IELTS Mc Carter 2

TEST 5 READING PASSAGE 1

       Day after day we hear about how anthropogenic development is causing global warming. According to an increasingly vocal minority, however, we should be asking ourselves how much of this is media hype and how much is based on real evidence. It seems, as so often is the case, that it depends on which expert you listen to, or which statistics you study.

       Yes, it is true that there is a mass of evidence to indicate that the world is getting warmer, with one of the world's leading weather predictors stating that air temperatures have shown an increase of just under half a degree Celsius since the beginning of the twentieth century. And while this may not sound like anything worth losing sleep over, the international press would have us believe that the consequences could be devastating. Other experts, however, are of the opinion that what we are seeing is just part of a natural upward and downward swing that has always been part of the cycle of global weather. An analysis of the views of major meteorologists in the United States showed that less than 20% of them believed that any change in temperature over the last hundred years was our own fault - the rest attributed it to natural cyclical changes.

       There is, of course, no denying that we are still at a very early stage in understanding weather. The effects of such variables as rainfall, cloud formation, the seas and oceans gases such as methane and ozone, or even solar energy are still not really understood, and therefore the predictions that we make using them cannot always be relied on. Dr. James Hansen, in 1988, was predicting that the likely effects of global warming would be a raising of world temperature which would have disastrous consequences for mankind: " a strong cause and effect relationship between the current climate and human alteration of the atmosphere ". He has now gone on record as stating that using artificial models of climate as a way of predicting change is all but impossible. In fact, he now believes that, rather than getting hotter, our planet is getting greener as a result of the carbon dioxide increase, with the prospect of increasing vegetation in areas which in recent history have been frozen wastelands.

        In fact, there is some evidence to suggest that as our computer-based weather models have become more sophisticated, the predicted rises in temperature have been cut back. In addition, if we look at the much reported rise in global temperature over the last century, a close analysis reveals that the lion's share of that increase, almost three quarters in total, occurred before man began to "poison" his world with industrial processes and the accompanying greenhouse gas emissions in the second half of the twentieth century.

        So should we pay any attention to those stories that scream out at us from billboards and television news headlines, claiming that man, with his inexhaustible dependence on oil-based machinery and ever more sophisticated forms of transport is creating a nightmare level of greenhouse gas emissions, poisoning his environment and ripping open the ozone layer? Doubters point to scientific evidence, which can prove that, of all the greenhouse gases, only two percent come from man-made sources, the rest resulting from natural emissions. Who, then, to believe: the environmentalist exhorting us to leave the car at home, to buy re-usable products packaged in recycled paper and to plant trees in our back yard? Or the sceptics, including, of course, a lot of big businesses who have most to lose, when they tell us that we are making a moutain out of a molehill? And my own opinion? The jury's still out as far as I am concerned!

Questions 1 - 5

Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in Boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

1.   The author ........

A    believes that man is causing global warming

B    believes that global warming is a natural process

C    is sure what the causes of global warming are

D    does not say what he believes the causes of global warming are

2.   As to the cause of global warming, the author believes that ........

A    occasionally the facts depend on who you are talking to

B    the facts always depend on who you are talking to

C    often the facts depend on which expert you listen to

D    you should not speak to experts

3.   More than 80% of the top meteorologists in the United States are of the opinion that .........

A    global warming should make us lose sleep

B    global warming is not the result of natural cyclical changes, but man-made

C    the consequences of global warming will be devastating

D    global warming is not man-made, but the result of natural cyclical changes

4.   Our understanding of weather ...........

A    leads to reliable predictions

B    is variable

C    cannot be denied

D    is not very developed yet

5.   Currently, Dr. James Hansen's beliefs include the fact that .......

A    it is nearly impossible to predict weather change using artificial models

B    the consequences of global warming would be disastrous for mankind

C    there is a significant link between the climate now, and man's changing of the atmosphere

D    Earth is getting colder

Questions 6 - 11

Do the statement below agree with the information in Reading Passage 1?

In Boxes 6-11, write:

Yes             if the statement agrees with the information in the passage

No                if the statement contradicts the information in the passage

Not Given   if there is no information about the statement in the passage

   Example   : Computer-based weather models have become more sophisticated.

   Answer     : Yes.

6. At the same time that computer-based weather models have become more sophisticated, weather forecasters have become more expert.

7. Most of the increase in global temperature happened in the second half of the twentieth century.

8. The media wants us to blame ourselves for global warming.

9. The media encourages the public to use environmentally friendly vehicles, such as eletric cars to combat global warming.

10. Environmentalists are very effective at persuading people to be kind to the environment.

11. Many big businesses are on the side of the sceptics as regards the cause of global warming.

Questions 12 and 13

Complete the sentences below. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each blank space.

Write your answers in Boxes 12 and 13 on your answer sheet.

12. As well as planting trees and not driving, the environmentalist would like us to choose products that are wrapped _______________ and can be used more than once.

13. Big businesses would have us believe that we are making too much fuss about global warming, because they have ________________.

Question 14

Choose the appropriate letter A-D and write it in Box 14 on your answer sheet.

14. Which of these is the best title for this text?

A    Global Warming is for real

B    Global warming - media hype or genuine threat?

C    Weather changes over the last 100 years

D    Global Warming - the greatest threat to mankind

TEST 5 READING PASSAGE 2 What is a dinosaur?

A.  Although the name dinosaur is derived from the Greek for "terrible lizard", dinosaurs were not, in fact, lizards at all. Like lizards, dinosaurs are included in the class Reptilia, or reptiles, one of the five main classes of Vertebrata, animals with backbones. However, at the next level of classification, within reptiles, significant differences in the skeletal anatomy of lizards and dinosaurs have led scientists to place these groups of animals into two different superorders: Lepidosauria, or lepidosaurs, and Archosauria, or archosaurs.

B.  Classified as lepidosaurs are lizards and snakes and their prehistoric ancestors. Included among the archosaurs, or "ruling reptiles", are prehistoric and modern crocodiles, and the now extinct thecodonts, pterosaurs and dinosaurs. Palaeontologists believe that both dinosaurs and crocodiles evolved, in the later years of the Triassic Period (c. 248-208 million years ago), from creatures called pseudosuchian thecodonts. Lizards, snakes and different types of thecodont are believed to have evolved earlier in the Triassic Period from reptiles known as eosuchians.

C.  The most important skeletal differences between dinosaurs and other archosaurs are in the bones of the skull, pelvis and limbs. Dinosaur skulls are found in a great range of shapes and sizes, reflecting the different eating habits and lifestyles of a large and varied group of animals that dominated life on Earth for an extraordinary 165 million years. However, unlike the skulls of any other known animals, the skulls of dinosaurs had two long bones known as vomers. These bones extended on either side of the head, from the front of the snout to the level of the holes on the skull known as the antorbital fenestra, situated in front of the dinosaur's orbits or eyesockets.

D.  All dinosaurs, whether large or small, quadrupedal or bidepal, fleet-footed or slow-moving, shared a common body plan. Identification of this plan makes it possible to differentiate dinosaurs from any other types of animal, even other archosaurs. Most significantly, in dinosaurs, the pelvis and femur had evolved so that the hind limbs were held vertically beneath the body, rather than sprawling out to the sides like the limbs of a lizard. The femur of a dinosaur had a sharply in-turned neck and a ball-shaped head, which slotted into a fully open acetabulum or hip socket. A supra-acetabular crest helped prevent dislocation of the femur. The position of the knee joint, aligned below the acetabulum, made it possible for the whole hind limb to swing backwards and forwards. This unique combination of features gave dinosaurs what is known as a "fully improved gait". Evolution of this highly efficient method of walking also developed in mammals, but among reptiles it occurred only in dinosaurs.

E.  For the purpose of further classification, dinosaurs are divided into two orders: Saurischia, or saurischian dinosaurs, and Ornithischia, or ornithischian dinosaurs. This division is made on the basis of their pelvic anatomy. All dinosaurs had a pelvic girdle with each side comprised of three bones: the pubis, ilium and ischium. However, the orientation of these bones follows one of two patterns. In saurischian dinosaurs, also known as lizard-hipped dinosaurs, the pubis points forwards, as is usual in most types of reptile. By contrast, in ornithischian, or bird-hipped, dinosaurs, the pubis points backwards towards the rear of the animal, which is also true of birds.

F.  Of the two orders of dinosaurs, the Saurischia was the larger and the first to evolve. It is divided into two suborders: Therapoda, or therapods, and Sauropodomorpha, or sauropodomorphs. The therapods, or "beast feet", were bipedal, predatory carnivores. They ranged in size from the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex, 12m long, 5.6m tall and weighing an estimated 6.4 tonnes, to the smallest known dinosaur, Compsognathus, a mere 1.4m long and estimated 3kg in weight when fully grown. The sauropodomorphs, or "lizard feet forms", included both bipedal and quadrupedal dinosaurs. Some sauropodomorphs were carnivorous or omnivorous but later species were typically herbivorous. They included some of the largest and best-known of all dinosaurs, such as Diplodocus, a huge quadruped with an elephant-like body, a long, thin tail and neck that gave it a total length of 27m, and a tiny head.

G.  Ornithischian dinosaurs  were bipedal or quadrupedal herbivores. They are now usually divided into three suborders: Ornithipoda, Thyreophora and Marginocephalia. The ornithopods, or "bird feet", both large and small, could walk or run on their long hind legs, balancing their body by holding their tails stiffly off the ground behind them. An example is Iguanodon, up to 9m long, 5m tall and weighing 4.5 tonnes. The thyreophorans, or "shield bearers", also known as armoured dinosaurs, were quadrupeds with rows of protective bony spikes, studs, or plates along their backs and tails. They included Stegosaurus, 9m long and weighing 2 tonnes.

H.  The marginocephalians, or "margined heads", were bipedal or quadrupedal ornithschians with a deep bony frill or narrow shelf at the back of the skull. An example is Triceratops, a rhinoceros-like dinosaur, 9m long, weighing 5.4 tonnes and bearing a prominent neck frill and three large horns.

Questions 15 - 21

Reading Passage 2 has 8 paragraphs (A-H). Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xiii) in Boxes 15-21 on your answer sheet.

One of the headings has been done for you as an example.

NB. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.

15. Paragraph A

16. Paragraph B

17. Paragraph C

18. Paragraph D

19. Paragraph E

20. Paragraph F

21. Paragraph G

             Example : Paragraph H          Answer: x

List of headings

i.    165 million years

ii.    The body plan of archosaurs

iii.   Dinosaurs - terrible lizards

iv.   Classification according to pelvic anatomy

v.    The suborders of Saurischia

vi.    Lizards and dinosaurs - two distinct superorders

vii.   Unique body plan helps identify dinosaurs from other animals

viii.  Herbivore dinosaurs

ix.    Lepidosaurs

x.     Frills and shelves

xi.    The origins of dinosaurs and lizards

xii.   Bird-hipped dinosaurs

xiii.  Skull bones distinguish dinosaurs from other archosaurs

Questions 22 - 24

Complete then sentences below. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each blank space.

Write  your answers in Boxes 22-24 on your answer sheet.

