READING (HEADING MATCHING AND T/F/NG)

PASSAGE 1:
Crop-growing skyscrapers
By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the Earth’s population will live in urban centres. Applying the most
conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about three
billion people by then. An estimated 109 hectares of new land (about 20% larger than Brazil) will be
needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming methods continue as they are practiced
today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use.
Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done to
ensure enough food for the world’s population to live on?
The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes and other produce has
been in vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate
another three billion people. Many believe an entirely new approach to indoor farming is required,
employing cutting-edge technologies. One such proposal is for the “Vertical Farm”. The concept is of
multi-storey buildings in which food crops are grown in environmentally controlled conditions. Situated in
the heart of urban centers, they would drastically reduce the amount of transportation required to bring
food to consumers. Vertical farms would need to be efficient, cheap to construct and safe to operate. If
successfully implemented, proponents claim, vertical farms offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable
production of a safe and varied food supply (through year-round production of all crops), and the eventual
repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.
It took humans 10,000 years to learn how to grow most of the crops we now take for granted. Along the
way, we despoiled most of the land we worked, often turning verdant, natural ecozones into semi-arid
deserts. Within that same time frame, we evolved into an urban species, in which 60% of the human
population now lives vertically in cities. This means that, for the majority, we humans have shelter from
the elements, yet we subject our food-bearing plants to the rigors of the great outdoors and can do no
more than hope for a good weather year. However, more often than not now, due to a rapidly changing
climate, that is not what happens. Massive floods, long droughts, hurricanes and severe monsoons take
their toll each year, destroying millions of tons of valuable crops.
The supporters of vertical farming claim many potential advantages for the system. For instance, crops
would be produced all year round, as they would be kept in artificially controlled, optimum growing
conditions. There would be no weather-related crop failures due to droughts, floods or pests. All the food
could be grown organically, eliminating the need for herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers. The system
would greatly reduce the incidence of many infectious diseases that are acquired at the agricultural
interface. Although the system would consume energy, it would return energy to the grid via methane
generation from composting non-¬edible parts of plants. It would also dramatically reduce fossil fuel use,
by cutting out the need for tractors, ploughs and shipping.
A major drawback of vertical farming, however, is that the plants would require artificial light. Without it,
those plants nearest the windows would be exposed to more sunlight and grow more quickly, reducing the
efficiency of the system. Single-storey greenhouses have the benefit of natural overhead light: even so,
many still need artificial lighting. A multi-storey facility with no natural overhead light would require far
more. Generating enough light could be prohibitively expensive, unless cheap, renewable energy is
available, and this appears to be rather a future aspiration than a likelihood for the near future.
One variation on vertical farming that has been developed is to grow plants in stacked trays that move on
rails. Moving the trays allows the plants to get enough sunlight. This system is already in operation, and
works well within a single-storey greenhouse with light reaching it from above: it is not certain, however,
that it can be made to work without that overhead natural light.
Vertical farming is an attempt to address the undoubted problems that we face in producing enough food
for a growing population. At the moment, though, more needs to be done to reduce the detrimental impact
it would have on the environment, particularly as regards the use of energy. While it is possible that much
of our food will be grown in skyscrapers in future, most experts currently believe it is far more likely that
we will simply use the space available on urban rooftops.

QUESTIONS
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
In boxes 1-10 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. Some food plants, including tomatoes are already grown indoors.

2. The consumption of fossil fuel would be cut because agricultural vehicles would be unnecessary.
3. The fact that vertical farms would need artificial light is one of its upsides
4. Methods for predicting the Earth’s population have recently changed.
5. Human beings are responsible for some of the destruction to food-producing land.
6. The crops produced in vertical farms will depend on the season.
7. Some damage to food crops is caused by climate change.
8. Fertilizers will be needed for certain crops in vertical farms.
9. Vertical farming will make plants less likely to be affected by infectious diseases.
10. That food will be grown on rooftops in towns and cities is the least probable development F

