I.

LISTENING (50 points)

Part 1. For questions 1-5, listen to a talk about office life and decide whether these statements are
True (T), False (F) or Not Given (NG). Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes
provided.
1. Antony Slumbers believed that employee productivity was the reason for the establishment of the office.
2. Open-plan offices were characterized by constant distraction and work inefficiency.
3. Unexpected meetings have yet to be proven to foster sudden inspiration or recognition.
4. Lack of monitoring from bosses is assumed to obstruct straightforward exchange.
5. Some research has pointed out that firms opting out of rigidity tend to draw the best workforce.
Your answers:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Part 2. For questions 6-10, listen to part of a radio programme presented by author and foodie,
Pat Chapman, and answer the questions. Write NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS taken from the
recording for each answer.
6. What does Pat liken curry in Britain nowadays to?
..............................................................................................................................................................
7. What did Britain suffer from in the period after the Second World War?

..............................................................................................................................................................
8. What did immigrants to Britain have to arrange for to be imported?

..............................................................................................................................................................

9. Why did eating curry become compulsive for most people?

..............................................................................................................................................................

10. Who is responsible for cooking breads and tandoori items?

..............................................................................................................................................................

Part 3. For questions 11-15, listen to part of an interview with Colin Fraser, a psychologist, about
cultural identity. Choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what you hear.
Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
11. When discussing his own cultural identity, Colin reveals ______.
A. his resilience to changing cultures B. his unorthodox family background
C. his ability to adapt D. his feeling of alienation

12. What does Colin regard as the defining aspect of a person’s cultural identity?
A. the sense of birth right B. the emotion it generates
C. the physical proximity to heritage D. the symbols of tradition
13. What is the influence of a culture attributed to?
A. the dissemination of wisdom B. connection between societies
C. knowledge of one’s background D. the practice of archaic rituals

14. According to Colin, what makes a culture successful on the global scene?
A. its capacity for tolerance B. its isolation from the mainstream
C. its aptitude for resolving conflicts D. its ability to be self-effacing
15. During the conversation, Colin is ______.
A. distinguishing between birthplace and residence
B. advocating the celebration of heritage
C. highlighting the differences in societies
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 D. addressing the issues raised by conflicting cultures
Your answers:
11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Part 4. For questions 16-25, listen to an interview with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Covid-19
vaccine manufacturing outlook and supply the blanks with the missing information. Write NO
MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR NUMBERS taken from the recording for each answer in the space
provided.
Both Pfizer and Moderna may not suffer from intensified pressure in vaccine manufacturing despite a
soaring in the number of individuals who could become eligible to get the vaccine. Instead, a ramp-up in (16)
______ to administer more vaccines is considered the (17) ______ at the moment. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla
shared his confidence in the company’s ability to deliver the vaccines on time thanks to the (18) ______ with
the US government. This is viewed as a(n) (19) ______ contrast to the hitherto popular conception that
vaccine supply can be insufficient. For the time being, around (20) ______ have been released. Because of a
(21) ______ of an extra dose in the vial and rising productivity in manufacturing, it is also possible to expect
an increased pace of vaccine output on a (22) ______ all year round. The six doses have been submitted to all
(23) ______ and already been approved by the FDA, EU, WHO, (24) ______ authorities, Switzerland
authorities, etc. Pfizer’s manufacturing team is now (25) ______ in virtually impossible speeds.
Your answers:
16. 21.

17. 22.

18. 23.

19. 24.

20. 25.

II. LEXICO-GRAMMAR (20 points)

Part 1. For questions 26-40, choose the correct word or phrase (A, B, C, or D) that best fits each
space or best replaced the underlined word in each of the following sentences. Write your answers
in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
26. That woman sees nothing ______ in letting her children run around as they wish.
A. awry B. amiss C. afraid D. alike
27. Don’t take it as ______ that you’ll be promoted in your job; other colleagues stand a good chance too.
A. fixed B. standard C. read D. word
28. It looks like she’s really ______ with her successful new business.
A. closing a deal B. moving on up C. breaking it even D. raking it in

