – Our walks cater for all ages and all degrees of fitness, and are suitable for children as well as adults. Every Saturday and Sunday throughout the year our experts lead several walks. So whether you want a short stroll on level ground or a more challenging walk to the top of Shepherds Hill we have something for you.

B Pugsley Beach Nature Reserve – The reserve has plenty of wildlife whatever the time of year with its numerous species of birds and plants that grow hardly anywhere else but the autumn is when hundreds of grey seals arrive on the beach to have their young. The covered viewing area offers spectacular close up views of all this and hot drinks and snacks are available to help you keep warm.

C Marston Hill – If you ever wonder what wildlife trusts do for the environment come to Marston Hall where our rangers will show you how they manage wildlife habitats from providing feeding boxes for squirrels to creating ponds for frogs and many other creatures. They’ll also take you on a short walk through the ancient pine forest in search of animal tracks ang signs.

D Craven Discovery Centre – Here at the discovery centre youngsters are introduced to the animals in our petting zoo where they can stroke or feed the sheep, rabbits, ponies and other residents. Then they’re taken on a walk through the wood. Meanwhile the adults can take part in our of our woodland activities such as learning basic woodworking skills.

E Shelford Family Wild Outing – Go birdwatching or catch insects as daylight fades then have a gentle job along the River Wale by moonlight and end by toasting marshmallows on a campfire. It’s all part of a Family Wild Outing in Shelford organised by the local wildlife trust. Ideal for both adults and children.

F Garston Park – Come to Garston Park when the sun has set and explore the solar system. Ideal for children and their parents who are interested in astronomy. Our experts will help you to find your way among the stars and then we gather in the visitor centre for refreshments. Please note that events are cancelled if the weather is cloudy.

Questions 1-7
The text above has 6 advertisements A-F. Which advertisement mentions the following?

1. running in the evening
2. seeing newborn animals
3. parents and children doing different activities at the same time
4. choosing from alternative routes
5. learning about how other people help animals
6. an event occurring only at a centre time of the year
7. identifying where animals have been

Read the text below and answer questions 8-14.

Hinchingbrooke School Sixth Form

Hinchingbrooke School consists of the lower school for students aged 11 to 16 and the sixth form for ages 16 to 18+. In the sixth form we provide a strong programme of guidance for students whether they are planning on going to university into training or straight into the workplace. We have a high rate of success with applications to universities including growing success in recent years for medical school applicants.

While the majority of sixth form students enter from the lower school, recent significant expansion of the sixth form is largely the result of an increase in applicants from other schools in the area. We pride ourselves on giving these external students a particularly warm welcome. We welcome your interest in joining our sixth form and look forward to offering you a place if you satisfy our minimum entry requirements.

If you are an internal student please apply through the MyChoice16 application system. This is also where external students need to view course information. If you are an external student whose current school does use this application for online applications please see our website for an application form to the school. We hold an annual open evening in the autumn term when you can come and view our facilities and ask any questions you may have.

Care, guidance and support in the sixth form at Hinchingbrooke is something of which we are very proud of and each of our students is treated as an individual. You will be assigned a professional sixth form tutor who will provide you with support and guidance and will responsible for helping you make sensible choices about your future career path.

You will meet with your tutor at a fixed time every fortnight to discuss progress and any concerns you or your subject teachers may have about your effort and achievement. You will also set targets for yourself in agreement with your tutor and subject teachers and your progress towards achieving these targets will be monitored in your tutor meetings.

Questions 8-14
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text? Write

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

8. Some sixth form students intend to start work immediately after leaving school.
9. An increasing number of students are accepted at medical school.
10. Most sixth form students come from other schools.
11. External applicants have an interview before they can be accepted.
12. Applications to the sixth form can only be made through MyChoice16 website.
13. External applicants can talk to current students at the open evening.
14. Students meet their tutor whenever one of them requests a meeting.

Section 2
Read the text below and answer questions 15-21.

Tree Cutters At Work

Today the tree cutting team consists of myself, Gary and Mikael. We are going to cut down a tall tree that is inside the boundary of a busy timer yard. It’s Saturday not a working day for the yard and it is far easier to remove a tree when no one else is around. As supervisor I first pop into our office to sort out the paperwork for the day which includes the risk assessments. Then I look at the most up to date weather forecast as wind and rain make our job much more difficult. Luckily we have picked a good day.

Next we load up the equipment – things like petrol driven chainsaws of varying sizes, helmets and waterproofs, spades, rakes and other tools etc. must all go on the truck before the three of us set off. On arrival at the site we have a quick discussion on the procedure for the day. After that one of – today it’s Gary – goes up the tree to quickly select his anchor point. This is the position from which he will cut down the tree. It must be high enough to enable access throughout the tree’s branches but also have sufficient strength to support the climber. The first few big branches can be cut from the tree in large pieces and dropped into the yard so we make good progress during the morning and start our wood pile there.
Having removed the more accessible branches we have lunch and then set up a simple system to reach the smaller upper branches. This involves placing a pulley in the tree and using thick rope to drag the branches down. When they are cut these will fall further away outside the boundary of the yard. On the other side of the perimeter fence is a wide grass verge and then a footpath where I set up a number of signs to alert the public to our activities. Working alongside a road requires vigilance so I monitor the movements of pedestrians and as Gary starts work I watch what he is doing so it can ensure safety. Once the branches are on the ground I throw them back over the fence to Mikael who cuts them up and feeds the machine that dices them into very small pieces called woo chippings.

Questions 15-21
Complete the flowchart below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage.

Cutting down a big tree
– The site supervisor checks the paperwork and the latest information on the weather first.
– Chainsaws, clothing and all (15) ……………. are then loaded onto the lorry
– The team talk briefly at the site about the overall (16) ……………… before the work begins
– The climber’s anchor point must have the necessary height and (17) ……………. for the job
– The first branches are cut and placed in a pile in the yard
– A pulley and some (18) ………………. assist in the removal of the top branches
– At this point signs are placed on the (19) ……………….
– For safety the actions of both the tree cutter and (20) ………………. must be regularly checked
– A special machine creates (21) ………………… out of some of the wood

Read the text below and answer questions 22-27.

Plumbing Skills

In a residential building such as a block of flats, underfloor jobs that involve plumbing mechanical and electrical systems are common. They may need to take place in a narrow space that is often only about 35 cm deep. In addition the floors are typically covered with a wood product, engineered to resemble solid wood that has very strict criteria as far as drilling and cutting are concerned. The plumber cannot just go in and cut holes and lay pipes. He must first think about what he is doing read and understand the cutting chart that accompanies each of his tools and visualise how his work will impact on other tradespeople before proceeding.

Commercial plumbers working on office buildings, hotels, restaurants etc. have the same issues and coordination problems as residential plumbers but often have to install equipment that is more sophisticated. This is because it forms part of integrated systems where mechanical work and plumbing work are combined. The equipment will have specific installation instructions so it is critical that the plumber has the cognitive ability to understand these. In addition often the structures are complex, and the floors and walls must be X-rayed prior to drilling to order to avoid hitting key elements such as reinforcing steel.

Service plumbers go in where others have been and often face situations where they must troubleshoot various possible causes of a plumbing problem. In order to do this effectively they must have complete knowledge of say a customer’s shower until they are servicing even if they did not install it. They must have the ability to translate the symptoms they can see such as leaks and blockages into the actual problem and then take the appropriate action to rectify the issue in a fast and cost effective way. Often service plumbers encounter residential or commercial customers who are either facing great inconvenience or have had their operations severely disrupted because of a plumbing issue. Successful service plumbers not only need good mechanical skills but they typically need very good people skills to provide necessary support.

Questions 22-27
Complete the table below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage.

The Work Of Plumbers

Type of plumber	Work related issues	Skills/ actions needed
Residential	– working underfloor in a (22)……………..area – dealing with a wood product	– plan carefully – always use the appropriate (23)……………..for each tool – consider how different (24)…………….will be affected
Commercial	– working with advanced equipment designed for integrated systems	– fully comprehend instructions – take images of structures to locate important materials like (25)………………..
Service	– diagnosing problems and their causes – fully understanding something someone else installed e.g. a shower unit – providing quick (26)…………….solutions	– deals well with people who have a lot of (27)……………….or disruption as a result of their problems

Section 3
Read the text below and answer questions 28-40.

Why It Is Important To Save Species Like The Dormouse

More than 100 years after they were last recorded by naturalists in the Wensleydale valley in northern England rare dormice have returned to a secret woodland location there. Twenty breeding pairs of rare hazel dormice were recently reintroduced as part of a national scheme to reverse the decline of one of Britain’s most threatened mammals. This reintroduction led by the People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and supported by a coalition of conservation groups is the 22nd in the last 23 years. Dormice depend on well managed woodlands and healthy connected hedgerows for their survival. But changes in land use since the 1940s have been so dramatic that the dormice that remain have limited living space and are increasingly isolated.

Ahead of the release the PTES found a site of dense good quality woodland while the captive bred dormice waited in quarantine. After examination by vets the dormice were placed in their soft release accommodation in pairs. This consisted of secure wooden boxes fitted to trees and surrounded by a meter square cage. For 10 days the dormice were checked and given food daily then a small opening was made allowing them the freedom to explore while retaining the security of the cage. Everything was removed in October when the animals started preparing to go into hibernation for the winter.

‘The hope is that we have a free living population in the wood but we won’t know how they have fared until next year’ said Ian White of the PTES. Unsuitable habitat, captive bred animals and incorrect management could all ruin the chances of success of such schemes. However a distinctive factor of this release White explained is the intention of linking up with another released dormouse population 3 miles away by managing the land between. The goal is to create a wider landscape for dormice and that will make the population more robust.

Woodlands were traditionally managed through regularly cutting back certain trees to ground level to stimulate growth and provide firewood or timber for local residents. This system was known as coppicing, and as an added bonus it happened to provide varied food and plenty of light for dormice. But the practice has been largely lost with much remaining woodland sliced up by roads railways and fields. England also had more than 50% of its hedgerows dug up between 1946 and 1993 as small fields were combined to make larger ones and farmland was sold for building projects. All this has had an adverse effect on dormouse populations.

‘It’s very important that we reintroduce the dormouse because they are a good species to get people involved with conservation,’ said White. ‘They are a fascinating species that is rare but you can still see. They promote good woodland management and what’s good for dormice is good for a large range of species.’

Helen Meech the director of Rewilding Britain, an organisation campaigning to restore lost species and habitats to the British countryside said that such reintroductions would increase people’s familiarity with living with more wild animals once again. People’s everyday wildlife experience is becoming limited to seeing grey squirrels and pigeons she explained. ‘We are increasingly disconnected from nature. In 30 to 40 years’ time we might get to the point where we can start to think about bringing back wolves, bison or moose but let’s start with species that will have a lighter impact for now.’

Over centuries, Britain has lost many key species that are critical for healthy ecosystems. Here are some of the species conservationists have reintroduced or are proposing to reintroduce.

The lynx is believed to have disappeared from Britain about 1000 year ago. Experts say it would help control the fast growing population of red deer allowing forests to regenerate and support greater biodiversity. The preference of the lynx a shy animal to stay in its woodland habitat would make a threat to livestock of humans unlikely.

After an absence of 400 years beavers are back in Britain. The Devon Beaver project cites improvements in biodiversity and water after the reintroduction of a pair near Okehampton in 2011. Scotland’s first reintroduction in Knapdale forest in 2009 was hailed an outstanding success but an unlicensed free living population in the river Tay has caused problems.

Lost to Britain in the 1700s the wolf is the most controversial species proposed for reintroduction given its potential to kill agricultural livestock. But they are critical to the restoration of ecosystems that have been overgrazed by deer. Despite their fearsome reputation they present a low risk to people. Because of the space a wolf population would need the Scottish Highlands would be an obvious place for their reintroduction and could generate millions of pounds in tourism.

The sea eagle also known as the white tailed eagle was driven to extinction in Britain earlier this century. A reintroduction programme has seen it return to the Inner Hebrides island of Mull. Proposals to bring it back to the east of England failed following concerns from landowners about the threat to livestock. Successful schemes in Europe have offered compensation for this.

Then there is the wild boar which disappeared in the 13th century because of hunting. They increase biodiversity and create space for trees and plants to grow but can cause damage to crops and gardens. The species has been quietly re-establishing itself in the woodlands of Britain for several decades.

Questions 28-31
Complete the summary below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage.

The procedure for the dormouse reintroduction in Wensleydale

It was necessary to do some preparation before the 40 dormice could be released in Wensleydale. First members of PTES has to choose a suitable wooded area for them. Then (28) …………… gave them a thorough check. The team divided the animals into (29) …………… before introducing them to their temporary tree homes. These were boxes which were enclosed by cages. Initially the dormice could not get out but the team brought (30) ……………….. on a regular basis.

Once the dormice got used to their new environment a gap was cut in the netting so they could go out and return when they wanted. Then before the animals were ready to start their annual (31) ……………. in the autumn, the team took their temporary homes away; they intended to return and review the success of the project next year.

Questions 32-36
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.