22. Lizards and dinosaurs are classified into two different superorders because of the difference in their ______________

23. In the Triassic Period, ________________ evolved into thecodonts, for example, lizards and snakes.

24. Dinosaur skulls differed from those of any other known animals because of the presence of vomers: ______________

Questions 25 - 28

Choose one phrase (A-H) from the List of features to match with the Dinosaurs listed below. Write the appropriate letters (A-H) in Boxes 25-28 on your answer sheet.

The information in the completed sentences should be an accurate summary of the points made by the writer.

NB. There are more phrases (A-H) than sentences, so you will not need to use them all. You may use each phrase once only.

Dinosaurs

25. Dinosaurs differed from lizards, because .......

26. Saurischian and ornithischian dinosaurs ........

27. Unlike therapods, sauropodomorphs ........

28. Some dinosaurs used their tails to balance, others .......

List of features

A  are both divided into two orders.

B  the former had a "fully improved gait".

C  were not usually very heavy.

D  could walk or run on their back legs.

E   their hind limbs sprawled out to the side.

F   walked or ran on four legs, rather than two.

G   both had a pelvic girdle comprising six bones.

H   did not always eat meat.

TEST 5 READING PASSAGE 3  Doesn't that sound terribly yellow to you?

" I can't say. I'm colour blind", was my flatmate's response. And that was that for another twenty odd years, when by chance I came across an article in a newspaper on research into synaesthesia at a London hospital. At last, I understood my interpretation of the world through colour.

Synaesthesia is the subjective sensation of a sense other than the one being stimulated . For example, the sight of a word may evoke sensations of colour or the sound of music may also have a similar effect, as may taste. Or, to put it simply, synaesthetes, i.e. people with synaesthesia, have their senses hooked together, so that they experience several senses simultaneously.

To those not already aware of it, synaesthesia seems a new phenomenon. Yet, it is far from new. In 1690, John Locke, the philosopher, wrote of a blind man with synaesthetic capabilities. The first reference in the medical field was in 1710, by Thomas Woodhouse, an English ophthalmologist. In hisTheory of Colour , the German writer, Goethe, talked about colour and the senses. The poet, Arthur Rimbaud, wrote about synaesthesia in his 1871 poem Voyelles, as did another French poet Baudelaire, inCorrespondance . So, synaesthesia has a respectable history.

Synaesthesia is understandably met with a certain degree of scepticism, since it is something beyond the ken of the vast majority of people. Son et lumière  shows in the 19^th century were an attempt at combining the senses in a public display, but such displays were not capable of conveying the sensations experienced by involuntary synaesthesia , as the ability which a synaesthete's experience is called.

There has been a number of well-documented synaesthetes. Alexander Scriabin, the Russian composer, (1871-1915) tried to express his own synaesthetic abilities in his symphony Prometheus , the Poem of Fire  (1922). And another Russian, Rimsky-Korsakov, noted the colour associations musical keys possessed. For example, Scriabin saw C major as red, while to Rimsky-Korsakov it was white. Arthur Bliss, an English composer, based his 1922 Colour Symphony  on the concept of synaesthesia. He did not claim to be a synaesthete; his colour choices were arbitrary and the project an intellectual exercise.

In the field of the visual arts, probably the best known artist with synaesthetic capabilities is the Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944), credited with being the founder of  abstract painting. It is said he experienced "sensory fusion" at a performance of Wagner's Lohengrin , with the music producing colours before his eyes. He did not see colours solely in terms of objects, but associated them with sounds. He even composed an opera, Der Gelbe Klang (The Yellow Sound), which was a mixture of colour, light, dance and sound.

For many people with synaesthesia, knowing that what they have been experiencing has both a name and a history and that they are among a number of notable sufferers is a revelation. Initially, they often feel that there is something wrong psychologically or mentally, or that everyone feels that way. Then they realise with a thud that other people do not. Suppression is an option, but unwittingly some people have managed to make use of the ability to their advantage. While the condition of synaesthesia may hamper many people because of its disorienting effects, it can also open up a range of new skills. It is not unusual for people who have synaesthesia to be creative and imaginative. As many studies have shown, memory is based to some extent on association. Synaesthetes find they are able to remember certain things with great ease. The person who associates the shape of a word with colour is quite often able to remember a longer sequence of words; and the same goes for other areas where memory needs to be used.

But this condition like all gifts, has its drawbacks. Some people see words as colours; others even individual letters and syllables, so that a word becomes a kaleidoscope of colour. Beautiful though such a reading experience may be, synaesthesia can cause problems with both reading and writing. Reading can take longer, because one has to wade through all the colours, as well as the words! And, because the colour sequences as well as the words have to fit together, writing is then equally difficult.

Questions 29 - 32

Do the statements below agree with the information in Reading Passage 3?

In Boxes 29-32, write:

Yes               if the statement agrees with the information in the passage

No                 if the statement contradicts the information in the passage

Not Given    if there is no information about the statement in the passage

    Example: The writer is colour blind.

    Answer: No.

29.    Synaesthetes experiene several senses at the same time.

30.    Newspaper articles and TV news reports about synaesthesia are appearing with monotonous regularity nowadays.

31.    Mention of synaesthesia can be traced back to the 17^th century.

32.    It is strange that many people are sceptical bout synaesthesia.

Questions 33 - 36

Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in Boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet.

33.   Son et lumière shows .....

A   attempted to combine public senses

B   were frequent in the 19th century

C   were both public and involuntary

D   did not reproduce the experiences of synaesthetes

34.   Both Alexander Scriabin and Rimsky-Korsakov ......

A   wanted to have synaesthetic abilities

B   created a lot of documents

C   linked music to colour

D   agree with Bliss in 1922

35.   The Russian artist, Wassily Kandinsky, ......

A   performed Wagner's Lohengrin

B   found abstract painting

C   also composed music

D   saw objects

36.   At first, "sufferers" of synaesthesia believe that ......

A   other people have similar experiences or there is something wrong with them

B   they are a revelation

C   they are psychologically or mentally superior

D   they are unique

Questions 37 - 40

According to the reading passage, which of the following statements are true about synaesthetes?

Write the appropriate letters in Boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

A    Some synaesthetes are disoriented by their abilities.

B    Unusually, some synaesthetes have great creativity.

C    Memory is heightened by synaesthesia.

D    Synaesthetes have gifts and drawbacks.

E    Some synaesthetes use their ability to help themselves.

F    Their ability can be an obstacle to them.

G    Some synaesthetes write in colour.

TEST 6 READING PASSAGE 1 PROPAGANDA - THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

Imagine for a moment that you are an impoverished citizen of ancient Egypt, hopefully hoeing the desert and wondering when it will bloom. Suddenly, a cloud of dust appears on the horizon which eventually resolves itself  into a gallop of horses and chariots commanded by heavily armed soldiers followed, eventually, by a crocodile of exhausted slaves lugging building materials.

They all come to a halt outside your home and you make a strategic withdrawal indoors, from where you watch them through a slit in the wall. In an amazingly short time, the slaves build a 40-foot high obelisk which is then surrounded by a swarm of stonemasons. Then, when the work, whatever it is, has been completed, the entire company withdraws as quickly as it came.

Once the coast is clear, you creep outside to examine their handiwork. The obelisk is covered with carvings of soldiers, looking remarkably like those who have just left, engaged in countless victorious battles, decimating the countryside and gruesomely killing people who look remarkably like you. Prominently portrayed, surveying sphinx-like the carnage committed in his name, is the Pharaoh. You can't read, but you get the picture. You, in consort with your disaffected neighbours, had been contemplating, in rather desultory fashion, a small uprising. You change your mind in what is one of the earliest examples of the power of propaganda.

Of course, as is often the case with big ideas when they are in their infancy, the methods employed in ancient Egypt were far from subtlle. But over subsequent centuries, the use of propaganda was conscientiously honed.

It was not until the First World War that propaganda made the quantum leap from the gentler arts of persuasion to become the tool of coercion. As Phillip Taylor says in War and the Media: "Before 1914, it simply meant the means by which the proponent of a particular doctrine ... propagated his beliefs among his audience ... propaganda is simply a process of persuasion. As a concept, it is neutral and should be devoid of value judgements".

It is unlikely, at least in the West, that propaganda will ever be rehabilitated as a neutral concept. The very word is now so loaded with sinister connotations that it evokes an immediate and visceral sense of outrage. For the use of propaganda reached its apogee in the machinery of the Third Reich. Hitler and Goebbels between them elevated it to a black art of such diabolical power that it has been permanently discredited among those who witnessed its expression. Indeed in 1936 at Nuremberg, Hitler attributed his entire success to the workings of propaganda. He said: " Propaganda brought us to power, propaganda has since enabled us to remain in power, and propaganda will give us the means of conquering the world".

It is therefore unsurprising that Western governments and politicians  are liable to perform the most extreme presentational acrobatics in their efforts to avoid the dreaded "p" word being applied to any of their activities. They have developed impressive lexicons of euphemisms and doublespeak to distance themselves from any taint of it, real or imagined.

Inevitably, the media is alive to this hypersensitivity and the "p" word has become a potent weapon in its arsenal. It is used pejoratively, with intent to discredit and wound, as governments are painfully aware. For propaganda is the spectre that haunts many a government-inspired media fest. It is the uninvited guest, the empty chair which serves to remind the hosts precisely why the gathering has been convened and forces them to run quality tests on the fare on offer - is it factually nutritious, is it presented in a balanced and truthful way, is its integrity intact?

In this one respect, at least, the negative connotations attached to propaganda actually perform a positive function. They offer a salutary reminder of all that government information is supposed not to be, and act as a ferocious curb on any runaway tendency to excess. Most importantly, the public is alive to the dangers of propaganda and alert to its manifestations where overt or covert. They know that propaganda is the serpent lurking in the tree of knowledge; that it is subtle, it beguiles, it seduces, it obfuscates, it holds out simple dreams and turns them into nightmare realities, it subverts, it pretends to be other than it is. They know that it is the poisoned fruit of the goblin market, not the plain bread of truth that is the staple diet of information. And they will not tolerate it.

They succumd instead to the more blatant blandishments of advertising, which might be regarded as the wolf of propaganda, tamed and turned to domestic use. Safe in the knowledge that the wolf has been securely trussed by the rules and regulations of the Advertising Standards Authority, the knowingly consent to being had.

Questions 1 - 10

Complete the text below, which is a summary of paragraphs 1-4. Choose a suitable word from the text for each blank. Write your answers in Boxes 1-10 on your answer sheet.

You may use any word more than once.

Example:       PROPAGANDA - THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE __________.

Answer:        UGLY.

_____1_____ that you are a poor _____2_____ living in ancient Egypt, when a band of soldiers accompanied by a _____3_____ of slaves carrying building materials appears on the scene. While you are inside your house, the slaves erect an _____4______ and the whole company disappears. The _____5_____ features figures like those soldiers who have just left engaged in victorious battles and, in a prominent position, the figure of the sphinx-like _____6_____. After briefly considering an _____7______, you and the other inhabitants change your _____8_____ in what is one of the earliest instances of the power of _____9______, albeit a not very ______10______ one.

