Category: IELTS Reading

The Dams That Changed Australia

SECTION ONE
Inland Australia has had a problem with drought from the time of white settlement in 1788 until today, and this is why the Snowy Mountains Scheme was conceived and founded. Before the Snowy Scheme a large proportion of the snowfields on Australia’s highest mountains (the Snowy Mountains) melted into the Snowy River every year. Hence, Snowy River water flowed, ultimately, into the sea, not toward the dry interior of the country, where people needed it so desperately. This was first recognised by the Polish geologist and explorer Strezlecki in 1840, who commented that there could be no development of the inland without adequate water supply. The rivers would have to be diverted if irrigation were to succeed.

Before Federation in 1901, Australia consisted of a group of colonies, all anxious to protect their own interests. After Federation the states retained rights to the water, and thus to what might happen to the rivers. Arguments between New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia led to a deadlocked Premiers’ Conference in 1947. Despite this serious dispute, the Federal Parliament passed the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Power Act just two years later, on July 7. The project was officially commenced on October 17 that year, barely three months after the act had been passed.

The scheme set out to harness water for electricity and to divert it back to the dry inland areas for irrigation. To do this, thousands of kilometres of tunnels had to be drilled through the mountains, and sixteen major dams and seven hydro-electric power stations built over a period of nineteen years. The first of these was Guthega Power Station, which was commissioned in 1954. and the last one to be finished was Tumut III.

SECTION TWO
The Snowy Mountains Scheme was to alter the face of Australia forever. One important change was the recruitment of people from outside Australia to work on the scheme. In 1949, while the world was still recovering from the effects of World War II (1939 to 1945), the Australian government needed immense numbers of people to work on the Snowy. It sought labour from overseas, and 60,000 of the 100,000 people who worked on the scheme came from outside the country.

They came from thirty different countries: from Italy, Yugoslavia, and Germany, from sophisticated cities like Budapest, Paris and Vienna, and from tiny hamlets. These European workers left countries which had fought against each other during the war, and which had vastly different cultures, and they found themselves in a country which was still defining itself. They were adventurous young men, some highly skilled, some not, and they came to a place which offered both enormous challenges and primitive conditions. Many were housed in tents in the early days of the scheme, although some fortunate men were placed in barracks. The food was basic, female company extremely scarce and entertainment lacking.

SECTION THREE
Many new arrivals spoke only limited English, and were offered English classes after work. The men needed primarily to understand safety instructions, and safety lectures were conducted in English and other languages. In fact, a great deal of communication underground was by sign language, especially when the conditions were noisy. The signs were peculiar to the business at hand: for instance, a thumb placed near the mouth meant water, but did not indicate whether the water was needed on the drill the man was using, or for a drink.

The constant reference to the men who worked on the Snowy is appropriate because few women worked on the scheme, and those who were employed usually held office jobs. Women, however, were active in the community, and the members of the Country Women’s Association gave English lessons. Other English instruction was provided by the Australian Broadcasting Commission, which ran daily broadcasts to help the newcomers with the language.

SECTION FOUR
These circumstances could have caused great social trouble, but there were relatively few serious problems. The men worked long and hard, and many saved their money with a view to settling in Australia or returning home. At a reunion in 1999 many were happy to remember the hardships of those days, but it was all seen through a glow of achievement. This satisfaction was felt not only by the men who worked directly on the project, but by the women, many of whom had been wives and mothers during the scheme, and indicated that they had felt very much part of it.

The children of these couples went to school in Happy Jack, a town notable for having the highest school in Australia, and the highest birth rate. In one memorable year there were thirty babies born to the eighty families in Happy Jack. Older children went to school in Cooma, the nearest major town.

SECTION FIVE
The scheme is very unlikely to be repeated. The expense of putting the power stations underground would now be prohibitive, and our current information about ecology would require a different approach to the treatment of the rivers. Other hydro-electric schemes like the Tennessee Valley Authority preceded the Snowy Mountains Scheme, and others have followed. The Snowy Mountains Scheme is the only hydro-electric scheme in the world to be totally financed from the sale of its electricity.

As well as being a great engineering feat, the scheme is a monument to people from around the world who dared to change their lives. Some are living and working in Australia, many have retired there, some have returned to their countries of origin. Every one of them contributed to altering Australian society forever.

Questions 1-5
Reading Passage 1 contains five sections. Choose the correct heading for Sections One to Five from the fist of headings below.

List of Headings
i Using sign language on the Snowy Mountains
ii The workers and their families
iii Development of inland Australia
iv The cost of the Snowy Mountains Scheme
v The unique nature of the scheme
vi Housing the Snowy Mountains’ workforce
vii Why the Snowy Mountains Scheme began
viii Learning new ways to communicate
ix Recruiting people for the Snowy Mountains Scheme
x Social problems of the workers

1. Section One
2. Section Two
3. Section Three
4. Section Four
5. Section Five

Questions 6-10
Complete the table below. Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from Reading Passage 1 for each answer.

Year	Event
1788	white settlement begins
1840	awareness that the (6)……………….could not be developed without irrigation
1901	federation
1947	dispute between the states on the rivers’ future, resulting in a (7)…………………Premiers’ Conference
(8)………………..	snowy mountains scheme begins recruitment of (9)………………people from abraod
1954	work on Guthega Power Stations begins
(10)……………..	Tumut III Power Station completed

Questions 11-13
Complete the sentences. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Communicating using (11)………………..was necessary for the labourers because of the conditions.

The workers reminisced about the (12)…………………endured in the early days at their reunion.

The Snowy Mountains Scheme was considered an (13)………………which altered Australian society thereafter.

Power From The Earth

A Geothermal power refers to the generation of electrical power by making use of heat sources found well below the earth’s surface. As is well-known, if a hole were to be drilled deep into the earth, extremely hot, molten rock would soon be encountered. At depths of 30 to 50 km, temperatures exceeding 1000 degrees Celsius prevail. Obviously, accessing such temperatures would provide a wonderful source for geothermal power. The problem is, such depths are too difficult to access: drilling down some 30 or more kilometres is simply too costly with today’s technology.

B Fortunately, sufficiently hot temperatures are available at considerably shallower depths. In certain areas, where the earth’s surface has been altered over time—through, for example, volcanic activity-temperatures exceeding 300 degrees Celsius can be found at depths of a mere 1 to 3 km, which can be feasibly accessed. These particular areas are potentially ideal for the generation of electricity through geothermal means.

C It is possible to explain geothermal power generation as a steam power system that utilizes the earth itself as a boiler. When water is sent down to the depths of 1 to 3 km, it returns to the surface as steam and is capable of generating electricity. Electricity generated in this manner hardly produces any carbon dioxide or other waste materials. If the steam and hot water are routed back underground, the generation of electricity can be semi-permanent in nature.

D Furthermore, geothermal power can provide a stable supply of electricity unlike other natural energy sources such as solar power and wind power, which both rely heavily on weather conditions. Accordingly, the generation of electricity through geothermal power is four to five times more efficient than through solar power. As for wind power, geothermal power is some two times more cost effective. Only the generation of hydroelectric power comes close— the cost of power production from each is about the same.

E Although geothermal power generation appears to be a most attractive option, development has been slow. The world’s first successful attempt at geothermal power generation was accomplished in Italy in 1904. Power generation in Japan first started in 1925 at Beppu City. Since that time, countries as diverse as Iceland and New Zealand have joined the list of nations making use of this valuable source of energy. In the year 2000, Beppu City hosted the World Geothermal Congress, whose goal was to promote the adoption of geothermal energy production throughout the world.

F The international geothermal community at the World Geothermal Congress 2000 called upon the governments of nations to make strong commitments to the development of their indigenous geo-thermal resources for the benefit of their own people, humanity and the environment. However, several factors are still hindering the development of geothermal power generation. Firstly, it has a low density of energy which makes it unsuitable for large-scale production in which, for example, over 1,000,000 kilowatts need to be produced. Secondly, the cost is still high when compared to today’s most common sources of energy production: fossil fuels and atomic energy.

G A further consideration is the amount of risk involved in successfully setting up a new geothermal power production facility. The drilling that must extend 2,000 to 3,000 m below the surface must be accurate to within a matter of just a few metres one side or the other of the targeted location. To achieve this, extensive surveys, drilling expertise and time are needed. It is not uncommon for a project to encompass ten years from its planning stage to the start of operations. The extent of the risks involved is clear.

H Although it has long been considered a resource-poor nation, Japan, which is thought to have about 10% of the world’s geothermal resources, may well have considerable advantages for tapping into geothermal power. It does have one of the longest serving power stations using geothermal energy. The station, built in 1966, pointed the way to the future when the country was affected by the two global oil shocks in the 1970s. Now there are some 17 plants in operation throughout the country which are responsible for a total output of over 530,000 kilowatts. This figure, though impressive, accounts for a mere 0.4% of Japan’s total generation of electricity.

I Clearly then, further progress needs to be made in the development of geothermal energy. As long as costs remain high in comparison to other sources of energy, geothermal power wilt struggle to match the efficiency of existing power sources. Further research and innovation in the field, as well as government support and a sense of urgency, are needed to help propel geothermal energy towards its promising future.

Questions 14-19
Reading Passage 2 has nine paragraphs, A-l. Which paragraph contains the following information?

14. the history of the development of geothermal power
15. one country’s use of geothermal power
16. a comparison between various energy sources
17. how geothermal energy can produce electricity
18. conditions which permit access to geothermal power
19. problems of geothermal exploration

Questions 20-26
Do the following statements agree with the writer s claims in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 20-26 on your answer sheet, write:

YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

20. Accessing geothermal energy at depths greater than 3 km is currently not possible.
21. The generation of geothermal power produces a considerable amount of by-products that can be damaging to the environment.
22. The World Geothermal Congress has been able to raise money for research in this area.
23. Geothermal energy is still relatively expensive lo generate.
24. It can take a decade to develop a single geothermal power station.
25. Japan is capable of generating one quarter of its energy needs using geothermal energy.
26. The future of geothermal energy depends upon the decline of fossil fuel resources.

Are We Managing To Destroy Science?

The government in the UK was concerned about the efficiency of research institutions and set up a Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) to consider what was being done in each university. The article which follows is a response to the imposition of the RAE. In the year ahead, the UK government is due to carry out the next Research Assessment Exercise (RAE ). The goal of this regular five-yearly check-up of the university sector is easy to understand: to increase productivity within public sector research. But striving for such productivity can lead to unfortunate consequences. In the case of the RAE, one risk attached to this is the creation of an overly controlling management culture that threatens the future of imaginative science.

Academic institutions are already preparing for the RAE with some anxiety—understand-ably so, for the financial consequences of failure are severe. Departments with a current rating of four or five (research is rated on a five point scale, with five the highest) must maintain their score or face a considerable loss of funding. Meanwhile, those with ratings of two or three are fighting for their survival. The pressures are forcing research management onto the defensive. Common strategies for increasing academic output include grading individual researchers every year according to RAE criteria, pressurising them to publish anything regardless of quality, diverting funds from key and expensive laboratory science into areas of study such as management, and even threatening to close departments. Another strategy being readily adopted is to remove scientists who appear to be less active in research and replace them with new, probably younger, staff.

Although such measures may deliver results in the RAE , they are putting unsustainable pressure on academic staff. Particularly insidious is the pressure to publish. Put simply, RAE committees in the laboratory sciences must produce four excellent peer-reviewed publications per member of staff to meet the assessment criteria. Hence this is becoming a minimum requirement for existing members of staff, and a benchmark against which to measure new recruits. But prolific publication does not necessarily add up to good science. Indeed, one young researcher was told in an interview for a lectureship that, although your publications are excellent, unfortunately, there are not enough of them. You should not worry so much about the quality of your publications.’

In a recent letter to Nature, the publication records of ten senior academics in the area of molecular microbiology were analysed. Each of these academics is now in very senior positions in universities or research institutes, with careers spanning a total of 262 years. All have achieved considerable status and respect within the UK and worldwide. However, their early publication records would preclude them from academic posts if the present criteria were applied.

Although the quality of their work was clearly outstanding—they initiated novel and perhaps risky projects early in their careers, which have since been recognised as research of international importance— they generally produced few papers over the first ten years after completing their PhDs. Indeed, over this period, they have an average gap of 3-8 years without the publication or production of a cited paper. In one case there was a five-year gap. Although these enquiries were limited to a specific area of research, it seems that this model of career progression is widespread in all of the chemical and biological sciences.

It seems that the atmosphere surrounding the RAE may be stifling talented young researchers or driving them out of science altogether. There urgently needs to be a more considered and careful nurturing of our young scientific talent. A new member of academic staff in the chemical or biological laboratory sciences surely needs a commitment to resources over a five- to ten-year period to establish their research. Senior academics managing this situation might be well advised to demand a long-term view from the government.

Unfortunately, management seems to be pulling in the opposite direction. Academics have to deal with more students than ever and the paperwork associated with the assessment of the quality of teaching is increasing. On top of that, the salary for university lecturers starts at only £32,665 (rising to £58,048). Tenure is rare, and most contracts are offered on a temporary contract basis. With the mean starting salary for new graduates now close to £36,000, it is surprising that anybody still wants a job in academia.

It need not be like this. Dealings with the many senior research managers in the chemical and water industries at the QUESTOR Centre (Queen’s University Environmental Science and Technology Research Centre) provided some insight. The overall impression is that the private sector has a much more sensible and enlightened long-term view of research priorities. Why can the universities not develop the same attitude?

All organisations need managers, yet these managers will make sure they survive even when those they manage are lost. Research management in UK universities is in danger of evolving into such an overly controlled state that it will allow little time for careful thinking and teaching, and will undermine the development of imaginative young scientists.

Questions 27-34
Complete the summary. Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.

In the UK, every five years, the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) inspects research institutions to determine their rate of (27)…………………….This tends to cause (28)…………………….in academic institutions because any failure would lead to (29)…………………..financial consequences. RAE’s purpose, however, is to increase the academic output within research institutions. In response to the (30)………………..of RAE, the research institutions are changing the way they do things. Some are forcing their research staff to (31)……………..almost anything, while others are moving (32)…………………from a laboratory focus to that of management. Another common approach utilised by management is to remove and (33)………………….underperforming research staff. The authors of this paper feel that the pressure on UK research institutions is (34)…………….

Questions 35-38
Do the following statements agree with the writer’s claims in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 35-38 on your answer sheet, write

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

35. Good researchers are usually prolific publishers.
36. People in industry seem to understand the long-term nature of research.
37. The private sector has produced more in the way of quality research than universities.
38. Management may be the only winners under the new system.

Questions 39-40
Choose the appropriate letter, A, B, C or D.

39. The early publishing records of senior researchers would
A prevent institutions from employing them.
B rule out their chances of achieving any status using the current standards.
C support their application for an academic posting under the present criteria.
D hinder their academic prospects under the current criteria.

40. Gifted new scientists need to be
A managed over a decade by senior academics.
B guided over a ten-year period to develop their research.
C supported with resources over a decade to establish their research.
D advised of the government’s long-term view on research.

Hazardous Compound Helps To Preserve Crumbling Books

Librarians may be able to save millions of books from slowly crumbling with a new chemical process that uses a hazardous flammable compound, diethyl zinc (DEZ). Chemists in the US have successfully completed an 18-month trial of the technique, which neutralises the acids in paper which cause books to decay. The method was developed by the Dutch chemical giant, Akzo, in collaboration with the US Library of Congress. It can treat 1,000 books at a time at a fraction of the cost of digitising. The world’s libraries and archives are today stocked mainly with books that are destroying themselves because of a new way of making paper that was introduced over a hundred years ago. In this process, wood pulp became the main source of the cellulose from which paper was made, replacing the cotton or linen rags used previously.

Unfortunately, book publishers were unaware that the slightly acidic nature of wood pulp would eventually threaten their work. The acid attacks the cellulose polymer of paper, breaking it down into shorter and shorter pieces until the paper’s structure collapses. The only answer is to neutralise the acids in the paper by chemical means. This has generally been done by unbinding the book, treating it page by page with a carbonate solution, and then rebinding it. The cost can be as much as £200 per volume. Akzo’s method can be done without taking the binding off the book.

On the face of it, DEZ would seem the last chemical that should be brought in contact with paper. This volatile liquid bursts into flames when it comes in contact with air. However, it is not DEZ’s sensitivity to oxidation which is the key to its use as a preserving agent, but its ability to neutralise acids by forming zinc salts with them. Because DEZ is volatile, it permeates the pores in paper. When it meets an acid molecule, such as sulphuric acid, it reacts to form zinc sulphate and ethane gas. DEZ is such a strong base that it will react with any acid, including the weaker organic ones. It will also react with any residual water in the paper to form zinc oxide. This is an added bonus for the book conservators, since it buffers the paper against future attack by acidic gases from the atmosphere, such as sulphur dioxide.

Not only will DEZ protect against acid attack, but it is also capable of neutralising alkalis, which threaten some kinds of paper, it can do this because zinc oxide is amphoteric — capable of reacting with either acids or alkalis. The Akzo method treats books that are closed, yet protects every page. It adds about two per cent of zinc oxide to the weight of the book. Much of this is deposited near the edges of the pages, the parts which are most affected by the acid from readers’ fingers or environmental pollution. The only risk in the Akzo process comes from the DEZ itself; this compound caused a fire at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center where earlier tests on the method were carried out.

For the process, the books are gently heated under vacuum for a day to remove residual traces of moisture. The chamber is then flushed with dry nitrogen gas for five hours to remove the remaining air before DEZ is introduced at a low pressure into the gas stream. DEZ is passed through for about eight hours. Unreacted DEZ is trapped out of the exit gases and recycled, while the ethane is burned off. When the process is complete, the chamber is purged with nitrogen to remove residual DEZ. The whole process takes about three days. The cost per book is about £2, considerably less than the £40 for digitising.

This work was originally funded by the US Library of Congress, which has over 10 million books now at risk. According to Dick Miller, Akzo’s director for book preservation, tests have shown that the method can deal with hundreds of books at a time. A million books a year could be rescued by the new process, for which Akzo has been granted exclusive rights. The treated books should then survive for hundreds of years. Another national institution, the British Library, launched an adopt-a-book scheme to help it meet the costs of processing books. The British Library has so far raised over £80,000. But if the traditional method were used, this would barely cover a twentieth of one per cent of the two million books the Library needs to treat. Edmund King of the British Library’s preservation service says that the Library has developed another method which coats the individual fibres of the paper with ethyl acrylate polymer, protecting the books not only against acid attack but actually making them stronger. The British Library is now seeking an industrial partner to exploit its work.

Questions 1-4
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 1-4 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 Akzo preservation method is more expensive than other techniques.
2. DEZ’s ability to neutralise acids is the reason why it is used as a preserving agent.
3. The US Library of Congress has exclusive rights to the new book preserving process.
4. Preservation scheme of the British Library is more efficient than the scheme of the US Library of Congress.

Questions 5-8
Choose FOUR letters A-H.

Which FOUR of the following attributes describing diethyl zinc (DEZ) are mentioned in the passage?

A it bursts into flames when it comes in contact with an
B it forms a protective layer of zinc oxide on the surface of the paper
C it changes acid into zinc sulphate throughout the paper
D it reacts with acids to produce zinc salts and water
E it can react with both acids and alkalis
F the chemical reactions it causes make books heavier
G it coats the fibres of the paper with ethyl acrylate polymer
H it tends to retain water within the paper structure

Questions 9-13
Complete the flow chart below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

AKZO BOOK PRESERVING METHOD

books are heated under vacuum in chamber	moisture removed
(9)………………..is circulated for five hours	residual air removed
diethyl zinc is channelled into (10)…………………..
DEZ is circulated	leftover diethyl zinc is removed and (11)……………..ethane is removed and (12)…………..
chamber is flushed using (13)…………………	remaining diethyl zinc is removed

Drugs And Obesity

A Thin is in, in America. Not only fashion magazines, but also doctors proclaim the importance of a slim, healthy body. Yet despite the current obsession with the trim, taut and terrific body, Americans are putting on weight. In studies conducted in 1995, one quarter of Americans were found to be overweight. Fifteen years later, that number had risen to one third of the population.

