TEST 8

Part 2

Choose the correct letter A, B or C.

Improvements to Red Hill Suburb

11
Community groups are mainly concerned about
A. pedestrian safety
B. traffic jams
C. increased pollution
12
It has been decided that the overhead power lines will be
A. extended
B. buried
C. repaired
13
The expenses related to the power lines will be paid by
A. the council
B. the power company
C. local businesses
Label the map below. Write the correct letter A-H next to questions 14-20

14
Trees
15
Wider footpaths
16
Coloured road surface
17
New sign
18
Traffic lights
19
Artwork
20
Children’s playground
Part 3
Choose TWO letters A-E.

In which TWO ways is Dan financing his course?

A He is receiving money from the government
B His family are willing to help him
C The college is giving him a small grant
D His local council is supporting him for a limited period
E A former employer is providing partial funding

21
22
Choose TWO letters, A-E.

Which TWO reasons does Jeannie give for deciding to leave some college clubs?
A She is not sufficiently challenged
B The activity interferes with her studies
C She does not have enough time
D The activity is too demanding physically
E She does not think she is any good at the activity

23
24

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

25
What does Dan say about the seminars on the course?
A. The other students do not give him a chance to speak
B. The seminars make him feel inferior to the other students
C. The preparation for seminars takes too much time
26
What does Jeannie say about the tutorials on the course?
A. They are an inefficient way of providing guidance
B. They are more challenging than she had expected
C. They are helping her to develop her study skills
Complete the flow chart below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A
NUMBER.

Advice on exam preparation

Make sure you know the exam requirements

Find some past papers

Work out your (27) ______ for revision and write them on a card

Make a (28) ________ and keep it in view

Divide revision into (29) ______ for each day

Write one (30) ________ about each topic

Part 4

Australian Aboriginal Rock Paintings

Which painting styles have the following features?

Write the correct letter A, B or C next to questions 31-36.

Painting Styles
A Dynamic
B Yam
C Modern

31
figures revealing bones
32
rounded figures
33
figures with parts missing
34
figures smaller than life size
35
sea creatures
36
Plants

Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS.

RAINBOW SERPENT PROJECT

Aim of project: to identify the (37) __________ used as the basis for the Rainbow
Serpent
Yam Period:
• Environmental changes led to higher (38) __________
• Traditional activities were affected especially (39) __________
Rainbow Serpent Image
• Similar to a sea horse
• Unusual because it appeared in inland areas
• Symbolises (40) __________ in Aboriginal culture

Cam 14 Test 4

SECTION 2
Questions 11 – 14
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

Visiting the Sheepmarket area

11 Which is the most rapidly-growing group of residents in the Sheepmarket area?

A young professional people

B students from the university

C employees in the local market

12 The speaker recommends the side streets in the Sheepmarket for their

A international restaurants.

B historical buildings.

C arts and crafts.

13 Clothes designed by entrants for the Young Fashion competition must

A be modelled by the designers themselves.

B be inspired by aspects of contemporary culture.

C be made from locally produced materials.

14 Car parking is free in some car parks if you

A stay for less than an hour.

B buy something in the shops.

C park in the evenings or at weekends.

Questions 15 – 20
Label the map below

Write the correct letter, A-I, next to Questions 15-20

15 The Reynolds House ……………

16 The Thumb ……………

17 The Museum ……………

18 The Contemporary Art Gallery ……………

19 The Warner Gallery ……………

20 Nucleus ……………

SECTION 3
Questions 21 – 24
Complete the table below.

Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Presentation of film adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays

Stages of presentation

Work still to be done

Introduce Giannetti’s book containing a 21…………… of adaptations

Organise notes

Ask class to suggest the 22……………. adaptations

No further work needed

Present Rachel Malchow’s ideas

Prepare some 23……………

Discuss relationship between adaptations and 24………….. at the time of making the
film

Questions 25 – 30
What do the speakers say about each of the following films?

Choose SIX answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-G, next to questions 25-
30.

Comments

A clearly shows the historical period

B contains only parts of the play

C is too similar to another kind of film

D turned out to be unpopular with audiences

E presents the play in a different period from the original

F sets the original in a different country

G incorporates a variety of art forms

Films

25 Ran ……………

26 Much Ado About Nothing ……………

27 Romeo & Juliet ……………

28 Hamlet ……………

29 Prospero’s Books ……………

30 Looking for Richard ……………

SECTION 4
Questions 31 – 40
Complete the notes below.

Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Noise in Cities

Past research focused on noise level (measured in decibels) and people’s responses.

