READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1
on pages 2 and 3.

A survivor's story
One native bird in New Zealand that has managed to survive the introduction of non-native
species
As an island country with a fauna dominated by birds, New Zealand was once home to
an owl species which is now extinct, the laughing owl named for its distinctive cry. This bird
was widespread throughout the islands when European settlers arrived in the middle of the 19th
century and it remained in good numbers for some years thereafter. Where other native birds
suffered from predation by the Polynesian rat, the laughing owl turned the tables and adapted its
diet to include the rodent. It was also capable of catching and killing the other New Zealand owl,
the morepork, and even larger birds, such as the weka. However, the laughing owl was wiped
out around the beginning of the 20th century. Its demise was caused by specimen collectors,
habitat changes, and non-native predators including cats and stoats. Surprisingly, it is the smaller
owl, the morepork, that has managed to survive until this day.
Speckled dark brown, with yellow eyes and long tails, they are around 29 centimeters
long from head to tail and 175 grams in weight. Moreporks have fringes on the edge of their
feathers, so they can fly almost silently and not alert potential prey. They have acute hearing and
their large eyes are very sensitive to light.
Moreporks nest in tree hollows, in clumps of plants, or in cavities among rocks and roots,
in the wild, moreporks usually start nesting in October, although zoo specimens have been
recorded nesting in midwinter, possibly stimulated by an ample food supply. The female lays up
to three white eggs, which she incubates for 20 to 30 days. During this time, she rarely hunts,
and the male brings food to her. Once the chicks hatch, she stays mainly on the nest until the
young owls are fully feathered. When hatched, chicks are covered in light gray down, and have
their eyes closed. The eyes do not open until the eighth day after hatching. They can fly at
around 35 days.

By day, moreporks sleep in roosts. By night, they hunt a variety of animals, mainly large
invertebrates including scarab and huhu beetles, moths, caterpillars, and spiders. They also take
small birds and mice. They can find suitable food in pine forests as well as native forest. A
morepork uses its sharp talons to catch or stun its prey, which it then carries away in its bill.
Moreporks are clever hunters, and birds such as robins, gray warblers, and fantails can end up
as their prey. In the day, these small birds sometimes mob drowsy moreporks and chase them
away from their roosts. They force the sleepy predators to search for a more peaceful spot.
Moreporks have proved to be ungracious hosts. Scientists trying to establish a population of
plovers on Motuora island in New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf were mystified as to why only two
birds survived out of 75 placed there. The culprits turned out to be five pairs of Moreporks that
ate or chased away the new arrivals.
At dusk, the melancholy sound of the morepork can be heard in forests and parks as it
calls to other moreporks and claims territory. Its Maori name (ruru) echoes its two-part cry. In
the tradition of the Maori people of New Zealand, the morepork, or ruru, was often seen as a
careful guardian. A number of sayings referred to the bird's alertness. As a bird of the night, it
was associated with the spirit world. Moreporks were believed to act as messengers to the gods
in the heavens, flying along spiritual paths in the sky. They were the mediums used to
communicate with the gods. The occasional high, piercing call of the morepork signified bad
news, but the lower-pitched and more common 'ruru' call heralded good news.
Although moreporks are still considered to be relatively common, it is likely that
numbers are in gradual decline due to predation and loss of habitat. As the female is a hole-
nester, she is vulnerable to predators such as stoats and possums during the breeding season, and
eggs and chicks will also be at risk from rats. The use of pesticides is another possible threat to
the owls though not a direct one. As moreporks are at the top of the food chain, they could be
affected by an accumulative poison by consuming prey that has ingested poison.
The New Zealand Department of Conservation is taking steps to ensure the preservation of New
Zealand's only native owl. The department is involved in measuring the population of moreporks
and has put transmitters on a number of birds to determine survival and mortality. As well as
being New Zealand's only native owl, the morepork has symbolic and spiritual importance, so in
monitoring the birds it is hoped that the morepork will continue to survive and thrive.

