Academic Reading Reading 60 minutes READING PASSAGE 1 You should spend spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 – 13, 13, which are based on Reading Reading Passage 1 below below
Bovids The fam family ily of mam mammal malss cal called led bov bovids ids be belon longs gs to the rtiodact rtiodactyl yl cla class, ss, which also includes giraffes! "ovids are highly diverse group consisting of 1#$ species, some of which are man%s most important domestic animals! "ovids are well represented in most parts of &urasia and 'outheast sian islands, but they are by far the most numerous and diverse in the latter! 'ome species of bovid are solitary, but others live in large groups with comple( social structures! lthough bovids have adapted to a wide range of habitats, habi tats, from arcti arcticc tundra to deep tropical tropical forest, the ma)ority of speci species es favour open grassland, scrub or desert! This diversity of habitat is also matched by great diversity in si*e and form+ at one e(treme is the royal antelope of est frica, which stands a mere 2- cm at the shoulder. at the other, the massively built bisons of /orth merica and &urope, growing to a shoulder height of 2!2m! espit esp itee di diff ffer eren ence cess in si si*e *e an and d ap appe pear aran ance ce,, bo bovi vids ds ar aree un unit ited ed by th thee possession of certain common features! ll species are ruminants, which means that they retain undigested food in their stomachs, st omachs, and regurgitate it as necessary! "ovids are alm "ovids almost ost e(c e(clusi lusivel vely y her herbiv bivorou orous+ s+ pla plant ntea eatin ting! g! Typ Typica ically lly the their ir teeth are highly modified for browsing and gra*ing+ grass or foliage is cropped with the upper lip and lower incisors 3the upper incisors are usually absent4, and then ground down by the chee5 teeth! s well as having cloven, or split, hooves, the males of ail bovid species and the females of most carry horns! "ovid horns have bony cores covered in a sheath of horny material that is constantly renewed from within. they are unbranched and never shed! They vary in shape and si*e+ the relatively simple horns of a large ndian buffalo may measure around 7 m from tip to tip along the outer curve, while the various ga*elles have horns with a
incisors+ front teeth herbivorous variety of elegant curves! 8ive groups, or subfamilies, may be distinguished+ "ovinae, ntelope, 9aprinae, 9ephalophinae and ntilocapridae! The subfamily "ovinae comprises most of the larger bovids, including the frican bongo, and nilgae, eland, bison and cattle! :nli5e most other bovids they are all non territorial! The ancestors of the various species of domestic cattle banteng, gaur, ya5 and water buffalo are generally rare and endangered in the wild, while the auroch 3the ancestor of the domestic cattle of &urope4 is e(tin The term ;antelope 1 is not a very precise *oological name it is used to loosely describe a number of bovids that have followed different lines of development! ntelopes are typically longlegged, fastrunning species, often with long horns that may be laid along the bac5 when the animal is in full flight! There are two main subgroups antelope+
unli5e most other bovids are believed to eat insects and feed on dead animal carcasses, and even to 5ill small animals! The pronghorn is the sole survivor of a /ew orld subfamily of herbivorous ruminants, the ntilocapridae in /orth merica! t is similar in appearance and habits to the ?ld orld antelope! lthough greatly reduced in numbers since the arrival of &uropeans, and the subse@uent
enclosure of grasslands, the pronghorn is still found in considerable numbers throughout /orth merica, from ashington 'tate to =e(ico! hen alarmed by the approach of wolves or other predators, hairs on the pronghorn%s rump stand erect, so showing and emphasising the white patch there! t this signal, the whole herd gallops off at speed of over 60 5m per hour! Questions 1-3 9hoose the correct letter, ! "! 9 or ! rite the correct letter in bo(es 1 # on your answer sheet! 1! n which region is the biggest range of bovids to be foundA frica " &urasia 9 /orth merica 'outheast sia 2! =ost bovids have a preference for living in isolation " small groups 9 tropical forest wide open spaces #! hich of the following features do all bovids have in commonA Their horns are shot " They have upper incisors
9 They store food in the body Their hooves are undivided Questions 4-8 Boo5 at the following characteristics 3Cuestion 7D4 and the list of sub families below! =atch each characteristic with the correct subfamily, , ", 9 or ! rite the correct letter, , ", 9 or , in bo(es 7D on your answer sheet! /" You may use any letter more than once 7! can endure very harsh environments -! includes the o( and the cow 6! may supplement its diet with meat $! can usually move at speed D! does not defend a particular area of land ist o! su"-!ami#ies ntelope " "ovinae 9 9aprinae 9ephalophinae
Question $-13 nswer the @uestions below!
