IE Tes 1 - R [PDF]

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UNIT 3 SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS A. Skills focus - There are two types of short answer questions in the IELTS reading exam: Type 1. Questions Type 2. Lists - These questions will usually tell you to write your answers in NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS. - However, this is not always the case, so check the rubric carefully. For these questions, like the multiple choice questions, you have to apply both skimming and scanning techniques. Also note that the answers should not require a hyphenated word (e.g. non-smoker )or a contraction (e.g. They’ve). If the answer requires a number, you can write it as a numeral (e.g. 6) or a word (e.g. six) or a combination of a numeral and a word(e.g. 6 million). Type 1 Questions 1&2 Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS, answering the following questions. Write your answers in boxes 1&2. 1.How old was Spencer when he did his first degree? 2. Which teacher was instrumental in Spencer’s success? Type 2 Question 3-5 List FOUR reasons for Spencer being a child prodigy. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 3-5. 1.

2. 3.

How to do short answer questions - Read the instructions carefully. - Skim all the questions quickly. As you do this: + underline the key words. + decide what information you need to find in the text. + look out for question words like ‘where’ and ‘who’ which indicate you should listen for specific things like places and people. - Go back to the first question and decide what part of the text you need to read. - Read the part carefully to find the answer. - You may use your own words. You don’t have to write a complete sentence but it does have to be grammatically correct.

Remember - If you don’t know the meaning of any of the words in the questions, look at the other questions. They might have some associated vocabulary in them to help you guess the meaning. - The answer could be one word, two words or three words but not four or more. - If you think you need more than three words your answer is probably incorrect.

B. Practice Practice 1 Orientation 1. Discuss these questions with other students. a. What information does the following bar chart contain?

b. Make true statements about these countries. Nigeria Russia

Romania

USA/ Mexico

Australia/

2. Discuss these questions. a. What factors could explain why the populations of some countries are happier than the populations of others? b. If your country is listed in the bar chart, do you think it is a true reflection of the people of your country? If it is not shown, where would you place it on the chart? Reading for gist 3. Read the text ‘The pursuit of happiness’ and say which of these general topics it covers.      

The growth in the academic study of happiness. Reasons for being unhappy The distinction between happiness and overall ‘satisfaction’ with life Links between wealth, consumerism and happiness How people’s happiness affects the jobs they do Cultural attitudes towards happiness

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS How are we supposed to find happiness? Through good works and helping people? By finding religion or discovering the joys of downshifting? Whatever strategy you choose, where you live might make a difference.

The latest global analysis of happiness and satisfaction levels shows that the most ‘satisfied’ people tend to live in Latin America, Western Europe and North America, whereas Eastern Europeans are the least satisfied. It is not the first time such international league tables have been drawn up. What is new is how experts and politicians are taking such data increasingly seriously. Over the past decade, the study of happiness, formerly the preserve of philosophers, therapists and gurus, has become a bona fide discipline. It even has its own journal, the Journal of Happiness Studies. As a result, government policy advisers are getting interested, and politicians are using the research as the basis for new strategies. What above all else has made systematic study possible is data gathered from hundreds of surveys measuring happiness across different cultures, professions, religions, and socio-economic groups. Researchers can investigate the impact of money and inequality; they could explore, for example, how much difference money makes to a person’s happiness after their basic material needs have been met, and whether inequality in wealth and status is as important a source of dissatisfaction as we might think. ‘It is an exciting area,’ says Ruut Veenhoven, editor-in-chief of the Journal of Happiness Studies. ‘We can now show which behaviours are risky as far as happiness goes, in the same way medical research shows what is bad for our health. We should eventually be able to show what kind of lifestyle suits what kind of person.’ While it is tempting to hold up those nations that report the highest levels of happiness as a model for others to follow, this may be unwise. For one thing, the word ‘happiness’ has no precise equivalent in some languages. Another complication is that ‘satisfaction’ is not quite the same thingas ‘happiness’. When asked how happy they are, people tend to consider first their current state. To get a better idea, researchers ask people to take a step back and consider how satisfied they are with their lives overall and how meaningful they judge their lives to be. Comparisons between countries also need to be treated cautiously. Different cultures value happiness in very different ways. In individualistic

