Academic

Reading t hour
ReadingpassageI

Youshouldspendabout20 minuteson Questions1-13, which are basedon

ReadingPassage1.

ThePowerof
Light revealsthe world to us. It setsour
biologicalclocks.It triggersin our brainsthe
sensations of colour.Light feedsus, supplying
the energyfor plantsto grow It inspiresus
with specialeffectslike rainbowsand sunsets.
Light givesus life-changingtools, from
incandescent bulbs to lasersand fibre optics.
There hasbeenlight from the beginning.
lThere will be light, feebly,at the end. In all its
ro forms, visible and invisible,it saturatesthe
universe.Light is more than a little bit
inscrutable.Modern physicshasslicedthe stuff
of natureinto eversmallerand more exotic
constituents,but light won't reduce.Light is
light - pure, but not simple.No one is quite
surehow to describeit. A wave?A particle?
Yes,the scientistssay.Both.
It is a measureof light's importancein our
daily lives that we hardly pay any attention to
zo it. Light is almostlike air. It's a given.A human
would no more linger over the conceptof light
than a fish would ponder the notion of water.
There are exceptions,certainmomentsof red is just the brain'sinterpretationof a
suddenappreciationwhen a particular specificwavelengthof light with creststhat are
manifestationof light, a transitory glory, roughly 700 nanometresapart. A theatrical
appears:a rainbow,a sunset,a flashof lighting director told me that she'sdoing her
lightning in a dark sky, the shimmering surface +o job bestwhen no one noticesthe lights at all.
of the seaat twilight, the dappledlight in a Her goal is to createan atmosphere,a mood -
forest,the little red dot from a professor'slaser not to showoff the fancy new filters that create
30pointer. The flicker of a candle,flooding a coloursof startlingintensity.
room with romance.The torch searchingfor Light is now usedfor everythingfrom laser
the circuit breakersafter a power cut. eyesurgeryto telephonetechnology.It could
Usually,though, we don't seelight, we evenbecomethe main power sourcefor long-
merelyseewith it. You can't appreciatethe distancespacetravel. The spaceshipwould have
beautyof a roseif you ponder that the colour an ultrathin sail to catchthe 'wind' of light
beamedfrom an Earth-basedlaser.In theory
sucha craft could accelerateto a sizeablg
fraction of the speedof light, without cdrrying
fuel.
Vhat we call light is really the samething in
a different set of wavelengthsasthe radiation
that we call radio wavesor gammarays or x-
rays.But visiblelight is unlike any other
fundamentalelementof the universe:it
directly,regularlyand dramaticallyinteracts
with our senses.Light offershigh-resolution
information acrossgreat distances.You can't
hearor smell the moonsof Jupiter or the Crab
Nebula. Somuch of vital importanceis
communicatedby visible light that almost
everything from a fly to an octopushas a way to
captureit - an eye,eyes,or somethingsimilar.
It's worth noting that our eyesare designed
to detectthe kind of light that is radiatedin
abundanceby the particular star that giveslife
to our planet: the sun. Visible light is powerful
stuff, moving at relatively short wavelengths,
which makesit biologicallyconvenient.To see
long, stretched-outradio waves,we'd haveto
havehuge eyeslike satellitedishes.Not worth
the trouble! Nor would it makesensefor our
eyesto detectinfrared light (though some
deep-seashrimp near hot springsdo seethis
way). \7e'd be constantlydistracted,becausein
thesewavelengthsany heat-emittingobject
glows. That would include almost everything
aroundus.
There is alsodarknessin the daytime:
shadows.There are many kinds of shadows,
more than I realizeduntil I consulted
astronomerand shadowexpert David Lynch in
TopangaCanyon,up the coastfrom Santa
Monica, California.Lynch points out that a
shadowis filled with light reflected from the
sky,otherwiseit would be completelyblack.
Black is the way shadowson the moon lookei
to the Apollo astronauts,becausethe moon has
no atmosphereand thus no sky to bouncelight
into the unlit cranniesof the lunar surface.
Lynch is a man who, when he looks at a
rainbow,spotsdetailsthat eludemost of us. He
knows, for example,that all rainbowscomein
pairs,and he alwayslooks for the second
rainbow: a faint, parallelrainbow,with the
coloursin reverseorder. The interveningregion
is darker,That areahasa name,wouldn't you
know: Alexander'sdark band. As I took in the
spectacularview acrossthe canyon,Lynch
explainedsomethingelse:'the reasonthose
mountainsover there look a little blue,' he said,
indicatingthe rangethat obscuresthe Pacific,
'is becausethere'ssky betweenhereand those
mountains.It's calledairlight.'
\7hat next for light? rJflhatnew application
will we see?\flhat orthodoxy-bustingcosmic
information will starlightdeliver to our
l t0 telescopes? I7ill the rotating discoball ever
makea dance-floorcomeback?Aboveall, you
haveto wonder:will we everfully understand
light?
There havebeenrecentheadlinesabout
scientistsfinding ways to make light go faster
than the speedof light. This is what science
fiction writers and certain overly imaginative
folks havedreamedof for decades.If you could
makea spaceshipthat wasn'tbound by
120 Einstein'sspeedlimit, they fantasized,you
could zip aroundthe universefar more easily.
Lijun W'ang,a researchscientistat
Princeton,managedto createa pulseof light
that went fasterthan the supposedspeedlimit.
'W'ecreatedan artificial medium of cesiumgas
in which the speedof a pulseof light exceeds
the speedof light in a vacuum,' he said, 'but
this is not at oddswith Einstein.' Even though.
light can be manipulatedto go fasterthan light,
130 matter can't. Information can't. There's no
possibilityof time travel.
I asked\fang why light goes 186,282miles a
secondand not someother speed.'That's just
the way natureis,' he said.There are scientists
who don't like'why'questionslike this. The
speedof light is just what it is. That's their
belief. \flhether light would move at a different
velocity in a different universeis something
that is currently outsidethe scopeof
140 experimentalscience.It's evena bit 'out there'
for the theorists.
S7hat'scertainis that light is going to
remainextremelyusefulfor industry,science,
art, and our daily,mundanecomingsand
goings.Light permeatesour reality at every
scaleof existence.It's an amazingtool, a
carrier of beauty,a giver of life. I can't help
but saythat it hasa very bright future.
Questionsl-5