Questions 1-7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

NG 1. Early European settlers made detailed studies of the morepork

T 2. The Polynesian rat had a negative effect on the number of laughing owls

T 3. The laughing owl was larger than the morepork

4. Rats pose a risk to young moreporks

5. The New Zealand Department of Conservation is hoping to limit the population of

moreporks

6. Other bird species are frightened when they hear the morepork’s cry

7. In Maori tradition, the low call of the morepork had negative associations
Questions 8-13

Complete the notes below.

Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.

The Morepork
· Appearance

— approximately 8................. in length

— large yellow eyes

— feathers with fringes to enable quiet flight

· Nesting
— nests in trees, plants, or spaces in roots and 9...................

— after about 35 days, baby moreporks are capable of leaving the nest
· Hunting

— transports its prey using its 10…………………….

— can be chased away by other birds during the 11………………

— attacked 12.................. that had been introduced to Motuora island

· Threats

— may be exposed to 13…………….. in their prey.

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2
on pages 6 and 7.

Ideal Homes
New ideas and some old ones
A The traditional kampung houses of Malaysia do not need air-conditioning. Built on
stilts and with steep roofs, they have year-round ventilation. The raised structure ensures a
cooling breeze comes up through the floorboards, while the high roof acts as a chimney to
release hot air. The airtight, concrete boxes of modern city construction, in contrast, are heat
traps, says Muhammad Peter Davis of University Putra Malaysia. He has calculated that typical
modern Malaysian houses are 5°C hotter than the air outside. The builders of kampung houses
“had no knowledge of modern science or engineering but they came up with the perfect design,”
says Davis.

B This story of ancient architectural sophistication and modern insanity is repeated

around the world. In the name of modernism, people have thrown away architecture designed to
cope with the environment in which they live, and adopted house designs originating from cold,
northern environments, where the idea is to keep heat in.

C Once, the aim of architectural modernists was to build structures that kept nature out
and to replace it with air-conditioning. Now they are learning that they cannot do that
effectively. Slowly, they are seeing the benefit of working with nature, rather than against it. In
California, they probably use more power for air-conditioning than anywhere else on Earth.
According to Arthur Rosenfeld from the University of California, what California needs is white
paint. If Los Angeles painted its roofs white, planted trees to shade buildings, and chose lighter-
colored paving, it could reduce city temperatures by 3°C and cut the annual air- conditioning bill
by $US 170 million a year.

D Modern buildings are greedy in their use of energy. Much is made of the contribution
of transportation to global warming, through its emissions of greenhouse gases. But, globally,
transportation is responsible for just 22 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. The building sector
is responsible for 31 percent, mostly the result of heating and air-conditioning systems. In
developing countries, where demand for electricity for buildings is rising by 5 percent a year, the
biggest demand is for air-conditioning in modern buildings which are often designed to cope
with every different climatic condition.

E Before air-conditioning, much of the Arab world kept cool through thoughtful
building design. Many buildings were built according to the principles of the wind tower, a tall
structure with vertical vents at the top that open in all directions to catch any passing breeze.
Typically, these wind-tower buildings were made of local materials such as stone, mud brick,
wood, and palm tree fronds. The buildings were inward-looking, which served the dual function
of focusing attention on the courtyard, where family members spend time together, and
protecting living areas from the rays of the sun.

F Throughout the Middle East today, wind towers are often little more than museum
pieces. But there are exceptions, Jordan has won awards for the architecture of a village on the
shores of the Red Sea, which is designed to conserve energy. Made of rough, local stone in a
traditional style, it combines the ventilation system of the wind towers for summer coolness with
up-to-date heating and floor insulation to protect against the desert cold in winter

G Traditional building materials, like traditional building designs, are being

rediscovered by those looking for low-energy solutions to the current construction needs. Clay is
one such material: As the Dutch housing contractor R van der Ley has argued in promoting a
series of clay housing projects in developing countries, clay has many benefits over its
industrialized version, brick, lay blocks cost only half as much as ordinary bricks. Clay also
generates work because people can find it, mould it, bake it, and work it themselves. Two
hundred clay bricks can be made with the fuel oil that makes just one ordinary brick. Moreover,
clay is an excellent insulator against both cold and heat outside, and can easily be recycled.