Questions 11 - 14

Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in Boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet.

11. According to Philip Taylor, propaganda .....

A. is needed to propagate people's beliefs

B. was a tool of coercion before 1914

C. has always been a neutral force

D. was merely a process of persuading people to do things prior to 1914

12. According to Philip Taylor, propaganda .....

A. is not a neutral concept

B. is value loaded up until 1914

C. is a neutral concept

D. was a neutral concept up until 1914

13. Politicians in the West ......

A. will do anything to avoid using the word propaganda

B. like using the word propaganda in the media

C. do not dread the "p" word

D. are consummate acrobats

14. The public ......

A. are happy to be deceived by advertisers

B. are deceived by advertisers

C. are not deceived by advertisers

D. respect the advertisers

READING PASSAGE 2 The pursuit of knowledge

According to the great English lexicographer Samuel Johnson, knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves or we know where we can find information upon it (Boswell Life vol. 2 p. 383 18 April 1775). In the information-driven world we now inhabit, the latter has assumed a much greater level of importance.

At the time of the European Renaissance, which spanned the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it was considered possible for the educated, well-read man, the so-called Renaissance man, to possess the sum total of human knowledge. Admittedly, the body of knowledge then available was restricted, being held firmly in check by several important factors: the paucity of books in circulation at that time; the difficulty of acquiring copies of the texts; the need to copy texts by hand; and the cost of doing so. The example of Lupus of Ferrieres' search for the Ars rhetorica of Fortunatus in the ninth century was repeated again and again throughout the Latin West until the momentous advent of printing in the middle of the fifteenth century. Printed books saw the end of some of the practical limitations placed on the spread of human knowledge. The first revolution in information technology had begun.

Renaissance man was rapidly left behind by this development; and, henceforth, it would be increasingly difficult for the educated man to cope with the expansion of knowledge that flowed through Europe via the medium of movable type.

In today's world, the scenario could hardly be more different. The most well-read individual, whom we could legitimately call information man, or homo sciens, would certainly be considerably more knowledgeable than Renaissance man. Yet, because of the ever-expanding increase in the sum total of human knowledge over the latter half of the last millennium, and the changes in the world of technology, easy access to information has reduced the stature of the educated individual. All that he can hope to be now is an expert in a narrow field, not the all-knowing polymath of yesteryear.

It is not surprising to see people overwhelmed by the umlimited stream of information. There is simply too much of it to assimilate, and it is difficult to know what to do with the data once it is received; which brings us back to Johnson's words. But we need to add an other dimension to his dictum, one which was probably true in his time, but is even more pertinent today: people need to be able to use the knowledge they acquire and not just know it or know where to find it. Our deficiency in this regard is, perhaps, the most singular failure of the modern information age.

Acquisitiveness is a natural human instinct. Children collect cards of footballers, or whatever is the latest fad. Stamps, coins and books are targets for children and adult collectors alike, as their basic instincts are played upon and nurtured by market forces. The desire to gather knowledge is nothing new. What is astonishing, however, is the way in which people treat the knowledge once it has been collected. It is as if the collection were an end in itself, and herein lies the great deception. We have turned the world into a large machine of information, a veritable vortex into which we are all being inexorably sucked. People beaver away amassing raw data, labouring under the misapprehension that they are doing something worthwhile, when all that is really happening is the movement of information from one place to another. We should hardly be surprised that, as this becomes apparent, disillusionment and stress in the workplace are becoming sadly the all too common consequences.

The world is not really the richer for having the current wealth of knowledge at its fingertips. It is like standing amongst the wealth of the British Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris or other great libraries and not being able to read.

So what is to be done? Training in collecting and processing relevant information, followed by learning to collate, analyse and select or discard is the obvious solution. But there is such a dearth of people who know what to do that one remains pessimistic.

The pursuit of knowledge is sadly not all it is cracked up to be.

Questions 15 - 21

Complete the sentences below. Use NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS from the passage to complete each blank space.

Write your answers in Boxes 15-21 on your answer sheet.

15. Samuel Johnson was an _________________.

16. Renaissance man supposedly possessed all ___________________.

17. The spread of knowledge changed with the all important _________________.

18. According to the writer, today's information man knows more than ________________.

19. The standing of the modern educated man has been diminished by _______________.

20. The polymath of the Renaissance is described as __________________.

21. In today's world, people are weighed down by the endless ___________________.

Questions 22-25

Answer the questions below. Use NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in Boxes 22-25 on your answer sheet.

22. How does the writer describe people's inability in the modern world to use the knowledge that they obtain?

23. What is the desire to collect things described as?

24. According to the author, what has the world turned into?

25. What are the consequences in the workplace of moving large amounts of raw date around?

Questions 26-28

Do the statements below agree with the information in Reading Passage 2?

In Boxes 26-28, write:

Yes                if the statement agrees with the information in the passage

No                 if the statement contradicts the information in the passage 

Not Given     if there is no information about the statement in the passage

      Example:       The European Renaissance spanned the 14^th, 15^th and 16^th centuries.

      Answer:         Yes.

26.   As the world has a wealth of knowledge within easy reach, it is now richer.

27.   Knowledge processing courses will soon be obligatory for all library workers.

28.   The author believes that the pursuit of knowledge is worthwhile.

TEST 6 READING PASSAGE 3

Between the Inishowen peninsula, north west of Derry, and the Glens of Antrim, in the east beyond the Sperrin Mountains, is found some of Western Europe's most captivating and alluring landscape.

The Roe Valley Park, some 15 miles east of Derry is a prime example. The Park, like so many Celtic places, is steeped in history and legend. As the Roe trickles down through heather bogs in the Sperrin Mountains to the South., it is a river by the time it cuts through what was once called the "garden of the soul" - in Celtic "Gortenanima".

The castle of O'Cahan once stood here and a number of houses which made up the town of Limavady. The town takes its name from the legend of a dog leaping into the river Roe carrying a message, or perhaps chasing a stag. This is a magical place, where the water traces its way through rock and woodland; at times, lingering in brooding pools of dark cool water under the shade of summer trees, and, at others, forming weirs and leads for water mills now long gone.

The Roe, like all rivers, is witness to history and change. To Mullagh Hill, on the west bank of the River Roe just outside the present day town of Limavady, St. Columba came in 575 AD for the Convention of Drumceatt. The world is probably unaware that it knows something to Limavady; but the town is, in fact, renowned for Jane Ross's song Danny Boy, written to a tune once played by a tramp in the street.

Some 30 miles along the coast road from Limavady, one comes upon the forlorn, but imposing ruin of Dunluce Castle, which stands on a soft basalt outcrop, in defiance of the turbulent Atlantic lashing it on all sides. The jagged - toothed ruins sit proud on their rock top commanding the coastline to east and west. The only connection to the mainland is by a narros bridge. Until the kitchen court fell into the sea in 1639 killing several servants, the castle was fully inhabited. In the next hundred years or so, the structure gradually fell into its present dramatic state of disrepair, stripped of its roofs by wind and weather and robbed by man of its carved stonework. Ruined and forlorn its aspect may be, yet, in the haunting Celtic twilight of the long summer evenings, it is redolent of another age, another dream.

A mile or so to the east of the castle lies Port na Spaniagh, where the Neapolitan Galleas, Girona, from the Spanish Armada went down one dark October night in 1588 on its way to Scotland. Of the 1500-odd men on board, nine survived.

Even further to the east, is the Giant's Causeway, a stunning coastline with strangely symmetrical columns of dark basalt - a beautiful geological wonder. Someone once said of the Causeway that it was worth seeing, but not worth going to see. That was in the days of horses and carriages, when travelling was difficult. But it is certainly well worth a visit. The last lingering moments of the twilight hours are the best time to savour the full power of the coastline's magic; the time when the place comes into its own. The tourists are gone and if you are very lucky you will be alone. It is not frightening, but there is a power in the place; tangible, yet inexplicable. The feeling is one of eeriness and longing, and of something missing, something not quite fulfilled; the loss of light and the promise of darkness; a time between two worlds. Once experienced, this feeling never leaves you: the longing haunts and pulls at you for the rest of your days.

Beyond the Causeway, connecting the mainland with an outcrop of rock jutting out of the turbulent Atlantic, is the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. Not a crossing for the faint-hearted. The Bridge swings above a chasm of rushing, foaming water that seeks to drag the unwary down, and away.

Questions 29 - 33

Choose one phrase (A-E) from the List of places to label the map below. Write the appropriate letters (A-E) in Boxes 29-33 on your answer sheet.

List of places

A   The Sperrin Mountains

B   Dunluce Castle

C   Inishowen

D   The Glens of Antrim

E    Limavady

Questions 34 - 37

Do the statements below agree with the information in Reading Passage 3?

In Boxes 34-37, write:

Yes                 if the statement agrees with the information in the passage

No                   if the statement contradicts the information in the passage

Not Given       if there is no information about the statement in the passage

             Example: Inishowen is in the north-west of Ireland.

             Answer: Yes

34. After 1639 the castle of Dunluce was not completely uninhabited.

35. For the author Dunluce castle evokes another period of history.

36. There were more than 1500 men on the Girona when it went down.

37. The writer disagrees with the viewpoint that the Giant's Causeway is not worth going to visit.

Questions 38 - 40

Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in Boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet.

38. The writer feels that the Giant's Causeway is ......

A    an unsettling place

B    a relaxing place

C    a boring place

D    a place that helps one unwind

39. Where was this passage taken from?

A     the news section of a newspaper

B     a travel section in a newspaper

C     a biography

D    an academic journal on geography

40. Which of the following would be a good title for the passage?

A    The Roe Valley Park

B    The Giant's Causeway

C    Going East to West

D    A leap into history

TEST 7 READING PASSAGE 1 Lotte and Wytze Hellinga

A.   As a student at the University of Amsterdam after the Second World War, Lotte found herself stimulated first by the teaching of Herman de la Fontaine Verwey and then by that of the forceful personality of Wytze Hellinga, at that time Professor of Dutch Philology at the University. Wytze Hellinga's teaching was grounded in the idea of situating what he taught in its context. Obliged to teach Gothic, for example, he tried to convey a sense of the language rooted in its own time and environment.

B.   Study of the book was becoming increasingly important at the University of Amsterdam at this period, as the work of de la Fontaine Verwey and Gerrit Willem Ovink testifies. Wytze Hellinga's interests, formerly largely in a socio-linguistic direction, were now leaning more towards texts and to the book as the medium that carried written texts.

C.   Much of Wytze's teaching followed his own research interests, as he developed his ideas around the sense that texts should properly be understood in the context of their method of production and dissemination. He was at this time increasingly turning to codicology and to the classic Anglo-Saxon model of bibliography in the realization that the plan to produce a proper critical edition of the works of Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, the seventeenth-century poet, dramatist and historian, depended on the application of the skills of analytical bibliography.

D.   Encouraged by his work, Lotte produced an undergraduate thesis on the printer's copy of the Otia of Constantijn Huygens (The Hague, 1625). This work, incidentally, has never been published, although an article was regularly announced as forthcoming in Quaerendo during the early 1970s.

