正确答案:
Part 1: Question 3 - 13
- 1-3 C,E,G
- 4 F
- 5 B
- 6 D
- 7 G
- 8 NOT GIVEN
- 9 TRUE
- 10 NOT GIVEN
- 11 FALSE
- 12 TRUE
- 13 FALSE
Part 2: Question 14 - 26
- 14 v
- 15 viii
- 16 iii
- 17 vi
- 18 i
- 19 ii
- 20 C
- 21 D
- 22 B
- 23 YES
- 24 NO
- 25 NOT GIVEN
- 26 YES
Part 3: Question 27 - 40
- 27 varying rates
- 28 intensify
- 29 initiate
- 30 aridity
- 31 vegetation
- 32 soils
- 33 G
- 34 E
- 35 D
- 36 B
- 37 E
- 38 G
- 39 C
- 40 A
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详细试卷答案解析:
Questions 1-3
Choose THREE letters A - H.
Circle the correct letters, A - H, below.
NB Your answers may be given in any order.
Which THREE of the following statements are true, according to the text?
- A
- B
- C
- D
- E
- F
- G
- H
- 1-3 Answer: C,E,G
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q1, 2, 3
Choose THREE letters A - H.
NB Your answers may be given in any order.
Which THREE of the following statements are true, according to the text?
A. Money can bring misery.
B. Wealthier nations place more emphasis on happiness than poorer ones.
C. Securing a place to live is a basic human need.
D. The desire for social status is a global phenomenon.
E. An unmarried people living together are less likely to be happy than a married people.
F. The less responsibility one has, the happier one is.
G. Involvement in policy making can increase well-being.
H Our prehistoric ancestors were happier than we are.
1. Ask 100 people what would make them happy, and a sizeable majority would say “winning the lottery.” Yet, if they won a vast fortune, within a year they would be back to their previous level of happiness. The fact is that money has many uses, but more money does not mean more happiness. Surveys carried out in recent years by leading psychologists and sociologists all confirm that while individuals may increase their material wealth during the course of their lifetime, this has no bearing on their well-being. And what is true for individuals can be applied on a larger scale to the world population. Statistically, wealthier nations do not achieve higher scores on the happiness-ometer than developing or underdeveloped nations. Once the basic criteria of adequate shelter and nutrition are satisfied, increased wealth plays no significant role. So why the obsession with getting rich? The answer, say researchers, is simple. Call it jealousy, competitiveness, or just keeping up with the Joneses, however well we are doing, there is always someone else who is doing better. Just as we acquire a new $25,000 car, our neighbour parks his brand spanking new $40,000 set of wheels in his drive, causing us much consternation, but fuelling us with new aspirations in the process. And so the cycle continues. Money, or material wealth, may be a prime mover, but it is not the foundation of our well-being. (option C)
2. If money isn’t the key to happiness, then what is? In all 44 countries surveyed by a prominent research centre, family life provided the greatest source of satisfaction. Married people live on average three years longer and enjoy greater physical and psychological health than the unmarried and, surprisingly, couples in a cohabitational relationship. Having a family enhances well-being, and spending more time with one’s family helps even more. Social interaction among families, neighbourhoods, workplaces, communities and religious groups correlates strongly with subjective well-being. In fact, the degree of individuals’ social connections is the best benchmark of their happiness. (option E)
4. Control of one’s life in general is also key. Happiness is clearly correlated with the presence of favourable events such as promotion or marriage, and the absence of troubles or bad luck such as accidents, being laid off or conflicts. These events on their own signal the success or failure to reach one’s goals, and therefore the control one has. On a national level, the more that governments recognise individual preferences, the happier their citizens will be. Choice, and citizens’ belief that they can affect the political process, increase subjective well-being. Furthermore, evidence exists for an association between unhappiness and poor health: people from underdeveloped countries are among the unhappiest in the world, and their life expectancy has been falling steadily. People are more satisfied in societies which minimally restrict their freedom of action, in other words, where they are in control rather than being controlled. Happy people are characterised by the belief that they are able to control their situation, whereas unhappy people tend to believe that they are a victim of fate. Happy people are also more psychologically resilient, assertive and open to experience. (option G)
Note:
- Option A, B, D, H: no information
- Option C:
+ The statement in option C can be found in the 7th sentence of paragraph 1: ‘Once the basic criteria of adequate shelter and nutrition are satisfied, increased wealth plays no significant role’
+ Pay attention to the key phrases from option C and the corresponding phrases in the paragraph: ‘a place to live’ = ‘adequate shelter’
+ Moreover, the 7th sentence is written in a conditional structure with the aim of confirming that having an adequate shelter is human’s basic needs
- Option E:
+ Firstly, look for the keyword ‘married couple’ and ‘unmarried couple’; then, quickly skim and scan through the passage.
+ The answer for this Qs can be found in paragraph 2 in the 2nd sentence. Read this sentence carefully, comparing it with the given information from the option
+ Finally, make a conclusion that option E is the correct answer
- Option G:
+ Firstly, look for the keyword ‘policy making’ and ‘well-being’ and its same expression such as ‘political process’; then, quickly skim and scan through the passage.
+ The answer for this Qs can be found in paragraph 4 in the 4th sentence. Read this sentence carefully, comparing it with the given information from the option
+ Finally, make a conclusion that option G is the correct answer
=> Hence, the answer is C, E, G
Questions 4-7
Complete the summary using the list of words, A -I, below.
Write the correct letter, A - I in the spaces below.
| A | episode |
| B | interaction |
| C | cooperation |
| D | control |
| E | number |
| F | level |
| G | course |
| H | conflict |
| I | limit |
Money can buy you just about anything, but not. it seems, happiness. Whether on a personal or national 4 , your bank balance won't make you happier. Once the basic criteria of a roof over your head and food on the table have been met, money ceases to play a part. One of the most important factors in achieving happiness is the extent of our social 5 - our relationships with family, friends, colleagues anti so on. Equally important is the amount of 6 we have, either in our personal life, working life, or even in our ability to influence the political 7 that our country embarks on. |
- 4 Answer: F
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q4, 5, 6, 7:
A. episode
B. interaction
C. cooperation
D. control
E. number
F. level
G. course
H. conflict
I. limit
Money can buy you just about anything, but not. it seems, happiness. Whether on a personal or national 4_____ , your bank balance won't make you happier. Once the basic criteria of a roof over your head and food on the table have been met, money ceases to play a part. One of the most important factors in achieving happiness is the extent of our social 5_____ - our relationships with family, friends, colleagues anti so on. Equally important is the amount of 6_____ we have, either in our personal life, working life, or even in our ability to influence the political 7_____ that our country embarks on.
1. Ask 100 people what would make them happy, and a sizeable majority would say “winning the lottery.” Yet, if they won a vast fortune, within a year they would be back to their previous level of happiness. The fact is that money has many uses, but more money does not mean more happiness. Surveys carried out in recent years by leading psychologists and sociologists all confirm that while individuals may increase their material wealth during the course of their lifetime, this has no bearing on their well-being. And what is true for individuals can be applied on a larger scale to the world population. Statistically, wealthier nations do not achieve higher scores on the happiness-ometer than developing or underdeveloped nations. Once the basic criteria of adequate shelter and nutrition are satisfied, increased wealth plays no significant role. So why the obsession with getting rich? The answer, say researchers, is simple. Call it jealousy, competitiveness, or just keeping up with the Joneses, however well we are doing, there is always someone else who is doing better. Just as we acquire a new $25,000 car, our neighbour parks his brand spanking new $40,000 set of wheels in his drive, causing us much consternation, but fuelling us with new aspirations in the process. And so the cycle continues. Money, or material wealth, may be a prime mover, but it is not the foundation of our well-being.
(=> answer for Qs 4: option F)
Note:
- To answer this kind of question, first of all, you should find out the keywords from the question (which are highlighted in green, blue, red). Then, quickly use these keywords to scan through the whole paragraph. The information leading to the answers for each question are in yellow.
- In this kind of question, you need to paraphrase the given information from the Qs to match the one in the reading passage. Words can be changed to synonyms, in other words, they can be paraphrased. So, there is a piece of advice for you: learn vocabulary as much as you can
- The answer for Qs 4, 5, 6, 7 can be found in paragraph 1, 2, 4
- Comparing the other highlighted keywords from the question to the same meaning key phrases, we can conclude that the answer is F
- 5 Answer: B
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q4, 5, 6, 7:
A. episode
B. interaction
C. cooperation
D. control
E. number
F. level
G. course
H. conflict
I. limit
Money can buy you just about anything, but not. it seems, happiness. Whether on a personal or national 4_____ , your bank balance won't make you happier. Once the basic criteria of a roof over your head and food on the table have been met, money ceases to play a part. One of the most important factors in achieving happiness is the extent of our social 5_____ - our relationships with family, friends, colleagues anti so on. Equally important is the amount of 6_____ we have, either in our personal life, working life, or even in our ability to influence the political 7_____ that our country embarks on.
2. If money isn’t the key to happiness, then what is? In all 44 countries surveyed by a prominent research centre, family life provided the greatest source of satisfaction. Married people live on average three years longer and enjoy greater physical and psychological health than the unmarried and, surprisingly, couples in a cohabitational relationship. Having a family enhances well-being, and spending more time with one’s family helps even more. Social interaction among families, neighbourhoods, workplaces, communities and religious groups correlates strongly with subjective well-being. In fact, the degree of individuals’ social connections is the best benchmark of their happiness.
(=> answer for Qs 5: option B)
Note:
- To answer this kind of question, first of all, you should find out the keywords from the question (which are highlighted in green, blue, red). Then, quickly use these keywords to scan through the whole paragraph. The information leading to the answers for each question are in yellow.
