Stadiums: Past, Present and Future

A. Stadiums are among the oldest forms of urban architecture: vast stadiums where the public could watch
sporting events were at the centre of western city life as far back as the ancient Greek and Roman Empires, well
before the construction of the great medieval cathedrals and the grand 19th- and 20th-century railway stations
which dominated urban skylines in later eras.

B. The amphitheatre of Arles in southwest France, with a capacity of 25,000 spectators, is perhaps the best
example of just how versatile stadiums can be. Built by the Romans in 90 AD, it became a fortress with four
towers after the fifth century, and was then transformed into a village containing more than 200 houses. With the
growing interest in conservation during the 19th century, it was converted back into an arena for the staging of
bullfights, thereby returning the structure to its original use as a venue for public spectacles.
Another example is the imposing arena of Verona in northern Italy, with space for 30,000 spectators, which was
built 60 years before the Arles amphitheatre and 40 years before Rome’s famous Colosseum. It has endured the
centuries and is currently considered one of the world’s prime sites for opera, thanks to its outstanding acoustics.

C. The area in the centre of the Italian town of Lucca, known as the Piazza dell’Anfiteatro, is yet another
impressive example of an amphitheatre becoming absorbed into the fabric of the city. The site evolved in a
similar way to Arles and was progressively filled with buildings from the Middle Ages until the 19th century,
variously used as houses, a salt depot and a prison. But rather than reverting to an arena, it became a market
square, designed by Romanticist architect Lorenzo Nottolini. Today, the ruins of the amphitheatre remain
embedded in the various shops and residences surrounding the public square.

D. There are many similarities between modern stadiums and the ancient amphitheatres intended for games. But
some of the flexibility was lost at the beginning of the 20th century, as stadiums were developed using new
products such as steel and reinforced concrete, and made use of bright lights for night-time matches.
Many such stadiums are situated in suburban areas, designed for sporting use only and surrounded by parking
lots. These factors mean that they may not be as accessible to the general public, require more energy to run and
contribute to urban heat.

E. But many of today’s most innovative architects see scope for the stadium to help improve the city. Among the
current strategies, two seem to be having particular success: the stadium as an urban hub, and as a power plant.
There’s a growing trend for stadiums to be equipped with public spaces and services that serve a function beyond
sport, such as hotels, retail outlets, conference centres, restaurants and bars, children’s playgrounds and green
space. Creating mixed-use developments such as this reinforces compactness and multi-functionality, making
more efficient use of land and helping to regenerate urban spaces.
This opens the space up to families and a wider cross-section of society, instead of catering only to sportspeople
and supporters. There have been many examples of this in the UK: the mixed-use facilities at Wembley and Old
Trafford have become a blueprint for many other stadiums in the world.

F. The phenomenon of stadiums as power stations has arisen from the idea that energy problems can be
overcome by integrating interconnected buildings by means of a smart grid, which is an electricity supply
network that uses digital communications technology to detect and react to local changes in usage, without
significant energy losses. Stadiums are ideal for these purposes, because their canopies have a large surface area
for fitting photovoltaic panels and rise high enough (more than 40 metres) to make use of micro wind turbines.
Freiburg Mage Solar Stadium in Germany is the first of a new wave of stadiums as power plants, which also
includes the Amsterdam Arena and the Kaohsiung Stadium. The latter, inaugurated in 2009, has 8,844
photovoltaic panels producing up to 1.14 GWh of electricity annually. This reduces the annual output of carbon
dioxide by 660 tons and supplies up to 80 percent of the surrounding area when the stadium is not in use. This is
proof that a stadium can serve its city, and have a decidedly positive impact in terms of reduction of CO2
emissions.

G. Sporting arenas have always been central to the life and culture of cities. In every era, the stadium has
acquired new value and uses: from military fortress to residential village, public space to theatre and most
recently a field for experimentation in advanced engineering. The stadium of today now brings together multiple
functions, thus helping cities to create a sustainable future.

