IELTS

READING

Tibra Overseas Edu

SECTION 1: Matching Headings

MAKING EVERY DROP COUNT

A
The history of human civilization is entwined with the history of ways we have learned to
manipulate water resources. As towns gradually expanded, water was brought from increasingly
remote sources, leading to sophisticated engineering efforts such as dams and aqueducts. At the
height of the Roman Empire, nine major systems, with an innovative layout of pipes and well-
built sewers, supplied the occupants of Rome with as much water per person as is provided in
many parts of the industrial world today.
B
During the industrial revolution and population explosion of the 19th and 20th centuries, the
demand for water rose dramatically. Unprecedented construction of tens of thousands of
monumental engineering projects designed to control floods, protect clean water supplies, and
provide water for irrigation and hydropower brought great benefits to hundreds of millions of
people. Food production has kept pace with soaring populations mainly because of the
expansion of artificial irrigation system that makes possible the growth of 40% of the world’s
food. Nearly one-fifth of all the electricity generated worldwide is produced by turbines spun
by the power of the falling water.
C
Yet there is a dark side to this picture: despite our progress, half of the world’s population till
suffers, with water services inferior to those available to the ancient Greeks and Romans. As
the United Nations report on access to water reiterated in November 2001, more than one billion
people lack access to clean drinking water: some two and half billion do not have adequate
sanitation services. Preventable water-related diseases kill an estimated 10,000 to 20,000
children every day, and the latest evidence suggests that we are falling behind in efforts to solve
their problems.
D
The consequences of our water policies extend beyond jeopardizing human health. Tens of
millions of people have been forced to move from their homes – often with little warning or
compensation – to make way for the reservoirs behind dams. More than 20% of all freshwater
fish species are now threatened or endangered because dams and water withdrawals have
destroyed the free-flowing river ecosystems where they thrive. Certain irrigation practices
degrade soil quality and reduce agricultural productivity. Groundwater aquifers* are being
pumped down faster than they are naturally replenished in part of India, China, the USA and
elsewhere. And disputes over shared water resources have led to violence and continue to raise
local, national, and even international tensions.
E
At the outset of the new millennium, however, the way resource planners think about water is
beginning to change. The focus is slowly shifting back to the provision of basic human and
environmental needs as a top priority – ensuring ‘some for all,’ instead of ‘more for some’.
Some water experts are now demanding that existing infrastructure be used in smarter ways
rather than building new facilities, which is increasingly considered the option of last, not first,
resort. This shift in philosophy has not been universally accepted, and it comes with strong
opposition from some established water organizations. Nevertheless, it may be the only way to
address successfully the pressing problems of providing everyone with clean water to drink,
adequate water to grow food and a life free from preventable water-related illness.

1
F
Fortunately – and unexpectedly – the demand for water is not rising as rapidly as some
predicted. As a result, the pressure to build now water infrastructures has diminished over the
past two decades. Although population, industrial output and economic productivity have
continued to soar in developed nations, the rate at which people withdraw water from aquifers,
rivers and lacks has slowed. And in a few parts of the world, demand has actually fallen.
G
What explains this remarkable turn of events? Two factors: people have figured out how to use
water more efficiently, and communities are rethinking their priorities for water use.
Throughout the first three-quarters of the 20th century, the quantity of freshwater consumed per
person doubled on average; in the USA, water withdrawals increased tenfold while the
population quadrupled. But since 1980, the amount of water consumed per person has actually
decreased, thanks to a range of new technologies that help to conserve water in homes and
industry. In 1965, for instance, Japan used approximately 13 million gallons* of water to
produce $1 million of commercial output; by 1989 this had dropped to 3.5 million gallons (even
accounting for inflation) – almost a quadrupling of water productivity. In the USA, water
withdrawals have fallen by more than 20% from their peak in 1980.
H
On the other hand, dams, aqueducts and other kinds of infrastructure will still have to be built,
particularly in developing countries where basic human needs have not been met. But such
projects must be built to higher specifications and with more accountability to local people and
their environment than in the past. And even in regions where new projects seem warranted, we
must find ways to meet demands with fewer resources, respecting ecological criteria and to
smaller budget.

2
Questions 1 – 8

The Passage has eight paragraphs, A-H.

Choose the correct heading for paragraph A-H from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number i-xi in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings
i. Scientists’ call for revision of policy
ii. An explanation for reduced water use
iii. How a global challenge was met
iv. Irrigation systems fall into disuse
v. Environmental effects
vi. The financial cost of recent technological improvements
vii. The relevance to health
viii. Addressing the concern over increasing populations
ix. A surprising downward trend in demand for water
x. The need to raise standards
xi. A description of ancient water supplies