Readingpassage3 describesa number of causeand ffict relationships.Match each

Cause(1-5) in List A, with its Effect (A-H) in List B.

Write your aflswers(A-H) in boxes1-5 on your answersheet.

Thereare more Effectsin List B than you will need,soyou will not useall of them.

ListA Causes
I Much of the time, visible light is all around us.
2 Light can sometimesappear in an interesting way.
3 Visible light carries a lot of essentialinformation.
4 Without an atmosphere,light is not reflected onto solid surfaces.
5 Only light can exceed186,282miles per second.

List B Effects
A Nearly all living creaturescan detect it.
B There is a dark gap between rainbows.
C Light from Earth could power a spacecraft.
D Shadowsare totally black.
E We cannot return to the past.
F We don t really notice or think about it.
G Certain creaturescan detect infra-red light.
H We instantly become aware of it.
Questions6-10
T
Do thefollowing stdtementsagreewith the views of the writer in ReadingPassage
1?

In boxes6-10 on your answersheetwrite

yES if the statementagreeswith the viewsof the writer

NO if the statementdoesnot agreewith the views of the writer

NOT GfyEN if thereis no information about this in thepassage

6 It is difficult to find a single word to say exactly what light is.

7 Thinking about the physicsof light can make an object seemeven more
beautiful.

S Light from the sun makesit possiblefor life to exist on other planets.

9 It is more practical for humans to detect visible light rather than radio
waves.

l0 David Lynch sometimesnotices things that other people don t.

Questionsll-13

Answer thefollowing qilestionsusingNO MORE THAN THKEEWORDS for each

answer.

Write your answersin boxes11-13on your answersheet.

ll What appearancecan the land havewhen seenfrom a distance?