western countries, happiness is often seen as a reflection of personal achievement. Being unhappy implies that you have not made the most of your life. Eunbook Mark Suh at Yonsei University in Seoul thinks this pressure to be happy could lead people to over-report how happy they feel. Meanwhile, in the more collectivist nations of Asia, people have a more fatalistic attitude towards happiness. According to Suh, ‘One of the consequences of such an attitude is that you don’t have to feel inferior or guilty about not being very happy.’ Indeed, in Asian cultures the pursuit of happiness is often frowned on, which in turn could lead people to underreport. How satisfied a person is with their life also depends on how successfully they adhere to their particular cultural standard. In Japan, for instance, satisfaction may come from fulfilling family expectations and meeting social responsibilities. So, while in the US it is perfectly appropriate to pursue your own happiness, in Japan you are more likely to find happiness by not pursuing it directly. One of the most significant observations to come from research findings is that in industrialized nations, happiness has not risen with average incomes. A growing number of researchers are putting this down to consumerism, claiming that the desire for material goods, which has increased with average income, is a ‘happiness suppressant’. One study, byTim Kasser at Knox College, Illinois, found that young adults who focus on money, image and fame tend to be more depressed and suffer more physical symptoms such as headaches. Kasser believes that since nothing about materialism can help you find happiness, governments should discourage it and instead promote things that can. For instance, they could support business that allow their employees plenty of time off to be with their families, whereas advertising could be classified as a form of pollution and could be taxed. ‘Advertisements have become more sophisticated,’ says Kasser. ‘They try to tie their message to people’s psychological needs. But it is a false link. It is toxic.’ These days even hard-headed economists tend to agree that the key to making people happier is to shift the emphasis from economic well-being to personal development, and to discourage the pursuit of social status. This last point is crucial, believes Richard Layard from the London School of Economics, since the pursuit of social status does not make society as a

whole any happier. Motivating people through the quest for rank ‘condemns as many to fail as to succeed – not a good formula for raising human happiness.’ says Lavard. In view of these findings, it seems that governments would do well to worry about the happiness of their electorate. There could be dangers, however. Paradoxically, by striving too hard to climb the global happiness rankings, governments are in danger of turning the pursuit of happiness into yet another competitive quest for status – just what researchers have shown is a sure path to making people miserable. Short-answer questions Answer these questions with words from the text, using no more than THREE words for each answer. 1. According to the text, what could influence your level of contentment? ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………. 2. Which group of people is interested in the practical implications of the research into happiness? ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………. 3. Which two factors are researchers able to study in their attempt to find the reasons why some people are dissatisfied? ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………. Exploration -Work with other students. Rank the following factors according to how much you think they contribute to people’s happiness Family life

Wealth

Social network

Accommodation

Job satisfaction Health Are there any other factors you would add to this list? - Match the words on the left with those on the right to form commonly occurring verb-noun combinations. Then check your answers by finding them in the text. Example: to meet someone’s needs To draw up

data

To fulfil

expectations

To gather

league tables

To meet

someone’s needs

To suffer symptoms - Use the verb-noun combinations above to complete these sentences. You will need to change the form of the verbs. a. In their investigations, social scientists ……………………… from many different sources. b. Even businesses which make substantial profits can fail to ……………………… the ……………………… of the financial markets. c. Increasing numbers of people in the developed world are ……………………… the ……………………… of hay fever and other allergies. d. Education authorities in Britain ……………………… annual ……………………… showing which are the best and worst schools in their area. e. Research is currently being undertaken to look at how universities could ……………………… the learning ……………………… of individual students.