H But although traditional methods and materials can be revived in appropriate settings,
new green, low-energy technologies are needed, especially in urban environments. The thermal
insulation of homes in cold countries is an example, In 1983, Sweden adopted a national
standard, requiring the country's homes to loge no more than 60 kilowatt-hours per square more
over the year To meet that standard, windows were double-glazed, and walls and roofs insulated.
Every home became a fortress against the cold air outside. Unfortunately, the rest of Europe has
not followed the lead.

I In the United States, Amory Lovins has promoted a range of low-energy

technologies: 'superwindows', for example, which let in invisible light but can be 'tuned' to either
allow in, or reflect away, infrared solar radiation - the stuff that heats. Buildings with large
expanses of windows (and big energy bills) can be designed to achieve optimum temperatures.

J As well as more efficient use of energy, the world also needs new sources of
renewable power. Solar energy is being tried out in the developing world, in villages often far
from electricity grids. The world's biggest solar power installation got underway in the
Philippines, in 2001, where a project commenced to install solar panels for 400,000 people in
150 villages. Such projects are demonstrating that countries, whether developing or developed,
no longer need huge national grids to supply electricity. Every home can do its own thing with
the help of a solar panel and a storage battery.

K Houses, of course, are more than machines for living in. They are social and
psychological spaces, too. Future houses may not look exactly like kampungs or wind towers or
any other traditional models. But to work for us and for our environment, they will have to suit
us as well as these traditional forms did.
Question 14-18

Reading Passage 2 has eleven paragraphs, A-K.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A-K , in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
14. reasons why a particular construction material is advantageous

15. an example of a construction design which benefits domestic interaction

16. a description of a house that is ventilated from below

17. an example of self-sufficient energy supply

18. suggested methods of reducing temperatures in a city

Questions 19 - 22

Look at the following people (Questions 19-22) and the list of ideas below.

Match each person with the correct idea, A-G

Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 19-22 on your answer sheet.
19. Muhammad Peter Davis

20. Arthur Rosenfeld

21. R van der Ley

22. Amory Lovins

 List of ideas

A. The choice of a certain construction material can have a socio-economic impact

B. Throughout the world, people are rejecting traditional housing design in order to appear
modern
C. Houses should not only meet people's physical needs but also their social and
psychological needs
D. Traditional knowledge can be superior to modern knowledge
E. There is an innovation that can save costs on both air-conditioning and heating
F. Solar energy can meet the energy needs of people living in villages in developing
countries

G. There is a very simple solution that can save on the cost of air-conditioning

Questions 23-26

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?

In boxes 23-26 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

23. The air temperature in modern Malaysian houses is lower than the air temperature

outside

24. The construction industry is more to blame than transport for global warming

25. The use of wind towers for cooling is widespread in the Middle East today
26. The 'super-windows' promoted by Amory Lovins can be installed at low cost

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3
on pages 10 and 11.

