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Lessons From The Titanic: DAY 1: An Overview On The IELTS Reading Test

The document provides an overview of the sinking of the Titanic, including key details and causes. It describes how the Titanic was believed to be unsinkable due to its design, but sank after hitting an iceberg due to a lack of formal procedures for dealing with ice warnings from other ships. Not enough lifeboats were carried due to outdated regulations, and many lifeboats were only partially filled because officers and passengers did not believe the Titanic would sink. The disaster led to improved safety regulations being introduced internationally.

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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
949 views

Lessons From The Titanic: DAY 1: An Overview On The IELTS Reading Test

The document provides an overview of the sinking of the Titanic, including key details and causes. It describes how the Titanic was believed to be unsinkable due to its design, but sank after hitting an iceberg due to a lack of formal procedures for dealing with ice warnings from other ships. Not enough lifeboats were carried due to outdated regulations, and many lifeboats were only partially filled because officers and passengers did not believe the Titanic would sink. The disaster led to improved safety regulations being introduced internationally.

Uploaded by

thanh truc bùi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 39

DAY 1 : An overview on the IELTS reading test

Below are some reading passages followed with typical question types and formats pre-
sented in this table.
Lessons from the Titanic
A From the comfort of our modern lives we tend to look back at the turn of the
twentieth century as a dangerous time for sea travellers. With limited communication
facilities, and shipping technology still in its infancy in the early nineteen hundreds, we
consider ocean travel to have been a risky business. But to the people of the time, it was
one of the safest forms of transport. At the time of the Titanic’s maiden voyage in 1912,
there had only been four lives lost in the previous forty years on passenger ships on the
North Atlantic crossing. And the Titanic was confidently proclaimed to be unsinkable.
She represented the pinnacle of technological advance at the time. Her builders, crew
and passengers had no doubt that she was the finest ship ever built. But still, she did sink
on April 14, 1912, taking 1,517 of her passengers and crew with her.

B The RMS Titanic left Southampton for New York on April 10, 1912. Onboard were
some of the richest and most famous people of the time who had paid large sums of
money to sail on the first voyage of the most luxurious ship in the world. Imagine her
placed on her end: she was larger at 269 metres than many of the tallest buildings of the
day. And with nine decks, she was as high as an eleven storey building. The Titanic
carried 329 first-class, 285-second class and 710 third-class passengers with 899 crew
members, under the care of the very experienced Captain Edward J. Smith. She also
carried enough food to feed a small town, including 40,000 fresh eggs, 36,000 apples,
111,000 lbs of fresh meat and 2,200 lbs of coffee for the five-day journey.

C RMS Titanic was believed to be unsinkable because the hull was divided into sixteen
watertight compartments. Even if two of these compartments flooded, the ship could still
float. The ship’s owners could not imagine that, in the case of an accident, the Titanic
would not be able to float until she was rescued. It was largely as a result of this
confidence in the ship and in the safety of ocean travel that the disaster could claim such
a great loss of life.

D In the ten hours prior to the Titanic’s fatal collision with an iceberg at 11.40 pm, six
warnings of icebergs in her path were received by the Titanic's wireless operators. Only
one of these messages was formally posted on the bridge; the others were in various
locations across the ship. If the combined information in these messages of iceberg
positions had been plotted, the ice field which lay across the Titanic’s path would have
been apparent. Instead, the lack of formal procedures for dealing with information from a
relatively new piece of technology, the wireless, meant that the danger was not known
until too late. This was not the fault of the Titanic crew. Procedures for dealing with
warnings received through the wireless had not been formalised across the shipping
industry at the time. The fact that the wireless operators were not even Titanic crew, but
rather contracted workers from a wireless company, made their role in the ship’s
operation quite unclear.

1|Page
E Captain Smith’s seemingly casual attitude in increasing the speed on this day to a
dangerous 22 knots or 41 kilometres per hour, can then be partly explained by his
ignorance of what lay ahead. But this only partly accounts for his actions, since the
spring weather in Greenland was known to cause huge chunks of ice to break off from
the glaciers. Captain Smith knew that these icebergs would float southward and had
already acknowledged this danger by taking a more southerly route than at other times of
the year. So why was the Titanic travelling at high speed when he knew, if not of the
specific risk, at least of the general risk of icebergs in her path? As with the lack of
coordination of the wireless messages, it was simply standard operating procedure at the
time. Captain Smith was following the practices accepted on the North Atlantic,
practices which had coincided with forty years of safe travel. He believed, wrongly as we
now know, that the ship could turn or stop in time if an iceberg was sighted by the
lookouts.

F There were around two and a half hours between the time the Titanic rammed into the
iceberg and its final submersion. In this time 705 people were loaded into the twenty
lifeboats. There were 473 empty seats available on lifeboats while over 1,500 people
drowned. These figures raise two important issues. Firstly, why there were not enough
lifeboats to seat every passenger and crew member on board. And secondly, why the
lifeboats were not full.

G The Titanic had sixteen lifeboats and four collapsible boats which could carry just
over half the number of people on board her maiden voyage and only a third of the
Titanic’s total capacity. Regulations for the number of lifeboats required were based on
outdated British Board of Trade regulations written in 1894 for ships a quarter of the
Titanic’s size, and had never been revised. Under these requirements, the Titanic was
only obliged to carry enough lifeboats to seat 962 people. At design meetings in 1910,
the shipyard’s managing director, Alexander Carlisle, had proposed that forty-eight
lifeboats be installed on the Titanic, but the idea had been quickly rejected as too
expensive. The discussion then turned to the ship’s décor, and as Carlisle later described
the incident … ’we spent two hours discussing carpet for the first-class cabins and fifteen
minutes discussing lifeboats’.

H The belief that the Titanic was unsinkable was so strong that passengers and crew
alike clung to the belief even as she was actually sinking. This attitude was not helped by
Captain Smith, who had not acquainted his senior officers with the full situation. For the
first hour after the collision, the majority of people aboard the Titanic, including senior
crew, were not aware that she would sink, that there were insufficient lifeboats or that
the nearest ship responding to the Titanic’s distress calls would arrive two hours after she
was on the bottom of the ocean. As a result, the officers in charge of loading the boats
received a very halfhearted response to their early calls for women and children to board
the lifeboats. People felt that they would be safer, and certainly warmer, aboard the
Titanic than perched in a little boat in the North Atlantic Ocean. Not realising the
magnitude of the impending disaster themselves, the officers allowed several boats to be
lowered only half full.

I Procedures again were at fault, as an additional reason for the officers’ reluctance to
lower the lifeboats at full capacity was that they feared the lifeboats would buckle under
the weight of 65 people. They had not been informed that the lifeboats had been fully
2|Page
tested prior to departure. Such procedures as assigning passengers and crew to lifeboats
and lifeboat loading drills were simply not part of the standard operation of ships nor
were they included in crew training at this time.

J As the Titanic sank, another ship, believed to have been the Californian, was seen
motionless less than twenty miles away. The ship failed to respond to the Titanic’s eight
distress rockets. Although the officers of the Californian tried to signal the Titanic with
their flashing Morse lamp, they did not wake up their radio operator to listen for a
distress call. At this time, communication at sea through wireless was new and the
benefits not well appreciated, so the wireless on ships was often not operated around the
clock. In the case of the Californian, the wireless operator slept unaware while 1,500
Titanic passengers and crew drowned only a few miles away.

K After the Titanic sank, investigations were held in both Washington and London. In
the end, both inquiries decided that no one could be blamed for the sinking. However,
they did address the fundamental safety issues which had contributed to the enormous
loss of life. As a result, international agreements were drawn up to improve safety
procedures at sea. The new regulations covered 24-hour wireless operation, crew
training, proper lifeboat drills, lifeboat capacity for all on board and the creation of an
international ice patrol.

Questions 1-5 ( Overview Questions )


Choose the heading which best sums up the primary cause of the problem described in
paragraphs D, E, G, H and I of the text. Write the appropriate numbers (i – x) in your
booklet.
N.B. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.

List of Headings     
i    Ignorance of the impending disaster    
ii    Captain’s orders ignored    
iii    Captain’s over-confidence    
iv    Rough sea conditions    
v    Faulty design    
vi    Iceberg locations not plotted    
vii    Low priority placed on safety    
viii    Number of lifeboats adequate    
ix    Inadequate training    
x    Ice warnings ignored

1. Paragraph  D
2. Paragraph  E
3. Paragraph  G
4. Paragraph  H
5. Paragraph  I

3|Page
Question 6-10 ( Gap-Filling Questions )
Complete the sentences below using words taken from the reading passage. Use NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in your booklet.

6._____________________ did not arouse any response from the Californian.


7. Lifeboats not used _____________________ diminished the opportunity of saving
lives.
8. One positive outcome was that the enquiries into the Titanic disaster sought to
improve safety procedures by initiating _____________________.
9. The Titanic's safety feature, which convinced most people that she wouldn't sink, was
her _____________________.
10. Passenger ships across the North Atlantic Ocean had had an excellent safety record
in the _____________________.

Question 11-17 ( Wiewpoint Questions )


Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the reading passage? In
questions 11-17 in your booklet, write:

YES if the statement agrees with the writer's view;


NO if the statement contradicts the writer's view;
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.