Practice 2

IT’S ECOLOGICAL Planning an eco-friendly holiday can be a minefield for the wellmeaning traveller, says Steve Watkins. But help is now at hand. If there were awards for tourism phrases that have been hijacked, diluted and misused then ‘ecotourism’ would earn top prize. The term first surfaced in the early 1980s reflecting a surge in environmental awareness and a realisation by tour operators that many travellers wanted to believe their presence abroad would not have a negative impact. It rapidly became the hottest marketing tag a holiday could carry. These days the ecotourism label is used to cover anything from a twoweek tour living with remote Indonesian tribes, to a one-hour motorboat trip through an Australan gorge. In fact, any tour that involves cultural interaction, natural beauty spots, wildlife or a dash of soft adventure is likely to be included in the overflowing ecotourism folder. There is no doubt the original motives behind the movement were honourable attempts to provide a way for those who cared to make informed choices,

but the lack of regulations and a standard industry definition left many travellers lost in an ecotourism jungle. It is easier to understand why the ecotourism market has become so overcrowded when we look at its wider role in the world economy. Acccording to World Tourism Organisatin figures, ecotourism is worth US$20 billion a year and makes up one-fifth of all international tourism. Add to this an annual growth rate of around five per cent and the pressure for many operators, both in developed and developing countries, to jump on the accelerating bandwagon is compelling. Without any widely recognised accreditation system, the consumer has been left to investigate the credenials of an operator themselves. This is timeconsuming process and many travellers usually take an operator’s claims at face value, only adding to the proliferation of fake ecotours. However, there are several simple questions that will provide qualifying evidence of a company’s commitment to minimise its impact on the environment and maximise the benefits to the tourism area’s local community. For example, does the company use recycled or sustainable, locally harvested materials to build its tourist properties? Do they pay fair wages to all employees? Do they offer training to employees? It is common for city entrepreneurs to own tour companies in country areas, which can mean the money you pay ends up in the city rather than in the community being visited. By taking a little extra time to investigate the ecotourism options, it is not only possible to guide your custom to worthy operators but you will often find that the experience they offer is far more rewarding. The ecotourism business is still very much in need of a shake-up and a standardised approach. There are a few organisations that have sprung up in the last ten years or so that endeavour to educate travellers and operators about the benefits of responsible ecotourism. Founded in 1990, the Ecotourism Society (TES) is a non-profit organisation of travel industry, conservation and ecological profesionals, which aims to make ecotourism a genuine tool for conservation and sustainable development. Helping to create inherent economic value in wilderness environments and threatened cultures has undoubtedly been one of the ecotourism movement’s most notable achievements. TES organises an annual initiative to further aid development of the ecotourism industry. This year it is launching ‘Your Travel Choice Makes a Difference’, an educational

campaign aimed at helping consumers understand the potential positive and negative impacts of their travel decisions. TES also offers guidance on the choice of ecotour an has established a register of approved ecotourism operators around the world. A leading ecotourism operator in the United Kingdom is Tribes, which won the 1999 Tourism Concern and Independen Traveler’s Word ‘Award for Most Responsible Tour Operator’. Amanda Marks, owner and director of Tribes, believes that the ecotourism industry still has some way to go to get its house in order. Until now, no ecotourism accreditation scheme has really worked, principally because there has been no systematic way of checking that accredited companies actually comply with the code of practice. Amanda believes that the most promising system is the recently re-launched Green Globe 21 scheme. The Green Globe 21 award is based on the sustainable development standards contained in Agenda 21 from the 1992 Earth Summit and was originally coordinated by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC). The scheme is now an independent concern, though the WTTC still supports it. Until recently, tour companies became affiliates and could use the Green Globe logo merely on payment of an annual fee, hardly a suitable qualifying standard. However, in November 1999 Green Globe 21 introduced an annual, independent check on operators wishing to use the logo. Miriam Cain, from the Green Globe 21 marketing development, explains that current and new affiliates will now have one year to ensure that their operations comply with Agenda 21 standards. If they fail the first inspection, they can only reapply once. The inspection process is not a cheap option, especially for large companies, but the benefits of having Green Globe status and the potenial operational cost savings that complying with the standards can bring should be significant. ‘We have joint ventures with organisations around the world, including Australia and the Caribbean, that will allow us to effectively check all affiliate operators,’ says Miriam. The scheme also allows destination communities to become Green Globe 21 approved. For a relatively new industry it is not surprising that ecotourism has undergone teething pains. However, there are signs that things are changing for the better. With a commited and unified approach by the

