Read 21: FIRST IMPRESSIONS COUNT

A. Traditionally uniforms were — and for some industries still are — manufactured to protect the worker.
When they were first designed, it is also likely that all uniforms made symbolic sense – those for the
military, for example, were originally intended to impress and even terrify the enemy; other uniforms
denoted a hierarchy – chefs wore white because they worked with flour, but the main chef wore a black hat
to show he supervised.

B. The last 30 years, however, have seen an increasing emphasis on their role in projecting the image of an
organisation and in uniting the workforce into a homogeneous unit — particularly in ‘customer facing”
industries, and especially in financial services and retailing. From uniforms and workwear has emerged
‘corporate clothing’. “The people you employ are your ambassadors,” says Peter Griffin, managing director
of a major retailer in the UK. “What they say, how they look, and how they behave is terribly important.”
The result is a new way of looking at corporate workwear. From being a simple means of identifying who is
a member of staff, the uniform is emerging as a new channel of marketing communication.

C. Truly effective marketing through visual cues such as uniforms is a subtle art, however. Wittingly or
unwittingly, how we look sends all sorts of powerful subliminal messages to other people. Dark colours give
an aura of authority while lighter pastel shades suggest approachability. Certain dress style creates a sense of
conservatism, others a sense of openness to new ideas. Neatness can suggest efficiency but, if it is overdone,
it can spill over and indicate an obsession with power. “If the company is selling quality, then it must have
quality uniforms. If it is selling style, its uniforms must be stylish. If it wants to appear innovative,
everybody can’t look exactly the same. Subliminally we see all these things,” says Lynn Elvy, a director of
image consultants House of Colour.

D. But translating corporate philosophies into the right mix of colour, style, degree of branding and
uniformity can be a fraught process. And it is not always successful. According to Company Clothing
magazine, there are 1000 companies supplying the workwear and corporate clothing market. Of these, 22
account for 85% of total sales – £380 million in 1994.

E. A successful uniform needs to balance two key sets of needs. On the one hand, no uniform will work if
staff feel uncomfortable or ugly. Giving the wearers a choice has become a key element in the way corporate
clothing is introduced and managed. On the other, it is pointless if the look doesn’t express the business’s
marketing strategy. The greatest challenge in this respect is time. When it comes to human perceptions, first
impressions count. Customers will size up the way staff look in just a few seconds, and that few seconds will
colour their attitudes from then on. Those few seconds can be so important that big companies are prepared
to invest years, and millions of pounds, getting them right.

F. In addition, some uniform companies also offer rental services. “There will be an increasing
specialisation in the marketplace,” predicts Mr Blyth, Customer Services Manager of a large UK bank. The
past two or three years have seen consolidation. Increasingly, the big suppliers are becoming ‘managing
agents’, which means they offer a total service to put together the whole complex operation of a company’s
corporate clothing package – which includes reliable sourcing, managing the inventory, budget control and
distribution to either central locations or to each staff member individually. Huge investments have been
made in new systems, information technology and amassing quality assurance accreditations.

G. Corporate clothing does have potential for further growth. Some banks have yet to introduce a full
corporate look; police forces are researching a complete new look for the 21st century. And many
employees now welcome a company wardrobe. A recent survey of staff found that 90 per cent welcomed
having clothing which reflected the corporate identity.
Questions 28-33
The passage First Impressions Count has seven paragraphs A—G. Which paragraphs discuss the following
points? Write the appropriate letters A-G in boxes 28-33 on your answer sheet.

Example: the number of companies supplying the corporate clothing market

Answer: D

28. different types of purchasing agreement

29. the original purposes of uniforms

30. the popularity rating of staff uniforms

31. involving employees in the selection of a uniform

32. the changing significance of company uniforms

33. perceptions of different types of dress

Questions 34-40

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer of the passage? In boxes 34-40 on your
answer sheet write

YES               if the statement agrees with the writer’s views

NO                 if the statement contradicts the writer’s views

NOT GIVEN   if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

34. Uniforms were more carefully made in the past than they are today.

35. Uniforms make employees feel part of a team.

36. Using uniforms as a marketing tool requires great care.

37. Being too smart could have a negative impact on customers.

38. Most businesses that supply company clothing are successful.

39. Uniforms are best selected by marketing consultants.

40. Clothing companies are planning to offer financial services in the future.

 Answer:

