Candidate Number

Candidate Name

Academic Reading
SATURDAY 1 hour

Additional materials:

Answer sheet for Listening and Reading

Time 1 hour

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES

Do not open this question paper until you are told to do so.

Write your name and candidate number in the spaces at the top of this page.

Read the instructions for each part of the paper carefully.

Answer all the questions.

Write your answers on the answer sheet. Use a pencil.

You must complete the answer sheet within the time limit.

At the end of the test, hand in both this question paper and your answer sheet.

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

There are 40 questions on this question paper.

Each question carries one mark.

READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Question 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1.

The Wonder Plant

Bamboo is used for a wide range of purposes, but now it seems it may be under threat.

A Every year, during the rainy season, the mountain gorillas of central Africa migrate to the
lower slopes of the Virunga Mountains to graze on bamboo. For the 650 or so that remain in
the wild, it's a vital food source. Without it, says Ian Redmond, chairman of the Ape Alliance,
their chances of survival would be reduced significantly.

Gorillas aren't the only local keen on bamboo. For the people who live close to the Virungas,
it's a valuable and versatile raw material. But in the past 100 years or so, resources have
come under increasing pressure as populations have exploded and large areas of bamboo
forest have been cleared to make way for commercial plantations. Sadly, this isn't an isolated
story. All over the world, the ranges of many bamboo species appear to be shrinking,
endangering the people and animals that depend upon them.

B Despite bamboo's importance, we know surprisingly little about it. A recent report published
by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Network for Bamboo and
Rattan (INBAR) has revealed just how profound our ignorance of global bamboo resources is,
particularly in relation to conservation.

There are almost 1,600 recognised species of bamboo, but the report concentrated on the
1,200 or so woody varieties distinguished by the strong stems, or 'culms', that most people
associate with this versatile plant. Of these, only 38 'priority species' identified for their
commercial value have been the subject of any real scientific research to date.

This problem isn't confined to bamboo. Compared to the work carried out on animals, the
science of assessing the conservation status of plants is still in its infancy. 'People have only
started looking at this during the past 10-15 years, and only now are they understanding how
to go about it systematically,' says Dr Valerie Kapos, one of the report's authors.

C Bamboo tends to grow in 'stands' (or groups) made up of individual plants that grow from roots
known as rhizomes. It is the world's fastest-growing woody plant and some species grow over
a meter in one day. But the plant's ecological role extends beyond providing food for wildlife.
Its rhizome systems, which lie in the top layers of the soil, are crucial in preventing soil
erosion.
And there is growing evidence that bamboo plays an important part in determining forest
structure and dynamics. 'Bamboo's pattern of mass flowering and mass death leaves behind
large areas of dry biomass that attract wildfire,' says Kapos. 'When these burn, they create
patches of open ground far bigger than would be left by a fallen tree. Patchiness helps to
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 preserve diversity because certain plant species do better during the early stages of
regeneration when there are gaps in the canopy.'

D However, bamboo's most immediate significance lies in its economic value. Many countries,
particularly in Asia, are involved in the trade of bamboo products. Modern processing
techniques mean it can be used in a variety of ways, for example as flooring and laminates.
Traditionally it is used in construction, but one of the fastest growing bamboo products is
paper
- 25 per cent of paper produced in India is made from bamboo fibre.

Of course, bamboo's main function has always been in domestic applications, and as a locally
traded product it is worth about US$4.5 billion annually. Bamboo is often the only readily
available raw material for people in many developing countries, says Chris Stapleton, a
research associate at the UK's Royal Botanic Gardens. 'Bamboo can be harvested from forest
areas or grown quickly elsewhere, and then converted simply without expensive machinery or
facilities,' he says. 'In this way, it contributes substantially to poverty alleviation.'

E Keen horticulturists will spot an apparent contradiction in the worrying picture painted by the
UNEP-INBAR report. Those in the West who've followed the recent vogue for cultivating
exotic species in their gardens will point out that, if it isn't kept in check, bamboo can cause
real problems. 'In a lot of places, the people who live with bamboo don't perceive it as being
under threat in any way,' says Kapos. 'In fact, a lot of bamboo species are very invasive if
they've been introduced.' So why are so many species endangered?

There are two separate issues here, says Ray Townsend, arboretum manager at the Royal
Botanic Gardens. 'Some plants are threatened because they can't survive in the habitat - they
aren't strong enough or there aren't enough of them, perhaps. But bamboo can take care of
itself - it's strong enough to survive if left alone. What is under threat is its habitat. When forest
goes, it's converted into something else: then there isn't anywhere for forest plants such as
bamboo to grow.'

