You are on page 1of 22

1.

Makete Integrated Rural Transport Project

Section A
The disappointing results of many conventional road transport projects in Africa led some
experts to rethink the strategy by which rural transport problems were to be tackled at the
beginning of the 1980s. A request for help in improving the availability of transport within the
remote Makete District of southwestern Tanzania presented the opportunity to try a new
approach.
The concept of 'integrated rural transport' was adopted in the task of examining the transport
needs of the rural households in the district. The objective was to reduce the time and effort
needed to obtain access to essential goods and services through an improved rural transport
system. The underlying assumption was that the time saved would be used instead for activities
that would improve the social and economic development of the communities. The Makete
Integrated Rural Transport Project (MIRTP) started in 1985 with financial support from the
Swiss Development Corporation and was co-ordinated with the help of the Tanzanian
government.
Section B
When the project began, Makete District was virtually totally isolated during the rainy
season.The regional road was in such bad shape that access to the main towns was impossible
for about three months of the year Road traffic was extremely rare within the district, and
alternative means of transport were restricted to donkeys in the north of the district. People
relied primarily on the paths, which were slippery and dangerous during the rains.
Before solutions could be proposed, the problems had to be understood. Little was known about
the transport demands of the rural households, so Phase I, between December 1985 and
December 1987, focused on research.The socio-economic survey of more than 400 households
in the district indicated that a household in Makete spent, on average, seven hours a day on
transportingthemselves and their goods, a figure which seemed extreme but which has also
been obtained in surveys in other rural areas in Africa. Interesting facts regarding transport
were found: 95% was on foot; 80% was within the locality; and 70% was related to the
collection of water and firewood and travelling to grinding mills.
Section C
Having determined the main transport needs, possible solutions were identified which might
reduce the time and burden. During Phase II, from January to February 1991, a number of
approaches were implemented in an effort to improve mobility and access to transport.
An improvement of the road network was considered necessary to ensure the import and export
of goods to the district.These improvements were carried out using methods that were heavily
dependent on labour In addition to the improvement of roads, these methods provided training
in the operation of a mechanical workshop and bus and truck services. However the difference
from the conventional approach was that this time consideration was given to local transport
needs outside the road network.
Most goods were transported along the paths that provide short-cuts up and down the hillsides,
but the paths were a real safety risk and made the journey on foot even more arduous. It made
sense to improve the paths by building steps, handrails and footbridges.
It was uncommon to find means of transport that were more efficient than walking but less
technologically advanced than motor vehicles. The use of bicycles was constrained by their
high cost and the lack of available spare parts. Oxen were not used at all but donkeys were used
by a few households in the northern part of the district. MIRTP focused on what would be most
appropriate for the inhabitants of Makete in terms of what was available, how much they could
afford and what they were willing to accept.
After careful consideration, the project chose the promotion of donkeys - a donkey costs less
than a bicycle - and the introduction of a locally manufacturable wheelbarrow.
Section D
At the end of Phase II, it was clear that the selected approaches to Makete’s transport problems
had had different degrees of success. Phase III, from March 1991 to March 1993, focused on
the refinement and institutionalisation of these activities.
The road improvements and accompanying maintenance system had helped make the district
centre accessible throughout the year. Essential goods from outside the district had become
more readily available at the market, and prices did not fluctuate as much as they had done
before.
Paths and secondary roads were improved only at the request of communities who were willing
to participate in construction and maintenance. However the improved paths impressed the
inhabitants, and requests for assistance greatly increased soon after only a few improvements
had been completed.
The efforts to improve the efficiency of the existing transport services were not very successful
because most of the motorised vehicles in the district broke down and there were no resources
to repair them. Even the introduction of low-cost means of transport was difficult because of
the general poverty of the district.The locally manufactured wheelbarrows were still too
expensive for all but a few of the households. Modifications to the original design by local
carpenters cut production time and costs. Other local carpenters have been trained in the new
design so that they can respond to requests. Nevertheless, a locally produced wooden
wheelbarrow which costs around 5000 Tanzanian shillings (less than US$20) in Makete, and
is about one quarter the cost of a metal wheelbarrow, is still too expensive for most people.
Donkeys, which were imported to the district, have become more common and contribute, in
particular, to the transportation of crops and goods to market. Those who have bought donkeys
are mainly from richer households but, with an increased supply through local breeding,
donkeys should become more affordable. Meanwhile, local initiatives are promoting the
renting out of the existing donkeys.
It should be noted, however, that a donkey, which at 20,000 Tanzanian shillings costs less than
a bicycle, is still an investment equal to an average household's income over half a year This
clearly illustrates the need for supplementary measures if one wants to assist the rural poor
Section E
It would have been easy to criticise the MIRTP for using in the early phases a 'top-down'
approach, in which decisions were made by experts and officials before being handed down to
communities, but it was necessary to start the process from the level of the governmental
authorities of the district. It would have been difficult to respond to the requests of villagers
and other rural inhabitants without the support and understanding of district authorities.
Section F
Today, nobody in the district argues about the importance of improved paths and inexpensive
means of transport. But this is the result of dedicated work over a long period, particularly from
the officers in charge of community development. They played an essential role in raising
awareness and interest among the rural communities.
The concept of integrated rural transport is now well established in Tanzania, where a major
program of rural transport is just about to start.The experiences from Makete will help in this
initiative, and Makete District will act as a reference for future work.
.