28 F; 29 A; 30 G; 31 E; 32 B; 33 C;

34 NOT GIVEN; 35 YES; 36 YES; 37 YES; 38 NO; 39 NOT GIVEN; 40 NO.

Read 22: Measuring Organizational Performance
There is clear-cut evidence that, for a period of at least one year, supervision which increases the direct
pressure for productivity can achieve significant increases in production. However, such short-term
increases are obtained only at a substantial and serious cost to the organisation.
To what extent can a manager make an impressive earnings record over a short period of one to three years
by exploiting the company’s investment in the human organisation in his plant or division? To what extent
will the quality of his organisation suffer if he does so? The following is a description of an important study
conducted by the Institute for Social Research designed to answer these questions.
The study covered 500 clerical employees in four parallel divisions. Each division was organised in exactly
the same way, used the same technology, did exactly the same kind of work, and had employees of
comparable  aptitudes.
Productivity in all four of the divisions depended on the number of clerks involved. The work entailed the
processing of accounts and generating of invoices. Although the volume of work was considerable, the
nature of the business was such that it could only be processed as it came along. Consequently, the only way
in which productivity could be increased was to change the size of the workgroup.
The four divisions were assigned to two experimental programmes on a random basis. Each programme was
assigned at random a division that had been historically high in productivity and a division that had been
below average in productivity. No attempt was made to place a division in the programme that would best fit
its habitual methods of supervision used by the manager, assistant managers, supervisors and assistant
supervisors.
The experiment at the clerical level lasted for one year. Beforehand, several months were devoted to
planning, and there was also a training period of approximately six months. Productivity was measured
continuously and computed weekly throughout the year. The attitudes of employees and supervisory staff
towards their work were measured just before and after the period.
Turning now to the heart of the study, in two divisions an attempt was made to change the supervision so
that the decision levels were pushed down and detailed supervision of the workers reduced. More general
supervision of the clerks and their supervisors was introduced. In addition, the managers, assistant managers,
supervisors and assistant supervisors of these two divisions were trained in group methods of leadership,
which they endeavoured to use as much as their skill would permit during the experimental year. For easy
reference, the experimental changes in these two divisions will be labelled the ‘participative programme!
Result of the Experiment
In the other two divisions, by contrast, the programme called for modifying the supervision so as to increase
the closeness of supervision and move the decision levels upwards. This will be labelled the ‘hierarchically
controlled programme’. These changes were accomplished by a further extension of the scientific
management approach. For example, one of the major changes made was to have the jobs timed and to have
standard times computed. This showed that these divisions were overstaffed by about 30%. The general
manager then ordered the managers of these two divisions to cut staff by 25%. This was done by transfers
without replacing the persons who left; no one was to be dismissed.
Changes in Productivity
Figure 1 shows the changes in salary costs per unit of work, which reflect the change in productivity that
occurred in the divisions. As will be observed, the hierarchically controlled programmes increased
productivity by about 25%. This was a result of the direct orders from the general manager to reduce staff by
that amount. Direct pressure produced a substantial increase in production.
A significant increase in productivity of 2O°/o was also achieved in the participative programme, but this
was not as great an increase as in the hierarchically controlled programme. To bring about this improvement,
the clerks themselves participated in the decision to reduce the size of the work group. (They were aware of
course that productivity increases were sought by management in conducting these experiments.) Obviously,
deciding to reduce the size of a work group by eliminating some of its members is probably one of the most
difficult decisions for a work group to make. Yet the clerks made it. In fact, one division in the participative
programme increased its productivity by about the same amount as each of the two divisions in the
hierarchically controlled programme. The other participative division, which historically had been the
poorest of all the divisions, did not do so well and increased productivity by only 15%.
Changes in Attitude
Although both programmes had similar effects on productivity, they had significantly different results in
other respects. The productivity increases in the hierarchically controlled programme were accompanied by
shifts in an adverse direction in such factors as loyalty, attitudes, interest, and involvement in the work. But
just the opposite was true in the participative programme.
For example, Figure 2 shows that when more general supervision and increased participation were provided,
the employees’ feeling of responsibility to see that the work got done increased. Again, when the supervisor
was away, they kept on working. In the hierarchically controlled programme, however, the feeling of
responsibility decreased, and when the supervisor was absent, work tended to stop.
As Figure 3 shows, the employees in the participative programme at the end of the year felt that their
manager and assistant manager were ‘closer to them’ than at the beginning of the year. The opposite was
true in the hierarchical programme. Moreover, as Figure 4 shows, employees in the participative programme
felt that their supervisors were more likely to ‘pull’ for them, or for the company and them, and not be solely
interested in the company, while in the hierarchically controlled programme, the opposite trend occurred.

 
Questions 28-30

Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 28-30 on your answer sheet.

28. The experiment was designed to …

A. establish whether increased productivity should be sought at any cost.

B. show that four divisions could use the same technology.

C. perfect a system for processing accounts.

D. exploit the human organisation of a company in order to increase profits.

29. The four divisions …

A. each employed a staff of 500 clerks.

B. each had equal levels of productivity.

C. had identical patterns of organisation.

D. were randomly chosen for the experiment.

30. Before the experiment …

A. the four divisions were carefully selected to suit a specific programme.

B. each division was told to reduce its level of productivity.

C. the staff involved spent a number of months preparing for the study.

D. the employees were questioned about their feelings towards the study.

Questions 31-36

Complete the summary below. Choose ONE word from Reading Passage 24 for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 31-36 on your answer sheet.

This experiment involved an organisation comprising four divisions, which were divided into two
programmes: the hierarchically controlled programme and the participative programme. For a period of one
year a different method of ……. 31 ……. was used in each programme. Throughout this time …….. 32
…….. was calculated on a weekly basis. During the course of the experiment the following changes were
made in an attempt to improve performance.

In the participative programme:

• supervision of all workers was ……. 33 …….

• supervisory staff were given training in …….. 34 …….

In the hierarchically controlled programme:

• supervision of all workers was increased.

• work groups were found to be .…… 35 …… by 30%.

• the work force was .….. 36 …… by 25%.

Questions 37-40

Look at Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 in Reading Passage 24.

Choose the most appropriate label, A—I, for each Figure from the box below.

Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

A.  Employees’ interest in the company

B.  Cost increases for the company

C.  Changes in productivity

D.  Employees’ feelings of responsibility towards completion of work

E.  Changes in productivity when supervisor was absent

F.  Employees’ opinion as to extent of personal support from management

G.  Employees feel closer to their supervisors

H.  Employees’ feelings towards increased supervision

I.   Supervisors’ opinion as to closeness of work group

37.  Fig 1…………………………

38.  Fig 2…………………………

39.  Fig 3…………………………

40.  Fig 4…………………………

Answer: 

28. A; 29. C; 30. C;

31. supervision / leadership / management’;
32. productivity;
33. reduced / cut/ decreased;
34. (group methods of) leadership;
35. overstaffed;
36. reduced / cut / decreased;
37. C; 38. D; 39. G; 40. F
Read 23: Tracking Hurricanes
North American meteorologists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)’s
Hurricane Research Division have recently improved the success rate in their forecasting of where
hurricanes are likely to hit land by an estimated 15 to 30%. This increase in accuracy is due to the use of
instruments called GPS-dropwindsondes, which can probe the atmosphere surrounding a hurricane while it
is still out at sea. The atmospheric characteristics of hurricanes over land are well understood because
investigation is possible with weather balloons containing sophisticated meteorological instruments. When
hurricanes are out of reach of balloons, gathering information is decidedly more difficult. Little is known of
the weather conditions that guide hurricanes towards land.

An accurate estimation of where a hurricane will strike is essential in order to reduce loss of life and
property. Hurricane Andrew, the most costly hurricane in U.S. history, killed 15 people and caused damage
of $35 billion, in today’s dollars, in 1992. However, the unnamed : Category 4 2 hurricane which struck
southeast Florida in 1926 and killed 243 people would have caused an estimated $77 billion if it had struck
today. The reason for this is the explosion in population growth and development along the south-east coast
of the U.S. during the last half century.

Hurricanes occur in cycles every few decades, the last intense period in the U.S. being from 1940 to 1969.
‘Camille’, a Category 5 hurricane of such catastrophic force that it caused over a billion and a half dollars
worth of damage at the time and killed 256 people, struck the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in 1969 with
winds over 320 km/h. Yet, for the last quarter century, hurricane activity has been relatively mild. Scientists
do not know the precise reason for the cycles of hurricane activity, but they could be caused by a
phenomenon called the ‘Atlantic Conveyor’. This is the name given to the gigantic current of water that
flows cold from the top of the globe slowly along the Atlantic ocean floor to Antarctica and resurfaces
decades later before flowing back north, absorbing heat as it crosses the equator. Since hurricanes derive
their energy from the heat of warm water, it is thought that an increase in the speed of the’ Conveyor’, as it
pulls warm water to the north, is an indicator of intensifying hurricane activity.