Noise ‘maps’

● show that the highest noise levels are usually found on roads

● do not show other sources of noise, e.g. when windows are open or people’s
neighbours are in their 31……………
● ignore variation in people’s perceptions of noise

● have made people realize that the noise is a 32…………….. issue that must be dealt
with

Problems caused by noise

● sleep disturbance

● increase in amount of stress

● effect on the 33……………. of schoolchildren

Different types of noise

Some noises can be considered pleasant e.g. the sound of a 34……………… in a town

To investigate this, researchers may use methods from 35……………… sciences e.g.
questionnaires

What people want

Plenty of activity in urban environments which are 36……………… , but also allow
people to relax

But architects and town planners

● do not get much 37…………….. in acoustics

● regard sound as the responsibility of engineers

Understanding sound as an art form

We need to know

● how sound relates to 38……………….

● what can be learnt from psychology about the effects of sound

● whether physics can help us understand the 39…………….. of sound

Virtual reality programs

● advantage: predict the effect of buildings

● current disadvantage: they are 40……………..

Test 2

In this part, there is an emphasis on the understanding of a long text, including detail,
opinion, tone, purpose, main idea, implication, attitude, and also text organisation
features such as exemplification, comparison and reference.

You are going to read a magazine article about an African film festival. For questions 1-
6, choose the answer which you think best fits according to the text.
The Sahara Film Festival

After a bumpy 225km drive from a meagre airstrip in Tindouf, south western Algeria, a
sprawling single-story town begins to emerge from the desert’s dust. As the sun climbs
in the cloudless sky, visitors are rewarded with their first glimpse of Dakhla refugee
camp. It isn’t the most obvious setting for a film festival, but for seven years, just before
the glitz and glamour of Cannes, the Sahrawi people of Dakhla have hosted actors and
film-makers from around the world for this six-day event. This year, for the first time,
direct flights were laid on from London, giving the opportunity for overseas visitors to
play a part in this extraordinary occasion. But despite the energy and excitement, the
background to the film festival is a serious one, as the Sahrawi people have been living
for thirty years in this isolated desert outpost, having been forced to flee their native
Western Sahara.

Western Sahara, Africa’s last colony, was taken over by Morocco when the Spanish
withdrew in 1976, despite a ruling from the International Court of Justice. This was
followed by a brutal 16-year war, during which time tens of thousands of Sahrawis fled
across the Algerian border to refugee camps. In 1991, a ceasefire agreement was drawn
up, in which a referendum on self-determination was promised to decide the fate of the
country and its people. However, almost twenty years later, the gears of diplomacy have
turned slowly and nothing has happened. Meanwhile the refugees have been left stranded
in five refugee camps dotted around the vast, inhospitable desert.

Dakhla, home to nearly 30,000 of these refugees, is the most remote of these camps,
being located 175 km from the nearest city. Unlike its namesake, the beautiful coastal
city in Western Sahara, this Dakhla has no paved roads and is entirely dependent on
outside supplies for food and water. Temperatures regularly top 120 degrees, there is
minimal vegetation and there are frequent sandstorms. Locally it is known as the Devil’s
Garden. Despite these obvious setbacks, the town is clean and well organised, with wide
sandy streets. Houses and tents are grouped in neat family compounds. There are
hospitals, funded by aid agencies, and a good standard of education. For the duration of
the festival, an articulated lorry is parked in the central compound, and a multiplex-sized
screen is mounted on its side. Around it are stalls and tents housing workshops and
exhibitions.

The aim of the festival is to raise international awareness on the plight of the refugees.
However, it also offers a rare chance for the refugees to go to the movies and experience
some educational opportunities. It is hoped that it might foster a new generation of
Sahrawi film-makers, especially as this year, the festival also celebrated the opening of a
permanent film, radio and television school in a neighbouring camp.

The program of films for this year included over forty films from around the world.
Films range from international blockbusters to various works on and by the Sahrawi
people. The themes mostly centre on experiences of struggle and hope, but there were
lighter moments, such as an animated film for the children and a flash of Rachel Weisz’s
naked bottom during the ancient Egyptian epic Agora which proved to be a highlight for
many older boys. However, the runaway favourite was ‘a Victime’, a documentary about
Ibrahim Leibeit, a 19-year-old Sahrawi who lost his leg to a land mine last year.