Questions 1-4
Reading Passage has six sections, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for sections B, C, E and F from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-xi, in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i MIRTP as a future model
ii Identifying the main transport problems
iii Preference for motorised vehicles
iv Government authorities’ instructions
v Initial improvements in mobility and transport modes
vi Request for improved transport in Makete
vii Transport improvements in the northern part of the district
viii Improvements in the rail network
ix Effects of initial MI RTP measures
x Co-operation of district officials
xi Role of wheelbarrows and donkeys

Example Answer
Section A vi

1 Section B
Answer: ii Locate

2 Section C
Answer: v Locate
Example Answer
Section D ix
3 Section E
Answer: x Locate

4 Section F
Answer: i Locate

Questions 5-9
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage?
In boxes 5-9 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

5 MIRTP was divided into five phases.


Answer: NO Locate

6 Prior to the start of MIRTP the Makete district was almost inaccessible
during the rainy season.
Answer: YES Locate

7 Phase I of MIRTP consisted of a survey of household expenditure on


transport.
Answer: NO Locate

8 The survey concluded that one-fifth or 20% of the household transport


requirement as outside the local area.
Answer: YES Locate

9 MIRTP hoped to improve the movement of goods from Makete district to


the country’s capital.
Answer: NOT GIVEN

Questions 10-13
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-J, below.
Write the correct letter, A-J, in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.

10 Construction of footbridges, steps and handrails


Answer: D Locate

11 Frequent breakdown of buses and trucks in Makete


Answer: I Locate
12 The improvement of secondary roads and paths
Answer: G Locate

13 The isolation of Makete for part of the year


Answer: E Locate
A provided the people of Makete with experience in running bus and truck services.
B was especially successful in the northern part of the district.
C differed from earlier phases in that the community became less actively involved.
D improved paths used for transport up and down hillsides.
E was no longer a problem once the roads had been improved.
F cost less than locally made wheelbarrows.
Gwas done only at the request of local people who were willing to lend a hand.
Hwas at first considered by MIRTP to be affordable for the people of the district.
I hindered attempts to make the existing transport services more efficient.
J was thought to be the most important objective of Phase III.

Questions 14
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in box 14 on your answer sheet.
Which of the following phrases best describes the main aim of Reading Passage?

A to suggest that projects such as MIRTP are needed in other countries

B to describe how MIRTP was implemented and how successful it was

C to examine how MIRTP promoted the use of donkeys

D to warn that projects such as MIRTP are likely to have serious problems
Answer: B