Conformity
A review of conformity and some of the studies that have been done on it
During your childhood, there will have been some kind of craze which affected all the
people in your school. It may have been to do with a particular toy or possibly a must-have item
of clothing. It may have been something as simple as a type of pen or as expensive as an
electronic games console. Fashion designers, toy manufacturers, and anyone else involved in the
retail trade love conformity. Set up a craze, especially in the young and everyone will go for it.
In fact, it's an ideal way to sell huge quantities of merchandise. The levels of conformity in
consumerism are phenomenal. When you actually stand back and consider how easily we are
persuaded that having certain items is the only way we can ensure peace of mind, you see what
an important concept conformity is.
Conformity has been described as "yielding to group pressure' (Crutchfield 1962).
However, this implies that other people put pressure on us to make us conform and this is not
always the case. A better definition is given by Aronson (1976) who said it was a “change in a
person's behaviour or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from a person or group of
people.” This would make more sense, as often the pressure we feel is imagined. The person or
group he refers to would have to be important to us at the time, regardless of their status.
There has been considerable research on conformity. One of the first studies looked at
the answers people gave when asked to estimate the number of beans in a bottle (Jennes, 1932).
If you have ever entered a 'guess the number' competition, you probably looked at the previous
estimates made and based your judgment on what other people had guessed. This is more or less
what happened in the Jennes study. First of all, he asked the respondents to give their own
estimates, and then he asked them to decide on a group estimate. Finally, he asked them alone
again and discovered that they had stayed with the group’s answer.
 Probably the most famous study on conformity was undertaken by Asch (1951) when
created a situation where many of his subjects gave answers which were blatantly untrue, rather
than contradict the people they were with. He did this by getting his subject to sit around a table
with six stooges (colleagues of the experimenter) so that the subject was second to last. He
showed them all a large card which had three lines of different lengths drawn on it, labeled A, B,
and C. He then gave them a card with a single line and asked them to match this in terms of
length to one of the lines A, B or C.
The stooges gave untrue responses in a number of the trials and the subjects were left in
the situation where they either reported what they saw with their own eyes or conformed to the
norm of the group. When the results were assessed, Asch found that in one out of every three
trials where the wrong answer was given, the subject gave the same wrong answer as the
stooges. This led to an average level of conformity of 32 percent. Asch interviewed his subjects
after the trials to try to find out why they conformed to an answer which was so obviously
wrong. Most of them said that they did not want to cause problems within the group. Although
they falsehearted that when they did give wrong answers it made them anxious. (Asch found that
when there was just one other person present who did not go along with the majority, no matter
how many others there were, it was sufficient to make the subject give the right answer.)
Kelman (1953) outlined three processes which can explain social conformity. The first is
compliance where subjects go along with the crowd to prevent any in-group hostility or bad
feeling and to maintain group harmony. However, they do not change their own private belief. If
we look back to the Asch study, we can see that the subjects were simply complying with the
demands of the experimental situation but hadn't actually internalized the group's norms. They
agreed in public but dissented in private. In a process known as internalization. However,
subjects do actually see the view of the group as the more valid one. They may be able to do
this, for example, by convincing themselves that their eyesight is poor. Sometimes,
however, subjects actually seem to change their beliefs because they want to become more like
their heroes. If they really want to become part of an in-group, they will start to identify with
that group and take on the group's values and beliefs, even if they are different to their own.
Kelman calls this identification. It frequently happens with teenagers who want to become more
like a peer group in order to be accepted, and suddenly seem to go against all the values and
beliefs of their parents.
 So why is it that we have to conform? Some people feel confident most of the time, have
high self-esteem, and do not have to go along with the majority. For most of us, though, how
confident we feel varies from day to day, depending on the situation we are in, and this can
influence behaviour.
Questions 27-30

Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?

In boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the information

NO if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

27. Childhood crazes can center on items of any value.

28. Children are more vulnerable to crazes now than they used to be.

29. Consumers make too many quick decisions in shops.

30. Crutchfield's definition of conformity is the most reliable.

Questions 31 - 35

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer

Write your answers in boxes 31-35 on your answer sheet.

Studies on conformity
In the Jennes study, people had to guess how many 31................... were in a container. Jennes
found that, in most cases, people opted for an estimate given by a 32………………..
Asch asked his subjects to 33................line lengths. To test the extent to which people would
conform, he placed his subjects with colleagues who gave 34 …………… responses. He found
that his subjects agreed with his colleagues 32% of the time, although they admitted to feeling
35................. about giving their answers.
Questions 36-40

Complete the notes below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.

Kelman's processes of social conformity

- people support the majority view despite their own
· Compliance ideas.
- social harmony is maintained
- illustrated by the results of the research conducted
by 36...............

- Majority view is considered most 38……………..

· 37…………………… view
- People persuade themselves despite their own ideas

· 39…………………….. - People change their ideas to those of majority

- Typical of 40……………
PASSAGE 1 PASSAGE 2
1. NG 14. G
2. F 15. E
3. T 16. A
4. T 17. J
5. F 18. C
6. NG 19. D
7. F 20. G
8. 29 centimeters 21. A
9. rocks 22. E
10. bill 23. F
11. day 24. T
12. plovers 25. F
13. poison 26. NG
PASSAGE 3
27. Y
28. NG
29. NG
30. N
31. beans
32. group
33. match
34. untrue
35. anxious
36. Asch
37. internalization
38. valid
39. identification
40. teenagers