SECTION 1

Questions 1-14

Read the text below and answer questions 1-7.

Cranstone Medieval Castle Experience
Have you ever wondered what life was like for the kings,
queens, knights and ladies of the medieval era? Well, now
you and your family can immerse yourself in it with the
enthralling Cranstone Castle Experience. From succulent
banquets in the 13th century Great Hall, to the dark and
frightening dungeons, our authentic recreations will help
you understand these ancient times better than any history
book! With full-day and half-day tours, starting from 6.00,
our battle re-enactments, daily-life exhibits, and multimedia
presentations, will bring the medieval world to life before
your eyes.
Visitors of all ages will enjoy our dramatised audio-visual display, based around a day in the life of
a court servant during the time of the second Duke of Cranstone in the early 1400s. Follow his
small adventures through carefully re-constructed family quarters and outdoor settings as he
carries out his chores for the noble family. The tour can be adapted for visitors with mobility
concerns. Your escorts and your audio-guide (in three languages) will conduct you from room to
tower to courtyard, where you can marvel at the rich period costume as you observe episodes of
castle life, even down to odours from the kitchen and stables!
Cranstone dominated trade and agriculture in the surrounding county of Wessex over three
centuries. An informative exhibit in the Dukes chamber off the Great Hall explains the feudal
system and the complex relationships to the castle of tenants, smallholders, merchants and
craftsmen along with displays of farm implements and traded goods some original antiques but
many reproductions. Local History Society members are on hand to help clarify terms and bring
the exhibit alive.
The castle houses a famous collection of armour and weaponry, which has given rise to a local
trade in reproductions. Of course these are used mainly for our re-enactments of medieval
combat, but some items are even available for purchase or hire as fancy-dress costumes. Younger
visitors may like to dress for battle and have a lesson in swordsmanship (dont worry the swords
are wooden and edged in sponge!). Lessons are conducted in the courtyard, on the hour every two
hours, inclusive in ticket price.
Thanks to some devoted horticultural volunteers, the kitchen gardens have been brought back to
their former glory, and are home to many species of vegetables, fruits and herbs which were in
danger of being lost to the local area. This vital preservation work is funded in part by ticket
receipts and the donation box at the ticket office, and is also supported by the Department of
Food and Agriculture. Garden staff work closely with the Biology Dept. of Winton University on
cataloguing local varieties of flora.
Spend a day immersed in history at Cranstone Castle, where there is something for everyone!
Adult visitors who live within reach of the grounds are even invited to join the Horticultural
Society.

Questions 1 7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text?
In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, write:
TRUE
FALSE
NOT GIVEN

if the statement agrees with the information

if the statement contradicts the information
if there is no information on this

1. Full-day tickets to enter Cranstone Castle cost 6.00.

2. Special tours are conducted for those who have difficulty walking.
3. The trade and agriculture exhibit has helpers who can answer questions.
4. Local craft workers supply copies of old weapons to the film industry.
5. Children can learn how to fight with swords for an extra fee.
6. Visitors are encouraged to help fund plant conservation work.
7. The garden volunteers meet regularly at the castle.

Read the text below and answer questions 8-14.

There are a number of public transportation in options in Port Ferreira (or Porto, as the locals call
it). Given that Porto is a very cosmopolitan city, the transportation fares are very reasonable. One
could get around the city all day for less than R$20 in local currency (1 Ranta = 50 US Cents).
A Taxi
The Taxi system works quite well. From 9.00 am to 9.00 pm the daytime tariff applies, while the
remaining 12 hours fall under the night time tariff, which attracts a 25% surcharge on trips within
the city boundary and 35% for regional trips. There are several main companies, but there are also
some unregulated drivers of whom travellers should be wary. Visitors may be advised to flag down
only those taxis with a clearly-visible windscreen SafeTrip sticker, showing that the driver has
signed up with this government-sponsored driver code of practice. These are the best cars to use for
regional trips.
B City Bus
Although fares for the City Bus have increased by 50% in the last 2 years (causing much protest
among locals), tickets are only R$2.75 for a non-air-conditioned bus (regardless of trip distance or
duration), and R$3.10 R$3.50 for an air-conditioned bus. In the past, city buses suffered from
pickpockets targeting the passengers, but the use of CCTV and plain-clothes transport officers has
largely eradicated the practice. Foreigners can buy a Diamond card which allows up to three
transfers within three hours at no extra charge.
C Starbus
There is also another type of local bus called the Starbus. These buses run on fixed routes, on
weekdays only, from Central through the neighbourhoods of Catalina, Crescenta, Ferral and
Bransado (and vice versa). They are more luxurious and all air-conditioned and cost R$5.50, with
increments of R50 cents per stage. Starbuses also run more frequently during the rush hours, but be
aware that tickets must be bought in advance for this service. Going towards Central, the bus can
be flagged down all along the beach road, so progress can be slow.
D Mini-van
Porto also has a lot of vans which are generally privately-owned, and are hailed at the side of the
road by locals. This is a very cheap option with many different routes, but they are not published. It
is not advisable for tourists to use these as most are not licensed.
E Ferry
The islands along the coast near Porto are home to over 200,000 residents, and many commute to
Porto to work. Several ferry companies operate from the mainland port of Esmeralda and the price
is about R$5, but double that for the express hydrofoil boats. A hydrofoil is recommended to visit
the famous MAM - Modern Art Museum on Milasa Island.