The use of GPS-dropwindsondes began in 1997. Small sensing devices dropped from planes at very high
altitudes and over a wide area, they are far more revealing than previously used sensors. Because they weigh
only 0.4 kilograms, they are able to stay aloft for longer periods and broadcast more data to the ground. Each
sonde carries its own global positioning satellite receiver. The GPS signals received are used to calculate the
direction and speed of wind, and data on temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure at half second
intervals all the way down to the ocean surface.

Dropwindsonde information is fed into a special meteorological computer in Maryland which generates a
global computer model of wind patterns. Data analysts have discovered a greater variability in the winds at
sea level than previously believed, but many forecasting problems are beyond a solution, at least for the time
being. For instance, it is not yet known why hurricanes can suddenly change in intensity; current computer
models often fail to predict whether a hurricane will reach land or else cannot pinpoint where a strike will
take place.

One surprising result of a recent computer simulation was the destruction of a large part of downtown New
York. Hurricane researchers believe that the city is more likely than Miami to suffer a direct hit in the near
future. Also, certain geographical features of the coastline near New York make it conceivable that a wall of
water called a storm surge pushed ashore by hurricane winds would cause a devastating flooding of
Manhattan. A storm surge was responsible for the more than 8000 deaths caused by the hurricane that
destroyed the city of Galveston in 1900.
1
 the custom of naming hurricanes began in the early 1950s
2
 hurricanes are categorised according to their wind speed from Category 1 (least intense) to Category 5
(most intense)
Questions 1 – 4

You are advised to spend about 5 minutes on Questions 1-4. Refer to Reading Passage 25 “Tracking
Hurricanes”, and look at Questions 1 – 4 below.

Write your answers in boxes 1 – 4 on your Answer Sheet. The first one has been done for you as an
example.

Example: What do the letters NOAA stand for?

1. Which instruments have recently increased the success rate of U.S. hurricane forecasts?

2. What reason is given for the lack of knowledge of hurricanes at sea?

3. Why was the hurricane which struck in 1926 not given a name?

4. What is the name of the strongest hurricane mentioned in the article?

Questions 1 – 4

You are advised to spend about 8 minutes on Questions 5-11.

Look at the table below. According to Reading Passage 25, to whom or what do the phrases on the right
refer?

Write your answers in boxes 5 -11 on your Answer Sheet. The first one has been done for you as an
example.

Note that you must give your answer IN NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.

WHO or WHAT ?

Ex : ……… Meteorologist ……….              have improved their forecasts for hurricanes.

5 …………………………………….               become stronger every few decades.

6 …………………………………….               energises all hurricanes.

7 …………………………………….               is a huge current of water flowing from north to south.

8 …………………………………….               could not stay in the air for a long time.

9 …………………………………….               know more about surface winds than they knew before.

10 …………………………………….               recently predicted a catastrophe for the city of New York.

11 …………………………………….               is a huge wave of water blown on land by a hurricane.

Questions 12 -15

You are advised to spend about 7 minutes on Questions 12-15.

Refer to Reading Passage 25, and decide which of the answers best completes the following sentences.
Write your answers in boxes 12 -15 on your Answer Sheet. The first one has been done for you as an
example.
Example: The main point of the passage is to give information about:
A. previous U.S. hurricanes
B. future U.S. hurricanes
C. forecasting hurricane activity
D. why hurricanes change in intensity
12. The intensity of U.S. hurricanes:
A.  has increased by 15 to 30% recently
B. depends on the GPS-dropwindsondes
C. was greater from 1940 to 1969 than at any previous time
D. can be more accurately measured by satellite assistance
13. The Category 4 hurricane which hit Florida in 1926:
A. was the most catastrophic to hit the U. S. this century
B. caused $77 billion worth of damage
C. caused an explosion in population growth
C. none of the above
14. Hurricane’Camille’:
A. caused $1.5 billion dollars damage in today’s money
B. was the worst U.S. storm this century in terms of life lost
C. was named in the 1950s
D. was not as intense as the hurricane of 1926
15. The writer of the passage probably believes that:
A. accurate tracking of hurricanes might be possible in the future
B. storm surges only occur within computer simulations
C. computer predictions are unreliable
D. the worst hurricanes occur in the U.S.
 
Answer: 
1. GPS-dropwindsondes
2. (weather) balloons
3. (the custom of) naming hurricanes began in the (early) 1950s
4. Camille
5. Hurricanes
6. heat (of water) / warm water
7. (the) Atlantic Conveyor
8. previously used sensors
9. data analysts
10. (a) computer (simulation) / hurricane researchers   1
1. (a) storm surge
12.  d 13. d   14. b  15. a
Read 24: The Department of Ethnography
The Department of Ethnography was created as a separate department within the British Museum in 1946,
after 140 years of gradual development from the original Department of Antiquities. If is concerned with the
people of Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Pacific and parts of Europe. While this includes complex
kingdoms, as in Africa, and ancient empires, such as those of the Americas, the primary focus of attention in
the twentieth century has been on small-scale societies. Through its collections, the Department’s specific
interest is to document how objects are created and used, and to understand their importance and
significance to those who produce them. Such objects can include both the extraordinary and the mundane,
the beautiful and the banal.

The collections of the Department of Ethnography include approximately 300,000 artifacts, of which about
half are the product of the present century. The Department has a vital role to play in providing information
on non-Western cultures to visitors and scholars. To this end, the collecting emphasis has often been less on
individual objects than on groups of material which allow the display of a broad range of a society’s cultural
expressions. Much of the more recent collecting was carried out in the field, sometimes by Museum staff
working on general anthropological projects in collaboration with a wide variety of national governments
and other institutions. The material collected includes great technical series – for instance, of textiles from
Bolivia, Guatemala, Indonesia and areas of West Africa – or of artifact types such as boats. The latter
include working examples of coracles from India, reed boars from Lake Titicaca in the Andes, kayaks from
the Arctic, and dug-out canoes from several countries. The field assemblages, such as those from the Sudan,
Madagascar and Yemen, include a whole range of material culture representative of one people. This might
cover the necessities of life of an African herdsman or on Arabian farmer, ritual objects, or even on occasion
airport art. Again, a series of acquisitions might represent a decade’s fieldwork documenting social
experience as expressed in the varieties of clothing and jewellery styles, tents and camel trappings from
various Middle Eastern countries, or in the developing preferences in personal adornment and dress from
Papua New Guinea. Particularly interesting are a series of collections which continue to document the
evolution of ceremony and of material forms for which the Department already possesses early (if nor the
earliest) collections formed after the first contact with Europeans.