- In this kind of question, you need to paraphrase the given information from the Qs to match the one in the reading passage. Words can be changed to synonyms, in other words, they can be paraphrased. So, there is a piece of advice for you: learn vocabulary as much as you can
-The answer for Qs 4, 5, 6, 7 can be found in paragraph 1, 2, 4
- Comparing the other highlighted keywords from the question to the same meaning key phrases, we can conclude that the answer is B
- 6 Answer: D
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q4, 5, 6, 7:
A. episode
B. interaction
C. cooperation
D. control
E. number
F. level
G. course
H. conflict
I. limit
Money can buy you just about anything, but not. it seems, happiness. Whether on a personal or national 4_____ , your bank balance won't make you happier. Once the basic criteria of a roof over your head and food on the table have been met, money ceases to play a part. One of the most important factors in achieving happiness is the extent of our social 5_____ - our relationships with family, friends, colleagues anti so on. Equally important is the amount of 6_____ we have, either in our personal life, working life, or even in our ability to influence the political 7_____ that our country embarks on.
4. Control of one’s life in general is also key. (=> answer for Qs 6: option D) Happiness is clearly correlated with the presence of favourable events such as promotion or marriage, and the absence of troubles or bad luck such as accidents, being laid off or conflicts. These events on their own signal the success or failure to reach one’s goals, and therefore the control one has. On a national level, the more that governments recognise individual preferences, the happier their citizens will be. Choice, and citizens’ belief that they can affect the political process (=> answer for Qs 7: option G increase subjective well-being. Furthermore, evidence exists for an association between unhappiness and poor health: people from underdeveloped countries are among the unhappiest in the world, and their life expectancy has been falling steadily. People are more satisfied in societies which minimally restrict their freedom of action, in other words, where they are in control rather than being controlled. Happy people are characterised by the belief that they are able to control their situation, whereas unhappy people tend to believe that they are a victim of fate. Happy people are also more psychologically resilient, assertive and open to experience
Note:
- To answer this kind of question, first of all, you should find out the keywords from the question (which are highlighted in green, blue, red). Then, quickly use these keywords to scan through the whole paragraph. The information leading to the answers for each question are in yellow.
- In this kind of question, you need to paraphrase the given information from the Qs to match the one in the reading passage. Words can be changed to synonyms, in other words, they can be paraphrased. So, there is a piece of advice for you: learn vocabulary as much as you can
- The answer for Qs 4, 5, 6, 7 can be found in paragraph 1, 2, 4
- Comparing the other highlighted keywords from the question to the same meaning key phrases, we can conclude that the answer is D
- 7 Answer: G
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q4, 5, 6, 7:
A. episode
B. interaction
C. cooperation
D. control
E. number
F. level
G. course
H. conflict
I. limit
Money can buy you just about anything, but not. it seems, happiness. Whether on a personal or national 4_____ , your bank balance won't make you happier. Once the basic criteria of a roof over your head and food on the table have been met, money ceases to play a part. One of the most important factors in achieving happiness is the extent of our social 5_____ - our relationships with family, friends, colleagues anti so on. Equally important is the amount of 6_____ we have, either in our personal life, working life, or even in our ability to influence the political 7_____ that our country embarks on.
4. Control of one’s life in general is also key. (=> answer for Qs 6: option D) Happiness is clearly correlated with the presence of favourable events such as promotion or marriage, and the absence of troubles or bad luck such as accidents, being laid off or conflicts. These events on their own signal the success or failure to reach one’s goals, and therefore the control one has. On a national level, the more that governments recognise individual preferences, the happier their citizens will be. Choice, and citizens’ belief that they can affect the political process (=> answer for Qs 7: option G increase subjective well-being. Furthermore, evidence exists for an association between unhappiness and poor health: people from underdeveloped countries are among the unhappiest in the world, and their life expectancy has been falling steadily. People are more satisfied in societies which minimally restrict their freedom of action, in other words, where they are in control rather than being controlled. Happy people are characterised by the belief that they are able to control their situation, whereas unhappy people tend to believe that they are a victim of fate. Happy people are also more psychologically resilient, assertive and open to experience
Note:
- To answer this kind of question, first of all, you should find out the keywords from the question (which are highlighted in green, blue, red). Then, quickly use these keywords to scan through the whole paragraph. The information leading to the answers for each question are in yellow.
- In this kind of question, you need to paraphrase the given information from the Qs to match the one in the reading passage. Words can be changed to synonyms, in other words, they can be paraphrased. So, there is a piece of advice for you: learn vocabulary as much as you can
- The answer for Qs 4, 5, 6, 7 can be found in paragraph 1, 2, 4
- Comparing the other highlighted keywords from the question to the same meaning key phrases, we can conclude that the answer G
Questions 8-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In spaces 8-13 below write
| TRUE | if the statement agrees with the information |
| FALSE | if the statement contradicts the information |
| NOT GIVEN | If there is no information on this |
8 People from underdeveloped nations try to attain the same standard of living as those from developed nations.
9 Seeing what others have makes people want to have it too.
10 The larger the family is, the happier the parents will probably be.
11 One’s attitude to life has no influence on one’s health.
12 Instinct can be a barrier to happiness.
13 Family and friends rank equally as sources of happiness.
- 8 Answer: NOT GIVEN
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q8
People from underdeveloped nations try to attain the same standard of living as those from developed nations.
Note
- Quickly skimming and scanning to find out the most important keyword ‘underdeveloped’. This word can only be found in paragraph 1 and paragraph 4.
- However, the author doesn’t mention anything about ‘underdeveloped nations try to attain the same standard of living as those from developed nations’ in paragraph 1 and 4
+ Paragraph 1 states that ‘Statistically, wealthier nations do not achieve higher scores on the happiness-ometer than developing or underdeveloped nations’
+ Paragraph 4 confirms that ‘Furthermore, evidence exists for an association between unhappiness and poor health: people from underdeveloped countries are among the unhappiest in the world, and their life expectancy has been falling steadily’
- Considering everything, the answer is NOT GIVEN
- 9 Answer: TRUE
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q9:
Seeing what others have makes people want to have it too.
1. Ask 100 people what would make them happy, and a sizeable majority would say “winning the lottery.” Yet, if they won a vast fortune, within a year they would be back to their previous level of happiness. The fact is that money has many uses, but more money does not mean more happiness. Surveys carried out in recent years by leading psychologists and sociologists all confirm that while individuals may increase their material wealth during the course of their lifetime, this has no bearing on their well-being. And what is true for individuals can be applied on a larger scale to the world population. Statistically, wealthier nations do not achieve higher scores on the happiness-ometer than developing or underdeveloped nations. Once the basic criteria of adequate shelter and nutrition are satisfied, increased wealth plays no significant role. So why the obsession with getting rich? The answer, say researchers, is simple. Call it jealousy, competitiveness, or just keeping up with the Joneses, however well we are doing, there is always someone else who is doing better. Just as we acquire a new $25,000 car, our neighbour parks his brand spanking new $40,000 set of wheels in his drive, causing us much consternation, but fuelling us with new aspirations in the process. And so the cycle continues. Money, or material wealth, may be a prime mover, but it is not the foundation of our well-being.
Note:
- To answer this question, first of all, after skimming and scanning through the whole passage, you should write the main idea of each paragraph in the margin by your own language. By doing this, you’ve got the main idea of each paragraph. Thanks to this, the answer for the question can easily be found.
- The answer for this Qs can only be found in paragraph 1
+ The yellow highlighted sentences have the same expression with what given in the Qs
+ The blue highlighted sentences gives readers an example to support the idea in yellow highlighted sentences
- Considering everything, the answer is TRUE.
- 10 Answer: NOT GIVEN
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q10:
The larger the family is, the happier the parents will probably be.
2. If money isn’t the key to happiness, then what is? In all 44 countries surveyed by a prominent research centre, family life provided the greatest source of satisfaction. Married people live on average three years longer and enjoy greater physical and psychological health than the unmarried and, surprisingly, couples in a cohabitational relationship. Having a family enhances well-being, and spending more time with one’s family helps even more. Social interaction among families, neighbourhoods, workplaces, communities and religious groups correlates strongly with subjective well-being. In fact, the degree of individuals’ social connections is the best benchmark of their happiness.
Note:
- The most important keyword in this question is ‘family’, ‘parents’. Scan through the passage, the keywords ‘family’ in this Qs can be found in paragraph 2, but the word ‘parents’ is not
- By reading paragraph 2, you can realize that the aim of paragraph 2 is about the benefits of having a family. Moreover, there is no information expressing the idea that ‘The larger the family is, the happier the parents will probably be’
- For that reason, the answer is NOT GIVEN
- 11 Answer: FALSE
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q11:
One’s attitude to life has no influence on one’s health.
5. But how good is the evidence for this alternative viewpoint then - that happiness, and not financial status, contributes to good health, and long life? A study of nuns, spanning seven decades, supports this theory. Autobiographies written by the nuns in their early 1920s were scored for positive and negative emotions. Nuns expressing the most positive emotions lived on average ten years longer than those expressing the least positive emotions. Happy people, it seems, are much less likely to fall ill and die than unhappy people
Note
- To answer this question, first of all, after skimming and scanning through the whole passage, you should write the main idea of each paragraph in the margin by your own language. By doing this, you’ve got the main idea of each paragraph. Thanks to this, the answer for the question can easily be found.
- The answer for this Qs can only be found in paragraph 5
+ The yellow highlighted sentences have the same expression with what given in the Qs
+ ‘attitude’ in the Qs can be mentioned as ‘positive emotions’, ‘happy people’. The influence of attitude on health is that people with positive emotions ‘lived on average 10 years longer than the ones who are negative minds. Than unhappy people’, happy people may ‘less likely fall ill and die’
- The content of Q11 is different from the information in paragraph. For that reason, the answer is FALSE
- 12 Answer: TRUE
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q12:
Instinct can be a barrier to happiness.