travel industry, local communities, travellers and environmental experts could make ecotourism a tag to be proud of and trusted. Questions 14 – 19 Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the Reading Passage? Write YES

if the statement agrees with writer’s views

NO

if the statement contradicts the writer’s views

NOT GIVEN

if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

14. The term ‘ecotourism’ has become an advertising gimmick. 15. The intentions of those who coined the term ‘ecotourism’ were sincere. 16. Ecotourism is growing at a faster rate than any other type of travel. 17. It is surprising that so many tour organizations decided to become involved in ecotourism. 18. Tourists have learnt to make investigations about tour operators before using them. 19. Tourists have had bad experiences on ecotour holidays. Questions 20-22 According to the information given in the reading passage, which THREE of the following are true of the Ecotourism Society (TES)? A

It has monitored the growth in ecotourism.

B

It involves a range of specialists in the field.

C.

It has received public recognition for the role it performs.

D

It sets up regular ecotour promotions.

E

It offers information on ecotours at an international level.

F

It consults with people working in tourist destinations.

Questions 23-24 According to the information given in the reading passage, which TWO of the following are true of the Green Globe 21 award? A

The scheme is self-regulating.

B

Amanda Marks was recruited to develop the award.

C

Prior to 1999 companies were not required to pay for membership.

D

Both tour operators and tour sites can apply for affiliation.

E

It intends to reduce the number of ecotour operators.

Questions 25-27

Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS, answer the following questions. 25. Which body provides information on global tourist numbers? ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………. 26. Who often gains financially from tourism in rural environments? ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………. 27. Which meeting provided the principles behind the Green Globe 21 regulations? ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………….

Practice 3 Questions 1-6 The following Reading Passage has nine paragraphs A-I Choose the correct heading for Paragraphs B and D-H from the list of headings below. Write the correct number (i-xi) in boxes 16 on your answer sheet. List of headings i Not identifying the correct priorities ii A solution for the long term iii The difficulty of changing your mind iv Why looking back is unhelpful v Strengthening inner resources vi A successful approach to the study of decision –making vii The danger of trusting a global market viii Reluctance to go beyond the familiar ix The power of the first number x The need for more effective risk assessment xi Underestimating the difficulties ahead Example Paragraph A

Answer x

Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph

B C D E F G H

xi

WHY RISKS CAN GO WRONG Human intuition is a bad guide to handling risk

A B

C

People make terrible decisions about the future. The evidence is all around, from their investments in the stock markets to the way they run their businesses. In fact, people are consistently bad at dealing with uncertainty, underestimating some kinds of risk and overestimating others. Surely there must be a better way than using intuition? In the 1960s, a young American research psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, became interested in people’s inability to make logical decisions. That launched him on a career to show just how irrationally people behave in practice. When Kahneman and his colleagues first started work, the idea of applying psychological insights to economics and business decisions was seen as rather bizarre. But in the past decade the fields of behavioral finance and behavioral economics have blossomed, and in 2002 Kahneman shared a Nobel Prize in economics for his work. Today he is in demand by business organizations and international banking companies. But, he says, there are plenty of institutions that still fail to understand the roots of their poor decisions. He claims that, far from being random, these mistakes are systematic and predictable. One common cause of problems in decision-making is overoptimism. Ask most people about the future, and they will see too much blue sky ahead, even if past experience suggests otherwise. Surveys have shown that people’s forecasts of future stock market movements are far more optimistic than past long-term returns would justify. The same goes for their hopes of ever-rising prices for their homes or doing well in games of chance. Such optimism can be useful for managers or sportsmen, and sometimes turns into a selffulfilling prophecy. But most of the time it results in wasted effort

