READING COMPREHENSION

Type 1: Matching statements/ information to section of text or short text they

refer to or appear in
You are going to read an article about society in the US. For question 1-15, choose
from the sections of the article (A-E). The sections maybe chosen more than once.

In which section of the article are the following mentioned?

1. the fact that there is no single definition of the word ‘class’
2. an opinion that is now regarded with disapproval by academics in general
3. a disadvantage that a certain attitude to life might have
4. an example of a success that was thought to be typical of what anyone could achieve
5. evidence that it used to be easier for people to move up in class than it is now
6. a belief that class divisions used to be much clearer than they are now
7. people who believe that each of the main classes is now divided into various group
8. when detailed and reliable analysis of people changing from one class to another
started
9. a belief that people do not always get what they deserve
10. an idea that makes people feel uneasy
11. an increase in the number of people who think that rising in class is related more to
effort than to luck
12. a belief that class has become a more important issue rather than a less important one
13. the kinds of things that people who belong to the same class have in common
14. attempts to create situations in which there are no class divisions
15. a belief that a certain attitude to life is instinctive

Class in the United States

A. A recent poll on class found that 40% of Americans believe that the chance of moving
up from one class to another had risen over the last 30 years, a period in which new
research shows it has not. 35% said that it had not changed, and only 23% said that it had
dropped. More Americans than 20 years believe it is possible to start our poor, work hard
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and become rich. They say hard work and a good education are more important to get
ahead than connections or a wealthy background. ‘I think the system is as fair as you can
make it’, said one respondent.’ I don’t think life is necessarily fair. But if you persevere,
you can overcome adversity. It has to do with a person’s willingness to work hard, and I
think it’s always been that way.’

B. One difficulty in talking about class is that the word means different things to different
people. Class is rank, it is tribe, it is culture and taste. They are attitudes and assumptions,
a source of identity, a system of exclusion. To some, it is just money or it is an accident of
birth that can influence the outcome of a life. Some Americans barely notice it; others feel
its weight in powerful ways. At its most basic, class is one way societies sort themselves
out. Even societies built on the idea of eliminating class have had stark differences in rank.
Classes are groups of people in similar economic and social position; people who, for that
reason, may share political attitudes, lifestyles, consumption patterns, cultural interests
and opportunities to get ahead.

C. When societies were simpler, the class landscape was easier to read. Marx divided 19th
century societies into just 2 classes; Max Weber added a few more. As societies grew
increasingly complex, the old classes became more heterogeneous. As some sociologists
and marketing consultants see it, the commonly accepted big three – the upper, middle
and working classes – have broken down into dozens of micro classes, defined by
occupations or lifestyles. A few sociologists say that social complexity has made the
concept of class meaningless. But many other researchers disagree. ‘Class awareness and
the class language is receding at the very moment that class has reorganized American
society’, said Michael Hout, a professor of sociology at Berkeley. ‘I find these ‘end of class’
discussions naïve and ironic, because we are at a time of booming inequality and this
massive reorganization of where we live and how we feel, even in the dynamics of our
politics. Yet people say, ‘Well, the era of class is over.’

D. Many Americans say that they have moved up the class ladder. In the recent poll, 45%
of respondents said they were in a higher class than when they grew up, while just 16%
said they were in a lower one. Overall, 1% described themselves as upper class, 15% as
upper middle class, 42% as middle, 35% as working and 7% as lower. ‘ I grew up very
poor and so did my husband’, said one respondent. ‘’We’re not rich but we are
comfortable;we arc middle class and our son is better off than we are”. The original
examplar of American social mobility was almost certainly Benjamin Franklin, one of 17
children of a candle maker. About 20 years ago, when researchers first began to study
mobility in a rigorous way, Franklin seemed representative of a truly fluid society, in
which the rags-to-riches trajectory was the readily achievable ideal, just as the nation’s
self-image promised. But new studies of mobility, which methodically track people’s

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earnings over decades, have found far less movement. Mobility happens, just not as
rapidly as was once thought. “We all know stories of poor families in which the next
generation did much better”, said Gary Solon, a leading mobility researcher. “But in the
past, people would say, ‘Don’t worry about inequality. The offspring of the poor have
chances as good as the chances of offspring of the rich”. Well, that’s not true. It’s not
respectable in scholarly circles any more to make that argument.”