E.   On graduation in 1958, events took a turn that was to prove fateful. Lotte was awarded a postgraduate fellowship by the Nederlandse Organisatie voor Zuiver-Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek ( or Z.W.O) to go to England to study fifteenth-century printing, and Marie Kronenberg, the doyenne of Dutch bibliographers, arranged for her to be "taught incunabulizing" (as she put it) by Victor Scholderer at the British Museum.

F.   As an honorary Assistant Keeper at the Museum, then, she came to England in 1959, assisting among other things with the preparation of BMC volume IX (concerning the production of Holland and Belgium) while studying the texts of the Gouda printer Gerard Leeu to see if the sources (and hopefully printer's copy) for his editions could be identified. Although the subject proved difficult to define immediately so as to lead in a productive direction, most of this work was nonetheless to find its way into print in such collaborative publications as the Hellinga's Fifteenth century printing types, the edition of the Bradshaw correspondence and the 1973 Brussels catalogue, to each of which we shall return. But during her time at the Museum, Lotte's attention was also attracted by such things as English provenances on early-printed continental books, an interest which has stayed with her throughout her career.

G.   Wytze's attention too was turning towards incunabula at this time, at witnessed by the fifteenth-century examples used in his Copy and Print in the Netherlands (1962), and there began a fruitful period of collaborative work which was issued in a stream of short bibliographical articles on Low Countries incunabula, and culminated triumphantly in the ground-breaking Fifteenth-Century Printing Types of the Low Countries, commissioned (at Wytze's instance) by Menno Hertzberger in 1961 and published in 1966. These years saw period of intensive study in the libraries strongest in the incunabula of the Low Countries, with whole summers passed in Cambridge and Copenhagen as well as shorter visits to libraries from Oxford to Vienna.

H.   The partnership between Lotte and Wytze was also to lead to marriage and to the birth of their son. Between 1961 and 1975, the Hellingas were in Amsterdam. In 1965, Lotte had obtained a research assistantship for Dutch prototypography from the Z.W.O., and from 1967 she was teaching at the Institute of Dutch Studies at the University of Amsterdam. She continued to develop her interest in analytical bibliography in a number of directions, perhaps most strikingly in important work on early Dutch printing and an examination of the Coster question. She also contributed to the catalogue which accompanied the exhibition held in Brussels in 1973 to commemorate the quincentenary of the introduction of printing to the Netherlands, a collaborative work that still provides the best presentation of the work of the early printers of the Low Countries.

I.   The year 1974 saw the award of a doctorate by the University of Amsterdam for her thesis on the relationship between copy and print in a fifteenth-century printing-house, Methode en praktijk bij het zetten van boeken in de vijftiende eeuw. This seminal work, remaining as a Dutch dissertation of limited diffusion, has perhaps not been as widely read as it deserves. There followed a year's respite from teaching in 1975 with the commission from Ensched, to edit Harry Carter's translation of Charles Ensched's Type foundries in the Netherlands, at length published in 1978.

Questions 1 - 8

Reading Passage 1 has 9 paragraphs (A-I). Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xv) in Boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet. You may use each heading only once.

One of the headings has been done for you as an example.

NB. There are more headings than pargraphs, so you will not use all of them.

1. Paragraph A                    5. Paragraph E

2. Paragraph B                    6. Pargraph F

3. Paragraph C                    7. Paragraph G

4. Paragraph D                      8. Paragraph H

          Example:       Paragraph I

          Answer:          iii

List of headings

i. The classic Anglo-Saxon model                          ix. Lotte's work in England

ii. Lotte to go to England                                     x. The development of Wytze's research

iii. More recognition deserved                                xi. Back in Amsterdam

iv. Wytze's research in Oxford                               xii. A postgraduate student at university

v. Wytze's interest in texts and the book                 xiii. A socio-linguistic direction

vi. Lotte unpublished                                           xiv. Wytze's interest in incunabula

vii. Lotte to be published                                      xv. The birth of a son

viii. Lotte's first influences at university

Questions 9 - 14

Do the statements below agree with the information in Reading Passage 1?

In Boxes 9-14, write:

Yes              if the statement agrees with the information in the passage

No               if the statement contradicts the information in the passage

Not Given   if there is no information about the statement in the passage

    Example:    At university, Lotte was first stimulated by the teaching of de la Fontaine Verwey.

    Answer:     Yes

9. Lotte studied at the University of Amsterdam after the Second World War.

10. Prior to his interests in the book, Wytze's interest was mainly in socio-linguistics.

11. According to Wytze Hellinga, the production and dissemination of books were not really matters of importance.

12. When Lotte moved to England, she found it difficult to settle in initially.

13. Lotte lived and worked in Amsterdam during part of the 60s and 70s.

14. Lotte's postgraduate thesis was widely disseminated.

Question 15

Choose the appropriate letter A-D and write it in Box 15 on your answer sheet.

15. The passage is an extract from a much larger text. What type of text is it?

A   a biography

B   a newspaper editorial

C   a bibliography

D   a travelogue

READING PASSAGE 2 Party Labels in Mid-Eighteenth Century England

A.  Until the late 1950s the Whig interpretation of English history in the eighteenth century prevailed. This was successfully challenged by Lewis Namier, who proposed, based on an analysis of the voting records of MPs from the 1760 intake following the accession to the throne of George III, that the accepted Whig/Tory division of politics did not hold. He believed that the political life of the period could be explained without these party labels, and that it was more accurate to characterise political division in terms of the Court versus Country.

B.  An attempt was then made to use the same methodology to determine whether the same held for early eighteenth century politics. To Namier's chagrin this proved that at the end of Queen Anne's reign in 1714 voting in parliament was certainly based on party interest, and that Toryism and Whiggism were distinct and opposed political philosophies. Clearly, something momentous had occurred between 1714 and 1760 to apparently wipe out party ideology. The Namierite explanation is that the end of the Stuart dynasty on the death of Queen Anne and the beginning of the Hanoverian with the accession of George I radically altered the political climate.

C.  The accession of George I to the throne in 1715 was not universally popular. He was German, spoke little English, and was only accepted because he promised to maintain the Anglican religion. Furthermore, for those Tory members of government under Anne, he was nemesis, for his enthronement finally broke the hereditary principle central to Tory philosophy, confirming the right of parliament to depose or select a monarch. Moreover, he was aware that leading Tories had been in constant communication with the Stuart court in exile, hoping to return the banished King James II. As a result, all Tories were expelled from government, some being forced to escape to France to avoid execution for treason.

D.  The failure of the subsequent Jacobite rebellion of 1715, where certain Tory magnates tried to replace George with his cousin James, a Stuart, albeit a Catholic, was used by the Whig administration to identify the word "Tory" with treason. This was compounded by the Septennial Act of 1716, limiting elections to once every seven years, which further entrenched the Whig's power base at the heart of government focussed around the crown. With the eradication of one of the fundamental tenets of their philosophy, alongside the systematic replacement of all Tory positions by Whig counterparts, Tory opposition was effectively annihilated. There was, however, a grouping of Whigs in parliament who were not part of the government.

E.  The MPs now generally referred to as the "Independent Whigs" inherently distrusted the power of the administration, dominated as it was by those called "Court Whigs". The Independent Whig was almost invariably a country gentleman, and thus resisted the growth in power of those whose wealth was being made on the embryonic stock market. For them the permanency of land meant patriotism, a direct interest in one's nation, whilst shares, easily transferable, could not be trusted. They saw their role as a check on the administration, a permanent guard against political corruption, the last line of defence of the mixed constitution of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. The reaction against the growing mercantile class was shared by the Tories, also generally landed country gentlemen. It is thus Namier's contention, and that of those who follow his work, that by the 1730s the Tories and the Independent Whigs had refused to form a Country opposition to the Court administration, thus explaining why voting records in 1760 do not follow standard party lines.

F.  It must be recognised that this view is not universally espoused. Revisionist historians such as Linda Colley dispute that the Tory party was destroyed during this period, and assert the continuation of the Tories as a discrete and persistent group in opposition, allied to the Independent Whigs but separate. Colley's thesis is persuasive, as it is clear that some, at least, regarded themselves as Tories rather than Whigs. She is not so successful in proving the persistence either of party organisation beyond family connection, or of ideology, beyond tradition. Furthermore, while the terms "Tory" and "Whig" were used frequently in the political press, it was a device of the administration rather than the opposition. As Harris notes in his analysis of the "Patriot" press of the 1740s, there is hardly any discernible difference between Tory and Whig opposition pamphlets, both preferring to describe themselves as the "Country Interest", and attacking "the Court".

Questions 16 - 20

Reading Passage 2 has 6 paragraphs (A-F). Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-x) in Boxes 16-20 on your answer sheet. 

One of the headings has been done for you as an example.

NB. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.

16. Paragraph A

17. Paragraph B

18. Paragraph C

19. Paragraph D

20. Paragraph E

          Example:    Paragraph F

          Answer:      iii

List of headings

i.   The Whig/Tory division discounted

ii.  Maintaining the Anglican religion

iii. The fusion theory challenged and supported

iv.  The consequences of George I's accession

v.  The Tory landowners

vi.  Political divisions in the early 1700s

vii.  The failure of the Jacobean rebellion

viii.  The Tory opposition effectively destroyed

ix.  The fusion of the Independent Whigs and the Tory landowners

x.  The Whig interpretation of history

Questions 21 - 27

Do the statements below agree with the information in Reading Passage 2?

In Boxes 21-27, write:

Yes                if the statement agrees with the information in the passage

No                  if the statement contradicts the information in the passage

Not Given       if there is no information about the statement in the passage

        Example:    Until the late 1950s the Whig interpretation of English history was the one that was widely accepted.

        Answer:    Yes.

21. According to Namier, political divisions in the mid 18^th century were not related to party labels.

22. According to Namier, something happened between 1714 and 1760 to affect party ideology.

23. George I was not liked by everyone.

24. The Independent Whigs were all landowners with large estates.

25. Neither the Independent Whigs, nor the Tories trusted the mercantile classes.

26. Namier's views are supported by Colley.

27. Harris's analysis of the press of the 1740s is used by Namier to support his own views.

READING PASSAGE 3

A.  The medical profession is currently under siege as never before with a spate of high profile malpractice cases. This attack is taking place at a time when the National Health Service is undergoing a "culture change" brought about by a shift in the public's attitudes to authority, in general, and, more specifically, by the demystification of medicine. The perception that doctors are a race apart is finally beginning to wane.

B.  These forces have, fortunately, already led to a number of radical developments in the last five or six years in the way doctors are being trained, with greater emphasis now being laid on a more patient-oriented approach. Whilst, in the past, communicating effectively with patients was left basically to chance, this is no longer the case. As part of their final assessment, doctors now have to take a practical examination where their communication as well as clinical skills are carefully scrutinised.

C.  If you ask most people what makes a good doctor, they will not say someone with sound medical knowledge. The first thing that will spring to mind is a good beside manner; in other words, good communication skills. But what does a good bedside manner, or communication skills, entail?

