Test 10

The pesticide-free village

Gerry Marten and Dona Glee Williams report on reliance on the Indian village of Punukula, so
nearly destroyed by reliance on pesticides. Around 20 years ago, a handful of families migrated
from the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, south-east India, into Punukula, a community of
around 900 people farming plots of between two and ten acres. The outsiders from Guntur
brought cotton culture with them, and this attracted resident farmers by promising to bring in
more hard cash than the mixed crops they were already growing to eat and sell, such as millet,
mung beans, chilli and rice. But growing cotton meant using pesticides and fertilisers - until then
a mystery to the mostly illiterate farmers of the community.

Local agro-chemical dealers obligingly filled the need for information and supplies. These
‘middlemen’ sold commercial seeds, fertilisers and insecticides on credit, and guaranteed
purchase of the crop. They offered technical advice provided by the companies that supplied
their products. The farmers depend on the dealers. If they wanted to grow cotton – and they did -
it seemed they had no choice.

A quick ‘high’ of booming yields and incomes hooked growers during the early years of cotton
in the region. Outlay on insecticides was fairly low because cotton pests hadn't moved in yet.
Many farmers were so impressed with the chemicals that they started using them on their other
crops as well. The immediate payoffs from chemically-dependent cotton agriculture both ensured
and obscured the fact that the black dirt fields had gone into a freefall of environmental
degradation, dragged down by a chain of cause and effect.

Soon cotton-eaters, such as bollworms and aphids, plagued the fields. Repeated spraying killed
off the most susceptible pests and left the strongest to reproduce and pass on their resistance to
generations of ever-hardier offspring. As the bugs grew tougher and more abundant, farmers
applied a greater variety and quantity of poisons, something mixing 'cocktails' of as many as ten
insecticides. At the same time, cotton was gobbling up the nutrients in the soil, leaving the
growers no option but to invest in chemical fertilisers.
By the time some farmers tried to break free of their chemical dependence, insecticides had
already decimated the birds, wasps, beetles, and other predators that had once provided natural
control of crop pests. Without their balancing presence, pests ran riot if insecticide was cut back.
As outlays for fertilisers and insecticides escalated, the cost of producing cotton mounted.
Eventually the expense of chemical inputs outgrew the cash value of the crop, and farmers fell
further and further into debt and poverty.

Their vicious cycle was only broken by the willingness of a prominent village elder to
experiment with something different. He had been among the first villagers to grow cotton, and
he would be the first to try it without chemicals, as set out by a programme in Non-Pesticide
Management (NPM). This had been devised for Punukula with the help of a Non-Government
Organisation called SECURE that had become aware of the hardships caused by the pesticide
trap.

It involved turning to neem, a fast-growing, broad-leaved evergreen tree related to mahogany.

Neem protects itself against insects by producing a multitude of natural pesticides that have
evolved specifically to defeat plant-eating insects. Thus they are generally harmless to human
and other animals, including birds and insects that eat pests.

The plant is native to India and Burma, where it has been used for centuries to control pests and
to promote health. To protect cotton, neem seeds are simply ground into a powder, soaked
overnight in water, and sprayed onto the crop at least every 10 days. Neem cake applied to the
soil kills insect pests and doubles as an organic fertiliser high in nitrogen. As neem grows locally
and is easy to process, it is much less expensive than the chemical insecticides sold for profit by
the dealers and their corporate suppliers.

Quick, short-term gains had once pushed Punukula into chemical-dependent agriculture. Now
they found that similar immediate rewards were helping to speed change in the other direction:
the harvest of the next 20 NPM farmers was as good as the harvest of farmers using insecticides,
and they came out ahead because they weren't buying insecticides, instead of investing cash (in
short supply) in chemicals, they invested time and labour in NPM practices.
By the end of 2000, all the farmers in Punukula village were using NPM rather than chemicals
for cotton, and they began to use it on other crops as well. The was using it. The status and
economic opportunities of women improved - neem became a source of income for some of
them, as they gathered seeds from the surrounding area to sell for NPM in other villages. The
improve situation meant that families could afford to put more land under cultivation.

In 2004, the panchayat (village government) formally declared Punukula to be a pesticide-free

village. And they have big plans for the future, such as water purification. The village now
serves as a model for disseminating NPM to other communities, with around 2000 farmers
visiting each year. What began as a few farmers desperate to find a way to farm without poisons
has become a movement with the potential to pull an entire region back from ecological disaster.