Reading Passage 2 has seven sections, A–G. Which section contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A–G, in boxes 14–17 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
14. a mention of negative attitudes towards stadium building projects
15. figures demonstrating the environmental benefits of a certain stadium
16. examples of the wide range of facilities available at some new stadiums
17. reference to the disadvantages of the stadiums built during a certainer
 The growth mindset
Over the past century, a powerful idea has taken root in the educational landscape. The concept of intelligence as
something innate has been supplanted by the idea that intelligence is not fixed, and that, with the right training, we
can be the authors of our own cognitive capabilities. Psychologist Alfred Binet, the developer of the first
intelligence tests, was one of many 19th-century scientists who held that earlier view and sought to quantify
cognitive ability. Then, in the early 20th century, progressive thinkers revolted against the notion that inherent
ability is destiny. Instead, educators such as John Dewey argued that every child’s intelligence could be developed,
given the right environment.
Aside from the implementation problem, the original growth mindset research has also received harsh criticism.
The statistician Andrew Gelman claims that ‘their research designs have enough degrees of freedom that they could
take their data to support just about any theory at all’. Professor of Psychology Timothy Bates, who has been trying
to replicate Dweck’s work, is finding that the results are repeatedly null. He notes that: ‘People with a growth
mindset don’t cope any better with failure … Kids with the growth mindset aren’t getting better grades, either
before or after our intervention study.
Much of this criticism is not lost on Dweck, and she deserves great credit for responding to it and adapting her
work accordingly. In fact, she argues that her work has been misunderstood and misapplied in a range of ways. She
has also expressed concerns that her theories are being misappropriated in schools by being conflated with the self-
esteem movement: ‘For me the growth mindset is a tool for learning and improvement. It’s not just a vehicle for
making children feel good.’
But there is another factor at work here. The failure to translate the growth mindset into the classroom might reflect
a misunderstanding of the nature of teaching and learning itself. Growth mindset supporters David Yeager and
Gregory Walton claim that interventions should be delivered in a subtle way to maximise their effectiveness. They
say that if adolescents perceive a teacher’s intervention as conveying that they are in need of help, this could undo
its intended effects.
Match each statement with the correct person or people, A-E.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
17 The methodology behind the growth mindset studies was not strict enough.
18 The idea of the growth mindset has been incorrectly interpreted.
19 Intellectual ability is an unchangeable feature of each individual.
20 The growth mindset should be promoted without students being aware of it.
21 The growth mindset is not simply about boosting students’ morale.
22 Research shows that the growth mindset has no effect on academic achievement.
List of People
A. Alfred Binet B. Carol Dweck C. Andrew Gelman
D. Timothy Bates E. David Yeager and Gregory Walton
 The Step Pyramid of Djoser
A The pyramids are the most famous monuments of ancient Egypt and still hold enormous interest for people in
the present day. These grand, impressive tributes to the memory of the Egyptian kings have become linked with the
country even though other cultures, such as the Chinese and Mayan, also built pyramids. The evolution of the
pyramid form has been written and argued about for centuries. However, there is no question that, as far as Egypt is
concerned, it began with one monument to one king designed by one brilliant architect: the Step Pyramid of Djoser
at Saqqara.
B Djoser was the first king of the Third Dynasty of Egypt and the first to build in stone. Prior to Djoser’s reign,
tombs were rectangular monuments made of dried clay brick, which covered underground passages where the