The importance of these acquisitions extends beyond the objects themselves. They come to the Museum
with documentation of the social context, ideally including photographic records. Such acquisitions have
multiple purposes. Most significantly they document for future change. Most people think of the cultures
represented in the collection in terms of the absence of advanced technology. In fact, traditional practices
draw on a continuing wealth of technological ingenuity. Limited resources and ecological constraints are
often overcome by personal skills that would be regarded as exceptional in the West. Of growing interest is
the way in which much of what we might see as disposable is, elsewhere, recycled and reused.

With the Independence of much of Asia and Africa after 1945, it was assumed that economic progress
would rapidly lead to the disappearance or assimilation of many small-scale societies. Therefore, it was felt
that the Museum should acquire materials representing people whose art or material culture, ritual or
political structures were on the point of irrevocable change. This attitude altered with the realisation that
marginal communities can survive and adapt .In spite of partial integration into a notoriously fickle world
economy. Since the seventeenth century, with the advent of trading companies exporting manufactured
textiles to North America and Asia, the importation of cheap goods has often contributed to the destruction
of local skills and indigenous markets. On the one hand modern imported goods may be used in an everyday
setting, while on the other hand other traditional objects may still be required for ritually significant events.
Within this context trade and exchange attitudes are inverted. What are utilitarian objects to a Westerner
may be prized objects in other cultures – when transformed by local ingenuity – principally for aesthetic
value. In the some way, the West imports goods from other peoples and in certain circumstances categorise
them as ‘art’.

Collections act as an ever-expanding database, nor merely for scholars and anthropologists, bur for people
involved in a whole range of educational and artistic purposes. These include schools and universities as
well as colleges of art and design. The provision of information about non-Western aesthetics and
techniques, not just for designers and artists but for all visitors, is a growing responsibility for a Department
whose own context is an increasingly multicultural European society.

Questions 1-6
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 26?
In boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet write
TRUE             if the statement is true according to the passage
FALSE            if the statement is false according to the passage
NOT GIVEN    if the information is not given in the passage
Example: The Department of Ethnography replaced the Department of  Antiquities at the British Museum.
Answer: FALSE
1. The twentieth-century collections come mainly from mainstream societies such as the US and Europe.
2. The Department of Ethnography focuses mainly on modern societies.
3. The Department concentrates on collecting single unrelated objects of great value.
4. The textile collection of the Department of Ethnography is the largest in the world.
5. Traditional societies are highly inventive in terms of technology.
6. Many small-scale societies have survived and adapted in spite of predictions to the contrary.
Questions 7-12
Some of the exhibits at the Department of Ethnography are listed below (Questions 7-12). The writer gives
these exhibits as examples of different collection types. Match each exhibit with the collection type with
which it is associated in Reading Passage 26. Write the appropriate letters in boxes 7-12 on your answer
sheet. NB You may use any collection type more than once.
Example: Boats
Answer: AT
Collection Type
AT     Artifact Types
EC     Evolution of Ceremony
FA      Field Assemblages
SE     Social Experience
TS     Technical Series
7. Bolivian textiles
8. Indian coracles
9. airport art
10. Arctic kayaks
11. necessities of life of an Arabian farmer
12. tents from the Middle East

Answer:  
1  FALSE; 2  FALSE; 3  FALSE;
4  NOT GIVEN; 5  TRUE; 6  TRUE;
7  TS; 8  AT; 9  FA; 10  AT; 11  FA; 12  SE.
Read 25: Secrets of the Forests
A. In 1942 Allan R Holmberg, a doctoral student in anthropology from Yale University, USA, ventured
deep into the jungle of Bolivian Amazonia and searched out an isolated band of Siriono Indians. The
Siriono, Holmberg later wrote, led a “strikingly backward” existence. Their villages were little more than
clusters of thatched huts. Life itself was a perpetual and punishing search for food: some families grew
manioc and other starchy crops in small garden plots cleared from the forest, while other members of the
tribe scoured the country for small game and promising fish holes. When local resources became depleted,
the tribe moved on. As for technology, Holmberg noted, the Siriono “may be classified among the most
handicapped peoples of the world”. Other than bows, arrows and crude digging sticks, the only tools the
Siriono seemed to possess were “two machetes worn to the size of pocket-knives”.
B. Although the lives of the Siriono have changed in the intervening decades, the image of them as Stone
Age relics has endured. Indeed, in many respects the Siriono epitomize the popular conception of life in
Amazonia. To casual observers, as well as to influential natural scientists and regional planners, the
luxuriant forests of Amazonia seem ageless, unconquerable, a habitat totally hostile to human civilization.
The apparent simplicity of Indian ways of life has been judged an evolutionary adaptation to forest ecology,
living proof that Amazonia could not – and cannot – sustain a more complex society. Archaeological traces
of far more elaborate cultures have been dismissed as the ruins of invaders from outside the region,
abandoned to decay in the uncompromising tropical environment.
C. The popular conception of Amazonia and its native residents would be enormously consequential if it
were true. But the human history of Amazonia in the past 11,000 years betrays that view as myth. Evidence
gathered in recent years from anthropology and archaeology indicates that the region has supported a series
of indigenous cultures for eleven thousand years; an extensive network of complex societies – some with
populations perhaps as large as 100,000 – thrived there for more than 1,000 years before the arrival of
Europeans. (Indeed, some contemporary tribes, including the Siriono, still live among the earthworks of
earlier cultures.) Far from being evolutionarily retarded, prehistoric Amazonian people developed
technologies and cultures that were advanced for their time. If the lives of Indians today seem “primitive”,
the appearance is not the result of some environmental adaptation or ecological barrier; rather it is a
comparatively recent adaptation to centuries of economic and political pressure. Investigators who argue
otherwise have unwittingly projected the present onto the past.
D. The evidence for a revised view of Amazonia will take many people by surprise. Ecologists have
assumed that tropical ecosystems were shaped entirely by natural forces and they have focused their
research on habitats they believe have escaped human influence. But as the University of Florida ecologist,
Peter Feinsinger, has noted, an approach that leaves people out of the equation is no longer tenable. The
archaeological evidence shows that the natural history of Amazonia is to a surprising extent tied to the
activities of its prehistoric inhabitants.
E. The realization comes none too soon. In June 1992 political and environmental leaders from across the
world met in Rio de Janeiro to discuss how developing countries can advance their economies without
destroying their natural resources. The challenge is especially difficult in Amazonia. Because the tropical
forest has been depicted as ecologically unfit for large-scale human occupation, some environmentalists
have opposed development of any kind. Ironically, one major casualty of that extreme position has been the
environment itself. While policy makers struggle to define and implement appropriate legislation,
development of the most destructive kind has continued apace over vast areas.
F. The other major casualty of the “naturalism” of environmental scientists has been the indigenous
Amazonians, whose habits of hunting, fishing, and slash-and-burn cultivation often have been represented as
harmful to the habitat. In the clash between environmentalists and developers, the Indians, whose presence is
in fact crucial to the survival of the forest, have suffered the most. The new understanding of the pre-history
of Amazonia, however, points toward a middle ground. Archaeology makes clear that with judicious
management selected parts of the region could support more people than anyone thought before. The long-
buried past, it seems, offers hope for the future.
Questions 13-15
Reading Passage 27 has six sections A-F. Choose the most suitable headings for sections A, B and D from
the list of headings below.
Write the appropriate numbers i-vii in boxes 13-15 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
 i. Amazonia as unable to sustain complex societies
ii. The role of recent technology in ecological research in Amazonia
iii. The hostility of the indigenous population to North American influences
iv. Recent evidence
v. Early research among the Indian Amazons
vi. The influence of prehistoric inhabitants on Amazonian natural history
vii. The great difficulty of changing local  attitudes and practices
Example: Paragraph
C
Answer: iv
13. Section A
14. Section B
15. Section D
Questions 16-21 YES NO NOT GIVEN
16. The reason for the simplicity of the Indian way of life is that Amazonia has always been unable to
support a more complex society.
17.There is a crucial popular misconception about the human history of Amazonia.
18. There are lessons to be learned from similar ecosystems in other parts of the world.
19. Most ecologists were aware that the areas of Amazonia they were working in had been shaped by human
settlement.
20. The indigenous Amazonian Indians are necessary to the well-being of the forest.
21. It would be possible for certain parts of Amazonia to support a higher population.
Questions 22-25
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 22-25 on your answer sheet.
22. In 1942 the US anthropology student concluded that the Siriono
A. were unusually aggressive and cruel.
B. had had their way of life destroyed by invaders.
C. were an extremely primitive society.
D. had only recently made permanent settlements.
23. The author believes recent discoveries of the remains of complex societies in Amazonia
A. are evidence of early indigenous communities.
B. are the remains of settlements by invaders.
C. are the ruins of communities established since the European invasions.
D. show the region has only relatively recently been covered by forest.
24. The assumption that the tropical ecosystem of Amazonia has been created solely by natural forces
A. has often been questioned by ecologists in the past.
B. has been shown to be incorrect by recent research.
C. was made by Peter Feinsinger and other ecologists.
D. has led to some fruitful discoveries.
25. The application of our new insights into the Amazonian past would
A. warn us against allowing any development at all.
B. cause further suffering to the Indian communities.
C. change present policies on development in the region.
D. reduce the amount of hunting, fishing, and ‘slash-and-burn’.
 
