PRACTICE TEST READING MATCHING INFORMATION

PRACTICE TEST 1 – CLHPND-11-DHBB-2023

POP ART
A. This art movement emerged in Britain in the late 1950s, moving to the USA in the early sixties. The term 'pop
art' was coined by British art critic Laurence Alloway and, by the mid 60s, the movement had been recognised.
Pop art is characterised by themes drawn from mass culture; pop artists used the common imagery of consumer
items, comic strips and other mass media sources as a means of expression. Artists such as Johns, Lichtenstein
and Warhol aimed to use popular images rather than elitist ones in their work, thus making art more accessible to
a wider audience. The art establishment reacted in a hostile way, deriding this new genre, mirroring later
condemnations of modern art. However, it quickly gained in popularity, again proving that innovation triumphs
over conservatism.
B. One of the pioneers of the emerging movement was French artist Marcel Duchamp. His work and its
underlying ideas are thought to have altered the definition of art and our way of engaging with it. He was famous
for taking existing objects from the contexts in which they usually appeared and exhibiting them as art. This
approach to art can be seen as a reaction to the Abstract Expressionism that was already dominating the art scene
at that time. This was a post-World War Two American movement - the first American movement to have a
global influence and to allow New York City to usurp Paris as the centre of the art world. The Abstract
Expressionists were interested in the use of colour and shape producing such works as canvases covered entirely
in paint of one colour. Their works revealed a very specific attitude to life and art and can be regarded as an
anarchic, somewhat nihilistic, movement. One of the most influential and well known of the Abstract
Expressionists was Jackson Pollock. The kind of works he produced fell into a category of this movement known
as Action Painting, in which the canvas was viewed as the artist's arena and the act of filling it was an irrational,
instinctive process. By the early 1960s, however, the movement seemed to be running out of steam and pop art
stepped in to fill the space. In fact, in 1962, when a large-scale pop art exhibition called the New Realists was
mounted at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York City, the movement attracted much interest.
C. Despite common origins, both British and American pop art movements do differ somewhat. In Britain, the
artists were intrigued by the obsolescence of consumer goods, in particular the American automobile. Their
works focused on goods that would soon require replacement. In the USA, however, there was more emphasis on
comic strips and advertising. American artists reproduced, duplicated and arranged together various visual
images from American culture such as soft drinks, fast food, film stars, and comics. Unlike the British pop
artists, the Americans did not romanticise the images they portrayed. Their works were more realistic. They also
had a tendency to be ironic, playful and entertaining.
D. The most well-known of all the American pop artists has to be Andy Warhol. Born in 1928 in Pittsburgh to
immigrant parents, he studied design and art history at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in his home town. In
1949, he relocated to New York City and worked mainly in advertising. In 1952, he mounted an exhibition at the
Hugo Gallery, the first of many. It was in 1962, in the early years of the American pop art movement, that he
produced some of his most famous works: silkscreen prints of Campbell's Soup cans, dollar bills and Marilyn
Monroe. Warhol's body of work included portraits, films and sculpture. He also wrote a novel and a work of non-
fiction (The Philosophy of Andy Warhol).

In which section are the following mentioned? Answers

1. a shift in the traditional heart of the art world _____________
2. the inclination towards idealised imagery among certain pop artist _____________
3. pioneering artists ridiculed by contemporaries in the art world _____________
4. an artist who paved the way for the development of pop art _____________
5. successfully engaging the common man with art _____________
6. the philosophy of a once prominent art form _____________
7. the initial diffusion of pop art across the Atlantic _____________
8. stylistic variations within pop art _____________
9. an artist producing works across a wide range of media _____________
 10. the fading of the significance of an artistic movement _____________

