Reading Actual TEST P1 - Environmental Innovations in Oregon Agriculture | English 1 (TĐT) | Đại học Tôn Đức Thắng

lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981 READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
New Agriculture in Oregon, US A
Onion growers in eastern Oregon are adopting a system that saves water
and keeps topsoil in place while producing the highest quality
“supercolossal” onions. Pear growers in southern Oregon have reduced
their use of some of the most toxic pesticides by up to two-thirds, and are
still producing top-quality pear. Range managers throughout the state
have controlled the poisonous weed tansy ragwort with insect predators
and saved the Oregon livestock industry up to $4.8 million a year. B
These are some of the results Oregon growers have achieved in
collaboration with Oregon State University (OSU) researchers as they test
new farming methods including integrated pest management (IPM).
Nationwide, however, IPM has not delivered results comparable to those
in Oregon. A recent U.S General Accounting Office (GAO) report indicates
that while integrated pest management can result in dramatically reduced
pesticide use, the federal government has been lacking in effectively
promoting that goal and implementing IPM. Farmers also blame the
government for not making the new options of pest management attractive.
“Wholesale changes in the way that farmers control the pests on their
farms is an expensive business.” Tony Brown, of the National Farmers
Association, says. “If the farmers are given tax breaks to offset the
expenditure, then they would willingly accept the new practices.” The
report goes on to note that even though the use of the riskiest pesticides
has declined nationwide, they still make up more than 40 percent of all
pesticides used today; and national pesticide use has risen by 40 million
kilograms since 1992. “Our food supply remains the safest and highest
quality on Earth but we continue to overdose our farmland with powerful
and toxic pesticides and to under-use the safe and effective alternatives,” lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981
charged Patrick Leahy, who commissioned the report. Green action
groups disagree about the safety issue. “There is no way that habitual
consumption of foodstuffs grown using toxic chemical of the nature found
on today’s farms can be healthy for consumers,” noted Bill Bowler,
spokesman for Green Action, one of many lobbyists interested in this issue. C
The GAO report singles out Oregon’s apple and pear producers who have
used the new IPM techniques with growing success. Although Oregon is
clearly ahead of the nation, scientists at OSU are taking the Government
Accounting Office criticisms seriously. “We must continue to develop
effective alternative practices that will reduce environmental hazards and
produce high-quality products,” said Paul Jepson, a professor of
entomology at OSU and new director of D
OSU’s Integrated Plant Protection Centre (IPPC). The IPPC brings
together scientists from OSU’s Agricultural Experiment Station, OSU
Extension service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Oregon farmers
to help develop agricultural systems that will save water and soil, and
reduce pesticides. In response to the GAO report, the Centre is putting
even more emphasis on integrating research and farming practices to
improve Oregon agriculture environmentally and economically. E
“The GAO report criticizes agencies for not clearly communicating the
goals of IPM,” said Jepson. “Our challenge is to greatly improve the
communication to and from growers, to learn what works and what doesn’t.
the work coming from OSU researchers must be adopted in the field and
not simply languish in scientific journals.” F
In Oregon, growers and scientists are working together to instigate new
practices. For example, a few years ago scientists at OSU’s Malheur
Experiment Station began testing a new drip irrigation system to replace
old ditches that wasted water and washed soil and fertilizer into streams.
The new system cut water and fertilizer use by half kept topsoil in place and protected water quality. G lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981
In addition, the new system produced crops of very large onions, rated
“super-colossal” and highly valued by the restaurant industry and food
processors. Art Pimms, one of the researchers at Malheur comments:
“Growers are finding that when they adopt more environmentally benign
practices, they can have excellent results. The new practices benefit the
environment and give the growers their success.” H
OSU researcher in Malheur next tested straw mulch and found that it
successfully held soil in place and kept the ground moist with less irrigation.