PASSAGE 2:
The Seedhunters
A. They travel the four corners of the globe, scouring jungles, forests and savannas. But they’re not looking
for ancient artifacts, lost treasure or undiscovered tombs. Just pods. It may lack the romantic allure of
archaeology or the whiff of danger that accompanies going after a big game, but seed hunting is an
increasingly serious business. Some seek seeds for profit-hunters in the employ of biotechnology firms,
pharmaceutical companies and private corporations on the lookout for species that will yield the drugs or
crops of the future. Others collect to conserve, working to halt the sad slide into extinction facing so many
plant species.
B. Among the pioneers of this botanical treasure hunt was John Tradescant, an English royal gardener who
brought back plants and seeds from his journeys abroad in the early 1600s. Later, the English botanist Sir
Joseph Banks – who was the first director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and traveled with Captain
James Cook on his voyages near the end of the 18th century – was so driven to expand his collections that
he sent botanists around the world at his own expense.
C. Those heady days of exploration and discovery may be over, but they have been replaced by a pressing
need to preserve our natural history for the future. This modern mission drives hunters such as Dr Michiel
van Slageren, a good-natured Dutchman who often sports a wide-brimmed hat in the field – he could easily
be mistaken for the cinematic hero Indiana Jones. He and three other seed hunters work at the Millennium
Seed Bank, an 80 million [pounds sterling] international conservation project that aims to protect the
world’s most endangered wild plant species.
D. The group’s headquarters are in a modern glass-and-concrete structure on a 200-hectare Estate at
Wakehurst Place in the West Sussex countryside. Within its underground vaults are 260 million dried seeds
from 122 countries, all stored at -20 Celsius to survive for centuries. Among the 5,100 species represented
are virtually all of Britain’s 1,400 native seed-bearing plants, the most complete such collection of any
country’s flora.
E. Overseen by the Royal botanic gardens, the Millennium Seed Bank is the world’s largest wild-plant
depository. It aims to collect 24,000 species by 2010. The reason is simple: thanks to humanity’s effort, an
estimated 25 per cent of the world’s plants are on the verge of extinction and may vanish within 50 years.
We’re currently responsible for habitat destruction on an unprecedented scale, and during the past 400
years, plant species extinction rates have been about 70 times greater than those indicated by the geological
record as being ‘normal’. Experts predict that during the next 50 years further one billion hectares of
wilderness will be converted to farmland in developing countries alone.
F. The implications of this loss are enormous. Besides providing staple food crops, plants are a source of
many machines and the principal supply of fuel and building materials in many parts of the world. They
also protect soil and help regulate the climate. Yet, across the globe, plant species are being driven to
extinction before their potential benefits are discovered.
G. The World Conservation Union has listed 5,714 threatened species and is sure to be much higher. In the
UK alone, 300 wild plant species are classified as endangered. The Millennium Seed Bank aims to ensure
that even if a plant becomes extinct in the wild, it won’t be lost forever. Stored seeds can be used the help
restore damaged or destroyed the environment or in scientific research to find new benefits for society- in
medicine, agriculture or local industry- that would otherwise be lost.
H. Seed banks are an insurance policy to protect the world’s plant heritage for the future, explains Dr Paul
Smith, another Kew seed hunter. “Seed conservation techniques were originally developed by farmers,” he
says. “Storage is the basis what we do, conserving seeds until you can use them just as in farming,” Smith
says there’s no reason why any plant species should become extinct, given today’s technology. But he
admits that the biggest challenge is finding, naming and categorizing all the world’s plants. And someone
has to gather these seeds before it’s too late. “There aren’t a lot of people out there doing this,” he says.
“The key is to know the flora from a particular area, and that knowledge takes years to acquire.”
I. There are about 1,470 seed banks scattered around the globe, with a combined total of 5.4 million
samples, of which perhaps two million are distinct non-duplicates. Most preserve genetic material for
agriculture use in order to ensure crop diversity; others aim to conserve wild species, although only 15
percent of all banked plants are wild.
K. Many seed banks are themselves under threat due to a lack of funds. Last year, Imperial College,
London, examined crop collections from 151 countries and found that while the number of plant samples
had increased in two-thirds of the countries, the budget had been cut in a quarter and remained static in
another 35 per cent. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research has since set up the Global Conservation Trust, which aims to raise the
US $260 million to protect seed banks in perpetuity.

QUESTIONS
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 1-10 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 use diferent methods in search of seeds for their profits

2. John Tradescant was the first botanical hunter who returned from his oversea journeys with some kinds
of seeds.
3. The seeds collected are often stored in seed banks
4. Farmers set up banks for the techniques of seed presevation
5. The reason to collect seeds is different from the past.
6. The Millennium Seed Bank is one of the earliest seed banks.
7. A major reason for plant species extinction is farmland expansion.
8. The method scientists use to store seeds is similar to that used by farmers.
9. Technological development is the only hope to save plant species.
10. The works of seed conservation are often limited by insufficient financial resources.
PASSAGE 3:
Read the passage and do the following tasks.
Where have all our birds gone?
People have been listening to skylarks singing in Britain for 10,000 years. But now they, and many other
much-loved species, are vanishing fast. David Adam finds out why.
A family of Starlings has chosen a post box for the third year running in an Essex seaside town to raise
their young brood.

A. The B1042 that winds from the Bedfordshire town of Sandy towards the village of Potton is a difficult
road to cross. Fast and twisty, there are several blind bends where pedestrians must take their lives into
their hands. That is trickier than it sounds, for most pedestrians who cross the B1042 already have a pair of
binoculars in their hands.
The road separates the grand headquarters of the RSPB, home to hundreds of birdwatchers, from some
unkempt fields, home to hundreds of watchable birds - hence the regular skips across the tarmac.
The skips, though, are now less regular for many RSPB staff, for the star attraction of the neighboring
fields has flown. Until a year ago, a clutch of woodlark nested there, one of Britain's rarest birds with just
1,000 or so thought to remain. Then their home was ploughed up and replaced with a giant field of swaying
hemp plants. The wood-lark have not been seen since.
B. It is not just the professional birdwatchers of the RSPB who have seen their local landscape
transformed. Across Britain, and with little fanfare, the face of the countryside has subtly changed in recent
years. Farm fields that stood idle for years under EU schemes to prevent overproduction, such as the one
across the road from the RSPB, have been conscripted back into active service. The uncultivated land,
previously a haven for wildlife, has been ploughed, and farmers have planted crops such as wheat and
barley, with occasional hemp for use in paper and textiles.

C. As a result, the amount of land available for birds such as the woodlark has halved in the last two years.
Without efforts to stem this loss of habitat, conservation experts warn that the countryside of the future
could look and sound very different. Starved of insects in the spring and seeds through the winter, the
metallic-sounding corn bunting and plump grey partridge, formerly one of the most common birds on UK
shores, are on the brink. And the skylark, whose twittering has provided the soundtrack to millions of
countryside walks and inspired Percy Bysshe Shelley, in Ode to a Skylark, to praise its "profuse strains of
unpremeditated art", is struggling and could soon vanish from many areas. Numbers fell 53% from 1970 to
2006. "This is not just about birdwatchers. These birds are part of our common heritage," says Gareth
Morgan, head of agriculture policy at the RSPB.

D. Government figures show that populations of 19 bird species that rely on farmland have halved since
serious counting started in the 1970s - a decline conservationists blame on intensive farming methods, with
insecticide and herbicide sprayed on to monoculture fields shorn of vibrant hedges. The unmistakable
yellowhammer, which likes to sing while perched as a dash of colour on hedges and bushes, has steadily
disappeared with the hedges and bushes. And a startling 80% drop across England in 40 years has diluted
the shifting Rorschach blots painted on the dusk sky by massed flocks of starling - though urban changes
are blamed for this too.