1. Paragraph A :

2. Paragraph B :

3. Paragraph C :

4. Paragraph D :

5. Paragraph E :

6. Paragraph F :

7. Paragraph G :

8. Paragraph H :

3
SECTION 2: Completion
SLEEP
Historically, it was difficult to study sleep. Not much can be gleaned from observing
recumbent persons and questionnaires are no use, because people remember little of their
experience during sleep. The breakthrough came in the 1950’s with electroencephalogram (EEG)
recordings of brain electrical activity, when it was confirmed that sleep is anything but dormant.
We need sleep for biological restoration. It promotes cell growth, regeneration and
memory consolidation. By shutting down most of the body’s machinery, resources can be focused
on repairing damage and development. When people are deprived of sleep for any reason, there
is deterioration in performance, particularly on tasks requiring concentration, and eventually,
behaviour becomes shambolic. The individual becomes progressively incoherent and irritable
and, after a few days, may experience delusions and hallucinations. The disruptive effects of sleep
deprivation have even been successfully used as a basis of persuasion in interrogation.
A vital part of sleep is dreaming, which happens most intensively during rapid eye
movement (REM) sleep. We typically spend more than two hours each night dreaming, though
this is often spread over four or five separate periods. Infants spend up to 50 per cent of their sleep
time in REM sleep, which is understandable when one realises that REM sleep is the time used
for brain development, as well as learning, thinking, and organising information. If people are
woken when REM sleep commences, depriving them specifically of dream-sleep, the proportion
of REM sleep increases once they fall asleep again to make up what was lost. This suggests that
REM sleep is an essential aspect of sleep.
Sleep and sleep-related problems play a role in a large number of human disorders and
affect almost every field of medicine. For example, problems like a stroke tend to occur more
frequently during the night and early morning, due to changes in hormones, heart rate, and other
characteristics associated with sleep. Sleep also affects some kinds of epilepsy in complex ways.
REM sleep seems to help prevent seizures that begin in one part of the brain from spreading to
other brain regions, while deep sleep may promote the spread of these seizures. Sleep deprivation
can also trigger seizures in people with some types of epilepsy.
The neurons that control sleep interact strongly with the immune system. As anyone who
has had the flu knows, infectious diseases tend to make people feel sleepy. This probably happens
because cytokines, chemicals produced while fighting an infection, are powerful sleep-inducing

4
substances. Sleep helps the body conserve energy that the body’s immune system needs to mount
an attack.
Sleeping problems occur in almost all people with mental disorders, including those with
depression and schizophrenia. People with depression, for example, often awaken in the early
hours of the morning and find themselves unable to get back to sleep. The amount of sleep a
person gets also strongly influences the symptoms of mental disorders. Sleep deprivation is an
effective therapy for people with certain types of depression, while it can actually cause
depression in other people. Extreme sleep deprivation can lead to a seemingly psychotic state of
paranoia and hallucinations in otherwise healthy people, and disrupted sleep can trigger episodes
of mania in people with manic depression.
Sleeping problems are common in many other disorders as well, including Alzheimer’s
disease, stroke, cancer, and head injury. These sleeping problems may arise from changes in the
brain regions and neurotransmitters that control sleep, or from the drugs used to control symptoms
of other disorders. In patients who are hospitalised or who receive round- the-clock care, treatment
schedules or hospital routines also may disrupt sleep. The old joke about a patient being awakened
by a nurse so he could take a sleeping pill contains a grain of truth. Once sleeping problems
develop, they can add to a person’s impairment and cause confusion, frustration, or depression.
Patients who are unable to sleep also notice pain more and may increase their requests for pain
medication. Better management of sleeping problems in people who have a variety of disorders
could improve the health of these patients and their quality of life.
Insomnia is a widespread affliction. It is linked with conditions such as depression and
chronic pain, but occurs also in otherwise healthy people. It is often due to temporary life
circumstances, like trouble at work or anticipation of an exciting event, however, some people
just have difficulty sleeping regardless of circumstances. What is interesting is that complaints of
sleeplessness are often exaggerated, because people remember more easily the times they are
awake during the night than the times they are asleep. When insomniacs are observed in a sleep
lab, their EEG records often suggest that their sleep pattern is fairly normal, even though in the
morning they maintain they hardly slept a wink. Various devices for monitoring one’s own sleep
patterns are now marketed, for example mobile phone apps connected with forehead electrodes.
The fact that a third of our life is spent in sleep would, in itself, be sufficient justification for
studying it scientifically. The discovery that it is not just a passive state, but a highly active process
of profound biological and psychological importance, has led to great efforts in recent decades to
further our understanding of it. Despite that, we are far from unravelling all of sleep’s mysteries.

5
Questions 1- 7
Complete the notes below.
Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.

Sleep
 Sleep study only advanced after the electroencephalogram started to be used.

 Sleep is used to restore the body and cells, and strengthen the 1…………….

 With little sleep, people operate worse, especially when 2……………. is needed.

 The effects of sleep deprivation can be severe and have been used in interrogations.

 REM sleep is when dreaming occurs; important especially for 3……………., who need a

lot of REM sleep for their brains.

 If REM sleep is lost, the body increases the 4……………. of REM sleep in the next sleep

to make it up.

 Strokes are more common during or after sleep, and 5……………. and other seizures can

both be caused and prevented by sleep.

 Sleep is closely associated with the 6……………., as cytokines produced while the body

fights infectious disease induce sleepiness; sleeping when sick helps people save

the 7……………. to fight infections.

6
SECTION 3: TRUE/FALSE – YES/NO

The Contribution of Language to Business

People say that business is all about relationships, but the truth is that business is really
all about language communication. Languages make either a direct or indirect contribution to
business and industry—from acquiring and retaining customers to improving employee
engagement and performance. At the most fundamental level, business cannot happen without
communication. This is even more true in the era of globalization. As geographic borders become
porous and the world flattens, effective communication with customers, employees, partners,
suppliers, and other stakeholders across the globe becomes essential to successfully running a
company.

