Education Test Compilation

Children Tested to Destruction?
English primary school pupils subjected to more tests than in any other country
English primary school pupils have to deal with unprecedented levels of pressure as they face tests
more frequently, at a younger age, and in more subjects than children from any other country,
according to one of the biggest international education inquiries in decades. The damning indictment
of England’s primary education system revealed that the country’s children are now the most tested
in the world. From their very earliest days at school they must navigate a set-up whose trademark
is’high stakes’testing, according to a recent report
Parents are encouraged to choose schools for their children based on league tables of test scores.
But this puts children under extreme pressure which could damage their motivation and self-esteem,
as well as encouraging schools to’teach to the test’at the expense of pupils’wider learning, the study
found. The findings are part of a two-year inquiry – led by Cambridge University – into English
primary schools. Other parts of the UK and countries such as France, Norway and Japan used
testing but it was,’less intrusive, less comprehensive, and considerably less frequent’, Cambridge’s
Primary Review concluded.
England was unique in using testing to control what is taught in schools, to monitor teaching
standards and to encourage parents to choose schools based on the results of the tests, according
to Kathy Flail, from the National University of Ireland in Cork, and Kamil Ozerk, from the University of
Oslo, who conducted the research. ‘Assessment in England, compared to our other reviewed
countries, is pervasive, highly consequential, and taken by officialdom and the public more generally
to portray objectively the actual quality of primary education in schools,’their report concluded.
Teachers’leaders said the testing regime was ‘past its sell-by date’and called for a fundamental
review of assessment.
Steve Sinnott, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said England’s testing system
was having a’devastating’impact on schools.’Uniquely, England is a country where testing is used to
police schools and control what is taught,’ he said. ‘When it comes to testing in England, the tail
wags the dog. It is patently absurd that even the structure and content of education is shaped by the
demands of the tests. I call on the Government to initiate a full and independent review of the impact
of the current testing system on schools and on children’s learning and to be prepared to dismantle a
system which is long past its sell-by date.’
John Dunford, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, warned that the
tests were having a damaging effect on pupils. The whole testing regime is governed by the need to
produce league tables,’ he said. ‘It has more to do with holding schools to account than helping
pupils to progress.’
The fear that many children were suffering intolerable stress because of the tests was voiced by
Mick Brookes, General Secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers. There are schools
that start rehearsing for key stage two SATs [Standard Assessment Tests] from the moment the
children arrive in September. That’s just utterly ridiculous,’he said. There are other schools that
rehearse SATs during Christmas week.These are young children we are talking about They should
be having the time of their lives at school not just worrying about tests. It is the breadth and richness
of the curriculum that suffers. The consequences for schools not reaching their targets are dire –
heads can lose their jobs and schools can be closed down. With this at stake it’s not surprising that
schools let the tests take over’.
David Laws, the Liberal Democrat schools spokesman, said:The uniquely high stakes placed on
national tests mean that many primary schools have become too exam focused.’ However, the
Government rejected the criticism. The idea that children are over-tested is not a view that the
Government accepts,’a spokesman said. The reality is that children spend a very small percentage
of their time in school being tested. Seeing that children leave school up to the right standard in the
basics is the highest priority of the Government.’
In another child-centred initiative, both major political parties in the UK – Labour and the
Conservatives – have announced plans to make Britain more child-friendly following a report by
UNICEF which ranked the UK the worst place to be a child out of 21 rich nations.
Parents were warned that they risked creating a generation of’battery-farmed children’ by always
keeping them indoors to ensure their safety. The family’s minister, Kevin Brennan, called for an end
to the’cotton wool’culture and warned that children would not learn to cope with risks if they were
never allowed to play outdoors.
Questions 1-5
Complete the sentences.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
1 According to the inquiry, the amount of testing puts a lot of on young children
2 The education report describes testing in England as
3 Parents often select their childrens schools after studying test results in
4 Kathy Hall and Kamil Ozerk believe testing in England is also used to evaluate in
schools.
5 The major political parties have promised to make Britain in view of the UNICEF
report.
Questions 5-9
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? 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
6 Steve Sinnott says what is taught at school should be more tightly controlled.
7 According to John Dunford, children would make more progress with much
shorter and easier tests.
8 Mick Brookes wants to see earlier student preparation for SATs.
9 David Laws agrees with the opinions of Mick Brookes.
Questions 10-13
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
10 What does the government argue?
A There is not enough testing at present.
B Tests at primary school are too easy.
C Tests are not given too frequently.

D Teachers should take more tests.
11 The government spokesman
A is extremely critical of the way exams are written.
B accepts many of the points made by the teachers’ leaders.
C thinks education is what the government is most interested in.
D argues it is the teachers’ fault that students are tested so much.

12 According to UNICEF, children in the UK
A often spend too much time in the worst kind of places.
B are not so well behaved as in other countries.
C are not as rich as children in 21 other countries.
D could be having much more fulfilling childhoods.

13 What is the point Kevin Brennan makes?
A Children use too many electrical devices.
B Children would learn by being outside more.
C Its too risky for children to be outside on their own.
D The most important thing is childrens safety.

Solution for: Children Tested to Destruction?
Answer Table
1. pressure 8. FALSE
2. high stakes 9. TRUE
3. league tables 10. C
4. teaching standards 11. C
5. more child-friendly 12. D
6. FALSE 13. B
7. NOT GIVEN
Gifted children and learning
A Internationally, ‘giftedness’ is most frequently determined by a score on a general intelligence

test, known as an IQ test, which is above a chosen cutoff point, usually at around the top 2-5%.
Children’s educational environment contributes to the IQ score and the way intelligence is used. For
example, a very close positive relationship was found when children’s IQ scores were compared with
their home educational provision (Freeman, 2010). The higher the children’s IQ scores, especially
over IQ 130, the better the quality of their educational backup, measured in terms of reported verbal
interactions with parents, number of books and activities in their home etc. Because IQ tests are
decidedly influenced by what the child has learned, they are to some extent measures of current
achievement based on age-norms; that is, how well the children have learned to manipulate their
knowledge and know-how within the terms of the test. The vocabulary aspect, for example, is
dependent on having heard those words. But IQ tests can neither identify the processes of learning
and thinking nor predict creativity.
B Excellence does not emerge without appropriate help. To reach an exceptionally high standard in
any area very able children need the means to learn, which includes material to work with and
focused challenging tuition -and the encouragement to follow their dream. There appears to be a
qualitative difference in the way the intellectually highly able think, compared with more average-
ability or older pupils, for whom external regulation by the teacher often compensates for lack of
internal regulation. To be at their most effective in their self-regulation, all children can be helped to
identify their own ways of learning – metacognition – which will include strategies of planning,
monitoring, evaluation, and choice of what to learn. Emotional awareness is also part of
metacognition, so children should be helped to be aware of their feelings around the area to be
learned, feelings of curiosity or confidence, for example.
C High achievers have been found to use self-regulatory learning strategies more often and more
effectively than lower achievers, and are better able to transfer these strategies to deal with
unfamiliar tasks. This happens to such a high degree in some children that they appear to be
demonstrating talent in particular areas. Overviewing research on the thinking process of highly able
children, (Shore and Kanevsky, 1993) put the instructor’s problem succinctly: ‘If they [the gifted]
merely think more quickly, then .we need only teach more quickly. If they merely make fewer errors,
then we can shorten the practice’. But of course, this is not entirely the case; adjustments have to be
made in methods of learning and teaching, to take account of the many ways individuals think.
D Yet in order to learn by themselves, the gifted do need some support from their teachers.
Conversely, teachers who have a tendency to ‘overdirect’ can diminish their gifted pupils’ learning
autonomy. Although ‘spoon-feeding’ can produce extremely high examination results, these are not
always followed by equally impressive life successes. Too much dependence on the teachers risks
loss of autonomy and motivation to discover. However, when teachers o pupils to reflect on their
own learning and thinking activities, they increase their pupils’ self-regulation. For a young child, it
may be just the simple question ‘What have you learned today?’ which helps them to recognise what
they are doing. Given that a fundamental goal of education is to transfer the control of learning from
teachers to pupils, improving pupils’ learning to learn techniques should be a major outcome of the
school experience, especially for the highly competent. There are quite a number of new methods
which can help, such as child- initiated learning, ability-peer tutoring, etc. Such practices have been
found to be particularly useful for bright children from deprived areas.
E But scientific progress is not all theoretical, knowledge is a so vital to outstanding performance:
individuals who know a great deal about a specific domain will achieve at a higher level than those
who do not (Elshout, 1995). Research with creative scientists by Simonton (1988) brought him to the
conclusion that above a certain high level, characteristics such as independence seemed to
contribute more to reaching the highest levels of expertise than intellectual skills, due to the great
demands of effort and time needed for learning and practice. Creativity in all forms can be seen as
expertise se mixed with a high level of motivation (Weisberg, 1993).
F To sum up, learning is affected by emotions of both the individual and significant others. Positive
emotions facilitate the creative aspects of earning and negative emotions inhibit it. Fear, for
example, can limit the development of curiosity, which is a strong force in scientific advance,
because it motivates problem-solving behaviour. In Boekaerts’ (1991) review of emotion the learning
of very high IQ and highly achieving children, she found emotional forces in harness. They were not
only curious, but often had a strong desire to control their environment, improve their learning
efficiency and increase their own learning resources.
Questions 1-4
Reading Passage has six paragraphs, A-F.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet
NB You may use any letter more than once.
1 a reference to the influence of the domestic background on the gifted child.
2 reference to what can be lost if learners are given too much guidance.
3 a reference to the damaging effects of anxiety.
4 examples of classroom techniques which favour socially-disadvantaged children.
Questions 5-9
Look at the following statements (Questions 5-9) and the list of people below.
Match each statement with the correct person or people, A-E.
Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 5-9 on your answer sheet.
5 Less time can be spent on exercises with gifted pupils who produce accurate work.
6 Self-reliance is a valuable tool that helps gifted students reach their goals.
7 Gifted children know how to channel their feelings to assist their learning.
8 The very gifted child benefits from appropriate support from close relatives.
9 Really successful students have learnt a considerable amount about their subject.
List of People
A Freeman
B Shore and Kanevsky
C Elshout
D Simonton
E Boekaerts
Questions 10-13
Complete the sentences below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet
10. One study found a strong connection between children’s IQ and the availability
of 10 at home.
11. Children of average ability seem to need more direction from teachers because they do not
have 11 .
12. Meta-cognition involves children understanding their own learning strategies, as well as
developing 12 .
13. Teachers who rely on what is known as 13 often produce sets of impressive
grades in class tests.
Solution for: Gifted children and learning
Answer Table
1. A 8. A
2. D 9. C
3. F 10. books and activities
4. D 11. internal regulation/self-regulation
5. B 12. emotional awareness
6. D 13. spoon-feeding
7. E
Learning by Examples
A Learning Theory is rooted in the work of Ivan Pavlov, the famous scientist who discovered and
documented the principles governing how animals (humans included) learn in the 1900s. Two basic
kinds of learning or conditioning occur, one of which is famously known as the classical conditioning.
Classical conditioning happens when an animal learns to associate a neutral stimulus (signal) with a
stimulus that has intrinsic meaning based on how closely in time the two stimuli are presented. The
classic example of classical conditioning is a dog's ability to associate the sound of a bell (something
that originally has no meaning to the dog) with the presentation of food (something that has a lot of
meaning to the dog) a few moments later. Dogs are able to learn the association between bell and
food, and will salivate immediately after hearing the bell once this connection has been made. Years
of learning research have led to the creation of a highly precise learning theory that can be used to
understand and predict how and under what circumstances most any animal will learn, including
human beings, and eventually help people figure out how to change their behaviours.
B Role models are a popular notion for guiding child development, but in recent years very
interesting research has been done on learning by examples in other animals. If the subject of
animal learning is taught very much in terms of classical or operant conditioning, it places too much
emphasis on how we allow animals to learn and not enough on how they are equipped to learn. To
teach a course of mine, I have been dipping profitably into a very interesting and accessible
compilation of papers on social learning in mammals, including chimps and human children, edited
by Heyes and Galef (1996).
C The research reported in one paper started with a school field trip to Israel to a pine forest where
many pine cones were discovered, stripped to the central core. So the investigation started with no
weighty theoretical intent, but was directed at finding out what was eating the nutritious pine seeds
and how they managed to get them out of the cones. The culprit proved to be the versatile and
athletic black rat,(Rattus rattus), and the technique was to bite each cone scale off at its base, in
sequence from base to tip following the spiral growth pattern of the cone.
D Urban black rats were found to lack the skill and were unable to learn it even if housed with
experienced cone strippers. However, infants of urban mothers cross-fostered by stripper mothers
acquired the skill, whereas infants of stripper mothers fostered by an urban mother could not. Clearly
the skill had to be learned from the mother. Further elegant experiments showed that naive adults
could develop the skill if they were provided with cones from which the first complete spiral of scales
had been removed; rather like our new photocopier which you can work out how to use once
someone has shown you how to switch it on. In the case of rats, the youngsters take cones away
from the mother when she is still feeding on them, allowing them to acquire the complete stripping
skill.
E A good example of adaptive bearing we might conclude, but let’s see the economies. This was
determined by measuring oxygen uptake of a rat stripping a cone in a metabolic chamber to
calculate energetic cost and comparing it with the benefit of the pine seeds measured by
calorimeter. The cost proved to be less than 10% of the energetic value of the cone. An acceptable
profit margin.
F A paper in 1996, Animal Behaviour by Bednekoff and Baida, provides a different view of the
adaptiveness of social learning. It concerns the seed caching behaviour of Clark's Nutcracker
(Nucifraga columbiana) and the Mexican Jay (Aphelocoma ultramarina). The former is a specialist,
caching 30,000 or so seeds in scattered locations that it will recover over the months of winter; the
Mexican Jay will also cache food but is much less dependent upon this than the Nutcracker. The two
species also differ in their social structure: the Nutcracker being rather solitary while the Jay forages
in social groups.
G The experiment is to discover not just whether a bird can remember where it hid a seed but also if
it can remember where it saw another bird hide a seed. The design is slightly comical with a cacher
bird wandering about a room with lots of holes in the floor hiding food in some of the holes, while
watched by an observer bird perched in a cage. Two days later, cachers and observers are tested
for their discovery rate against an estimated random performance. In the role of cacher, not only the
Nutcracker but also the less specialised Jay performed above chance; more surprisingly, however,
jay observers were as successful as jay cachers whereas nutcracker observers did no better than
chance. It seems that, whereas the Nutcracker is highly adapted at remembering where it hid its own
seeds, the social living Mexican Jay is more adept at remembering, and so exploiting, the caches of
others.
Questions 1-4
Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs A-G.
Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
1 A comparison between rats’ learning and human learning
2 A reference to the earliest study in animal learning
3 The discovery of who stripped the pine cone
4 A description of a cost-effectiveness experiment
Questions 5-8
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?
In boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet, write
5 The field trip to Israel was to investigate how black rats learn to strip pine
cones.
6 The pine cones were stripped from bottom to top by black rats.
7 It can be learned from other relevant experiences to use a photocopier.
8 Stripping the pine cones is an instinct of the black rats.
Questions 9-13
Complete the summary below using words from the box.
Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.
While the Nutcracker is more able to cache seeds, the Jay relies 9 on caching food
and is thus less specialised in this ability, but more 10 . To study their behaviour of
caching and finding their caches, an experiment was designed and carried out to test these two birds
for their ability to remember where they hid the seeds.
In the experiment, the cacher bird hid seeds in the ground while the other 11 . As a
result, the Nutcracker and the Mexican Jay showed different performance in the role
of 12 at finding the seeds - the observing 13 didn’t do as well as its
counterpart.
less social remembered Nutcracker