E. Farmland birds may sound a niche problem, and you may think that the rest of the countryside is doing
OK, but for most people, farmland is the British countryside. About 75% of Britain is farmed, and about
half of that is arable fields. Take a train between two UK towns, particularly in eastern counties, and almost
all of the countryside you see is farmland.

F. As Simon Gillings of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) puts it: "For most people, farmland is the
countryside and farmland birds are the birds they see." If birds are struggling, then it is a fair bet that other
wildlife is too. "Birds are indicative of other things," Gillings says. "If birds are declining then what does
that say about the plants and insects they rely on? It's all linked together."

Question 1-5:
This reading has six paragraphs, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for paragraph B-F from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number i-xi in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i. Not only birds suffer
ii. Vanishing of habitats give rises to the drop in bird species
iii. Cultivating fame fields is profitable for farmers
iv. A niche and minor problem
v. Who should be blamed?
vi. Woodlark and other birds are on the brink
vii. Hedges and bushes are blamed for the reduction
viii. The rapid disappearance of bird species in Britain
ix. The countryside is the farmland
x. A major change in local landscape – more land is cultivated
xi. Farmland is taking an insignificant share
Example Answer
0. Paragraph A viii
1. Paragraph B
2. Paragraph C
 3. Paragraph D
4. Paragraph E
5. Paragraph F
Question 6-10:
Do the following statements agree with the information given in READING PASSAGE?
write:
YES if the statement agrees with the information
NO if the statement contradicts with the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
6. The RSPB is a very famous international organization in birds conservation.
7. In EU countries farm fields are left uncultivated in order to increase their fertility.
8. The loss of habitats means a more demanding survival for many bird species.
9. In the 1970s government only counted 19 bird species that depended on farmland.
10. More farm fields are cultivated than usually expected.
PASSAGE 4:

A. Our daily lives are largely made up of contacts with other people, during which we are constantly
making judgments of their personalities and accommodating our behaviour to them in accordance with
these judgments. A casual meeting of neighbours on the street, an employer giving instructions to an
employee, a mother telling her children how to behave, a journey in a train where strangers eye one another
without exchanging a word - all these involve mutual interpretations of personal qualities.

B. Success in many vocations largely depends on skill in sizing up people. It is important not only to
such professionals as the clinical psychologist, the psychiatrist or the social worker, but also to the doctor
or lawyer in dealing with their clients, the businessman trying to outwit his rivals, the salesman with
potential customers, the teacher with his pupils, not to speak of the pupils judging their teacher. Social life,
indeed, would be impossible if we did not, to some extent, understand, and react to the motives and
qualities of those we meet; and clearly we are sufficiently accurate for most practical purposes, although
we also recognize that misinterpretations easily arise particularly on the part of others who judge us!
C. Errors can often be corrected as we go along. But whenever we are pinned down to a definite
decision about a person, which cannot easily be revised through his 'feed-back', the inadequacies of our
judgments become apparent. The hostess who wrongly thinks that the Smiths and the Joneses will get on
well together can do little to retrieve the success of her party. A school or a business may be saddled for
years with an undesirable member of staff, because the selection committee which interviewed him for a
quarter of an hour misjudged his personality.
D. Just because the process is so familiar and taken for granted, it has aroused little scientific curiosity
until recently. Dramatists, writers and artists throughout the centuries have excelled in the portrayal of
character, but have seldom stopped to ask how they, or we, get to know people, or how accurate is our
knowledge. However, the popularity of such unscientific systems as Lavater's physiognomy in the
eighteenth century, Gall's phrenology in the nineteenth, and of handwriting interpretations by
graphologists, or palm-readings by gipsies, show that people are aware of weaknesses in their judgments
and desirous of better methods of diagnosis. It is natural that they should turn to psychology for help, in the
belief that psychologists are specialists in 'human nature'.
E. This belief is hardly justified: for the primary aim of psychology had been to establish the general
laws and principles underlying behaviour and thinking, rather than to apply these to concrete problems of
the individual person. A great many professional psychologists still regard it as their main function to study
the nature of learning, perception and motivation in the abstracted or average human being, or in lower
organisms, and consider it premature to put so young a science to practical uses. They would disclaim the
possession of any superior skill in judging their fellow-men. Indeed, being more aware of the difficulties
than is the non-psychologist, they may be more reluctant to commit themselves to definite predictions or
decisions about other people. Nevertheless, to an increasing extent psychologists are moving into
educational, occupational, clinical and other applied fields, where they are called upon to use their
expertise for such purposes as fitting the education or job to the child or adult, and the person to the job.
Thus a considerable proportion of their activities consists of personality assessment.
F. The success of psychologists in personality assessment has been limited, in comparison with what
they have achieved in the fields of abilities and training, with the result that most people continue to rely on
unscientific methods of assessment. In recent times there has been a tremendous amount of work on
personality tests, and on carefully controlled experimental studies of personality. Investigations of
personality by Freudian and other 'depth' psychologists have an even longer history. And yet psychology
seems to be no nearer to providing society with practicable techniques which are sufficiently reliable and
accurate to win general acceptance. The soundness of the methods of psychologists in the field of
personality assessment and the value of their work are under constant fire from other psychologists, and it
is far from easy to prove their worth.
G. The growth of psychology has probably helped responsible members of society to become more
aware of the difficulties of assessment. But it is not much use telling employers, educationists and judges
how inaccurately they diagnose the personalities with which they have to deal unless psychologists are sure
that they can provide something better. Even when university psychologists themselves appoint a new
member of staff, they almost always resort to the traditional techniques of assessing the candidates through
interviews, past records, and testimonials, and probably make at least as many bad appointments as other
employers do. However, a large amount of experimental development of better methods has been carried
out since 1940 by groups of psychologists in the Armed Services and in the Civil Service, and by such
organizations as the (British) National Institute of Industrial Psychology and the American Institute of
Research.