12 Inwhat have some people imagined travelling?

13 In what substancedid light go faster than previously thought possible?

 Readingpassage
2
Youshouldspendabout20 minuteson Questions14-27, which are basedon
ReadingPassage
2.
'You could be forgivenfor thinkingiust about every
man and his dog hasan MBA these days,'says
Anthony Hesketh,of LancasterUniversity
managementschool.Weknow what he means.
Suchis the worldwide growth and awarenessof
the MBA that this icon of careeradvancementand
high salarieshasalmost becomesynonymouswith
postgraduateeducationin the businesssector.
In reality,manypostgraduatealternativesto an
MBA exist.Thetotal number of MBA programmes
worldwide is around 2,400,while other masters
and advancedcoursesin the whole spectrumof
businesseducationadd up to more than 10,000.
Two key distinctionsexist in matchingwhat
aspiringstudentswant with what the universities
offer:first is generalization
versusspecialization,
and secondis pre-experienceversuspost-
experience,and the two distinctionsare
interlinked.Carol Blackman, of the Universityof
zoWestminsterschoolof business, explainsthe first
distinction.'Specialist
mastersprogrammes are
designedeither for careerpreparationin a clearly
definedtype of job or profession,or are intended
to developor enhanceprofessionalcompetencein
individuals
who are alreadyexperienced.The aim is
to increasethe depth of their knowledgein the
specialist
area.TheMBA,on the other hand,is a
generalmanagementprogrammewhich provides
practisingmanagerswith an opportunity for
30personaldevelopmentwith a broadly-based
introductionto all managementsubjectareasand
the theory and practiceof management'.
Specialistknowledge,however,is not everything
when it comesto findinga lob. Surveysby the
UK'sAssociationof GraduateRecruiters(AGR)
repeatedlyconfirm that what employersseek,and
continueto find scarce,are the personalskillsthat
will makegraduatesvaluableemployees.In fact,
 when recruitingnew graduates,most employers
+oconsideredthese skillsmore important thin
specialistknowledge.Whatemployersseek most
from new graduatesare enthusiasmand self-
motivation,interpersonalskills,team working and
good oral communication.Of the nineteenskills
consideredimportant in AGR's2002 survey,just
three require specialisteducation- numeracy,
computer literacyand foreign languages - and
these are low on the list.
Nunzio Quacquarelli, chief executiveof
so topcareers.net, takesthis further.'Clearly,salary rooUSGSBis suitablefor studentswith a good first
differentialsfor those with a seconddegree,but no
significantwork experience,do not matchthose of
a good MBA and a number of yearsin the
workplace.Accordingto the AGR research,about
14%of employersoffered a better salaryto those
new graduateswith a masters- or evena
doctorate.ln my view,the salaryimprovementof
l0% to 15%largely reflects the recruit! age and
earningexpectancyrather than the increasein
eo humancapitalperceivedby the employer.Contrast rro designedto developthe businessknowledge,
this with our latesttopmba.comMBA Recruiters
Surveyresultswhich showsthat the averagesalary
paidto an MBA with good work experiencein the
US and Europeis US$80,000- around two and a
halftimes the averagestartingsalaryfor a young
postgraduate.'
Anthony Heskethposesthe questionwhether
holdinga seconddegreemay evenbe a
disadvantage.'l haveseenmany reports over the
70years suggestintthat employersview
postgraduates as eminentlylessemployablethan
those with a first degree.Drive, motivationand
careerfocus,not to mention ability,are what
employersvalueand are preparedto payfor.A
postgraduateimmediatelyhasan uphilltask
explainingan additionalyear,or three years,of
study.'
This view may seem cynical,but, if you are
about to graduateand are consideringa further
ao degree,you shouldtake the realitiesinto account
and ask yourselfsome hard questions:
. ls the qualificationI am consideringgoingto
impressemployers?
. ls it goingto give me the edgeover less
qualifiedcandidates?
. ls my considerationof a seconddegree
becauseI am not sure of my career
direction?
. Wili employersconsiderthat I lack drive
eo and ambition becauseI havedeferredmy
aftemptsto find a worthwhile job?
Many postgraduateoptions exist that can help
you to acquirethe personalskillsthat employers
in the world of businessare seeking.Consider,for
example,the offeringsof Strathclydeand Durham
universities.
Accordingto Dr Nic Beech,of the University
of Strathclydegraduateschool of business:'The
MScin businessmanagement(MBM),offeredat
degree- particularlya non-business first degree-
but little or no businessexperience. Our MBM
offersthese graduatesthe opportunity to combine
the specializationof their first degreewith a
generalmanagementqualification- something
employersrecognizeproducesa well-rounded
individual.
Graduatestell us that the MBM allowsthem to
accesssectors previouslyout of reach.lt is
practicalexperienceand personalskillswhich
employersare seeking.'
At the Universityof Durham businessschool,
SheenaMaberlyis careersdevelopmentofficer;she
too seeshighvaluein qualifications such as the
Durham MA in management(DMAM). Shesays:
'Whatever your first degree,from anthropology to
zoology,a postgraduatebusinessdegreecan help
you gain a competitiveedgein an over-crowded
rzojob market.lf you'rejust startingout in your
career,a businessmastersdegreelike the DMAM
will enableyou to developskillsdirectly relevant
to employers'needs.So,extendingyour studies
into managementcan makeyou better equipped
to'hit the groundrunning'- and that! what
employersexpect.Recruitersare highlyselective
and a vocationalqualificationis additionalevidence
of motivation.'
Beforecommittingyourselfto postgraduate
r30study,weigh up the options.Perhapsthe best route
might be to take a job now and planto do an
MBA a few yearsdown the line?Try to get
sponsorshipfrom a company.Or go for a well
researchedand thoroughlythought through
mastersthat will help you land a good job.
Ultimatelythe choice is yours,but focus on the
future,and on your target employerl expectations.
Questions14-16