more cacher watched
solitary observer Jay
Solution for: Learning by Examples
Answer Table
1. D 8. FALSE
2. A 9. less
3. C 10. social
4. E 11. watched
5. FALSE 12. observer
6. TRUE 13. Nutcracker
7. TRUE
Persistent bullying is one of the worst experiences a
child can face
How can it be prevented? Peter Smith, Professor of Psychology at the University of Sheffield,
directed the Sheffield Anti-Bullying Intervention Project, funded by the Department for
Education
Here he reports on his findings.
A
Bullying can take a variety of forms, from the verbal - being taunted or called hurtful names - to the
physical - being kicked or shoved - as well as indirect forms, such as being excluded from social
groups. A survey I conducted with Irene Whitney found that in British primary schools up to a quarter
of pupils reported experience of bullying, which in about one in ten cases was persistent. There was
less bullying in secondary schools, with about one in twenty-five suffering persistent bullying,
but these cases may be particularly recalcitrant.
B
Bullying is clearly unpleasant, and can make the child experiencing it feel unworthy and depressed.
In extreme cases it can even lead to suicide, though this is thankfully rare. Victimised pupils are
more likely to experience difficulties with interpersonal relationships as adults, while children who
persistently bully are more likely to grow up to be physically violent, and convicted of anti-social
offences.
C
Until recently, not much was known about the topic, and little help was available to teachers to deal
with bullying. Perhaps as a consequence, schools would often deny the problem. ‘There is no
bullying at this school’ has been a common refrain, almost certainly untrue. Fortunately more
schools are now saying: There is not much bullying here, but when it occurs we have a clear policy
for dealing with it.’
D
Three factors are involved in this change. First is an awareness of the severity of the problem.
Second, a number of resources to help tackle bullying have become available in Britain. For
example, the Scottish Council for Research in Education produced a package of materials, Action
Against Bullying, circulated to all schools in England and Wales as well as in Scotland in summer
1992, with a second pack, Supporting Schools Against Bullying, produced the following year. In
Ireland, Guidelines on Countering Bullying Behaviour in Post-Primary Schools was published in
1993. Third, there is evidence that these materials work, and that schools can achieve
something. This comes from carefully conducted ‘before and after’ evaluations of interventions in
schools, monitored by a research team. In Norway, after an intervention campaign was introduced
nationally, an evaluation of forty-two schools suggested that, over a two-year period, bullying was
halved. The Sheffield investigation, which involved sixteen primary schools and seven secondary
schools, found that most schools succeeded in reducing bullying.
E
Evidence suggests that a key step is to develop a policy on bullying, saying clearly what is meant by
bullying, and giving explicit guidelines on what will be done if it occurs, what records will be kept,
who will be informed, what sanctions will be employed. The policy should be developed through
consultation, over a period of time - not just imposed from the head teacher’s office! Pupils, parents
and staff should feel they have been involved in the policy, which needs to be disseminated
and implemented effectively.
Other actions can be taken to back up the policy. There are ways of dealing with the topic through
the curriculum, using video, drama and literature. These are useful for raising awareness, and can
best be tied in to early phases of development, while the school is starting to discuss the issue of
bullying. They are also useful in renewing the policy for new pupils, or revising it in the light of
experience. But curriculum work alone may only have short-term effects; it should be an addition to
policy work, not a substitute.
There are also ways of working with individual pupils, or in small groups. Assertiveness training for
pupils who are liable to be victims is worthwhile, and certain approaches to group bullying such as
'no blame’, can be useful in changing the behaviour of bullying pupils without confronting them
directly, although other sanctions may be needed for those who continue with persistent bullying.
Work in the playground is important, too. One helpful step is to train lunchtime supervisors to
distinguish bullying from playful fighting, and help them break up conflicts. Another possibility is to
improve the playground environment, so that pupils are less likely to be led into bullying from
boredom or frustration.
F
With these developments, schools can expect that at least the most serious kinds of bullying can
largely be prevented. The more effort put in and the wider the whole school involvement, the more
substantial the results are likely to be. The reduction in bullying - and the consequent improvement
in pupil happiness - is surely a worthwhile objective.
Questions 1-4
Reading Passage 3 has six sections, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for sections A-D from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-vii, in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i The role of video violence
ii The failure of government policy
iii Reasons for the increased rate of bullying
iv Research into how common bullying is in British schools
v The reaction from schools to enquiries about bullying
vi The effect of bullying on the children involved
vii Developments that have led to a new approach by schools
1 Section A
2 Section B
3 Section C
4 Section D
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Questions 5-8
Choose the coned Idler, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 5-8 on your answer sheet.
5 A recent survey found that in British secondary schools
A there was more bullying than had previously been the case.
B there was less bullying than in primary schools.
C cases of persistent bullying were very common.
D indirect forms of bullying were particularly difficult to deal with.
6 Children who are bullied
A are twice as likely to commit suicide as the average person.
B find it more difficult to relate to adults.
C are less likely to be violent in later life.
D may have difficulty forming relationships in later life.
7 The writer thinks that the declaration ‘There is no bullying at this school’
A is no longer true in many schools.
B was not in fact made by many schools.
C reflected the school’s lack of concern.
D reflected a lack of knowledge and resources.
8 What were the findings of research carried out in Norway?
A Bullying declined by 50% after an anti-bullying campaign.
B Twenty-one schools reduced bullying as a result of an anti-bullying campaign.
C Two years is the optimum length for an anti-bullying campaign.
D Bullying is a less serious problem in Norway than in the UK.

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Questions 9-13
Complete the summary below.
What steps should schools take to reduce bullying?

The most important step is for the school authorities to produce a 9 which makes the
school's attitude towards bullying quite clear.
It should include detailed 10 as to how the school and its staff will react if bullying
occurs.
In addition, action can be taken through the 11

This is particularly useful in the early part of the process, as a way of raising awareness and
encouraging discussion.
On its own, however, it is insufficient to bring about a permanent solution.
Effective work can also be done with individual pupils and small groups.
For example, potential 12 of bullying can be trained to be more self-confident.

Or again,in dealing with group bullying, a 'no blame' approach, which avoids confronting the offender
too directly, is often effective.
Playground supervision will be more effective if members of staff are trained to recognise the
difference between bullying and mere 13
Questions 14
Write the correct letter in box 14 on your answer sheet.
Which of the following is the most suitable title for Reading Passage 3?
A Bullying: what parents can do
B Bullying: arc the media to blame?
C Bullying: the link with academic failure
D Bullying: from crisis management to prevention

Answer Table
1. iv 8. A
2. vi 9. policy
3. v 10. (explicit) guidelines
4. vii 11. (school) curriculum
5. B 12. victims
6. D 13. playful fighting
7. D 14. D
Greying population stays in the pink
Elderly people are growing healthier, happier and more independent, say American scientists. The
results of a 14-year study to be announced later this month reveal that the diseases associated with
old age are afflicting fewer and fewer people and when they do strike, it is much later in life.
In the last 14 years, the National Long-term Health Care Survey has gathered data on the health and
lifestyles of more than 20,000 men and women over 65. Researchers, now analysing the results of
data gathered in 1994, say arthritis, high blood pressure and circulation problems - the major
medical complaints in this age group - are troubling a smaller proportion every year. And the data
confirms that the rate at which these diseases are declining continues to accelerate. Other diseases
of old age - dementia, stroke, arteriosclerosis and emphysema - are also troubling fewer and fewer
people.
'It really raises the question of what should be considered normal ageing,' says Kenneth Manton, a
demographer from Duke University in North Carolina. He says the problems doctors accepted as
normal in a 65-year-old in 1982 are often not appearing until people are 70 or 75.
Clearly, certain diseases are beating a retreat in the face of medical advances. But there may be
other contributing factors. Improvements in childhood nutrition in the first quarter of the twentieth
century, for example, gave today's elderly people a better start in life than their predecessors.
On the downside, the data also reveals failures in public health that have caused surges in some
illnesses. An increase in some cancers and bronchitis may reflect changing smoking habits and
poorer air quality, say the researchers. 'These may be subtle influences,' says Manton, 'but our
subjects have been exposed to worse and worse pollution for over 60 years. It's not surprising we
see some effect.'
One interesting correlation Manton uncovered is that better-educated people are likely to live longer.
For example, 65-year-old women with fewer than eight years of schooling are expected, on average,
to live to 82. Those who continued their education live an extra seven years. Although some of this
can be attributed to a higher income, Manton believes it is mainly because educated people seek
more medical attention.
The survey also assessed how independent people over 65 were, and again found a striking trend.
Almost 80% of those in the 1994 survey could complete everyday activities ranging from eating and
dressing unaided to complex tasks such as cooking and managing their finances. That represents a
significant drop in the number of disabled old people in the population. If the trends apparent in the
United States 14 years ago had continued,
researchers calculate there would be an additional one million disabled elderly people in today's
population. According to Manton, slowing the trend has saved the United States government's
Medicare system more than $200 billion, suggesting that the greying of America's population may
prove less of a financial burden than expected.
The increasing self-reliance of many elderly people is probably linked to a massive increase in the
use of simple home medical aids. For instance, the use of raised toilet seats has more than doubled
since the start of the study, and the use of bath seats has grown by more than 50%. These
developments also bring some health benefits, according to a report from the MacArthur
Foundation's research group on successful ageing. The group found that those elderly people who
were able to retain a sense of independence were more likely to stay healthy in old age.
Maintaining a level of daily physical activity may help mental functioning, says Carl Cotman, a
neuroscientist at the University of California at Irvine. He found that rats that exercise on a treadmill
have raised levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor coursing through their brains. Cotman
believes this hormone, which keeps neurons functioning, may prevent the brains of active humans
from deteriorating.
As part of the same study, Teresa Seeman, a social epidemiologist at the University of Southern
California in Los Angeles, found a connection between self-esteem and stress in people over 70. In
laboratory simulations of challenging activities such as driving, those who felt in control of their lives
pumped out lower levels of stress hormones such as cortisol. Chronically high levels of these
hormones have been linked to heart disease.
But independence can have drawbacks. Seeman found that elderly people who felt emotionally
isolated maintained higher levels of stress hormones even when asleep. The research suggests that
older people fare best when they feel independent but know they can get help when they need it.
'Like much research into ageing, these results support common sense,' says Seeman. They also
show that we may be underestimating the impact of these simple factors. 'The sort of thing that your
grandmother always told you turns out to be right on target,' she says.
Questions 1-9
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-Q, below.
Write the correct letter, A-Q, in boxes 1-9 on your answer sheet.
Research carried out by scientists in the United States has shown that the proportion of people over
65 suffering from the most common age-related medical problems is 1 and that the
speed of this change is 2 .
It also seems that these diseases are affecting people 3 in life than they did in the past.
This is largely due to developments in 4 but other factors such

as improved 5 may also be playing a part.
Increases in some other illnesses may be due to changes in personal habits and to 6 .
The research establishes a link between levels of 7 and life expectancy.