Films are screened at night, so the daytime is taken up with exhibitions, camel races and
football matches. One afternoon the London-based charity ‘Sandblast’ put on a joint
workshop with a film-maker, giving refugees the opportunity to learn about filmmaking
and create their own video messages. These were put online so that their extended
families in Western Sahara, from whom they have been separated for more than 33 years,
could watch them. Helen Whitehead, a film-maker from London said, ‘Working together
really broke down language and cultural barriers. It was very rewarding, and we came
across some real talent.’

More than 500 visitors flew into Tindouf on charter planes and braved the rough drive to
the settlement. All the visitors to the festival stay with Sahrawi families, sharing their
homes and partaking of their food. Living with these displaced people gives overseas
participants an invaluable insight into the conditions in which the refugees live.
Alongside the film buffs there are real celebrities such as actors Victoria Demayo and
Helena Olano. They are mostly B and C listers from the Spanish film industry, although
the real stars do take an interest. Director Javier Cardozo was a visitor last year, and
Penelope Cruz is a long-term supporter, but pulled out of attending the festival this year
at the last minute. Will the celebrity backing make a difference to the plight of the
refugees? Possibly. Cardozo’s suggestion that the Spanish, as the ex-colonial masters of
Western Sahara, were responsible for the situation received significant coverage in the
Spanish Media and put some pressure on the government to take some action. However,
although the campaign in Spain is growing steadily, the focus of attention cannot only be
on the Spanish government.
On the final day of the gathering, there is a dusty red-carpet ceremony in which the White
Camel award for best picture is presented to Jordi Ferrer and Paul Vidal for ‘El
Problema’, their 2009 film about Western Sahara. Actors, activists and festival
organisers gather on stage in high spirits to show their solidarity with the refugees. But
as the stalls are dismantled and the trucks are driven away, the thoughts of the visitors
turn to the people they are leaving behind. They may never get the chance to see the
world or fulfil their dreams of becoming actors or film-makers. For them, there is
nowhere to go. Dakhla is essentially a desert prison.

1 In the first paragraph, the writer emphasises:

the enthusiasm that the festival instils

the sensational nature of the festival
the festival’s increasing media attention
the festival’s unlikely location

2 According to the writer, the refugees have been in the desert for so long because:

International agencies do not know they are there

the Moroccan government disagree with the UN
a proposed vote is yet to take place
there is a war in their home country

3 What does the writer say about the original city of Dakhla?

It is by the sea.
It has good health and educational facilities.
It does not have proper roads
It gets food and water from aid agencies.

4 What is said about the films shown at the festival?

They mostly show the personal experiences of the Sahwari people.

All of the films are serious in content.
The variety of films suited a wide range of tastes
The international films were more popular than the local films

5 What was the British visitors’ response to the workshops?

They were surprised by the refugee’s film knowledge

The workshops enabled them to communicate with local people.
the workshops taught the visitors a lot about local culture.
They showed the local films to their families via the internet.

6 What point does the writer highlight in the final paragraph?

There is a contrast between the visitors’ freedom and the refugees’ confinement
The film festival only gives the refugees unattainable dreams
The visitors only care about the refugees for the duration of the festival
The festival is a poor copy of the more famous film festivals.

This page will let you practise for the Cambridge Advanced exam. This is the
format of the sixth part of the reading and use of English section.

You are going to read four news reports about an abandoned baby. For questions 1 – 4,
choose from the reviews A – D. The reviews may be chosen more than once.
Artice A
It has been alleged that the mother charged with attempted murder after dumping her
newborn baby into a drain has admitted to abandoning the baby boy. The woman remains
in custody after bail was formally refused at Blacktown Local Court .
The newborn baby was discovered by passing cyclists on a day when temperatures
surpassed 40 degrees Celsius. Mr Otte, who discovered the baby and only cycles the
route once a month, said, ‘That baby had no chance if we and the other people hadn't
been there. Something made us find that baby today'.
The child was already undernourished, and dehydration would have taken effect and the
baby would not have survived the day.
Passersby outside court cried 'shame' as the accused woman’s relatives crossed the street
in Blacktown.

Article B
A woman has been charged with the attempted murder of her newborn son, who was left
in a drain on Tuesday before being discovered the following Sunday. The incident has
shocked us all. In the searing heat, the baby had little chance of survival, and the mother
must have been aware of this as she callously shoved him through the tiny gap, dropped
him into the darkness and left him to his fate. But although crimes like this are a rarity,
they don’t happen in isolation. Australia criminalises child abandonment, thus making it
nigh on impossible for a depressed mother to give up her infant without causing it harm.
Meanwhile pregnant women are shuffled through the system, rarely seeing the same
caregiver twice. This model of care treats the pregnancy, but ignores the patient, and it is
this ill-equipped, indifferent system that makes a crime this one possible.

