Reading 6

Freya Stark, explorer and writer

Freya Stark travelled to many areas of the Middle East, often alone.
Freya Stark was an explorer who lived during a time when explorers were regarded as
heroes. She travelled to distant areas of the Middle East, where few Europeans- especially
women – had travelled before. She also travelled extensively in Turkey, Greece, Italy, Nepal
and Afghanistan.
Stark was born in Paris in 1893. Although she had no formal education as a child, she moved
about with her artist parents and learned French, German and Italian. She entered London
University in 1912, but at the start of World War I, she joined the nurse corps and was sent to
Italy. After the war, she returned to London and attended the School of Oriental Studies. Her
studies there led to extensive travel in the Middle East, enabling her to eventually become
fluent in Persian, Russian and Turkish. Stark became well known as a traveller and explorer in
the Middle East. She travelled to the Lebanon in 1972 at the age of 33 when she has saved
enough money, and while there, she studied Arabic. In 1928, she travelled by donkey to the
Jebel Druze, a mountainous area in Syria. During another trip, she went to a distant region of
the Elburz, a mountain range in Iran, where she made a map. She was searching for
information about an ancient Muslim sect known as the Assassins, which she wrote about in
Valley of the Assassins (1934), a classic for which she was awarded a Gold Medal by the
Royal Geographic Society. For the next 12 years, she continued her career as a traveller and
writer, establishing a style which combined an account of her journeys with personal
commentary on the people, place customs, history and politics of the Middle East.
Adapted from Science and its times, 2000
Read the passage again and complete the flow chart. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS
AND/ OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Freya Stark
Born in Paris in 1893

First formal education at 1…….

Worked as a 2… ......in Italy

Studied at School of Oriental Studies

Travelled to the Lebanon, where she learned 3……..

Made a journey to the Syrian mountains on a 4……..

In 1934, won a 5… ......... for a book.

Spent further 6…................ in the Middle East.

1
Reading 7
The electric revolution
Your next car may be electric. We look at the technologies that will bring the
revolution.
The main reasons why electric cars not more popular at present are their price and their
relatively small range. Existing battery systems only allow electric cars to travel a distance of
between 100 and 160 km. However, this distance may not be a problem for urban drivers. A
recent Sydney study reported that 70% percent of journeys were 30 km or less, and recent data
from the US suggests that 77 percent of trips taken there are 48 km or less.
An innovative company called Better Place is aiming to make electric cars an option for all
drivers. It wants to see existing vehicles replaced by electric vehicles which, it says, offer a
number of benefits. Firstly, they can be powered by renewable energy which produces zero
emissions. What is more, electric motors are more efficient and can convert more than 90
percent of power into movement, where the efficiency of diesel or petrol engines is less than
20 percent. To achieve its aim, Better Place plans to use technology which is already available.
The plan is simple but revolutionary. It starts with the installation of a home charge point, and
through this, the vehicle will be plugged into the electricity grid whenever it is in the garage,
typically at night. In the morning, with a fully charged battery, the car is capable of as much as
160 km in urban motoring conditions. In addition to the home charge point, the battery can be
topped up by charge points at work and at supermarkets.
The battery is linked to a control centre by smart technology inside the vehicle. Better Place
can then ensure that the car is charged with electricity from renewable sources at the cheapest
price. For longer trips, a navigation system directs the driver to the nearest switch station,
where the depleted battery can be replaced with a charged one by a robot within a couple of
minutes.
by Tim Thwaites, issue 29 of Cosmos, October 2000
1. Look at the diagram on the
right. What information do
you need for each gap?
2. Complete the labels on the
diagram on the right.
Choose NO MORE THAN
TWO WORDS AND/OR A
NUMBER from the passage
for each answer.

2
Reading 8
The beach, a natural treasure trove
Nature walks can be fun, energizing and educational at the same time. In Part One, we will
look at what we can find on a marine walk. In Part Two, we will discuss our fascinating
forests.
First of all, when you are walking on the beach you may be able to spot tracks. Birds and crabs
leave footprints behind, especially in wet sand. On sandy beaches you will also be able to find
interesting holes, made by crabs that were digging for food in the mud.
You may also come across jellyfish, as these are often washed up on the beach by the tides.
They have no eyes, ears, heart or head and are mostly made of water. They look like a bag with
arms, which are called tentacles. These contain poison, which helps them catch food. Even when
they are out of the water or in pieces the tentacles may sting you, so they are best left alone.
Other animals you may find are coral and barnacles. The latter are marine animals that are
related to crabs and lobsters and live in shallow waters. They like to attach themselves to hard
materials, so you are likely to find them stuck to a piece of wood.
You may also see what look like small gelatinous blobs but are actually fish or worm eggs. If
you are lucky, you may find a fossil. In essence, this is an animal that died and got buried in a
sea bed. They are likely to look like a piece of rock with an imprint of an animal skeleton. Their
history is very interesting.
For an animal to become fossilized, it has to be buried in mud, sand or soil. If an animal dies but
is not buried, it is more likely to rot away, be swept away by wind or water, and/or be eaten by
another animal. Over millions of years, the animal remains become buried deeper and deeper;
the mud, sand or soil compresses and slowly becomes rock. Their bone or shell starts to
crystallize, because of surrounding minerals and chemicals. Ideally, the temperature stays
relatively constant throughout this process. Sometimes the fossil dissolves completely and just
leaves an imprint. At other times, waves, tides and currents slowly make the rocks erode,
which allows the animal remains to break off, ready for you to find.
What you will definitely find a beach are shells. These were once the homes of animals such as
snails, barnacles and mussels, consisting of a hard layer that the animal created for protection
as part of its body. After the animal has died, its soft parts have rotted or have been eaten by
other animals, such as crabs. What is left is a beautiful seashell for you to admire and take
home if you wish.

