READING 1.

Part 1:
(A) The blood group system was developed by an Austrian scientist in 1900, and in 1927, Takeji
Furukawa, a professor at Tokyo Women's Teacher's School, suggested that personality types and
blood groups must be related. He backed it with his own observations, and the theory quickly
spread in Japan and beyond. While it wasn't a big hit in the Western world, it is taken very seriously
in Japan and some other Asian countries. In fact, there have been cases of discrimination based on
blood group in workplaces and schools. The Japanese even have a special term for this type of
discrimination—bura hara, or blood type harassment. Here is what this theory suggests.
Blood Type A Personality
These are kind and compassionate individuals who put others' interests and needs before their
own. While they may seem calm on the outside, they often suffer from inner anxiety. People with
blood type A personality are excellent listeners and make good friends. Although they get along
with others quite well, it is often achieved at the expense of their own happiness. To be liked by
others, they bottle up their emotions, which takes its toll on their nervous system. It is beneficial
for them to take time alone and rest well. The best jobs for this personality type are those that don't
require much contact with other people, such as programmers, accountants, or librarians.
Blood Type B Personality
(B) Outgoing and friendly, this type is a people person. Unlike type A, type B doesn't do that at
the expense of their own feelings; it comes to them naturally, without any effort. Contact with
people doesn't wear them out, and they do great as leaders or in any type of job that requires
dealing with people. Type B is highly adaptable; they can understand people well. They are into
body language and other methods of deciphering others. People with blood type B personality rely
on their intuition and trust themselves. Speaking of discrimination, Korean women consider men
with blood type B personality unsuitable for marriage due to their playful and flirty disposition.
Blood Type AB Personality
Freedom-loving ABs are strong and rational people. They don't worry about little things and can
usually assess their life challenges without emotions getting in the way. Despite their love for
freedom and independent thinking, they don't have issues when it comes to relationships and are
quite popular.
Blood Type O Personality
This type is described as responsible, practical, rule-conscious, and organized. They make
excellent leaders, and their determination helps them achieve their goals. While they are usually
liked by other people, they are somewhat loners and need a lot of time alone. Typically, type O
individuals are physically strong and can find success in sports.
READING 2.
Part 2:
Popularized by its inclusion on the typical gap-year agenda for high school students after
graduation and regarded as another tick on the CV, volunteering has become a trendy way for
wealthy westerners to give back to less fortunate communities. However, despite good intentions
from participants, volunteering abroad has attracted substantial criticism over the past few years.

(A) "Are the volunteers actually providing any benefits to the destination countries?" asks Mark
Watson, the Executive Director of Tourism Concern, a charity campaigning on ethical tourism
issues. More often than not, the answer is unquestionably no.
The demand for volunteer spots in developing countries has led to hundreds of commercial
volunteering organizations springing up. Many claim to have noble intentions but pocket the
money for profit and send volunteers on unsatisfying, purpose-built placements.

(B) Rather than benefiting local communities, voluntourism can have negative impacts, a number
of studies have highlighted. These range from volunteers taking local jobs to child trafficking,
where young children are stolen from their families and placed into 'orphanages' to fuel the demand
for volunteer placements. These kidnapped children are then subjected to deliberately poor living
conditions to elicit higher donations from visiting westerners.
While Watson acknowledges there are companies out there who employ good practices, it's a
change in the mindset of would-be volunteers he'd most like to see.
"I talk to a lot of people who say they want to dig wells in Africa. I say what Africa has got quite
a lot of is unskilled labor; there are a lot of people out there that can dig wells. The idea that you,
as an unskilled worker, have got anything really useful that you can add is slightly arrogant and
sort of imperialistic in some ways—white people going out to Africa to help the Africans. I think
it's mostly about getting people to be realistic; you're just doing it for yourself, it's a holiday. You're
not really going to do anything particularly worthwhile, and that's quite a hard message to get
across," says Watson.
Kate Stefanko, Placement Director at People and Places, agrees to an extent, but she thinks
volunteering abroad can be beneficial to all concerned if it is done right. "We believe that a
carefully placed, thoroughly screened, well-prepared, skilled volunteer can—and does—have a
positive impact," says Stefanko. All volunteers through People and Places have to apply for a
position. Then, if accepted, the volunteer is matched with an upcoming project that can benefit
from their skill set. As a result, well-run efforts can absolutely develop a level of social interaction
and understanding that is profound.
READING 3
Part 3:
Bees are an intricate part of the pollination process. Honeybees account for more than 80 percent
of the pollination that most vegetables, fruits, and legumes need, the University of Minnesota
Extension states on its website. Normally found on spring, summer, and fall blossoms, bees use
the nectar and pollen they collect for sustenance and hive warmth. In fact, freezing temperatures
kill bees if they don't warm themselves within their hive.

