READING
Part One
Questions 1-8
Read the following three passages. On the optic form, mark the letter A, B, C, D or E for each question. Give only one answer to each question.
First Passage
In Jules Verne's classic 19th-century novel Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Professor Lidenbrock travels to a mysterious underground world. Now a Japanese ship is aiming to replicate his adventure, starting its own journey to explore the earth's depths. In August, the deep-sea drilling vessel, the Chikyu, left Nagasaki on a test run. Though this journey may not reveal the prehistoric monsters or hidden oceans that Lidenbrock's journey did, it is hoped that it will reach previously unexplored depths which haven't been seen before.
The ship faces a challenging task. Over the past few decades, scientists have managed to dig only about 2,000 meters into the earth from the ocean floor. But the Chikyu uses technology adapted from the oil industry and is capable of drilling 5,000 meters, which is more than doubling the previous record depth. With a price tag of $582 million, the Chikyu can accommodate 150 people, who will study samples brought from deep within the earth‘s centre.
The Chikyu has plenty of international cooperation from many countries. But its mission is especially important to Japan, which is frequently hit by earthquakes. Japanese scientists hope to improve their prediction capabilities by using the Chikyu to install monitoring devices underground near Japan. Through the Chikyu, they may also understand how tsunamis occur, but preventing them completely is still not possible. Instead of looking up, it‘s time for us to study what‘s deep down underneath, say Japanese scientists.
1 The author refers to Jules Verne‘s novel in order to
A give some information about the novel.
B attract readers‘ attention to the text.
C show the dangers of the Chikyu's journey.
D predict the results of the Chikyu's journey.
E suggest the reasons for the research.
2 The main idea of the text is that the Chikyu will
A break a world record by digging deeper than ever before.
B prevent tsunamis by studying the ocean floor.
C discover new creatures living underground.
D help Japanese scientists predict earthquakes.
E help the development of the Japanese oil industry.
Second Passage
A new giant building has come to London. The prime minister of Qatar was at the opening party; princes attended a fantastic dinner. To entertain the rest of us, ordinary citizens of the capital, there was a free laser show. This is how its developers introduced us to the Shard, a 72-storey skyscraper that now stalks Londoners everywhere they go. It is inescapable. It is there with you as you stand at a city bus-stop or walk in a distant suburban park. Get up close to Europe's tallest tower and its height makes everything around it seem toy-like, laughably tiny.
A monster built in spite of the protests of nearby residents, the Shard is a 'virtual town‘, comprising a five-star hotel and classy restaurants. Ten apartments are on sale at between 30 and 50 million pounds each. Office space below them will be rented out to finance companies. The only way any ordinary Londoner will enter this building is to work as a cleaner.
The Shard is the perfect illustration of a number of disturbing trends. First, it shows how London is becoming a one-dimensional town; finance is now its main industry. Second, it proves that buildings are no longer just offices owned by businesses. They are investments, and 52% of London offices are now owned by foreign investors. London has long been the point at which foreign money enters Britain, but never before has this happened on such a vast scale as in recent years. Unfortunately, this cash is not going into productive enterprises which benefit or employ ordinary Londoners; it is used to throw up ever more luxury flats and office blocks. And a credit crunch or financial collapse anywhere in the world will now mean disaster for London.
3 The main idea of paragraph 1 is that the Shard
A has been built to benefit all Londoners.
B is an overwhelming presence in London.
C is now the tallest building in Europe.
D attracts royalty from Middle Eastern countries.
E represents development trends around Europe.
4 We can infer from the text that the writer thinks that London is
A the best place to invest money in property.
B going through too many rapid changes.
C running out of affordable accommodation.
D developing in a way which will cause problems.
E a city where it is easy for anyone to find a job.
5 What is the tone of the writer in this article?
A Neutral
B Amused
C Shocked
D Pleased
E Critical
Third Passage
A woman taking a late-night walk in Oklahoma in January 1997 saw a streak of light in the sky and then felt something brush her shoulder. It turned out to be part of a U.S. Delta II rocket launched in 1996. Luckily, the woman was unhurt. A 260 kilogram fuel tank from the same rocket slammed to the ground in Texas around the same time, just a few metres away from an occupied farmhouse – two narrow escapes.