3
Choose NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS from the passage for each answer.

4
Reading 9
Here today, gone tomorrow
The Arctic and Antarctica are now within reach of the modern tourist, with many going to see
these icy wildernesses before it's too late. Christian Amodeo reports on the growth of polar
tourism.
Travel at the North and South Poles has become an expensive leisure activity, suitable for
tourists of all ages. The poles may be inhospitable places, but they are seeing increasing
numbers of visitors.
Annual figures for the Arctic, where tourism has existed since the 19th century, have increased
from about a million in the early 1990s to more than 1.5 million today. This is partly because
of the lengthening summer season brought about by climate change.
Most visitors arrive by ship. In 2007, 370,000 cruise passengers visited Norway, twice the
number that arrived in 2000. Iceland, a country where tourism is the second-largest industry,
has enjoyed an annual growth rate of nine percent since 1990. Meanwhile, Alaska received
some 1,029,800 passengers, a rise of 7.3 percent from 2006. Greenland has seen the most rapid
growth in marine tourism, with a sharp increase in cruise-ship arrivals of 250 percent since
2004.
The global economic down turn may have affected the annual 20.6 percent rate of increase in
visitors to the Antarctic - last season saw a drop of 17 percent to 38,200 - but there has been a
760 percent rise in land-based tourism there since 1997. More people than ever are landing at
fragile sites, with light aircraft, helicopters and all-terrain vehicles increasingly used for greater
access, while in the past two seasons, „fly-sail‟ operations have begun. These deliver tourists
by air to ships, so far more groups can enjoy a cruise in a season; large cruise ships capable of
carrying up to 800 passengers are not uncommon.
In addition, it seems that a high number of visitors return to the poles. „Looking at six years‟
worth of data, of the people who have been to the polar regions, roughly 25 percent go for a
second time,‟ says Louisa Richardson, a senior marketing executive at tour operator Exodus.
In the same period that tourism has exploded, the „health‟ of the poles has „deteriorated‟. „The
biggest changes taking place in the Antarctic are related to climate change,‟ says Rod Downie,
Environmental Manager with the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). Large numbers of visitors
increase these problems.
Although polar tourism is widely accepted, there have been few regulations up until recently.
At the meeting of the Antarctic Treaty in Baltimore, the 28 member nations adopted proposals
for limits to tourist numbers. These included safety codes for tourist vessels in Antarctic
waters, and improved environmental protection for the continent. They agreed to prevent ships
with more than 500 passengers from landing in Antarctica, as well as limit the number of
passengers going ashore to a maximum of 100 at any one time, with a minimum of one guide
for every 20 tourists. „Tourism in Antarctica is not without its risks,‟ says Downie. After all,
Antarctica doesn‟t have a coast guard rescue service.‟
5
„So far, no surveys confirm that people are going quickly to see polar regions before they
change,‟ says Frigg Jorgensen, General Secretary of the Association of Arctic Expedition
Cruise Operators (AECO). „However, Hillary Clinton and many other big names have been to
Svalbard in the northernmost part of Norway to see the effects of climate change. The
associated media coverage could influence others to do the same.‟
These days, rarely a week passes without a negative headline in the newspapers. The suffering
polar bear has become a symbol of a warming world, its plight a warning that the clock is
ticking. It would seem that this ticking clock is a small but growing factor for some tourists.
„There‟s an element of “do it now”,‟ acknowledges Prisca Campbell, Marketing director of
Quark Expeditions, which takes 7,000 People to the poles annually. Leaving the trip until later,
it seems, may mean leaving it too late.
Adapted from Geographical magazine
1. Complete the summary below (Question 1-7). Choose NO MORE THAN
TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Polar tourism – the figures
Tourism in the Arctic began in the 1……. and visitor numbers have risen that time. These days,
over 2……………..people travel there, mostly by ship. The country with the greatest increase in
visitors is 3………Tourism has expanded in the Arctic because the 4………..lasts longer than it
used to.
Travel to the Antarctic has fallen by 5………..over the past year. However, many more people
are using small planes and 6… ....................... to land on the ice. Aircraft are also taking visitors
to huge ships that hold as many as 7……….… tourists.

2. Look at the following statements and the list of people below. Match each
statement with the correct person, A-D.
NB You may use any letter more than once.

List of People
8 Some tourists believe they should not delay their A Louisa Richardson
trip to the poles.
9 There are some dangers to travelling in Antarctica.
10 Some famous people have travelled to polar B Rod Downie
regions to look at the impacts of global warming.
11 Some tourists make more than one C Frigg Jorgensen
trip to the poles.
12 There is no evidence that visitors are hurrying to D Prisca Campbell
the poles.

