UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS UNIVERSITEITSEKSAMENS Cd Ant. UNISA tees —NG1511 Mayidune 2013 ENGLISH PROFICIENCY FOR UNIVERSITY STUDIES Duraton 2 Hours 100 Marks EXAMINERS FIRST MRS TP SHANDU MS BM THOKA ‘SECOND MR JD PROCTOR Closed book examination ‘This exammation question paper remains the property of the University of South Africa and may not be ‘romoved from the examination venue. This paper contains TWO SECTIONS. Section A and Section B. Answer all questions. This paper has 9 pages; please read to the end (TURN OVER)ENG1511 MAY/JUNE 2013, SECTION A: Reading Read each text and answer the questions that follow. TEXTA Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow By Michael Hanlon June 8, 2010 1. Battery cars are the future, we are told, Don't believe a word of it. Here's why Firstly, | have driven several battery cars and they have all, every single one of them, been rubbish 2 Slow, heavy, expensive, complex, impractical and ponderous, they simply do not do what cars do, which Is to transport you and your chattels with the minimum of fuss. wherever and whenever you want to go 3 Second, they do not do what they say on the tin. Nissan, on its website, descnbes the new Leaf, which will go on sale in 2011, as "zero emissions" You can't use a battery car as a car at all Itis not If its worth saying once it is worth saying a million times, if you live in a country (like the UK) where most electnity is generated using fossil fuels, then every time you plug in your battery car to recharge you will be generating emissions - at the power station rather than at the exhaust pipe 4. But the main problem with battery cars 1s range - 160km at best, usually far less ‘The awful G-Wiz | borrowed once had barely enough juice to get me home, just a few kilometres across central London. The Leaf may get you 160km but then what? A wait of several hours while the battenes recharge 5 So you can't use a battery car as a car at all. Itis a replacement not for your petrol or diesel conventional motor but for your bicycle or the bus The most coherent view 1s that of Gordon Murray. That is hardly very green (Q11), battery cars are heavy, expensive, slow and totally impractical, just as they were 120 years ago when they lost the battle against fossil fuels to power the 20th century. 6 The “energy density" of even the best battenes 1s hugely less than that of petrol or diesel. That can be improved on but at some stage the laws of physics take over So what is the future of motoring? Take your pick, but to my mind the most coherent view Is that of Gordon Murray, whose featherlight, brillant, T25 1s neanng the production stage TURN OVERENG1511 MAY/JUNE 2013, 7. Murray, a South Afncan, is probably the most talented automotive engineer alive, and he says the key is weight Cars have been getting fatter and heavier over the past 20 years to the point where even a modest hatchback can weigh close to 1750kg. Ridiculous! 8. It1s this obesity, combined with (ironically) the fight to reduce pollution, which has. meant that in terms of improving economy automakers are running fast and standing still By making engines cleaner (in terms of particulates and other noxious exhaust products) we have made them less efficient, increasing CO, emissions 9 That is why today’s cars are not much more economical than they were in the 1980's. 10 Because of this, automakers are desperate for something new Hybrid power. Hydrogen power Battery power. Combinations of the above. All nonsense, says Murray Petrol and diesel engines still have great potential to be made even more economical than they are today. 11. Make cars as light as they were in the 1960's and we could see truly spectacular improvements in economy My guess 1s that by 2050 we will be driving round in (mostly) sub-one-litre petrol-powered vehicles weighing 500kg and burning less than 2.2 Ittres/400km - four times better than today, which means that even if petrol 1s four {umes as expensive (and that means more than R30 a litre) we can keep on driving. ‘And not a plug in sight, Question 1 What is the purpose of this article? (2 marks) Question 2 What is the wnter’s attitude towards battery cars? Explain (3 marks) TURN OVER