Day 1

READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–13, which are based on Reading
Passage 1 below.

William Kamkwamba
At only 14 years old, William Kamkwamba built a series of windmills that could

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generate electricity in his African village, Masitala, in Malawi, south-eastern Africa.

In 2002, William Kamkwamba had to drop out of school, as his father, a maize and

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tobacco farmer, could no longer afford his school fees. But despite this setback,
William was determined to get his education. He began visiting a local library that had
just opened in his old primary school, where he discovered a tattered science book.
With only a rudimentary grasp of English, he taught himself basic physics – mainly by
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studying photos and diagrams. Another book he found there featured windmills on the
cover and inspired him to try and build his own.

He started by constructing a small model. Then, with the help of a cousin and friend,
he spent many weeks searching scrap yards and found old tractor fans, shock
absorbers, plastic pipe and bicycle parts, which he used to build the real thing.

For windmill blades, William cut some bath pipe in two lengthwise, then heated the
pieces over hot coals to press the curried edges flat. To bore holes into the blades,
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he stuck a nail through half a corncob, heated the metal red and twisted it through the
blades. It took three hours to repeatedly heat the nail and bore the holes. He attached
the blades to a tractor fan using proper nuts and bolts and then to the back axle of a
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bicycle. Electricity was generated through the bicycle dynamo. When the wind blew
the blades, the bike chain spun the bike wheel, which charged the dynamo and sent a
current through wire to his house.

What he had built was a crude machine that produced 12 volts and powered four
lights. When it was all done, the windmill’s wingspan measured more than eight feet
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and sat on top of a rickety tower 15 feet tall that swayed violently in strong gales.
He eventually replaced the tower with a sturdier one that stands 39 feet, and built a
second machine that watered a family garden.

The windmill brought William Kamkwamba instant local fame, but despite his
accomplishment, he was still unable to return to school. However, news of his magetsi
a mphepo – electric wind – spread beyond Malawi, and eventually things began to
change. An educational official, who had heard news of the windmill, came to visit his
village and was amazed to learn that William had been out of school for five years.
He arranged for him to attend secondary school at the government’s expense and
brought journalists to the farm to see the windmill. Then a story published in the
Malawi Daily Mail caught the attention of bloggers, which in turn caught the attention

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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

of organisers for the Technology Entertainment and Design conference.

In 2007, William spoke at the TED Global conference in Tanzania and got a standing
ovation. Businessmen stepped forward with offers to fund his education and projects,
and with money donated by them, he was able to put his cousin and several friends
back into school and pay for some medical needs of his family. With the donation,
he also drilled a borehole for a well and water pump in his village and installed drip
irrigation in his father’s fields.

The water pump has allowed his family to expand its crops. They have abandoned
tobacco and now grow maize, beans, soybeans, potatoes and peanuts. The windmills
have also brought big lifestyle and health changes to the other villagers. ‘The village

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has changed a lot,’ William says. ‘Now, the time that they would have spent going to
fetch water, they are using for doing other things. And also the water they are drinking
is clean water, so there is less disease.’ The villagers have also stopped using

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kerosene and can use the money previously spent on fuel to buy othwwer things.

William Kamkwamba’s example has inspired other children in the village to pursue
science. William says they now see that if they put their mind to something, they can
achieve it. ‘It has changed the way people think,’ he says.
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 Day 1

Questions 1–5

Complete the flow chart below.

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

Write your answers in boxes 1–5 on your answer sheet.

Building the Windmill

William learned some 1 …………… from a library book.

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First, he built a 2 …………… of the windmill.

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Then he collected materials from 3 …………… with a relative.

He made the windmill blades from pieces of 4 …………… .

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He fixed the blades to a 5 …………… and then to part of a bicycle.

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He raised the blades on a tower.

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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

Questions 6–10

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 6–10 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

6 William used the electricity he created for village transport.

7 At first, William’s achievement was ignored by local people.

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8 Journalists from other countries visited William’s farm.

9 William used money he received to improve water supplies in his village.

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10 The health of the villagers has improved since the windmill was built.

Questions 11–13
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Answer the questions below.

Use NO MORE THAN ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each
answer.

Write your answers in boxes 11–13 on your answer sheet.

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11 How tall was the final tower that William built?

12 What did the villagers use for fuel before the windmill was built?
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13 What school subject has become more popular in William’s village?

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 Day 2
READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14–26, which are based on Reading
Passage 2 below.

White mountain, green tourism

The French Alpine town of Chamonix has been a magnet for tourists since the 18th
century. But today, tourism and climate change are putting pressure on the surrounding

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environment. Marc Grainger reports.

A The town of Chamonix-Mont-Blanc sits in a valley at 1,035 metres above sea level

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in the Haute-Savoie department in south-eastern France. To the northwest are the
red peaks of the Aiguilles Rouges massif; to the south-east are the permanently
white peaks of Mont Blanc, which at 4,810 metres is the highest mountain in the
Alps. It’s a typical Alpine environment, but one that is under increasing strain from
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the hustle and bustle of human activity.

