SELF-STUDY 3

LISTENING
PART 1: Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A
NUMBER for each answer.
Customer’s name: 1. ______________________
Customer number: 45993
Product: 2. ______________________
Cost of the product: 3. ______________________
Language(s) in manual: 4. ______________________
Order number: 5. ______________________
Customer’s phone number: 348-28841
PART 2: Circle the letter before the best answers according to the recording
1. What is one of Shawn's concerns about the dog?
A. It can be somewhat aggressive.
B. It eats too much food at one time.
C. The dog might mess on his carpet.
2. What is Shawn supposed to do between 3:00-4:00 p.m. for the dog?
A. Take the dog for some exercise with a Frisbee.
B. Feed him an afternoon doggie treat for a snack.
C. Let the dog watch a program on television.
3. Which point is NOT true about the cat?
A. The cat becomes a little moody at times.
B. The cat enjoys listening to rock music.
C. The cat will run away if it gets outside the house.
4. What can we infer from the conversation on the snake's reaction to Shawn?
A. The snake appears to warm up to him.
B. The snake doesn't care for Shawn at all.
C. The snake is extremely shy of Shawn.
5. What is Shawn's final response to Norman?
A. Norman should seek someone who is well-trained with animals.
B. Norman should take his animals to the zoo for special care.
C. Norman agrees to watch them for a lot of extra money.
PART 3: Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F) or not given (NG)
1. Jackie was surprised that David had problems placing his order.
2. David needs to order the software for his office.
3. Jackie gives him the 25% discount even though he's not ordering online.
4. Jackie tells David that the free microphones are usually not very good quality.
5. David buys both versions of the software.
PART 4: Gap -filling
1. Both Hilary and Mike comment that not everybody ___________ what SETI is.
2. Hilary says that SETI researchers all believe in ___________ planets.
3. She uses the snail example to illustrate __________ involved.
4. NASA sent messages on spacecraft during the ____________.
1
5. Current SETI techniques involve _____________ rather than sending signals.
6. In an ideal world, NASA would like to find ___________ and not just simple plant life.
7. It's possible to get depressed by the continued ___________ but Hilary remains
optimistic.
8. One reason an advanced form of life cannot be detected is that they may have
___________ themselves.
9. Hilary mentions nuclear proliferation, overpopulation and ___________ as examples of
how our civilization puts itself in danger.
10. If Hilary met any aliens, she would ask them how it was possible for them
____________.
LEXICO-GRAMMAR
PART 1: Choose the best options
1. There was a great scandal when it turned out that the Bishop, who was meant to
be_________, had a son.
A celibate B immaculate C singular D separated
2. Mozart was a very______musician and had written several concertos by the age of 10.
A endowed B gifted C expert D qualified
3. According to psychiatrists, many violent criminals harbour feelings of ________and
insecurity.
A shortage B insufficiency C scarcity D inadequacy
4. Many students find the concept of a fourth dimension difficult to_________.
A hold B clutch C grab C grasp
5. Charles Babbage’s ‘difference engine’ is widely regarded as the ________of modern
computers.
A precedent B precursor C ancestor D antecedent
6. During the Asia Tsunami, an ________200.000 people lost their lives.
A estimated B assumed C envisaged D approximated
7. It is ________that the Minister of Justice should be accused of corruption
A sarcastic B sardonic C ironic D cynical
8. You can’t believe a word that woman says –she is a ________liar.
A committed B compulsive C impulsive D devoted
9. You really ought to go to bed –you look absolutely.
A weary B weak C shattered D tired
10. I think that this painting can be ________in a number of different but equally valid ways.
A dissected B interpreted C translated D rendered
11. The photo would have been wonderful had it not been________focus.
A beyond B far from C out of D without
12. Although they are often criticized in the press, single mothers__for only a very small
proportion of government spending.
A account B cause C create D cost
13. He felt _________that at last the surgery was successful.
A relieved B smoothed C resigned D conceded
14. The judge show that the murderer had shown a callous ________for human life.
A disregard B ignorance C omission D neglect
2
15. The countries of the West are noted for their conspicuous ________ of energy.
A absorption B consumption C dissipation D depletion
16. Social workers admitted feeling utterly ________when faced with the problem of drugs and
violence.
A aimless B pointless C clueless D helpless
17. Tracy said she had been very lonely since_____up her boyfriend.
A finishing B ending C stopping D splitting
18. We had a long and exhausted car _________before reaching our final destination.
A journey B trip C voyage D excursion
19. The older inhabitants looked on the festival as an opportunity to bridge the ____between the
newcomers and themselves.