Article C
A mother has been charged with attempted murder after she allegedly abandoned her
newborn son in a roadside drain, police confirmed today. The baby had been alone in the
deep drain for five days when, by a stroke of luck, cyclists caught the faint sound of his
muffled cries above the heavy noise of motorway traffic. Sweltering temperatures in
Sydney have settled around 30C over the past week and it is believed the week-old boy
would have died had he not been found. Karen Healy, National President of the
Australian Association of Social said that this was a highly unusual case, as parents who
abandon their children tend to do so in high-traffic areas like churches or hospitals where
the child will be taken care of. This scenario, in which the mother clearly wanted the
baby to be hidden and it was only by the grace of God that the infant survived, suggests
an element of shame or possible mental illness which was not heeded by pre- and post-
natal health providers. The 30-year-old mother is currently receiving therapy while she
remains in police custody.

Article D
A newborn baby boy has been rescued from an eight-foot drain beside a bike track in
Australia after passing cyclists heard the sounds of wailing. Graham Bridges, who was
among the people who helped rescue the baby, walked the bike track regularly and said it
was usually very popular with riders on a Sunday morning. Inspector David Lagats said
‘We all thought the worst but he's still alive. It was a long drop down, but he’s wrapped
up pretty well, so that will have cushioned his fall.’ The concrete moulding of the drain
formed a layer of insulation which protected the baby from the weather, which, during
the week, reached temperatures of thirty degrees. The baby was taken to hospital in a
stable condition, thanks, in part, to the fact that newborn babies have reserves of fluids
and body sugars which they can resort to as they adapt to the new way of feeding. Lisa
Charet, from the state department of family and community services said she was
concerned for the mother’s welfare. "We can give her the help and support that she needs.
She must be feeling enormously distressed if she feels that this is the only course of
action available to her."

Which article:

a. differs from the others with regards to the threat to the baby’s health?
Select

b. shares the same attitude to the mother as article B?

Select

c. shares article B’s view that the mother was not entirely responsible for her actions?
Select
d. shares article C’s attitude towards the baby’s rescue.
Select

This page will let you practise for the Certificate in Advanced English exam (from
Cambridge English). This is the format of the seventh part of the reading and use of
English section.

You are going to read a magazine article. Six paragraphs have been removed from the
extract. Choose from the paragraphs A-G the one which fits each gap (1-6). There is one
extra paragraph which you do not need to use.
A Russell and his wife had lived for several years in the picturesque village of Lymm
where the crumbling 130-year old tower stood. The grade II listed building was one of
several hundred surviving water towers which were built in the 1800s to improve public
health across Britain. This particular tower was currently being used by three mobile
phone companies to anchor their telephone masts. Russell regularly walked along the
footpath beside the tower, and when it went up for auction in 1997, he impulsively put in
a bid for £138,000.

B But finally it all paid off. The end result is both contemporary and luxurious. The
original tower houses a ‘winter' living room on the ground floor. Above it is a master
bedroom with an en suite bathroom on a mezzanine. Above that, there is an office, guest
room and a room for the telecom equipment. Atop it all is a roof garden with views
stretching as far as Manchester and Liverpool.

C Work finally began when planning permission was granted in 2002. But before the
new structure could be built, substantial work had to be done to the existing tower. The
stonework was cracked and the turret was damaged. Two skilled stonemasons worked for
six months on its restoration. It was then sandblasted, the water tank was removed, and
huge steel frames were put into place to support the new floors. Only then could
foundations be laid for the extension.

D Over 60 companies were involved in the construction, and Russell gave up work to act
as project manager. There were problems at almost every stage. If something could go
wrong, it inevitably would. Spirits plummeted and costs spiralled, and Russell and
Jannette could do little but look on as their savings dwindled.

E Russell and Jannette had just finished renovating a 1920s farmhouse nearby. This was
done in a much more traditional style. By the time they'd finished with it, the once-
roofless property had the typical Aga, log-burning stove, rugs, country pine furniture,
dried flowers and knick-knacks. Chintzy in comparison to the modernist design they
attached to the water tower. Since the work on the tower, they have become a real
converts to minimalism.

F Colour is added to this stark interior by the creative use of lighting, which was
designed by Kate Wilkins, responsible for the lighting scheme at the Tate Modern Art
Gallery. The lighting is subtle, mostly made up of simply concealed fluorescent strips or
cold-cathode tubes. The innovative approach to lighting design won them the prestigious
Lighting Design Award.