29. I can’t tell you ______ the population of Prague but there’s an encyclopedia in the cupboard.
A. offhand B. in hand C. at hand D. on hand
30. After making several bad business deals the company was losing money hand over ______.
A. finger B. wrist C. fist D. thumb
31. The Meteorological Office reported 20 centimetres of rain in October this year ______ only 14 last year.
A. in comparison B. as against C. in contrast D. contrary to
32. He didn’t bat an eyelid when he realized he failed the exam again.
A. wasn’t happy B. didn’t want to see C. didn’t show surprise D. didn’t care
33. We decided to pay for the furniture on the installment plan.
A. monthly payment B. cash and carry C. credit card D. piece by piece
34. “I hear Paul has a job at a restaurant.” – “Well, it’s ______ a restaurant as a café nearby.”
A. much more B. nothing like C. far more of D. not so much
35. The rumor that his job was in jeopardy caused Pete to ______ with concern.
A. frown B. beam C. grimace D. howl

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36. Michael put his mistake ______ lack of concentration.
A. down to B. over with C. through with D. up to
37. The school playing fields are out of ______ while equipment is being up for the cricket match.
A. bounds B. brim C. verge D. border
38. The number forty is the only number ______.
A. when used in the expression “forty winks”, meaning a short sleep
B. the title of which, “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, also includes it
C. whose constituent letters appear in alphabetical order in English
D. appears in the rock band U2’s song of the same name
39. ______ every time they unknowingly eat food with any trace of them in it.
A. Vegetarians refuse to touch meals which contain meat products
B. The food additive tatrazine has been linked to abnormal behaviour in children
C. The MPs of the Danish parliament have voted to ban dangerous fats
D. People suffering from an allergy to nuts put their lives at risk
40. The economic situation makes many people unwilling to take the ______ and open their own businesses.
A. plunge B. bull C. initiative D. opportunity
Your answers:
26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33.

34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40.

Part 2. For questions 41-45, write the correct form of each bracketed word in the corresponding
numbered boxes provided.
Travel and tourism are addictive and their impact on our lives is truly monumental. Despite the fact that
mass tourism set out as a simple but harmless way of enabling people to see the world and broaden their
horizons, our desire to maximise every travelling opportunity that presents itself has had a wholly (41) ______
(FORESEE) impact on our attitudes towards life in general and on the world we live in. In no way could this
impact has been accurately predicted, even 30 years ago.
No matter how (42) ______ (INSPIRE) our miserable destination may be, or how (43) ______
(ILLUSION) we are by the vagaries of transport systems; no matter what trouble our (44) ______ (PAY) of
debts due to over-ambitious holiday spending may lead us into, there is nothing amateurish about our desire to
make our fantasies realities. Millions of people like (45) ______ (HOTEL) and property owners depend on the
tourist industry for their livelihood. A decrease in the popularity of tourism would be nothing short of disastrous.
Your answers:
41. 42. 43.

44. 45.

III. READING (50 points)

Part 1. For questions 46-55, read an extract from an article and fill each numbered blank with ONE
suitable word. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided. (0) has been
done as an example.
Months before the first COVID-19 cases (0) ______ detected, public-health experts ranked Sweden as one
of the (46) ______ prepared countries to handle a pandemic. But in March 2020, Swedish health authorities
surprised the world with their unorthodox approach: Rather than locking down and requiring masks, (47)
______ many countries did, Sweden (48) ______ residents decide individually whether to take those
precautions.
The gamble, Swedish authorities predicted, would pay off in the long (49) ______. Ideally, vulnerable
people would choose to stay home, the economy wouldn’t suffer too much, (50) ______ healthy people might
get mild COVID-19 cases that ultimately contributed to the population’s collective immunity.
But a year and a half into the pandemic, it’s clear that bet was wrong.
Sweden has recorded more COVID-19 cases per (51) ______ than most countries so far: Since the start of

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the pandemic, roughly 11 out of every 100 people in Sweden have been diagnosed with COVID-19, (52)
______ with 9.4 out of every 100 in the UK and 7.4 per 100 in Italy. Sweden has (53) ______ recorded around
145 COVID-19 deaths (54) ______ every 100,000 people – around three times more than Denmark, eight
times more than Finland, and nearly 10 times more than Norway.
(55) ______ Sweden implemented tighter rules, experts told Insider, the country might have seen a
COVID-19 death toll more (56) ______ to those Nordic neighbors.
“They underestimated the mortality tremendously,” Claudia Hanson, an associate professor at Sweden’s
Karolinska Institute, told Insider.
“Sweden became a dream for many people to think one can do it (57) ______,” Hanson added. But in
(58) ______, she said, “it was maybe not a good idea.”
Your answers: 0. were
46. 47. 48. 49. 50.