6
Reading 10
Utopia

A utopia is a community or society possessing highly desirable or perfect qualities. The word was
coined in Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island society
in the Atlantic Ocean. Chronologically, the first recorded utopian proposal is Plato's Republic. It
proposes a categorization of citizens into a rigid class structure of "golden," "silver," "bronze" and
"iron" socioeconomic classes.

In the early 19th century, several “utopian socialist” ideas arose, in response to the belief that social
disruption was created by the development of commercialism and capitalism. These ideas shared
certain characteristics: an egalitarian distribution of goods, frequently with the total abolition of
money, and citizens only doing work which they enjoy and which is for the common good, leaving
them with ample time for the cultivation of the arts and sciences. One classic example of such a
utopia was Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward. Another socialist utopia is William Morris' News
from Nowhere, written partially in response to the top-down (bureaucratic) nature of Bellamy's
utopia, which Morris criticized. However, as the socialist movement developed it moved away from
utopianism; Karl Marx in particular became a harsh critic of earlier socialism he described as utopian.

Utopias have also been imagined by the opposite side of the political spectrum. For example, Robert
A. Heinlein's The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress portrays an individualistic and libertarian utopia.
Capitalist utopias of this sort are generally based on free market economies, in which the
presupposition is that private enterprise and personal initiative without an institution of coercion,
government, provides the greatest opportunity for achievement and progress of both the individual
and society as a whole.

Answer questions 1 to 5 by choosing the correct letter A to F .

Which of the writers in the box below...

1. ……….imagined a utopia based on individual freedom? A) Sir Thomas More

2. ……….first used the word „utopia‟? B) Plato

3. ……….wrote about a bureaucratic socialist utopia? C) Edward Bellamy

4. ……….first described a utopian society? D) William Morris

5. ……….distanced himself from utopian socialism? E) Karl Marx

F) Robert A. Heinlein

7
Reading 11
Reducing errors in memory
The findings, which appear in the September issue of the journal Learning & Memory, have practical
implications for everyone from students flubbing multiple choice tests to senior citizens confusing
their medications, said Kimberly Fenn, principal investigator and MSU assistant professor of
psychology.
It‟s easy to muddle things in your mind,” Fenn said. “This research suggests that after sleep
you‟re better able to tease apart the incorrect aspect of that memory”. Fenn and colleagues from the
University of Chicago and Washington University in St. Louis studied the presence of false memory
in groups of college students. While previous research has shown that sleep improves memory, this
study is the first to address errors in memory, she said.

Study participants were exposed to lists of words and then, 12 hours later, exposed to individual
words and asked to identify which words they had seen or heard in the earlier session. One group of
students was trained in the morning (10 a.m.) and tested after the course of a normal sleepless day (10
p.m.), while another group was trained at night and tested 12 hours later in the morning, after at least
six hours of sleep. Three experiments were conducted, using different stimuli. In each, the students
who had slept had fewer problems with false memory – choosing fewer incorrect words.
How does sleep help? The answer isn‟t known, Fenn said, but she suspects it may be due to sleep
strengthening the source of the memory. The source, or context in which the information is
acquired, is a vital element of the memory process. Or perhaps the people who didn‟t sleep during the
study were simply bombarded with information over the course of the day, affecting their memory
ability, Fenn said.

Further research is warranted, she said, adding that she plans to study different population
groups, particularly the elderly. “We know older individuals generally have worse memory
performance than younger individuals. We also know from other research that elderly individuals
tend to be more prone to false memories,” Fenn said. “Given the work we‟ve done it‟s possible that
sleep may actually help them to reject this false information. And potentially this could help to
improve their quality of life in some way.”

adapted from Michigan State University News

Complete the summary using the list of words and phrases, A-J below.

.Fenn’s Memory Experiments

The groups in the study saw or heard lists of words at 1……… times of
the day. After 2……..hours, the groups tried to identify these words A more F ten
correctly in a test. Before the test, one group had 3……… sleep and chose B complex G different
the words in the evening. The other groups had their test in the morning. C 12 H no
In three experiments, the results were 4… ....... the groups that had slept D six I fewer
during the experiment remembered 5… ......... words correctly than the E less J the same
other groups.

8
Reading 12
Read the texts and the statements that follow them. Write YES if the opinion is expressed in
the text (=the writer agrees) and NO if the writer disagrees.
Britain never used to have armed police, but when major events are being held, such as the
recent London Olympics, there is a visible presence of armed police in train stations. Do people
public transport feel reassured when they see armed police? Possibly. But most of them,
especially visitors to the UK, may feel that there is something to worry about, especially as they
would expect British police not to be armed. And if we think about it, the police, armed or not,
cannot protect us from bombers. But what the police can, and sometimes does do, is make
mistakes, and these are always worse when there are firearms involved. So in the end, arming
police may do more harm than good.

1. Most of travellers feel protected when they see armed police in train stations.
2. Even police with guns cannot protect us from bombers.
3. The police might shoot somebody by accident.
4. It is better not to have armed police in Britain.
Instead of complaining about roadworks, the cost of petrol, the price of cars, etc. we need to
think about other options. And I don‟t mean car sharing or building more motorways. I say we
try to save our environment by campaigning for better bus and train networks and for different
types of transport, such as trams.

