Questions 1-9
Reading Passage has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 1-9 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
1 an overview of the range of methods that have been used over time to document
history
2 the main reason why many historians are unwilling to use films in their work
3 a reference to some differences between oral and written communication
4 how most citizens today gain an understanding of history
5 how current student events are sometimes captured for future audiences
6 mention of the fact that the advantages of film are greater than the disadvantages
7 the claim that there is no official title for film-based historical work
8 reference to the active role the audience plays when watching films
9 a list of requirements that historians see as obstacles to their use of
film to record history
Questions 10-14
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage?
In boxes 10-14 on your answer sheet, write
YES - if the statement reflects the claims of the writer
NO - if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN - if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
10 The needs of students in school have led to improvements in the teaching of history.
11 Academic and popular historians have different attitudes towards the value of
innovations in communication.
12 It is common for historians to play a major role in creating historical
documentaries for television.
13 Articles in American History Review have explored aspects of
modern history through popular films.
14 Developments in technology are influencing a range of academic subjects.
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READING PASSAGE 10
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 on
pages 2 and 3.
BOOK REVIEW
John St Clair Kilby was born in 1923 in Grand Bend, Kansas, USA. His father, who ran a small
electrical company in rural Kansas, worked with amateur radio operators to communicate with
local people who, as a result of storms or floods, had lost their electricity supply or telephone
service. This gave Kilby an early interest in amateur radio and sparked his interest in electronics.
He decided to become an electronics and electrical engineer.
After finishing his schooling, Kilby tried to get into the highly respected Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, but just failed the admission examination. He went instead to the University of
Illinois, but his studies were interrupted by the Second World War and he served in the US Army
until the war ended in 1945. After resuming his studies, he received a degree in electrical
engineering from Illinois and, in 1950, a master's degree in electrical engineering from the
University of Wisconsin.
While studying for his master’s degree, Kilby worked for a manufacturer of electronic components
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1958, he moved to Dallas, Texas, to take a job with Texas Instruments,
because it was the only company he approached that would allow him to work more or less full-
time on the miniaturisation of electronic components.
The focus of Kilby's work at Texas Instruments was the development of the integrated circuit
(commonly called the microchip). This replaced the transistors that had themselves replaced the
ordinary vacuum tubes used in the first computers. The transistor, invented at Bell Laboratories in
1947, consisted of components joined with wires. The size of transistors was, therefore, limited
because, as their size decreased, it became impossible to solder the components together.
Kilby's breakthrough was to use a single block of silicon to contain the entire circuit. His first
electronic had a surface area of about a half a square centimetre and was about a millimetre
thick. Today's electronic engineers can accommodate the equivalent of around 100 million
transistors in a circuit this size.
Kilby first demonstrated that an integrated circuit worked on September 12, 1958 - a date that is
one of the milestones in the history of technology. After proving that integrated circuits were
possible, Kilby directed the teams that built the first computer based on integrated circuits. In
1970, Kilby took time off from Texas Instruments to work independently, mainly to develop silicon
technology to generate electricity. Since then, further research has been carried out into solar
power and it is now an important way of reducing the emission of carbon dioxide to reduce global
wanning.
After retiring from Texas Instruments in 1983, Kilby stayed with the company as a consultant. He
was also involved in various industry and government research projects, mostly concerning
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