51. 52. 53. 54. 55.

56. 57. 58.

Part 2. Read the following passage and do the tasks that follow.
RUSSIAN ICONS
The ambivalence of the Soviet authorities towards the art and artefacts of the Orthodox Church throughout
the 50s and 60s is even more apparent in relation to icons. These religious paintings have always held a
personal spiritual significance for believers in Russia, and some have been the objects of public veneration at a
local or even national level. Conscious of the need to instil a sense of pride in the richness of pre-revolutionary
Russian heritage, but wary of allowing religious sentiment to flourish, Soviet art historians strove to emphasise
the uniqueness of the Russian icon tradition and its central role in the cultural development of 12th to 16th
century Russia, while minimising its Orthodox Christian essence. It was a narrow path to tread.
One obvious ploy was to detach the icons from their normal setting in churches and cathedrals and display
them in secular art galleries. This is particularly clear in the case of the Tretyakov Art Gallery in Moscow which
houses many of the oldest, most beautiful and most venerated icons. Hung on impassive cream walls, these
wonderful paintings are stripped of their religious significance encouraging the spectator to concentrate on their
artistic merits. Elsewhere in the gallery hang the mordant social commentaries of nineteenth century Russian
realist painters such as Repin, Makovsky and Yaroshenko, some of them specifically attacking the veniality and
corruption of the Russian Orthodox Church, or mocking the superstitious ignorance of the Russian peasants.
Further on are the paintings of the Soviet era, explicitly socialist, concentrating on human, particularly collective
human, achievement. The peasants, now liberated from their attachment to religion and superstition (the two
are synonymous in Soviet parlance), become heroic figures, contributing to the socialist future. The inference is
not hard to draw: the icons belong to a continuous tradition of Russian artistic creativity which emphasises the
dignity and universal emotional, intellectual and spiritual integrity of man, without reference to an external God.
The Soviet authorities, of course, were not content to let visitors to the gallery draw this inference for
themselves. It was explicitly stated in all the official guidebooks.
A further development in this separation of icons from their religious context can be seen in the creation of
the Museum of Iconography in north-west Moscow. Housed in the former Andronikov Monastery, and named
after the 15th century icon painter Andrei Rublev, the museum contains a representative selection of icons
mainly from the 15th to the 17th century from various parts of Russia. The paintings are displayed in 15th century
monastic buildings retaining the outward semblance of a church with monks’ living quarters, but which have
been stripped of all religious purpose. The guidebook stresses the harmonious lines of the museum buildings as
if the original architects had designed them with that future purpose in mind.
Icons depicting the Virgin and Child lent themselves easily to appropriation by the secularising art
historians. The Virgin is no longer the Mother of God, but a symbol of human motherhood, her son-owing face
no longer a foreboding of the death of her son on the cross, but an expression of universal maternal tenderness
and pity. Icons of saints of the early eastern and Russian churches, such as St. Nicholas, Sts. Cosmas and
Damian, and St. Sergius of Radonezh are similarly described in terms of their civilising influence, the
humanitarian acts they performed or the role they played in the early development of a Russian national