(A) Bees are cold-blooded; they rely on outside temperatures to regulate their body heat. As a
result, honeybees typically emerge from their protective hives during the daytime, commonly
between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. They fly only when the air temperature is above 13 to 16 degrees
Celsius. Freezing temperatures essentially lock bee muscles in place; their wings cannot beat
correctly for proper and safe flight. Being in dropping temperatures causes exposure and normally
leads to death. Freezing temperatures also affect nectar viscosity. Even if bees could fly in cold
temperatures, flower nectar may be too thick for them to collect or the flowers may be closed in
response to the weather.
(B) A typical beehive maintains an interior temperature of about 33 to 35 degrees Celsius. When
freezing temperatures arrive, bees can survive only if they remain inside the hive in a large group,
much like penguins huddling together during winter. Clustering, however, does not generate
enough heat to combat death from freezing. Bees consume the honey reserves within the hive to
create more heat. If bees leave the hive during a cold period, they usually freeze before returning.
(C) Bees use freezing temperatures to their advantage for hive population control. Specific bees,
called drones, are used simply for reproduction; they allow the queen bee to create numerous eggs
during the warm months. By autumn, the drones are not needed. Worker bees remove them from
the hive. With cold weather setting in, exposed drones freeze, effectively controlling the hive's
population. A hive may lose up to one-half of its population during winter months. This constant
hive rejuvenation allows the queen to produce more worker bees for increased nectar and pollen
collection.
(D) Your home may have structural cavities that bees find desirable for a hive. If you find a hive
hidden in your home's walls, do not attempt to disturb it. Any vibration or disturbance to the colony
easily agitates the bees, causing possible stings and major injury or death to humans with allergic
reactions. Contact a professional bee removal company. It may be possible for the professionals
to use freezing weather as a hive removal strategy. They can open the hive to the freezing elements.
That process avoids the use of pesticides and ensures the safety of your home.
READING 4
Part 4:
The continents may have first risen high above the oceans of the world about 3 billion years ago, researchers say.
That's about a billion years earlier than geoscientists had suspected for the emergence of a good chunk of the
continents.
Earth is the only known planet whose surface is divided into continents and oceans. Currently, the continents rise
an average of about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) above the seafloor.
The continents are composed of a thick, buoyant crust that's about 21 miles (35 km) deep, on average, whereas the
comparatively thin, dense crust of the ocean floor is only an average of about 4 miles (7 km) thick. Because the
continents are so thick and buoyant, they are less likely to get dragged downward. That's why so many ancient
continental rocks have survived in the Earth's crust. Still, much about the earliest days of the continents, and when
and how they formed, remains hotly contested.
"Earth's surface is continually being reworked by tectonics and agents of erosion, so what may have formed long
ago may no longer be present," said geologist Cin-Ty Lee at Rice University in Houston, who was not involved in
the current study.

(A) To shed light on the origins of continents, isotope geochemist Bruno Dhuime at the University of Bristol in
England and his colleagues analyzed more than 13,000 samples of rocks from the continental crust. Some of these
samples were more than 4 billion years old.
Prior research suggested the first 2 billion years of Earth's 4.5-billion-year history were dominated by volcanic
activity that generated the kind of crust now seen on the seafloor. Continent-like crust, which is thick and rich in
silica, was thought to only have emerged in great volumes in the past 2 billion years. Determining what the earliest
continental crust was like and when it formed can be tricky, because Earth's crust has melted and mixed together
over and over again.
The researchers found that when magma cools and crystallizes, the remaining molten rock becomes enriched in
silica and rubidium, but less so in strontium. The relative amounts of rubidium and strontium are therefore linked
with the amount of silica in rock, and so could be used to extrapolate when in the modern era thick, silica-rich
continental crust emerged.
(B) The researchers found that modern, silica-rich continental crust first appeared about 3 billion years ago. The
thick, buoyant nature of these chunks of crust would have made them rise high above what became the seafloor,
Dhuime and his colleagues note online June 22 in the journal Nature Geoscience.