deceased person was buried. For reasons which remain unclear, Djoser’s main official, whose name was Imhotep,
conceived of building a taller, more impressive tomb for his king by stacking stone slabs on top of one another,
progressively making them smaller, to form the shape now known as the Step Pyramid. Djoser is thought to have
reigned for 19 years, but some historians and scholars attribute a much longer time for his rule, owing to the
number and size of the monuments he built.
C The Step Pyramid has been thoroughly examined and investigated over the last century, and it is now known that
the building process went through many different stages. Historian Marc Van de Mieroop comments on this,
writing ‘Much experimentation was involved, which is especially clear in the construction of the pyramid in the
center of the complex. It had several plans … before it became the first Step Pyramid in history, piling six levels on
top of one another … The weight of the enormous mass was a challenge for the builders, who placed the stones at
an inward incline in order to prevent the monument breaking up.’
D When finally completed, the Step Pyramid rose 62 meters high and was the tallest structure of its time. The
complex in which it was built was the size of a city in ancient Egypt and included a temple, courtyards, shrines,
and living quarters for the priests. It covered a region of 16 hectares and was surrounded by a wall 10.5 meters
high. The wall had 13 false doors cut into it with only one true entrance cut into the south-east corner; the entire
wall was then ringed by a trench 750 meters long and 40 meters wide. The false doors and the trench were
incorporated into the complex to discourage unwanted visitors. If someone wished to enter, he or she would have
needed to know in advance how to find the location of the true opening in the wall. Djoser was so proud of his
accomplishment that he broke the tradition of having only his own name on the monument and had Imhotep’s
name carved on it as well.
E The burial chamber of the tomb, where the king’s body was laid to rest, was dug beneath the base of the
pyramid, surrounded by a vast maze of long tunnels that had rooms off them to discourage robbers. One of the
most mysterious discoveries found inside the pyramid was a large number of stone vessels. Over 40,000 of these
vessels, of various forms and shapes, were discovered in storerooms olf the pyramid’s underground passages. They
are inscribed with the names of rulers from the First and Second Dynasties of Egypt and made from different kinds
of stone. There is no agreement among scholars and archaeologists on why the vessels were placed in the tomb of
Djoser or what they were supposed to represent. The archaeologist Jean-Philippe Lauer, who excavated most of the
pyramid and complex, believes they were originally stored and then given a ‘proper burial’ by Djoser in his
pyramid to honor his predecessors. There are other historians, however, who claim the vessels were dumped into
the shafts as yet another attempt to prevent grave robbers from getting to the king’s burial chamber.
F Unfortunately, all of the precautions and intricate design of the underground network did not prevent ancient
robbers from finding a way in. Djoser’s grave goods, and even his body, were stolen at some point in the past and
all archaeologists found were a small number of his valuables overlooked by the thieves. There was enough left
throughout the pyramid and its complex, however, to astonish and amaze the archaeologists who excavated it.
G Egyptologist Miroslav Verner writes, ‘Few monuments hold a place in human history as significant as that of the
Step Pyramid in Saqqara … It can be said without exaggeration that this pyramid complex constitutes a milestone
in the evolution of monumental stone architecture in Egypt and in the world as a whole.’ The Step Pyramid was a
revolutionary advance in architecture and became the archetype which all the other great pyramid builders of Egypt
would follow.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
List of Headings
i The areas and artefacts within the pyramid itself
ii A difficult task for those involved
iii A king who saved his people