Do thefollowing statementsagreewith the information given in ReailingPassage

2?

In boxes1+16 on your answersheetwrite

TRUE if the statementagreeswith the information

FALSE if the statementcontradictsthe information

NOT GfyEN if there is no information on this

14 British employersare more interestedin what potential recruits can do than

what they know.

15 A recruit with a specialistmastersusually earnsas much as an experienced

employee with a good MBA.

16 The writer claims that undergraduatesoften plan to do a mastersbecause

they cant decidewhat careerto follow.

Questions17-21

The text quotesvarious individuals. Match thefour peopleA-D with thefour

points made in Questions17-21. Youmay useany of the peoplemore than once.

Write the appropriateletter (A-D) in boxes17-21 on your answersheet.

17 Employeeswith postgraduatequalifications earn more becausethey are

older and expect more.

18 It can be difficult to convince an employer that the extra time spent at

university was necessary.

19 One type of coursefocuseson a particular aspectof business,whereasthe

other is more generalin approach.

20 Graduateswho have neither worked in nor studied businessare suited to

our programme.

21 There is evidencethat companiesmay prefer to employ people without a

mastersdegree.

List of people
A Anthony Hesketh
B Carol Blackman
C Nunzio Quacquarelli
D Nic Beech

Test4 109
Questions22-27
Completethe sukmary below.ChooseONE word from ReadingPassage
2 for each
answer,

Write your answersin boxes22-27 on your answersheet.

According to SheenaMaberly, a seconddegreecan improve the

22 ............... prospectsof graduatesin any subject.Tirkinga
managementMA givesthem the 23 ............... companiesare looking
for, and lets them get straight on with the job as soon as they start work. It also
showsthey have the24 that companiesseek.
First, however,it is important to considerthe25 .............:
whether to
start right away on a carefully chosenpostgraduatecourse,or to do so after a
few years'work, preferably with financial assistancefrom the
26 ............... . Whicheverthey decide,they should think about the
27 ............... and what the companywants.
Reiding passage3

Youshouldspendabout20 minuteson Questions2840, whicharebasedon

ReadingPassage
3.