E. Americans have never been comfortable with the notion of a hierarchy based on
anything other than talent and hard work. Class contradicts their assumptions about the
American dream, equal opportunity and the reasons for their own successes and even
failures. Americans, constitutionally optimistic, are disinclined to see themselves as stuck.
Blind optimism has its pitfalls. If opportunity is taken for granted as something that will be
there no matter what, then the country is less likely to do the hard work to make it happen.
But defiant optimism has its strengths. Without confidence in the possibility of moving up,
there would almost certainly be fewer success stories.

Type 2: Multiple choice

Read the following passage and choose the correct option for each question.
The Beauties of the Stone Age
Jane Howard views some works of ancient art
I have just come home after viewing some astonishing works of art that were recently
discovered in Church Hole cave in Nottinghamshire. They are not drawings, as one would
expect, but etchings, and they depict a huge range of wild animals. The artists who created
them lived around 13,000 years ago, and the images are remarkable on a variety of counts.
First of all, their sheer number is staggering: there are ninety all told. Moreover, fifty-eight
of them are on the ceiling. This is extremely rare in cave art, according to a leading expert,
Dr Wilbur Samson of Central Midlands University. Wall pictures are the norm/ he says.
'But more importantly, the Church Hole etchings are an incredible artistic achievement.
They can hold their own in comparison with the best found in continental Europe/ I am
not a student of the subject, so I have to take his word for it. However, you do not have to
be an expert to appreciate their beauty.
In fact, it is the wider significance of the etchings that is likely to attract most attention in
academic circles, since they radically alter our view of life in Britain during this epoch. It
had previously been thought that ice-age hunters in this country were isolated from
people in more central areas of Europe, but the Church Hole images prove that ancient
Britons were part of a culture that had spread right across the continent. And they were at
least as sophisticated culturally as their counterparts on the mainland.
News of such exciting discoveries spreads rapidly, and thanks to the Internet and mobile
phones, a great many people probably knew about this discovery within hours of the
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initial expedition returning. As a result, some etchings may already have been damaged,
albeit inadvertently, by eager visitors. In a regrettably late response, the site has been
cordoned off with a high, rather intimidating fence, and warning notices have been posted.
An initial survey of the site last year failed to reveal the presence of the etchings. The
reason lies in the expectations of the researchers. They had been looking for the usual
type of cave drawing or painting, which shows up best under direct light. Consequently,
they used powerful torches, shining them straight onto the rock face. However, the Church
Hole images are modifications of the rock itself, and show up best when seen from a
certain angle in the natural light of early morning. Having been fortunate to see them at
this hour, I can only say that I was deeply - and unexpectedly - Sprachmania Wien 2013
Englisch moved. While most cave art often seems to have been created in a shadowy past
very remote from us, these somehow convey the impression that they were made
yesterday.
Dr Samson feels that the lighting factor provides important information about the likely
function of these works of art. 1 think the artists knew very well that the etchings would
hardly be visible except early in the morning. We can therefore deduce that the chamber
was used for rituals involving animal worship, and that they were conducted just after
dawn, as a preliminary to the day's hunting.
However, such ideas are controversial in the world of archaeology and human origins. Dr
Olivia Caruthers of the Reardon Institute remains unconvinced that the function of the
etchings at Church Hole can be determined with any certainty. When we know so little
about the social life of early humans, it would be foolish to insist on any rigid
interpretation. We should, in my view, begin by tentatively assuming that their creators
were motivated in part by aesthetic considerations - while of course being prepared to
modify this verdict at a later date, if and when new evidence emerges.'
To which I can only add that I felt deeply privileged to have been able to view Church Hole.
It is a site of tremendous importance culturally and is part of the heritage, not only of this
country, but the world as a whole.
1. According to the passage, the images in Church Hole cave are …
A. unique examples of ceiling art
B. particularly beautiful cave paintings
C. superior in quality to other cave art in Britain
D. aesthetically exceptional
2. What is the cultural significance of these images?
A. they indicate that people from central Europe had settled in Britain
B. they prove that ancient Britons hunted over large areas.
C. they reveal the existence of a single ice-age culture in Europe

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D. they suggest that people in Europe were more sophisticated than Britons.
3. According to the passage, …
A. the discovery of the images should not have been made public.
B. the images in the cave are vulnerable to damage.
C. many people visited the cave within hours of its discovery.
D. the measures taken to protect the images have proved ineffective.
4. According to Dr. Caruthers, ……..
A. we cannot make inferences from cave art.
B. the images in Church Hole do not serve any particular function.
C. experts know nothing about life 13’000 years ago.
D. the function of such images is open to question.
5. It seems that the writer …….
A. can now envisage the life of ice-age hunters more vividly.
B. was profoundly impressed by the images in the cave.
C. has now realized the true significance of cave art.
D. thinks the images should receive more publicity.

