Name: ___________________________________ Date: 08/06/2021

READING PRACTICE
Part 1: Read the passage and choose the best answer A, B, C or D.
Reports that the government is about to (1) ___ the go ahead to plans for the building of a new runway at London's
Gatwick airport have angered local (2) ___ and raised fears of increased noise and exhaust pollution. The (3) ___ plans
also include permission for additional night flights and will (4) ___ the compulsory purchase of farmland, (5) ___ the
demolition of a number of private homes. According to sources close to the Ministry of Transport, the government is
known to be concerned by the increasing (6) ___ of traffic at London Heathrow, where there are no plans for further
runways in the foreseeable (7) ___ Gatwick is widely (8) ___ as a better (9) ___ for expansion than London's third
airport, Stansted, which still (10) ___ from poor transport links. A spokesperson for the Keep Gatwick Quiet association,
(11) ___ up of local people, accused the government of (12) ___ back on promises made before the General Election.
'We were told then that the airport authority had no (13) ___ of building another runway, and we believe that the
government has a duty to (14) ___its pledges.' Prominent figures in the government are also believed to be concerned
at the news, although the Prime Minister, interviewed last night, is (15) ___ as saying that reports were 'misleading'.
However, he would not give an assurance that plans for building a runway had definitely been rejected.
1. A sign B make C give D approve
2. A inhabitants B dwellers C occupants D residents
3. A controversial B debatable C notorious D doubtful
4. A involve B concern C assume D need
5. A further to B as well as C moreover D what's more
6. A sum B size C volume D length
7. A years B period C time D future
8. A regarded B believed C felt D held
9. A potential B outlook C prospect D likelihood
10. A affects B undergoes C experiences D suffers
11. A made B set C brought D taken
12. A getting B falling C going D turning
13. A desire B intention C wish D objective
14. A bear out B count on C pull off D stand by
15. A quoted B known C thought D written
Part 2: Read the passage below and fill in each gap with ONE suitable word.
BORN LIARS?
Little babies are not so innocent after all, it (0)________ seem. (1)________ as young as six months, new research
claims, are capable of lying to their doting parents, which they do by crying when they are not truly (2)_________ pain
or distress. They do it simply to draw attention to themselves, but once they start receiving the loving hugs and cuddles
they (3)_________ badly crave, they then do (4)________ best to prolong this reward by offering fake smiles.
This has led to suggestions that human beings are 'born to lie' and that this is a unique quality of our (5)__________.
As someone who has devoted a lifetime to studying human and animal behaviour, I have to report that this is actually far
from being the truth.
Mankind may be the most adept at telling fibs, but we are far from alone.
A young chimpanzee in(6)___________, for example, is just as capable of 'lying', as I have witnessed on many occasions,
most commonly when human handlers, working with young chimps, have to leave them alone. (7)________ human
babies, the apes really hate being left alone, and for this reason, their handlers, (8)_________ have become their 'family',
should ideally never be out of sight. Even (9)_________ the handlers always do their best to avoid going away for too
long, some absence is unavoidable. In (10)__________ a situation, and as soon as the young ape knows it is going to be
left alone, it will start protesting vocally, and these protests can be heard as the handler leaves the building. The screaming
stops when the door is slammed, (11)__________ at this point the ape knows that the handler can no (12)________
hear him. It has total control (13)_________ its crying and can switch it on and off whenever it likes. The crying is
actually a deliberate signal, rather (14)________ an uncontrollable outburst. But (15)________ this is a case of "real"
lying rather depends on how you look at it.
Part 3: Read the following passage and choose the correct answer to each of the questions.
MASS CULTURE
In recent decades, the development and spread of new information technologies such as satellite television have
engendered many debates about the consequences of their use. One of the first writers to see the possibilities of these
changes was the American writer Marshall McLuhan, who argued in the 1960s that communications technology would
have two effects: first, it would create a global village where everyone and everything were accessible to the television
camera and secondly, that it would become the case that “the medium is the message”, that is, how the message is
transmitted would outgrow in importance rather than what the message is.

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Other theorists have gone further in arguing that the explosion of, and increasing dependence on, information technology
have brought about profound changes in the way society is organised. Some, for example believe that we can now
describe a “post-modern society”, characterised partly by an information-based international division of labour that allows
increasing freedom of movement. At the cultural level, distinctions between “high” and “low” culture have disappeared
as new technology transmits across class boundaries, while stylistically, form has become more important than substance,
and the ubiquity of television means that everything is seen in television codes. McLuhan’s global television-led culture
is now with us.