Questions28-33

3 hassevenparagraphsA-G.
Readingpassage

Choosethe most suitableheadingsfor paragraphsEG from thelist of

headingsbelow.

Write the correctnumber i-x in boxes28-33 on your answersheet.

List of headings
i Looking at a particular decade
ii Studying trees frozen in ice
iii Bringing different studiestogether
iv Recordsof different speciescompared
v What dendrochronology is
vi A war that affected the climate
vii Showing how trees record volcanic activity
viii A unique record of other times and places
ix Local records coveringthousands ofyears
x How tree rings are formed

28 ParagraphB
29 ParagraphC
30 ParagraphD.
31 ParagraphE
32 ParagraphF
33 ParagraphG
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In the jungle of scientific debate, you
cannot always seethe wood for the trees.
But in climate change,the wood itself
sometimesholds the key. Imagine an annual
register of a year's sunshine and rainfall and
frost, kept up to date with perfect accuracy
almost everywheresouth of the tundra and
north of the tropics, and availablefor
inspection not just at any time in life but,
quite often, for centuriesafter death. The
register is, of course, the annual growth
rings of trees.Match the rings from young
trees with those from old forest giants and
you have a centuries-longmeasureof the
march of the seasons.Match the rings from
old trees with old cathedral rafters and you
have a still longer chronology - and a
sciencecalled dendrochronology.
Ire i
Dendrochronologists,scientistswho stuoy
the growth of rings in trees,have
successfullyconstructed long tree-ring
records by overlapping the patterns of wide
and narrow rings in successivelyolder
timber specimens.There are now a dozen or
so chronologiesin the world that date back
more than 5,000 years.These records,
normally constructed in a restricted area,
using a single speciesof tree, are year-by-
year records of how the trees reactedto
their growth conditions - an environmental
history from the trees' point of view.
llrtrr ? i:l :ll':r,r::::::i,:rli r1.ii:::
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Becausetree-ring chronologies are
constructed on a regional basis,there has, in
the past, been a tendency for
dendrochronologiststo think local.
However, the successof dendrochronology
as an international researchtopic means
that there are now quite a lot of
chronologiesavailablefor study.As the
chronologies are dated absolutely,it is
possibleto compare the records from
different areasyear by year.Recently,an
analysis of 383 modern chronologies,drawn
from a vast area acrossEurope, northern
Eurasiaand North America was published.
The authors, Keith Briffa and colleagues,
observedthat the maximum late-wood
density of the growth rings in each year was
related to the temperature in the growing
season.Their analysis spanned600 years,
back to AD 1400, and presenteda summer
temperature record reconstructedfrom the
huge grid of preciselydated ring densities.
'What
they noticed was that the years of
really low density - the cool summers-
were directly associatedwith large explosive
eruptions, as known from historical sources
and from dated layersof acid in the
Greenland ice record. Greenland ice is
kilometres thick and is made up of the
compressedsnowfall of tens of thousands
of years,so the ice record can be read in
almost the same way as tree-rings.I shall
use this study as an exampleof what else
tree-ringscan tell us.
IEEI lf"="FiWWffr#ffi
The study provides a yearby-year estimate
of temperatures,together with the dates of
somemajor volcanoes.It is a nice clean
story - volcanoesload the atmospherewith
dust and aerosoland reflectback sunlight,
cooling the earth'ssurface.This cooling
leads to variations in the density of growth
rings in northern conifers. Becausethere are
a lot of other records,it is possibleto test
the findings from the conifer density record.
fffii'-=rsFW,F iffi,Wffiffi ffiilfl
'Wecan, for example, look at what
Europeanoak was doing acrossthe same
600-yearperiod. \fas oak respondingin the
sameway as the conifers?The'oak
chronology'is the mean of eight regional
oak chronologiesacrossa strip of land from
Ireland to Poland. It representshoq on
average,hundreds of millions of oaks grew.
'What
we seefrom this comparison is that
the oaks clearly do respond to the volcanoes
in somecases(in 1.602,1740 and 1816,for
instance),but nothing like so clearlyin
others.Immediatelyit becomesapparent
that the conifers tell only part of the story.
There are many downturns in oak growth,
and only a few are related to the conifer
record.The oaks were quite capableof
being more stressedin yearswhere the
conifers were not affected.The point of
this, however,is not to argue about the
quality of global cooling; the point is to
show what dendrochronology can do.
Ire',#iHe,€.sffiffi'#,i4ffiiF.ffi1
Take the caseof 1816,calledthe 'year
without a summer' becauseof the terrible
unseasonable cold and the crop failuresthat
ensued.It has long beenknown that the
primary causeof the cooling was the
massiveeruption of Tambora, eastof Java,
in 1815.However,there was a lot more
going on in the run-up to 1816.Bald cypress
trees in Tennesseeshow a major growth
anomaly,with rings up to 400 per cent
wider than normal, in the yearsfollowing a
huge earthquake in 1811-12 in Eastern
America. But thereis a volcanicacid layer
in severalGreenland and Antarctic ice cores
in 1809-10,as well as in 1815-16.So here
we have a combination of a highly unusual
quake in an areaof the USA not normally
affected by earthquakes,and at least two
volcaniceruptions,including Tambora,
which is widely regardedas the largest in
the last 10,000years.According to Briffa,
the period 1810-20was the coldestin the
last millennium, so we begin to seea
combination of three unusualelementsin
lessthan ten years- exceptional
earthquake,exceptionalvolcaniceruption,
and exceptionalcold. Given that the defeat
of Napoleon'sinvasionof Russialn 1.812
was famously attributed to 'General
\finter', one wonders whether a natural
seriesof eventsactually helped to change
the courseof modern history.
(CWti.,--=l==-'€5F.#riffi
Obviously,the caseof 1816and the years
just before and after it is relatively recent
and well documented.However,
dendrochronology allows us to investigate
the effectsof such eventsgeographically,
indeedglobally.'Wecan interrogatethe
trees in areaswhere there is no historical or
instrumental record. Further back in time,
dendrochronology is almost the only way
to reconstfuct abrupt environmental events
and perhaps throw new light on far darker
momentsin human history.Werethere just
political forcesat work in the Dark Ages,
or did violent natural eventsalso take a
hand, tipping the balanceby darkeningthe
skiesand loweringthe temperature?The
treeswere there too, and kept a record.
The wood hewn from them and preserved
through the centuriesis slowly beginning to
yield at leastcircumstantialevidencethat
could support someof the stories- think
of the Arthurian wasteland,or the plagues
of Egypt - so far told only in enigmatic
artefacts,or in legends,epics,and religious
chronicles.
Questions34-36

