BI-IUBM-Minireading (06.19)-Now08, THE UNKNOWN STAR, You hear it said of certain TV personalities that they are famous for being famous, but | hope to make the name of Steven R _Addlesee famous for not being famous. Because Addlesee. a 37-year-old American, is responsible for something new in the field of celebrity worship. He has had the imagination to set up a fan club that honours... himself. Yes, Friends Of A Legend (FOAL) is a society dedicated to the achievements of a man who is not famous at all. And. unbelievably, FOAL has recruited 27 members so far. There are badges, a club magazine and recently there was even a conference ‘Sensing that there could be a lesson here for us all, | wrote to Addlesee and received several back issues of the magazine. Sure enough, it was just ike a standard publication about a rock star. Fans write in to ask questions like 'What are your views on education?’ But whereas rock stars tend to be amazingly successful, with money to burn, this magazine is about a struggle to make ends meet. For example, when a member inquires about Addlesee's plans for Christmas, the answer is, ‘Hopefully, we'll be alive and well with a roof to keep out the snow and the bills paid so that we can make the inside a few degrees warmer than the outside.’ And when asked where his career is going, Addlesee responds, “Somewhere better than itis now, | hope” That career is the key to Steven R. Addlesee. His goal isto establish himself as a professional inker in the American superhero comics industry (an inker is responsible for applying his pen to an artis’s pencil drawings of costumed crime- fighters so that they have a solid black outine, ready for reproduction). But unlike Superman, Addlesee is not a high-fler, and the magazine records the many rejections and setbacks in his career. Once, for instance, he showed his work to Marvel and DC (the two major US comic publishers) and was told to ‘keep dreaming! Years after he is stil meeting with disappointment and dashed hopes. | met the representatives of a new publishing group called Graphik Publications, They signed me up as an inker’, he writes in the magazine. ‘Too bad they went bankrupt before | received any assignments,” And so it goes on - he always keeps his fans informed of the latest career nondevelopments. Phil Francis has moved without leaving a forwarding address. so | assume Serendioity Publications has ceased to exist .. | haven't heard from Dan West for a while s0 I assume | won't be working for him’ There did seem to be a ray of hope, though, when Addiesee'’s wife, Cathy, took an active role in promoting his name and talents, This resulted in numerous commissions and some decent money,’ writes Addlesee. But ... | later learned from Cathy that she paid for a lot of that work herself because the clients didn't pay her. Reading about Addlesee’s frustrations in issue after issue of the magazine is really quite fascinating, and | can understand why people would want to join FOAL. Undoubtedly part of the appeal is Supporting someone who tries but fails - FOAL is not a fan club for the man as such, but for the extent of his determination. And the fact that Addlesee has recently had one or two published pieces of work, commissioned by smaller companies, makes you feel that there is just a chance that he might make the breakthrough and get the job he wanté)Surely Steven R. Addlesee will get a job this time, you think. But fate always says otherwise. 1. What does the writer say about Stephen R.Addlesee in the first paragraph? AD He is typical of everyone who wants to become famous. (B) Itis surprising that so many people have joined his fan club. He is likely to become more famous than some TV personaities. . tis strange that nobody has had the same idea as him before. 2. What does ‘here’ refer to? ‘A the USA, B.the club's conference (G)Addlesee's club this article 3. What did the writer find remarkable about Addlesee's magazine? ‘A. the kind of opinions Addlesee gives its concentration on everyday problems y B. its resemblance to a rock star's magazine kind of questions Addlesee is asked 4. What do we learn about Addlesee’s career in the fourth paragraph? ® Henhas not made much progress init. “©. He has recently started anew career B. He does not have the talent to succeed. D. He is in a very competitive business 5, Qne problem Addlesee describes is that companies he contacts go out of business. “6. people he wants to work for fell him fies people fail to pay him for work that he has done. _D. companies he contacts refuse to look at his work 6 is meant by the phrase ‘decent money"? ‘A money easily eamed B. quick payments C. money paid on time @)good eamings Vv 7. The witer says that people who read Addiesee’s magazine ‘compare their own experiences to his. ‘C)find his experiences hard to believe ) hope that things walt improve for him. D. feel better about their own problems 8, Which of the following best describes the writer's attitude to Adctesee? (Ae sympathizes with him. B, He finds him confusing. C. He is envious of him. ‘B. He finds him ridiculous, VvBI-HIUBM-Mini reading ~Dec08 MINI READING RUNING A BUSINESS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE Five women talk about their experiences setting up a business in the countryside. ‘A. 