6. But what must we do to be happy? Experts cite the old maxim “be happy with what you’ve got.” Look around you, they say, and identify the positive factors in your life. Concentrating on the negative aspects of one’s life is a no-no, and so is worrying. Worrying is a negative thinking habit that is nearly always about something that lies in the future. It stems, apattily, from our cave dwelling days, when we had to think on a day-to-day basis about how and where to find food and warmth, for example. But in the modern world, worrying simply undermines our ability to enjoy life in the present. More often than not, the things we worry about never come to pass anyway. Just as important is not to dwell on the past - past mistakes, bad experiences, missed opportunities and so on
Note
* instinct = innate (n): (for sth/doing sth; to do sth): a natural tendency for people and animals to behave in a particular way using the knowledge and abilities that they were born with rather than thought or training (in Vietnamese: bản năng)
* undermine (v) gradually make sb or sth less strong or effective (in Vietnamese: hủy hoại)
- Pay attention to the highlighted keywords from the Qs. Notice that these words will be paraphrased or expressed in a different way, so you need to take a deeper concentration
- Another way to express the word ‘instinct’ is ‘from our cave dwelling days’; ‘barrier to happiness’ also means ‘undermines… to enjoy life in the present’
- The content of Q12 is similar to what the author said in the passage. For that reason, the answer is TRUE
- 13 Answer: FALSE
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q13
Family and friends rank equally as sources of happiness.
7. What else can we do? Well, engage in a loving relationship with another adult, and work hard to sustain it. Try to plan frequent interactions with your family, friends and neighbours (in that order). Make sure you’re not working so hard that you’ve no time left for personal relationships and leisure. If you are, leave your job voluntarily to become self-employed, but don’t get sacked — that’s more damaging to well-being than the loss of a spouse, and its effects last longer. In your spare time, join a club, volunteer for community service, or take up religion.
Note
- Firstly, skimming and scanning through the passage to find out the highlighted keywords ‘family’, ‘friend’. You can easily find these words in the 2nd sentence of paragraph 7 in the passage
- Read the 2nd sentence carefully, you will notice that, the author mentions ‘family, friends’ as what people need to frequent interactions
- However, the author uses parentheses ‘()’ to make sure you remember the position of each subject. ‘Family’ has a higher position in life than ‘friends’ because it is mentioned first
- For that reason, the answer is FALSE
Questions 14 -19
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A - G.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B - G from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number i - ix in spaces 14-19 below.
| i | A non-exclusive language |
| ii | Fewer languages, more results |
| iii | Language is personal |
| iv | What’s fashionable in language |
| v | From the written word to the spoken word |
| vi | A real language |
| vii | Harmony through language |
| viii | The mechanics of a language |
| ix | Lost in translation |
Example
Paragraph A vii
14 Paragraph B
15 Paragraph C
16 Paragraph D
17 Paragraph E
18 Paragraph F
19 Paragraph G
- 14 Answer: v
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q14: Heading for paragraph B
* Example : Paragraph A vii
* Headings
i. A non-exclusive language
ii. Fewer languages, more results
iii. Language is personal
iv. What’s fashionable in language
v. From the written word to the spoken word
vi. A real language
vii. Harmony through language
viii. The mechanics of a language
ix. Lost in translation
B
Zamenhof, after ten years of developing his brainchild from the late 1870s to the early 1880s, had the first Esperanto grammar published in Warsaw in July 1887. The number of speakers grew rapidly over the next few decades, at first primarily in the Russian empire and Eastern Europe, then in Western Europe and the Americas, China, and Japan. In the early years, speakers of Esperanto kept in contact primarily through correspondence and periodicals, but since 1905 world congresses have been held on five continents every year except during the two World Wars. Latest estimates for the numbers of Esperanto speakers are around 2 million. Put in percentage terms, that's about 0.03% of the world's population - no staggering figure, comparatively speaking. One reason is that Esperanto has no official status in any country, but it is an optional subject on the curriculum of several state education systems. It is widely estimated that it can be learned in anywhere between a quarter to a twentieth of the time required for other languages.
Note:
- Paragraph B’s main idea tells us about the development of Esperanto through years. Firstly, Esperanto is a written language with its grammar published in 1880s. Years after that, more and more people speak Esperanto and the latest estimate is that ‘the numbers of Esperanto speakers are around 2 million’
- So we can conclude that the answer is v. From the written word to the spoken word
- 15 Answer: viii
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q15:
Heading for paragraph C
* Example : Paragraph A vii
* Headings
i. A non-exclusive language
ii. Fewer languages, more results
iii. Language is personal
iv. What’s fashionable in language
v. From the written word to the spoken word
vi. A real language
vii. Harmony through language
viii. The mechanics of a language
ix. Lost in translation
C
As a constructed language, Esperanto is not genealogically related to any ethnic language. Whilst it is described as 'a language lexically predominantly Romanic', the phonology, grammar, vocabulary, and semantics are based on the western Indo-European languages. For those of us who are not naturally predisposed to tucking languages under our belts, it is an easy language to learn. It has 5 vowels and 23 consonants. It has one simple way of conjugating all of its verbs. Words are often made from many other roots, making the number of words which one must memorise much smaller. The language is phonetic, and the rules of pronunciation are very simple, so that everyone knows how to pronounce a written word and vice-versa, and word order follows a standard, logical pattern. Through prefixing and suffixing, Esperanto makes it easy to identify words as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, direct objects and so on, by means of easy-to-spot endings. All this makes for easy language learning. What's more, several research studies demonstrate that studying Esperanto before another foreign language speeds up and improves the learning of the other language. This is presumably because learning subsequent foreign languages is easier than learning one's first, while the use of a grammatically simple and culturally flexible language like Esperanto softens the blow of learning one's first foreign language. In one study, a group of European high school students studied Esperanto for one year, then French for three years, and ended up with a significantly better command of French than a control group who had studied French for all four years.
Note:
- Paragraph C confirms that Esperanto is a constructed language by showing us the structure of Esperanto: its grammar, lexico, suffix, prefix, vowels, consonants
- Moreover, you can realize that option viii also states the main idea of paragraph C: The mechanics of a language
* mechanics (n): the science of movement and force
- Therefore, we can conclude that the answer is viii. The mechanics of a language
- 16 Answer: iii
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q16:
Heading for paragraph D
* Example : Paragraph A vii
* Headings
i. A non-exclusive language
ii. Fewer languages, more results
iii. Language is personal
iv. What’s fashionable in language
v. From the written word to the spoken word
vi. A real language
vii. Harmony through language
viii. The mechanics of a language
ix. Lost in translation
D
Needless to say, the language has Its critics. Some point to the Eastern European features of the language as being harsh and difficult to pronounce, and argue that Esperanto has an artificial feel to it, without the flow of a natural tongue, and that by nature of its artificiality, it is impossible to become emotionally involved with the language. Others cite its lack of cultural history, indigenous literature - "no one has ever written a novel straight into Esperanto" - together with its minimal vocabulary and its inability to express all the necessary philosophical, emotional and psychological concepts.
Note:
- Paragraph D confirms that Esperanto also has its critics. They claim that Esperanto is ‘harsh and difficult to pronounce’, ‘artificial to feel it without the nature flow of a natural tongue’, ‘lack of cultural history’, ‘minimal vocabulary and inability to express all the necessary philosophical, emotional and psychological concepts’
- Now, you need to analyze the meaning of the word ‘personal’
* personal (a)
(1) belonging or relating to one particular person, rather than to other people or to people in general
(2) relating to the private areas of your life
(*3) involving rude or upsetting criticism of sb:
=> this meaning is the most suitable one to paragraph D. Paragraph D tells us about some drawbacks of Esperanto rather than its advantages
(4) if you give something your personal care or attention, you deal with it yourself instead of asking someone else to do it
- Considering everything, the answer is iii. Language is personal
- 17 Answer: vi
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q17:
Heading for paragraph E
* Example : Paragraph A vii
* Headings
i. A non-exclusive language
ii. Fewer languages, more results
iii. Language is personal
iv. What’s fashionable in language
v. From the written word to the spoken word
vi. A real language
vii. Harmony through language
viii. The mechanics of a language
ix. Lost in translation
E
The champions of Esperanto - Esperantists - disagree. They claim that it is a language in which a great body of world literature has appeared in translation: in poetry, novels, literary journals, and, to rebut the accusation that it is not a 'real' language, point out that it is frequently used at international meetings which draw hundreds and thousands of participants. Moreover, on an international scale, it is most useful - and fair - for neutral communication. That means that communication through Esperanto does not give advantages to the members of any particular people or culture, but provides an ethos of equality of rights, tolerance and true internationalism.
Note:
- Paragraph D gives an idea that ‘Esperanto has its critics’. After paragraph D, the other remained paragraphs rebut that statement by mentioning the advantages of using Esperanto: paragraph E, F, G
- In this Qs, we need to find out the heading for paragraph E. In paragraph E, we can see how supporters rebut the accusation that Esperanto is not a ‘real’ language.
