READING 1

MATCHING HEADINGS
TASK DESCRIPTION
• You choose the correct heading for each paragraph from a list of headings.
• The list of headings in the box is in random order.
• There are always more headings than you need, so you will not need to use them all.
• You will never need to use a heading more than once.
• The words in the headings summarize the main ideas in the passage, but do not use exactly the
same words or phrases.
• There may be some example headings too, so don’t use these headings again.
STRATEGIES
➢ Read all the headings and underline or highlight the key words.
➢ Read the first paragraph of the passage, marking the topic sentence(s) and related phrases and
vocabulary. (The topic sentence(s) may not always come at the beginning of the paragraph/
section)
➢ Re-phrase the main idea of the paragraph in your mind.
➢ Read the list of headings to see if there is a match between IDEAS in the headings and the
IDEAS you have identified in the paragraph. (be careful when there is a match between
WORDS in the headings and those in the paragraph → could be a distractor)
➢ Choose the heading that best summarizes the main idea of the first paragraph.
➢ Go on to the next paragraph and repeat the procedures.
➢ If you think two headings fit one paragraph, mark both of them and rule one of these out later.
SAMPLE TASK
EXERCISE 1
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A—C from the list of headings below.
List of Headings
i The destruction of the library

ii Collection methods

iii Replacing lost books

iv The library’s original purpose

v Storage methods

List of Paragraphs
1.Paragraph A
2.Paragraph B
3.Paragraph C

A The ancient library of Alexandria, which served as the intellectual and cultural hub of Egypt
for 250 years, was tragically destroyed in 43 BC. Now there is widespread speculation about
its true beginnings. The most popular theory is that Ptolemy I Soter (who ruled from 304 to
282 BC) gathered a vast selection of books on kingship, ruling and the world’s people, so he
might better understand trade terms and how to lead his subjects.

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B Ptolemy I longed to possess all the literature in the world. The manuscripts took the form of
scrolls kept in pigeonholes, the best of them wrapped in jackets of leather or linen. They are
likely to have remained in the groups in which they were acquired, rather than being
properly categorised. Parchment wasn’t used until later, when the first books began to be
written and kept in wooden chests in Roman times.

C As the library expanded, Ptolemy’s successors used increasingly unscrupulous techniques to

obtain manuscripts. One source claims that every ship sailing into Alexandria’s harbour was
routinely searched and, if a book was found, it was confiscated and taken to the library. There
it was examined and a decision made whether to keep it and make a replacement copy, to
be given to its rightful owner together with adequate reimbursement, or to just return the
original copy outright

SKILLS-BUILDING EXERCISES
EXERCISE 2
Identifying an appropriate heading for paragraphs in a passage
Which of the headings (i or ii) best reflects the content of each paragraph (1-6)?
1. i What is special about the Rafflesia?
ii Why scientists find the Rafflesia interesting
2. i Unusual features of the Rafflesia
ii Unusual features of theTetrastigma vine
3. i How to identify the plant
ii How the plant spreads
4. i The conservation status of the plant
ii How the plant should be protected
5. i Threats to the plant from tourism
ii How the plant is regarded
6. i Similarities and differences with the Titan arum
ii Why the Rafflesia's position is being challenged by the Titan arum

A The Rafflesia is not only the world's largest flower - it is also one of the most bizarre. There
are several species of Rafflesia that grow in the rainforests of Southeast Asia. The largest is
the Rafflesia arnoldii, which produces a flower a metre in width and can weigh up to 11
kilograms. This species has been found only on the islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java in
Southeast Asia, in particular in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.

B The Rafflesia lives as a parasite on the Tetrastigma vine, which grows only in primary
(undisturbed) rainforests. Rafflesia lacks any observable leaves, branches, or even roots, yet
is still considered a vascular plant. The plant grows as thread-like strands of tissue completely
embedded within the vine that hosts it Unlike most plants, the Rafflesia has no leaves and no
chlorophyll, so it cannot photosynthesize and make its own food. Because it lacks roots, it
cannot obtain water and minerals from the ground. All of its water and nutrients come from

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the Tetrastigma vine.