At a press briefing following the incidents, NASA said there's generally little danger of death by space debris. Since the dawn of the Space Age some five decades ago, no human has been killed or even hurt by an artificial object falling from outer space.
But just because it hasn't happened yet doesn't mean that it isn't possible as there is an 800 kilometre long debris footprint out there in the Earth‘s orbit. According to the Aerospace Corporation, a space-research centre, these unused space objects require carefully controlled disposal as they pose a threat to everyone living on earth.
One spacecraft, known as the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), was carried into space by the shuttle Discovery in 1991 to study the Earth's atmosphere. When it was switched off in 2005, it became another piece of potentially hazardous space junk, so NASA dragged it toward Earth so that it would mostly burn up in the atmosphere. What remained fell into the South Pacific Ocean in a controlled manner at a location known as Spacecraft Cemetery, a place remote from civilization.
To date, nearly 6,000 tonnes of human-made material has been disposed of properly but what about the other pieces of debris? One object a day, on average, falls toward Earth unguided. Hopefully, we will all be as lucky as the woman in Oklahoma.
6 The author starts the text with incidents that happened in Oklahoma and Texas to
A show how serious the situation can be.
B draw the authorities' attention to the matter.
C warn people living in those specific areas.
D make readers recall similar narrow escapes.
E support the researchers who work for NASA.
7 The phrase 'debris footprint' in paragraph 2 refers to the
A place where space junk is being processed.
B distance between space junk and our planet.
C area covered by the unused objects in space.
D spot which is the farthest from civilization.
E intended destination of an object launched.
8 The main idea in the text is that
A approximately one space object a day is carefully pushed into the
Earth‘s atmosphere to burn up by itself.
B NASA has finally found the safest place to dispose of space junk, which is a relief for everyone.
C the likelihood of being hit by a space object is getting higher due to the increasing amount of space junk.
D the variety of man-made objects in space makes it more complicated to dispose of them.
E the space junk issue is exaggerated as no one has been hurt or killed so far.
Part Two
Questions 9-20
Read the following two passages. On the optic form, mark the letter A, B, C, D or E for each question. Give only one answer to each question.
First Passage
Don Federico Tellez looked at his watch, saw that it was noon and told the six or seven employees of Rodent Exterminators Inc. that they could go to lunch. He did not remind them to be back by three on the dot, not one minute later, since all of them knew very well that, in this company, lack of punctuality was unheard of: those who were late were fined or even fired on the spot. Once they had left, Don Federico, as was his habit, double-locked the office himself, put on his grey hat that he always wore, and headed down the crowded sidewalks to the place where he kept his car, as he did every day.
He was a man who aroused fear and depressing thoughts in the minds of others; a person had only to see him passing by on the street to notice immediately that he was different from others. He was in the prime of his life, his fifties - a fundamental and unforgettable time in a man's life. His distinguishing features, a broad forehead, sharp nose, and a penetrating gaze, might have made him a Casanova, had he been interested in women. But Don Federico Tellez had devoted his whole life to one cause and allowed nothing and no one to distract him from it. He had been waging this war for forty years now, his ultimate goal being the destruction of every last rat in the land. His acquaintances and even his wife and their four children did not know the reason behind this campaign. Don Federico kept it a secret but never forgot it: it haunted his memory day and night, a persistent nightmare from which he drew new strength and renewed hatred enabling him to continue in this war that some people considered ridiculous. Even as he entered the parking lot, started his car and waited for the engine to warm up, his thoughts went back yet again in time and space to the remote village of his childhood and the terror that had caused his destiny.