G Fate, however, had other ideas. Russell and Jannette had to battle town planners and
local opposition to get their dream on the road. Five years along, work still hadn't started
and the couple were losing heart. All this changed, however, when they met the architect
Julian Baker, who drew up plans for a contemporary design blending old and new. His
inspirational ideas gave them the impetus they needed to kick-start their project.

Renovating the Lymm Water Tower

After eight years of grit and determination, Russell and Jannette Harris have succeeded in
transforming a derelict water tower into a spacious family home, and in doing so, won the
2005 Homebuilding and renovation awards. However, the road to success was relentless,
as what began as a whim turned into an insurmountable challenge, and there were times
when they thought they might never move in.
1.
Select

Finding themselves the owners of the dilapidated structure, the couple then had to decide
what to do with it. Their early visions for the project were fairly modest; they originally
considered wrapping the structure in timber cladding and fitting a copper roof, or keeping
the tower as a folly and building a cottage in the grounds. As time progressed, the couple
decided that they could use this opportunity to create something far more ambitious.
2.
Select

Julian's masterplan involved wrapping a glass-and-steel extension around the tower,

creating living spaces on various levels. Massive windows would give floor-to -ceiling
views of the countryside, strategically placed so that the morning sun would shine into
the kitchen and set on the dining area. The summer lounge, facing due south, would catch
the daytime rays.
3.
Select

Work also had to be done to hide the unsightly selection of antennae on the roof of the
old tower. These could not be removed, as they were essential part of funding the
conversion. So they were rehoused in an extension to the existing stone turret, concealing
them from sight.
4.
Select

Thankfully, they were able to reclaim something towards these costs from the income
generated by the radio masts. They also reaped some money by making a television
programme about the project. But with costs soaring to £450,000 and beyond, the family
was forced to cut down on personal spending. They stopped taking family holidays,
traded in their car and lived in cheap rented accommodation.
5.
Select

The extension meanwhile, which accommodates the main living space, is a tribute to
minimalism. There are no pictures. The house is like a work of art in itself, with its
sweeping views of the countryside. White is the dominant colour, and everywhere there
are sleek, curved lines. Even the light switches and plug sockets are discreetly hidden.
6.
Select

With a total cost of over £500,000, plus eight years of hard slog, Russell is unsure
whether he would advise other self-builders to put themselves through the trouble. At
times, he wished he had never bought the tower. But when he sits in the roof-top hot tub
with 360 degree views over the countryside, he admits that it was worth the effort. And
now that the Lymm Water Tower has been valued at £1.75m by a local agent, the
Harrises can surely feel satisfied with their achievement.

Test 3

You are going to read an extract from a novel. For questions 31-36, choose the answer
(A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

Brick Lane
Thirty or so years after he arrived in London, Chanu decided that it was time to see the
sights. “All I saw was the Houses of Parliament. And that was in 1979.” It was a project.
Much equipment was needed. Preparations were made. Chanu bought a pair of shorts
which hung just below his knees. He tried them on and filled the numerous pockets with
a compass, guidebook, binoculars, bottled water, maps and two types of disposable
camera. Thus loaded, the shorts hung at mid-calf. He bought a baseball cap and wore it
around the flat with the visor variously angled up and down and turned around to the
back of his head. A money belt secured the shorts around his waist and prevented them
from reaching his ankles. He made a list of tourist attractions and devised a star rating
system that encompassed historical significance, something he termed ‘entertainment
factor’ and value for money. The girls would enjoy themselves. They were forewarned of
this requirement.

On a hot Saturday morning towards the end of July the planning came to fruition. “I’ve
spent more than half my life here,” said Chanu, “but I’ve hardly left these few streets.”
He stared out of the bus windows at the grimy colours of Bethnal Green Road. “All this
time I have been struggling and struggling, and I’ve barely had time to lift my head and
look around.”

They sat at the front of the bus, on the top deck. Chanu shared a seat with Nazneen, and
Shahana and Bibi sat across the aisle. Nazneen crossed her ankles and tucked her feet
beneath the seat to make way for the two plastic carrier bags that contained their picnic.
“You’ll stink the bus out,” Shahana had said. “I’m not sitting with you.” But she had not
moved away.

“It’s like this,” said Chanu, “when you have all the time in the world to see something,
you don’t bother to see it. Now that we are going home, I have become a tourist”. He
pulled his sunglasses from his forehead onto his nose. They were part of the new
equipment.