5. We should complain about car-related problem

6. The environment is not really in danger.
7. Public transport needs to be improved.
The rise in fuel prices is a very worrying trend. Here are just some examples of the consequences.
Elderly people cannot afford to heat their houses, people lose their jobs because they can no
longer afford to commute to work, or because they are made redundant from their jobs in
transport-based businesses such as airlines. Self-employed people often rely on their own
transport for work, e.g. delivery people, florists and taxi drivers, so they may be forced to close
their business. The prices of some food and raw materials also increase as a direct result of the
cost of oil, e.g. the prices of beef and cotton. Against all of that, there is one possible advantage:
car manufacturers are employing more people to design fuel-efficient cars, which will benefit
the environment. But surely, this is not enough. What we need is international cooperation and
political goodwill, to reduce fuel prices and or financially support those who are being affected.

8. We need to be concerned about the increase in the price of fuel.

9. There are more problems caused by increasing fuel prices than the ones mentioned in the
passage.
10. The price of beef is closely related to the price of oil.
11. The rise of fuel prices is not a big problem as the environment is benefitting from it.
12. If we cannot lower the price of fuel then we need more money so that people can cope
with it.

9
Look back at the third passage. Are the following opinion in the text (√) or are they NOT
GIVEN?
1 Old people may die because they cannot keep warm.
2 There is more unemployment when fuel prices rise.
3 People who deliver goods may use their personal vehicles to do this.
4 The price of corn and corn-based foods are related to the price of oil.
5 There always exist some fuel-efficient cars.
6 Politicians are not working hard enough now to solve fuel price problems.

Reading 13
Read the following passage. Do the statements agree with the views of the writer? Use YES/
NO/ NOT GIVEN
YES/NO/
Text Statements NOT
GIVEN
Despite Victorian times being characterized by 1 The romantic poets are not
romanticism, the famous British romantic poets normally described as
belong to the period before Queen Victoria. Victorian poets.

From the same era data famous writers such as 2 Jane Austen and Mary Shelly
Jane Austen and Mary Shelley (who wrote were two authors who knew
Frankenstein), and great architects such as James each other well.
Wyatt and John Nash.

And, even if we know they can all be described as 3 The adjective “Georgian” can
Georgian artists, which King George does this refer to people who lived
refer to? Actually, it refers to four of them during the period that King
(George I, George II, George III and George IV), George I ruled.
and thus spans a long period incorporating most
of the 18th century and some of the 19th.

The Georgian style incorporates previous styles, 4 The gothic style came after the
including gothic, and has its own subdivision, Georgian style.
Regency style, which describes the period of
George IV.
5 George IV was a king who was
known for his sense of style.

10
 Reading 14
Mau Piailug, ocean navigator
Mau sailed from Hawaii to Tahiti using traditional methods.
In early 1976, Mau Piailug, a fisherman, led an expedition in which he sailed a traditional
Polynesian boat across 2,500 miles of ocean from Hawaii to Tahiti. The Polynesian Voyaging
Society had organised the expedition. Its purpose was to find out if seafarers in the distant past
could have found their way from one island to the other without navigational instruments, or
whether the islands had been populated by accident. At the time, Mau was the only man alive
who knew how to navigate just by observing the stars, the wind and the sea.
He had never before sailed to Tahiti, which was a long way to the south. However, he
understood how the wind and the sea behave around islands, so he was confident he could find
his way. The voyage took him and his crew a month to complete and he did it without a
compass or charts.
His grandfather began the task of teaching him how to navigate when he was still a baby. He
showed him pools of water on the beach to teach him how the behavior of the waves and wind
changed in different places. Later, Mau used a circle of stones to memorize the positions of the
stars. Each stone was laid out in the sand to represent a star.
The voyage proved that Hawaii‟s first inhabitants came in small boat and navigated by reading
the sea and the stars. Mau himself became a keen teacher, passing his traditional secrets to
people of other cultures so that his knowledge would not be lost. He explained the position of
the stars to his students, but his allowed them to write things down because he knew they would
never be able to remember everything as he had done.

Read statements 1-7 below and decide if the statements are TRUE, FALSE or NOT GIVEN

1. At the time of his voyage, Mau had unique navigational skills.

2. Mau was familiar with the sea around Tahiti.
3. Mau though it would be difficult to use a compass and charts.
4. Mau‟s grandfather was his only teacher.
5. Mau used stones to learn where each star was situated in the sky.
6. The first inhabitants of Hawaii could read and write.
7. Mau expected his students to memorize the positions of the stars.