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identity. Some of these saints were martyrs, dying for their faith, and so become symbols of Russian stoicism
and steadfastness in the face of the invader. But icons of a more abstract or mystical nature, particularly those
depicting the Holy Trinity, presented a more intractable interpretative problem.
In the Bible, the Holy Trinity is described as appearing to Abraham and his wife Sarah in the form of three
angels. Icons of the Three Angels of the Trinity are to be found dating from the late 14th century onward,
though few survive from this early period. The angels are normally depicted seated in repose, gesturing
towards mystical symbols of divinity. They do not lend themselves to humanistic interpretation, but the three
relaxed yet at the same time grave and tautly composed linear figures, combine to create some of the most
compelling images in Russian iconography. The names of few icon painters from the 15th century are known to
us, but, fortunately for Soviet art historians, the name of the painter of what is usually considered the most
astonishingly beautiful ‘Trinity’ icon of all is known. It is Andrei Rublev. So instead of being forced to focus on
the not-very-apparent humanity of the painting the historians are able to turn their attention to the artist. They
emphasise his skill, they explain his technique, they place his work firmly in the emerging Russian national
consciousness of the early 15th century. The artist is hero.
For questions 59-62, choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in the corresponding
numbered boxes provided.
59. The Tretyakov Art Gallery ______.
A. only contains major religious paintings B. contains only icons
C. contains a range of paintings from different eras. D. is worth visiting according to the author
60. From the layout of the Tretyakov Art Gallery, spectators are meant to see ______.
A. that Russian icons belong to a tradition which stresses the qualities of man and has nothing to do with
God
B. that Russian icons belong to a long religious tradition
C. that Russian icons belong to a tradition which stresses the glory of God and diminishes the qualities of
man
D. that Russian icons belong to a tradition which celebrates the achievements of Russian peasants
61. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. The icons in the Museum of Iconography come from different parts of Russia.
B. The Museum of Iconography contains only religious paintings from the 15th and 17th centuries.
C. The Museum of Iconography is the premier museum in the world for Russian icons.
D. The former Andonikov Monastery was destroyed to build the Museum of Iconography.
62. The guidebooks for the Museum of Iconography ______.
A. sing the praises of the original architects of the monastic complex
B. point out the importance of the 15th century icons
C. minimise the religious significance of the monastery buildings
D. stress the religious significance of the monastery buildings

Your answers:
59. 60. 61. 62.

For questions 63-65, read the following summary and fill in each blank with NO MORE THAN
THREE WORDS taken from the passage. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes
provided.
63. To secularising art historians, the Virgin was symbolic of ______.
63. The Three Angels of the Holy Trinity are not easily open to ______.
64. The artist of what is considered the most beautiful ‘Trinity’ icon in the world is celebrated by Soviet art
historians as a ______.

Your answers:
63. 64. 65.

For questions 66-71, do the following statements agree with the information in the passage? In
the numbered boxes provided, write

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 TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
Example: The Soviet authorities are ambivalent towards the art of the Orthodox Church. → Answer: True
65. Icons have never been of much importance to Russian believers.
66. Soviet art historians have stressed the contribution of the Russian icon tradition to Russian cultural
development in the 12th to 16th centuries.
67. To downplay the connection between Russian icons and Orthodox Christianity Russian icons were removed
from churches and cathedrals and displayed in a secular setting.
68. The Tretyakov Art Gallery is home to paintings of a secular nature as well as religious paintings.
69. The spectator of the icons in the Tretyakov Art Gallery is invariably mesmerised by the sheer artistry of the
works.
70. None of the works by Repin, Makovsky and Yaroshenko make fun of the religious beliefs of Russian
peasants.
Your answers:
66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71.

Part 3. For questions 72-78, read the following passage, in which seven paragraphs have been
removed. Choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap. There is ONE extra
paragraph which you do not need to use. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered
boxes provided.
SCHOOL TIE
The bus journey seemed interminably long. It was a warm day for March and the atmosphere inside the
bus was stifling. My crisp new uniform felt like a straitjacket, the infuriating scarlet tie round my neck
threatening to choke me. Ties! We have to wear a tie to school, in this day and age? An outrage, an
abomination! My aesthetic senses were affronted.
72. ______
‘Let’s see you do it, then, mother! I mean women wear them all the time, don’t they? So it’s natural that
their daughters should wear them to school!’ Sarcasm remained my strongest weapon against my patient, care-
worn mother. Frustrated, I tore the offensive object from my neck and threw it unceremoniously on the floor.
‘Just another yoke around our necks to force us to submit to their authority!’
73. ______
‘Come on, dear. It’s not so bad. It’s only a uniform, and you’ll look so smart.’ My mother always tried to
avert potential head-on collisions between my father and me. ‘I’m not wearing it! And I’m not going to that
crummy school! Why did we have to move? Why couldn’t dad have stayed where he was?’ I ranted on,
relentless, fighting back angry tears, lamenting the injustice of the situation forced upon me.
74. ______
With the benefit of hindsight, of course, I realise that she was undoubtedly the person who suffered most
from that move. It had been thrust upon her just as much as on us children, and had rocked her world too. She
had been happy with her life, her circle of friends, her daily routine. Suddenly, she too found herself in an alien
environment, keenly aware not only of her own problems in readjusting, but of those of her offspring as well.
75. ______
That I was the focus of some speculation was understandable. A new girl starting in the middle of the
school year was bound to arouse interest. It boded change – of both a demographic nature in the classroom
and a geographical one, for where would I sit? And beyond that, a readjustment in the social dynamics of the
group, a potential reshuffle in hierarchy.
76. ______
Sinking lower in my seat, I silently cursed my father’s appalling timing in being relocated, thus bringing
upon his daughter anguish and embarrassment for the second time in six months. Was the youngest member
of the family suffering the same humiliation? I doubted it. Sporting an equally crisp new uniform, with an