D.  All too often people complain about the lack of sensitivity of the doctors they encounter whether they be generalists or specialists. Some other frequently voiced criticisms are that doctors sound as if they are delivering a lecture when talking to patients; pontificating from on high. Or that they lack basic social skills; or indeed that they are bad listeners, concerned only with delivering their message rather than becoming involved with any kind of negotiation with the patient. So it would be safe to say that the most important aspect of a good bedside manner is good interpersonal skills.

E.  From the patient's point of view, the interaction they have during their consultation with a doctor is very personal and hence emotional, while for the doctor it is merely a logical and objective process. And so, the chances of the doctor/patient communication breaking down are high if the doctor is not sufficiently skilled in handling the patient's emotional needs. A doctor must be able to deal with the full range of a patient's feelings, showing sympathy and empathy especially when handling difficult situations, like breaking bad news, etc.

F.  Another aspect of the good bedside manner, which is more often than not overlooked, is having the ability to talk to patients using lay language that they understand, while, at the same time, avoiding any hint of condescension, or being patronising. The inability to do this has a number of effects. When doctors use medical jargon, patients feel that they are trying to hide something. Doctors can also give the impression that they do not know what they are talking about; or even that they do not know the solution to a problem.

G.  It is also essential that the doctor at all times is able to maintain authority. For example, doctors need to deal with some patients' belief that medicine is infallible, i.e. that the doctor has the panacea for every woe! This is certainly no easy task, as most people's expectations are raised by the daily diet of wondrous developments in medicine.

H.  The other side of the coin is that, as people's awareness and knowledge have increased, albeit often misinformed by the internet etc., the stronger their doubts about the medical profession have become. And coupled with the rise in general educational awareness, the public have consequently a lower regard for doctors. This, in urn, has affected doctors' ability to communicate. They are not able to hide behind the veneer that technical jargon created.

I.  At last, the pendulum has swung in the patient's direction. The onus is now upon doctors to adapt themselves to the patient's needs rather than the patient approaching some awesome god-like figure. The veil has been lifted and the temple violated.

Questions 28 - 35

Reading Passage 3 has 9 paragraphs (A-I). Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xv) in Boxes 28-35 on your answer sheet.

One of the headings has been done for you as an example.

NB. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.

           Example:     Paragraph A

           Answer:      xv

28. Paragraph B

29. Paragraph C

30. Paragraph D

31. Paragraph E

32. Paragraph F

33. Paragraph G

34. Paragraph H

35. Paragraph I

List of headings

i.    Still maintaining authority and patients' raised expectations

ii.   Medicine mystified

iii.  What makes a good doctor?

iv.  The burden now on doctors

v.   Good personal skills

vi.  Good interpersonal skills

vii.  The essence of medical training

viii.  Emotion and logic

ix.   Avoiding medical jargon

x.   Doctors - born or made?

xi.  Doctors' status lowered

xii. Changing attitudes effect changes in doctors' training

xiii. The swinging pendulum

xiv. Meeting patients

xv. A culture change in the National Health Service

Questions 36 - 40

Choose the appropriate letters A-D  and write them in Boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.

36. The change in people's attitude to authority has, in part, ...

A  mystified medicine

B  improved medical training considerably

C  affected people's feelings about authority

D  effected a cultural change in the health service

37. Which of the following statements is true according to the information in the passage?

A  Doctors need to be able to use lay language with patients and, at the same time, to avoid talking down to the patient

B  Doctors do not need to be able to use lay language with patients, nor to avoid being condescending to the patient

C  For doctors, the use of lay language with patients is not important

D  For all medical personnel, the use of lay language with patients is important

38.  How would you describe the writer's attitude to the changes in medical training?

A  He is in two-minds about the changes

B  He is against the changes

C  He is lukewarm about the changes

D  He is for the changes

39. Which of the following is the most suitable title for the passage?

A  A change of emphasis in the doctor/patient relationship

B  The patient's perspective

C  An overview of medical training

D  A panacea for all ills

40. The author wrote the passage ...

A  to criticise the new developments in medicine

B  to show how the public's shift in attitude to doctors has brought about changes in the doctor/patient relationship

C  to show how the medical profession needs to be changed

D  to blame the medical profession for society's ills

Here is something news for today.

1.     Siege (n)           : sự bao vây

2.     Spate (n)          : nhiều

3.     Malpractice (n): sự sơ xuất

4.     High profile (a): nổi tiếng, được quan tâm nhiều (ex: The medical profession is currently under siege as never before with a spate of high profile malpractice cases)

5.     Take place (v)  : diễn ra (ex: The meeting was taken place at the time noone was ready for)

6.     Undergoing (a): đang diễn ra

7.     Bring about (v): gây ra

8.     Authority (n)     : nhà cầm quyền, uy tín (ex: The public’s attitude to authority was low record in recent months)

9.     Demystification (n): sự làm rõ (ex: Demystification of medicine is essential for patients who directly suffered by)

10. Perceive (v) à perception (n)   : hiểu, nhận thức (ex: The perception that doctors are a race apart)

11. Wane (v)          : suy tàn

12. Radical (a)        : cấp tiến, tiến bộ (ex: Recent medical progresses are the radical development)

13. Emphasis (v)     : sự nhấn mạnh (ex: Doctors are being trained with greater emphasis now being laid on a more patient-oriented approach)

14. Whilst ~ while: trong khi

15. Be left basically to chance : được chăng hay chớ (ex: Receiving compensation is left basically to chance)

16. Clinic (n) à clinical (a): phòng khám

17. Scrutinise (v) à scrutiny (n): soi xét kỹ

18. Spring to mind (v) ~ come to mind (v): xuất hiện trong tâm trí, nảy ra

19. Bedside (n)       : cạnh giường (ex: bedside manner: người chăm sóc ~ care-taker ~ janitor)

20. Entail (v) ~ need (v) ~ require (v)          : đòi hỏi, yêu cầu

21. All too often     : rất thường xuyên

22. Sense (n)          : giác quan à sensitive (a) à sensitivity (n) à sensitiveness (n)

23. Encounter (v)    : gặp gỡ, chạm trán

24. General (a) à generalist (n): người chung chung

25. Deliver a lecture (v)      : giảng bài

26. Pontificate (v)   : làm ra vẻ giáo hoàng (ex: Pontificating from on high)

27. Interpersonal skills (n): kỹ năng giao tiếp ~ communication skills

28. From someone’s point of view : từ quan điểm của ai

29. Consult (v)       : tư vấn à consultation (n)

30. Hence ~ therefore ~ thus (adv): do đó

31. Merely (adv)    : chỉ, đơn thuần

32. Break down (v): phá hỏng

33. Full range of somebody’s feelings: các mức độ cảm xúc của 1 ai đó

34. Breaking (a)     : đột xuất (ex: breaking bad news)

35. More often than not : rất thường xuyên (ex: Another aspect of the good bedside manner which is more often than not overlooked)

36. Overlook (v)    : bỏ ra

37. Lay language (n):

38. Condescension (n): sự chiếu cố, hạ mình

39. Hint (n) : gọi ý, dấu hiệu

40. Patronise (v)     : kẻ cả

41. Jargon (n)         : biệt ngữ, từ chuyên ngành

42. Infallible (a)      : không thể sai

43. Panacea (n)      : thuốc chữa bách bệnh

44. Woe (n)           : nỗi đau, bệnh tật (ex: Some people believe that doctor has the panacea for every woe)

45. Diet (n) : chế độ ăn

46. Wondrous (a)   : phi thường, kì diệu (ex: wondrous development in medicine)

47. The other side of the coin is that …: mặt trái của vấn đề là ở chỗ

48. Albeit (adv)      : mặc dù

49. Misinform (v)    : không được thông báo

50. Couple with (v): cùng với, cộng với

51. Public’s opinion (n): dư luận xã hội

52. Veneer (n)        : vỏ bọc, lớp gỗ bên ngoài

53. Pendulum (n)    : con lắc (ex: At last, the pendulum has swung in the patient’s direction)

54. Onus (n)           : nhiệm vụ

55. Adapt (v) à adaptive (a) à adaption (n): thích nghi

56. Awesome (a)    : kinh khủng

57. Veil (n) : mạng che mặt

58. Temple (n)        : thái dương

59. Coworker (n)   : đồng nghiệp

Quarter (n)       : kỳ học

TEST 8 READING PASSAGE 1 This is very much the story of a story

The outline of the tale has been told before. It can be found in Edward Miller's history of the British Museum. Arundell Esdaile's book on the British Museum Library, rather more chattily, in Edward Edward's Lives of the founders of the Museum, and most recently, and its first excursion this century outside the literature of the Museum, in Christopher Hibbert's new biography of Geogre III.

The December 1850 issue of the Quarterly Review contains a long article reviewing a number of official reports into the functioning of the British Museum (including incidentally a review of the House of Commons Select Committee report of 1836, fifteen years earlier: it is never too late to review a good report. Although anonymous, it was written by Richard Ford, probably best remembered today as the author of Murray's Handbook for travellers in Spain.

The review contains much that is entertaining and amusing, and I must say it can be recommended today to anyone concerned with organising Library services, but for our purposes the bit that matters is the allegation that, among other things, Geogre IV had been considering selling Geogre III's library to the Tsar of Russia, until the British government intervened and arranged for its transfer instead to the British Museum. 

This story was picked up during 1851 by a number of contributors to Notes & Queries, where various mischievous observations about what happened and who was involved were made. These comments revolved chiefly round the suggestion that the King's Library was not the munificent gift to the nation that it was claimed to be, but that the government had in effect had to buy the Library, either directly by purchase, or indirectly by agreeing to treat the King's requests for money more sympathetically than hitherto.

In August 1851, however, came a communication to Notes & Queries of a different kind from the previous notes, which are rather more gossipy in nature. It is signed "C". He writes: "I have delayed contradicting the stories told about the King's Library in the Quarterly Review of last December ... I am sorry to say still more gravely and circumstantially reproduced by the Editor of Notes & Queries. I have delayed. I say, until I was enabled to satisfy myself more completely as to one of the allegations in your Note."

"C." goes on: "I can now venture to assure you that the whole story of the projected sale to Russia is absolutely unfounded". He then goes on to sketch in background about Geogre IV's wish to dispose of the Library and the government's success in getting it to the British Museum.

"C." then objects in particular to the suggestion, made by the Notes & Queries editor rather than in the Quarterly, that Princess Lieven, the well-known socialite and friend of Geogre IV's, whose husband was Russian ambassador in London at the time, had been involved in the plan. He explains that Princess Lieven was adamant that she had known of no such proposal, and therefore that that was that.

But that was not that. The December issue of Notes & Queries includes a short note, signed "Griffin", arguing that while Princess Lieven may claim to have known nothing, it did not mean that there had not been talk about a Russian purchase. "Griffin" also suggests that one of the King's motives for getting rid of the Library was to sort out problems arising from Geogre III's Will ( a suggestion, as has been pointed out before, that is incidentally supported by an entry from early 1823 in the journal of Charles Greville).

This provoked "C." to return to the matter in early 1852, when he argued that it was inconceivable that Princess Lieven would not have known that such a thing was in the air, given her court and social connections. In other words, the Russian connection is just idle speculation.

