2

WRITING TASK 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task.

irom
You want
a colleague
You are organising a conference for your company. at the conference
ae
another
dnouner
departmentin your company to give a presentation
Write a letter to this colleague. In your letter pnbhweninierT feonoo
say what the conference is about
a presentation
explain why you want your colleague to give
conference
givedetails of the arrangements for the

Write at least 150 words.

write any addresses.
You do NOT need to

a s follows:
Begin your letter

Dear
 3

WRITING TASK 2

You should spend abOut 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

As a country's population grows, more new homes are needed.

Is it better to build these homes in existing cities or to create new towns in the
countryside?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge
or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

E
SECTION 1 Questions 1- 14
Read the text below and answer Questions 1-7.

A Unique Venue for your Event

- Bicentennial Park

Discover unique natural beauty and hidden treasures

at Bicentennial Park with its 40 hectares of rolling
parkland and 60 hectares of conservation wetlands.
This area of stunning natural beauty is the perfect BICENTENNIAL PARK
venue for your event whatever you may be -MILLENNIUM PARKLANDS
planning.
-

Bicentennial Park has large flat shaded areas such as The Village Green that
are ideal for large daytime events or faire. The Treillage, a wood-built tower at
the central point of the park, provides views over the entire area. The tower,
ringed by water and fountains which reflect the light, provides a spectacular
venue for visual entertainments after dark.

If you are thinking of hosting a musical event, natural

a
amphitheatre in The
Sundial Area will seat 1,000 people comfortably. The location
sound reproduction without creating disturbance to the
ensures good
birds, other wildlife or
neighbouring suburbs.
The Lime Pavilion is just perfect for
weddings formal lunches. The Hill
or
Pavilion
hasfabulous views and is ideal tor larger daytime events -250 people plus.
Wide paved areas surround The Freshwater Lake,
popular with commercial making its shores and
jetties
photographers
abundance of wildlife there.
and tilm-makers eager to
capture the
The Mangrove Room is hidden away in the
wetlands onthe edge of
manarove forest a lovely shelitered slte for
-

small events Such as

theAMMORA
parties. children's
The Visitor Centre offers facillitles for
aroups of up to 150 meetings and seminars for
fully
people. It also hou5e5 a omall theatre specialist
equipped with state-of-the-art audio-visual seating 60, and is
equipment.
Questions 1-7

Look at the following events (Questions 1-7) and the list of Bicentennial Park event locations
below.

Match each event with the most suitable location, A-H.

Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

the making of a nature documentary

2 a celebration for the very youngaA

3 a film preview for 40 guests

an evening party with fireworks, for 200 people

5 a presentation to 120 professionals

6 an open-air food market

an all-night rock concert elemine is lool

List of Bicentennial Park Event Locations

The Village Green

The Treillage
C The Sundial Area
D The Lime Pavilion
E The Hill Pavilion
F The Freshwater Lake
G The Mangrove Room
H The Visitor Centre RUOT uTMavoA

