1. Describe one of your family members you spend the most time with. Who is he/she? What do you usually do together? What kind of person he/she is? Why you spend most of the time with him/her? 2. Describe an important journey that was delayed. Why was it important What caused the delay What happened at the end Describe what caused the delay 3. Describe an experience you had as a member of a team What it was? Who were the members of the team? What role did you play in this team? And explain how you achieved your goal? 4. Describe a goal that you achieved, which was set by yourself What it was When did you set it How did you achieve it Explain how it influenced your life 5. Describe a person who has apologized to you Who this person is? When this happened? What this person said for apologizing? Explain how you felt about the apology? 6. Describe an interesting animal. What it looks like When you saw it Where you saw it Explain why it is interesting 7. Describe an article on health that you read from a magazine or online What the article was When and where you read it What you learned from the article Explain why you think it is a good or bad article 8. Describe a person in the news that you want to meet Who he or she is? What did this person show up on TV for? How do you know what this person? Why you want to meet him? 9. Describe one time when the weather changed your plan When this happened Where you were What kind of weather it was Explain why you couldn’t finish the thing What you did at the end 10. Describe a situation you were not allowed to use your cell phone Where was it When was it Why you were not allowed What did you want to do with your cell phone 11. Describe an important piece of news that you received via text message who shared the message with you? what the news was about? how was it written? and explain why the news was important? 12. Describe something you bought that was difficult to use at first What is it? When you bought it? What does it do? Explain how difficult was it to be used? 13. Describe a successful small business that you know What is the business is? Where it is? Who runs the business/how do you know about this business? And explain why you think it is successful? 14. Describe the happiest day you had Where you were? Who you were with? What you did? And explain why you think it was the happiest day? 15. A person who taught you something important Who the person is? What he/she is like? What he/she taught you? How you felt about him/her? 16. Describe a difficult challenge that you completed/met What was the challenge? When and where did you complete/met it? Why was it difficult? How you felt about it? 17. Describe a crowded place you have visited Where is it When you went there With whom you went there And explain how you felt about being there? 18. Job you would not like to do in the future What is the job Why you don’t want to do it? How you feel about the job? 19. Describe a uniform you wear (at your school or company) When you wear it? Who bought it for you? What does it look like? How you feel about it? 20. Describe a situation or a time when you helped someone What the situation was? Who the person was? How you helped them? Explain how your felt after helping them? 21. Describe an indoor game that you liked to play when you were a child. What is it With whom did you play How often you played it How did you feel about it 22. A performance you recently watched. What it was? When you watched it? Who you were with? Why you watched it and how you felt about it? 23. Describe a change that can improve your local area What it is? How it can be done? What problem it will solve? How you feel about it 24. Describe an occasion when you lost something and then got it back. What you lost? How you lost it? Where you found it? How you felt about it? 25. Describe a time when you were excited Where you were? When it was? Who you were with? explain why were you excited? 26. Describe a time when you traveled by public transportation? 27. Talk about an interesting conversation 28. Describe a film you would like to share with your friends 29. Describe a place where you read and write, apart from your home 30. Describe a school you went to in your childhood 31. Talk about a toy you liked in your childhood. 32. Describe a person who likes to travel by plane 33. When was the first time you admired the sky or a beautiful sky you enjoyed seeing 34. A Leisure activity that you do with your family IELTS Cue Card 35. Describe a place full of colour 36. Describe an experience when you were with people and you got bored 37. Describe a product made in the region you come from or a popular product from your hometown 38. Talk about a celebration organized after an achievement or describe a situation when you celebrated your achievement. 39. Describe an advice you received on your subjects or work 40. Describe a time when you first met someone 41. Describe a special day that made you happy. 42. Describe a picture or photograph in your home/room that you like. 43. Talk about a gift for which you spent long time to choose/make. 44. Describe an experience when you played an indoor game with others? 45. Describe a time you were sleepy but had to stay awake 46. Describe a practical skill you learned 45. Describe a new skill you want to learn. 47. Talk about someone who encourages you to achieve goals or someone who encouraged you to achieve a goal (PAST TENSE) 48. Describe a time when you were cheated/ when someone lied to you / someone did not tell you the complete truth. 49. Describe your idea of a perfect home or dream house 50. Talk about a newly built public facility (such as parks, cinemas etc) that improves/influence local life quality in your city 51. Talk about something that you borrowed from your friend.