32. Ian White says that one aim of releasing 40 dormice in Wensleydale is to
A allow the public to observe the animals in the future
B test whether the area is sufficient for a large group
C experiment with new methods of caring for them
D get the group to mix with others that live nearby

33. Coppicing is mentioned in the fourth paragraph as an example of
A how changes in their natural habitat have affected dormouse numbers
B what was often in woodland in the past to help dormice survive
C the relative importance of woodland and hedges in the countryside
D the particular types of trees that grow best in the English climate

34. Why does Ian White support the widespread reintroduction of dormice?
A they are animals that can easily be bred in captivity
B the steps taken to help them will also benefit many other animals
C the public will be more likely to go for walks in woods and fields
D they are animals that should particularly attract younger children

35. What does Helen Meech hope that the dormice project will lead to?
A an increase in the populations of the most common species
B a public who are used to sharing their environment with wildlife
C a general awareness of the need to reintroduce larger animals soon
D a willingness to spend time improving natural landscapes in the UK

36. What is suggested about wolves returning to the UK?
A the best solution would be to keep them in a secure wildlife park
B they would definitely need to be kept far away from humans
C there is only one area of the UK which would accept them
D their presence could revive some damaged environments

Questions 37-40
Look at the following statements and the list of animals below. Match each statement with the correct animal A-E.

37. This species has already begun to settle in the UK without human assistance.
38. This species would be particularly suitable for reintroduction as it is unlikely to try to come into contact with people.
39. It is possible that reintroducing this species could bring considerable financial benefits to one area.
40. Some countries which have already reintroduced this species have systems to repay farmers if it kills any of their animals.

List of Animals
A The lynx
B The beaver
C The wolf
D The sea eagle
E The wild boar

Section 1
Read the text below and answer questions 1-6.

Local countryside walks

A Grove Mill – Take either the yellow path or the blue path – both eventually come out at the Old Water Mill and are at about the same level of difficulty. There is a shallow stream which runs alongside the yellow path. Dogs enjoy a swim here if it’s hot and there are trees to help you cool while you want.

B Blackhill Trail – Follow the marker posts carefully as you make your way through some dense forest. If you take a wrong turn as walkers often do your walk could end up being a lot longer than you expected. The sun may be shining but there is plenty of damp undergrowth so wear a tough pair of hiking boots if you don’t want your feet to get wet. It isn’t advisable to take small dogs on this trail.

C Fern Way – The route is winding but fairly flat and doesn’t require any special footwear or equipment. It is accessed by a gate with a strong bolt to keep sheep and cows in the field. The path is lined on both sides by firs and some majestic redwoods that date back to the nineteenth century. There are benches along the way where you can rest and admire the beauty of the area.

D Bay Red Valley – Be prepared to go up and down a bit on this route. The first section is uphill then the path flattens out but not for long so you need to be fairly fit. The exercise is worth it though as there are some spectacular views across the valley. There is a viewing platform, from which you may be lucky enough to see one of the herds of deer that roam the area.

E Brownwater Trail – A circular path will take you past tree and plant species from around the world that are cared for by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you bring your dog keep it on a lead as the smaller shrubs can be easily destroyed. The path itself is open and unprotected so be sure to wear a hat or you could get sunburnt.

Questions 1-6
Look at the five descriptions of walks A-E below. For which walk are the following statements true?

1. There is very little shade.
2. There are some steep sections.
3. There is a choice of route on this walk.
4. There is a special site for watching wildlife.
5. Dogs must not be allowed to run freely
6. You can sit down in several places.

Read the text below and answer questions 7-14.

Poppi Properties

Review by Sally Hanugoldi
I have had a terrible experience with Poppi Properties and as an ex-tenant I advise you to go elsewhere if you want to rent or buy a property – as I have now done. When I initially viewed my Poppi Properties flat I was accompanied by Lillee Eggerton one of the two staff who run the company. The flat was located close to the office where I have been working for the past year so I went there before the working day had begun. I knew immediately that it was the right property for me because of the convenient location and a few days later I paid the deposit and the first two months’ rent. The flat was on the 12th floor which I admit was a surprise to me as I thought it was lower when I first read about it but Lillee was very encouraging and I felt confident that I was making the right choice. At this point she was professional and kind but once I had moved into the property I discovered that she was far less approachable that she had been during the viewing period and whenever I tried to contact her she was unavailable.

At the start of my tenancy a number of issues were unsatisfactory in the property. For example as a new tenant you have a right to expect your flat to be clean. In fact carpets should be professionally cleaned but mine had not even been hoovered. I had hoped that this problem would be addressed quickly but nothing happened and so I did the job myself. Similarly, the oven worked when I switched it on, but it was black inside and smelt horrible. The company did nothing so in the end I just avoided using the oven while I lived there. Several times I asked to speak to the landlord directly but was told this was not possible. No one should have to put up with these problems particularly when Poppi Properties charges such high rents.

Questions 7-14
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text above? Write

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

7. Sally Hanugoldi is still renting a property with Poppi Properties.
8. Sally Hanugoldi was the first person to view the flat.
9. Sally made a quick decision to rent the property.
10. The flat was on a lower level than Sally changed over time.
11. Lillee’s behaviour towards Sally changed over time.
12. The flat that Sally rented from Poppi Properties was unfurnished.
13. Sally employed someone to clean her carpets.
14. The landlord raised Sally’s rent while she was living in the flat.

Section 2
Read the text below and answer questions 15-21.

Procedure for making a complaint at work

If you have a problem or complaint at work you might want to take this up with your employer. This is called raising a grievance.

Often the best way to sort out a problem is to request an informal meeting with your immediate manager to explain your concerns. You may find it is possible to sort the problem out in this way without having to take any further action. However if you do not feel your problem has been solved you may decided to raise a formal grievance. In this case you should first try to find out your company’s grievance procedure you should be able to find details of this in your Company Handbook, HR or Personnel manual or on your company’ HR internal site.

The next step will probably be to write to your employer. Explain your problem and if you can think of a possible solution for resolving it give details of this. When you have written your letter check that you have written the date and retain a copy so that you have a record of what you wrote. Your employer should arrange an initial meeting at a reasonable time and place to discuss your grievance. You are entitled to ask either a colleague from work or a trade union representative to go to the meeting with you. After the meeting your employer should write to you telling you what they have decided to do about your grievance.

If you don’t agree with your employer’s decision you have the right to appeal against it this must be done in writing. A further meeting should then be called which should be led by a more senior manager if possible. If you are still not satisfied with the decision made at this meeting you may consider whether one way to solve the problem might be through mediation. This be done inside the company or by an external agent. Alternatively you can make an employment tribunal claim. You must do this no more then three months after the time when the event you are complaining about happened. If your application is received after this time limit the tribunal will not usually accept it.

Questions 15-21
Complete the flowchart below. Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.

Raising a grievance at work

– Ask to see your immediate manager on an (15) ………….. basis
– If not satisfied find details of your company’s grievance procedure. This may be in a handbook (16) ……………. or on an internet site
– Write to your employer with details of your complaint. You may also suggest a (17) …………….. Make sure there is a date on your letter and keep a copy.
– Your employer should hold a meeting. You have the right to be accompanied by a (18) ……………… or a trade union representative.
– Your employer should then inform you of the decision in writing. If you are not happy with the decision, you can appeal in writing.
– Your employer should then arrange a further meeting. Where possible this should be led by a manager who is (19) ………………. to the previous one
– If you are still not happy with the decision you can
– think about the possibility of (20) ………………..
– make an employment tribunal claim. This must be done within (21) ……………… of the date of the event.

Read the text below and answer questions 22-27.

Driving a taxi or private hire vehicle

Taxis are an important part of any town of city’s transport system. Taxis have a licence plate and roof sign that states they are taxi. As a taxi driver you might be booked in advance, wait on a taxi rank or pick up passengers while on the move. You could combine normal pick up jobs with prearranged contracts such as regular trips for schoolchildren or those unable to drive. You might also make longer distance trips such as taking people to airports. The other type of passenger transport is a private hire vehicle. As a private hire driver, you can only collect passengers who have pre booked through your operator. You cannot be flagged down in the street.

When working in a taxi or private hire vehicle you would:
• Take job details over the radio from the operator at the office or by an in-car computer
• Help to load and unload passengers’ luggage
• Assist passengers with any physical conditions that make it difficult for them to get in and out of the vehicle
• Take payments
• Keep the vehicle clean and roadworthy
• Keep accounts and records if self employed

Working conditions and skills
You would spend most of your time on the road sometimes in heavy traffic and you would be constantly on the move. The job allows you to choose your hours but you will find more work in the evenings. You would work between 40 and 60 hours a week if full time. In the UK, 17% of taxi drivers are employed full time, 17% are employed part time and 66% are self employed. As well as being a skilled driver you need to be good at communicating with people and helping customers. You must be tactful when dealing with problems and have good time management and numeracy skills.

Requirements
You will need a special licence from your local authority to be a taxi driver or private care hire driver. For this you usually need to be over 21 years old to have a clean current driving licence and to have been driving for at least 12 months. You may also need to pass a test of knowledge about the local geography. If you are using your own vehicle it will also need a special licence.

Questions 22-27
Complete the sentences below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for the answer.

22. Private hire drivers only take passengers by arrangement with an ……………..
23. A driver’s job may involve helping those with …………………… problems.
24. Working hours for drivers may vary but the greatest demand is in the ……………..
25. The majority of drivers are ……………….
26. A driver needs to be familiar with the ……………………. of the area.
27. It may be useful if a driver has evidence of some …………………….. ability.

Section 3
Read the text below and answers questions 28-40.

Forced rhubarb

Rhubarb has large fan shaped leaves and long, green edible stalks which are commonly cooked with sugar to make pies and other desserts. One type of rhubarb is grown in the dark to produce longer, rosier stalks and this is called forced rhubarb.

A In the north of England, a cold winter is good news for some and not just snowmen and woolly hat makers. According to Yorkshire farmer David Westwood, this year’s forced rhubarb is the best for years. Westwood, a softly spoken Yorkshiremen should know. He’s been growing and selling rhubarb for 62 years since he started picking on the farm aged 11. His son Jonathan works on the farm too, making him the sixth generation of the Westwoods to grow the pink stems of petioles as they are otherwise known.

B We meet at his farm a few miles from the city of Wakefield which with the cities of Bradford and Leeds form the three points of the Rhubarb Triangle, the heart of the British rhubarb industry. ‘It doesn’t grow as well anywhere else,’ insists Westwood. He has a number of theories as to why this is. The loam soil on a clay base is perfect for the roots or crowns which rhubarb grows from. In Victorian times – the mid to late 1800s – when rhubarb’s popularity was at its peak the local coal mines provided cheap fuel for heating the sheds a crucial part of the forcing process which involves depriving the plants of light as they develop. At the same time the effluence from the industry enriched the soil for farmers. On top of that according to Westwood the high levels of pollution in the air would have been ideal for the rhubarb as rhubarb loves soot.

C Westwood’s farm produces both the greenish outdoor rhubarb the kind that grows well in gardens all over the country and the startingly pink forced rhubarb. It’s this that is the cream of the crop the upper class of the rhubarb family. Forced rhubarb is the one that’s most likely to convert rhubarb haters who’ve been traumatised by harshly flavoured school pies made from green overgrown outdoor stems. The slender magenta spears, with a sherbet-tangy flavour and delicate texture are a far cry from that coarse bitter stuff. It’s also a rare local fruit (although technically a vegetable) at a time when imports dominate and a welcome splash of color in the drab winter months. No wonder chefs and food writers have fallen in love with forced rhubarb al over again. It’s enjoying a remarkable renaissance for only 20 years ago it was in such decline that Westwood one of the last 12 growers left from a peak of 2000, was considering abandoning it.

D There are certainly simpler ways to grow food. First the plant roots or crowns are grown outside for more than two years. Then at the start of their third winter they are left in the ground until it is cold enough to break the crown’s dormancy. This is one of the factors that gives British rhubarb the edge over imports from the Netherlands which arrive in the country a scene stealing couple of weeks before the Yorkshire crop. To bring them to market that early the Dutch crowns are fed with gibberellic acid to replace the hormones naturally generated by a period of cold weather. Westwood is relaxed on the subject of the imported rhubarb remarking only. “It’s good looking all right but the flavor’s nowhere near.” Back in Yorkshire sometime around the middle of November the crowns are dug up transferred to shed with earthen floors and watered in. The light is blocked out completely and the heating is turned on. In the warm and dark the shoots appear so quickly that the buds can be heard gently popping. Withing 3 weeks or so the first round of picking or pulling as it’s known can begin.

E In Westwood’s 1920s rhubarb sheds it is pitch black. I slip and slide on the narrow troughs that serve as paths between the beds of rhubarb crowns. It’s a relief when a team of pullers arrive all local men some of whom have been working for Westwood for 40 years. Each carries a sturdy candle and their pale flickering light reveals a sea of yellow leaves stretching 40 meters to the far wall. The men walk the beds plucking the satiny stems expertly choosing only the ones that have reached the length of an arm. Then cradling the fuchsia pink bundles in their arms they move on to the next patch. It’s an extraordinary sight in this age of mechanised, computerised agriculture. ‘The pulling’s done much the same way as it always has been’ Westwood says. ‘Electric light spoils the color.’ A labour intensive process it goes some way to explain the admittedly eye-watering price of the best forced rhubarb that and the heating now from oil or propane rather than coal.

F So how was this arcane cold dark heat process in use since Victorian times discovered? Westwood’s story is appealingly earthy. A gardener threw an old crown onto the horse stable muck pile the manure was hot, and plant was soon covered. The stable boy must have been puzzled by the startling pink spears that came pushing through the dirt a week or two later but happily he had the good sense to gather them. Where there’s muck there’s money – and good eating indeed.