It had happened in the first decade of the 20th century when the city of Tingo Maria was just a tiny dot on the map near the Pendencia River. The way it happened was both simple and horrible. Federico's father and mother had gone to a wedding ceremony and would be spending the night on the other side of the river, attending the usual festivities in honour of that occasion. Federico had been left alone in the little cabin far away from where the farm workers lived. That night, the weather was very hot and so young Federico decided to take his little straw bed down to the river where the sound of the water would lull him to sleep. He bathed himself in the river, lay down on his bed, and fell asleep. In his dreams he seemed to feel things moving around him, but it wasn't strong enough to awaken him. At dawn, he felt sharp little teeth biting his foot. He opened his eyes, and thought he would die, or rather that he had died and was in Hell: he was surrounded by hundreds of rats. They were all over his body and to his horror he realised that they had chewed off part of his big toe and all that was left was a small piece of white bone. He leapt to his feet despite the injury and managed to scream at the top of his lungs, which brought the farm workers and neighbours to his aid. Together, they were able to drive off the colony of invaders.
That very morning, after being treated for his injury and being told off by his father for leaving the house and sleeping outside, the boy became a man in the space of a few hours. He knelt down and swore to devote his entire life, to his last breath, to the destruction of the entire species.
9 According to paragraph 1, Don Federico thinks that being late is
A uncontrollable.
B unavoidable.
C unimportant.
D unbelievable.
E unforgivable.
10 In paragraph 2, Don Federico is described as a
A Casanova interested mainly in women.
B determined man over the age of fifty.
C sad man who suffers from depression.
D responsible father for his children.
E sociable man who enjoys his family life.
11 In paragraph 3, Federico went outside on the night of the wedding to get away from the
A family.
B noise.
C heat.
D crowd.
E light.
12 In paragraph 3, on the night of the wedding, Federico
A had a horrible dream.
B saw some of his friends.
C enjoyed the ceremony.
D fell asleep by the river.
E met his future wife.
13 In paragraph 3, “the colony of invaders” refers to
A a pack of rats.
B farm workers.
C Federico‘s parents.
D the neighbours.
E a different species.
14 According to paragraph 4, after the incident
A Federico had difficulty in breathing properly.
B Federico set a firm goal for his future life.
C Federico‘s father praised him for his bravery.
D Federico swore not to sleep outside again.
E Federico‘s father swore never to leave him alone.
Second Passage
Like any multibillion dollar industry, parenthood took a hit in the recession. A 2009 study found that one in five Americans are delaying major life decisions like getting married and having children because of the poor economy. No wonder: it costs $190,000 to raise a child from infancy to high school graduation according to U.S. government data. College, health insurance, and additional post-graduation expenses can easily double that bill. And then there are the emotional costs. In a happiness survey that appeared in Science Magazine in 2004, mothers ranked their enjoyment in taking care of children below exercising and making meals and just above housework and working. Maybe that's why the number of women aged 40 to 44 without children has doubled in the last 30 years according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
But parenting should thrive in an age of austerity, says Bryan Caplan, an economics professor at George Mason University, and author of the new book Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Parent Is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think. The secret joy of being a parent, Caplan argues, comes from understanding the limited liability of parenting. Studies have found that child-rearing is, if you can believe it, a little overrated. In surveys of twins raised together and apart, behavioural scientists consistently found that nature overpowered nurture in almost all categories, from character and intelligence to happiness and health. Once you accept that bad parenting won't always keep your kids from being great and good parenting might not make a difference, it's easier to relax and enjoy the state of being a parent.
If the seeds of a good person are sown in a child's DNA, it follows that parents are probably spending too much to improve their children. Caplan suggests that parenting doesn't have to be so expensive. Kids don't need the latest gizmos or the ceaseless, and expensive, attention we provide them. You can easily raise a great kid on a modest budget. Caplan suggests marginal improvements in four areas: sleep, discipline, activities, and supervision. Improving these would ease the emotional and financial costs of parenting. Parents typically lose three years of sleep per child, Caplan says. Instead of rushing to tend to their babies, parents should use the Ferber method and let children ‗cry it out‘ for a period of time before rushing to soothe them. He says discipline should be enforced - don't let your kids run around like animals - but put things into perspective. Putting your child in the naughty corner for a spell might be the right message to send in the short term, but it doesn't mean it will change children's behaviour once they become adults.