List of Headings

i. The advantage of an intuitive approach to personality assessment

ii. Overall theories of personality assessment rather than valuable guidance
iii. The consequences of poor personality assessment
iv. Differing views on the importance of personality assessment
v. Success and failure in establishing an approach to personality assessment
vi. Everyone makes personality assessments
vii. Acknowledgement of the need for improvement in personality assessment
viii. Little progress towards a widely applicable approach to personality assessment
ix. The need for personality assessments to be well-judged
x. The need for a different kind of research into personality assessment

Question 1-5
Paragraph A - vi
Paragraph B - ix
1. Paragraph C
2. Paragraph D
3. Paragraph E
4. Paragraph F
5. Paragraph G
1 2 3 4 5

Questions 6-10
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the reading passage?
In the boxes 6-10, 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 what the writer thinks about this

6. People often feel that they have been wrongly assessed.

7. Unscientific systems of personality assessment have been of some use.
8. People make false assumptions about the expertise of psychologists.
9. It is likely that some psychologists are no better than anyone else at assessing personality
10. Research since 1940 has been based on acceptance of previous theories.

PASSGE 5
 VIEWS OF INTELLIGENCE ACROSS CULTURES
A In recent years, researchers have found that people in non-Western cultures often have ideas about
intelligence that are considerably different from those that have shaped Western intelligence tests. This
cultural bias may therefore work against certain groups of people. Researchers in cultural differences in
intelligence, however, face a major dilemma, namely: how can the need to compare people according to a
standard measure be balanced with the need to assess them in the light of their own values and concepts?
B For example, Richard Nesbitt of the University of Michigan concludes that East Asian and Western
cultures have developed cognitive styles that differ in fundamental ways, including how intelligence is
understood. People in Western cultures tend to view intelligence as a means for individuals to devise
categories and engage in rational debate, whereas Eastern cultures see it as a way for members of a
community to recognize contradiction and complexity and to play their social roles successfully. This view
is backed up by Sternberg and Shih-Ying, from the University of Taiwan, whose research shows that
Chinese conceptions of intelligence emphasize understanding and relating to others, and knowing when to
show or not show one’s intelligence.
C The distinction between East Asia and the West is just one of many distinctions that separate
different ways of thinking about intelligence. Robert Serpell spent a number of years studying concepts of
intelligence in rural African communities. He found that people in many African communities, especially
in those where Western-style schooling is still uncommon, tend to blur the distinction between intelligence
and social competence. In rural Zambia, for instance, the concept of nzelu includes both cleverness and
responsibility. Likewise, among the Luo people in rural Kenya, it has been found that ideas about
intelligence consist of four broad concepts. These are named paro or practical thinking, luoro, which
includes social qualities like respect and responsibility, winjo or comprehension, and rieko. Only the fourth
corresponds more or less to the Western idea of intelligence.
D In another study in the same community, Sternberg and Grogorenko have found that children who
score highly on a test of knowledge about medicinal herbs, a test of practical intelligence, often score
poorly on tests of academic intelligence. This suggests that practical and academic intelligence can develop
independently of each other, and the values of a culture may shape the direction in which a child’s
intelligence develops.
It also tends to support a number of other studies which suggest that people who are unable to solve
complex problems in the abstract can often solve them when they are presented in a familiar context.
Ashley Maynard, for instance, now professor of psychology at the University of Hawaii, conducted studies
of cognitive development among children in a Mayan village in Mexico using toy looms, spools of thread,
and other materials drawn from the local environment. The research suggested that the children’s
development, could be validly compared to the progression described by Western theories of development,
but only by using materials and experimental designs based on their own culture.
E The original hope of many cognitive psychologists was that a test could be developed that was
absent of cultural bias. However, there seems to be an increasing weight of evidence to suggest that this is
unlikely. Raven’s Progressive Matrices, for example, were originally advertised as ‘culture free’ but are
now recognized as culturally loaded. Such non-verbal intelligence tests are based on cultural constructs
which may not appear in a particular culture. It is doubtful whether cultural comparisons of concepts of
intelligence will ever enable us to move towards creating a test which encompasses all aspects of
intelligence as understood by all cultures. It seems even less likely that such a test could be totally free of
cultural imbalance somewhere.
The solution to the dilemma seems to lie more in accepting that cultural neutrality is unattainable and that
administering any valid intelligence test requires a deep familiarity with the relevant culture’s values and
practices.
Questions 1-5
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph A–E from the list of headings below (i-ix). There are more
headings than paragraphs. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes.
List of Headings
i Research into African community life
ii Views about intelligence in African societies
iii The limitations of Western intelligence tests
iv The Chinese concept of intelligence
v The importance of cultural context in test design
vi The disadvantages of non-verbal intelligence tests
vii A comparison between Eastern and Western understanding of intelligence
viii Words for “intelligence” in African languages
ix The impossibility of a universal intelligence test
your answers
1. Section A ______
2. Section B ______
3. Section C ______
4. Section D ______
5. Section E ______

Questions 6-10
Look at the researchers in 6-10 and the list off findings below. Match each researcher with the correct
finding. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes.
Your answers
6. Ashley Maynard ______
7. Richard Nesbitt ______
8. Sternberg and Grogorenko ______
9. Sternberg and Shih-Ying ______
10. Robert Serpell ______
List of findings
A.There is a clear relationship between intelligence and relationships with others in Chinese culture.
B. Children frequently scoring well in academic tests score better in practical tests.
C. The difference between intelligence and social competence is not distinct in many African communities.
D. Children frequently scoring well in practical tests score less well in academic tests.
E. In experiments to measure cognitive development, there is a link between the materials used and the test
results.
F. The connection between intelligence and social competence in many African communities is not clear.
G. The way cognition is viewed in East Asian cultures differs fundamentally from those in Western
cultures.
H. Chinese culture sees revelations about one’s intelligence as part of intelligence