Questions 1-4

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 Cotton growing was expected to raise more money than other crop.

2 Some of the local agro-chemical dealers had been farmers in the past.

3 Initially the farmers’ cotton yields were low.

4 At first, the farmers failed to notice the negative effects on their fields of pesticide use.

Questions 5-10

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Non-Pesticide-Management Programme

 Developed with the aid of SECURE

 Based on use of an 5 ______________ called neem

 Neem contains many 6 ______________ that target plant-eating predators

Neem

 Used as a pesticide

 A 7 ______________ formed by grinding seeds

 left 8 ______________ to soak in water

 Sprayed regularly

 Used as a pesticide and as a fertilizer

 added in 9 a ______________ form to soil

 contains a lot of 10 ______________

Questions 11-13

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each
answer.

11. In which year did farmers finally stop using chemicals on cotton crops in Punukula?

12. What did the women of Punukula collect to make money?

13. What project do the authorities in Punukula hope to set up in the future?
 Skyscraper Farming

With a global food crisis predicted, a group of scientists is advocating an innovative alternative
to conventional farming that could radically transform the way that food is produced.

A. Today's environment scientists are in no doubt that the world's resources of fertile soil are
rapidly deteriorating, and that new land for agriculture is becoming ever more sparse. Intensive
farming urbanisation, desertification and sea-level rises are all putting growing pressure on the
planers agricultural land and therefore on food supplies. Currently 24 per cent of the worlds 11.5
billion hectares of cultivated land has already undergone human-induced soil degradation
particularly through erosion, according to a recent study by the UK Government Office for
Science.

B. The global population is expected to exceed nine billion by 2050 - up a third from today's
level and studies suggest that food production will have to go up by 70 per cent if we are to feed
all of those new mouths. This means that scientists will have to develop new ways of growing
crops if we are to avoid a humanitarian crisis. Indeed, UN Food and Agriculture Organization
figures suggest that the number of undernourished people is already growing. And with
escalating climate change, crop yields in many areas have been projected to decline.

C. With this in mind, some scientists and agricultural experts are advocating an innovative
alternative to traditional farming whereby skyscrapers packed with shelf-based systems for
growing vegetables on each storey -known as 'vertical farms' - could hold the key to
revolutionising agriculture. Columbia University professor Dickson Despommier claims that
vertical farming could boost crop yields many times over. A single 20-storey vertical farm could
theoretically feed 50 000 people. according to Despommier. And if the theory translates into
realty as proposed, 160 skyscraper-sized vertical farms could feed the entire population of New
York City, while 180 would be needed to feed London, 289 to feed Cairo and 302 to feed
Kolkata.

D. It's a compelling vision, and one that has already been put into practice in Asia, ‘Albeit, on a
smaller scale but there are problems such as initial investment and operating costs that are too
great’ says a spokesman for Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Nevertheless
Tokyo-based mushroom producer Hokuto Corporation is a model example of how a vertical
farm can be profitable. With 28 vertical mushroom farms operating across the country, it
produces some 68,000 tonnes of mushrooms annually. Vertical mushroom farms have more
advantages than ground-level farms,' says Hokuto's Ted Yamanoko. Yamanoko goes on to
highlight the relative cost-effectiveness of his organisation's farming practices together with
reduced emissions of greenhouse gases

E. And the impact of vertical farms could extend beyond feeding established urban populations.
Despommier sees them as being capable of helping centres of displaced persons - such as
refugee camps - in much the same way that Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units are
deployed in emergency situations. "Developing an emergency-response system for crop
production inside specially constructed modular and highly transportable greenhouses would
allow for humanitarian interventions, at least for refuges that are forced out of their countries by
political tumor, he says. If you have three or four storeys of food already growing some place,
they could become mobile units that could be picked up by helicopters and dropped into the
middle of a crisis zone. The food would be ready to pick and eat. It could be designed to supply
people with all the nutrition they need to make it through the crisis."