A hole B gap C blank D crevice
20. The tourist office was able to recommend several places of _______interest which we
decided to visit.
A ancient B authentic C historical D historic
PART 2: Find and correct ten mistakes/ errors in the following passage
Having a roof over your head is a basic human need, but there are 1.2 billion people in the
world with adequate housing. This may change thanks for a revolutionary, low-cost use of 3D
printers to construct houses. With 3D printing, materials are joined together or reinforcing by
using a computer-controlled device to create a three-dimensional object. Two companies have
joined forces to try and ease homeless around the world by building affording homes using 3D
printing. Tech company ICON has developed a method for printing a one-floor, 60-square-
meter house out of cement in a day for just $10,000. This is a fraction of both the time and cost
needing to build a similar construction using conventional methods.
ICON has teamed up with the non-profit, internationally housing organization New Story.
Together, they will start building homes in developing countries. Their joint venture will see
100 new homes constructing in El Salvador next year. New Story's co-founder Alexandria Lafci
acknowledged that the 100 homes were just a drop in the ocean. She said: "There are over 100
million people living in slum conditions, in what we call survive mode." She also saw
possibilities for 3D-printed houses to become regular in richer countries in years to come.
However, she said that for the moment: "The tech is ready now to print very high-quality, safe
homes in the places we're building."
PART 3: Fill in each gap with ONE suitable preposition
1. If you draw ____________ income from your investment too quickly, it may not last long.
2. They agreed to the policy ___________ the understanding that it would be to their benefits.
3. Pack it ____________ will you? Your guitar playing is getting on my nerves.
4. Further ____________ the road, some more policies are sure to be introduced.
5. Clever people never bite _______________ more than they can chew.
6. I think it would be fun to swan _______________ Europe in the summer.
7. That old, crazy man once claimed he was descended ____________ William Shakespeare.
8. Without any information to bank on, we landed ourselves ___________ the most boring job
of the lot.
9. She gets so nervous at the thought of examinations that her mind completely blanks
_____________.
3
10. She gambled ____________ the house even though it was not hers.
PART 4: Fill in each gap with the corect form of the word given
Over half a century ago, scientists found that they could record the
electrical signals of the brain at work. What at first appeared a random
hotchpotch of activity became a pattern of elegant waves (1. RHYTHM) 1. ________
determined. Ever since, scientists have wondered whether the secrets of our
thoughts, (2. PERCEIVE) and even (3. CONSCIOUS) itself might be 2. ________
hidden in the patterns of our brain waves. The question of why we have 3. ________
brain waves is, (4. ARGUE), as hotly debated today as it was when the 4. ________
patterns were discovered. But the meaning, and even the existence, of fast
rhythms in the alert brain is highly (5. CONTROVERSY). 5. ________
What is problematic is that you cannot perceive these rhythms directly, they
are so well hidden in the noise created by other brain activity, but many (6. 6. ________
SEARCH) now hold the (7. CONVINCE) that the significance of these 7. ________
brain waves should not be (8. ESTIMATE). 8. ________
The latest suggestion is that the rhythms could be (9. DECIDE) in 9. ________
detecting progresses going on in different regions of the brain. Some
believe that these rhythms might even interact, and in doing so help the
brain to package information into (10. COHERE) thoughts. How we bring 10. ________
together these related signals of the brain is a puzzle as yet unsolved.

READING
PART 1: Choose the best options to complete the passage
Why did you decide to read this, and will you keep reading to the end? Do you expect to
understand every (1)__ part of it and will you remember anything about it in a fortnight’s time.
Common sense (2)___ that the answers to these questions depend on “readability” – whether
the (3)____ matter is interesting, the argument clear and the (4)___ attractive. But psychologists
are discovering that to determine why people read –and often don’t read –technical information,
they have to (5)___ not so much the writing as the reader.
Even the most technically confident people often (6)__instructions for the video or home
computer in favour of hand-ons experience. And people frequently take little notice of
consumer information, whether on nutritional labels or in the small print of contracts.
Psychologists researching reading tend to assume that both beginners and (7) ___ readers read
everything put in front of them from start to finish. There are (8)___ among them about the role
of the eyes, memory and brain during the process. Some believe that fluent readers take (9)____
every letter or word they see; other insist that readers rely on memory or context to carry them
from one phrase to another. But they have always assumed that the reading process is the same:
reading starts, comprehension (10)___, then reading stops.