B Tourism is Chamonix’s lifeblood. Visitors have been encouraged to visit the valley
ever since it was discovered by explorers in 1741. Over 40 years later, in 1786,
Mont Blanc’s summit was finally reached by a French doctor and his guide, and this
gave birth to the sport of alpinism, with Chamonix at its centre. In 1924, it hosted
the first Winter Olympics, and the cable cars and lifts that were built in the years
that followed gave everyone access to the ski slopes.
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C Today, Chamonix is a modern town, connected to the outside world via the Mont
Blanc Road Tunnel and a busy highway network. It receives up to 60,000 visitors at
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a time during the ski season, and climbers, hikers and extreme-sports enthusiasts
swarm there in the summer in even greater numbers, swelling the town’s
population to 100,000. It is the third most visited natural site in the world, according
to Chamonix’s Tourism Office and, last year, it had 5.2 million visitor bed nights – all
this in a town with fewer than 10,000 permanent inhabitants.
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D This influx of tourists has put the local environment under severe pressure, and
the authorities in the valley have decided to take action. Educating visitors is vital.
Tourists are warned not to drop rubbish, and there are now recycling points dotted
all around the valley, from the town centre to halfway up the mountains. An internet
blog reports environmental news in the town, and the ‘green’ message is delivered
with all the tourist office’s activities.

E Low-carbon initiatives are also important for the region. France is committed to
reducing its carbon emissions by a factor of four by 2050. Central to achieving this
aim is a strategy that encourages communities to identify their carbon emissions
on a local level and make plans to reduce them. Studies have identified that

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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

accommodation accounts for half of all carbon emissions in the Chamonix valley.
Hotels are known to be inefficient operations, but those around Chamonix are
now cleaning up their act. Some are using low-energy lighting, restricting water
use and making recycling bins available for guests; others have invested in huge
projects such as furnishing and decorating using locally sourced materials, using
geothermal energy for heating and installing solar panels.

F Chamonix’s council is encouraging the use of renewable energy in private

properties too, by making funds available for green renovations and new
constructions. At the same time, public sector buildings have also undergone
improvements to make them more energy efficient and less wasteful. For example,
the local ice rink has reduced its annual water consumption from 140,000 cubic

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metres to 10,000 cubic metres in the space of three years.

G Improving public transport is another feature of the new policy, as 80 percent of

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carbon emissions from transport used to come from private vehicles. While the
Mont Blanc Express is an ideal way to travel within the valley – and see some
incredible scenery along the route – it is much more difficult to arrive in Chamonix
from outside by rail. There is no direct line from the closest airport in Geneva, so
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tourists arriving by air normally transfer by car or bus. However, at a cost of 3.3
million euros a year, Chamonix has introduced a free shuttle service in order to get
people out of their cars and into buses fitted with particle filters.

H If the valley’s visitors and residents want to know why they need to reduce their
environmental impact, they just have to look up; the effects of climate change
are there for everyone to see in the melting glaciers that cling to the mountains.
The fragility of the Alpine environment has long been a concern among local
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people. Today, 70 percent of the 805 square kilometres that comprise Chamonix–
Mont-Blanc is protected in some way. But now, the impact of tourism has led
the authorities to recognise that more must be done if the valley is to remain
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prosperous: that they must not only protect the natural environment better, but also
manage the numbers of visitors better, so that its residents can happily remain
there.
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 Day 2

Questions 14–18

Reading Passage 2 has eight paragraphs, A–H.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A–H, in boxes 14–18 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

14 a list of the type of people who enjoy going to Chamonix

15 reference to a system that is changing the way visitors reach Chamonix

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16 the geographical location of Chamonix

17 mention of the need to control the large tourist population in Chamonix

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18 reference to a national environmental target

Questions 19–20

Choose TWO letters, A–E.

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Write your answers in boxes 19 and 20 on your answer sheet.

The writer mentions several ways that the authorities aim to educate tourists in Chamonix.

Which TWO of the following ways are mentioned?

A giving instructions about litter

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B imposing fines on people who drop litter

C handing out leaflets in the town
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D operating a web-based information service

E having a paper-free tourist office
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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

Questions 21–22

Choose TWO letters, A–E.

Write your answer in boxes 21 and 22 on your answer sheet.

The writer mentions several ways that hotels are reducing their carbon emissions.

Which TWO of the following ways are mentioned?

A using natural cleaning materials

B recycling water
C limiting guest numbers

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D providing places for rubbish
E harnessing energy from the sun

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Questions 23–26 ZO
Complete the sentences below.

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

Write your answers in boxes 23–26 on your answer sheet.

23 The first people to discover the Chamonix valley were …………… .

24 Chamonix’s busiest tourist season is the …………… .

25 Public areas, such as the …………… in Chamonix, are using fewer resources.
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26 The …………… on the mountains around Chamonix provide visual evidence of

global warming.
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 Day 3
READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27–40, which are based on Reading
Passage 3 below.

READING IN A WHOLE NEW WAY

As technology improves, how does the act of reading change?

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Reading and writing, like all technologies, are constantly changing. In ancient times,
authors often dictated their books. Dictation sounded like an uninterrupted series of
words, so scribes wrote these down in one long continuous string, just as they occur in

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speech. For this reason, text was written without spaces between words until the 11th
century. This continuous script made books hard to read, so only a few people were
accomplished at reading them aloud to others. Being able to read silently to yourself
was considered an amazing talent; writing was an even rarer skill. In fact, in 15th
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century Europe, only one in 20 adult males could write.

After Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in about 1440, mass-produced books
changed the way people read and wrote. The technology of printing increased the
number of words available, and more types of media, such as newspapers and
magazines, broadened what was written about. Authors no longer had to produce
scholarly works, as was common until then, but could write, for example, inexpensive,
eart-rending love stories or publish autobiographies, even if they were unknown.
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In time, the power of the written word gave birth to the idea of authority and expertise.
Laws were compiled into official documents, contracts were written down and nothing
was valid unless it was in this form. Painting, music, architecture, dance were all
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important, but the heartbeat of many cultures was the turning pages of a book. By the
early 19th century, public libraries had been built in many cities.

Today, words are migrating from paper to computers, phones, laptops and game
consoles. Some 4.5 billion digital screens illuminate our lives. Letters are no longer
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fixed in black ink on paper, but flitter on a glass surface in a rainbow of colors as fast as
our eyes can blink. Screens fill our pockets, briefcases, cars, living-room walls and the
sides of buildings. They sit in front of us when we work – regardless of what we do.
And of course, these newly ubiquitous screens have changed how we read and write.

The first screens that overtook culture, several decades ago – the big, fat, warm tubes
of television – reduced the time we spent reading to such an extent that it seemed as if
reading and writing were over. Educators and parents worried deeply that the TV
generation would be unable to write. But the interconnected, cool, thin displays of
computer screens launched an epidemic of writing that continues to swell. As a
consequence, the amount of time people spend reading has almost tripled since 1980.
By 2008, the World Wide Web contained more than a trillion pages, and that total grows

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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

rapidly every day.

But it is not book reading or newspaper reading, it is screen reading. Screens are
always on, and, unlike books, we never stop staring at them. This new platform is very
visual, and it is gradually merging words with moving images. You might think of this
new medium as books we watch, or television we read. We also use screens to present
data, and this encourages numeracy: visualising data and reading charts, looking at
pictures and symbols are all part of this new literacy.

Screens engage our bodies, too. The most we may do while reading a book is to flip
the pages or turn over a corner, but when we use a screen, we interact with what we
see. In the futuristic movie Minority Report, the main character stands in front of a

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screen and hunts through huge amounts of information as if conducting an orchestra.
Just as it seemed strange five centuries ago to see someone read silently, in the future
it will seem strange to read without moving your body.

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In addition, screens encourage more utilitarian (practical) thinking. A new idea or
unfamiliar fact will cause a reflex to do something: to research a word, to question
your screen ‘friends’ for their opinions or to find alternative views. Book reading
strengthened our analytical skills, encouraging us to think carefully about how we feel.
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Screenreading, on the other hand, encourage quick responses, associating this idea
with another, equipping us to deal with the thousands of new thoughts expressed every
day. For example, we review a movie for our friends while we watch it; we read the
owner’s manual of a device we see in a shop before we purchase it, rather than after
we get home and discover that it can’t do what we need it to do.

Screens provoke action instead of persuasion. Propaganda is less effective, and false
information is hard deliver in a world of screens because while misinformation travels
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fast, corrections do, too. On a screen, it is often easier to correct a falsehood than to
tell one in the first place. Wikipedia works so well because it removes an error in a
single click. In books, we find a revealed truth; on the screen, we assemble our own
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truth from pieces. What is more, a screen can reveal the inner nature of things. Waving
the camera eye of a smartphone over the bar code of a manufactured product reveals
its price, origins and even relevant comments by other owners. It is as if the screen
displays the object’s intangible essence. A popular children’s toy (Webkinz) instills
stuffed animals with a virtual character that is ‘hidden’ inside; a screen enables children
to play with this inner character online in a virtual world.
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In the near future, screens will be the first place we’ll look for answers, for friends, for
news, for our sense of who we are and who we can be.

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 Day 3

Questions 27–31

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write the correct letter in boxes 27–31 on your answer sheet.

27 What does the writer say about dictation?

A It helped people learn to read.

B It affected the way people wrote.
C It was not used until the 11th century.
D It was used mainly for correspondence.

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28 According to the writer, what changed after the invention of the printing press?

A Romance became more popular than serious fiction.

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B Newspapers became more popular than books.
C Readers asked for more autobiographies.
D Authors had a wider choice of topics.
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29 In the third paragraph, the writer focuses on the

A legal concerns of authors.

B rapid changes in public libraries.
C growing status of the written word.
D recognition of the book as an art form.

30 What does the writer say about screens in the fourth paragraph?
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A They are hard to read.

B They are bad for our health.
C They can improve our work.
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D They can be found everywhere.

31 According to the writer, computers differ from television because they

A encourage more reading.

B attract more criticism.
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C take up more of our leisure time.

D include more educational content.

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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

Questions 32–36

Do the following statements agree with the views of writer in Reading Passage 3?

In boxes 32–36 on your answer sheet, write

YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

32 Screen reading has reduced the number of books and newspapers people read.

33 Screen literacy requires a wider range of visual skills than book-based literacy.

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34 Screen reading is more active than book reading.

35 Screens and books produce similar thought patterns in their readers.

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36 People are easily persuaded to believe lies on the screen.

Questions 37–40
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Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A–F, below.

Write the correct letter, A–F, in boxes 37–40 on your answer sheet.

37 The film Minority Report illustrates

38 Our behaviour when we watch a film shows

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39 Wikipedia’s success relies on

40 Webkinz is an example of
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A the accuracy of its information.

B people’s ability to concentrate.
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C the global use of the Internet.

D how people behave physically when they read screens.
E the screen’s ability to make an object seem real.
F how rapidly opinions can be communicated.