(C) "They are showing when continents actually emerged from the oceans," said Lee, who wrote an accompanying
news article in Nature Geoscience. "Continents certainly existed early in Earth's history, but perhaps many were
submerged."
It remains uncertain why continental crust made its first appearance about 3 billion years ago. One possibility is
the onset of plate tectonics—when the plates of rock making up the planet's exterior began moving slowly over
the Earth's mantle layer. Plate tectonics would have resulted in wet rock getting shoved down into Earth's interior,
eventually helping to form silica-rich magmas that make up much of the continental crust.
READING 5
Part 1:
(A) It is estimated that over 99 percent of all species that ever existed have become
extinct. What causes extinction? When a species is no longer adapted to a changed
environment, it may perish. The exact causes of a species' death vary from situation
to situation. Rapid ecological change may render an environment hostile to a species.
For example, temperatures may change and a species may not be able to adapt. Food
resources may be affected by environmental changes, which will then cause problems
for a species requiring these resources. Other species may become better adapted to
an environment, resulting in competition and, ultimately, in the death of a species.
The fossil record reveals that extinction has occurred throughout the history of Earth.
Recent analyses have also revealed that on some occasions many species became
extinct at the same time—a mass extinction. One of the best-known examples of mass
extinction occurred 65 million years ago with the demise of dinosaurs and many other
forms of life.

(B) Perhaps the largest mass extinction was the one that occurred 225 million years
ago, when approximately 95 percent of all species died. Mass extinctions can be
caused by a relatively rapid change in the environment and can be worsened by the
close interrelationship of many species. If, for example, something were to happen to
destroy much of the plankton in the oceans, then the oxygen content of Earth would
drop, affecting even organisms not living in the oceans. Such a change would probably
lead to a mass extinction.

(C) One interesting, and controversial, finding is that extinctions during the past 250
million years have tended to be more intense every 26 million years. This periodic
extinction might be due to the intersection of the Earth's orbit with a cloud of comets,
but this theory is purely speculative. Some researchers have also speculated that
extinction may often be random. That is, certain species may be eliminated and others
may survive for no particular reason. A species' survival may have nothing to do with
its ability or inability to adapt. If so, some of evolutionary history may reflect a
sequence of essentially random events.
READING 6
Part 2:
(A) The development of jazz can be seen as part of the larger continuum of American
popular music, especially dance music. In the twenties, jazz became the hottest new
thing in dance music, much as ragtime had at the turn of the century, and as would
rhythm and blues in the fifties, rock in the fifties, and disco in the seventies.

(B) But two characteristics distinguish jazz from other dance music. The first is
improvisation, the changing of a musical phrase according to the player's inspiration.
Like all artists, jazz musicians strive for an individual style, and the improvise or
paraphrase is a jazz musician's main opportunity to display his or her individuality. In
early jazz, musicians often improvised melodies collectively, thus creating a kind of
polyphony. There was little soloing as such, although some New Orleans players,
particularly cornet player Buddy Bolden, achieved local fame for their ability to
improvise a solo. Later the idea of the chorus-long or multichorus solo took hold.
Louis Armstrong's instrumental brilliance, demonstrated through extended solos, was
a major influence in this development. Even in the early twenties, however, some jazz
bands had featured soloists. Similarly, show orchestras and carnival bands often
included one or two such "get-off'' musicians. Unimproved, completely structured jazz
does exist, but the ability of the best jazz musicians to create music of great cohesion
and beauty during performance has been a hallmark of the music and its major source
of inspiration and change.

(C) The second distinguishing characteristic of jazz is a rhythmic drive that was
initially called "hot" and later "swing". In playing hot, a musician consciously departs
from strict meter to create a relaxed sense of phrasing that also emphasizes the
underlying rhythms. ("Rough" tone and use of moderate vibrato also contributed to a
hot sound.) Not all jazz is hot, however, many early bands played unadorned published
arrangements of popular songs. Still, the proclivity to play hot distinguished the jazz
musician from other instrumentalists.
READING 7
Part 3:
(A) Once upon a time, designers showed new styles and designs to clients through sketches. After
the dress was completed, it was displayed on a wooden dummy. Fashion dolls are said to be the
first means of circulating the latest dress styles. Fashion dolls were used to show upcoming styles
and designs to the customers. The dolls were illustrated with new styles and dressed up with
jewellery as well as hair and dress styles.