Chronobiology might sound a little futuristic – like something from a science fiction novel, perhaps – but it’s actually a field of study that concerns one of the oldest processes life on this planet has ever known: short-term rhythms of time and their effect on flora and fauna. This can take many forms. Marine life, for example, is influenced by tidal patterns. Animals tend to be active or inactive depending on the position of the sun or moon. Numerous creatures, humans included, are largely diurnal – that is, they like to come out during the hours of sunlight. Nocturnal animals, such as bats and possums, prefer to forage by night. A third group are known as crepuscular: they thrive in the low-light of dawn and dusk and remain inactive at other hours. When it comes to humans, chronobiologists are interested in what is known as the circadian rhythm. This is the complete cycle our bodies are naturally geared to undergo within the passage of a twenty-four hour day. Aside from sleeping at night and waking during the day, each cycle involves many other factors such as changes in blood pressure and body temperature. Not everyone has an identical circadian rhythm. ‘Night people’, for example, often describe how they find it very hard to operate during the morning, but become alert and focused by evening. This is a benign variation within circadian rhythms known as a chronotype. Scientists have limited abilities to create durable modifications of chronobiological demands. Recent therapeutic developments for humans such as artificial light machines and melatonin administration can reset our circadian rhythms, for example, but our bodies can tell the difference and health suffers when we breach these natural rhythms for extended periods of time. Plants appear no more malleable in this respect; studies demonstrate that vegetables grown in season and ripened on the tree are far higher in essential nutrients than those grown in greenhouses and ripened by laser. Knowledge of chronobiological patterns can have many pragmatic implications for our day-to-day lives. While contemporary living can sometimes appear to subjugate biology – after all, who needs circadian rhythms when we have caffeine pills, energy drinks, shift work and cities that never sleep? – keeping in synch with our body clock is important. The average urban resident, for example, rouses at the eye-blearing time of 6.04 a.m., which researchers believe to be far too early. One study found that even rising at 7.00 a.m. has deleterious effects on health unless exercise is performed for 30 minutes afterward. The optimum moment has been whittled down to 7.22 a.m.; muscle aches, headaches and moodiness were reported to be lowest by participants in the study who awoke then. Once you’re up and ready to go, what then? If you’re trying to shed some extra pounds, dieticians are adamant: never skip breakfast. This disorients your circadian rhythm and puts your body in starvation mode. The recommended course of action is to follow an intense workout with a carbohydrate-rich breakfast; the other way round and weight loss results are not as pronounced. Morning is also great for breaking out the vitamins. Supplement absorption by the body is not temporal-dependent, but naturopath Pam Stone notes that the extra boost at breakfast helps us get energised for the day ahead. For improved absorption, Stone suggests pairing supplements with a food in which they are soluble and steering clear of caffeinated beverages. Finally, Stone warns to take care with storage; high potency is best for absorption, and warmth and humidity are known to deplete the potency of a supplement. After-dinner espressos are becoming more of a tradition – we have the Italians to thank for that – but to prepare for a good night’s sleep we are better off putting the brakes on caffeine consumption as early as 3 p.m. With a seven hour half-life, a cup of coffee containing 90 mg of caffeine taken at this hour could still leave 45 mg of caffeine in your nervous system at ten o’clock that evening. It is essential that, by the time you are ready to sleep, your body is rid of all traces. Evenings are important for winding down before sleep; however, dietician Geraldine Georgeou warns that an after-five carbohydrate-fast is more cultural myth than chronobiological demand. This will deprive your body of vital energy needs. Overloading your gut could lead to indigestion, though. Our digestive tracts do not shut down for the night entirely, but their work slows to a crawl as our bodies prepare for sleep. Consuming a modest snack should be entirely sufficient. Questions 1–7 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading passage 1? Answer True, False or Not given to questions 1–7. Trueif the statement agrees with the information Falseif the statement contradicts the information Not givenif there is no information on this
QUESTIONS 1) Chronobiology is the study of how living things have evolved over time. 2) The rise and fall of sea levels affects how sea creatures behave. 3) Most animals are active during the daytime. 4) Circadian rhythms identify how we do different things on different days. 5) A ‘night person’ can still have a healthy circadian rhythm. 6) New therapies can permanently change circadian rhythms without causing harm. 7) Naturally-produced vegetables have more nutritional value. Questions 8–13 Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. QUESTIONS 8) What did researchers identify as the ideal time to wake up in the morning? A) 6.04 B) 7.00 C) 7.22 D) 7.30 9) In order to lose weight, we should A) avoid eating breakfast B) eat a low carbohydrate breakfast C) exercise before breakfast D) exercise after breakfast 10) Which is NOT mentioned as a way to improve supplement absorption? A) avoiding drinks containing caffeine while taking supplements B) taking supplements at breakfast C) taking supplements with foods that can dissolve them D) storing supplements in a cool, dry environment 11) The best time to stop drinking coffee is A) mid-afternoon B) 10 p.m. C) only when feeling anxious D) after dinner 12) In the evening, we should A) stay away from carbohydrates B) stop exercising C) eat as much as possible D) eat a light meal 13) Which of the following phrases best describes the main aim of Reading Passage 1? A) to suggest healthier ways of eating, sleeping and exercising B) to describe how modern life has made chronobiology largely irrelevant C) to introduce chronobiology and describe some practical applications D) to plan a daily schedule that can alter our natural chronobiological rhythms Reading Passage 2