Answer: 
13. v; 14. i; 15. vi ;
16. NO ;17. YES ;18. NOT GIVEN;
19. NO; 20. YES; 21. YES;
22. C ;23. A; 24. B; 25. C
IELTS Reading 27: HARD DISK DRIVE
TECHNOLOGY
A few years ago, a query about the health of a person’s hard disk drive would have been met with a blank
stare. Nowadays, almost everyone is aware of this remarkable electronic storage medium that is part of
every modern computer, even though most users remain ignorant of the complexity of hard drive
technology.

In the early days of computing, an information record of a computer’ s memory content was  kept on
punched cards similar to the way in which an automated piano stores the keynote  sequences on a piano roll.
Later, magnetic tape was used to store electronic signals, and is still  the favoured means of economically
backing up the contents of hard drives. However, accessing information sequentially stored on tape is slow
since the electroniodata must be input through a fixed head in a single pass.

Hard disk drives solve this problem by incorporating a spinning platter on which magnetic data can be made
accessible via a moving head that reads and writes information across the width of the disk. It is analogous
to the way in which a person can choose to play a particular track on a CD player by causing the arm to
move the head across the disk. The CD player is, in fact, necessarily similar in design to a hard drive,
although there are significant differences in speed of data access.

Most modern hard drives incorporate several platters to further reduce the time spent seeking the required
information. Also, some newer drives have two heads; one for reading, and a second head for writing data to
disk. This separation of tasks enables much higher densities of magnetic information to be written on the
platter, which increases the capacity of the hard drive.

There are three important ways in which the capacity of hard disks has been increased. First, the data code
itself has been tightened with express coding techniques. Second, as previously noted, the head technology
has been improved; and third, the distance between the heads and the platters has been greatly reduced. It is
hard to believe, but the head can be made to pass over the magnetised platter at distances of less than 1
microinch (the width of a typical human hair is 5000 microinches). This is achieved by means of a special
protective coating applied to the platter. Each of these three improvements enables speedier access to the
data.

Hard drives are more commonplace than tape recorders these days, but it must be remembered that they are
much more fragile. Treated with respect they may last a number of years, but they are quite easily damaged,
often with disastrous consequences for the user, whose precious data can become lost forever. Dropping a
drive is almost always fatal, as is passing an incorrect electrical current through one (by faulty connection).
Dust and even extremes of temperature can cause failure. Yet, no physical damage can ever result from the
input of data via the keyboard or mouse. Of course, over time the magnetised coating on the platters will
erode, yet this is almost entirely independent of the amount of use.

There are serious questions being raised about the direction of the future of electronic storage media. Some
researchers claim that it would be wiser to invest more time and money in setting up systems for streaming
data across networks of computers from centralised banks of information storage. This would avoid the need
for each personal computer user to have his or her own copy of a software program resident on a local hard
drive. Personal data files could be kept at a central storage unit, and be suitably protected from disaster by a
failsafe backup system.

As the Internet becomes ever more pervasive, and the speed of access to other machines increases across our
telephone lines, it might be possible to do away with local storage systems altogether.

 Glossary:  
  backing up            — duplicating
 sequential(ly)       —  in sequence (or one after the other)
 platter                    — circular disk or plate
 Streaming data    — sending or broadcasting information as data


Questions 29 – 31

You are advised to spend about 5 minutes on Questions 29-31.

Refer to Reading Passage 29  “Hard Disk Drive Technology” and the diagram below. Choose from the
words and phrases in the given list, and label the diagram with the correct name of each part of the hard
drive.

Write your answers in boxes 29 – 31 on your Answer Sheet. The first one has been done for you as an
example.

Note that you will not need to use every word or phrase in the list.

List of Parts:

CD player              second head              magnetic tape

moving head           date code              platter

electric current      special protective coating

Questions 32 – 36

Refer to Reading Passage 29 “Hard Disk Drive Technology”, and decide which of the answers best 
completes the following sentences. Write your answers in boxes 32 – 36 on your Answer Sheet.

The first one has been done for you as an example.