D

E F

G

and dashed hopes. Kahneman’s work points to three types of overconfidence. First, people tend to exaggerate their own skill and prowess; in polls, far fewer than half the respondents admit to having below-average skills in, say, driving. Second, they overestimate the amount of control they have over the future, forgetting about luck and chalking up success solely to skill. And third, in competitive pursuits such as dealing on shares, they forget that they have to judge their skills against those of the competition. Another source of wrong decisions is related to the decisive effect of the initial meeting, particularly in negotiations over money. This is referred to as the “anchor effect’. Once a figure has been mentioned, it takes a strange hold over the human mind. The asking price quoted in a house sale, for example, tends to become accepted by all parties as the ‘anchor’ around which negotiations take place. Much the same goes for salary negotiations or mergers and acquisitions. If nobody has much information to go on, a figure can provide comfort-even though it may lead to a terrible mistake. In addition, mistakes may arise due to stubbornness. No one likes to abandon a cherished belief, and the earlier a decision has been taken, the harder it is to abandon it. Drug companies must decide early to cancel a failing research project to avoid wasting money, but may find it difficult to admit they have made a mistake. In the same way, analysts may have become wedded early to a single explanation that coloured their perception. A fresh eye always helps. People also tend to put a lot of emphasis on things they have seen and experienced themselves, which may not be the best guide to decision-making. For example, somebody may buy an overvalued share because a relative has made thousands on it, only to get his fingers burned. In finance, too much emphasis on information close at hand helps to explain the tendency by most investors to invest only within the country they live in. Even though they know that diversification is good for their portfolio, a large majority of both Americans and Europeans invest far too heavily in the shares of their home countries. They would be much better off spreading their risks more widely. More information is helpful in making any decision but, says Kahneman, people spend proportionally too much time on small decisions and not enough on big ones. They need to adjust the balance. During the boom years, some companies put as much effort into planning their office party as into considering strategic mergers.

H I

Finally, crying over spilled milk is not just a waste of time; it also often colours people’s perceptions of the future. Some stock market investors trade far too frequently because they are chasing the returns on shares they wish they had bought earlier. Kahneman reckons that some types of businesses are much better than others at dealing with risk. Pharmaceutical companies, which are accustomed to many failures and a few big successes in their drug-discovery programmes, are fairly rational about their risktaking. But banks, he says, have a long way to go. They may take big risks on a few huge loans, but are extremely cautious about their much more numerous loans to small businesses, many of which may be less risky than the big ones. And the research has implications for governments too. They face a whole range of sometimes conflicting political pressures, which means they are even more likely to take irrational decisions.

Questions 7-10 Choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D. 7. People initially found Kahneman’s work unusual because he A. saw mistakes as following predictable patterns. B. was unaware of behavioural approaches C. dealt with irrational types of practice. D. applied psychology to finance and economics. 8. The writer mentions house-owners’ attitudes towards the value of their homes to illustrate that A. past failures may destroy an optimistic attitude. B. people tend to exaggerate their chances of success. C. optimisiom may be justified in certain circumstances. D. people are influenced by the success of others. 9. Stubbornness and inflexibility can cause problems when people A. think their financial difficulties are just due to bad luck. B. avoid seeking advice from experts and analysts. C. refuse to invest in the early stages of a project. D. are unwilling to give up unsuccessful activities or beliefs. 10. Why do many Americans and Europeans fail to spread their financial risks when investing?

A. They feel safer dealing in a context which is close to home. B. They do not understand the benefits of diversification. C. They are over-influenced by the success of their relatives. D. They do not have suffcient knowledge of one another’s countries. Questions 11-13 Answer the questions below, using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. 11. Which two occupations may benefit from being over-optimistic? ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………. 12. Which practical skill are many people over-confident about? ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………. 13. Which type of business has a generally good attitude to dealing with uncertainty? ………………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………….

C. Vocabulary: Geography & Geology (IE Language Practice, p190) Exercise 1: Complete the descriptions of jobs by writing a word from the box in each space. Mineralog Seismolo ist gist Volcanolo Glaciologi gist st 1. Someone studying minerals

Geologist

Climatologi Geograp st her Cartograp Oceanogra her pher is a …………………………………………… .