An interesting aspect of all this is that the initial stirring and rumour-mongering was all to do with money: was the library, or was it not, paid for? It is the intervention of "C." and his fervent denials that bring the Russians into prominence.

The identity of "C." is obscure. Arundell Esdaile identifies him as John Wilson Croker, the veteran politician and essayist. This seems to me unlikely: Croker was certainly involved in public affairs in the 1820s, but he was also a major contributor, a sort of editorial advisor, to the Quarterly Review, where the original offending article appeared. Indeed he wrote this own piece for it on the Museum in the December 1852 issue, without referring at all to the King's Library stories, and referring to Richard Ford's article in respectful not to say glowing terms. A footnote to his article, however, states that the Quarterly expected to publish an authoritative account of the King's Library business in the future: it never did.

Questions 1 - 6

Do the statements below agree with the information in Reading Passage 1?

In Boxes 1-6, write:

Yes                   if the statement agrees with the information in the passage

No                     if the statement contradicts the information in the passage

Not Given         if there is no information about the statement in the passage

   Example:       The outline of the tale has been told before.

   Answer:         Yes

1.  The story that the writer is telling has only ever been carried in publications relating to the British Museum.

2.  When published, the review of several reports on the workings of the British Museum in the Quarterly Review was anonymous.

3.  The writer claims that it was Richard Ford who wrote the review of several reports on the workings of the British Museum in the Quarterly Review.

4.  Richard Ford alleged that Geogre IV was planning to sell his father's, i.e. Geogre III's, library to the Tsar of Russia.

5.  Murray wrote the Handbook for travellers to Spain.

6.  The British Government bought Geogre IV's father's library for a very large sum of money.

Questions 7 - 10

Complete the sentences below. Use NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS from the passage to complete each blank space.

Write your answers in Boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.

7.  Geogre IV's father's collection of books is known as the ___________________.

8.  Doubting that the collection was given to the nation, some commentators said it was not a ________________.

9.   "C." says that the story about the sale of the books to Russia was _________________.

10.  According to "C.", Princess Lieven was not _____________________.

Questions 11 - 14

Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in Boxes 11-14 on your answer sheet.

11. "Griffin" argued that the connection with Russia ......

A  could not be trusted

B  was genuine

C  was possible

D  was worth examining

12. Charles Greville ....

A   does not corroborate Griffin's suggestion that the sale of the Library was connected with Geogre III's Will

B   partially supports Griffin's suggestion that the sale of the Library was connected with Geogre III's Will

C   corroborates Griffin's suggestion that the sale of the Library was connected with Geogre III's Will

D   was Prime Minister in the early 1820s

13.  Which of the following is true according to the text?

A  The identity of "C." is obvious

B  The identity of "C." is not clear

C  The identity of "C." is Arundell Esdaile

D  The identity of "C." is John Wilson Croker

14. Croker ....

A  had been a politician for a long time

B  was an editor

C  was someone who advised politicians

D  was a minor contributor to Notes & Queries

READING PASSAGE 2  De profundis clamavi  

( The opening words in Latin of Psalm 130: Out of the depths (of despair), I have cried unto you(i.e. Lord) )

A.  But not too loud! According to the Royal National Institute for Deaf People, there has been a threefold increase in hearing loss and, in future, deafness will become an epidemic. It is hardly surprising that new research shows complains about noise, in particular loud music and barking dogs, are on the increase.So dire has the situation become that the National Society for Clean Air and the Environment was even moved to designate 7 June 2000 as Noise Action Day.

B.  There are so many different sources of noise competing for people's attention. Travelling on a train as it saunters gently through the countryside was once a civilised and enjoyable experience. That delight has all but disappeared. Because we have to reach our destination more such high velocity. The train is noisier. And so are the occupants. They have to compete with the din of the train; and the conversation of their fellow travellers. And then there are ubiquitous headphones (one set if you're lucky); not to mention that bane of all travellers, the mobile phone - not one's own, of course, because one has switched it off. The noise sensitive, a growing minority group, are hit by a double whammy here: the phone going off and the person answering in a loud voice, because they cannot believe the other person can hear. And let us not forget computer games making horrid noises given by parents to keep their children quiet! It is, however, gratifying to see that some train companies request people to keep the volume of their headphones down. It still strikes one as strange that people have to be reminded to do this. Like no-smoking carriages we should have more no-noise carriages: mobile-free, headphone-free, computer-free zones!

C.  And the answer? Stay at home? No, not really. The neighbours do DIY: if you are lucky between 9 am and 7 pm, and, if you are not, 24 hours a day. They play loud music, sing, play the piano, rip up their carpets; they jump up and down on bare floorboards to annoy onto bare wooden floors and make your heart stop. And, because they want to hear the music in other parts of their flat they pump up the volume, so that you can feel the noise as well as hear it. And if you are very fortunate, they attach the stereo to the walls above your settee, so that you can vibrate as well. Even if you live in a semi-detached or detached property, they will still get you.

D.  People escape to the countryside and return to the urban environment. They cannot tolerate the noise - the tractors, the cars and the motorbikes ripping the air apart as they career along country roads. Then there are the country dirt-track rallies that destroy the tranquility of country weekends and holidays. And we mustn't forget the birds! Believe me, the dawn chorus is something to contend with. So, when you go to the countryside, make sure you take your industrial ear-muffs with you!

E.  A quiet evening at the cinema, perhaps, or a restaurant? The former will have the latest all-round stereophonic eardrum-bursting sound system, with which they will try to deafen you. Film soundtracks register an average of 82 decibels with the climax of some films hitting as high as 120! And, in the restaurant, you will be waited on by waiters who have been taking their employers to court, because the noise in their working environment is way above the legal limits. Normal conversation registers at 60 decibels. But noise levels of up to 90 are frequent in today's restaurants. The danger level is considered to be any noise above 85 decibels! What is it doing to your eardrums then? Shopping is also out, because stereophonic sound systems have landed there, too.

F.  Recently the law in the United Kingdom has been changed vis-à-vis noise, with stiffer penalties: fines, confiscation of stereo equipment and eviction for serious offences. Noise curfews could also be imposed in residential areas by enforcing restrictions on noise levels after certain times in the evenings. Tighter legislation is a step in the right direction. But there is no one solution to the problem, least of all recourse to the law; in fact, in some well-publicised cases, the legal and bureaucratic process has been unbearable enough to drive people to suicide.

G.  The situation needs to be addressed from a variety of different angles simultaneously. There are practical solutions like using building material in flats and houses that absorb sound: sound-proofing material is already used in recording studios and, whilst it is far from cheap to install, with research and mass sales, prices will come down. Designers have begun to realise that there is a place for soft furnishings in restaurants, like carpets, soft wall-coverings and cushions. As well as creating a relaxing ambiance, they absorb the noise.

H.  Informal solutions like mediation are also frequently more effective than legislation. And the answer may partly be found in the wider social context. The issue is surely one of public awareness and of politeness, of respect for neighbours, of good manners, and also of citizenship; in effect, how individuals operate within a society and relate to each other. And, perhaps, we need to be taught once again to tolerate silence.

Questions 15 - 21

Reading Passage 2 has 8 paragraphs (A-H). Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xiii) in Boxes 15-21 on your answer sheet.

One of the headings has been done for you as an example.

NB. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.

                   Example:  Paragraph A

                   Answer: xiii

15. Paragraph B                  19. Paragraph F

16. Paragraph C                  20. Paragraph G

17. Paragraph D                  21. Paragraph H

18. Paragraph E

List of headings

i.  Social solutions

ii.  The law backs noise

iii.  Some practical solutions

iv.  The beautiful countryside

v.  Noise from mobiles

vi.  Neighbour noise

vii.  Noisy travellers

viii.  Noise to entertain you

ix.  Noisy restaurants

x.  The law and noise

xi.  Rural peace shattered

xii.  A quiet evening at the restaurant

xiii.  Noise on the increase

Questions 22 - 27

The passage contains a number of solutions for particular areas where noise is a problem. Match the solutions (A-L) to the problem areas (22-27). If no solutions is given, choose Aas the answer. Write the appropriate letters (A-L) in Boxes 22-27 on your answer sheet.

NB. There are more solutions (A-L) than sentences, so you will not need to use them all. Except for A, you may use each solution only.

                              22.  Trains                                    25. Homes

                              23.  Cinemas                                26.  Living in a rural setting

                              24.  Restaurants                            27. Shops

List of solutions

A. No solution given in the passage                     

B. People should be sent to prison                       

C. More sophisticated sound systems needed   

D. Soft furnishings needed                                 

E.  People should stay at home                                       

F.  Sound-proofing materials should be used     

G.  Music should be turned down

H.  The noise laws should be relaxed

I  Shops should have restricted opening hours

J.  Trains should be sound-proofed

K.  More noise-free carriages should be introduced on trains

L.  Visitors should take industrial ear-muffs with them

READING PASSAGE 3  Classical and modern

In the United Kingdom at university level, the decline in the study of Latin and Greek, the classics, has been reversed. As a result of  renewed interest in reading classical literature and history, more and more students are enrolling on classical studies courses. The purists may deplore this development - "it is yet another example of the 'dumbing down' of tertiary education with students studying classical literature and history in English rather than the original languages". And, I must admit, they do have a point. But the situation is surely not as dire as the ultimate demise of classics as an intellectual discipline.

A classical education is a boon and should be encouraged. But, before looking at the advantages of studying the classics, which appear, incidentally, more indirect and less tangible than other disciplines, let us examine the criticisms that are often levelled against studying Latin and Greek.

The decline in the teaching of classics

The 60s with their trendy ideas in education are blamed for the steady decline in studying the classics. But the rot had set in much earlier, when Latin and Greek were no longer required for university entrance. With the introduction of the National Curriculum in secondary schools came the biggest blow. Schools came under pressure to devote more time to core subjects like English, mathematics, the sciences, history and geography. This left scant room for the more "peripheral" subject areas like the classics. There was a further squeeze with the rush into teaching IT and computing skills. As schools could no longer choose what they wanted to teach, so subjects like the classics were further marginalised. Take Latin. In 1997, 11,694 pupils took Latin GCSE, while, in 1988, the number was 17,000. Comprehensive schools now supply 40% fewer Latin candidates, whereas grammar schools have seen a 20% decline. Latin candidates from Independent schools have fallen by only 5%. As a consequence, classics has been relegated to the "better" grammar or comprehensive schools, and the minor and great public schools. Only one third of Latin GCSE entries come from the state sector. It can, therefore, be of no surprise to anyone when the pursuit of a classical education is attacked as elitist.

Tainted by this misconception, the classics are then further damned as being irrelevant in the modern world. Having been pushed into such a tight corner, it is difficult to fight free. A classical education is so unlike, say, business studies or accountancy where young people can go directly into a profession and find a job easily. For classicists, this is not an option. Other than teaching, there is no specific professional route after leaving university. And, with the pressure in the present climate to have a job, it is less easy than previously for young people to resist the pressure from the world outside academia, and from their families, to study something else that will make them money. The relevancy argument is a hard nut to crack.