It also shows that there has been a considerable reduction in the number of elderly people who
are 8 which means that the 9 involved in supporting this section of the
population may be less than previously predicted.
A cost B falling C technology
D undernourished E earlier F later
G disabled H more I increasing
J nutrition K education L constant
M medicine N pollution O environmental
P health Q independent
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Questions 10-13
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-H, below.
Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.
A may cause heart disease.
B can be helped by hormone treatment.
C may cause rises in levels of stress hormones.
D have cost the United States government more than $200 billion.
E may help prevent mental decline.
F may get stronger at night.
G allow old people to be more independent.
H can reduce stress in difficult situations.
10 Home medical aids
11 Regular amounts of exercise
12 Feelings of control over life
13 Feelings of loneliness
Answer Table
1. B 8. G
2. I 9. A
3. F 10. G
4. M 11. E
5. J 12. H
6. N 13. C
7. K
Language Strategy in Multinational Company
A. The importance of language management in multinational companies has never been greater
than today. Multinationals are becoming ever more conscious of the importance of global
coordination as a source of competitive advantage and language remains the ultimate barrier to
aspirations of international harmonization. Before attempting to consider language management
strategies, companies will have to evaluate the magnitude of the language barrier confronting them
and in doing so they will need to examine it in three dimensions: the Language Diversity, the
Language Penetration and the Language Sophistication. Companies next need to turn their attention
to how they should best manage language. There is a range of options from which MNCs can
formulate their language strategy.
B. Lingua Franca: The simplest answer, though realistic only for English speaking companies, is to
rely on ones native tongue. As recently as 1991 a survey of British exporting companies found that
over a third used English exclusively in dealings with foreign customers. This attitude that —one
language fits alll has also been carried through into the Internet age. A survey of the web sites of top
American companies confirmed that over half made no provision for foreign language access, and
another found that less than 10% of leading companies were able to respond adequately to emails
other than in the company‘s language. Widespread though it is however, reliance on a single
language is a strategy that is fatally flawed. It makes no allowance for the growing trend in Linguistic
Nationalism whereby buyers in Asia, South America and the Middle East in particular are asserting
their right to —work in the language of the customer!. It also fails to recognize the increasing vitality
of languages such as Spanish, Arabic and Chinese that overtime are likely to challenge the
dominance of English as a lingua franca. In the IT arena it ignores the rapid globalization of the
Internet where the number of English-language ecommerce transactions, emails and web sites, is
rapidly diminishing as a percentage of the total. Finally, the total reliance on a single language puts
the English speaker at risk in negotiations. Contracts, rules and legislation are invariably written in
the local language, and a company unable to operate in that language is vulnerable.
C. Functional Multilingualism: Another improvised approach to Language is to rely on what has
been termed —Functional Multilingualism!. Essentially what this means is to muddle through, relying
on a mix of languages, pidgins and gestures to communicate by whatever means the parties have at
their disposal. In a social context such a shared effort to make one another understand might be
considered an aid to the bonding process with the frustration of communication being regularly
punctuated by moments of absurdity and humor. However, as the basis for business negotiations it
appears very hit-and-nuts. And yet Hagen‘s recent study suggests that 16% of international business
transaction; are conducted in a —cocktail of languages.! Functional Multilingualism shares the same
defects as reliance on a lingua franca and increases the probability of cognitive divergence between
the parties engaged in the communication.
D. External Language Resources: A more rational and obvious response to the language barrier is
to employ external resources such as translators and interpreters, and certainly there are many
excellent companies specialized in these fields. However, such a response is by no means an end to
the language barrier. For a start these services can be very expensive with a top Simultaneous
Interpreter, commanding daily rates as high as a partner in an international consulting company.
Secondly, any good translator or interpreter will insist that to be fully effective they must understand
the context of the subject matter. This is not always possible. In some cases it is prohibited by the
complexity or specialization of the topic. Sometimes by lack of preparation time but most often the
obstacle is the reluctance of the parties to explain the wider context to an =outsiderll. Another
problem is that unless there has been considerable pre-explaining between the interpreter and his
clients it is likely that there will be ambiguity and cultural overtones in the source messages the
interpreter has to work with. They will of course endeavor to provide a hifidelity translation but in this
circumstance the interpreter has to use initiative and guess work. This clearly injects a potential
source of misunderstanding into the proceedings. Finally while a good interpreter will attempt to
convey not only the meaning but also the spirit of any communication, there can be no doubt that
there is a loss of rhetorical power when communications go through a third party. So in situations
requiring negotiation, persuasion, humor etc. the use of an interpreter is a poor substitute for direct
communication.
E. Training: The immediate and understandable reaction to any skills shortage in a business is to
consider personnel development and certainly the language training industry is well developed.
Offering programs at almost every level and in numerous languages. However, without doubting the
value of language training no company should be deluded into believing this to be assured of
success. Training in most companies is geared to the economic cycle. When times are good, money
is invested in training. When belts get tightened training is one of the first —luxuries! to be pared
down. In a study conducted across four European countries, nearly twice as many companies said
they needed language training in coming years as had conducted training in past years. This
disparity between —good intentions! and —actual delivery!, underlines the problems of relying upon
training for language skills. Unless the company is totally committed to sustaining the strategy even
though bad times, it will fail.
F. One notable and committed leader in the field of language training has been the Volkswagen
Group. They have developed a language strategy over many years and in many respects can be
regarded as a model of how to manage language professionally. However, the Volkswagen
approach underlines that language training has to be considered a strategic rather than a tactical
solution. In their system to progress from —basics! to —communications competence! in a language
requires the completion of 6 language stages each one demanding approximately 90 hours of
refresher course, supported by many more hours of self-study, spread over a 6-9 month period. The
completion of each stage is marked by a post-stage achievement test, which is a pre-requisite for
continued training. So even this professionally managed program expects a minimum of three years
of fairly intensive study to produce an accountant. Engineer, buyer or salesperson capable of
working effectively in a foreign language. Clearly companies intending to pursue this route need to
do so with realistic expectations and with the intention of sustaining the program over many years.
Except in terms of —brush-up! courses for people who were previously fluent in a foreign language,
training cannot be considered a quick fix and hence other methods will have to be considered.
Questions 1-6
Complete the following summary of the Whole Paragraphs of Reading Passage, choosing A-
L words from the following options.
MNCs often encounter language barrier in their daily strategy, then they seek several approaches to
solve such problems. First, native language gives them a realistic base in a different language
speaking country, but problem turned up when they deal with oversea 1 . For example,
operation on translation of some key 2 , it is inevitable to generate differences by rules
from different countries. Another way is to rely on a combination of spoken language
and 3 , yet a report written that over one-tenth business 4 processed in a
party language setting. Third way: hire translators. However, firstly it is 5 , besides if they
are not well-prepared, they have to take 6 work.
A gestures
B clients
C transaction
D assumption
E accurate
F documents
G managers
H body language
I long-term
J effective
K rivals
L costly
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Questions 7-13
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each
answer.
7 What understandable reaction does Training pay attention to according to the

author?
8 In what term does the writer describe training during economy depression?
9 What contribution does Volkswagen Group do for multinational companies?
10 What does Volkswagen Group consider language training as in their company?
11 How many stages are needed from basic course to advanced in training?
12 How long does a refresher course need normally?
13 At least how long is needed for a specific professional to acquire a foreign

language?
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Question 14
Write your answers in boxes 14 on your answer sheet.
14 What is the main function of this passage?
A to reveal all kinds of language problems that companies may encounter
B to exhibits some well-known cases in dealing with language difficulties
C to evaluate various approaches for language barrier in multinational companies
D to testify that training is only feasible approach to solve language problem

Solution for: Language Strategy in Multinational
Company
Answer Table
1. B 8. luxury
2. F 9. model
3. A 10. strategic solution
4. C 11. strategic solution
5. L 12. 90 hours
6. D 13. three years
7. personnel development 14. C

What is speed reading, and why do we need it?
A
Speed reading is not just about reading fast. It is also about how much information you can
remember when you have finished reading. The World Championship Speed-Reading Competition
says that its top competitors average between 1,000 and 2,000 words a minute. But they must
remember at least 50 percent of this in order to qualify for the competition.
B
Nowadays, speed reading has become an essential skill in any environment where people have to
master a large volume of information. Professional workers need reading skills to help them get
through many documents every day, while students under pressure to deal with assignments may
feel they have to read more and read faster all the time.
C
Although there are various methods to increase reading speed, the trick is deciding what information
you want first. For example, if you only want a rough outline of an issue, then you can skim the
material quickly and extract the key facts. However, if you need to understand every detail in a
document, then you must read it slowly enough to understand this.
D
Even when you know how to ignore irrelevant detail, there are other improvements you can make to
your reading style which will increase your speed. For example, most people can read much faster if
they read silently. Reading each word aloud takes time for the information to make a complete circuit
in your brain before being pronounced. Some researchers believe that as long as the first and last
letters are in place, the brain can still understand the arrangement of the other letters in the word
because it logically puts each piece into place.
E
Chunking is another important method. Most people learn to read either letter by letter or word by
word. As you improve, this changes. You will probably find that you are fixing your eyes on a block of
words, then moving your eyes to the next block of words, and so on. You are reading blocks of
words at a time, not individual words one by one. You may also notice that you do not always go
from one block to the next: sometimes you may move back to a previous block if you are unsure
about something.
F
A skilled reader will read a lot of words in each block. He or she will only look at each block for an
instant and will then move on. Only rarely will the reader’s eyes skip back to a previous block of
words. This reduces the amount of work that the reader’s eyes have to do. It also increases the
volume of information that can be taken in over a given period of time.
G
On the other hand, a slow reader will spend a lot of time reading small blocks of words. He or she
will skip back often, losing the flow and structure of the text, and muddling their overall
understanding of the subject. This irregular eye movement quickly makes the reader tired. Poor
readers tend to dislike reading because they feel it is difficult to concentrate and comprehend written
information.
H
The best tip anyone can have to improve their reading speed is to practise. In order to do this
effectively, a person must be engaged in the material and want to know more. If you find yourself
constantly having to re-read the same paragraph, you may want to switch to reading material that
grabs your attention. If you enjoy what you are reading, you will make quicker progress.
Questions 1-6
The reading passage has seven paragraphs, A-H.
Write the correct letter, A-H.
1 the types of people who need to read more quickly
2 the fastest reading speeds
3 how a reader can become confused
4 why reading material should be interesting
5 a definition of speed reading
6 what you should consider before you start reading

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Questions 7-13
Complete the table below.
Chunking
Type of reader Reading method Effect of method on reader
•
• many 7 in
reader’s 8 do less
skilled reader a block work
• reader hardly ever goes
• more 9 is
back
processed
• small blocks • reader
• easily gets 12
10
reader 11 goes • finds it hard
back to 13 on passage
Answer Table
1. B 8. eyes
2. A 9. information
3. G 10. slow reader
4. H 11. often
5. A 12. tired
6. C 13. concentrate
7. words
Overcoming the language barrier
The discovery that language can be a barrier to communication is quickly made by all who travel,
study, govern or sell. Whether the activity is tourism, research, government, policing, business, or
data dissemination, the lack of a common language can severely impede progress or can halt it
altogether. 'Common language' here usually means a foreign language, but the same point applies
in principle to any encounter with unfamiliar dialects or styles within a single language. 'They don't
talk the same language' has a major metaphorical meaning alongside its literal one.
Although communication problems of this kind must happen thousands of times each day, very few
become public knowledge. Publicity comes only when a failure to communicate has major
consequences, such as strikes, lost orders, legal problems, or fatal accidents - even, at times, war.
One reported instance of communication failure took place in 1970, when several Americans ate a
species of poisonous mushroom. No remedy was known, and two of the people died within days. A
radio report of the case was heard by a chemist who knew of a treatment that had been successfully
used in 1959 and published in 1963. Why had the American doctors not heard of it seven years
later? Presumably because the report of the treatment had been published only in journals written in
European languages other than English.
Several comparable cases have been reported. But isolated examples do not give an impression of
the size of the problem — something that can come only from studies of the use or avoidance of
foreign-language materials and contacts in different communicative situations. In the English-
speaking scientific world, for example, surveys of books and documents consulted in libraries and
other information agencies have shown that very little foreign-language material is ever consulted.
Library requests in the field of science and technology showed that only 13 per cent were for foreign
language periodicals. Studies of the sources cited in publications lead to a similar conclusion: the
use of foreign- language sources is often found to be as low as 10 per cent.
The language barrier presents itself in stark form to firms who wish to market their products in other
countries. British industry, in particular, has in recent decades often been criticised for its linguistic
insularity — for its assumption that foreign buyers will be happy to communicate in English, and that
awareness of other languages is not therefore a priority. In the 1960s, over two-thirds of British firms
dealing with • non-English-speaking customers were using English for outgoing correspondence;
many had their sales literature only in English; and as many as 40 per cent employed no-one able to
communicate in the customers' languages. A similar problem was identified in other English-
speaking countries, notably the USA, Australia and New Zealand. And non-English-speaking
countries were by no means exempt - although the widespread use of English as an alternative
language made them less open to the charge of insularity.
The criticism and publicity given to this problem since the 1960s seems to have greatly improved the
situation, industrial training schemes have promoted an increase in linguistic and cultural awareness.
Many firms now have their own translation services; to take just one example in Britain, Rowntree
Mackintosh now publish their documents in six languages (English, French, German, Dutch, Italian
and Xhosa). Some firms run part-time language courses in the languages of the countries with which
they are most involved; some produce their own technical glossaries, to ensure consistency when
material is being translated. It is now much more readily appreciated that marketing efforts can be
delayed, damaged, or disrupted by a failure to take account of the linguistic needs of the customer.
The changes in awareness have been most marked in English-speaking countries, where the
realisation has gradually dawned that by no means everyone in the world knows English well
enough to negotiate in it. This is especially a problem when English is not an official language of
public administration, as in most parts of the Far East, Russia, Eastern Europe, the Arab world, Latin
America and French- speaking Africa. Even in cases where foreign customers can speak English
quite well, it is often forgotten that they may not be able to understand it to the required level -
bearing in mind the regional and social variation which permeates speech and which can cause
major problems of listening comprehension. In securing understanding, how 'we' speak to 'them' is
just as important, it appears, as how 'they' speak to 'us'.
Questions 1-4
Complete each of the following statements (Questions 1-4) with words taken from Reading Passage
2.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
1 Language problems may come to the attention of the public when they have , such
as fatal accidents or social problems.
2 Evidence of the extent of the language barrier has been gained from of materials
used by scientists such as books and periodicals.
3 An example of British linguistic insularity is the use of English for materials such as
4 An example of a part of the world where people may have difficulty in negotiating English
is
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Questions 5-7
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 5-7 on your answer sheet.
5 According to the passage, 'They don't talk the same language' (paragraph 1), can refer to
problems in ...
A understanding metaphor.
B learning foreign languages.
C understanding dialect or style.
D dealing with technological change.
6 The case of the poisonous mushrooms (paragraph 2) suggests that American doctors .
A should pay more attention to radio reports.
B only read medical articles if they are in English.
C are sometimes unwilling to try foreign treatments.

D do not always communicate effectively with their patients.
7 According to the writer, the linguistic insularity of British businesses ...
A later spread to other countries.
B had a negative effect on their business.
C is not as bad now as it used to be in the past.
D made non-English-speaking companies turn to other markets.

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Questions 8-11
LIST the four main ways in which British companies have tried to solve the problem of the language
barrier since the 1960s.
WRITE NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
10
11
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Questions 12-13
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 12 and 13 on your answer sheet.
12 According to the writer, English-speaking people need to be aware that...
A some foreigners have never met an English-speaking person.
B many foreigners have no desire to learn English.
C foreign languages may pose a greater problem in the future.
D English-speaking foreigners may have difficulty understanding English.

13 A suitable title for this passage would be ...
A Overcoming the language barrier
B How to survive an English-speaking world
C Global understanding - the key to personal progress
D The need for a common language

Answer Table
1. major consequences 8. (industrial) training (schemes)\\translation
services\\(part-time) language
courses\\(technical) glossaries
2. surveys 9. (industrial) training (schemes)\\translation