The accuracy of such a description, however, has been questioned. At one level, many people are reluctant to accept any
argument that technology can lead to social and economic changes, arguing instead that the relationship is exactly the
other way round. In other words, they are critical of any tendency to technological determinism. Furthermore, evidence
can be cited that queries the notion that information technology has spread evenly throughout the world or even
throughout Britain. This has been described as the uneven development of the information economy. Many areas of Great
Britain, for example, are not yet equipped with the on-line communications systems necessary to receive technologies
such as cable and interactive television, and the take-up of these technologies varies according to socio-economic
factors. We are still a long way from the full-scale and comprehensive implementation of the information super-highway.
What does seem to be the case, however, is that the stereotypical image of the nuclear family sitting together in the front
room cheerfully choosing their evening’s viewing from a limited range of television station is disappearing. This is partly
due to the increased number of set per household as well as the rapid growth in the number of channels, a development
mirrored by the niche marketing of magazines to a multiplicity of interest groups. The amount of time spent watching
television per head has stabilised in recent years to around 27 hours a week. Women watch on average four more hours
of television per week than men and all statistics show a relationship between social class and viewing.
This is not to say that diversity and choice have necessarily been achieved. It remains the case that satellite television
caters for mass-appeal interests such as music, sport, news, children’s programmes and American films and light
entertainment, ignoring many disadvantaged social groups. New media technologies have not empowered people in the
sense that there are increased numbers of community-based television networks. In Britain, it is no less valid today to
describe a mass culture based on a centrally directed mass media.
Doubts have also been raised about the ability of satellite stations to succeed in creating a global television culture. Rupert
Murdoch is widely known to own substantial parts of the global media industry. A few years ago, he added a controlling
share of StarTV to his collection, meaning that he gained access to 2.5 billion people in 50 countries, or forty percent of
the world’s television sets, in a region streching from Jordan to Japan. Capturing the market in India, however, and
hooking the population onto hit talkshows and American mega-series such as Baywatch and LA Law, has not been as
straightforward as first imagined. Cultural differences are complicated in a nation of 18 official languages and further
compounded when you consider the staggering figure of 1, 700 dialects. Hindi films transmitted by the state broadcasting
network still rank a coveted first in the ratings table. Murdoch’s response to this realisation was to immediately buy into
a local TV station as well. Indian culture, for the present at least, remains resistant to western broadcasting and highlights
that the creation of a global mass culture will not be solely induced by technology.
1. According to the writer, Marshall McLuhan envisaged a world where
A. everyone would use a TV camera.
B. TV would lessen the impact of information.
C. less serious content would be shown on TV.
D. TV would create greater understanding between peoples.
2. The word “ubiquity” is closest in meaning to
A. ambivalence B. pervasiveness C. diversity D. receptivity
3. Theorists describing society as “post-modern” claim information technology has
A. meant more people doing identical jobs around the world.
B. enabled “high” and “low” culture to share a common audience.
C. benefited artistic creativity.
D. resulted in other technologies challenging the dominance of TV.
4. Why does the author mention “cable and interactive television” in paragraph 3?
A. to give examples of modern technologies.
B. to identify factors affecting the popularity of television.
C. to show the difference among regional cultures.
D. to explain why the development of economy in Britain is uneven.
5. The writer raises doubts about “technological determinism” because it
A. argues that cultural change determines economic change
B. has exaggerated the importance of the Internet
C. underestimates people’s resistance to change
D. assumes technology will impact on everyone in a similar way.
6. TV viewing within household has changed because

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 A. viewing habits are more stable than in the past
B. different family members will watch TV at different times
C. TV stations can now target specific audiences
D. typical nuclear family are less common.
7. The spread of TV culture through an increasing number of networks has
A. limited centralised control of the media.
B. been of little benefit to minorities.
C. enabled local community television to emerge.
D. increased diversity in mass culture.
8. The popularity of films in Hindi in India
A. has caused TV companies to change strategy.
B. indicates less cultural and language diversity in India than people imagine.
C. resulted from screening programmes unpopular in their home markets.
D. is a result of the state TV monopoly.
9. The phrase “buy into” in paragraph 6 is closest meaning to
A. depend on B. criticise C. believe in D. conceal
10. The writer’s general view of “technology” is that it
A. has the power to drive social change.
B. can liberate the economically disadvantaged.
C. is not the most important factor in cultural change.
D. hasn’t really changed our cultural habits.
Part 4: You are going to read an article about science fiction. For questions 1-10, choose from the sections
A-D. The sections may be chosen more than once.
Which science fiction work …
1. had a purpose other than pure entertainment?
2. presented a concept that is familiar today but through a different process?
3. was written by an author who has more famous fictional creations?
4. features machines that threaten to cause the downfall of man?
5. shows us a device that would have enormous significance for us if it really existed?
6. was created by a writer whose name will never be forgotten?
7. was given a title that might be better understood by people today than when it was written?
8. revolves around a character who uses a particular device to escape from the reality of a situation?
9. delighted people over a period of many years?