11. The enormous loss of life on the Titanic was primarily caused by inadequate
equipment, training and procedures.
Answer: _____________________.
12. Nobody had thought of installing enough lifeboats to accommodate all the
passengers and crew in the event of an emergency.
Answer: _____________________.
13. Captain Smith didn't inform his officers of the true situation because he didn't want
to cause a panic.
Answer: _____________________.
14. The lifeboats would have buckled if they had been fully loaded.
Answer: _____________________.
15. After the Titanic sank, the lifeboats which were not full should have returned to
rescue as many people from the water as they could.
Answer: _____________________.
16. The Captain of the Calarniaawould have brought his ship to the rescue if he had
realised that the Titanic was sinking.

4|Page
Answer: _____________________.
17. The sinking of the Titanic prompted an overhaul of standard operating procedures
which made ocean travel much safer.
Answer: _____________________.

Questions 18- 26 (Summary Questions)


Complete the summary below. Choose your answers from words given in the box and
write them in your booklet.
N.B. There are more words than spaces, so you will not use them all. You may use any of
the words more than once.

List of Words
passengers dangers fast procedures
happy ocean handbook orders
float worried water drown
advanced inadequate afloat size
lifeboats enormous record sink
confident excitement fast safety

The Finest Ship Ever Built


The North Atlantic Ocean crossing on the Titanic was expected to set a new standard for
18. _____________________ travel in terms of comfort and 19. ___________________.
The shipping industry had an excellent safety 20. _____________________ on the North
Atlantic Crossing over the previous forty years and the Titanic was the finest and safest
liner ever built. The Titanic combined the greatest technology of the day with sheer 21.
_____________________, luxury and new safety features. The Titanic’s owners were
22. __________________ that even if the Titanic were letting in 23. ________________
she would 24. _____________________ indefinitely until help arrived. In hindsight, we
know that the Titanic was not unsinkable and that technology alone could not save lives
when facilities were 25. _____________________ and humans did not follow safe 26.
_____________________ whether because of arrogance or ignorance.

Questions 27-36 ( Table-Complesion Questions )


Complete the table below using the information from the reading passage. Write NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in the table in
your booklet.

Remedial measures taken after


Problems Causes of the problems the disaster?
Write Yes, No, or Doesn’t say.

5|Page
Position of icebergs (27) _____________ scattered
Doesn’t say
not plotted all over the ship
Insufficient lifeboats (28) _____________ regulations (29) _____________

a. ignorance of the extent of


(30) _____________
danger
Lifeboats not full
b. fear that lifeboats would (31)
(32) _____________
_____________
Califonian didn’t
No (33) _____________
listen to the distress (34) _____________
wireless operation
calls
Titanic travelling at (35) _____________ on the
(36) _____________
high speed North Atlantic

Questions 37-40 (Matching Questions)


The reading passage describes a number of cause-and-effect relationships. Match each
cause in List A with its effect (A-H) in List B. Write your answers (A-H) after questions
37-40 in your booklet.
N.B. There are more effects in List B than you will need, so you will not use all of them.
You may use any effect more than once if you wish.

List A - causes List B - Effects


37. Outdated regulations designed for A. Lack of lifeboat training and drills
much smaller ships B. More than two of the watertight
Answer: _____________ compartments filled with water
38. Captain Smith's failure to communicate C. Locations of icebergs received in ice
sufficient information to officers warnings were not plotted
Answer: _____________ D. Half full lifeboats did not return to
39. No requirements for 24-hours-a-day rescue people
wireless operation E. Nearby ship did not come to Titanic's
Answer: _____________ rescue
40. Lack of procedures for dealing with F. Not enough lifeboats
wireless messages G. Passengers panicked
Answer: _____________ H. Lifeboats were not fully loaded

6|Page
DAY 2 : Exercises on overview questions
Passage 1
Choose the most suitable heading for each section from the list of headings (A-I) below.
Write the appropriate letters (A-I) in the space provided after question 1-6.
N.B. There are more headings than sections, so you will not use all of them.

List of Headings
A Species protected by tracking
B Rescarchers go deeper with innovation
C Unravel the dwindling of species
D Mapping ocean highway
E Functions of satellites in tracking
F Tagging for tracking
G New technique facilitating fishery
H Black box of marine biology
I Stratified ocean highway

1. Section 1 __________________
2. Section 2 __________________
3. Section 3 __________________
4. Section 4 __________________
5. Section 5 __________________
6. Section 6 __________________

From Black Box to Blue Box


Section 1
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has just held its
annual meeting. One highlight was a session on new techniques for tracking marine
animals.
Making a living as a fisherman has never been easy. With the continual decline in fish
stocks currently under way, it is becoming an even harder way to grind out a living. And
it is not only fish that are disappearing, but marine fauna generally. In the past 20 years,
for example, 90% of leatherback turtles and large predatory fish, such as sharks, have
disappeared.

Section 2
7|Page
Where and how this is happening has been difficult to say, since the ocean is something
of a black box. Things go in, and things come out, but what happens in between is hard
to unravel. According to researchers presenting their work at the AAAS meeting in
Seattle, Washington, this is now changing. Today, when many marine biologists swig
their morning coffee and download their messages, they receive special e-mails from
their research subjects. These messages, relayed by a satellite, tell them exactly where
their animals have been. This has been made possible thanks to advances in underwater
electronic tagging, and it is causing a revolution in marine biology.
One of the leading researchers in oceanic tagging is Barbara Block of Hopkins Marine
Station in Pacific Grove, California. She tags bluefin tuna, which are commercially
valuable animals that can reach 680kg (1.500lb) in weight, and swim at speeds of up to
80kph (50mph). So far, her group has tagged around 700 bluefin. Many of the tags are
surgically implanted, a tricky thing to do while on board a moving hoat. These tags
archive their data in memory chips, and are eventually recovered when a fish is caught
and butchered. (The tags carry a healthy reward.) Other tags, though, are fastened to the
outside of a fish, and pop off at a pre-programmed time and date. They then broadcast
their results to a satellite. Dr. Block's work has shown that blue- fin can migrate
thousands of kilometres across the Atlantic, ignoring boundaries that have been set to
protect stocks in the western Atlantic.

Section 3
Tagging is also helping David Welch, head of the Canadian government's salmon
programme, to find out where and why large numbers of the fish are vanishing. He uses
small acoustic tags (the size of a large multivitamin capsule) that are sewn into the body
cavities of salmon. These tags broadcast their signals to microphones on the seabed.
Dr. Welch can now track where an individual salmon spends its life and watch trends in
an entire population. He was surprised to find that most salmon do not die as they leave
the river and enter the sea, as previously believed. And he is finding that climatic
fluctuations play an important role in determining population.
Dr. Welch and his colleagues are planning to install a system of microphones stretching
from the coast of Washington State to southeastern Alaska. This could follow the
movements of some 250,000 fish - collecting data on their direction of travel, speed,
depth and position. If that works, the plan is to extend the system from Baja California in
Mexico to the Bering Sea-a project that would involve about 1,000 underwater tracking
stations.

Section 4
Meanwhile, Andrew Read a marine biologist at Duke University in North Carolina, is
following 45 tagged logsechead turtles. These animals must come to the surfare to
breathe. When they do so, the tags (which are glued to their shells) talk to the nearest
convenient satellite.
Dr. Read told me the meeting that the tracking data he collects are now availabe online,
to allow fishermen to follow the movements fo turtles and, if they wish, to modify the
deployment of their net accordingly. Bill Foster, a fisherman from Hatteras, North
Carolina, and Dr. Read, proposed the project because the Pamlico Sound near Hatteras
was closed to large-mesh gill nets (which are dragged behind a boat like a curtain) for
four months a year because too many turtles were being caught by accident. Now, the
fishermen are helping the researchers, and attaching tags to healthy turtles that are
accidentally caught in their nets.
8|Page
Section 5
Together, all this work is beginning to fill in the map of marine 'highways' used by
particular species, and their preferred habitats. It is also showing where particular
animals prefer to stay close to the surface, and where they prefer deeper waters. As in the
case of Dr. Read's turtles, this is helping scientists to devise ways of protecting rare
species in an efficient manner, without interfering too much with the exploitation of
common ones.
Larry Crowder, also at Duke University, has overlaid maps of marine highways for
loggerhead and leatherback turtles in the Pacific onto those of 'longline' fisheries, in
which people catch prey on fishing lines that are several kilometres long. Turtles often
take the bait on the hooks that these lines carry. Dr. Crowder wants to identify the places
of greatest danger to these turtles, in the hope that such places will be considered for
protection. This need not, he says, mean a ban on fishing, but rather the use of different
hooks, and other sorts of gear that are less damaging to turtles. It also turns out that
turtles spend 90% of their time within 40 metres of the surface, so setting hooks deeper
than this would reduce the chance of catching them accidentally.

Section 6
Conservationists are now pushing the notion of 'ocean zoning'. Like the land, parts\ of
the sea - such as turtle highways- would be defined as sensitive, and subject to
restrictions on how extractive industries operate. If this idea is ever to work, tagging data
will be crucial. And because tagging data come in continually, this could mean that
sensitive areas in the ocean could be flexible, changing in both time and space.
Enforcing such zones might be difficult. But it would help fish, and other marine fauna,
breathe a bit easier. And careful management might leave the fishermen on top as well.