11
Reading 15:
Making a chance
In 1990, a young American named Christopher McCandless gave up his career plans, left
behind everyone he knew, including his family, and went off on an adventure. He was 22
at the time. In an act of kindness, he donated all his savings to the famous charity, Oxfam
International, and hitchhiked his way through America to Alaska. His decisions were so
unusual for his age that Jon Krakauer wrote a book about them called Into the Wild, and
Sean Penn directed a film that had the same title.
Of course, this is an unusual story. Most college graduates would not do quite the same
thing. However, studies do show that in teenage years, people are more likely to try out
new experiences. Instead of following the family career path, for example, and working his
way up the same organization like his grandfather did, a 15-year-old may dream about
becoming a traveller - only to find in his early 20s that this fascination with new places is
declining and change is less attractive. This age-related trend can be observed in all
cultures.
The reason why people all over the world become less keen to change as they get older
may be because people‟s lives generally follow similar patterns and involve similar
demands. Most people, wherever they are, aim to find a job and a partner. As they get older,
they may have young children to look after and possibly elderly family members. These
responsibilities cannot be achieved without some degree of consistency, which means that
new experiences and ideas may not have a place in the person‟s life. New experiences may
bring excitement but also insecurity, and so most people prefer to stay with the familiar.
However, not every individual is the same. One toddler may want to play a different game
every day and get fed up if nothing changes at the nursery. Another may seek out and play
with the same children and toys on every visit. Young children who avoid new experiences
will grow up to be more conventional than others. Psychologists argue that those who have
more open personalities as children are more open than others might be when they are
older.
So you are better off making a new start today than postponing it until later.
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the reading
passage? (YES/ NO/ NOT GIVEN)
1. Teenagers are more ready to have new experience than young adults.
2. Grandparents usually encourage their grandchildren to get a well-paid job.
3. Life demands are different depending on which country you live in.
4. Some toddlers finds repetitive activities boring.
5. Children who dislike new experiences become more adventurous than others as
adults.
6. If you want to change something in your life, you should avoid delay.

12
Reading 16
Choose the correct headings for each of the paragraphs A-D from the list. You will not use
them all.
i Making CCTV effective
ii Is CCTV really effective?
iii How CCTV works
iv Crime fighting with technology
v The fight against terrorism
vi The use of CCTV cameras
vii The police and their opinion

A……………..
Crime-fighting technology is getting more sophisticated and rightly so. The police need to be
equipped for the 21st century. In Britain we‟ve already got the world‟s biggest DNA database. By
next year the state will have access to the genetic data of 4.25m people: one British-based person
in 14. Hundreds of thousands of those on the database will never have been charged with a
crime.
B………………
Britain is also reported to have more than 4 million CCTV (closed circuit television) cameras.
There is a continuing debate about the effectiveness of CCTV. Some evidence suggests that it is
helpful in reducing shoplifting and car crime. It has also been used to successfully identify
terrorists and murderers.
C………………
However, many claim that better lighting is just as effective to prevent crime and that cameras
could displace crime. An internal police report said that only one crime was solved for every
1,000 cameras in London in 2007. In short, there is conflicting evidence about the effectiveness
of cameras, so it is likely that the debate will continue.
D………………
Professor Mike Press who has spent the past decade studying how design can contribute to crime
reduction, said that, in order for CCTV to have any effect, it must be used in a targeted way.

13
Reading 17
Read this list of headings and discuss what you think each one means.
List of Headings
i A solution which is no solution
ii Changing working practices
iii Closing city centres to traffic
iv Making cars more environmentally friendly
v Not doing enough
vi Paying to get in
vii A global problem
Traffic jams – no end in sight
There are no easy answers to the problem of traffic congestion.
A. Traffic congestion affects people throughout the world. Traffic jams cause smog in
dozens of cities across both the developed and developing world. In the US,
commuters spend an average of a full working week each year sitting in traffic jams,
according to the Texas Transportation Institute. While alternative ways of getting
around are available, most people still choose their cars because they are looking for
convenience, comfort and privacy.
B. The most promising technique for reducing city traffic is called congestion pricing,
whereby cities charge a toll to enter certain parts of town at certain times of day. In
theory, if the toll is high enough, some drivers will cancel their trips or go by bus or
train. And in practice it seems to work: Singapore, London and Stockholm have
reduced traffic and pollution in city centres thanks to congestion pricing.
C. Another way to reduce rush-hour traffic for employers to implement flexitime,
which lets employees travel to and from work at off-peak traffic times to avoid the
rush hour. Those who have to travel during busy times can do their part by sharing
cars. Employers can also allow more staff to telecommute (work from home) so as
to keep more cars off the road altogether.
D. Some urban planners still believe that the best way to ease traffic congestion is to
build more roads, especially roads that can take drivers around or over crowded city
streets. But such techniques do not really keep cars off the road; they only
accommodate of them.
E. Other, more forward-thinking, planners know that more and more drivers and cars
are taking to the roads every day, and they are unwilling to encourage more private
automobiles when public transport is so much better both for people and the
environment. For this reason, the American government has decided to spend some
$7 billion on helping to increase capacity on public-transport systems and upgrade
them with more efficient technologies. But environmentalists complain that such
funding is tiny compared to the $50 billion being spent on roads and bridges.

Adapted from The Environmental Magazine, Earthtalk

14
Reading 18

List of headings Sections

i the disappearance of traditional playground sports Section A: ………...

ii the disappearance of classic playground games Section B: ………...
iii the dangers of the playground Section C: ………...
iv the best traditional games in Britain Section D: …………
v possible explanations for the bans Section E: …………
vi not a very British bulldog Section F: …………
vii no real support for the bans
viii differing opinions about the bans
ix different ways of playing
x a closer look at some traditional games

Is this the end of traditional British playground pastimes?