The Triune1 Brain
The first of our three brains to evolve is what scientists call the reptilian cortex. This brain sustains the elementary activities of animal survival such as respiration, adequate rest and a beating heart. We are not required to consciously “think” about these activities. The reptilian cortex also houses the “startle centre”, a mechanism that facilitates swift reactions to unexpected occurrences in our surroundings. That panicked lurch you experience when a door slams shut somewhere in the house, or the heightened awareness you feel when a twig cracks in a nearby bush while out on an evening stroll are both examples of the reptilian cortex at work. When it comes to our interaction with others, the reptilian brain offers up only the most basic impulses: aggression, mating, and territorial defence. There is no great difference, in this sense, between a crocodile defending its spot along the river and a turf war between two urban gangs. Although the lizard may stake a claim to its habitat, it exerts total indifference toward the well-being of its young. Listen to the anguished squeal of a dolphin separated from its pod or witness the sight of elephants mourning their dead, however, and it is clear that a new development is at play. Scientists have identified this as the limbic cortex. Unique to mammals, the limbic cortex impels creatures to nurture their offspring by delivering feelings of tenderness and warmth to the parent when children are nearby. These same sensations also cause mammals to develop various types of social relations and kinship networks. When we are with others of “our kind” – be it at soccer practice, church, school or a nightclub – we experience positive sensations of togetherness, solidarity and comfort. If we spend too long away from these networks, then loneliness sets in and encourages us to seek companionship. Only human capabilities extend far beyond the scope of these two cortexes. Humans eat, sleep and play, but we also speak, plot, rationalise and debate finer points of morality. Our unique abilities are the result of an expansive third brain – the neocortex – which engages with logic, reason and ideas. The power of the neocortex comes from its ability to think beyond the present, concrete moment. While other mammals are mainly restricted to impulsive actions (although some, such as apes, can learn and remember simple lessons), humans can think about the “big picture”. We can string together simple lessons (for example, an apple drops downwards from a tree; hurting others causes unhappiness) to develop complex theories of physical or social phenomena (such as the laws of gravity and a concern for human rights). The neocortex is also responsible for the process by which we decide on and commit to particular courses of action. Strung together over time, these choices can accumulate into feats of progress unknown to other animals. Anticipating a better grade on the following morning’s exam, a student can ignore the limbic urge to socialise and go to sleep early instead. Over three years, this ongoing sacrifice translates into a first class degree and a scholarship to graduate school; over a lifetime, it can mean ground-breaking contributions to human knowledge and development. The ability to sacrifice our drive for immediate satisfaction in order to benefit later is a product of the neocortex. Understanding the triune brain can help us appreciate the different natures of brain damage and psychological disorders. The most devastating form of brain damage, for example, is a condition in which someone is understood to be brain dead. In this state a person appears merely unconscious – sleeping, perhaps – but this is illusory. Here, the reptilian brain is functioning on autopilot despite the permanent loss of other cortexes. Disturbances to the limbic cortex are registered in a different manner. Pups with limbic damage can move around and feed themselves well enough but do not register the presence of their littermates. Scientists have observed how, after a limbic lobotomy2, “one impaired monkey stepped on his outraged peers as if treading on a log or a rock”. In our own species, limbic damage is closely related to sociopathic behaviour. Sociopaths in possession of fully-functioning neocortexes are often shrewd and emotionally intelligent people but lack any ability to relate to, empathise with or express concern for others. One of the neurological wonders of history occurred when a railway worker named Phineas Gage survived an incident during which a metal rod skewered his skull, taking a considerable amount of his neocortex with it. Though Gage continued to live and work as before, his fellow employees observed a shift in the equilibrium of his personality. Gage’s animal propensities were now sharply pronounced while his intellectual abilities suffered; garrulous or obscene jokes replaced his once quick wit. New findings suggest, however, that Gage managed to soften these abrupt changes over time and rediscover an appropriate social manner. This would indicate that