C Rafflesia can only be seen when it is ready to reproduce. Then, a tiny bud forms outside the
root or stem of its host and develops over a period of a year. The cabbage-like head that
develops eventually unfolds, revealing a massive, fleshy, reddish-brown flower. A foul smell
of spoiled meat attracts flies and beetles to pollinate the plant. To pollinate successfully, the
flies or beetles must visit both the male and female plants, in that order. The fruit produced
contain many thousands of hard seeds that are eaten and spread by ground squirrels and tree
shrews.

D it is not known how many individual plants exist; they are rare and hard to spot except when
they are in bloom, and the blossom only exists for a few days. However, all species of Rafflesia
are classified as threatened or endangered. The remaining primary forests where the Rafflesia
live are disappearing. To make matters worse, the flower of the Rafflesia is collected and used
as an ingredient in traditional medicines for women to promote their recovery from childbirth.

E This strange and smelly parasitic plant has attracted eco-tourists eager to see the world's
largest flower. Landowners have been urged to preserve the flowers and charge tourists a fee
to see them. The flower of Rafflesia arnoldii has become an iconic symbol of the Southeast
Asian rainforest, and is often used on tile covers of tourist brochures to symbolize the rich
biodiversity of the region's forests. The flower has also been depicted on Indonesian postage
stamps on several occasions.

F There are some plants with flowering organs bigger than the flower of the Rafflesia. The
enormous Titan arum, also found in Indonesia, can reach a height of three metres and can
weigh an incredible 75 kilograms. Like the Rafflesia, the Titan arum emits an unpleasant,
rotting smell to attract pollinators. Technically, however, the Titan arum is not a single flower,
it is a cluster of many tiny flowers, called an inflorescence. So the Rafflesia holds the record
for the largest individual flower.

EXERCISE 3
3.1. Read the first sentence of a paragraph about the city of Auroville, India. It is the topic
sentence. Which of the three options seems to be the most likely heading? Why?

In today’s world of conflict, greed and constant struggles for power, Auroville - aka 'the City of Dawn’
- claims on its website that it was planned and built to create the ultimate model of unity, peace
and harmony that can be projected across all humanity.

A. The reason why attempts to create the perfect city always fail
B. An urban ideal designed for an imperfect world
C. A conflict between reality and imitation
3.2. Read the full paragraph and check your answer.

In today’s world of conflict, greed and constant struggles for power, Auroville - aka ‘the City of Dawn’
- claims on its website that it was planned and built to create the ultimate model of unity, peace

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and harmony that can be projected across all humanity. It has no government, no one owns any
property, and money rarely, if ever, changes hands. There is no leader and rules do not exist. While
most experiments at creating the perfect city do not meet with success, the majority of Auroville’s
residents believe their city to be an exception. Although its critics point to the fact that levels of
crime have been creeping up for some years now, its citizens choose to remain there, still believing
in its utopian dream, still following its path towards a better world.

➔ The heading you want will probably not use the same words as those which appear in the
paragraph, but will paraphrase the ideas.

3.3. Read this opening sentence about Longearbyen. Which heading seems to fit this sentence
best?

Longyearbyen, Norway, holds the record for being the furthest north city in the world,
boasting the world’s most northerly school, airport and university.

A. An unwelcoming place to die

B. A city at the top of the world
C. An unusual approach to regulation
3.4. Now read the full paragraph and think about the overall message of the paragraph. Which
heading now best fits the paragraph? Identify the topic sentence in the paragraph

Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen, in the Svalbard Archipelago of Norway, holds the record for being the
furthest north city in the world, boasting the world's most northerly school, airport and university.
But what really sets it apart is that it can also lay claim to some of the world’s strangest rules. In
Longyearbyen, for example, it has been forbidden to die since 1950, the year in which scientists
discovered that bodies simply cannot decompose there - the cold is too extreme. To this day, anyone
found ill or dying is not given the chance to pass away, and is instead immediately taken by airplane
or ship to another part of Norway so that they can die and be buried safely. But it doesn’t end there.
Aside from prohibiting death, there are more peculiar rules and freedoms in Longyearbyen.
Residents are permitted to openly walk the streets with high-powered guns (there are 3,000 polar
bears living locally). At the same time, no one is allowed to own any cats, which are forbidden
because they are a danger to the bird population.