Section A
A survey has suggested that traditional pastimes are increasingly being banned at break times in
primary schools. Number one on the list is chasing game British Bulldog, followed by leapfrog
and conkers.
Section B
Despite its name, British Bulldog is a game that does not involve animals, and is played all over
the world in a number of variations. In its basic form it involves runners trying to get to the other
side of the playground without being caught by the chaser, the 'bulldog'. If caught, they become a
bulldog too, until there is only one person left: the winner of the game. 'Conkers' on the other hand,
is genuinely British, as it is a game that was invented in England. The players bring their own
'conker': a horse chestnut attached to a thick piece of string that goes through the middle of the nut
and is knotted underneath. Players pair up, wrap the string around one of their hands and try up to
three times to hit the other person's conker by swinging their hand back and forth. They take this
in turns until one of the conker is destroyed. That could be the end of the game, or the winner could
go on to 'fight' others. There are different types of scoring methods in place. The game is also
played outside the school playground, with a world championship taking place in England every
year.
Section C
It will come as no surprise that people have had accidents resulting in a broken arm or leg while
playing British Bulldog, or by simply walking across the playground when a game is taking place!
It is also not difficult to imagine that many conker players manage to hit their opponent's hand
rather than their conker. Horse chestnuts are very hard and being hit with one hurts, as many school
children will - proudly - tell you.

15
Section D
This whole situation is not new. In the past, we have also heard stories about the banning of kiss
chase and of musical chairs. There is also anecdotal evidence that some schools ban marbles, and
even hopscotch, duck-duck-goose and skipping. The main reason for forbidding these games is
again fear of injury. Sometimes the justifications are stranger and perhaps not actually true. For
example, kiss chase, a chase game where the person who has been caught receives a kiss before
becoming the chaser, may pass on germs. And conkers might also be a problem for children with
nut allergies.

Section E
Sporting activities are also becoming rarer on the playground, often because there is a lack of staff
available to supervise them. Apart from banning these, there are also more original solutions, such
as allowing students to play touch rugby only - a form of rugby where tackles are not allowed, and
playing football with a soft ball rather than the traditional leather one. Having said that, these
activities are often not popular with the kids, and this may discourage them from playing at all.

Section F
Your comments:
This is just ridiculous! Illnesses and injuries are part of growing up! Sean, Watford.
I used to play all these games, and more. I think I split my lip once when I fell over during a circle
game, but so what? It can't compete with the hours of fun I had with my friends. Susan,
Bournemouth
I don't think it's wrong to question whether we should allow violent games in schools. After all,
violence should not be tolerated in an educational environment. Perhaps this is something that
could lead to healthy group discussions involving teachers and pupils about rules and behaviour,
but in my opinion this should not result in a ban of healthy running games such as circle, tag or
chase games. Otherwise all PE. and sports activities should also be banned on health and safety
grounds, which would be mad: it's just not necessary to do any of this. Kiran, Cardiff
Let's ban active playground activities. Let's keep the kids inside the classrooms during break times
and pay extra staff to stay indoors to supervise them and keep them safe. Let's watch them become
very fat and very boring adults! A. Watson, Sheffield
Allowing children to play games that involve the occasional risk, such as British Bulldog, teaches
them to make intelligent decisions about their safety. Mohammed, Scotland
I blame lawyers and society: we always feel somebody should be to blame if anything goes wrong,
so we can sue them for a lot of money. Alison, London

16
Reading 19
Air conditioning
The history of an invention that makes life more pleasant
Willis Carrier designed the first air-conditioning unit in 1902, just a year after graduating
from Cornell University with a Masters in Engineering. At a Brooklyn printing plant,
fluctuations in heat and moisture were causing the size of the printing paper to keep
changing slightly, making it hard to align different colours. Carrier‟s invention made it
possible to control temperature and humidity levels and so align the colours. The
invention also allowed industries such as film, processed food, textiles and
pharmaceuticals to improve the quality of their products.
In 1914, the first air-conditioning device was installed in a private house. However, its
size, similar to that of an early computer, meant it took up too much space to come into
widespread use, and later models, such as the Weathermaker, which Carrier brought out
in the 1920s, cost too much for most people. Cooling for human comfort, rather than
industrial need, really took off when three air conditioners were installed in the Hudson
Department Store in Detroit, Michigan. People crowded into the shop to experience the
new invention. The fashion spread from department stores to cinemas, whose income
rose steeply as a result of the comfort they provided.
To start with, money-conscious employers regarded air conditioning as a luxury. They
considered that if they were paying people to work, they should not be paying for them
to be comfortable as well. So in the 1940s and „50s, the industry started putting out a
different message about its product: according to their research, installing air
conditioning increased productivity amongst employees. They found that typists
increased their output by 24% when transferred from a regular office to a cooled one.
Another study into office working conditions, which was carried out in the late „50s,
showed that the majority of companies cited air conditioning as the single most
important contributor to efficiency in offices.
However, air conditioning has its critics. Jed Brown, an environmentalism, complains
that air conditioning is a factor in global warming. Unfortunately, he adds, because air
conditioning leads to higher temperatures, people have to use it even more. However,
he admits that it provides a healthier environment for many people in the heat of
summer.