Questions 8 14
Look at the information about five methods of transport, A E, in Reading Passage 2.
For which method of transport are the following statements true?
Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 8-14 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
8

This service operates differently according to which direction it is travelling in.

The rates for this service vary according to the time of day.

10

The rates for this service depend on the speed of the transport.

11

A problem affecting this service has now been solved.

12

It is hard to know where this service operates.

13

The price for this service increases with distance travelled.

14

The price for this service depends on the level of comfort offered.

SECTION 2

Questions 15-27

Read the text below and answer questions 15-21.

Telephone Etiquette at Andertons Ltd.

For Andertons Ltd., as for most types of businesses, the telephone is an essential tool in our daily
operations. Therefore it is important that staff know the companys expectations as regards phone
etiquette. All staff are ambassadors for the company and must understand that how they interact
with clients and business associates over the phone will either portray them in a positive light or a
negative one. For this reason, the guide below sets out some key points in phone etiquette.

Always refer to the Telephone Manual for standard greetings and other phrases. These
reflect the style we require.

Always identify yourself at the beginning of all calls when placing them or taking them from
an external source, stating your affiliations in the company. The handset display indicates
the source for all internal calls, allowing a less formal response as the caller is most likely
known to you.

Record all messages on the companys standard Telephone Memo Slip (TMS). Also, repeat
all the details back to the caller to verify them, and place the TMS in the relevant
employees in-tray, unless it contains confidential information, in which case fold it and
hand it personally to the employee.

Screen external calls to Managers. They are busy people and may not want to be disturbed
at that time, so check their availability before putting the caller through.

Ensure that when transferring calls to a colleague, announce their name and role to the
caller, as well as the reason for the transfer. Take a little time before finalising the transfer
to brief the colleague on the essential details, to avoid unnecessary repetition for the
caller.

For out-calls, anticipate what you will need to say and jot down the items you want to
discuss and questions you want answered, in the expectation that you might be placed into
a voicemail system; plan your message so that you ask the person to respond to specific
alternatives or questions.

Avoid leaving long-winded messages when you reach a voicemail box. Remember that
someone has to transcribe your message and then act upon it. It may be just one of many
messages that need to be handled. Keep it brief and to the point.

Be sensitive to the tone of your voice. Do not sound overly anxious, aggressive or pushy. It
is important your tone conveys authority and confidence. For training purposes it may
help to use a digital recorder to privately record your part of some conversations, for later
listening and analysis of tone and manner.

Remember the person on the telephone takes precedence over someone who happens to
walk into your office or passes by while you are on the phone.

Questions 15 - 21
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the text for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 15-21 on your answer sheet.
15

The guide is intended to help Andertons staff be seen in ________________________ due

to their good telephone etiquette.

16

When answering a call from a colleague, staff can be _____________________ .

17

When their call is being transferred, callers should be told the ____________________ of
the person they will speak to next.

18

Staff should be aware that any message they leave may have to be written down from
_____________________.

19

Employees should remember that their _______________________ makes an impression

on the caller.

20

Staff may find ___________________ useful for analysing their speaking style.

21

When answering a call, staff should give _________________ to the caller rather than to a
visitor to their office.