- After reading paragraph E, we can come to a conclusion that Esperanto is ‘a real language’ by reading the pink highlighted key phrases
- Considering every given option, we can conclude that the answer is vi. A real language
- 18 Answer: i
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q18:
Heading for paragraph F
* Example : Paragraph A vii
* Headings
i. A non-exclusive language
ii. Fewer languages, more results
iii. Language is personal
iv. What’s fashionable in language
v. From the written word to the spoken word
vi. A real language
vii. Harmony through language
viii. The mechanics of a language
ix. Lost in translation
F
Esperantists further claim that Esperanto has the potential - were it universally taught for a year or two throughout the world - to empower ordinary people to communicate effectively worldwide on a scale that far exceeds that which is attainable today by only the most linguistically brilliant among us. It offers the opportunity to improve communication in business, diplomacy, scholarship and other fields so that those who speak many different native languages will be able to participate fluently in international conferences and chat comfortably with each other after the formal presentations are made. Nowadays that privilege is often restricted to native speakers of English and those who have special talents and opportunities for learning English as a foreign language.
Note:
* exclusive (a) available or being only to a particular person, not shared
=> non-exclusive (a): not available to a particular person, shared (not monopoly)
- This Qs requires you to have a wide range of vocabulary.
- Paragraph F’s main idea is about Esperanto’s potential to help many people participate fluently as well as communicate effectively on a global scale. It means that Esperanto is not an exclusive language, but it is the language for everyone regardless of which groups they belong to.
- Considering everything, the answer for Qs 18 is i. A non-exclusive language (the sentence containing the answer for this Qs is highlighted yellow)
- 19 Answer: ii
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q19:
Heading for paragraph G
* Example : Paragraph A vii
* Headings
i. A non-exclusive language
ii. Fewer languages, more results
iii. Language is personal
iv. What’s fashionable in language
v. From the written word to the spoken word
vi. A real language
vii. Harmony through language
viii. The mechanics of a language
ix. Lost in translation
G
What Esperanto does offer in concrete terms is the potential of saving billions of dollars which are now being spent on translators and interpreters, billions which would be freed up to serve the purposes of governments and organisations that spend so much of their resources to change words from one language into the words of others. Take, for example, the enormously costly conferences, meetings and documentation involved in the European Union parliamentary and administrative procedures - all funded, essentially, by taxpayers. And instead of the World Health Organisation, and all NGOs for that matter, devoting enormous sums to provide interpreters and translations, they would be able to devote those huge amounts of money to improving the health of stricken populations throughout the world.
Note:
- Paragraph G gives an idea that with the use of Esperanto, billions of dollars which are now being spent on translators and interpreters can be saved up to serve organisation and government’s purposes. As a result, this money can be used for improving the health of stricken populations’ purposes
- So, we can come to a conclusion that thanks to Esperanto, fewer languages are used but its bring us better results
* stricken (a): suffering severely from the effects of something unpleasant
- Therefore, the answer for Qs 19 is ii Fewer languages, more results
Questions 20-22
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.
What advantage is there to learning Esperanto as one’s first foreign language?
- A
- B
- C
- D
Keywords in Questions | Similar words in Passage | |
Q20: What advantage is there to learning Esperanto as one’s first foreign language? A. Its pronunciation rules follow those of most European languages. B. There are no grammar rules to learn. C. It can make the learning of other foreign languages less complicated. D. Its verbs are not conjugated. | C As a constructed language, Esperanto is not genealogically related to any ethnic language. Whilst it is described as 'a language lexically predominantly Romanic', the phonology, grammar, vocabulary, and semantics are based on the western Indo-European languages. For those of us who are not naturally predisposed to tucking languages under our belts, it is an easy language to learn. It has 5 vowels and 23 consonants. It has one simple way of conjugating all of its verbs. Words are often made from many other roots, making the number of words which one must memorise much smaller. The language is phonetic, and the rules of pronunciation are very simple, so that everyone knows how to pronounce a written word and vice-versa, and word order follows a standard, logical pattern. Through prefixing and suffixing, Esperanto makes it easy to identify words as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, direct objects and so on, by means of easy-to-spot endings. All this makes for easy language learning. What's more, several research studies demonstrate that studying Esperanto before another foreign language speeds up and improves the learning of the other language. This is presumably because learning subsequent foreign languages is easier than learning one's first, while the use of a grammatically simple and culturally flexible language like Esperanto softens the blow of learning one's first foreign language. In one study, a group of European high school students studied Esperanto for one year, then French for three years, and ended up with a significantly better command of French than a control group who had studied French for all four years.. | |
Note: - Firstly, you need to find the keyword ‘first’ or ‘first foreign language’ - The answer can be found in some last sentences of paragraph C. - In paragraph C: + The author gives a statement that after learning Esperanto, it will be easier for people when learning other languages + The author gives an example about 2 options: spending 3 years learning French and 1 year learning Esperanto vs. 4 years learning French. The former choice brings better results and makes learning other languages not as complicated as it used to be after learning Esperanto - So the answer is C. It can make the learning of other foreign languages less complicated. | ||
What do its critics say of Esperanto?
- A
- B
- C
- D
Keywords in Questions | Similar words in Passage | |
Q21: What do its critics say of Esperanto? A. It is only used in artificial situations. B. It requires emotional involvement. C. It cannot translate works of literature. D. It lacks depth of expression. | D Needless to say, the language has Its critics. Some point to the Eastern European features of the language as being harsh and difficult to pronounce, and argue that Esperanto has an artificial feel to it, without the flow of a natural tongue, and that by nature of its artificiality, it is impossible to become emotionally involved with the language. Others cite its lack of cultural history, indigenous literature - "no one has ever written a novel straight into Esperanto" - together with its minimal vocabulary and its inability to express all the necessary philosophical, emotional and psychological concepts. | |
Note: - Firstly, pay attention to the highlighted key phrase in the Qs. We need to find out the phrase ‘it critics’ - The answer can be found in paragraph D. Paragraph D’s main idea is about what critics’ claim about Esperanto - Moreover, after doing matching headings in the Qs given above, finding the paragraph with the main idea relating to ‘critics’ is much easier. - Comparing what the author mentions in paragraph D and the given choice from the Qs, the answer is D. It lacks depth of expression. | ||
How could Esperanto help on a global level?
- A
- B
- C
- D
Keywords in Questions | Similar words in Passage | |
Q22: How could Esperanto help on a global level? A. It would eliminate the need for conferences. B. More aid money would reach those who need it. C. The world population would be speaking only one language. D. More funds could be made available for learning foreign languages. | E The champions of Esperanto - Esperantists - disagree. They claim that it is a language in which a great body of world literature has appeared in translation: in poetry, novels, literary journals, and, to rebut the accusation that it is not a 'real' language, point out that it is frequently used at international meetings which draw hundreds and thousands of participants. Moreover, on an international scale, it is most useful - and fair - for neutral communication. That means that communication through Esperanto does not give advantages to the members of any particular people or culture, but provides an ethos of equality of rights, tolerance and true internationalism F Esperantists further claim that Esperanto has the potential - were it universally taught for a year or two throughout the world - to empower ordinary people to communicate effectively worldwide on a scale that far exceeds that which is attainable today by only the most linguistically brilliant among us. It offers the opportunity to improve communication in business, diplomacy, scholarship and other fields so that those who speak many different native languages will be able to participate fluently in international conferences and chat comfortably with each other after the formal presentations are made. Nowadays that privilege is often restricted to native speakers of English and those who have special talents and opportunities for learning English as a foreign language. G What Esperanto does offer in concrete terms is the potential of saving billions of dollars which are now being spent on translators and interpreters, billions which would be freed up to serve the purposes of governments and organisations that spend so much of their resources to change words from one language into the words of others. Take, for example, the enormously costly conferences, meetings and documentation involved in the European Union parliamentary and administrative procedures - all funded, essentially, by taxpayers. And instead of the World Health Organisation, and all NGOs for that matter, devoting enormous sums to provide interpreters and translations, they would be able to devote those huge amounts of money to improving the health of stricken populations throughout the world. | |
Note: - Paragraph D gives an idea that ‘Esperanto has its critics’. After paragraph D, the other remained paragraphs rebut that statement by mentioning the advantages of using Esperanto on a global scale: paragraph E, F, G - Moreover, you can find the key phrase ‘on a global level’ has been paraphrased to ‘on an international scale, universally, governments and organisations’ in paragraph E, F, G - Therefore, what you need to do is to read these 3 paragraphs to find out the answers relating to the 4 options from the Qs - So the answer is B. More aid money would reach those who need it. | ||
Questions 23-26
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
In spaces 23-26 below, write
| YES | if the statement agrees with the views of the writer |
| NO | if the statement contradicts the views of the writer |
| NOT GIVEN | if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this |
23 Supporters of Esperanto say it gives everyone an equal voice.
24 Esperanto is the only artificially-constructed language.
25 Esperanto can be learned as part of a self-study course.
26 Esperanto can be used equally in formal and casual situations.
- 23 Answer: YES
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q23:
Supporters of Esperanto say it gives everyone an equal voice.
E
The champions of Esperanto - Esperantists - disagree. They claim that it is a language in which a great body of world literature has appeared in translation: in poetry, novels, literary journals, and, to rebut the accusation that it is not a 'real' language, point out that it is frequently used at international meetings which draw hundreds and thousands of participants. Moreover, on an international scale, it is most useful - and fair - for neutral communication. That means that communication through Esperanto does not give advantages to the members of any particular people or culture, but provides an ethos of equality of rights, tolerance and true internationalism
Note
- Here, we should highly focus on the keyword ‘equal’. Skimming and scanning the whole passage to find out the paragraph that mentions this word. It’s paragraph E
- The answer for this Qs can be found in the last line of paragraph E. ‘equal voice’ can be expressed as ‘equality of rights, tolerance and true internationalism’
- Considering every detail in the question and in the passage, we can conclude that Q23 is confirmed in paragraph E with the pink highlighted key phrases.
- For that reason, the answer is YES
- 24 Answer: NO
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q24:
Esperanto is the only artificially-constructed language.