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 Day 4
READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–13, which are based on Reading
Passage 1 below.

Questions 1–7

Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs, A–G.

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Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i–x, in boxes 1–7 on your answer sheet.

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List of Headings
i The fastest breeds of horses
ii
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Developing desirable characteristics
iii Playing a less essential role
iv Influencing the outcome of conflicts
v What different breeds do best
vi A wide range of uses for domestic horses
vii Horses in agriculture
viii An ancient species
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ix An ideal form of transport

x What the earliest horses looked like
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1 Section A

2 Section B
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3 Section C

4 Section D

5 Section E

6 Section F

7 Section G

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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

The domestication of horses

A Horses have been racing across the landscape for around 55 million years –
much longer than our own species has existed. However, prehistoric remains
show that at the end of the Ice Age, some 10,000 years ago, wild horses died
out in the Americas and dwindled in western Europe, for reasons that are not
clear. But they continued to thrive on the steps of eastern Europe and Central
Asia, where short grasses and shrubs grow on vast, dry stretches of land. Most
scholars believe it was here that people domesticated the horse. However, the
DNA of domestic horses is very diverse. This suggests they may be descended
from a number of different wild horse populations, in several locations.

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B Once horses and humans encountered each other, our two species became
powerfully linked. Humans domesticated horses some 6,000 years ago, and over
time, we have created more than 200 breeds. The first domestic horses were

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likely to have been kept mainly as a source of food, rather than for work or for
riding. There is evidence of horses being raised for meat in Kazakhstan, in Central
Asia, around 5,500 years ago; later they began to pull chariots, and horseback
riding became common in Afghanistan and Iran about 4,000 years ago. As we
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have shaped horses to suit our needs on battlefields, farms and elsewhere, these
animals have shaped human history. The ways we travel, trade, play, work and
fight wars have all been profoundly shaped by our use of horses.

C When people domesticate animals, they control their behavior in many ways. For
example, animals that are being domesticated no longer choose their own mates.
Instead, people control their breeding. Individuals with traits that humans prefer
are more likely to produce offspring and pass on their genes. In the course of
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several generations, both the body and behavior of the animal are transformed.
In the wild, animals that are well adapted to their environment live long and
reproduce, while others die young. In this way, nature “chooses” the traits that
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are passed on to the next generation. This is the process of evolution by natural
selection. Domestic animals also evolve, but people do the selecting. Humans
seek out qualities like tameness, and help animals with those traits to survive and
bear young. This is evolution by artificial selection. Most domestic animals are
naturally social. Their wild ancestors lived in groups, with individuals responding
to each other – some led, others followed. In domestic animals, the tendency to
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submit to others is especially strong. Generations of breeding have encouraged

them to let people take the lead.

D For more than 3,000 years, a fighter on horseback or horse-drawn chariot was the
ultimate weapon. Time after time, from Asia to Europe to the Americas, the use
of horses has changed the balance of power between civilizations. When people
with horses clashed with those without, horses provided a huge advantage.
When both sides had horses, battles turned on the strength and strategy of their
mounted horsemen, or cavalry. Horses continued to define military tactics well into
the 1900s, until they finally became outmoded by machine guns, tanks, airplanes
and other modern weapons.

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E Horses are built for power. Their muscular bodies are heavier in the front than in
the back, making them well balanced to pull heavy loads. Yet they can also be
agile and quick – fit to carry out difficult tasks at top speed. So for more than a
thousand years, people have called on the power of horses to cultivate the land
and manage livestock.

F For most of human history, there was no faster way to travel over land than on
a horse. When it comes to carrying people and their possessions, horses have
two important advantages – they can run very fast and very far. Their speed
and endurance are unusual for a creature so large, making them the most
suitable animals to carry people and goods around the world. Horses offer other
advantages as well. Since they eat grass, they can go almost anywhere that

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humans can, eating as they go. And unlike cows and camels, which must sit
and rest to digest food, a horse’s digestive system allows it to graze and walk
the whole day without stopping. By carrying people, goods and ideas between

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civilizations, horses changed history.

G Today’s horses are not used to carry soldiers into battle, and do not pull plows and
stage-coaches as they once did. But horses are still part of our lives. Today the 58
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million horses in the world are used more for companionship, sport and recreation
than for work and warfare.
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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

Questions 8–10

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 8–10 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

8 The last of the wild horses lived around 10,000 years ago.

9 Initially people probably used domesticated horses to supplement their diet.

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10 Methods of artificial selection have changed over the centuries.

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Questions 11–13

Complete the sentences below.

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

Write your answers in boxes 11–13 on your answer sheet.

11 Having greater weight at the …………… helps horses to pull heavy items.

12 As well as being quicker, horses have greater …………… than most other large
animals.
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13 Because of the way their …………… works, horses can keep moving all day long.
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 Day 5
READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14–26, which are based on Reading
Passage 2 below.