Questions 28-33
The text above has six paragraph A-F. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

List of headings
i The extra time is worth it
ii The preferred rhubarb for consumers
iii Yorkshire’s declining air quality
iv Observing the selection process
v Suggesting a possible beginning
vi A long standing family business
vii The best region for forces rhubarb

28. Paragraph A
29. Paragraph B
30. Paragraph C
31. Paragraph D
32. Paragraph E
33. Paragraph F

Questions 34-36
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.

34. What aspect of forced rhubarb does the writer praise in paragraph C?
A its suitability for pies
B the smoothness of its stems
C its superiority over other types of rhubarb
D the number of places it can be successfully grown

35. Why does the writer think forced rhubarb has become more popular among cooking experts?
A it is cheap and easy to grow
B it is attractive and pleasant to eat
C local farmers are producing more of it
D imported varieties are in limited supply

36. In the final paragraph the writer suggests that forced rhubarb was first produced
A by accident
B as animal feed
C through trail and error
D while growing something else

Questions 37-40
Complete the summary below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage.

Growing forced rhubarb

During November rhubarb crowns are removed from the soil and replanted in dark sheds that have plenty of heating. These conditions encourage such fast growth that the buds make a (37) ………………… sound as the pink stalks appear.

The growing period lasts around three weeks. After that the rhubarb can be picked by a group of people known as (38) ………………… They use a (39) …………………. to inspect the stems and to make sure they are as long as a human (40) …………………

Section 1
Read the text below and answer questions 1-5.

Want to rent a property

A Aynho Properties – With over 50 years’ of experience we offer a comprehensive sales and lettings service. Our firm has been based in Shipton Street since its foundation and so we have a thorough knowledge of the surrounding neighborhood. Our staff make every effort to match clients’ needs to an appropriate property whether you are looking to rent an apartment a bungalow or a house.

B Danesdale Agency – As soon as you walk in our door we will make every effort to find the right flat for you to rent. Everything we do is based on good practice – you supply written references and pay the rent on time and in return we will visit the property every four months to ensure it is maintained and that any necessary repairs are done.

C Jakesford Properties – As a family run business with over 20 years’ experience in the property market we pride ourselves on treating every client with kindness and consideration. The landlords on our books have been selected with great care so that you can be sure they will look after your interests. Thousands of customers from all over the world have written to us to express their appreciation for the services we have offered them.

D Kasama Letting – Our highly experienced team works hard to provide peace of mind for both tenants and landlords. James Kettering our customer liaison officer is always at the end of the phone to answer any queries you may have. We also have an administration officer who deals with contracts rents and personal queries.

E Leftfield Letting – While the main objective of some letting agents is to get as much money as possible for their properties we aim to secure a fair deal for tenants and a trouble free service for landlords. We use modern marketing techniques that include price comparisons for similar properties with other agencies in the area so that you can make a fully informed decision.

Questions 1-5
Look at the five descriptions of rental property agencies A-F below. For which agency are the following statements true?

1. The agency expects customers to provide letters of recommendation.
2. The agency provides certain information on properties held by its competitors.
3. The agency began business in its present location.
4. Employees have specific roles at the agency.
5. The agency carefully chooses the property owners that it works with.

Read the text below and answer questions 6-14.

Cycle Lights

You must have approved front and rear lights that are lit, clean and working properly when cycling between sunset and sunrise. It’s no defence to say that it was past sunset but not yet dark. The legal lighting obligations for cyclists are determined by sunset and sunrise times – not the hours of darkness which starts 30 minutes after the former end 30 minutes before the latter and dictate when motorists must switch from sidelights to headlights.

Cycling UK’s guide to cycling regulations explains the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations in detail but in summary you need a white light at the front and a red light at the rear visible from the front and rear respectively and fixed to your bike. A light obscured by a saddlebag isn’t legal and neither is a torch on your head though there’s nothing to stop you using a head-torch as an additional light.

The regulations also now allow flashing lights provided they flash between 60 and 240 times per minute. The legal requirements for reflectors include a red rear reflector and four amber pedal reflectors one at the front and rear of each pedal. Common sense might suggest that a reflective heel stripe or ankle band could replace an amber pedal reflector but unfortunately thee do not meet the legal requirements. This is an annoying problem for riders who use bikes where the feel are attached to the pedals and cannot slip. These pedals are not designed with enough space to accommodate reflectors and make this an area of legislation in need to change.

Unlike with other vehicles lights are not a legal requirement for cyclists when there is seriously reduced visibility during the daytime although we would not recommend cycling through dense fog without lighting up.

Questions 6-14
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage above. 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

6. It is illegal to cycle after sunset without bike lights.
7. Front and rear lights can be attached to the rider.
8. A torch worn on a cyclists’ head must be white.
9. There are some legal restrictions on flashing lights.
10. Reflectors are most commonly available in packs of four.
11. Reflective heel strips are allowed instead of pedal reflectors.
12. The law concerning the design of pedals is unsatisfactory.
13. Cycling during the daytime is safer than cycling at night.
14. It is against the law to cycle in daytime fog without lights.

Section 2
Read the text below and answer questions 15-20.

Maintaining a safe environment for employees working on computers

Workstation Furniture
The work desk or work surface should be big enough to allow the user to arrange the screen, keyboard and documents etc. in a flexible way. It should be stable and positioned so that it’s comfortable when an employee uses a document holder but also big enough to let the user work comfortably and to alter their position.

The working environment
You need to assess noise levels. The equipment should not be so noisy that it distracts the user. If you cannot use quieter equipment consider soundproofing or moving the equipment. You could use partitions between noisy equipment and the rest of the workstation as an alternative.

Lighting is also an important consideration. Surrounding windows must have curtains or blinds which users can adjust to prevent reflected glare. If needed provide users with lighting appropriate to their tasks and particular workstation. Users should have control over their lighting to prevent reflected glare.

Temperature wise the equipment should not give out so much heat that the user becomes uncomfortable so monitor this. It’s also important that you maintain ventilation and you control humidity so that it is at a level which keeps the user comfortable.

Task design and rest breaks
Good design of the task can be as important as the right choice of furniture and equipment. Whenever possible you should design jobs so that employees have a mix of activities and some control over which tasks they perform and when. You should match staffing levels to workload so that individuals are neither overworked nor underworked and give employees some say in the way is carried out and the planning that goes into it.

An employee’s need for rest breaks will vary depending on the type of work they are doing and how intensely they are working. As a general rule however short, frequent breaks are better than longer, less frequent ones. A 5-10 minutes break after 50-60 minutes work is better than 15-20 minute break after two hours. The employee should at times have a choice over when to take breaks and they should be encouraged to do non-work activities during their break ideally away from the workstation.

Questions 15-20
Complete the notes below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer.

Furniture
Desk size should facilitate
• The flexible arrangement of computer items
• The easy use of a holder of documents
• Change in the user’s (15)……………………

Environment
Employers should
• Move, soundproof, or separate noisy equipment using (16)…………………
• Reduce glare from nearby (17)……………….e.g. using adjustable blinds
• Provide suitable lighting
• Ensure a comfortable temperature
o Check (18)…………….from equipment
o Check air flow and quality in working area

Tasks and breaks
Employees should have
• A variety of tasks to choose from
• A fair workload
• An input into task achievement and (19)……………..
• Regular short breaks at times of their own (20)……………..
• Breaks not located at their workstation

Read the text below and answer questions 21-27.

Using portable ladders

Employers need to oversee all ladders that are owned by their company. Detailed visual inspections should be carried out on a regular basis, and they should have an up to date record of these. Before starting a job employers are also responsible for ensuring any ladder is the right length to meet the needs of the task reaching out from the very top of a ladder is highly dangerous. Once you get a ladder you as a user of the ladder should conduct a pre use check each working day. Conducting pre use checks should have been part of your training and should be done in accordance with the manufacturer’s guidelines. When doing a check it is important to focus on the steps and make sure they are not loose as this could cause an accident. Similarly a cracked joint in the ladder could cause it to fail.

Almost all falls from ladders happen because the ladder moves unexpectedly. The key factor in preventing falls from ladders is to ensure your ladder is stable whilst being used. First make sure that you choose level ground on which to set up you ladder. There are specially designed tools you can use to ensure this – don’t just use a piece of wood. Second check the ground surface is dirt free and solid so the feet can grip and the ladder doesn’t sink.

Before you go up your ladder look at the surrounding environment. Make sure the ladder cannot be struck by vehicles. If necessary safeguard the area by placing red and white cones around it. Ensure it will not be pushed over by other hazards such as opening doors. Doors and windows may need to be secured where possible. Finally think about the hazards to the general pubic and make sure they cannot walk underneath it or get too near to it. A danger sign at the base is often the best way of doing this.

To secure the ladder tie it to a suitable point such as a window or railing making sure both sides are attached. Where this is not practical secure it to the wall near the base of the ladder with ties; avoid using blocks to wedge the ladder in place as they can easily move.

Questions 21-27
Complete the sentences below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text.

Safe ladder use
21. Employers should keep a ……………….. of ladder safety inspections.
22. Employers should check the ……………….. of a ladder is suitable for the job.
23. The …………………. and joints of the ladder need particularly close inspection.
24. Make sure the ………………… of the ladder are resting on a clean, hard surface.
25. Protect the ladder from vehicles by using ………………..
26. Use a …………………… to keep people away from the ladder.
27. Keep the ladder in place using ties rather than ………………

Section 3
Read the text below and answer questions 28-40.

The story of the Fosbury Flop

A On October 20, 1968 a 21 year old university student from the USA called Dick Fosbury completely transformed the sport of high jumping with a gold medal and Olympic record jump of 2.24 mts at the Mexico City games. Forbury accomplished this fabulous feat by sailing over crossbar head first and backward. As colorfully described that day by the Los Angeles Times, “Fosbury goes over the bar like a guy being pushed out of a 30 storey window.’

B At first when asked about how this unorthodox manoeuvre originated, Fosbury would joke with sportswriters, informing some that because of this university background in physics and engineering he had initially designed the Flop on paper and telling others that he had accidentally discovered this technique when he once tripped and fell backward on his take off. However in later interviews Fosbury revealed that the technique actually unfolded over many years and involved countless trials and errors. “It was simply a natural technique that evolved.” He said, “I never thought about how to change it and I am sure my coach was going crazy because it kept evolving. I didn’t know anyone else in the world would be able to use it.”

C Fosbury explained that when he first learned to high jump at the age of 10 or 11, he tried jumping with the scissors style. He said, “ I used that style until I went into high school where my coach explained that I was never going to get anywhere with that technique. He started me with the belly roll technique. However I was really lousy with that style. I expressed my frustration to coach and he said that if I really wanted I could still use the scissors.”

So in his next competition, Fosbury went back to the scissors style. He explained, “As the bar was raised each time, I began to lift my hips up and my shoulders went back in reaction to that. At the end of the competition I had improved my best by 15 cm to 1 m 78 and even placed third. The next two years in high school with my curved approach I began to lead with my shoulder and eventually was going over head first like today’s Floppers.”

D In this way, the Flop evolved, not from design, but from a trial and error process which combined repeated effort with the biomechanics of Fosbury’s gangling 1 m 93 physique. Sports Illustrated writer Richard Hoffer wrote, ”It was on-site engineering his body and mind working together making reflexive adjustment with only one goal getting over the bar. Hoffer explained that although Fosbury’s arms and legs seemed to be all over the place, those movements that served to get him a centimeter higher were retained, while the others were gradually eliminated as the technique evolved.

E What did Fosbury think of the seeming awkwardness of his Flop? “I believe that the Flop was a natural style,” he said, “And I was just the first to find it. I can say that because the Canadian jumper Debbie Brill was a few years younger than I was and also developed the same technique only a few years after me and without ever having seen me.”

A striking coincidence? Yes indeed. But perhaps not as striking as the fact that a high school student called Bruce Quande was photographed on May 24, 1963 flopping backward over the crossbar. This was the same month that Fosbury recalls having flopped for the first time in the competition when he was at high school.

F But completing the Flop successfully was only half the battle the return to earth still had to be negotiated. Few would even consider such an experiment knowing they had have to land on their necks. When Fosbury was jumping in high school he had to land in pits which were filled with wood chips, sawdust or sand. On one occasion Fosbury hit his head on the wooden border or the pit. Another time he landed totally out of the pit, flat on his back knocking the wind out of him. The next year Fosbury’s high school became the first in the region to install foam rubber in its high jump pit thereby cushioning the jumper’s fall and encouraging the use of the potentially dangerous Flop. The Fosbury Flop and cushioned landing areas thus appear to have co-evolved.

G Fosbury explains how he came to name the Flop. “I am very proud that I received the naming rights. But the term by which the style is known did not appear overnight. To tell the truth the first time was that I was interviewed and asked ‘What do you call this?’ I used my engineering analytical side and I referred to it as a back lay out.’ It was not interesting and the journalist didn’t even write it down. I noted this. The next time that I was interviewed that’s when I said: ‘Well at home in my town they call it the Fosbury Flop’ – and everyone wrote it down. I was the first time to call it that but it came from a caption on a newspaper photo that said: “Fosbury flops over bar.’ The context was that our town was on a river, very popular for fishing an hour from the Pacific Ocean. And when you land a fish on the bank it’s flopping. That’s the action and so it’s a good description by a journalist and I remembered it.”

Questions 28-32
The text above has seven sections A-G. Which section mentions the following?

28. A suggestion that Fosbury should change his way of jumping.
29. A reference to an opportunity offered to Fosbury that made him feel honored.
30. A reference to the fact that Fosbury was a very influential high jumper.
31. Conflicting explanations given by Fosbury for the way the idea for the Fosbury Flop began.
32. A reference to a time when Fosbury was dissatisfied with his athletic performance.

