READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading
Passage 1 below.

How tennis rackets have changed

In 2016, the British professional tennis player Andy Murray was ranked as the world’s
number one. It was an incredible achievement by any standard – made even more
remarkable by the fact that he did this during a period considered to be one of the
strongest in the sport’s history, competing against the likes of Rafael Nadal, Roger
Federer and Novak Djokovic, to name just a few. Yet five years previously, he had been
regarded as a talented outsider who entered but never won the major tournaments.
Of the changes that account for this transformation, one was visible and widely
publicised: in 2011, Murray invited former number one player Ivan Lendl onto his
coaching team – a valuable addition that had a visible impact on the player’s playing
style. Another change was so subtle as to pass more or less unnoticed. Like many
players, Murray has long preferred a racket that consists of two types of string: one for
the mains (verticals) and another for the crosses (horizontals). While he continued to
use natural string in the crosses, in 2012 he switched to a synthetic string for the mains.
A small change, perhaps, but its importance should not be underestimated.
The modification that Murray made is just one of a number of options available to
players looking to tweak their rackets in order to improve their games. ‘Touring
professionals have their rackets customised to their specific needs,’ says Colin Triplow,
a UK-based professional racket stringer. ‘It’s a highly important part of performance
maximisation.’ Consequently, the specific rackets used by the world’s elite are not
actually readily available to the public; rather, each racket is individually made to suit
the player who uses it. Take the US professional tennis players Mike and Bob Bryan, for
example: ‘We’re very particular with our racket specifications,’ they say. ‘All our rackets
are sent from our manufacturer to Tampa, Florida, where our frames go through a . . .
thorough customisation process.’ They explain how they have adjusted not only racket
length, but even experimented with different kinds of paint. The rackets they use now
weigh more than the average model and also have a denser string pattern (i.e. more
crosses and mains).
The primary reason for these modifications is simple: as the line between winning and
losing becomes thinner and thinner, even these slight changes become more and more
important. As a result, players and their teams are becoming increasingly creative with
the modifications to their rackets as they look to maximise their competitive advantage.
Racket modifications mainly date back to the 1970s, when the amateur German tennis
player Werner Fischer started playing with the so-called spaghetti-strung racket. It
created a string bed that generated so much topspin that it was quickly banned by the
International Tennis Federation. However, within a decade or two, racket modification
became a regularity. Today it is, in many ways, an aspect of the game that is equal in
significance to nutrition or training.
Modifications can be divided into two categories: those to the string bed and those to
the racket frame. The former is far more common than the latter: the choice of the
strings and the tension with which they are installed is something that nearly all
professional players experiment with. They will continually change it depending on
various factors including the court surface, climatic conditions, and game styles. Some
will even change it depending on how they feel at the time.
At one time, all tennis rackets were strung with natural gut made from the outer layer of
sheep or cow intestines. This all changed in the early 1990s with the development of
synthetic strings that were cheaper and more durable. They are made from three
materials: nylon (relatively durable and affordable), Kevlar (too stiff to be used alone) or
co-polyester (polyester combined with additives that enhance its performance). Even
so, many professional players continue to use a ‘hybrid set-up’, where a combination of
both synthetic and natural strings are used.
Of the synthetics, co-polyester is by far the most widely used. It’s a perfect fit for the
style of tennis now played, where players tend to battle it out from the back of the court
rather than coming to the net. Studies indicate that the average spin from a co-polyester
string is 25% greater than that from natural string or other synthetics. In a sense, the
development of co-polyester strings has revolutionised the game.
However, many players go beyond these basic adjustments to the strings and make
changes to the racket frame itself. For example, much of the serving power of US
professional player Pete Sampras was attributed to the addition of four to five lead
weights onto his rackets, and today many professionals have the weight adjusted during
the manufacturing process.
Other changes to the frame involve the handle. Players have individual preferences for
the shape of the handle and some will have the handle of one racket moulded onto the
frame of a different racket. Other players make different changes. The professional
Portuguese player Gonçalo Oliveira replaced the original grips of his rackets with
something thinner because they had previously felt uncomfortable to hold.
Racket customisation and modification have pushed the standards of the game to
greater levels that few could have anticipated in the days of natural strings and heavy,
wooden frames, and it’s exciting to see what further developments there will be in the
future.
Questions 1–7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1–7 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 People had expected Andy Murray to become the world’s top tennis player for at
least five years before 2016.
2 The change that Andy Murray made to his rackets attracted a lot of attention.
3 Most of the world’s top players take a professional racket stringer on tour with them.
4 Mike and Bob Bryan use rackets that are light in comparison to the majority of
rackets.
5 Werner Fischer played with a spaghetti-strung racket that he designed himself.
6 The weather can affect how professional players adjust the strings on their rackets.
7 It was believed that the change Pete Sampras made to his rackets contributed to his
strong serve.