➔ Be careful: sometimes the first sentence of a paragraph seems to fit entirely with one particular
heading. However, don’t be fooled – you still need to check by reading the whole paragraph.

3.5. Read the first sentence of the next paragraph about Marloth Park in South Africa. Find words
or phrases that correspond to the underlined words in the headings A – C below.

Despite the fact the town of Marloth Park is close to the Kruger National Park, one of the largest
game reserves in Africa, and despite the constant threat of visits from wild animals such as lions and
hippopotamuses, its anxious residents are not allowed to build fences around their houses to keep
out their neighbours.

A. An unusual approach to regulation

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B. Dealing with the occasional dangers of the wild
C. Where humans and animals cautiously co-exist
3.6. Now focus on the adverbs and adjectives of the headings. Which heading is no longer a
possible answer?
A. An unusual approach to regulation
B. Dealing with the occasional dangers of the wild
C. Where humans and animals cautiously co-exist
➔ Pay particular attention to adjectives and adverbs in headings and texts, as they may help you
eliminate an incorrect heading immediately.

3.7. Read the rest of the paragraph and decide on you answer. Identify the topic sentence in the
paragraph.

In fact the only fence permitted in the town was built by the local authority, interestingly, with the
aim of keeping humans out of the park, rather than containing the animals inside. Consequently, it
is not unusual to see giraffes or elephants causing traffic jams, for example, and even predator
attacks on humans are unnervingly common - a lion was recently said to have mauled and eaten an
escaping burglar. Yet even after this, while some residents then called for all lions to be rounded up
and shot, others suggested that they be allowed to walk the thoroughfares as a type of crime
control, after an increase in the number of burglaries. Everywhere in Marloth Park, a wary
understanding exists between man and beast.

3.8. Some paragraphs have no clear topic sentence. Read this paragraph and formulate the main
idea before reading the list of headings.

The real Hallstat is in Austria and is proud to be a traditional UNESCO World Heritage Site. The
Chinese Hallstat is a carbon copy, built in Guangdong province, China, by a millionaire who
sponsored the construction of the imitation town. It cost approximately $940 million to build, and
looks exactly like the real Hallstat, all the way down to its wooden houses, its narrow streets, and
its funicular railway. When the residents of Austria’s Hallstat (including the mayor) were invited to
visit it, they expressed pride that their town was considered so improbably beautiful that it had been
reproduced in its entirety, but they still had cause for complaint. Originally, the Chinese company
had promised to meet with the Austrian residents to confirm that they were happy for their homes
to be copied; instead, they simply sent their employees to Austria to take photos, and they returned
home to China without speaking to a single resident of the original Hallstat.

3.9. Now choose the correct heading.

A. A conflict between reality and imitation
B. The importance of official recognition
C. The result of encouraging wider investment

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EXERCISE 4
Read the passage and answer questions 1 – 6
The reading passage has six paragraphs, A – F. Choose the correct heading for each paragraph
from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i – viii
List of headings
i. The benefits of collaboration
ii. A forerunner of the modern metropolis
iii. A period of intense activity and plans completed
iv. A clear contrast between then and now
v. The rise and mysterious decline of Cahokia
vi. An archaeological theory to explain Cahokia’s development
vii. The light and dark of archaeological finds
viii. A city completely unlike any of its contemporaries