Questions 33-36
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.

33. When interviewed about his development of the Fosbury Flop, Dick Fosbury
A always insisted that he had carefully designed it on scientific principles
B said he wanted to develop a technique by an injury he suffered while making a jump
C claimed it was inspired by an injury he suffered while making a jump
D stated that it had been done gradually without any overall pain

34. Fosbury achieved a sudden improvement in the height he could jump when he
A started to adapt the scissors technique
B became much more determined to win competitions
C decided to abandon the scissors technique
D found a new way of using the belly roll style

35. When describing the way that Fosbury’s jump evolved, Richard Hoffer stressed that
A Fosbury’s height slowed down his progress
B the process was more controlled that it appeared
C Forbury was not really aware of his own technique
D the process included specialist input from engineers

36. Fosbury defended his idea that his style of jumping was natural by pointing out that
A it was achievable by younger jumpers
B it was copied successfully by other athletes
C it was achievable without any special training
D it was independently discovered by other athletes

Questions 37-40
Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage.

How the Fosbury Flop got its name

When first interviewed, Fosbury called his jumping style a (37) ………………… but he realised that this had not made an impression on the (38) ………………. .In his next interview, he used a name taken from the description given to a newspaper photo – and this was the name that everyone noted. He says the name was appropriate because his town is near a (39) ………………….. and a (40) …………… does a similar type of flopping movement when brought to land.

Section 1
Read the text below and answer questions 1-5.

Arriving in Singapore by plane

Baggage claim
You can refer to the flight information television screens on Level Two for the allocation of your baggage claim belt. Free trolleys are available near all baggage claim belts and our friendly porters are at your service on request. Should you require their assistance with carrying luggage, please ask at the Information Desk. You can proceed to the Lost and Found Counter for advice if you cannot find your baggage or would like to report damaged baggage.

Customs clearance
Please use the Green Channel for your baggage clearance if you do not have controlled or prohibited items to declare, or have not exceeded your Duty-Free Concession. Please use the Red Channel if you have items to declare or are in doubt.

Hotel reservations

You can make these at the hotel reservation counter with S$10.00 per reservation deposit, deductible from your hotel bill at the end of your stay. These counters do not handle the transit hotels. For these go to the reception desk on level three.

Question 1-5
Which places would you go to in the following situations? Write the correct letters A-H in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

List of places
A Information Desk
B Hotel Reservation Counter
C Lost and Found Counter
D Red Channel
E Green Channel
F Level Two
G Reception Desk
H Baggage Claim Belt

1. You find after your flight that your suitcase has split
2. You want to reserve a room at a transit hotel
3. You are not sure if you have bought too much in the duty free shop
4. You are not sure where to collect your luggage after your flight
5. You need someone to help you with your suitcases

Read the text below and answer questions 6-10

Singapore Airport

Goods and Services Tax (GST) relief
A 3% GST is levied on the sale of all goods imported into Singapore. If you are a visitor returning citizen or permanent resident of Singapore you may be granted GST relief under certain conditions.

Tax free shopping
As a tourist or visitor you can apply for a refund at customs of the 3% GST on goods purchased during your stay in Singapore provided you:

– shop at stores with the ‘Tax free shopping’ logo spend a minimum amount of S$100 at any one shop and at least S$300 in total obtain a Global Refund Cheque from the place of purchase

When collecting your refund you have several choices – cash, bank cheque or Changi Airport Shopping Voucher which comes with an additional 10% in value.

Please note that a handling fee will be deducted from the GST amount for the refund service.

Questions 6-10
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text. In boxes 6-10 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

6. Everyone is obliged to pay 3% tax on goods they bring into Singapore
7. You can only reclaim tax on purchases made in certain shops
8. If you have spend a total of S$150 on your purchases you can get a tax refund
9. You have to reclaim your tax within a certain amount of time
10. You will be charged a certain amount for administration when you get the tax back

Read the text below and answer questions 11-14.

Singapore Guide: A walk around the Orchard Road District

The route begins just opposite the Orchard MRT station at the Singapore Marriott Hotel. This eye catching landmark has a distinctive Chinese styled green roof and red pillars.

In 1958 a former lace padler C K Tang, foresaw that the area could become a bustling shopping centre since residents in the neighbouring Tanglin district had to pass enroute to work at the commercial centre Raffles Place. So with roof tiles brought in from his hometown in the Swatow province of China, Tang built a department store on what was then a cheap isolated plot of land. The plot faced a cemetery which is consolidated a bad omen in Chinese culture. His foresight paid off. Today Tangs is one of Singapore’s most prominent and recognised home grown department stores proudly showcasing local fashion and household products. Even when the original building was torn down in 1982 to give way to the present superstore and skyscraper hotel it retained its unique Chinese architecture.

From the foyer at Tangs turn left to Lucky Plaza. One of the oldest along Orchard Road, this mall is a perennial favourite with shoppers. Be amazed by the staggering array of cosmetics, jewellery, leather goods and hi-fi equipment. Prices though are not always fixed so bring along a good set of bargaining skills.

Coming out of Lucky Plaza continue along Orchard Road and enter the Paragon Shopping Centre. Apart from a wide range of shops and restaurants there is also a Singapore Airlines Service centre to facilitate bookings and offer information to tourists. Also available are a number of computer terminals for self booking. Check out the life-sized sculptures by a well known Taiwanese sculptor Sun Yu-li outside the shopping centre. These were inspired by depictions of life in rock paintings dating back 20000 years ago in Inner Mongolia.

Questions 11-14
Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage.

11. The Singapore Marriott Hotel is described as an …………..
12. The land that Tang bought was located opposite a ………….
13. The …….. of the new Tang building is very similar to that of the original building.
14. Access to several …………….. at the Singapore Airline Service Centre means that you don’t need to wait for assistance.

Section 2
Read the text below and answer questions 15-20.

Writing a personal CV that will attract employers

You are unique. No-one has the same behavioural make-up that you have. Likewise, everyone’s career history is also unique. Why is it then that a great many CVs are mostly descriptions of past jobs or standard CV templates and give away very little about the individual behind the CV? It’s almost as if the majority of job seekers are afraid to let their own personality shine through.

Perhaps in a corporate world where everyone feels they have to have the same professional image — dress in dark, formal suits, for example — the same is subconsciously felt to be true for CV writing. But there’s a difficulty here: you want your CV to stand out and yet at the same time are afraid of saying anything that might make you stand out? The problem with the above thinking is painfully clear. Your CV will be dull, and likely to be swiftly passed over by an employer. Surely it is much better to be brave? To define your personal brand, as marketers might say. This isn’t about making unsupportable statements: it’s about choosing words that describe the qualities that drive your success. In short, what makes you good at your job.

Writing about oneself can sometimes be difficult. It involves the ability to see yourself from different people’s viewpoints. Working with a professional CV writer is one way to achieve that and to present your character positively within a CV. Asking a colleague that you trust is also a good way to find out
how others see your strengths.

Try not to use classic recruitment clichés. Everyone says they have great. ‘communication’ or ‘organisational’ skills. This gets ignored by recruiters. So, instead think carefully about who you are and what you bring and then. try to describe yourself. In that way you give recruiters something original to engage With, something that grabs their attention.

Questions 15-20
Complete the sentences below. Choose ONLY ONE WORD from the passage.

15. Many job applicants do not dare to reveal in a CV what their real ……………. is.
16. If applicants do not include what makes them distinctive their CVs are likely to appear …………. to the reader.
17. Applicants need to find ways to define the …………… that make them do well in their work.
18. It can be helpful for applicants to try to base a consideration of themselves on the ………. of others.
19. Requesting the input of a dependable ……………….. can help an applicant work out their own good points.
20. It is best to avoid the …………… used by many applicants when describing themselves in a CV.

Read the text below and answer Questions 21-27.

The value of being organised at work

Being organised is one of the most effective skills a businessperson can acquire because when were organised. we think more clearly. We’re in tune With our targets and know how to reach them. Here are my top tips to bring order to your business life:

Organise your workspace
Don’t underestimate time lost or stress caused from an inefficient working
environment. To restore order:

Cut down documents and stationery to the bare essentials. Be ruthless and remove anything that doesn’t directly serve a function in your day-to-day activity. One or two carefully selected photos to make your desk feel like home are fine, but avoid too many.

Create locations where you will keep all your work materials to make retrieval easy. Do this logically based on where you tend to use the items; for example, store spare copy paper near the printer. Move outside your immediate reach anything you use infrequently. Always return items once you have used them so they’ll be where you expect them next time.

Frustration ensues when you’re searching for a client proposal, but it’s buried among random papers. Eliminate desktop chaos by using trays, magazine files, or whatever you fancy and add clear labels such as ‘In’, ‘Out’, ‘For Action’, ‘Current Projects’ or other relevant categories.

Be brutally honest about What you must keep. Studies suggest that 80% of what we file is never accessed again. Ask: do | know of a tax or legal requirement for retaining it? Why would this be important to me in future? Avoid ‘miscellaneous’ as a category — you Won’t remember What’s in there.

Effective planning
Plan your work; work your plan. Time spent planning saves untold hours in execution. Implementing regular planning strategies will sharpen your focus, thereby keeping you on track with your work. Start planning today for tomorrow. Near the close of each work day, implement a 10- to 15-minute routine to wrap up loose ends and prioritise key tasks. A good plan for tomorrow allows you to clear your head and enjoy your evening. Once a week, ring-fence a 60-to 90-minute appointment with yourself for larger scale planning. Use the time to do research or any of the thinking that normally takes aback seat.

Questions 21-27
Complete the notes below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage.

How to become more organised at work
Maintaining order in the work area involves
– keeping the minimum amount of necessary (21) ……………… and paperwork
– restricting the number of personal (22) ………….. on the work surface
– deciding on sensible (23) ……………… for things that are needed regularly or hardly ever
– placing containers on the desk identified by (24) ……………… to organise on going paperwork
– storing documents if there is an official (25) ……………… to do so

Planning ahead is important because
– in general it will improve the employee’s (26) ……………… on work
– thinking about the next day’s work ensure important (27) ……………. are given due attention

Section 3
Read the text below and answer questions 28-40.

A significant development in mining safety

A Coal has been used as a source of fuel for over 5,000 years, but for most of that time it was probably gathered from places where it was exposed on the surface of the ground. It is possible that the Romans undertook some mining, but coal mines across Europe largely date from the 13th century. Thereafter coal production increased steadily and it gradually replaced charcoal and wood as a source of heat and energy.

Initially, coal mines were fairly shallow, but they quickly reached the point where artificial lighting was necessary. At first the lights used would have been no different from those used domestically – candles and simple oil lamps. But as coal mines became deeper, miners encountered a new and terrible problem — firedamp. This was a natural gas, principally consisting of methane, that exploded on contact with a naked flame. The first known major firedamp explosion, which killed 99 people, took place in Belgium in 1514 and as new technology was used to mine at increasingly deep levels, the problem got worse.

B The simplest solution was to improve the ventilation of the mine. Many mines had only one shaft leading from the surface down to the working area below. Ventilation could be improved to some extent by dividing this into a downcast (bringing in fresh air) and an upcast (returning foul air and firedamp to the surface).

But what was really needed was a safe lamp that could not ignite firedamp. The earliest forms of safety lighting sought to produce light without using a naked flame. One early method tried to utilise the fact that skins removed from decaying fish contain the element phosphorus, which emits light in the form of phosphorescence. Unfortunately, this phosphorus is highly toxic, flammable and can self-ignite-hardly desirable properties in a safety light.

An alternative was a device invented in about 1750, consisting of a flint which struck against a piece of iron when a handle was turned, creating a shower of sparks which lit up the surrounding area. These were believed to be too cool to ignite firedamp. This device had major drawbacks — extra manpower had to be used to operate it continuously, and it also required regular maintenance and replacement. But worst of all, it was not in fact safe, and numerous accidents were caused when the sparks ignited firedamp. Nonetheless, it was considered to be the least dangerous form of lighting at the time.

C By about 1810 the problem was becoming acute, and in some cases there was no alternative to working in the dark. Some mines were being forced to stop production, with serious economic consequences for the mine owners and local communities. The general response, however, was to keep going and reluctantly accept the inevitable deaths from ignition of firedamp as a regrettable, but not especially remarkable, consequence of coal mining.

The miners themselves could do little w they were largely illiterate, and depended on the mine owners for a livelihood However, the clerical, medical and legal professions were beginning to take notice. After 92 men and boys were killed in 1812 by an explosion at Felling Colliery in northern England, several professional people took action and a society was set up to raise funds for the discovery of new methods of lighting and ventilating mines. The first report of the society stated, ‘It is to scientific men only that we must look up for assistance in providing a cheap and effectual remedy.’

D As the leading chemist of the day, and an expert on gases, Sir Humphrey Davy was a natural choice from whom to seek help, and he was approached by the society in 1815. The general belief nowadays is that he was the inventor of the first miners’ safety lamp, in which the flame was enclosed by a mesh screen containing very small holes. Air could enter the lamp through the holes, but they were too small to allow the flame of the lamp to pass through them and ignite any firedamp present in the mine tunnels. Davy presented a paper describing the lamp in November 1815, and it was trialled in January 1816.

However, a few weeks prior to Davy’s presentation, an engineer called George Stephenson had independently designed and demonstrated a lamp based on the same scientific principles. After much discussion and argument, he was eventually recognised as deserving equal credit for the discovery, but the time needed for this recognition to be given meant that the miners’ safety lamp had already been called the ‘Davy lamp’ and it is called that today.