Questions 8–13
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 8–13 on your answer sheet.
The tennis racket and how it has changed
● Mike and Bob Bryan made changes to the types of 8………………… used on their
racket frames.
● Players were not allowed to use the spaghetti-strung racket because of the amount
of 9………………… it created.
● Changes to rackets can be regarded as being as important as players’ diets or
the 10………………… they do.
● All rackets used to have natural strings made from the 11………………… of animals.
● Pete Sampras had metal 12………………… put into the frames of his rackets.
● Gonçalo Oliveira changed the 13………………… on his racket handles.
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READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14–26, which are based on
Reading Passage 2 below.

The pirates of the ancient Mediterranean

In the first and second millennia BCE, pirates sailed around the Mediterranean,
attacking ships and avoiding pursuers
A
When one mentions pirates, an image springs to most people’s minds of a crew of
misfits, daredevils and adventurers in command of a tall sailing ship in the Caribbean
Sea. Yet from the first to the third millennium BCE, thousands of years before these
swashbucklers began spreading fear across the Caribbean, pirates prowled the
Mediterranean, raiding merchant ships and threatening vital trade routes. However,
despite all efforts and the might of various ancient states, piracy could not be stopped.
The situation remained unchanged for thousands of years. Only when the pirates
directly threatened the interests of ancient Rome did the Roman Republic organise a
massive fleet to eliminate piracy. Under the command of the Roman general Pompey,
Rome eradicated piracy, transforming the Mediterranean into ‘Mare Nostrum’ (Our Sea).
B
Although piracy in the Mediterranean is first recorded in ancient Egypt during the reign
of Pharaoh Amenhotep III (c 1390–1353 BCE), it is reasonable to assume it predated
this powerful civilisation. This is partly due to the great importance the Mediterranean
held at this time, and partly due to its geography. While the Mediterranean region is
predominantly fertile, some parts are rugged and hilly, even mountainous. In the ancient
times, the inhabitants of these areas relied heavily on marine resources, including fish
and salt. Most had their own boats, possessed good seafaring skills, and unsurpassed
knowledge of the local coastline and sailing routes. Thus, it is not surprising that during
hardships, these men turned to piracy. Geography itself further benefited the pirates,
with the numerous coves along the coast providing places for them to hide their boats
and strike undetected. Before the invention of ocean-going caravels* in the 15th
century, ships could not easily cross long distances over open water. Thus, in the
ancient world most were restricted to a few well-known navigable routes that followed
the coastline. Caught in a trap, a slow merchant ship laden with goods had no other
option but to surrender. In addition, knowledge of the local area helped the pirates to
avoid retaliation once a state fleet arrived.
————————————-
* caravel: a small, highly manoeuvrable sailing ship developed by the Portuguese
C
One should also add that it was not unknown in the first and second millennia BCE for
governments to resort to pirates’ services, especially during wartime, employing their
skills and numbers against their opponents. A pirate fleet would serve in the first wave
of attack, preparing the way for the navy. Some of the regions were known for providing
safe harbours to pirates, who, in return, boosted the local economy.
D
The first known record of a named group of Mediterranean pirates, made during the rule
of ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten (c 1353–1336 BCE), was in the Amarna
Letters. These were extracts of diplomatic correspondence between the pharaoh and
his allies, and covered many pressing issues, including piracy. It seems the pharaoh
was troubled by two distinct pirate groups, the Lukka and the Sherden. Despite the
Egyptian fleet’s best efforts, the pirates continued to cause substantial disruption to
regional commerce. In the letters, the king of Alashiya (modern Cyprus) rejected
Akhenaten’s claims of a connection with the Lukka (based in modern-day Turkey). The
king assured Akhenaten he was prepared to punish any of his subjects involved in
piracy.
E