1. Paragraph A
2. Paragraph B
3. Paragraph C
4. Paragraph D
5. Paragraph E
6. Paragraph F

– ’
A thousand years ago the Mississippians, a diverse group of Native Americans who lived in
A the area which is today known as the southeastern United States, took a small village on the
Mississippi River and turned it into one of the world’s first great urban centres. Cahokia, as it
has been called by archaeologists, became as large as London was in the 11th century, and
some would argue that it was just as forward-looking and prosperous as its European
equivalents. Sophisticated, cosmopolitan and ahead of its time, Cahokia was at the heart of
ancient society in North America; an ancestor of today's capital cities.
In one respect in particular, Cahokia was quite unusual compared to other cities around at
B the same time. Archaeologists working on the site have found enough evidence over the past
fifty years to conclude that, at a certain time, around 35% of the population were not from
Cahokia at all; it seems that many of the tribes that lived all along the Mississippi River at
some point began to relocate to Cahokia. These researchers have been unable to find more
than a handful of other examples of such relocation of tribes, but they do know that
something about Cahokia attracted thousands of people to this regional centre. And that,
they postulated, appears to have been thanks to a small group of planners who one day
decided to redesign the entire village.
After the redesigns of the village were put in place, the Native Americans at Cahokia worked
C with tireless determination to carry them out. Over the course of a few decades, they
transported huge volumes of soil from the nearby countryside to create 120 huge mounds of

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earth, the biggest of which rose to one hundred feet. On top of these, they built a vast urban
environment, complete with a vibrant town centre, municipal buildings, and a fifty-acre plaza
at the foot of the biggest mound. What makes it even more impressive to our modern
imaginations is that, with no machinery then, they used their bare hands and woven baskets
to dig up and carry the soil from the surrounding regions back to their city- in-waiting.
Eventually, after these efforts, the vision of the city planners was fulfilled, but even they could
not have predicted how popular Cahokia would become.
From this period on, Cahokia was alive with intense activity, and grew in size every year, partly
D because of the co-operation between the residents. While the men busied themselves with
manual work, like constructing new buildings, or hunting and fishing in the forests and rivers
within a day's walk of the city, the women made sure that the fields stayed healthy and grew
crops, and the homes were kept clean. In many ways, it seems to have been the ideal place to
live, and one with an exciting and prosperous future ahead of it. And yet, having become a
major population centre around AD 1050, by 1350 it had been almost completely abandoned.
Somewhere in the course of 300 years, something happened to Cahokia to cause this, but it is
an enigma that even archaeologists or historians themselves struggle to resolve.
This rather curious state of affairs exists today because researchers have never found a single
E piece of evidence that can conclusively explain why the residents left. Academics who have
studied other Native American sites have always found weapons of war buried deep
underground. And yet, the bows, arrows and swords that littered the ground at these other
sites were nowhere to be seen at Cahokia. Other factors, such as disease or colonisation from
European invasion, do not seem to be possible in this case, as common as they were elsewhere
at that time. The absence of definitive theories as to Cahokia’s decline is highly unusual, but
then again, Cahokia was no ordinary city and perhaps comparisons with other urban centres
of the time cannot be made.
While academics remain bemused as to why the residents fled the city, we can still marvel at
F the individual artefacts that archaeologists have discovered: the jewellery worn, the pots used
to cook in, the small workshop at the base of one of the mounds. That said, there is also a
more unpleasant side to their investigations. Human sacrifice, it seems, was a common fact of
life in Cahokia; even if we cannot be sure whether this was for religious or for other reasons,
we can have no doubt that it happened frequently. The bodies of hundreds of people, mostly
young women, have been found buried in mass graves, and the way in which they died was
often horrific. A sombre reminder that even ‘advanced’ city states had their shadowy sides.

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EXAM PRACTICE
EXERCISE 5
Questions 1-4
The Reading Passage has five paragraphs, A-E.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-E from the list of headings below.