E But in fact, the real inventor of the safety lamp was a man called Dr William Reid Clanny, who in 1813 had been awarded a silver medal by the Royal Society of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce for his own version of a safety lamp. Clancy’s first lamp did not fulfil the needs of the ordinary working miner as it was rather heavy and cumbersome.

But rather than seeking to glory in his achievement, he recognised its deficiencies and continued to work to improve it, as well as sharing his knowledge with others. George Stephenson acknowledged a debt to Clanny’s research, and Humphrey Davy visited him in 1815 shortly before completing the design for his own safety lamp but to this day Dr Clanny remains a forgotten hero.

Questions 28-32
The text has five sections A-E. Choose the correct heading for each section from the list below.

List of Headings
i A controversy over two versions of an invention
ii The need to mine deeper for good quality coal
iii Growing awareness of the need to improve conditioners for miners
iv A new danger caused by developments in mining
v The impact of poor air quality in mines on miner’s health
vi Early attempts to provide lighting without flames
vii A demand by miners for new technology
viii A person whose work never received full recognition

28. Section A
29. Section B
30. Section C
31. Section D
32. Section E

Questions 33-36
Complete the summary below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage.

The problem of providing artificial lighting in coal mines

Coal mines in Europe only really developed from the 13th century. As they became deeper, the methods used for lighting them created a risk of (33) ………………. due to the presence of fiAcredamp. One solution was to improve ventilation by separating the (34) ………….. into two parts. However better lighting was also needed. One suggestion was to use a chemical found in the skins of fish, but this was found to be unsafe. Another possibility was a device which created (35) ……………. as it was believed these would not ignite the gas. However, this required additional (36) …………… as well as maintenance and replacement and it was also unsafe.

Questions 37-40
Choose the correct letter A-D.

37. What does the write say about mine owners in 1810?
A Most of them disregarded safety issues
B They were criticised for conditions in the mines
C Most of them used unfair pressure to keep mines open
D They were unaware of how dangerous the mines were

38. According to the writer, what was the significance of the explosion at Felling Colliery in 1812?
A It led to increased legal protection for miners
B It led to a change in public attitudes to mining safety
C It demonstrated the lack of concern of certain groups towards the miners
D It started a movement to give miners proper training in safety procedures

39. The lamp presented by Davy was safer than previous methods of lighting because its flame?
A Could not remain alight for long time
B Did not get large enough to ignite the firedamp
C Did not have any contact with the air
D Could not pass beyond the mesh screen

40. What does the writer say about Davy and Stephenson?
A Davy refused to accept Stephenson’s work as it had not been fully trialled
B Davy insisted on the safety lamp being named after him rather than Stephenson
C Stephenson claimed Davy’s work was based on false principles
D Stephenson produced a working example of a safety lamp before Davy

Bats To The Rescue

There are few places in the world where relations between agriculture and conservation are more strained. Madagascar’s forests are being converted to agricultural land at a rate of one percent every year. Much of this destruction is fuelled by the cultivation of the country’s main staple crop: rice. And a key reason for this destruction is that insect pests are destroying vast quantities of what is grown by local subsistence farmers, leading them to clear forest to create new paddy fields. The result is devastating habitat and biodiversity lo^ on the island, but not all species are suffering. In fact, some of the island’s insectivorous bats currently thriving and this has important implications for farmers and conservationists alike.

Enter University of Cambridge zoologist Ricardo Rocha. He’s passionate about conservation, and bats. More specifically, he’s interested in bats are responding to human activity and deforestation in particular. Rocha’s new s’udy shows that several species of bats are giving Madagascar’s rice farmers a vital pest control service by feasting on plagues of insects. And this, he believes, can ease the financial pressure on farmers to turn forest into fields. Bats comprise roughly one-fifth of all mammal species in Madagascar and thirty-six recorded bat species are native to the island, making it one of the most important regions for conservation of this animal group anywhere in the world.

Co-leading an international team of scientists, Rocha found that several species of indigenous bats are taking advantage of habitat modification to hunt insects swarming above the country’s rice fields. They include the Malagasy mouse-eared bat, Major’s long-fingered bat, the Malagasy white-bellied free-tailed bat and Peters’ wrinkle-lipped bat. ‘These winner species are providing a valuable free service to Madagascar as biological pest suppressors,’ says Rocha. ‘We found that six species of bat are preying on rice pests, including the paddy swarming caterpillar and grass webworm. The damage which these insects cause puts the island’s farmers under huge financial pressure and that encourages deforestation.’

The study, now published in the journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, set out to investigate the feeding activity of insectivorous bats in the farmland bordering the Ranomafana National Park in the southeast of the country. Rocha and his team used state-of-the-art ultrasonic recorders to record over a thousand bat ‘feeding buzzes’ (echolocation sequences used by bats to target their prey) at 54 sites, in order to identify the favourite feeding spots of the bats. They next used DNA barcoding techniques to analyse droppings collected from bats at the different sites.

The recordings revealed that bat activity over rice fields was much higher than it was in continuous forest – seven times higher over rice fields which were on flat ground, and sixteen times higher over fields on the sides of hills – leaving no doubt that the animals are preferentially foraging in these man-made ecosystems. The researchers suggest that the bats favour these fields because lack of water and nutrient run-off make these crops more susceptible to insect pest infestations. DNA analysis showed that all six species of bat had fed on economically important insect pests. While the findings indicated that rice farming benefits most from the bats, the scientists also found indications that the bats were consuming pests of other crops, including the black twig borer (which infests coffee plants), the sugarcane cicada, the macadamia nut-borer, and the sober tabby (a pest of citrus fruits). ‘The effectiveness of bats as pest controllers has already been proven in the USA and Catalonia,’ said co-author James Kemp, from the University of Lisbon. ‘But our study is the first to show this happening in Madagascar, where the stakes for both farmers and conservationists are so high.’

Local people may have a further reason to be grateful to their bats. While the animal is often associated with spreading disease, Rocha and his team found evidence that Malagasy bats feed not just on crop pests but also on mosquitoes – carriers of malaria, Rift Valley fever virus and elephantiasis – as well as blackflies, which spread river blindness. Rocha points out that the relationship is complicated. When food is scarce, bats become a crucial source of protein for local people. Even the children will hunt them. And as well as roosting in trees, the bats sometimes roost in buildings, but are not welcomed there because they make them unclean. At the same time, however, they are associated with sacred caves and the ancestors, so they can be viewed as beings between worlds, which makes them very significant in the culture of the people. And one potential problem is that while these bats are benefiting from farming, at the same time deforestation is reducing the places where they can roost, which could have long-term effects on their Lumbers. Rocha says, ‘With the right help, we hope that farmers can promote this mutually beneficial relationship by installing bat houses.’

Rocha and his colleagues believe that maximising bat populations can help to boost crop yields and promote sustainable livelihoods. The team is now calling for further research to quantify this contribution. ‘I’m very optimistic,’ says Rocha. ‘If we give nature a hand, we can speed up the process of regeneration.’

Questions 1-6
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 1-6 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. Many Madagascan forests are being destroyed by attacks from insects.
2. Loss of habitat has badly affected insectivorous bats in Madagascar.
3. Ricardo Rocha has carried out studies of bats in different parts of the world.
4. Habitat modification has resulted in indigenous bats in Madagascar becoming useful to farmers.
5. The Malagasy mouse-eared bat is more common than other indigenous bat species in Madagascar.
6. Bats may feed on paddy swarming caterpillars and grass webworms.

Questions 7-13
Complete the table below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

The Study Carried Out By Rocha’s Team

Aim	– To investigate the feeding habits of bats in farmland near the Ronamafana National Park
Method	– Ultrasonic recording to identify favorite feeding spots – DNA analysis of bat (7)……………………
Findings	The bats – were most active in rice fields located on hills – ate pests of rice (8)………………..sugarcane, nuts and fruit – prevent the spread of disease by eating (9)…………..and blackflies Local attitudes to bats are mixed – they provide food rich in (10)……………… – the buildings where they roost become (11)……………… – they plan an important role in local (12)…………………
Recommendation	– Farmers should provide special (13)………………to support the bat population

Does Education Fuel Economic Growth?

A Over the last decade, a huge database about the lives of southwest German villagers between 1600 and 1900 has been compiled by a team led by Professor Sheilagh Ogilvie at Cambridge University’s Faculty of Economics. It includes court records, guild ledgers, parish registers, village censuses, tax lists and – the most recent addition – 9,000 handwritten inventories listing over a million personal possessions belonging to ordinary women and men across three centuries. Ogilvie, who discovered the inventories in the archives of two German communities 30 years ago, believes they may hold the answer t a conundrum that has long puzzled economists: the lack of evidence for a causal link between education and a country’s economic growth.

B As Ogilvie explains, ‘Education helps us to work more productively, invent better technology, and earn more … surely it must be critical for economic growth? But, if you look back through history, there’s no evidence that having a high literacy rate made a country industrialise earlier.’ Between 1600 and 1900, England had only mediocre literacy rates by European standards, yet its economy g -ew fast and it was the first country to industrialise. During this period, German and Scandinavia had excellent literacy rates, but their economies grew slowly and they industrialised late. ‘Modern cross-country analyses have also struggled to find evidence that education causes economic growth, even though there is plenty of evidence that growth increases education,’ she adds.

C In the handwritten inventories that Ogilvie is analysing are the belongings of women and men at marriage, remarriage and death. From badger skins to Bibles, sewing machines to scarlet bodices – the villagers’ entire worldly goods are included. Inventories of agricultural equipment and craft tods reveal economic activities; ownership of books and education- related objects like pens and slates suggests how people learned. In addition, the tax lists included in the database record the value of farms, workshops, assets and debts; signatures and people’s estimates of their age indicate literacy and numeracy levels; and court records reveal obstacles (such as the activities of the guilds) that stifled industry. Previous studies usually had just one way of linking education with economic growth – the presence of schools and printing presses, perhaps, or school enrolment, or the ability to sign names. According to Ogilvie, the database provides multiple indicators for the same individuals, making it possible to analyse links between literacy, numeracy, wealth, and industriousness, for individual women and men over the long term.

D Ogilvie and her team have been building the vast database of material possessions on top of their full demographic reconstruction of the people who lived in these two German communities. ‘We can follow the same people – and their descendants – across 300 years of educational and economic change,’ she says. Individual lives have unfolded before their eyes. Stories like that of the 24-year-olds Ana Regina and Magdalena Riethmullerin, who were chastised in 1707 for reading books in church instead of listening to the sermon. ‘This tells us they were continuing to develop their reading skills at least a decade after leaving school,’ explains Ogilvie. The database also reveals the case of Juliana Schweickherdt, a 50-year-old spinster living in the small Black Forest community of Wildberg, who was reprimanded in 1752 by the local weavers’ guild for ‘weaving cloth and combing wool, counter to the guild ordinance’. When Juliana continued taking jobs reserved for male guild members, she was summoned before the guild court and told to pay a fine equivalent to one third of a servant’s annual wage. It was a small act of defiance by today’s standards, but it reflects a time when laws in Germany and elsewhere regulated people’s access to labour markets. The dominance of guilds not only prevented people from using their skills, but also held back even the simplest industrial innovation.

E The data-gathering phase of the project has been completed md now, according to Ogilvie, it is time ‘to ask the big questions’. One way to look at whether education causes economic growth is to ‘hold wealth constant’. This involves following the lives of different people with the same level of wealth over a period of time. If wealth is constant, it is possible to discover whether education was, for example, linked to the cultivation of new crops, or to the adoption of industrial innovations like sewing machines. The team will also ask what aspect of education helped people engage more with productive and innovative activities. Was it, for instance, literacy, numeracy, book ownership, years of schooling? Was there a threshold level – a tipping point – that needed to be reached to affect economic performance?

F Ogilvie hopes to start finding answers to these questions over the next few years. One thing is already clear, fie says: the relationship between education and economic growth is far from straightforward. ‘German-speaking central Europe is an excellent laboratory for testing theor.es of economic growth,’ she explains. Between 1600 and 1900, literacy rates and book ownership were high and yet the region remained poor. It was also the case that local guilds and merchant associations were extremely powerful and legislated against anything that undermined their monopolies. In villages throughout the region, guilds blocked labour migration and resisted changes that might reduce their influence. ‘Early findings suggest that the potential benefits of education for the economy can be held back by other barriers, and this has implications for today,’ says Ogilvie. ‘Huge amounts are spent improving education in developing countries, but this spending can fail to deliver economic growth if restrictions block people – especially women and the poor – from using their education in economically productive ways. If economic institutions are poorly set up, for instance, education can’t lead to growth.’

Questions 14-18
Reading Passage has six sections, A-F. Which section contains the following information?

14. an explanation of the need for research to focus on individuals with a fairly consistent income
15. examples of the sources the database has been compiled from
16. an account of one individual’s refusal to obey an order
17. a reference to a region being particularly suited to research into tie link between education and economic growth
18. examples of the items included in a list of personal possessions

Questions 19-22
Complete the summary below. Choose ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.

Demographic reconstruction of two German communities

The database that Ogilvie and her team has compiled sheds light on the lives of a range of individuals, as well as those of their (19) ……………….. , over a 300-year period. For example, Ana Regina and Magdalena Riethmullerin were reprimanded for reading while they should have been paying attention to a (20) ……………… There was also Juliana Schweickherdt, who came to the notice of the weavers’ guild in the year 1752 for breaking guild rules. As a punishment, she was later given a (21) …………………. Cases like this illustrate how the guilds could prevent (22) ………………. and stop skilled people from working.