He turned to the girls. “How do you like your holiday so far?” Bibi said that she liked it
very well, and Shahana squinted and shuffled and leaned her head against the side
window.

Chanu began to hum. He danced with his head, which wobbled from side to side, and
drummed out a rhythm on his thigh. The humming appeared to come from low down in
his chest and melded with the general tune of the bus, vibrating on the bass notes.

Nazneen decided that she would make this day unlike any other. She would not allow this
day to disappoint him.

The conductor came to collect fares. He had a slack-jawed expression: nothing could
interest him. “Two at one pound, and two children, please,” said Chanu. He received his
tickets. “Sightseeing,” he announced, and flourished his guidebook. “Family holiday.”

“Right,” said the conductor. He jingled his bag, looking for change. He was squashed by
his job. The ceiling forced him to stoop.

“Can you tell me something? To your mind, does the British Museum rate more highly
than the National Gallery? Or would you recommend the gallery over the museum?”
The conductor pushed his lower lip out with his tongue. He stared hard at Chanu, as if
considering whether to eject him from the bus.

“In my rating system,” explained Chanu, “they are neck and neck. It would be good to
take an opinion from a local.”

“Where’ve you come from, mate?”

“Oh, just two blocks behind,” said Chanu. “But this is the first holiday for twenty or
thirty years.”

The conductor swayed. It was still early but the bus was hot and Nazneen could smell his
sweat. He looked at Chanu’s guidebook. He twisted round and looked at the girls. At a
half-glance he knew everything about Nazneen, and then he shook his head and walked
away.

31 In what sense was the sightseeing trip a ‘project’?

Chanu felt a duty to do it.
It was something that Chanu had wanted to do for a long time.
Chanu took it very seriously.
It was something that required a good deal of organisation.

32 The descriptions of Chanu’s clothing are intended to

show how little he cared about his appearance.
create an impression of his sense of humour.
create amusing visual images of him.
show how bad his choice of clothes always was.

33 Chanu had decided to go on a sightseeing trip that day because

he regretted the lack of opportunity to do so before.
he felt that it was something the girls ought to do.
he had just developed an interest in seeing the sights.
he had grown bored with the area that he lived in.

34 As they sat on top of the bus,

Nazneen began to regret bringing so much food with them.
the girls felt obliged to pretend that they were enjoying themselves.
Chanu explained why he had brought the whole family on the trip.
the family members showed different amounts of enthusiasm for the trip.

35 When Chanu showed him the guidebook, the conductor

made it clear that he wanted to keep moving through the bus.
appeared to think that Chanu might cause a problem.
initially pretended not to have heard what Chanu said.
felt that he must have misunderstood what Chanu said.

36 What was strange about Chanu’s use of the word ‘local’?

It was not relevant to the places he was asking about.
It could equally have been applied to him.
He was not using it with its normal meaning.
He had no reason to believe it applied to the conductor.

You are going to read four extracts biographies of a former political leader. For questions
37-40, choose from the reviews A-D. The extracts may be chosen more than once.

A career at the very top of the political ladder

Four biographers assess one national leader’s political career

A
The overall impression one gets of him is of someone whose true ambitions lay outside
politics, and for whom political leadership was more of a CV item than a duty born of a
desire to serve his country. A shrewd and manipulative operator, he knew how to make
the right alliances to get himself into the positions he wanted, and once his term of office
was over he continued in that vein outside politics. The legacy of his time in office is a
contrasting one. Top of the list in the plus column is the tremendous progress he made in
narrowing the gap between rich and poor as a result of policies he personally championed
against considerable opposition. Less creditable is the fact that many of the problems that
resulted from his time in office can be laid at his door too and there were repercussions
he should have foreseen.

В
Seldom can a political leader be said to have been such a victim of bad timing. Many of
his policies made complete sense in themselves and at almost any other time would have
had a positive impact, but circumstances beyond his control conspired to turn them into
disasters for the country. It could perhaps be said that this was made worse by the fact
that he was somewhat gullible, setting far too much store by the questionable advice of
key figures around him. He rose to power with a sincere belief that he could improve the
lives of people at every level of society, although it could be said that self-interest later
guided him more than this initial desire. Probably the most positive thing that can be said
about his term of office is that he minimised the impact of some tough economic times,
steering the country through them with reasonable success, which was no mean feat.