B In the past, doctors have always recommended a combination of diet and exercise to combat obesity. With the increase in the number of people who are overweight, however, this solution is increasingly being seen to be ineffective.

C Given that diet and exercise often do not help produce weight loss, scientists are becoming convinced that, for many, obesity is a genetic disorder. In fact, a research group at Rockefeller University discovered in experiments on mice what is now called the obesity, or ‘ob’ gene. In turn, this discovery led to the identification of a hormone, leptin, that signals to the brain the amount of fat stored in the body. When injected into the rodents, the hormone reduced appetite and increased the body’s utilisation of calories, the energy produced by food which the body may convert to fat. With findings like these, a large number of medical experts are turning to a selection of drugs which appear to be safe and effective in reducing weight and maintaining lower weight levels.

D Because they see obesity as an illness, these authorities claim that treatment should involve not only diet and exercise but drugs as well. What they have in mind is not just a short course of medication to produce small degrees of weight loss. They want to prescribe longterm, perhaps lifetime, drug therapies, just as they might for high blood pressure or diabetes. Obesity’s victims, these doctors hope, will not only be able to lose weight, but will also keep that weight off forever.

E Not everyone in the medical community is satisfied with the new therapies. Conservatives are seriously worried that the new drugs are, in fact, merely placebos (‘medicines’ that have no medical effect but may benefit the patient psychologically), or, worse, are actually detrimental to patients’ health. Their concerns are understandable.

F In the past, amphetamines—nicknamed ‘uppers’ or ‘speed’—were widely prescribed to control weight. Patients became slimmer, but suffered from tension and irritability, higher pulse rates, and sleepless nights, side effects that may have outweighed the medical benefits of lower body weight. Conservatives also point out that risky as amphetamines were, they were generally prescribed only for temporary use. Advocates of new drug treatments leave open the possibility that the medications will be prescribed for a lifetime.

G While there are at least five now diet drugs waiting approval by the US Drug and Food Administration, at the moment, the only diet medication that is normally used in the US is ‘fen-phen’, a combination of the drugs fenfluramine and phentermine. Fenfluramine boosts serotonin, which elevates mood, while phentermine mimics other substances in the brain. Together, the drugs suppress appetite and increase the rate of burning of calories. As its success becomes more widely known, demand for this medication is increasing.

H For several reasons, however, fen-phen is not the perfect diet medication. First, there is some debate over safety, although most fen-phen researchers say the drugs pose minor health risks compared with amphetamines. For most patients the short-term side effects are negligible; phentermine heightens alertness while persuading the body to burn more calories, and fenfluramine, thought to cut cravings for starches and sweets, can cause drowsiness. But some users experience a racing heartbeat and, although rarely, high blood pressure. While its effects are milder than those of amphetamines, the feeling of higher energy that fen-phen creates can be habit forming. Used alone, phentermine has enough of a positive psychological effect to appeal to recreational drug users, who call it ‘bumblebee’. Perhaps even more importantly for dieters, while the drug may cause initial weight loss, over a period of several years, subjects taking the drugs tended to regain some of the weight they had lost—although at a slower rate than those who did not take fen-phen.

I Many conservative doctors, moreover, still remain reluctant to diagnose obesity as a disease. In a survey of 318 physicians, two thirds said their obese patients lacked self-control, and 39% described them as lazy. This traditional view holds that obesity results from a lack of discipline, correctable by diet and exercise.

Since studies show that most dieters eat more than they say—or even think—they do, there is probably some truth in this view.

J On the other hand, the traditional view is challenged by the discovery of the ‘ob’ gene, which would seem to place significant weight loss outside the individual’s control. Then there is the problem of the ever-increasing numbers of obese people, with the resulting increase in hypertension, and diabetes, leading to kidney failure and heart disease. All of these conditions require medication, and perhaps even costly equipment and surgery. If all of these effects of obesity must be treated with medication, then why not use medical treatment to help control body weight. Prevention is considered better than a cure, generally.

Questions 14-20
Reading Passage 2 has ten paragraphs, A-J. Which paragraph contains the following information?

14. the traditionalist viewpoint under attack
15. research findings concerning obesity as an illness
16. details of the effects of fen-phen on dieters
17. one group’s assessment of the new drugs
18. conservative view on the causes of obesity
19. data on weight gain within the population
20. an explanation of the diet medication currently available

Questions 21-26
Complete the sentences. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

The traditional weight-loss methods were seen as an (21)……………….solution to combating obesity.

There was evidence to suggest that obesity is related to the body’s production of (22)………………and therefore is an illness.

Some authorities are hopeful that long-term drug therapies will help (23)……………….sustain weight loss.

The kind of (24)……………………..caused by amphetamines may have counteracted the medical benefits of weight loss.

The heightened feeling some drugs create can be (25)…………………

The discovery of the obesity gene seems to put the responsibility for losing weight outside (26)……………….

The Development Of Artificial Life

They come into a world where they must struggle to survive. Over many generations, they evolve. But are they alive? Of course, one might say. But the discussion is not about amoebae, ants or alligators. Rather, it’s about computer programs. The occurrence of artificial life’ exists only within PCs and more powerful computers, but its existence in the electronic universe parallels many elements of life in the biological world. Some programs flock like birds. Others organise like bees. Some mutate swiftly from chaotic hordes to complex, stable populations in a process similar to Darwinian evolution.

As a group, artificial life programs represent the most exciting work on the edge of computer research. Study of artificial life holds promise for new ways of solving complex problems and fresh opportunities to model biology and society. Perhaps, far in the future, such research will yield the ability to blueprint living organisms. The basics behind artificial life are surprisingly simple. The programs follow a few simple rules, applying them with a speed and persistence that’s possible only inside a computer. When many such programs are run simultaneously, amazingly complex patterns can emerge. In many cases, these patterns seem like strange replications of natural behaviours.

Programs work together against common enemies and devise new ways of surviving when their environment changes. These results aren’t surprising when you consider that biological life itself consists of nothing more than variations on four simple bits of code: the four compounds that constitute DNA, the building block of all genes and therefore all life. In artificial life, computer instructions take the place of DNA code. The father of modern artificial life, research, Christopher Langton of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the U.S., sees his work this way: ‘For us, artificial life is the study of man-made systems that exhibit behaviours characteristic of natural living systems. We’re attempting to abstract logical forms of life, not matter. We can obtain some of the same dynamics as life, albeit with different materials.’

Langton took up the study of self-replicating programs begun earlier by John von Neumann, a Hungarian mathematician whose theories contributed to the development of the programmable digital computer. An example of how programs mimic biology can be found in cellular automata (cell-like machines): structures that arise from tiny programs that each display a seemingly independent existence based on a few simple rules. Analogies between programs like this and actual life forms are inevitable. When simulated organisms cluster together, leaving rectilinear tracks on the screen, researchers call them ants’. When they do this in a three-dimensional model, they’re called ‘bees’. And perhaps the most disturbing analogy with biological life can be found in computer viruses’, self-replicating programs that display purposeful behaviour and tolerate any small physical changes in their environment.

Although some scientists regard viruses as the first programs capable of existing without the wilful cooperation of humans, the fact is that without humans to design them, they wouldn’t exist at all. Still, some of the work demonstrated at a recent gathering of the artificial life research group evoked confused excitement. ‘During five intense days’, said Langton, ‘we saw a wide variety of models of living systems, including mathematical models for the origins of life, self-reproducing automata, computer programs using the mechanisms of Darwinian evolution to produce co-adapted ecosystems, simulations of flocking birds and schooling fish, the growth and development of artificial plants, and much, much more.’

Craig Reynolds of Symbolics demonstrated his ‘boids’, computer-animated, bird-shaped creatures that flock like real birds. Reynolds programmed the ‘boids’ to follow three simple rules: they maintain a minimum distance from the nearest object; they match velocity with the nearby flock; and they fly toward the greatest concentration of the flock. The resulting flocking behaviour is shockingly real. ‘Ants’, the creation of David Jefferson and Robert Collins, also appeared. Colonies of these randomly generated creatures have developed the ability to navigate electronic mazes and search for symbols that represent food.

Independent programmer John Nagle argued that the next generation of supercomputers should challenge researchers to create ‘squirrels’, computer models with the intelligence level of a biological rodent with one gram of brain mass. Langton’s contribution, ‘Computation at the edge of chaos’, was one of the most unusual presentations. Biologists maintain that life began in a spontaneous outburst of activity that occurred when Earth’s environment reached critical thresholds of heat, atmosphere and chemical composition. A few variations on any of these variables would have altered the course of the planet into either chaos or barrenness.

Langton’s presentation was based on a computer model demonstrating similar principles. Changing a parameter in the model acts like changing the temperature of a computer-generated petri dish of single-cell creatures. When this variable passes a critical threshold, the colonies of Langton’s artificial life programs neither freeze nor evaporate but settle into recurring patterns conducive to the orderly transmission of information. ‘At one end, activity freezes; at the other end, it’s too volatile,’ notes Langton. As a result, he wonders whether ‘computation may emerge spontaneously and come to dominate the dynamics of physical systems’ much as life has. In fact, Langton speculates that life itself may have started as a chance computation on the cusp of liquid and gaseous states.

Questions 27-33
Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Research has shown there are possible similarities between the ‘real’ or (27)……………….and computer programs. In studying so-called (28)……………………. scientists have found that images from computer-generated graphics seem to imitate the behaviour of insects and birds, while others mutate from the disorderly into highly organised populations much like in (29)…………………Artificial life programs may allow researchers to re-evaluate models of biology and society, and may even provide the possibility to (30)…………………….living organisms. Patterns which can emerge from such programs replicate (31)…………………. Being able to adapt to environmental changes, these programs mimic (32)…………………….which, essentially, is built upon four basic codes of information. The only difference, however, is that their DNA code is replaced by (33)……………….

Questions 34-37
Look at the following artificial life programs (Questions 34 37) and the list of descriptions below. Match each artificial life program with the appropriate: description, A-H.

34. Bees
35. Boids
36. Squirrels
37. Ants

List of Descriptions

A can match the intelligence of a bird
B can group together in a rectangular form
C can cluster together moving in straight lines in 3D
D will have a gram of intelligence
E can keep a minimum distance from another object
F are able to group and form a track in 3D
G will be as intelligent as a rodent…..
H are capable of locating symbols depicting food

Questions 38-40
Choose the appropriate letter, A, B or C.

38. Researchers studying artificial life are trying to
A find how life forms impact on computer programs.
B study behavioural characteristics exhibited by man.
C identify logical forms which correspond to living matter.

39. Computer virus programs
A can change behaviour to suit their environment,
B resemble biological life closely but need human input,
C can create biological life independently of humans,

40. Researchers argue that life itself started
A on the basis of chemical variations.
B by chance, spontaneously in a particular environment.
C by a spontaneous computation of physical activity.

Myths About Public Speaking

A Fear of public speaking results not only from what one does not know or understand about public communication, but also from misconceptions and myths about public encounters. These misconceptions and myths persist among professional people as well as the general public. Persistent myths about public communication simply increase fear in people and prevent their development into competent public speakers.

B Perhaps the most persistent myth about public communication is that it is a ‘special’ activity reserved for unusual occasions. After all, public speeches are not made that often. There are only a few special occasions during the year when even an outgoing professional person will step behind a podium to give a public speech, and many professional people can count on one hand the number of public speeches given in a career. Surely, then, public communication is a rare activity reserved for especially important occasions. This argument, of course, ignores the true nature of public communication and the nature of the occasions in which it occurs. To engage with people whom one does not know well, to solve problems, share understanding and perspectives, advocate points of view, or seek stimulation, means to engage in public speaking. Public communication, therefore, is a familiar, daily activity which occurs in the streets, restaurants, boardrooms, courtrooms, parks, offices, factories and meetings. Contrary to widespread misunderstandings, public speaking is not an unusual activity reserved for special occasions and restricted to the lectern or the platform. Rather it is, and should be developed as, an everyday activity occurring in any location where people come together.

C A related misconception about public communication is the belief that the public speaker is a specially gifted individual with innate abilities and God-given propensities. While most professional people would reject the idea that public speakers are born, not made, they never the less often feel that the effective public communicator has developed unusual personal talents to a remarkable degree. At the heart of this misconception—like the myth of public speaking as a ‘special’ activity—is an overly narrow view of what a public person is and does. Development as an effective public communicator begins with the understanding that it is not necessary to be a nationally-known, speak-for-pay, professional platform speaker to be a competent public person. The public speaker is an ordinary person who confronts the necessity of being a public person and uses common abilities.

D A less widespread but serious misconception of public speaking is reflected in the belief that public speeches have a lasting purpose. A public speech is something viewed as an historical event which will be part of a continuing and generally available public record. Some public speeches are faithfully recorded, transcribed, reproduced and made part of broadly available historical records. Those instances are rare compared to the thousands of unrecorded public speeches made’ every day. Public communication is usually situation-specific and ephemeral. Most audiences do well if they remember as much as 40 per cent of what a speaker says immediately after the speaker concludes; even less is retained as time goes by. This fact is both reassuring and challenging to the public communicator. On the one hand, it suggests that there is room for human error in making public pronouncements; on the other hand, it challenges the public speaker to overcome the poor listening habits of most audiences.

E Finally, professional people, perhaps more than other groups, often subscribe to the misconception that public communication must be an exact science, that if it is done properly it will succeed. The troublesome corollary to this reasoning is that if public communication fails, it is because it was improperly prepared or executed. This argument unfortunately ignores the uncertainties of human interaction. Public speakers achieve their goals through their listeners, and the only truly predictable aspect of human listeners is their unpredictability. Further, public messages may succeed despite inadequate preparation and dreadful delivery.

F It should be added that professional people often mismanage their fears of public communication. However, once an understanding of what public encounters assume and demand, once the myths which handicap the growth of a public person are unburdened, development as a competent public communicator can properly begin.

Questions 1-5
Reading Passage 1 has six sections, A-F. Which section contains the following information?

1. A person’s ability to be a public speaker
2. Conditions under which one begins developing as a public speaker
3. A definition of public speaking
4. The relationship of preparation to success in public speaking
5. Reasons why public speaking is feared

Questions 6-11
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 6-11 on your answer sheet, write:

YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

6. An ongoing misunderstanding about public communication is that it is an uncommon activity.
7. Expressing a point of view does not fall into the category of engaging in public communication.
8. Most professional people believe that good public communicators are born, not made.
9. There is little place for public speaking in the life of the ordinary person.
10. Public speaking can be learned at specially designated schools.
11. It is impossible to predict how a speech will be received.

Questions 12-13
Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

The writer defines public speaking as any activity where people jointly explore problems, knowledge and opinions, or look for (12)…………………..

One of the most difficult challenges facing a public speaker is dealing with the (13)…………………..of audiences.

Environmental Effects Of Offshore Drilling And Production

A main public concern about petroleum exploration and production seems to be that a blowout will cause a major oil spill.

Oil often exists in the subsurface at great pressure and, in the early days, when wells were drilled with only air or water in the hole, the oil could rush into and up the hole and ‘blowout’ at the surface.

For reasons of economy and safety, the early oil men soon put a. stop to that practice. Rotary drilling technology developed rapidly, including special drilling fluids with additives to control their density and consistency, and counterbalance the pressure of inflowing oil or gas. Modern drilling rigs are also fitted with blowout prevention controls: complex systems of metal clamps and shutters which can be used to seal the hole if unexpected high pressures are encountered.

There can be no denying that major blowouts still occur, and cause loss of life, as well as severe ecological trauma and economic loss.

AUSTRALIAN DRILLING RECORD
• Total number of incident on offshore facilities over a 30-year period, involving spills 320 litres, or causing injury or damage – 51
• Platform oil spills – 27
• Explosions and fires – 13
• Blowout – 6
• Pipeline breaks and leaks – 2
• Other – 3
• Total number of wells drilled – 1.100
• Total number of kilolitres (barrels) of oil produced – 480,000,000 (3,100,000,000)
• Total number of kilolitres (barrels) of oil spilt – 70 (440)
• Largest single spill in kilolitres (barrels) – 10 (63)

Source: Oil Spills in the Commonwealth of Australia offshore areas connected with Petroleum Exploration and Development Activities. Department of Primary Industries and Energy. Fortunately, the available technology and proper precautions make them very rare events. Since offshore drilling commenced in Australia in the mid-twentieth century, there has not been a single oil blowout.

On the other hand, six gas blowouts occurred during that time: five in Bass Strait and one in the Timor Sea. The Bass Strait blowouts were all controlled relatively quickly; the Petrel well in the Timor Sea flowed gas for 15 months.

It is a comment on improving technology and safety procedures that four of the incidents occurred in the initial decades of offshore drilling. The number of incidents, however, declined progressively over time.

The statistics on oil spills from offshore exploration and production in Australian Commonwealth waters are shown in the adjacent table. The total spill- age, over a 30-year period, is roughly equivalent in size to a large backyard swimming pool (70 kilolitres). The main spills have actually occurred in the loading of fuel onto production platforms; they had nothing to do with the oil well itself.

In addition to the oil spill issue, there are concerns about other discharges from the drilling and production facilities: sanitary and kitchen wastes, drilling fluid, cuttings and produced water. Putrescible sanitary and kitchen wastes are discharged into the ocean but must be processed in accordance with regulations set by the Federal government. This material is diluted rapidly and contributes to the local food chain, without any risk of nutrient oversupply. All solid waste must be brought ashore. The cuttings are sieved out of the drilling fluid and usually discharged into the ocean. In shallower waters they form a low mound near the rig; in deeper water a wider-spread layer forms, generally within one kilometre of the drill site, although this depends on a number of factors. Some benthic (bottom-dwelling) organisms may be smothered, but this effect is local and variable, generally limited to within about 100 metres of the discharge point. Better-adapted organisms soon replace them and storm-driven wave activity frequently sweeps away the material.

Drilling fluid is also discharged directly into the ocean. Most of the common constituents of water-based fluids used in Australia have low-to-nil toxicity to marine organisms. Some additives are toxic but are used in small concentrations and infrequently. The small amounts of heavy metals present are not absorbed into the bodies of marine organisms, and therefore it is unlikely that they would pose a problem for animals higher up the food chain. Field studies have shown that dilution is normally very rapid, ranging to 1,000-fold within 3 metres of the discharge point. At Rivoli-1 well in Exmouth Gulf, the input was chemically undetectable 560 metres away.

Oil-based drilling fluids have a more toxic component, and discharge to the marine environment is more significant. However, they are used only rarely in Australia, and the impact remains relatively local. At Woodside’s North Rankin A Platform offshore Western Australia, the only facility currently using oil-based fluids, the discharge is diluted 2,000-fold within 1 kilometre downcurrent, and undetectable beyond 200 metres either side. In the event of a discovery, the presence of a permanent production facility and the discharge of ‘produced water are additional concerns. Produced water is the water associated with the oil or gas deposit, and typically contains some petroleum, dissolved organic matter and trace elements. Most produced water is effectively non-toxic but, even when relatively toxic, is quickly diluted to background levels.

The impact occurs mainly within about 20 metres of the discharge point, but is observable in some instances for about 1 kilometre downcurrent. Government regulations limit the oil content allowed to be discharged, and the produced water is treated on the platforms to meet those specifications, The discharge points are carefully selected to maximise dispersion and dilution, and avoid any particularly sensitive local environments. Ultimately the best test of the real environmental effect of drilling and producing operations may be the response of the environment to the fixed production platforms. In many areas the platforms quickly become artificial reefs, with the underwater supports of the platforms providing a range of habitats, from sea-bottom to surface, and quickly colonised by a wide range of marine plants and animals.