Questions 23 and 24
Choose TWO letters, A-E. Write the correct letters in boxes 23 and 24 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about literacy rates in Section B?
A Very little research has been done into the link between high literacy rates and improved earnings.
B Literacy rates in Germany between 1600 and 1900 were very good.
C There is strong evidence that high literacy rates in the modern world result in economic growth.
D England is a good example of how high literacy rates helped a country industrialise.
E Economic growth can help to improve literacy rates.

Questions 25 and 26
Choose TWO letters, A-E. Write the correct letters in boxes 25 and 26 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make in Section F about guilds in German-speaking Central Europe between 1600 and 1900?
A They helped young people to learn a skill.
B They were opposed to people moving to an area for work.
C They kept better records than guilds in other parts of the world.
D They opposed practices that threatened their control over a trade.
E They predominantly consisted of wealthy merchants.

Timur Gareyev – Blindfold Chess Champion

A Next month, a chess player named Timur Gareyev will take on nearly 50 opponents at once. But that is not the hard part. While his challengers will play the games as normal, Gareyev himself will be blindfolded. Even by world record standards, it sets a high bar for human performance. The 28-year-old already stands out in the rarefied world of blindfold chess. He has a fondness for bright clothes and unusual hairstyles, and he gets his kicks from the adventure sport of BASE jumping. He has already proved himself a strong chess player, too. In a 10-hour chess marathon in 2013, Gareyev played 33 games in his head simultaneously. He won 29 and lost none. The skill has become his brand: he calls himself the Blindfold King.

B But Gareyev’s prowess has drawn interest from beyond the chess-playing community. In the hope of understanding how he and others like him can perform such mental feats, researchers at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) called him in for tests. They now have their first results. ‘The ability to play a game of chess with your eyes closed is not a far reach for most accomplished players,’ said Jesse Rissman, who runs a memory lab at UCLA. ‘But the thing that’s so remarkable about Timur and a few other individuals is the number of games they can keep active at once. To me it is simply astonishing.’

C Gareyev learned to play chess in his native Uzbekistan when he was six years old. Tutored by his grandfather, he entered his first tournament aged eight and soon became obsessed with competitions. At 16, he was crowned Asia’s youngest ever chess grandmaster. He moved to the US soon after, and as a student helped his university win its first national chess championship. In 2013, Gareyev was ranked the third best chess player in the US.

D To the uninitiated, blindfold chess seems to call for superhuman skill. But displays of the feat go back centuries. The first recorded game in Europe was played in 13th-century Florence. In 1947, the Argentinian grandmaster Miguel Najdorf played 45 simultaneous games in his mind, winning 39 in the 24-hour session.

E Accomplished players can develop the skill of playing blind even without realising it. The nature of the game is to run through possible moves in the mind to see how they play out. From this, regular players develop a memory for the patterns the pieces make, the defences and attacks. ‘You recreate it in your mind,’ said Gareyev. ‘A lot of players are capable of doing what I’m doing.’ The real mental challenge comes from playing multiple games at once in the head. Not only must the positions of each piece on every board be memorised, they must be recalled faithfully when needed, updated with each player’s moves, and then reliably stored again, so the brain can move on to the next board. First moves can be tough to remember because they are fairly uninteresting. But the ends of games are taxing too, as exhaustion sets in. When Gareyev is tired, his recall can get patchy. He sometimes makes moves based on only a fragmented memory of the pieces’ positions.

F The scientists first had Gareyev perform some standard memory tests. These assessed his ability to hold numbers, pictures and words in mind. One classic test measures how many numbers a person can repeat, both forwards and backwards, soon after hearing them. Most people manage about seven. ‘He was not exceptional on any of these standard tests,’ said Rissman. ‘We didn’t find anything other than playing chess that he seems to be supremely gifted at.’ But next came the brain scans. With Gareyev lying down in the machine, Rissman looked at how well connected the various regions of the chess player’s brain were. Though the results are tentative and as yet unpublished, the scans found much greater than average communication between parts of Gareyev’s brain that make up what is called the frontoparietal control network. Of 63 people scanned alongside the chess player, only one or two scored more highly on the measure. ‘You use this network in almost any complex task. It helps you to allocate attention, keep rules in mind, and work out whether you should be responding or not,’ said Rissman.

G It was not the only hint of something special in Gareyev’s brain. The scans also suggest that Gareyev’s visual netwik is more highly connected to other brain parts than usual. Initial results suggest that the areas of his brain that process visual images – such as chess boards – may have stronger links to other brain regions, and so be more powerful than normal. While the analyses are not finalised yet, they may hold the first clues to Gareyev’s extraordinary ability.

H For the world record attempt, Gareyev hopes to play 47 blindfold games at once in about 16 hours. He will need to win 80% to claim the title. ‘I don’t worry too much about the winning percentage, that’s never been an issue for me,’ he said. ‘The most important part of blindfold chess for me is that I have found the one thing that I can fully dedicate myself to. I miss having an obsession.’

Questions 27-32
Reading Passage has eight paragraphs, A-H. Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once.

27. a reference to earlier examples of blindfold chess
28. an outline of what blindfold chess involves
29. a claim that Gareyev’s skill is limited to chess
30. why Gareyev’s skill is of interest to scientists
31. an outline of Gareyev’s priorities
32. a reason why the last part of a game may

Questions 33-36
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there s no information about this

33. In the forthcoming games, all the participants will be blindfolded.
34. Gareyev has won competitions in BASE jumping.
35. UCLA is the first university to carry out research into blindfold chess players.
36. Good chess players are likely to be able to play blindfold chess.

Questions 37-40
Complete the summary below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

How the research was carried out

The researchers started by testing Gareyev’s (37) ……………………. ; for example, he was required to recall a string of (38) ……………………. in order and also in reverse order. Although his performance was normal, scans showed an unusual amount of (39) …………………. within the areas of Gareyev’s brain that are concerned with
directing attention. In addition, the scans raised the possibility of unusual strength in the parts of his brain that deal with (40) …………………….. input.

The thylacine

The extinct thylacine, also known as the Tasmanian tiger, was a marsupial that bore a superficial resemblance to a dog. Its most distinguishing feature was the 13-19 dark brown stripes over its back, beginning at the rear of the body and extending onto the tail. The thylacine’s average nose- to-tail length for adult males was 162.6 cm, compared to 153.7 cm for females.

The thylacine appeared to occupy most types of terrain except dense rainforest, with open eucalyptus forest thought to be its prime habitat. In terms of feeding, it was exclusively carnivorous, and its stomach was muscular with an ability to distend so that it could eat large amounts of food at one time, probably an adaptation to compensate for long periods when hunting was unsuccessful and food scarce. The thylacine was not a fast runner and probably caught its prey by exhausting it during a long pursuit. During long-distance chases, thylacines were likely to have relied more on scent than any other sense. They emerged to hunt during the evening, night and early morning and tended to retreat to the hills and forest for shelter during the day. Despite the common name ‘tiger’, the thylacine had a shy, nervous temperament. Although mainly nocturnal, it was sighted moving during the day and some individuals were even recorded basking in the sun.

The thylacine had an extended breeding season from winter to spring, with indications that some breeding took place throughout the year. The thylacine, like all marsupials, was tiny and hairless when born. New-borns crawled into the pouch on the belly of their mother, and attached themselves to one of the four teats, remaining there for up to three months. When old enough to leave the pouch, the young stayed in a lair such as a deep rocky cave, well-hidden nest or hollow log, whilst the mother hunted.

Approximately 4,000 years ago, the thylacine was widespread throughout New Guinea and most of mainland Australia, as well as the island of Tasmania. The most recent, well-dated occurrence of a thylacine on the mainland is a carbon-dated fossil from Murray Cave in Western Australia, which is around 3,100 years old. Its extinction coincided closely with the arrival of wild dogs called dingoes in Australia and a similar predator in New Guinea. Dingoes never reached Tasmania, and most scientists see this as the main reason for the thylacine’s survival there.

The dramatic decline of the thylacine in Tasmania, which began in the 1830s and continued for a century, is generally attributed to the relentless efforts of sheep farmers and bounty hunters with shotguns. While this determined campaign undoubtedly played a large part, it is likely that various other factors also contributed to the decline and eventual extinction of the species. These include competition with wild dogs introduced by European settlers, loss of habitat along with the disappearance of prey species, and a distemper-like disease which may also have affected the thylacine.

There was only one successful attempt to breed a thylacine in captivity, at Melbourne Zoo in 1899. This was despite the large numbers that went through some zoos, particularly London Zoo and Tasmania’s Hobart Zoo. The famous naturalist John Gould foresaw the thylacine’s demise when he published his Mammals of Australia between 1848 and 1863, writing, ‘The numbers of this singular animal will speedily diminish, extermination will have its full . way, and it will then, like the wolf of England and Scotland, be recorded as an animal of the past.’

However, there seems to have been little public pressure to preserve the thylacine, nor was much concern expressed by scientists at the decline of this species in the decades that followed. A notable exception was T.T. Flynn, Professor of Biology at the University of Tasmania. In 1914, he was sufficiently concerned about the scarcity of the thylacine to suggest that some should be captured and placed on a small island. But it was not until 1929, with the species on the very edge of extinction, that Tasmania’s Animals and Birds Protection Board passed a motion protecting thylacines only for the month of December, which was thought to be their prime breeding season. The last known wild thylacine to be killed was shot by a farmer in the north-east of Tasmania in 1930, leaving just captive specimens. Official protection of the species by the Tasmanian government was introduced in July 193′, 59 days before the last known individual died in Hobart Zoo on 7th September, 1936.

There have been numerous expeditions and searches for the thylacine over the years, none of which has produced definitive evidence that thylacines still exist. The species was declared extinct by the Tasmanian government in 1986.

Questions 1-5
Complete the notes below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

The thylacine

Appearance and behaviour
• Looked rather like a dog
• Had a series of stripes along its body and tail
• Ate an entirely (1) ……………… diet
• Probably depended mainly on (2) ………………. when hunting
• Young spent first months of life inside its mother’s (3) …………………..

Decline and extinction
• Last evidence in mainland Australia is a 3100 year old (4) ………………
• Probably went extinct in mainland Australia due to animals knows as dingoes
• Reduction in (5) ………………. and available sources of food were partly responsible for decline in Tasmania

Questions 6-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 6-13 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

6. Significant numbers of thylacines were killed by humans from the 1830s onwards.
7. Several thylacines were born in zoos during the late 1800s.
8. John Gould’s prediction about the thylacine surprised some biologists.
9. In the early 1900s, many scientists became worried about the possible extinction of the thylacine.
10. T. T. Flynn’s proposal to rehome captive thylacines on an island proved to be impractical.
11. There were still reasonable numbers of thylacines in existence when a piece of legislation protecting the species during their breeding season was passed.
12. From 1930 to 1936, the only known living thylacines were all in captivity.
13. Attempts to find living thylacine’ are now rarely made.

Palm oil

A Palm oil is an edible oil derived from the fruit of the African oil palm tree, and is currently the most consumed vegetable oil in the world. It’s almost certainly in the soap we wash with in the morning, the sandwich we have for lunch, and the biscuits we snack on during the day. Why is palm oil so attractive for manufacturers? Primarily because its unique properties – such as remaining solid at room temperature – make it an ideal ingredient for long-term preservation, allowing many packaged foods on supermarket shelves to have ‘best before’ dates of months, even years, into the future.

B Many farmers have seized the opportunity to maximise the planting of oil palm trees. Between 1990 and 2012, the global land area devoted to growing oil palm trees grew from 6 to 17 million hectares, now accounting for around ten percent of total cropland in the entire world. From a mere two million tonnes of palm Nil being produced annually globally 50 years ago, there are now around 60 million tonnes produced every single year, a figure looking likely to double or even triple by the middle of the century.

C However, there are multiple reasons why conservationists cite the rapid spread of oil palm plantations as a major concern. There are countless news stories of deforestation, habitat destruction and dwindling species populations, all as a direct result of land clearing to establish oil palm tree monoculture on an industrial scale, particularly in Malaysia and Indonesia. Endangered species – most famously the Sumatran orangutan, but also rhinos, elephants, tigers, and numerous other fauna – have suffered from the unstoppable spread of oil palm plantations.

D ‘Palm oil is surely one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity,’ declares Dr Farnon Ellwood of the University of the West of England, Bristol. ‘Palm oil is replacing rainforest, and rainforest is where all the species are. That’s a problem.’ This has led to some radical questions among environmentalists, such as whether consumers should try to boycott palm oil entirely. Meanwhile Bhavani Shankar, Professor at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, argues, ‘It’s easy to say that palm oil is the enemy and we should be against it. It makes for a more dramatic story, and it’s very intuitive. But given the complexity of the argument, I think a much more nuanced story is closer to the truth.’

E One response to the boycott movement has been the argument for the vital role palm oil plays in lifting many millions of people in the developing world out of poverty. Is it desirable to have palm oil boycotted, replaced, eliminated from the global supply chain, given how many low-income people in developing countries depend on it for their livelihoods? How best to strike a utilitarian balance between these competing factors has become a serious bone of contention.