Passage 2
Choose the most suitable heading for each section from the list of headings (A-L) below
Write the appropriate letters (A-L) in the space provided after questions 1-6 in your
booklet
N.B. There are more headings than sections, so you will not use all of them.
List of Headings
A Hands off the obesity
B Fat issues due to the changing diet
C Corporate affairs of healthy food
D Taxation plus ad prohibition
E More active people
F Reduced consumption
G Supply and demand of fresh produce
H Less rich following suit
I Social awareness declining government intervention
J Shoppers oppose fat food
K Government worry about obesity
L Class distinctions as to fatty food

9|Page
1. Section 1
2. Section 2
3. Section 3
4. Section 4
Example : Section 5 E
5. Section 6
6. Section 7

Fat of the Land


Section 1
The government worries that it should do something to change the way people eat. But
diets are already changing.
Given mankind's need to fret, it is not surprising that the diseases of prosperity - stress,
depression and, increasingly, obesity - get a lot of play in Britain these days.
On March 3rd, John Reid, the health secretary, announced a three-month public
consultation about the nation’s health: in the current mood, that is likely to focus on
obesity. Last week, a report on public health commissioned by the government citied
obesity among its main worries; last month, Tony Blair’s strategy unit floated the idea of
a “fat tax” on foods that fuel obesity; and last year, thr Food Standards Agency, the
industry regulator, advocated a ban on advertising junk food to children.

Section 2
Yet the government swiftly swatted away the idea of a fat tax, and Tessa Jowell, the
culture secretary, has said that she is sceptical about an advertising ban. Mr. Reid save
the government wants to be neither a 'nanny state' nor a 'Pontius Pilate state which
washes its hands of its citizens' health'.
Why this ambivalence? Not because of doubts that obesity is a serious problem. It
increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Rather, because it is not clear that
the government can do much about it. There's no evidence that making fatty foods more
expensive would put people off them; and in Sweden, where advertising to minors is
already banned, children are as porky as they are in any comparable country.

Section 3
What's more, it is not obvious that the problem will worsen. Shoppers’ behaviour
suggests the opposite. It is not just the flight from carbohydrates prompted by the Atkins
diet; there is a broader shift going on. Britain, the world's biggest chocolate-eater, seems
to be going off the stuff. In the four years to 2002, sales of chocolate in Britain fell every
year: 2% by volume and 7% by value over the period. Last month, the new boss of
Nestle Rowntree, Chris White, described it as 'a business in crisis'.
(The company says his remarks were 'taken out of context' and denies there is a crisis,
but admits that sales of KitKat, its biggest brand, fell by 2% in 2003.)
Companies are edging away from fattening foods. Todd Stitzer, chief executive of
Cadbury Schweppes, Britain's biggest producer of fattening stuff, says that five years
ago, chocolate made 80% of sales. That's down to a half. Five years ago 85% of ago,
drinks sales were sweet, fizzy stuff. That's down to 56%. The rest is mostly juice. Diet

10 | P a g e
drinks – which make up a third of the sales of fizzy drinks – are growing while sales of
the fattening stuff are static.

Section 4
Supermarkets say that people are buying healthier food. According to Lucy Neville-
Rolfe, Tesco's director of corporate affairs, its Healthy Living (lower calorie) range grew
by 12% in 2003, twice the growth in overall sales. Sales of fruit and vegetables are
growing faster than overall sales, too. That may be partly because fresh produce is
getting more various, more is available all year round and better supply boosts demand.
Five years ago Tesco stocked six or seven varieties of tomato. Now it stocks 15.
The spread of big supermarkets, which offer better produce than the mouldy stuff at the
corner shop, may improve diets. A study carried out by the University of Southampton
on a big new supermarket in a poor part of Leeds concluded that after it opened, two
thirds of those with the worst diets ate more fruit and vegetables.
Cafes and restaurants report an increase in healthy eating, too. Pret A Manger, a
sandwich chain, says that sales of salads grew by 63% last year, compared with 6%
overall sales growth. McDonald's, which introduced fruit salad a year ago, has sold 10m
portions since.

Section 5
But it isn't just eating too much fatty stuff that makes people fat. It's indolence, too. That
may be changing. Gym membership figures suggest that more Britons at least intend to
get off their sofas. According to Mintel, a market research company, there were 3.8m
members of private gyms last year, up from 2.2m in 1998.
So why isn't all this virtue showing up in the figures! Maybe it is starting to. The average
man got thinner in 2002, the most recent available year, for the first time since body
mass-index records began, women's BMI was static. One year, of course, does not make
a trend, but a fall in Americans weight last year, also for the fiest time, upports the idea
that something is changing in the rich world's fattest countries.

Section 6
So does the fact that fat is a class isue. Where the rich lead, the poor tend to follow -
partly because the poor get richer over time, and partly because health messages tend to
reach the better educated fint and the worse educated later. That's what has been
happening with smoking, a habit the rich gave up yeans ago and the poor are now
stubbing out too.

Section 7
Campaigners for the fat tac point out that, without hefty government intervention,
through taxes and public information campaigns, it is unlikely that smoking would have
gone into such a decline. But that may not be the case with food. Consumers are assailed
every day by messages from companies telling them to get thin. Peer pressure is likely to
have more impact on teenagers than any amount of finger-wagging from ministers.
Maybe the government’s interest itself suggests that a corner has been turned. As Ms
Neville-Rolfe, a former civil sevant, says, “The government often gets on to issures at
the point at which they’re being solved.”

11 | P a g e
Passage 3
Choose the most suitable heading for each section from the list of headings (A-I) below.
Write the appropriate letters (A-I) in the space provided after question 1-6.
N.B. There are more headings than sections, so you will not use all of them.

List of Headings
A Significant efforts
B Top expertise for top questions
C Priorities in comparison
D Result expected of the panel
E Panel composition and panel issues
F Budget versus priority
G Assembly of the experts
H Impossible mission for leading thinkers
I Sceptical pitfalls
J Impossible to reach consensus
K Undaunted policymakers
L Doubtful effect on society

1. Section 1
2. Section 2
3. Section 3
Example : Section 4 B
4. Section 5
5. Section 6
6. Section 7

A Modest Undertaking
Governments have limited resources for addressing the world's
economic challenges. What should come first?
Section 1
This week, Denmark's Environmental Assessment Institute, together with The
Economist, announced plans to ask some of the world's leading economic thinkers a very
awkward question. Policymakers face enormous demands on their aid budgets and on
their intellectual and political capital as well- when they try to confront the many
daunting challenges of economic development and underdevelopment. Climate change,
war, disease, financial instability and more all clamour for attention, and for remedies or
palliatives that cost money, Given that resources are limited, the question is this What
should come first? Where, among all the projects that governments might undertake to
make the world a better place, are the net returns to their efforts likely to be greatest?

Section 2
It is casy to see why this question has rarely, if ever, been confronted head-on.
Calculating the costs and benefits of acting on any one of the very many proposals for
12 | P a g e
international action that are mooted from time to time is difficult enough. Attempting to
impose a common cost-benefit framework on many such possibilities so that they can be
meaningfully compared one with another is an ambitious exercise, to put it mildly. But
that is what the institute, headed by Bjorn Lomborg (familiar to readers of this page as
the author of "The Sceptical Environmentalist'), and abetted by this newspaper, has
resolved to attempt - in a project dubbed, in an access of optimism, the Copenhagen
Consensus.

Section 3
First, the institute assembled a panel of nine of the world's most distinguished
economists. Four of them are Nobel laureates: Robert Fogel and James Heckman, both
of the University of Chicago; Douglas North of Washington University, St. Louis, and
Vernon Smith of George Mason University, The other five can expect to pick up a few
more Nobels between them in due course: Jagdish Bhagwati of Columbia University;
Bruno Frey of the University of Zurich; Justin Yifu Lin of Beijing University; Thomas
Schelling of the University of Maryland; and Nancy Stokey of the University of
Chicago. This panel will meet in Copenhagen in May to estabish priorities for action on
ten issues.
The panel chose these issues from a much longer list drafted by the institute, drawn in
turn from aims identified in various contexts by the United Nations and other
international bodies. Then a series of distinguished experts in each field was
commissioned to write a review paper on each issue and on actions that might feasiblt be
taken in response, with due emphasis on costs and benefits.

Section 4
The topics and principal authors are:
Climate Change, by William Cline of the Centre for Global Development,
Communicable Diseases, by Anne Mills of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine.
Armed Conflicts, by Paul Collier of Oxford University.
Education, by Lant Pritchett of the Kennedy School.
Financial Instability, by Barry Eichengreen of the University of California, Berkeley.
Governance and Corruption, by Susan Rose-Ackerman of Yale University.
Malnutrition and Hunger, by Jere Behrman of the University of Pennsylvania.
Population and Migration, by Philip Martin of the University of California, Davis.
Sanitation and Water, by Michael Hanemann of the University of California, Berkeley.
Subsidies and Trade Barriers, by Kym Anderson of the University of Adelaide.

Section 5
Each paper will next be subject to critique by two further experts. In May, the papers and
commentaries will be submitted to the nine, who will argue about it all for five days and
then pronounce. As the meeting draws nearer, and the papers are published, we will run
articles about them (some in this space; others on our website). And in due course we
will, of course, report on the outcome of the top panel's deliberations.