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

14. Oil sometimes ‘blows out’ of a drilling hole because
A The technology has developed too quickly.
B Special drilling fluids are used.
C The surface pressure is not stable.
D Oil exists under pressure under the ground.

15. Sudden high pressure can be controlled using
A Special valves which seal any holes.
B Metal clamps and shutters fitted to the rig.
C Water to counterbalance the pressure of the oil.
D Rubber pressure valves fitted to the rig.

16. Since offshore drilling began in Australia
A Oil and gas blowouts have been a major problem.
B Oil blowouts have occurred occasionally.
C Most gas blowouts were rapidly controlled.
D Gas blowouts have occurred regularly up to the present,

Questions 17-19
Answer the questions below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

17. How much oil was spilt in the largest accident on offshore facilities?
18. How many incidents were the result of blowouts?
19. According to the table, what was the major cause of spillage of oil?

Questions 20-27
Complete the table. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Types of discharge	Source/ location	Comments
Putrescible wastes	the ocean	nutrients for the (20)………………
(21)…………………….	on shore	no discharging into the ocean
(22)…………………..	the ocean	impact on benthic organisms is (23)………………..
Drilling fluid	water based fluids	toxic additives, such as (24)…………………not absorbed by marine organisms
	(25)……………..	impact of toxins on marine environment is local
Produced water	oil or (26)……………….	mostly non-toxic which are quickly reduced in strength to (27)……………….

Garbage In Garbage Out

There are many ways of obtaining an understanding of people’s behaviour. One of these is to study the objects discarded by a community, objects used in daily lives. The study of the refuse of a society is the basis for the science of archaeology in which the lives and behaviour of past societies are minutely examined. Some recent studies have indicated the degree to which rubbish is socially defined.

For several years the University of Arizona, USA, has been running a Garbage Project, in which garbage is collected, sorted out and noted. It began with an arrangement whereby the City of Tucson collected for analysis garbage from randomly selected households in designated census collection districts. Since then the researchers have studied other cities, both in the USA and Mexico, refining their techniques and procedures in response to the challenges of validating and understanding the often unexpected results they have obtained. Garbage is sorted according to an extremely detailed schedule, a range of data for each item is recorded on a standardised coding form, and the researchers cross-tabulate their findings with information from census and other social surveys.

This project arose out of courses designed to teach students at the University the principles of archaeological methodology and to sensitise them to the complex and frequently surprising links between cultural assumptions and physical realities. Often a considerable discrepancy exists between what people say they do—or even think they do—and what they actually do. In one Garbage Project study, none of the Hispanic (Spanish-speaking) women in the sample admitted to using as much as a single serving of commercially-prepared baby food, clearly reflecting cultural expectations about proper mothering. Yet garbage from the Hispanic households with infants contained just as many baby food containers as garbage from non-Hispanic households with infants.

The project leaders then decided to took not only at what was thrown away, but what happened to it after that. In many countries waste is disposed of in landfills; the rubbish is compacted and buried in the ground. So the project expanded its activities to include the excavation of landfills across the United States and Canada. Surprisingly, no-one had ever attempted such excavations before.

The researchers discovered that far from being sites of chemical and biological activity, the interiors of waste landfills are rather inactive, with the possible exception of those established in swamps. Newspapers buried 20 or more years previously usually remained perfectly legible, and a remarkable amount of food wastes of similar age also remained intact.

While discarded household products such as paints, pesticides, cleaners and cosmetics result in a fair amount of hazardous substances being contained in municipal landfills, toxic leachates pose considerably less danger than people fear, provided that a landfill is properly sited and constructed. Garbage Project researchers have found that the leachates do not migrate far, and tend to get absorbed by the other materials in the immediate surrounds.

The composition of landfills is also strikingly different from what is commonly believed. In a recent US survey people were asked whether particular items were a major cause of garbage problems. Disposable nappies (baby diapers) were identified as a major cause by 41 per cent of the survey respondents, plastic bottles by 29 per cent, all forms of paper by six per cent, and construction debris by zero per cent. Yet Garbage Project data shows that disposable nappies make up less than two per cent of the volume of landfills and plastic bottles less than one per cent. On the other hand, over 40 per cent of the volume of landfills is composed of paper and around 12 per cent is construction debris.

Packaging—the paper and plastic wrapping around goods bought— has also been seen as a serious cause of pollution. But while some packaging is excessive, the Garbage Project researchers note that most manufacturers use as little as possible, because less is cheaper. They also point out that modern product packaging frequently functions to reduce the overall size of the solid-waste stream.

This apparent paradox is illustrated by the results of a comparison of garbage from a large and socially diverse sample of households in Mexico City with a similarly large and diverse sample in three United States cities. Even after correcting for differences in family size,

US households generated far less garbage than the Mexican ones. Because they are much more dependent on processed and packaged foods than Mexican households, US households produce much less food debris. (And most of the leaves, husks, etc. that the US processor has removed from the food can be used in the manufacture of other products, rather than entering the waste stream as is the likely fate with fresh produce purchased by households.)

One criticism made of Western societies is that the people are wasteful, and throw things away while they are still useable. This, however, does not seem to be true. Garbage Project data showed that furniture and consumer appliances were entering the solid waste stream at a rate very much less than would be expected from production and service-life figures. So the researchers set up a study to track the fate of such items and thus gained an insight into the huge informal and commercial trade in used goods that rarely turns up in official calculations and statistics.

The Garbage Project’s work shows how many misconceptions exist about garbage. The researchers are therefore critical of attempts to promote one type of waste management, such as source reduction or recycling, over others, such as incineration or landfilling. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, and what may be appropriate for one locality may not be appropriate for another.

Questions 28-34
Complete the summary. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 28-34 on your answer sheet.

THE GARBAGE PROJECT

Studying the (28)……………………of a community is one means by which an understanding of peoples behaviour can be obtained. Researchers running a Garbage Project found from their initial analysis of collected garbage that it was necessary to refine their techniques and procedures because of the difficulties they faced in substantiating some (29)……………………. The investigation involved entering data on a standardised coding form and comparing these results with those from other (30)…………………. The Garbage Project actually came about through courses aimed at teaching archaeological methodology and making students aware of the often unexpected connection between (31)………………………and what in fact happens in reality. This kind of (32)…………………was observed in a sample of Hispanic women who claimed not to have used store-bought baby food, obviously expressing that which would be culturally expected insofar as (33)…………………….is concerned. Their household garbage, however, told another story. It had the same quantity of (34)………………. as the non-Hispanic households with infants.

Questions 35-40
Look at the following misconceptions about garbage and the list of counter arguments below. Match each misconception with the appropriate counter argument.

35. Certain household items are a major cause of garbage problems in landfills.
36. Western households generate far more waste than others.
37. Germs and bacteria are active and widespread in landfills.
38. Western societies waste many useable items.
39. Harmful substances are widespread in municipal landfills.
40. Paper wrapping is wasteful and causes excess garbage.

List of Counter Arguments
A Toxins are contained in designated sites only.
B Fresh food creates less debris.
C Perishable items are often almost unchanged, even after long periods of time
D It is used sparingly in the manufacturing industry
E Businesses process food debris into other products.
F Household goods constituted a smaller-than-expected part of solid waste
G Disposable nappies make up less than 2% of landfills
H Leachates are confined to surrounding areas.
I It is used far more efficiently by manufactures these days.
J Paper constitutes 6% of landfill.

Weathering In The Desert

A In the deserts, as elsewhere, rocks at the earth’s surface are changed by weathering, which may be defined as the disintegration of rocks where they lie. Weathering processes are either chemical, when alteration of some of the constituent particles is involved; or mechanical, when there is merely the physical breaking apart and fragmentation of rocks. Which process will dominate depends primarily on the mineralogy and texture of the rock and the local climate, but several individual processes usually work together to the common end of rock disintegration.

B The great daily changes in temperature of deserts have long been supposed to be responsible for the disintegration of rocks, either by the differential heating of the various rock-forming minerals or by differential heating between the outer and inner parts of rock masses. However, both field observations and laboratory experiments have led to a reassessment of the importance of ’ exposure to the sun’s rays in desert weathering. Almost half a century ago Barton remarked that the buried parts of some of the ancient monuments in Egypt were more weathered than were those parts fully exposed to the sun’s rays, and attributed this to the effects of water absorption below the ground surface. Laboratory experiments have shown that rocks subjected to many cycles of large temperature oscillations (larger than those experienced in nature) display no evidence of fissuring or fragmentation, as a result. However, when marked fluctuations of temperature occur in moist conditions small rock fragments quickly form.

C The expansive action of crystallising salts is often alleged to exert sufficient force to disintegrate rocks. Few would dispute that this mechanism is capable of disrupting fissile or well-cleaved rocks or rocks already weakened by other weathering agencies; wood is splintered, terracotta tiles disintegrated and clays disturbed by the mechanism, but its importance when acting upon fresh and cohesive crystalline rocks remains uncertain.

D Weathering achieves more than the disintegration of rocks, though this is its most important geomorphic effect. It causes specific landforms to develop. Many boulders possess a superficial hard layer of iron oxide and/or silica, substances which have migrated in solution from the inside of the block towards the surface. Not only is the exterior thus case-hardened but the depleted interior disintegrates easily. When weathering penetrates the shell the inside is rapidly attacked and only the hard outer layer remains to give hollowed or ‘tortoiseshell’ rocks.

E Another superficial layer, the precise nature of which is little understood, is the well-known desert varnish or patina, a shiny coat on the surface of rocks and pebbles and characteristic of arid environments. Some varnishes are colourless, others light brown, yet others so dark a brown as to be virtually black. It’s origin is unknown but is significant, for it has been suggested that the varnish grows darker with the passage of time; obviously before such a criterion could be used with confidence as a chronological tool its origin must be known with precision. Its formation is so slow that in Egypt, for example, it has been estimated that a light brown coating requires between 2,000 and 5,000 years to develop, a fully formed blackish veneer between 20,000 and 50,000 years.

F The development of relatively impermeable soil horizons that are subsequently exposed at the surface because of erosion of once overlying, easily eroded materials, and which thus become surface crusts, is widespread in arid regions, although it is also known outside the deserts, and indeed many of the examples in arid lands probably originated in former periods of humid climate. The crusts prevent the waters of occasional torrential downpours from penetrating deeply into the soil, and thus they contribute to the rapid run-off associated with desert storms. Also, after erosion has cut through the crust and exposed underlying soil layers, the hard layer forms a resistant capping (duricrust) on plateaux and mesas, such as are common in many parts of arid and semi-arid Australia.

G Some duricrust layers have been used as time markers for landforms and geological formations. The necessary conditions for this are that the crust forms fairly rapidly, and that it is sufficiently distinct in appearance to preclude the possibility of confusion with other crusts formed at other times. The Barrilaco calcrete of Mexico for instance is believed to date from about 7,000 B.C. The main silcrete of the northern districts of South Australia is believed to date from the Lower Miocene, the laterite of northern Australia to be of the Lower or Middle Miocene age.

Questions 1-7
Reading Passage 1 has seven sections, A-G. Which paragraph contains the following information?

1. the idea that crystalline salts may not disintegrate solid rock as easily as other substances
2. the fact that daily temperature changes cause rocks to weather may not be as important as supposed
3. the regions where weathering creates a thick layer of earth that water cannot penetrate easily
4. the fact that weathering not only breaks down rocks, but also shapes the landscape
5. the idea of using impenetrable layers of earth to measure chronology
6. the two different kinds of weathering in rocks
7. the possibility of using the colour of the shiny surface on rocks to measure chronology

Questions 8-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 8-13 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

8. Desert rocks can become weathered when there is a chemical reaction within the rock.
9. The parts of Egyptian monuments exposed to sunlight were found to be affected by the weather more than those below the ground.
10. Granite which has been subjected to huge temperature swings tends not to exhibit any signs of disintegration as a result.
11. It is estimated that dark patina originated between 2,000 and 5,000 years ago.12. Because of surface crusts, water from torrential rains cannot be fully absorbed into the ground and as a result causes run offs in arid regions.
13. Duricrust layering is no longer used as an indicator of time because of the confusion with similar crusts.

Fashion And Society: A Historical Perspective

In all societies the body is ‘dressed’, and everywhere dress and adornment play symbolic and aesthetic roles. The colour of clothing often has special meaning: a white wedding dress symbolising purity; or black clothing indicating remembrance for a dead relative. Uniforms symbolise association with a particular profession. For many centuries purple, the colour representing royalty, was to be worn by no one else. And of course, dress has always been used to emphasise the wearer’s beauty, although beauty has taken many different forms in different societies. In the 16th century in Europe, for example, Flemish painters celebrated women with bony shoulders, protruding stomachs and long faces, while women shaved or plucked their hairlines to obtain the fashionable egg-domed forehead. These traits are considered ugly by today’s fashion.

The earliest forms of ‘clothing’ seem to have been adornments such as body painting, ornaments, scarifications (scarring), tattooing, masks and often constricting neck and waist bands. Many of these deformed, reformed or otherwise modified the body. The bodies of men and of children, not just those of women, were altered: there seems to be a widespread human desire to transcend the body’s limitations, to make it what it is, by nature, not.

Dress in general seems then to fulfil a number of social functions. This is true of modern as of ancient dress. What is added to dress as we ourselves know it in the west is fashion, of which the key feature is rapid and continual changing of styles. The growth of the European city in the 14th century saw the birth of fashion. Previously, loose robes had been worn by both sexes, and styles were simple and unchanging. Dress distinguished rich from poor, rulers from ruled, only in that working people wore more wool and no silk, rougher materials and less ornamentation than their masters.

However, by the 14th century, with the expansion in trade, the growth of city life, and the increasing sophistication of the royal and aristocratic courts, rapidly changing styles appeared in western Europe. These were associated with developments in tailored and fitted clothing; once clothing became fitted, it was possible to change the styling of garments almost endlessly. By the 15th and 16th centuries it began to seem shameful to wear outdated clothing. So those who could afford to do so began discarding unfashionable clothing simply because it was not in style. Cloth, which was enormously expensive, was literally, and symbolised, wealth in medieval society.

In modern western societies there is no form of clothing which has not felt the impact of fashion: fashion sets the terms of all dress behaviour. Even uniforms have been designed by some of the top fashion houses; even the dress code in the workplace has shifted from formal, business attire to the more relaxed, smart casual look; even the less affluent enjoy haute couture – they wear cheaper versions of the top designs and top labels.

Even the unfashionable wear clothes that represent a reaction against what is in fashion. To be unfashionable is not to ignore fashion; it is rather to protest against the social values of the fashionable. Last century the hippies of the 1960s created a unique appearance out of an assortment of second hand clothes, craft work and army surplus, as a protest against the wastefulness of the consumer society. They rejected the way mass production ignored individuality, and also the wastefulness of luxury.

Looked at in historical perspective, the styles of fashion display a mad relativism. At one time the rich wear cloth of gold embroidered with pearls, at another beige cashmere and grey suiting. In one epoch men parade in elaborately curled hair, high heels and rouge, at another to do so is to court outcast status and physical abuse. It is in some sense inherently ironic that a new fashion starts from rejection of the old and often an eager embracing of what was previously considered ugly. A case in point is the outlandish, fashion statement made by the non-conforming, rebellious youth of today who have tattoos, metal studs and body piercings. They defied mainstream fashion only to see their defiance become the fashion of the day in the broader community. Moreover, having once defined style in centuries past, these adornments have now come full circle.

Despite its apparent irrationality, fashion cements social solidarity and imposes group norms. It forces us to recognise that the human body is not only a biological entity, but an organism in culture. To dress the way that others do is to signal that we share many of their morals and values. Conversely, deviations in dress are usually considered shocking and disturbing. In western countries a man wearing a pink suit to a job interview would not be considered for a position at a bank. He would not be taken seriously. Likewise, even in these ‘liberated’ times, a man in a skirt in many western cultures causes considerable anxiety, hostility or laughter.

However, while fashion in every age is normative, there is still room for clothing to express individual taste. In any period, within the range of stylish clothing, there is some choice of colour, fabric and style. This was even more true last century, because in the 20th century, fashion, without losing its obsession with the new and the different, was mass produced. Originally, fashion was largely for the rich, but since the industrial period the mass production of fashionably styled clothes has made possible the use of fashion as a means of self-enhancement and self-expression for the majority.

Questions 14-19
Complete the table below. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

Period	Clothing behavior	Types of clothing
Earliest times	wearing (14)…………………	body painting, tattooing, masks
Pre- (15)………………	simple, unchanging styles	(16)……………….
14th century	(17)…………………….	(18)…………………
15th-16th century	(19)……………………	use of cloth

Questions 20-23
Complete each sentence with the appropriate ending, A-J, below.

20. The styling of apparel
21. Wearing outdated clothing
22. The impact of fashion
23. Mass production of fashionable clothing

A allowed the less affluent to buy styled clothes.
B was fell by top designers seeing fake, less expensive designer clothing on the market.
C was made possible with the development of tailored and fitted clothing.
D gave the individual a means of self-expression.
E caused anxiety and hostility in western cultures.
F was made possible with the increase in sophistication of the royal courts.
G was seen as something shameful in earlier times.
H had little effect on nonconforming youth.
I distinguished the rich from the poor in earlier times.
J was felt in the workforce with the change to informal wear.

Questions 24-26
Answer the questions below. Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.

24. A kind of adornment worn by defiant young people these days besides body piercings and metal studs
25. What was a symbol of wealth in medieval times?
26. Name ONE group of people who protested against the social values of the fashionable.

Mass Production

Car manufacturer Henry Ford s 1908 Model T automobile was his twentieth design over a five-year period that began with the production of the original Model A in 1903. With his Model T, Ford finally achieved two objectives. He had a car that was designed for manufacture, and one that was easily operated and maintained by the owner. These two achievements laid the groundwork for the revolutionary change in direction for the entire motor vehicle industry.

The key to mass production wasn’t the moving, or continuous, assembly line. Rather, it was the complete and consistent interchangeability of parts and the simplicity of attaching them to each other. These were the manufacturing innovations that made the assembly line possible. To achieve interchangeability, Ford insisted that the same gauging system be used for every part all the way through the entire manufacturing process. Previously, each part had been made to a slightly different gauge, so skilled fitters had to file each part individually to fit onto the other parts of the car. Ford’s insistence on working to gauge throughout was driven by his realisation of the payoff he would get in the form of savings on assembly costs. Ford also benefited from recent advances in machine tools able to work on pre-hardened metals. The warping or distortion that occurred as machined parts were being hardened had been the bane of previous attempts to standardise parts. Once the warping problem was solved, Ford was able to develop innovative designs that reduced the number of parts needed and made these parts easy to attach. For example, Ford’s four-cylinder engine block consisted of a single, complex casting. Competitors cast each cylinder separately and bolted the four together. Taken together, interchangeability, simplicity, and ease of attachment gave Ford tremendous advantages over his competition.

Ford’s first efforts to assemble his cars, beginning in 1903, involved setting up assembly stands on which a whole car was built, often by one fitter. In 1908, on the eve of the introduction of the Model T, a Ford assembler’s average task cycle, that is the amount of time he worked before repeating the same operations, totalled 514 minutes, or 8.56 hours. Each worker would assemble a large part of a car before moving on to the next. For example, a worker might put all the mechanical parts, such as wheels, springs, motor, transmission and generator, on the chassis (body), a set of activities that took a whole day to complete. The assembler/fitters performed the same set of activities over and over at their stationary assembly stands. They had to get the necessary parts, file them down so they would fit (Ford hadn’t yet achieved perfect interchangeability of parts), then bolt them in place.