1 A absolute B one C single D unique
2 A suggests B transmits C advises D informs
3 A subject B topic C content D text
4 A pattern B formation C layout D assembly
5 A examine B inquire C trace D calculate
6 A miss B omit C pass D ignore
4
7 A competent B sufficient C considerable D valid
8 A objections B arguments C contests D separations
9 A up B over C out D in
10 A sets B occurs C issues D establishes

PART 2: Fill in each gap with ONE suitable word

Perhaps the greatest value of biodiversity is yet unknown. Scientists have discovered and named
only 1.75 million species — less than 20 percent of those (1)________ to exist. And of those
identified, only a (2) ________ has been examined for potential medicinal, agricultural or (3)
________ value. Much of Earth’s great biodiversity is (4) ________ disappearing, even before
we know what is missing. Most biologists agree that life on Earth now is (5) ________ with the
most severe extinction episode since the event that drove the dinosaurs to (6) _______ 65
million years ago. Species of plants, animals, fungi and microscopic organisms such as (7)
________ are being lost at alarming rates – so many, in fact, that biologists estimate that three
(8) ________ go extinct every hour. Scientists around the (9) _________ are cataloging and
studying global biodiversity in hopes that they might (10) _______ understand it, or at least
slow the rate of loss.

PART 3: Read the passage and choose the best options to answer the questions
Vincent Van Gogh was born in Groot Zundert, in The Netherlands on March 30th 1853,
to parents Theodorus Van Gogh, a preacher, and Ana Cornelia Carbentus. In 1869 at the age of
16, Van Gogh began a career, not as a painter, but as an art dealer with the firm Goupil & Cie.
He spent 7 years at Goupil & Cie where daily contacts with works of art kindled his
appreciation of paintings and drawings. Gradually Vincent lost interest in his work and decided
to try his hand teaching at a Catholic School for boys. His growing interest religion and his
desire to help the poor eventually drove him to become a clergyman. In 1878, he became a lay
preacher in one of the most impoverished regions in Western Europe: the coal-mining district of
the Borinage in Belgium. Vincent sympathized with the poverty-stricken miners and gave away
most of his food and clothing to ease their burdened lives. His extreme commitment to the
miners drew disfavor from the church, which dismissed him of his post. Vincent, however,
decided to remain with the miners and began to paint them and their families, chronicling their
harsh conditions.
Soon after, thanks to his brother’s financial help, Vincent decided to go to Brussels in
1880 to begin studies in art. During the next 10 years, Vincent painted around 872 painting. In
1882, Vincent began living with Clasina Maria Hoornik, also known as Sien, and her children,
in the Hague. Their volatile personalities and the strain of living in complete poverty created
stormy relationship. Vincent was devoted to Sien and her children, but art always came first. As
his drawing and painting skills advanced, his relationship with Sien deteriorated and they
parted ways in September 1883.
In 1886, Vincent moved in with his brother-Theo in Paris where he met Paul Gauguin
and various other artists, who had a tremendous impact on his ongoing evolution as an artist.
Never truly happy in large cities, Vincent decided to move to Aries Province in the south of
France, where he rented a studio and invited Paul Gauguin to live with him. In December 1888,
Vincent experienced a psychotic episode in which he cut off a piece of his left ear. After his
5
episode, he was in and out of asylums for the next year. It was thought that Van Gogh was
actually epileptic and that is why people thought he had fits of insanity throughout his life. He
painted one of his best-known painting, Starry Night, during one of his stays in the asylum. In
mid-1890, Vincent left the asylum and spent the last few months of his life in Auvers, France.
On July 27th 1890, Vincent Van Gogh shot himself in the chest. Two days later he died with his
younger brother-Theo by his side. He left behind a wonderful array of paintings that make him
one of the most influential painters of our time.
1: The word "chronicling" in paragraph 1 is closest meaning to "_________".
A. recording B. classifying C. suffering D. colouring
2: Van Gogh decided to become a clergyman due to ________.
A. his love of art B. his teachings at the Catholic School for boys
C. the Goupil & Cie art dealer firm D. his developing enthusiasm in Christianity
3: Vincent's extreme commitment to the miners resulted in ________.
A. his painting the miners and their families
B. his sympathizing with the miners
C. the church discharging him of his duty
D. the church giving food and clothing to the miners
4: The word "deteriorated" in paragraph 2 is closest meaning to "_________".