PRACTICE TEST 2 – CHY-11-DHBB2023

LIFTING HIGHER EDUCATION TO LOFTIER HEIGHTS?
Academic John Brennan asks whether universities should leave on-the-job training to employers.
A There is a lot of emphasis nowadays placed on the need for universities and business groups to get
graduates “work ready” through vocational workplace training. This is to be welcomed but it is also to be
questioned – about what it should mean in practice and how it should be applied. The concept is nothing
new. I remember some years back being at a meeting about higher education and employment, attended by a
number of employer representatives. I recall one employer remarking that of the many thousands of
graduates that he had hired what he really wanted and expected was for each of them to have changed the
nature of the job by the time they had left the role.
B Rather than being concerned with how recruits would fit into existing organisational arrangements and
master existing ways of doing things, here was an employer who expected graduates to change existing
arrangements and ways of working. Who, rather than focusing on whether graduates had the right kinds of
skills and competencies, acknowledged that he didn’t know what skills and competencies his workers would
need in a few years’ time. The very point of hiring graduates was that he hoped to get people who would
themselves be able to work out what was required and be capable of delivering it and a bold new future.
C Of course, starting any job requires some work-specific knowledge and capability and when recruiting
staff, graduate or non-graduate, employers have a responsibility to provide suitable induction and training.
The responsibilities of higher education are different. They are about preparing for work in the long term, in
different jobs and, quite possibly, in different sectors. This is preparation for work in a different world, for
work that is going to require learning over a lifetime, not just the first few weeks of that first job after
graduation. Current initiatives set out a perfectly reasonable set of objectives for the ways in which higher
education can help prepare students for their working lives. But much will depend on the interpretation and
on recognising who – higher education or employer – is best equipped to contribute what.
D In the rush to focus on “vocational training to improve graduate employability” academics need to
remember that all higher education is vocational in the sense that it can help shape a graduate’s capacity to
succeed in the workplace. In this way higher education is about life skills, not just job skills. Many years
ago, Harold Silver and I wrote a book entitled A Liberal Vocationalism. It was based on a project we had
just completed on the aims of degree courses in vocational areas such as accountancy, business and
engineering. The book’s title intentionally conveyed the message that even vocational degree courses were
about more than training for a
job. There were assumptions about criticality, transferability of skills, creating and adapting to change and,
above all, an academic credibility.
E Degree courses in subjects such as history and sociology are preparations for employment as much as
vocational degrees such as business and engineering. But the job details will not be known at the time of
study. Indeed, they may not be known until several years later. Thus, the relevance of higher education to
later working life for many graduates will lie in the realm of generic and transferable skills rather than
specific competencies needed for a first job after graduation. The latter competences are not unimportant but
the graduate’s employer is generally much better equipped than a university to ensure that the graduate
acquires them. Work experience alongside or as part of study can also help a lot. Higher education is for the
long term. Universities, employers and students should realise that.
In which paragraph is it stated that
1 new proposals require an appropriate level of scrutiny?
2 academic subjects have benefits beyond their syllabuses?
3 business is investing in an unknown quantity in the pursuit of an uncertain goal?
4 responsibility for service provision needs to be correctly allocated?
5 educators need to make sure that they don’t lose sight of an important point?
6 the issues discussed are a recurring theme that is yet to be agreed upon?
7 beliefs about the key topics of a study were alluded to in the heading of a publication?
8 industry is better suited to cover some issues than educational institutions?
9 original thinking is key in finding solutions to future challenges?
10 while obligations vary, they are still present for both parties?

