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READING COMPREHENSION (Marks ………/14)

This paper is in two parts. There is one mark for each correct answer. No marks are deducted for
wrong answers. You need 50% of the total to pass.
PART 1. You are going to read an article about household appliances. Choose the best answer (A,
B, C or D) for each question and mark it with a cross (x). Only one answer is right.

Are our household appliances getting too complicated?

Who needs a kettle with four heat settings? A washing machine with a 'freshen up' function? A toaster with
six browning modes? What happened to the good old days of the on/off switch? The modern washing
machine has a dozen or more cycles that no one has ever used. The baby cycle, for example, aimed,
presumably, at parents too lazy to wash their babies in the bath.

The washing machine is hardly alone in this; all our appliances have learned new tricks. Posh kettles heat our
water to a choice of temperatures, tumble dryers offer a variety of "dryness levels" and even fairly basic
toasters now proudly boast a "bagel function". At the top end of the market you can now buy a fridge
with a built-in radio and voice recorder, proving we've reached the stage of combining functions entirely
arbitrarily. It has all become a little overwhelming.

Function inflation or "setting creep" – both of which are names I've just made up – is not, of course, confined
to the kitchen. We can see it in our computers and cars, our phones and televisions. "Fundamentally," says
David Mattin, lead strategist at trendwatching.com, "I'd say function inflation is one consequence of the
ever-increasing consumer thirst for the new – new products, services, brands, and yes, new functionality
and features – and the way brands and businesses typically respond to that thirst."

"Throwing more functions and features on to an essentially standard product is one easy way for consumer-
facing brands to serve the consumer demand for new, more, and better; or at least claim they are serving it.
It allows them to constantly relaunch essentially the same product with new features, and argue that their
product is new."

It is not without its benefits. Plenty of life-changing innovations, from the handy oven timer to the job-
endangering snooze button, started out as added unnecessary features on familiar household items. Many
objects we now consider normal were once separate and unrelated: the clock radio, for example, or our
DVD-playing games consoles.

But, in the kitchen at least, things are moving a little fast, and rampant function hyperinflation has left many
of us staring, uncomprehending, at a washing machine control wheel with more cycles than we
have outfits to wash.

In theory, all such functions must be a response to consumer demand: if a washing machine has a "freshen
up" cycle, it is because in a focus group somewhere, or on some customer feedback survey, at least a couple
of people said: "I want my clothes fresher, but not cleaned." Yet such demanding shoppers are in fact a small
minority: research shows that 70% of people use the same wash cycle almost every time, and nearly half of
us are put off by complex multi-setting controls.

"The innovation is obviously being driven by manufacturers' desire to add value and to differentiate
themselves," says analyst Neil Mason, head of sales research at market research company Mintel. "But from
a consumer's point of view, what they want is convenience and simplicity. When you run into trouble is when

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you add all these extra functions and consumers just get perplexed as to how to actually use them."

New settings clearly continue to be seen as an easy road to higher sales. Yet, as Mattin points out, some of
the most successful products on the market "succeeded specifically because they did not succumb to
function inflation, indeed they made a virtue out of having very few functions".

Though Apple™ is now a fast-moving bastion of user-controlled function inflation, the iPhone and iPad's
predecessor began life as a reaction against it. "The iPod," says Mattin, "is a now-legendary example of a
tech product that was beautiful in its simplicity. Compare earlier MP3 players, with various buttons and
switches and features, with the iPod's click wheel."

Perhaps, despite the current trend, the household of the future will be free of such confusing settings,
switches and dials. The ideal household gadget – be it a washer, dryer or toaster – may one day sport a
single, simple button marked "Sort this stuff out for me, will you?" The machines can work out for
themselves when, if ever, we merely want our clothes freshened up.

1. In paragraph 1, baby cycle refers to …

A. the way to wash your baby when you are very tired.
B. the tricks you have to use to set the washing machine.
C. a popular washing machine programme.
D. a special cycle for washing baby clothes.

2. According to the text…

A. the number of functions in some appliances can confuse users.
B. having different functions in appliances is essential nowadays.
C. dryness levels as well as bagel function are essential in dryers and toasters.
D. at last we can reach the stage of combining functions arbitrarily.

3. The author …
A. says people can be overwhelmed by the number of functions in household appliances.
B. states that multiple functions in household appliances always meet consumer demand.
C. agrees with manufactures adding so many functions to household appliances.
D. thinks that the fresher mode on a washing-machine is useful

4. According to the author, the main reason companies keep adding functions to a product …
A. is that consumers really need them.
B. is making our life easier.
C. is that new functions are popular among old people.
D. is to launch the same product as if it were new.

