GTU, Department of Foreign Languages

A LEVEL MIDTERM, 2020 FALL

READING – 40 POINTS

READING TEXT 1: RECYCLING AROUND THE WORLD

Garbage is ugly and dangerous. We need to reduce it. That’s why recycling is so important.
Recycling is good for the environment. It reduces waste and pollution. People everywhere are recycling.
What are some new and unusual recycling programs around the world?

Soon in San Francisco, United States, there will be no waste at all. People in that city recycle just
about everything. They recycle metal, plastic, and paper. And instead of throwing away food, dead plants,
and other organic things, they compost them. Composting centers collect organic material. They mix it
together and let it sit for a while. Then people use the composted material to improve soil so plants will
grow better. This is “zero waste,” and it’s the law. In 2009, the city had a plan: reduce waste to zero
percent by 2020. Already by 2010, they were reducing waste by 77 percent. It looks like the program is a
success.

Vending machines usually sell drinks and food. In many places, you put money into a vending
machine, and you get a drink in a plastic container. But in Beijing, China, a new recycling program does the
opposite. People collect plastic containers and put them into vending machines. Then the machines give
them money. The machines sort and crush the bottles, too. These machines are in busy subway stations
around the city, so a lot of people can use them. People hope the machines will reduce plastic waste on
city streets.

Waste is producing energy in some places. In Olso, Norway, for example, energy plants burn waste.
Burning the waste turns it into heat and electricity. Waste, therefore, is an important resource there. In
fact, the country takes waste from nearby countries. There’s one problem, though. The city is running out
of it. Turning waste into energy is becoming popular in many countries, so the city gets less of it from their
neighbors. As a result, Oslo is looking for new ways to get waste.

Because recycling is so important, we need to do it better. Studying successful recycling programs

around the world can help us to do this. Perhaps one day the whole world will be like San Francisco and
have “zero waste.”

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 GTU, Department of Foreign Languages
A LEVEL MIDTERM, 2020 FALL

Refer to the reading “Recycling Around the World” and write the correct answer for each question.
(6x2=12 pts)

1. List TWO reasons why recycling is important.

2. What kind of material gets composted?

3. What do San Franciscans do with compost?

4. What does “zero waste” mean?

5. What happens when people put plastic containers into vending machines in subway stations in China?

6. What is a way of recycling better according to the last paragraph?

Match the main ideas with the correct paragraph numbers or the whole reading. One of them is EXTRA.
(4x2=8 pts)

7. _____ Different countries have different recycling programs. Paragraph 1

8. _____ San Francisco has a program that recycles everything. Paragraph 2

9. _____ China has vending machines that collect plastic containers. Paragraph 3

10. _____ Norway burns waste to make power for the country. Paragraph 4

Paragraph 5

The whole reading

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 GTU, Department of Foreign Languages
A LEVEL MIDTERM, 2020 FALL

READING TEXT 2: WILDFIRES IN AUSTRALIA

Shirley R. was riding the Sydney ferry on a summer afternoon. She looked up at the sky. It was the
middle of the day, but the sky was dark. It was covered with heavy clouds of smoke. Why? Wildfires were
burning throughout the region.

In October of 2013, more than 100 wildfires were burning in the state of New South Wales,
Australia. They were the worst wildfires in the country since the 1960s. The fires started in the wilderness
areas of the state. They gradually moved in nearer to the suburbs of Sydney, the capital. New South Wales
is the most populated state in Australia, so many people were in danger.

The fires caused a lot of damage. They burned more than 300,000 acres (120,000 hectares) of land.
They caused very bad air pollution in Sydney. The fires destroyed 248 homes around the state, and two
people died. In the end, there was more than 85 million (U.S.) dollars of damage.

The individual fires were bad, but experts were worried about something else. They worried that a
mega-fire might happen. A mega-fire is a gigantic fire. It forms when fires in different regions grow and
move toward each other. Then they combine. Strong winds were threatening to combine the individual
fires. Luckily, a mega-fire did not happen. This was because 2,000 fire fighters worked hard to put out the
fires all around the state.

How did these fires start? The weather played an important part. Australia is in the southern
hemisphere. October is a summer month in Australia. The heat was high that October. There was very little
moisture in the air, too. In addition, there were strong winds. These are perfect conditions for starting
fires. High winds broke power lines. This caused sparks to fly and set dry plants on fire. An explosion in an
army training area started another fire. But many scientists think the real cause of the 2013 Australian fires
was climate change. Because the earth is getting hotter in general, Australia had higher than normal
temperatures that summer.

Unfortunately, there may be more wildfires in Australia and other places around the world. This is
because temperatures keep getting higher. However, if we work to fight climate change, we may be able
to avoid terrible fires like these in the future.

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 GTU, Department of Foreign Languages
A LEVEL MIDTERM, 2020 FALL

Refer to the reading “Wildfires in Australia” and write/choose the correct answer for each question.
(5x2=10 pts)

11. Where did the fires start?

12. How many people died in the fires?

13. What stopped a mega-fire from happening?

14. What was the main cause of the 2013 Australian wildfires?

15. Which statement about climate change is correct?

A. Scientists do not know for sure if climate change caused the fires.
B. Scientists are certain that climate change caused the fires.
C. Scientists think that climate change can cause power lines to break.
D. Scientists think that climate change is making Australia cooler.

Fill in the blanks with information from the reading “Wildfires in Australia.” (5x2=10 pts)

16. _____, _____, _____ are perfect conditions for fires.

17. The purpose of the reading is to explain the effects of wildfires on _____ in 2013.
18. Australia may experience more _____ because _____ continue getting higher and higher.
19. Many people were _____ in New South Wales because it was the most _____ state in the country.
20. When strong winds combine individual fires in various areas, a(n) _____ forms.
WRITING – 20 POINTS
Write a paragraph about ONE of these topics (100-150 words). Use tenses (past simple, present
continuous, present simple, future tense etc.) and conjunctions (and, or, but, because) in your paragraph
when necessary.

1. Write a paragraph about your best friend. You can write about:
• Age
• Job
• Personality
• Hobbies or interests
• How you met each other
• Your friendship

2. Write a travel guide about your favorite town for tourists. Write about these things:

• The location
• The town’s history
• The things the town is famous for
• Activities and sights for tourists
• The best places to eat and stay
• Advice for a successful visit