Section 6
Can such an exercise ever hope to yield useful results – let alone the hoped-for
‘consensus’ ? It is entirely reasonable to be sceptical, such are the pitfalls of cost-benefit
analysis. Aside from the technicar difficulties entailed in valuing extremely distant and
13 | P a g e
uncertain benefits (as in the case of action to mitigate climate change, for instance), not
to mention the problems surrounding the choice of discount rate (so that costs and
benefits extending over time can be expressed on a consistent present-value basis), there
are also ethical puzzles involving the valuation of years of extra life or better health. It is
little wonder that governments prefer to let such provoking questions lie quiet and
unnoticed. And if the Copenhagen panel of experts does manage, despite these
difficulties, to reach some kind of substantive agreement, there is little reason to suppose
that politicians or the wider public will go along with a consensus reached among a
group of economists, a tribe renowned in the wider world for its desiccated view of
human welfare.

Section 7
Yet the fact remains that governments already have very large aid budgets, which they
apportion somchow among competing demands - doubtless paying more attention to the
fluctuating pressures of press and television than any consistent or coherent method of
analysis. Implicitly, their decisions already reflect underlying estimates of costs and
benefits, but the process is arbitrary and closed to inspection. Even if the Copenhagen
Consensus project does no more than force that fact to be acknowledged, it will have
been worth the trouble.

Passage 4
Leisure time
A. A raft of forecasts has been made in the recent decade, predicting the decline in the
number of working hours coupled with a consequent increase in leisure time. It was
estimated that the leisure revolution would take place by the turn of the last cent my with
hours devoted to work railing to 25-30 per week, This reduction hits failed to materialise,
but the revolution has, nonetheless, arrived.

B. Over the past 30 to 41 years, spending on leisure has witnessed a strong increase,
According to the annual family expenditure survey published in 1935 by the Office for
National Statistics, the average household in the United Kingdom spent more on leisure
than food, housing and transport for the very first time, and the trend is also set to
continue upwards well into the present century.

C. The survey, based on a sample of 6,500 households showed, that the days are long
gone when the average family struggled to buy basic foods. As recently as 1969, family
spending on food was approximately one third compared to 17% now. Twelve years
later, there was a noticeable shift towards leisure with the percentage of household
spending on leisure increasing to 9%, and that on food declining to 26%.

D. The average household income in the UK in 1999 was £460 per week before tax, and
average spending was £352.20. Of the latter sum, £59.70 was spent on leisure and
£58.90 on food. On holidays alone, family expenditure was 6%, while in 1969 the
proportion spent on holidays was just 2%. And whereas the richest 10% lashed out 20%
of their income in 1999 on leisure, the poorest spent 12%.
14 | P a g e
E. Among the professional and managerial classes, working hours have increased and,
overall in the economy, record numbers of people are in employment. As people work
more, the appetite for leisure activities has grown to compensate for the greater stress in
life. The past 5 years alone have seen the leisure business expand by 25% with a change
in emphasis to short domestic weekend breaks and long-haul short breaks to exotic
destinations in place of long holidays. In the future, it is expected that people will jump
from one leisure activity to another in complexes catering for everyone’s needs with
gyms, cinemas, cafes, restaurants, bars and internet facilities all under one roof. The
leisure complexes of today will expand to house all the leisure facilities required for the
leisure age.

F. Other factors fueling demand for leisure activities are rising prosperity, increasing
longevity and a more active elderly population. Hence, at the forefront of leisure
spending are not just young or professional classes. The 1999 family expenditure survey
showed that the 64 to 75-year-old group spend a higher proportion of their income on
leisure than any other age group. The strength of the “grey pound” now means that
elderly people are able to command more respect and, thus, attention in the leisure
market.

G. And the future? It is anticipated that, in the years to come, leisure spending will
account for between a third to a half of all household spending. Whilst it is difficult to
give exact figures, the leisure industry will certainly experience a long period of
sustained growth. Working hours are not expected to decrease, partly because the 24-
hour society will need to be serviced; and secondly, because more people will be needed
to keep the service/leisure industries running.

H. In the coming decades, the pace of change will accelerate, generating greater wealth
at a faster rate than ever before. Surveys show that this is already happening in many
parts of Europe. The south-east of England, for example, is now supposedly the richest
area in the EEC. The “leisure pound” is one of the driving forces behind this surge. But,
sadly, it does not look as if we will have the long leisure hours that we had all been
promised.

Question 1-7
This passage has 8 paragraphs (A-H). Choose the most suitable heading for each
paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the propriate number (i-xiv) beside
question 1-7. One of the headings has been done for you as an example. You may use
any headings more than once
N.B. There are more headings thanparagraphs, so you will not use all of them.

15 | P a g e
List of Headings
i Leisure spending goes up strongly
ii Decreasing unemployment
iii False forecasts
iv Spending trends – leisure v food
v More affordable food
vi Leisure as an answer to stress
vii Looking forward
viii The leisure revolution – working hours reduced to 25
ix The “grey pound” soars
x Rising expenditure
xi The elderly leisure market
xii National Statisticians
xiii Work, stress, and leisure all on the up
xiv Money yes, leisure time no

1. Paragraph A
2. Paragraph B
3. Paragraph C
Example : Paragraph D x
4. Paragraph E
5. Paragraph F
6. Paragraph G
7. Paragraph H

Question 8-12
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the reading passage? In
questions 8-12 in your booklet, write:

YES if the statement agrees with the writer's view;


NO if the statement contradicts the writer's view;
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.

Example
In recent decades, an increase in working hours was predicted.
Answer NO
8. At the turn of the last century, weekly working hours dropped to 25.
9. Spending on leisure has gone up over the past three decades.
10. Long holidays have taken the place of long-haul short breaks.
11. In future, people will pay less for the leisure facilities they use than they do today.
12. The 24-hour society will have a negative effect on people's attitudes to work.
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Passage 5
The History of Writing
1 The earliest stage of writing is called pre-writing or proto-literary, and depends on
direct representation of objects, rather than representing them with letters or other
symbols. Evidence for this stage, in the form of rock and cave paintings, dates back to
about 15,000 years ago, although the exact dates are debatable. This kind of proto-
literate cave painting has been found in Europe, with the best known examples m South-
Western France, but also in Africa and on parts of the American continent. These
petrographs (pictures on rock) show typical scenes of the period, and include
representations of people, animals and activities. Most are astonishingly beautiful, with a
vibrancy and immediacy that we still recognise today. They are painted with pigments
made from natural materials including crushed stones and minerals, animal products
such as blood, ashes, plant materials of all kinds, and they produce a wide range of
colours and hues.

2 Why did ancient people put such effort into making them? Various theories have been
put forward, but the most compelling include the idea that the pictures were records of
heroic deeds or important events, that they were part of magical ceremonies, or that they
were a form of primitive calendar, recording the changes in the seasons as they
happened. These, then, are all explanations as to why man started to write.

3 A related theory suggests that the need for writing arose thereafter from the
transactions and bartering that went on. In parts of what is now Iraq and Iran, small
pieces of fired earth - pottery - have been found which appear to have been used as
tokens to represent bartered objects, much as we use tokens in a casino, or money, today.
Eventually, when the tokens themselves became too numerous to handle easily,
representations of the tokens were inscribed on day tablets.

4 An early form of writing is the use of pictograms, which are pictures used to
communicate. Pictograms have been found from almost every part of the world and
every era of development, and are still in use in primitive communities nowadays. They
represent objects, ideas or concepts more or less directly. They tend to be simple in the
sense that they are not a complex or full picture, although they are impressively difficult
to interpret to an outsider unfamiliar with their iconography, which lends to be localised,
and to differ widely form society to society. They were never intended to be a detailed
testimony which could be interpreted by outsiders, but to serve instead as aide- memoires
to the author, rather as we might keep a diary in a personal shorthand. However, some
modem pictograms are more or less universally recognised, such as the signs which
indicate men's and women's toilets, or road signs, which tend to be very similar
throughout the world.

5 The first pictograms that we know of are Sumerian in origin, and date to about 8000
BC. They show how images used to represent concrete objects could be expanded to
include abstractions by adding symbols together, or using associated symbols. One

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Sumerian pictogram, for example, indicates 'death' by combining the symbols for 'man'
and winter'; another shows 'power' with the symbol for a man with the hands enlarged.

6 By about 5,000 years ago, Sumerian pictograms had spread to other areas, and the
Sumerians had made a major advance towards modern writing with the development of
the rebus principle, which meant that symbols could be used to indicate sounds. This was
done try using a particular symbol not only for the thing it originally represented, but
also for anything which was pronounced in a similar way. So the pictogram for na
(meaning 'animal') could also be used to mean 'old' (which was also pronounced na). The
specific meaning of the pictogram (whether na meant 'old' or animal ) could only be
decided through its context.

7 It is a short step from this to the development of syllabic writing using pictograms, and
this next development took about another half a century. Now the Sumerians would add
pictograms to each other, so that each, representing an individual sound - or syllable -
formed part of a larger word. Thus pictograms representing the syllables he, na and mi
('mother', 'old', my') could be put together to form henami or 'grandmother'.

Questions 1-7
Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs 1- 7. Choose the most suitable headings for
paragraphs 1-7 from the list of headings below. Write the appropriate letters A - H in
boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will
not use them all.