The first step Ford took to make this process more efficient was to deliver the parts to each workstation. Now the assemblers could

remain at the same spot all day. Later in 1908, when Ford finally achieved perfect part interchangeability, he decided that the assembler would perform only a single task and move from vehicle to vehicle around the assembly hall. By August of 1913, just before the moving assembly line was introduced, the task cycle for the average Ford assembler had been reduced from 514 to 2.3 minutes. Naturally, this reduction spurred a remarkable increase in productivity, partly because complete familiarity with a single task meant the worker could perform it faster, but also because all filing and adjusting of parts had by now been eliminated. Workers simply popped on parts that fitted every time.

Ford soon recognised the problem with moving the worker from assembly stand to assembly stand: walking, even if only for a yard or two, took time, and jam-ups frequently resulted as faster workers overtook the slower workers in front of them. Ford’s stroke of genius in the spring of 1913, at his new Highland Park plant in Detroit, was the introduction of the moving assembly line, which brought the car past the stationary worker. This innovation cut cycle time from 2.3 minutes to 1.19 minutes; the difference lay in the time saved in the worker’s standing still rather than walking and in the faster work pace which the moving line could enforce. The moving assembly sped up production so dramatically that the savings Ford could realise from reducing the inventory of parts waiting to be assembled far exceeded this trivial outlay.

Even more striking, Ford’s discovery simultaneously reduced the amount of human effort needed to assemble an automobile. What’s more, the more vehicles Ford produced, the more the cost per vehicle fell. Even when it was introduced in 1908, Ford’s Model T, with its fully interchangeable parts, cost less than its rivals. By the time Ford reached peak production volume of 2 million identical vehicles a year in the early 1920s, he had cut the real cost to the consumer by an additional two-thirds.

To appeal to his target market of average consumers, Ford had also designed unprecedented ease of operation and maintainability into his car. He assumed that his buyer would be a farmer with a modest tool kit and the kinds of mechanical skills needed for fixing farm machinery. So the Model T’s owner’s manual explained in 64 pages how the owner could use simple tools to solve any of the 140 problems likely to occur with the car.

Ford’s competitors were as amazed by this designed-in repairability as by the moving assembly line. This combination of competitive advantages catapulted Ford to the head of the world’s motor industry and virtually eliminated craft-production companies unable to match its manufacturing economies.

Questions 27-32
Complete the flow chart below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.

IMPROVING PRODUCTIVITY
• Manufacturing innovations gave Ford a huge advantage over the (27)…………………

ASSEMBLING THE CAR
• Assembly stands set up
• (28)………………………..performed repeatedly.

MAKING THE PROCESS MORE EFFICIENT
• Parts delivered to (29)…………………….
• Fitter remained stationary all day.

ACHIEVING PERFECT (30)………………
• Fitter carried out a single task only.
• Assembler moved around the hall from car to car.
• Reduction in the (31)…………………….increased productivity.

INTRODUCING THE MOVING ASSEMBLY LINE
• Vehicle moved from one workstation to the next
• Increase in (32)……………………….implemented because of the stationary assembler.

Questions 33-37
According to the passage, classify the following characteristics of mass production as relating to

A an advantage
B a disadvantage
C neither an advantage nor a disadvantage

33. shaping each part to fit individually with all other parts
34. having a single, complex casting for the four-cylinder engine block
35. designing 20 Ford automobiles within a five-year period
36. hardening of machined parts for standardisation
37. using identical gauges for each part throughout the production

Questions 38-40
Choose the appropriate letter, A, B, C or D.

38. Which graph best describes the change in task time resulting from workers performing a single task only?

39. Which graph best describes the cost of building a moving assembly line in comparison to the money saved?

40. Which graph best describes the relationship between the number of vehicles produced and the cost of the vehicles?

AIRCONDITIONING THE EARTH

The circulation of air in the atmosphere is activated by convection, the transference of heat resulting from the fact that warm gases or fluids rise while cold gases or fluids sink. For example, if one wall of a room is heated whilst the opposite wall is cooled, air will rise against the warm wall and flow across the ceiling to the cold wall before descending to flow back across the floor to the warm wall again. The real atmosphere, however, is like a very long room with a very low ceiling.

The distance from equator to pole is 10,000 km, while the ‘ceiling height’ to the beginning of the stratosphere is only about 10 km. The air therefore splits up into a number of smaller loops or convection cells. Between the equator and each pole there are three such cells and within these the circulation is mainly north-south.

Large-scale air-conditioning
The result of this circulation is a flow of heat energy towards the poles and a levelling out of the climate so that both equatorial and polar regions are habitable. The atmosphere generally retains its state of equilibrium as every north-going air current is counterbalanced by a south-going one. In the same way depressions at lower levels in the troposphere are counterbalanced by areas of high pressure in the upper levels, and vice versa. The atmospheric transference of heat is closely associated with the movement of moisture between sea and continent and between different latitudes. Moist air can transport much greater quantities of energy than dry air.

Because the belts of convection cells run east to west, both climate and weather vary according to latitude. Climatic zones are particularly distinguishable at sea where there are no land masses to disturb the pattern.

Man and the winds
For thousands of years mankind has been dependent upon the winds: they brought rain to the land and carried ships across the seas. Thus the westerly wind belts, the trade winds and the monsoon winds of the global circulation systems have been known to us for many centuries.

As recently as the 20th century, Arab ships sailed on the south-west monsoon winds from East Africa to India and back again on the north-east monsoon winds, without need of a compass. The winds alone were sufficient. In the equatorial convergence zone (the ‘doldrums’), and in the regions around the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn known as the ‘horse latitudes’, sailing ships could drift for weeks unable to steer, while the ‘roaring forties’ of the South Atlantic (40-50°S) were notorious among mariners for their terrible winds.

It was not until the development of the balloon at the end of the 18th century, however, that it became possible to study meteorological conditions at high altitudes. The balloon is still a significant research device although today it carries a radar reflector or a set of instruments and a radio transmitter, rather than the scientists themselves. Nowadays high-flying aircraft and satellites are also important aids to meteorology. Through them we have discovered the west to east jet stream. This blows at speeds of up to 500 km/h at altitudes of 9,000-10,000 m along the border between the Arctic and temperate zone convection belts.

Weather fronts
The circulation within the different convection cells is greater than the exchange of air between them and therefore the temperature in two cells that are close to each other can differ greatly. Consequently, the borders between the different convection cells are areas in which warm and cold air masses oppose each other, advancing and withdrawing. In the Northern Hemisphere, the dividing line between the Arctic and temperate convection zones is the polar front, and it is this which determines the weather in northern Europe and North America. This front is unstable, weaving sometimes northward, sometimes southward, of an average latitude of 60°N. Depressions become trapped within the deep concavities of this front and these subsequently move eastward along it with areas of rain and snowfall. In this way global air circulation determines not only the long-term climate but also the immediate weather.

Questions 1-3
Label the diagram below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

Questions 4-7
Complete the summary below using the list of words and phrases, A-L, below.

A on land
B polar regions
C moisture
D heat
E balanced
F at sea
G offset
H pole
I equatorial regions
J latitude
K in the air
L longitude

Global air circulation spreads heat from the equator towards the (4)……………………Generally, a state of balance in the atmosphere is maintained because the north-moving air currents are continually being (5)…………………..by the south ones. Within the system of heat transfer in the atmosphere, climate is affected not only by (6)………………..but also by the amount of moisture in the air. The most accurate geographical zone for the study of climate is (7)…………………….., where there are no local wind systems.

Questions 8-12
Write the correct letter, A, B or C in boxes 8-12 on your answer sheet.

Classify the following wind patterns according to whether the writer states they are

A useful
B problematic
C neither useful nor problematic

8. ‘roaring forties’
9. south-west monsoon winds
10. west to east jet stream
11. ‘horse latitudes’
12. north-east monsoon winds

Question 13
Answer the question below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage.

13. Which border between convection zones determines the weather in the Northern Hemisphere?

MONEY AS THE UNIT OF ACCOUNT

SECTION A
The most difficult aspect of money to understand is its function as a unit of account. In linear measurement we find the definition of a yard, or a metre, easy to accept. In former times these lengths were defined in terms of fine lines etched onto brass rods maintained in standards laboratories at constant temperatures. Money, however, is much more difficult to define because the value of anything is ultimately in the mind of the observer, and such values will change with time and circumstance.

Sir Isaac Newton, as Master of the Royal Mint, defined the pound sterling (£) in 1717 as 113 grains of pure gold. This took Britain off silver and onto gold as defining the unit of account. The pound was 113 grains of pure gold, the shilling was 1/20 of that, and the penny 1/240 of it.

By the end of the„19th century the gold standard had spread around most of the trading world, with the result that there was a single world money. It was called by different names in different countries, but all these supposedly different currencies were rigidly interconnected through their particular definition in terms of a quantity of gold.

SECTION B
In economic life the prices of different commodities and services are always changing with respect to each other. If the potato crop, for example, is ruined by frost or flood, then the price of potatoes will go up. The consequences of that particular price increase will be complex and unpredictable. Because of the high price of potatoes, prices of other things will decline, as demand for them declines. Similarly, the argument that the Middle East crisis following the Iraqi annexation of Kuwait would, because of increased oil prices, have led to sustained general inflation is, although widely accepted, entirely without foundation. With sound money (money whose purchasing power does not decline over time) a sudden price shock in any one commodity will not lead to a general price increase, but to changes in relative prices throughout the economy. As oil increases, other goods and services will drop in price, and oil substitutes will rise in price, as the consequences of the oil price increase work their unpredictable and complex way through the economy.

The use of gold as the unit of account during the days of the gold standard meant that the price of all other commodities and services would swing up and down with reference to the price of gold, which was fixed. If gold supplies diminished, as they did when the 1850s gold rushes in California and Australia were finishing, then deflation (a general price level decrease] would set in. When new gold rushes followed in South Africa and again in Australia, in the 1880s and 1890s, the general price level increased, gently, around the world, as there was more money in circulation.

SECTION C
The end of the gold standard began with the introduction of the Bretton-Woods Agreement in 1946. This fixed the value of all world currencies relative to the US dollar, which in turn was fixed to a specific value of gold (US$0.35/oz). However, in 1971 the US government finally refused to exchange US dollars for gold, and other countries soon followed. Governments printed as much paper money or coinage as they wanted, and the more that was printed, the less each unit of currency was worth.

The key problem with these government ‘fiat’ currencies is that their value is not defined; such value is subject to how much money a government cares to print. Their future value is unpredictable, depending as it does on political chance. In past economic calculations of the Australian Institute for Public Policy, incomes and expenditures were automatically converted to dollars of a particular year, using CPI deflators, which are stored in the Institute’s computers. When the Institute performs economic calculations into the future, it guesses at inflation rates and includes these guesses in its figures. The guesses are entirely based on past experience. In Australia most current calculations assume a three to four per cent inflation rate.

SECTION D
The great advantage of the 19th century gold standard was not just that it defined the unit of account, but that it operated throughout almost the entire world. Anthony Trollope tells us in his diaries about his Australian travels in 1872 that a pound of meat, selling in Australia for two pence, would have cost ten pence or even a shilling in the UK. It was this price difference which drove investment and effort into the development of shipboard refrigeration, and opening up of major new markets for Australian meat, at great benefit to the British public.

Today we can determine price differences between countries by considering the exchange rate of the day. In twelve months’ time, even a month’s time, however, a totally different situation may prevail, and investments of time and money made on the basis of an opportunity at an exchange rate of the day, may actually perform poorly because of subsequent exchange rate movements.

The great advantage of having a single stable world currency is that such currency would have very high information content. It tells people where to invest their time, energy and capital, all around the world, with much greater accuracy and predictability than would otherwise be possible.

Questions 14-17
Reading Passage 2 has four sections, A-D. Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings below.

List of Headings
i The effects of inflation
ii The notion of money and its expression
iii The rise of problematic modern currencies
iv Stable money compared to modern ‘fiat’ currencies
v The function of money
vi The interrelationship of prices
vii Stability of modern currencies

14. SECTION A
15. SECTION B
16. SECTION C
17. SECTION D

Questions 18-22
Look at the following causes and the list of results below. Match each cause with the appropriate result.

18. Oil prices rise.
19. The price of potatoes goes up.
20. Gold was the unit of account.
21. The amount of gold available went down.
22. Meat in Australia was cheaper than elsewhere.

List of Results
A The price of goods fluctuated in relation to a fixed gold price
B People developed techniques of transporting it to other places.
C Oil substitutes become more expensive
D More people went to live in Australia
E The price of other things goes down, because fewer people could afford to buy them
F The price of commodities remained fixed
G There is no observable effect.
H All prices went down, everywhere.
I Oil substitutes drop in price

Questions 23-27
Classify the following characteristics as belonging to

A money based on a gold standard
B government ‘fiat’ monopoly currencies
C both money based on a gold standard and ‘fiat’ currencies

23. it has a clearly defined value
24. its value by definition varies over time
25. its future value is predictable
26. its past value can be calculated
27. it makes international investment easier

PURPOSES OF LANGUAGE STUDY: THE AUSTRALIAN SENATE INQUIRY INTO A NATIONAL LANGUAGE POLICY

The Report of the Inquiry by the Senate of the Australian Parliament into a national language policy in Australia proposed five purposes for studying a language other than English in Australian schools.

POINT ONE
The first point relates to what might be termed the more strictly utilitarian reasons for language learning: the acquisition of fluency in a language other than English for the purpose of direct communication. The communication in question may be of an informal nature, such as that which occurs during overseas travel, or between members of different groups within Australian society in a variety of social situations. In large measure, however, this language learning objective relates to the rote of languages other than English in various fields of employment, such as interpreting and translating, international trade, diplomacy and defence.

Professor M. Halliday, a witness to the Inquiry, cautioned against placing too heavy an emphasis on utilitarian goals, stating that ‘one should not be too restricted to the practical arguments which are in a sense dishonest if you say to someone: “If you spend all this time learning a language you will immediately be able to go and find a use for it”.’

The Committee agrees that, taken in isolation, practical arguments tend to give an incomplete picture of the value of language learning. In the early school years, for example, utilitarian objectives may well be less important than they are at tertiary level where employment considerations exert a strong influence.

POINT TWO
The second purpose concerns the link between a language and the cultural context from which it emerges. Many submissions stressed the value of the language learning experience as a means of understanding other cultures, and hence of developing sensitive and tolerant cross-cultural attitudes. This proposition is applied to cultures both within Australia and overseas. Thus, it is argued that language study can contribute in important ways both to harmonious community relationships within Australia, and to an understanding of the cultural values of other countries.

It is also contended that language provides the key to major historical cultures, such as the civilisations of classical antiquity which have exerted a profound influence on the Western tradition.

In the course of hearings, Dr David Ingram of the Australian Federation of Modern Language Teachers Associations referred to evidence which lends some empirical support to the claim that the experience of language learning fosters the development of a better understanding of other cultures. The Committee does not find the proposition difficult to accept. It believes, however, that the measure of success achieved is likely to be largely dependent on the teaching methodology adopted, and the degree of teacher commitment to the goal of cultural awareness and sensitivity.

POINT THREE
The third objective relates to the role of language learning is the maintenance of ethnic languages and cultures within Australia. It was argued in submissions that a central element in Australia’s policy of multiculturalism is a recognition of the value of the cultural heritages of the different groups within Australian society. Since language and culture are inextricably intertwined, the preservation of cultural heritages necessarily entails the retention of the languages associated with them. In the case of Aboriginal communities this issue takes on a special note of urgency since, in many instances, Aboriginal cultures and languages are on the verge of disappearing completely. The objective in this context, therefore, is not simply to assist in the maintenance of a cultural and linguistic heritage but to aid in preserving that heritage from extinction.

POINT FOUR
Prominent amongst the purposes of language learning described in submissions was the fourth point: the development of the general cognitive and linguistic capacities of students. The educational outcomes at stake here were described in a number of ways. Professor M. Halliday, for example, spoke of language learning as an educational exercise of the first importance, as a development of thinking.’ Another submission referred to the development of ‘a sharpened, more critical awareness of the nature and mechanism of language.’ Professor Clyne pointed to research conducted particularly in Canada which, he states, ‘suggests that bilinguals are superior to monolinguals in logical thought and conceptual development, verbal intelligence and divergent thinking.’

POINT FIVE
Finally, several submissions spoke of the role of language learning is the general development of personality. To a large extent, this objective builds upon and sums up aspects of those already covered. The possibility of direct communication with speakers of another language, for example, offers the opportunity for a broadening of personal horizons. A similar outcome may be expected from the encounter with another culture made possible through language study. Where the language concerned is the child’s mother tongue, either the language of a migrant group or an Aboriginal language, an additional factor emerges. In this context, it is argued, language study contributes significantly to the development of individual self-esteem, since the introduction of the language into the school encourages children of that language background to value it and appreciate it as an asset. As a result, their estimation of their family’s value as well as of their own worth is likely to rise.

The Committee believes that submissions have been correct in drawing attention to these personal development issues. Naturally, the benefits of language learning in question here are less easy to quantify than those involved in the objectives previously discussed. Nonetheless, the Committee believes that, if appropriately taught, languages can play an important part in assisting young people to establish their identity, and develop their individual and social personalities.

Questions 28-32
Reading Passage 3 proposes five points for the Purpose of Language Study. Choose the correct heading for each of the five points from the list of headings below.

28. Point One
29. Point Two
30. Point Three
31. Point Four
32. Point Five

List of Headings
i Maintenance of ethnic languages and outlines as part of Australia’s policy of multiculturalism
ii Tolerance and acceptance of other races and cultures through language classes
iii Successful communication with non-English speaking people both within Australia and overseas
iv A better appreciation of the multicultural nature of Australian society
v Developing a better understanding of other cultures
vi Developing better cognitive and general linguistic abilities in students
vii Assessment whether bilinguals are superior to monolinguals
viii Developing the personality of students and sense of individual identity
ix The prevention of Aboriginal languages disappearing

Questions 33-37
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 33-37 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

33. Fluency skills in a language other than English are acquired for the purpose of communicating in informal settings.
34. There is evidence which suggests that language learning does not necessarily promote a better understanding of cultures.
35. Learning a second language produces greater tolerance, better understanding of others and acceptance of difference.
36. Preserving a culture involves retaining the language associated with it.
37. Learning a language facilitates a child’s communication with family members of non-English speaking backgrounds.

Questions 38-40
Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

Understanding of other cultures whether within Australia or overseas is one of the benefits gained through (38)………………..

Ability to study one’s background language at school seemingly raises an individual’s (39)………………….

Provided they are competently taught, languages can help to form the (40)…………………..of individuals and develop their personalities.

Nature on display in American zoos

The first zoo in the United States opened in Philadelphia in 1874, followed by the Cincinnati Zoo the next year. By 1940 there were zoos in more than one hundred American cities. The Philadelphia Zoo was more thoroughly planned and better financed than most of the hundreds of zoos that would open later but in its landscape and its mission – to both educate and entertain it embodied ideas about how to build a zoo that stayed consistent for decades. The zoos came into existence in the late nineteenth century during the transition of the United States from a rural and agricultural nation to an industrial one.

The population more than doubled between 1860 and 1900. As more middle class people lived in cities, they began seeking new relationships with the natural world as a place for recreation, self-improvement, and Spiritual renewal. Cities established systems of public parks, and nature tourism – already popular – became even more fashionable with the establishment of national parks. Nature was thought to be good for people of all ages and classes. Nature study was incorporated into school curricula, and natural history collecting became an increasingly popular pastime.