10. foresaw something that is controversial today?
WE’VE SEEN IT ALL BEFORE
Just how many of the technological advances we take for granted today were actually predicted in science
fiction years ago? Karen Smith checks out four influential works.
A.
R.U.R
Originally a word that appeared solely in science fiction, the term robot has now become commonplace as developments in
technology have allowed scientists to design ever more complex machines that can perform tasks to assist us at work or
home. But how did the word originate and when? To answer this, we have to go back nearly 100 years to a play written in
1920 by a Czech playwright, Karel Capek, called R.U.R - Rossum's Universal Robots. The word is a derivation from the
Czech roboto, meaning 'forced labour', or rob, meaning 'slave'. Capek's robots are biological machines which are uncannily
similar to what we today refer to as 'clones' or 'androids' but are assembled from various parts rather than being genetically
'grown.' The play eerily predicts problems that concern people today regarding machines that can think independently.
Rossum's robots plan a rebellion against their creator, a man who in his own words, wants to 'play God'. The famous science
fiction writer Isaac Asimov was unimpressed by the literary value of Capek's play but believed it had enormous significance
because it introduced the word robot to the world.
B.
Ralph 124C41+
If you're a science fiction aficionado, you'll definitely have heard of Hugo Gernsback. Considered by many to be the founding
father of science fiction back in 1926 with the publication of his magazine Amazing Stories, his name has been immortalised
in the annual science fiction awards, the 'Hugos'. However, the quality of his writing is questionable and his stories are
more highly regarded for their content rather than plot or character development. Gernsback was deeply interested in the
world of electronics and, believing that science-fiction should inspire future scientists, he filled his stories with ideas for
numerous new gadgets and electronic devices. An extraordinary number of his predictions have actually come true. Today

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we have television, televised phone calls, sliding doors and remote controls, to name only a few, and the precursors of
many of these can be found in just one novel: Ralph 124C41+. The mystifying title is itself a prediction of language used
in text talk today: 'one to foresee for all (1 +)'! Gernsback's prophetic stories included other predictions which currently
remain unfulfilled, such as complete weather control, thought records and aircabs. Watch this space!
C.
From the London Town of 1904
Mark Twain is a familiar name to most of us as the author of magnificent books such as Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer.
He is less well-known, however, for his science fiction but to avid readers of that genre, he is considered one of the best
writers of all time. It is also quite possible that he predicted one of the most influential scientific inventions the world has
ever seen - something that we all use and rely on every day: the internet! It is in a little-known short story called From the
London Town of 1904 that a character invents a device called a 'telectroscope'. This is a machine that uses telephone line
links across the world to enable him to see and hear what is going on in any place on the globe at a given time. How familiar
does that sound? The character, while on death row for a murder that he did not commit, uses his machine to 'call up'
different places in the world and the narrator of the story comments that although in a prison cell, the man is 'almost as
free as the birds.'
D.
Star Trek
These days mobile phones have become such an integral part of our daily lives that we would be lost without them but
there was a time when we had to communicate using landlines or horror of horrors - by writing letters! Viewers watching
the birth of a new TV science fiction series in the 1960s would have been amazed at the thought that the 'communicator'
used by Star Trek's Captain Kirk would one day become an everyday form of communication available to us all. Kirk's
'communicator' was a small device he used to flip open and, in retrospect, it seems surprisingly similar to a mobile phone
that became popular in the late 90s. The long-running series also featured several other devices that have since moved
from fiction to the real world. However, the famous Star Trek 'Transporter', through which people can immediately
materialise in different places, still remains the Holy Grail for many in the world of science. Now, that really would make a
difference to our lives. 'Beam us up, Scottie,' please?
Part 5: Read the following passage and answer the questions
DOES GLOBALIZATION HELP THE POOR?
A. In recent years, we have heard steady proclamations emanating from the advocates of economic globalization and
leaders of the world’s leading financial institutions - the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World
Trade Organization (WTO), etc. - that the ultimate purpose in pushing economic globalization is to help the world’s poor.
More specifically, they contend that removing barriers to corporate trade and financial investments is the best path to
growth, which they claim offers the best chance of rescuing the poor from poverty. They also assert that the millions of
people who oppose the economic globalization model are harming the interests of the poor. They should back off and
leave it to corporations, bankers and global bureaucracies to do the planning and solve the world’s problems. Such claims
are routinely replayed in the media. One prominent national columnist writes, 'Protesters are choking the only route out
of poverty for the world’s poor.’ In other words, if the protesting stopped, the financial institutions would save the day.
Is this believable? Is it the salvation of the poor that really drives global corporations or are their primary motives quite
different?