2. BAKELITE - The birth of modem plastics

In 1907, Leo Hendrick Baekeland, a Belgian scientist working in New York, discovered and
patented a revolutionary new synthetic material. His invention, which he named 'Bakelite', was
of enormous technological importance, and effectively launched the modern plastics industry.
The term 'plastic' comes from the Greek plassein, meaning 'to mould' Some plastics are derived
from natural sources, some are semi-synthetic (the result of chemical action on a natural
substance), and some are entirely synthetic, that is, chemically engineered from the constituents
of coal or oil. Some are 'thermoplastic', which means that, like candlewax, they melt when
heated and can then be reshaped. Others are 'thermosetting': like eggs, they cannot revert to
their original viscous state, and their shape is thus fixed for ever Bakelite had the distinction of
being the first totally synthetic thermosetting plastic.
The history of today's plastics begins with the discovery of a series of semi-synthetic
thermoplastic materials in the mid-nineteenth century. The impetus behind the development of
these early plastics was generated by a number of factors - immense technological progress in
the domain of chemistry, coupled with wider cultural changes, and the pragmatic need to find
acceptable substitutes for dwindling supplies of 'luxury' materials such as tortoiseshell and
ivory.
Baekeland's interest in plastics began in 1885 when, as a young chemistry student in Belgium,
he embarked on research into phenolic resins, the group of sticky substances produced when
phenol (carbolic acid) combines with an aldehyde (a volatile fluid similar to alcohol). He soon
abandoned the subject, however, only returning to it some years later. 8y 1905 he was a wealthy
New Yorker, having recently made his fortune with the invention of a new photographic paper.
While Baekeland had been busily amassing dollars, some advances had been made in the
development of plastics. The years 1899 and 1900 had seen the patenting of the first semi-
synthetic thermosetting material that could be manufactured on an industrial scale. In purely
scientific terms, Baekeland's major contribution to the field is not so much the actual discovery
of the material to which he gave his name, but rather the method by which a reaction between
phenol and formaldehyde could be controlled, thus making possible its preparation on a
commercial basis. On 13 July 1907, Baekeland took out his famous patent describing this
preparation, the essential features of which are still in use today.
The original patent outlined a three-stage process, in which phenol and formaldehyde (from
wood or coal) were initially combined under vacuum inside a large egg-shaped kettle. The
result was a resin known as Novalak, which became soluble and malleable when heated. The
resin was allowed to cool in shallow trays until it hardened, and then broken up and ground
into powder. Other substances were then introduced: including fillers, such as woodflour,
asbestos or cotton, which increase strength and moisture resistance, catalysts (substances to
speed up the reaction between two chemicals without joining to either) and hexa, a compound
of ammonia and formaldehyde which supplied the additional formaldehyde necessary to form
a thermosetting resin. This resin was then left to cool and harden, and ground up a second time.
The resulting granular powder was raw Bakelite, ready to be made into a vast range of
manufactured objects. In the last stage, the heated Bakelite was poured into a hollow mould of
the required shape and subjected to extreme heat and pressure, thereby 'setting' its form for life.
The design of Bakelite objects, everything from earrings to television sets, was governed to a
large extent by the technical requirements of the moulding process. The object could not be
designed so that it was locked into the mould and therefore difficult to extract. A common
general rule was that objects should taper towards the deepest part of the mould, and if
necessary the product was moulded in separate pieces. Moulds had to be carefully designed so
that the molten Bakelite would flow evenly and completely into the mould. Sharp corners
proved impractical and were thus avoided, giving rise to the smooth, 'streamlined' style popular
in the 1930s. The thickness of the walls of the mould was also crucial’ thick walls took longer
to cool and harden, a factor which had to be considered by the designer in order to make the
most efficient use of machines.
Baekeland's invention, although treated with disdain in its early years, went on to enjoy an
unparalleled popularity which lasted throughout the first half of the twentieth century. It
became the wonder product of the new world of industrial expansion - 'the material of a
thousand uses'. Being both non-porous and heat-resistant, Bakelite kitchen goods were
promoted as being germ-free and sterilisable. Electrical manufacturers seized on its insulating
properties, and consumers everywhere relished its dazzling array of shades, delighted that they
were now, at last, no longer restricted to the wood tones and drab browns of the preplastic era.
It then fell from favour again during the 1950s, and was despised and destroyed in vast
quantities. Recently, however, it has been experiencing something of a renaissance, with
renewed demand for original Bakelite objects in the collectors' marketplace, and museums,
societies and dedicated individuals once again appreciating the style and originality of this
innovative material.

Questions 1-3
Complete the summary.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in
boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

Some plastics behave in a similar way to 1


Answer: candlewax. In that they melt under heat and can be moulded into new forms.
Bakelite was unique because it was the first material to be both entirely 2 in
origin, and thermosetting.
Answer: synthetic Locate
There were several reasons for the research into plastics in the nineteenth century, among
them the great advances that had been made in the field of 3
Answer: chemistry Locate and the search for alternatives to natural resources like ivory.

Questions 4-8
Complete the flow-chart.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer
Write your answers in boxes 4-8 on your answer sheet.

4
Answer: Novalak

5
Answer: fillers Locate

6
Answer: hexa
7
Answer: raw Locate

8
Answer: pressure Locate

Questions 9-10
Choose TWO letters A-E.
Write your answers in boxes 9-10 on your answer sheet.
NB Your answers may be given in either order.

Which TWO of the following factors influencing the design of Bakelite objects are
mentioned in the text?