17
1. Read Questions 1-5 and underline the key ideas. Do not read the options yet.
Questions 1-5
1. When Willis Carrier invented air conditioning, his aim was to
A make workers feel cooler.
B produce more attractive paper.
C set up a new business.
D solve problems in a factory.

2. Home air conditioners were not popular at first because they were
A too big and expensive.
B not considered necessary.
C too inefficient.
D complicated to use.

3. Employers refused to put air conditioning in workplaces at first because

they
A could not afford to pay for it.
B thought it was more suitable for cinemas.
C did not want to spend money improving working conditions.
D thought people would not work so hard in comfortable conditions.

4. What was the purpose of the research done in the 1940s and „50s?
A to make office workers produce more
B to compare different types of air conditioner
C to persuade businesses to buy air conditioners
D to encourage employees to change offices

5. What does Jed Brown say about air conditioning?

A In future, everyone will need it.
B Turning it off will not reduce global warming.
C It can seriously damage people‟s health.
D It is good for people, but bad for the environment.

2. Now read the passage and find where each question is dealt with. Then read
that part carefully and choose the correct option: A, B, C and D.

18
Reading 20
Humpback whale breaks migration record
A whale surprises researchers with her journey.
A lone humpback whale travelled more than 9,800 kilometres from breeding areas in Brazil
to those in Madagascar, setting a record for the longest mammal migration ever
documented.
Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) are known to have some of the longest
migration distances of all mammals, and this huge journey is about 400 kilometres farther
than the previous humpback record. The finding was made by Peter Stevick, a biologist at
the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine.
The whale‟s journey was unusual not only for its length, but also because it travelled across
almost 90 degrees of longitude from west to east. Typically, humpbacks move in a north-
south direction between cold feeding areas and warm breeding grounds - and the longest
journeys which have been recorded until now have been between breeding and feeding
sites.
The whale, a female, was first spotted off the coast of Brazil, where researchers
photographed its tail fluke and took skin samples for chromosome testing to determine the
animal's sex. Two years later, a tourist on a whale-watching boat snapped a photo of the
humpback near Madagascar.
To match the two sightings, Stevick‟s team used an extensive international catalogue of
photographs of the undersides of tail flukes, which have distinctive markings. Researchers
routinely compare the markings in each new photograph to those in the archive.
The scientists then estimated the animal‟s shortest possible route: an arc skirting the
southern tip of South Africa and heading north-east towards Madagascar. The minimum
distance is 9,800 kilometres, says Stevick, but this is likely to be an underestimate, because
the whale probably took a detour to feed on krill in the Southern Ocean near Antarctica
before reaching its destination.
Most humpback-whale researchers focus their efforts on the Northern Hemisphere because
the Southern Ocean near the Antarctic is a hostile environment and it is hard to get to,
explains Rochelle Constantine, who studies the ecology of humpback whales at the
University of Auckland in New Zealand. But, for whales, oceans in the Southern
Hemisphere are wider and easier to travel across, says Constantine. Scientists will probably
observe more long-distance migrations in the Southern Hemisphere as satellite tracking
becomes increasingly common, she adds.
Daniel Palacios, an oceanographer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, says that the
record-breaking journey could indicate that migration patterns are shifting as populations
begin to recover from near-extinction and the population increases. But the reasons why
the whale did not follow the usual migration routes remain a mystery. She could have been

19
 exploring new habitats, or simply have lost her way. 'We generally think of humpback
whales as very well studied, but then they surprise us with things like this,‟ Palacios says.
„Undoubtedly there are a lot of things we still don‟t know about whale migration.’
by Janelle Weaver, published online in Nature
Look at Question 1-7 below. Underline the key ideas in the questions, but not the
options.
1. What TWO aspects of the whale‟s 5. The passage says that more
journey surprised researchers? research is done in the Northern
A. The destination Hemisphere. Which TWO
B. The direction reasons are given for this?
C. The distance A. It contains more whales.
D. The reason B. It has friendlier surroundings
E. The season C. There are more samples
2. The passage mentions reasons why whales available.
generally migrate. What TWO reasons are D. It is easier to reach.
given? E. It contains smaller whales.
A. To avoid humans 6. The passage suggests why the
B. To be safe whale made a different journey
C. To eat from usual. Which TWO reasons
D. To keep warm does it suggest?
E. To produce young A. She did not know where she
3. What TWO methods did researchers use to was going.
record the identity of the whale near B. She did not want to breed.
Brazil? C. She wanted to escape a
A. They analyzed part of the whale‟s danger.
body. D. She was looking for a new
B. They marked its tail. place to live.
C. They made notes of its behavior. E. She was recovering from an
D. They recorded the sounds it made. illness.
E. They took a picture. 7. Which TWO methods of finding
4. The passage mentions places the whale out where whales migrate are
may have passed close to on its journey. mentioned in the passage?
Which TWO places may the whale have A. Attaching radio transmitters
passed? B. Comparing pictures taken in
A. Antarctica different place
B. Hawaii C. Following them in boats
C. Maine D. Placing cameras in key
D. New Zealand positions
E. South Africa E. Following their movements
from space.