List of headings

i. Economic and social significance of tourism

ii. The development of mass tourism
iii. Travel for the wealthy
iv. Earning foreign exchange through tourism
v. Difficulty in recognising the economic effects of tourism
vi. The contribution of air travel to tourism
vii. The world impact of tourism
viii. The history of travel
Paragraph A - viii

1. Paragraph B ii
2. Paragraph C i
3. Paragraph D v
4. Paragraph E vii

Travel has existed since the beginning of time, when primitive man set out, often traversing
A great distances in search of game, which provided the food and clothing necessary for his
survival. Throughout the course of history, people have travelled for purposes of trade,
religious conviction, economic gain, war, migration and other equally compelling motivations.
In the Roman era, wealthy aristocrats and high government officials also travelled for
pleasure. Seaside resorts located at Pompeii and Herculaneum afforded citizens the
opportunity to escape to their vacation villas in order to avoid the summer heat of Rome.
Travel, except during the Dark Ages, has continued to grow and, throughout recorded history,
has played a vital role in the development of civilisations and their economies.
Tourism in the mass form as we know it today is a distinctly twentieth-century phenomenon.
B Historians suggest that the advent of mass tourism began in England during the industrial
revolution with the rise of the middle class and the availability of relatively inexpensive
transportation. The creation of the commercial airline industry following the Second World
War and the subsequent development of the jet aircraft in the 1950s signalled the rapid
growth and expansion of international travel. This growth led to the development of a major
new industry: tourism. In turn, international tourism became the concern of a number of
world governments since it not only provided new employment opportunities but also

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produced a means of earning foreign exchange.
Tourism today has grown significantly in both economic and social importance. In most
C industrialised countries over the past few years the fastest growth has been seen in the area
of services. One of the largest segments of the service industry, although largely unrecognised
as an entity in some of these countries, is travel and tourism. According to the World Travel
and Tourism Council (1992), ‘Travel and tourism is the largest industry in the world on
virtually any economic measure including value-added capital investment, employment and
tax contributions’. In 1992, the industry’s gross output was estimated to be $3.5 trillion, over
12 per cent of all consumer spending. The travel and tourism industry is the world’s largest
employer with almost 130 million jobs, or almost 7 per cent of all employees. This industry is
the world’s leading industrial contributor, producing over 6 per cent of the world’s gross
national product and accounting for capital investment in excess of $422 billion in direct,
indirect and personal taxes each year. Thus, tourism has a profound impact both on the world
economy and, because of the educative effect of travel and the effects on employment, on
society itself.
However, the major problems of the travel and tourism industry that have hidden, or
D obscured, its economic impact are the diversity and fragmentation of the industry itself. The
travel industry includes: hotels, motels and other types of accommodation; restaurants and
other food services; transportation services and facilities; amusements, attractions and other
leisure facilities; gift shops and a large number of other enterprises. Since many of these
businesses also serve local residents, the impact of spending by visitors can easily be
overlooked or underestimated. In addition, Meis (1992) points out that the tourism industry
involves concepts that have remained amorphous to both analysts and decision makers.
Moreover, in all nations this problem has made it difficult for the industry to develop any type
of reliable or credible tourism information base in order to estimate the contribution it makes
to regional, national and global economies. However, the nature of this very diversity makes
travel and tourism ideal vehicles for economic development in a wide variety of countries,
regions or communities.
Once the exclusive province of the wealthy, travel and tourism have become an
E institutionalised way of life for most of the population. In fact, McIntosh and Goeldner (1990)
suggest that tourism has become the largest commodity in international trade for many
nations and, for a significant number of other countries, it ranks second or third. For example,
tourism is the major source of income in Bermuda, Greece, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and most
Caribbean countries. In addition, Hawkins and Ritchie, quoting from data published by the
American Express Company, suggest that the travel and tourism industry is the number one
ranked employer in the Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, France, (the former) West Germany, Hong
Kong, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States. However,
because of problems of definition, which directly affect statistical measurement, it is not
possible with any degree of certainty to provide precise, valid or reliable data about the extent
of world-wide tourism participation or its economic impact. In many cases, similar difficulties
arise when attempts are made to measure domestic tourism.