In addition, and unexpectedly, the scientists found that the mulched soil
created a home for beneficial beetles and spiders that prey on onion thrips
– a notorious pest in commercial onion fields – a discovery that could
reduce the need for pesticides. “I would never have believed that we could
replace the artificial pest controls that we had before and still keep our
good results,” commented Steve Black, a commercial onion farmer in
Oregon, “but instead we have actually surpassed expectations.” I
OSU researchers throughout the state have been working to reduce
dependence on broad-spectrum chemical spays that are toxic to many
kinds of organisms, including humans. “Consumers are rightly putting
more and more pressure on the industry to change its reliance on chemical
pesticides, but they still want a picture-perfect product,” said Rick Hilton,
an entomologist at OSU’s Southern Oregon Research and
Extension Centre, where researches help pear growers reduce the need
for highly toxic pesticides. Picture perfect pears are an important product
in Oregon and traditionally they have required lots of chemicals. In recent
years, the industry has faced stiff competition from overseas producers,
so any new methods that growers adopt must make sense economically
as well as environmentally. Hilton is testing a growth regulator that
interferes with the molting of codling moth larvae. Another study used
pheromone dispensers to disrupt codling moth mating. These and other
methods of integrated pest management have allowed pear growers to
reduce their use of organophosphates by two-thirds and reduce all other
synthetic pesticides by even more and still produce top-quality pears.
These and other studies around the state are part of the effort of the IPPC
to find alternative farming practices that benefit both the economy and the environment. lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981 Questions 1-8
Use the information in the passage to match the people (listed A-G) with opinions or deeds below.
Write the appropriate letters A-G in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once
A Tony Brown E Art Pimms
B Patrick Leahy F Steve Black
C Bill Bowler G Rick Hilton D Paul Jepson
1 There is a double-advantage to the new techniques.
2 The work on developing these alternative techniques is not finished. 3
Eating food that has had chemicals used in its production is dangerous to our health.
4 Changing current farming methods into a new one is not a cheap process.
5 Results have exceeded the anticipated goal.
6 The research done should be translated into practical projects.
7 The U.S. produces the best food in the world nowadays.
8 Expectations of end-users of agricultural products affect the products. Questions 9-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet, write YES if the statement is true
NO if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage 9
Integrated Pest Management has generally been regarded as a success in across the US. 10
Oregon farmers of apples and pears have been promoted as
successful examples of Integrated Pest Management. 11
The IPPC uses scientists from different organisations globally 12
Straw mulch experiments produced unplanned benefits. lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981
13 The apple industry is now facing a lot of competition from abroad. READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26 which are based on Reading Passage 2 below. WHAT COOKBOOKS REALLY TEACH US A
Shelves bend under their weight of cookery books. Even a medium-sized
bookshop contains many more recipes than one person could hope to
cook in a lifetime. Although the recipes in one book are often similar to
those in another, their presentation varies wildly, from an array of
vegetarian cookbooks to instructions on cooking the food that historical
figures might have eaten. The reason for this abundance is that cookbooks
promise to bring about a kind of domestic transformation for the user. The
daily routine can be put to one side and they liberate the user, if only
temporarily. To follow their instructions is to turn a task which has to be
performed every day into an engaging, romantic process. Cookbooks also
provide an opportunity to delve into distant cultures without having to turn
up at an airport to get there. B
The first Western cookbook appeared just over 1,600 years ago. De re
coquinara (it means concerning cookery’) is attributed to a Roman
gourmet named Apicius. It is probably a compilation of Roman and Greek
recipes, some or all of them drawn from manuscripts that were later lost.