PRACTICE TEST 3 – CNN-11-DHBB2023

The Fast Track to Burnout
An increasing number of young executives are giving up their corporate positions after experiencing an
overload of pressure and dissatisfaction with what they imagined would be a dream career. Kate Martins
talks to four young people who turned their backs on high salaries and even higher expectations. Here's
how to beat it.
A. Tanya Burrows bears no grudge towards the corporation that rewarded her with five promotions within
the same number of years. “At twenty-seven, I was able to buy my own luxury apartment,” she says. “For
that reason I'll always be grateful to them”. Tanya admits that the high salary that came with each
promotion was irresistible. “We weren't poor but I don't think my parents ever bought anything that wasn't
secondhand. That definitely played a role in my motivation. When someone's saying you can negotiate
your own salary, it's hard to say no”. So what changed for Tanya? “Honestly, got sick of the materialism. I
got sucked in too at first-you'd make sure other people knew what designer labels you were wearing that
they could see your cell phone was top of the range but it just wore thin for me”. Tanya decided to quit and
pursue her real passion for photography. “It doesn't offer much financial security as you don't know. when
you'll get your next contract, but I get to work in far more inspiring environments,” she says.
A. Lily Tan left university with an MBA distinction and was quickly snapped up by a major retail chain. In
just five years she achieved a senior management position and after receiving news of the promotion she
was elated. “I rang round just about everyone I could think of,” she laughs. “But the next day I felt nothing.
I had no Inclination to get out of bed and face the constant pressure”. Despite her sudden disillusionment,
she continued to persevere and was the brains behind a new strategy. “Everyone seemed to be in favor of it
at the planning stage,” she says. But during the implementation stage, unforeseen problems arose, and
eventually the strategy was abandoned. Lily's next performance appraisal gave her a really low rating
which she found devastating. “The whole experience was quite traumatizing and I was too emotionally
immature to deal with it”. It wasn't long before Lily left and set up her own recruitment company which is
now flourishing She still regrets her discovery that there is no such thing as team spirit when one of the
members makes a mistake.
A. Jane Dawson graduated top of her class in a Bachelor of Business (Finance) degree and was offered a
contract by three major investment companies. She accepted the one that was offering perks such as free
tickets to major sporting events and a flash company car. Just like the three other young high-flyers in these
Interviews, Jane's potential for leadership was quickly noted and she found herself promoted to team leader
within six months. But, exceptionally, in her case, she had already been looking for an escape route. “Sure
it was good money but the hours were ridiculous. I felt I should have been carefree at that age but the
burden of responsibility was enormous. I feel trapped.” Despite the fact that she'd been elevated to senior
analyst, Jans still felt anonymous within the plant corporation. “It was a real feeling of being the small cog
in a big machine. Nothing I did really mattered.” She forced herself to stay on for another year, but then
nervously asked for a sabbatical. To her amazement, her department head agreed. “I guess they knew I'd
reached burnout and didn't want to lose me altogether – but there were plenty of workmates perfectly able
to step into my shoes,” she admits. She spent the year traveling and working on community projects in
developing countries. By the time Jane was due to return, she knew she was in the wrong job. She applied
to work for an aid organization, where she says “At last I feel I'm doing something worthwhile."
A. Natalie Copeland was signed up to work for a leading PR consultancy. She admits to being a perfectionist,
an attribute which saw her rise through the ranks in no time. "It's a weakness, too,” she says. “It can mean
that you're reluctant to delegate and end up with the pressure of doing it all yourself.” For the first few
years, however, she had no problem with overtime and her performance appraisals were almost always
flawless. But Natalie feels she committed 'career-suicide' by opting to getting married and have a child at
 twenty-five. “My colleagues seemed utterly mystified and tried to talk me out of it.” And on her return to
work Natalle felt instant resentment towards her. “I had to leave promptly at the end of the working day to
take care of my daughter Anita but would come in an hour early and work through my lunch hour. It made
no difference,” she explains. They simply alienated me: By this she means that workmates were reluctant
to update her on recent development and withheld vital information on new projects. With little support
from her seniors either, and refusing to compromise her time with her family, Natalie handed in her notice
and now works for a smaller PR company offering flex-time.

Of which young executive is the following true?

1. A project that she was working on did not turn out the way she expected.
2. She accepted the job because of the benefits that were additional to the salary
3. She suggests that her young age meant she was unable to cope with a stressful situation.
4. The people she worked with could not relate to a decision she had made.
5. She suggests a lack of money in her childhood made a high salary more desirable.
6. She believes that other people could have done her job equally well.
7. She does not have any negative feelings towards the company she worked for.
8. The feelings she had towards her promotion quickly changed.
9. One of her qualities also disadvantaged her in a certain way.
10. She wanted more freedom while she was still at a young age.