pinoM

Turn over

Read the text below and answer Questions 8-14.
Summer Holiday Activities
Is summer holiday boredom a
Bicentennial Park has the following activities available
summer which are suitable for both families and child-care groups.
PARK PATROL
Exciting outdoor adventure
and discovery activities for
ages 6 - 12
Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Time: 11.00am - 12.30pm
Learn how to use a
reference book
Search in the forest and
wetlands for shrubs with
unusual blooms
Find out about the eating
habits of insects
Meet at the Field Studies
Centre
Use insect repellent
D ADVENTURE TOUR
4 and up
Wetland adventures for ages
Friday
Weekdays: Monday
-
Time: 11.00am- 12.30pm
Discover the wetlands
Trail
Walk the Wetlands Explorer
Identify fish in the bay
Visit a giant worm farm
Try the Wetlands Challenge
Meet at the Visitor Centre
4
problem for your children ?
all through the
CAMOUFLAGE
B WETLANDS WALK c
A show about animals for ages
Adventures for families and
3-5 5 and over with Anthony
groups with children aged Stimson of Australian Wildlife
Presentations
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday Wednesday, Friday
Time: 11.00am 12.30pm Time: 11.00am 12.30pm
Find out about animals that
Look at animals in the
can conceal themselves in
mangroves
Make an animal for the park a flash
display Seea lizard's spots become
stripes
See snakes and birds up
Meet at the Field Studies close
Make a camouflage poster
Centre
and take it home
Wear a hat, sun cream and
Meet at the Visitor Centre
insect repellent
Bring a cold drink
E EARLY BIRDS ADVENTURE
Summer morning adventures (not suitable for
under 5s)
Wednesday- Sunday
Time: 10.00am 12.30pm
Go by boat through the wetlands
Use binoculars to spy on birds
Look for wading birds
Morning tea supplied
Meet at the Visitor Centre
Questions 8- 14

Look at the five summer holiday activities, A-E, on page 4

For which activity are the following statements true?

Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 8-14 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

8 This activity allows you to take something away with you.

This activity takes participants on a tour on water.

10 This activity provides you with something to drink.

11 This activity looks at hiding techniques.

12 This activity helps children discover more about plants.

13 This activity is for the youngest children.

14 This activity helps children see things which are far away.

b s

rmyeo aunod aofnbbs n h o nelsf

ume en

aioumefiouor
Turn over
 SECTION 2 Questions 15- 27

Read the text below and answer Questions 15-21

Thurton Health Trust

Leave and Public Holiday Policy
-

Annual

Introduction
It is the responsibility of the employee to:
the leave year.
and taken throughout
ensure that their annual leave is planned

It is the responsibility of the line manager to:

entitlement for their
employeees.
calculate annual leave and public holiday
annual leave at regular
monitor and ensure that individuals
are taking their
in a block.
than two weeks is taken
intervals, and that no more

Leave year
31st March.
T h e leave year is from 1st April to

Entitlement to annual leave

current terms and conditions, all staff have an entitlement
Under the which is not necessarily
service in the Health Trust,
based on their total length of than public holidays)
continuous. From October 2010,
this annual leave entitlement (other
is as follows for all full-time employees

27 days
On appointment to Trust
29 days
After 8 years' Trust service
33 days
After 10 years' Trust service

This is pro rata for part-time employees.

the
entitlement to annual leave and public holidays is based upon
For full-time employees,
For those employees who work standard shifts other
standard working day of 72 hours.
annual leave and public holiday entitlements should be
than 7% hours, or irregular shifts,
of hours worked.
calculated on the exact number

Public holidays
Emoloyees required to work, orto be on-call on a public holiday are entitled to equivalent
time to be taken off in lieu, in addition to a bonus payment.

Ful-time employees are entitled to have the ful number of public holidays within the leave
vear. Generally this is eight. In the case of part-time employees this entitlement is pro rata
based on the hours worked.

Carry-over of leave
Uo to one week of annual leave may be carried over to the following annual leave year,
with the agreement of your line manager.

Unpaid leave
There may be circumstances when it is appropriate for a manager to allow an employee to
take unpaid leave. This would apply, Tor example, if an employee has just started with the
Trust, and has a pre-booked holiday for which they would not have enough
entitlement. annual leave
 1

Questions 15-21

Answer the questions below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for each
answer.

Write your answers in boxes 15-21 on your answer sheet.

15 Who works out how much leave a member of staff is allowed

16 What is the maximum amount of leave an employee can have at one time?

When did the present terms and conditions regarding leave allowances come into
17
operation ?

How much annual leave, excluding public holidays, would a full-time employeebe
18
entitled to after one year's service?
As well as extra time off, what are employees entitled to if they work on public
19
holidays?
What is the maximum amount of annual leave that can be saved for the next
20
year?
21 What kind of leave might a new employee be permitted to take ifthey havea
previously arranged holiday?