A
Language lovers, just like music lovers, enjoy variety. For the latter there's Mozart, The Rolling Stones and Beyonce. For the former there's English, French, Swahili, Urdu... the list is endless. But what about those poor overworked students who find learning difficult, confusing languages a drudge? Wouldn't it put a smile on their faces if there were just one simple, easy-to-learn tongue that would cut their study time by years? Well, of course, it exists. It's called Esperanto, and it's been around for more than 120 years. Esperanto is the most widely spoken artificially constructed international language. The name derives from Doktoro Esperanto, the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof first published his Unua Libro in 1887. The phrase itself means 'one who hopes'. Zamenhof's goal was to create an easy and flexible language as a universal second language to promote peace and international understanding
Note:
- First of all, you should move your eyes from the top to the bottom of the passage and try to find out the key phrase ‘the only artificially-constructed language’. You can find this phrase right in paragraph A
- The author states that ‘Esperanto is the most widely spoken artificially constructed international language’. The author use the superlative ‘the most…’ It means that there are many other international languages that are ‘artificially constructed international languages’, but Esperanto – among them, is the most widely spoken artificially constructed international language’
- It means that there are many other languages that are ‘artificially-constructed language’. Esperanto is not the only one
- For that reason, the answer is NO
- 25 Answer: NOT GIVEN
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q25:
Esperanto can be learned as part of a self-study course.
Note
- Finding the keyword ‘course’. You cannot find this word in the whole paragraph.
- Moreover, after answering matching heading questions, you’ve got the main idea of each paragraph. There is no paragraph mentioning about ‘course’ or ‘self-study course’
- Considering everything, the answer for Qs 25 is NOT GIVEN
- 26 Answer: YES
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q26:
Esperanto can be used equally in formal and casual situations.
E
The champions of Esperanto - Esperantists - disagree. They claim that it is a language in which a great body of world literature has appeared in translation: in poetry, novels, literary journals, and, to rebut the accusation that it is not a 'real' language, point out that it is frequently used at international meetings which draw hundreds and thousands of participants. Moreover, on an international scale, it is most useful - and fair - for neutral communication. That means that communication through Esperanto does not give advantages to the members of any particular people or culture, but provides an ethos of equality of rights, tolerance and true internationalism
F
Esperantists further claim that Esperanto has the potential - were it universally taught for a year or two throughout the world - to empower ordinary people to communicate effectively worldwide on a scale that far exceeds that which is attainable today by only the most linguistically brilliant among us. It offers the opportunity to improve communication in business, diplomacy, scholarship and other fields so that those who speak many different native languages will be able to participate fluently in international conferences and chat comfortably with each other after the formal presentations are made. Nowadays that privilege is often restricted to native speakers of English and those who have special talents and opportunities for learning English as a foreign language.
G
What Esperanto does offer in concrete terms is the potential of saving billions of dollars which are now being spent on translators and interpreters, billions which would be freed up to serve the purposes of governments and organisations that spend so much of their resources to change words from one language into the words of others. Take, for example, the enormously costly conferences, meetings and documentation involved in the European Union parliamentary and administrative procedures - all funded, essentially, by taxpayers. And instead of the World Health Organisation, and all NGOs for that matter, devoting enormous sums to provide interpreters and translations, they would be able to devote those huge amounts of money to improving the health of stricken populations throughout the world.
Note
- Paragraph D gives an idea that ‘Esperanto has its critics’. After paragraph D, the other remained paragraphs rebut that statement by mentioning the advantages of using Esperanto: paragraph E, F, G
- Firstly, we need to analyze the first side of the option: ‘Esperanto can be used in formal situations’;
+ Paragraph E:
Supporters claim that Esperanto is a language in which a great body of world literature has appeared in translation: in poetry, novels, literary journals’; ‘it is frequently used at international meetings which draw hundreds and thousands of participants’;
+ Paragraph F:
Supporters also states that ‘Esperanto offers the opportunity to improve communication in business, diplomacy, scholarship and other fields so that those who speak many different native languages will be able to participate in international conferences and chat comfortably with each other after the formal presentations are made’
+ Paragraph G:
Finally, supporters give an example to the face that Esperanto can be used in formal situations ‘Take, for example, the enormously costly conferences, meetings and documentation involved in the European Union parliamentary and administrative procedures - all funded, essentially, by taxpayers’
- Then, we analyse the second side of the option: ‘Esperanto can be used in casual situations’
+ Paragraph E:
Esperanto is ‘most useful - and fair - for neutral communication’, ‘Esperanto does not give advantages to the members of any particular people or culture, but provides an ethos of equality of rights, tolerance and true internationalism’, ‘Esperantists further claim that Esperanto has the potential - were it universally taught for a year or two throughout the world - to empower ordinary people to communicate effectively worldwide’
- After considering everything, we can come to a conclusion that ‘Esperanto can be used in formal and casual situations’
- So the answer for Qs 26 is YES
* stricken (a): suffering severely from the effects of something unpleasant
Questions 27-32
Complete the flow-chart below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
27
28
29
30
31
32
- 27 Answer: varying rates
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q27: degradation proceeds at_____
Complete the flow-chart below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
B
Desertification is officially recognised as land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities. This degradation of formerly productive land is a complex process. It involves multiple causes, and it proceeds at varying rates in different climates. Desertification may intensify a general climatic trend, or initiate a change in local climate, both leading towards greater aridity. The more arid conditions associated with desertification accelerates the depletion of vegetation and soils. Land degradation occurs all over the world, but it is only referred to as desertification when it takes place in drylands. This is because these areas are especially prone to more permanent damage as different areas of degraded land spread and merge together to form desert-like conditions.
Note:
- Quickly skimming the whole passage to find out which paragraph contains the key phrases ‘degradation’, ‘proceeds at’
- After doing this step, you can find out the needed paragraph. The answer for Qs 28 can be found in paragraph B
- The exact answer for this Qs can be found in the 2th sentence of paragraph B
- Now, read paragraph B carefully and pay attention to the highlighted keywords and pay attention on how many words you can fill in the blank
- So we can conclude that the answer for QS 27 is ‘varying rates’
- 28 Answer: intensify
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q28: _____ a climate trend
Complete the flow-chart below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
B
Desertification is officially recognised as land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities. This degradation of formerly productive land is a complex process. It involves multiple causes, and it proceeds at varying rates in different climates. Desertification may intensify a general climatic trend, or initiate a change in local climate, both leading towards greater aridity. The more arid conditions associated with desertification accelerates the depletion of vegetation and soils. Land degradation occurs all over the world, but it is only referred to as desertification when it takes place in drylands. This is because these areas are especially prone to more permanent damage as different areas of degraded land spread and merge together to form desert-like conditions.
Note:
- Quickly skimming the whole passage to find out which paragraph contains the key phrase ‘a climate change’
- After doing this step, you can find out the needed paragraph. The answer for Qs 28 can be found in paragraph B
- The exact answer for this Qs can be found in the 4th sentence of paragraph B
- Now, read paragraph B carefully and pay attention to the highlighted keywords and pay attention on how many words you can fill in the blank
- For that reason, the answer is ' intensify’
- 29 Answer: initiate
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q29: _____a change in climate
Complete the flow-chart below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
B
Desertification is officially recognised as land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities. This degradation of formerly productive land is a complex process. It involves multiple causes, and it proceeds at varying rates in different climates. Desertification may intensify a general climatic trend, or initiate a change in local climate, both leading towards greater aridity. The more arid conditions associated with desertification accelerate the depletion of vegetation and soils. Land degradation occurs all over the world, but it is only referred to as desertification when it takes place in drylands. This is because these areas are especially prone to more permanent damage as different areas of degraded land spread and merge together to form desert-like conditions.
Note:
- Quickly skimming the whole passage to find out which paragraph contains the key phrase ‘climate’, ‘a change in’
- After doing this step, you can find out the needed paragraph. The answer for Qs 29 can be found in paragraph B
- The exact answer for this Qs can be found in the 4th sentence of paragraph B
- For that reason, the answer is ‘initiate’
- 30 Answer: aridity
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q30: resulting in greater _____
Complete the flow-chart below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
B
Desertification is officially recognised as land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities. This degradation of formerly productive land is a complex process. It involves multiple causes, and it proceeds at varying rates in different climates. Desertification may intensify a general climatic trend, or initiate a change in local climate, both leading towards greater aridity. The more arid conditions associated with desertification accelerate the depletion of vegetation and soils. Land degradation occurs all over the world, but it is only referred to as desertification when it takes place in drylands. This is because these areas are especially prone to more permanent damage as different areas of degraded land spread and merge together to form desert-like conditions.
Note:
- Quickly skimming the whole passage to find out which paragraph contains the keyword ‘greater’
- After doing this step, you can find out the needed paragraph. The answer for Qs 29 can be found in paragraph B
- The exact answer for this Qs can be found in the 4th sentence of paragraph B
- Moreover, you need to find out the other expressions of the phrase ‘resulting in’ in the option of the Qs. Comparing what mentions in the option and what states in the paragraph, ‘resulting in’ has been changed into ‘leading towards’
- Read the 4th sentence with the highlighted key phrases carefully to find out the answer to this Qs
- After all, we can conclude that the answer is ‘aridity’
- 31 Answer: vegetation
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q31: depletion of _____
Complete the flow-chart below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
B
Desertification is officially recognised as land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities. This degradation of formerly productive land is a complex process. It involves multiple causes, and it proceeds at varying rates in different climates. Desertification may intensify a general climatic trend, or initiate a change in local climate, both leading towards greater aridity. The more arid conditions associated with desertification accelerates the depletion of vegetation and soils. Land degradation occurs all over the world, but it is only referred to as desertification when it takes place in drylands. This is because these areas are especially prone to more permanent damage as different areas of degraded land spread and merge together to form desert-like conditions.