'My customers are friends,” says CHRISTINE OGAN, who runs a computer-aided design business with a turnover of over £200,000 a year and four fulltime employees. ‘My husband and | moved out of London to the country when our children were small, and | wanted work | could do at home. | had worked with computers before | was married, so my husband suggested | set up a computer-aided design business. It eeded a huge amount of money and things were diffcult in the beginning, But | have been very careful, making sure that | told the bank manager if | was likely to overspend. Being in the house is a big saving, and | can carty on working in the evening if! want. I has remained a small business, We hardly ever deliver work - people from the area tend to collect it from us." B. ‘enjoy being independent, says MAGGY SASANOW, who works from home as a designer of greetings cards. I trained in art at university, and wanted to work in a museum, But wien | married, we went to lve in the countryside, where there wasn't that sort of work. So | decided to set up my own business and | produce a range of 50 greetings cards which | sell to museums. | work in a big room upsiairs. The disadvantage of working from home is that there is always something that needs doing - like mowing the lawn. My business comes completely by word of mouth - | don't advertise at all. People send work down from London as | am cheaper than other artists. Working alone, | don't get to exchange ideas with other people any more, but generally there are more advantages than disadvantages.’ C.‘Ithas been hard at times,” says DELIA TURNER, whose curtain-making business has seen good times and bad. '! started my business eight years ago. Then this type of business was expanding, and in two years my turnover went from £24,000 to £80,000. | used to manage six full-time curtain-makers. But | had to sack them because of the decline in the economy, which 2) was painful because itis not easy to find other jobs in this area. | am right back almost to where | started, making the curtains at home myself, with my husband's help, and using women who work from their homes. | have to be prepared to cut my prices when it's necessary and to look at different opportunities.” ) D. TESSA STRICKLAND runs the editorial and production side of her children's book publishing business from her farmhouse. ‘I moved to the countryside three years ago for two reasons.”The first was financial, because London was so ‘expensive, and the second was because | love the country. | enjoy being able to work when | want to. Eighty per cent of my income comes from deals with Australi, the Far East and North America, so | have to take calls at odd hours. The disadvantage is that it requires discipline to shut the office door. | publish children’s books from cultures nd the world, working with authors and artists. All my professional experience had been in London, so used to feel very alone at first’ 1 of £250,000 a year and employs six people, E, MEG RIVERS runs a cakes-by-post business and a shop with a turover "| started ten years ago at home. | am very interested in health, so | started making fruit cakes, using good ts from friends and relatives, and soon | was sending cakes all over the Country, Seven years ago | rented a small building and everything is made there - we have a baker and assistant, and a professional cake-cer. I don't cook at all now, as | run the commercial sig®. My greatest problem has been the financial side ofthe business, which has been difficult simply because we didn't have an enormous amount of money to set up with 5) some part-time. quality flour and eggs. Then | started getting request Which woman or women 1 has international contacts? 2:3 don't employ anyone? 4-5 were initially short of money? 6. needs to be available outside office hours? 7. has found a separate workplace? 8. has suffered setbacks in her business? 9-10 have changed their roles in their companies? 44-12 Charge less to be able to compete more easily? 13. depend only on personal recommendation? 14, has had to make an unpleasant decision? 15. produces work mostly for local people?BI-HUBM-Minireading (96:09C)-Sep 08 MINI READING (20°) 4 Weather forecasting in India, hurricanes in the Caribbean - severe weather events make news headlines almost weekly. Yet even in lin, which hae comnperatvely ew cline SAFER, te county iss governed by te weather. ie pouring wit an the British mighT slay indoors or goto the cinema; if i's fine they'll have a picnic. Most people nervously study the weather forecast the evening before if they've got an important appointment the following day. Even if they have nothing planned, the weather often affects their mood. For individuals, the worst that can usually happen if the weather catches them on the hop is that they get wet. For business, the effects are far more serious. Airlines and shipping companies need to avoid severe weather and storm-force conditions. “Power companies need to make sure they can supply the demand for electricity in cold weather, farmers plan their harvests around he forecast end food manufacturers Increase their production of salads and other surimer foods when fre weather promise Se who o what dojgmtiBflolsts'- weather freceters as they are mare commonty known - rely on when it comes to producing a forecast? Ninety percent of the information comes from weather satelites, the first of which was launched into ‘space nearly forty years ago and was a minor revolution in the science of forecasting. Up unti then, forecasters had relied on human observers to provide details of developing weather systems. As a result, many parts of the world where there were fev humans around, especially the oceans, were information- free weather