20
Reading 21

A. London has the largest number of jobs related to Great Britain‟s tourist industry, but tourism
is not as important to London as it is to some other parts of the UK, according to a recent
report published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

B. According to the survey, over 15 percent of all tourism-related jobs in the UK were based in
London, yet tourism related industries only accounted for around 10 percent of overall
employment. In contrast, Wales accounted for less than 5 percent of employment in the UK
tourism industry, yet within Wales these jobs account for almost 10 percent of total
employment.

C. Overall, there were just under three million people with jobs in tourism and tourism related
industries in the UK – around 9 percent of all employment. London and the South East
accounted for 30 percent of these jobs in total – highlighting the importance of the capital and
surrounding region to the UK‟s tourism industry.

D. Viewed in a bit more detail, a greater variance can be seen in tourism-related employment
patterns, with tourism hotpots revealed within regions. In Torbay, Devon, for example, more
than 15 percent of all employment was in tourism and related industries, while in parts of the
West Midlands the figure was as low as 5 percent.

E. Tourism related industries include accommodation, the food and beverage sector, passenger
transport, vehicle hire, travel agencies, cultural, recreation and sports activities, and also
conference activities.

F. The top ten local areas for tourism related employment in the UK, as a proportion of total
employment were as follows:

Which paragraph contains the following information?

1. The areas with the highest proportion of tourism related jobs.
2. Areas with the highest and lowest percentage of tourism related jobs.
3. Examples of tourism related jobs.
4. The area with the largest number of tourism related jobs.
5. The total number of people working in tourism related jobs in the UK.
6. The percentage of UK tourism jobs based in and around London.

21
Reading 22

The motor car

A. There are now over 700 million motor vehicles in the world - and the number is rising by
more than 40 million each year. The average distance driven by car users is growing too -
from 8km a day per person in western Europe in 1965 to 25 km a day in 1995. This
dependence on motor vehicles has given rise to major problems, including environmental
pollution, depletion of oil resources, traffic congestion and safety.

B. While emissions from new cars are far less harmful than they used to be, city streets and
motorways are becoming more crowded than ever, often with older trucks, buses and taxis
which emit excessive levels of smoke and fumes. This concentration of vehicles makes air
quality in urban areas unpleasant and sometimes dangerous to breathe. Even Moscow has
joined the list of capitals afflicted by congestion and traffic fumes. In Mexico City, vehicle
pollution is a major health hazard.

C. Until a hundred years ago, most journeys were in the 20km range, the distance conveniently
accessible by horse. Heavy freight could only be carried by water or rail. Invention of the
motor vehicle brought personal mobility to the masses and made rapid freight delivery
possible over a much wider area. In the United Kingdom, about 90 per cent of inland freight is
carried by road. The world cannot revert to the horse-drawn wagon. Can it avoid being locked
into congested and polluting ways of transporting people and goods?

D. In Europe most cities are still designed for the old modes of transport. Adaptation to the
motor car has involved adding ring roads, one-way systems and parking lots. In the United
States, more land is assigned to car use than to housing. Urban sprawl means that life without
a car is next to impossible. Mass use of motor vehicles has also killed or injured millions of
people. Other social effects have been blamed on the car such as alienation and aggressive
human behavior.

E. 1993 study by the European Federation for Transport and Environment found that car
transport is seven times as costly as rail travel in terms of the external social costs it entails -
congestion, accidents, pollution, loss of cropland and natural habitats, depletion of oil
resources, and so on. Yet cars easily surpass trains or Academic Reading sample task –
Matching information buses as a flexible and convenient mode of personal transport. It is
unrealistic to expect people to give up private cars in favor of mass transit.

F. Technical solutions can reduce the pollution problem and increase the fuelled efficiency of
engines. But fuel consumption and exhaust emissions depend on which cars are preferred by
customers and how they are driven. Many people buy larger cars than they need for daily
purposes or waste fuel by driving aggressively. Besides, global car use is increasing at a faster
rate than the improvement in emissions and fuel efficiency which technology is now making
possible.

G. Some argue that the only long-term solution is to design cities and neighborhoods so that car
journeys are not necessary - all essential services being located within walking distance or
easily accessible by public transport. Not only would this save energy and cut carbon dioxide
emissions, it would also enhance the quality of community life, putting the emphasis on
22
 people instead of cars. Good local government is already bringing this about in some places.
But few democratic communities are blessed with the vision – and the capital – to make such
profound changes in modern lifestyles.

H. A more likely scenario seems to be a combination of mass transit systems for travel into and
around cities, with small „low emission‟ cars for urban use and larger hybrid or lean burn cars
for use elsewhere. Electronically tolled highways might be used to ensure that drivers pay
charges geared to actual road use. Better integration of transport systems is also highly
desirable - and made more feasible by modern computers. But these are solutions for
countries which can afford them. In most developing countries, old cars and old technologies
continue to predominate

Which paragraphs contains the following information?

1. a comparison of past and present transportation methods

2. how driving habits contribute to road problems

3. the relative merits of cars and public transport

4. the writer‟s prediction on future solutions

5. the increasing use of motor vehicles

6. the impact of the car on city development

23
Reference lists:

- Collins – Reading for IELTS

- Collins – Get ready for IELTS

- Simon – Reading materials

- Complete IELTS Band 4-5

- Internet

24