The ancient Greek world’s experience of piracy was different from that of Egyptian
rulers. While Egypt’s power was land-based, the ancient Greeks relied on the
Mediterranean in almost all aspects of life, from trade to warfare. Interestingly, in his
works the Iliad and the Odyssey, the ancient Greek writer Homer not only condones, but
praises the lifestyle and actions of pirates. The opinion remained unchanged in the
following centuries. The ancient Greek historian Thucydides, for instance, glorified
pirates’ daring attacks on ships or even cities. For Greeks, piracy was a part of
everyday life. Even high-ranking members of the state were not beyond engaging in
such activities. According to the Greek orator Demosthenes, in 355 BCE, Athenian
ambassadors made a detour from their official travel to capture a ship sailing from
Egypt, taking the wealth found onboard for themselves! The Greeks’ liberal approach
towards piracy does not mean they always tolerated it, but attempts to curtail piracy
were hampered by the large number of pirates operating in the Mediterranean.
F
The rising power of ancient Rome required the Roman Republic to deal with piracy in
the Mediterranean. While piracy was a serious issue for the Republic, Rome profited
greatly from its existence. Pirate raids provided a steady source of slaves, essential for
Rome’s agriculture and mining industries. But this arrangement could work only while
the pirates left Roman interests alone. Pirate attacks on grain ships, which were
essential to Roman citizens, led to angry voices in the Senate, demanding punishment
of the culprits. Rome, however, did nothing, further encouraging piracy. By the 1st
century BCE, emboldened pirates kidnapped prominent Roman dignitaries, asking for a
large ransom to be paid. Their most famous hostage was none other than Julius
Caesar, captured in 75 BCE.
G
By now, Rome was well aware that pirates had outlived their usefulness. The time had
come for concerted action. In 67 BCE, a new law granted Pompey vast funds to combat
the Mediterranean menace. Taking personal command, Pompey divided the entire
Mediterranean into 13 districts, assigning a fleet and commander to each. After
cleansing one district of pirates, the fleet would join another in the next district. The
process continued until the entire Mediterranean was free of pirates. Although
thousands of pirates died at the hands of Pompey’s troops, as a long-term solution to
the problem, many more were offered land in fertile areas located far from the sea.
Instead of a maritime menace, Rome got productive farmers that further boosted its
economy.
Questions 14–19
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A–G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A–G, in boxes 14–19 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
14 a reference to a denial of involvement in piracy
15 details of how a campaign to eradicate piracy was carried out
16 a mention of the circumstances in which states in the ancient world would make
use of pirates
17 a reference to how people today commonly view pirates
18 an explanation of how some people were encouraged not to return to piracy
19 a mention of the need for many sailing vessels to stay relatively close to land
Questions 20 and 21
Choose TWO letters, A–E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 20 and 21 on your answer sheet.
Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about inhabitants of the
Mediterranean region in the ancient world?
A They often used stolen vessels to carry out pirate attacks.
B They managed to escape capture by the authorities because they knew the area so
well.
C They paid for information about the routes merchant ships would take.
D They depended more on the sea for their livelihood than on farming.
E They stored many of the goods taken in pirate attacks in coves along the coastline.
Questions 22 and 23
Choose TWO letters, A–E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 22 and 23 on your answer sheet.
Which TWO of the following statements does the writer make about piracy and ancient
Greece?
A The state estimated that very few people were involved in piracy.
B Attitudes towards piracy changed shortly after the Iliad and the Odyssey were
written.
C Important officials were known to occasionally take part in piracy.
D Every citizen regarded pirate attacks on cities as unacceptable.
E A favourable view of piracy is evident in certain ancient Greek texts.