Turn over
 8

Read the text below and answer Questions 22-27.

General Hospital
Staff benefits at Wallington

Accommodation until they Tind

short-term agreements
to the
hospital be provided with
can
eW
asomewhere permanent to live.
students and
medical
accommodation for
quarantee
VVe recognise that it is important to them away from
home ror a short

nurses on hospitalplacements which may bring

aent
time
shared kitchen, bathroom,
furnished room with a
accommodation comprises a single access for
students.
Tne room. There is also an office with computer
lOunge and laundry

Chaplaincy 24 hours a day. It

General Hospital which is open
There is a chapel located at Wallington and staff from all religions.
and pastoral needs of patients, visitors
cares for the spiritual

advocate
Childcare
Childcare Co-ordinator,
who will act as advisor,
direct a c c e s s to a
Employees have requirements
support in all childcare
and source of expertise, providing
as a childcare
voucher scheme and an
offers subsidies and discounts, such
The hospital
onsite nursery.
to balance domestic
General Hospital is committed to trying to help employees
Wallington include working job-share
Different opportunities for flexible working
and work commitments.
or flexi-time working.
hours, part-time hours,

Occupational health an
Occupational Health Unit that provides confidential advice regarding
The hospital has an
offers services
the duties of their post. The department also
employee's fitness to perform for those who want to stop smoking.
physiotherapy, and encouragement
including

Pension scheme
to the staff Pension Scheme. The benefits include a
Staff at the hospital are eligible join and benefits in ill health. Joining is voluntary
a taX-free lump sum,
pension, life assurance, time.
scheme at any
and you can leave the

Trade Unions
Allemployees are invited to join any of the hospital's recognised trade unions. For a nominal
fee. employees receive confidential support and advice regarding any employment matter
Questions 22- 27

Complete the sentences below.

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

Write your answers in boxes 22-27 on your answer sheet.

22 are available for new staff wanting temporary accommodation.

23 Trainee staffwho are doing ....will be provided with accommodation.

24 The hospital chapel caters for people of .

25 Job sharing is an example of... . ... which the hospital supports.

26 One purpose ofthe Occupational Health Unit is to supply. on work-related

matters.

27 The pension scheme operates on a . . . basis.

Turn over
 10

SECTIONN3 Questions 28-40

Questions 28-35

The text on pages 11 and 12 has eight sections, A-H

be/0W.
list of headings
Choose the correct heading for each section from the

Write the correct number, i-xii, in boxes 28-35 on your

ansWer snee

List of Headings

Self-defence strategies
Damaging the environment

Protecting habitatsS
Prospects for the species
V
Typical habitat
Preferred climate
vi
Physical characteristics
vii
Feeding habits
viii
ix Reproduction
x Main predators
xi Feeding the young
Getting established
xii
Preferred mode of travel
xiii

Section A
28

29 Section B

Section C
30

Section D
31
Section E
2
Section F
33
Section GG
34

35 Section H
 11

nks on he
edce.
A There are numerous
Zealand.
Skinks and geckos are the only two lizard families found in New
New Zealand.
species of both, and they are well represented throughout
in shiny scales,
In many ways, skinks are the lizards. They have a long, smooth body covered
typical
sleek appearance. Although they lack
which are laid down in rows as on a fish, giving the animal a the most
skinks are among
the ornamental neck frills and backbones of their other relatives,
successtful of lizards, with about 1000 species distributed around the world.

B
Skinks are hardy creatures, and may have arrived on drifting chunks of vegetation they are

How they got there remains but,

unclear
renowned for their ability to adapt to new environments.
once in prehistoric New Zealand, skinks appear to have flourished. As a result, almost every major
area on the two main islands of the country now has its associated skink species.

on warm stones to heat

Most New Zealand skinks are active in the daytime. They bask in the sun
and out of the sun
both sides of their bodies. They maintain an even body temperature by moving in
in leaf litter, under
so they don't get too hot or too cold. Skinks are mostly ground-dwellers, living
fallen branches and logs, among the roots of shrubs and trees, beneath stones and boulders,

amongst seaweed above the high-tide mark, and inside the cracks and crevices of rocks.