There is no universal agreement on how significant the language factor is; nor the degree
of language proficiency in contribution to the success of business and industry. In large modern
enterprises, people have the unique experience of working with thousands of organizations across
different industries and sectors that are tackling this very problem. Companies adjust to these
demographic, cultural, and economic trends and proactively build workforces with the skills and
capabilities needed to grow and thrive in this multicultural and international economy. Although
the combination of business functions and processes impacted by improved communication may
vary from company to company, language skills consistently deliver tangible business value and
result for organizations that invest in language training.

Although English is dominant for international transactions, many business people also
think and deal in scores of languages. Companies that operate solely in English will miss
opportunities to capitalize on the explosive growth in developing and untapped markets at home
and abroad. These companies also run the risk of misunderstandings with customers, and with
members of an increasingly global workforce. Moreover, travellers on business need to have
different levels of language proficiency. On a basic level, they are able to use the language at the
airport and to check in at the hotel. Besides, they need a high language proficiency to deal with
workers at their offshore factories.

One of the biggest business advantages of a workforce that can effectively communicate
in more than one language is the ability to reach new markets—both at home and abroad. On the
domestic side, for example, the U.S. has become even more of a melting pot than in the past, with

7
minorities accounting for a greater proportion of the total population. Accordingly, in domestic
venues, the consumer contacts and service activities also ask for workers with good skills of
different languages, such as at restaurants or in duty-free stores.

The language proficiency needed to hold a conversation is quite different from that needed
for negotiating. Receptionists and telephonists are the first point of contact between firms. The
language proficiency they need is to gather basic factual information. Yet negotiating well in
another language is one of the most difficult skills, especially nowadays when it is often done at
a distance by videoconference, teleconference or email. It is also one of the most important things
to do well, with usually a clear financial penalty for doing it badly. To really master the
negotiating skill, negotiators need a thorough understanding of the very many phrases they might
hear during a negotiation and an ability to show fine shades in meaning in their own contributions.
Similar to negotiating, certain occupations like shipping, also require unbroken and detailed
communication between officials.

When it comes to negotiation, the interpreters and translators are needed. Interpreters and
translators aid communication by converting messages or text from one language into another
language. Although some people do both, interpreting and translating are different professions:
interpreters work with spoken communication, and translators work with written communication.
The selection of interpreters and translators is critical. Both the loyalty and accuracy of the
interpreters and translators must be put at the top of agenda. Thus, loyalty to the speaker and the
original appears to be a hallmark of professionals more so than of amateurs.

Who can judge the performance of the interpreters? A person with language proficiency
is needed in the negotiating team to check on the interpreters, guaranteeing the quality and
accuracy of the interpretation. Listeners are presumably listening only to the output and as such
not aware of the structure of the source speech. Only an experienced expert will understand the
constraints of any given situation and be in a position to judge. Only she (or he) can assess just
how the speed, density and complexity of the speech will affect interpretation in any particular
language combination. And even this task is not easy: interpreters are trained to listen and speak
at the same time, not to listen to two different audio streams. Therefore, the check-on is best
accomplished by those trained to teach or with enough experience to have mastered this skill.

Businesses may ask help from local consultants who are responsible for hiring local
workers or train company managers to deal with local consumers. That was the case with
CommScope, a multibillion dollars telecom equipment manufacturer with customers, employees,

8
and partners in 18 countries across the world. In the wake of these transactions, the company
began offering Jacqueline K. Crofton, a local resident, language training to key employees and
executives. The goal of the training was not to make employees fluent in the new language, as
much as to give them a degree of functional proficiency. “In order to advance well in new markets
and with new customers, we had to be able to at least understand and communicate at a basic
level, even with the use of interpreters,” says David Hartsoe, manager of CommScope’s Global
Learning Center. In the long run, effective communication will definitely help their employees
stay positive and productive.

Questions 1-6

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the passage?

In boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer

NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say that the writer thinks about this

1. There are two types of contribution that languages make to business.

2. All businesses have recognized the importance of language to business.

3. English is the most important language for all business purposes.

4. Senior executives, especially, need to be fluent in the language of their trading partners.

5. Travellers on business need several different levels of language proficiency.

6. Some businesses provide interpreter training to their employees.

9
SECTION 4: MATCHING

The “Extinct” Grass in Britain

Bromus interruptus, commonly known as the interrupted brome, is a plant in the true grass
family. Called interrupted brome because of its gappy seed-head, this unprepossessing grass was
found nowhere else in the world. Sharp-eyed Victorian botanists were the first to notice it, and by
the 1920s the odd-looking grass had been found across much of southern England. Yet its decline
was just as dramatic. By 1972 it had vanished from its last toehold—two hay fields at Pampisford,
near Cambridge. Even the seeds stored at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden as an
insurance policy were dead, having been mistakenly kept at room temperature. Botanists
mourned: a unique living entity was gone forever.
Yet reports of its demise proved premature. Interrupted brome has come back from the
dead, and not through any fancy genetic engineering. Thanks to one green-fingered botanist,
interrupted brome is alive and well living as a pot plant. It’s Britain’s dodo, which is about to
become a phoenix, as conservationists set about relaunching its career in the wild.
At first, Philip Smith was unaware that the scrawny pots of grass on his bench were all
that remained of a uniquely British species. But when news of the “extinction” of Bromus
interruptus finally reached him, he decided to astonish his colleagues. He seized his opportunity
at a meeting of the Botanical Society of the British Isles in Manchester in 1979, where he was
booked to talk about his research on the evolution of the brome grasses. It was sad, he said, that
interrupted brome had become extinct. Then he whipped out two enormous pots of it. The extinct
grass was very much alive. It turned out that Smith had collected seeds from the brome’s last
refuge at Pampisford in 1963, shortly before the species disappeared from the wild altogether.
Ever since then, Smith had grown the grass on, year after year. So in the end the hapless grass
survived not through some high-powered conservation scheme or fancy genetic manipulation, but
simply because one man was interested in it. As Smith points out, interrupted brome isn’t
particularly attractive and has no commercial value.
The brome’s future, at least in cultivation, now seems assured. Seeds from Smith’s plants
have been securely stored in the state-of-the-art Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place in
Sussex. And living plants thrive at the botanic gardens at Kew, Edinburgh and Cambridge. This
year, “bulking up” is under way to make sure there are plenty of plants in all the gardens, and
sacksful of seeds are being stockpiled at strategic sites throughout the country. The brome’s
relaunch into the British countryside is next on the agenda. English Nature has included