Example: Nowadays, hard disk drive technology is:

 A. less complex
 B. part of every modern computer
 C. expensive
 D. not difficult to understand
32. Magnetically-coated disks are one of many types of:
 A. sequential access information systems
 B. information storage solutions
 C. tape storage solutions
 D. CD players
33. Connecting a hard drive incorrectly usually:
 A. results in excess temperature
 B. erodes the magnetised material on the platters
 C. damages the keyboard or mouse
 D. destroys the drive
34. Keyboard or mouse use can easily cause:
 A. incorrect electrical currents
 B. the magnetised coating on the platter to wear out
 C. physical damage to the hard disk drive
 D. none of the above
35. In the future, a computer user might be able to access personal data files from:
 A. a central storage unit
 B. a local hard drive
 C. a software program
 D. the local bank
36. Centralised banks of storage information could:
 A. offer better protection of a user’s data files
 B. stream data across telephone lines
 C. mean the end of local storage systems
 D. all of the above
Questions 37-40
You are advised to spend about 8 minutes on Questions 37 – 40. The following following text is a
summary of part of Reading Passage 29.
Complete each gap in the text by choosing the best phrase from the box below the summary.
Write your answers in boxes 37 – 40 on your Answer Sheet.
Note that there are more phrases to choose from than are required. The first one has been done for you
as an example.
Hard disk drives are exceedingly complex and fragile pieces of equipment, but ……… (Ex:)…….. The
cheapest way to store computer information is …….(37)……. However, it is slow to read back stored
information in this way. …….(38)……. , on the other hand, consists of one or more spinning platters coated
with magnetised material holding data made accessable by two moving heads. Modern
advancesindisktechnology haveincreasedthe …….(39)……… of harddisks. This has been
accomplished ……(40)…….
A. storage capacity
B. on magnetic tape
C.  most computer users know that a hard disk drive is complex
D.   a CD player is faster than a disk drive
E.  A hard disk drive
F.  few computer users are aware of this
G.  in three ways
H.  cost
I.  increasing the size of the platters used
J.  size of the heads
Answer: 
29. second head   33. d   37. B 
30. platter  34. d  38. E  
31. special protective coating   35. a   39. A  
32. b   36. d    40. G
IELTS Reading 28: A spark, a flint: How fire leapt
to life
A spark, a flint: How fire leapt to life

[The control of fire was the first and perhaps greatest of humanity’s steps towards a life-enhancing
technology.]

To early man, fire was a divine gift randomly delivered in the form of lightning, forest fire or burning lava.
Unable to make flame for themselves, the earliest peoples probably stored fire by keeping slow burning logs
alight or by carrying charcoal in pots.

How and where man learnt how to produce flame at will is unknown. It was probably a secondary invention,
accidentally made during tool-making operations with wood or stone. Studies of primitive societies suggest
that the earliest method of making fire was through friction. European peasants would insert a wooden drill
in a round hole and rotate it briskly between their palms This process could be speeded up by wrapping a
cord around the drill and pulling on each end.

The Ancient Greeks used lenses or concave mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays and burning glasses were
also used by Mexican Aztecs and the Chinese.

Percussion methods of fire-lighting date back to Paleolithic times, when some Stone Age tool-makers
discovered that chipping flints produced sparks. The technique became more efficient after the discovery of
iron, about 5000 vears ago In Arctic North America, the Eskimos produced a slow-burning spark by striking
quartz against iron pyrites, a compound that contains sulphur. The Chinese lit their fires by striking
porcelain with bamboo. In Europe, the combination of steel, flint and tinder remained the main method of
firelighting until the mid 19th century.

Fire-lighting was revolutionized by the discovery of phosphorus, isolated in 1669 by a German alchemist
trying to transmute silver into gold. Impressed by the element’s combustibility, several 17th century
chemists used it to manufacture fire-lighting devices, but the results were dangerously inflammable. With
phosphorus costing the equivalent of several hundred pounds per ounce, the hrst matches were expensive.

The quest for a practical match really began after 1781 when a group of French chemists came up with the
Phosphoric Candle or Ethereal Match, a sealed glass tube containing a twist of paper tipped with
phosphorus. When the tube was broken, air rushed in, causing the phosphorus to selfcombust. An even more
hazardous device, popular in America, was the Instantaneous Light Box — a bottle filled with sulphuric acid
into which splints treated with chemicals were dipped.

The first matches resembling those used today were made in 1827 by John Walker, an English pharmacist
who borrowed the formula from a military rocket-maker called Congreve. Costing a shilling a box,
Congreves were splints coated with sulphur and tipped with potassium chlorate. To light them, the user drew
them quickly through folded glass paper.

Walker never patented his invention, and three years later it was copied by a Samuel Jones, who marketed
his product as Lucifers. About the same time, a French chemistry student called Charles Sauria produced the
first “strike-anywhere” match by substituting white phosphorus for the potassium chlorate in the Walker
formula. However, since white phosphorus is a deadly poison, from 1845 match-makers exposed to its
fumes succumbed to necrosis, a disease that eats away jaw-bones. It wasn’t until 1906 that the substance
was eventually banned.

That was 62 years after a Swedish chemist called Pasch had discovered non-toxic red or amorphous
phosphorus, a development exploited commercially by Pasch’s compatriot J E Lundstrom in 1885.
Lundstrom’s safety matches were safe because the red phosphorus was non-toxic; it was painted on to the
striking surface instead of the match tip, which contained potassium chlorate with a relatively high ignition
temperature of 182 degrees centigrade.

America lagged behind Europe in match technology and safety standards. It wasn’t until 1900 that the
Diamond Match Company bought a French patent for safety matches — but the formula did not work
properly in the different climatic conditions prevailing in America and it was another 11 years before
scientists finally adapted the French patent for the US.

The Americans, however, can claim several “firsts” in match technology and marketing. In 1892 the
Diamond Match Company pioneered book matches. The innovation didn’t catch on until after 1896, when a
brewery had the novel idea of advertising its product in match books. Today book matches are the most
widely used type in the US, with 90 percent handed out free by hotels, restaurants and others.

Other American innovations include an anti-after-glow solution to prevent the match from smoldering after
it has been blown out; and the waterproof match, which lights after eight hours in water.

Questions 1-8

Complete the summary below. Choose your answers from the box at the bottom of the page and write them
in boxes 1 – 8 on your answer sheet.

NB: There are more words than spaces so you will not use them all You may use any of the words more
than once.

EARLY FIRE-LIGHTING METHODS

Primitive Societies  saw fire as a ….….(Example)…..… gift.      Answer:  heavenly

They tried to …… (1) …… burning logs or charcoal …… (2) …… that they could create fire themselves. It
is suspected that the first man-made flames were produced by …… (3) ……

The very first fire-lighting methods involved the creation of …… (4) …… by, for example, rapidly …… (5)
…… a wooden stick in a round hole. The use of …… (6) …… or persistent chipping was also widespread in
Europe and among other peoples such as the Chinese and …… (7) …….. European practice of this method
continued until the 1850s ……. (8) ……. the discovery of phosphorus some years earlier.