reparative therapy has the potential to help patients with advanced brain trauma to gain an improved quality of life. 1 Triune = three-in-one 2 Lobotomy = surgical cutting of brain nerves Questions 14–22 Classify the following as typical of the reptilian cortex Athe reptilian cortex Bthe limbic cortex Cthe neocortex Answer A, B or C, to questions 14–22. QUESTIONS 14) giving up short-term happiness for future gains 15) maintaining the bodily functions necessary for life 16) experiencing the pain of losing another 17) forming communities and social groups 18) making a decision and carrying it out 19) guarding areas of land 20) developing explanations for things 21) looking after one’s young 22) responding quickly to sudden movement and noise Questions 23–26 Complete the sentences below. Use no more than two words from the passage for each answer. QUESTIONS 23) A person with only a functioning reptilian cortex is known as ............... 24) ............... in humans is associated with limbic disruption. 25) An industrial accident caused Phineas Gage to lose part of his ............... 26) After his accident, co-workers noticed an imbalance between Gage’s ............... and higher-order thinking. Reading Passage 3
Helium’s future up in the air
A) In recent years we have all been exposed to dire media reports concerning the impending demise of global coal and oil reserves, but the depletion of another key non-renewable resource continues without receiving much press at all. Helium – an inert, odourless, monatomic element known to lay people as the substance that makes balloons float and voices squeak when inhaled – could be gone from this planet within a generation. B) Helium itself is not rare; there is actually a plentiful supply of it in the cosmos. In fact, 24 per cent of our galaxy’s elemental mass consists of helium, which makes it the second most abundant element in our universe. Because of its lightness, however, most helium vanished from our own planet many years ago. Consequently, only a miniscule proportion – 0.00052%, to be exact – remains in earth’s atmosphere. Helium is the by-product of millennia of radioactive decay from the elements thorium and uranium. The helium is mostly trapped in subterranean natural gas bunkers and commercially extracted through a method known as fractional distillation. C) The loss of helium on Earth would affect society greatly. Defying the perception of it as a novelty substance for parties and gimmicks, the element actually has many vital applications in society. Probably the most well known commercial usage is in airships and blimps (non-flammable helium replaced hydrogen as the lifting gas du jour after the Hindenburg catastrophe in 1932, during which an airship burst into flames and crashed to the ground killing some passengers and crew). But helium is also instrumental in deep-sea diving, where it is blended with nitrogen to mitigate the dangers of inhaling ordinary air under high pressure; as a cleaning agent for rocket engines; and, in its most prevalent use, as a coolant for superconducting magnets in hospital MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scanners. D) The possibility of losing helium forever poses the threat of a real crisis because its unique qualities are extraordinarily difficult, if not impossible to duplicate (certainly, no biosynthetic ersatz product is close to approaching the point of feasibility for helium, even as similar developments continue apace for oil and coal). Helium is even cheerfully derided as a “loner” element since it does not adhere to other molecules like its cousin, hydrogen. According to Dr. Lee Sobotka, helium is the “most noble of gases, meaning it’s very stable and non-reactive for the most part … it has a closed electronic configuration, a very tightly bound atom. It is this coveting of its own electrons that prevents combination with other elements’. Another important attribute is helium’s unique boiling point, which is lower than that for any other element. The worsening global shortage could render millions of dollars of high-value, life-saving equipment totally useless. The dwindling supplies have already resulted in the postponement of research and development projects in physics laboratories and manufacturing plants around the world. There is an enormous supply and demand imbalance partly brought about by the expansion of high-tech manufacturing in Asia. E) The source of the problem is the Helium Privatisation Act (HPA), an American law passed in 1996 that requires the U.S. National Helium Reserve to liquidate its helium assets by 2015 regardless of the market price. Although intended to settle the original cost of the reserve by a U.S. Congress ignorant of its ramifications, the result of this fire sale is that global helium prices are so artificially deflated that few can be bothered recycling the substance or using it judiciously. Deflated values also mean that natural gas extractors see no reason to capture helium. Much is lost in the process of extraction. As Sobotka notes: "[t]he government had the good vision to store helium, and the question now is: Will the corporations have the vision to capture it when extracting natural gas, and consumers the wisdom to recycle? This takes long-term vision because present market forces are not sufficient to compel prudent practice”. For Nobel-prize laureate Robert Richardson, the U.S. government must be prevailed upon to repeal its privatisation policy as the country supplies over 80 per cent of global helium, mostly from the National Helium Reserve. For Richardson, a twenty- to fifty-fold increase in prices would provide incentives to recycle. F) A number of steps need to be taken in order to avert a costly predicament in the coming decades. Firstly, all existing supplies of helium ought to be conserved and released only