10
interrupted brome in its Species Recovery Programme, and it is on track to be reintroduced into
the agricultural landscape, if friendly farmers can be found. The brome was probably never
common enough to irritate farmers, but no one would value it today for its productivity or its
nutritious qualities. As a grass, it leaves agriculturalists cold.
So where did it come from? Smith’s research into the taxonomy of the brome grasses
suggests that interrupts almost certainly mutated from another weedy grass, soft brome,
hordeaceus. So close is the relationship that interrupted brome was originally deemed to be a mere
variety of soft brome by the great Victorian taxonomist Professor Hackel. But in 1895, George
Claridge Druce, a 45-year-old Oxford pharmacist with a shop on the High Street, decided that it
deserved species status, and convinced the botanical world. Druce was by then well on his way
to fame as an Oxford don, mayor of the city, and a fellow of the Royal Society.
The brome’s parentage may be clear, but the timing of its birth is more obscure. A clue lies in its
penchant for growing as a weed in fields sown with a fodder crop—particularly nitrogen-fixing
legumes such as sainfoin, lucerne or clover. According to agricultural historian Joan Thirsk,
sainfoin and its friends made their first modest appearance in Britain in the early 1600s. Seeds
brought in from the Continent were sown in pastures to feed horses and other livestock. And by
1650 the legumes were increasingly introduced into arable rotations, to serve as “green nature”
to boost grain yields. A bestseller of its day, Nathaniel Fiennes’s Sainfoin Improved, published
in 1671, helped to spread the word.
Although the credit for the “discovery” of interrupted brome goes to a Miss A.M. Barnard,
who collected the first specimens at Odsey, Bedfordshire, in 1849, the grass had probably lurked
undetected in the English countryside for at least a hundred years. Smith thinks the botanical dodo
probably evolved in the late 17th or early 18th century, once sainfoin became established. The
brome’s fortunes then declined dramatically over the 20th century, not least because the advent
of the motor car destroyed the market for fodder crops for horses.
Like many once-common arable weeds, such as the corncockle, the seeds of interrupted brome
cannot survive long in the soil. Each spring, the brome relied on farmers to resow its seeds; in the
days before weedkillers and sophisticated seed sieves, an ample supply would have contaminated
stocks of crop seed. But fragile seeds are not the brome’s only problem: this species is also
reluctant to release its seeds as they ripen. Show it a ploughed field today and this grass will
struggle to survive, says Smith. It will be difficult to establish in today’s “improved” agricultural
landscape, inhabited by notoriously vigorous competitors.
Interrupted brome’s reluctance to spread under its own steam could have advantages,
however. Any farmer willing to foster this unique contribution to the world’s flora can rest assured
11
that the grass will never become an invasive pest. Restoring interrupted brome to its rightful home
could bring positive benefits too, once this quirky grass wins recognition as a unique national
monument. British farmers made it possible for interrupted brome to evolve in the first place. Let
the grass grow once again in its “natural” habitat, say the conservationists, and it could become a
badge of honour for a new breed of eco-friendly farmer.

Questions 1 – 5
Use the information in the passage to match the people (listed A-F) with opinions or deeds
below.
Write the appropriate letters A-F in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

1 identified interrupted brome as another species of brome.

2 convinced others about the status of interrupted brome in the botanic world.

3 found interrupted brome together with sainfoin.

4 helped farmers know that sainfoin is useful for enriching the soil.

5 collected the first sample of interrupted brome

LIST OF PEOPLE

A A.M. Barnard
B Professor Hackel
C George Claridge Druce
D Joan Thirsk
E Philip Smith
F Nathaniel Fiennes