Note:
- Quickly skimming the whole passage to find out which paragraph contains the keyword ‘depletion of’
- After doing this step, you can find out the needed paragraph. The answer for Qs 29 can be found in paragraph B
- The exact answer for this Qs can be found in the 5th sentence of paragraph B
- Moreover, you can realize that there are 2 results in greater aridity: the depletion of vegetable and soils
- Read the 5th sentence with the highlighted key phrases carefully to find out the answer to this Qs
- After all, you can conclude that the answer is ‘vegetation’
- 32 Answer: soils
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q32: _____
Complete the flow-chart below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
B
Desertification is officially recognised as land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities. This degradation of formerly productive land is a complex process. It involves multiple causes, and it proceeds at varying rates in different climates. Desertification may intensify a general climatic trend, or initiate a change in local climate, both leading towards greater aridity. The more arid conditions associated with desertification accelerates the depletion of vegetation and soils. Land degradation occurs all over the world, but it is only referred to as desertification when it takes place in drylands. This is because these areas are especially prone to more permanent damage as different areas of degraded land spread and merge together to form desert-like conditions.
Note:
- Quickly skimming the whole passage to find out which paragraph contains the keyword ‘depletion of’
- After doing this step, you can find out the needed paragraph. The answer for Qs 29 can be found in paragraph B
- The exact answer for this Qs can be found in the 5th sentence of paragraph B
- Moreover, you can realize that there are 2 results in greater aridity: the depletion of vegetable and soils
- In Qs 31, you have written the answer ‘vegetable’.
- So now, the answer for Qs 33 is ‘soils’
Questions 33-36
Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs, A - G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A - G in spaces 33 - 36 below.
33 Human intervention is a potential solution to potential disaster.
34 The rate of climate change is set to accelerate dramatically.
35 There is seldom enough information available in some areas to track how fast the effects of climate change have happened in the past.
36 Desertification is attributable to a number of factors.
- 33 Answer: G
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q33: _____Human intervention is a potential solution to potential disaster
G
Future climate change could critically undermine efforts for sustainable development in the Mediterranean region through its impacts on the environment and social and economic well-being. While in many respects climate change exacerbates existing problems instead of creating new ones, the sheer magnitude of the potential problem means it cannot be ignored. There is some scope for adaptation, but the fact that many measures would be beneficial irrespective of climate change suggests that radical changes in our policies and practices will be needed. It is also vital that developed countries meet their obligations to assist adaptation in developing countries through access to know-how and financial assistance. Ultimately, however, the long-term sustainability of the Mediterranean region requires keeping climate change within tolerable bounds. Current understanding of safe limits points to the need for prompt international agreement - and action - to make drastic cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases required to stabilise atmospheric concentrations of these gases
Note:
- In this Qs, you need to find out the exact clues from the passage, which have usually been paraphrased into other words or sentences in the given paragraph:
+ ‘Human intervention’ also means that ‘radical changes in our policies and practices will be needed’. It means that human needs to do something to improve that matters
+ ‘Potential solution to potential disaster’ can be described in different way as ‘Current understanding of safe limits points to the need for prompt international agreement - and action - to make drastic cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases required to stabilise atmospheric concentrations of these gases’
- Considering everything, the answer is G. Paragraph G
* intervention (n): action taken to intentionally become involved in a difficult situation in order to improve it or prevent it from getting worse:
* radical (a)
+ believing or expressing the belief that there should be great or extreme social or political change
+ relating to the most important parts of something or someone; complete or extreme:
* know-how (n) : practical knowledge and ability
-> know-how assistance
- 34 Answer: E
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q34: _____The rate of climate change is set to accelerate dramatically.
E
But desertification will not be limited to the drylands of Africa and Asia. According to the environmental organisation Greenpeace, the Mediterranean will suffer substantially, too. If current trends in emissions of greenhouse gases continue, global temperatures are expected to rise faster over the next century than over any time during the last 10,000 years. Significant uncertainties surround predictions of regional climate changes, but it is likely that the Mediterranean region will also warm significantly, increasing the frequency and severity of droughts across the region. As the world warms, global sea levels will rise as oceans expand and glaciers melt. Around much of the Mediterranean basin, sea levels could rise by close to 1m by 2100. As a result, some low-lying coastal areas would be lost through flooding or erosion, while rivers and coastal aquifers would become more salty. The worst affected areas will be the Nile Delta, Venice in Italy and Thessaloniki in Greece, two major cities where local subsidence means that sea levels could rise by at least one-and-a-half times as much as elsewhere
Note:
- In this Qs, you need to find out the exact clues from the passage, which have usually been paraphrased into other words or sentences in the given paragraph:
+ The phrase ‘Accelerate dramatically’ is similar to the author’s expression about the rate of climate change ‘to rise faster over the next century than over any time during the last 10,000 year’, ‘warm significantly’
- Comparing the information from paragraph E to the given information from the Qs
- Then, you come to the conclusion that the answer is E. Paragraph E
* severity
- 35 Answer: D
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q35: There is seldom enough information available in some areas to track how fast the effects of climate change have happened in the past.
D It is a misconception that droughts cause desertification. Droughts are common in arid and semi-arid lands. Well-managed lands can recover from drought when the rains return. Continued land abuse during droughts, however, increases land degradation. Nor does desertification occur in linear, easily definable patterns. Deserts advance erratically, forming patches on their borders. Areas far from natural deserts can degrade quickly to barren soil, rock, or sand through poor land management. The presence of a nearby desert has no direct relationship to desertification. Unfortunately, an area undergoing desertification is brought to public attention only after the process is well underway. Often little or no data are available to indicate the previous state of the ecosystem or the rate of degradation. Scientists still question whether desertification, as a process of global change, is permanent or how and when it can be halted or reversed.
Note
- You should use the corresponding key phrases from the question and then compare them with the key phrases in the passage
- The words and phrases the author use often different from what mentioned in the Qs. So, you need to read each sentence carefully as well as searching for some outstanding phrases such as ‘seldom enough information available in some areas’ (which is similar to the expression of the author :’ Often little or no date are available to indicate’) in order to find out the suitable paragraph matching the information of the Qs
- Besides, you need to pay attention to other key phrases which are in blue, purple, and orange highlighted phrases from the Qs. Comparing them with what is stated from the paragraph you choose.
- Considering everything, the answer is D. Paragraph D
- 36 Answer: B
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q36: _____Desertification is attributable to a number of factors.
B Desertification is officially recognised as land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities. This degradation of formerly productive land is a complex process. It involves multiple causes, and it proceeds at varying rates in different climates. Desertification may intensify a general climatic trend, or initiate a change in local climate, both leading towards greater aridity. The more arid conditions associated with desertification accelerate the depletion of vegetation and soils. Land degradation occurs all over the world, but it is only referred to as desertification when it takes place in drylands. This is because these areas are especially prone to more permanent damage as different areas of degraded land spread and merge together to form desert-like conditions
Note:
- Finding out the keyword ‘Desertification’. This word can be found in paragraph B. Qs 36 means that desertification can be considered as a result of various factors such as climate variations and human activities. This is similar to the statement ‘Desertification attributes to a number of factors’
- So, what you need to do now is reading paragraph B carefully again
- Obviously, thanks to the first sentence of paragraph F, we can make a conclusion that the answer is B. Paragraph B
Questions 37-40
Complete the summary with the list of words A - I below.
Write the correct letter A - I in spaces 37-40 below.
Climate change may have catastrophic effects on the human and animal world. As glaciers melt, sea levels will rise, causing extensive flooding and land 37 . Another consequence of global warming is 38 , which affects areas known as 39 . These areas are subject to irregular weather patterns, but also suffer from human intervention or neglect, such as inadequate or inefficient 40 systems. |
| A | irrigation |
| B | cooling |
| C | drylands |
| D | cause |
| E | loss |
| F | abuse |
| G | desertification |
| H | deserts |
| I | emission |
- 37 Answer: E
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q37:
Complete the summary with the list of words A - I below.
Climate change may have catastrophic effects on the human and animal world. As glaciers melt, sea levels will rise, causing extensive flooding and land 37_____ . Another consequence of global warming is 38_____ , which affects areas known as 39_____ . These areas are subject to irregular weather patterns, but also suffer from human intervention or neglect, such as inadequate or inefficient 40_____ systems.
A. irrigation
B. cooling
C. drylands
D. cause
E. loss
F. abuse
G. desertification
H. deserts
I. emission
E
But desertification will not be limited to the drylands of Africa and Asia. According to the environmental organisation Greenpeace, the Mediterranean will suffer substantially, too. If current trends in emissions of greenhouse gases continue, global temperatures are expected to rise faster over the next century than over any time during the last 10,000 years. Significant uncertainties surround predictions of regional climate changes, but it is likely that the Mediterranean region will also warm significantly, increasing the frequency and severity of droughts across the region. As the world warms, global sea levels will rise as oceans expand and glaciers melt. Around much of the Mediterranean basin, sea levels could rise by close to 1m by 2100. As a result, some low-lying coastal areas would be lost through flooding or erosion, while rivers and coastal aquifers would become more salty. The worst affected areas will be the Nile Delta, Venice in Italy and Thessaloniki in Greece, two major cities where local subsidence means that sea levels could rise by at least one-and-a-half times as much as elsewhere.
Note
- To answer Q37, it would be better to use skimming to find out the content words (sea levels, glaciers mell, flooding). Passage E contains these content words
- Paragraph E also mentions about the bad effect of desertification such as glaciers melt, the rise of sea levels,...