List of Words
Mexicans          random           rotating

despite             preserve         realising

sunlight            lacking            heavenly

percussion       Chance           friction

unaware           without            make

heating             Eskimos          surprised

until                  smoke

Questions 9-15
Look at the following notes that have been made about the matches described in Reading Passage 30.
Decide which type of match (A-H) corresponds with each description and write your answers in boxes 9-
15 on your answer sheet.

NB There are more matches than descriptions so you will not use them all. You may use any match more
than once.

Example:  could be lit after soaking in water.

Answer: H

NOTES

9. made using a less poisonous type of phosphorus

10. identical to a previous type of match

11. caused a deadly illness

12. first to look like modern matches

13. first matches used for advertising

14. relied on an airtight glass container

15. made with the help of an army design

Types of Matches

A. the Ethereal Match

B. the Instantaneous Light box

C. Congreves

D. Lucifers

E. the first strike-anywhere match

F. Lundstrom’s safety match

G. book matches

H. waterproof matches

Answer: 
1 preserve;
2 unaware;
3 chance;
4 friction;
5 rotating;
6 percussion;
7 Eskimos;
8 despite;
9  F; 10 D; 11 E; 12 C; 13 G; 14 A; 15 C
IELTS Reading 29: ARCHITECTURE – Reaching
for the Sky
By
IELTS Practice Online
786
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 29-40 which are based on Reading Passage 31
below.
ARCHITECTURE – Reaching for the Sky
Architecture is the art and science of designing buildings and structures. A building reflects the scientific
and technological achievements of the age as well as the ideas and aspirations of the designer and client. The
appearance of individual buildings, however, is often controversial.
The use of an architectural style cannot be said to start or finish on a specific date. Neither is it possible to
say exactly what characterises a particular movement. But the origins of what is now generally known as
modern architecture can be traced back to the social and technological changes of the 18th and 19th
centuries.
Instead of using timber, stone and traditional building techniques, architects began to explore ways of
creating buildings by using the latest technology and materials such as steel, glass and concrete strengthened
steel bars, known as reinforced concrete. Technological advances also helped bring about the decline of
rural industries and an increase in urban populations as people moved to the towns to work in the new
factories. Such rapid and uncontrolled growth helped to turn parts of cities into slums.
By the 1920s architects throughout Europe were reacting against the conditions created by industrialisation.
A new style of architecture emerged to reflect more idealistic notions for the future. It was made possible by
new materials and construction techniques and was known as Modernism.
By the 1930s many buildings emerging from this movement were designed in the International Style. This
was largely characterised by the bold use of new materials and simple, geometric forms, often with white
walls supported by stiltlike pillars. These were stripped of unnecessary decoration that would detract from
their primary purpose  to be used or lived in.
Walter Gropius, Charles Jeanneret (better known as Le Corbusier) and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe were
among the most influential of the many architects who contributed to the development of Modernism in the
first half of the century. But the economic depression of the 1930s and the second world war (1939-45)
prevented their ideas from being widely realised until the economic conditions improved and war-torn cities
had to be rebuilt. By the 1950s, the International Style had developed into a universal approach to building,
which standardised the appearance of new buildings in cities across the world.
Unfortunately, this Modernist interest in geometric simplicity and function became exploited for profit. The
rediscovery of quick-and-easy-to-handle reinforced concrete and an improved ability to prefabricate
building sections meant that builders could meet the budgets of commissioning authorities and handle a
renewed demand for development quickly and cheaply. But this led to many badly designed buildings,
which discredited the original aims of Modernism.
Influenced by Le Corbusier’s ideas on town planning, every large British city built multi-storey housing
estates in the 1960s. Massproduced, low-cost high-rises seemed to offer a solution to the problem of housing
a growing inner-city population. But far from meeting human needs, the new estates often proved to be
windswept deserts lacking essential social facilities and services. Many of these buildings were poorly
designed and constructed and have since been demolished.
By the 1970s, a new respect for the place of buildings within the existing townscape arose. Preserving
historic buildings or keeping only their facades (or fronts) grew common. Architects also began to make
more use of building styles and materials that were traditional to the area. The architectural style usually
referred to as High Tech was also emerging. It celebrated scientific and engineering achievements by openly
parading the sophisticated techniques used in construction. Such buildings are commonly made of metal and
glass; examples are Stansted airport and the Lloyd’s building in London.
Disillusionment at the failure of many of the poor imitations of Modernist architecture led to interest in
various styles and ideas from the past and present. By the 1980s the coexistence of different styles of
architecture in the same building became known as Post Modern. Other architects looked back to the
classical tradition. The trend in architecture now favours smaller scale building design that reflects a
growing public awareness of environmental issues such as energy efficiency. Like the Modernists, people
today recognise that a well designed environment improves the quality of life but is not necessarily achieved
by adopting one well defined style of architecture.
Twentieth century architecture will mainly be remembered for its tall buildings. They have been made
possible by the development of light steel frames and safe passenger lifts. They originated in the US over a
century ago to help meet the demand for more economical use of land. As construction techniques
improved, the skyscraper became a reality.
Questions 29-35
Complete the table below using information from Reading Passage 3. Write NO MORE THAN THREE
WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 29-35 on your answer sheet.
PERIOD  STYLE OFPERIOD BUILDINGMATERIALS CHARACTERISTICS
Before
Exampletraditional … (29) … 
18thcentury
introduction of…… (30)
1920s steel, glass andconcrete exploration of latesttechnology
……
1930s –1950s …… (31) ……  geometric forms 
1960s  decline ofModernism pre-fabricatedsections …… (32) …… 
…… (33) ……of historic
1970s end of Modernistera traditional materials 
buildings
beginning of…… (34)
 1970s metal and glass sophisticated techniquesparaded
…… era
1980s  Post-Modernism  …… (35) ……
Questions 36-40
Reading Passage 3 describes a number of cause and effect relationships.
Match each Cause (36-40) in List A, with its Effect (A-H) in List B.
Write your answers (A-H) in boxes 36 40 on your answer sheet.
NB There are more effects in List B than you will need, so you will not use all of them. You may use any
effect more than once if you wish.
LIST B 
RESULTS
LIST A  A. The quality of life is improved.
CAUSES B. Architecture reflects the age.
36. A rapid movement of people from rural areas to cities is C. A number of these have been knocked
triggered by technological advance. down.
37. Buildings become simple and functional. D. Light steel frames and lifts are
38. An economic depression and the second world war hit developed.
Europe. E. Historical buildings are preserved.
39. Multi-storey housing estates are built according to F. All decoration is removed.