A. detested B. became worse and worse
C. developed D. turned down
5: Vincent and Clasina's relationship was stormy because of ________.
A. his devotion to art B. the stress of living in poor conditions
C. her children D. their tame personalities
6: Vincent first went into an asylum because ________.
A. he painted Starry Night B. he was epileptic
C. he cut off part of his ear D. he was insane throughout his life
7: Vincent went to Aries because ________.
A. he did not get along with his brother, Theo
B. he wanted to live in Gauguin's house in Aries
C. he wanted to live in a bigger city
D. he disliked big cities
8: Vincent moved to Paris ________.
A. in order to evolve as an artist B. to live with his brother
C. to meet other artists D. to live with Paul Gauguin
9: Van Gogh was believed to be ________.
A. insane B. a loner C. epileptic D. an inadequate painter
10: The word "episode" in paragraph 3 refers to "_________".
A. important event in his life B. unbelievable fact
C. unfortunate time D. one of several parts of a story on television
PART 4: Read the passage and do the tasks follow
Thomas Harriot
The Discovery of Refraction
A When light travels from one medium to another, it generally bends, or refracts. The law of
refraction gives us a way of predicting the amount of bending. Refraction has many applications
6
in optics and technology. A lens uses refraction to form an image of an object for many
different purposes, such as magnification. A prism uses refraction to form a spectrum of colors
from an incident beam of light. Refraction also plays an important role in the formation of a
mirage and other optical illusions. The law of refraction is also known as Snell’s Law, named
after Willobrord, Snell, who discovered the law in 1621. Although Snell’s sine law of refraction
is now taught routinely in undergraduate courses, the quest for it spanned many centuries and
involved many celebrated scientists. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that the first discovery
of the sine law, made by the sixteenth-century English scientist Thomas Harriot (1560-1621),
has been almost completely overlooked by physicists, despite much published material
describing his contribution.
B A contemporary of Shakespeare, Elizabeth I, Johannes Kepler and Galilei Galileo, Thomas
Harriot (1560-1621) was an English scientist and mathematician. His principal biographer, J.
W. Shirley, was quoted saying that in his time he was “England’s most profound
mathematician, most imaginative and methodical experimental scientist” . As a mathematician,
he contributed to the development of algebra, and introduced the symbols of ”>” , and ”<” for
”more than” and ”less than.” He also studied navigation and astronomy. On September 17,
1607, Harriot observed a comet, later Identified as Hailey-s. With his painstaking observations,
later workers were able to compute the comet’s orbit. Harriot was also the first to use a
telescope to observe the heavens in England. He made sketches of the moon in 1609, and then
developed lenses of increasing magnification. By April 1611, he had developed a lens with a
magnification of 32. Between October 17 ， 1610 and February 26, 1612 ， he observed the
moons of Jupiter, which had already discovered by Galileo. While observing Jupiter, s
moons ， he made a discovery of his own: sunspots, which he viewed 199 times between
December 8, 1610 and January 18, 1613. These observations allowed him to figure out the
sun’s period of rotation.
C He was also an early English explorer of North America. He was a friend of the English
courtier and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh, and travelled to Virginia as a scientific observer on a
colonising expedition in 1585. On June 30, 1585, his ship anchored at Roanoke Island ， off
Virginia. On shore ， Harriot observed the topography, flora and fauna, made many drawings
and maps, and met the native people who spoke a language the English called Algonquian.
Harriot worked out a phonetic transcription of the native people’s speech sounds and began to
learn the language, which enabled him to converse to some extent with other natives the English
encountered. Harriot wrote his report for Raleigh and published it as A Briefe and True Report
of the New Found Land of Virginia in 1588. Raleigh gave Harriot his own estate in Ireland, and
Harriot began a survey of Raleigh’s Irish holdings. He also undertook a study of ballistics and
ship design for Raleigh in advance of the Spanish Armada’s arrival.
D Harriot kept regular correspondence with other scientists and mathematicians, especially in
England but also in mainland Europe, notably with Johannes Kepler. About twenty years before
Snell’s discovery, Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) had also looked for the law of refraction, but
used the early data of Ptolemy. Unfortunately, Ptolemy’s data was in error, so Kepler could
obtain only an approximation which he published in 1604. Kepler later tried to obtain additional
experimental results on refraction, and corresponded with Thomas Harriot from 1606 to 1609
since Kepler had heard Harriot had carried out some detailed experiments. In 1606, Harriot sent
Kepler some tables of refraction data for different materials at a constant incident angle, but
7
didn’t provide enough detail for the data to be very useful. Kepler requested further
information, but Harriot was not forthcoming, and it appears that Kepler eventually gave up the
correspondence, frustrated with Harriot’s reluctance.