PASSAGE 6

Three-Dimensional Films
A In the theater of Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, on the evening of 27 September 1922, a new
form of film-making made its commercial debut : 3-D 1. The film, The Power of Love, was then shown in
New York City to exhibitors and press, but was subsequently not picked up for distribution and is now
believed to be lost. The following three decades were a period of quiet experimentation for 3-D pioneers,
as they adapted to new technologies and steadily improved the viewing experience. In 1952, the “golden
era” of 3-D is considered to have begun with the release of Bwana Devil, and over the next several years,
audiences met with a string of films that used the technology. Over the following decades, it waxed and
waned within film-making circles, peaking in the 1970s and again in the 1990s when IMAX gained
traction, but it is only in the last few years that 3-D appears to have firmly entered mainstream production.
B Released worldwide in September 2009, the fantasy film Avatar quickly became the highest-
grossing film ever made, knocking Titanic from the top slot. Avatar, set in 2154 on a planet in a distant
solar system, went on to become the only film to have earned US$2 billion worldwide, and is now
approaching the $3 billion mark. The main reason for this runaway popularity appears to be its visual
splendors; though most critics raised the film, it was mostly on account of its ground-breaking special
effects. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times praised Avatar’s “powerful” visual accomplishments, but
suggested the dialogue was “flat” and the characterizations “obvious”. A film analyst at Exhibitor
Relations has agreed, noting that Avatar has cemented the use of 3-D as a production and promotional tool
for blockbuster films, rather than a mere niche or novelty experiment. “This is why all 3-D venues were
built,” he said. “This is the one. The behemoth ... The holy grail of 3-D has finally arrived.”
C Those who embrace 3-D note that it spices up a trip to the cinema by adding a more active
“embodied” layer of experience instead of the viewer passively receiving the film through eyes and ears
only. A blogger on Animation Ideas writes, “... when 3-D is done well, like in the flying scenes in UP,
How to Train Your Dragon, and Avatar, there is an added feeling of vertigo. If you have any fear of
heights, the 3-D really adds to this element ...” Kevin Carr argues that the backlash against 3-D is similar to
that which occurred against CGI2 several years ago, and points out that CGI is now widely regarded as part
of the film-maker’s artistic toolkit. He also notes that new technology is frequently seen to be a “gimmick”
in its early days, pointing out the many commentators slapped the first “talkie” films of the early 1920s
with this same label.
D But not everyone greets the rise of 3-D with open arms. Some ophthalmologists point out that 3-D
can have unsettling physical effects for many viewers. Dr. Michael Rosenberg, a professor at Northwestern
University, has pointed out that many people go through life with minor eye disturbance s – a slight
muscular imbalance – for example – that does not interrupt day-to-day activities. In the experience of a 3-
D movie, however, this problem can be exacerbated through viewer trying to concentrate on unusual visual
phenomena. Dr. Deborah Friedman, from the University of Rochester Medical Center, notes that the
perception of depth conjured through three dimensions does not complement the angles from which we
take in the world. Eyestrains, headaches and nausea are, therefore, a problem for around 15% of a 3-D film
audience.
E Film critics Roger Elbert warns that 3-D is detrimental to good film-making. Firstly, he argues, the
technology is simply unnecessary; 2-D movies are “already” 3-D, as far as our minds are concerned.
Adding the extra dimension with technology, instead of letting our minds do the work, can actually be
counter-purposeful and make the overall effect seem clumsy and contrived. Ebert also points out that the
special glasses dim the effect by soaking up light from the screen, making 3-D films a slightly duller
experience that they might otherwise be. Finally, Elbert suggests that 3-D encourages film-makers to
undercut drama and narrative in favor of simply piling on more gimmicks and special effects. “Hollywood
is racing headlong toward the kiddie market,” he says, pointing out the Disney’s announcement that it will
no longer make traditional films in favor of animation, franchises and superheroes.
F Whether or not 3-D becomes a powerful force for the film-maker’s vision and the film-going
experience, or goes down in history as an over-hyped, expensive novelty, the technology certainly shows
no sign of fading in the popularity stakes at the moment. Clash of the Titan, Alice in the Wonderland, and
How to Train Your Dragon have all recently benefited at the box office due to the added sales that 3-D
provides, and with Avatar ‘s record set to last some time as a totem of 3-D’s commercial possibilities,
studios are not prepared to back down.

A. Choose the correct headings for sections A – F from the list of headings below.
List of headings
i Construction of special cinemas for 3-D
ii Good returns forecast for immediate future
iii The greatest 3-D film of all time
iv End of traditional movies for children
v Early developments
vi New technology diminishes the art
vii The golden age of movies
viii In defense of 3-D
ix 3-D is here to stay
x Undesirable visual effects
1. Section A: .............................
2. Section B: .............................
3. Section C: .............................
4. Section D: .............................
5. Section E: .............................
6. Section F: .............................
Your answers:
1. .................... 2. .................... 3. .................... 4. .................... 5. .................... 6. ....................
B. Decide whether these statements are True or False.
7. 3-D conflicts with our mental construct of our surroundings.
8. 3-D encourages an over-emphasis on quick visual thrills.
9. Avatar’s strength is found both in its visual splendor and in aspects of story.
 10. Use of 3-D technology proves to worsen our sensation of elevation.
Your answers:
7. .................... 8. .................... 9. .................... 10. ....................

PASSAGE 7

Social housing in Britain

A. During the past 20 years in Britain there has been a significant decrease in the number of social homes
in the housing stock, down from 5.3m to 4.8m. The proportion of social housing has fallen from 29% to
18% during the same period. This is largely due to the policies of Margaret Thatcher's government during
the 1980's which forced local councils to sell homes under market price to existing tenants under a 'right to
buy' scheme and prevented them from building new houses. New social homes were then to be paid for by
central government and managed by local housing associations.

B. Next month, the government is expected to announce a significant increase in the Social Housing
Department's £1.7 billion annual budget and also intends to make the application process for social housing
simpler. The additional £2 billion will build about 50,000 new houses each year at current building costs.
Still more houses could be built if subsidies were reduced.