2. Someone studying and …………………………………………… .

making

maps

is

a

3.Someone studying the earth’s structure and its changes over time is a ………………………… . 4. Someone studying weather patterns over long periods of time is a ………………………… .

5. Someone studying volcanoes, their history and current activity is a ………………………… . 6. Someone studying the behavior of ice, often in polar regions is a ………………………… . 7. Someone who ………………………… .

collects

data

about

the

sea

floor

is

a

8. Someone studying earthquakes and related effects such as tsunamis is a ……………………… . 9. Someone studying the earth, its lands, features, and inhabitants is a ………………………… .

Exercise 2: Underline the correct word in each sentence. 1. Few visitors could survive on the arctic tundra/ savannah with its lack of vegetation. 2. A volcano is basically a vent/ tunnel for the magma to travel through. 3. The earth’s surface is made up of fourteen enormous shelves/plates. 4. The chances of being struck by thunder/lightning during a storm are minimal. 5. An avalanche can occur when the levels/layers of built-up snow are unstable. 6. Lines of longitude/latitude are horizontal lines running across a map. 7. The sea bed/ground has yet to be fully explored by scientists. 8. Last year the glacier retreated/withdrew further than ever before.

D. Homework Exercise 1

SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE – LESSONS FROM THE ANT Termite mounds were the inspiration for an innovative design in sustainable living Africa owes its termite mounds a lot. Trees and shrubs take root in them. Prospectors mine them, looking for specks of gold carrried up by termites from hundreds of metres below. And of course, they are a special treat to aardvarks and other insectivores.

Now, Africa is paying an offbeat tribute to these towers of mud. The extraordinary Eastgate Building in Harare, Zimbabwe’s capitalcity, is said to be the only one in the world to use the same cooling and heating principles as the termite mound. Termites in Zimbabew build gigantic mounds inside which they farm a fungus that is their primary food source. This must be kept at exactly 30.5°C, while the temperatures on the African veld outside can range from 1.5°C at night – only just above freezing – to a baking hot 40°C during the day. The termites achieve this remarkable feat by building a system of vents in the mound. Those at the base lead down into chambers cooled by wet mud carried up from water tables far below, and others lead up through opening and closing these heating and cololing venst over the course of the day the termites succeed in keeping the temperature constant in spite of the wide fluctuations outside. Architect Mick Pearce used precisely the same strategy when designing the Eastgate Building, which has no air conditioning and virtually no heating. The building – the country’s largest commercial and shopping complex - uses less than 10% of the energy of a conventional building its size.These efficiencies translated directly to the bottom line: the Eastgate’s owners saved $3.5 million on a $36 million building because an air-conditioning plant didn’t have to be imported. These savings were also passed on to tenants: rents are 20% lower than in a new building next door. The complex is actually two buildings linked by bridges across a shady, glass-roofed atrium open to the breezes. Fans suck fresh air in from the atrium, blow it upstairs through hollow spaces under the floors and from there into each office through baseboard vents. As it rises and warms, it is drawn out via ceiling vents and finall exits throughforty-eight brick chimneys. To keep the harsh, high veld sun from heating the interior, no more than 25% of the outside is glass, and all the windows are screened by cement arches that just out more than a metre.