12
SECTION 5: Short-Answer Questions

Computer Viruses
Computers can do anything: from running spread sheets, word processors and power
stations to music synthesisers and missile control systems. And because computers can do
anything, they can in particular run viruses and any other nasty software.
Viruses are unique in their abilities, as they can stop many computers at once. This would
be much more serious for a small company than normal faults that affect only one PC at a time.
Thus, viruses rank with hazards like power cuts and fire in their effect and speed of action. Worse
than fire though, people may find that they cannot take their work elsewhere, for if they did, they
might simply take the virus infection with them and bring more systems down. Secondly, viruses
can distribute disinformation and bring shame to individuals or organisations: viruses may send
malicious email apparently on behalf of the person whose computer has been infected.
A computer virus is a piece of program code that attaches copies of itself to other
programs, incorporating itself into them, so that the modified programs, while still possibly
performing their intended function, surreptitiously do other things. Programs so corrupted seek
others to which to attach the virus, and so the infection circulates. Successful viruses lie low until
they have thoroughly infiltrated the system, and only reveal their presence when they cause
damage. The effect of a virus is rarely linked back to its originator, so viruses make attractive
weapons for vandals. Computer viruses generally work by altering files that contain otherwise
harmless programs. This is infection. When an infected program is invoked, it seeks other
programs stored in files to which it has write permission, and infects them by modifying the files
to include a copy of itself and inserting an instruction to branch to that code at the old program’s
starting point. Then the virus starts up the original program, so that the user is unaware of its
intervention. Viruses are classified as being one of two types: ‘research’ or ‘in the wild’. A
research virus is one that has been written for research or study purposes and has received almost
no distribution to the public. On the other hand, viruses that have been seen with any regularity
are termed ‘in the wild’.
Before the spread of the Internet, most computer viruses were spread by removable media,
predominantly floppy disks. Some viruses spread by infecting programs stored on these disks,
while others installed themselves into the disk boot sector. Until floppy disks were replaced by
other removable media, this was the most successful infection strategy and boot sector viruses
were the most common in the wild for many years.

13
 The term ‘computer virus’ is a popular catchall for all kinds of malicious software. A logic
bomb is a destructive program activated by a certain combination of circumstances, or on a certain
date, to delete information. A Trojan horse is any bug inserted into a computer program that takes
advantage of the trusted status of its host by surreptitiously performing unintended functions. A
worm is a distributed program that invades computers on a network. It consists of several
processes or segments that keep in touch through the network; when one is lost, the others
conspire to replace it on another server.
Viruses today have no distinct identity, but typically undergo mutation each time they
copy themselves to other files. This, combined with various cryptographic techniques, makes
modern viruses difficult to detect. False alarms have become an increasing problem, particularly
with users sending chain email warning about supposed virus problems; ironically, the panics
may cause more problems than the viruses they warn about. Email though has become the most
popular way to disperse viruses today, because powerful commercial email packages are
themselves programmable and users often configure email systems to helpfully run programs
automatically.
Viruses are not difficult to develop. The majority of viruses are simple variants of others
and many virus construction kits are readily available on the Internet. Viruses have been created
since the 1960’s, although the term ‘computer virus’ was only formally defined by Fred Cohen
in 1983. One of the first virus attacks occurred in late 1987 when, over a two-month period, a
virus quietly insinuated itself into programs at a Middle East university. It was noticed because it
caused programs to grow longer. Once discovered, it was analysed and an antidote devised. It
was designed to slow processors down on certain Fridays, and to erase all files on Friday, 13 May.
It is common that certain viruses have been given names. Once discovered and named,
programmers can create ‘antidotes’ that delete the viruses from the system. The obvious, but
generally impractical defence against viruses is never to use anyone else’s software and never to
connect with anyone else’s computer. A more practical approach to protect computers is to
regularly or continuously run programs that recognise viruses and try to eliminate virus infections
before they do too much damage. Because new viruses are being devised every day, it is important
and sensible to keep detection programs up to date, by, for example, a regular subscription from
a reputable firm, and to minimise risky procedures, such as sharing information as infrequently
as possible.
All protection approaches are trade-offs. Eternal vigilance on the part of users is
important, and, above all, education of users to the possible results of their actions.

14
Questions 1-5

Answer the questions below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

1. What type of removable media was first responsible for the distribution of computer viruses?

2. What type of computer virus can be set to delete information at a particular time?

3. What type of computer virus attacks networked computers?

4. What combines with various cryptographic techniques to make a modern computer virus

difficult to discover?

5. What is the most common way to distribute a computer virus nowadays?

15
SECTION 6 : Multiple Choices
The Story of Opium
Paragraph A
Opium is a substance that is derived by collecting and later drying the milky juice that comes
from the seed pods of the poppy plant. The substance can vary in colour and may be yellow or
could range all the way to a very dark brown colour. Opium has a very bitter taste that is
comparable to other plants from similar families and a distinct odour that is clearly identifiable.
The primary component of opium is twelve per cent morphine, which is an alkaloid that is often
processed chemically to produce illegal drugs, such as heroin. Codeine and other nonnarcotic
alkaloids are also found in the latex that is derived from the opium poppy plant.
Paragraph B
The history of opium dates back as far as the Neolithic and ancient times, when the drug was
widely used in anaesthesia, as well as for ritualistic purposes. In ancient Egypt, opium was used
as an analgesic and the Indians as well as the Romans both used opium during surgical procedures.
Throughout the American Civil War, opium and various derivatives of opium were used.
Morphine, opiods and synthetic opiates are all derived or come directly from the opium poppy,
even in today’s medical use. While the medical world has evolved greatly and has manipulated
opium to meet the needs of patients, the rawest form of opium, morphine, continues to be one of
the most widely used analgesic drugs, even today.
Paragraph C
Opium use has many long- and short-term consequences that can be harmful to the body. Initially,
the euphoric state that is caused by the drug can be relaxing and comforting, but long-term use of
opium can lead to addiction and physical dependence. Many of the harmful consequences of using
opium are related to the damage caused to the lungs from smoking the drug or to the consequences
that are caused by derivatives of the drug. For many, the harmful consequences of opium will not
present themselves until many years of use. However, for some, the effects of opium use are
dangerous almost immediately and an overdose can lead to a risk of death.
Paragraph D
Today, heroin’s long journey to final use begins with the planting of opium poppy seeds. Opium
is grown mainly by impoverished farmers on small plots in remote regions of the world. It
flourishes in dry, warm climates and the vast majority of opium poppies are grown in a narrow,
4,500-mile stretch of mountains extending across central Asia from Turkey through Pakistan and