A the function which the object would serve

B the ease with which the resin could fill the mould

C the facility with which the object could be removed from the mould

D the limitations of the materials used to manufacture the mould

E the fashionable styles of the period

9. Answer: B, C IN EITHER ORDER Locate


10. Answer: B, C IN EITHER ORDER Locate

Questions 11-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet, 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

11 Modern-day plastic preparation is based on the same principles as that


patented in 1907.
Answer: TRUE Locate
12 Bakelite was immediately welcomed as a practical and versatile material.
Answer: FALSE Locate

13 Bakelite was only available in a limited range of colours.


Answer: FALSE Locate

3. The Impact of Wilderness Tourism

A
The market for tourism In remote areas is booming as never before. Countries ail across the
world are actively promoting their ‘wilderness’ regions - such as mountains, Arctic lands,
deserts, small islands and wetlands - to high-spending tourists. The attraction of these areas is
obvious.- by definition, wilderness tourism requires little or no initial investment. But that does
not mean that there is no cost. As the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and
Development recognized, these regions are fragile (i.e. highly vulnerable to abnormal
pressures) not just in terms of their ecology, but also in terms of the culture of their inhabitants.
The three most significant types of fragile environment in these respects, and also in terms of
the proportion of the Earth's surface they cover, are deserts, mountains and Arctic areas. An
important characteristic is their marked seasonality, with harsh conditions prevailing for many
months each year. Consequently, most human activities, including tourism, are limited to quite
clearly defined parts of the year.
Tourists are drawn to these regions by their natural landscape beauty and the unique cultures
of their indigenous people. And poor governments in these isolated areas have welcomed the
new breed of ‘adventure tourist’, grateful for the hard currency they bring. For several years
now, tourism has been the prime source of foreign exchange in Nepal and Bhutan. Tourism is
also a key element in the economies of Arctic zones such as Lapland and Alaska and in desert
areas such as Ayers Rock in Australia and Arizona’s Monument Valley.
B
Once a location is established as a main tourist destination, the effects on the local
community are profound. When hill-farmers, for example, can make more money in a few
weeks working as porters for foreign trekkers than they can in a year working in their fields,
it is not surprising that many of them give up their farm-work, which is thus left to other
members of the family. In some hill-regions, this has led to a serious decline in farm output
and a change in the local diet, because there is insufficient labour to maintain terraces and
irrigation systems and tend to crops. The result has been that many people in these regions
have turned to outside supplies of rice and other foods.
In Arctic and desert societies, year-round survival has traditionally depended on hunting
animals and fish and collecting fruit over a relatively short season. However, as some
inhabitants become Involved in tourism, they no longer have time to collect wild food; this
has led to increasing dependence on bought food and stores. Tourism is not always the culprit
behind such changes. All kinds of wage labour, or government handouts, tend to undermine
traditional survival systems. Whatever the cause, the dilemma is always the same: what
happens If these new, external sources of income dry up?
The physical impact of visitors is another serious problem associated with the growth In
adventure tourism. Much attention has focused on erosion along major trails, but perhaps
more important are the deforestation and impacts on water supplies arising from the need to
provide tourists with cooked food and hot showers. In both mountains and deserts, slow-
growing trees are often the main sources of fuel and water supplies may be limited or
vulnerable to degradation through heavy use.
C
Stories about the problems of tourism have become legion in the last few years. Yet it does
not have to be a problem. Although tourism inevitably affects the region in which it takes
place, the costs to these fragile environments and their local cultures can be minimized.
Indeed, it can even be a vehicle for reinvigorating local cultures, as has happened with the
Sherpas of Nepal’s Khumbu Valley and in some Alpine villages. And a growing number of
adventure tourism operators are trying to ensure that their activities benefit the local
population and environment over the long term.
In the Swiss Alps, communities have decided that their future depends on integrating tourism
more effectively with the local economy. Local concern about the rising number of second
home developments in the Swiss Pays d'Enhaut resulted in limits being imposed on their
growth. There has also been a renaissance in communal cheese production In the area,
providing the locals with a reliable source of income that does not depend on outside visitors.
Many of the Arctic tourist destinations have been exploited by outside companies, who
employ transient workers and repatriate most of the profits to their home base. But some
Arctic communities are now operating tour businesses themselves, thereby ensuring that the
benefits accrue locally. For instance, a native corporation in Alaska, employing local people.
Is running an air tour from Anchorage to Kotzebue, where tourists eat Arctic food, walk on
the tundra and watch local musicians and dancers.
Native people In the desert regions of the American Southwest have followed similar
strategies, encouraging tourists to visit their pueblos and reservations to purchase high-quality
handicrafts and artwork. The Acoma and San lldefonso pueblos have established highly
profitable pottery businesses, while the Navajo and Hopi groups have been similarly
successful with jewellery.
Too many people living in fragile environments have lost control over their economies, their
culture and their environment when tourism has penetrated their homelands. Merely
restricting tourism cannot be the solution to the imbalance, because people's desire to see new
places will not just disappear. Instead, communities in fragile environments must achieve
greater control over tourism ventures in their regions, in order to balance their needs and
aspirations with the demands of tourism. A growing number of communities are
demonstrating that, with firm communal decision-making, this is possible. The critical
question now is whether this can become the norm, rather than the exception.