The pertinence of a classical education

Latin and Greek have been damned as dead languages that offer us nothing. The response to this criticism is, in fact, straightforward. Most European languages are a development of the classical continuum. And so having even a rudimentary knowledge prepares pupils for understanding other modern European languages. As for pertinence in the modern world, learning Latin and Greek are highly relevant. The study of these languages develops analytical skills that have, to a large extent, been lost. They teach discipline and thinking and open up the whole of Western civilisation just as the discovery of the classical world did during the Renaissance.

Latin has also been called food for the brain. It gives students a grounding in the allusions in much of European literature and thought. Modern writers do not use these allusions themselves, first, because they do not know them, and, second, because their audience does not know them either. Sadly, most people no longer have the ability to interpret the allusions in art and the same has happened with the classics vis-à-vis literature.

The danger to Western and world culture is great if the classical tradition is lost. The spiral of decline is not just restricted to the United Kingdom. Other European countries face the same loss to their heritage. If we abandon the classics, we will not be able to interpret our past and to know where we have come from. A common refrain in modern society is the lack of thinking ability among even the best graduates. They enter work, perhaps as bright as any of their predecessors. But without the necessary skills they run around trying to reinvent the wheel. As Ecclesiastes says: nihil novum sub sole est.

But help is at hand. Concerned by the fact that fewer and fewer teenagers have access to a range of foreign languages, the government is harnessing the power of the Internet to introduce a distance-learning programme, where pupils will study Latin and other minority languages at their own place. Initially piloted in 60 schools from autumn 2000, the Internet based courses will enable pupils to access advice from specialists by e-mail.

Questions 28 - 31

Do the statements below agree with the information in Reading Passage 3?

In Boxes 28-31, write:

Yes                 if the statement agrees with the information in the passage

No                   if the statement contradicts the information in the passage

Not Given       if there is no information about the statement in the passage

Example:  The decline in the study of Latin and Greek at university in the United Kingdom has been reversed.

Answer:    Yes

28. Fewer students are reading classical studies at university than before.

29. The purists welcome classical studies courses unreservedly.

30. The writer agrees fully with the purists' point of view.

31. A classical education is frowned upon in political circles.

Questions 32 - 40

Complete the text below, which is a summary of the writer's opinion on a classical education. Use ONE WORD ONLY from the text to complete each blank space. Write your answers in Boxes 32-40 on your answer sheet.

You may use each word once only.

Example:  Latin and Greek are known as the ______________.

Answer:  classics.

The writer considers a classical education to be a _____________.

He believes that, in secondary school, the teaching of classics has been _____33_______ by the introduction of the National Curriculum. This has further led to the studying of the classics being attacked as ______34_______. In addition, studying Latin and Greek, is wrongly ________35_______ as being ______36_______ because classicists have no specific _______37_______ route to follow. As young people are pressurised to make money, the writer feels that the relevancy _______38_______ is difficult to counter.

In spite of the criticisms levelled at a classical education, the writer feels that learning Latin and Greek is highly ______39_______. And he fears that there is a danger that the classics as a discipline will be ______40______. But help is at hand from a new Internet-based distance-learning programme being piloted in 60 schools from autumn 2000. The pilot study will allow pupils to study Latin at their own place.

TEST 9 READING PASSAGE 1 Complementary medicine - an overview

A.  The term "alternative practitioner" first became common currency in the 1960s as part of a movement in healthcare which espoused a value system quite distinct from orthodox or western medicine. More recently, "practitioners of complementary medicine" have sought to define themselves as distinct from "alternative practitioners" in so far as they seek to work closely with established medical profession to relieve a patient's symptoms. In a contemporary setting, the terms are often used interchangeably. But complementary medicine is perhaps a more fashionable term amongst those who aspire to greater intergration within orthodox medicine - an attempt to gain respectability in the eyes of the establishment.

B.  Complementary medicine comprises a range of physical therapies, including reflexology, aromatherapy, shiatsu and acupuncture, which can be used to help ease symptoms associated with a range of conditions. None of these therapies claims to be a panacea. They simply help to relieve symptoms, although in some cases they may result in a permanent cure. The basic principle is that the body ultimately heals itself with the intervention of a particular therapy "kick starting" and, subsequently, speeding up this process. The therapies work on an energetic level to impact on a psychological, emotional and physiological level helping to alleviate short-term stress-induced conditions and, to a greater or lesser degree, chronic problems. All complementary therapies can be used as a preventative measure and to strengthen the constitution. Their common aim is to treat the whole person, with the goal of recovering the equilibrium between the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of the individual. The focus is very much on improving overall well-being rather than the isolated treatment of specific symptoms. Where the therapies differ is their particular approach. 

C.  Reflexology is a treatment which was introduced to the West about 100 years ago, although it was practised in ancient Egypt, India and east Asia. It involves gently focused pressure on the feet to both diagnose and treat illness. A reflexologist may detect imbalances in the body on an energetic level through detecting tiny crystals on the feet. Treating these points can result in the release of blockages in other parts of the body. It has been found to be an especially useful treatment for sinus and upper respiratory tract conditions and poor lymphatic and cardiovascular circulation. Anecdotal evidence from various practitioners suggests it can also be effective in treating migraine, hormonal imbalances, digestive, circulatory and back problems.

D.  Aromatherapy massage is a western medicine invention. The therapeutic effects of the essential oils used were first investigated early last century by a French chemist, René Maurice Gattefosse. Today, the beneficial effects of the oils are dispensed through aromatherapy massage, bath and shower preparations and the burning of oils. Essential oils work by entering the body through both the skin and lungs. Powerful molecules in the oils can affect cells in the nervous and circulatory systems to varying degress. The effect on the olfactory centres of the brain is both physiological and psychological. Again, anecdotal evidence suggests aromatherapy is particularly useful in alleviating symptoms of respiratory illnesses such as bronchitis and asthma.

E.  Shiatsu is a Japanese healing art deeply rooted in the philosophy and practices of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It is a hands-on therapy which aims to rebalance tensions and weaknesses in the body and mind. Shiatsu incorporates the traditional therapeutic massage of Japan, which in itself is an adaption of ancient Chinese massage therapy. Embracing its original focus of meditation and self-healing, shiatsu is gaining popularity in the West. The term shiatsu comes from Japanese: "shi" meaning finger, and "atsu" meaning pressure. In a shiatsu session, pressure is applied to various parts of the body which correspond with the points and energy lines (meridians) used in acupuncture.

F.  Shiatsu has been successfully used for treating headaches, neck and upper back tension, lower back conditions such as lumbago and sciatica, other muscular-skeletal problems such as frozen shoulder, tennis and golfer's elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, and osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis. Along with acupuncture, it can be very effective in treating digestive complaints involving organs from the stomach through to large intestine and menstrual problems. It is ideal for people who have an aversion to needles or who prefer the hands on body contact that shiatsu involves.

G.  Acupuncture is a very focused form of treatment which uses needles to rebalance the body's energetic. According to traditional Chinese philosophy, our health is dependent on the body's energy - known as Qi moving in a smooth and balanced way through the channels beneath the skin. Disruptions in this flow are associated with illness and pain, which may relate to anxiety, stress, anger, fear or grief, poor nutrition, weather conditions, hereditary factors, infections and other trauma. The insertion of needles into the skin and then energy channels helps to stimulate the body's own healing response and to resotre its natural balance. Acupuncture has over 3000 years of empirical evidence to support its efficacy. It it probably the most effective way of treating a diverse range of conditions. These include conditions of a more emotional focus including anxiety states, depression (including what in the West is known as manic depression), and sleep related disorders. Other illnesses treated by acupuncture include arthritis, asthma, circulatory problems (i.e. high blood pressure), facial paralysis (pre- and post-stroke), fatigue, tinnitus, infertility, menstrual problems, rheumatism, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, migraines, sciatica, skin conditions and ulcers.

Questions 1 - 6

Reading Passage 1 has 7 paragraphs (A-G). Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xiii) in Boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

One of the headings has been done for you as an example.

NB. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them

         Example:     Paragraph A

         Answer:       viii

1. Paragraph B

2. Paragraph C

3. Paragraph D

4. Paragraph E

5. Paragraph F

6. Paragraph G

List of headings 

i.       A panacea

ii.      The René Maurice Gatefosse method

iii.     Current practices in Egypt

iv.     Therapy through the feet

v.      Inserting needles into the bone

vi.      Fingers versus needles

vii.     Shiatsu explained

viiii.    Complementary medicine becomes part of the establishment

ix.      Balancing the body's energy using needles

x.       Treatment for digestive complaints

xi.      Success with shiatsu

xii.     An overview of complementary medicine

xiii.     Treatment using essential oils

Questions 7 - 10

Choose one phrase (A-H) from the List of phrases to complete each Key piece of information about the four complementary therapies mentioned in the passage. Write the appropriate letters (A-H) in Boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet. 

NB. There are more phrases (A-H) than therapies, so you will not need to use them all. 

You may use each phrase once only

Complementary therapies

7.   Reflexology .........

8.   Aromatherapy .......

9.    Shiatsu .........

10.  Acupuncture .....

List of phrases

A  is based on oils made from flower extracts

B  strives to rebalance tensions and weaknesses in the body

C  is based on several millennia of empirical evidence

D  has been found to be particularly useful in treating sinus problems

E  is based on ancient Chinese massage therapy adapted from ancient Japanese massage

F  is not very effective in treating migraine

G  is based purely on anecdotal evidence over the thousands of years

H  is a form of treatment which affects centres connected with smell in the brain psychologically and physiologically

READING PASSAGE 2  Testing Testing Testing 1  2  3  4 ...

The introduction of SATs

A.  These are testing times. In both education and the field of work, the prevailing wisdom appears to be: if it moves, test it and if it doesn't, well, test it anyway. I say wisdom, but it has become rather an obsession. In addition to the current obstacles, like GCSEs, A-Levels, GNVQs, and HNDs, not to mention the interviews and financial hurdles that school-leavers have to overcome in order to access higher education, students are facing the threat of "new tests", scholastic aptitude tests (SATs).

B.  SATs are being imported from the United States, where they have been in use for nearly a hundred years. As a supplement to A-levels, the tests purport to give students from poor backgrounds a better chance of entering university. SATs are intended to remove the huge social class bias that exists in British universities. But, in fact, they are no more than an additional barrier for students. The tests, which masquerade as IQ tests, are probably less diagnostic of student potential than existing examinations, and, more seriously, are far from free of the bias that their supporters pretend.

C.  First of all, as for any other tests, students will be able to take classes to cram for SATs, which again will advantage the better-off. At a recent conference of the Professional Association of Teachers, it was declared that school exams and tests are biased towards middle-class children. Further, the content of the tests in question is not based on sound scientific theory, merely on a pool of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), set by a group of item writers.

D.  The questions in SATs are tested on a representative sample of children. Those which correlate with the school grades of the children are kept, and the rest discarded. This is highly unsatisfactory. There is also evidence that in MCQ tests women are at a disadvantage, because of the way they think, i.e. they can see a wider picture. And it is worth noting that MCQs are only as good as the people who write them; so, unless the writers are highly trained, those who are being tested are being judged against the narrow limitations of the item writers!