3. sales literature 10. (industrial) training (schemes)\\translation

4. Eastern Europe//Far East//Russia//Arab 11. (industrial) training (schemes)\\translation

world//Latin America//French-speaking Africa services\\(part-time) language
5. C 12. D
6. B 13. A
7. C
Early Childhood Education
New Zealand's National Party spokesman on education, Dr Lockwood Smith, recently visited
the US and Britain. Here he reports on the findings of his trip and what they could mean for
New Zealand's education policy
A
‘Education To Be More' was published last August. It was the report of the New Zealand
Government's Early Childhood Care and Education Working Group. The report argued for enhanced
equity of access and better funding for childcare and early childhood education institutions.
Unquestionably, that's a real need; but since parents don't normally send children to pre-schools
until the age of three, are we missing out on the most important years of all?
B
A 13 year study of early childhood development at Harvard University has shown that, by the age of
three, most children have the potential to understand about 1000 words - most of the language they
will use in ordinary conversation for the rest of their lives.
Furthermore, research has shown that while every child is born with a natural curiosity, if can be
suppressed dramatically during the second and third years of life. Researchers claim that the human
personality is formed during the first two years of life, and during the first three years children learn
the basic skills they will use in all their later learning both at home and at school. Once over the age
of three, children continue to expand on existing knowledge of the world.
C
It is generally acknowledged that young people from poorer socio-economic backgrounds fend to do
less well in our education system. That's observed not just in New Zealand, but also in Australia,
Britain and America. In an attempt to overcome that educational under-achievement, a nationwide
programme called 'Headstart' was launched in the United Slates in 1965. A lot of money was poured
into it. It took children into pre-school institutions at the age of three and was supposed to help the
children of poorer families succeed in school.
Despite substantial funding, results have been disappointing. It is thought that there are two
explanations for this. First, the programme began too late. Many children who entered it at the age of
three were already behind their peers in language and measurable intelligence. Second, the parents
were not involved. At the end of each day, 'Headstart' children returned to the same disadvantaged
home environment.
D
As a result of the growing research evidence of the importance of the first three years of a child's life
and the disappointing results from 'Headstart', a pilot programme was launched in Missouri in the US
that focused on parents as the child's first teachers. The 'Missouri' programme was predicated on
research showing that working with the family, rather than bypassing the parents, is the most
effective way of helping children get off to the best possible start in life. The four-year pilot study
included 380 families who were about to have their first child and who represented a cross-section of
socio-economic status, age and family configurations. They included single-parent and two-parent
families, families in which both parents worked, and families with either the mother or father at home.
The programme involved trained parent- educators visiting the parents' home and working with tire
parent, or parents, and the child. Information on child development, and guidance on things to look
for and expect as the child grows were provided, plus guidance in fostering the child's intellectual,
language, social and motor-skill development. Periodic check-ups of the child's educational and
sensory development (hearing and vision) were made to detect possible handicaps that interfere
with growth and development. Medical problems were referred to professionals.
Parent-educators made personal visits to homes and monthly group meetings were held with other
new parents to share experience and discuss topics of interest. Parent resource centres, located in
school buildings, offered learning materials for families and facilitators for child core.
E
At the age of three, the children who had been involved in the 'Missouri' programme were evaluated
alongside a cross-section of children selected from the same range of socio-economic backgrounds
and family situations, and also a random sample of children that age. The results were phenomenal.
By the age of three, the children in the programme were significantly more advanced in language
development than their peers, had made greater strides in problem solving and other intellectual
skills, and were further along in social development, tn fact, the average child on the programme
was performing at the level of the top 15 to 20 per cent of their peers in such things as auditory
comprehension, verbal ability and language ability.
Most important of all, the traditional measures of 'risk', such as parents' age and education, or
whether they were a single parent, bore little or no relationship to the measures of achievement and
language development. Children in the programme performed equally well regardless of socio-
economic disadvantages. Child abuse was virtually eliminated. The one factor that was found to
affect the child's development was family stress leading to a poor quality of parent-child interaction.
That interaction was not necessarily bad in poorer families.
F
These research findings are exciting. There is growing evidence in New Zealand that children from
poorer socio-economic backgrounds are arriving at school less well developed and that our school
system tends to perpetuate that disadvantage. The initiative outlined above could break that cycle of
disadvantage. The concept of working with parents in their homes, or at their place of work,
contrasts quite markedly with the report of the Early Childhood Care and Education Working Group.
Their focus is on getting children and mothers access to childcare and institutionalised early
childhood education. Education from the age of three to five is undoubtedly vital, but without a
similar focus on parent education and on the vital importance of the first three years, some evidence
indicates that it will not be enough to overcome educational inequity.
Questions 1-4
Reading Passage has six sections, A-F.
Write the correct letter A-F in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
1 details of the range of family types involved in an education programme
2 reasons why a child’s early years are so important
3 reasons why an education programme failed
4 a description of the positive outcomes of an education programme

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Questions 5-10
Classify the following features as characterising
A the ' Headstart' programme
B the 'Missouri' programme
C both the 'Headstart' and the 'Missouri' programmes
D neither the 'Headstart' nor the 'Missouri’programme
Write the correct letter A. B, C or D in boxes 5-10 on your answer sheet.
5 was administered to a variety of poor and wealthy families
6 continued with follow-up assistance in elementary schools
7 did not succeed in its aim
8 supplied many forms of support and training to parents
9 received insufficient funding
10 was designed to improve pre-schoolers’ educational development

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Questions 11-13
11 Most ‘Missouri’ programme three-year-olds scored highly in areas such as

listening, speaking, reasoning and interacting with others.
12 ‘Missouri’ programme children of young, uneducated, single parents scored less

highly on the tests.
13 The richer families in the ‘Missouri’ programme had higher stress levels.
Answer Table
1. D 8. B
2. B 9. D
3. C 10. C
4. E 11. TRUE
5. B 12. FALSE
6. D 13. NOT GIVEN
7. A
The Nature of Genius
There has always been ari interest in geniuses and prodigies. The word ‘genius’, from the Latin gens
(= family) and the term ‘genius’, meaning ‘begetter’, comes from the early Roman cult of a divinity as
the head of the family. In its earliest form, genius was concerned with the ability of the head of the
family, the paterfamilias, to perpetuate himself. Gradually, genius came to represent a person’s
characteristics and thence an individual’s highest attributes derived from his ‘genius’ or guiding spirit.
Today, people still look to stars or genes, astrology or genetics, in the hope of finding the source
of exceptional abilities or personal characteristics.
The concept of genius and of gifts has become part of our folk culture, and attitudes are ambivalent
towards them. We envy the gifted and mistrust them. In the mythology of giftedness, it is popularly
believed that if people are talented in one area, they must be defective in another, that intellectuals
are impractical, that prodigies burn too brightly too soon and burn out, that gifted people are
eccentric, that they are physical weaklings, that there’s a thin line between genius and madness,
that genius runs in families, that the gifted are so clever they don’t need special help, that giftedness
is the same as having a high IQ, that some races are more intelligent or musical or mathematical
than others, that genius goes unrecognised and unrewarded, that adversity makes men wise or that
people with gifts have a responsibility to use them. Language has been enriched with such terms as
‘highbrow’, ‘egghead’, ‘blue-stocking’, ‘wiseacre’, ‘know-all’, ‘boffin’ and, for many, ‘intellectual’ is a
term of denigration.
The nineteenth century saw considerable interest in the nature of genius, and produced not a few
studies of famous prodigies. Perhaps for us today, two of the most significant aspects of most of
these studies of genius are the frequency with which early encouragement and teaching by parents
and tutors had beneficial effects on the intellectual, artistic or musical development of the children
but caused great difficulties of adjustment later in their lives, and the frequency with which
abilities went unrecognised by teachers and schools. However, the difficulty with the
evidence produced by these studies, fascinating as they are in collecting together anecdotes and
apparent similarities and exceptions, is that they are not what we would today call norm-referenced.
In other words, when, for instance, information is collated about early illnesses, methods of
upbringing, schooling, etc., we must also take into account information from other historical sources
about how common or exceptional these were at the time. For instance, infant mortality was high
and life expectancy much shorter than today, home tutoring was common in the families of the
nobility and wealthy, bullying and corporal punishment were common at the best
independent schools and, for the most part, the cases studied were members of the privileged
classes. It was only with the growth of paediatrics and psychology in the twentieth century that
studies could be carried out on a more objective, if still not always very scientific, basis.
Geniuses, however they are defined, are but the peaks which stand out through the mist of history
and are visible to the particular observer from his or her particular vantage point. Change the
observers and the vantage points, clear away some of the mist, and a different lot of peaks appear.
Genius is a term we apply to those whom we recognise for their outstanding achievements and who
stand near the end of the continuum of human abilities which reaches back through the mundane
and mediocre to the incapable. There is still much truth in Dr Samuel Johnson’s observation,
The true genius Is a mind of large general powers, accidentally determined to some particular
direction’. We may disagree with the ‘general’, for we doubt if all musicians of genius could have
become scientists of genius or vice versa, but there is no doubting the accidental determination
which nurtured or triggered their gifts into those channels into which they have poured their powers
so successfully. Along the continuum of abilities are hundreds of thousands of gifted men and
women, boys and girls.
What we appreciate, enjoy or marvel at in thè works of genius or the achievements of prodigies are
the manifestations of skills or abilities which are similar to, but so much superior to, our own. But that
their minds are not different from our own is demonstrated by the fact that the hard-won discoveries
of scientists like Kepler or Einstein become the commonplace knowledge of schoolchildren and the
once outrageous shapes and colours of an artist like Paul Klee so soon appear on the fabrics we
wear. This does not minimise the supremacy of their achievements, which outstrip our own as the
sub-four-minute milers outstrip our jogging.
To think of geniuses and the gifted as having uniquely different brains is only reasonable If we
accept that each human brain is uniquely different. The purpose of instruction is to make US even
more different from one another, and in the process of being educated we can learn from the
achievements of those more gifted than ourselves. But before we try to emulate geniuses or
encourage our children to do so we should note that some of the things we learn from them may
prove unpalatable. We may envy their achievements and fame, but we should also recognise
the price they may have paid in terms of perseverance, single-mindedness, dedication, restrictions
on their personal lives, the demands upon their energies and time, and how often they had to display
great courage to preserve their integrity or to make their way to the top.
Genius and giftedness are relative descriptive terms of no real substance. We may, at best, give
them some precision by defining them and placing them in a context but, whatever we do, we should
never delude ourselves into believing that gifted children or geniuses are different from the rest of
humanity, save in the degree to which they have developed the performance of their abilities.
Questions 1-5
Choose FIVE letters, A-K.
Write the correct letters in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet
NB Your answers may be given in any order.
Below are listed some popular beliefs about genius and giftedness.
Which FIVE of these beliefs are reported by the writer of the text?
A Truly gifted people are talented in all areas.
B The talents of geniuses are soon exhausted.
C Gifted people should use their gifts.
D A genius appears once in every generation.
E Genius can be easily destroyed by discouragement.
F Genius is inherited.
G Gifted people are very hard to live with.
H People never appreciate true genius.
I Geniuses are natural leaders.
J Gifted people develop their greatness through difficulties.
K Genius will always reveal itself.

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Questions 6-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
6 Nineteenth-century studies of the nature of genius failed to take into account

the uniqueness of the person’s upbringing.
7 Nineteenth-century studies of genius lacked both objectivity and a proper
scientific approach.
8 A true genius has general powers capable of excellence in any area.
9 The skills of ordinary individuals are in essence the same as the skills of
prodigies.
10 The ease with which truly great ideas are accepted and taken for granted fails
to lessen their significance.
11 Giftedness and genius deserve proper scientific research into their true nature
so that all talent may be retained for the human race.
12 Geniuses often pay a high price to achieve greatness.
13 To be a genius is worth the high personal cost.

Answer Table
1. B, C, F, H, J IN ANY ORDER 8. FALSE
2. B, C, F, H, J IN ANY ORDER 9. TRUE
4. B, C, F, H, J IN ANY ORDER 11. NOT GIVEN
6. TRUE 13. NOT GIVEN
7. TRUE
SAVING LANGUAGE
For the first time, linguists have put a price on language. To save a language from extinction
isn’t cheap - but more and more people are arguing that the alternative is the death of
communities
There is nothing unusual about a single language dying. Communities have come and gone
throughout history, and with them their language. But what is happening today is extraordinary,
judged by the standards of the past. It is language extinction on a massive scale. According to the
best estimates, there are some 6,000 languages in the world. Of these, about half are going to die
out in the course of the next century: that’s 3,000 languages in 1,200 months. On average, there is a
language dying out somewhere in the world every two weeks or so.
How do we know? In the course of the past two or three decades, linguists all over the world have
been gathering comparative data. If they find a language with just a few speakers left, and nobody is
bothering to pass the language on to the children, they conclude that language is bound to die out
soon. And we have to draw the same conclusion if a language has less than 100 speakers. It is not
likely to last very long. A 1999 survey shows that 97 per cent of the world’s languages are spoken by
just four per cent of the people.
It is too late to do anything to help many languages, where the speakers are too few or too old, and
where the community is too busy just trying to survive to care about their language. But many
languages are not in such a serious position. Often, where languages are seriously endangered,
there are things that can be done to give new life to them. It is called revitalisation.
Once a community realises that its language is in danger, it can start to introduce measures which
can genuinely revitalise. The community itself must want to save its language. The culture of which it
is a part must need to have a respect for minority languages. There needs to be funding, to support
courses, materials, and teachers. And there need to be linguists, to get on with the basic task of
putting the language down on paper. That’s the bottom line: getting the language documented -
recorded, analysed, written down. People must be able to read and write if they and their language
are to have a future in an increasingly computer- literate civilisation.
But can we save a few thousand languages, just like that? Yes, if the will and funding were available.
It is not cheap, getting linguists into the field, training local analysts, supporting the community with
language resources and teachers, compiling grammars and dictionaries, writing materials for use in
schools. It takes time, lots of it, to revitalise an endangered language. Conditions vary so much that
it is difficult to generalise, but a figure of $ 100,000 a year per language cannot be far from the truth.
If we devoted that amount of effort over three years for each of 3,000 languages, we would be
talking about some $900 million.
There are some famous cases which illustrate what can be done. Welsh, alone among the Celtic
languages, is not only stopping its steady decline towards extinction but showing signs of real
growth. Two Language Acts protect the status of Welsh now, and its presence is increasingly in
evidence wherever you travel in Wales.
On the other side of the world, Maori in New Zealand has been maintained by a system of so- called
‘language nests’, first introduced in 1982. These are organisations which provide children under five
with a domestic setting in which they are intensively exposed to the language. The staff are all Maori
speakers from the local community. The hope is that the children will keep their Maori skills alive
after leaving the nests, and that as they grow older they will in turn become role models to a new
generation of young children. There are cases like this all over the world. And when the reviving
language is associated with a degree of political autonomy, the growth can be especially striking, as
shown by Faroese, spoken in the Faroe Islands, after the islanders received a measure of autonomy
from Denmark.
In Switzerland, Romansch was facing a difficult situation, spoken in five very different dialects, with
small and diminishing numbers, as young people left their community for work in the German-
speaking cities. The solution here was the creation in the 1980s of a unified written language for all
these dialects. Romansch Grischun, as it is now called, has official status in parts of Switzerland,
and is being increasingly used in spoken form on radio and television.
A language can be brought back from the very brink of extinction. The Ainu language of Japan, after
many years of neglect and repression, had reached a stage where there were only eight fluent
speakers left, all elderly. However, new government policies brought fresh attitudes and a positive
interest in survival. Several ‘semispeakers’ - people who had become unwilling to speak Ainu
because of the negative attitudes by Japanese speakers - were prompted to become active
speakers again. There is fresh interest now and the language is more publicly available than it has
been for years.
If good descriptions and materials are available, even extinct languages can be resurrected. Kaurna,
from South Australia, is an example. This language had been extinct for about a century, but had
been quite well documented. So, when a strong movement grew for its revival, it was possible to
reconstruct it. The revised language is not the same as the original, of course. It lacks the range that
the original had, and much of the old vocabulary. But it can nonetheless act as a badge of present-
day identity for its people. And as long as people continue to value it as a true marker of their
identity, and are prepared to keep using it, it will develop new functions and new vocabulary, as any
other living language would do.
It is too soon to predict the future of these revived languages, but in some parts of the world they are
attracting precisely the range of positive attitudes and grass roots support which are the
preconditions for language survival. In such unexpected but heart-warming ways might we see the
grand total of languages in the world minimally increased.
Questions 1-5
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet write
YES if the statement agrees with the writer s views
NO if the statement contradicts the writer s views
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
1 The rate at which languages are becoming extinct has increased.
2 Research on the subject of language extinction began in the 1990s.
3 In order to survive, a language needs to be spoken by more than 100 people.
4 Certain parts of the world are more vulnerable than others to language
extinction.
5 Saving language should be the major concern of any small community whose
language is under threat.
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Questions 6-8
The list below gives some of the factors that are necessary to assist the revitalisation of a language
within a community.
Which THREE of the factors are mentioned by the writer of the text?
Write the appropriate letters A-G in boxes 6-8 on your answer sheet.
A the existence of related languages
B support from the indigenous population
C books tracing the historical development of the language
D on-the-spot help from language experts
E a range of speakers of different ages
F formal education procedures
G a common purpose for which the language is required
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Questions 9-13
Match the languages A-F with the statements below (Questions 9-13) which describe how a
language was saved.
Languages
A Welsh
B Maori
C Faroese
D Romansch
E Ainu
F Kauma
9 The region in which the language was spoken gained increased independence.
10 People were encouraged to view the language with less prejudice.
11 Language immersion programmes were set up for sectors of the population.
12 A merger of different varieties of the language took place.
13 Written samples of the language permitted its revitalisation.