16
Burma. Recently, opium has been grown in Latin America, notably Colombia and Mexico. The
farmer takes his crop of opium to the nearest village, where he will sell it to the dealer who offers
him the best price.
Paragraph E
Legal growing of opium for medicinal use currently takes place in India, Turkey, and Australia.
Two thousand tons of opium are produced annually and this supplies the world with the raw
material needed to make medicinal products. Traditionally, opium was obtained from the latex of
the poppy plant by scoring the seed pods by hand and allowing the latex to leak out and dry up.
The sticky yellowish/brown residue is then scraped off and harvested for use. Today, modern
methods of opium harvest include processing the mature poppy plant by machine in order to get
the latex out of the flowering plant. Overall, opium production has changed very little over the
years, however, selective breeding of the plant has led to an increase in the content of the
phenanthrene alkaloids morphine, codeine and thebaine. Currently, there are three main sources
for illegal opium: Burma, Afghanistan, and Colombia. Opium and heroin are ideal trade products:
they are in great demand, are very profitable to produce, and the products take up little space.
With modern transportation, opium and heroin can be moved from one country to another within
days or a few weeks. Both drugs have a long and stable shelf life, allowing the products to be
stored for long periods of time.
Paragraph F
Opium was used for recreational purposes in China during the fifteenth century and on through
the seventeenth century. It was nearly 300 years before the Chinese first realised that smoking
opium was actually dangerous and could lead to physical dependence. In 1909, the International
Opium Commission was formed to help regulate the shipping, sale and use of opium due to the
dangers that were now widely known pertaining to the regular use of the drug. At this time, opium
was first being purified into morphine and heroin, which are both highly potent drugs that have
proved to be very much more dangerous than the raw opium itself. Recreational use of these drugs
is now illegal in most countries around the world.
Paragraph G
In the early days, people did not worry too much about the physical dependence that opium and
its derivatives created. Today, the dangers are well recognised and there are a variety of ways to
help people who have fallen victim to it. Most of the time, inpatient or residential treatment will
be the basis for recovery. These programs will utilise counselling in both individual and group
sessions to provide a foundation for success in recovery. Following the counselling in an inpatient

17
treatment facility, those in recovery will continue treatment in an outpatient facility that provides
similar counselling and therapy in a less supervised environment.

Questions 1-3
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

1. Opium can be easily recognised by

a. its smell.
b. its colour.
c. its taste.
d. its packaging.

2. Opium has been used throughout history as

a. a drug to induce childbirth.
b. a poison.
c. a pain reliever.
d. a currency.

3. The dangerous properties of opium are

a. always apparent quite a long time after the first use.
b. not often experienced by users.
c. never experienced if opium is used in moderation.
d. sometimes experienced straight away in some users.

18
19
PASSAGE 1

THE NATURE OF ADDICTION

A. Many people would perhaps, at least as an immediate response, not consider themselves to be
‘addicts’, yet a closer look into aspects of lifestyle and mental attitude often reveal a far
different picture. The main problem at presents that the traditional definition of the word has
become blurred and the lines between addiction and interest are far harder to identify. In the
past, the label ‘addict’ was generally applied to those with an insatiable appetite for certain
substances that were traditional known to be harmful, illegal or both: psychoactive drugs,
alcohol and nicotine, for example. More recently, however, we find that a there is a multitude
of potential addictions. Gambling, food, work, shopping – all of which are potential areas
where addiction can lurk.
B. To try to define the subject of addiction (and in many cases the subsequent course of treatment
to best combat it), psychologists now commonly referred to three distinct categories. The first
is related to those forms of addictions that are perhaps not life-threatening or particularly
dangerous, and are often labelled in an almost tongue-in-cheek manner, such as the
consumption of chocolate possibly leading to the creation of a ‘chocoholic’. This category is
referred to as soft addiction and is generally related only to a potential loss of productivity; in
the workplace, an employee who is addicted to social networking sites is likely to be a less
useful member of staff.
C. Substance addiction, however, is a completely different category, and focuses ‘ on ingestion
of a drug (either natural or synthetic) to temporarily alter the chemical constitution of the
brain. It is a combination of physical and psychological dependency on substances that have
known health dangers, and the knock-on problem that users in an addicted state will often go
to great lengths to acquire these substances, hence leading to the very strong connection
between drug abuse and crime.
D. Finally there is behavioural addiction, which is regarded as ‘a compulsion to engage in some
specific activity, despite harmful consequences’ and is a relatively recent entrant to the field.
This is where the ‘soft’ addictions taken go beyond a safe limit and can become dangerous.
Overeating, especially on sweetened foods, is one of the more common behavioural
addictions, potentially leading to morbid obesity and associated health risks. Also included in
this grouping are concerns like excessive gambling, and for many the combination of the
availability and anonymity of the internet, as well as a plethora of online gambling sites, has
led to a vast increase in this form of addiction.
E. However, the point at which a soft addiction becomes a behavioural addiction is both hard to
define and cause for significant controversy. A child who comes home after school and plays
on the internet for three hours is considered by some to be suffering from a behavioural
addiction; to others, this is just a modern form of leisure time and just as valid as reading a
book or playing outside. Another point of friction among people involved in studying and
treating sufferers is that some of the issues covered by the umbrella term ‘addiction’ are
actually mislabelled, and they belong more to a different category altogether and should be
referred to as ‘Impulse control disorders’.