by permit, with medical uses receiving precedence over other commercial or recreational demands. Secondly, conservation should be obligatory and enforced by a regulatory agency. At the moment some users, such as hospitals, tend to recycle diligently while others, such as NASA, squander massive amounts of helium. Lastly, research into alternatives to helium must begin in earnest. Questions 27–31 Reading passage 3 has six paragraphs, A–F. Which paragraph contains the following information? QUESTIONS 27) a use for helium which makes an activity safer 28) the possibility of creating an alternative to helium 29) a term which describes the process of how helium is taken out of the ground 30) a reason why users of helium do not make efforts to conserve it 31) a contrast between helium’s chemical properties and how non-scientists think about it Questions 32–35 Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading passage 3? Answer Yes, No or Not given to questions 32-35. Yesif the statement agrees with the claims of the writer Noif the statement contradicts the claims of the writer Not givenif it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
QUESTIONS 32) Helium chooses to be on its own. 33) Helium is a very cold substance. 34) High-tech industries in Asia use more helium than laboratories and manufacturers in other parts of the world. 35) The US Congress understood the possible consequences of the HPA. Questions 36–40 Complete the summary below. Choose no more than two words from the passage for each answer. QUESTIONS Sobotka argues that big business and users of helium need to help look after helium stocks because (36) ……………….. will not be encouraged through buying and selling alone. Richardson believes that the (37) ……………….. needs to be withdrawn, as the U.S. provides most of the world’s helium. He argues that higher costs would mean people have (38) ……………….. to use the resource many times over. People should need a (39) ……………….. to access helium that we still have. Furthermore, a (40) ……………….. should ensure that helium is used carefully.
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Answer: 1. FALSE 2. TRUE 3. NOT GIVEN 4. FALSE 5. TRUE 6. FALSE 7. TRUE 8. C 9. C 10. B 11. A 12. D 13. C Section 2 14. C 15. A 16. B 17. B 18. C 19. A 20. C 21. B 22. A 23. brain dead 24. sociopathic behaviour 25. neocortex 26. animal propensities Section 3 27. C 28. D 29. B 30. E 31. A 32. Yes 33. Not given 34. Not given 35. No 36. prudent practice 37. privatisation policy 38. incentives 39. permit 40. regulatory agency
Some consumers choose to purchase bottled drinking water, rather than relying on city tap water supplies. Bottled water has typically been extracted from underground sources. If water exists underground, but has no natural exit points, bottling companies may construct a water table well by drilling down to extract water from an unconfined aquifer. This is done when the Earth’s natural water level – known as a water table – is much lower than the Earth’s surface. In some cases, as with a valley or gully on a mountain, the level of the water table may be higher than the Earth’s surface, and a natural spring can emerge. Bottling companies are permitted to extract this water from a hole drilled into the underground spring, but the composition of the water must be identical to that of the naturally surfacing variety nearby. Artesian water is drawn from a confined aquifer, a deep underground cavity of porous rock that holds water and bears pressure from a confining layer above it. This water can be accessed if companies drill a vertical channel down into the confined aquifer. Due to the pressurised nature of this aquifer, water will often rise up from within it and form a flowing artesian well, which appears as an explosive fountain at the earth’s surface. However, this only occurs when the surface is lower than the natural water table. If the surface is not lower than the natural water table, it is still possible to draw artesian water by using an extraction pump. Some bottled water is advertised as ‘purified’, which means it has been subjected to a variety of different cleansing processes. A common filtering procedure, known as reverse osmosis, involves the water being pressed through microscopic membranes that prevent larger contaminants from passing through. The microscopic size of these holes is such that they can even obstruct germs, but they are most effective against undesirable materials such as salt, nitrates and lime scale. One disadvantage of reverse osmosis is that a lot of unusable water is generated as a by-product of the procedure; this must be thrown away. For treating pathogens, an impressive newer option is ultraviolet (UV) light. Powerful UV light has natural antibacterial qualities, so this process simply requires water to be subjected to a sufficient strength of UV light as it passes through a treatment chamber. The light neutralises many harmful germs by removing their DNA, thereby impeding their ability to replicate. A particularly impressive quality of UV light is its ability to neutralise highly resistant viral agents such as hepatitis. The overall effects of UV light treatment are variable, however, which leaves many municipal water treatment processes relying on chlorination. Its powerful and comprehensive antimicrobial effect notwithstanding, chlorination is also extremely inexpensive and remains the only antimicrobial treatment capable of ensuring water remains contaminant-free all the way through the pipes and to the taps of domestic homes. Many members of the public remain suspicious of water that has been treated with such a harsh chemical. Its ease of use and affordability has meant that chlorine often plays an important role in making tainted water supplies safe for consumption immediately after natural disasters have occurred.
