Ms Nga_BAV 2021

HOME PRACTICE 5
READING PASSAGE 1

Read the text below and answer the following questions

The price of your newspaper
The average family buys two newspapers and a magazine every week, in addition to receiving up to
three pieces of junk mail. Multiplied by the global population, this amounts to a lot of paper, and
therefore a lot of wood. Although the rise of the home computer has gone a long way in reducing this
excessive use of paper, the demand is still considerable.
Social and economic concerns have over-ridden environmental common sense, and in many western
countries, the woods and forests that once covered the land have long since been cleared away. A
shocking example can be found by looking at the United States, which now has less than two per cent
of its original forest. Other areas, predominantly tropical countries, are now following the same
destructive path. In 1995 over one million hectares of forest in Brazil were cleared, a disturbing
statistic but nonetheless inevitable as timber and other related raw materials are important exports for
countries that often have little other way of supporting themselves. They provide employment for
those who harvest the wood, extract rubber or make products using available materials. With one third
of the world depending on wood for fuel, it is very tempting, though shortsighted, for poorer countries
to exploit the market.
It could be argued, then, that countries with rich wood resources should be fully entitled to exploit
them. However, there are less destructive alternatives for generating an income from the rainforests.
The forest environment provides a popular setting for ecotourism, which includes hiking, camping,
bird watching and other outdoor adventure or nature study activities. International travel is becoming
increasingly popular, making the rainforests accessible for the more adventurous holidaymaker.
No matter what the solution, the rampant spread of deforestation has to be halted. Surveys in
Cameroon, the Ivory Coast, Ghana and Liberia found that forest wildlife accounted for 70 to 90 per
cent of the total animal protein consumed, thus arguing that some indigenous peoples are completely
dependent on forests for food. In many of these countries, wood harvesting is carried out on a
considerably more sensible scale. There appears to be the realisation that selling the wood is a
temporary solution that would inevitably lead to worse problems for the future. Not only would the
traditional food source be gone, but the trees which protected the soil against erosion would be gone.
Landslides would become more common and rainwater would not be absorbed so easily into the
ground, leading to a shortage of freshwater supplies. There is also the global impact, not only from the
burning of the wood but also because trees provide an important role in the recycling of carbon
dioxide and the production of oxygen. Estimates based on the current rate of deforestation have
predicted a 15 per cent rise in the greenhouse effect.
In order to combat the problem of deforestation, it is important to consider its causes in greater detail.
In Brazil, we should look at the unequal and unfair distribution of land — 4.5 per cent of landowners
hold 81 per cent of the country's farmland, and 70 per cent of rural households are landless. With
either no legal claim to the land or ownership of so much, deforestation is inevitable as land owners
profit from the land. This is the point in which the situation is in the hands of government, yet often
the land owners have shown their ability to sway official regulations regarding timber harvesting.
In order to effect a serious reversal of the damage, some governments are taking a more active role in
forest management to protect the environment and employment. The interests of its citizens and its
future must be considered, with policies of replantation and protection. In addition, individuals can
make a difference by practicing green consumerism. Recycled paper is readily available, and we can
all make an effort to purchase the most ecologically sensitive products. Demanding alternative
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products, such as clear-cut free paper and eco-certified lumber, is important in convincing companies
that markets exist for such products.
None of these activities can occur without the raising of public awareness to inform consumers about
the environmental effects of their products, and this is not an easy task. Many people are too
entrenched in their habits or too lazy to change, yet one of the most important ways for a person to
have a positive effect is to reduce his or her consumption of forest and related products. An increase
in the participation of the public in, and the accessibility and productiveness of facilities for, reducing,
reusing and recycling is not only necessary, but also a duty. So next time you buy a newspaper, just
consider the cost.
What are the writer's attitudes to the following points? Use NO MORE THAN THREE
WORDS from the text.
Write P if his opinion is POSITIVE
N if his opinion is NEGATIVE
NG if his opinion is NOT GIVEN.
a. The degree of deforestation in the USA.
b. Less developed countries profiting from their natural resources.
c. The approach taken by countries like the Ivory Coast.
d. The distribution of land in Brazil.
e. The attitude of landowners in Brazil.
f. The reaction of the general public.