List of Headings
A Magic and Heroes
B Doing Business
C Early Developments
D Sounds and Symbols
E Images on Stone
F Stories and Seasons
G From Visual to Sound
H A Personal Record

1. Paragraph 1___________ 5. Paragraph 5___________


2. Paragraph 2___________ 6. Paragraph 6___________
3. Paragraph 3___________ 7. Paragraph 7___________
4. Paragraph 4___________

Question 8-12
Complete the following notes by using ONE or TWO WORDS from the reading passage
for each answer
Notes on the Development of Writing
First stage of writing - pre-writing or proto-literacy - very old - 15,000 years. Evidence:
cave and rock paintings. Famous example - (8)_______________. Reasons for
development of writing: primitive ceremonies, recording events, seasons, used on pottery
18 | P a g e
to represent (9)_______________. Next stage: simple pictograms - pictures used to
represent articles and (10)_______________. Very simple drawings (but very difficult to
understand). Then - 8000 BC - combined (11)_______________ to create new concepts
(eg. man + winter = death). After this - started using same pictogram for different words
with same (12)_______________ ,very important step.

Question 13-15
Choose the appropriate letters (A-D) and write them in question 13-15
13. The earliest stages of writing
A were discovered 15,000 years ago and are found all over the world.
B are pictures which show the natural life of the time.
C are called petrographs and were painted with natural materials.
D could not describe concepts.

14. The earliest pictograms


A represent complex objects and are difficult to understand.
B represent comparatively simple objects and are easy to understand.
C are a record of events for outsiders.
D are fairly simple but may not be easy to interpret.

15. About 5.000 years ago


A Sumerians were developing sounds.
B Sumerians were writing in a modern style.
C pictograms were used over a wide area.
D pictogram symbols could only have one meaning.

Passage 6
The passage has seven sections. You are supposed to read each section as quickly as you
can and then use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS in the section to sum up its main
focus.
Historical Thermometers
Section A
If someone asked you to find out if the carth's climate had changed over the past century, your
first instinct would be to reach for the meteorological records, just as climate change researcher
have done for decades. But boreholes drilled in the ground in search of resources such as oil and
water might give you a better answer.
Already, analyses of temperature readings from boreholes are producing provocative findings.
They suggest that at least part of the global warming (also known as the 'greenhouse effect')

19 | P a g e
seen in the meteorological records of the past century can be explained by natural fluctuations in
the earth's underground temperature.
 Main focus: ___________________________________________________

Section B
Geophysicists have known for a long time that the crust becomes progressively warmer as you
drill into it, edging closer to the carth's hot interior. Mostly, this temperature gradient is smooth,
increasing by between 10°C and 50°C with every kilometre from the surface. The exact amount
depends on how effectively the rock carries heat through the crust towards the surface. But
within 200 to 300 metres or so of the surface, things become less predictable.
Previously geophysicists were interested only in mcasuring heat flow from the carth's centre, so
they threw away these unreliable top sections of their borehole temperature data. As
climatologists now realise, however, this temperature variation is a powerful source of
information about past climactic fluctuations. In particular, it can tell you about daily and
seasonal variations in surface temperature.
 Main focus: ___________________________________________________

Section C
The temperature a metre down from the ground surface is an accurate average the ground
temperature the previous day. Similarly, the temperature at 20 metres is an accurate measure of
the average ground temperature over the previous annual cycle. But the real value of the thermal
waves is not in revealing yesterday's so slowly, the first 500 metres of crust offers a record of
the earth's ground temperature for the whole of the past millennium. For most rocks, a
measurable change in surface temperature takes a year to travel 16 metres, 100 years to travel
160 metres and 1,000 years to travel 500 metres.
 Main focus: ___________________________________________________

Section D
Many climatologists now believe that underground temperature data will provide a valuable
check on recently developed models of climate change, such as the complex computer models
used to predicthow climate might change as a result of the green- house effect. These computer
models, called general circulation models, or GCMS, are complicated simulations of the earth's
response to changes caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels. They are built up
from known patterns of climate change over the past century or so, based on the meteorological
records. According to these records, the average air temperature at the earth's surface has
increased by about 0.5°C in the past 100 years. This warming is uneven: Arctic regions show
most warming, regions close to the equator show little or none, and some regions in Africa show
slight cooling.
 Main focus: ___________________________________________________

Section E
However, predictions based on GCMS differ widely. It is difficult to establish a clear picture of
historical climate trends because there is little reliable meteorological data extending beyond the
past century, while widespread records exist only for the past half century. In addition, the
longest records are usually from urban areas and these cannot be accepted without question
because they take into account heat from human activities. Many of the early weather stations
were abandoned or moved elsewhere when people moved, with any corresponding adjustment
of the records. Measurement methods have also varied from place to place. It is hoped that
borehole data might fill some of the gaps in current knowledge.
 Main focus: ___________________________________________________

Section F

20 | P a g e
Hence the excitement about boreholes. Edward Bullard of University of Cambridge made the
first borchole measurements in 1939 in South Africa. But he was interested in heat flow in the
earth, not climate. Research aimed at investigating climate change only took off in earnest in
1986, after rescarchers published the first detailed analyses of temperatures from boreholes in
Alaska and eastern Canada. To date, geophysicists have measured heat flow at 10,000 boreholes
on continents worldwide. New measurements are being added at about 200 sites per year. A
global network of these 'historical thermometers' is fast developing.
 Main focus: ___________________________________________________

Section G
Not all the data will be suitable for studying climate change. Boreholes less than 150 metres
deep are too shallow to extend the climate record back beyond what is known from
meteorological data. At some of the older boreholes, researchers chose not to measure
temperatures in the first 100 metres below the surface because they thought the data would be
unreliable. But an estimated one in ten boreholes are considered to be suitable for climate
studies. Analysing data from these sites should take between three and five years.
 Main focus: ___________________________________________________

Passage 7

Parenting and Responsibility


Section A
There are still significant gaps between women and men in terms of their involvement in
family life, the tasks they perform and the responsibilities they take. Yet at least in
developed Western countries, both women and men express a desire for greater equality
in family life. It is evident that in terms of attitudes and beliefs, the problem cannot
simply be thought of in terms of women wanting men to share more equally and men
being reluctant to do so. The challenge now is to develop policies and practices based on
a presumption of shared responsibility, if there is greater gender equality in the
responsibilities and pleasures of family life. These are becoming key concerns of
researchers, policymakers, community workers and, more importantly, family members
themselves.

Section B
Despite the significant increase in the number of women with dependent children who
are in the paid workforce, Australian research studies over the last 15
years are consistent in showing that divisions of family work are very rigid indeed
(Watson 1991). In terms of time, women perform approximately 90 per cent of childcare
tasks and 70 per cent of all family work, and only 14 per cent of fathers are highly
participant in terms of time spent on family work (Russell 1983). Demo and Acock
(1993), in a recent US study, also found that women continue to perform a constant and
major proportion of household labour (68 per cent to 95 per cent) across all family types
(first marriage, divorced, stepfamily or never married), regardless of whether they are
employed or non-employed in paid work.

Section C
Divisions of labour for family work are particularly problematic in families in which
both parents are employed outside the home (dual-worker families). Employed mothers

21 | P a g e
adjust their jobs and personal lives to accommodate family commitments more than
employed fathers do. Mothers are less likely to work overtime and are more likely to
take time off work to attend to children's needs (VandenHeuvel 1993). Mothers spend
less time on personal leisure activities than their partners, a factor that often leads to
resentment (Dcmo and Acock 1993).

Section D
The parental role is central to the stress-related anxiety reported by employed mothers,
and a major contributor to such stress is their taking a greater role in childcare
(VandenHeuvel 1993). Edgar and Glezer (1992) found that dose to 90 per cent of both
husbands and wives agreed that man should share equally in childcare, yet 55 cent of
husbands and wives claimed that the men actually did this. These per claims are valid
despite the findings mentioned earlier that point to a partner to do more housework and
childcare as a better predictor of poor family daily adjustment than is actual time spent
by fathers in these tasks (Demo and Acock 1993). It is this desire, together with its lack
of fulfilment in most families, that brings about stress in the female parent.

Section E
Family therapists and social work researchers are increasingly defining family problems
in terms of a lack of involvement and support from fathers and are concerned with
difficulties involved in having fathers take responsibility for the solution of family and
child behaviour problems (Edgar and Glezer 1986). Yet, a father accepting responsibility
for behaviour problems is linked with positive outcomes.

Section F
Research studies lend strong support to the argument that shared responsibilities are
benefits for families considering a change to a fair or more equitable division of the
pleasures and pains of family life. Greater equality in the performance of family work is
associated with lower levels of family stress and higher self-esteem, better health, and
higher marital satisfaction for mothers. There is also higher marital satisfaction for
fathers, especially when they take more responsibility for the needs of their children
fathers are happier when they are more involved (Russell 1984).

Question 1-6
The passage has six sections. Point out which section deals with one of the following
topics.
1. The impact of dual employment
Answer: __________________
2. Mother’s portion in the childcare
Answer: __________________
3. Need for more equitable parenting policies
Answer: __________________
4. The benefits of balanced responsibility
Answer: __________________
5. The experts’ view of the male parent’s role
22 | P a g e
Answer: __________________
6. The effect of stress on the female parent
Answer: __________________

Question 7-15
Below is a list of research findings mentioned in the reading passage. Indicate which
researcher(s) is (are) responsible for each research finding

DA Demo and Acock


EG Edgar and Glezer
R Russell
VH VandenHeuvel
W Watson

Research Findings
Example:
Fathers spend more time than mothers on personal leisure activities DA

7. The number of hours a father spends doing childcare is not the best indicator of how
well the family is adjusted
8. The vast majority of fathers do not take part to any great extent in family work
9. Women do most of the housework whether they are married or not
10. Wih regard to the issue of equal responsibility for childcare, there is a discrepancy
between the wishesand the claims of parent couples
11. Both mothers and fathers are happier where father assumes some responsibility for
issues relating to the behaviour of the children.
12. Researchers now link family problems to the father's lack of involvement in rearing
children.
13. In terms of dealing with family issues, employed fathers make fewer sacrifices in
their jobs than working women do.
14. Anxiety results from the mother being the primary caregiver.
15. There has been little change in the housework and childcare roles of the mothers and
fathers.