The editor was sloppy, allowing several duplicated recipes to sneak in. Yet
Apicius’s book set the tone of cookery advice in Europe for more than a
thousand years. As a cookbook, it is unsatisfactory with very basic
instructions. Joseph Vehling, a chef who translated Apicius in the 1930s,
suggested the author had been obscure on purpose, in case his secrets leaked out. lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981 C
But a more likely reason is that Apicius’s recipes were written by and for
professional cooks, who could follow their shorthand. This situation
continued for hundreds of years. There was no order to cookbooks: a cake
recipe might be followed by a mutton one. But then, they were not written
for careful study. Before the 19th century, few educated people cooked for themselves. D
The wealthiest employed literate chefs; others presumably read recipes to
their servants. Such cooks would have been capable of creating dishes
from the vaguest of instructions. The invention of printing might have been
expected to lead to greater clarity but at first, the reverse was true. As
words acquired commercial value, plagiarism exploded. Recipes were
distorted through reproduction. A recipe for boiled capon in The Good
Huswives Jewell, printed in 1596, advised the cook to add three or four
dates. By 1653, when the recipe was given by a different author in A Book
of Fruits & Flowers, the cook was told to set the dish aside for three or four days. E
The dominant theme in 16th and 17th-century cookbooks was ordered.
Books combined recipes and household advice, on the assumption that a
well-made dish, a well-ordered larder and well-disciplined children were
equally important. Cookbooks thus became a symbol of dependability in
chaotic times. They hardly seem to have been affected by the English civil
war or the revolutions in America and France. F
In the 1850s Isabella Beeton published The Book of Household
Management. Like earlier cookery writers she plagiarized freely, lifting not
just recipes but philosophical observations from other books. If Beeton’s
recipes were not wholly new, though, the way in which she presented them
certainly was. She explains when she chief ingredients are most likely to
be in season, how long the dish will take to prepare and even how much
it is likely to cost. Beetons recipes were well suited to her times. Two
centuries earlier, an understanding of rural ways had been so widespread
that one writer could advise cooks to heat water until it was a little hotter
than milk comes from a cow. By the 1850s Britain was industrialising. The lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981
growing urban middle class needed details, and Beeton provided them in full. G
In France, cookbooks were fast becoming even more systematic.
Compared with Britain, France had produced few books written for the
ordinary householder by the end of the 19th century. The most celebrated
French cookbooks were written by superstar chefs who had a clear sense
of codifying a unified approach to sophisticated French cooking. The 5,000
recipes in Auguste Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire (The Culinary
Guide), published in 1902, might as well have been written in stone, given
the book’s reputation among French chefs, many of whom still consider it
the definitive reference book. H
What Escoffier did for French cooking, Fannie Farmer did for American
home cooking. She not only synthesised American cuisine; she elevated
it to the status of science. ‘Progress in civilisation has been accompanied
by progress in cookery,’ she breezily announced in The Boston Cooking-
School Cook Book, before launching into a collection of recipes that
sometimes resembles a book of chemistry experiments. She was
occasionally over-fussy. She explained that currants should be picked
between June 28th and July 3rd, but not when it is raining. But in the main,
her book is reassuringly authoritative. Its recipes are short, with no
unnecessary chat and no unnecessary spices. I
In 1950 Mediterranean Food by Elizabeth David launched a revolution in
cooking advice in Britain. In some ways, Mediterranean Food recalled
even older cookbooks but the smells and noises that filled David’s books
were not a mere decoration for her recipes. They were the point of her
books. When she began to write, many ingredients were not widely
available or affordable. She understood this, acknowledging in a letter
edition of one of her books that even if people could not very often make
the dishes here described, it was stimulating to think about them. David’s
books were not so much cooking manuals as guides to the kind of food
people might well wish to eat. lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981 Questions 14-16
Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS
from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 14-16 on your answer sheet.
Why are there so many cookery books?
There are a great number more cookery books published than is really
necessary and it is their 14…………………….. which makes them differ
from each other. There are such large numbers because they offer people
an escape from their 15……………………… and some give the user the
chance to inform themselves about other 16…………………….
Questions 17-21
Reading Passage has nine paragraphs, A-I. Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-I, in boxes 17-21 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
17 cookery books providing a sense of stability during periods of unrest
18 details in recipes being altered as they were passed on
19 knowledge which was in danger of disappearing
20 the negative effect on cookery books of a new development
21 a period when there was no need for cookery books to be precise Questions 22-26
Look at the following statements (Questions 22-26) and list of books (AE)
below. Match each statement with the correct book.
Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 22-26 on your answer sheet
22 Its recipes were easy to follow despite the writer’s attention to detail.
23 Its writer may have deliberately avoided passing on details.
24 It appealed to ambitious ideas people have about cooking. 25 Its
writer used ideas from other books but added additional related information.
26 It put into print ideas which are still respected today. lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981 List of cookery books A De re coquinara
B The Book of Household Management C Le Guide Culinaire
D The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book E Mediterranean Food READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.
Learning lessons from the past A
Many past societies collapsed or vanished, leaving behind monumental
ruins such as those that the poet Shelley imagined in his sonnet,
Ozymandias. By collapse, I mean a drastic decrease in human population
size and/or political/economic/social complexity, over a considerable, for
an extended time. By those standards, most people would consider the
following past societies to have been famous victims of full-fledged
collapses rather than of just minor declines: the Anasazi and Cahokia
within the boundaries of the modem US, the Maya cities in Central
American, Moche and Tiwanaku societies in South America, Norse
Greenland, Mycenean Greece and Minoan Crete in Europe, Great
Zimbabwe in Africa, Angkor Wat and the Harappan Indus Valley cities in
Asia, and Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean. B
The monumental ruins left behind by those past societies hold a
fascination for all of us. We marvel at them when as children we first learn
of them through pictures. When we grow up, many of us plan vacations in
order to experience them at first hand. We feel drawn to their often
spectacular and haunting beauty, and also to the mysteries that they pose.
The scales of the ruins testify to the former wealth and power of their
builders. Yet these builders vanished, abandoning the great structures that lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981
they had created at such effort. How could a society that was once so mighty end up collapsing? C
It has long been suspected that many of those mysterious abandonments
were at least partly triggered by ecological problems: people inadvertently
destroying the environmental resources on which their societies depended.
This suspicion of unintended ecological suicide (ecocide) has been
confirmed by discoveries made in recent decades by archaeologists,
climatologists, historians, palaeontologists, and palynologists (pollen
scientists). The processes through which past societies have undermined
themselves by damaging their environments fall into eight categories,
whose relative importance differs from case to case: deforestation and
habitat destruction, soil problems, water management problems,
overhunting, overfishing, effects of introduced species on native species,
human population growth, and increased impact of people. D
Those past collapses tended to follow somewhat similar courses
constituting variations on a theme. Writers find it tempting to draw
analogies between the course of human societies and the course of
individual human lives – to talk of a society’s birth, growth, peak, old age
and eventual death. But that metaphor proves erroneous for many past
societies: they declined rapidly after reaching peak numbers and power,
and those rapid declines must have come as a surprise and shock to their
citizens. Obviously, too, this trajectory is not one that all past societies
followed unvaryingly to completion: different societies collapsed to
different degrees and in somewhat different ways, while many societies did not collapse at all. E
Today many people feel that environmental problems overshadow all the
other threats to global civilisation. These environmental problems include
the same eight that undermined past societies, plus four new ones:
human-caused climate change, the build-up of toxic chemicals in the
environment, energy shortages, and full human utilisation of the Earth’s
photosynthetic capacity. But the seriousness of these current
environmental problems is vigorously debated. Are the risks greatly
exaggerated, or conversely are they underestimated? Will modem lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981
technology solve our problems, or is it creating new problems faster than
it solves old ones? When we deplete one resource (eg wood, oil, or ocean
fish), can we count on being able to substitute some new resource (eg
plastics, wind and solar energy, or farmed fish)? Isn’t the rate of human
population growth declining, such that we’re already on course for the
world’s population to level off at home manageable number of people? F
Questions like this illustrate why those famous collapses of past
civilisations have taken on more meaning than just that of a romantic
mystery. Perhaps there are some practical lessons that we could learn
from all those past collapses. But there are also differences between the
modem world and its problems, and those past societies and their
problems. We shouldn’t be so naive as to think that the study of the past
will yield simple solutions, directly transferable to our societies today. We
differ from past societies in some respects that put us at lower risk than
them; some of those respects often mentioned include our powerful
technology (ie its beneficial effects), globalisation, modem medicine, and
greater knowledge of past societies and of distant modem societies. We
also differ from past societies in some respects that put us at greater risk
than them: again, our potent technology (ie its unintended destructive
effects), globalisation (such that now a problem in one part of the world
affects all the rest), the dependence of millions of us on modern medicine
for our survival, and our much larger human population. Perhaps we can
still learn from the past, but only if we think carefully about its lessons. Questions 27-29
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.