READING PASSAGE 2

THE RISKS OF CIGARETTE SMOKE

Discovered in the early 1800s and named ‘nicotine’, the oily essence now called nicotine is the main
active ingredient of tobacco. Nicotine, however, is only a small component of cigarette smoke, which
contains more than 4,700 chemical compounds, including 43 cancer-causing substances. In recent
times, scientific research has been providing evidence that years of cigarette smoking vastly increases
the risk of developing fatal medical conditions.
In addition to being responsible for more than 85 per cent of lung cancers, smoking is associated with
cancers of, amongst others, the mouth, stomach and kidneys, and is thought to cause about 14 per cent
of leukemia and cervical cancers. In 1990, smoking caused more than 84,000 deaths, mainly resulting
from such problems as pneumonia, bronchitis and influenza. Smoking, it is believed, is responsible
for 30 per cent of all deaths from cancer and clearly represents the most important preventable cause
of cancer in countries like the United States today.
Passive smoking, the breathing in of the side-stream smoke from the burning of tobacco between
puffs or of the smoke exhaled by a smoker, also causes a serious health risk. A report published in
1992 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emphasized the health dangers, especially
from side-stream smoke. This type of smoke contains more smaller particles and is therefore more
likely to be deposited deep in the lungs. On the basis of this report, the EPA has classified
environmental tobacco smoke in the highest risk category for causing cancer.
As an illustration of the health risks, in the case of a married couple where one partner is a smoker and
one a non-smoker, the latter is believed to have a 30 per cent higher risk of death from heart disease
because of passive smoking. The risk of lung cancer also increases over the years of exposure and the
figure jumps to 80 per cent if the spouse has been smoking four packs a day for 20 years. It has been
calculated that 17 per cent of cases of lung cancer can be attributed to high levels of exposure to
second-hand tobacco smoke during childhood and adolescence.
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A more recent study by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) has
shown that second-hand cigarette smoke does more harm to non-smokers than to smokers. Leaving
aside the philosophical question of whether anyone should have to breathe someone else’s cigarette
smoke, the report suggests that the smoke experienced by many people in their daily lives is enough
to produce substantial adverse effects on a person’s heart and lungs.
The report, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (AMA), was based on the
researchers’ own earlier research but also includes a review of studies over the past few years. The
American Medical Association represents about half of all US doctors and is a strong opponent of
smoking. The study suggests that people who smoke cigarettes are continually damaging their
cardiovascular system, which adapts in order to compensate for the effects of smoking. It further
states that people who do not smoke do not have the benefit of their system adapting to the smoke
inhalation. Consequently, the effects of passive smoking are far greater on non-smokers than on
smokers. This report emphasizes that cancer is not caused by a single element in cigarette smoke;
harmful effects to health are caused by many components. Carbon monoxide, for example, competes
with oxygen in red blood cells and interferes with the blood’s ability to deliver life-giving oxygen to
the heart. Nicotine and other toxins in cigarette smoke activate small blood cells called platelets,
which increases the likelihood of blood clots, thereby affecting blood circulation throughout the body.
The researchers criticize the practice of some scientific consultants who work with the tobacco
industry for assuming that cigarette smoke has the same impact on smokers as it does on non-
smokers. They argue that those scientists are underestimating the damage done by passive smoking
and, in support of their recent findings, cite some previous research which points to passive smoking
as the cause for between 30,000 and 60,000 deaths from heart attacks each year in the United States.
This means that passive smoking is the third most preventable cause of death after active smoking and
alcohol-related diseases
The study argues that the type of action needed against passive smoking should be similar to that
being taken against illegal drugs and AIDS (SIDA). The UCSF researchers maintain that the simplest
and most cost-effective action is to establish smoke-free work places, schools and public places.

Questions 1 – 4
Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in the reading passage?
In boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet write
YES if the statement reflects the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
1. Thirty per cent of deaths in the United States are caused by smoking-related diseases.
2. If one partner in a marriage smokes, the other is likely to take up smoking.
3. Teenagers whose parents smoke are at risk of getting lung cancer at some time during their lives.
4. Opponents of smoking financed the UCSF study.

READING PASSAGE 3
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Questions 1-8

Look at the following people and the list of reported findings below.

Match each person with the correct finding, A-K.

1. Rothschild 5. Angrist

2. Alper 6. Shade

3. Woodfield 7. Kirkup

4. Turkle 8. Li
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Questions 9-15

Complete the sentence below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

9. The term (9)........................................ refers to a company that is equally happy to promote

workers of either sex.

10. It is clear that ICT developments in most fields are driven by (10).............................

11. The range of institutions providing high level instruction today is known as a
(11)..................................

12. Women who are working find it hard to get their (12)...........................right

13. The way workers of both sexes now face having to fit children, work and continued
learning into their lives called the (13)......................

14+15. Women are thought to be suited to computer work as it involves developing

(14)....................... and (15).............................

Questions 16-20

Complete the summary below with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the
reading passage

It is said that females do not have to achieve high level of (16)....................to make use of
technology even though that lack of (17)..........................is not commendable. Quite a few
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researches have been carried out to examine the co-relation between women’s employment
and education opportunities and ICT. However hard the women try to catch up with men in
job fullfilment in new industries, they are still left behind in working and promotion land. It is
supposed that males have viewed it as (18).......................................while females have not.
Even though the term (19)..............................is frequently mentioned in regard to
employment and promotion chances in new industries, women are not treated equally as
expected. Conducting studies on the way people interact with computers, researchers found a
(20)............................of recognising the relationship with this technology, which is supposed
to go with a materialist view.
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KEY

Reading Passage 1
a. N
b. N
c. P
d. N
e. NG
f. N
Reading Passage 2
1 NO
2 NOT GIVEN
3 YES
4 NOT GIVEN
Reading 3
1. E 9. gender blind
2. I 10. economic force
3. K 11. multiversity
4. J 12. work/life balance
5. B 13. third Shift
6. F 14. networks
7. D 15. relationships ( 14 &15 can be reverse order)
8. H 16. computer science qualifications
17. ICT skills
18. a desirable area
19. gender blind
20. subtle way

Vocabulary 4 The body and Health

Ms Nga_BAV 2021