During summer’s cool nights, big fans flush air through the building seven times an hour to chill the hollow floors. By day, smaller fans blow two changes of air an hour through the building, to circulate the air which has been in contact with the cool floors. For winter days, there are small heaters in the vents. This is all possible only because Harare is 1600 feet above sea level, has cloudless skies, little humidity and rapid temperature swings – days as warm as 31°C commonly drop to 14°C at night. You couldn’t do this in New York, with its fantastically hot summers and fantastically cold winters.’ Pearce said. But then his eyes lit up at the challenge. ‘Perhaps you could store the summer’s heat in water somehow… ,’ The engineering firm of Ove Arup & Partners, which worked with him on the design, monitors daily temperatures outside, under the floors and at knee, desk and ceiling leve.Ove Arup’s graphs show that the temperature of the building has generally stayed between 23°C and 25°C, with the exception of the annual hot spell just before the summer rains in October, and three days in November, when a janitor accidentally switched off the fans at night. The atrium, which funnels the winds through, can be much cooler. And the air is fresh – far more so than in air-conditioned buildings, where up to 30% of the air is recycled. Pearce, disdaining smooth glass skins as ‘igloos in the Sahara’, calls his building, with its exposed girders and pipes, ‘spiky’. The design of the entrances is based on the porcupine-quill headdresses of the local Shona tribe. Elevators are designed to look like the mineshaft cages used in Zimbabwe’s diamond mines. The shape of the fan covers, and the stone used in their construction, are echoes of Great Zimbabwe, the ruins that give the country its name. Standing on a roof catwalk, peering down inside at people as small as termites below, Pearce said he hoped plants would grow wild in the atrium and pigeons and bats would move into it, like that termite fungus, further extending the whole ‘organic machine’ metaphor. The architecture, he says, is a regionalised style that responds to the biosphere, to the ancient traditional stone architecture of Zimbabwe’s past, and to local human resources.

Questions 1-5 Choose the correct answer, A, B,C or D. 1. Why do termite mounds have a system of vents? A. to allow the termites to escape from predators B. to enable the termites to produce food C. to allow the termites to work efficiently D. to enable the termites to survive at night 2. Why was Eastgate cheaper to build than a conventional building? A. Very few materials were imported B. Its energy consumption was so low. C. Its tenants contributed to the costs. D. No air conditioners were needed. 3. Why would a building like Eastgate not work efficiently in New York? A. Temperature change occurs seasonably rather than daily. B. Pollution affects the storage of heat in the atmosphere. C. Summer and winter temperatures are too extreme. D. Levels of humidity affect cloud coverage. 4. What does Ove Arup’s data suggest about Eastgate’s temperature control system? A. It allows a relatively wide range of temperatures. B. The only problems are due to human error. C. It functions well for most of the year. D. The temperature in the atrum may fail too low. 5. Pearce believes that his building would be improved by A. becoming more of a habitat for wildlife. B. even closer links with the history of Zimbabwe. C. giving people more space to interact with nature. D. better protection from harmful organisms. Questions 6-10 Complete the sentences below with words taken from the Reading Passage. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. 6. Warm air leaves the offices through …………………………………….. . 7. The warm air leaves the building though …………………………………….. .

8. Heat from the sun is prevented from reaching the windows by …………………………………….. . 9. When the outside temperature drops …………………………………….. bring air in from outside. 10. On cold days, ……………………………………..raise the temperature in the offices. Questions 11-13 Answer the question below, using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Which three parts of the Eastgate Building reflect important features of Zimbabwe’s history and culture? 11. ………………………………………………………….. 12. ………………………………………………………….. 13.…………………………………………………………..

Exercise 2

THE WILD SIDE OF TOWN The countryside is no longer the place to see wildlife, according to Chris Barnes. These days you are more likely to find impressive numbers of skylarks, dragonflies and toads in your own back garden. The past half century has seen an interesting reversal in the fortunes of much of Britain’s wildlife. Whilst the rural countryside has become poorer and poorer, wildlife habitat in towns has burgeoned. Now, if you want to haer a deafening dawn chorus of birds or familiarise yourself with foxes, you can head for the urban forest. Whilst species that depend on wide open spaces such as the hare, the eagle and the red deer may still be restricted to remote rural landscapes, many of our wild plants and animals find the urban ecosystem ideal. This really should be no surprise, since it is the fragmentation and agrochemical pollution in the farming lowlands that has led to the catastrophic decline of so many species. By contrast, most urban open spaces have escaped the worst of the pesticide revolution, and they are an intimate mosaic of interconnected