Business case study: Rebranding Shopper’s Stop

On April 24, 2008, one of India’s oldest retail chains Shopper’s Stop Ltd unveiled its

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new logo as a part of its rebranding strategy. The chain undertook the rebranding
exercise in a bid to go upmarket, and reposition itself as a ‘bridge to luxury’ store as
opposed to its earlier image of a premium retailer. This would mean raising the already

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high quality of its products, and targeting more affluent consumers. Commenting on
the change, B.S. Nagesh, Customer Care Associate and Managing Director, Shopper’s
Stop, said, ‘Change is essential. Our consumers are changing; their preferences are
constantly evolving. They are getting younger. And so, we have to change along with
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them. The change in identity is just the beginning of a wave of strategic movements
being made in people, practices, introduction of new ways of shopping, technology,
investment in customer relationship management, and analytics.’
Shopper’s Stop was founded by K Raheja Corporation in October 1991, with its first
store in Mumbai. From selling men’s ready-to-wear clothing it soon evolved into a
complete family lifestyle store. As of 2008, Shopper’s Stop had 1.3 million square feet
of retail space spread across 24 stores in 11 cities in India, with a retail turnover of over
12.07 billion rupees (approx. US$245m).
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According to analysts, in the mid-2000s Shopper’s Stop started to lose its market value
as it failed to keep pace with changing customer preferences. It faced competition from
several retailers such as Globus, Westside and Lifestyle, who were catering to the
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same segment of customers.

Changing consumer behaviour and the growing demand from youngsters for trendy
products made Shopper’s Stop consider the option of rebranding itself.
It conducted a series of workshops called ‘Trial Room’, to understand the preferences
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of groups of invited consumers. The workshops revealed that what was needed was a
change in the look and feel of the brand. For Shopper’s Stop, rebranding meant not just
a change of logo, but the execution of new business strategies, with the core principles
remaining intact. According to Ravi Deshpande, Chief Creative Officer with Contract
Advertising, the agency which designed the new campaign for Shopper’s Stop, ‘The
retailer needed its brand idea to change, in order to connect to younger people. The
purpose was also to cut the age of the brand, as fresh ideas do help in making people
look differently at the brand.’
As a part of the rebranding efforts, Shopper’s Stop introduced a new rectangular logo
designed by Ray+Keshavan. Though the logo was changed, the black and white colour
scheme was retained. Govind Shrikhande, Customer Care Associate and Chief

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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

Executive of Shopper’s Stop, said, ‘It is more classical, rich, and authoritative –
something Shopper’s customers connect with. Black and white gives us a strong brand
recall value.’ The tagline was also changed from ‘Shopping and Beyond’ to ‘Start
Something New’, which implied that customers should try out something different, and
upgrade themselves according to the demands of the changing world.
As a part of its new philosophy of providing the customers with a new shopping
experience, Shopper’s Stop came up with several initiatives. One plan was to increase
the area of each store from around 40,000-45,000 square feet to 75,000-85,000 square
feet. It also started a new concept in the retail industry by setting up trial rooms with day
and night lighting options, so that consumers could check how garments would look
during the day and in the night.

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The other initiatives included a new dress code of black and white for the employees,
and training sessions to help employees tackle demanding customers with varied
tastes. Shopper’s Stop also introduced a company anthem for the staff, penned by

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renowned lyricist Gulzar, and sung by popular Indian singer Sonu Nigam. It was played
every morning across all outlets in the country as a song of celebration. Shopper’s Stop
brought out collectible shopping bags with different themes and launched the first in
the series based on the theme ‘Fashion for the Age’. To make shopping an enjoyable
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experience for its customers, it launched an in-store radio station in association with
Blue Frog Media, which aired popular melodies across all its stores in India, while radio
presenters offered tips on fashion and wellness. It also planned to start its online portal
by the end of 2008, to enable customers to shop online.
In addition to these initiatives, Shopper’s Stop also started an environmental awareness
campaign called ‘Think Green’. As part of this initiative, it planted more than 500 trees
and distributed 1,500,000 seed sachets among its customers. Besides, a series of print
and television commercials in black and white, with an environmental message that
S

also conveyed Shopper’s Stop’s repositioning, were launched.

Shopper’s Stop planned to invest around 15 billion rupees to increase the number of
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outlets to 48 by 2011. It had earmarked 200 million rupees for the rebranding and
repositioning exercise. But not everyone favoured the changes. Customers said that
from their point of view, there was no major change in terms of price or special offers.
Some analysts were of the view that the new logo had nothing unique to offer except for
a change in shape. Some even wondered why the retailer had decided to rebrand itself,
considering that it was doing reasonably well and had just completed a successful year.
IE

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 Day 5

Questions 14–19

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A–I, below.

Write the correct letter, A–I, in boxes 14–19 on your answer sheet.

14 In rebranding, Shopper’s Stop’s objective was to attract

15 The mid-2000s saw an alteration in

16 In the mid-2000s young people were increasingly interested in buying

17 Workshops showed that Shopper’s Stop needed to modify

E
18 The new advertising campaign was intended to give the Shopper’s Stop brand

19 The new tagline was intended to encourage consumers to buy

N
A its brand image
B designs that were popular in other parts of the world
C
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customers who had stayed loyal to the company
D the items that consumers tended to buy
E products that they hadn’t tried before
F a younger image
G the shape of the logo
H customers with more money to spend
I fashionable goods
S
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Questions 20–22

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?

In boxes 20–22 on your answer sheet, 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

20 When Shopper’s Stop first opened it sold products for all the family.

21 Shopper’s Stop and Globus targeted similar sections of the market.

22 The advertising campaign was used to launch new products.

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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

Questions 23–24

Choose TWO letters, A–E.

Write the correct letters in boxes 23 and 24 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following activities were among Shopper’s Stop’s initiatives to help
customers?