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equally constrictive tie, but seemingly unaware of it, my sibling had casually strolled off to school that morning
as if it were no big deal.
77. ______
‘Hello.’ A voice close to my ear broke through my jumbled thoughts and returned me abruptly to the
present. It seemed that one of the girls could contain her curiosity no longer. ‘What’s your name?’ I struggled
against an urge to be sick, forcing down the lump in my throat, and eyed her suspiciously. Staring at me was
an open, fun-loving face, with eyes that sparkled with mischief. It showed potential. At least she was making an
effort. I had to give her that.
78. ______
The content of that first conversation escapes me now. All that remains is the feeling of relief I enjoyed as
the knot of fear and embarrassment that had been churning in my stomach gradually dissipated, and even my
tie seemed to loosen its stranglehold on my throat. I began to breathe normally again and the prospect of
entering a new phase in my life no longer seemed so dark and terrifying.
A. The egocentricity of youth often prevents us from perceiving the pain of others. So concerned are we with
our own feelings, we believe that no one can be suffering with the same intensity as ourselves. In the
emotional turmoil caused by the upheaval of moving house and changing school, of having my world
turned upside down, I failed to even consider, let alone comprehend, the pressures upon my parents.
Rather, I callously blamed them for the situation, and as usual, mother bore the brunt of my rage.
B. My mother thought I was overreacting, as always. ‘Ever the drama-drawers!’ she would say, exasperatedly.
‘Everything is of major importance when it concerns you. Think of your father for once! It’s not easy for
him, either. Don’t be so difficult!’
C. The root of my present discomfort lay in the fact that my new classmates were being about as subtle as a
couple of sledgehammers, standing up in their seats and peering over at me, then falling back and giggling
at some not very private joke concerning my appearance.
D. ‘What kind of establishment are you sending me to this time?’ I had berated my mother. It had taken me
an age to learn how to do the tie up, standing in front of the mirror, with my father ostensibly showing me
how. He soon despaired of my miserable efforts, however, patience not being one of his strong points.
E. Sitting there sweltering on that bus, however, the tie now neatly in place – my father had seen to that –
understanding and compassion were beyond me as I cursed my misfortune in being forced to change
school again. I stared mournfully out of the window and desperately tried to ignore the sniggering and
whispering from the seat behind mine.
F. While the other girls tittered inanely in the background, we made our first connection. So imprisoned did I
feel in my isolation, exiled on the island of that lonely seat, the space next to me taunting me with its
emptiness, that this gesture, this reaching out felt like a lifeline pulling me back to civilisation.
G. Peter generally went through life with an air of polite aloofness. Unperturbed by emotional attachments,
seemingly untroubled by fear, insecurity or self-doubt – all of which clouded my own troubled, adolescent
mind – he drifted into new environments and new experiences cushioned by an inherent sense of self-
assurance. How I envied him!
H. I was full of such proclamations at that age, much to my parents’ consternation. I wore them out with
grand statements on independence and free thinking. ‘Frank and outspoken’ were comments frequently
made by the teachers at my previous school, euphemisms, no doubt, for ‘pig-headed and contrary’. My
comment on the present state of affairs caused my father’s face to go a dangerous shade of red.

Your answers:
72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78.