20
 F. The correct course of action when attempting to overcome an addiction varies greatly between
the type of addiction it is, but also varies considerably among the medical community. Take
substance addiction, for example. The traditional approach has been to remove the source –
that is, remove the availability of the drug – but this is now no longer concerned the best long
term approach. The old idea of incarcerating the addict away from any drugs proved faulty as
this did not prevent relapses when back in society. There is now an increasing tendency to
consider not only the mechanical nature of addiction, but the psychological source. Often,
extreme addictions – both substance based and behavioural – stem front a psychological root
such as stress, guilt, depression and rejection, and it is for this reason that counselling and
open discussion are having more successful long-term results.
G. For non-professionals with people in their lives who are suffering from some form of
addiction, the importance now is in focussing on supporting their recovery, not enabling their
dependence. Judgemental attitudes or helping to conceal addiction have been shown not only
to perpetuate the problem, but in many cases actually exacerbate it.

Questions 1 -6
Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs A-G.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B to G from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number i-x in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings
i. A change in methods
ii. The falling level of addiction
iii. Biological changes and associated risks
iv. The long term damage of addiction
v. Disagreements about definition
vi. Advice for those involved
vii. The changing nature of addiction in children
viii. The lack of clarity in modem interpretations of addiction
ix. Modern label for taking addiction to extremes
x. Not all addictions are cause for concern

1. Paragraph B
2. Paragraph C

Example: Paragraph A; Answer: viii 3. Paragraph D

4. Paragraph E
5. Paragraph F
6. Paragraph G

21
22
 READING PASSAGE 1

MOUNT EVEREST AND HILLARY

 Mount Everest, also known as Sagarmartha (Goddess of the Sky), is 8,348 metres tall, the highest
mountain on earth above sea level. Formed about 60 million years ago and lying between Tibet
and Nepal, Mount Everest appeals to climbers of every level, from novice to experienced climber.
Each mountaineer pays a considerable amount of money to an experienced guide to help
them achieve a successful climb. Everest was given its official English name in 1865 by the Royal
Geographic Society upon recommendation of Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of
India at the time.

 When Everest was officially announced as the world’s highest mountain in 1852, it won interest
from people all over the world, and the idea of climbing all (lie way to the summit was viewed as
the ultimate feat. Nobody was able to climb Everest until 1920 when Tibet first opened its borders
to outsiders, and between 1920 and 1952, seven major expeditions failed to reach the tip of Mount
Everest, In fact, the mountain has a history of adversity and failure. With advances in climbing
equipment in the last ten years or so, and more experienced guides, the fatality rates have dropped
from 37% in 1990 to 4% in 2004. Nonetheless, the deadliest year in Mount Everest’s history was
1996, when 19 people died near the summit.

 In 1924, Mount Everest claimed the lives of its first two climbers. George Mallory and Andrew
Irvine were two British climbers, attempting to reach the summit. The men were last seen heading
for the top of the mountain until clouds surrounded Everest and they disappeared. Mallory’s body
was not seen again until 75 years on, in May of 1999, and Irvine’s body is yet to be found. There
is still no evidence as to whether these two men made it to the top or not, although disputes rages
on, Those that believe the pair were the first; to climb Everest point to two specific points, firstly,
Mallory’s daughter has always said that Mallory carried a photograph of his wife on his person
with the intention of leaving it on the summit when he reached it. This photo was not found on
the body when it was discovered. Secondly, Mallory’s snow’ goggles were in his pocket when
the body was found, indicating that he died at night. This implies that he and Irvine had made a
push for the summit and were descending very late in the day. Given their known departure time
and movements, had they not made the summit, it is unlikely that they would have still been out
by nightfall.

 The first time the actual peak of this monstrous mountain was reached was in 1953, in a combined
effort by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. On the 29th of May that year, the duo
conquered this epic mountain, standing at the highest point in the world for a brief 15 minutes.
After a brief but fruitless search for evidence of the 1924 Mallory expedition, they buried a cross
and some candy in the snow, taking a few photographs of the historic event. As Norgay had never
operated a camera, there are no photographs of Hillary on top of the mountain, just shots of
Norgay, and some additional photos looking down the mountain, ensuring evidence of their
conquest and that the ascent was not faked.

23
 When the news reached London on June 2nd, Sir Edmund Hillary was knighted in the Order of
the British Empire and Norgay (a subject of the King of Nepal) was granted the George Medai
by the UK, Sir Hillary turned to Antarctic exploration and led the New Zealand section of the
Trans-Antarctic expedition from 1955 to 1958. In 1958, he took part in a mechanised expedition
to the South Pole. Hillary continued to organise further mountain- climbing expeditions but, as
the years passed, he became more and more concerned with the welfare of the Nepalese people.
In the 1960s, he returned to Nepal, to aid in the development of the society, building clinics,
hospitals and schools. After conquering Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary devoted most of his life to
helping the Sherpa people of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust.

 In January 2007, Sir Edmund Hillary went to Antarctica to commemorate the 50th anniversary of
the founding of Scott Base. He flew to the station on 18 January 2007 with a delegation including
the Prime Minister. On the 22nd of April 2007, while on a trip to Kathmandu, he was reported to
have suffered a fall. There was no comment on the nature of his illness and lie did not immediately
seek treatment. He was hospitalized after returning to New Zealand. Sadly, Sir Edmund Hillary
died of a heart attack on the morning of January the 11th 2008. Hillary’s life was marked by
wonderful achievements, his giving nature, grand discovery, and excitement. But he was a
humble man who did not admit to being the first man to reach the summit of Everest until
long after 1386, well after the death of his climbing companion Tenzing Norgay.