A redecorating its stores

B changing the lighting in certain areas of its stores
C recruiting additional staff

E
D offering online fashion advice
E broadcasting music throughout the stores

N
Questions 25–26

Choose TWO letters, A–E.

ZO
Write the correct letters in boxes 25 and 26 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following comments are reported about Shopper’s Stop’s rebranding?

A The company had spent too much on the rebranding.

B The company lost customers to its competitors because of the rebranding.
C The rebranding did not save consumers money.
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D The logo was too similar to some other companies’ logos.

E The rebranding was unnecessary at that time.
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 Day 6
READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27–40, which are based on Reading
Passage 3 below.

A Maps vary enormously, from imposing images of the world and its parts to private
jottings intended to give an approximate idea of the twentieth-century Antarctic.
The materials on which maps are to be found, similarly range from scraps of

E
paper to plaster walls, by way of parchment, copper coins, mosaics, marble,
woollen tapestries, silk, gold and more. Attitudes towards maps also vary greatly,
and are subject to modification over time.

N
B In recent decades, the view that maps should be assessed primarily in terms
of their geometrical accuracy has radically changed. At the same time, they
have become available to a range of disciplines. This development has been
ZO
encouraged by the growing popularity of interdisciplinary studies and by the
increasing awareness and appreciation of the importance of the visual – which
may be a consequence of the spread of television and the internet, and the ease
with which images can be created and manipulated in a digital environment.
Academic historians of all types – social, political, diplomatic and fine art, literature
specialists, and family historians take an interest in maps and find that they
sometimes offer perspectives on their subjects that are not possible from other
sources.
S

C All have contributed to a re-evaluation of the subject. It is accepted that for

some purposes, such as administration and terrestrial and maritime navigation,
LT

mathematical accuracy still plays a major and even sometimes a paramount role
in cartography. In other contexts, such as maps of underground railway systems,
or maps used for propaganda purposes, such accuracy is irrelevant, and at
times even undesirable. Conversely, the very aspects that tended traditionally
to be condemned or disregarded, such as distortions and decoration, become
of enormous significance. They can give particularly precious insights into the
IE

mentalities of past ages, and the views and lives of their creators, as well as being
packed with more general cultural information such as the receptiveness to
artistic fashions.

D For many map enthusiasts the fascination of maps ironically stems from their
necessary lack of truth. They can be regarded as the most successful pieces of
fiction ever to be created because most users instinctively suspend disbelief until
they find that the map they are using does not give truthful information. Yet it has
to be that way. Given the impossibility of representing the total reality, with all its
complexity, on a flat surface, hard decisions have to be taken as to what features
to select for accurate representation, or indeed for representation at all. For most

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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

of the time this process of selection is almost instinctive. The mapmaker knows
the purpose he intends for his map, and beyond that he is unwittingly guided by
the values and assumptions of the time in which he lives – unless these are in
conflict with his own value systems, as was the case with Nicholas Philpot Leader
in 1827. The map of Ireland (then part of the UK) that Leader commissioned was
intended as a strong attack on the then British government.

E In order to meet the map’s purpose, the information that is represented will be
prioritized according to importance as perceived by the mapmaker – and not
necessarily in accordance with actual geographical size. Even on modern national
topographic mapping, such features as motorways will be shown far larger than
they actually are because they are important to drivers and users will expect

E
to see them without difficulty. Conversely, large features that are considered
unimportant might be completely ignored or reduced in size, like parks and other
public spaces in some town maps. Often maps will show things that are invisible

N
in the real world, such as relative financial affluence, as in Charles Booth’s maps
of London in the nineteenth century, or the geology far below the surface of the
planet, as in an 1823 map of the land around Bath.

F
ZO
Sometimes the purpose of the map is even simpler and has nothing to do with
geography. The Hereford World Map proclaims the insignificance of man in the
face of the divine and the eternal. The plan of Ostia harbour of AD 64 primarily
serves as a demonstration of the Emperor Nero’s benevolence. Sometimes, as
in depictions of the imaginary land of Utopia, physical reality is totally absent or
so distorted as to be geographically meaningless. Instead the map serves as a
commentary on the gap between the aspirations and the feeble achievements of
mankind. The quality of a map must be judged by its ability to serve its purpose,
S

and not simply by its scientific precision, and in that context aesthetic and design
considerations are every bit as important as the mathematical, and often more so.
LT

G Plainly, to interpret maps as having followed a path of ever-increasing scientific

perfection over time is to miss the main point. In fact, they have responded to the
mentalities, and met the requirements of the societies in which they have been
created. In ancient Greece and Babylon, and in eighteenth- and twentieth-century
Europe, the preoccupation with precision and the scientific indeed predominated.
In early modern China and nineteenth-century Europe the administrative use of
IE

mapping came to the fore. By contrast, for long periods of time and in many
civilizations, the major preoccupation was to define and to depict man’s place in
relationship to a religious view of the universe. This was particularly evident in
medieval Europe and Aztec Mexico. Clearly, maps can only be fully understood in
their social context.

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 Day 6

Questions 27–31

Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs, A–G.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A–G, in boxes 27–31 on your answer sheet.

27 Examples of maps showing features that cannot be seen on the ground.

28 A list of media that have been used in the creation of maps.

29 Examples of the main function of maps in various periods and places.

E
30 A contrast between different types of maps with regard to a requirement for
accuracy.