C. The UK government is hoping that the extra investment will improve the housing situation. Britain with
her increasing population builds fewer new houses than are needed, with a shortfall of 100,000 a year
according to Shelter, a housing charity. The result is a boom in house prices that has made owning a home
unaffordable for many, especially in London and the south of England. Key public sector workers, such as
nurses and teachers, are among those affected.

D. In order to increase the social housing stock the government is using a process known as planning gain.
Town councils are increasing the amount of social housing developers must build as part of a new building
project and which they must give to the local housing association. Even without the financial support of
central the government, some local councils in England are using planning gain to increase the proportion
of social housing stock. In expensive Cambridge, the council wants 25% of new housing to be social; the
figure is 35% in Bristol, while Manchester is planning 40% over the next twenty years.

E. Will this housing policy create new sink estates? Hopefully, not. Housing planners have learnt from the
mistakes of the 1960s and 1970s when large council housing estates were constructed. Builders have got
better at design and planning mixed-use developments where social housing is mixed with, and
indistinguishable from, private housing. Social housing developments are winning design awards - a
project in London won the Housing Design Award — though it is true that some council estates that now
illustrate some of the worst aspects of 1960s architecture won awards at the time.

F. The management of social housing stock has largely moved from local councils to housing associations.
Housing associations look after the maintenance of the existing housing stock, getting repairs done and
dealing with problems like prostitution and drugs while employing estate security and on-site maintenance
staff. One significant change is that planners have learned to build smaller housing developments.

G. The significant drawback of social housing still remains: it discourages mobility. What happens to the
nurse who lives in cheap social housing in one town, and is offered a job in a region that does not provide
her with new social housing? The government wants to encourage initiative but is providing a housing
system that makes it difficult for people to change their lives. Public-sector workers are increasingly being
priced out of London and other expensive parts of the country and, as a result, are unable to take advantage
of opportunities available to them.

Task 1: Choose the correct heading each paragraph from the list of headings below. (10 points)

i. Still difficult to move around

ii. Councils give way to housing associations
iii. Increased spending
 iv. The cost of moving home
v. A shrinking supply
vi. Learning from the past
vii. Public-sector workers squeezed out
viii. New demands on developers

Example: Paragraph A __v__

1. Paragraph B ______
2. Paragraph C ______
3. Paragraph D ______
4. Paragraph E ______
5. Paragraph F ______
Example: Paragraph G __i__

Task 2: Decide whether the following statements are true (T), false (F) or not given (NG). (10 points)
6. During the Thatcher years, there was a block on building social homes.
7. The housing problem in London is worse than in the rest of southeast England.
8. Local authorities are starting to depend on the 'planning gain' scheme.
9. One way to make social housing more successful is to make it similar to private housing.
10. Local councils are unable to deal with crimes committed on social housing land.

PASSAGE 8

Cutty Sark: The Fastest Sailing Ship Of All Time

The nineteenth century was a period of great technological development in Britain, and for shipping
the major changes were from wind to steam power, and from wood to iron and steel.
The fastest commercial sailing vessels of all time were clippers, three-masted ships built to transport goods
around the world, although some also took passengers. From the 1840s until 1869, when the Suez Canal
opened and steam propulsion was replacing sail, clippers dominated world trade. Although many were
built, only one has survived more or less intact: Cutty Sark, now on display in Greenwich, southeast
London.
Cutty Sark’s unusual name comes from the poem Tam O’Shanter by the Scottish poet Robert Burns. Tam,
a farmer, is chased by a witch called Nannie, who is wearing a ‘cutty sark’ – an old Scottish name for a
short nightdress. The witch is depicted in Cutty Sark’s figurehead – the carving of a woman typically at the
front of old sailing ships. In legend, and in Burns’s poem, witches cannot cross water, so this was a rather
strange choice of name for a ship.
Cutty Sark was built in Dumbarton, Scotland, in 1869, for a shipping company owned by John Willis.
To carry out construction, Willis chose a new shipbuilding firm, Scott & Linton, and ensured that the
contract with them put him in a very strong position. In the end, the firm was forced out of business, and
the ship was finished by a competitor.
Willis’s company was active in the tea trade between China and Britain, where speed could bring
shipowners both profits and prestige, so Cutty Sark was designed to make the journey more quickly than
any other ship. On her maiden voyage, in 1870, she set sail from London, carrying large amounts of goods
to China. She returned laden with tea, making the journey back to London in four months. However, Cutty
Sark never lived up to the high expectations of her owner, as a result of bad winds and various misfortunes.
On one occasion, in 1872, the ship and a rival clipper, Thermopylae, left port in China on the same day.
Crossing the Indian Ocean, Cutty Sark gained a lead of over 400 miles, but then her rudder was severely
damaged in stormy seas, making her impossible to steer. The ship’s crew had the daunting task of repairing
the rudder at sea, and only succeeded at the second attempt. Cutty Sark reached London a week after
Thermopylae.
Steam ships posed a growing threat to clippers, as their speed and cargo capacity increased. In
addition, the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, the same year that Cutty Sark was launched, had a serious
impact. While steam ships could make use of the quick, direct route between the Mediterranean and the
Red Sea, the canal was of no use to sailing ships, which needed the much stronger winds of the oceans, and
so had to sail a far greater distance. Steam ships reduced the journey time between Britain and China by
approximately two months.
By 1878, tea traders weren’t interested in Cutty Sark, and instead, she took on the much less
prestigious work of carrying any cargo between any two ports in the world. In 1880, violence aboard the
ship led ultimately to the replacement of the captain with an incompetent drunkard who stole the crew’s
wages. He was suspended from service, and a new captain appointed. This marked a turnaround and the
beginning of the most successful period in Cutty Sark’s working life, transporting wool from Australia to
Britain. One such journey took just under 12 weeks, beating every other ship sailing that year by around a
month.
The ship’s next captain, Richard Woodget, was an excellent navigator, who got the best out of both
his ship and his crew. As a sailing ship, Cutty Sark depended on the strong trade winds of the southern
hemisphere, and Woodget took her further south than any previous captain, bringing her dangerously close
to icebergs off the southern tip of South America. His gamble paid off, though, and the ship was the fastest
vessel in the wool trade for ten years.
As competition from steam ships increased in the 1890s, and Cutty Sark approached the end of her
life expectancy, she became less profitable. She was sold to a Portuguese firm, which renamed her Ferreira.
For the next 25 years, she again carried miscellaneous cargoes around the world.
Badly damaged in a gale in 1922, she was put into Falmouth harbor in southwest England, for
repairs. Wilfred Dowman, a retired sea captain who owned a training vessel, recognised her and tried to
buy her, but without success. She returned to Portugal and was sold to another Portuguese company.
Dowman was determined, however, and offered a high price: this was accepted, and the ship returned to
Falmouth the following year and had her original name restored.
Dowman used Cutty Sark as a training ship, and she continued in this role after his death. When she
was no longer required, in 1954, she was transferred to dry dock at Greenwich to go on public display. The
ship suffered from fire in 2007, and again, less seriously, in 2014, but now Cutty Sark attracts a quarter of a
million visitors a year.