F Even the deforestation argument isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Oil palm plantations produce at least four and potentially up to ten times more oil per hectare than soybean, rapeseed, sunflower or other competing oils. That immensely high yield – which is predominantly what makes it so profitable – is potentially also an ecological benefit. If ten times more palm oil can be produced from a patch of land than any competing oil, then ten times more land would need to be cleared in order to produce the same volume of oil from that competitor. As for the question of carbon emissions, the issue really depends on what oil palm trees are replacing. Crops vary in the degree to which they sequester carbon – in other words, the amount of carbon they capture from the atmosphere and store within the plant. The more carbon a plant sequesters, the more it reduces the effect of climate change. As Shankar explains: ‘[Palm oil production] actually sequester- more carbon in some ways than other alternatives. […] Of course, if you’re cutting down virgin forest it’s terrible – that’s what’s happening in Indonesia and Malaysia, it’s been flowed to get out of hand. But if it’s replacing rice, for example, it might actually sequester more carbon.’

G The industry is now regulated by a group called the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), consisting of palm growers, retailers, product manufacturers, and other interested parties. Over the past decade or so, an agreement has gradually been reached regarding standards that producers of palm oil have to meet in order for their product to be regarded as officially ‘sustainable’. The RSPO insists upon no virgin forest clearing, transparency and regular assessment of carbon stocks, among other criteria. Only once these requirements are fully satisfied is the oil allowed to be sold as certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO). Recent figures show that the RSPO now certifies around 12 million tonnes of palm oil annually, equivalent to roughly 21 percent of the world’s total palm oil production.

H There is even hope that oil palm plantations might not need to be such sterile monocultures, or ‘green deserts’, as Ellwood describes them. New research at Ellwood’s lab hints at one plant which might make all the difference. The bird’s nest fern (Asplenium nidus) grows on trees in an epiphytic fashion (meaning it’s dependent on the tree only for support, not for nutrients), and is native to many tropical regions, where as a keystone species it performs a vital ecological role. Ellwood believes that reintroducing the bird’s nest fern into oil palm plantations could potentially allow these areas to recover their biodiversity, providing a home for all manner of species, from fungi and bacteria, to invertebrates such as insects, amphibians, reptiles and even mammals.

Questions 14-20
Reading Passage has eight sections, A-H. Which section contains the following information?

14. examples of a range of potential environmental advantages of oil palm tree cultivation
15. description of an organisation which controls the environmental impact of palm oil production
16. examples of the widespread global use of palm oil
17. reference to a particular species which could benefit the ecosystem of oil palm plantations
18. figures illustrating the rapid expansion of the palm oil industry
19. an economic justification for not opposing the palm oil industry
20. examples of creatures badly affected by the establishment of oil palm plantations

Questions 21 and 22
Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Which TWO statements are made about the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)?
A Its membership has grown steadily over the course of the last decade.
B It demands that certified producers be open and honest about their practices.
C It took several years to establish its set of criteria for sustainable palm oil certification.
D Its regulations regarding sustainability are stricter than those governing other industries.
E It was formed at the request of environmentalists concerned about the loss of virgin forests.

Questions 23-26
Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

23. One advantage of palm oil for manufacturers is that it stays ………………………. Even when not refrigerated.
24. The …………………….. is the best known of the animals suffering habitat loss as a result of the spread of oil palm plantations.
25. As one of its criteria for the certification of sustainable palm oil, the RSPO insists that growers check ………………… on a routine basis.
26. Ellwood and his researchers are looking into whether the bird’s nest fern could restore ……………….. in areas where oil palm trees are grown.

Building the Skyline: The Birth and Growth of Manhattan’s Skyscrapers

In Building the Skyline, Jason Barr takes the reader through a detailed history of New York City. The book combines geology, history, economics, and a lot of data to explain why business clusters developed where they did and how the early decisions of workers and firms shaped the skyline we see today. Building the Skyline is organized into two distinct parts. The first is primarily historical and addresses New York’s settlement and growth from 1609 to 1900; the second deals primarily with the 20th century and is a compilation of chapters commenting on different aspects of New York’s urban development. The tone and organization of the book changes somewhat between the first and second parts, as the latter chapters incorporate aspects of Barr’s related research papers.

Barr begins chapter one by taking the reader on a ‘helicopter time-machine’ ride – giving a fascinating account of how the New York landscape in 1609 might have looked from the sky. He then moves on to a subterranean walking – our of the city, indicating the location of rock and water below the subsoil, before taking the reader back to the surface. His love of the city comes through as he describes various fun facts about the location of the New York residence of early 19th-century vice-president Aaron Burr a.- well as a number of legends about the city.

Chapters two and three take the reader up to the Civil War (1861-1865), with chapter two focusing on the early development of land and the implementation of a grid system in 1811. Chapter three focuses on land use before the Civil War. Both chapters are informative and well researched and set the stage for the economic analysis that comes later in the book. I would have liked Barr to expand upon his claim that existing tenements prevented skyscrapers in certain neighbourhoods because ‘likely no skyscraper developer was interested in performing the necessary “slum clearance”’. Later in the book, Barr makes the claim that the depth of bedrock was not a limiting factor for developers, as foundation costs were a small fraction of the cost of development. At first glance, it is not obvious why slum clearance would be limiting, while more expensive foundations would not.

Chapter four focuses on immigration and the location of neighborhoods and tenements in the late 19th century. Barr identifies four primary immigrant enclaves and analyzes their locations in terms of the amenities available in the area. Most of these enclaves were located on the least valuable land, between the industries located on the waterfront and the wealthy neighborhoods bordering Central Park.

Part two of the book begins with a discussion of the economics of skyscraper height. In chapter five, Barr distinguishes between engineering height, economic height, and developer height — where engineering height is the tallest building that can be safely made at a given time, economic height is the height that is most efficient from society’s point of view, and developer height is the actual height chosen by the developer, who is attempting to maximize return on investment.

Chapter five also has an interesting discussion of the technological advances that led to the construction of skyscrapers. For example, the introduction of iron and steel skeletal frames made thick, load-bearing walls unnecessary, expanding the usable square footage of buildings and increasing the use of windows and availability of natural light. Chapter six then presents data on building height throughout the 20th century and uses regression analysis to ‘predict’ building construction. While less technical than the research paper on which the chapter is based, it is probably more technical than would be preferred by a general audience.

Chapter seven tackles the ‘bedrock myth’, the assumption that the absence of bedrock close to the surface between Downtown and Midtown New York is the reason for skyscrapers not being built between the two urban centers. Rather, Barr argues that while deeper bedrock does increase foundation costs, these costs were neither prohibitively high nor were they large compared to the overall cost of building a skyscraper. What I enjoyed the most about this chapter was Barr’s discussion of how foundations are actually built. He descries the use of caissons, which enable workers to dig down for considerable distances, often below the water table, until they reach bedrock. Barr’s thorough technological history discusses not only how caissons work, but also the dangers involved. While this chapter references empirical research papers, it is a relatively easy read.

Chapters eight and nine focus on the birth of Midtown and the building boom of the 1920s. Chapter eight contains lengthy discussions of urban economic theory that may serve as a distraction to reader ’ primarily interested in New York. However, they would be well-suited for undergraduates learning about the economics of cities. In the next chapter, Barr considers two of the primary explanations for the building boom of the 1920s — the first being exuberance, and the second being financing. He uses data to assess the viability of these two explanations and finds that supply and demand factors explain much of the development of the 1920s; though it enabled the boom, cheap credit was not, he argues, the primary cause.

In the final chapter (chapter 10), Barr discusses another of his empirical papers that estimates Manhattan land values from the mid-19th century to the present day. The data work that went into these estimations is particularly impressive. Toward the end of the chapter, Barr assesses ‘whether skyscrapers are a cause or an effect of high land values’. He finds that changes in land values predict future building height, but the reverse is not true. The book ends with an epilogue, in which Barr discusses the impact of climate change on the city and makes policy suggestions for New York going forward.

Questions 27-31
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

27. What point does Shester make about Barr’s book in the first paragraph?
A It gives a highly original explanation for urban development.
B Elements of Barr’s research papers are incorporated throughout the book.
C Other books that are available on the subject have taken a different approach.
D It covers a range of factors that affected the development of New York.

28. How does Shester respond to the information in the book about tenements?
A She describes the reasons for Barr’s interest.
B She indicates a potential problem with Barr’s analysis.
C She compares Barr’s conclusion with that of other wipers.
D She provides details about the sources Barr used for his research.

29. What does Shester say about chapter six of the book?
A It contains conflicting data.
B It focuses too much on possible trends.
C It is too specialised for most readers.
D It draws on research that is out of date.

30. What does Shester suggest about the chapters focusing on the 1920s building boom?
A The information should have been organised differently.
B More facts are needed about the way construction was financed.
C The explanation / a is given for the building boom is unlikely.
D Some parts will have limited appeal to certain people.

31. What impresses Shester the most about the chapter on land values?
A the broad time period that is covered
B the interesting questions that Barr asks
C the nature of the research into the topic
D the recommendations Barr makes for the future

Questions 32-35
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage? In boxes 32-35 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with 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

32. The description in the first chapter of how New York probably looked from the air in the early 1600s lacks interest.
33. Chapters two and three prepare the reader well for material yet to come.
34. The biggest problem for many nineteenth-century New York immigrant neighbourhoods was a lack of amenities.
35. In the nineteenth century, New York’s immigrant neighbourhoods tended to concentrate around the harbour.

Questions 36-40
Complete the summary using the list of phrases, A-J, below. Write the correct letter, A-J, in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.

The bedrock myth

In chapter seven, Barr indicates how the lack of bedrock close to the surface does not explain why skyscrapers are absent from (36) ………………… He points out that although the cost of foundations increases when bedrock is deep below the surface, this cannot be regarded as (37) …………………. Especially when compared to (38)………………. A particular enjoyable part of the chapter was Barr’s account of how foundations are built. He describes not only how (39) ………………. are made possible by the use of caissons, but he also discusses their (40) ………… The chapter is well researched but relatively easy to understand.

A development plans
B deep excavations
C great distance
D excessive expense
E impossible tasks
F associated risks
G water level
H specific areas
I total expenditure
J construction guidelines

The Dead Sea Scrolls

In late 1946 or early 1947, three Bedouin teenagers were tending their goats and sheep near the ancient settlement of Qumran, located on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea in what is now known as the West Bank. One of these young shepherds tossed a rock into an opening on the side of a cliff and was surprised to hear a shattering sound. He and his companions later entered the cave and stumbled across a collection of large clay jars, seven of which contained scrolls with writing on them. The teenagers took the seven scrolls to a nearby town where they were sold for a small sum to a local antiquities dealer. Word of the find spread, and Bedouins and archaeologists eventually unearthed tens of thousands of additional scroll fragments from 10 nearby caves; together they make up between 800 and 900 manuscripts. It soon became clear that this was one of the greatest archaeological discoveries ever made.

The origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which were written around 2,000 years ago between 150 BCE and 70 CE, is still the subject of scholarly debate even today. According to the prevailing theory, they are the work of a population that inhabited the area until Roman troops destroyed the settlement around 70 CE. The area was known as Judea at that time, and the people are thought to have belonged to a group called the Essenes, a devout Jewish sect.

The majority of the texts on the Dead Sea Scrolls are in Hebrew, with some fragments written in an ancient version of its alphabet thought to have fallen out of use in the fifth century BCE. Bu’ there are other languages as well. Some scrolls are in Aramaic, the language spoken by many inhabitants of the region from the sixth century BCE to the siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE. In addition, several texts feature translations of the Hebrew Bible into Greek.

The Dead Sea Scrolls include fragments from every book of the Old Testament of the Bible except for the Book of Esther. The only entire book of the Hebrew Bible preserved among the manuscripts from Qumran is Isaiah; this copy, dated to the first century BCE, is considered the earliest biblical manuscript still in existence. Along with biblical texts, the scrolls include documents about sectarian regulations and religious writings that do not appear in the Old Testament.

The writing on the Dead Sea Scrolls is mostly in black or occasionally red ink, and the scrolls themselves are nearly all made of either parchment (animal skin) or an early form of paper called ‘papyrus’. The only exception is the scroll numbered 3Q15, which was created out of a combination of copper and tin. Known as the Copper Scroll, this curious document features letters chiselled onto metal – perhaps, as some have theorized, to better withstand the passage of time. One of the most intriguing manuscripts from Qumran, this is a sort of ancient treasure map that lists dozens of gold and silver caches. Using an unconventional vocabulary and odd spelling, it describes 64 underground hiding places that supposedly contain riches buried for safekeeping. None of these hoards have been recovered, possibly because the Romans pillaged Judea during the first century CE. According to various hypotheses, the treasure belonged to local people, or was rescued from the Second Temple before its destruction or never existed to begin with.

Some of the Dead Sea Scrolls have been on interesting journeys. In 1948, a Syrian Orthodox archbishop known as Mar Samuel acquired four of the original seven scrolls from a Jerusalem shoemaker and part-time antiquity dealer, paying less than $100 for them. He then travelled to the United States and unsuccessfully offered them to a number of universities, including Yale. Finally, in 19M, he placed an advertisement in the business newspaper The Wall Street Journal’ – under the category ‘Miscellaneous Items for Sale’ – that read: ‘Biblical Manuscripts : dating back to at least 200 B.C. are for sale. This would be an ideal gift to an educational or religious institution by an individual or group.’ Fortunately, Israeli archaeologist and statesman Yigael Yadin negotiated their purchase and brought the scrolls back to Jerusalem, where they remain to this day.