Charles Worth, British couturier in Paris, came up with the idea of the living mannequin. When
he opened his own store, his wife modelled his creations in the salon. When the idea worked, he
employed mannequins who walked about in the salon or down the runway to show his collections
to consumers. In early 1911, living models began to be used as a regular part of fashion promotions
for retailers as well as manufacturers in the earliest fashion shows. Worth started his own salon in
1858, and in 1911, living models were used.
(B) Apparel manufacturers need a platform to promote products to the target audience. Fashion
shows play a vital role in marketing clothes and conveying recent fashion trends. Nothing is
constant in fashion. Designs and styles keep changing. Fashion shows help in creating interest
among the public to spread awareness about new arrivals in design and style. These shows help to
draw public attention. Fashion marketing scrutinises fashion trends, coordinates sales and
promotes goods. It is necessary to grant exposure to various trends and styles of clothing. Fashion
marketing is likely to notify the public about recent changing trends and about what is in fashion.
Fashion designers forecast trends. They attend trade shows or visit manufacturers to select fabrics
and trims. Designers conduct fittings and adjustments on samples of their designs and the end
product is marketed to clothing retailers. Fashion designers aim at inspiring the target audience to
purchase the products.
Through these shows, fashion designers can express their creative skills and talent in designing
various types of clothes. The individual talent of designers is exposed, and they get an opportunity
to promote their creations.
By participating in these shows, retailers can gain various insights into different designs and styles
of clothing from designers. The knowledge gained from these shows helps retailers incorporate
ideas into their boutiques. Using the latest fashion software tools, designers can put designs on
three-dimensional images.
Everyone likes to track everyday fashion. Fashion gives designers a chance to be independent in
ideas. It boosts confidence in the wearer. Fashion is a form of expression for both the creator and
the wearer. It helps people of similar aesthetics to bond.
READING 8
Part 4:
(A) The definition of "robot" has been confusing from the very beginning. The word
first appeared in 1921, in Karel Capek's play R.U.R., or Rossum's Universal Robots.
"Robot" comes from the Czech for "forced labor." These robots were more robots in
spirit than in form, though. They looked like humans, and instead of being made of
metal, they were made of chemical batter. The robots were far more efficient than
their human counterparts, and also way more murder-y—they ended up going on a
killing spree.

(B) The real-world definition of "robot" is just as ambiguous as those fictional

(C) Modern robots are not unlike toddlers: It's hilarious to watch them fall over, but
deep down we know that if we laugh too hard, they might develop a complex and
grow up to start World War III. No other human creation inspires such a confusing
mix of awe, admiration, and fear: We want robots to make our lives easier and safer,
yet we can't quite bring ourselves to trust them. We're crafting them in our own image,
yet we are terrified they'll supplant us.

(D) But such hesitation poses no obstacle to the booming field of robotics. Robots
have finally grown smart enough and physically capable enough to make their way
out of factories and labs to walk and roll and even leap among us. The machines have
arrived. You may be worried a robot is going to steal your job, and we get that. This
is capitalism, after all, and automation is inevitable. But you may be more likely to
work alongside a robot in the near future than have one replace you. And even better
news: You're more likely to make friends with a robot than have one murder you.
Hooray for the future!
READING 9
Part 1:
(A) Beads were probably the first durable ornaments humans possessed, and the
intimate relationship they had with their owners is reflected in the fact that beads are
among the most common items found in ancient archaeological sites. In the past, just
as today, men, women, and children adorned themselves with beads. In some cultures
still, certain beads are often worn from birth until death, and then are buried with their
owners for the afterlife. Abrasion due to daily wear alters the surface features of beads,
and if they are buried for long, the effects of corrosion can further change their
appearance. Thus, interest is imparted to the bead both by use and the effects of time.

(B) Besides their wearability, either as jewelry or incorporated into articles of attire,
beads possess the desirable characteristics of every collectible: they are durable,
portable, available in infinite variety, and often valuable in their original cultural
context as well as in today's market. Pleasing to look at and touch, beads come in
shapes, colors, and materials that almost compel one to handle them and to sort them.

(C) Beads are miniature bundles of secrets waiting to be revealed: their history,
manufacture, cultural context, economic role, and ornamental use are all points of
information one hopes to unravel. Even the most mundane beads may have traveled
vast distances and witnessed many human experiences. The bead researcher must
gather information from many diverse fields. In addition to having to be a generalist
while specializing in what may seem to be a narrow field, the researcher is faced with
the problem of primary materials that have little or no documentation. Many ancient
beads that are of ethnographic interest have often been separated from their original
cultural context.

(D) Though often regarded as the "small change of civilizations," beads have been a
part of every culture, and they can often be used to date archaeological sites and to
designate the degree of mercantile, technological, and cultural sophistication.
READING 10
Part 2:
(A) The word 'laser' was coined as an acronym for 'Light Amplification by the
Stimulated Emission of Radiation'. Ordinary light, from the Sun or a light bulb, is
emitted spontaneously when atoms or molecules get rid of excess energy by
themselves, without any outside intervention. Stimulated emission is different because
it occurs when an atom or molecule holding onto excess energy has been stimulated
to emit it as light.