Answer Table
1. YES 8. B OR D OR F IN EITHER ORDER
2. NO 9. C
3. YES 10. E
4. NOT GIVEN 11. B
5. NO 12. D
6. B OR D OR F IN EITHER ORDER 13. F
7. B OR D OR F IN EITHER ORDER
Learning lessons from the past
Many past societies collapsed or vanished, leaving behind monumental ruins such as those that the
poet Shelley imagined in his sonnet, Ozymandias. By collapse, I mean a drastic decrease in human
population size and/or political/economic/social complexity, over a considerable area, for an
extended time. By those standards, most people would consider the following past societies to have
been famous victims of full-fledged collapses rather than of just minor declines: the Anasazi and
Cahokia within the boundaries of the modern US, the Maya cities in Central America, Moche and
Tiwanaku societies in South America, Norse Greenland, Mycenean Greece and Minoan Crete in
Europe, Great Zimbabwe in Africa, Angkor Wat and the Harappan Indus Valley cities in Asia, and
Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean.
The monumental ruins left behind by those past societies hold a fascination for all of us. We marvel
at them when as children we first learn of them through pictures. When we grow up, many of us plan
vacations in order to experience them at first hand. We feel drawn to their often spectacular and
haunting beauty, and also to the mysteries that they pose. The scales of the ruins testify to the
former wealth and power of their builders. Yet these builders vanished, abandoning the great
structures that they had created at such effort. How could a society that was once so mighty end up
collapsing?
It has long been suspected that many of those mysterious abandonments were at least partly
triggered by ecological problems: people inadvertently destroying the environmental resources on
which their societies depended. This suspicion of unintended ecological suicide (ecocide) has been
confirmed by discoveries made in recent decades by archaeologists, climatologists, historians,
paleontologists, and palynologists (pollen scientists). The processes through which past societies
have undermined themselves by damaging their environments fall into eight categories, whose
relative importance differs from case to case: deforestation and habitat destruction, soil problems,
water management problems, overhunting, overfishing, effects of introduced species on native
species, human population growth, and increased impact of people.
Those past collapses tended to follow somewhat similar courses constituting variations on a theme.
Writers find it tempting to draw analogies between the course of human societies and the course of
individual human lives - to talk of a society’s birth, growth, peak, old age and eventual death. But that
metaphor proves erroneous for many past societies: they declined rapidly after reaching peak
numbers and power, and those rapid declines must have come as a surprise and shock to their
citizens. Obviously, too, this trajectory is not one that all past societies followed unvaryingly to
completion: different societies collapsed to different degrees and in somewhat different ways, while
many societies did not collapse at all.
Today many people feel that environmental problems overshadow all the other threats to global
civilisation. These environmental problems include the same eight that undermined past societies,
plus four new ones: human-caused climate change, build up of toxic chemicals in the environment,
energy shortages, and full human utilisation of the Earth’s photosynthetic capacity. But the
seriousness of these current environmental problems is vigorously debated. Are the risks greatly
exaggerated, or conversely are they underestimated? Will modern technology solve our problems, or
is it creating new problems faster than it solves old ones? When we deplete one resource (e.g.
wood, oil, or ocean fish), can we count on being able to substitute some new resource (e.g. plastics,
wind and solar energy, or farmed fish)? Isn’t the rate of human population growth declining, such
that we’re already on course for the world’s population to level off at some manageable number of
people?
Questions like this illustrate why those famous collapses of past civilisations have taken on more
meaning than just that of a romantic mystery. Perhaps there are some practical lessons that we
could learn from all those past collapses. But there are also differences between the modern world
and its problems, and those past societies and their problems. We shouldn't be so naive as to think
that study of the past will yield simple solutions, directly transferable to our societies today. We differ
from past societies in some respects that put us at lower risk than them; some of those respects
often mentioned include our powerful technology (i.e. its beneficial effects), globalisation, modern
medicine, and greater knowledge of past societies and of distant modern societies. We also differ
from past societies in some respects that put us at greater risk than them: again, our potent
technology (i.e., its unintended destructive effects), globalisation (such that now a problem in one
part of the world affects all the rest), the dependence of millions of us on modern medicine for our
survival, and our much larger human population. Perhaps we can still learn from the past, but only if
we think carefully about its lessons.
Questions 1-3
1 When the writer describes the impact of monumental ruins today, he emphasises
A the income they generate from tourism.
B the area of land they occupy.
C their archaeological value.
D their romantic appeal.

2 Recent findings concerning vanished civilisations have
A overturned long-held beliefs.
B caused controversy amongst scientists.
C come from a variety of disciplines.
D identified one main cause of environmental damage.

3 What does the writer say about ways in which former societies collapsed?
A The pace of decline was usually similar.
B The likelihood of collapse would have been foreseeable.
C Deterioration invariably led to total collapse.
D Individual citizens could sometimes influence the course of events.

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Questions 4-8
Write
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
4 It is widely believed that environmental problems represent the main danger

faced by the modern world.
5 The accumulation of poisonous substances is a relatively modern problem.

6 There is general agreement that the threats posed by environmental problems
are very serious.
7 Some past societies resembled present-day societies more closely than others.
8 We should be careful when drawing comparisons between past and present.

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Questions 9-13
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below.
Write the correct letter, A-F.
9 Evidence of the greatness of some former civilisations
10 The parallel between an individual’s life and the life of a society
11 The number of environmental problems that societies face
12 The power of technology
13 A consideration of historical events and trends

A is not necessarily valid.
B provides grounds for an optimistic outlook.
C exists in the form of physical structures.
D is potentially both positive and negative.
E will not provide direct solutions for present problems.
F is greater now than in the past.
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Questions 14
14 What is the main argument of Reading Passage 3?
A There are differences as well as similarities between past and present societies.
B More should be done to preserve the physical remains of earlier civilisations.
C Some historical accounts of great civilisations are inaccurate.
D Modern societies are dependent on each other for their continuing survival.
Solution for: Learning lessons from the past
Answer Table
1. C 8. YES
2. D 9. C
3. A 10. A
4. YES 11. F
5. YES 12. D
6. NO 13. E
7. NOT GIVEN 14. A

What do we mean by being ‘talented’ or ‘gifted’? The most obvious way is to look at the work
someone does and if they are capable of significant success, label them as talented. The purely
quantitative route - ‘percentage definition’ - looks not at individuals, but at simple percentages, such
as the top five per cent of the population, and labels them - by definition - as gifted. This definition
has fallen from favour, eclipsed by the advent of IQ tests, favoured by luminaries such as Professor
Hans Eysenck, where a series of written or verbal tests of general intelligence leads to a score of
intelligence.
The IQ test has been eclipsed in turn. Most people studying intelligence and creativity in the new
millennium now prefer a broader definition, using a multifaceted approach where talents in many
areas are recognised rather than purely concentrating on academic achievement. If we are therefore
assuming that talented, creative or gifted individuals may need to be assessed across a range of
abilities, does this mean intelligence can run in families as a genetic or inherited tendency? Mental
dysfunction - such as schizophrenia - can, so is an efficient mental capacity passed on from parent
to child?
Animal experiments throw some light on this question, and on the whole area of whether it is
genetics, the environment or a combination of the two that allows for intelligence and creative ability.
Different strains of rats show great differences in intelligence or ‘rat reasoning’. If these are brought
up in normal conditions and then mn through a maze to reach a food goal, the ‘bright’ strain make far
fewer wrong turns that the ‘dull’ ones. But if the environment is made dull and boring the number of
errors becomes equal. Return the rats to an exciting maze and the discrepancy returns as before -
but is much smaller. In other words, a dull rat in a stimulating environment will almost do as well as a
bright rat who is bored in a normal one. This principle applies to humans too - someone may be
born with innate intelligence, but their environment probably has the final say over whether they
become creative or even a genius.
Evidence now exists that most young children, if given enough opportunities and encouragement,
are able to achieve significant and sustainable levels of academic or sporting prowess. Bright or
creative children are often physically very active at the same time, and so may receive more parental
attention as a result - almost by default - in order to ensure their safety. They may also talk earlier,
and this, in turn, breeds parental interest. This can sometimes cause problems with other siblings
who may feel jealous even though they themselves may be bright. Their creative talents may be
undervalued and so never come to fruition. Two themes seem to run through famously creative
families as a result. The first is that the parents were able to identify the talents of each child, and
nurture and encourage these accordingly but in an even-handed manner. Individual differences were
encouraged, and friendly sibling rivalry was not seen as a particular problem. If the father is, say, a
famous actor, there is no undue pressure for his children to follow him onto the boards, but instead
their chosen interests are encouraged. There need not even by any obvious talent in such a family
since there always needs to be someone who sets the family career in motion, as in the case of the
Sheen acting dynasty.
Martin Sheen was the seventh of ten children born to a Spanish immigrant father and an Irish
mother. Despite intense parental disapproval he turned his back on entrance exams to university
and borrowed cash from a local priest to start a fledgling acting career. His acting successes in films
such as Badlands and Apocalypse Now made him one of the most highly-regarded actors of the
1970s. Three sons - Emilio Estevez, Ramon Estevez and Charlie Sheen - have followed him into the
profession as a consequence of being inspired by his motivation and enthusiasm.
A stream seems to run through creative families. Such children are not necessarily smothered with
love by their parents. They feel loved and wanted, and are secure in their home, but are often more
surrounded by an atmosphere of work and where following a calling appears to be important. They
may see from their parents that it takes time and dedication to be master of a craft, and so are in
less of a hurry to achieve for themselves once they start to work.
The generation of creativity is complex: it is a mixture of genetics, the environment, parental
teaching and luck that determines how successful or talented family members are. This last point -
luck - is often not mentioned where talent is concerned but plays an undoubted part. Mozart,
considered by many to be the finest composer of all time, was lucky to be living in an age that
encouraged the writing of music. He was brought up surrounded by it, his father was a musician who
encouraged him to the point of giving up his job to promote his child genius, and he learnt musical
composition with frightening speed - the speed of a genius. Mozart himself simply wanted to create
the finest music ever written but did not necessarily view himself as a genius - he could write sublime
music at will, and so often preferred to lead a hedonistic lifestyle that he found more exciting than
writing music to order.
Albert Einstein and Bill Gates are two more examples of people whose talents have blossomed by
virtue of the times they were living in. Einstein was a solitary, somewhat slow child who had affection
at home but whose phenomenal intelligence emerged without any obvious parental input. This may
have been partly due to the fact that at the start of the 20th Century a lot of the Newtonian laws of
physics were being questioned, leaving a fertile ground for ideas such as his to be developed. Bill
Gates may have had the creative vision to develop Microsoft, but without the new computer age
dawning at the same time he may never have achieved the position on the world stage he now
occupies.
Questions 1-2
Complete the notes, which show how the approaches to defining 'talent*have changed.
Choose ONE or TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer
‘percentage definition’
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Questions 3-5
Which THREE of the following does the writer regard as a feature of creative families?
Write the appropriate letters A-F in boxes 3-5 on your answer sheet.
A a higher than average level of parental affection
B competition between brothers and sisters
C parents who demonstrate vocational commitment
D strong motivation to take exams and attend university
E a patient approach to achieving success
F the identification of the most talented child in the family

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Questions 6-7
Choose the appropriate letters A—D and write them in boxes 6-7 on your answer sheet.
6. The rat experiment was conducted to show that
A certain species of rat are more intelligent than others.
B intelligent rats are more motivated than ‘dull’ rats.
C a rat’s surroundings can influence its behaviour.
D a boring environment has little impact on a ‘bright’ rat.

7. The writer cites the story of Martin Sheen to show that
A he was the first in a creative line.
B his parents did not have his creative flair.
C he became an actor without proper training.
D his sons were able to benefit from his talents.

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Questions 8-12
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 8-12 on your answer sheet write
YES if the statement agrees with the writer s claims
NO if the statement contradicts the writers claims
8 Intelligence tests have now been proved to be unreliable.
9 The brother or sister of a gifted older child may fail to fulfil their own potential.
10 The importance of luck in the genius equation tends to be ignored.
11 Mozart was acutely aware of his own remarkable talent.
12 Einstein and Gates would have achieved success in any era.

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Questions 13
From the list below choose the most suitable title for the whole of Reading Passage 3.
Write the appropriate letter A-D in box 13 on your answer sheet.
A Geniuses in their time
B Education for the gifted
C Revising the definition of intelligence
D Nurturing talent within the family