In a direct blow to Tiger Moms around the world, Caplan is critical of the view that every child needs seven activities at once. If your kid hates soccer practice and you hate chauffeuring your son to soccer practice, stop it! Go to the park. You'll both be happier. If Caplan calls too much discipline and too many activities overrated, you can guess what attitude he has toward too much supervision. Citing statistics showing kids are safer now than they were in the so-called idyllic 1950s, Caplan encourages parents to loosen the reins a little.
Children are costly, Caplan acknowledged in an interview. Everyone knows that. For families already struggling to put food on the table, let alone pay for college, it's not fair to say they can afford four kids if they just avoid expensive babysitters and high-tech strollers. But if you zoom out to the national level, more kids means more innovation. There are long-term benefits of an increased population in terms of progress. The key to progress is new ideas. Ideas are the cause of progress. Where do they come from? People! More people, more progress.
It is not just a nation‘s economy that benefits from babies. It is older parents, too. Many of the benefits of children come later in life, Caplan writes. Kids have high start-up costs, but wise parents weigh their initial sleep deprivation against a lifetime of rewards, ranging from grandchildren to valuable friendships with adult children. The Caplan Theory is a bit like the Ferber method: If you stop worrying and let the kid be for now, everybody will be happier tomorrow.
15 There is a large group of older American women who probably do not have children because they
A can‘t afford to have them.
B don‘t want to have them.
C don‘t like children very much.
D can‘t find a suitable partner.
E aren't in good enough health.
16 Caplan believes that parenting would be easier if people
A found more activities for their children.
B chose to have fewer children.
C nurtured their children more.
D took more responsibility for their children.
E were more relaxed about being a parent.
17 When it comes to looking after babies, the main point Caplan makes is that babies should be
A left to cry instead of immediately being picked up.
B given as much attention as they need.
C allowed to develop at their own pace.
D provided with unconditional love.
E taught to sleep for longer periods of time.
18 Caplan‘s view on punishment is that it does not
A contribute to the development of a child‘s personality.
B guarantee the child will grow up to be a better person.
C help children and parents maintain a good relationship.
D usually make parents feel they are doing a good job.
E produce good results and should seldom be used.
19 It can be inferred from the text that Tiger Moms make their children
A want to be successful adults.
B grow up far too quickly.
C act in a more disciplined way.
D do too many activities.
E take part in many different sports.
20 Caplan believes that having children
A puts a lot of economic strain on every family.
B can be considered the key to happiness.
C is beneficial for the development of a country.
D should be an obligation for everyone.
E is easier now than for previous generations.
Part Three
Questions 21-35
Read the following passage. On the optic form, mark the letter A, B, C, D or E for each question. Give only one answer to each question.
1. The trouble with normal is it always gets worse, sang the Canadian guitarist Bruce Cockburn back in 1983. It would seem that he was on to something, as normal doesn‘t seem to be working any longer. The new Holy Grail is happiness. Wherever we look nowadays there are 'how-to‘ happiness books, articles, TV and radio programs and websites. There are happiness institutes, camps, clubs, classes, cruises, workshops, and retreats. Universities are adding courses in Happiness Studies. Fast-growing professions include happiness counselling, joyology and happiness science. Personal happiness is big business and everyone is selling it. Being positive is mandatory, even with the planet in meltdown. Only the bravest are not being bullied into cheering up or at least shutting up. But a society of 'happichondriacs‘ isn‘t necessarily a healthy sign. No one is less able to sustain happiness than someone obsessed with feeling only happiness. A happy and meaningful existence depends on the ability to feel emotions other than happiness.
2. ―Happiness never appeared to me as an absolute aim,‖ said Einstein. The ideals that have lighted my way are Kindness, Beauty and Truth. As higher systems of meaning have withered, life purpose has dwindled to feeling good. Innocence, the lifeblood of happiness, has gone. We live in a culture perfectly suited for depression. Other happiness blockers include materialism, perpetual discontent, over-complication, hyper-competition, stress, rage, boredom, loneliness and existential confusion. We‘re removed from nature, married to work, adrift from family and friends, spiritually starved, sleep deprived, physically unfit and enslaved to debt.