27 When the writer describes the impact of monumental ruins today, he emphasizes
A the income they generate from tourism.
B the area of land they occupy.
C their archaeological value.
D their romantic appeal.
28 Recent findings concerning vanished civilisations
A have overturned long-held beliefs. lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981
B caused controversy amongst scientists.
C come from a variety of disciplines.
D identified one main cause of environmental damage.
29 What does the writer say about ways in which former societies collapsed?
A The pace of decline was usually similar.
B The likelihood of collapse would have been foreseeable.
C Deterioration invariably led to total collapse.
D Individual citizens could sometimes influence the course of events. Questions 30-34
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage? Write YES
if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer NO
if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this 30
It is widely believed that environmental problems represent the main
danger faced by the modern world. 31
The accumulation of poisonous substances is a relatively modern problem. 32
There is general agreement that the threats posed by environmental problems are very serious. 33
Some past societies resembled present-day societies more closely than others. 34
We should be careful when drawing comparisons between past and present. Questions 35-39
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below.
Write the correct letter, A-F
35 Evidence of the greatness of some former civilisations
36 The parallel between an individual’s life and the life of a society lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981
37 The number of environmental problems that societies face
38 The power of technology
39 A consideration of historical events and trends
A is not necessarily valid.
B provides grounds for an optimistic outlook.
C exists in the form of physical structures.
D is potentially both positive and negative.
E will not provide direct solutions for present problems. F is greater now than in the past. Question 40
Choose the correct letter A, B, D or D
40 What is the main argument of Reading Passage 3? A
There are differences as well as similarities between past and present societies. B
More should be done to preserve the physical remains of earlies civilisations. C
Some historical accounts of great civilisations are inaccurate. D
Modern societies are dependent on each other for their continuing survival. lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981 Passage 1 Passage 2 Passage 3 1. E 14. presentation 27. D 2. D 15. (daily) routine 28. C 3. C 16. cultures 29. A 4. A 17. E 30. YES 5. F 18. D 31. YES 6. D 19. F 32. NO 7. B 20. D 21. C 33. NOT GIVEN 8. G 22. D 34. YES 9. NO 23. A 24. E 35. C 10. YES 25. B 36. A 11. NO 26. 37. F 12. C YES 38. D 39. 13. E NOT GIVEN 40. A lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981 READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below. Otter A
Otters have long, thin bodies and short legs – ideal for pushing through
dense undergrowth or hunting in tunnels. An adult male may be up to 4
feet long and 30lbs. Females are smaller typically. The Eurasian otter’s
nose is about the smallest among the otter species and has a
characteristic shape described as a shallow ‘W’. An otter’s tail (or rudder,
or stern) is stout at the base and tapers towards the tip where it flattens.
This forms part of the propulsion unit when swimming fast underwater.
Otter fur consists of two types of hair: stout guard hairs which form a
waterproof outer covering, and under-fur which is dense and fine,
equivalent to an otter’s thermal underwear. The fur must be kept in good
condition by grooming. Seawater reduces the waterproofing and insulating
qualities of otter fur when saltwater in the fur. This is why freshwater pools
are important to otters living on the coast. After swimming, they wash the
salts off in pools and the squirm on the ground to rub dry against vegetation. B
The scent is used for hunting on land, for communication and for detecting
danger. Otterine sense of smell is likely to be similar in sensitivity to dogs.