iv A single certainty among other less definite facts
v An overview of the external buildings and areas
vi A pyramid design that others copied
vii An idea for changing the design of burial structures
viii An incredible experience despite the few remains
ix The answers to some unexpected questions
14 Paragraph A 15 Paragraph B
16 Paragraph C 17 Paragraph D
18 Paragraph E 19 Paragraph F
20 Paragraph G
 Music and the emotions
What is rather more significant is the finding that the dopamine neurons in the caudate-a region of the brain
involved in learning stimulus-response associations, and in anticipating food and other ‘reward’ stimuli - were at
their most active around 15 seconds before the participants’ favourite moments in the music. The researchers call
this the ‘anticipatory phase’ and argue that the purpose of this activity is to help us predict the arrival of our
favourite part. The question, of course, is what all these dopamine neurons are up to. Why are they so active in the
period preceding the acoustic climax? After all, we typically associate surges of dopamine with pleasure, with the
processing of actual rewards. And yet, this cluster of cells is most active when the ‘chills’ have yet to arrive, when
the melodic pattern is still unresolved.
One way to answer the question is to look at the music and not the neurons. While music can often seem (at least to
the outsider) like a labyrinth of intricate patterns, it turns out that the most important part of every song or
symphony is when the patterns break down, when the sound becomes unpredictable. If the music is too obvious, it
is annoyingly boring, like an alarm clock. Numerous studies, after all, have demonstrated that dopamine neurons
quickly adapt to predictable rewards. If we know what’s going to happen next, then we don’t get excited. This is
why composers often introduce a key note in the beginning of a song, spend most of the rest of the piece in the
studious avoidance of the pattern, and then finally repeat it only at the end. The longer we are denied the pattern we
expect, the greater the emotional release when the pattern returns, safe and sound.
To demonstrate this psychological principle, the musicologist Leonard Meyer, in his classic book Emotion and
Meaning in Music (1956), analysed the 5th movement of Beethoven’s String Quartet in C-sharp minor, Op. 131.
Meyer wanted to show how music is defined by its flirtation with - but not submission to - our expectations of
order. Meyer dissected 50 measures (bars) of the masterpiece, showing how Beethoven begins with the clear
statement of a rhythmic and harmonic pattern and then, in an ingenious tonal dance, carefully holds off repeating it.
What Beethoven does instead is suggest variations of the pattern. Me wants to preserve an element of uncertainty
in his music, making our brains beg for the one chord he refuses to give us. Beethoven saves that chord for the end.
According to Meyer, it is the suspenseful tension of music, arising out of our unfulfilled expectations, that is the
source of the music’s feeling. While earlier theories of music focused on the way a sound can refer to the real
world of images and experiences - its ‘connotative’ meaning - Meyer argued that the emotions we find in music
come from the unfolding events of the music itself. This ‘embodied meaning’ arises from the patterns the
symphony invokes and then ignores. It is this uncertainty that triggers the surge of dopamine in the , as we struggle
to figure out what will happen next. We can predict some of the notes, but we can’t predict them all, and that is
what keeps us listening, waiting expectantly for our reward, for the pattern to be completed.
Question 11 - 14
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below.
Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes on your answer sheet.
List of Findings
A our response to music depends on our initial emotional state.
B neuron activity decreases if outcomes become predictable.
C emotive music can bring to mind actual pictures and events
D experiences on our past can influence our emotional reaction to music.
E emotive music delays giving listeners what they expect to hear.
F neuron activity increases prior to key points in a musical piece.