Some water also undergoes distillation. This involves water being boiled until it converts to steam, which then passes through a cooling tube and becomes water again. Toxic compounds and impurities such as heavy metal residue are left behind in this process, so the steamed water is typically cleaner than the pre-distilled version. Unfortunately, distillation equipment also removes up to fourteen types of beneficial minerals that naturally occur in water. Consequently, those who rely on distilled water may need to take mineral supplements. In developed countries, all forms of drinking water are typically subject to stringent quality control processes, so there is little evidence to suggest importing bottled water at significant expense will be safer or healthier than regular tap water from a municipal drinking supply. Both tap water and bottled water are tested for pathogens and contaminants and, aside from isolated cases related to issues such as faulty plumbing or old pipes, tap water is harmless. Nevertheless, many purchasers of bottled water still justify their choice on the quite reasonable basis that tap water has a distinctly unpleasant aftertaste related to the chlorination process it has undergone. Questions 1–5 Label the diagram below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 1–5 on your answer sheet.
1……………….. (provides access to trapped water) 2……………….. (due to the lower land level) 3……………….. 4flowing artesian well (looks like ………………..) 5……………….. is necessary to access this water source Questions 6–11 Classify the following statements as referring to A.reverse osmosis B.UV light treatment C.chlorination D.distillation Write the correct letter, A, B, C or D, in boxes 6–11 on your answer sheet. NB You may use any letter more than once. 6It continues to protect water as it is being transported. 7It is particularly useful during emergencies. 8It uses a physical barrier to separate unwanted matter from water. 9It prevents bacteria from reproducing. 10It removes all mineral particles. 11It produces a lot of waste water. Questions 12 and 13 Choose TWO letters, A–E. Write the correct letters in boxes 12 and 13 on your answer sheet. Which TWO of the following claims about water are made by the writer? A.Bottled water is overpriced. B.Tap water may not have a nice flavour. C.Most people should drink bottled water. D.Tap water is usually safe to drink. E.Public water supplies need better maintenance. READING PASSAGE 2
THE INTERNATIONAL STYLE
AIn the early decades of the 20th century, many Western cities experienced a steep rise in demand for commercial and civic premises, due to population growth and expansion of the white-collar professions. At the same time, architects were growing discontented with the ornamental spirals and decorative features in the prevailing design ethos of art deco or art moderne. Once considered the height of sophistication, these styles were quickly becoming seen as pretentious and old-fashioned. In this confluence of movements, a new style of architecture emerged. It was simple, practical and strong; a new look for the modern city and the modern man. It was named ‘the international style’. BAlthough the international style first emerged in Western Europe in the 1920s, it found its fullest expression in American architecture and was given its name in a 1932 book of the same title. The first hints of it in America can be seen on the Empire State Building in New York City, which was completed in 1931. The top of the building, with its tapered crown, is decidedly art deco, yet the uniform shaft of the lower two thirds represents a pronounced step in a new direction. Later efforts, such as the United Nations Secretariat building (1952) and the Seagram Building (1954) came to exemplify the ‘true’ international style. CThe architects of the international style broke with the past by rejecting virtually all non-essential ornamentation. They created blockish, flat-roofed skyscrapers using steel, stone and glass. A typical building facade in this style has an instantly recognisable ribbon design, characterised by strips of floorto-ceiling windows separated by strips of metal panelling. Interiors showcased open spaces and fluid movements between separate areas of the building. DFans of the international style of modern buildings celebrated their sleek and economical contribution to modern cityscapes. While pre-modern architecture was typically designed to display the wealth and prestige of its landlords or occupants, the international style in some ways exhibited a more egalitarian tendency. As every building and every floor looked much the same, there was little attempt to use these designs to make a statement. This focus on function and practicality reflected a desire in mid-century Western cities to ‘get on with business’ and ‘give everyone a chance’, rather than lauding the dominant and influential institutions of the day through features such as Romanesque columns. EDetractors, however, condemned these buildings for showing little in the way of human spirit or creativity. For them, the international style represented not an ethos of equality and progress, but an obsession with profit and ‘the bottom line’ that removed spiritual and creative elements from public life and public buildings. Under the dominance of the international style, cities became places to work and do business, but not to express one’s desires or show individuality. It is perhaps telling that while banks and government departments favoured the international style, arts organisations rarely opted for its austerity.