PRACTICE TEST 4 – CTB-11-DHBB2023

GET FIT, LIVE LONGER!
A Chloe: New pilates
I'll be honest, I have never felt the natural high which scientists claim follows a bout of intense exercise. The
empirical evidence of my own body tells me that the only thing exercise releases in my brain is loathing. So I scoff
when the people at the gym tell me I'll be hooked on a new type of Pilates in two sessions. My first session is an
hour's one-on-one with Daniel, my trainer; a good idea for any beginner. Although I, disappointingly, don't actually
lose any weight over my six sessions - personally, I find it rather ups my appetite - I can attest to its toning abilities.
The classes themselves - which take a minimum of six people - are entertaining, and as agreeable as enforced muscle
fatigue can ever be. It definitely helps if you'd already got to grips with some basic Pilates techniques before you
start, but, once you've got the hang of commands such as 'squeeze that imaginary grape under your armpit', it
provides a great variety of exercise.
B Mark: Personal training
A month of sessions with a personal trainer three times a week seems like the perfect springboard to a better
future. My personal trainer, Tony, asks me what I hope to achieve. I mutter something about losing a few pounds and
toning tailormade suits. It's the gap between my expectations and reality that is hardest to contend with. I know that
no matter how healthy I become at the age of 36, I will still be less fit that I was as a lazy 18-year-old who did no
exercise at all. But if I'm honest, I secretly believed I wouldn't actually be all that bad at this. The problem is weights.
I've never bothered with them before. I take ist slowly for the first few sessions but it's hard going and I eventually
pull a muscle in my right arm. It's time for a few days off, I greet a four-day respite with enthusiasm, but actually
find myself in the gym, running faster and longer than before and lifting weights well.
C Ben: Sport Active
I go along to my nearest fitness centre and decie to try out the DVD of Sport Active, which has more than 70
different exercises on it. The programme can measure and display your heart rate, thanks to a monitor that straps to
your forearm which sends information to the console. I start with tennis and get an enormous kick out of hitting balls
into an onscreen net. I quickly move on to mountain biking, or, as I now call it, 'total physical punishment'. However,
even though I am an old hand at cycling, by halfway round, I have clearly lost all ability to show off. On screen, my
heart rate has rocketed up to 178. 'You're definitely getting a good cardio workout here', encourages Robert, the
fitness centre trainer. Could these games damage people by suggesting the wrong positions? Robert is dismissive:
'It's unlikely you're going to hurt yourself.' I decide to carry on and after a few weeks begin to see the benefits.
D Tasha: Wild Fitness
 Wild Fitness is more than a form of exercise. Matt, my trainer, told me that it was a whole philosophy of life: to
transform yourself by learning to move and eat in the way of our hunter-gatherer ancestors and to become strong,
fast and agile. It all sounded a bit bizarre but I was more than happy to give it a go. The first session began at 8am on
a Monday morning in Regent's Park, London, with some introductory exercises. The hardest session came the next
week when Matt told us we would sprint around the 400-metre running track four times, with a short rest in-between
- no excuses allowed. I did my best and then discovered that the so-called rest was going to involve squat thrusts; 20
of them. Matt didn't stop there. It was thanks to him that I did far more than I would ever have done exercising alone
and I looked thinner and was far more tones as a result, especially around my thighs and stomach.
(Pearson Expert Proficiency, p. 89)
Which person Your answers
 mentions being disconcerted by their lack of ability when faced with a completely new activity?
 was grateful for having been spurred on in their efforts?
 suggests that prior experience of the exercise method can be advantageous?
 suggests that they have overreached themselves during their first session?
 is sceptical about whether a way of exercising would really appeal to them?
 suggests that their chosen exercise programme seemed based on a slightly eccentric premise?
 rejects the idea that they are following an exercise programme to improve fitness?
 comments on the relentless nature of the trainer?
 contrasts the amount of pleasure to be gained from different types of exercise?
 suggests that the outcome of their exercise programme was not wholly positive?