N
31 Speculation about reasons for a change in attitudes towards maps.
ZO
S
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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

Questions 32–39

Match each map with the correct purpose, A–I.

Write the correct letter, A–I, in boxes 32–39 on your answer sheet.

32 maps of Utopia

33 Charles Booth’s maps of London

34 map commissioned by Nicholas Philpot Leader

35 map of Bath area

E
36 early modern Chinese maps

37 map of the Antarctic

N
38 plan of Ostia harbour

39 Hereford World Map

ZO
A to portray an area very roughly
B to create a decorative work
C to express political criticism
D to show variations in wealth
E to show differences below ground level
F to show the unimportance of human beings
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G to glorify the ruler of the country

H to contrast ideal and actual human development
I to assist in the management of the country
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Question 40
IE

Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.

Write the correct letter in box 40 on your answer sheet.

40 What is the best title for Reading Passage 3?

A Differences in map-making around the world

B A growing interest in drawing maps
C Re-evaluating the role of maps
D Making maps more accurate

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 Day 7
READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–13, which are based on Reading
Passage 1 below.

The way the brain buys

Supermarkets take great care over the way the goods they sell are arranged. This is

E
because they know a lot about how to persuade people to buy things.

When you enter a supermarket, it takes some time for the mind to get into a shopping

N
mode. This is why the area immediately inside the entrance of a supermarket is
known as the ‘decompression zone’. People need to slow down and take stock of
the surroundings, even if they are regulars. Supermarkets do not expect to sell much
here, so it tends to be used more for promotion. So the large items piled up here are
ZO
designed to suggest that there are bargains further inside the store, and shoppers are
not necessarily expected to buy them. Walmart, the world’s biggest retailer, famously
employs ‘greeters’ at the entrance to its stores. A friendly welcome is said to cut
shoplifting. It is harder to steal from nice people.

Immediately to the left in many supermarkets is a ‘chill zone’, where customers can
enjoy browsing magazines, books and DVDs. This is intended to tempt unplanned
purchases and slow customers down. But people who just want to do their shopping
quickly will keep walking ahead, and the first thing they come to is the fresh fruit and
S

vegetables section. However, for shoppers, this makes no sense. Fruit and vegetables
can be easily damaged, so they should be bought at the end, not the beginning, of a
shopping trip. But psychology is at work here: selecting these items makes people feel
LT

good, so they feel less guilty about reaching for less healthy food later on.

Shoppers already know that everyday items, like milk, are invariably placed towards the
back of a store to provide more opportunity to tempt customers to buy things which are
not on their shopping list. This is why pharmacies are also generally at the back. But
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supermarkets know shoppers know this, so they use other tricks, like placing popular
items halfway along a section so that people have to walk all along the aisle looking for
them. The idea is to boost ‘dwell time’: the length of time people spend in a store.

Having walked to the end of the fruit-and-vegetable aisle, shoppers arrive at counters
of prepared food, the fishmonger, the butcher and the deli. Then there is the in-store
bakery, which can be smelt before it is seen. Even small supermarkets now use in-store
bakeries. Mostly these bake pre-prepared items and frozen ingredients which have
been delivered to the supermarket previously, and their numbers have increased, even
though central bakeries that deliver to a number of stores are much more efficient. They
do it for the smell of freshly baked bread, which arouses people’s appetites and thus
encourages them to purchase not just bread but also other food, including ready meals.

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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

Retailers and producers talk a lot about the ‘moment of truth’. This is not a philosophical
idea, but the point when people standing in the aisle decide to buy something and
reach to get it. At the instant coffee section, for example, branded products from the big
producers are arranged at eye level while cheaper ones are lower down, along with the
supermarket’s own-label products. But shelf positioning is fiercely fought over, not just
by those trying to sell goods, but also by those arguing over how best to manipulate
shoppers. While many stores reckon eye level is the top spot, some think a little higher
is better. Others think goods displayed at the end of aisles sell the most because
they have the greatest visibility. To be on the right-hand side of an eye-level selection
is often considered the very best place, because most people are right-handed and
most people’s eyes drift rightwards. Some supermarkets reserve that for their most
expensive own-label goods.

E
Scott Bearse, a retail expert with Deloitte Consulting in Boston, Massachusetts, has
led projects observing and questioning tens of thousands of customers about how they

N
feel about shopping. People say they leave shops empty-handed more often because
they are ‘unable to decide’ than because prices are too high, says Mr Bearse. Getting
customers to try something is one of the best ways of getting them to buy, adds Mr
Bearse. Deloitte found that customers who use fitting rooms in order to try on clothes
ZO
buy the product they are considering at a rate of 85% compared with 58% for those that
do not do so.

Often a customer struggling to decide which of two items is best ends up not buying
either. In order to avoid a situation where a customer decides not to buy either product,
a third ‘decoy’ item, which is not quite as good as the other two, is placed beside them
to make the choice easier and more pleasurable. Happier customers are more likely to
buy.
S
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 Day 7

Questions 1–4

Label the diagram below.

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

Write your answers in boxes 1–4 on your answer sheet.

Layout of typical supermarket

E
N
ZO
S
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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

Questions 5–10

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage?

In boxes 5–10 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

5 The ‘greeters’ at Walmart increase sales.

6 People feel better about their shopping if they buy fruit and vegetables before they

E
buy other food.

7 n-store bakeries produce a wider range of products than central bakeries.

N
8 Supermarkets find right-handed people easier to persuade than left-handed
people.