F Around the world, bamboo species are routinely protected as part of forest ecosystem in
national parks and reserves, but there is next to nothing that protects bamboo in the wild for
its own sake. The UNEP-INBAR report will help conservationists to establish effective
measures aimed at protecting valuable wild bamboo species.

Townsend, too, sees the UNEP-INBAR report as an important step forward in promoting the
cause of bamboo conservation. 'Until now, bamboo has been perceived as a second-class
plant. When you talk about places like the Amazon, everyone always thinks about hardwoods.
Of course, these are significant but there's a tendency to overlook the plants they are
associated with, which are often bamboo species.'

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Questions 1 - 7

Reading Passage 1 has six sections, A-F.

Which section contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

1 an assessment of current levels of knowledge about bamboo

2 a comparison between bamboo and more fragile plants

3 details of the commercial significance of bamboo

4 a human development that is threatening the availability of bamboo

5 a description of the limited extent of existing research on bamboo

6 examples of the uses to which bamboo is put

7 an explanation of how bamboo may contribute to the survival of range of plants

Questions 8 - 11

Look at the following statements (Questions 8-11) and the list of people below.

Match each statement with the correct person, A-D.

Write the correct letter, A-D, in boxes 9-11 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

8 Some people do not regard bamboo as an endangered plant species.

9 A scarcity of bamboo places certain wildlife under threat.

10 Research methods investigating endangered plants have yet to be fully developed.

11 The greatest danger to bamboo is disturbance of the places it grows in.

List of People

A Ian Redmond

B Valerie Kapos

C Chris Stapleton

D Ray Townsend

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Questions 12 and 13

Answer the questions below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 12 and 13 on your answer sheet.

12 What ecological problem do the roots of bamboo help to control?

13 Which bamboo product is undergoing market expansion?

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READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Question 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2.

Renewable Energy
An insight into the progress in renewable energy research

The race is on for the ultimate goal of renewable energy: electricity production at prices that are
competitive with coal-fired power stations, but without coal's pollution. Some new technologies are
aiming to be the first to push coal from its position as Australia's chief source of electricity.

At the moment the front-runner in renewable energy is wind technology. According to Peter Bergin
of Australian Hydro, one of Australia's leading wind energy companies, there have been no
dramatic changes in windmill design for many years, but the cumulative effects of numerous small
improvements have had a major impact on cost. 'We're reaping the benefits of 30 years of
research in Europe, without having to make the same mistakes that they did,' Mr. Bergin says.

Electricity can be produced from coal at around 4 cents per kilowatt-hour, but only if the
environmental costs are ignored. 'Australia has the second cheapest electricity in the world, and
this makes it difficult for renewable to compete,' says Richard Hunter of the Australian
Ecogeneration Association (AEA). Nevertheless, the AEA reports: 'The production cost of a
kilowatt-hour of wind power is one fifth of what it was 20 years ago,' or around 7 cents per
kilowatt-hour.

Australian Hydro has dozens of wind monitoring stations across Australia as part of its aim to
become Australia's pre-eminent renewable energy company. Despite all these developments, wind
power remains one of the few forms of alternative energy where Australia is nowhere near the
global cutting edge, mostly just replicating European designs.

While wind may currently lead the way, some consider a number of technologies under
development have more potential. In several cases, Australia is at the forefront of global research in
the area. Some of them are very site-specific, ensuring that they may never become dominant
market players. On the other hand, these newer developments are capable of providing more
reliable power, avoiding the major criticism of windmills - the need for back-up on a calm day.

One such development uses hot, dry rocks. Deep beneath South Australia, radiation from elements
contained in granite heats the rocks. Layers of insulating sedimentation raise the temperatures in
some location to 250° centigrade. An Australian firm, Geoenergy, is proposing to pump water 3.5
kilometres into the earth, where it will travel through tiny fissures in the granite, heating up as it
goes, until it escapes as steam through another drilled hole.

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No greenhouse gases are produced, but the system needs some additional features if it is to be
environmentally friendly. Dr Prue Chopra, a geophysicist at the Australian National University and
one of the founders of Geoenergy, note that the steam will bring with it radon gas, along through a
heat exchanger and then sent back underground for another cycle. Technically speaking, hot dry
rocks are not a renewable source of energy. However, the Australian source is so large it could
supply the entire country's needs for thousands of years at current rates of consumption.