At the same time, the fields of study which were previously thought of as’ natural history’ grew into separate areas such as taxonomy, experimental embryology and genetics, each with its own experts and structures. As laboratory research gained prestige in the zoology departments of American universities, the gap between professional and amateur scientific activities widened. Previously, natural history had been open to amateurs and was easily popularized, but research required access to microscopes and other equipment in laboratories, as well as advanced education.

The new zoos set themselves apart from traveling animal shows by stating their mission as education and the advancement of science, In addition to recreation. Zoos presented zoology for the non specialist, at a time when the intellectual distance between amateur naturalists and laboratory oriented zoologists was increasing. They attracted wide audiences and quickly became a feature of every growing and forward thinking city. They were emblems of civic pride on a level of importance with art museums, natural history museums and botanical gardens.

Most American zoos were founded and operated as part of the public parks administration. They were dependent on municipal funds, and they charged no admission fee. They tended to assemble as many different mammal and bird species as possible, along with a few reptiles, exhibiting one or two specimens of each, and they competed with each other to become the first to display a rarity, like a rhinoceros. In the constant effort to attract the public to make return visits, certain types of display came in and out of fashion; for example, dozens of zoos built special Islands for their large populations of monkeys. In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration funded millions of dollars of construction at dozens of zoos, for the most part, the collections of animals were organized by species in a combination of enclosures according to a fairly loose classification scheme.

Although many histories of individual zoos describe the 1940s through the 1960s as a period of stagnation, and in some cases there was neglect, new zoos continued to be set up all over the country. In the 1940s and 1950s, the first zoos designed specifically for children were built, some with the appeal of farm animals. An increasing number of zoos tried new ways of organizing their displays. In addition to the traditional approach of exhibiting like kinds together, zoo planners had a new approach of putting animals in groups according to their continent of origin and designing exhibits showing animals of particular habitats, for example, polar, desert, or forest. During the 1960s, a few zoos arranged some displays according to animal behavior; the Bronx Zoo. for instance, opened its World of Darkness exhibit of nocturnal animals. Paradoxically, at the same time as zoo displays began incorporating ideas about the ecological relationships between animals, big cats and primates continued to be displayed in bathroom like cages lined with tiles.

By the 1970s, a new wave of reform was stirring. Popular movements for environmentalism and animal welfare called attention to endangered species and to zoos that did not provide adequate care for their animals. More projects were undertaken by research scientists and zoos began hiring full-time vets as they stepped up captive breeding programs. Many zoos that had been supported entirely by municipal budgets began recruiting private financial support and charging admission fees. In the prosperous 1980s and 1990s. zoos built realistic ‘landscape immersion’ exhibits, many of them around the theme of the tropical rainforest and. increasingly, conservation moved to the forefront of zoo agendas.

Although zoos were popular and proliferating institutions in the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, historians have paid little attention to them. Perhaps zoos have been ignored because they were, and remain still, multi-purpose institutions, and as such they fall between the categories of analysis that historians often use. In addition, their stated goals of recreation, education, the advancement of science, and protection of endangered species have often conflicted. Zoos occupy a difficult middle ground between science and showmanship, high culture and low, remote forests and the cement cityscape, and wild animals and urban people.

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

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

1. The concepts on which the Philadelphia zoo was based soon became unfashionable.
2. The opening of zoos coincided with a trend for people to live in urban areas.
3. During the period when many zoos were opened, the study of natural history became more popular in universities than other scientific subjects.
4. Cities recognized that the new zoos were as significant an amenity as museums.
5. Between 1940 and 1960 some older zoos had to move to new sites in order to expand.
6. In the 1970s, new ways of funding zoos were developed.
7. There has been serious disagreement amongst historians about the role of the first zoos.

Questions 8-13
Complete the notes below. Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.

• Up to 1940 – More mammals and birds exhibited than (8)………………………. (9)…………….were very popular animals in many zoos at one time.
• 1940s and 1950s – Zoos started exhibiting animals according to their (10)………………and where they came from.
• 1960s – Some zoos categorized animals by (11)……………………
• 1970s – (12)………………….. were employed following protests about animal care.
• 1980s onward – The importance of (13)………………..became greater.

Can we prevent the poles from melting?

A Such is our dependence on fossil fuels, and such is the volume of carbon dioxide we have already released into the atmosphere, that most climate scientists agree that significant global warming is now inevitable – the best we can hope to do is keep it at a reasonable level, and even that is going to be an uphill task. At present, the only serious option on the table for doing this is cutting back on our carbon emissions, but while a few countries are making major strides in this regard, the majority are having great difficulty even stemming the rate of increase, let alone reversing it. Consequently, an increasing number of scientists are beginning to explore the alternatives. They oil fall under the banner of geoengineering – generally defined as the intentional large-scale manipulation of the environment.

B Geoengineering has been shown to work, at least on a small, localized scale, for decades. May Day parades in Moscow have taken place under clear blue skies, aircraft having deposited dry ice, silver iodide and cement powder to disperse clouds. Many of the schemes now suggested look to do the opposite, and reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the planet. One scheme focuses on achieving a general cooling of the Earth and involves the concept of releasing aerosol sprays into the stratosphere above the Arctic to create clouds of sulphur dioxide, which would, in turn, lead to a global dimming. The idea is modelled on historical volcanic explosions, such as that of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991, which led to a short term cooling of global temperatures by 0.5“C. The aerosols could be delivered by artillery, highflying aircraft or balloons.

C Instead of concentrating on global cooling, other schemes look specifically at reversing the melting at the poles. One idea is to bolster an ice cap by spraying it with water. Using pumps to carry water from below the sea ice, the spray would come out as snow or ice particles, producing thicker sea ice with a higher albedo (the ratio of sunlight reflected from a surface) to reflect summer radiation. Scientists have also scrutinized whether it is possible to block icefjords in Greenland with cables which have been reinforced, preventing icebergs from moving into the sea. Veli Albert Kallio, a Finnish scientist, says that such an idea is impractical, because the force of the ice would ultimately snap the cables and rapidly release a large quantity of frozen ice into the sea. However, Kallio believes that the sort of cables used in suspension bridges could potentially be used to divert, rather than halt, the southward movement of ice from Spitsbergen. ‘It would stop the ice moving south, and local currents would see them float northwards,’ he says.

D A number of geoengineering ideas are currently being examined in the Russian Arctic. These include planting millions of birch trees: the thinking, according to Kallio, is that their white bark would increase the amount of reflected sunlight. The loss of their leaves in winter would also enable the snow to reflect radiation. In contrast, the native evergreen pines tend to shade the snow and absorb radiation. Using ice-breaking vessels to deliberately break up and scatter coastal sea ice in both Arctic and Antarctic waters in their respective autumns, and diverting Russian rivers to increase cold-water (low to ice-forming areas, could also be used to slow down warming, Kallio says. ‘You would need the wind to blow the right way, but in the right conditions, by letting ice float free and head north, you would enhance ice growth.’

E But will such ideas ever be implemented? The major counterarguments to geoengineering schemes are, first, that they are a ‘cop-out’ that allow us to continue living the way we do, rather than reducing carbon emissions; and, second, even if they do work, would the side- effects outweigh the advantages? Then there’s the daunting prospect of upkeep and repair of any scheme as well as the consequences of a technical failure. ’I think all of us agree that if we were to end geoengineering on a given day, then the planet would return to its pre-engineered condition very rapidly, and probably within 10 to 20 years,’ says Dr Phil Rasch, chief scientist for climate change at the US-based Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. ‘That’s certainly something to worry about. I would consider geoengineering as a strategy to employ only while we manage the conversion to a non-fossil- fuel economy.’ ‘The risk with geoengineering projects is that you can “overshoot”,’ says Dr Dan Lunt, from the University of Bristol. ‘You may bring global temperatures back to pre-industrial levels, but the risk is that the poles will still be warmer than they should be and the tropics will be cooler than before industrialization.’

F The main reason why geoengineering is countenanced by the mainstream scientific community is that most researchers have little faith in the ability of politicians to agree – and then bring in – the necessary carbon cuts. Even leading conservation organisations believe the subject is worth exploring. As Dr Mortin Sommerkorn, a climate change advisor says. ‘But human-induced climate change has brought humanity to a position where it is important not to exclude thinking thoroughly about this topic and its possibilities despite the potential drawbacks. If, over the coming years, the science tells us about an ever-increased climate sensitivity of the planet – and this isn’t unrealistic – then v/e may be best served by not having to start our thinking from scratch.’

Questions 14-18
Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs A-F. Which paragraph contains the following information? NB You may use any letter more than once.

14. the existence of geoengineering projects distracting from the real task of changing the way we live
15. circumstances in which geoengineering has demonstrated success
16. maintenance problems associated with geoengineering projects
17. support for geoengineering being due to a lack of confidence in governments
18. more success in fighting climate change in some parts of the world than others

Questions 19-23
Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Geoengineering projects

A range of geoengineering ideas has been put forward, which aim either to prevent the melting of the ice caps or to stop the general rise in global temperatures. One scheme to discourage the melting of ice and snow involves introducing (19)……………………to the Arctic because of their colour. The build-up of ice could be encouraged by dispersing ice along the coasts using special ships and changing the direction of some (20)………………………but this scheme is dependent on certain weather conditions. Another way of increasing the amount of ice involves using (21)………………………to bring water to the surface. A scheme to stop ice moving would use (22)………………….but this method is more likely to be successful in preventing the ice from travelling in one direction rather than stopping it altogether. A suggestion for cooling global temperatures is based on what has happened in the past after (23)……………………..and it involves creating clouds of gas.

Questions 24-26
Look at the following people and the list of opinions below. Match each person with the correct opinion A-E.

24. Phil Rasch
25. Dan Lunt
26. Martin Sommerkorn

List of opinions
A The problems of geoengineering shouldn’t mean that ideas are not seriously considered.
B Some geoengineering projects are more likely to succeed than others.
C Geoengineering only offers a short-term solution.
D A positive outcome of geoengineering may have a negative consequence elsewhere.
E Most geoengineering projects aren’t clear in what they are aiming at

America’s oldest art?

Set within treacherously steep cliffs, and hidden away valleys of northeast Brazil, is some of Southeast America’s most significant and spectacular rock-art. Most of the art so far discovered from the ongoing excavations comes from the archaeologically – important National Park o’ the Serra da Capivara in the state of Piaui, and it is causing quite a controversy. The reason for the uproar? The art is being dated to around 25,000 or perhaps. According to some archaeologists, even 36,000 years ago. If correct, this is set to challenge the widely field view that the America were first colonized from the north, via the Bering Straits from eastern Siberia at around 10.000 BC. only moving down into Central and South America in the millennia thereafter.

Prior to the designation of 130,000 hectares as a National Park, the rock-art sites were difficult to get to and often dangerous to enter. In ancient times, this inaccessibility must have heightened the importance of the sites, and indeed of the people who painted on the rocks. Wild animals and human figures dominate the art and are incorporated into often-complex scenes involving hunting, supernatural beings, fighting and dancing. The artists depicted the animals that roamed the local ancient brushwood forest. The large mammals are usually painted in groups and tend to be shown a running stance, as though trying to escape from hunting parties. Processions – lines of human and animal figures – also appear of great impotence to these ancient artists. Might such lines represent family units or groups of warriors? On a number of panels, rows of stylized figures, some numbering up to 30 individual figures, were painted using the natural undulating contours of the rock surface, so evoking the contours of the seconding landscape Other interesting, but very rare, occurrences are scenes that show small human figures holding on to and dancing around a tree, possibly involved in some tom of a ritual dance.

Due to the favourable climatic conditions. the imagery on many panels is in a remarkable state of preservation. Despite this, however, there are serious conservation issues that affect their long term survival. The chemical and mineral quantities of the rock on which the imagery is panted is fragile and on several panels it is unstable. As well as the secretion of sodium carbonate on the rock surface, complete panel sections have, over the ancient and recent past, broken away from the main rock surface. These have then become buried and sealed into sometimes-ancient floor deposits. Perversely, this form of natural erosion and subsequent deposition has assisted archaeologists in dating several major rock-art sites. Of course, dating the art is extremely difficult oven the non-existence of plant and animal remains that might be scientifically dated. However, there am a small number of sites in the Serra da Capivara that are giving up their secrets through good systematic excavation. Thus, at Toca do Roqiomo da Pedra Furada. rock-art researcher Niéde Guidon managed to obtain a number of dates. At different levels of excavation, she located fallen painted rock fragments, which she was able to dale to at least 36,000 years ago. Along with toe painted fragments, crude stone tools were found. Also discovered wore a series of scientifically datable sites of fireplaces, or hearths, the earliest dated to 46,000 BC. arguably the oldest dates for human habitation in the America.

However, these conclusions are net without controversy. Critics, mainly from North America, have suggested that the hearths may in fact be a natural phenomenon, the result of seasonal brushwood fires. Several North American researchers have gone further and suggested that the rock art from this site dates from no earlier than about 3,730 years age, based on the results of limited radiocarbon dating. Adding further fool to the general debate is the fact that the artists in the area of the National Hark tended not to draw over old motifs (as often occurs with rock-art), which makes it hard to work out the relative chronology of the images or styles. However, the diversity of imagery and the narrative the paintings create from each of the many sites within the National Park suggests different artists were probably making their art at efferent times, and potentially using each site over many thousands of years.

With fierce debates thus raging over the dating, where these artists originate from is also still very much open to speculation. The traditional view ignores the early dating evidence from the South American rock-art sites. In a revised scenario, some palaeo – anthropologists are now suggesting that modern humans may’ have migrated from Africa using the strong currents of the Atlantic Ocean some 63.000 years or more ago, while others suggest a more improbable colonization coming from the Pacific Ocean. Yet, while ether hypothesis is plausible, there is still no supporting archaeological evidence between the South American coastline and the interior. Rather, it seems possible that there were a number of waves of human colonization of the Americas occurring possibly over a 60,000-100,000 year period, probably using the Bering Straits as a land bridge to cross into the Americas.

Despite the compelling evidence from South America, it stands alone: the earliest secure human evidence yet found in the state of Oregon in North America only dates to 12,300 years BC. So this is a fierce debate that is likely to go on for many more years. However, the splendid rock art and its allied anthropology of northeast of Brazil, described here, is playing a huge and significant role in the discussion.

Questions 27-29
Choose the correct fetter, A, B, C or D.

27. According to the first paragraph, the rock-art in Serra da Capivara may revolutionize accepted ideas about
A the way primitive people lived in North America.
B the date when the earliest people arrived in South America.
C the origin of the people who crossed the Bering Straits.
D the variety of cultures which developed in South America.

28. How did the ancient artists use the form of the rock where they painted?
A to mimic the shape of the countryside nearby
B to emphasize the shape of different animals
C to give added light and shade to their paintings
D to give the impression of distance in complex works

29. In the fourth paragraph, what does the writer say is unusual about the rock-artists of Serra da Capivara?
A They had a very wide range of subject-matter.
B Their work often appears to be illustrating a story.
C They tended to use a variety of styles in one painting,
D They rarely made new paintings on top of old ones.

Questions 30-36
In boxes 30-36 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

30. Archaeologists have completed their survey of the rock-art in Piaui.
31. The location of the rock-art suggests that the artists had a significant role in their society.
32. The paintings of animals show they were regarded as sacred by the ancient humans.
33. Some damage to paintings is most likely due to changes in the weather of the region.
34. The fact that some paintings wore buried is useful to archaeologists.
35. The tools found near some paintings were probably used for hunting animals.
36. The North American researchers have confirmed Niéde Guidons dating of the paintings.

Questions 37-40
Complete each sentence with the correct ending. A-F below.

37. Materials derived from plants or animals
38. The discussions about the ancient hearths
39. Theories about where the first South Americans originated from
40. The finds of archaeologists in Oregon

A are giving rise to a great deal of debate among palaeo-anthropologists.
B do not support the earliest dates suggested for the arrival of people in America.
C are absent from rock-art sites In the Serra da Capivara.
D have not been accepted by academics outside America.
E centre on whether or not they are actually man-made.
F reflect the advances in scientific dating methods.

Communicating in Colour

There are more than 160 known species of chameleons. The main distribution is in Africa and Madagascar, and other tropical regions, although some species are also found in parts of southern Europe and Asia. There are introduced populations in Hawaii and probably in California and Florida too.

New species are still discovered quite frequently. Dr Andrew Marshall, a conservationist from York University, was surveying monkeys in Tanzania, when he stumbled across a twig snake in the Magombera forest which, frightened, coughed up a chameleon and fled. Though a colleague persuaded him not to touch it because of the risk from venom, Marshall suspected it might be a new species, and took a photograph to send to colleagues, who confirmed his suspicions. Kinyongia magomberae, literally “the chameleon from Magombera”, is the result, and the fact it was not easy to identify is precisely what made it unique. The most remarkable feature of chameleons is their ability to change colour, an ability rivalled only by cuttlefish and octopi in the animal kingdom. Because of this, colour is not the best thing for telling chameleons apart and different species are usually identified based on the patterning and shape of the head, and the arrangement of scales. In this case it was the bulge of scales on the chameleon’s nose.

Chameleons are able to use colour for both communication and camouflage by switching from bright, showy colours to the exact colour of a twig within seconds. They show an extraordinary range of colours, from nearly black to bright blues, oranges, pinks and greens, even several at once. A popular misconception is that chameleons can match whatever background they are placed on, whether a chequered red and yellow shirt or a Smartie box. But each species has a characteristic set of cells containing pigment distributed over their bodies in a specific pattern, which determines the range of colours and patterns they can show. To the great disappointment of many children, placing a chameleon on a Smartie box generally results in a stressed, confused, dark grey or mottled chameleon.

Chameleons are visual animals with excellent eyesight, and they communicate with colour. When two male dwarf chameleons encounter each other, each shows its brightest colours. They puff out their throats and present themselves side-on with their bodies flattened to appear as large as possible and to show off their colours. This enables them to assess each other from a distance. If one is clearly superior, the other quickly changes to submissive colouration, which is usually a dull combination of greys or browns. If the opponents are closely matched and both maintain their bright colours, the contest can escalate to physical fighting and jaw-locking, each trying to push each other along the branch in a contest of strength. Eventually, the loser will signal his defeat with submissive colouration.

Females also have aggressive displays used to repel male attempts at courtship. When courting a female, males display the same bright colours that they use during contests. Most of the time, females are unreceptive and aggressively reject males by displaying a contrasting light and dark colour pattern, with their mouths open and moving their bodies rapidly from side to side. If the male continues to court a female, she often chases and bites him until he retreats. The range of colour- change during female displays, although impressive, is not as great as that shown by males.

Many people assume that colour change evolved to enable chameleons to match a greater variety of backgrounds in their environment. If this was the case, then the ability of chameleons to change colour should be associated with the range of background colours in the chameleon’s habitat, but there is no evidence for such a pattern. For example, forest habitats might have a greater range of brown and green background colours than grasslands, so forest-dwelling species might be expected to have greater powers of colour change. Instead, the males whose display colours are the most eye-catching show the greatest colour change. Their displays are composed of colours that contrast highly with each other as well as with the background vegetation. This suggests that the species that evolved the most impressive capacities for colour change did so to enable them to intimidate rivals or attract mates rather than to facilitate camouflage.

How do we know that chameleon display colours are eye-catching to another chameleon – or, for that matter, to a predatory bird? Getting a view from the perspective of chameleons or their bird predators requires information on the chameleon s or bird’s visual system and an understanding of how their brains might process visual information. This is because the perceived colour of an object depends as much on die brain’s wiring as on the physical properties of the object itself. Luckily, recent scientific advances have made it possible to obtain such measurements in the field, and information on visual systems of a variety of animals is becoming increasingly available.

The spectacular diversity of colours and ornaments in nature has inspired biologists for centuries. But if we want to understand the function and evolution of animal colour patterns, we need to know how they are perceived by the animals themselves – or their predators. After all, camouflage and conspicuousness are in the eye of the beholder.