Questions 1-8
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-8 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. Clippers were originally intended to be used as passenger ships.

2. Cutty Sark was given the name of a character in a poem.
3. The contract between John Willis and Scott & Linton favoured Willis.
4. John Willis wanted Cutty Sark to be the fastest tea clipper travelling between the UK and China.
5. Despite storm damage, Cutty Sark beat Thermopylae back to London.
6. The opening of the Suez Canal meant that steam ships could travel between Britain and China faster than
clippers.
7. Steam ships sometimes used the ocean route to travel between London and China.
8. Captain Woodget put Cutty Sark at risk of hitting an iceberg.
9. After 1880, Cutty Sark carried wool as its main cargo during its most successful time.
10. Cutty Sark, though badly damaged by fire twice in the 21st century, now looks really attractive

PASSAGE 9
SAVING THE SOIL
More than a third of the Earth’s top layer is at risk. Is there hope for our planet’s most precious resource?
A
More than a third of the world’s soil is endangered, according to a recent UN report. If we don’t slow the
decline, all farmable soil could be gone in 60 years. Since soil grows 95% of our food, and sustains human
life in other more surprising ways, that is a huge problem.
B
Peter Groffman, from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in New York, points out that soil scientists
have been warning about the degradation of the world’s soil for decades. At the same time, our
understanding of its importance to humans has grown. A single gram of healthy soil might contain 100
million bacteria, as well as other microorganisms such as viruses and fungi, living amid decomposing
plants and various minerals.
That means soils do not just grow our food, but are the source of nearly all our existing antibiotics, and
could be our best hope in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Soil is also an ally against climate
change: as microorganisms within soil digest dead animals and plants, they lock in their carbon content,
holding three times the amount of carbon as does the entire atmosphere. Soils also store water, preventing
flood damage: in the UK, damage to buildings, roads and bridges from floods caused by soil degradation
costs £233 million every year.
C
If the soil loses its ability to perform these functions, the human race could be in big trouble. The danger is
not that the soil will disappear completely, but that the microorganisms that give it its special properties
will be lost. And once this has happened, it may take the soil thousands of years to recover.
Agriculture is by far the biggest problem. In the wild, when plants grow they remove nutrients from the
soil, but then when the plants die and decay these nutrients are returned directly to the soil. Humans tend
not to return unused parts of harvested crops directly to the soil to enrich it, meaning that the soil gradually
becomes less fertile. In the past, we developed strategies to get around the problem, such as regularly
varying the types of crops grown, or leaving fields uncultivated for a season.
D
But these practices became inconvenient as populations grew and agriculture had to be run on more
commercial lines. A solution came in the early 20th century with the Haber-Bosch process for
manufacturing ammonium nitrate. Farmers have been putting this synthetic fertiliser on their fields ever
since.
But over the past few decades, it has become clear this wasn’t such a bright idea. Chemical fertilisers can
release polluting nitrous oxide into the atmosphere and excess is often washed away with the rain, releasing
nitrogen into rivers. More recently, we have found that indiscriminate use of fertilisers hurts the soil itself,
turning it acidic and salty, and degrading the soil they are supposed to nourish.
E
One of the people looking for a solution to his problem is Pius Floris, who started out running a tree-care
business in the Netherlands, and now advises some of the world’s top soil scientists. He came to realise that
the best way to ensure his trees flourished was to take care of the soil, and has developed a cocktail of
beneficial bacteria, fungi and humus* to do this. Researchers at the University of Valladolid in Spain
recently used this cocktail on soils destroyed by years of fertiliser overuse. When they applied Floris’s mix
to the desert-like test plots, a good crop of plants emerged that were not just healthy at the surface, but had
roots strong enough to pierce dirt as hard as rock. The few plants that grew in the control plots, fed with
traditional fertilisers, were small and weak
F
However, measures like this are not enough to solve the global soil degradation problem. To assess our
options on a global scale we first need an accurate picture of what types of soil are out there, and the
problems they face. That’s not easy. For one thing, there is no agreed international system for classifying
soil. In an attempt to unify the different approaches, the UN has created the Global Soil Map project.
Researchers from nine countries are working together to create a map linked to a database that can be fed
measurements from field surveys, drone surveys, satellite imagery, lad analyses and so on to provide real-
time data on the state of the soil. Within the next four years, they aim to have mapped soils worldwide to a
depth of 100 metres, with the results freely accessible to all.
G
But this is only a first step. We need ways of presenting the problem that bring it home to governments and
the wider public, says Pamela Chasek at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, in
Winnipeg, Canada. ‘Most scientists don’t speak language that policy-makers can understand, and vice
versa.’ Chasek and her colleagues have proposed a goal of ‘zero net land degradation’. Like the idea of
carbon neutrality, it is an easily understood target that can help shape expectations and encourage action.
For soils on the brink, that may be too late. Several researchers are agitating for the immediate creation of
protected zones for endangered soils. One difficulty here is defining what these areas should conserve:
areas where the greatest soil diversity is present? Or areas of unspoilt soils that could act as a future
benchmark of quality?
Whatever we do, if we want our soils to survive, we need to take action now.
Questions 1-4
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below.
Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 18-21 on your answer sheet.
1 Nutrients contained in the unused parts of harvested crops
2 Synthetic fertilisers produced with Haber-Bosch process
3 Addition of a mixture developed by Pius Floris to the soil
4 The idea of zero net soil degradation

A may improve the number and quality of plants growing there.