F By the mid-1970s, the international style was ubiquitous across key urban centres, dominating skylines to such an extent that many travellers complained they could get off a plane and not know where they were. By their nature, buildings in this style demanded very little of architects in the way of imagination, and a younger generation of designers was yearning to express their ideas and experiment in novel and unexpected ways. The outcome was a shift toward postmodernism, which celebrated much of what the international style had dismissed: decoration, style without function, and an overall sense of levity. By the turn of the 1980s, the international style was considered outdated and was falling rapidly out of favour. Questions 14–19 Reading Passage 1 has six paragraphs, A–F. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter, A–F, in boxes 14–19 on your answer sheet. 14a description of how international style buildings look on the inside 15a reference to institutions that didn’t like to use international style buildings 16a reason why architects didn’t like the international style 17a building which combined art deco and international features 18types of materials commonly used in international style buildings 19an architectural feature previously associated with prominent organisations Questions 20–24 Complete the sentences below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 20–24 on your answer sheet. 20The development of the international style was prompted by an increased need for ……………….. buildings. 21Designers used hardly any ……………….. on international style buildings. 22International style buildings are easily identified from the outside because of the……………….. . 23Demonstration of ……………….. and ……………….. was often an important factor in the design of old- style buildings. 24The similarity of international style constructions reflected the concern of architects with ……………….. and ……………….. . Questions 25–26 Choose the correct letter, A, B, C, or D. Write the correct letter in boxes 12–13 on your answer sheet. 25 Some people did not like the international style because they felt it focused too much on A.the public sector B.differences between people C.new ideas D.making money. 26 In the mid-1970s A.the best architects were no longer using the international style. B.there was a lot of international style architecture in major cities. C.young architects were becoming interested in the international style. D.people visited cities specifically to see internationalstyle buildings. READING PASSAGE 3
THE MPEMBA EFFECT
In 300 BC, the famous philosopher Aristotle wrote about a strange phenomenon that he had observed: “Many people, when they want to cool water quickly, begin by putting it in the sun.” Other philosophers over the ages noted the same result, but were unable to explain it. In 1963, a young Tanzanian student named Erasto Mpemba noticed that the ice cream he was making froze faster if the mix was placed in the freezer while warm than if it were at room temperature. He persisted in questioning why this occurred, and eventually physicist Denis Osborne began a serious investigation into what is now known as the Mpemba Effect. He and Mpemba co-authored a paper in New Scientist in 1969, which produced scientific descriptions of some of the many factors at work in freezing water. It was initially hypothesised that the warm bowl melted itself a place in the ice on the freezer shelf, thus embedding its base in a ‘nest’ of ice, which would accelerate freezing. The hypothesis was tested by comparing the result when bowls of warm water were placed on ice and on a dry wire shelf; this demonstrated that the ice nest actually had little effect. A second suggestion was that the warmer water would be evaporating at its surface, thus reducing the volume needing to be frozen, but this idea was also shown to be insignificant. Thermometers placed in the water showed that the cooler water dropped to freezing temperature well before the warmer bowlful, and yet the latter always froze solid first. Experiments at different temperatures showed that water at 50C took longest to freeze in a conventional freezer, while water initially at 350C was quickest. On further examination, an explanation for this paradox began to emerge. Losing heat from the water occurs at the points where it is in touch with the colder atmosphere of the freezer, namely the sides of the bowl and the water surface. A warm surface will lose heat faster than a cold one because of the contrast between the temperatures; but of course there is more heat to be lost from one bowl than the other! If the surface can be kept at a higher temperature, the higher rate of heat loss will continue. As long as the water remains liquid, the cooling portion on top will sink to the bottom of the bowl as the warmer water below rises to take its place. The early freezing that may occur on the sides and base of the container will amplify the effect. The bowl that is more uniformly cold will have far less temperature difference so the water flow will be minimal. Another inhibiting factor for this container is that ice will also form quite quickly on the surface. This not only acts as insulation, but will virtually stop the helpful effects of the water circulating inside the bowl. Ultimately, the rate of cooling the core of this body of water becomes so slow that the other warmer one is always fully frozen first. While there are limitations to this comparison (for example, we would not see such a result if one quantity were at 10C and another at 990C) this counter-intuitive result does hold true within the 5–350C range of temperatures indicated previously.