9hoose /? =?R& T</ T
READING PASSAGE %
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14 – %&, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below '(in stud)* '(o o! a +ind A T<& scientific study of twins goes bac5 to the late 1Eth century, when 8rancis Falton, an early geneticist, reali*ed that they came in two varieties+ identical twins born from one egg and nonidentical twins that had come from two! That insight turned out to be 5ey, although it was not until 1E27 that it was used to formulate what is 5nown as the twin rule of pathology, and twin studies really got going! B The twin rule of pathology states that any heritable disease will be more concordant 3that is, more li5ely to be )ointly present or absent4 in identical twins than in nonidentical twinsGand, in turn, will be more concordant in nonidentical twins than in nonsiblings! &arly wor5, for e(ample, showed that the statistical correlation of s5inmole counts between identical twins was 0!7, while nonidentical twins had a correlation of only 0!2! 3 score of 1!0 implies perfect correlation, while a score of *ero implies no correlation!4 This result suggests that moles are heritable, but it also implies that there is
an environmental component to the development of moles, otherwise the correlation in identical twins would be close to 1!0! , Twin research has shown that whether or not someone ta5es up smo5ing is determined mainly by environmental factors, but once he does so, how much he smo5es is largely down to his genes! nd while a person%s religion is clearly a cultural attribute, there is a strong genetic component to religious fundamentalism! Twin studies are also unraveling the heritability of various aspects of human personality! Traits from neuroticism and an(iety to thrill and noveltysee5ing all have large genetic components! Parenting matters, but it does not determine personality in the way that some had thought! D =ore importantly, perhaps, twin studies are helping the understanding of diseases such as cancer, asthma, osteoporosis, arthritis and immune disorders! nd twins can be used, within ethical limits, for medical e(periments! study that administered vitamin 9 to one twin and a placebo to the other found that it had no effect on the common cold! The lesson from all today%s twin studies is that most human traits are at least partially influenced by genes!
to real pieces of /! The role of genes in sensitive areas such as intelligence is ac5nowledged by all but a few diehards! The interesting @uestions now concern how nature and nurture interact to produce particular bits of biology, rather than which of the two is more important! Twin studies, which are a good way to as5 these @uestions, are bac5 in fashion, and many twins are enthusiastic participants in this research! G Research at the Twinsburg festival began in a small way, with a single stand in 1E$E! Fradually, news spread, and more scientists began turning up! This year, half a do*en groups of researchers were lodged in a specially pitched research tent! n one comer of this tent, Paul "reslin, who wor5s at the =onell nstitute in Philadelphia, watched over several tables where twins sat sipping clear li@uids from cups and ma5ing notes! t was the team%s third year at Twinsburg! r "reslin and his colleagues want to find out how genes influence human perception, particularly the senses of smell and taste and those 3warmth, cold, pain, tingle, itch and so on4 that result from stimulation of the s5in! Perception is an e(ample of something that is probably influenced by both genes and e(perience! &ven before birth, people are e(posed to flavours such as chocolate, garlic, mint and vanilla that pass intact into the bloodstream, and thus to the fetus! Though it is not yet clear whether such prenatal e(posure shapes tasteperception, there is evidence that it shapes preferences for foods encountered later in life! .