Questions 24–26
Complete the summary below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 24–26 on your answer sheet.

Ancient Rome and piracy

Piracy was an issue ancient Rome had to deal with, but it also brought some benefits
for Rome. For example, pirates supplied slaves that were important for Rome’s
industries. However, attacks on vessels transporting 24………………… to Rome
resulted in calls for 25…………………for the pirates responsible. Nevertheless, piracy
continued, with some pirates demanding a 26………………… for the return of the
Roman officials they captured.
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READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27–40, which are based on
Reading Passage 3 below.

The persistence and peril of misinformation

Brian Southwell looks at how human brains verify information and discusses some of
the challenges of battling widespread falsehoods
Misinformation – both deliberately promoted and accidentally shared – is perhaps an
inevitable part of the world in which we live, but it is not a new problem. People likely
have lied to one another for roughly as long as verbal communication has existed.
Deceiving others can offer an apparent opportunity to gain strategic advantage, to
motivate others to action, or even to protect interpersonal bonds. Moreover, people
inadvertently have been sharing inaccurate information with one another for thousands
of years.
However, we currently live in an era in which technology enables information to reach
large audiences distributed across the globe, and thus the potential for immediate and
widespread effects from misinformation now looms larger than in the past. Yet the
means to correct misinformation might, over time, be found in those same patterns of
mass communication and of the facilitated spread of information.
The main worry regarding misinformation is its potential to unduly influence attitudes
and behavior, leading people to think and act differently than they would if they were
correctly informed, as suggested by the research teams of Stephan Lewandowsky of
the University of Bristol and Elizabeth Marsh of Duke University, among others. In other
words, we worry that misinformation might lead people to hold misperceptions (or false
beliefs) and that these misperceptions, especially when they occur among large groups
of people, may have detrimental, downstream consequences for health, social harmony,
and the political climate.
At least three observations related to misinformation in the contemporary mass-media
environment warrant the attention of researchers, policy makers, and really everyone
who watches television, listens to the radio, or reads information online. First of all,
people who encounter misinformation tend to believe it, at least initially. Secondly,
electronic and print media often do not block many types of misinformation before it
appears in content available to large audiences. Thirdly, countering misinformation once
it has enjoyed wide exposure can be a resource-intensive effort.
Knowing what happens when people initially encounter misinformation holds
tremendous importance for estimating the potential for subsequent problems. Although
it is fairly routine for individuals to come across information that is false, the question of
exactly how – and when – we mentally label information as true or false has garnered
philosophical debate. The dilemma is neatly summarized by a contrast between how the
17th-century philosophers René Descartes and Baruch Spinoza described human
information engagement, with conflicting predictions that only recently have been
empirically tested in robust ways. Descartes argued that a person only accepts or
rejects information after considering its truth or falsehood; Spinoza argued that people
accept all encountered information (or misinformation) by default and then subsequently
verify or reject it through a separate cognitive process. In recent decades, empirical
evidence from the research teams of Erik Asp of the University of Chicago and Daniel
Gilbert at Harvard University, among others, has supported Spinoza’s account: people
appear to encode all new information as if it were true, even if only momentarily, and
later tag the information as being either true or false, a pattern that seems consistent
with the observation that mental resources for skepticism physically reside in a different
part of the brain than the resources used in perceiving and encoding.
What about our second observation that misinformation often can appear in electronic
or print media without being preemptively blocked? In support of this, one might
consider the nature of regulatory structures in the United States: regulatory agencies
here tend to focus on post hoc detection of broadcast information. Organizations such
as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) offer considerable monitoring and
notification functions, but these roles typically do not involve preemptive censoring. The
FDA oversees direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising, for example, and has
developed mechanisms such as the ‘Bad Ad’ program, through which people can report
advertising in apparent violation of FDA guidelines on drug risks. Such programs,
although laudable and useful, do not keep false advertising off the airwaves. In addition,
even misinformation that is successfully corrected can continue to affect attitudes.
This leads us to our third observation: a campaign to correct misinformation, even if
rhetorically compelling, requires resources and planning to accomplish necessary reach
and frequency. For corrective campaigns to be persuasive, audiences need to be able
to comprehend them, which requires either effort to frame messages in ways that are
accessible or effort to educate and sensitize audiences to the possibility of
misinformation. That some audiences might be unaware of the potential for
misinformation also suggests the utility of media literacy efforts as early as elementary
school. Even with journalists and scholars pointing to the phenomenon of ‘fake news’,
people do not distinguish between demonstrably false stories and those based in fact
when scanning and processing written information.
We live at a time when widespread misinformation is common. Yet at this time many
people also are passionately developing potential solutions and remedies. The journey
forward undoubtedly will be a long and arduous one. Future remedies will require not
only continued theoretical consideration but also the development and maintenance of
consistent monitoring tools – and a recognition among fellow members of society that
claims which find prominence in the media that are insufficiently based in scientific
consensus and social reality should be countered. Misinformation arises as a result of
human fallibility and human information needs. To overcome the worst effects of the
phenomenon, we will need coordinated efforts over time, rather than any singular one-
time panacea we could hope to offer.
Questions 27–30
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 27–30 on your answer sheet.
27 What point does the writer make about misinformation in the first paragraph?
A Misinformation is a relatively recent phenomenon.
B Some people find it easy to identify misinformation.
C Misinformation changes as it is passed from one person to another.
D There may be a number of reasons for the spread of misinformation.
28 What does the writer say about the role of technology?
A It may at some point provide us with a solution to misinformation.
B It could fundamentally alter the way in which people regard information.
C It has changed the way in which organisations use misinformation.
D It has made it easier for people to check whether information is accurate.
29 What is the writer doing in the fourth paragraph?
A comparing the different opinions people have of misinformation.
B explaining how the effects of misinformation have changed over time
C outlining which issues connected with misinformation are significant today
D describing the attitude of policy makers towards misinformation in the media
30 What point does the writer make about regulation in the USA?
A The guidelines issued by the FDA need to be simplified.
B Regulation does not affect people’s opinions of new prescription drugs.
C The USA has more regulatory bodies than most other countries.
D Regulation fails to prevent misinformation from appearing in the media.
Questions 31–36
Complete the summary using the list of phrases, A–J, below
Write the correct letter, A–J, in boxes 31–36 on your answer sheet.