Otters have small eyes and are probably short-sighted on land. But they
do have the ability to modify the shape of the lens in the eye to make it
more spherical, and hence overcome the refraction of water. In clear water
and good light, otters can hunt fish by sight. The otter’s eyes and nostrils
are placed high on its head so that it can see and breathe even when the
rest of the body is submerged. Underwater, the cotter holds its legs against
the body, except for steering, and the hind end of the body is flexed in a
series of vertical undulations. River otters have webbing which extends for
much of the length of each digit, though not to the very end. lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981
Giant otters and sea otters have even more prominent webs, while the
Asian short-clawed otter has no webbing – they hunt for shrimps in ditches
and paddy fields so they don’t need the swimming speed. Otter’s ears are
tiny for streamlining, but they still have very sensitive hearing and are
protected by valves which close them against water pressure. C
A number of constraints and preferences limit suitable habitats of otters.
Water is a must and the rivers must be large enough to support a healthy
population of fish. Being such shy and wary creatures, they will prefer
territories where man’s activities do not impinge greatly. Of course, there
must also be no other otter already in residence – this has only become
significant again recently as populations start to recover. Coastal otters
have a much more abundant food supply and range for males and females
may be just a few kilometres of coastline. Because male range overlaps
with two or three females – not bad! Otters will eat anything that they can
get hold of – there are records of sparrows and snakes and slugs being
gobbled. Apart from fish, the most common prey are crayfish, crabs and
water birds. Small mammals are occasionally taken, most commonly
rabbits but sometimes even moles. D
Eurasian otters will breed any time where food is readily available. In
places where the condition is more severe, Sweden for example where
the lakes are frozen for much of winter, cubs are born in spring. This
ensures that they are well grown before severe weather returns. In the
Shetlands, cubs are born in summer when fish is more abundant. Though
otters can breed every year, some do not. Again, this depends on food
availability. Other factors such as food range and quality of the female may
have an effect. Gestation for Eurasian otter is 63 days, with the exception
of Lutra canadensis whose embryos may undergo delayed implantation.
Otters normally give birth in more secure dens to avoid disturbances.
Nests are lined with bedding to keep the cub’s warm mummy is away feeding. E
Otters normally give birth in more secure dens to avoid disturbances.
Nests are lined with bedding (reeds, waterside plants, grass) to keep the
cub’s warm while is away feeding. Litter Size varies between 1 and 5. For
some unknown reason, coastal otters tend to produce smaller litters. At
five weeks they open their eyes – a tiny cub of 700g. At seven weeks lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981
they’re weaned onto solid food. At ten weeks they leave the nest, blinking
into daylight for the first time. After three months they finally meet the water
and learn to swim. After eight months they are hunting, though the mother
still provides a lot of food herself. Finally, after nine months she can chase
them all away with a clear conscience, and relax – until the next fella shows up. F
The plight of the British otter was recognised in the early 60s, but it wasn’t
until the late 70s that the chief cause was discovered. Pesticides, such as
dieldrin and aldrin, were first used in1955 in agriculture and other
industries – these chemicals are very persistent and had already been
recognised as the cause of huge declines in the population of peregrine
falcons, sparrow hawks and other predators. The pesticides entered the
river systems and the food chain – micro-organisms, fish and finally otters,
with every step increasing the concentration of the chemicals. From 1962
the chemicals were phased out, but while some species recovered quickly,
otter numbers did not – and continued to fall into the 80s. This was
probably due mainly to habitat destruction and road deaths. Acting on
populations fragmented by the sudden decimation in the 50s and 60s, the
loss of just a handful of otters in one area can make an entire population unviable and spell the end. G
Otter numbers are recovering all around Britain – populations are growing
again in the few areas where they had remained and have expanded from
those areas into the rest of the country. This is almost entirely due to
legislation, conservation efforts, slowing down and reversing the
destruction of suitable otter habitat and reintroductions from captive
breeding programs. Releasing captive-bred otters is seen by many as a
last resort. The argument runs that where there is no suitable habitat for
them they will not survive after release and where there is suitable habitat,
natural populations should be able to expand into the area. However,
reintroducing animals into a fragmented and fragile population may add
just enough impetus for it to stabilise and expand, rather than die out. This
is what the Otter Trust accomplished in Norfolk, where the otter population
may have been as low as twenty animals at the beginning of the 1980s.