C
Views differ widely on what sort of man he was as a leader, with conflicting testimony
from those on the inside. What emerges is someone who appeared decisive but who in
reality tended to believe what he was told by trusted advisers and experts, and was too
easily swayed by them. His unquestioning faith in such people led him to try to
implement changes that were far too radical for the time and it is fair to say that he was at
fault for going along with this approach that was advocated by others. On the positive
side, his main achievement was to make the country more competitive economically by
means of some well-considered initiatives, though these later turned out to have only
short-term impact. This reflected the commitment to modernise the country that had been
at the centre of his campaign and the reason why he had aspired to the leadership in the
first place.

D
He was driven to the top by a genuine belief that he knew best and that his critics were
incapable of seeing that his policies would indeed produce very real improvements across
the board. Though he made a show of listening to advice from others, he was in reality
inflexible. This led him to continue to pursue policies that were manifestly not working
and he should have accepted that a change of direction was required. He had one of the
sharpest minds of any leader in recent history, and an ability to analyse situations
forensically, but at key times he failed to apply these qualities and carried on regardless
of the inadvisability of doing so. Nevertheless, he succeeded in one major way: he made
society more equal and in so doing improved the lot of many of the less well-off
members of it.

Which biographer …

37 has a different opinion from the others on the extent to which the subject was
personally responsible for problems caused by his policies?

38 shares biographer D‘s view on the subject’s personal characteristics as a leader?

39 differs from the others on the subject’s motivation for becoming a political leader?

40 expresses a similar view to biographer A on what the subject’s greatest achievement

was?

You are going to read a newspaper article about singing in choirs. Six paragraphs
have been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphsA – Gthe one
which fits each gap (41-46). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to
use.

Introducing choral music to children is like opening a door to a magical world

Here’s an important question. What’s calming, therapeutic, healthier than drugs, and
could well prolong your life? Answer: singing in a choir.

41

In fairness, there was a specific angle to this study, which compared the collective
experience of choral singing to that of taking part in team sports. Choirs apparently win
hands down, because there is ‘a stronger sense of being part of a meaningful group’,
related to ‘the synchronicity of moving and breathing with other people’. And as
someone who since childhood has used singing as a refuge from the sports field, I take no
issue with that.

42

I know there are occasional initiatives. From time to time I get invited as a music critic to
the launch of some scheme or other to encourage more collective singing among school-
age children. There are smiles and brave words. Then, six months later, everything goes
quiet – until the next launch of the next initiative.

43

I know a woman who’s been trying hard to organize a performance of Benjamin Britten’s
Noye’s Fludde – perhaps the greatest work ever devised for young children to sing
together – as a tribute to the composer’s centenary this year. But has she found her local
schools responsive? Sadly not: it was all too much trouble.

44

We sang Herbert Howells’s Like as the Hart. And whatever it did or didn’t do for my
cardiovascular system, my emotional health, or any of the other things that turn up in
research papers, it was the most significant experience of my childhood. It opened a
world to which 11-year-olds from unfashionable parts of east London don’t generally get
access. It was magical, transcendent. It spoke possibilities.

45

The other weekend I was in Suffolk, celebrating Britten, where in fact there were a lot of
children privileged enough to be pulled into the centenary events. There was a great
Noye’s Fludde in Lowestoft. And on the actual birthday countless hordes of infant voices
piled into Snape Maltings to sing Britten’s school songs, Friday Afternoons, part of a
project that involved 100,000 others, internationally, doing likewise.
46

Just think: if we could finally get Britain’s children singing, it would filter upwards. And
we wouldn’t need university researchers. We’d just do it, and be all the better for it.

A
It was an extraordinary experience that many of those children will carry with them all
their lives, like my experience all those years ago. There is a plan for it to be repeated
every year on Britten’s birthday. But that will only happen if there are resources and
sustained commitment (for a change).

В
In fact, I have no argument with any of these piles of research – bring them on, the more
the better – because what they have to say is true. The only thing I find annoying is that
such an endlessly repeated truth results in relatively little action from the kind of people
who could put it to good use.

C
One of my enduring life regrets is that I never got the chance to take part in such an event
as a child. I guess I went to schools where it was also too much trouble. But I did, just
once, aged 11, get the chance to go with a choir and sing at Chelmsford Cathedral.

D
But being there was even better. And as I was sitting near the choir – who were
magnificent – I saw the faces of the boys and thought how fabulously privileged they
were to have this opportunity given to them.

E
And that, for me, is what a choir can offer. All the physical and mental pluses are a happy
bonus. But the joy and thrill of access to that world of music is what counts.

F
It’s not a new discovery: there are endless dissertations on the subject, libraries of
research, and celebrity endorsements. But people have short memories. So every time
another academic paper is published, it gets into the news – which was what happened
this week when Oxford Brookes University came up with the latest ‘singing is good for
you’ revelation.