9 The most frequent reason for leaving shops without buying something is price.
ZO
10 ‘Decoy’ items are products which the store expects customers to choose.

Questions 11–13

Complete the flow chart below.

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

Write your answers in boxes 11–13 on your answer sheet.

In-store bread production process

LT

The supermarket is sent 11 …………… and other items

which have been prepared earlier.
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Baking bread in-store produces an aroma.

Shoppers’ 12 …………… are stimulated.

They are then keener to buy food, including

bread and 13 …………… .

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 Day 8
READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14–26, which are based on Reading
Passage 2 below.

Questions 14–19

The reading passage has six paragraphs, A–F.

E
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i–viii, in boxes 14–19 on your answer sheet.

N
List of headings
i some of the things liars really do
ii
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when do we begin to lie?
iii how wrong is it to lie?
iv exposing some false beliefs
v which forum of communication best exposes a lie?
vi do only humans lie?
vii dealing with known liars
viii a public test of our ability to spot a lie
S
LT

14 Paragraph A

15 Paragraph B

16 Paragraph C
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17 Paragraph D

18 Paragraph E

19 Paragraph G

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 30 - Day Reading Challenge

The truth about lying

Over the years Richard Wiseman has tried to unravel the truth about deception –
investigating the signs that give away a liar.

A In the 1970s, as part of a large-scale research programme exploring the area of

interspecies communication, Dr Francine Patterson from Stanford University
attempted to teach two lowland gorillas called Michael and Koko a simplified
version of Sign Language. According to Patterson, the great apes were capable
of holding meaningful conversations, and could even reflect upon profound topics,
such as love and death. During the project, their trainers believe they uncovered

E
instances where the two gorillas’ linguistic skills seemed to provide reliable
evidence of intentional deceit. In one example, Koko broke a toy cat, and then
signed to indicate that the breakage had been caused by one of her trainers. In
another episode, Michael ripped a jacket belonging to a trainer and, when asked

N
who was responsible for the incident, signed ‘Koko’. When the trainer expressed
some scepticism, Michael appeared to change his mind, and indicated that Dr
Patterson was actually responsible, before finally confessing.
ZO
B Other researchers have explored the development of deception in children. Some
of the most interesting experiments have involved asking youngsters not to take
a peek at their favourite toys. During these studies, a child is led into a laboratory
and asked to face one of the walls. The experimenter then explains that he is going
to set up an elaborate toy a few feet behind them. After setting up the toy, the
experimenter says that he has to leave the laboratory, and asks the child not to turn
around and peek at the toy. The child is secretly filmed by hidden cameras for a few
minutes, and then the experimenter returns and asks them whether they peeked.
S

Almost all three-year-olds do, and then half of them lie about it to the experimenter.
By the time the children have reached the age of five, all of them peek and all of
them lie. The results provide compelling evidence that lying starts to emerge the
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moment we learn to speak.

C So what are the tell-tale signs that give away a lie? In 1994, the psychologist
Richard Wiseman devised a large-scale experiment on a TV programme called
Tomorrow’s World. As part of the experiment, viewers watched two interviews in
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which Wiseman asked a presenter in front of the cameras to describe his favourite
film. In one interview, the presenter picked Some Like It Hot and he told the truth;
in the other interview, he picked Gone with the Wind and lied. The viewers were
then invited to make a choice – to telephone in to say which film he was lying
about. More than 30,000 calls were received, but viewers were unable to tell the
difference and the vote was a 50/50 split. In similar experiments, the results have
been remarkably consistent – when it comes to lie detection, people might as well
simply toss a coin. It doesn’t matter if you are male or female, young or old; very
few people are able to detect deception.

D Why is this? Professor Charles Bond from the Texas Christian University has
conducted surveys into the sorts of behaviour people associate with lying. He has

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 Day 8

interviewed thousands of people from more than 60 countries, asking them to

describe how they set about telling whether someone is lying. People’s answers
are remarkably consistent. Almost everyone thinks liars tend to avert their gaze,
nervously wave their hands around and shift about in their seats. There is,
however, one small problem. Researchers have spent hour upon hour carefully
comparing films of liars and truth-tellers. The results are clear. Liars do not
necessarily look away from you; they do not appear nervous and move their hands
around or shift about in their seats. People fail to detect lies because they are
basing their opinions on behaviours that are not actually associated with deception.

E So what are we missing? It is obvious that the more information you give away,
the greater the chances of some of it coming back to haunt you. As a result, liars

E
tend to say less and provide fewer details than truth-tellers. Looking back at the
transcripts of the interviews with the presenter, his lie about Gone with the Wind
contained about 40 words, whereas the truth about Some Like It Hot was nearly

N
twice as long. People who lie also try psychologically to keep a distance from
their falsehoods, and so tend to include fewer references to themselves in their
stories. In his entire interview about Gone with the Wind, the presenter only once
mentioned how the film made him feel, compared with the several references to his
ZO
feelings when he talked about Some Like It Hot.

F The simple fact is that the real clues to deceit are in the words that people use,
not the body language. So do people become better lie detectors when they
listen to a liar, or even just read a transcript of their comments? The interviews
with the presenter were also broadcast on radio and published in a newspaper,
and although the lie-detecting abilities of the television viewers were no better
than chance, the newspaper readers were correct 64% of the time, and the radio
S

listeners scored an impressive 73% accuracy rate.

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