Answer Table
1. IQ/intelligence 8. NOT GIVEN
2. multi-faceted approach 9. YES
3. B, C, E IN EITHER ORDER 10. YES
4. B, C, E IN EITHER ORDER 11. NO
5. B, C, E IN EITHER ORDER 12. NO
6. C 13. D
7. A
Recovering a damaged reputation
In 2009, it was revealed that some of the information published by the University of East Anglia’s
Climatic Research Unit (CRU) in the UK, concerning climate change, had been inaccurate.
Furthermore, it was alleged that some of the relevant statistics had been withheld from publication.
The ensuing controversy affected the reputation not only of that institution, but also of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), with which the CRU is closely involved, and of
climate scientists in general. Even if the claims of misconduct and incompetence were eventually
proven to be largely untrue, or confined to a few individuals, the damage was done. The perceived
wrongdoings of a few people had raised doubts about the many.
The response of most climate scientists was to cross their fingers and hope for the best, and they
kept a low profile. Many no doubt hoped that subsequent independent inquiries into the IPCC and
CRU would draw a line under their problems. However, although these were likely to help, they were
unlikely to undo the harm caused by months of hostile news reports and attacks by critics.
The damage that has been done should not be underestimated. As Ralph Cicerone, the President of
the US National Academy of Sciences, wrote in an editorial in the journal Science: ‘Public opinion
has moved toward the view that scientists often try to suppress alternative hypotheses and ideas
and that scientists will withhold data and try to manipulate some aspects of peer review to prevent
dissent.’ He concluded that ‘the perceived misbehavior of even a few scientists can diminish the
credibility of science as a whole.’
An opinion poll taken at the beginning of 2010 found that the proportion of people in the US who
trust scientists as a source of information about global warming had dropped from 83 percent, in
2008, to 74 percent. Another survey carried out by the British Broadcasting Corporation in February
2010 found that just 26 percent of British people now believe that climate change is confirmed as
being largely human-made, down from 41 percent in November 2009.
Regaining the confidence and trust of the public is never easy. Hunkering down and hoping for the
best - climate science’s current strategy - makes it almost impossible. It is much better to learn from
the successes and failures of organisations that have dealt with similar blows to their public
standing.
In fact, climate science needs professional help to rebuild its reputation. It could do worse than follow
the advice given by Leslie Gaines-Ross, a ‘reputation strategist’ at Public Relations (PR) company
Webef Shandwick, in her recent book Corporate Reputation: 12 Steps to Safeguarding and
Recovering Reputation. Gaines-Ross’s strategy is based on her analysis of how various
organisations responded to crises, such as desktop-printer firm Xerox, whose business plummeted
during the 1990s, and the USA’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) after the
Columbia shuttle disaster in 2003.
The first step she suggests is to ‘take the heat - leader first’. In many cases, chief executives who
publicly accept responsibility for corporate failings can begin to reverse the freefall of their
company’s reputations, but not always. If the leader is held at least partly responsible for the fall from
grace, it can be almost impossible to convince critics that a new direction can be charted with that
same person at the helm.
This is the dilemma facing the heads of the IPCC and CRU. Both have been blamed for their
organisations’ problems, not least for the way in which they have dealt with critics, and both have
been subjected to public calls for their removal. Yet both organisations appear to believe they can
repair their reputations without a change of leadership.
The second step outlined by Gaines-Ross is to ‘communicate tirelessly’. Yet many climate
researchers have avoided the media and the public, at least until the official enquiries have
concluded their reports. This reaction may be understandable, but it has backfired. Journalists
following the story have often been unable to find spokespeople willing to defend climate science. In
this case, ‘no comment’ is commonly interpreted as an admission of silent, collective guilt.
Remaining visible is only a start, though; climate scientists also need to be careful what they say.
They must realise that they face doubts not just about their published results, but also about their
conduct and honesty. It simply won’t work for scientists to continue to appeal to the weight of the
evidence, while refusing to discuss the integrity of their profession. The harm has been increased by
a perceived reluctance to admit even the possibility of mistakes or wrongdoing.
The third step put forward by Gaines-Ross is ‘don’t underestimate your critics and competitors’. This
means not only recognising the skill with which the opponents of climate research have executed
their campaigns through Internet blogs and other media, but also acknowledging the validity of
some of their criticisms. It is clear, for instance, that climate scientists need better standards of
transparency, to allow for scrutiny not just by their peers, but also by critics from outside the world of
research.
It is also important to engage with those critics. That doesn’t mean conceding to unfounded
arguments which are based on prejudice rather than evidence, but there is an obligation to help the
public understand the causes of climate change, as well as the options for avoiding and dealing with
the consequences.
To begin the process of rebuilding trust in their profession, climate scientists need to follow these
three seeps. But that is just the start. Gaines-Ross estimates that it typically takes four years for a
company to rescue and restore a broken reputation.
Winning back public confidence is a marathon, not a sprint, but you can’t win at all if you don’t step
up to the starting line.
Questions 1-6
Write
1 If a majority of scientists at the CRU were cleared of misconduct, the public

would be satisfied.
2 In the aftermath of the CRU scandal, most scientists avoided attention.
3 Journalists have defended the CRU and the IPCC against their critics.
4 Ralph Cicerone regarded the damage caused by the CRU as extending beyond
the field of climate science.
5 Since 2010, confidence in climate science has risen slightly in the US.
6 Climate scientists should take professional advice on regaining public

confidence.
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Questions 7-10
7 In accordance with Gaines-Ross’s views, the heads of the CRU and IPCC should have
A resigned from their posts.
B accepted responsibility and continued in their posts.
C shifted attention onto more junior staff.
D ignored the criticisms directed at them.

8 Which mistake have staff at the CRU and IPCC made?
A They have blamed each other for problems.
B They have publicly acknowledged failings.
C They have avoided interviews with the press.

D They have made conflicting public statements.
9 People who challenge the evidence of climate change have generally
A presented their case poorly.
B missed opportunities for publicity.
C made some criticisms which are justified.
D been dishonest in their statements.

10 What does the reference to ‘a marathon’ indicate in the final paragraph?
A The rate at which the climate is changing.
B The competition between rival theories of climate change.
C The ongoing need for new climate data.
D The time it might take for scientists to win back confidence.
Questions 11-14
Complete the summary using the list of words/phrases, A-H, below.
Controversy about climate science

The revelation, in 2009, that scientists at the CRU had presented inaccurate information and
concealed some of their 11 had a serious effect on their reputation. In order to address
the problem, the scientists should turn to experts in 12 .
Leslie Gaines-Ross has published 13 based on studies of crisis management in

commercial and public-sector organisations. Amongst other things, Gaines-Ross suggests that
climate scientists should confront their 14 .
A critics
B corruption
C statistics
D guidelines
E managers
F public relations
G sources
H computer modelling
Answer Table
1. NO 8. C
2. YES 9. C
3. NO 10. D
4. YES 11. C
5. NOT GIVEN 12. F
6. YES 13. D
7. A 14. A
Language diversity
One of the most influential ideas in the study of languages is that of universal grammar (UG). Put
forward by Noam Chomsky in the 1960s, it is widely interpreted as meaning that all languages are
basically the same, and that the human brain is born language-ready, with an in-built programme
that is able to interpret the common rules underlying any mother tongue. For five decades this idea
prevailed, and influenced work in linguistics, psychology and cognitive science. To understand
language, it implied, you must sweep aside the huge diversity of languages, and find their common
human core.
Since the theory of UG was proposed, linguists have identified many universal language rules.
However, there are almost always exceptions. It was once believed, for example, that if a language
had syllables[1] that begin with a vowel and end with a consonant (VC), it would also have syllables
that begin with a consonant and end with a vowel (CV). This universal lasted until 1999, when
linguists showed that Arrernte, spoken by Indigenous Australians from the area around Alice Springs
in the Northern Territory, has VC syllables but no CV syllables.
Other non-universal universals describe the basic rules of putting words together. Take the rule that
every language contains four basic word classes: nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs. Work in the
past two decades has shown that several languages lack an open adverb class, which means that
new adverbs cannot be readily formed, unlike in English where you can turn any adjective into an
adverb, for example ‘soft’ into ‘softly’. Others, such as Lao, spoken in Laos, have no adjectives at all.
More controversially, some linguists argue that a few languages, such as Straits Salish, spoken by
indigenous people from north-western regions of North America, do not even have distinct nouns or
verbs. Instead, they have a single class of words to include events, objects and qualities.
Even apparently indisputable universals have been found lacking. This includes recursion, or the
ability to infinitely place one grammatical unit inside a similar unit, such as ‘Jack thinks that Mary
thinks that ... the bus will be on time’. It is widely considered to be the most essential characteristic of
human language, one that sets it apart from the communications of all other animals. Yet Dan
Everett at Illinois State University recently published controversial work showing that Amazonian
Piraha does not have this quality.
But what if the very diversity of languages is the key to understanding human communication?
Linguists Nicholas Evans of the Australian National University in Canberra, and Stephen Levinson of
the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, believe that languages
do not share a common set of rules. Instead, they say, their sheer variety is a defining feature of
human communication - something not seen in other animals. While there is no doubt that human
thinking influences the form that language takes, if Evans and Levinson are correct, language in turn
shapes our brains. This suggests that humans are more diverse than we thought, with our brains
having differences depending on the language environment in which we grew up. And that leads to a
disturbing conclusion: every time a language becomes extinct, humanity loses an important piece of
diversity.
If languages do not obey a single set of shared rules, then how are they created? ‘Instead of
universals. you get standard engineering solutions that languages adopt again and again, and then
you get outliers.' says Evans. He and Levinson argue that this is because any given language is a
complex system shaped by many factors, including culture, genetics and history. There- are no
absolutely universal traits of language, they say, only tendencies. And it is a mix of strong and weak
tendencies that characterises the ‘bio-cultural’ mix that we call language.
According to the two linguists, the strong tendencies explain why many languages display common
patterns. A variety of factors tend to push language in a similar direction, such as the structure of the
brain, the biology of speech, and the efficiencies of communication. Widely shared linguistic
elements may also be ones that build on a particularly human kind of reasoning. For example, the
fact that before we learn to speak we perceive the world as a place full of things causing actions
(agents) and things having actions done to them (patients) explains why most languages deploy
these grammatical categories.
Weak tendencies, in contrast, are explained by the idiosyncrasies of different languages. Evans and
Levinson argue that many aspects of the particular natural history of a population may affect its
language. For instance, Andy Butcher at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, has
observed that indigenous Australian children have by far the highest incidence of chronic middle-ear
infection of any population on the planet, and that most indigenous Australian languages lack many
sounds that are common in other languages, but which are hard to hear with a middle-ear infection.
Whether this condition has shaped the sound systems of these languages is unknown, says Evans,
but it is important to consider the idea.
Levinson and Evans are not the first to question the theory of universal grammar, but no one has
summarised these ideas quite as persuasively, and given them as much reach. As a result, their
arguments have generated widespread enthusiasm, particularly among those linguists who are tired
of trying to squeeze their findings into the straitjacket of ‘absolute universals’. To some, it is the final
nail in UG’s coffin. Michael Tomasello, co-director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary
Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, has been a long-standing critic of the idea that all languages
conform to a set of rules. ‘Universal grammar is dead,’ he says.
Questions 1-6
Write
1 In the final decades of the twentieth century, a single theory of language

learning was dominant.
2 The majority of UG rules proposed by linguists do apply to all human

languages.
3 There is disagreement amongst linguists about an aspect of Straits Salish

grammar.
4 The search for new universal language rules has largely ended.
5 If Evans and Levinson are right, people develop in the same way no matter
what language they speak.
6 The loss of any single language might have implications for the human race.
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Questions 7-11
7 Which of the following views about language are held by Evans and Levinson?
A Each of the world’s languages develops independently.
B The differences between languages outweigh the similarities.
C Only a few language features are universal.
D Each language is influenced by the characteristics of other languages.

8 According to Evans and Levinson, apparent similarities between languages could be due to
A close social contact.
B faulty analysis.
C shared modes of perception.

D narrow descriptive systems.
9 In the eighth paragraph, what does the reference to a middle-ear infection serve as?
A A justification for something.
B A contrast with something.
C The possible cause of something.
D The likely result of something.

10 What does the writer suggest about Evans’ and Levinson’s theory of language development?
A It had not been previously considered.
B It is presented in a convincing way.
C It has been largely rejected by other linguists.
D It is not supported by the evidence.

11 Which of the following best describes the writer’s purpose?
A To describe progress in the field of cognitive science.
B To defend a long-held view of language learning.
C To identify the similarities between particular languages.
D To outline opposing views concerning the nature of language.

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Questions 12-14
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-E, below.
Write the correct letter, A-E.
12 The Arrernte language breaks a ‘rule’ concerning
13 The Lao language has been identified as lacking
14 It has now been suggested that Amazonia Piraha does not have
A words of a certain grammatical type.
B a sequence of sounds predicted by UG.
C words which can have more than one meaning.
D the language feature regarded as the most basic.
E sentences beyond a specified length.
Solution for: Language diversity
Answer Table
1. YES 8. C
2. NO 9. C
3. YES 10. B
4. NOT GIVEN 11. D
5. NO 12. B
6. YES 13. A
7. A 14. D
PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Most countries’ education systems have had what you might call educational disasters, but, sadly, in
many areas of certain countries these ‘disasters’ are still evident today. The English education
system is unique due to the fact that there are still dozens of schools which are known as private
schools and they perpetuate privilege and social division. Most countries have some private schools
for the children of the wealthy; England is able to more than triple the average number globally.
England has around 3,000 private schools and just under half a million children are educated at
them whilst some nine million children are educated at state schools. The overwhelming majority of
students at private schools also come from middle-class families.
The result of this system is evident and it has much English history embedded within it. The facts
seem to speak for themselves. In the private system almost half the students go on to University,
whilst in the state system only about eight per cent make it to further education. However, statistics
such as these can be deceptive due to the fact that middle-class children do better at examinations
than working class ones, and most of them stay on at school after 16. Private schools therefore have
the advantage over state schools as they are entirely ‘middle class’, and this creates an environment
of success where students work harder and apply themselves more diligently to their school work.
Private schools are extortionately expensive, being as much as £18,000 a year at somewhere such
as Harrow or Eton, where Princes William and Harry attended, and at least £8,000 a year almost
everywhere else. There are many parents who are not wealthy or even comfortably off but are willing
to sacrifice a great deal in the cause of their children’s schooling. It baffles many people as to why
they need to spend such vast amounts when there are perfectly acceptable state schools that don’t
cost a penny. One father gave his reasoning for sending his son to a private school, ‘If my son gets a
five-percent-better chance of going to University then that may be the difference between success
and failure.” It would seem to the average person that a £50,000 minimum total cost of second level
education is a lot to pay for a five-percent-better chance. Most children, given the choice, would take
the money and spend it on more enjoyable things rather than shelling it out on a school that is too
posh for its own good
However, some say that the real reason that parents fork out the cash is prejudice: they don’t want
their little kids mixing with the “workers”, or picking up an undesirable accent. In addition to this, it
wouldn’t do if at the next dinner party all the guests were boasting about sending their kids to the
same place where the son of the third cousin of Prince Charles is going, and you say your kid is
going to the state school down the road, even if you could pocket the money for yourself instead,
and, as a result, be able to serve the best Champagne with the smoked salmon and duck.
It is a fact, however, that at many of the best private schools, your money buys you something. One
school, with 500 pupils, has 11 science laboratories; another school with 800 pupils, has 30 music
practice rooms; another has 16 squash courts, and yet another has its own beach. Private schools
spend £300 per pupil a year on investment in buildings and facilities; the state system spends less
than £50. On books, the ratio is 3 to 1.
One of the things that your money buys which is difficult to quantify is the appearance of the school,
the way it looks. Most private schools that you will find are set in beautiful, well-kept country houses,
with extensive grounds and gardens. In comparison with the state schools, they tend to look like
castles, with the worst of the state schools looking like public lavatories, perhaps even tiled or
covered in graffiti. Many may even have an architectural design that is just about on the level of an
industrial shed.
Question 1-7
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.
1. The English educational system differs from the other ones because
A . it tries to make state and private equal.
B . more students are educated at private schools than state schools
C . it contributes to creating a class system within society.
D . it is more expensive to run

2. There are more private school children who go to university because
A . the lessons and teachers at the private schools are much better.
B . their parents often send their children to private schools
C . they have more teaching hours
D . the school create a successful environment.

3. A lot of parents often send their children to private schools
A .because they are not well-informed.
B . to show how much money they have to their friends
C . to increase their chances of succeeding in the university exams.
D . because of the better sports facilities.

4. It is suggested that some parents of children at private schools are
A . prejudiced and superficial.
B .more intelligent that those with children at state schools.
C .well-brought-up and cultivated.
D . overly protective.
5. Private school
A . always have their own beaches.
B . teach sports that state schools do not.

C . spend more money per student than stateschools.
D . spend more money on hiring good teachers.

6. writer thinks that private-school buildings
A . are very attractive and luxurious.
B .generally do not look very nice.
C . are too big for the amount of students who attend the school.
D . are not built to suit student’s needs.