Albert Einstein was the first to suggest the existence of stimulated emission in a paper
published in 1917. However, for many years, physicists thought that atoms and
molecules were always much more likely to emit light spontaneously and that
stimulated emission thus would always be much weaker. It was not until after the
Second World War that physicists began trying to make stimulated emission
dominate. They sought ways by which one atom or molecule could stimulate many
others to emit light, amplifying it to much higher powers.

The first to succeed was Charles H. Townes, then at Columbia University in New
York. Instead of working with light, however, he worked with microwaves, which
have a much longer wavelength, and built a device he called a "maser" for Microwave
Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation. Although he conceived the
key idea in 1951, the first maser was not completed until a few years later. Before
long, many other physicists were building masers and trying to discover how to
produce stimulated emission at even shorter wavelengths.

(B) The key concepts emerged about 1957. Townes and Arthur Schawlow, then at
Bell Telephone Laboratories, wrote a long paper outlining the conditions needed to
amplify stimulated emission of visible light waves. At around the same time, similar
ideas crystallized in the mind of Gordon Gould, then a 37-year-old graduate student
at Columbia, who documented them in a series of notebooks. Townes and Schawlow
published their ideas in a scientific journal, Physical Review Letters, but Gould filed
a patent application. Even three decades later, the debate continues over who deserves
credit for the invention of the laser.
READING 11
Part 3:
(A) In the United States in the early 1800s, individual state governments had more
effect on the economy than did the federal government. States granted charters to
manufacturing, banking, mining, and transportation firms and participated in the
construction of various internal improvements such as canals, turnpikes, and railroads.
The states encouraged internal improvements in two distinct ways: first, by actually
establishing state companies to build such improvements; second, by providing part
of the capital for mixed public-private companies setting out to make a profit.

(B) In the early nineteenth century, state governments also engaged in a surprisingly
large amount of direct regulatory activity, including extensive licensing and
inspection programs. Licensing targets reflected both similarities in and differences
between the economy of the nineteenth century and that of today: in the nineteenth
century, state regulation through licensing fell especially on peddlers, innkeepers, and
retail merchants of various kinds. The perishable commodities of trade generally came
under state inspection, and such important frontier staples as lumber and gunpowder
were also subject to state control. Finally, state governments experimented with direct
labor and business regulations designed to help individual laborers and consumers,
including setting maximum limits on working hours and restrictions on price-fixing
by businesses.

(C) Although the states dominated economic activity during this period, the federal
government was not inactive. Its goals were the facilitation of western settlement and
the development of native industries. Toward these ends, the federal government
pursued several courses of action. It established a national bank to stabilize banking
activities in the country and, in part, to provide a relatively easy money supply to the
frontier, where it was greatly needed for settlement. It permitted access to public
western lands on increasingly easy terms, culminating in the Homestead Act of 1862,
by which title to land could be claimed on the basis of residence alone. Finally, it set
up a system of tariffs that was basically protectionist in effect, although maneuvering
for position by various regional interests produced frequent changes in tariff rates
throughout the nineteenth century.
READING12
Part 4:
Life is believed to have originated in the early seas less than a billion years after the
Earth was formed. Yet another three billion years were to pass before the first plants
and animals appeared on the continents. The transition of life from sea to land was
perhaps as significant an evolutionary challenge as the origin of life itself.

(A) What forms of life were able to make such a drastic change in lifestyle? The
traditional view of the first terrestrial organisms is based on megafossils—relatively
large specimens of essentially whole plants and animals. Vascular plants, related to
modern seed plants and ferns, left the first comprehensive megafossil record. Because
of this, it has been widely assumed that the sequence of terrestrialization mirrored the
evolution of modern terrestrial ecosystems. In this view, primitive vascular plants first
colonized the margins of continental waters, followed by animals that fed on the
plants, and lastly by animals that preyed on the plant-eaters. Moreover, the
megafossils suggest that terrestrial life appeared and diversified explosively near the
boundary between the Silurian and the Devonian periods, a little more than 400
million years ago.

(B) Recently, however, paleontologists have been taking a closer look at the sediments
below this Silurian-Devonian geological boundary. It turns out that some fossils can
be extracted from these sediments by putting the rocks in an acid bath. The technique
has uncovered new evidence from sediments that were deposited near the shores of
the ancient oceans—plant microfossils and microscopic pieces of small animals. In
many instances, the specimens are less than one-tenth of a millimeter in diameter.
Although they were entombed in rock for hundreds of millions of years, many fossils
still contain organic remains.

These newly discovered fossils have not only revealed the existence of previously
unknown organisms, but have also pushed back the dates for the invasion of land by
multicellular organisms. Our views about the nature of the early plant and animal
communities are now being revised. And with those revisions come new speculations
about the first terrestrial life-forms.