areas. Today, however, satellites can watch weather patterns developing everywhere in the UK meteorologists have also relied on releasing four weather balloons a day from eight fixed sites. These balloons measure wind, temperature and humidity as they rise upwards to a height of about 26.000 metres. Some commercial aircraft can also be fitted with a range of forecasting instruments although this system has certain disadvantages. For example, it can provide a great deal of information about the weather on popular routes, such as London to New York, but lttle about the weather on more out-of-the way routes. gypeunens shears stipe can aloo supply beste woater formation as well as important data on wave height. Generally, the inge of these instruments is fairly limited but they ca ‘hich direction rain is coming from, how low the cloud is and give an idea of when the weather system will each lan ‘One forecaster who has made a name for himself is a man called Piers Corbyn, who bases his forecasts on watching the Sun. Most forecasters will offer forecasts for only 10 days ahead, but Corbyn's forecasts are for 11 months. Although most meteorologists believe that there is no scientifc basis for his work, Corbyn's forecasts are used by insurance companies who want to plan months in advance. “4. The weather system affects people's lives in Britain despite being fairly moderate ©. because itis always raining 'B. because it is so changeable D. despite being very seasonal * 2, What does the writer mean by the phrase ‘cafches them on the hop”? A. People run for shelter People are far from home B, People are too busy to notice eople are unprepared 3. Why does the writer list so many different businesses in paragraph 3? to give examples of ordinary people's lives G. to describe the recent effects of the bad weather @e show the extent of the weather's influence ©) to explain how people manage in bad weather v 4. Whyis the first weather satellite described as a ‘minor revolution’? It watched the human observers C. It provided extra forecasts 6 replaced human observers D. It forecast the weather in space / 5. Using airplanes to help forecast the weather is, A. very popular B. not expensive C. quite new @pnotideat ~/ 6. What does ‘t'refer to? ‘A. using balloons. B. using satellites ©osing aircratt D. using ships 7. Corbyn's forecasts using the Sun are considered (Auseless and unscientific © useful by some people helpful but short-term . unhelpful in the long-termBI-HUBM- Reading (06.09C)-Oc105 MINE READING & They call Jamaica the ‘island in the Sun’. and that is my memory of it. Of sunshine, warmth and abundant fruit growing everywhere, and of love. ! was born on 2 April 1980 in St Andrews in Kingston. There were two sisters ahead of me in the family, and though of course | didn't know it, there was excited talk of emigration, possibly to Canada but more usually to England, the land of opportunity. 1 guess that plans were already being made when | was bom, for a year or so later my Dad ieft for London. Two years after that, when he had saved enough money, my Mum went as well and my sisters and | were ‘TeNN ME care of my grandmother. | stayed with her, in her house near the centre of Kingston until | was seven years old, My grandmother, therefore, shaped my ile, and | believe | am all the better for it This was allfairty normal. Emigrating to better yourself was a dream for most Jamaicans, a dream many were determined to fulfil, Families were close and grandmothers were an important part of amily life so, when the iass emigrations began, it ‘seemed perfectly right and natural for them to take over the running of the families left behind. After all, they had the ‘experience. . Grandmothers are often strict, but they usualy also spol you. Atleast, that isthe way it was with mine. She ran the family like @ ‘operation: each of us, no matter how young, had our tasks, remember that we didn't have a tap in the house, but use nal tap from which we had to fill two barrels in our garden. Every morning, before we went to school, we all had to take a bucket appropriate to our size and run a relay from the communal tap to the barrels until theywere full. In the beginning, when I was two or three. | couldn't reach the barrel - but | still had to jon in, My sisters had to sweep the yard before they went to school. My grandmother would give orders to the eldest and these were passed down - as | got older | found this particularly annoying! But | can tell you, no one avoided their duties. My Dad came over from England to see how we were getting on. | hadn't known him when he had lef for Britain, but when 1 saw him | somehow knew that he was my father. He talked to us about the new country, about snow, about the huge city, and we all wanted to know more, to see what it was like. He also told me that | now had a younger brother, which made me feel excited and wonder what he could be like. | didn't know it at the time, but he had come to prepare us for the move to England Six months later my grandmother told me that | was going to join my parents and that she, too, was emigrating. It was the end of my time in the Caribbean, of the sheltered, warm, family life that | had known there, and the beginning of a new and exciting era. London was strange and disappointing. There was no gold on the pavements, as the stories in Jamaica had indicated. Back hhome it had always been warm. Everyone was friendly and said ‘Hello when you passed by on the street: in Kingston you knew everybody and they knew you. Here, it wasn't lke that. The roads were busy, the buildings were grey and dull, with ‘many tal, high-rise blocks. it was totally unlike Jamaica, the houses all small and packed close together. in m grandmother's house I had a big bedroom: here | had to share. At that age it was a great disappointment. Worse was to come; because there followed a very cold winter, and | had never felt cold in my life before. Then came the biggest shock: snow. White flakes came out of the sky and Dad smiled, pointed and said, “That's snow!’ | rushed outside, looked up and opened my mouth to let the flakes drop in. The snow settled on my tongue and it was so cold that I cried. My toes lost all esting, and atthe primary schoo that we attended | wasnt alowed to wear long tausers at my age, The teachers made us go out to playin the playground and | Joined in with all the fun, sliding around in the snow. throwing snowballs, all the usual things. Suddenly, as my shoes and socks got wet and frozen, there came an excruciating pain and! cried with the intensity of it. | didn't know what was happening to me. 1. The writer says that when he was very young, ‘A. he was upset because his parents left Qs parents had decided to leave B. he was very keen to go to England D: his parents changed their plans 2. According to the writer, many people from Jamaica at that time wanted to be free from responsibilty @« had ambitions that were unrealistic 4 3. The yriter says that when he lived with his grandmother ® he was treated like the other children Fhe wanted to be like the other children 4, What does ‘this’ in paragprah 3 refer to? i) being told what to do by his sisters having to sweep the yard before school 5 happened when the writer's father came? .) His father did not tell him why he had come C. His father told him things that were untrue He did not know how to react to his father D. He felt anxious about what his father told him 6. When the writer first went to London, he was disappointed because it was smaller than he had expected C. he had to spend alot of time on his own (B) he had been given a false impression of it D. his new surroundings frightened him 7. What does the writer say about snow? A. He was not sure how to react when he saw it B,) He regretted coming into contact with it 8. Which of the following would be the best tite for this passage? ‘A. Too Many Changes Hard Times, B. A Strange Childhood JFrom Sun To Snow anted to improve their standard of living disliked the country they came from C. he tried to avoid doing certain duties D. he found some of her rules strange having to do duties he found difficult being given orders by his grandmother . He was embarrassed that it made him cry He was not very keen to touch it« iy BT-HUBM-Minireading (06-09C)-Oct08 THE INTERVIEW is for the job-seeker, but my letter carried a warning: "You tive’ tests for potential employes We would like to interview you ...'. Joyful words will be required to take a peyehometrc tes” More than 70 per cent of companies now use these ‘obj oye eantto ove Sue picture of candidates thal removes th unfaimess that may result fom the persona opinions ‘of inter a rate Pr ntervew forthe jb of assistant to a company Publc Relations consultant, my nerves were mack Wes by finding oo ey ode close (oa hospital wih particulary unhappy associations. Luckly, had deliberately got there ear $9 that was ble to calm myself down before a secretary rushed me upstairs for my test Zeeping to. stict ie Imi, 'had fo assess groups of adjectives, marking w ses raoosing one quay out of four when all seemed appropriate was difcut, more aifcut | felt Lhrado't impressed in that either >) de a ee red a week later. My rejection letter was accompanied by a copy of the Private and Confidential Personal Profie Analysis - two and a half sides of paper, based on that 10-minute test Prot Ae ie seeunacy ond te judgemental tone were harder to accept than the fact that | had been turned down for the co ree eet. have no eye for dla: am aso a foresul indvdual.. who leads rater than dct and am meivated by Foancis ae say for ood living, The words ‘impatient, estless’ and ‘strong-wiled’ also came up. ‘A portrait of an ambitious, power-mad person, seid a psychologist friend of 15 years to whom | showed the Profile, She sai didnt apply to me at al Pinow’ myself fo be a careful, industrious checker. | am shy but cheerful and a bit over-anxious to be thought creative, am net power-crazed person. What would ! do, | worried, if| had to take another test for another job, and this unattractiv salty emerged’) eosin? I sent he company a pole disagreement withthe Profile, purely for he record. Mearvfile, | made a few enduites. Had my emotional state of mind made the resuts unypical of me? | had been disturbed to find the ofce so close to a hospital hat held unhappy memories for me. ‘State of mind will have an impact,’ says Shane Pressey, an occupational psychologist, ‘but on the whole its effect will be relatively rrinot. It appears that the test was an inadequate tool for the amount of information they were tying to get out of it, and itis net ‘surprising that there were inaccuracies. ‘Toe late for that particular job, | arranged to sit another psychometric test. This one took much longer and was more therough; the profile was also more detailed and accurate -it showed my eye for detail and the fact that | have a problem meeting deadines Bata pecular result is hard to challenge without seeming unable to take criticism. Itis simply not acceptable to refuse to take a test, case the job candidate seems uncooperative and eccentric. The interview, with its yes/no personal feeling, 's here to stay, but so is objective testing, . 