3. Health professionals face new epidemics of 'hurry sickness‘, 'toxic success syndrome‘, the 'frantic family‘, the 'over-commercialised child‘ and 'pleonexia‘ or out-of-control greed. Too much is no longer enough. Many are stretching themselves so far that they have difficulty feeling anything at all. At its heart, the happiness boom is a metaphor for the modern struggle for meaning. We laugh only a third as often as we did 50 years ago. We are the least happy society in history if we measure happiness in terms of mental health, personal growth, or general sense of vitality.
4. By the middle of the 19th century, social critics were already noticing how happiness was losing its social, spiritual, moral and intellectual anchors. In his classic 1863 work Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill scorned this trend: ―Better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied‖, he opined. Total satisfaction can actually be a major obstacle to happiness. Artist Salvador Dali lamented: ―There are days when I think I‘m going to die from an overdose of satisfaction. To preserve the rarity value of life, one must resist wrapping heaven around oneself. Keeping paradise at a distance, yet within reach, is a much better way of staying alive. People who have it all must learn the art of flirting with deprivation.
5. A society‘s dominant value system dictates how happiness is measured. The native Navajos in the southwest of the US saw happiness as the attainment of universal beauty or what they called "Hózhó." Their counterpart of "Have a nice day" was "May you walk in beauty." Personal satisfaction is the most common way of measuring happiness today and it is measured by something called the Life Satisfaction Scale. This mirrors the supreme value that consumer culture attaches to the acquisition of more and more material goods and feeling satisfied with what you are doing. When measured this way, most people in the developed world are pretty happy, even if it is primarily due to false needs being satisfied. A high percentage of depressed people even end up happy when measured on the Life Satisfaction Scale.
6. When author John Updike warned, ―America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy,‖ he was referring to the superficial mass happiness that prevails when economics successfully conspires to define our existence. I profit, therefore I am. To be happy, gulp something. Pay later. Novelist J. D. Salinger was so unnerved by the happiness conspiracy that he confessed: ―I‘m a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people are plotting to make one happy.‖ The wrong type of happiness is worse than no happiness at all.
7. Our ignorance of happiness is revealed by the question on everyone‘s lips: ―Does money make us happy? The head of a US aid agency in Kenya commented recently that volunteers are predictably dumbstruck and confused by the zest and jubilance of the Africans. It has become a cliché for them to say: ―The people are so poor, they have nothing – and yet they have so much joy and seem so happy. I never knew how measly my own happiness was until one day in 1988 when I found myself stranded in a remote western Tanzanian village. I saw real happiness for the first time. Since then, I have learned that it has vastly more to do with cultural factors than genetics or the trendy notion of personal choice. So it didn't surprise me that an African nation, Nigeria, was found recently to be the world's happiest country. The study of happy societies‘ is awakening us to the importance of social connectedness, spirituality, simplicity, modesty of expectations, gratitude, patience, touch, music, movement, play and down time‘.
8. The small Himalayan nation of Ladakh is one of the best-documented examples of a 'happy society‘. As Helena Norberg-Hodge writes in Ancient Futures, Ladakhis were a remarkably joyous and vibrant people who lived in harmony with their harsh environment. Their culture generated mutual respect, community-mindedness, an eagerness to share, reverence for nature, thankfulness and love of life. Their value systems bred tenderness, empathy, politeness, spiritual awareness and environmental conservation. Violence, discrimination, avarice and abuse of power were non-existent and depressed, burned-out people were nowhere to be found. But in 1991, Ladakh‘s newly appointed Development Commissioner announced: ―If Ladakh is ever going to be developed, we have to figure out how to make our people want more. The developers triumphed and a greed economy took root. The issues nowadays are declining mental health, family breakdown, crime, land degradation, unemployment, a widening gap between the rich and the poor and pollution.