Type 3: Fill the missing gaps

You are going to read a newspaper article. Six paragraphs have been removed from
the article. Choose from the paragraphs A-G the one which fits each gap (1-6). There is
one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

Regent’s Park in central London was recently the site of a festival of music and fruit,
marking the fifth birthday of Innocent, the drinks company set up by three college friends
who wanted to bring a bit of nature to the table. It all began 5 years ago, when Adam Balon,
Richard Reed and Jon Wright were contemplating starting their own business. They took
500 pounds worth of fruit to a music festival in west London, made a huge batch of
smoothies – fruit drinks blended with milk and yoghurt – and asked their customers for a
verdict.
1. __________
Looking back they now admit that they were amazingly naive about starting a business,
thinking it would just take off once they had the recipes and packaging figured out. In
fact, the three budding businessmen had nine months living on credit cards and
overdrafts before they sold their first smoothie.

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2. ______

The appeal of Innocent's drinks lie in their pure, unadulterated ingredients, plus a dash
of quirky advertising. As one campaign put it, their drinks are not made from fruit, they
are fruit.Innocent's refusal to compromise on this point presented them with some
problems when they first started talking to potential suppliers, Adam adds. This was
when they discovered the truth about the majority of so-called ‘natural fruit drinks’.

3. ______
"Naivety," adds Richard, who is always ready with a soundbite, "can be a great asset in
business because you challenge the status quo." Although Innocent's drinks are
fiendishly healthy, the company has always been very careful not to preach.

"Everyone knows what they're supposed to do," says Richard. "But we just don't,
especially when you live in a city and it's pints of lager and a kebab at the end of the
night. We just thought, 'wouldn't it be great to make it easy for people to get hold of this
natural fresh goodness?' then at least you've got one healthy habit in a world of bad
ones."

4. ______

In essence, explains Jon, Innocent plans to simply freeze some of its smoothies,
possibly with a bit of egg thrown in to make it all stick together. To help testers make
up their minds about which combinations work, the yes and no bins will be dusted off
and put out again.
5. ______
"You've just got to put that in the category of 'never say never'," says Richard. "But the
three of us go away once every three months to talk about what we want out of the
business and we are all in the same place. So as long as we are excited and challenged
and proud of the business we are going to want to be a part of it."
6. ______
"We have got annoyed with each other," admits Adam. "But the areas we have had
fallings-out over are things where we each think we have reasons to be right. So it's
been about really important stuff like the colour of the floor, the colour of the entrance,
or what to paint the pillar." "We really did nearly jump on each other about that," adds
Jon. "Was it going to be blue or green?"

A. Despite the temptation to do so, they have so far refused all offers. This might not
last, of course, but while it does, it will have positive consequences for the fruit drinks
market.

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B. At the Regent’s Park event the team tried out one of their new ideas – extending
their range of products into desserts. ‘We always try and develop something that we
actually want, and for us there is this problem of Sunday evenings when you sit down
with a DVD and a big tub of ice cream and it’s nice to munch through it, but my God,
it’s bad for you’ Richard adds.
C.Most are made from concentrated juice with water and perhaps sweeteners, colours
and preservatives – added. "We didn't even know about that when we started," Adam
explains. "It was when we started talking to people and they said 'OK, we'll use orange
concentrate' and we said 'what's concentrate?' and they explained it and we said 'no, we
want orange juice'."
D. "We originally wrote this massive long questionnaire," says Richard. "But then we
thought, if you're sat at this festival and it's sunny, the last thing you want to do is fill
out a survey. So we decided to keep it simple and ask literally 'should we stop working
and make these things?' We had a bin that said yes and a bin that said no and at the
end of the weekend the yes bin was full of empty bottles. We all went in to work the
next day and quit."
E. They also seem to have managed to stay friends. They still take communal holidays,
and the fact that each member of the team brings a different and complementary set of
skills to Innocent seems to have helped them avoid any big bust-ups over strategy.
F. Innocent now employs 46 people and Fruit Towers - as they call their base - has
slowly expanded along the line of industrial units. The company has managed to
establish a dominant position in the face of fierce competition. This year Innocent
became Britain's leading brand of smoothie selling about 40% of the 50m downed
annually by British drinkers.
G. Having created a successful business from this base, is there a temptation to sell up
and go live on a dessert island? With consumers becoming increasingly concerned
about what they put in their stomachs, premium brands such as Innocent are worth a
lot of money to a potential buyer.