 The latest record for climbing Mount Everest was set on the 30th of May in 2005 by Nepalese
Mona Mulepati and PemDorje Sherpa, who were the first couple to get married on top of Mount
Everest.

Questions 1 – 5
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage 1
In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1. Mortality rates on Everest have consistently declined since 1990.

2. Hillary found evidence of the Mallory expedition. Photographs were taken from the summit

as proof of the Hillary/ Norgay climb.

3. Both Hillary and Norgay received recognition of their achievement from Britain.

4. Hillary was the first person to reach the South Pole by mechanised transport.

5. Hillary’s death was attributed to an accident that occurred in Kathmandu.

24
25
 READING PASSAGE 1
FLIGHT OF THE HONEY

 Honeybees are characterized by their ability to produce liquefied sugar (honey) and a propensity
to construct colonial nests using wax, two tasks that necessitate a significant level of social
integration among members. As a result, they maintain strict divisions of labor, based on sex,
with all males functioning as drones to fertilize and care for the eggs, and all females, with the
exception of the single fertile queen, responsible for fetching nectar for the colony’s progeny. In
addition, honeybees have devised a sophisticated system of communication to relay important
information from member to member.

 Perhaps the most intriguing feature of honeybee communication is a series of flight moves only
performed by a female worker bee that has returned to the nest with nectar and needs to tell the
rest of her colony that she has discovered food supplies and where they can be found. This so-
called honeybee dance was first interpreted by German zoologist Karl von Frisch in the early
1970s. To facilitate observation, von Frisch and his students built several glass walled hives and
marked a collection of worker bees, or foragers, with paint. He then trained those foragers to find
nectar at designated sources at various distances from the hives, and when the bees returned he
carefully recorded their movements, the angle and direction of their flight, and any additional
visual cues offered to the colony. What von Frisch discovered was that each aspect of the dance
indicated certain details about the location of the nectar reserves and recruited others to return to
the site.

 The first piece of information conveyed by dancing bees is the distance of the field to the hive,
and they do this in one of three ways. If it is less than 50 meters from the colony’s nest the bee
will fly around in narrow circles, and then suddenly fly in the opposite direction. She will repeat
this pattern, which von Frisch’s team called the round dance, until she has recruited several other
workers to return with her to the field. When the distance is greater than 50 meters, but less than
150 meters, she will perform a sickle dance, a crescent shaped flight course. If the field is farther
than 150 meters, the forager will act out a waggle dance in which she will run straight ahead
briefly before returning to her original position in a semi-circular movement. Then, she will run
forward again and return from the opposite side. The length of the forward run coincides with the
distance of the food supplies; for example, a 2.5 second run indicates that the nectar was found
about 2500 meters way.

 Recruits also need to know the direction in which they should fly to arrive at the appropriate
foraging location, and this information is communicated via the bee’s angular orientation to the
hive. It, however, is not a direct connection to the position of the food supplies from the hive, but
its location relative to the sun. Therefore, if the food is situated directly opposite from the sun,
the bee will fly a straight run vertically downward; if it is in the same direction as the sun, it will
fly directly upward from the colony nest. A position 60 degrees to the right of the sun will prompt
the bee to fly downwards at a 60 degrees angle toward the right of the nest. Moreover, because
the sun is in constant motion throughout the day, the bee’s orientation will shift depending on the
time at which the dance is performed. Sceptics of von Frisch’s findings, however, claim that visual
cues are not enough to provide all the clues necessary to convey the location of a food resource.
Several scientists, among them Adrian Wenner, believe that the dance is only one component of
honeybee communications; odour is the second key element. Using robotic bees to perform the

26
same dances, Wenner was unable to attract new recruits to the foraging activities; however, when
he added a bit of nectar to the robot, workers quickly followed. He also discovered that the odors
must be representative of the actual flowers containing the food source; otherwise the bees will
arrive at the site, but not know which ones will be profitable.

Questions 1 – 3
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 1 – 3 on your answer sheet.

1. Honeybees
a. have a rudimentary ability to convey information.
b. have clearly segregated roles.
c. are found in equal numbers of male and female.
d. often relocate to areas with certain types of flower.
2. Research conducted in the 1970s
a. was undertaken using traditional hives.
b. determined that forager bees had special markings.
c. closely studied the phenomenon of the honeybee body language.
d. concluded that there was no discernible pattern to the movement of the bees.
3. To identify that the source of nectar is close, forager bees
a. will repeatedly fly the same direction.
b. will begin to move only when other bees are watching.
c. will run straight forward.
d. will repeat a pattern of flying in one direction then abruptly reversing direction.

Questions 4 – 8
Complete the sentences below USING NO MORE THAN TWO AND/OR A NUMBER.
Write your answers in boxes 4- 8 on your answer sheet.
4. Von Frisch focused on a number of ________________clues to deduce how bees
communicated.
5. The bee will move forward for one________________ for every 1000 metres away the
food source is.
6. To locate the direction of the nectar, the forager will base its movements on the position of
________________ .
7. For food sources over 150 metres away, the forager will indicate distance with a
_____________ dance.
8. It has been argued that ________________ as well as movement may help to locate food
sources.

27
28