Questions 1-3
Reading Passage has three sections, A-C.
Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number i-vi in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i The expansion of international tourism in recent years
How local communities can balance their own needs with the demands of wilderness
ii
tourism
iii Fragile regions and the reasons for the expansion of tourism there
iv Traditional methods of food-supply in fragile regions
v Some of the disruptive effects of wilderness tourism
vi The economic benefits of mass tourism

1 Section A
Answer: iii Locate

2 Section B
Answer: v Locate

3 Section C
Answer: ii Locate

Questions 4-9
Do the following statements reflect the opinion of the writer of Reading Passage?
In boxes 4-9 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement reflects the opinion of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the opinion of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

4 The low financial cost of selling up wilderness tourism makes it attractive


to many countries.
Answer: YES Locate

5 Deserts, mountains and Arctic regions are examples of environments that


are both ecologically and culturally fragile.
Answer: YES Locate

6 Wilderness tourism operates throughout the year in fragile areas.


Answer: NO Locate

7 The spread of tourism in certain hill-regions has resulted in a fall in the


amount of food produced locally.
Answer: YES Locate
8 Traditional food-gathering in desert societies was distributed evenly over
the year.
Answer: NO Locate

9 Government handouts do more damage than tourism does to traditional


patterns of food-gathering.
Answer: NOT GIVEN

Questions 10-13
Complete the table below.
Choose ONE WORD from Reading Passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.

The positive ways In which some local communities have

responded to tourism
People/Location Activity

Revived production of 10
Answer: cheese Locate
Swiss Pays d'Enhaut
Operate 11 businesses
Arctic communities Answer: tourism/tourist/tour Locate
Acoma and San lldefonso
Produce and sell 12
Navajo and Hopi Answer: pottery Locate

Produce and sell 13


Answer: jewellery/jewelry Locate

Australia’s Convict Colonies

The 1700s in Britain saw widespread poverty and rising crime, and those convicted of crimes
faced harsh penalties, including transportation to one of Britain’s overseas colonies. Since
1615, convicts had been transported to Britain’s American colonies, both as punishment and a
source of labour, but this practice was halted by the Revolutionary War in America (1775-
1783).The British government decided to establish a new prison colony, and Botany Bay in
New South Wales was chosen as the site. (Captain Cook, exploring the southeast coast of
Australia in 1770, had named the land New South Wales and claimed it for Britain.) Between
1787 and 1868, almost 160,000 convicts, of whom about 25,000 were women, were sent to
Australia to serve sentences ranging from 7 years to life.

Eleven ships set sail from England in 1787 to take the first group of about 750 British convicts
to Australia.The fleet reached Botany Bay in January 1788, but nearby Sydney Cove was
selected as a more suitable site for the new settlement, which later became the city of Sydney.
The first few years were difficult, with severe food shortages; by 1792, however, there were
government farms and private gardens. Convicts worked on these farms, or on construction
projects such as building roads and bridges. Although the settlement was a prison colony, few
convicts served their sentences in jail. They lived in houses they had built themselves, and
established families, businesses and farms. A settlement was also established on Norfolk
Island, where some convicts were sent for crimes committed after arrival in the colony. Two
more settlements were established on Van Diemen’s Land (nowTasmania), in 1803 and 1804.

Convicts not involved in public work were assigned to free settlers, providing labour in
exchange for food, clothing and shelter. Some masters treated the convicts cruelly, and the
punishment of convicts, particularly in the early days, could be arbitrary and savage. Lachlan
Macquarie, governor of New South Wales from 1809 to 1819, adopted a more humane
approach. He encouraged convicts to reform by rewarding good behaviour, even granting
pardons to convicts before their sentence was completed. These emancipists, as they were
called, were given land and government assistance to help them start farming. His policies were
unpopular both with British authorities and wealthy free settlers, however, and the next
governors were under orders to ensure that life for convicts became much stricter and more
controlled. There were harsher punishments for second offenders, such as working in the Iron
gangs’, where men were chained together to carry out exhausting work on the roads, or being
sent to penal settlements where punishment was deliberately brutal so that it would act as a
deterrent

In the early years of settlement, the convicts greatly outnumbered free immigrants and settlers.
In 1810, convicts made up almost 60 percent of the population, and over 20,000 new convicts
arrived between 1821 and 1830. Even in 1831, convicts still comprised 45 percent of the
population, with ex-convicts and emancipists making up another 30 percent. 25 percent of the
population now consisted of people born in the colonies, and free people outnumbered convicts.