Questions 22-27
Read the text below and answer questions 22-27.
Department of Energy: Report on Standing Desks
Background

Many staff will have become aware from recent media reports of the possible
benefits of standing desks. These allow the worker to avoid spending long
periods sitting and immobile, a practice which has been linked to a variety of
adverse health outcomes in recent studies. Those who wish to understand
the issues in greater detail are advised to visit the Workplace Health and
Safety (WHS) section of the Departmental website. Having reviewed the
research, however, the WHS management team has issued the following
guidelines to assist work teams to evaluate their needs and make appropriate choices for desk
furniture.
Steps to be undertaken at the team level

Team leaders are asked to use the WHS presentation with their teams to apprise everyone
of the possible benefits of standing desks.
Inventory of current desk arrangements in each open office to be taken along with survey
of each staff members preferences for future furniture purchases. Those wishing to
continue with current furniture should indicate this in the survey.
Visits to the Standing Desk Demonstration (Policy Office) in Pratt Building Level 12. This has
been installed as a pilot scheme in a working office. Staff there will make time to discuss
the impact of the new furniture on their work practices as well as any drawbacks they have
discovered. A variety of solutions can be seen. Please call ahead to arrange appointments,
as drop-in visits are discouraged.
Upon publication of the survey results, Team Leaders are to discuss budgetary implications
of their teams choices with their Line Managers. It is anticipated that not all staff will
prefer the same solution, so as the various solutions differ in price, the total of each teams
choices must remain within the next financial years budget allocations.
Two suggested solutions are laid out below, but this does not preclude staff from making
further suggestions which will be vetted by the WHS Committee

$1,250 from ProDesk - Prodesk Bamboo

The Prodesk Bamboo is the most sophisticated sit/stand desk on the market. It has a sleek
aluminium frame, layered bamboo top, and a motorised lift mechanism. The Prodesk is more
visually appealing than most, and its motors are quieter. However the accessories such as
stationery fitments and keyboard trays will add a lot to the cost.
$450 from Simplore Desktop - Simplore Starter
The Simplore Starter is the best way to transform your current desk into an adjustable desk and
easily switch between sitting and standing, with five heights to choose from. If you already have a
desk that you like and arent ready to commit to a full-size sit/stand desk, consider the Simplore
Starter. It sits on top of an existing desk and manually converts from sitting to standing positions in
seconds.

Questions 22-27
Complete the table below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 22-27 on your answer sheet.

Procedures around choosing a standing desk

Benefits

Avoid health problems caused by sitting.

Further reading available on 22 ........................

Guidelines
Surveys and visits

Intended to help staff 23 ........................

Allow staff to indicate their 24 ........................ and ask users
about possible 25 ........................

Budget considerations

Possible options

Costs of proposed purchases should not exceed budget allocations.

The Prodesk Bamboo price excludes 26 ........................

The Simplore Starter desk can be positioned at 27 ........................

SECTION 3

Questions 28-40

Read the text below and answer questions 28-40.

The world helium shortage

Most people around the world will be familiar with the use of
helium gas to fill colourful balloons so common at parties. But few
will be aware that this second most common of gases (after
hydrogen) is actually a finite resource, which escapes earths gravity
and bleeds off into space from our atmosphere once released.
Unlike almost all other elements, it cannot easily be recovered from
rubbish and recycled, according to chemist Andrew Scalla of Barnes
University. Sometime soon we are really going to wonder why we
let people fill party balloons with it and waste this precious
resource, he says.
Heliums value lies in its special properties as a super-coolant for a
variety of medical, basic research (such as particle accelerators), and
industrial purposes, such as computer chip manufacture and spotwelding, explains Walter Bell of Canterbury Labs. Without it, the
magnets in MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machines in our
hospitals would not achieve the near to absolute zero (-273 degrees) temperatures they need to
function. Other aspects of patient care would not be so drastically affected, but Scalla points out
that MRI scanners consume as much as a third of the available helium supplies, underlining its
importance to patients everywhere. This inert gas is also essential in silicon wafer manufacturing
for the computer processors in so many modern devices.
Helium was discovered in 1868 by French astronomer Pierre Janssen, who was observing a solar
eclipse in India and observed the yellow spectral emission lines of this element. It is extremely
light and naturally tends to rise, but even so is very scarce in the upper atmosphere. Hence it
cannot be harvested or manufactured, but is a by-product of natural gas production. Radioactive
elements in the earth, such as uranium, naturally decay, and give off different kinds of particles,
among which are particles with the chemical formula He2, that is helium gas. If other natural gas is
present in the underground environment, the mix of gases can contain up to roughly 7% helium,
although lower concentrations are more usual. By a process known as cryogenic purification, using
the different freezing points of the mix of gases in natural gas, helium can be recovered, and
stored.
The United States produces and stores about 75% of the worlds helium, and nearly half that
amount is held at just one facility, the governments Federal Helium Reserve, (FHR) near Amarillo,
Texas. This is a huge underground reservoir, and its location results from its proximity to gas fields
with an unusually high concentration of helium, up to nearly 3%. Established in 1925 as a strategic
resource for airships, it became of critical importance during the Space Race and the Arms Race
between the U.S.A. and the Soviet Union in the mid-20th century. This led the U.S. government to
encourage private producers to sell their helium to the FHR, which set prices in 1960 at below
market levels, and has had to make sudden increases to adjust upwards. The FHR contains over
one billion cubic metres of helium gas, and yet this reserve is said to be at risk of exhaustion. Dr.
Petra Stakanich of Aerotrope Chemicals, Inc. has used computer modelling to predict that at
current production and consumption rates, the life of the Reserve may extend only to 2020.