The Otter Trust has now finished its captive breeding program entirely,
great news because it means it is no longer needed. lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981 Questions 1-9
The reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-G
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-G, in boxes 1-9 on your answer sheet. NB
You may use any letter more than once.
1 A description of how otters regulate vision underwater
2 The fit-for-purpose characteristics of otter’s body shape
3 A reference to an underdeveloped sense
4 An explanation of why agriculture failed in otter conservation efforts
5 A description of some of the otter’s social characteristics
6 A description of how baby otters grow
7 The conflicting opinions on how to preserve
8 A reference to the legislative act
9 An explanation of how otters compensate for heat loss Questions 10-13 Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer
10 What affects the outer fur of otters?
11 What skill is not necessary for Asian short-clawed otters?
12 Which type of otters has the shortest range?
13 Which type of animals do otters hunt occasionally? READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26 which are based on Reading Passage 2 below. BIRD MIGRATION 2 A lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981
Birds have many unique design features that enable them to perform such
amazing feats of endurance. They are equipped with lightweight, hollow
bones, intricately designed feathers providing both lift and thrust for rapid
flight, navigation systems superior to any that man has developed, and an
ingenious heat conserving design that, among other things, concentrates
all blood circulation beneath layers of warm, waterproof plumage, leaving
them fit to face life in the harshest of climates. Their respiratory systems
have to perform efficiently during sustained flights at altitude, so they have
a system of extracting oxygen from their lungs that far exceeds that of any
other animal. During the later stages of the summer breeding season,
when food is plentiful, their bodies are able to accumulate considerable
layers of fat, in order to provide sufficient energy for their long migratory flights. B
The fundamental reason that birds migrate is to find adequate food during
the winter months when it is in short supply. This particularly applies to
birds that breed in the temperate and Arctic regions of the Northern
Hemisphere, where food is abundant during the short growing season.
Many species can tolerate cold temperatures if food is plentiful, but when
food is not available they must migrate. However, intriguing questions remain. C
One puzzling fact is that many birds journey much further than would be
necessary just to find food and good weather. Nobody knows, for instance,
why British swallows, which could presumably survive equally well if they
spent the winter in equatorial Africa, instead of several thousands of miles
further to their preferred winter home in South Africa Cape Province.
Another mystery involves the huge migrations performed by arctic terns
and mudflat-feeding shorebirds that breed close to Polar Regions. In
general, the further north a migrant species breeds, the further south it
spends the winter. For arctic terns, this necessitates an annual round trip
of 25,000 miles. Yet, en route to their final destination in farflung southern
latitudes, all these individuals overfly other areas of seemingly suitable
habitat spanning two hemispheres. While we may not fully understand
birds’ reasons for going to particular places, we can marvel at their feats. D lOMoAR cPSD| 40342981
One of the greatest mysteries is how young birds know how to find the
traditional wintering areas without parental guidance. Very few adults
migrate with juveniles in tow, and youngsters may even have little or no
inkling of their parents’ appearance. A familiar example is that of the
cuckoo, which lays its eggs in another species’ nest and never encounters
its young again. It is mind-boggling to consider that, once raised by its host
species, the young cuckoo makes its own way to ancestral wintering
grounds in the tropics before returning single-handedly to northern Europe
the next season to seek out a mate among its own kind. The obvious
implication is that it inherits from its parents an inbuilt route map and
direction-finding capability, as well as a mental image of what another
cuckoo looks like. Yet nobody has the slightest idea as to how this is possible. E
Mounting evidence has confirmed that birds use the positions of the sun
and stars to obtain compass directions. They seem also to be able to
detect the earth’s magnetic field, probably due to having minute crystals
of magnetite in the region of their brains. However, true navigation also
requires an awareness of position and time, especially when lost.
Experiments have shown that after being taken thousands of miles over