7. In general, what do you think the writer’s opinion of private schools is?
A . It isn’t fair that those without money can’t attend them.
B . They divide social classes but they offer better facilities and a more creative environment.
C . There is little difference between private and state schools.
D . They have the best teachers.

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Questions 8-13
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
The fact that there are so many private schools in England, in comparison to other countries, makes
the English educational system 8 Most students in these schools are
from 9 families. These students seem to do better at exams although statistics can
be 10 One of the advantages of private schools is that they seem to provide
students with a better, more positive environment that encourages them
to 11 themselves to their school work with more enthusiasm. A lot of not very well-off
parents make huge sacrifices for their children’s 12 to help them go to respectable
universities. Unfortunately, many state school buildings sometimes have the appearance of an
industrial 13 .
Answer Table
1. C 8. unique
2. D 9. middle-class
3. C 10. deceptive
4. A 11. apply
5. C 12. schooling
6. A 13. shed
7. B
Numeration
One of the first great intellectual feats of a young child is learning how to talk, closely followed by
learning how to count. From earliest childhood we are so bound up with our system of numeration
that it is a feat of imagination to consider the problems faced by early humans who had not yet
developed this facility. Careful consideration of our system of numeration leads to the
conviction that, rather than being a facility that comes naturally to a person, it | is one of the great
and remarkable achievements of the human race.
It is impossible to learn the sequence of events that led to our developing the concept of number.
Even the earliest of tribes had a system of numeration that, if not advanced, was sufficient for the
tasks that they had to perform. Our ancestors had little use for actual numbers; instead their
considerations would have been more of the kind Is this enough? rather than How many? when they
were engaged in food gathering, for example. However, when early humans first began to reflect on
the nature of things around them, they discovered that they needed an idea of number simply to
keep their thoughts in order. As they began to settle, grow plants and herd animals, the need for a
sophisticated number system became paramount. It will never be known how and when this
numeration ability developed, but it is certain that numeration was well developed by the time
humans had formed even semipermanent settlements.
Evidence of early stages of arithmetic and numeration can be readily found. The indigenous peoples
of Tasmania were only able to count one, two, many; those of South Africa counted one, two, two
and one, two twos, two twos and one, and so on. But in real situations the number and words are
often accompanied by gestures to help resolve any confusion. For example, when using the one,
two, many type of system, the word many would mean, Look at my hands and see how many fingers
I am showing you. This basic approach is limited in the range of numbers that it can express, but this
range will generally suffice when dealing with the simpler aspects of human existence.
The lack of ability of some cultures to deal with large numbers is not really surprising. European
languages, when traced back to their earlier version, are very poor in number words and
expressions. The ancient Gothic word for ten, tachund, is used to express the number 100 as
tachund tachund. By the seventh century, the word teon had become interchangeable with the
tachund or hund of the Anglo-Saxon language, and so 100 was denoted as hund leonlig, or ten
times ten. The average person in the seventh century in Europe was not as familiar with numbers as
we are today. In fact, to qualify as a witness in a court of law a man had to be able to count to nine!
Perhaps the most fundamental step in developing a sense of number is not the ability to count, but
rather to see that a number is really an abstract idea instead of a simple attachment to a group of
particular objects. It must have been within the grasp of the earliest humans to conceive that four
birds are distinct from two birds; however, it is not an elementary step to associate the number 4, as
connected with four birds, to the number 4, as connected with four rocks. Associating a number as
one of the qualities of a specific object is a great hindrance to the development of a true number
sense. When the number 4 can be registered in the mind as a specific word, independent of the
object being referenced, the individual is ready to take the first step toward the development of a
notational system for numbers and, from there, to arithmetic.
Traces of the very first stages in the development of numeration can be seen in several living
languages today. The numeration system of the Tsimshian language in British Columbia contains
seven distinct sets of words for numbers according to the class of the item being counted: for
counting flat objects and animals, for round objects and time, for people, for long objects and trees,
for canoes, for measures, and for counting when no particular object is being numerated. It seems
that the last is a later development while the first six groups show the relics of an older system. This
diversity of number names can also be found in some widely used languages such as Japanese.
Intermixed with the development of a number sense is the development of an ability to count.
Counting is not directly related to the formation of a number concept because it is possible to count
by matching the items being counted against a group of pebbles, grains of corn, or the counter's
fingers. These aids would have been indispensable to very early people who would have found the
process impossible without some form of mechanical aid. Such aids, while different, are still used
even by the most educated in today's society due to their convenience.
All counting ultimately involves reference to something other than the things being counted. At first it
may have been grains or pebbles but now it is a memorised sequence of words that happen to be
the names of the numbers.
Questions 1-5
Complete each sentence with the correct ending. A-G, below.
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
A was necessary in order to fulfil a civic role.
B was necessary when people began farming.
C was necessary for the development of arithmetic.
D persists in all societies.
E was used when the range of number words was restricted.
F can be traced back to early European languages.
G was a characteristic of early numeration systems.
1 A developed system of numbering
2 An additional hand signal
3 In seventh-century Europe, the ability to count to a certain number
4 Thinking about numbers as concepts separate from physical objects
5 Expressing number differently according to class of item
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Questions 6-14
6 For the earliest tribes, the concept of sufficiency was more important than the
concept of quantity.
7 Indigenous Tasmanians used only four terms to indicate numbers of objects.

8 Some peoples with simple number systems use body language to
prevent misunderstanding of expressions of number.
9 All cultures have been able to express large numbers clearly.
10 The word ‘thousand’ has Anglo-Saxon origins.
11 In general, people in seventh-century Europe had poor counting ability.
12 In the Tsimshian language, the number for long objects and canoes is
expressed with the same word.
13 The Tsimshian language contains both older and newer systems of counting.
14 Early peoples found it easier to count by using their fingers rather than a group
of pebbles.
Adventures in mathematical reasoning
A
Occasionally, in some difficult musical compositions, there are beautiful, but easy parts - parts so
simple a beginner could play them. So it is with mathematics as well. There are some discoveries in
advanced mathematics that do not depend on specialized knowledge, not even on algebra,
geometry, or trigonometry. Instead they may involve, at most, a little arithmetic, such as ‘the sum of
two odd numbers is even’, and common sense. Each of the eight chapters in this book illustrates
this phenomenon. Anyone can understand every step in the reasoning. The thinking in each chapter
uses at most only elementary arithmetic, and sometimes not even that. Thus all readers will have the
chance to participate in a mathematical experience, to appreciate the beauty of mathematics, and to
become familiar with its logical, yet intuitive, style of thinking.
B
One of my purposes in writing this book is to give readers who haven’t had the opportunity to see
and enjoy real mathematics the chance to appreciate the mathematical way of thinking. I want to
reveal not only some of the fascinating discoveries, but, more importantly, the reasoning behind
them. In that respect, this book differs from most books on mathematics written for the general
public. Some present the lives of colorful mathematicians. Others describe important applications of
mathematics. Yet others go into mathematical procedures, but assume that the reader is adept in
using algebra.
C
I hope this book will help bridge that notorious gap that separates the two cultures: the humanities
and the sciences, or should I say the right brain (intuitive) and the left brain (analytical, numerical).
As the chapters will illustrate, mathematics is not restricted to the analytical and numerical; intuition
plays a significant role. The alleged gap can be narrowed or completely overcome by anyone, in part
because each of us is far from using the full capacity of either side of the brain. To illustrate our
human potential, I cite a structural engineer who is an artist, an electrical engineer who is an opera
singer, an opera singer who published mathematical research, and a mathematician who publishes
short stories.
D
Other scientists have written books to explain their fields to non-scientists, but have necessarily had
to omit the mathematics, although it provides the foundation of their theories. The reader must
remain a tantalized spectator rather than an involved participant, since the appropriate language for
describing the details in much of science is mathematics, whether the subject is expanding universe,
subatomic particles, or chromosomes. Though the broad.outline of a scientific theory can
be sketched intuitively, when a part of the physical universe is finally understood, its description
often looks like a page in a mathematics text.
E
Still, the non-mathematical reader can go far in understanding mathematical reasoning. This book
presents the details that illustrate the mathematical style of thinking, which involves sustained, step-
by-step analysis, experiments, and insights. You will turn these pages much more slowly than when
reading a novel or a newspaper. It may help to have a pencil and paper ready to check claims
and carry out experiments.
F
As I wrote, I kept in mind two types of readers: those who enjoyed mathematics until they were
turned off by an unpleasant episode, usually around fifth grade, and mathematics aficionados, who
will find much that is new throughout the book. This book also serves readers who simply want to
sharpen their analytical skills. Many careers, such as law and medicine, require extended, precise
analysis. Each chapter offers practice in following a sustained and closely argued line of
thought. That mathematics can develop this skill is shown by these two testimonials:
G
A physician wrote, The discipline of analytical thought processes [in mathematics] prepared me
extremely well for medical school. In medicine one is faced with a problem which must be thoroughly
analyzed before a solution can be found. The process is similar to doing mathematics.’
A lawyer made the same point, “Although I had no background in law - not even one political science
course — I did well at one of the best law schools. I attribute much of my success there to having
learned, through the study of mathematics, and, in particular, theorems, how to analyze complicated
principles. Lawyers who have studied mathematics can master the legal principles in a way that
most others cannot.’
I hope you will share my delight in watching as simple, even naive, questions lead to remarkable
solutions and purely theoretical discoveries find unanticipated applications.
Questions 1-8
Reading Passage has seven sections, A-G.
Which section contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.
1 a reference to books that assume a lack of mathematical knowledge
2 the way in which this is not a typical book about mathematics
3 personal examples of being helped by mathematics
4 examples of people who each had abilities that seemed incompatible
5 mention of different focuses of books about mathematics
6 a contrast between reading this book and reading other kinds of publication
7 a claim that the whole of the book is accessible to everybody
8 a reference to different categories of intended readers of this book

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Questions 9-14
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
9 Some areas of both music and mathematics are suitable for someone who is a
10 It is sometimes possible to understand advanced mathematics using no more than a limited
knowledge of
11 The writer intends to show that mathematics requires thinking, as well

as analytical skills.
12 Some books written by have had to leave out the mathematics that is central to
their theories.
13 The writer advises non-mathematical readers to perform while reading

14 A lawyer found that studying helped even more than other areas
of mathematics in the study of law.
Answer Table
1. D 8. F
2. B 9. beginner
3. G 10. arithmetic
4. C 11. intuitive
5. B 12. scientists
6. E 13. experiments
7. A 14. theorems
Do literate women make better mothers?
Children in developing countries are healthier and more likely to survive past the age of five when
their mothers can read and write. Experts In public health accepted this idea decades ago, but until
now no one has been able to show that a woman's ability to read in Itself Improves her children’s
chances of survival.
Most literate women learnt to read In primary school, and the fact that a woman has had an
education may simply indicate her family’s wealth or that It values Its children more highly. Now a
long-term study carried out In Nicaragua has eliminated these factors by showing that teaching
reading to poor adult women, who would otherwise have remained Illiterate, has a direct effect on
their children’s health and survival.
In 1979, the government of Nicaragua established a number of social programmes, including a
National Literacy Crusade. By 1985, about 300,000 Illiterate adults from all over the country, many of
whom had never attended primary school, had learnt how to read, write and use numbers.
During this period, researchers from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, the Central American
Institute of Health In Nicaragua, the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua and the Costa
Rican Institute of Health Interviewed nearly 3,000 women, some of whom had learnt to read as
children, some during the literacy crusade and some who had never learnt at all. The women were
asked how many children they had given birth to and how many of them had died In Infancy. The
research teams also examined the surviving children to find out how well-nourished they were.
The Investigators' findings were striking. In the late 1970s, the infant mortality rate for the children of
Illiterate mothers was around 110 deaths per thousand live births. At this point In their lives, those
mothers who later went on to learn to read had a similar level Of child mortality (105/1000). For
women educated in primary school, however, the Infant mortality rate was significantly lower, at 80
per thousand.
In 1985, after the National Literacy Crusade had ended, the infant mortality figures for those who
remained illiterate and for those educated In primary school remained more or less unchanged. For
those women who learnt to read through the campaign, the infant mortality rate was 84 per
thousand, an impressive 21 points lower than for those women who were still Illiterate. The children
of the newly-literate mothers were also better nourished than those of women who could not read.
Why are the children of literate mothers better off? According to Peter Sandiford of the Liverpool
School of Tropical Medicine, no one Knows for certain. Child health was not on the curriculum during
the women’s lessons, so fie and his colleagues are looking at other factors. They are working with
the same group of 3,000 women, to try to find out whether reading mothers make better use of
hospitals and clinics, opt for smaller families, exert more control at home, learn modern childcare
techniques more quickly, or whether they merely have more respect for themselves and their
children.
The Nicaraguan study may have important implications for governments and aid agencies that need
to know where to direct their resources. Sandiford says that there is increasing evidence that female
education, at any age, is "an important health intervention in its own right’. The results of the study
lend support to the World Bank's recommendation that education budgets in developing countries
should be increased, not just to help their economies, but also to improve child health.
'We’ve known for a long time that maternal education is important,’ says John Cleland of the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. ‘But we thought that even if we started educating girls
today, we'd have to wait a generation for the pay off. The Nicaraguan study suggests we may be
able to bypass that.'
Cleland warns that the Nicaraguan crusade was special in many ways, and similar campaigns
elsewhere might not work as well. It is notoriously difficult to teach adults skills that do not have an
immediate impact on their everyday lives, and many literacy campaigns in other countries have been
much less successful. 'The crusade was part of a larger effort to bring a better life to the people,’
says Cleland. Replicating these conditions in other countries will be a major challenge for
development workers.
Questions 1-5
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-J, below.
Write the correct letter, A-J, in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
The Nicaraguan National Literacy Crusade aimed to teach large numbers of illiterate 1 to
read and write.
Public health experts have known for many years that there is a connection between child health
and 2
However, it has not previously been known whether these two factors were directly linked or not.
This question has been investigated by 3 in Nicaragua.
As a result, factors such as 4 and attitudes to children have been eliminated, and it has
been shown that 5 can in itself improve infant health and survival.
A child literacy B men and women C an international research team
D medical care E mortality F maternal literacy
G adults and children H paternal literacy I a National Literacy Crusade
J family wealth
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Questions 6-11
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 6-11 on your answer sheet, write .
6 About a thousand of the women interviewed by the researchers had learnt to

read when they were children.
7 Before the National Literacy Crusade, illiterate women had approximately the
same levels of infant mortality as those who had learnt to read in primary school.
8 Before and after the National Literacy Crusade, the child mortality rate for the
illiterate women stayed at about 110 deaths for each thousand live births.
9 The women who had learnt to read through the National Literacy Crusade
showed the greatest change in infant mortality levels.
10 The women who had learnt to read through the National Literacy Crusade had
the lowest rates of child mortality.
11 After the National Literacy Crusade, the children of the women who remained
illiterate were found to be severely malnourished.
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Questions 12-13
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 12 and 13 on your answer sheet.
Which TWO important implications drawn from the Nicaraguan study are mentioned by the writer of
the passage?
A It is better to educate mature women than young girls.
B Similar campaigns in other countries would be equally successful.
C The effects of maternal literacy programmes can be seen very quickly.
D Improving child health can quickly affect a country’s economy.
E Money spent on female education will improve child health.