Two other proposals for very different ways to harness sun and wind energy have surfaced recently.
Progress continues with Australian company EnviroPower's plans for Australia's first solar chimney
near Mildura, in Victoria. Under this scheme, a tall tower will draw hot air from a greenhouse built to
cover the surrounding 5km2. As the air rises, it will drive a turbine* to produce electricity. The solar
tower combines three very old technologies - the chimney, the turbine and the greenhouse - to
produce something quite new. It is this reliance on proven engineering principles that led
Enviropower's CEO, Richard Davies, to state: 'There is no doubt this technology will work, none at
all.'

This year, Enviropower recognized that the quality of sunlight in the Mildura district will require a
substantially larger collecting area than was previously thought. However, spokesperson Kay Firth
says that a new location closer to Mildura will enable Enviropower to balance the increased costs
with extra revenue. Besides saving in transmission costs, the new site 'will mean increased revenue
from tourism and use of power for telecommunications. We'll also be able to use the outer 500
metres for agribusiness.' Wind speeds closer to the tower will be too high for farming.

Another Australian company, Wavetech, is achieving success with ways of harvesting the energy in
waves. Wavetech's invention uses a curved surface to push waves into a chamber, where the
flowing water column pushes air back and forth through a turbine. Wavetech was created when Dr.
Tim Devine offered the idea to the world leader in wave generator manufacturers, who rather
surprisingly rejected it. Dr. Devine responded by establishing Wavetech, and making a number of
other improvements to generator design. Wavetech claims that, at appropriate sites, 'the cost of
electricity produced with our technology should be below 4 cents per kilowatt-hour.

The diversity of forms of greenhouse -friendly energy under development in Australia is remarkable.
However, support on a national level is disappointing. According to Richard Hunter of the AEA,
'Australia has huge potential for wind, sun and wave technology. We should really be at the
forefront, but the reality is we are a long way behind.'

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Question 14 - 20
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?

In boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

14 In Australia, alternative energies are less expensive than conventional electricity.

15 Geoenergy needs to adapt its system to make it less harmful to the environment.

16 Dr. Prue Chopra has studied the effects of radon gas on the environment.

17 Hot, dry rocks could provide enough power for the whole of Australia.

18 The new Enviropower facility will keep tourists away.

19 Wavetech was established when its founders were turned down by another company.

20 According to the AEA, Australia is a world leader in developing renewable energy.

Question 21 - 26

Look at the following statements (Questions 21-26) and the list of companies below.
Match each statement with the correct company A-D.

Write the correct Jetter, A-D, in boxes 21-26 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

21 During the process, harmful substances are prevented from escaping.

22 Water is used to force air through a special device.

23 Techniques used by other countries are being copied.

24 The system can provide services other than energy production.

25 It is planned to force water deep under the ground.

26 Original estimates for part of the project have been revised.

List of Companies
A Australian Hydro
B Geoenergy
C Enviropower
D Wavetech

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READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which is based on Reading Passage 3.