What happens when people encounter misinformation?

Although people have 31……………… to misinformation, there is debate about
precisely how and when we label something as true or untrue. The philosophers
Descartes and Spinoza had 32……………… about how people engage with
information. While Descartes believed that people accept or reject information after
considering whether it is true or not, Spinoza argued that people accepted all
information they encountered (and by default misinformation) and did not verify or reject
it until afterwards. Moreover, Spinoza believes that a distinct 33……………… is involved
in these stages. Recent research has provided 34……………… for Spinoza’s theory
and it would appear that people accept all encountered information as if it were true,
even if this is for an extremely 35………………, and do not label the information as true
or false until later. This is consistent with the fact that the resources for scepticism and
the resources for perceiving and encoding are in 36……………… in the brain.

B additional C different
A constant conflict
evidence locations
D experimental subjects
E short period F extreme distrust
G frequent exposure
H mental operation I dubious reason
J different ideas

Questions 37–40
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 37–40 on your answer sheet, write
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
37 Campaigns designed to correct misinformation will fail to achieve their purpose if
people are unable to understand them.
38 Attempts to teach elementary school students about misinformation have been
opposed.
39 It may be possible to overcome the problem of misinformation in a relatively short
period.
40 The need to keep up with new information is hugely exaggerated in today’s world.