Answer Table
1. B 8. YES
2. F 9. YES
3. C 10. NO
4. J 11. NOT GIVEN
5. F 12. C, E IN EITHER ORDER
6. NOT GIVEN 13. C, E IN EITHER ORDER
7. NO
Bilingualism in Children
A
One misguided legacy of over a hundred years of writing on bilingualism1 is that children’s .
intelligence will suffer if they are bilingual. Some of the earliest research into bilingualism examined
whether bilingual children were ahead or behind monolingual2 children on IQ tests. From the 1920s
through to the 1960s, the tendency was to find monolingual children ahead of bilinguals on IQ tests.
The conclusion was that bilingual children were mentally confused. Having two languages in the
brain, it was said, disrupted effective thinking. It was argued that having one well-developed
language was superior to having two half-developed languages.
B
The idea that bilinguals may have a lower IQ still exists among many people, particularly
monolinguals. However, we now know that this early research was misconceived and incorrect.
First, such research often gave bilinguals an IQ test in their weaker language – usually English. Had
bilinguals been tested in Welsh or Spanish or Hebrew, a different result may have been found. The
testing of bilinguals was thus unfair. Second, like was not compared with like. Bilinguals tended to
come from, for example, impoverished New York or rural Welsh backgrounds. The monolinguals
tended to come from more middle class, urban families. Working class bilinguals were often
compared with middle class monolinguals. So the results were more likely to be due to social class
differences than language differences. The comparison of monolinguals and bilinguals was unfair.
C
The most recent research from Canada, the United States and Wales suggests that bilinguals are, at
least, equal to monolinguals on IQ tests. When bilinguals have two well- developed languages (in
the research literature called balanced bilinguals), bilinguals tend to show a slight superiority in IQ
tests compared with monolinguals. This is the received psychological wisdom of the moment and is
good news for raising bilingual children. Take, for example, a child who can operate in either
language in the curriculum in the school. That child is likely to be ahead on IQ tests compared with
similar (same gender, social class and age) monolinguals. Far from making people mentally
confused, bilingualism is now associated with a mild degree of intellectual superiority.
D
One note of caution needs to be sounded. IQ tests probably do not measure intelligence. IQ tests
measure a small sample of the broadest concept of intelligence. IQ tests are simply paper and pencil
tests where only ’right and wrong ’answers are allowed. Is all intelligence summed up in such right
and wrong, pencil and paper tests? Isn’t there a wider variety of intelligences that are important in
everyday functioning and everyday life?
E
Many questions need answering. Do wc only define an intelligent person as somebody who obtains
a high score on an IQ test? Are the only intelligent people those who belong to high IQ organisations
such as MENSA? Is there social intelligence, musical intelligence, military intelligence, marketing
intelligence, motoring intelligence, political intelligence? Are all, or indeed any, of these forms of
intelligence measured by a simple pencil and paper IQ test which demands a single, acceptable,
correct solution to each question? Defining what constitutes intelligent behaviour requires a personal
value judgement as to what type of behaviour, and what kind of person is of more worth.
F
The current state of psychological wisdom about bilingual children is that, where two languages are
relatively well developed, bilinguals have thinking advantages over monolinguals.Take an example.
A child is asked a simple question: How many uses can you think offer a brick? Some children give
two or three answers only. They can think of building walls, building a house and perhaps that is all.
Another child scribbles away, pouring out ideas one after the other: blocking up a rabbit hole,
breaking a window, using as a bird bath, as a plumb line, as an abstract sculpture in an art
exhibition.
G
Research across different continents of the world shows that bilinguals tend to be more fluent,
flexible, original and elaborate in their answers to this type of open-ended question. The person who
can think of a few answers tends to be termed a convergent thinker.They converge onto a few
acceptable conventional answers. People who think of lots of different uses for unusual items (e.g. a
brick, tin can, cardboard box) are called divergers. Divergers like a variety of answers to a question
and are imaginative and fluent in their thinking.
H
There are other dimensions in thinking where approximately ’balanced’ bilinguals may have
temporary and occasionally permanent advantages over monolinguals: increased sensitivity to
communication, a slightly speedier movement through the stages of cognitive development, and
being less fixed on the sounds of words and more centred on the meaning of words. Such ability to
move away from the sound of words and fix on the meaning of words tends to be a (temporary)
advantage for bilinguals around the ages four to six This advantage may mean an initial head start in
learning to read and learning to think about language.
1
bilingualism: the ability to speak two languages
2
monolingual: using or speaking only one language
Questions 1-3
Complete the sentences.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
1 For more than , books and articles were wrong about

the intelligence of bilingual children.
2 For approximately 40 years, there was a mistaken belief that children who spoke two
languages were .
3 It was commonly thought that people with a single were more effective thinkers.
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Questions 4-9
Reading Passage 1 has eight paragraphs, A-H.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-G from the list of headings below.
List of Headings
i No single definition of intelligence
ii Faulty testing, wrong conclusion
iii Welsh research supports IQ testing
iv Beware: inadequate for Selling intelligence
v International research supports bilingualism
vi Current thought on the advantage bilinguals have
vii Early beliefs regarding bilingualism
viii Monolinguals ahead of their bilingual peers
ix Exemplifying the bilingual advantage
Example Paragraph A vii
4 Paragraph B
5 Paragraph C
6 Paragraph D
7 Paragraph E
8 Paragraph F
9 Paragraph G
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Questions 10-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? Write
10 Balanced bilinguals have more permanent than temporary advantages over

monolinguals.
11 Often bilinguals concentrate more on the way a word sounds than on its
meaning.
12 Monolinguals learn to speak at a younger age than bilinguals.
13 Bilinguals just starting school might pick up certain skills faster than
monolinguals.
Solution for: Bilingualism in Children
Answer Table
1. a hundred years/100 years 8. ix
2. mentally confused/behind monolingual children 9. v
3. (well-developed) language 10. FALSE
4. ii 11. FALSE
5. vi 12. NOT GIVEN
6. iv 13. TRUE
7. i
Learning color words
Young children struggle with color concepts, and the reason for this may have something to do with
how we use the words that describe them.
A In the course of the first few years of their lives, children who are brought up in English- speaking
homes successfully master the use of hundreds of words. Words for objects, actions, emotions, and
many other aspects of the physical world quickly become part of their infant repertoire. For some
reason, however, when it comes to learning color words, the same children perform very badly. At
the age of four months, babies can distinguish between basic color categories. Yet it turns out they
do this in much the same way as blind children. "Blue" and "yellow" appear in older children's
expressive language in answer to questions such as "What color is this?", but their mapping of
objects to individual colors is haphazard and interchangeable. If shown a blue cup and asked about
its color, typical two-year-olds seem as likely to come up with "red" as "blue." Even after hundreds of
training trials, children as old as four may still end up being unable to accurately sort objects by
color.
B In an effort to work out why this is, cognitive scientists at Stanford University in California
hypothesized that children's incompetence at color-word learning may be directly linked to the way
these words are used in English. While word order for color adjectives varies, they are used
overwhelmingly in pre-nominal position (e.g. "blue cup"); in other words, the adjective comes before
the noun it is describing. This is in contrast to post-nominal position (e.g. "The cup is blue") where
the adjective comes after the noun. It seems that the difficulty children have may not be caused by
any unique property of color, or indeed, of the world. Rather, it may simply come down to the
challenge of having to make predictions from color words to the objects they refer to, instead of
being able to make predictions from the world of objects to the color words.
To illustrate, the word "chair" has a meaning that applies to the somewhat varied set of entities in the
world that people use for sitting on. Chairs have features, such as arms and legs and backs, that are
combined to some degree in a systematic way; they turn up in a range of chairs of different shapes,
sizes, and ages. It could be said that children learn to narrow down the set of cues that make up a
chair and in this way they learn the concept associated with that word. On the other hand, color
words tend to be unique and not bound to other specific co-occurring features; there is nothing
systematic about color words to help cue their meaning. In the speech that adults direct at children,
color adjectives occur pre-nominally ("blue cup") around 70 percent of the time. This suggests that
most of what children hear from adults will, in fact, be unhelpful in learning what color words refer to.
C To explore this idea further, the research team recruited 41 English children aged between 23 and
29 months and carried out a three- phase experiment. It consisted of a pre-test, followed by training
in the use of color words, and finally a post-test that was identical to the pre-test. The pre- and post-
test materials comprised six objects that were novel to the children. There were three examples of
each object in each of three colors—red, yellow, and blue. The objects were presented on trays, and
in both tests, the children were asked to pick out objects in response to requests in which the color
word was either a prenominal ("Which is the red one?") or a post-nominal ("Which one is red?").
In the training, the children were introduced to a "magic bucket" containing five sets of items familiar
to 26-month-olds (balls, cups, crayons, glasses, and toy bears) in each of the three colors. The
training was set up so that half the children were presented with the items one by one and heard
them labelled with color words used pre-nominally ("This is a red crayon"), while the other half were
introduced to the same items described with a post-nominal color word ("This crayon is red"). After
the training, the children repeated the selection task on the unknown items in the post-test. To
assess the quality of children's understanding of the color words, and the effect of each type of
training, correct choices on items that were consistent across the pre- and post-tests were used to
measure children's color knowledge.
D Individual analysis of pre- and post-test data, which confirmed parental vocabulary reports,
showed the children had at least some knowledge of the three colour words: they averaged two out
of three correct choices in response to both pre- and post-nominal question types, which, it has been
pointed out, is better than chance. When children's responses to the question types were assessed
independently, performance was at its most consistent when children were both trained and tested
on post-nominal adjectives, and worst when trained on pre-nominal adjectives and tested on post-
nominal adjectives. Only children who had been trained with post- nominal color-word presentation
and then tested with post-nominal question types were significantly more accurate than chance.
Comparing the pre- and post-test scores across each condition revealed a significant decline in
performance when children were both pre- and post-tested with questions that placed the color
words pre-nominally.
As predicted, when children are exposed to color adjectives in post-nominal position, they learn
them rapidly (after just five training trials per color); when they are presented with them pre-
nominally, as English overwhelmingly tends to do, children show no signs of learning.
Questions 1-4
The Reading Passage has four sections A-D.
Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings below.
List of Headings
i A possible explanation
ii Why names of objects are unhelpful
iii Checking out the theory
iv A curious state of affairs
v The need to look at how words are formed
vi How age impacts on learning colours
vii Some unsurprising data
1 Section A
2 Section B
3 Section C
4 Section D
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Questions 5-9
Complete the summary below.
The Hypothesis
Children learn many words quite quickly, but their ability to learn colour words takes longer than
expected.
In fact, despite 5 many four-year olds still struggle to arrange objects into colour
categories.
Scientists have hypothesised that this is due to the 6 of the adjectives in a phrase or
sentence and the challenges this presents.
While objects consist of a number of 7 that can be used to recognise other similar
objects, the 8 of a colour cannot be developed using the same approach. As a
consequence, the way colour words tend to be used in English may be 9 to children.
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Questions 10-11
Which TWO of the following statements about the experiment are true?
A The children were unfamiliar with the objects used in the pre- and post-test.
B The children had to place the pre- and post-test objects onto coloured trays.
C The training was conducted by dividing the children into two groups.
D Pre-nominal questions were used less frequently than post-nominal questions in the training.
E The researchers were looking for inconsistencies in children's knowledge ot word order.
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Questions 12-13
Which TWO of the following outcomes are reported in the passage?
A Average results contradicted parental assessment of children’s knowledge.
B Children who were post-tested using post-nominal adjectives performed well, regardless of
the type of training.
C Greatest levels of improvement were achieved by children who were trained and post-tested
using post-nominal adjectives.
D Some children performed less well in the post-test than in the pre-test.
E Some children were unable to accurately name any of the colours in the pre- and post-tests.
Answer Table
1. iv 8. meaning
2. i 9. unhelpful
3. iii 10. A OR C IN EITHER ORDER
4. vii 11. A OR C IN EITHER ORDER
5. training trials 12. C OR D IN EITHER ORDER
6. post-nominal position 13. C OR D IN EITHER ORDER
7. features

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Children Tested to Destruction?

2 The education report describes testing in England as

8 Mick Brookes wants to see earlier student preparation for SATs.

9 David Laws agrees with the opinions of Mick Brookes.

A There is not enough testing at present.

B Tests at primary school are too easy.

C Tests are not given too frequently.

A is extremely critical of the way exams are written.

B accepts many of the points made by the teachers’ leaders.

C thinks education is what the government is most interested in.

D argues it is the teachers’ fault that students are tested so much.

A often spend too much time in the worst kind of places.

B are not so well behaved as in other countries.

C are not as rich as children in 21 other countries.

D could be having much more fulfilling childhoods.

A Children use too many electrical devices.

B Children would learn by being outside more.

C Its too risky for children to be outside on their own.

D The most important thing is childrens safety.

2. high stakes 9. TRUE

3. league tables 10. C

4. teaching standards 11. C

5. more child-friendly 12. D

A Internationally, ‘giftedness’ is most frequently determined by a score on a general intelligence

1 a reference to the influence of the domestic background on the gifted child.

3 a reference to the damaging effects of anxiety.

4 examples of classroom techniques which favour socially-disadvantaged children.

3. F 10. books and activities

4. D 11. internal regulation/self-regulation

5. B 12. emotional awareness

1 A comparison between rats’ learning and human learning

2 A reference to the earliest study in animal learning

3 The discovery of who stripped the pine cone

4 A description of a cost-effectiveness experiment

7 It can be learned from other relevant experiences to use a photocopier.

8 Stripping the pine cones is an instinct of the black rats.

less social remembered Nutcracker

5. FALSE 12. observer

6. TRUE 13. Nutcracker

5 A recent survey found that in British secondary schools

B there was less bullying than in primary schools.

C cases of persistent bullying were very common.

D indirect forms of bullying were particularly difficult to deal with.

6 Children who are bullied

A are twice as likely to commit suicide as the average person.

B find it more difficult to relate to adults.

C are less likely to be violent in later life.

D may have difficulty forming relationships in later life.

B was not in fact made by many schools.

C reflected the school’s lack of concern.

D reflected a lack of knowledge and resources.

8 What were the findings of research carried out in Norway?

A Bullying declined by 50% after an anti-bullying campaign.

B Twenty-one schools reduced bullying as a result of an anti-bullying campaign.

C Two years is the optimum length for an anti-bullying campaign.

D Bullying is a less serious problem in Norway than in the UK.

What steps should schools take to reduce bullying?

In addition, action can be taken through the 11

For example, potential 12 of bullying can be trained to be more self-confident.

A Bullying: what parents can do

B Bullying: arc the media to blame?

C Bullying: the link with academic failure

D Bullying: from crisis management to prevention

3. v 10. (explicit) guidelines