D
Although the world's biggest skink, the giant skink of the Solomon Islands, is completely vegetarian,
skinks are mainly carnivorous, living on insects and small grubs. Like all reptiles, a skink smells with
its tongue, not its nostrils, constantly flicking it in and out while searching for prey. A skink's teeth
aren't particularly well adapted for cutting or grinding, so it usually swallows its quarry whole or in a
few large chunks.

Despite their preference for meat, most skinks supplement their diet with fruit and vegetable matter
For example, during ummer as much as a third of the diet of the skink consists of fruit. While small
fruits such as berries are swallowed whole, skinks eat only the ripe portion of larger fruits. Fruits
favoured by skinks commonly grow on shrubs with forked branches or dense vines. Unlike a bird, a
skink can move relatively easily through such plant jungles and so get at the berries.

E
Most of the world's skinks lay eggs, but all New Zealand skinks except one give birth to live young.
Scientists believe this has developed in response to the cold climate. There is a tendency for snakees
and lizards living in climates such as New Zealand's to produce live young, while those in warmer
regions are egg-layers. The disadvantage of laying eggs in a cool climate is that once they have
been abandoned to the environment they are subject to variations in the weather, and the
temperature can drop so low that development is inhibited. By contrast, offspring nurtured in the
mother's body enjoy a higher, more stable temperature, because skinks are adept at keeping their
body temperature above that of the air around them. In warm climates, the advantage is with the
egg-layer. With little danger to its eggs from the environment, the female can devote her energies to
further breeding.

Turn over
 12

F
experience of seeing a
skink suddeniyPa
d y people have had the alarming skinks can shea n e a S way,
COntnues moving while the owner makes its
escane. All
w
heals quickly and the lost portion re-grows, of becoming
although with soThese
a slightly different loiur
form
colOur
whenand
the pattern.
tail has
arave danger
ana do So when they sense they are in
lizards are found with forked or even three-pronged
taiis not completely break away
OCcasionally damaged portion
does
been shed damaged or when the neither
harmless to humans, Delng
all completely tOwards
to the contrary, skinks are a9gressive
0 m e rumours their teeth. They are rarely As a
nor able to inflict serious
damage with
and don't easily
tolerate Intruders. of
OOus one another Or t o e s a n d part the
be quite territorial towards neck, and the loss
Dtcan head and
r particularly about the
have scars,
ttail ney orten
is not unusual.
reason to fear
have every
G lizards, in fact, was a
lizards strange, even scary, brought itn tnem,
people may find mammals they
SOme of humans and the i n t r o d u c e d into
New Zealand
arrival in New Zealand carnivores
pEople. he of the most
destructive
country In
their thousands,
all native reptiles. One bush and open
aisaster Tor descendants now stalk the
d o m e s t i c cat, whose
was
tne
preying on insects, birds and reptiles.
their numbers are
unclear whether
H It remains
at best. w e r e fully protected
mainland skink is hazy New Zealand reptiles
Ihe future for the all native
However, in 1996, but now anyone with
a
or increasing. lizards in captivity,
declining. stable
new rules do not prevent
people from keepinga w a r e n e s s of the country's reptilian riches,
by law. The has to be registered.
Increased
advances in pest control, may
lizard of any description population transfers, and
programmes,
together with captive breedingfrom which they have long been absent.
s e e skinks back
in places
yet
 13

Questions 36- 40

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text on pages 11 and 12?

In boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

36 Skinks live in all parts of the country.

37 Skinks use their noses to locate prey.

38 There are seasonal variations in what some skinks eat.

39 A skink's tail can re-grow a maximum of three times.

40 Some people believe that a skink's bite is poisonous.