Inside the mind of a fan

How watching sport affects the brain

A At about the same time that the poet have only watched the Masters'
Homer invented the epic hero, the Tournament on TV, golfing seems easy.
ancient Greeks started a festival in To the novice, however, the skill of
which men competed in a single race, casting a smooth arc with a lop-side
about 200 metres long. The winner metal stick is virtually impossible. This
received a branch of wild olives. The is because most novices swing with
Greeks called this celebration the their consciousness, using an area of
Olympics. Through the ancient sprint brain next to the premotor cortex. To
remains, today the Olympics are far the expert, on the other hand, a
more than that. Indeed, the Games perfectly balanced stroke is second
seem to celebrate the dream of nature. For him, the motor action has
progress as embodied in the human become memorized, and the
form. That the Games are movements are embedded in the
intoxicating to watch is beyond neurons of his premotor cortex. He hits
question. During the Athens the ball with the tranquility of his
Olympics in 2004, 3.4 billion people, perfected autopilot.
half the world, watched them on
television. Certainly, being a C These neurons in the premotor cortex,
spectator is a thrilling experience: but besides explaining why certain athletes
why? seem to possess almost unbelievable
levels of skill, have an even more
B In 1996, three Italian neuroscientists, amazing characteristic, one that caused
Giacomo Rizzolatti, Leonardo Rizzolatti, Fogassi and Gallese to give
Fogassi and Vittorio Gallese, them the lofty title 'mirror neurons'. They
examined the premotor cortex of note, 'The main functional characteristic
monkeys. They discovered that of mirror neurons is that they become
inside these primate brains there active both when the monkey performs
were groups of cells that 'store a particular action (for example,
vocabularies of motor actions'. Just grasping an object or holding it) and,
as there are grammars of movement. astonishingly, when it sees another
These networks of cells are the individual performing a similar action.'
bodily 'sentences' we use every day, Humans have an even more elaborate
the ones our brain has chosen to mirror neuron system. These peculiar
retain and refine. Think, for example, cells mirror, inside the brain, the outside
about a golf swing. To those who world: they enable us to internalise the
actions of another. In order to be
activated, though, these cells require
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 what the scientists call The "motor knowledge" of the
'goal-orientated movements'. If we observer is used to understand the
are staring at a photograph, a fixed observed action.' But mirror neurons
image of a runner mid-stride, our are more than just the neural basis for
mirror neurons are totally silent. They our attitude to sport. It turns out that
only fire when the runner is active: watching a great golfer makes us
running, moving or sprinting. better golfers, and watching a great
sprinter actually makes us run faster.
D What these electrophysiological
This ability to learn by watching is a
studies indicate is that when we
crucial skill. From the acquisition of
watch a golfer or a runner in action,
language as infants to learning facial
the mirror neurons in our own
expressions, mimesis (copying) is an
premotor cortex light up as if we
essential part of being conscious. The
were the ones competing. This
best athletes are those with a
phenomenon of neural mirror was
premotor cortex capable of imagining
first discovered in 1954, when two
the movements of victory, together
French physiologists, Gastaut and
with the physical properties to make
Berf, found that the brains of humans
those movements real.
vibrate with two distinct wavelengths,
alpha and mu. The mu system is
But how many of us regularly watch
involved in neural mirroring. It is
sports in order to be a better athlete?
active when your bodies are still, and
Rather, we watch sport for the feeling,
disappears whenever we do
the human drama. This feeling also
something active, like playing sport
derives from mirror neurons. By letting
or changing the TV channel. The
spectators share in the motions of
surprising fact is that the mu signal is
victory, they also allow us to share in its
also quiet when we watch someone
feelings. This is because they are
else being active, as on TV, these
directly connected to the amygdalae,
results are the effect of mirror
one of the main brain regions involved
neurons.
in emotion. During the Olympics, the
mirror neurons of whole nations will be
E Rizzolatti, Fogassi and Gallese call
electrically identical, their athletes
the idea of mirror neurons the 'direct
causing spectators to feel, just for a
matching hypothesis'. They believe
second or two, the same thing.
that we only understand the
Watching sports brings people
movement of sports stars when we
together. Most of us will never run a
'map the visual representation of the
mile in under four minutes, or hit a
observed action onto our motor
home run. Our consolation comes in
representation of the same action'.
watching, when we gather around the
According to this theory, watching an
TV, we all feel, just for a moment, what
Olympic athlete 'causes the motor
it is to do something perfectly.
system of the observer to resonate.

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Questions 27 - 32
Reading Passage 3 has six paragraphs, A-F.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 27-32 on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

27 an explanation of why watching sport may be emotionally satisfying

28 an explanation of why beginners find sporting tasks difficult

29 a factor that needs to combine with mirroring to attain sporting excellence

30 a comparison of human and animal mirror neurons

31 the first discovery of brain activity related to mirror neurons

32 a claim linking observation to improvement in performance

Questions 33 - 35
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write the correct letter in boxes 33-35 on your answer sheet.

33 The writer uses the term 'grammar of movement' to mean

A a level of sporting skill.

B a system of words about movement.
C a pattern of connected cells.
D a type of golf swing.

34 The writer states that expert players perform their actions

A without conscious thought.

B by planning each phase of movement.
C without regular practice.
D by thinking about the actions of others.

35 The writer states that the most common motive for watching sport is to

A improve personal performance.

B feel linked with people of different nationalities.
C experience strong positive emotions.
D realize what skill consists of.

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Questions 36 - 40
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3?

In boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet, 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

36 Inexpert sports players are too aware of what they are doing.

37 Monkeys have a more complex mirror neuron system than humans.

38 Looking at a photograph can activate mirror neurons.

39 Gastaut and Bert were both researchers and sports players.

40 The mu system is at rest when we are engaged in an activity.

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