F. But it isn't only about increasing food production. Despommier is concerned about the harm
which farming has done to the world's landscape over a relatively short time span, particularly
the elimination of hardwood forests. Farming is only 12,000 years old, 'he points allow us for the
first time to feed everyone on earth and still return land to its original ecological function.'
Natalie Jeremijenko, associate professor at New York University, agrees. The challenge that we
have now is how we can design urban agriculture systems that not only reduce food miles, but
also improve the world's ecosystems,' she says. By significantly reducing the amount of land
required for food production, vertical farms could help to enrich biodiversity. And according to
Jeremijenko, this can, in turn, help to improve the productivity of conventional farms, as the
health of agricultural land is often tied to the health of the surrounding ecosystems. Furthermore.
vertical farming could dramatically cut the utilisation of fossil fuels. And also reduce geopolitical
tensions in countries where poor farming conditions cause conflict and malnutrition.
Questions 14-19

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

List of Headings

i. Potential production capabilities of vertical farms

ii. Opposition to new ideas about food production

iii. A successful application of vertical farming technology

iv. The potential to provide urgent relief

v. The original inspiration for vertical farming

vi. Various environmental benefits of vertical farming

Vii. An increasing problem for farmers worldwide

Viii. A return to traditional farming methods

ix. A rising demand for food

14. Paragraph A

15. Paragraph B

16. Paragraph C

17. Paragraph D

18. Paragraph E

19. Paragraph F
Questions 20- 22

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

20. A UK Government study found that................. is a significant factor contributing to

worldwide levels of soil degradation

21. Disadvantages of vertical taming projects include the expense of setting them up, as well as
their high......................

22. .......................could potentially be used to take vertical farming facilities to areas where there
is a critical food shortage

Questions 23-26

Look at the following statements (Questions 23-26) and the list of people below

Match each statement with the correct person, A.B or C

NB You may use any letter more than once

23. Vertical farming can have financial benefits

24. Traditional farming has had a negative effect on the natural world

25. Vertical farming could dramatically increase world food production.

26. Traditional farms may benefit from wider use of vertical farming

List of people

A. Dickson Despommier

B. Ted Yamanoko

C. Natalie Jeremijenko
 Marketing And Mind Control

How marketing and advertising appeal to the associative nature of the brain

While there had been a long tradition of giving rings as a commitment to marry, the custom of
giving diamond engagement rings was in large part manufactured by one of the most effective
marketing campaigns in history . In the early 1900s, diamond sales were declining, posing a
serious problem for the company that essentially had control over the diamond market. In 1938,
this company hired an advertising agency. Which proposed reshaping social attitudes toward
diamonds? As well as magazines showing film stars draped in diamonds, the agency arranged for
movies to incorporate diamond engagement rings into their plots. The campaign culminated with
the slogan: 'A diamond is forever. At the time, the approach was unique. Rather than pushing a
brand, the objective was to promote diamonds as the symbol of everlasting love. This was
achieved by exploiting the associative nature of the brain: associating neurons! Activated by the
concept of ' love ' with neurons that encoded the concept of “diamonds. By 1941, diamond sales
had increased by 55 %.

Advertising comes in many forms, from blatant neon signs to subtly embedded products in
movies. In each case, the goal is to mould our habits, desires and opinions. Our visual system is
targeted by an avalanche of information on the internet, street posters, and billboards and in
movie theatres. Our auditory system submits to catchy radio jingles and telemarketers. More
surreptitiously, our olfactory system is targeted by variations of vanilla and citrus perfumes
aimed at enticing us to linger in a retail outlet. It is difficult to measure how effective these
campaigns are, but as in the ' A diamond is forever ' campaign, they can be so successful that
they change the fabric of our culture. In the case of bottled water, we are swayed by advertising
into paying for something that we can obtain for free. Most people cannot distinguish bottled
from tap water, much less between brands of bottled water, which is why you rarely hear of a
bottled water company proposing a blind taste test.

So why is marketing such an effective mind - control technique? It is interesting to consider

whether other animals exhibit anything analogous to humans’ susceptibility to advertising. If we
provide a lab rat with two types of cereal, it will consume approximately the same amount of
each. However, if we put that rat with another rat that spent its day eating just one type, when
faced with a choice, our rat will now show a preference for the same type as the other rat was
eating. Psychologists call this ' socially transmitted food preference ‘.

What many regard as the first documented examples of cultural learning in primates started with
a clever monkey that lived in a colony of Japanese monkeys on the island of Koshima. She began
taking her dirt - covered sweet potatoes to the river to wash them before eating them. Upon
seeing this, a few 11 other open - minded monkeys picked up on the idea. Potato washing then
spread from monkey to monkey and, over the course of a few years, most monkeys were eating
clean potatoes. Humans are clearly not the only animals to engage in imitation and social
learning.