Passage 8
Questions 1-7
The reading passage has 8 paragraphs (A-H). Choose the most suitable heading for each
paragraph from the list of headings on the next page. Write the appropriate numbers
(i-xii) beside questions 1-7. One of the headings has been done for you as an example.
N.B. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.

23 | P a g e
1. Paragraph A __________
2. Paragraph B __________
3. Paragraph C __________
4. Paragraph D __________
5. Paragraph E __________
6. Paragraph F __________
7. Paragraph G __________
Example : Paragraph H x

List of Headings
i. 165 million years
ii. The body plan of archosaurs
iii. Dinosaurs - terrible lizards
iv. Classification according to pelvic anatomy
v. The suborders of Saurischia
vi. Lizards and dinosaurs - two distinct superorders
vii. Unique body plan helps identify dinosaurs from other animals
viii. Herbivore dinosaurs
ix. Lepidosaurs
x. Frills and shelves
xi. The origins of dinosaurs and lizards
xii. Bird-hipped dinosaurs
xiii. Skull bones distinguish dinosaurs from other archosaurs

What Is a Dinosaur ?
A Although the name dinosaur is derived from the Greek for "terrible lizard", dinosaurs
were not, in fact, lizards at all. Like lizards, dinosaurs are included in the class Reptilia,
or reptiles, one of the five main classes of Vertebrata, animals with backbones. However,
at the next level of classification, within reptiles, significant differences in the skeletal
anatomy of lizards and dinosaurs have led scientists to place these groups of animals into
two different superorders: Lepidosauria, or lepidosaurs, and Archosauria, or archosaurs.

B Classified as lepidosaurs are lizards and snakes and their prehistoric ancestors.
Included among the archosaurs, or "ruling reptiles", are prehistoric and modern
crocodiles, and the now extinct thecodonts, pterosaurs and dinosaurs. Palaeontologists
believe that both dinosaurs and crocodiles evolved, in the later years of the Triassic
Period (c. 248-208 million years ago), from creatures called pseudosuchian thecodonts.
Lizards, snakes and different types of thecodont are believed to have evolved earlier in
the Triassic Period from reptiles known as eosuchians.

C The most important skeletal differences between dinosaurs and other archosaurs are
in the bones of the skull, pelvis and limbs. Dinosaur skulls are found in a great range of
shapes and sizes, reflecting the different eating habits and lifestyles of a large and varied
group of animals that dominated life on Earth for an extraordinary 165 million years.

24 | P a g e
However, unlike the skulls of any other known animals, the skulls of dinosaurs had two
long bones known as vomers. These bones extended on either side of the head, from the
front of the snout to the level of the holes on the skull known as the antorbital fenestra,
situated in front of the dinosaur's orbits or eyesockets.

D All dinosaurs, whether large or small, quadrupedal or bidepal, fleet-footed or slow-


moving, shared a common body plan. Identification of this plan makes it possible to
differentiate dinosaurs from any other types of animal, even other archosaurs. Most
significantly, in dinosaurs, the pelvis and femur had evolved so that the hind limbs were
held vertically beneath the body, rather than sprawling out to the sides like the limbs of a
lizard. The femur of a dinosaur had a sharply in-turned neck and a ball-shaped head,
which slotted into a fully open acetabulum or hip socket. A supra-acetabular crest helped
prevent dislocation of the femur. The position of the knee joint, aligned below the
acetabulum, made it possible for the whole hind limb to swing backwards and forwards.
This unique combination of features gave dinosaurs what is known as a "fully improved
gait". Evolution of this highly efficient method of walking also developed in mammals,
but among reptiles it occurred only in dinosaurs.

E For the purpose of further classification, dinosaurs are divided into two orders:
Saurischia, or saurischian dinosaurs, and Ornithischia, or ornithischian dinosaurs. This
division is made on the basis of their pelvic anatomy. All dinosaurs had a pelvic girdle
with each side comprised of three bones: the pubis, ilium and ischium. However, the
orientation of these bones follows one of two patterns. In saurischian dinosaurs, also
known as lizard-hipped dinosaurs, the pubis points forwards, as is usual in most types of
reptile. By contrast, in ornithischian, or bird-hipped, dinosaurs, the pubis points
backwards towards the rear of the animal, which is also true of birds.

F Of the two orders of dinosaurs, the Saurischia was the larger and the first to evolve. It
is divided into two suborders: Therapoda, or therapods, and Sauropodomorpha, or
sauropodomorphs. The therapods, or "beast feet", were bipedal, predatory carnivores.
They ranged in size from the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex, 12m long, 5.6m tall and
weighing an estimated 6.4 tonnes, to the smallest known dinosaur, Compsognathus, a
mere 1.4m long and estimated 3kg in weight when fully grown. The sauropodomorphs,
or "lizard feet forms", included both bipedal and quadrupedal dinosaurs. Some
sauropodomorphs were carnivorous or omnivorous but later species were typically
herbivorous. They included some of the largest and best-known of all dinosaurs, such as
Diplodocus, a huge quadruped with an elephant-like body, a long, thin tail and neck that
gave it a total length of 27m, and a tiny head.

G Ornithischian dinosaurs were bipedal or quadrupedalherbivores. They are now


usually divided into three suborders: Ornithipoda, Thyreophora and Marginocephalia.
The ornithopods, or "bird feet", both large and small, could walk or run on their long
hind legs, balancing their body by holding their tails stiffly off the ground behind them.
An example is Iguanodon, up to 9m long, 5m tall and weighing 4.5 tonnes. The
thyreophorans, or "shield bearers", also known as armoured dinosaurs, were quadrupeds
with rows of protective bony spikes, studs, or plates along their backs and tails. They
included Stegosaurus, 9m long and weighing 2 tonnes.

25 | P a g e
H The marginocephalians, or "margined heads", were bipedal or quadrupedal
ornithschians with a deep bony frill or narrow shelf at the back of the skull. An example
is Triceratops, a rhinoceros-like dinosaur, 9m long, weighing 5.4 tonnes and bearing a
prominent neck frill and three large horns.

Question 8-10
Complete the sentences below. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the
passage for each blank space

8. Lizards and dinosaur are classified into two different superordes because of the
difference in their _________________
9. In the Triassic Period, _________________ evolved into thecodonts, for example,
lizards and snakes
10. Dinosaur skull differed from those of any other known animals because of the
presence of vomers : _________________

Question 11-14
Choose one phrase (A-H) from the List of features to match with the Dinosaurs listed
below.
Write the appropriate letters (A-H) in boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet.
The information in the completed sentences should be an accurate summary of the points
made by the writer.
NB. There are more phrases (A-H) than sentences, so you will not need to use them all.
You may use each phrase once only.

Dinosaurs
11. Dinosaurs differed from lizards, because _________________
12. Saurischian and ornithischian dinosaurs _________________
13. Unlike therapods, sauropodomorphs _________________
14. Some dinosaurs used their tails to balance, others _________________

List of features
A are both divided into two orders.
B the former had a "fully improved gait".
C were not usually very heavy.
D could walk or run on their back legs.
E their hind limbs sprawled out to the side.
F walked or ran on four legs, rather than two.
G both had a pelvic girdle comprising six bones.
H did not always eat meat.

Passage 9

26 | P a g e
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of headings (A-
L) below. Write the appropriate letters (A-L) in the space provided after questions
1-8 in your booklet.
N.B. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.

List of Headings
A Invalid indicators
B Reconciliation of the inconsistency
C Radiation absorbing information
D Alternative density application
E Puzzles left by radiation
F Two pitfalls
G Void centre of the black hole
H Value of the theory
I A trouble-shooting theory
J Non-existence of the universe
K Information paradox resolved
L Cosmic uniformity owing to cosmic inflation

1. Paragraph 1 ________________
2. Paragraph 2 ________________
3. Paragraph 3 ________________
4. Paragraph 4 ________________
Example: Paragraph 5 I
5. Paragraph 6 ________________
6. Paragraph 7 ________________
7. Paragraph 8 ________________
8. Paragraph 9 ________________

Hair Today
Just what inside a black hole ?
1 Ever since John Wheeler coined the phrase "black hole', these complex astronomial
phenomena have held a peculiar fascination for physicists and laymen alike. Physicists
are interested because of the catreme conditions inside and at the edge of a black hole - a
region where gravity is so strong that nothing was thought to be able to escape. These
conditions test the intersection between the two theories that lie at the heart of modern
physice quantum mechanics and Einsteinian gravity (the latter known, rather
confusingly, as the general theory of relativity). Both theories agree perfectly with those
observations that have been made so far. But the two seem to be incomputible with cach
other, putting out of reach one grand, unified theory. Many physicists would like to
overcome this obtacle.