In 2017, researchers from the University of Haifa restored and deciphered one of the last untranslated scrolls. The university’s Eshbal Ratson and Jonathan Ben-Dov spent one year reassembling the 60 fragments that make up the scroll. Deciphered from a band of coded text on parchment, the find provides insight into the community of people who wrote it and the 364-day calendar they would have used. The scroll names celebrations that indicate shifts in seasons and details two yearly religious events known from another Dead Sea Scroll. Only one more known scroll remains untranslated.

Questions 1-5
Complete the notes below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

The Dead Sea Scrolls
Discovery
Qumran, 1946/7
• three Bedouin shepherds in their teens were near an opening on side of cliff
• heard a noise of breaking when one teenager threw a (1) …………………….
• teenagers went into the (2) …………………. and found a number of containers made of (3) ………………..

The scrolls
• date from between 150 BCE and 70 CE
• thought to have been written by group of people known as the (4) ………………….
• written mainly in the (5) …………………. language
• most are on religious topics, written using ink on parchment or papyrus

Questions 6-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 6-13 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

6. The Bedouin teenagers who found the scrolls were disappointed by how little money they received for them.
7. There is agreement among academics about the origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
8. Most of the books of the Bible written on the scrolls are incomplete.
9. The information on the Copper Scroll is written in an unusual way.
10. Mar Samuel was given some of the scrolls as a gift.
11. In the early 1950s, a number of educational establishments in the US were keen to buy scrolls from Mar Samuel.
12. The scroll that was pieced together in 2017 contains information about annual occasions in the Qumran area 2.000 yea-s ago.
13. Academics at the University of Haifa are currently researching how to decipher the final scroll.

A second attempt at domesticating the tomato

A It took at least 3,000 years for humans to learn how to domesticate the wild tomato and cultivate it for food. Now two separate teams in Brazil and China have done it all over again in less than three years. And they have done it better in some ways, as the re-domesticated tomatoes are more nutritious than the ones we eat at present. This approach relies on the revolutionary CRISPR genome editing technique, in which changes are deliberately made to the DNA of a living cell, allowing genetic material to be added, removed or altered. The technique could not only improve existing crops, but could also be used to turn thousands of wild plants into useful and appealing foods. In fact, a third team in the US has already begun to do this with a relative of the tomato called the groundcherry.

This fast-track domestication could help make the world’s food supply healthier and far more resistant to diseases, such as the ‘us fungus devastating wheat crops. ‘This could transform what we eat,’ says Jo-g Kudla at the University of Munster in Germany, a member of the Brazilian team. ‘There are 50,000 edible plants in the world, but 90 percent of our energy comes from just 15 crops.’ ‘We can now mimic the known domestication course of major crops like rice, maize, sorghum or others,’ says Caixia Gao of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing. ‘Then we might try to domesticate plants that have never been domesticated.’

B Wild tomatoes, which, are native to the Andes region in South America, produce pea-sized fruits. many generations, peoples such as the Aztecs and Incas transformed the pint by selecting and breeding plants with mutations in their genetic structure, which resulted in desirable traits such as larger fruit. But every time a single plant with a mutation is taken from a larger population for breeding, much genetic diversity is lost. And sometimes the desirable mutations come with less desirable traits. For instance, the tomato strains grown for supermarkets have lost much of their flavour. By comparing the genomes of modern plants to those of their wild relatives, biologists have been working out what genetic changes occurred as plants were domesticated. The teams in Brazil and China have now used this knowledge to reintroduce these changes from scratch while maintaining or even enhancing the desirable traits of wild strains.

C Kudla’s team made six changes altogether. For instance, they tripled the size of fruit by editing a gene called FRUIT WEIGHT, and increased the number of tomatoes per truss by editing another called MULTIFLORA. While the historical domestication of tomatoes reduced levels of the red pigment lycopene – thought to have potential health benefits – the team in Brazil managed to boost it instead. The wild tomato has twice as much lycopene as cultivated ones; the newly domesticated one has five times as much. ‘They are quite tasty,’ says Kudla. ‘A little bit strong. And very aromatic.’ The team in China re-domesticated several strains of wild tomatoes with desirable traits lost in domesticated tomatoes. In this way they managed to create a strain resistant to a common disease called bacterial spot race, which can devastate yields. They also created another strain that is more salt tolerant – and has higher levels of vitamin C.

D Meanwhile, Joyce Van Eck at the Boyce Thompson Institute in New York state decided to use the same approach to domesticate the groundcherry or goldenberry (Physalis pruinosa) for the first time. This fruit looks similar to the closely related Cape gooseberry (Physalis peruviana). Groundcherries are already sold to a limited extent in the US but they are hard to produce because the plant has a sprawling growth habit and the small fruits fall off the branches when ripe. Van Ecks team has edited the plants to increase fruit size, make their growth more compact and to stop fruits dropping. ‘There’s potential for this to be a commercial e^,’ says Van Eck. But she adds that taking the work further would be expensive because of the need to pay for a licence for the CRISPR technology and get regulatory approval.

E This approach could boost the use of many obscure plants, says Jonathan Jones of the Sainsbury Lab in the UK. But it will be hard for new foods to grow so popular with farmers and consumers that they become new staple crops, he thinks. The three teams already have their eye on other plants that could be ‘catapulted into the mainstream’, including foxtail, oat-grass and cowpea. By choosing wild plants that are drought or heat tolerant, says Gao, we could create crops that will thrive even as the planet warms. But Kudla didn’t want to reveal which species were in his team’s sights, because CRISPR has made the process so easy. ‘Any one with the right skills could go to their lab and do this.’

Questions 14-18
Reading Passage has five sections, A-E. Which section contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once.

14. a reference to a type of tomato that can resist a dangerous infection
15. an explanation of how problems can arise from focusing only on a certain type of tomato plant.
16. a number of examples of plants that are not cultivated at present but could be useful as food sources
17. a comparison between the early domestication of the tomato and more recent research
18. a personal reaction to the flavour of a tomato that has been genetically edited

Questions 19-23
Look at the following statements (Questions 19-23) and the list of researchers below. Match each statement with the correct researcher, A-D. Write the correct letter, A-D, in boxes 19-23 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once.

19. Domestication of certain plants could allow them to adapt to future environmental challenges.
20. The idea of growing and eating unusual plants may not be accepted on a large scale.
21. It is not advisable for the future direction of certain research to be made public.
22. Present efforts to domesticate one wild fruit are limited by the costs involved.
23. Humans only make use of a small proportion of the plant food available on Earth.

List of Researchers
A Jorg Kudla
B Caixia Gao
C Joyce Van Eck
D Jonathan Jones

Questions 24-26
Complete the sentences below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.

24. An undesirable trait such as loss of …………………. may be caused by a mutation in a tomato gene.
25. By modifying one gene in a tomato plant, researchers made the tomato three times its original ……………
26. A type of tomato which was not badly affected by …………………… and was rich in vitamin C, was produced by a team of researchers in China.

Insight or evolution?

Two scientists consider the origins of discoveries and other innovative behavior Scientific discovery is popularly believed to result from the sheer genius of such intellectual stars as naturalist Charles Darwin and theoretical physicist Albert Einstein. Our view of such unique contributions to science often disregards the person’s prior experience and the efforts of their lesser-known predecessors. Conventional wisdom also places great weight on insight in promoting breakthrough scientific achievements, as if ideas spontaneously pop into someone’s head – fully formed and functional.

There may be some limited truth to this view. However, we believe that it largely misrepresents the real nature of scientific discovery, as well as that of creativity and innovation in many other realms of human endeavor. Setting aside such greats as Darwin and Einstein – whose monumental contributions are duly celebrated – we suggest that innovation is more a process of trial and error, where two steps forward may sometimes come with one step back, as well as one or more steps to the right or left. This evolutionary view of human innovation undermines the notion of creative genius and recognizes the cumulative nature of scientific progress.

Consider one unheralded scientist John Nicholson, a mathematical physicist working in the 1910s who postulated the existence of ‘proto-elements’ in outer space. By combining different numbers of weights of these proto-elements’ atoms, Nicholson could recover the weights of all the elements in the then-known periodic table. These successes are all the more noteworthy given the fact that Nicholson was wrong about the presence of proto-elements: they do not actually exist. Yet, amid his often fanciful theories and wild speculations, Nicholson also proposed a novel theory about the structure of atoms. Niels Bohr, the Nobel prize-winning father of modern atomic theory, jumped off from this interesting idea to conceive his now-famous model of the atom.

What are we to make of this story? One might simply conclude that science is a collective and cumulative enterprise. That may be true, but there may be a deeper insight to be gleaned. We propose that science is constantly evolving, much as species of animals do. In biological systems, organisms may display new characteristics that result from random genetic mutations. In the same way, random, arbitrary or accidental mutations of ideas may help pave the way for advances in science. If mutations prove beneficial, then the animal or the scientific theory will continue to thrive and perhaps reproduce.

Support for this evolutionary view of behavioral innovation comes from many domains. Consider one example of an influential innovation in US horseracing. The so-called ‘acey-deucy’ stirrup placement, in which the rider’s foot in his left stirrup is placed as much as 25 centimeters lower than the right, is believed to confer important speed advantages when turning on oval tracks. It was developed by a relatively unknown jockey named Jackie Westrope. Had Westrope conducted methodical investigations or examined extensive film records in a shrewd plan to outrun his rivals? Had he foreseen the speed advantage that would be conferred by riding acey-deucy? No. He suffered a leg injury, which left him unable to fully bend his left knee. His modification just happened to coincide with enhanced left-hand turning performance. This led to the rapid and widespread adoption of riding acey-deucy by many riders, a racing style which continues in today’s thoroughbred racing.

Plenty of other stories show that fresh advances can arise from error, misadventure, and also pure serendipity – a happy accident. For example, in the early 1970s, two employees of the company 3M each had a problem: Spencer Silver had a product – a glut which was only slightly sticky – and no use for it, while his colleague Art Fry was trying to figure out how to affix temporary bookmarks in his hymn book without damaging its pages. The solution to both these problems was the invention of the brilliantly simple yet phenomenally successful Post-It note. Such examples give lie to the claim that ingenious, designing minds are responsible for human creativity and invention. Far more banal and mechanical forces may be at work; forces that are fundamentally connected to the laws of science.

The notions of insight, creativity and genius are often invoked, but they remain vague and of doubtful scientific utility, especially when one considers the diverse and enduring contributions of individuals such as Plato, Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare, Beethoven, Galileo, Newton, Kepler, Curie, Pasteur and Edison. These notions merely label rather than explain the evolution of human innovations. We need another approach, and there is a promising candidate.

The Law of Effect was advanced by psychologist Edward Thorndike in 1898, some 40 years after Charles Darwin published his ground breaking work on biological evolution, On the Origin of Species. This simple law holds that organisms tend to repeat successful behaviors and to refrain from performing unsuccessful ones. Just like Darwin’s Law of Natural Selection, the Law of Effect involves a entirely mechanical process of variation and selection, without any end objective in sight.

Of course, the origin of human innovation demands much further study. In particular, the provenance of the raw material on which the Law of Effect operates is not as clearly known as that of the genetic mutations on which the Law of Natural Selection operates. The generation of novel ideas and behaviors may not be entirely random, but constrained by prior successes and failures – of the current individual (such as Bohr) or of predecessors (such as Nicholson). The time seems right for abandoning the naive notions of intelligent design and genius, and for scientifically exploring the true origins of creative behavior.

Questions 27-31
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

27. The purpose of the first paragraph is to
A defend particular ideas.
B compare certain beliefs.
C disprove a widely held view.
D outline a common assumption.

28 What are the writers doing in the second
A criticising an opinion
B justifying a standpoint
C explaining an approach
D supporting an argument

29. In the third paragraph, what do the writers suggest about Darwin and Einstein?
A They represent an exception to a general rule.
B Their way of working has been misunderstood.
C They are an ideal which others should aspire to.
D Their achievements deserve greater recognition.

30. John Nicholson is an example of a person whose idea
A established his reputation as an influential scientist.
B was only fully understood at a later point in history.
C laid the foundation for someone else’s breakthrough.
D initially met with scepticism from the scientific community.

31. What is the key point of interest about the ‘acey-deucy’ stirrup placement?
A the simple reason why it was invented
B the enthusiasm with which it was adopted
C the research that went into its development
D the cleverness of the person who first used it

Questions 32-36
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage? In boxes 32-36 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with 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

32. Acknowledging people such as Plato or da Vinci as geniuses will help us understand the process by which great minds create new ideas.
33. The Law of Effect was discovered at a time when psychologies were seeking a scientific reason why creativity occurs.
34. The Law of Effect states that no planning is involved in the behaviour of organisms.
35. The Law of Effect sets out clear explanations about sources of new ideas and behaviours.
36. Many scientists are now turning away from the notion of intelligent design and genius.

Questions 37-40
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-G, below. Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

The origins of creative behaviour

The traditional view of scientific discovery is that breakthroughs happen when a single great mind has sudden (37) ………………….. Although this can occur, it is not often the case. Advances are more likely to be the result of a longer process. In some cases, this process involves (38) ………………… , such as Nicholson’s theory about proto-elements. In others, simple necessity may provoke innovation, as with Westrope’s decision to modify the position of his riding stirrups. There is also often an element of (39) …………………….. , for example, the coincidence of ideas that led to the invention of the Post-It note. With both the Law of Natural Selection and the Law of Effect, there may be no clear (40) …………………….. involved, but merely a process of variation and selection.

A invention
B goals
C compromise
D mistakes
E luck
F inspiration
G experiments