Questions 1-4
Answer the questions below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

1. What kind of climate do most chameleons live in?
2. Which animal caught a chameleon that Dr. Andrew Marshall saw?
3. What was the new species named after?
4. Which part of the body is unique to the species Kinyongla magomberae?

Questions 5-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 5-13 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

5. Few creatures can change colour as effectively as cuttlefish.
6. Chameleons can imitate a pattern provided there are only two colours.
7. Chameleons appear to enjoy trying out new colours.
8. Size matters more than colour when male chameleons compete.
9. After a fight, the defeated male hides among branches of a tree.
10. Females use colour and movement to discourage males.
11. The popular explanation of why chameleons change colour has been proved wrong.
12. There are more predators of chameleons in grassland habitats than in others.
13. Measuring animals’ visual systems necessitates removing them from their habitat.

The Pursuit of Happiness

A In the late 1990; psychologist Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania urged colleagues to observe optimal moods with the same kind of focus with which they had for so long studied illnesses: we would never learn about the full range of human functions unless we knew as much about mental wellness as we do about mental illness. A new generation of psychologists built up a respectable body of research on positive character traits and happiness-boosting practices. At the same time, developments in neuroscience provided new clues to what makes us happy and what that looks like In the brain. Self appointed experts took advantage of the trend with guarantees to eliminate worry, stress, dejection and even boredom. This happiness movement has provoked a great deal of opposition among psychologists who observe that the preoccupation with happiness has come at the cost of sadness, an important feeling that people have tried to banish from their emotional repertoire. Allan Horwitz of Rutgers laments that young people who are naturally weepy after breakups are often urged to medicate themselves instead of working through their sadness. Wake Forest University’s Eric Wilson fumes that the obsession with happiness amounts to a ‘craven disregard” for the melancholic perspective that has given rise to the greatest works of art. “The happy man,” he writes, ‘is a hollow man.’

B After all people are remarkably adaptable. Following a variable period of adjustment, we bounce back to our previous level of happiness, no matter what happens to us. (There are some scientifically proven exceptions, notably suffering the unexpected loss of a job or the loss of a spouse. Both events tend to permanently knock people back a step.) Our adaptability works in two directions. Because we are so adaptable, points out Professor Sonja J.yubomirsky of the University of California, we quickly get used to many of the accomplishments we strive for in life, such as lauding the big job or getting married. Soon alter we reach a milestone, we start to feel that something is missing. We begin coveting another worldly possession or eyeing a social advancement. But such an approach keeps us tethered to a treadmill where happiness is always just out of reach, one toy or one step away. It’s possible to get off the treadmill entirely by focusing on activities that are dynamic, surprising, and attention-absorbing. and thus less likely to bore us than, say, acquiring shiny new toys.

C Moreover, happiness is not a reward tor escaping pain. Russ Harris, the author of The Happiness Trap, calls popular conceptions of happiness dangerous because they set people up for a ‘struggle against reality*. They don’t acknowledge that real life is full of disappointments, loss, and inconveniences. ”If you’re going to live a rich and meaningful life.* Harris says, “you’re going to feel a full range of emotions.” Action toward goals other than happiness makes people happy. It is not crossing the finish line that is most rewarding, it is anticipating achieving the goal. University of Wisconsin neuroscientist Richard Davidson has found that working hard toward a goal, and making progress to the point of expecting a goal to be realized, not only activates positive feelings but also suppresses negative emotions such as fear and depression.

D We are constantly making decisions, ranging from what clothes to put on. to whom we should marry, not to mention all those flavors of ice cream. We base many of our decisions on whether we think a particular preference will increase our well-being. Intuitively, we seem convinced that the more choices we have, the better off we will ultimately be. But our world of unlimited opportunity imprisons us more than it makes us happy. In what Swarthmore psychologist Barrs- Schwartz calls “the paradox of choice.” lacing many possibilities leaves us stressed out – and less satisfied with whatever we do decide. Having too many choices keeps us wondering about all the opportunities missed.

E Besides, not everyone can put on a happy face. Rirlxira Held, a professor of psychology at Bowdoin College, rails against “the tyranny of the positive attitude”. ‘Looking on the bright side isn’t possible for some people and Is even counterproductive,” she insists. ‘When you put pressure on people to cope in a way that doesn’t fit them, it not only doesn’t work, it makes them feel like a failure on top of already feeling bad.” The one-size-fits-all approach to managing emotional life is misguided, agrees Professor Julie Norem, author of The Positive Power of Negative Thinking. In her research, she has shown that the defensive pessimism that anxious people feel can be harnessed to help them get things done, which in turn makes them happier. A naturally pessimistic architect, for example, can set low expectations for an upcoming presentation and review all of the bad outcomes that she’s imagining, so that she can prepare carefully and increase her chances of success.

F By contrast, an individual who is not living according to their values, will not be happy, no matter how much they achieve. Some people, however, are not sure what their values are. In that case Harris has a great question: ‘Imagine I could wave a magic wand to ensure that you would have the approval and admiration of everyone on the planet, forever. What, in that case, would you choose to do with your life?” Once this has been answered honestly, you can start taking steps toward your ideal vision of yourself. The actual answer is unimportant, as long as you’re living consciously. The state of happiness is not really a state at all. It’s an ongoing personal experiment.

Questions 14-19
Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs A-F. Which paragraph mentions the following? NB You may use any letter more than once.

14. the need for individuals to understand what really matters to them
15. tension resulting from a wide variety of alternatives
16. the hope of success as a means of overcoming unhappy feelings
17. people who call themselves specialists
18. human beings’ capacity for coping with change
19. doing things which are interesting in themselves

Questions 20-21
Choose TWO letters A-E. Write the correct letters in boxes 20-21 on your answer sheet

Which TWO of the following people argue against aiming for constant happiness?

A Martin Seligman
B Eric Wilson
C Sonja Lyubomirsky
D Russ Harris
E Barry Schwartz

Questions 22-23
Choose TWO letters A-E. Write the correct letters in boxes 22-23 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following beliefs are identified as mistaken in the text?

A inherited wealth brings less happiness than earned wealth
B social status affects our perception of how happy we are
C an optimistic outlook ensures success
D unhappiness can and should be avoided
E extremes of emotion are normal in the young

Questions 24-26
Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.

In order to have a complete understanding of how people’s minds work, Martin Seligman suggested that research should examine our most positive (24)…………………….as closely as it does our psychological problems. Soon after arriving at a (25)…………………………in their lives, people become accustomed to what they have achieved and have a sense that they are lacking something. People who are (26)………………….by nature are more likely to succeed if they make thorough preparation for a presentation.

The Deep Sea

At a time when most think of outer space as the final frontier, we must remember that a great deal of unfinished business remains here on earth. Robots crawl on the surface of Mars, and spacecraft exit our solar system, but most of our own planet has still never been seen by human eyes. It seems ironic that we know more about impact craters on the far side of the moon than about the longest and largest mountain range on earth. It is amazing that human beings crossed a quarter of a million miles of space to visit our nearest celestial neighbor before penetrating just two miles deep into the earths own waters to explore the Midocean Ridge. And it would be hard to imagine a more significant part of our planet to investigate – a chain of volcanic mountains 42,000 miles long where most of the earth’s solid surface was born, and where vast volcanoes continue to create new submarine landscapes.

The figure we so often see quoted 71% of the earth’s surface – understates the oceans’ importance. If you consider instead three-dimensional volumes, the land dwellers’ share of the planet shrinks even more toward insignificance: less than 1% of the total. Most of the oceans’ enormous volume, lies deep below the familiar surface. The upper sunlit layer, by one estimate, contains only 2 or 3% of the total space available to life. The other 97% of the earth’s biosphere lies deep beneath the water’s surface, where sunlight never penetrates. Until recently, it was impossible to study the deep ocean directly. By the sixteenth century, diving bells allowed people to stay underwater for a short time: they could swim to the hell to breathe air trapped underneath it rather than return all the way to the surface. Later, other devices, including pressurized or armored suits, heavy’ metal helmets, and compressed air supplied through hoses from the surface, allowed at least one diver to reach 500 feet or so. It was 1930 when a biologist named William Beebe and his engineering colleague Otis Barton sealed themselves into a new kind of diving craft, an invention that finally allowed humans to penetrate beyond the shallow sunlit layer of the sea and the history of deep-sea exploration began. Science then was largely incidental – something that happened along the way. In terms of technical ingenuity and human bravery, this part of the story is every’ bit as amazing as the history of early aviation. Yet many of these individuals, and the deep-diving vehicles that they built and tested, are not well known.

It was not until the 1970s that deep-diving manned submersibles were able to reach the Midocean Ridge and begin making major contributions to a wide range of scientific questions. A burst of discoveries followed in short order. Several of these profoundly changed whole fields of science, and their implications are still not fully understood. For example, biologists may now be seeing – in the strange communities of microbes and animals that live around deep volcanic vents – clues to the origin of life on earth. No one even knew that these communities existed before explorers began diving to the bottom in submersible. Entering the deep, black abyss presents unique challenges for which humans must carefully prepare if the wish to survive. It is an unforgiving environment, both harsh and strangely beautiful, that few who have not experienced it first hand can fully appreciate. Even the most powerful searchlights penetrate only lens of feet. Suspended particles scatter tile light and water itself is for less transparent than air; it absorbs and scatters light. The ocean also swallows other types of electromagnetic radiation, including radio signals. That is why many deep sea vehicles dangle from tethers. Inside those tethers, copper wires or fiber optic strands transmit signals that would dissipate and the if broadcast into open water.

Another challenge is that the temperature near the bottom in very deep water typically hovers just four degrees above freezing, and submersibles rarely have much insulation. Since water absorbs heat more quickly than air. the cold down below seems to penetrate a diving capsule for more quickly than it would penetrate, say, a control van up above, on the deck of the mother ship. And finally, the abyss clamps down with crushing pressure on anything that enters it. ‘I his force is like air pressure on land, except that water is much heavier than air. At sea level on land, we don’t even notice I atmosphere of pressure, about 15 pounds per square inch, the weight of the earths blanket of air. In the deepest part of the ocean, nearly seven miles down, its about 1,200 atmospheres. 18,000 pounds per square inch. A square-inch column of lead would crush down on your body with equal force if it were 3,600 feet tall.

Fish that live in the deep don’t feel the pressure, because they are filled with water from their own environment. It has already been compressed by abyssal pressure as much as water can be (which is not much). A diving craft, however, is a hollow chamber, rudely displacing the water around it. That chamber must withstand the full brunt of deep sea pressure – thousands of pounds per square inch. If seawater with that much pressure behind it ever finds a way to break inside, it explodes through the hole with laser-like intensity. It was into such a terrifying environment that the first twentieth-century explorers ventured.

Questions 27-30
Write the correct letter. A. B. C or D, in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.

27. In the first paragraph, the writer finds it surprising that …
A we send robots to Mars rather than to the sea bed.
B we choose to explore the least accessible side of the moon.
C people reached the moon before they explored the deepest parts of the earth’s oceans.
D spaceships are sent beyond our solar system instead of exploring it.

28. The writer argues that saying 71 % of the earth’s surface is ocean is not accurate because it
A ignores the depth of the world’s oceans.
B is based on an estimated volume.
C overlooks the significance of landscape features.
D refers to the proportion of water in which life is possible.

29. How did the diving bell help divers?
A It allowed each diver to carry a supply of air underwater.
B It enabled piped air to reach deep below the surface.
C It offered access to a reservoir of air below the surface.
D It meant that they could dive as deep as 500 feet.

30. What point does the writer make about scientific discoveries between 1930 and 1970?
A They were rarely the primary purpose of deep sea exploration.
B The people who conducted experiments were not professional scientists.
C Many people refused to believe the discoveries that were made.
D They involved the use of technologies from other disciplines.

Questions 31-36
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 31-36 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

31. The Midocean Ridge is largely the same as when the continents emerged.
32. We can make an approximate calculation of the percentage of the ocean which sunlight penetrates.
33. Many unexpected scientific phenomena came to light when exploration of the Midocean Ridge began.
34. The number of people exploring the abyss has risen sharply in the 21st century.
35. One danger of the darkness is that deep sea vehicles become entangled in vegetation.
36. The construction of submersibles offers little protection from the cold at great depths.

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

Deep diving craft

A diving craft has to be (37)………………enough to cope with the enormous pressure of the abyss, which is capable of crushing almost anything. Unlike creatures that live there, which are not (38)…………………because they contain compressed water, a submersible is filled with (39)………………..If it has a weak spot in its construction, there will be a (40)………………..explosion of water into the craft.

A ocean
B air
C deep
D hollow
E sturdy
F atmosphere
G energetic
H violent
I heavy

Scientists Are Mapping the World’s Largest Volcano

A After 36 days of battling sharks that kept biting their equipment, scientists have returned from the remote Pacific Ocean with a new way of looking at the world’s largest – and possibly most mysterious – volcano, Tamu Massif.

B The team has begun making 3-D maps that offer the clearest look yet at the underwater mountain, which covers an area the size of New Mexico. In the coming months, the maps will be refined and the data analyzed, with the ultimate goal of figuring out how the mountain was formed.

C It’s possible that the western edge of Tamu Massif is actually a separate mountain that formed at a different time, says William Sager, a geologist at the University of Houston who led the expedition. That would explain some differences between the western part of the mountain and the main body.

D The team also found that the massif (as such a massive mountain is known) is highly pockmarked with craters and cliffs. Magnetic analysis provides some insight into the mountain’s genesis, suggesting that part of it formed through steady releases of lava along the intersection of three mid-ocean ridges, while part of it is harder to explain. A working theory is that a large plume of hot mantle rock may have contributed additional heat and material, a fairly novel idea.

E Tamu Massif lies about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) east of Japan. It is a rounded dome, or shield volcano, measuring 280 by 400 miles (450 by 650 kilometers). Its top lies more than a mile (about 2,000 meters) below the ocean surface and is 50 times larger than the biggest active volcano on Earth, Hawaii’s Mauna Loa. Sager published a paper in 2013 that said the main rise of Tamu Massif is most likely a single volcano, instead of a complex of multiple volcanoes that smashed together. But he couldn’t explain how something so big formed.

F The team used sonar and magnetometers (which measure magnetic fields) to map more than a million square kilometers of the ocean floor in great detail. Sager and students teamed up with Masao Nakanishi of Japan’s Chiba University, with Sager receiving funding support from the National Geographic Society and the Schmidt Ocean Institute.

G Since sharks are attracted to magnetic fields, the toothy fish “were all over our magnetometer, and it got pretty chomped up,” says Sager. When the team replaced the device with a spare, that unit was nearly ripped off by more sharks. The magnetic field research suggests the mountain formed relatively quickly, sometime around 145 million years ago. Part of the volcano sports magnetic “stripes,” or bands with different magnetic properties, suggesting that lava flowed out evenly from the mid-ocean ridges over time and changed in polarity each time Earth’s magnetic field reversed direction. The central part of the peak is more jumbled, so it may have formed more quickly or through a different process.

H Sager isn’t sure what caused the magnetic anomalies yet, but suspects more complex forces were at work than simply eruptions from the ridges. It’s possible a deep plume of hot rock from the mantle also contributed to the volcano’s formation, he says. Sager hopes the analysis will also help explain about a dozen other similar features on the ocean floor, as well as add to the overall understanding of plate tectonics.

Questions 1-8
Reading Passage 1 has eight paragraphs, A-H. What paragraph has the following information?

1. Possible explanation of the differences between parts of the mountain
2. Size data
3. A new way of looking
4. Problem with sharks
5. Uncertainty of the anomalies
6. Equipment which measures magnetic fields
7. The start of making maps
8. A working theory

Questions 9-12
Complete the sentences using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage.

A big plume of (9)………………….rock may have contributed extra heat and material.

Tamu Massif is a (10)…………………………..or shield volcano.

Replacing the device with a (11)……………………didn’t help, as that unit was nearly ripped off by more sharks.

Sager believes that the magnetic anomalies were caused by something more than (12)………………….from the ridges.

We know the city where HIV first emerged

It is easy to see why AIDS seemed so mysterious and frightening when US medics first encountered it 35 years ago. The condition robbed young, healthy people of their strong immune system, leaving them weak and vulnerable. And it seemed to come out of nowhere. Today we know much more how and why HIV – the virus that leads to AIDS – has become a global pandemic. Unsurprisingly, sex workers unwittingly played a part. But no less important were the roles of trade, the collapse of colonialism, and 20th Century sociopolitical reform. HIV did not really appear out of nowhere, of course. It probably began as a virus affecting monkeys and apes in west central Africa.

From there it jumped species into humans on several occasions, perhaps because people ate infected bushmeat. Some people carry a version of HIV closely related to that seen in sooty mangabey monkeys, for instance. But HIV that came from monkeys has not become a global problem. We are more closely related to apes, like gorillas and chimpanzees, than we are to monkeys. But even when HIV has passed into human populations from these apes, it has not necessarily turned into a widespread health issue. HIV originating from apes typically belongs to a type of virus called HIV-1. One is called HIV-1 group O, and human cases are largely confined to west Africa.

In fact, only one form of HIV has spread far and wide after jumping to humans. This version, which probably originated from chimpanzees, is called HIV-1 group M (for “major”). More than 90% of HIV infections belong in group M. Which raises an obvious question: what’s so special about HIV-1 group M? A study published in 2014 suggests a surprising answer: there might be nothing particularly special about group M. It is not especially infectious, as you might expect. Instead, it seems that this form of HIV simply took advantage of events. “Ecological rather than evolutionary factors drove its rapid spread,” says Nuno Faria at the University of Oxford in the UK. Faria and his colleagues built a family tree of HIV, by looking at a diverse array of HIV genomes collected from about 800 infected people from central Africa.

Genomes pick up new mutations at a fairly steady rate, so by comparing two genome sequences and counting the differences they could work out when the two last shared a common ancestor. This technique is widely used, for example to establish that our common ancestor with chimpanzees lived at least 7 million years ago. “RNA viruses such as HIV evolve approximately 1 million times faster than human DNA,” says Faria. This means the HIV “molecular clock” ticks very fast indeed. It ticks so fast, Faria and his colleagues found that the HIV genomes all shared a common ancestor that existed no more than 100 years ago. The HIV-1 group M pandemic probably first began in the 1920s.

Then the team went further. Because they knew where each of the HIV samples had been collected, they could place the origin of the pandemic in a specific city: Kinshasa, now the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. At this point, the researchers changed tack. They turned to historical records to work out why HIV infections in an African city in the 1920s could ultimately spark a pandemic. A likely sequence of events quickly became obvious. In the 1920s, DR Congo was a Belgian colony and Kinshasa – then known as Leopoldville – had just been made the capital. The city became a very attractive destination for young working men seeking their fortunes, and for sex workers only too willing to help them spend their earnings. The virus spread quickly through the population.

It did not remain confined to the city. The researchers discovered that the capital of the Belgian Congo was, in the 1920s, one of the best connected cities in Africa. Taking full advantage of an extensive rail network used by hundreds of thousands of people each year, the virus spread to cities 900 miles (1500km) away in just 20 years. Everything was in place for an explosion in infection rates in the 1960s.The beginning of that decade brought another change. Belgian Congo gained its independence, and became an attractive source of employment to French speakers elsewhere in the world, including Haiti. When these young Haitians returned home a few years later they took a particular form of HIV-1 group M, called “subtype B”, to the western side of the Atlantic.