habitats. Over the years, the cutting down of hedgerows on farmland has contributed to habitat isolation and species loss. In towns, the tangle of canals, railway embankments, road verges and boundary hedges lace the landscape together, providing first-class ecological corridors for species such as hedgehogs, kingfishers and dragonflies. Urban parks and formal recreation grounds are valuable for some species, and many of them are increasingly managed with wildlife in mind. But in many places their significance is eclipsed by the hige legacy of postindustrial land – demolished factories, waste tips, quarries, redundant railway yards and other so-called ‘brownfield’ sites. In Merseyside, South Yorkshire and the West Midlands, much of this has been spectacularly colonised with birch and willow woodland, her-rich grassland and shallow wetlands. As a consequence, there are song birds and predators in abundance over these once-industrial landscapes. There are fifteen million domestic gardens in the UK, and whilst some are still managed as lifeless chemical war zones, most benefit the local wildlife, either through benign neglect or positive encouragement. Those that do best tend to be woodland species, and the garden lawns and flower borders, climber-coveredfences, shrubberies and fruit trees are a plausible alternative. Indeed, in some respects gardens are rather better than the real thing, especially with exotic flowers extending the nectar season. Birdfeeders can also supplement the natural seed supply, and only the millions of domestic cats may spoil the scene. As Britain’s gardeners have embraced the idea of ‘gardening with nature’, wildlife’s response has been spectacular. Between 1990 and the year 2000, the number of different bird species seen at artificial feeders in gardens increased from 17 to an amazing 81. The BUGS project (Biodiversity in Urban Gardens in Sheffield) calculates that there are 25,000 garden ponds and 100,000 nest boxes in that one city alone. We are at last acknowledging that the wildlife habitat in towns provides a valuable life support system. The canopy of the urban forest is filtering air pollution, and intercepting rainstorms, allowing the water to drip more gradually to the ground. Sustainable urban drainage relies on ponds and wetlands to contain storm water runoff, thus reducing the risk of flooding,

whilst reed beds and other wetland wildlife communities also help to clean up the water. We now have scientific proof that contact with wildlife close to home can help to reduce stress and anger. Hospital patients with a view of natural green space make a more rapid recovery and suffer less pain. Traditionally, nature conservation in the UK has been seen as marginal and largely rural. Now we are beginning to place it at the heart of urban environmental and economic policy. There are now dozens of schemes to create new habitats and restore old ones in and around our big cities. Biodiversity is big in parts of London, thanks to schemes such as the London Wetland Centre in the south west of the city. This is a unique scheme masterminded by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust to create a wildlife reserve out of a redundant Victorian reservoir. Within five years of its creation the Centre has been hailed as one of the top sites for nature in England and made a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It consists of a 105-acre wetland site, which is made up of different wetland habitats of shallow, open water and grazing marsh. The site attracts more than 104 species of bird, including nationally important rarities like the bittern. We need to remember that if we work with wildlife, then wildlife will work for us – and this is the very essence of sustainable development. Questions 14-19 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? 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

14. There is now more wildlife in UK cities than in the countryside. 15. Rural wildlife has been reduced by the use of pesticides on farms. 16. In the past, hedges on farms used to link up different habitats. 17. New urban environments are planned to provide ecological corridors for wildlife. 18. Public parks and gardens are being expanded to encourage wildlife.

19. Old industrial wastelands have damaged wildlife habitats in urban areas. Questions 20-23 Answer the questions below, using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer. 20. Which type of wildlife benefits most from urban gardens? .………………………………………………………….. 21. What type of garden plants can benefit birds and insects? .………………………………………………………….. 22. What represents a threat to wildlife in urban gardens? .………………………………………………………….. 23. At the last count, how many species of bird were spotted in urban gardens? .………………………………………………………….. Questions 24-26 Choose THREE letters A-G In which THREE ways can wildlife habitats benefit people living in urban areas? A. They can make the cities greener B. They can improve the climate C. They can promote human well-being D. They can extend the flowering season. E. They can absorb excess water. F. They can attract wildlife. G. They can help clean the urban atmosphere. Question 27 Choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D. 27. The writer believes that sustainable development is dependent on A. urban economic policy. B. large restoration schemes. C. active nature conservation D. government projects.