2 of 10-minute tests that result in generalised - and possibly hhich most and which least matched my ideas of myself at than the interview that followed - though If my experience is anything to go by, the job candidate should be suspicious wildly inaccurate - judgements. | accept that it would be costly to ‘arrange for (o-face discussions of “Tesults with all job Candidates, but a telephone call would be preferable to siniply receiving a written ‘profil’ through the post and having no opportunity to discuss its contents ‘Before the writer took the test, she A. fell that she was unlikely to do it very well Design your own website What [love about my job is the varity. | get entities from people all over the world asking me how they should go about erat incr oun webete Ive beeh ésked about so many cubjcts- anything from someone wanting to teach people How to {Now boomerangs to another person selling paper flowers which they make at home in their spare ime Obviously wth all the thousands of websites available at the click of a button, you want to create an impression with your website so that it becomes ‘destination. Not everyone is prepared, however, for the way in which a website can “Become so popular that it actually hs to be closed down When people fst set up their website they probably pay their web advertiser a monthly fee based on the number of hits or page imprescions ther ite receives I they can pay thelt monthly fee without t costing them too much, that is the best that most ebple hope for. One guy, Pete Bennett, whom | helped, wanted to set up a one-stop shop to provide decent images of the Work’s flags. He'd been fascinated by flags since his boyhood and had no idea that thousands of other people shared his my Anyway, in one month his web page had over 13 milion its. As a result his itemnet provider trebled the fee that he was being charged. He wasn'ta rich person and he couldn't afford to spend that amount of money on a hobby without any benefit to himself, so he decided to carry advertising on his site, He found a company which specialises in smaller sites and Wwere added to the pages on his website. So although he doesn't make a huge profit, at least his hobby provides him ‘a small income. a iT you have Specialist skills or experience, it can pay you to sell the products that people want | helped one woman design 2 page to adverise the fact that she tells fortunes; based on the information that her ellents supply her with. if you want her to tell your fortune, you fill ina online - your age date of birth, hobbies, interests and so on and for a small fee she e- rails you back your fortune. You can. print it out and it looks really good, decorated with moons and stars, your zodiac sign and your bithstone. | tried it myself and although 'm not sure | believe it, my future according to her is postive and excting 1 also ound out that for someone born in August, like me, the birthstone is a peridat, a pale green stone which I'd never even heard of {also get a fir number of complaints from people e-mailing me to say that they cat aocess a website, When they cick on the site a message appears on their scteen saying ‘An error has occurred in the script on this page’. This usually happens when ae er 20'S scnovefany eas on the website by using programming tecnigues besed on a scitng ‘anguage This means that unless they really know what they are doing, a ararea re ats has probably rade a ristake n the programming. This is where people like me come in, Mosi_computer_insiruction guides _make_things appear quite Shaightforward, but unless you're very skiled, you'e likely fo run into problems. It's generally worth getting a professional to “Fel you Set up Your stein the TrSt place -otherwise people ike me would be out of work And let's face it, this isa big business. 1. What does Paul Howells enjoy most about his iob? A dealing with different people B. his worldwide contacts _C. teaching design skits (Q) the range of topics 2. What does Paul mean by ‘a must-see destination’? ‘a website that can no longer be seen C. a website that does not make a charge ‘a website’ that everyone wants to visit D. a website which has been well prepared 3, Why did Pete Bennett set up a website on flags? ‘A. He knew lots of people shared his interest . Aweb advertiser wanted to sell flags. B. He hoped to make a lot of money. (©) He'd been interested in flags for years. 4. Why did Pete Bennett accept advertising on his website? A. toattract more hits (Bo repay the huge fee C. to add more interest (D0 help him earn some money 5. Who are the ‘clients’ referred 10? interested people B. web page designers _C. internet providers _D. product advertisers 6. Whydo error messages sometimes appear? A. People make a mistake in their e-mail address. G] People have used a program incorrectly. (B) People try to put too much on the web page. D. People have clicked on the wrong button. It can be quite complicated. A. tis usually fairy easy to do. ‘You should rely on your own skills. ®) You must use a good instruction guide. 8. What does Paul's final sentence suggest about his work? ‘There's a lot of money to be made in designing websites. C. There's a big chance of becoming unemployed B. There are far too many websites on the internet, D. There are more web page designers than necessary. 7. What comment does Paul make about setting up a website? @