The first group of free settlers had arrived in Australia in 1793 to seek their fortune in the new
land.Their numbers grew, with about 8,000 free settlers arriving in the 1820s to take advantage
of free land grants and cheap convict labour. In 1831, the British government offered money
to support new settlers, hoping to attract skilled workers and single women as immigrants.
Between 1831 and 1840, more than 40,000 immigrants arrived in Australia.

During the 1820s there was a lengthy campaign to win certain rights for emancipists, which
was opposed by wealthy free settlers. In the 1830s, free immigrants to New South Wales and
Van Diemen’s Land, unhappy about living in a prison colony where civil liberties were
restricted and convict labour resulted in low wages, increasingly voiced their opposition to
transportation. Again, wealthy landowners disagreed, but a growing number of reformers in
England were also opposed to convict transportation. In 1838, a committee set up by the British
Parliament recommended that the government end transportation to New South Wales and Van
Diemen’s Land, and abolish assignment. The British duly abolished assignment, and
transportation – at least to New South Wales – was halted in 1840.

Transportation continued, however, to other colonies and settlements. In the 1840s, most
British convicts were sent to Van Diemen’s Land, where the British government introduced a
convict system based on stages of reform, with the convicts gaining increasing levels of
freedom for continued good behaviour.Transportation to the eastern colonies was abolished in
1852. In contrast, the convict system in Western Australia began in 1850, at the request of the
Western Australian government, and continued until 1868. Convicts served part of their
sentences in Britain before being transported to the colony, where they worked on badly-
needed public construction projects under a system similar to that tried in Van Diemen’s Land.

Questions 1 -3

Which THREE of the following statements are true of free settlers in the Australian prison
colonies, according to the text?

Choose THREE letters A-H.

NB Your answers may be given in any order.

A They were mainly skilled workers and single women.

B They all welcomed Governor Macquarie’s policies.

C 25 percent of them were born in the colonies.

D 160,000 of them went to Australia between 1787 and 1868.


E 8,000 of them arrived in Australia in the 1820s.

F They established families, businesses and farms.

G Convicts who were assigned to them provided them with labour. H They campaigned in
favour of emancipist rights.

Questions 4-9

Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs, A-G.

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-G from the list of headings below.

Example

Paragraph A ____ii_

4 Paragraph B _________

5 Paragraph C _________

6 Paragraph D _________

7 Paragraph E __________

8 Paragraph F _________

9 Paragraph G _________

Questions 10-13

Complete the notes below.

Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Australia’s Convict Colonies

Events preceding first settlement


1615-convicts first transported to 10 controlled by Britain

1770 – Cook claims SE Australian coast for Britain, calling it 11_________________

*1775 – 1783 – Revolutionary War in America halts transportation there

1787 – Botany Bay chosen as site for new 12_________________ ; first convict fleet sets sail

1788 – fleet reaches Botany Bay but 13________________ chosen instead

1-3 (in any order)

A because this refers to the type of immigrant authorities hoped to attract.

E because in paragraph E it says: ‘with about 8,000 free settlers arriving in the 1820s’

G because in paragraph C it says: “Convicts not involved in public work were assigned to free
settlers, providing labour in exchange for food, clothing and shelter.’

4 viii

5 vi

6 v

7 i

8 vii

9 iii

10 American colonies

11 New South Wales

12 prison colony
13 Sydney Cove

Changes in International Commerce How ethics and fair trade can make a difference