9. Visionaries tell us that the only happiness that makes sense at this perilous juncture in Earth's history is 'sustainable happiness‘. All worthwhile happiness is life-supporting. But so much of what makes us happy in the age of consumerism is dependent upon the destruction and overexploitation of nature. A sustainable happiness implies that we take responsibility for the wider contexts in which we live and for the well-being of future generations. Sustainable happiness goes back to the classical Greek philosophies in viewing ethical living as a legitimate vehicle for human happiness. Compassion in particular plays a central role. In part it rests on the truth that we can be happy in planting the seeds of happiness, even if we might miss the harvest.
10. Some argue that as a society we are too programmed to selfishness and overconsumption for sustainable happiness to take root. But if we manage to take the first few steps, we may rediscover that happiness resonates most deeply when it has a price. The greatest irony in the search for happiness is that it is never strictly personal. For happiness to be mature and heartfelt, it must be shared, whether by those around us, or by tomorrow's children. If not, happiness can be downright depressing.
21 In the first paragraph, the writer suggests that most people today are
A turning to happiness studies to help them feel better.
B rebelling against the traditional idea of happiness.
C making more money because they feel happy.
D being forced to act as if they are happy.
E trying to feel emotions other than happiness.
22 In paragraph 2, the writer quotes Einstein in order to
A show that innocence is the lifeblood of happiness.
B support the point being made in paragraph one.
C explain to the reader how happiness can be achieved.
D show that having aims related to happiness is important.
E support the idea that happiness is a superior emotion.
23 The main idea expressed in paragraph 2 is that our lifestyle today is preventing people from
A finding real happiness.
B having low self-esteem.
C making others happy.
D becoming depressed.
E being successful.
24 According to the writer in paragraph 3, what has happened as a result of this search for happiness?
A People find satisfaction in the natural world.
B People are better at expressing themselves.
C There is much more laughter everywhere.
D Modern struggles enable us to feel more deeply.
E New types of illnesses have started to appear.
25 Which of the following statements is true according to paragraph 4?
A The pursuit of happiness really began in the 19th century.
B In the past, there was a different understanding of happiness.
C Socrates was the first person to define happiness.
D John Stuart Mill supported the search for happiness.
E Artists used to feel a deeper sense of happiness.
26 According to the artist Salvador Dali,
A being happy all the time is good.
B finding total satisfaction is a bad thing.
C having all you want makes life more valuable.
D depriving yourself is not recommended.
E achieving happiness is the road to paradise.
27 According to paragraph 5, happiness is based on
A personal satisfaction.
B spirituality.
C self-awareness.
D cultural values.
E ambition.
28 The purpose of the Life Satisfaction Scale is to
A define what is meant by happiness.
B test who is at risk of depression.
C measure the concept of universal beauty.
D find out people's supreme values.
E show people their happiness level.
29 According to the writer, why do some people who are depressed end up being classified as happy?
A Some people think they are depressed but they are not.
B The measurement scale used is looking at the wrong things.
C The needs of depressed people are difficult to understand.
D People can be really happy even when they are depressed.
E The measurement scale shows that depression can be prevented.
30 The writer says that the American notion of happiness is based on
A spending money on things.
B defining what people want.
C creating mass happiness.
D feeling good about yourself.
E helping others to feel happy.
31 The 'zest and jubilance' of the Africans refers to their
A poverty.
B confusion.
C lifestyle.
D happiness.
E education.
32 When the writer visited Tanzania, he
A felt happiness for the first time in his life.
B appreciated how important happiness is.
C realised that happiness is genetic.
D understood the real meaning of happiness.
E wanted to live there permanently.
33 The main idea of paragraph 8 is that
A consumerism is dangerous for society.
B a happy society is nothing more than fiction.
C greed causes environmental degradation.
D the whole world is suffering a lack of happiness.
E Ladakh is happy but needs to develop.
34 What does the writer mean by the term 'sustainable happiness‘?
A Happiness and consumerism can be positive.
B Happiness is a personal state.
C Happiness involves thinking of others.
D Happiness is a classical Greek concept.
E Happiness is similar to natural resources.
35 The main idea of this text is that we need to
A stop trying to define what real happiness is.
B try and become less stressed and happier people.
C look to the environment to understand happiness.
D plant the seeds of happiness wherever we go.
E redefine our current understanding of happiness.