/ &lsewhere in the mar@uee, Peter =iraldi, of Ient 'tate :niversity in ?hio, was trying to find out whether genes affect an individual%s motivation to communicate with others! number of twin studies have shown that personality and sociability are heritable, so he thin5s this is fertile ground! nd ne(t to =r! =iraldi was a team of dermatologists from 9ase estern Reserve :niversity in 9leveland! They are loo5ing at the development of s5in diseases and malepattern baldness! The goal of the latter piece of research is to find the genes responsible for ma5ing men%s hair fall out! 0 The busiest part of the tent, however, was the @ueue for forensicscience research into fingerprints! The origins of this study are shrouded in mystery! 8or many months, the festivalJ%s organisers have been convinced that the 'ecret 'ervice > the merican government agency responsible for, among other things, the safety of the president > is behind it! hen The &conomist contacted the 'ecret 'ervice for more information, we were referred to 'teve /ash, who is chairman of the nternational ssociation for dentification 34, and is also a detective in the scientific investigations section of the =arin 9ounty 'heriff%s ?ffice in 9alifornia! The , based in =innesota, is an organisation of forensic scientists from around the world! mong other things, it publishes the Hournal of 8orensic dentification! Questions 14-18 The reading Passage has seven paragraphs I! hich paragraph contains the following informationA rite the correct letter I, in bo(es 171D on your answer sheet! /" You may use any letter more than once! 17! =entioned research conducted in ?hio 1-! =edical contribution to the researches for twins! 16! Research situation under life threatening conditions 1$! ata of similarities of identical twins 1D! Reasons that ma5e one study unconvincing
Questions 1$-% Summa2) 9omplete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage 2 , using no more than two words from the Reading Passage for each answer! rite your answers in bo(es 1E20 on your answer sheet! The first one that conducted research on twins is called KKKKKK!! 1EKKKKKKK
rite your answers in bo(es 2726 on your answer sheet! Please choose '.REE results that had been verified in this passage! /on identical twins come from different eggs! " Fenetic relation between identical twins is closer than nonidentical ones! 9 Litamin 9 has evident effect on a cold! Fenetic influence to smo5ing is superior to environment%s! & f a pregnant woman eats too much sweet would lead to s5in disease! 8
READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions %-4, which are based on Reading Passage # below 'e signi!icant 2o#e o! mote2 tongue #anguage in education ?ne conse@uence of population mobility is an increasing diversity within schools! To illustrate, in the city of Toronto in 9anada, -DM of 5indergarten pupils come from homes where &nglish is not language of communication! 'chools in &urope and /orth merica have e(perienced this diversity for years, but educational policies and practices vary widely between countries and even within countries! 'ome political parties and groups search for ways to solve the problem of diverse communities and their integration in schools and society! They see few positive conse@uences for the host society and worry that diversity threaten the identity of the host society! 9onse@uently, they promote unfortunate educational policies that will ma5e the NproblemO disappear! f students retain their culture and language, they are viewed as less capable of identifying with the mainstream culture and learning the mainstream language of the society!
The challenge for educators and policyma5ers is to shape the evolution of national identity in such a way that the rights of all citi*ens 3including school children4 are respected, and the cultural, linguistic, and economic resources of the nation are ma(imi*ed! To waste the resources of the nation by discouraging children from developing their mother tongues is @uite simply unintelligent from the point of view of national selfinterest! first step in providing an appropriate education for culturally and linguistically diverse children is to e(amine what the e(isting research says about the role of children%s mother tongues in their educational development! n fact, the research is very clear! hen children continue to develop their abilities in two or more languages throughout their primary school, they gain a deeper understanding of language and how to use it effectively! They have more practice in processing language, especially when they develop literacy in both! =ore than 1-0 research studies conducted during the past #- years strongly support what Foethe, the famous eighteenthcentury Ferman philosopher, once said : that the person who 5nows only one language does not truly 5now that language! Research suggests that bilingual children may also develop more fle(ibility in their thin5ing as a result of processing information through two different languages! The level of development of children%s mother tongue is a strong predictor of their second language development! 9hildren who come to school with a solid foundation in their mother tongue develop stronger literacy abilities in the school language! hen parents and other caregivers 3e!g! grandparents4 are able to spend time with their children and tell stories or discuss issues with them in a way that develops their mother tongue, children come to school wellprepared to learn the school language and succeed educationally! 