PRACTICE TEST 5 – CNT – 11 – DHBB2023

Which section …
1. comments on which person laughs within a verbal exchange?
2. uses a comparison with other physical functions to support an idea?
3. gives reasons why understanding laughter supplies very useful insights?
4. refers to someone who understood the self-perpetuating nature of laughter?
5. cites a study that involved watching people without their knowledge?
6. describes laughter having a detrimental effect?
7. criticizes other research for failing to consider a key function of laughter?
8. explains that laughing does not usually take precedence over speaking?
9. describes people observing themselves?
10. encourages checking that a proposition is correct?

Why do people laugh?

Psychologist Robert Provine writes about why and when we laugh.

A. In 1962, what began as an isolated fit of laughter in a group of schoolgirls in Tanzania rapidly
rose to epidemic proportions. Contagious laughter spread from one individual to the next and
between communities. Fluctuating in intensity, the laughter epidemic lasted for around two and a
half years and during this time at least 14 schools were closed and about 1,000 people afflicted.
Laughter epidemics, big and small, are universal. Laughter yoga, an innovation of Madan Kataria
of Mumbai, taps into contagious laughter for his Laughter Yoga clubs. Members gather in public
places to engage in laughter exercises to energise the body and improve health. Kataria realised
that only laughter is needed to stimulate laughter – no jokes are necessary. When we hear laughter,
we become beasts of the herd, mindlessly laughing in turn, producing a behavioural chain reaction
that sweeps through our group.

B. Laughter is a rich source of information about complex social relationships, if you know where
to look. Learning to ‘read’ laughter is particularly valuable because laughter is involuntary and
hard to fake, providing uncensored, honest accounts of what people really think about each other.
It is a decidedly social signal. The social context of laughter was established by 72 student
volunteers in my classes, who recorded their own laughter, its time of occurrence and social
circumstance in small notebooks (laugh logbooks) during a one-week period. The sociality of
laughter was striking. My logbook keepers laughed about 30 times more when they were around
others than when they were alone – laughter almost disappeared among solitary subjects.

C. Further clues about the social context of laughter came from the surreptitious observation of
1,200 instances of conversational laughter among anonymous people in public places. My
colleagues and I noted the gender of the speaker and audience (listener), whether the speaker or the
audience laughed, and what was said immediately before laughter occurred. Contrary to
expectation, most conversational laughter was not a response to jokes or humorous stories. Fewer
than 20% of pre-laugh comments were remotely jokelike or humorous. Most laughter followed
banal remarks such as ‘Are you sure?’ and ‘It was nice meeting you too.’ Mutual playfulness, in-
group feeling and positive emotional tone – not comedy – mark the social settings of most
naturally occurring laughter. Another counterintuitive discovery was that the average speaker
laughs about 46% more often than the audience. This contrasts with the scenario in stand-up
comedy – a type of comedy performance in which a non-laughing speaker presents jokes to a
laughing audience. Comedy performance in general proves an inadequate model for everyday
conversational laughter. Analyses that focus only on audience behaviour (a common approach) are
obviously limited because they neglect the social nature of the laughing relationship.

D. Amazingly, we somehow navigate society, laughing at just the right times, while not
consciously knowing what we are doing. In our sample of 1,200 laughter episodes, the speaker and
the audience seldom interrupted the phrase structure of speech with a ha-ha. Thus, a speaker may
say ‘You are wearing that? Ha-ha,’ but rarely ‘You are wearing … ha-ha… that?’ The occurrence
of laughter during pauses, at the end of phrases, and before and after statements and questions
suggests that a neurologically based process governs the placement of laughter. Speech is
dominant over laughter because it has priority access to the single vocalisation channel, and
laughter does not violate the integrity of phrase structure. Laughter in speech is similar to
punctuation in written communication. If punctuation of speech by laughter seems unlikely,
consider that breathing and coughing also punctuate speech. Better yet, why not test my theory of
punctuation by examining the placement of laughter in conversation around you, focusing on the
placement of ha-ha laughs. It's a good thing that these competing actions are neurologically
orchestrated. How complicated would our lives be if we had to plan when to breathe, talk and
laugh.