B. Almost all the evidence from the most robust period of economic globalization - 1970 to the end of the 20th century
— shows that its outcome is the exact opposite of what its supporters claim. Interestingly, this evidence now comes as
much from the proponents of globalization as from its opponents. Clearly, poverty and inequality are rapidly accelerating
everywhere on Earth. A 1999 report by the United Nations Development Program found that inequalities between rich
and poor within and among countries are quickly expanding, and that the global trading and finance system is a primary
cause. Even the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) confirms the United Nations’ (UN) conclusions, agreeing that
globalization brings massive inequalities. “The benefits of globalization do not reach the poor,” says the CIA, 'and the
process inevitably results in increased unrest and protest.’
C. The ideologies and rules of economic globalization - including free trade, deregulation and privatization - have
destroyed the livelihoods of millions of people, often leaving them homeless, landless and hungry, while removing their
access to the most basic public services like health and medical care, education, sanitation, fresh water and public
transport. The records show that economic globalization makes things worse for the poor, not better. Economic
globalization has actually succeeded in making global corporations and a few elites wildly wealthy. Of the largest 100
economies in the world, 52 are corporations. This is what the UN describes as the 'staggering concentration of wealth
among the ultra-wealthy'.
D. Contrary to claims, wealth generated by globalization does not trickle down. Rather, the wealth is locked at the top,
removing from governments and communities the very tools necessary to redistribute it, and in doing so protect domestic
industries, social services, the environment and sustainable livelihoods. There may be isolated instances where temporary
improvement has been achieved in Third World countries, and, of course, the financial institutions love to trumpet these.
The truth, however, is that benefit has been very short-lived and the majority of it has gone to the elites in these countries
and to the chief executives of the global corporations at the hub of the process.
E. People may point to the 'Asian Tiger' economies like Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore as examples of the success
of globalization, but the truth is that improvement has not been achieved by assiduously adhering to the dictates of

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international financial advisors. These economies initially resisted the prescribed economic model, and managed to stay
free of the volatility of export markets. When they did finally succumb to pressure from the IMF and the World Bank, they
found their glory days quickly disappearing into the infamous Asian financial crisis of the late 90s.
F. The majority of poor countries have not enjoyed much benefit from globalization, and a growing number of people
understand that the system is selling a false promise. The policies of the financial institutions are not designed to benefit
them, but to benefit rich industrial countries and their global corporations. The question then is: “Do these globalizing
institutions know what they’re doing or do they just mindly follow a failed ideological model?”. Many commentators fiercely
opposed to globalization now firmly believe that the institutions do indeed know exactly what they're doing and that they
always have. They have an assignment to remove all obstacles to the free flow of capital as they seek to pry open the
world’s last natural resource pools, markets and cheap labour. To suggest they do all this to help the poor is high cynicism.
G. Perhaps the most traumatic impact of globalization has resulted from local economies being forced to shift from a
small-scale diversified agricultural model towards the industrial export model. Half the world's population still lives directly
on the land, growing food for their communities. They grow staples and a mix of diverse crops, and they replant with
indigenous seed varieties developed over centuries. They have perfected their own fertilization and pesticide
management. Such systems have sustained hundreds of millions of people for millennia. Global corporations must resist
local self-sufficiency. Profit is generated by increased processing activity and global trading. We have seen companies
spend millions of dollars on publicity professing that small farmers are not productive enough to feed the hungry world.
This publicity runs in tandem with the investment and trade strategies of the same companies - strategies that aim to
replace local, diverse farming for self-reliance with monocultures. The people who once grew their crops are driven off
their land. People who once fed themselves become landless, homeless, jobless and hungry. Dependency and starvation
replace self-sufficient livelihoods and self-reliant nations, while global corporations maintain their wealth by shipping
luxury items thousands of miles to already overfed markets. Clearly, these corporations are not concerned about feeding
the hungry. They are concerned about feeding themselves.
The passage has seven sections labelled, A-G. For questions 1-5, choose the best heading for each section
from the list of headings in the box.
i. Initial gains - ultimate disaster
ii. A stark contrast between the poor and the super-rich.
iii. The obliteration of traditional practices
iv. The poor must take some responsibility
v. Boasts about small victories are misplaced
vi. We know best. Don't try to stop us.
vii. Markets yet to be exploited
viii. Incompetence or a well planned strategy?
ix. Parties on both sides can see the short-comings
x. Asia leads the way
Example: Paragraph A: vi Paragraph B: ix
1. Paragraph C :
2. Paragraph D :
3. Paragraph E :
4. Paragraph F :
5. Paragraph G :
For questions 6-10, complete the notes. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
Globalization – two sides of the coin
Advocates say:
Growth realized only by (6)____________________ to business
Hope of salvation thwarted by (7)____________________
Opponents say:
(8)__________________ of the system equally sceptical
Millions destitute without essential (9)______________________
(10)_________________ now wealthier than some countries

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