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Questions 5 – 10

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage?
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 largest employment figures in the world are found in the travel and tourism industry. TRUE
6. Tourism contributes over six per cent of the Australian gross national product. FALSE
7. Tourism has a social impact because it promotes recreation. NOT GIVEN
8. Two main features of the travel and tourism industry make its economic significance difficult
to ascertain. TRUE
9. Visitor spending is always greater than the spending of residents in tourist areas. NOT GIVEN
10. It is easy to show statistically how tourism affects individual economies. FALSE
Questions 11 – 13

Complete the sentences below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
source of income .
11. In Greece, tourism is the most important ………………………………………
employer
12. The travel and tourism industry in Jamaica is the major ……………………………………… .
13. The problems associated with measuring international tourism are often reflected in the
statistical measurement
measurement of ……………………………………… .
domestic tourism
EXERCISE 6
Questions 1 – 8
The Reading Passage has nine paragraphs, A-I.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

List of headings

i. Afresh and important long-term goal

ii. Charging for roads and improving other transport methods
iii. Changes affecting the distances goods may be transported
iv. Taking all the steps necessary to change transport patterns
v. The environmental costs of road transport
vi. The escalating cost of rail transport
vii. The need to achieve transport rebalance
viii. The rapid growth of private transport
ix. Plans to develop major road networks
x. Restricting road use through charging policies alone
xi. Transport trends in countries awaiting EU admission

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MATCHING HEADINGS
1. Paragraph A VIII
2. Paragraph B III
3. Paragraph C XI
4. Paragraph D I
5. Paragraph E V
Paragraph F - vii
6. Paragraph G X
7. Paragraph H II
8. Paragraph I IV

What have been the trends and what are the prospects for European transport systems?
It is difficult to conceive of vigorous economic growth without an efficient transport system.
A Although modern information technologies can reduce the demand for physical transport by
facilitating teleworking and teleservices, the requirement for transport continues to increase.
There are two key factors behind this trend. For passenger transport, the determining factor
is the spectacular growth in car use. The number of cars on European Union [EU] roads saw
an increase of three million cars each year from 1990 to 2010, and in the next decade the EU
will see a further substantial increase in its fleet.
As far as goods transport is concerned, growth is due to a large extent to changes in the
B European economy and its system of production. In the last 20 years, as Internal frontiers
have been abolished, the EU has moved from a 'stock' economy to a 'flow economy. This
phenomenon has been emphasised by the relocation of some industries, particularly those
which are labour intensive, to reduce production costs, even though the production site is
hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away from the final assembly plant or away from
users.
The strong economic growth expected in countries which are candidates for entry to the EU
C will also increase transport flows, in particular road haulage traffic. In 1998, some of these
countries already exported more than twice their 1990 volumes and imported more than five
times their 1990 volumes. And although many candidate countries inherited a transport
system which encourages rail, the distribution between modes has tipped sharply in favour
of road transport since the 1990s. Between 1990 and 1998, road haulage increased by 19.4%,
while during the same period rail haulage decreased by 43.5%, although - and this could
benefit the enlarged EU - it is still on average at a much higher level than in existing member
states.
However, a new imperative - sustainable development - offers an opportunity for adapting
D the EU's common transport policy. This objective, agreed by the Gothenburg European
Council, has to be achieved by integrating environmental considerations into Community
policies, and shifting the balance between modes of transport lies at the heart of its strategy.
The ambitious objective can only be fully achieved by 2020, but proposed measures are
nonetheless a first essential step towards a sustainable transport system which will ideally be