Type 4: Matching opinions with the text they appear in

You are going to read 4 extracts from biographies of a former political leader. For
questions 1-4, choose from the biographies A-D. The biographies may be chosen
more than one.

A career at the very top of the political ladder

Four biographers assess one national leader’s political career
A
The overall impression one gets of him is of someone whose true ambitions lay outside
politics, and for whom political leadership was more of a CV item than a duty born of a
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desire to serve his country. A shrewd and manipulative operator, he knew how to make
the right alliances to get himself into the positions he wanted, and once his term of office
was over he continued in that vein outside politics. The legacy of his time in office is a
contrasting one. Top of the list in the plus column is the tremendous progress he made in
narrowing the gap between rich and poor as a result of policies he personally championed
against considerable opposition. Less creditable is the fact that many of the problems that
resulted from his time in office can be laid at his door too and there were repercussions he
should have foreseen.
В
Seldom can a political leader be said to have been such a victim of bad timing. Many of his
policies made complete sense in themselves and at almost any other time would have had
a positive impact, but circumstances beyond his control conspired to turn them into
disasters for the country. It could perhaps be said that this was made worse by the fact
that he was somewhat gullible, setting far too much store by the questionable advice of
key figures around him. He rose to power with a sincere belief that he could improve the
lives of people at every level of society, although it could be said that self-interest later
guided him more than this initial desire. Probably the most positive thing that can be said
about his term of office is that he minimised the impact of some tough economic times,
steering the country through them with reasonable success, which was no mean feat.
C
Views differ widely on what sort of man he was as a leader, with conflicting testimony
from those on the inside. What emerges is someone who appeared decisive but who in
reality tended to believe what he was told by trusted advisers and experts, and was too
easily swayed by them. His unquestioning faith in such people led him to try to implement
changes that were far too radical for the time and it is fair to say that he was at fault for
going along with this approach that was advocated by others. On the positive side, his
main achievement was to make the country more competitive economically by means of
some well-considered initiatives, though these later turned out to have only short-term
impact. This reflected the commitment to modernise the country that had been at the
centre of his campaign and the reason why he had aspired to the leadership in the first
place.
D
He was driven to the top by a genuine belief that he knew best and that his critics were
incapable of seeing that his policies would indeed produce very real improvements across
the board. Though he made a show of listening to advice from others, he was in reality
inflexible. This led him to continue to pursue policies that were manifestly not working
and he should have accepted that a change of direction was required. He had one of the
sharpest minds of any leader in recent history, and an ability to analyse situations
forensically, but at key times he failed to apply these qualities and carried on regardless of
the inadvisability of doing so. Nevertheless, he succeeded in one major way: he made

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society more equal and in so doing improved the lot of many of the less well-off members
of it.

Which biographer …
1. has a different opinion from the others on the extent to which the subject was
personally responsible for problems caused by his policies? _______
2. shares biographer D‘s view on the subject’s personal characteristics as a leader? ______
3. differs from the others on the subject’s motivation for becoming a political leader?
________
4. expresses a similar view to biographer A on what the subject’s greatest achievement
was? ________

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ANSWER KEY
Type 1: A. 9, 11 B. 1, 13, 14 C. 6, 7, 12 D. 2, 4, 5, 8
Type 2: 1. D 2. C 3. B 4. D 5. B
Type 3: 1.D 2.F 3.C 4.B 5.G 6. E
Type 4: 1. B 2. A 3.A 4.D

FOR REFERENCE:
+ Cambridge English Advanced Practice tests by Mark Harrison
+ Other CPE, CAE materials…

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