It arrived in the US in the 1970s, just as sexual liberation and homophobic attitudes were leading to concentrations of gay men in cosmopolitan cities like New York and San Francisco. Once more, HIV took advantage of the sociopolitical situation to spread quickly through the US and Europe. “There is no reason to believe that other subtypes would not have spread as quickly as subtype B, given similar ecological circumstances,” says Faria. The story of the spread of HIV is not over yet. For instance, in 2015 there was an outbreak in the US state of Indiana, associated with drug injecting.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been analyzing the HIV genome sequences and data about location and time of infection, says Yonatan Grad at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts. “These data help to understand the extent of the outbreak, and will further help to understand when public health interventions have worked.” This approach can work for other pathogens. In 2014, Grad and his colleague Marc Lipsitch published an investigation into the spread of drug-resistant gonorrhoea across the US.

“Because we had representative sequences from individuals in different cities at different times and with different sexual orientations, we could show the spread was from the west of the country to the east,” says Lipsitch. What’s more, they could confirm that the drug-resistant form of gonorrhoea appeared to have circulated predominantly in men who have sex with men. That could prompt increased screening in these at-risk populations, in an effort to reduce further spread. In other words, there is real power to studying pathogens like HIV and gonorrhoea through the prism of human society.

Questions 13-20
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 13-20 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

13. AIDS were first encountered 35 years ago.
14. The most important role in developing AIDS as a pandemia was played by sex workers.
15. It is believed that HIV appeared out of nowhere.
16. Humans are not closely related to monkey.
17. HIV-1 group O originated in 1920s.
18. HIV-1 group M has something special.
19. Human DNA evolves approximately 1 million times slower than HIV.
20. Scientists believe that HIV already existed in 1920s.

Questions 21-28
Complete the sentences below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Scientists can place the origin of (21)……………………in a specific city.

Kinshasa was a very (22)…………………….for young working men and many others willing to spend their money.

In just 20 years virus managed to (23)……………………to cities 900 miles away.

Belgian Congo became an attractive source of employment to French speakers when it gained (24)……………..

HIV has spread quickly through the US and Europe because of the (25)……………………

It is said that outbreak in Indiana was associated with (26)…………………

The same approach as for HIV can work for (27)…………………

The form of gonorrhoea that is drug-resistant appeared to have (28)……………………..in men who have sex with men.

Penguins’ anti-ice trick revealed

Scientists studying penguins’ feathers have revealed how the birds stay ice free when hopping in and out of below zero waters in the Antarctic. A combination of nano-sized pores and an extra water repelling preening oil the birds secrete is thought to give Antarctic penguins’ feathers superhydrophobic properties. Researchers in the US made the discovery using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) to study penguin feathers in extreme detail. Antarctic penguins live in one of Earth’s most extreme environments, facing temperatures that drop to -40C, winds with speeds of 40 metres per second and water that stays around -2.2C. But even in these sub-zero conditions, the birds manage to prevent ice from coating their feathers.

“They are an amazing species, living in extreme conditions, and great swimmers. Basically they are living engineering marvels,” says research team member Dr Pirouz Kavehpour, professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Birds’ feathers are known to have hydrophobic, or non-wetting, properties. But scientists from UCLA, University of Massachusetts Amherst and SeaWorld, wanted to know what makes Antarctic penguins’ feathers extra ice repelling.

“What we learn here is how penguins combine oil and nano-structures on the feathers to produce this effect to perfection,” explains Kavehpour. By analysing feathers from different penguin species, the researchers discovered Antarctic species the gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) was more superhydrophobic compared with a species found in warmer climes – the Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) – whose breeding sites include Argentinian desert.

Gentoo penguins’ feathers contained tiny pores which trapped air, making the surface hydrophobic. And they were smothered with a special preening oil, produced by a gland near the base of the tail, with which the birds cover themselves. Together, these properties mean that in the wild, droplets of water on Antarctic penguins’ superhydrophobic feathers bead up on the surface like spheres – formations that, according to the team, could provide geometry that delays ice formation, since heat cannot easily flow out of the water if the droplet only has minimal contact with the surface of the feather.

“The shape of the droplet on the surface dictates the delay in freezing,” explains Kavehpour. The water droplets roll off the penguin’s feathers before they have time to freeze, the researchers propose. Penguins living in the Antarctic are highly evolved to cope with harsh conditions: their short outer feathers overlap to make a thick protective layer over fluffier feathers which keep them warm. Under their skin, a thick layer of fat keeps them insulated. The flightless birds spend a lot of time in the sea and are extremely agile and graceful swimmers, appearing much more awkward on land.

Kavehpour was inspired to study Antarctic penguins’ feathers after watching the birds in a nature documentary: “I saw these birds moving in and out of water, splashing everywhere. Yet there is no single drop of frozen ice sticking to them,” he tells BBC Earth. His team now hopes its work could aid design of better man-made surfaces which minimise frost formation.

“I would love to see biomimicking of these surfaces for important applications, for example, de-icing of aircrafts,” says Kavehpour. Currently, airlines spend a lot of time and money using chemical de-icers on aeroplanes, as ice can alter the vehicles’ aerodynamic properties and can even cause them to crash.

Questions 29-33
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

29. Penguins stay ice free due to
A A combination of nano-sized pores
B An extra water repelling preening oil
C A combination of nano-sized pores and an extra water repelling preening oil
D A combination of various factors

30. Antarctic penguins experience extreme weather conditions, including:
A Low temperature, that can drop to -40
B Severe wind, up to 40 metres per second
C Below zero water temperature
D All of the above

31. In line 5 words engineering marvels mean:
A That penguins are very intelligent
B That penguins are good swimmers
C That penguins are well prepared to living in severe conditions
D Both B and C

32. Penguins feather has everything, EXCEPT:
A Hydrophobic properties
B Extra ice repelling
C Soft structures
D Oil structures

33. The gentoo penguin:
A Is less superhydrophobic compared to the Magellanic penguin
B Has feathers that contain tiny pores
C Can’t swim
D Lives in Argentinian desert

Questions 34-40
Complete the sentences below. Write ONLY ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.

Formations like (34)…………………….could provide geometry that delays ice formation.

The delay in freezing is dictated by the (35)………………….of the droplet.

Penguins in Antarctic are highly evolved to be able to cope with (36)……………….conditions.

Penguins are insulated by a (37)…………………….layer of fat.

On the land, penguins appear much more (38)………………………than in the sea.

The inspiration came to Kavehpour after watching a (39)…………………..about penguins.

Kavehpour would like to see (40)……………………..surfaces which minimise frost formation.

Keep a Watchful Eye on the Bridges

A Most road and rail bridges are only inspected visually, if at all. Every few months, engineers have to clamber over the structure in an attempt to find problems before the bridge shows obvious signs of damage. Technologies developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, and Texas A&M University may replace these surveys with microwave sensors that constantly monitor the condition of bridges.

B “The device uses microwaves to measure the distance between the sensor and the bridge, much like radar does,” says Albert Migliori, a Los Alamos physicist “Any load on the bridge – such as traffic induces displacements, which change that distance as the bridge moves up and down.” By monitoring these movements over several minutes, the researchers can find out how the bridge resonates. Changes in its behaviour can give an early warning of damage.

C The Interstate 40 bridge over the Rio Grande river in Albuquerque provided the researchers with a rare opportunity to text their ideas. Chuck Farrar, an engineer at Los Alamos, explains: “The New Mexico authorities decided to raze this bridge and replace it. We were able to mount instruments on it, test it under various load conditions and even inflict damage just before it was demolished.” In the 1960s and 1970s, 2500 similar bridges were built in the US. They have two steel girders supporting the load in each section. Highway experts know that this design is “fracture critical” because a failure in either girder would cause the bridge to fail.

D After setting up the microwave dish on the ground below the bridge, the Los Alamos team installed conventional accelerometers at several points along the span to measure its motion. They then tested the bridge while traffic roared across it and while subjecting it to pounding from a “shaker”, which delivered precise punches to a specific point on the road.

E “We then created damage that we hoped would simulate fatigue cracks that can occur in steel girders,” says Farrar. They first cut a slot about 60 centimetres long in the middle of one girder. They then extended the cut until it reached the bottom of the girder and finally they cut across the flange – the bottom of the girder’s “I” shape.

F The initial, crude analysis of the bridge’s behaviour, based on the frequency at which the bridge resonates, did not indicate that anything was wrong until the flange was damaged. But later the data were reanalysed with algorithms that took into account changes in the mode shapes of the structure – shapes that the structure takes on when excited at a particular frequency. These more sophisticated algorithms, which were developed by Norris Stubbs at Texas A&M University, successfully identified and located the damage caused by the initial cut.

G “When any structure vibrates, the energy is distributed throughout with some points not moving, while others vibrate strongly at various frequencies,” says Stubbs. “My algorithms use pattern recognition to detect changes in the distribution of this energy.” NASA already uses Stubbs’ method to check the behaviour of the body flap that slows space shuttles down after they land.

H A commercial system based on the Los Alamos hardware is now available, complete with the Stubbs algorithms, from the Quatro Corporation in Albuquerque for about $100,000. Tim Darling, another Los Alamos physicist working on the microwave interferometer with Migliori, says that as the electronics become cheaper, a microwave inspection system will eventually be applied to most large bridges in the US. “In a decade I would like to see a battery or solar-powered package mounted under each bridge, scanning it every day to detect changes,” he says.

Questions 1-4
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

1. How did the traditional way to prevent damage of the bridges before the invention of new monitoring system?
A Bridges has to be tested in every movement on two points
B Bridges has to be closely monitored by microwave devices.
C Bridges has already been monitored by sensors.
D Bridges has to be frequently inspected by professional workers with naked eyes.

2. How does the new microwave monitors find out the problems of bridges?
A by changeling the distance between the positions of devices
B by controlling the traffic flow on the bridges
C by monitoring the distance caused by traffic between two points
D by displacement of the several critical parts in the bridges

3. Why did the expert believe there is a problem for the design called “fracture critical”?
A Engineers failed to apply the newly developed construction materials.
B There was not enough finance to repair the bridges.
C The supporting parts of the bridges may crack and cause the bridge to fail.
D There was bigger traffic load conditions than the designers had anticipated.

4. Defect was not recognized by a basic method in the beginning
A until the mid of faces of bridges has fractures.
B until the damage appears along and down to the flanges.
C until the points on the road have been punched.
D until the frequency of resonates appears disordered.

Questions 5-8
Filling the blanks in the diagram labels.

5. Something circular, appear below the bridge
6. Something small, appear along the bridge
7. Two things under the bridge and are supporting it
8. Something under the bridge with a “L” (or “I”) shape

Questions 9-13
The reading Passage has eight paragraphs, A–H. Which paragraph contains the following information?

9. how is the pressure that they have many a great chance to test bridges
10. a ten-year positive change for microwave device
11. the chance they get a honorable contract
12. explanation of the mechanism for the new microwave monitoring to work
13. how is the damage deliberately created by the researchers

Activities for Children

A Twenty-five years ago, children in London walked to school and played in parks and playing fields after school and at the weekend. Today they are usually driven to school by parents anxious about safety and spend hours glued to television screens or computer games. Meanwhile, community playing fields are being sold off to property developers at an alarming rate. ‘This change in lifestyle has, sadly, meant greater restrictions on children,’ says Neil Armstrong, Professor of Health and Exercise Science at the University of Exeter. ‘If children continue to be this inactive, they’ll be storing up big problems for the future.’

B In 1985, Professor Armstrong headed a five-year research project into children’s fitness. The results, published in 1990, were alarming. The survey, which monitored 700 11-16-year-olds, found that 48 per cent of girls and 41 per cent of boys already exceeded safe cholesterol levels set for children by the American Heart Foundation. Armstrong adds, “heart is a muscle and need exercise, or it loses its strength.” It also found that 13 per cent of boys and 10 per cent of girls were overweight. More disturbingly, the survey found that over a four-day period, half the girls and one-third of the boys did less exercise than the equivalent of a brisk 10-minute walk. High levels of cholesterol, excess body fat and inactivity are believed to increase the risk of coronary heart disease.

C Physical education is under pressure in the UK – most schools devote little more than 100 minutes a week to it in curriculum time, which is less than many other European countries. Three European countries are giving children a head start in PE, France, Austria and Switzerland – offer at least two hours in primary and secondary schools. These findings, from the European Union of Physical Education Associations, prompted specialists in children’s physiology to call on European governments to give youngsters a daily PE programme. The survey shows that the UK ranks 13th out of the 25 countries, with Ireland bottom, averaging under an hour a week for PE. From age six to 18, British children received, on average, 106 minutes of PE a week. Professor Armstrong, who presented the findings at the meeting, noted that since the introduction of the national curriculum there had been a marked fall in the time devoted to PE in UK schools, with only a minority of pupils getting two hours a week.

D As a former junior football international, Professor Armstrong is a passionate advocate for sport. Although the Government has poured millions into beefing up sport in the community, there is less commitment to it as part of the crammed school curriculum. This means that many children never acquire the necessary skills to thrive in team games. If they are no good at them, they lose interest and establish an inactive pattern of behaviour. When this is coupled with a poor diet, it will lead inevitably to weight gain. Seventy per cent of British children give up all sport when they leave school, compared with only 20 per cent of French teenagers. Professor Armstrong believes that there is far too great an emphasis on team games at school. “We need to look at the time devoted to PE and balance it between individual and pair activities, such as aerobics and badminton, as well as team sports.” He added that children need to have the opportunity to take part in a wide variety of individual, partner and team sports.

E The good news, however, is that a few small companies and children’s activity groups have reacted positively and creatively to the problem. ‘Take That,’ shouts Gloria Thomas, striking a disco pose astride her mini-space hopper. ‘Take That,’ echo a flock of toddlers, adopting outrageous postures astride their space hoppers. ‘Michael Jackson,’ she shouts, and they all do a spoof fan-crazed shriek. During the wild and chaotic hopper race across the studio floor, commands like this are issued and responded to with untrammelled glee. The sight of 15 bouncing seven-year-olds who seem about to launch into orbit at every bounce brings tears to the eyes. Uncoordinated, loud, excited and emotional, children provide raw comedy.

F Any cardiovascular exercise is a good option, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be high intensity. It can be anything that gets your heart rate up: such as walking the dog, swimming, running skipping, hiking. “Even walking through the grocery store can be exercise,” Samis-Smith said. What they don’t know is that they’re at a Fit Kids class, and that the fun is a disguise for the serious exercise plan they’re covertly being taken through. Fit Kids trains parents to run fitness classes for children. ‘Ninety per cent of children don’t like team sports,’ says company director, Gillian Gale.

G A Prevention survey found that children whose parents keep in shape are much more likely to have healthy body weights themselves. “There’s nothing worse than telling a child what he needs to do and not doing it yourself,” says Elizabeth Ward, R.D., a Boston nutritional consultant and author of Healthy Foods, Healthy Kids. “Set a good example and get your nutritional house in order first.” In the 1930s and ’40s, kids expended 800 calories a day just walking, carrying water, and doing other chores,’ notes Fima Lifshitz, M.D., a pediatric endocrinologist in Santa Barbara. “Now, kids in obese families are expending only 200 calories a day in physical activity,” says Lifshitz, “incorporate more movement in your family’s life – park farther away from the stores at the mall, take stairs instead of the elevator, and walk to nearby friends’ houses instead of driving.”

Questions 14-17
The reading Passage has seven paragraphs, A–G. Which paragraph contains the following information?

14. health and living condition of children
15. health organization monitored physical activity
16. comparison of exercise time between UK and other countries
17. wrong approach for school activity

Questions 18-21
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 18-21 on your answer sheet, write

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

18. According to American Heart Foundation, cholesterol levels of boys are higher than girls’.
19. British children generally do less exercise than some other European countries.
20. Skipping becomes more and more popular in schools of UK.
21. According to Healthy Kids, the first task is for parents to encourage their children to keep the same healthy body weight.

Questions 22-26
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

22. According to paragraph A, what does Professor Neil Armstrong concern about
A Spending more time on TV affect academic level
B Parents have less time stay with their children
C Future health of British children
D Increasing speed of property’s development

23. What does Armstrong indicate in Paragraph B
A We need to take a 10 minute walk every day.
B We should do more activity to exercise heart.
C Girls’ situation is better than boys.
D Exercise can cure many disease.

24. What is aim of First Kids’ training
A Make profit by running several sessions
B Only concentrate on one activity for each child.
C To guide parents how to organize activities for children.
D Spread the idea that team sport is better.

25. What did Lifshitz suggest in the end of this passage
A Create opportunities to exercise your body.
B Taking elevator saves your time.
C Kids should spend more than 200 calories each day.
D We should never drive but walk.

26. What is the main idea of this passage?
A health of the children who are overweight is at risk in the future
B children in UK need proper exercises
C government mistaken approach for children
D parents play the most important role in children’s activity

Have teenagers always existed?

A 600 years ago, roller coaster pioneers never would have imagined the advancements that have been made to create the roller coasters of today. The tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world is the Kingda Ka, a coaster in New Jersey that launches its passengers from zero to 128 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds (most sports cars take over four seconds to get to just 60 miles per hour). It then heaves its riders skyward at a 90-degree angle (straight up) until it reaches a height of 456 feet, over one and a half football fields, above the ground, before dropping another 418 feet (Coaster Grotto “Kingda Ka”). With that said, roller coasters are about more than just speed and height, they are about the creativity of the designers that build them, each coaster having its own unique way of producing intense thrills at a lesser risk than the average car ride. Roller coasters have evolved drastically over the years, from their primitive beginnings as Russian ice slides, to the metal monsters of today. Their combination of creativity and structural elements make them one of the purest forms of architecture.

B At first glance, a roller coaster is something like a passenger train. It consists of a series of connected cars that move on tracks. But unlike a passenger train, a roller coaster has no engine or power source of its own. For most of the ride, the train is moved by gravity and momentum. To build up this momentum, you need to get the train to the top of the first hill or give it a powerful launch. The traditional lifting mechanism is a long length of chain running up the hill under the track. The chain is fastened in a loop, which is wound around a gear at the top of the hill and another one at the bottom of the hill. The gear at the bottom of the hill is turned by a simple motor. This turns the chain loop so that it continually moves up the hill like a long conveyer belt. The coaster cars grip onto the chain with several chain dogs, sturdy hinged hooks. When the train rolls to the bottom of the hill, the dogs catches onto the chain links. Once the chain dog is hooked, the chain simply pulls the train to the top of the hill. At the summit, the chain dog is released and the train starts its descent down the hill.

C Roller coasters have a long, fascinating history. The direct ancestors of roller coasters were monumental ice slides – long, steep wooden-slides covered in ice, some as high as 70 feet – that were popular in Russia in the 16th and 17th centuries. Riders shot down the slope in sleds made out of wood or blocks of ice, crash-landing in a sand pile. Coaster historians diverge on the exact evolution of these ice slides into actual rolling carts. The most widespread account is that a few entrepreneurial Frenchmen imported the ice slide idea to France. The warmer climate of France tended to melt the ice, so the French started building waxed slides instead, eventually adding wheels to the sleds. In 1817, the Russes a Belleville (Russian Mountains of Belleville) became the first roller coaster where the train was attached to the track (in this case, the train axle fit into a carved groove). The French continued to expand on this idea, coming up with more complex track layouts, with multiple cars and all sorts of twists and turns.

D In comparison to the world’s first roller coaster, there is perhaps an even greater debate over what was America’s first true coaster. Many will say that it is Pennsylvania’s own Maunch Chunk-Summit Hill and Switch Back Railroad. The Maunch Chunk-Summit Hill and Switch Back Railroad was originally America’s second railroad, and considered my many to be the greatest coaster of all time. Located in the Lehigh valley, it was originally used to transport coal from the top of Mount Pisgah to the bottom of Mount Jefferson, until Josiah White, a mining entrepreneur, had the idea of turning it into a part-time thrill ride. Because of its immediate popularity, it soon became strictly a passenger train. A steam engine would haul passengers to the top of the mountain, before letting them coast back down, with speeds rumored to reach 100 miles per hour! The reason that it was called a switch back railroad, a switch back track was located at the top – where the steam engine would let the riders coast back down. This type of track featured a dead end where the steam engine would detach its cars, allowing riders to coast down backwards. The railway went through a couple of minor track changes and name changes over the years, but managed to last from 1829 to 1937, over 100 years.