27 | P a g e
2 Laymen are probably more captivated by Dr. Wheeler's nomenclature than by the
details of the physics. But black holes are not really black. In the paper that catapulted
him to fame in 1974, Stepben Hawking predicted that some black holes should emit
radiation (although in a manner that is still not fully understood). And now, it seems that
another famous coinage by Dr. Wheeler- that "black holes have no hair” – is also false.

3 What Dr. Wheeler meant by the hairlessness of black holes was that they could be
characterised by just three numbers: mass, angular momentum (roughly speaking, bow
fast a hole spins) and electric charge. To describe a star, one would have, by contrast, to
say what each of the zillions of atoms inside it was doing. Once Dr. Hawking discovered
that a black hole radiates, however, the lack of hair led to a paradox. Drop something-an
encyclopedia, say- into a black hole, and it would be destroyed and eventually re-emitted
as Hawking radiation in a random wzy. The information in the cncyclopedia would be
lost. But quantum mechanics dictates, perhaps surprisingly, that information cannot be
destroyed. If the encyclopedia were to fall into a star, it would be passible (though
admittedly very hard) to reconstruct it by reversing the paths of all the atoms of which it
had been composed.

4 Before Dr.Hawking’s paper, that point was finessed because no one could prove that
the information was not somehow preserved within the black hole. But the Hawking
radiation, which is predicted by an AD HOC combination of relativity anf quantum
mechanics, trumps that fitness and leaves an apparent paradox.

5 In a paper just published in NUCLEAR PHYSICS, Samir Mathur and his colleagues at
Ohio State University seem to have solved the paradox using string theory, which is the
best available attempt to reconcile relativity and quantum mechanics. This theory, which
postulates that everything in the universe is a consequence of tiny strings oscillating in
ten dimensions, was thought to have observable consequences only at very small scales -
as much smaller than atoms as atoms are smaller than the solar system. Dr. Mathur
showed, however, that at high densities of matter, such as those within a black hole, the
effects attributable to strings can grow to large sizes.

6 According to Dr. Mathur, the interior of a black hole can be thought of as a ball of
strings. This ball modulates the Hawking radiation in a way that reflects the arrangement
of the strings inside the hole. So, in effect, it acts as a repository of the information
carried by things that have fallen into the hole. Thus, as quantum mechanics requires, no
information is destroyed.

7 Besides resolving the information paradox, this theory has the added benefit - at least
in the special cases that Dr. Mathur has been able to work out exactly – of getting rid of
the 'singularity' that had been thought to lie at the centre of every black hole. A
'singularity' is a mathematical anomaly where physical theories such as general relativity
break down because quantities that should be finite diverge to infinity. This means that
physicists are unable, even in principle, to explain what is actually happening there. It
would therefore be quite a boon if Dr. Mathur is correct, and singularities do not actually
exist.

8 His result also has a bearing on wider cosmological issues. The early universe would
have had a density similar to a black hole, and so the 'string-ball' theory would have
28 | P a g e
applied there, too. Though Dr. Mathur is cautious on the matter, his theory might supply
an alternative explanation about why - when viewed on the grandest scales - the universe
appears remarkably uniform. At the moment, this uniformity down to a phenomenon
known as cosmic inflation, in which the universe is is put supposed to have expanded
rapidly when it was very young. That expansion would have 'Jocked in' the universe's
initial uniform state by stopping local concentrations of matter from forming. Tying the
early universe together with strings might provide an alternative explanation for cosmic
uniformity.

9 String theory is often criticised because it is abstract and thus hard to compare with
reality. But although no one can yet see a black hole close up, and thus test Dr.Mathur's
ideas for real, the fact that string theory seems able, in this case, to resolve long-standing
inconsistencies between general relativity and quantum mechanics is a big point in its
favour.

DAY 3: Progressive Test 1


Passage 1
Warnings to Be Ignored
American banks continue to make ast profits.
Will the good times end when the Fed raises interest nates?
Mr. Greenspan's scepticism, you might not be surprised to hear, was warranted.
American banks cruised through the downturn following the stockmarket crash of 2000
29 | P a g e
with barely a dent in the bumper, and since then their profits have accelerated. Last year
Citigroup, the largest financial firm in the world, made more money than any other
company has ever made before. In the first quarter of this year, it made another $5.3
billion, putting it on course to break last year's record. Bank after bank has announced a
sharp increase in profits in the first quarter. And yet bank shares have foundered: the
banking bit of the S&P 500 is some 7% off its high. Investors, it seems, doubt whether
the good times can continue. And the reason for these fears is a slew of robust economic
statistics suggesting that the Federal Government is likely to raise interest rates sooner
rather than later. This, they think, will hurt banks.

Though fully in agreement with these views, his dismal track record at the very least
requires Buttonwood to put the case for the defence. Far from falling, bank profits could
actually rise when the Federal Government puts up rates. All things equal, says David
Fanger of Moody's, a rating agency, banks make more money when interest rates are
high than when they are low, because they benefit more from paying low or no interest
on checking (current) accounts and so forth. The attraction of such cheap sources of
funding is the main reason why banks have built up their branch networks in recent
years, helping them to suck in deposits, which have been growing at almost 10% a year.
The cheap funding from deposits, says Mr. Fanger, accounts for 25%-40% of profits,
depending on the bank. It would mean still more profits were rates to rise.

But while banks' funding will benefit from the rise in short-term rates, they wil lose out
(in one way, at least) if higher long-term rates do not rise too. Banks essentially take two
risks. The first, dubbed 'maturity transformation' risk, involve borrowing short and
lending long. The bigger the difference between short- and longterm rates, the more
money banks make. Thanks to the largesse of the Fed and its 1%short-term rates, the
yield curve-the difference between short and long rates-has been at or near a record high
over the past couple of years. The difference between two- and ten-year Treasuries - a
good way of measuring the slope of the curve – has been two and a half times its average
of the past 20 years, says David Hendler of Credit-Sights an independent research firm.
As a result, he says, 'you could have strapped any monkey to a trading chair and made
money.'

Banks have played the yield curve for all they are worth, in the sure knowledge
that the Fed will give ample warning before it alters short-term rates. Although
com- mercial lending has dropped, banks' holdings of government securities have
grown, as have their investments in mortgage-backed securities, which have gone
up by almost $100 billion, or a third, since last September. The market for
interest-rate swaps is another favoured playground. Here, banks simply pay a low,
short-term floating rate and receive a high, fixed one. Half the top 20 American
banks get at least 10% of their profits from this spread, according to Mr.
Hendler, for J. P. Morgan Chase, it was an astonishing 33% last year.
The fear, of course, is that banks could lose heavily if long-term rates rise sharply,
because the securities that they have bought already would fall in value (although, of
course, they would be able to earn a decent spread on new ones). And many other
investors have also taken full advantage of the steep yield curve, which might mean a
decidedly nasty fall as they head for the exits at the same time.

30 | P a g e
Most economists put 'fair value' of ten-year Treasuries at 5.5% or so. This would mean
big losses on all those bonds and swaps positions that banks had taken out when rates
were a lot lower and prices higher. It would, however, be mainly a valuation loss, and
banks might avoid the worst of it by transferring positions to that part of their balance
sheet that they do not have to mark to the market price. They would, however, be left
with low-yielding assets at a time when the cost of their liabilities in the capital markets
was rising. Of course, banks are not stupid: they know that the Fed will raise rates at
some point. But the pressure on them to increase profits is so great that most of them
have stayed put for as long as possible. All of this means, at the very least, lower profits
on existing positions. And if short-term rates rise sharply, as they did in 1994, banks will
be in trouble.

But the second risk that banks take - credit risk – is just as big a concern n a rising
interest-rate environment. Credit costs have fallen sharply in recent yean for consumers
and companies alike, thanks to a buoyant economy and low rates- Mr. Fanger argues
that those costs are likely to remain low because the Fed will be raising rates at a time
when the economy is humming along nicely. But given how high consumer and
corporate debts are, and how low the price now charged to lend to riskier borrowers is,
such a view seems overly sanguine. You may feel, however, that such warnings can be
safely ignored.

Question 1-6
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of headings
(A-K) below. Write the appropriate letters (A-K) in the spaces provided after
questions 1-6.
N.B. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.

List of Headings
A Short-term and long-term interest rates
B Taking advantage of a record high curve
C The warning issued by Federal Government
D Doubt about the sustainable bank profits
E Fear about sudden policy change
F Leave the scepticism alone
G Bank profit losses due to the rise of interest rates
H The way banks gain profits
I Theoretical estimate of a long-term gain
J Rising bank profits with rising interest rates
K Sharply fallen credit costs

1. Paragraph 1 _______________
2. Paragraph 2 _______________
3. Paragraph 3 _______________
4. Paragraph 4 _______________
Example: Paragraph 5 E
5. Paragraph 6 _______________
31 | P a g e
6. Paragraph 7 _______________

Question 7-10
Answer the questions using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each
answer.
Write your answer in the blank below the question

7. What are the investors afraid of most in recent months?


_____________________________________________
8. How have bankers made profits ?
_____________________________________________

9. What are banks trying to make full of use?


_____________________________________________

10. What banking product is more risky when the interest rates are rising?
_____________________________________________

Passage 2
Just Relax
Section 1
Hypnosis is an intriguing and fascinating process. A trance-like mental state is
induced in one person by another, who appears to have the power to command
that person to obey instructions without question. Hypnotic experiences were
described by the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, whilst references to deep sleep
and anaesthesia have been found in the Bible and in the Jewish Talmud. In the
mid-1700s, Franz Mesmer, an Austrian physician, developed his theory of 'animal
magnetism', which was the belief that the cause of disease was the 'improper
distribution of invisible magnetic fluids'. Mesmer used water tubs and magnetic
wands to direct these supposed fluids to his patients. In 1784, a French
commission studied Mesmer's claims, and concluded that these 'cures' were only
imagined by the patients. However, people continued to believe in this process of
'mesmerism' and it was soon realised that successful results could be achieved,
but without the need for magnets and water.