Part 4. For questions 79-85, read the following passage and choose the answer (A, B, C or D)
which you think fits best according to the passage. Write your answers in the corresponding
numbered boxes provided.
THE NEW COUNTRY
The first real sign of the United States was a close-packed archipelago of buoys marking lobster pots and

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fishing traps but this was just a prelude to the moment the throng on the deck had been waiting for. The
exaggerated sense of occasion that this moment was expected to inspire was heightened by the scowling
splendour of the city illuminated in the storm, the racing clouds bathing Liberty in a hideous light. The
immigrants, crowding against each other’s backs, shoving and straining, must have felt that all the reports and
letters home had understated the awful truth about New York. The real thing was even taller and more
intimidating than the tallest story. So you looked out, numbed by the gigantism of the city, asking the
immigrant’s single overriding question: is there really a place there for me?
In New York at last, the promised city, the immigrants found themselves in a cacophonic bazaar. So many
things! The streets were awash with commodities undreamed of back home – new foods, smart clothes,
mechanical novelties, luxuries made cheap by American ingenuity in the ways of mass production. Your own
berth in New York might be no more than a patch of floor in a dumb-bell tenement on the Lower East Side, yet
no building was so squalid than its tenants were entirely excluded from the bounty of American life. In the
midst of rack-rent poverty, in conditions as impoverished as anything they had suffered in the old country, the
immigrants would be surrounded by symbols of extravagant wealth. There were ice-cream parlours, candy
stores, beef-steaks and fat cigars. In New York ordinary people, wage-earners, dined out in restaurants; they
had alarm clocks and Victrola machines on which they played ‘jass’ music and by the standards of Europe they
were dressed like royalty.
You had new names assigned to you at Ellis island by immigration officers too busy to bother with the
unpronounceable consonant clusters in your old one (Gold, because that’s what the streets were supposed to
be paved with, was a favourite stand-by). There were new clothes too. You might be able to call upon only a
word or two of English, but you could still parade as a suave, fashion-conscious New Yorker.
Identity in Europe wasn’t a matter of individual fancy. Even with the money for the raw materials, you
couldn’t dress up as an aristocrat simply because you liked the look of the noble’s style. If you were Jewish, you
couldn’t pass yourself off as a gentile without incurring a legal punishment. Every European was the product of
a complicated equation involving the factors of lineage, property, education, speech and religion. The terms
were subtle and could be juggled: even the most rigid class system has some play in it. But once your personal
formula had been worked out by the ruling mathematicians, the result was precise and not open to negotiation.
A over B times X over Y divided by Z equalled a calico shirt and a pair of clogs.
For anyone brought up in such a system, New York must have induced a dizzying sense of social
weightlessness. Here identity was not fixed by society’s invisible secret police. The equation had been simplified
down to a single factor – dollars.
The windows of department stores were theatres. They showed American lives as yet unlived in, with
vacant possession. When your nose was pressed hard against the glass, it was almost yours, the other life that
lay in wail for you with its silverware and brocade. So you were a presser in a shirtwaist factory’ on Division
Street, making a paltry $12.50 a week – so what? The owner of the factory was your landsman, practically a
cousin; he had the start on you by just a few years and already he lived in a brownstone, uptown on 84th.
Success in this city was tangible and proximate; it was all around you, and even the poorest could smell it in
the wind. The distance between slum and mansion was less than a mile; hard work... a lucky break... and you
could roam through Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s buying up the life you dreamed of leading …

Alice’s apartment, which I would be sub-renting-courtesy of a brown envelope and the doorman’s blind
eye, was in a relatively quiet corner, yet even here one could feel New York trembling under one’s feet. In place
of bird-song there was the continuous angry warble of ambulances, patrol cars, fire-trucks. It was the sound of
heart-attacks and heart-break, of car crashes, hold-ups, hit-and-run, fight and pursuit; the sound of the city in a
round-the-clock state of emergency. If you were going to learn to live here, you’d have to tune out the sound
of New York and set up house in the silent bubble of your own preoccupations. For me, the New York air was
full of robbery’ and murder; for Alice, it would all be inaudible white noise.
79. According to the writer, when New York came into view the immigrants felt ______.
A. a sense of anticlimax B. disappointment at its ugliness
C. overwhelmed by the sight of it D. the stories they’d heard had been exaggerated
80. What distinguished immigrants’ homes in America from the ones they had left was ______.
A. that they were of a much higher standard B. that they could be rented more cheaply