B may contain data from up to nine countries.
C may not be put back into the soil.
D may help governments to be more aware of soil-related issues.
E may cause damage to different aspects of the environment.
F may be better for use at a global level.

Questions 5-10
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Which section contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 5-10 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
5. The main factor contributing to soil degradation carried out by humans
6 a reference to one person’s motivation for a soil-improvement project
7 an explanation of how soil stayed healthy before the development of farming
8 examples of different ways of collecting information on soil degradation
9 a suggestion for a way of keeping some types of soil safe in the near future
10. a reason why it is difficult to provide an overview of soil degradation

PASSAGE 10
The Lost City

An explorer’s encounter with the ruined city of Machu Picchu, the most famous icon of the Inca
civilisation.
A When the US explorer and academic Hiram Bingham arrived in South America in 1911, he was
ready for what was to be the greatest achievement of his life: the exploration of the remote hinterland to the
west of Cusco, the old capital of the Inca empire in the Andes mountains of Peru. His goal was to locate the
remains of a city called Vitcos, the last capital of the Inca civilisation.
Cusco lies on a high plateau at an elevation of more than 3,000 metres, and Bingham’s plan was to descend
from this plateau along the valley of the Urubamba river, which takes a circuitous route down to the
Amazon and passes through an area of dramatic canyons and mountain ranges.
B When Bingham and his team set off down the Urubamba in late July, they had an advantage over
travellers who had preceded them: a track had recently been blasted down the valley canyon to enable
rubber to be brought up by mules from the jungle. Almost all previous travellers had left the river at
Ollantaytambo and taken a high pass across the mountains to rejoin the river lower down, thereby cutting a
substantial corner, but also therefore never passing through the area around Machu Picchu.
C On 24 July they were a few days into their descent of the valley. The day began slowly, with
Bingham trying to arrange sufficient mules for the next stage of the trek. His companions showed no
interest in accompanying him up the nearby hill to see some ruins that a local farmer, Melchor Arteaga, had
told them about the night before. The morning was dull and damp, and Bingham also seems to have been
less than keen on the prospect of climbing the hill. In his book Lost City of the Incas, he relates that he
made the ascent without having the least expectation that he would find anything at the top.
D Bingham writes about the approach in vivid style in his book. First, as he climbs up the hill, he
describes the ever-present possibility of deadly snakes, ‘capable of making considerable springs when in
pursuit of their prey’; not that he sees any. Then there’s a sense of mounting discovery as he comes across
great sweeps of terraces, then a mausoleum, followed by monumental staircases and, finally, the grand
ceremonial buildings of Machu Picchu. 'It seemed like an unbelievable dream the sight held me spellbound
’, he wrote.
E We should remember, however, that Lost City of the Incas is a work of hindsight, not written until
1948, many years after his journey. His journal entries of the time reveal a much more gradual appreciation
of his achievement. He spent the afternoon at the ruins noting down the dimensions of some of the
buildings, then descended and rejoined his companions, to whom he seems to have said little about his
discovery. At this stage, Bingham didn’t realise the extent or the importance of the site, nor did he realise
what use he could make of the discovery.
F However, soon after returning it occurred to him that he could make a name for himself from this
discovery. When he came to write the National Geographic magazine article that broke the story to the
world in April 1913, he knew he had to produce a big idea.
He wondered whether it could have been the birthplace of the very first Inca, Manco the Great, and
whether it could also have been what chroniclers described as ‘the last city of the Incas’. This term refers to
Vilcabamba the settlement where the Incas had fled from Spanish invaders in the 1530s. Bingham made
desperate attempts to prove this belief for nearly 40 years. Sadly, his vision of the site as both the
beginning and end of the Inca civilisation, while a magnificent one, is inaccurate. We now know, that
Vilcabamba actually lies 65 kilometres away in the depths of the jungle.
G One question that has perplexed visitors, historians and archaeologists alike ever since Bingham, is
why the site seems to have been abandoned before the Spanish Conquest. There are no references to it by
any of the Spanish chroniclers - and if they had known of its existence so close to Cusco they would
certainly have come in search of gold.
An idea which has gained wide acceptance over the past few years is that Machu Picchu was a moya, a
country estate built by an Inca emperor to escape the cold winters of Cusco, where the elite could enjoy
monumental architecture and spectacular views. Furthermore, the particular architecture of Machu Picchu
suggests that it was constructed at the time of the greatest of all the Incas, the emperor Pachacuti (1438-71).
By custom, Pachacuti’s descendants built other similar estates for their own use, and so Machu Picchu
would have been abandoned after his death, some 50 years before the Spanish Conquest.
Questions 1-7

Reading Passage has seven paragraphs, A-G.

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.

1. Paragraph A List of Headings

2. Paragraph B i. Different accounts of the same journey
3. Paragraph C ii. Bingham gains support
4. Paragraph D iii. A common belief
5. Paragraph E iv. The aim of the trip
6. Paragraph F v. A dramatic description
7. Paragraph G vi. A new route
vii. Bingham publishes his theory
viii. Bingham’s lack of enthusiasm

Questions 8-11

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 228?
In boxes 8-11 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

8. Bingham went to South America in search of an Inca city.

9. Bingham chose a particular route down the Urubamba valley because it was the most common route
used by travellers.
10. Bingham understood the significance of Machu Picchu as soon as he saw it.
11. Bingham returned to Machu Picchu in order to find evidence to support his theory.