G
The hard fact is that most state schools don’t bother much with singing, unless someone
in the hierarchies of government steps in to make it worth their while. They say they
don’t have the resources or the time. And even when a worthwhile singing project drops
into their lap, they turn it down.

You are going to read an article about various paintings. For questions 47-56,
choose from the sections of the article (A-D). The sections may be chosen more than
once.

Of which painting is the following stated?

47 It is of something that no longer exists.

48 The artist points out that it is based on things actually observed, even though it

49 The artist specialises in things that most people regard as ugly.

50 A deduction that could be made about what is happening in this picture is not what
artist is actually showing.

51 The artist took a risk while creating it.

52 The artist checks that nothing important is missing from preparatory work.

53 It was completely altered in order to produce various connections.

54 Its artist produces paintings in different locations.

55 In one way, it is unlike any other painting the artist has produced.

56 The artist likes to find by chance subjects that have certain characteristics.

Watercolour competition
First prize
A Carol Robertson – Interrupted
Field Carol Robertson’s Interrupted Field is a worthy winner, a more or less geometric
composition that exploits the qualities of evenly-applied washes of colour. The painting
is vast – ‘the largest I’ve ever attempted’- so the big, even area of blue in the centre is,
apart from anything else, something of a technical achievement.

Robertson is keen to stress that her abstract compositions are firmly rooted in reality.
Though she does not ‘seek to confirm or record the way the world looks’, her work is
never disconnected from the natural world, so the coloured stripes and bands in this
painting have a specific source. Over the past five years, Robertson has been working in
Ireland, on the northwest coast of County Mayo. The coloured stripes stimulate
‘memories of coastal landscape, brightly painted cottages, harbours and fishing boats,
things seen out of the corner of my eye as I explored that coastline by car and on foot.
The colour mirrors the fragments of life that caught my eye against a background of sea
and sky.’

Runners up
В Geoffrey Wynne – Quayside
Geoffrey Wynne describes himself as ‘an open-air impressionist watercolour painter’,
though he adds that ‘larger works’, this prize-winning picture among them, ‘are
developed in the studio’.

Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of this painting is the sheer number of people in it.
According to the title, they are on a quay somewhere, and the number of suitcases they
have with them suggests they have just landed from a boat on the first stage of a holiday.
‘Yes, that’s almost right,’ Wynne told me, ‘except that we’re on the boat in the early
morning, just arrived back from Mallorca, and the people are waiting to get on. This
painting took a long time to finish, and many earlier attempts were abandoned. To
achieve a unity, I immersed the half-finished painting in the bath, then added the black
with a big brush. It’s dangerous to do, because you can’t really control the effects. Then I
reworked everything, establishing links with colour and tone throughout the composition,
creating a kind of web or net of similar effects.’

C Arthur Lockwood – Carbonizer Tower

Arthur Lockwood has a big reputation among watercolour painters and watercolour
enthusiasts, chiefly for his accomplished pictures of industrial sites, subjects that are
generally thought to be unsightly, but have striking visual qualities all their own. Among
them is a kind of romanticism stimulated by indications of decay and the passing of
irrecoverable time. Lockwood’s subjects are, after all, ruins, the modern equivalent of
Gothic churches overgrown by ivy. He aims not only to reveal those qualities, but to
make a visual record of places that are last being destroyed.

This painting, a good example of his work in general, is one of an extensive series on the
same subject. What we see is part of a large industrial plant that once made smokeless
coal briquettes. It has now been closed and demolished to make way for a business park.

D Michael Smee – Respite at The Royal Oak

Michael Smee was once a successful stage and television designer. This is worth
stressing, because this prize-winning painting makes a strong theatrical impression. Smee
agrees, and thinks it has much to do with the carefully judged lighting. ‘As a theatre
designer, you make the set, which comes to life only when its lit’.
Smee prefers to happen on pubs and cafes that are intriguing visually and look as though
they might be under threat, lie has a strong desire to record ‘not only the disappearing
pub culture peculiar to this country, but also bespoke bar interiors and the individuals
therein’, He works his paintings up from informative sketches. ‘I get there early, before
many people have arrived, sit in the corner and scribble away. Then, once the painting is
in progress in the studio, I make a return visit to reassure myself and to note down what
I’d previously overlooked.’ His main aim isn’t topographical accuracy, however; it’s to
capture the appearance of artificial and natural light together, as well as the reflections
they make.