9hildren%s 5nowledge and s5ills transfer across languages from the mother tongue to the school language! Transfer across languages can be twoway+ both languages nurture each other when the educational environment permits children access to both languages! 'ome educators and parents are suspicious of mother tonguebased teaching programs because they worry that they ta5e time away from the ma)ority language! 8or e(ample, in a bilingual program where -0M of the time is spent teaching through children%s home language and -0M through the ma)ority language, surely children%s won%t progress as far in the letterA ?ne of the most strongly established findings of educational research, however, is that wellimplemented bilingual programs can promote literacy and sub)ect matter 5nowledge in a minority language without any negative effects on children%s development in the ma)ority language! ithin &urope, the 8oyer program in "elgium, which develops children%s spea5ing and
literacy abilities in three languages 3their mother tongue, utch and 8rench4, most clearly illustrates the benefits of bilingual and trilingual education 3see 9ummins, 20004! t is easy to understand how this happens! hen children are learning through a minority language, they are learning concepts and intellectual s5ills too! Pupils who 5now how to tell the time in their mother tongue understand the concept of telling time! n order to tell time in the ma)ority language they do not need to relearn the concept! 'imilarly, at more advanced stages, there is transfer across languages in other s5ills such as 5nowing how to distinguish the main idea from the supporting details of a written passage or story, and distinguishing fact from opinion, 'tudies of secondary school pupils are providing interesting findings in this area, and it would be worth e(tending this research! =any people marvel at how @uic5ly bilingual children seem to Npic5 upO conversational s5ills in the ma)ority language at school 3although it ta5es much longer for them to catch up to native spea5ers in academic language s5ills4!
'ome present studies on children%s mother tongues are misleading " culturally rich education programme benefits some children more than others! 9 "ilingual children can ma5e a valuable contribution to the wealth of a country The law on mother tongue use at school should be strengthened! 2D! hy does the writer refer to something that Foethe saidA to lend weight his argument " to contradict some research 9 to introduce a new concept to update current thin5ing 2E! The writer believes that when young children have a firm grasp of their mother tongue they can teach older family members what they learn at school " they go on to do much better throughout their time at school 9 they can read stories about their cultural bac5ground they develop stronger relationships with their family than with their peers! #0! hy are some people suspicious about mother tonguebased teaching programmesA They worry that children will be slow to learn to read in either language " They thin5 that children will confuse words in the two languages!
9 They believe that the programmes will ma5e children less interested in their lessons They fear that the programmes will use up valuable time in the school day! Questions 31-35 9omplete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage using no more than Two words from the Reading Passage for each answer! rite your answers in bo(es #1#- on your answer sheet! Bi#ingua# ci#d2en t was often recorded that "ilingual 9hildren ac@uire the #1 KKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! to converse in the ma)ority language remar5able @uic5ly! The fact that the mother tongue can disappear at a similar #2KKKKKKKKKKKKKK! is less well understood! This phenomenon depends to a certain e(tent, on the proposition of people with the same linguistic bac5ground that have settled in a particular ## KKKKKKKKKKKK!!. f this is limited, children are li5ely to lose the active use of their mother tongue! nd thus no longer employ it even with #7KKKKKKKKKKKK! although they may still understand it! t follows that teenager children in these circumstances e(perience a sense of #-KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! in relation to all aspects of their lives! A Teachers B D Rate E G communication . / rea
school time type
, I
dislocation family ability
Questions 3&-4 o the following statement agree with the views of the writer in Reading passage #A n bo(es #670 on your answer sheet, write 6ES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
/? writer /?T FL&/ about this
if the statement contradicts with the views of the
if it is impossible to say what the writer thin5s
#6! Bess than half the children who attend 5indergarten in Toronto have &nglish as their =other tongue! #$! Research proves that learning the host country language at school can have an adverse effect on a child%s mother tongue! #D! The foyer Program is to be accepted by the 8rench education system! #E! "ilingual children are taught to tell the time earlier than monolingual children! 70! "ilingual children can eventually apply reading comprehension strategies ac@uired in one language when reading in the other!
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