Other developments in testing 

E.  Globalisation has introduced greater flexibility into the workplace, but the educational system has not been so quick off the mark. But there are signs that times are changing. Previously, students took exams at the end of academic terms, or at fixed dates periodically throughout the year. Now, language examinations like the TOEFL, IELTS and the Pitman ESOL exams can be taken much more frequently. The IELTS examination, for example, is run at test centres throughout the world subject to demand. Where the demand is high, the test is held more frequently. At present, in London, it is possible for students to sit the exam about four times per week.

F.  Flexible assessment like the IELTS has been mooted in other areas. It has been suggested that students may in future be able to walk into a public library or other public building and take an assessment test for a range of skills on a computer. The computer will dispense an instant assessment and a certificate. The beauty of this system is the convenience.

G.  The workplace has been at the forefront of developing in-house schemes to establish whether people are suitable for particular jobs and/or careers. Psychological profiles and hand-writing analysis as well as aptitude tests are now part of the armory of the corporate personnel officer; an interview and a curriculum vitae no longer suffice. But, as in the education field, there are dangers here. Testing appears to confirm the notion that certain people and predestined to enter particular careers. All of us have heard someone say: he/she is a born actor, a born teacher, and so on. The recent work on the human genome and the research in genetics adds further credence to this notion.

H.  How long before psychological profiling is introduced into schools to determine a child's future? With the aid of psychometric tests, children may soon be helped to make more informed choices about the subjects they choose to study at secondary school, and then university. But people with still be pointed in the wrong direction. In many cases, the result will conflict with the person's own desires, mainly because he/she filled in the test wrongly, or the test did not pick up an essential piece of information. Unless the assessors are highly trained experts, many more people will find themselves mid-life in jobs that they did not really want to do. 

I.  Whilst testing achievement is essential and indeed inevitable, it needs to be treated with caution. Tests are, after all, only tools - not an end in themselves.

Questions 11 - 18

Reading Passage 2 has 9 paragraphs (A-I). Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph from the List of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-xiv) in Boxes 11-18 on your answer sheet.

One of the headings hass been done for you as an example. Note that you may use any heading more than once.

NB. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them.

          Example:         Paragraph A

          Answer:            xiii

11. Paragraph B

12. Paragraph C

13. Paragraph D

14. Paragraph E

15. Paragraph F

16. Paragraph G

17. Paragraph H

18. Paragraph I

List of headings

i.     Assessment in the future

ii.    The theory behind MCQs

iii.    Not enough testing

iv.    Problems with SATs

v.    Misuse of testing in schools

vi.    The need for computer assessment

vii.   The future of psychometric testing in schools

viii.   Testing with caution

ix.    Testing in the workplace

x.    Globalisation in testing

xi.    The benefits of SATs

xii.    The shortcoming of MCQs

xiii.    Too much testing

xiv.    Flexibility in language testing

Questions 19 - 23

Answer the questions below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in Boxes 19-23 on your answer sheet.

19. What according to the writer has the present vogue for testing turned into?

20. Where do scholastic aptitude tests come from?

21. Who does the writer think SATs will benefit?

22. What is it that makes flexible assessment by computer attractive?

23. What has been at the forefront of developing testing schemes?

Questions 24 - 26

Do the statements below agree with the information in Reading Passage 2?

In Boxes 24-26, write:

Yes                 if the statement agrees with the information in the passage

No                   if the statement contradicts the information in the passage

Not Given       if there is no information about the statement in the passage

Example:      In the fields of education and work the prevailing wisdom seems to be to test everything.

Answer:       Yes.

24. Research in genetics refutes the theory that people are predestined to follow certain careers.

25. Psychometric testing is favoured by headmasters and mistresses in many secondary schools.

26. The writer of the article is not in favour of testing in general.

READING PASSAGE 3 Wittgenstein Freud

Ludwig von Wittgenstein has justly been regarded as one of the major philosophers of the twentieth century, especially for his writings on the philosophy of language and logic. His work on psychoanalysis and criticism of his fellow Viennese, Sigmund Freud, have, however, been generally overlooked.

Wittgenstein is both highly critical of and at the same time greatly admiring of Freud's work. Perhaps it would be fairer to say that he is not critical so much of psychoanalysis as of Freud's claims for it. For Freud, it was essential that his work be regarded as science: that he had developed a new branch of medicine based on scientific principles, having established causal relationships between behaviour in childhood and that in adulthood. Wittgenstein, while accepting the usefulness of  Freud's methods, disputes that these relationships are causal, therefore denying Freud's theories scientific validity.

In causal relationships we can at least imagine contradictory cases. For example, I can imagine placing a pan of water on a hot stone and the water freezing (of course I do not expect it to happen, and would be very surprised if it did). With Freud's theory, however, this is not the case. One of the central planks of this theory is the pursuit of hidden meanings in such things as dreams, works of art, even language (the famous "Freudian slip". Take the example of dreams. For Freud these are all sexual wish-fulfilments. While it is clear that some are, clearly some at least appear not to be. Freud, however, will not accept any contradiction to his theory, and argues that in these cases the sexual element is camouflaged, or even repressed. This is a strange notion, for how can a dream fulfil a wish if the desire is so disguised that the dreamer does not even recognise it? More importantly, if under no circumstances will Freud allow his hypothesis to be contradicted, how can we verify it? It therefore behoves us to recognise that, despite his assertions, Freud's theories are not causal hypotheses, and thus not scientific.

One might ask, given this analysis, how Freud came to make this mistake, or rather why he believed that his explanations were causal. It is a confusion between what we might call the "depth-grammar" and the "surface-grammar" of certain sentences. If we say "the window broke because the stone hit it", we are outlining a causal relationship between the stone hitting the window and the window breaking, this being designated by the word "because". However, if we say "he hit her because he was angry", whilst it may appear that the word "because" performs the same function, this is not the case. The similarity lies only on the surface; if we look at the depth-grammar we see that in the first sentence "because" denotes a causal relationship, whereas in the second we are rather talking in terms of motivations, reasons and other non-causal terms. Freud's mistake, therefore, is to believe that both types of sentence are similar: he confuses the surface-grammar.

Despite all this confusion, I have stated that Wittgenstein was highly appreciative of Freud's work, and this is because he essentially reformulates what Freud was trying to do. Freud believed that he was explaining people's behaviour, while Wittgenstein suggests that he is redescribing it. To him, Freud is providing a "picture" of human behaviour which may enable us to make certain connections that other ways of looking would not reveal, and by showing these patterns and connections the method may well have therapeutic value. In this case, although the "picture" described by Freud's method is not a true one (for by Wittgenstein's arguments it cannot be), nevertheless it is unique, enabling the patient to have insights into their problems that no other method could provide.

Questions 27 - 32

Do the statements below agree with the information in Reading Passage 3?

In Boxes 27-32, write:

Yes                  if the statement agrees with the information in the passage

No                   if the statement contradicts the information in the passage

Not Given         if there is no information about the statement in the passage

Example:       Wittgenstein was from Vienna. 

Answer:         Yes.

27. Wittgenstein was a great moral philosopher.

28. Wittgenstein owes the high regard in which he is held, in part, to his work on the philosophy of language and logic.

29. Wittgenstein totally admired Freud's work without any reservation.

30. Wittgenstein supports Freud's claims as to the causal relationship between childhood behaviour and that in adulthood.

31. Freud's theory on causal relationships enjoys considerable support in spite of Wittgenstein's objections.

32. The writer agrees with Wittgenstein that Freud's theory re-causal hypotheses is not scientific.

Questions 33 - 40

Complete the text below. Use ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each blank space. Write your answers in Boxes 33-40 on your answer sheet.

You may use a word once only.

Example:      The writer asks how Freud came to make this ____________.

Answer:        mistake.

Despite _____33______ confusion regarding surface-grammar, Wittgenstein held his work in high regard.

Freud believed that he was ______34______ people's behaviour, while to Wittgenstein he was merely ______35______ it. In other words, Wittgenstein believes that Freud provides a _______36_______ of human behaviour, which allows us to look at things in different ways. This, according to Wittgenstein may be ______37_______.

According to the writer, although Freud's "picture" is not genuine, still it is ______38______. It allows the _______39______ to have _____40______ into his or her problems.

1 The plight of the rain-forest has largely been ignored by the media.
FALSE - “Despite the extensive coverage on the popular media of the destruction of rainforests…”

2 Children only accept options on rain-forests that they encounter in their classrooms.
FALSE – “These ideas may be developed by children absorbing ideas through the popular media.”

3 It has been suggested that children hold mistaken views about the 'pure' science that they study at school.TRUE – “Many studies have shown that children harbour misconceptions about ‘pure’, curriculum science.”

4 The face that children's ideas about science form port of larger framework of ideas means that it is easier to change them.TRUE – “These misconceptions do not remain isolated but become incorporated into a multifaceted (…) conceptual framework, making it (…) more robust but also accessible to modifications.”

5 The study involved asking children a number of yes/no questions such as 'Are there any rain-forests in Africa?"FALSE – “Secondary school children were asked to complete a questionnaire containing five open-form questions.”

6 Girls are more likely than boys to hold mistaken views about rain-forests' destruction.
NOT GIVEN – The passage has not discussed the differences between girls and boys in the fourth and final questions, which are about the destruction of rainforests. Therefore, it is inconclusive and can’t be considered as TRUE or FALSE.

7 The study reported here follows on from a series of studies that have looked at children's understanding of rain-forests.FALSE – This seems tricky! This passage only mentions a study that "surveys children's scientific knowledge and attitudes to rainforests," and not "a series of studies." Therefore, the use of "a series of studies" is not correct or not given! I answered FALSE and hoped that luck is on my side.

8 A second study has been planned to investigate primary school children's ideas about rain-forest.NOT GIVEN – Another tricky question. The passage does not mention any other studies that are being planned to investigate primary school children’s idea about rainforest.

9 What was the children's most frequent response when asked where the rain-forests where?
M - Rain-forests are found in Africa. “Given by 43% of children”

10 What was the most common response to the question about the importance of the rain-forests?E - Without rainforests some animals would have nowhere to live. “The dominant idea, raised by 64% of the pupils, was that rainforests provide animals with habitats.”

11 What did most children give as the reason for the loss of the rain-forests?
G - People are responsible for the loss of the rain-forests. “More than half of the pupils (59%) identified that it is human activities which are destroying rainforests.”

12 Why did most children think it important for the rain-forests to be protected?
P - Humans depend on the rain-forests for their continuing existence. “The majority of children simply said that we need rainforests to survive.”

13 Which of the responses is cited as unexpectedly uncommon, given the amount of time spent on the issue by the newspapers and television?
J - As the rain-forests are destroyed, the world gets warmer. “Only few of the pupil (6%) mentioned that rainforest destruction may contribute to global warming. This is surprising considering the high level of media coverage on this issue.”

Question 14
Which of the following is the most suitable title for Reading Passage 1?
B - Children's ideas about the rain-forests and the implications for course design.