5. According to the text, Apple™…

A. has always been a pioneer of function inflation.
B. designed very simple and beautiful products in the past.
C. is leading the industry move towards more simple gadgets.
D. is launching a new iPod with a click wheel.

6. The main aim of this text is …

A. to explain current developments in the design of household appliances.
B. to criticize current developments in the design of household appliances.
C. to encourage people to use all the functions of modern household appliances.
D. to advertise new appliances from certain companies.

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PART 2. You are going to read an article about a film based on Tippi Hedren’s relationship with
Hitchcock during the filming of The Birds. Eight sentences have been removed from the article.
Choose from the sentences A-I the one which best fits each gap and write its letter in the gap.
There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

BBC should apologise for misrepresenting Sir Alfred Hitchcock, says author

The author of a new book about Sir Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller The Birds has called on the BBC to apologise to
the director’s family over his portrayal as a “lascivious letch” in the recent drama The Girl, and to withdraw
the DVD. Tony Lee Moral, whose book The Making of Hitchcock’s The Birds is released later this month,
accused The Girl, a co-production with HBO, of “damaging his reputation”.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of The Birds. Mr Moral said: “People will never get tired of
Hitchcock’s films; (1) __________________. The BBC should apologise to the Hitchcock family and for
misleading the general audience.”

He rejected the drama’s view that Hitchcock became obsessed with the leading lady Tippi Hedren and
subjected her to physical and mental harassment during the filming of his 1963 masterpiece.
The team behind The Girl remain adamant (2) __________________.

Mr Moral’s book queries The Girl’s portrayal of two of the key set-piece scenes used in the drama screened
on BBC 2 on Boxing Day, which show Hitchcock, played by Toby Jones, at his most manipulative: the filming
of a bird smashing a phone booth with leading actress Tippi Hedren inside, and her character being attacked
by multiple birds in the attic. Both suggest he callously put his leading lady in physical danger, possibly to
punish her for rejecting his advances, and that he revelled in her discomfort.

“(3) __________________ and Hedren hasn’t contradicted that.” Mr Moral said: “The most damaging thing
is what it has done to Hitchcock’s reputation. Ordinary members of the public think that he would harm her
with broken glass, which is absurd,” adding it was an accident that the glass smashed. He added: “(4)
__________________” With the attic attack, which took five days to film with birds repeatedly flying at
Hedren, “he was very nervous, he didn’t want to film it. He’s not doing it to torment Hedren, he’s doing it
because he needs those 67 bits of film for the montage,” Mr Moral said.

Leanne Klein, the executive producer on The Girl, defended the drama. She said: “(5) __________including
interviews with a range of sources close to Alfred Hitchcock.” She added that writer Gwyneth Hughes
“interviewed surviving members of Hitchcock's cast and crew, some of whom were speaking for the first
time, and their insights helped to inform scenes and characterisation within the drama.” This included
assistant director Jim Brown, who died before the drama was screened, although his widow has since said
Brown would not have endorsed the film. “Hedren and Donald Spoto, who wrote The Dark Side of Genius:
The Life of Alfred Hitchcock, (6) __________________,” Ms Klein said.

Mr Moral interviewed over a dozen members of the film’s cast and crew for the book.
“(7) __________________. None corroborated the idea of this sadistic, mean spirited man.” He conceded
that Hitchcock had a “controlling, possessive side”.

The Hitchcock Estate has declined to comment throughout the furore surrounding The Girl, as well as the big
screen, and less controversial, biopic Hitchcock, starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Helen Mirren. Mr Moral
said: “(8) __________________. I think the DVD should be withdrawn.” Previously, the BBC withdrew a
drama about the stars of the sitcom Steptoe and Son, after the family complained.

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A. Everyone I’ve spoken to who worked with him said he was nothing but a consummate
professional.
B. It was based on extensive and rigorous research
C. Why would he intentionally physically harm her after intentionally giving her the lead part in
his next movie?
D. it is an accurate portrayal of the relationship between director and star.
E. unfortunately I think The Girl has done an awful lot of damage in the view of the lay person.
F. believe the film accurately represents Hedren’s experience of working with Hitchcock.
G. Ms Tippi Hedren describes the filming of The Birds as one of the worst nightmares in her
professional career.
H. The drama suggested he took pleasure in the phone box scene
I. It’s not only an offence to him but to the Hitchcock family as well.

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