The problem is that the U.S. government incurred debts in the process of building up and
maintaining the FHR. At one time, federal laws secured this strategic reserve, but in 1996, the U.S.
Congress approved the privatisation of the helium program and the sale of existing supplies by
2015. According to Bureau of Strategic Minerals Assistant Director Paul Fernandez the official line
was that as Federal reserves were sold off, private sources would be stepped up and plug the gap.
But private production plants have not shown much interest in doing so, perhaps because of the
unclear future for helium pricing. Some in helium-using industries are becoming concerned about
future shortages. Nonetheless, sceptics such as physicist Prof. Candice Armstrong of the Scarboro
Institute still argue that, using the US geological survey figure of 8 million tonnes in the earths
crust, and current 30,000 tonne yearly consumption, even assuming only about half of what is in
the crust can be accessed, the supply will still last over 130 years. She says If we havent found
another solution for super-cooling by then it would signify such a stagnation in science that we will
have other more serious problems to worry about.
Still, in the medium term, and with the price spiking suddenly from US $75 to $84 per thousand
cubic feet in 2013, many users are trying to design recycling and conservation into their processes
and devices which rely on helium. For example, the special refrigerators used in some science
laboratories may require 100 litres of liquid helium each week. Andrew Scalla says we have five
such fridges, and until about five years ago, when we began to capture and liquefy it for re-use, all
the escaped helium went straight into the atmosphere. Imagine that being repeated in labs all
over the world, and youll see the scale. Now we save money by re-using it. Considering that by
some estimates, party balloons account for about 8% of annual consumption, maybe it really is
time to think again about how we celebrate. Do we really need to be letting this resource fly away
into space?

Questions 28 - 33
Look at the following information and the list of people in the box below.
Match each piece of information with the correct person who provides it, A, B, C, D, E or F.
Write the correct letter, A, B, C, D, E or F, in boxes 28-33 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
28

Helium has a wide range of uses.

29

Allowing helium to be used for celebrations is a bad idea.

30

The U.S. government expects others to produce helium after it sells its reserves.

31

There is no reason to be overly concerned about helium supplies.

32

The health services have particular reasons to be concerned about a helium shortage.

33

The worlds major source of helium may run out soon.

A
B
C
D
E
F

Andrew Scalla
Candice Armstrong
Pierre Jansson
Petra Stakanich
Paul Fernandez
Walter Bell

Questions 34 39
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text?
In boxes 34-39 on your answer sheet, write:
TRUE
FALSE
NOT GIVEN

if the statement agrees with the information

if the statement contradicts the information
if there is no information on this

34

It is not possible to recycle helium.

35

Hospitals could not function without helium.

36

Liquid helium was first produced in India.

37

Helium can be separated from other gases because it freezes at a different temperature.

38

The Federal Helium Reserve was closely linked to military functions.

39

Science laboratories are a major cause of the loss of helium into space.

Question 40
Choose the correct letter A, B, C, or D, according to the information in the text.
Write your answer in box 40 on your answer sheet.
40 The authors purpose in writing this article is to
A criticise the U.S. governments policy in regard to helium storage.
B explain what helium is and why it is important.
C criticise those who use and waste large amounts of helium.
D suggest that current policy in regard to helium use and waste needs to be revised.