Learning by observation can be an extraordinarily valuable brain feature, this is how we learn to
communicate and perform motor skills as well as deal with many everyday problems. For
example, a newcomer struggling to purchase tickets and navigate the subway system in a foreign
city may step back to learn from the people nearby. Humans and other primates exhibit multiple
forms of imitative learning and this is called cultural transmission.

A component of advertising relies on the marketer's ability to tap into the brain's propensity for
imitation. Anybody who has watched TV knows advertisements are disproportionately populated
with attractive, successful looking individuals. If we are going to imitate someone, we are more
inclined to imitate those who appear to be popular and appealing.

Although not all researchers are convinced by the findings, a number of studies indicate that
some animals also imitate dominant members of their group. Primatologist Frans de Waal
provides anecdotal evidence of preferential imitation among chimpanzees. He noted that in one
particular group the dominant male was hurt and was limping as a result. Soon unlikely if a non-
dominant male had been injured.

Imitation is undoubtedly an invaluable ability, but often our propensity to imitate generalises
indiscriminately, leading to poor decisions. When athlete Dick Fosbury revolutionised the high
jump by jumping over the bar backward in 1968, imitators obviously copied his jumping style,
not his brand of sports shoes. However, today, sports people appear in advertisements asking us
to buy the laptops or sports drinks that they promote. Rationally, we know these people's success
did not depend on these products, so it seems our propensity to purchase products relates more to
neural programs that evolved to encourage imitation of those further up the social ladder.

Today, companies engage in stealth marketing campaigns in which people are paid to frequent
bars or websites to covertly promote certain products. Companies also perform studies in which
they track the eye movements of people viewing displays, and carefully craft names, packages
and jingles associated with their products. While we may like to believe that manipulation on a
grand scale would not be possible, that's not to say that advertising is innately harmful. To the
contrary, the marketing of products or ideas is essential to human culture. The point is that we
should ensure our choices reflect our actual goals and desires, and we must distinguish between
the dissemination of information which is for our own good, and our manipulation for the benefit
of companies

Questions 27 - 31

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

27. According to the writer, which marketing technique attempts to make consumers stay
in a shop for longer?

A. playing appealing music

B. emitting pleasant scents

C. displaying attractive posters

D. making in - store announcements

28. The writer mentions bottled water in order to show that

A. consumers buy it because of the fact that it is marketed.

B. people purchase it despite the fact that it has no taste.

C. marketers need not do taste tests when a campaign is effective.

D. tests prove that people cannot differentiate it from tap water.

29. According to the writer, socially transmitted food preference occurs when

A. only dominant members of an animal group influence what others eat.

B. the same types of animals naturally prefer the same types of food.

C. animals are influenced by what any other animals of the same species eat.

D. a food type is more desirable because an animal views that food as scarce.

30. According to the writer, how is learning by observation and imitation a useful feature
of the brain?

A. it helps people overcome challenges.

B. positive models can influence social behaviour.

C. it can give an advantage when communicating with others.

D. cultural norms and relationships can be understood more easily

31. According to the writer , how does television advertising exploit the human tendency to
imitate others ?

A. It shows buying behaviour that marketers want to encourage in viewers.

B. It features people who have a desirable image.

C. It shows older people whom teenagers admire.

D. It features successful people endorsing products responsible for their success.

Questions 32-36

YES if the statement agrees with 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

32. The diamond campaign worked by making a connection in people's minds between diamonds
and luxury
33. People are more aware of visual marketing than auditory marketing.

34. The campaign advertising diamonds had a positive influence on society.

35. There is still some uncertainty about whether animals copy the behaviour of the most
powerful animals among them.

36. Consumers make a logical connection between celebrities ' achievements and the products
they promote.

Questions 37 - 40.

Complete each sentence with the correct ending , A - G , below

37. The behaviour of the monkeys on the island of Koshima showed that

38. Primatologist Frans de Waal found that

39. Dick Fosbury is mentioned in order to show that

40. A feature of some modern marketing campaigns is that

A. people imitated behaviour that was linked with success .

B. younger animals of a certain species are more likely to imitate each other .

C. an animal would imitate another that had higher status .

D. imitation of popular sportspeople has occurred for many decades .

E. products are marketed to potential consumers who are unaware that marketing is occurring .

F. animals can develop new habits by observation.

G. incentives are provided for consumers who behave in a certain way.