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in place in 30 years’ time, that is by 2040.
In 1998, energy consumption in the transport sector was to blame for 28% of emissions of
E CO2, the leading greenhouse gas. According to the latest estimates, if nothing is done to
reverse the traffic growth trend, CO? emissions from transport can be expected to increase
by around 50% to 1,113 billion tonnes by 2020, compared with the 739 billion tonnes recorded
in 1990. Once again, road transport is the main culprit since it alone accounts for 84% of the
CO2 emissions attributable to transport. Using alternative fuels and improving energy
efficiency is thus both an ecological necessity and a technological challenge.
At the same time greater efforts must be made to achieve a modal shift. Such a change cannot
F be achieved overnight, all the less so after over half a century of constant deterioration in
favour of road. This has reached such a pitch that today rail freight services are facing
marginalisation, with just 8% of market share, and with international goods trains struggling
along at an average speed of 18km/h. Three possible options have emerged.
The first approach would consist of focusing on road transport solely through pricing. This
G option would not be accompanied by complementary measures in the other modes of
transport. In the short term it might curb the growth in road transport through the better
loading ratio of goods vehicles and occupancy rates of passenger vehicles expected as a result
of the increase in the price of transport. However, the lack of measures available to revitalise
other modes of transport would make it impossible for more sustainable modes of transport
to take up the baton.
The second approach also concentrates on road transport pricing but is accompanied by
H measures to increase the efficiency of the other modes (better quality of services, logistics,
technology). However, this approach does not include investment in new infrastructure, nor
does it guarantee better regional cohesion. It could help to achieve greater uncoupling than
the first approach, but road transport would keep the lion’s share of the market and continue
to concentrate on saturated arteries, despite being the most polluting of the modes. It is
therefore not enough to guarantee the necessary shift of the balance.
The third approach, which is not new, comprises a series of measures ranging from pricing to
I revitalising alternative modes of transport and targeting investment in the trans-European
network. This integrated approach would allow the market shares of the other modes to
return to their 1998 levels and thus make a shift of balance. It is far more ambitious than it
looks, bearing in mind the historical imbalance in favour of roads for the last fifty years, but
would achieve a marked break in the link between road transport growth and economic
growth, without placing restrictions on the mobility of people and goods.
Questions 9 – 13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? 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
9. The need for transport is growing, despite technological developments. TRUE

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10. To reduce production costs, some industries have been moved closer to their relevant
consumers. FALSE
11. Cars are prohibitively expensive in some EU candidate countries. NOT GIVEN
12. The Gothenburg European Council was set up 30 years ago. NOT GIVEN
13. By the end of this decade, C02 emissions from transport are predicted to reach 739 billion
tonnes. FALSE

EXERCISE 7
Questions 1-6
The Reading Passage has six sections, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings below.
List of headings
i. From the laboratory to the High Street
ii. Seeking royal support
iii. An unexpected but fortunate side result
iv. The healing power of purple
v. An old problem
vi. Standing out from the crowd
vii. Finding an alternative cure for a common illness
viii. Part of a larger family
ix. An ancient manufacturing practice
1. Section A VI
2. Section B IX
3. Section C III
4. Section D II
5. Section E VIII
6. Section F IV

A 19th century research chemist was trying to make medicine when, instead, he came up with a
coloured dye that has ensured the world is a brighter place
Of all the colours, purple has perhaps the most powerful connotations. From the earliest
A cultures to the present day, people have sought to harness its visual power to mark
themselves out as better than those around them. From bishops to kings, pop stars to fashion
models, its wearing has been a calculated act of showing off. In ancient Rome, for example,
purple was such a revered colour that only the emperor was allowed to wear it. Indeed, an
emperor who was referred to as porphyrogenitus, (‘born to the purple’) was especially
important, since this meant that he had inherited his position through family connections
rather than seizing power through military force.