Section 2
The term hypnotism was first used by James Braid, a British physician who
studied suggestion and hypnosis in the mid-1800s. He demonstrated that hypnosis
differed from sleep, that it was a physiological response and not the result of
secret powers. During this same period, James Esdaile, a Scottish doctor working
in India, used hypnotism instead of anaesthetic in over 200 major surgical

32 | P a g e
operations, including leg amputations. Later that century, a French neurologist,
Jean Charcot, successfully experimented with hypnosis in his clinic for nervous
disorders.

Section 3
Since then, scientists have shown that the state of hypnosis is a natural human
behaviour, which can affect psychological, social and/or physical experiences. The
effects of hypnotism depend on the ability, willingness and motivation of the
person being hypnotised. Although hypnosis has been compared to dreaming and
sleepwalking, it is not actually related to sleep. It involves a more active and
intense mental concentration of the person being hypnotised. Hypnotised people
can talk, write, and walk about and they are usually fully aware of what is being
said and done.

Section 4
There are various techniques used to induce hypnosis. The best- known is a
series of simple suggestions repeated continuously in the same tone of voice. The
subject is instructed to focus their attention on an object or fixed point, while
being told to relax, breathe deeply, and allow the eyelids to grow heavy and
close. As the person responds, their state of attention changes, and this altered
state often leads to other changes. For example, the person may experience
different levels of awareness, consciousness, imagination, memory and reasoning
or become more responsive to suggestions. Additional phenomena may be
produced or eliminated such as blushing, sweating, paralysis, muscle tension or
anaesthesia. Although these changes can occur with hypnosis, none of these
experiences is unique to it. People who are very responsive to hypnosis are also
more responsive to Suggestions when they are not hypnotised. This responsiveness
increases during hypnotism. This explains why hypnosis takes only a few seconds
for some, whilst other people cannot be easily hypnotised

Section 5
It is a common misunderstanding that hypnotists are able to force people to
perform criminal or any other acts against their will. In fact, subjects can resist
suggestions, and they retain their ability to distinguish right from wrong. This
misunderstanding is often the result of public performances where subjects
perform ridiculous or highly embarrassing actions at the command of the
hypnotist. These people are usually instructed not to recall their behaviour after
re-emerging from the hypnotic state, so it appears that they were powerless while
hypnotised. The point to remember, however, is that these individuals chose to
participate, and the success; of hypnotism depends on the willingness of a person
to be hypnotised.

Section 6
Interestingly, there are different levels of hypnosis achievable. Thus deep hypnosis
can be induced to allow anaesthesia for surgery, childbirth or dentistry. This
contrasts to a lighter state of hypnosis, which deeply relaxes the patient who will
then follow simple directions. This latter state may be used to treat mental health
problems, as it allows patients to feel calm while simultaneously thinking about
distressing feelings or painful memories. Thus patients can learn new responses to
33 | P a g e
situations or come up with solutions to problems. This can help recovery from
psychological conditions such as anxiety, depression or phobias. Sometimes, after
traumatic incidents, memory of the events may be blocked. For example, some
soldiers develop amnesia [loss of memory] as a result of their experiences during
wartime. Through hypnosis these repressed memories can be retrieved and treated.
A variation of this treatment involves age regression, when the hypnotist takes
the patient back to a specific age. In this way patients may remember events and
feelings from that time, which may be affecting their current well-being.

Section 7
Physicians also have made use of the ability of a hypnotised person to remain in
a given position for long periods of time. In one case, doctors had to graft skin
onto a patient's badly damaged foot. First, skin from the person's abdomen was
grafted onto his arm; then the graft was transferred to his foot. With hypnosis,
the patient held his arm tightly in position over his abdomen for three weeks,
then over his foot for four weeks. Even though these positions were unusual, the
patient at no time felt uncomfortable!

Section 8
Hypnosis occasionally has been used with witnesses and victims of crime to
enable people to remember important clues, such as a criminal's physical
appearance or other significant details that might help to solve a crime. However,
as people can. both lie and make mistakes while hypnotised, the use of
hypnotism in legal situations can cause serious problems. Also hypnosis cannot
make a person divulge secret information if they don't want to. This was
confirmed by the Council on Scientific Affairs of the American Medical
Association, which, in 1985 reported that memories refreshed through hypnosis
may include inaccurate information, false memories, and confabulation (fact and
fantasy combined).

Question 11-17
The passage has eight sections. Choose the most suitable heading for each section from
the list of headings (A-L) below. The first one has been done for you as an example.
Write your answers in the spaces provided.
N.B. There are more headings than sections, so you will not use all of them.

Example: Section 1 J
11. Section 2_______________
12. Section 3_______________
13. Section 4_______________
14. Section 5_______________
15. Section 6_______________
16. Section 7_______________
17. Section 8_______________

34 | P a g e
List of Headings
A Use of hypnotism in criminal cases
B The body posture and hypnosis
C Early medical experiments with hypnotism
D Early association of hypnotists with psychology
E Dangers of hypnotism
F How to hypnotise
G Hypnosis and free will
H Difference between mesmerism and hypnotism
I Therapeutic uses of hypnosis
G Origins of hypnosis
K The normality of hypnotised subjects' behaviour
L Circumspection of hypnotism in legal process

Question 18-22
Complete the notes on the history of hypnosis using NO MORE THAN THREE
WORDS from the passage.
References to hypnotism can be found in both the Talmud an the 18_____________.
Even when Mesmer's 19 _____________ were not used, successful results occurred
without them. Braid identified hypnosis as a natural 20 _____________ response, rather
than magical or mystical. Early psychological studies showed the difference between
sleep and hypnosis. Successful hypnosis requires the subject's active 21_____________ .
Consequently subjects can speak or move around and are 22_____________ of their
surroundings.

Question 23-26
Choose the correct letter A-D. Write the correct answers in boxes 23-26 on your
answer sheet.
23 In order to induce hypnosis, the hypnotist will
A. encourage the person to relax using a repetitively even tone of voice.
B. say a specific set of words in a special tone of voice.
C. say any words but in a particular tone of voice.
D.encourage the person to relax while focussing on a slowly moving object.

24 Hypnotised subjects can be instructed to


A. do something they have previously said is against their wishes.
B. demonstrate physical strength they would normally not have.
C. reveal confidential information against their will.
D. do something that they would not normally be opposed to doing.

25 Past events are recalled under hypnosis

35 | P a g e
A. to entertain the hypnotist.
B. to allow subjects to reassess them without distress.
C. to help the subjects improve their memories.
D. to make the subject feel younger.

26 After surgery, hypnosis may be used


A. to make drugs unnecessary.
B. to keep the patient mobile.
C. to make the patient forget to move.
D. to minimise patient's discomfort while immobile.

Passage 3

MONEY AS THE UNIT OF ACCOUNT


SECTION I
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 II
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
36 | P a g e
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 III
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 IV
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 twopence, would have cost
tenpence 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.

37 | P a g e
Question 27-30
The reading passage has four sections. Choose the most suitable heading for each
sections from the list of headings (i-vi) below. Write the answers in the spaces provided
in your booklet

List of Headings
i. The Price of Gold
ii. The Notion of Money and its Expression
i. The Rise of Problematic Modern Currencies
iv. Stable Money Compared to Modern "fiat" currencies
v. The Effects of Inflation

27. Section I __________________


28. Section II __________________
29. Section III __________________
30. Section IV __________________

Question 31-35
USING information from the text, match the following causes with a result. Write the
appropriate letters in boxes 31-35 on your answer sheet.

Causes Effects
A. Oil substitutes become more expensive

B. Oil substitutes drop in price


31. The price of potatoes goes up
Answer: ______________________
C. People developed techniques of
transporting it to other places
32. Oil prices rise
Answer: ______________________
D. More people went to live in Australia
33. The amount of gold available went up
E. The price of other things goes down,
Answer: ______________________
because fewer people could afford to buy
them
34. The amount of gold available went
down
F. People used gold instead of silver as
Answer: ______________________
money
35. Meat in Australia was cheaper than
G. All prices went up slightly, everywhere
elsewhere
Answer: ______________________
H. There is no observable effect

I. All prices went down, everywhere

Question 36-40
38 | P a g e
IN the reading passage, writer compared money based on a gold standard, and fiat
money. Using the information in the passage, match the writer's opinions in List 1 with a
phrase A, B, or C in List 2 to show which kind of money meant. Write your answers in
the spaces provided.

List 1 List 2
36. The writer states that it has a clearly
defined value
Answer: ______________________

37. The writer states that its value by


definition varies over time
Answer: ______________________
A. Money based on a gold standard
38. The writer describes its future value as
predictable B. Government fiat monopoly currencies
Answer: ______________________
C. Both money based on a gold standard
39. The writer knows or can calculate its and fiat currencies
past value
Answer: ______________________

40. The writer believes it makes


international investment easier
Answer: ______________________

39 | P a g e

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