11. The Montreal researchers discovered that

12. Many studies have demonstrated that
13. Meyer’s analysis of Beethoven’s music shows that
14. Earlier theories of music suggested that
 Conquering Earth’s space junk problem
Satellites, rocket shards and collision debris are creating major traffic risks in orbit around the planet.
Researchers are working to reduce these threats
A. Last year, commercial companies, military and civil departments and amateurs sent more than 400 satellites into
orbit, over four times the yearly average in the previous decade. Numbers could rise even more sharply if leading
space companies follow through on plans to deploy hundreds to thousands of large constellations of satellites to
space in the next few years.
All that traffic can lead to disaster. Ten years ago, a US commercial Iridium satellite smashed into an inactive
Russian communications satellite called Cosmos-2251, creating thousands of new pieces of space shrapnel that
now threaten other satellites in low Earth orbit- the zone stretching up to 2,000 kilometres in altitude. Altogether,
there are roughly 20,000 human-made objects in orbit, from working satellites to small rocket pieces. And satellite
operators can’t steer away from every potential crash, because each move consumes time and fuel that could
otherwise be used for the spacecraft’s main job.
B. Concern about space junk goes back to the beginning of the satellite era, but the number of objects in orbit is
rising so rapidly that researchers are investigating new ways of attacking the problem. Several teams are trying to
improve methods for assessing what is in orbit, so that satellite operators can work more efficiently in ever-more-
crowded space. Some researchers are now starting to compile a massive data set that includes the best possible
information on where everything is in orbit. Others are developing taxonomies of space – working on measuring
properties such as the shape and size of an object, so that satellite operators know how much to worry about what’s
coming their way.
The alternative, many say, is unthinkable. Just a few uncontrolled space crashes could generate enough debris to set
off a runaway cascade of fragments, rendering near-Earth space unusable. ‘If we go on like this, we will reach a
point of no return,’ says Carolin Frueh, an astrodynamical researcher at Purdue University in West Lafayette,
Indiana.
C. Even as our ability to monitor space objects increases, so too does the total number of items in orbit. That means
companies, governments and other players in space are collaborating in new ways to avoid a shared threat.
International groups such as the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee have developed guidelines on
space sustainability. Those include inactivating satellites at the end of their useful life by venting pressurised
materials or leftover fuel that might lead to explosions. The intergovernmental groups also advise lowering
satellites deep enough into the atmosphere that they will burn up or disintegrate within 25 years. But so far, only
about half of all missions have abided by this 25-year goal, says Holger Krag, head of the European Space
Agency’s space-debris office in Darmstadt, Germany. Operators of the planned large constellations of satellites say
they will be responsible stewards in their enterprises in space, but Krag worries that problems could increase,
despite their best intentions. ‘What happens to those that fail or go bankrupt?’ he asks. They are probably not going
to spend money to remove their satellites from space.’
D. In theory, given the vastness of space, satellite operators should have plenty of room for all these missions to fly
safely without ever nearing another object. So some scientists are tackling the problem of space junk by trying to
find out where all the debris is to a high degree of precision. That would alleviate the need for many of the
unnecessary manoeuvres that are carried out to avoid potential collisions. ‘If you knew precisely where everything
was, you would almost never have a problem,’ says Marlon Sorge, a space-debris specialist at the Aerospace
Corporation in El Segundo, California.
E. The field is called space traffic management, because it’s similar to managing traffic on the roads or in the air.
Think about a busy day at an airport, says Moriba Jah, an astrodynamicist at the University of Texas at Austin:
planes line up in the sky, landing and taking off close to one another in a carefully choreographed routine. Air-
traffic controllers know the location of the planes down to one metre in accuracy. The same can’t be said for space
debris. Not all objects in orbit are known, and even those included in databases are not tracked consistently.
F. An additional problem is that there is no authoritative catalogue that accurately lists the orbits of all known
space debris. Jah illustrates this with a web-based database that he has developed. It draws on several sources, such
as catalogues maintained by the US and Russian governments, to visualise where objects are in space. When he
types in an identifier for a particular space object, the database draws a purple line to designate its orbit. Only this
doesn’t quite work for a number of objects, such as a Russian rocket body designated in the database as object
number 32280. When Jah enters that number, the database draws two purple lines: the US and Russian sources
contain two completely different orbits for the same object. Jah says that it is almost impossible to tell which is
correct, unless a third source of information made it possible to cross-correlate.
Jah describes himself as a space environmentalist: ‘I want to make space a place that is safe to operate, that is free
and useful for generations to come.’ Until that happens, he argues, the space community will continue devolving
into a tragedy in which all spaceflight operators are polluting a common resource.
 Which section contains the following information
27. a reference to the cooperation that takes place to try and minimise risk
28. an explanation of a person’s aims
29. a description of a major collision that occurred in space
30. a comparison between tracking objects in space and the efficiency of a transportation system
31. a reference to efforts to classify space junk

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
The Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee
The committee gives advice on how the 32____________ of space can be achieved. The committee advises that
when satellites are no longer active, any unused 33____________ or pressurised material that could cause
34____________ should be removed. Although operators of large satellite constellations accept that they have
obligations as stewards of space, Holger Krag points out that the operators that become 35____________ are
unlikely to prioritise removing their satellites from space.

Look at the following statements (Questions 36-40) and the list of people below.
Match each statement with the correct person, A, B, C or D.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
List of People
A Carolin Frueh B Holger Krag C Marlon Sorge D Moriba Jah
36. Knowing the exact location of space junk would help prevent any possible danger.
37. Space should be available to everyone and should be preserved for the future.
38. A recommendation regarding satellites is widely ignored.
39. There is conflicting information about where some satellites are in space.
40. There is a risk we will not be able to undo the damage that occurs in space