Which THKEE of thefollowing arefeaturesof dendrochronology?

Write the appropriateletters A-F in boxes34-36 on your answersheet.

A It provides a complete record of the weather in any part of the world.

B It involves the study of ring patterns in trees of different ages.
C A pieceof wood cut a long time ago can form part of the record.
D Studiesshow that trees of the sametype all have the samenumber of rings.
E As a scienceit has existedfor over 5,000years.
F The oldest records are mostly of one type of tree in one place.

Questions37-40

Choosethe correctlettersA, B, C or D. Write your Answersin boxes37-40 on your

answersheet.

37 What was the result of extending the researchto the European oak?
A It added information to that obtained from studying conifers.
B It contradicted all the findings from the study of conifers.
C It showed exactly the sameresults as those for conifers.
D It proved that the world has cooled considerablysince 1400AD.

38 Which of thesehappened as a result of the eruption at Tambora?

A Agricultural production fell significantly.
B There was an earthquakein North America.
C Part of the polar ice capsmelted.
D The outcome of a war changed.

39 By studying tree rings, we may discover

A whole new areasof human history.
B proofofevents said to havehappened.
C how earlier civilizations treated the environment.
D the truth about the nature of religious belief.

40 A suitable title for this passagewould be

A How volcanoesand earthquakeschangedhistory
B The influence of trees on the world's climate
C The role of treesin human history
D How trees can tell us more about the past