E The coaster craze in America was just starting to build. The creation of the Switch Back Railway, by La Marcus Thompson, gave roller coasters national attention. Originally built at New York’s Coney Island in 1884, Switch Back Railways began popping up all over the country. The popularity of these rides may puzzle the modern-day thrill seeker, due to the mild ride they gave in comparison to the modern-day roller coaster. Guests would pay a nickel to wait in line up to five hours just to go down a pair of side-by-side tracks with gradual hills that vehicles coasted down at a top speed around six miles per hour. Regardless, Switchback Railways were very popular, and sparked many people, including Thompson, to design coasters that were bigger and better.

F The 1910s and 1920s were probably the best decade that the roller coaster has ever seen. The new wave of technology, such as the “unstop wheels”, an arrangement that kept a coaster’s wheels to its tracks by resisted high gravitational forces, showed coasters a realm of possibilities that has never been seen before. In 1919, North America alone had about 1,500 roller coasters, a number that was rising rampantly. Then, the Great Depression gave a crushing blow to amusement parks all over America. As bad as it was, amusement parks had an optimistic look on the future in the late 1930s. But, in 1942 roller coasters could already feel the effects of World War Two, as they were forced into a shadow of neglect. Most, nearly all of America’s roller coasters were shut down. To this very day, the number of roller coaster in America is just a very tiny fraction of the amount of roller coasters in the 1920s.

Questions 27-30
Answer the questions below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

A diagram that explains the mechanism and working principles of roller coaster.

Questions 31-36
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.

The first roller coaster was perhaps originated from Russia which is wrapped up by (31)……………….which was introduced into France, and it was modified to (32)………………….because temperature there would (33)………………the ice. This time (34)…………………..were installed on the board. In America, the first roller coaster was said to appear in Pennsylvania, it was actually a railroad which was designed to send (35)…………………between two mountains. Josiah White turned it into a thrill ride, it was also called switch back track and a (36)…………………..there allowed riders to slide downward back again.

Questions 37-40
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? In boxes 37–40 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

37. The most exiting roller coaster in the world is in New Jersey.
38. French added more innovation on Russian ice slide including both cars and tracks.
39. Switch Back Railways began to gain popularity since its first construction in New York.
40. The Great Depression affected amusement parks yet did not shake the significant role of US roller coasters in the world.

Walking With Dinosaurs

Peter L. Falkingham and his colleagues at Manchester University are developing techniques which look set to revolutionize our understanding of how dinosaurs and other extinct animals behaved.

The media image of palaeontologists who study prehistoric life is often of field workers camped in the desert in the hot sun, carefully picking away at the rock surrounding a large dinosaur bone. But Peter Falkingham has done little of that for a while now. Instead, he devotes himself to his computer. Not because he has become inundated with paperwork, but because he is a new kind of palaeontologist: a computational palaeontologist.

What few people may consider is that uncovering a skeleton, or discovering a new species, is where the research begins, not where it ends. What we really want to understand is how the extinct animals and plants behaved in their natural habitats. Drs Bill Sellers and Phil Manning from the University of Manchester use a ‘genetic algorithm’ – a kind of computer code that can change itself and ‘evolve’ – to explore how extinct animals like dinosaurs, and our own early ancestors, walked and stalked.

The fossilized bones of a complete dinosaur skeleton can tell scientists a lot about the animal, but they do not make up the complete picture and the computer can try to fill the gap. The computer model is given a digitized skeleton, and the locations of known muscles. The model then randomly activates the muscles. This, perhaps unsurprisingly, results almost without fail in the animal falling on its face. So the computer alters the activation pattern and tries again … usually to similar effect. The modeled dinosaurs quickly ‘evolve’. If there is any improvement, the computer discards the old pattern and adopts the new one as the base for alteration. Eventually, the muscle activation pattern evolves a stable way of moving, the best possible solution is reached, and the dinosaur can walk, run, chase or graze. Assuming natural selection evolves the best possible solution too, the modeled animal should be moving in a manner similar to its now-extinct counterpart. And indeed, using the same method for living animals (humans, emu and ostriches) similar top speeds were achieved on the computer as in reality. By comparing their cyberspace results with real measurements of living species, the Manchester team of palaeontologists can be confident in the results computed showing how extinct prehistoric animals such as dinosaurs moved.

The Manchester University team have used the computer simulations to produce a model of a giant meat-eating dinosaur. lt is called an acrocanthosaurus which literally means ‘high spined lizard’ because of the spines which run along its backbone. It is not really known why they are there but scientists have speculated they could have supported a hump that stored fat and water reserves. There are also those who believe that the spines acted as a support for a sail. Of these, one half think it was used as a display and could be flushed with blood and the other half think it was used as a temperature-regulating device. It may have been a mixture of the two. The skull seems out of proportion with its thick, heavy body because it is so narrow and the jaws are delicate and fine. The feet are also worthy of note as they look surprisingly small in contrast to the animal as a whole. It has a deep broad tail and powerful leg muscles to aid locomotion. It walked on its back legs and its front legs were much shorter with powerful claws.

Falkingham himself is investigating fossilized tracks, or footprints, using computer simulations to help analyze how extinct animals moved. Modern-day trackers who study the habitats of wild animals can tell you what animal made a track, whether that animal was walking or running, sometimes even the sex of the animal. But a fossil track poses a more considerable challenge to interpret in the same way. A crucial consideration is knowing what the environment including the mud, or sediment, upon which the animal walked was like millions of years ago when the track was made. Experiments can answer these questions but the number of variables is staggering. To physically recreate each scenario with a box of mud is extremely time-consuming and difficult to repeat accurately. This is where computer simulation comes in.

Falkingham uses computational techniques to model a volume of mud and control the moisture content, consistency, and other conditions to simulate the mud of prehistoric times. A footprint is then made in the digital mud by a virtual foot. This footprint can be chopped up and viewed from any angle and stress values can be extracted and calculated from inside it. By running hundreds of these simulations simultaneously on supercomputers, Falkingham can start to understand what types of footprint would be expected if an animal moved in a certain way over a given kind of ground. Looking at the variation in the virtual tracks, researchers can make sense of fossil tracks with greater confidence. The application of computational techniques in palaeontology is becoming more prevalent every year. As computer power continues to increase, the range of problems that can be tackled and questions that can be answered will only expand.

Questions 1-6
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? 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. In his study of prehistoric life, Peter Falkinghom rarely spends time on outdoor research.
2. Several attempts are usually needed before the computer model of a dinosaur used by Sellers and Manning manages to stay upright.
3. When the Sellers and Manning computer model was used for people, it showed them moving faster than they are physically able to.
4. Some palaeontologists have expressed reservations about the conclusions reached by the Manchester team concerning the movement of dinosaurs.
5. An experienced tracker can analyse fossil footprints as easily as those made by live animals.
6. Research carried out into the composition of prehistoric mud has been found to be inaccurate.

Questions 7-9
Label the diagram below. Choose NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 7-9 on your answer sheet.

Questions 10-13
Complete the flow-chart below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

Peter Falkingham’s Computer Model
Mud is simulated with attention to its texture and thickness and how much (10)…………………it contains
A virtual foot produces a footprint in the mud
The footprint is dissected and examined from all angles
Levels of (11)……………………are measured within the footprint
Multiple simulations relate footprints to different types of (12)…………………
More accurate interpretation of (13)………………….is possible

The Robots Are Coming

A Can robots advance so far that they become the ultimate threat to our existence? Some scientists say no, and dismiss the very idea of Artificial Intelligence. The human brain, they argue, is the most complicated system ever created, and any machine designed to reproduce human thought is bound to fail. Physicist Roger Penrose of Oxford University and others believe that machines are physically incapable of human thought. Colin McGinn of Rutgers University backs this up when he says that Artificial Intelligence ‘is like sheep trying to do complicated psychoanalysis. They just don’t have the conceptual equipment they need in their limited brains’.

B Artificial Intelligence, or Al, is different from most technologies in that scientists still understand very little about how intelligence works. Physicists have a good understanding of Newtonian mechanics and the quantum theory of atoms and molecules, whereas the basic laws of intelligence remain a mystery.

But a sizable number of mathematicians and computer scientists, who are specialists in the area, are optimistic about the possibilities.

To them it is only a matter of time before a thinking machine walks out of the laboratory. Over the years, various problems have impeded all efforts to create robots. To attack these difficulties, researchers tried to use the ‘top- down approach’, using a computer in an attempt to program all the essential rules onto a single disc. By inserting this into a machine, it would then become self-aware and attain human-like intelligence.

C In the 1950s and 1960s great progress was made, but the shortcomings of these prototype robots soon became clear. They were huge and took hours to navigate across a room. Meanwhile, a fruit fly, with a brain containing only a fraction of the computing power, can effortlessly navigate in three dimensions.

Our brains, like the fruit fly’s, unconsciously recognize what we see by performing countless calculations. This unconscious awareness of patterns is exactly what computers are missing. The second problem is robots’ lack of common sense. Humans know that water is wet and that mothers are older than their daughters. But there is no mathematics that can express these truths. Children learn the intuitive laws of biology and physics by interacting with the real world. Robots know only what has been programmed into them.

D Because of the limitations of the top-down approach to Artificial Intelligence, attempts have been made to use a ‘bottom-up’ approach instead – that is, to try to imitate evolution and the way a baby learns. Rodney Brooks was the director of MIT’s Artificial Intelligence laboratory, famous for its lumbering ‘top- down’ walking robots. He changed the course of research when he explored the unorthodox idea of tiny ‘insectoid’ robots that learned to walk by bumping into things instead of computing mathematically the precise position of their feet. Today many of the descendants of Brooks’ insectoid robots are on Mars gathering data for NASA (The National Aeronautics and Space Administration), running across the dusty landscape of the planet. For all their successes in mimicking the behavior of insects, however, robots using neural networks have performed miserably when their programmers have tried to duplicate in them the behavior of higher organisms such as mammals. MIT’s Marvin Minsky summarises the problems of Al: ‘The history of Al is sort of funny because the first real accomplishments were beautiful things, like a machine that could do well in a maths course. But then we started to try to make machines that could answer questions about simple children’s stories. There’s no machine today that can do that.’

E There are people who believe that eventually there will be a combination between the top- down and bottom-up, which may provide the key to Artificial Intelligence. As adults, we blend the two approaches. It has been suggested that our emotions represent the quality that most distinguishes us as human, that it is impossible for machines ever to have emotions. Computer expert Hans Moravec thinks that in the future robots will be programmed with emotions such as fear to protect themselves so that they can signal to humans when their batteries are running low, for example. Emotions are vital in decision-making. People who have suffered a certain kind of brain injury lose the ability to experience emotions and become unable to make decisions. Without emotions to guide them, they debate endlessly over their options. Moravec points out that as robots become more intelligent and are able to make choices, they could likewise become paralysed with indecision. To aid them, robots of the future might need to have emotions hardwired into their brains.

F There is no universal consensus as to whether machines can be conscious, or even, in human terms, what consciousness means. Minsky suggests the thinking process in our brain is not localised but spread out, with different centres competing with one another at any given time. Consciousness may then be viewed as a sequence of thoughts and images issuing from these different, smaller ‘minds’, each one competing for our attention. Robots might eventually attain a ‘silicon consciousness’. Robots, in fact, might one day embody an architecture for thinking and processing information that is different from ours – but also indistinguishable. If that happens, the question of whether they really ‘understand’ becomes largely irrelevant. A robot that has perfect mastery of syntax, for all practical purposes, understands what is being said.

Questions 14-20
Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs A-F. Which paragraph contains the following information? NB You may use any letter more than once.

14. An insect that proves the superiority of natural intelligence over Artificial Intelligence
15. Robots being able to benefit from their mistakes
16. Many researchers not being put off believing that Artificial Intelligence will eventually be developed
17. An innovative approach that is having limited success
18. The possibility of creating Artificial Intelligence being doubted by some academics
19. No generally accepted agreement of what our brains do
20. Robots not being able to extend the intelligence in the same way as humans

Questions 21-23
Look at the following people (Questions 21-23) and the list of statements below. Match each person with the correct statement A-E

21. Colin McGinn
22. Marvin Minsky
23. Hans Moravec

A Artificial Intelligence may require something equivalent to feelings in order to succeed.
B Different kinds of people use different parts of the brain.
C Tests involving fiction have defeated Artificial Intelligence so far.
D People have intellectual capacities which do not exist in computers.
E People have no reason to be frightened of robots

Questions 24-26
Complete the summary below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

When will we have a thinking machine?

Despite some advances, the early robots had certain weaknesses. They were given the information they needed on a (24)………………………..This was known as the ‘top-down’ approach and enabled them to do certain tasks but they were unable to recognise (25)……………………Nor did they have any intuition or ability to make decisions based on experience. Rodney Brooks tried a different approach. Robots similar to those invented by Brooks are to be found on (26)…………………where they are collecting information.

Endangered Languages

‘Nevermind whales, save the languages’, says Peter Monaghan, graduate of the Australian National University

Worried about the loss of rain forests and the ozone At linguistics meetings in the US, where the layer? Well, neither of those is doing any worse than endangered-language issue has of late been a large majority of the 6,000 to 7,000 languages that something of a flavour of the month, there is remain in use on Earth. One half of the survivors will growing evidence that not all approaches to the almost certainly be gone by 2050, while 40% more preservation of languages will be particularly will probably be well on their way out. In their place, helpful. Some linguists are boasting, for example, almost all humans will speak one of a handful of of more and more sophisticated means of capturing mega languages – Mandarin, English, Spanish.

Linguists know what causes languages to disappear, but less often remarked is what happens on the way to disappearance: languages’ vocabularies, grammars and expressive potential all diminish as one language is replaced by another. ‘Say a community goes over from speaking a traditional Aboriginal language to speaking a creole*,’ says Australian Nick Evans, a leading authority on Aboriginal languages, ‘you leave behind a language where there’s very fine vocabulary for the landscape. All that is gone in a creole. You’ve just got a few words like ‘gum tree’ or whatever. As speakers become less able to express the wealth of knowledge that has filled ancestors’ lives with meaning over millennia, it’s no wonder that communities tend to become demoralised.’

If the losses are so huge, why are relatively few linguists combating the situation? Australian linguists, at least, have achieved a great deal in terms of preserving traditional languages. Australian governments began in the 1970s to support an initiative that has resulted in good documentation of most of the 130 remaining Aboriginal languages. In England, another Australian, Peter Austin, has directed one of the world’s most active efforts to limit language loss, at the University of London. Austin heads a programme that has trained many documentary linguists in England as well as in language-loss hotspots such as West Africa and South America.

At linguistics meetings in the US, where the endangered-language issue has of late been something of a flavour of the month, there is growing evidence that not all approaches to the preservation of languages will be particularly helpful. Some linguists are boasting, for example, of more and more sophisticated means of capturing languages: digital recording and storage, and internet and mobile phone technologies. But these are encouraging the ‘quick dash’ style of recording trip: fly in, switch on digital recorder, fly home, download to hard drive, and store gathered material for future research. That’s not quite what some endangered-language specialists have been seeking for more than 30 years. Most loud and untiring has been Michael Krauss, of the University of Alaska. He has often complained that linguists are playing with non-essentials while most of their raw data is disappearing.

Who is to blame? That prominent linguist Noam Chomsky, say Krauss and many others. Or, more precisely, they blame those linguists who have been obsessed with his approaches. Linguists who go out into communities to study, document and describe languages, argue that theoretical linguists, who draw conclusions about how languages work, have had so much influence that linguistics has largely ignored the continuing disappearance of languages. Chomsky, from his post at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has been the great man of theoretical linguistics for far longer than he has been known as a political commentator. His landmark work of 1957 argues that all languages exhibit certain universal grammatical features, encoded in the human mind. American linguists, in particular, have focused largely on theoretical concerns ever since, even while doubts have mounted about Chomsky’s universals.

Austin and Co. are in no doubt that because languages are unique, even if they do tend to have common underlying features, creating dictionaries and grammars requires prolonged and dedicated work. This requires that documentary linguists observe not only languages’ structural subtleties, but also related social, historical and political factors. Such work calls for persistent funding of field scientists who may sometimes have to venture into harsh and even hazardous places. Once there, they may face difficulties such as community suspicion. As Nick Evans says, a community who speak an endangered language may have reasons to doubt or even oppose efforts to preserve it. They may have seen support and funding for such work come and go. They may have given up using the language with their children, believing they will benefit from speaking a more widely understood one. Plenty of students continue to be drawn to the intellectual thrill of linguistics field work. That’s all the more reason to clear away barriers, contend Evans, Austin and others. The highest barrier, they agree, is that the linguistics profession’s emphasis on theory gradually wears down the enthusiasm of linguists who work in communities. Chomsky disagrees. He has recently begun to speak in support of language preservation. But his linguistic, as opposed to humanitarian, argument is, let’s say, unsentimental: the loss of a language, he states, ‘is much more of a tragedy for linguists whose interests are mostly theoretical, like me, than for linguists who focus on describing specific languages, since it means the permanent loss of the most relevant data for general theoretical work’. At the moment, few institutions award doctorates for such work, and that’s the way it should be, he reasons. In linguistics, as in every other discipline, he believes that good descriptive work requires thorough theoretical understanding and should also contribute to building new theory. But that’s precisely what documentation does, objects Evans. The process of immersion in a language, to extract, analyse and sum it up, deserves a PhD because it is ‘the most demanding intellectual task a linguist can engage in’.

Questions 27-32
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer In Reading Passage 3? In boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

27. By 2050 only a small number of languages will be flourishing.
28. Australian academics’ efforts to record existing Aboriginal languages have been too limited.
29. The use of technology in language research is proving unsatisfactory in some respects.
30. Chomsky’s political views have overshadowed his academic work.
31. Documentary linguistics studies require long-term financial support.
32. Chomsky’s attitude to disappearing languages is too emotional.

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

33. The writer mentions rainforests and the ozone layer
A because he believes anxiety about environmental issues is unfounded.
B to demonstrate that academics in different disciplines share the same problems.
C because they exemplify what is wrong with the attitudes of some academics.
D to make the point that the public should be equally concerned about languages.

34. What does Nick Evans say about speakers of a creole?
A They lose the ability to express ideas which are part of their culture.
B Older and younger members of the community have difficulty communicating.
C They express their ideas more clearly and concisely than most people.
D Accessing practical information causes problems for them.

35. What is similar about West Africa and South America, from the linguist’s point of view?
A The English language is widely used by academics and teachers.
B The documentary linguists who work there were trained by Australians.
C Local languages are disappearing rapidly in both places.
D There are now only a few undocumented languages there.

36. Michael Krauss has frequently pointed out that
A linguists are failing to record languages before they die out.
B linguists have made poor use of improvements in technology.
C linguistics has declined in popularity as an academic subject.
D linguistics departments are underfunded in most universities.

Questions 37-40
Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-G below. Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

37. Linguists like Peter Austin believe that every language is unique
38. Nick Evans suggests a community may resist attempts to save its language
39. Many young researchers are interested in doing practical research
40. Chomsky supports work in descriptive linguistics

A even though it is in danger of disappearing.
B provided that it has a strong basis in theory.
C although it may share certain universal characteristics
D because there is a practical advantage to it
E so long as the drawbacks are clearly understood.
F in spite of the prevalence of theoretical linguistics.
G until they realize what is involved