E Apart from the correspondence with Kepler, there is no evidence that Harriot ever published
his detailed results on refraction. His personal notes, however, reveal extensive studies
significantly predating those of Kepler, Snell and Descartes. Harriot carried out many
experiments on refraction in the 1590s, and from his notes it is clear that he had discovered the
sine law at least as early as 1602. Around 1606, he had studied dispersion in prisms (predating
Newton by around 60 years), measured the refractive indices of different liquids placed in a
hollow glass prism, studied refraction in crystal spheres, and correctly understood refraction in
the rainbow before Descartes.
F As his studies of refraction, Harriot’ s discoveries in other fields were largely unpublished
during his lifetime, and until this century, Harriot was known only for an account of his travels
in Virginia published in 1588, ，and for a treatise on algebra published posthumously in 1631.
The reason why Harriot kept his results unpublished is unclear. Harriot wrote to Kepler that
poor health prevented him from providing more information, but it is also possible that he was
afraid of the seventeenth century’s English religious establishment which was suspicious of the
work carried out by mathematicians and scientists.
G After the discovery of sunspots, Harriot’ s scientific work dwindled. The cause of his
diminished productivity might have been a cancer discovered on his nose. Harriot died on July
2, 1621, in London, but his story did not end with his death. Recent research has revealed his
wide range of interests and his genuinely original discoveries. What some writers describe as
his “thousands upon thousands of sheets of mathematics and of scientific observations”
appeared to be lost until 1784, when they were found in Henry Percy’s country estate by one of
Percy’s descendants. She gave them to Franz Xaver Zach ， her husband’s son’s tutor. Zach
eventually put some of the papers in the hands of the Oxford University Press, but much work
was required to prepare them for publication, and it has never been done. Scholars have begun
to study them，, and an appreciation of Harriot’s contribution started to grow in the second half
of the twentieth century. Harriot’s study of refraction is but one example where his work
overlapped with independent studies carried out by others in Europe, but in any historical
treatment of optics his contribution rightfully deserves to be acknowledged.
QUESTION 1-5
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-E and G from the list of headings below. Write
the correct number, i-x, next to the paragraphs.
List of Headings
i A misunderstanding in the history of science
ii Thomas Harriot’s biography
iii Unknown reasons for his unpublished works
iv Harriot’s 1588 publication on North America studies
v Expedition to the New World
vi Reluctant cooperation with Kepler
vii Belated appreciation of Harriot’s contribution
viii Religious pressures keeping him from publishing
ix Correspondence with Kepler
8
x Interests and researches into multiple fields of study
Example Answer
Para A i
1. Paragraph B 2. Paragraph C 3. Paragraph D
4. Paragraph E 5. Paragraph G
QUESTION 6-10
Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for
each answer.
Various modem applications base on an image produced by lens uses refraction, such as
6_____________. And a spectrum of colors from a beam of light can be produced with
7____________. Harriot travelled to Virginia and mainly did research which focused on two
subjects of American 8_____________. After, he also enter upon a study of flight dynamics and
9_______________ for one of his friends much ahead of major European competitor. He
undertook extensive other studies which were only noted down personally yet predated than
many other great scientists. One result, for example, corrected the misconception about the idea
of 10____________.
WRITING
PART 1: Rewriting
1. It was the goalkeeper that saved the match for us.
→Had...................................................................................................................................
2. Tim insisted on being told the complete story.
→Nothing ............................................................................................................................
3. Jane’s husband will be returning from South America quite soon.
→It won’t .............................................................................................................................
4. The permit expires at the end of this month.
→The permit is not .............................................................................................................
5. I don’t really like her, even though I admire her achievements.
→Much as ...........................................................................................................................
6. As an antidote to their disappointment, he bought them ice-cream. (OFFSET)
→ .....................................................................................................................................
7. If interest rates are cut, the economic situation may improve. (REDUCTION)
→ .......................................................................................................................................
8. I don’t personally care if they come or not. (MATTER)
→ ......................................................................................................................................
9. Local residents said they were against the new traffic scheme. (DISAPPROVAL)
→ ......................................................................................................................................
10. Products which seem to lack credibility are not popular. (CALL)
→ ......................................................................................................................................

THE END