contemporary ideas on town planning.40. Less land must be G. Parts of cities become slums.
used for building. H. Modernist ideas cannot be put into
practice until the second half of the 20th
century.
Answer: 
29 timber and stone;
30 Modernism;
31 International style;
32 badly designed buildings/ multi-storey housmg/ mass-produced, low-cost high-rises;
33 preservation;
34 High-Tech;
35 co-existing of styles / different styles together / styles mixed;
36 G; 37 F; 38 H; 39 C; 40 D
IELTS Reading 30: Right and left-handedness in
humans
Right and left-handedness in humans
Why do humans, virtually alone among all animal species, display a distinct left or right-handedness? Not
even our closest relatives among the apes possess such decided lateral asymmetry, as psychologists call it.
Yet about 90 per cent of every human population that has ever lived appears to have been right-handed.
Professor Bryan Turner at Deakin University has studied the research literature on left-handedness and
found that handedness goes with sidedness. So nine out of ten people are right-handed and eight are right-
footed. He noted that this distinctive asymmetry in the human population is itself systematic. “Humans think
in categories: black and white, up and down, left and right. It”s a system of signs that enables us to
categorise phenomena that are essentially ambiguous.’
Research has shown that there is a genetic or inherited element to handedness. But while left-handedness
tends to run in families, neither left nor right handers will automatically produce off-spring with the same
handedness; in fact about 6 per cent of children with two right-handed parents will be left-handed. However,
among two left-handed parents, perhaps 40 per cent of the children will also be left-handed. With one right
and one left-handed parent, 15 to 20 per cent of the offspring will be left handed. Even among identical
twins who have exactly the same genes, one in six pairs will differ in their handedness.
What then makes people left-handed if it is not simply genetic? Other factors must be at work and
researchers have turned to the brain for clues. In the 1860s the French surgeon and anthropologist, Dr Paul
Broca, made the remarkable finding that patients who had lost their powers of speech as a result of a stroke
(a blood clot in the brain) had paralysis of the right half of their body. He noted that since the left
hemisphere of the brain controls the right half of the body, and vice versa, the brain damage must have been
in the brain’s left hemisphere. Psychologists now believe that among right-handed people, probably 95 per
cent have their language centre in the left hemisphere, while 5 per cent have rightsided language. Left-
handers, however, do not show the reverse pattern but instead a majority also have their language in the left
hemisphere. Some 30 per cent have right hemisphere language.
Dr Brinkman, a brain researcher at the Australian National University in Canberra, has suggested that
evolution of speech went with right-handed preference. According to Brinkman, as the brain evolved, one
side became specialised for fine control of movement (necessary for producing speech) and along with this
evolution came righthand preference. According to Brinkman, most left-handers have left hemisphere
dominance but also some capacity in the right hemisphere. She has observed that if a left-handed person is
brain-damaged in the left hemisphere, the recovery of speech is quite often better and this is explained by
the fact that left-handers have a more bilateral speech function.
In her studies of macaque monkeys, Brinkman has noticed that primates (monkeys) seem to learn a hand
preference from their mother in the first year of life but this could be one hand or the other. In humans,
however, the specialisation in (unction of the two hemispheres results in anatomical differences: areas that
are involved with the production of speech are usually larger on the left side than on the right. Since
monkeys have not acquired the art of speech, one would not expect to see such a variation but Brinkman
claims to have discovered a trend in monkeys towards the asymmetry that is evident in the human brain.
Two American researchers, Geschwind and Galaburda, studied the brains of human embryos and discovered
that the left-right asymmetry exists before birth. But as the brain develops, a number of things can affect it.
Every brain is initially female in its organisation and it only becomes a male brain when the male foetus
begins to secrete hormones. Geschwind and Galaburda knew that different parts of the brain mature at
different rates; the right hemisphere develops first, then the left. Moreover, a girl’s brain develops somewhat
faster than that of a boy. So, if something happens to the brain’s development during pregnancy, it is more
likely to be affected in a male and the hemisphere more likely to be involved is the left. The brain may
become less lateralised and this in turn could result in left-handedness and the development of certain
superior skills that have their origins in the left hemisphere such as logic, rationality and abstraction. It
should be no surprise then that among mathematicians and architects, left-handers tend to be more common
and there are more left-handed males than females.
The results of this research may be some consolation to left-handers who have for centuries lived in a world
designed to suit right-handed people. However, what is alarming, according to Mr. Charles Moore, a writer
and journalist, is the way the word “right” reinforces its own virtue. Subliminally he says, language tells
people to think that anything on the right can be trusted while anything on the left is dangerous or even
sinister. We speak of lefthanded compliments and according to Moore, “it is no coincidence that lefthanded
children, forced to use their right hand, often develop a stammer as they are robbed of their freedom of
speech”. However, as more research is undertaken on the causes of left-handedness, attitudes towards left-
handed people are gradually changing for the better. Indeed when the champion tennis player Ivan Lendl
was asked what the single thing was that he would choose in order to improve his game, he said he would
like to become a lefthander.
Questions 1-7
Use the information in the text to match the people (listed A-E) with the opinions (listed 1-7)below. Write
the appropriate letter (A-E) in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet. Some people match more than one opinion.
A. Dr Broca
B. Dr Brinkman
C. Geschwind and Galaburda
D. Charles Moore
E. Professor Turner
Example:  Monkeys do not show a species specific preference for left or right-handedness.
Answer: B
1. Human beings started to show a preference for right-handedness whenthey first developed language.
2. Society is prejudiced against left-handed people.
3. Boys are more likely to be left-handed.
4. After a stroke, left-handed people recover their speech more quickly than righthanded people.
5. People who suffer strokes on the left side of the brain usually lose their power of speech.
6. The two sides of the brain develop different functions before birth.
6. Asymmetry is a common feature of the human body.
Questions 8-10
Using the information in the passage, complete the table below. Write your answers in boxes 8 10 on your
answer sheet.
Percentage of children left-
handed
One parent left-handed
……..(8)……..
One parent right-handedBoth parents left-handedBoth parents right-
……..(9)……..
handed    
…….(10)…….
Questions 11-12
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 11 and 12 on your answer sheet.
11. A study of monkeys has shown that
A. monkeys are not usually right-handed.
B. monkeys display a capacity for speech.
C. monkey brains are smaller than human brains.
D. monkey brains are asymmetric.
12. According to the writer, left-handed people
A. will often develop a stammer.
B. have undergone hardship for years.
C. are untrustworthy.
D. are good tennis players.
Answer: 
1 B; 2 D; 3 C; 4 B; 5 A; 6 C; 7 E;
8 15-20%; 9 40%; 10 6%;
11 D; 12 B