- Moreover, the word ‘land’ in the Qs can also be known as ‘coastal areas’. In paragraph A, the author states that coastal areas would be ‘lost’. This is a verb, however, we need to fill in the blank with a noun
- All things considered, we can conclude that the answer is E. loss
- 38 Answer: G
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q38:
Complete the summary with the list of words A - I below.
Climate change may have catastrophic effects on the human and animal world. As glaciers melt, sea levels will rise, causing extensive flooding and land 37_____ . Another consequence of global warming is 38_____ , which affects areas known as 39_____ . These areas are subject to irregular weather patterns, but also suffer from human intervention or neglect, such as inadequate or inefficient 40_____ systems.
A. irrigation
B. cooling
C. drylands
D. cause
E. loss
F. abuse
G. desertification
H. deserts
I. emission
A
Melting land ice in the Arctic is set to cause a global rise in sea levels, leading to disastrous effects for both man and wildlife. Many species worldwide are threatened with extinction, and low-lying islands and land masses will disappear entirely. But the havoc wreaked by the effect of greenhouse gases won’t be confined to just too much water, but the absence of it, as well. In other words, desertification. A decrease in the total amount of rainfall in arid and semi-arid areas could increase the total area of drylands worldwide, and thus the total amount of land potentially at risk from desertification.
Note:
- The keywords to use in scanning are ‘global warming’
- Notice that words in the summary have been paraphrased to other words and phrases in the passage (these words are highlighted with the same color so that you can find them easily)
- Read paragraph A carefully to find out the corresponding information in the paragraph that matches the options in the Qs
- Considering all the given information, we can conclude that the answer is G. desertification
* havoc (n) = destruction
* wreak (v): cause a lot of damage or problems
- 39 Answer: C
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q39:
Complete the summary with the list of words A - I below.
Climate change may have catastrophic effects on the human and animal world. As glaciers melt, sea levels will rise, causing extensive flooding and land 37_____ . Another consequence of global warming is 38_____ , which affects areas known as 39_____ . These areas are subject to irregular weather patterns, but also suffer from human intervention or neglect, such as inadequate or inefficient 40_____ systems.
A. irrigation
B. cooling
C. drylands
D. cause
E. loss
F. abuse
G. desertification
H. deserts
I. emission
B
Desertification is officially recognised as land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities. This degradation of formerly productive land is a complex process. It involves multiple causes, and it proceeds at varying rates in different climates. Desertification may intensify a general climatic trend, or initiate a change in local climate, both leading towards greater aridity. The more arid conditions associated with desertification accelerates the depletion of vegetation and soils. Land degradation occurs all over the world, but it is only referred to as desertification when it takes place in drylands. This is because these areas are especially prone to more permanent damage as different areas of degraded land spread and merge together to form desert-like conditions..
Note:
- Notice that words in the summary have been paraphrased to other words and phrases in the passage (these words are highlighted with the same color so that you can find them easily)
- Read paragraph B carefully to find out the corresponding information in the paragraph that matches the options in the Qs
- By following the pink and blue highlighted key phrases in the paragraph, you can make a conclusion that the suitable answer for this Qs is option C
- The answer can be found most obvious in sentences that are pink and blue highlighted in paragraph B
- Considering all the given information, we can conclude that the answer is C. drylands
- 40 Answer: A
Keywords in Questions
Similar words in Passage
Q40:
Complete the summary with the list of words A - I below.
Climate change may have catastrophic effects on the human and animal world. As glaciers melt, sea levels will rise, causing extensive flooding and land 37_____ . Another consequence of global warming is 38_____ , which affects areas known as 39_____ . These areas are subject to irregular weather patterns, but also suffer from human intervention or neglect, such as inadequate or inefficient 40_____ systems.
A. irrigation
B. cooling
C. drylands
D. cause
E. loss
F. abuse
G. desertification
H. deserts
I. emission
C
Global warming brought about by increasing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere is expected to increase the variability of weather conditions and extreme events. Many dryland areas face increasingly low and erratic rainfall, coupled with soil erosion by wind and the drying-up of water resources through increased regional temperatures. Deforestation can also reduce rainfall in certain areas, increasing the threat of desertification. It is not yet possible, despite sophisticated technology, to identify with an acceptable degree of reliability those parts of the Earth where desertification will occur. Existing drylands, which cover over 40% of the total land area of the world, most significantly in Africa and Asia, will probably be most at risk from climate change. These areas already experience low rainfall, and any that falls is usually in the form of short, erratic, high-intensity storms. In addition, such areas also suffer from land degradation due to over-cultivation, overgrazing, deforestation and poor irrigation practices.
Note:
- First of all, you need to find out the key phrases such as ‘weather patterns’, ‘human intervention or neglect’, ‘inadequate or insufficient’ in order to identify what paragraph needs to be read carefully
- The paragraph you need to read carefully is paragraph C
- These contented words and phrases above have been changed into ‘low rainfall, high-intensity storm’ (weather patterns); ‘over-cultivation, overgrazing, deforestation’ (human intervention or neglect); ‘poor’ (inadequate or inefficient)
- Moreover, you should pay attention to the corresponding highlighted key phrases from the passage that match what mentioned in the Qs
- Considering all the given information, we can conclude that the answer is A. irrigation
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
Hello Happiness!
Ask 100 people what would make them happy, and a sizeable majority would say “winning the lottery.” Yet, if they won a vast fortune, within a year they would be back to their previous level of happiness. The fact is that money has many uses, but more money does not mean more happiness. Surveys carried out in recent years by leading psychologists and sociologists all confirm that while individuals may increase their material wealth during the course of their lifetime, this has no bearing on their well-being. And what is true for individuals can be applied on a larger scale to the world population. Statistically, wealthier nations do not achieve higher scores on the happiness-ometer than developing or underdeveloped nations. Once the basic criteria of adequate shelter and nutrition are satisfied, increased wealth plays no significant role. So why the obsession with getting rich? The answer, say researchers, is simple. Call it jealousy, competitiveness, or just keeping up with the Joneses, however well we are doing, there is always someone else who is doing better. Just as we acquire a new $25,000 car, our neighbour parks his brand spanking new $40,000 set of wheels in his drive, causing us much consternation, but fuelling us with new aspirations in the process. And so the cycle continues. Money, or material wealth, may be a prime mover, but it is not the foundation of our well-being.
If money isn’t the key to happiness, then what is? In all 44 countries surveyed by a prominent research centre, family life provided the greatest source of satisfaction. Married people live on average three years longer and enjoy greater physical and psychological health than the unmarried and, surprisingly, couples in a cohabitational relationship. Having a family enhances well-being, and spending more time with one’s family helps even more. Social interaction among families, neighbourhoods, workplaces, communities and religious groups correlates strongly with subjective well-being. In fact, the degree of individuals’ social connections is the best benchmark of their happiness.
Friendship is another major factor. Indeed, to return to the dollar-equals-happiness equation, in one survey, having a friend converted into $50,000 worth of happiness, and confirms the well-known phenomenon that loneliness can lead to depression. Work is another area central to well-being, and certain features correlate highly with happiness. These include autonomy over how, where, and at what pace work is done, trust between employer and employee, fair treatment, and active participation in the making of decisions. Occupationally, happiness tends to be more common among professionals and managers, that is, people who are in control of the work they do, rather than subservient to their bosses, inequality implies less control for those who are in the weaker position, although there are more risks of losing their privileges for those in the stronger position.
Control of one’s life in general is also key. Happiness is clearly correlated with the presence of favourable events such as promotion or marriage, and the absence of troubles or bad luck such as accidents, being laid off or conflicts. These events on their own signal the success or failure to reach one’s goals, and therefore the control one has. On a national level, the more that governments recognise individual preferences, the happier their citizens will be. Choice, and citizens’ belief that they can affect the political process, increase subjective well-being. Furthermore, evidence exists for an association between unhappiness and poor health: people from underdeveloped countries are among the unhappiest in the world, and their life expectancy has been falling steadily. People are more satisfied in societies which minimally restrict their freedom of action, in other words, where they are in control rather than being controlled. Happy people are characterised by the belief that they are able to control their situation, whereas unhappy people tend to believe that they are a victim of fate. Happy people are also more psychologically resilient, assertive and open to experience.
But how good is the evidence for this alternative viewpoint then - that happiness, and not financial status, contributes to good health, and long life? A study of nuns, spanning seven decades, supports this theory. Autobiographies written by the nuns in their early 1920s were scored for positive and negative emotions. Nuns expressing the most positive emotions lived on average ten years longer than those expressing the least positive emotions. Happy people, it seems, are much less likely to fall ill and die than unhappy people.
But what must we do to be happy? Experts cite the old maxim “be happy with what you’ve got.” Look around you, they say, and identify the positive factors in your life. Concentrating on the negative aspects of one’s life is a no-no, and so is worrying. Worrying is a negative thinking habit that is nearly always about something that lies in the future. It stems, apparently, from our cave dwelling days, when we had to think on a day-to-day basis about how and where to find food and warmth, for example. But in the modern world, worrying simply undermines our ability to enjoy life in the present. More often than not, the things we worry about never come to pass anyway. Just as important is not to dwell on the past - past mistakes, bad experiences, missed opportunities and so on.
What else can we do? Well, engage in a loving relationship with another adult, and work hard to sustain it. Try to plan frequent interactions with your family, friends and neighbours (in that order). Make sure you’re not working so hard that you’ve no time left for personal relationships and leisure. If you are, leave your job voluntarily to become self-employed, but don’t get sacked — that’s more damaging to well-being than the loss of a spouse, and its effects last longer. In your spare time, join a club, volunteer for community service, or take up religion.
If none of the above works, then vote for a political party with the same agenda as the King of Bhutan, who announced that his nation’s objective is national happiness.