The purpose of international commerce is to buy things from and sell things to people in
other countries. Hundreds, and indeed thousands, of years ago, this actually worked quite
well. People who travelled to foreign lands, often by ship, would take with them items for
trade. Agricultural countries would, for example, trade olive oil or wine for weapons or other
worked items. All that needed to be negotiated was a fair’price’for the items. (How many
axes is a barrel of oil worth, for example?) Currency did not enter into the first deals but,
even when it did, few problems existed to complicate matters barring disagreements over the
value of goods.
Today, fixing a fair price remains at the centre of international commerce. When we look at
the deal from the point of view of the seller, market research must determine the price at
which the goods will be sold. This may vary greatly from country to country and people are
often surprised to see exactly the same item for sale at two or three times the price it sells for
in another country.Taxation and local government controls are sometimes behind this, but
often it comes down to the fact that people in poor countries simply cannot afford to pay the
same amount of money as those in rich countries. These are the things a seller has to bear in
mind when preparing a price list for goods in each country.
In most cases, the purpose of setting a suitable price is to sell the maximum number of units.
Usually, this is the way to guarantee the biggest profit. One exception is in the selling of
luxury or specialist goods. These are often goods for which there is a limited market Here,
slightly different rules apply because the profit margin (the amount of money a producer
makes on each item) is much higher. For instance, nearly everyone wants to own a television
or a mobile phone, and there is a lot of competition in the area of production, forcing the
prices to be competitive too. The producers have to sell a large number of items to make a
profit because their profit margin is small. But not everyone wants to buy hand-made
jewellery, or a machine for sticking labels onto bottles.This enables the producer to charge a
price much higher than the cost of making the item, increasing the profit margin. But at the
heart of any sale, whether they sell many items for a small profit, ora few items for a large
profit the prime motivation for the producer is to make as much profit as possible.
At least, that was the case until relatively recently when, to the great surprise of many,
companies started trading without profit as their main objective. Ethical trade began as an
attempt to cause as little damage as possible to the producers of raw materials and
manufactured goods in poor countries.This movement put pressure on the industry to see to it
that working conditions and human rights were not damaged by the need for poorer people to
produce goods. In short, it drew to the world’s attention the fact that many poor people were
being exploited by big businesses in their drive to make more profit.
There have been many examples throughout the developing world where local producers
were forced by economic pressure to supply cash crops such as tea, coffee and cotton to
major industries. These people are frequently not in a position to fix their prices, and are
often forced by market conditions to sell for a price too low to support the producers and their
community. Worse still, while the agricultural land is given over to cash crops, it robs the
local people of the ability to grow their own food. In time, through over-production, the land
becomes spent and infertile, leading to poverty, starvation, and sometimes the destruction of
the whole community.
Fair trade policies differ from ethical trade policies in that they take the process a stage
further. Where ethical policies are designed to keep the damage to a minimum, fair trade
organisations actually work to improve conditions among producers and their communities.
Fair trade organisations view sustainability as a key aim. This involves implementing policies
where producers are given a fair price for the goods they sell, so that they and their
communities can continue to operate.
Although many big businesses are cynical about an operation that does not regard profit as a
main driving force, the paradox is that it will help them too. With sustainability as their main
aim, fair trade organisations not only help the poorer producers obtain a reasonable standard
of living, but they also help guarantee a constant supply of raw materials. This form of
sustainability benefits everyone, whether their motive is making a profit or improving the
lives of the world’s poorer people.
ADVERTISEMENT

Questions 1-5
Classify the following as being a result of A fair trade policies B ethical trade policies C a
country being poor. Write the correct letter, A, B or C.

1
Answer: C Manufactured goods are obtainable at a lower price than elsewhere.

2
Answer: B Harm to producers of raw materials is minimised.

3
Answer: B Human rights are respected.

4
Answer: C Land is not used to produce food for the local population.

5
Answer: A The local community has more chance of survival.

Questions 6-10
Complete the flow chart below. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage
for each answer.

Companies carry out 6


Answer: (market) research to decide the price that their goods are sold at in each country.
The prices of the same goods can vary in different countries because of 7
Answer: (local) government controls or taxes. The 8
Answer: price list is finalised, depending on how much customers in a particular market can
afford. To ensure a profit, manufacturers aim to sell the 9
Answer: maximum number of a particular item. Manufacturers can have a higher profit
margin on luxury or specialist goods which often have a 10
Answer: limited market

Questions 11-14
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
11 According to the writer, what might early traders have disagreed about?

A the comparative values of the goods

B which currency to use for their deal

C which items they wanted as exchange

D the quality of the goods being traded


Answer: A
12 What is the main consequence of a product being in demand?

A higher prices

B smaller profit margins

C fewer items being produced

D less market competition


Answer: B
13 How might an agricultural community be destroyed?

A because companies in richer countries steal from them

B because they ask an unrealistically high price for their produce

C because they over-use the land in order to grow cash crops

D because the crops take much too long to grow


Answer: C
14 The word paradox in the final paragraph refers to the fact that

A poorer people will become richer than the people who run big businesses.

B by being cynical, the big businesses have helped produce a result they do not want.

C the suppliers of raw materials will sell them to big businesses for a huge profit.

D big businesses will gain from these policies although they don’t support them.
Answer: D
The True Cost of Food