Since this paper was published, the validity of the research findings has been questioned by a number of reviewers. They point out that the initial experimental question was not clearly defined; for example, the researchers needed to decide on exactly what constituted freezing the water. They also state that the rate at which water freezes depends on a large number of variables. Container size is one of these; for the Mpemba Effect to be noticed, the container must be large enough to allow a free circulation of water to take place, yet small enough for the freezing areas of the side and base to be effective at extracting heat too. Secondly, research at a University in St Louis, Missouri, suggests that the Mpemba Effect may be affected by water purity, or by dissolved gas in the water. Distilled water is totally free of the particles that are common in normal drinking water or mineral water. When suspended in water, these particles may have a small effect on the speed of cooling, especially as ice molecules tend to expel them into the surrounding water, where they become more concentrated. Just as salt dissolved in water will raise the boiling point and lower the temperature at which it freezes, the researchers found that the final portion of ordinary water needed extra cooling, below zero, before all was frozen solid. One more factor that can distort the effect is observed if the bowls are not placed simultaneously into the same freezer. In this case, the freezer thermostat is more likely to register the presence of a hotter bowl than a colder one, and therefore the change in internal temperature causes a boost of freezing power as the motor is activated. The Mpemba Effect is still not fully understood, and researchers continue to delve into its underlying physics. Physicists cannot reach consensus. Some suggest that supercooling is involved; others that the molecular bonds in the water molecules affect the rate of cooling and freezing of water. A 2013 competition to explain the phenomenon run by the Royal Society of Chemistry attracted more than 22,000 entries, with the winning one suggesting supercooling as an important factor so it seems the question and its underlying explanation continue to fascinate. Questions 27–33 Complete the summary using the list of words, A–O, below. Write the correct letter, A–O, in boxes 29–34 on your answer sheet. For more than 2000 years people have wondered why raising the 27 ………………... of cold water before cooling it results in more rapid cooling. At first researchers thought that a warm container created its own icy 28………………... which made the water freeze faster, but comparisons with containers resting on a dry 29 ………………... indicated that this was inaccurate. Evaporation of water proved not to be a 30 ……………….... . Temperature measurements showed that,although the water in the cooler container reached 00C before the warmer one, it took longer to actually solidify. The water temperature drops the most at the top and sides of the container. Provided there is a temperature 31………………..., the water will continue to circulate and to cool down. Cooler water will have less water 32………………..., and thus a slower rate of freezing. If ice forms on the top of the water, this will further slow the 33………………... of freezing, but if it forms on the bottom and the sides of the container, this will increase the rate of cooling. Amelt Belement Cprocess Dcentre Eacceleration Fsurface Gfactor Hhollow Imatter Jcirculation Klimit Lsignificance Mtheory Ndifference Oresult Ptemperature Questions 34–39 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 35–40 on your answer sheet, write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this 34The Mpemba Effect cannot be seen when comparing liquids with an extreme temperature difference . 35Osborne and Mpemba’s results are still widely accepted today. 36The size of the container does not alter the Mpemba Effect. 37Osborne and Mpemba experimented on both pure and impure water. 38One variable is the timing of containers in a freezer. 39Physicists now agree that supercooling accounts for the Mpemba Effect. Question 40 Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D. Write the correct letter in box 40 on your answer sheet. The Mpemba Effect is best summed up as the observation that Aice cream freezes at different temperatures. Bdifferent sources of heat result in water cooling at different rates. Csalt water freezes at a lower temperature than ordinary water. Dwarmer water can freeze faster than colder water.
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Answer: 1water table well 2natural spring 3confined aquifer 4(an) explosive fountain 5(an) extraction pump 6C 7C 8A 9B 10D 11A 12B in either order 13 D in either order 14 C 15 E 16 F 17 B 18C 19D 20commercial and civic 21(non-essential) ornamentation 22(recognisable) ribbon design 23wealth (and) prestige/prestige (and) wealth 24function (and) practicality 25D 26B 27P 28 H 29F 30G 31 N 32J 33C 34TRUE 35FALSE 36FALSE 37NOT GIVEN 38TRUE 39FALSE 40D