READING PASSAGE 2
You should, spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14 - 26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.
One Who Hopes
A
Language lovers, just like music lovers, enjoy variety. For the latter there's Mozart, The Rolling Stones and Beyonce. For the former there's English, French, Swahili, Urdu... the list is endless. But what about those poor overworked students who find learning difficult, confusing languages a drudge? Wouldn't it put a smile on their faces if there were just one simple, easy-to-learn tongue that would cut their study time by years? Well, of course, it exists. It's called Esperanto, and it's been around for more than 120 years. Esperanto is the most widely spoken artificially constructed international language. The name derives from Doktoro Esperanto, the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof first published his Unua Libro in 1887. The phrase itself means 'one who hopes'. Zamenhof's goal was to create an easy and flexible language as a universal second language to promote peace and international understanding.
B
Zamenhof, after ten years of developing his brainchild from the late 1870s to the early 1880s, had the first Esperanto grammar published in Warsaw in July 1887. The number of speakers grew rapidly over the next few decades, at first primarily in the Russian empire and Eastern Europe, then in Western Europe and the Americas, China, and Japan. In the early years, speakers of Esperanto kept in contact primarily through correspondence and periodicals, but since 1905 world congresses have been held on five continents every year except during the two World Wars. Latest estimates for the numbers of Esperanto speakers are around 2 million. Put in percentage terms, that's about 0.03% of the world's population - no staggering figure, comparatively speaking. One reason is that Esperanto has no official status in any country, but it is an optional subject on the curriculum of several state education systems. It is widely estimated that it can be learned in anywhere between a quarter to a twentieth of the time required for other languages.
C
As a constructed language, Esperanto is not genealogically related to any ethnic language. Whilst it is described as 'a language lexically predominantly Romanic', the phonology, grammar, vocabulary, and semantics are based on the western Indo-European languages. For those of us who are not naturally predisposed to tucking languages under our belts, it is an easy language to learn. It has 5 vowels and 23 consonants. It has one simple way of conjugating all of its verbs. Words are often made from many other roots, making the number of words which one must memorise much smaller. The language is phonetic, and the rules of pronunciation are very simple, so that everyone knows how to pronounce a written word and vice-versa, and word order follows a standard, logical pattern. Through prefixing and suffixing, Esperanto makes it easy to identify words as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, direct objects and so on, by means of easy-to-spot endings. All this makes for easy language learning. What's more, several research studies demonstrate that studying Esperanto before another foreign language speeds up and improves the learning of the other language. This is presumably because learning subsequent foreign languages is easier than learning one's first, while the use of a grammatically simple and culturally flexible language like Esperanto softens the blow of learning one's first foreign language. In one study, a group of European high school students studied Esperanto for one year, then French for three years, and ended up with a significantly better command of French than a control group who had studied French for all four years.
D
Needless to say, the language has Its critics. Some point to the Eastern European features of the language as being harsh and difficult to pronounce, and argue that Esperanto has an artificial feel to it, without the flow of a natural tongue, and that by nature of its artificiality, it is impossible to become emotionally involved with the language. Others cite its lack of cultural history, indigenous literature - "no one has ever written a novel straight into Esperanto" - together with its minimal vocabulary and its inability to express all the necessary philosophical, emotional and psychological concepts.
E
The champions of Esperanto - Esperantists - disagree. They claim that it is a language in which a great body of world literature has appeared in translation: in poetry, novels, literary journals, and, to rebut the accusation that it is not a 'real' language, point out that it is frequently used at international meetings which draw hundreds and thousands of participants. Moreover, on an international scale, it is most useful - and fair - for neutral communication. That means that communication through Esperanto does not give advantages to the members of any particular people or culture, but provides an ethos of equality of rights, tolerance and true internationalism.
F
Esperantists further claim that Esperanto has the potential - were it universally taught for a year or two throughout the world - to empower ordinary people to communicate effectively worldwide on a scale that far exceeds that which is attainable today by only the most linguistically brilliant among us. It offers the opportunity to improve communication in business, diplomacy, scholarship and other fields so that those who speak many different native languages will be able to participate fluently in international conferences and chat comfortably with each other after the formal presentations are made. Nowadays that privilege is often restricted to native speakers of English and those who have special talents and opportunities for learning English as a foreign language.
G
What Esperanto does offer in concrete terms is the potential of saving billions of dollars which are now being spent on translators and interpreters, billions which would be freed up to serve the purposes of governments and organisations that spend so much of their resources to change words from one language into the words of others. Take, for example, the enormously costly conferences, meetings and documentation involved in the European Union parliamentary and administrative procedures - all funded, essentially, by tax payers. And instead of the World Health Organisation, and all NGOs for that matter, devoting enormous sums to provide interpreters and translations, they would be able to devote those huge amounts of money to improving the health of stricken populations throughout the world.
READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27 - 40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.
LONG-TERM FORECAST: HOT AND DRY
A
Melting land ice in the Arctic is set to cause a global rise in sea levels, leading to disastrous effects for both man and wildlife. Many species worldwide are threatened with extinction, and low-lying islands and land masses will disappear entirely. But the havoc wreaked by the effect of greenhouse gases won’t be confined to just too much water, but the absence of it, as well. In other words, desertification. A decrease in the total amount of rainfall in arid and semi-arid areas could increase the total area of drylands worldwide, and thus the total amount of land potentially at risk from desertification.
B
Desertification is officially recognised as land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting from various factors including climatic variations and human activities. This degradation of formerly productive land is a complex process. It involves multiple causes, and it proceeds at varying rates in different climates. Desertification may intensify a general climatic trend, or initiate a change in local climate, both leading towards greater aridity. The more arid conditions associated with desertification accelerate the depletion of vegetation and soils. Land degradation occurs all over the world, but it is only referred to as desertification when it takes place in drylands. This is because these areas are especially prone to more permanent damage as different areas of degraded land spread and merge together to form desert-like conditions.
C
Global warming brought about by increasing greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere is expected to increase the variability of weather conditions and extreme events. Many dryland areas face increasingly low and erratic rainfalls, coupled with soil erosion by wind and the drying-up of water resources through increased regional temperatures. Deforestation can also reduce rainfall in certain areas, increasing the threat of desertification. It is not yet possible, despite sophisticated technology, to identify with an acceptable degree of reliability those parts of the Earth where desertification will occur. Existing drylands, which cover over 40% of the total land area of the world, most significantly in Africa and Asia, will probably be most at risk from climate change. These areas already experience low rainfall, and any that falls is usually in the form of short, erratic, high-intensity storms. In addition, such areas also suffer from land degradation due to over-cultivation, overgrazing, deforestation and poor irrigation practices.
D
It is a misconception that droughts cause desertification. Droughts are common in arid and semi-arid lands. Well-managed lands can recover from drought when the rains return. Continued land abuse during droughts, however, increases land degradation. Nor does desertification occur in linear, easily definable patterns. Deserts advance erratically, forming patches on their borders. Areas far from natural deserts can degrade quickly to barren soil, rock, or sand through poor land management. The presence of a nearby desert has no direct relationship to desertification. Unfortunately, an area undergoing desertification is brought to public attention only after the process is well underway. Often little or no data are available to indicate the previous state of the ecosystem or the rate of degradation. Scientists still question whether desertification, as a process of global change, is permanent or how and when it can be halted or reversed.
E
But desertification will not be limited to the drylands of Africa and Asia. According to the environmental organisation Greenpeace, the Mediterranean will suffer substantially, too. If current trends in emissions of greenhouse gases continue, global temperatures are expected to rise faster over the next century than over any time during the last 10,000 years. Significant uncertainties surround predictions of regional climate changes, but it is likely that the Mediterranean region will also warm significantly, increasing the frequency and severity of droughts across the region. As the world warms, global sea levels will rise as oceans expand and glaciers melt. Around much of the Mediterranean basin, sea levels could rise by close to 1m by 2100. As a result, some low-lying coastal areas would be lost through flooding or erosion, while rivers and coastal aquifers would become more salty. The worst affected areas will be the Nile Delta, Venice in Italy and Thessaloniki in Greece, two major cities where local subsidence means that sea levels could rise by at least one-and-a-half times as much as elsewhere.
F
The consequences of all this, says Greenpeace, are far-reaching, and the picture is a gloomy one. Livestock production would suffer due to a deterioration in the quality of rangeland. Yields of grains and other crops could decrease substantially across the Mediterranean region due to increased frequency of drought. Crop production would be further threatened by increases in competition for water and the prevalence of pests and diseases and land loss through desertification and sea-level rise. The combination of heat and pollution would lead to an upsurge in respiratory illness among urban populations, while extreme weather events could increase death and injury rates. Water shortages and damaged infrastructure would increase the risk of cholera and dysentery, while higher temperatures would increase the incidence of infectious diseases, such as malaria and dengue fever. Serious social disruption could occur as millions are forced from their homelands as a result of desertification, poor harvests and sea-level rise, while international disputes over shared water resources could turn into conflict.
G
Future climate change could critically undermine efforts for sustainable development in the Mediterranean region through its impacts on the environment and social and economic well-being. While in many respects climate change exacerbates existing problems instead of creating new ones, the sheer magnitude of the potential problem means it cannot be ignored. There is some scope for adaptation, but the fact that many measures would be beneficial irrespective of climate change suggests that radical changes in our policies and practices will be needed. It is also vital that developed countries meet their obligations to assist adaptation in developing countries through access to know-how and financial assistance. Ultimately, however, the long-term sustainability of the Mediterranean region requires keeping climate change within tolerable bounds. Current understanding of safe limits points to the need for prompt international agreement - and action - to make the drastic cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases required to stabilise atmospheric concentrations of these gases.
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