A
For more than forty years the cost of food has been rising. It has now reached a point where a
growing number of people believe that it is far too high, and that bringing it down will be one of the great
challenges of the twenty first century. That cost, however, is not in immediate cash. In the West at least,
most food is now far cheaper to buy in relative terms than it was in 1960.
The cost is in the collateral damage of the very methods of food production that have made the food cheaper:
in the pollution of water, the enervation of soil, the destruction of wildlife, the harm to animal welfare and
the threat to human health caused by modern industrial agriculture.
B
First mechanisation, then mass use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides, then monocultures, then battery
rearing of livestock, and now genetic engineering - the onward march of intensive farming has seemed
unstoppable in the last half-century, as the yields of produce have soared. But the damage it has caused has
been colossal. In Britain, for example, many of our best-loved farmland birds, such as the skylark, the grey
partridge, the lapwing and the corn bunting, have vanished from huge stretches of countryside, as have even
more wild flowers and insects. This is a direct result of the way we have produced our food in the last four
decades. Thousands of miles of hedgerows, thousands of ponds, have disappeared from the landscape. The
faecal filth of salmon farming has driven wild salmon from many of the sea lochs and rivers of Scotland.
Natural soil fertility is dropping in many areas because of continuous industrial fertiliser and pesticide use,
while the growth of algae is increasing in lakes because of the fertiliser run-off.
C
Put it all together and it looks like a battlefield, but consumers rarely make the connection at the dinner table.
That is mainly because the costs of all this damage are what economists refer to as externalities: they are
outside the main transaction, which is for example producing and selling a field of wheat, and are borne
directly by neither producers nor consumers. To many, the costs may not even appear to be financial at all,
but merely aesthetic - a terrible shame, but nothing to do with money. And anyway they, as consumers of
food, certainly aren’t paying for it, are they?
D
But the costs to society can actually be quantified and, when added up, can amount to staggering sums. A
remarkable exercise in doing this has been carried out by one of the world’s leading thinkers on the future
of agriculture, Professor Jules Pretty, Director of the Centre for Environment and Society at the University
of Essex. Professor Pretty and his colleagues calculated the externalities of British agriculture for one
particular year. They added up the costs of repairing the damage it caused, and came up with a total figure
of £2,343m. This is equivalent to £208 for every hectare of arable land and permanent pasture, almost as
much again as the total government and EU spend on British farming in that year. And according to Professor
Pretty, it was a conservative estimate.
E
The costs included: £120m for removal of pesticides; £16m for removal of nitrates; £55m for removal of
phosphates and soil; £23m for the removal of the bug Cryptosporidium from drinking water by water
companies; £125m for damage to wildlife habitats, hedgerows and dry stone walls; £1,113m from emissions
of gases likely to contribute to climate change; £106m from soil erosion and organic carbon losses; £169m
from food poisoning; and £607m from cattle disease. Professor Pretty draws a simple but memorable
conclusion from all this: our food bills are actually threefold. We are paying for our supposedly cheaper food
in three separate ways: once over the counter, secondly through our taxes, which provide the enormous
subsidies propping up modern intensive farming, and thirdly to clean up the mess that modern farming leaves
behind.
F
So can the true cost of food be brought down? Breaking away from industrial agriculture as the solution to
hunger may be very hard for some countries, but in Britain, where the immediate need to supply food is less
urgent, and the costs and the damage of intensive farming have been clearly seen, it may be more feasible.
The government needs to create sustainable, competitive and diverse farming and food sectors, which will
contribute to a thriving and sustainable rural economy, and advance environmental, economic, health, and
animal welfare goals.
G
But if industrial agriculture is to be replaced, what is a viable alternative? Professor Pretty feels that organic
farming would be too big a jump in thinking and in practices for many farmers. Furthermore, the price
premium would put the produce out of reach of many poorer consumers. He is recommending the immediate
introduction of a'Greener Food Standard’, which would push the market towards more sustainable
environmental practices than the current norm, while not requiring the full commitment to
organic production. Such a standard would comprise agreed practices for different kinds of farming,
covering agrochemical use, soil health, land management, water and energy use, food safety and animal
health. It could go a long way, he says, to shifting consumers as well as farmers towards a more sustainable
system of agriculture.

Questions 1-4
Reading Passage has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.

1 a cost involved in purifying domestic water


Answer: E Locate

2 the stages in the development of the farming industry


Answer: B Locate

3 the term used to describe hidden costs


Answer: C Locate

4 one effect of chemicals on water sources


Answer: B Locate

Questions 5-8
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage?
In boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
5 Several species of wildlife in the British countryside are declining.
Answer: YES Locate

6 The taste of food has deteriorated in recent years.


Answer: NOT GIVEN

7 The financial costs of environmental damage are widely recognised.


Answer: NO Locate

8 One of the costs calculated by Professor Pretty was illness caused by food.
Answer: YES Locate

Questions 9-13
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 22-26 on your answer sheet.

Professor Pretty concludes that our 9


Answer: food bills/costs Locate are higher than most people realise, because we make three different
types of payment. He feels it is realistic to suggest that Britain should reduce its reliance

on 10
Answer: (modern) intensive farming Locate. Although most farmers would be unable to adapt

to 11
Answer: organic farming Locate. Professor Pretty wants the government to initiate change by

establishing what he refers to as a 12


Answer: Greener Food Standard Locate. He feels this would help to change the attitudes of

both 13
Answer: IN EITHER ORDER farmers (and) consumers Locate.

You might also like