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But why purple? At that time, purple dye was an expensive substance produced in a
B complicated, foul-smelling and time-consuming process. This involved boiling thousands of
molluscs in water in order to harvest their glandular juices. The technique had originally been
developed by the Phoenicians over a thousand years previously, and it hadn’t changed since.
Cheaper but poorer quality purple dyes could be made from lichens using an equally messy
and unpleasant procedure, but they were not as bright, and the colour quickly faded. It was
no surprise, therefore, that good purple dye was a rare and precious thing, and clothes dyed
purple were beyond the financial means of most people.
However, times have changed. In the great consumer democracy of the 21st century, even
C the most humble citizen can choose it as the colour of their latest outfit. For that privilege,
we must thank a young 19th century research chemist, William Perkin. A talented 15-year-
old when he entered the Royal College of Chemistry in London in 1853, Perkin was
immediately appointed as laboratory assistant to his tutor, August Wilhelm von Hofmann. He
became determined to prove Hofmann’s claim that quinine, a drug used to treat fevers such
as malaria, could be synthesised in a laboratory. However, rather than the cure desperately
needed for people dying from malaria in tropical countries, he produced little more than a
black, sticky mess that turned purple when dissolved in industrial alcohol. Perkin’s
experiments could have been a complete waste of time, but to his surprise and, ultimately,
financial benefit, his purple liquid turned out to be a long-lasting dye that was to transform
fashion.
Perkin repeated his experiments in an improvised laboratory in his garden shed, perfecting
D the process for making the substance he had called mauveine after the French mallow plant.
It was, says Simon Garfield, the author of Mauve which details Perkin’s life and work, an
astonishing breakthrough. ‘Once you could do that you could make colour in a factory from
chemicals rather than insects or plants. It opened up the prospect of mass-produced artificial
dyes and made Perkin one of the first scientists to bridge the gap between pure chemistry and
its industrial applications.’ It didn’t take long for the chemist, still only 18, to capitalise on his
creation, patenting the product, convincing his father and brother to back it with savings, and
finding a manufacturer who could help him bring it rapidly to the market. The buying public
loved it, and clothes coloured with purple started appearing in shops up and down the
country.
Appropriately, considering the origins of Perkins’ colour, he was to receive a helping hand
from the two most important women of the day. Queen Victoria caused a sensation when she
stepped out at the Royal Exhibition in 1862 wearing a silk gown dyed with mauveine. In Paris,
Napoleon Ill’s wife, Empress Eugenie, amazed the court when she was seen wearing it. To
propel the scientist further on the way to a great fortune, the fashion of the time was for
broad skirts that, happily for him, needed a lot of his revolutionary new dye.
Perkins, ever the serious scientist, would have been among the first to point out that his
E mauve is just one of a range of colours described in everyday language as purple. Not itself a
true colour of the spectrum - that position is given to indigo and violet - purple normally refers
to those colours which inhabit the limits of human perception in the area between red and

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violet. Newton excluded the colour from his colour wheel. Scientists today talk about the line
of purples’ which include violet, mauve, magenta, indigo and lilac.
In the alternative medical practice of colour therapy, which practitioners say can trace its
F origins back to ancient India, the ‘purple range’ colours of indigo and violet are vital. They
refer to spiritual energy centres known as chakras and are situated in the head. The colour
and their ‘medical’ qualities are first officially listed by the Swiss scientist Dr Max Luscher, who
said that appropriately coloured lights, applied to specific chakras, could treat ailments from
depression to grief. Julia Kubler is one of Britain’s leading colour therapists and has been using
colours to treat patients at her clinic at Manningtree, Essex, for 15 years. Purple, she says, ‘is
consistent with intuition and higher understanding, with spirituality and meditation. It
combines the coolness of blue with a bit of red that makes it not just passive but active.’
It is hardly the most outlandish of claims for this most enigmatic of colours. Variously touted
as the colour of everything from insanity to equality, it is enjoying a new role as the symbol of
political compromise. Purple may have had its origins in the ancient world, but thanks to a
young chemist, it still has a brilliant future.
Questions 7-10
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Questions 7-8
What TWO points does the writer make about the colour purple and purple dye before William
Perkin’s creation?
A. It was only used to colour clothes.
B. It was originally produced for Roman emperors.
C. It was not easy to make.
D. There were many different techniques used to make it.
E. Some purple dyes were inferior to others. Questions 9-10
Questions 9 – 10
What TWO things about William Perkin are true, according to the passage?
A. He taught Chemistry at a college in London.
B. He believed that quinine could be artificially produced.
C. He extracted the substance for his dye from a common plant.
D. He quickly realised the financial benefits of his new creation.
E. He set a new fashion trend for large skirts.
Questions 11 – 14
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. medical practice
spiritual energy
The purple range of colours plays an essential role in colour therapy, a form of 11……………………….
ancient Indiaand is still used
Colour therapy is said to h have originated many years ago in 12……………………….
treat patientswith various health issues.
bycolour therapists such as Julia Kubler, who uses it to 13……………………….

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combines aspects of two colours, making it both active and
According to Kubler, purple 14……………………….
passive.

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