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 C. their spaciousness D. the neighbourhoods they were in
81. The writer implies that immigrants received new names ______.
A. as a matter of policy B. in a random fashion
C. when they spoke no English D. because they wanted English-sounding names
82. The writer implies that immigrants ______.
A. were forced to deny who they were
B. longed for the social certainties of Europe
C. could free themselves of their past lives
D. felt the need to hide the truth about their backgrounds
83. The writer suggests that the dream of achieving wealth ______.
A. conflicted with the realities of the workplace
B. was soon abandoned once immigrants were settled
C. was only possible by exploiting your fellow countrymen
D. was fostered by the unique social circumstances of New York
84. The writer suggests that the arrangement for the flat was possible because ______.
A. the owner was a friend B. he knew the doorman
C. the landlord didn’t know D. they deceived the doorman
85. According to the writer, people who live in New York ______.
A. must feel constantly threatened
B. all become caught up in the rush of activity
C. survive by developing ways of ignoring what’s going on
D. only cope by not allowing themselves time to think
Your answers:
79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85.

Part 5. Read an article about parental favouritism and do the task that follows.
In which section are the following mentioned? Your answers:
• a general pattern that emerges from the majority of investigations into favouritism 86. ______
• the need for parents to be conscious of the way they treat each of their children 87. ______
• a theory as to why a certain child may be the subject of favouritism 88. ______
• the extent to which children focus on their parents’ attitude towards them 89. ______
• a feeling that the study of favouritism may not be worthwhile 90. ______
• evidence of parents’ greater tolerance for a certain child 91. ______
• the large variety of reasons affecting parents’ attitudes towards their children 92. ______
• a factor that could affect the reliability of research into favouritism 93. ______
• distrust of what some parents say about favouritism in research 94. ______
• how difficult it is for parents to acknowledge favouritism 95. ______
PARENTAL FAVOURITISM

A. The American science writer Jeffery Kluger has just published a book in which he argues that, whether we
admit it or not, parental favouritism is hard-wired into the human psyche. ‘It is my belief that 95% of the
parents in the world have a favourite child, and the other 5% are lying,’ he declares in The Sibling Effect:
What the Bonds Among Brothers and Sisters Reveal About Us. That particular figure may be guesswork,
but there is plenty of evidence that would seem to back him up. Kluger cites a Californian study of 384
families, who were visited three times a year and videotaped as they ‘worked through conflicts’. The study
found that 65% of mothers and 70% of fathers exhibited a preference for one child. And those numbers
are almost certainly under-representative, since people behave less naturally when they are being
watched.
B. Every couple of years, in fact, a new report comes out purporting to lift the lid on parental favouritism.

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 Most often – though by no means always – older siblings seem to come out on top. In 2009 two British
professors, David Lawson and Ruth Mace, published a study of 14,000 families in the Bristol area. They
found that each successive sibling received ‘markedly’ less care and attention from their parents than their
predecessors. Older siblings were even fed better, as a result of which they were likely to be up to three
centimetres taller than their younger siblings. They also had higher IQs, probably because they had the
benefit of their parents’ undivided attention for the first part of their lives.

C. Anthropologists and evolutionary psychologists argue that there is a sound logic to this. A firstborn
automatically absorbs a huge amount of parental time and energy; and once you’ve invested that much in
one child, you might as well keep going – if only to protect the investment. However, a survey of 1,803
British parents with two children claimed to show that younger siblings were given preferential treatment
59% of the time. Parents were more likely to side with a younger child in an argument, lavish them with
affection and let them have their own way.
D. It’s at this point, I must admit, that I start to feel a bit impatient with the experts. A science that can
absorb so many contradictory variables hardly seems like science at all. And if, as the experts all seem to
agree, favouritism is so common as to be almost universal, doesn’t that make it just – well, normal?
Undoubtedly there are families where favouritism is blatant and sustained enough to be seriously
destructive. But in most cases, surely, it does not merit such pathologising.
E. When I solicited confessions of favouritism from my fellow parents, I had no luck at all. Lots of people
admitted to treating their children differently at different times, according to their needs (and how
annoying they’re being). But not one felt this reflected any fundamental preference. It is simply part of the
warp and weft of family life. The truth is that favouritism is an awfully blunt word for such a complicated
subject. How we treat our children is affected by any number of shifting, interlacing factors: birth order,
gender, changes in circumstances, our own childhood experiences. Then, too, some characters just hit it
off better than others.

F. ‘I think most of US have short-term favourites, depending on who’s going through a “phase’’,’ says
Suzanne, a mother of four. ‘You can feel immense affection for one child on a Tuesday who then drives
you to distraction on Wednesday. But the underlying love is just as intense for all of them. I think long-
term favouritism is bookselling nonsense in the majority of cases.’ In an anonymous online survey for the
website Mumsnet, 16% of mothers admitted to having a favourite child. That’s quite a lot – it’s a big deal
to admit to such parental malpractice, if only to yourself – but it hardly amounts to the psychological
pandemic of Kluger’s imaginings. On the other hand, things do tend to look different from a child’s
perspective. Even in the happiest families, siblings instinctively compete for their parents’ love. Scrupulous
emotional accountants, they are constantly totting up incidents of perceived unfairness. So it makes sense
for parents, too, to keep a watchful eye on their own behaviour.

IV. WRITING (60 points)

Part 1. Read the following extract and use your own words to summarize it. Your summary should
be between 100 and 120 words.
The rapid industrial development in Malaysia has created significant industrial waste pollution problems
which need immediate remedy. Industrial waste pollution has created a lot of effluent.

Much of this effluent contains toxic and hazardous waste. Management of industrial waste is a growing
concern in Malaysia. The waste if improperly segregated or disposed of can cause dangerous results. This
means that the proper management of such toxic and hazardous waste requires discipline, vigilance and at
times just common sense.
The co-disposal of toxic industrial waste together with household waste in landfill disposal sites can cause
potential release of toxic material into the environment through leaching. Therefore, the best approach to waste
management is not to produce waste, but to produce less waste or to produce waste of reduced hazard. This
goal can be promoted in several ways, such as to apply proper waste management, to select a process that
inherently produces less waste, to recycle and reuse generated waste and to select non-hazardous and less
toxic material.

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 In Malaysia, the control of hazardous waste is governed by the Environmental Quality Act passed in 1974.
A hazardous waste is a solid, liquid or gas that could pose dangers to human health or the environment. Under
the 1989 Environmental Quality Regulations, scheduled waste is required to be handled properly. It can be
industrial, hospital and household waste. Currently, there are 107 categories of scheduled wastes, listed under
these regulations. These categories of waste shall be disposed of at prescribed premises only and be treated at
prescribed premises or treatment facilities only. They have to be treated through some microbial-based on-site
processes to remove or detoxify the waste material.
Generally, the project implemented, namely “Leachate Treatment System Using Microbial Process” will
attempt to develop new microbial processes for waste treatment. This project will look into bioremediation of
solid waste in landfill sites and the effects on groundwater and the environment.
The aims of the project are to achieve cost-effective industrial wastewater management through new
approaches, the development of appropriate microbial treatment and detoxification technologies and
identification of resident microbes. The benefits are comprehensive characterization and evaluation of leachate
generated from local landfill sites and identification of microbes.
“The Leachate Treatment System Using Microbial Process” project was one of the most comprehensive
studies to be conducted on local landfill leachate, which is a significant source of aquatic pollution yet to be
properly managed. The findings are expected to provide the scientific and technical basis for the design and
operation of proper landfill leachate management systems in the future. Meanwhile, new guidelines passed on
waste disposal have proved effective. They include recommendations and procedures for handling and disposal
of chemical waste from laboratories in such manner that will not constitute a risk to human health, safety or the
environment. The guidelines outline the type of chemical waste generated in laboratories, approaches in the
minimization of chemical waste, safety procedures in handling such waste, laboratory safety procedures and the
chemical waste disposal procedures.

To paint a brighter picture, much progress has been made in waste disposal in the country. However, a lot
more still needs to be done for us to claim that the waste disposal situation is safe for the people and the
environment.

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Part 2. The pie and bar charts below show the percentage of water consumption and use in
Australia in 2004. Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and
make comparisons where relevant.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons
where relevant.

You should write about 150 words.

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Part 3. Write an essay of 350 words on the following topic.

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most
responsive to change.” – Charles Darwin
To what extent do you agree with the statement? Give reasons for your answers and include any
relevant examples from your own knowledge and experience.

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