READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 – 13, which are based on
Reading Passage 1 below
Bovids
The family of mammals called bovids belongs to the Artiodactyl class, which also
includes giraffes. Bovids are a highly diverse group consisting of 137 species,
some of which are among man’s most important domestic animals.
Bovids are well represented in most parts of Eurasia and the Southeast Asian
islands, but they are by far the most numerous and diverse in the latter. Some
species of bovid are solitary, but others live in large groups with complex social
structures. Although bovids have adapted to a wide range of habitats, from arctic
tundra to deep tropical forest, the majority of species favour open grassland,
scrub, or desert. This diversity of habitat is also matched by great diversity in size
and form: at one extreme is the royal antelope of West Africa, which stands a
mere 25 cm at the shoulder; at the other, the massively built bisons of North
America and Europe, growing to a shoulder height of 2.2 m.
Despite differences in size and appearance, bovids are united by the possession
of certain common features. All species are ruminants, which means that they
retain undigested food in their stomachs and regurgitate it as necessary.
Bovids are almost exclusively herbivorous: plant-eating. Typically, their teeth are
highly modified for browsing and grazing: grass or foliage is cropped with the
upper lip and lower incisors (the upper incisors are usually absent), and then
ground down by the cheek teeth. As well as having cloven, or split, hooves, the
males of all bovid species and the females of most carry horns. Bovid 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 size: the
relatively simple horns of a large Indian buffalo may measure around 4 m from
tip to tip along the outer curve, while the various gazelles have horns with a
variety of elegant curves.
Five groups, or sub-families, may be distinguished: Bovinae, Antelope, Caprinae,
Cephalophinae, and Antilocapridae. The sub-family Bovinae comprises most of
the larger bovids, including the African bongo, nilgai, eland, bison, and cattle.
Unlike most other bovids, they are all non-territorial. The ancestors of the
various species of domestic cattle—banteng, gaur, yak, and water buffalo—are
generally rare and endangered in the wild, while the auroch (the ancestor of the
domestic cattle of Europe) is extinct.
The term ‘antelope’ is not a very precise zoological name—it is used to loosely
describe a number of bovids that have followed different lines of development.
Antelopes are typically long-legged, fast-running species, often with long horns
that may be laid along the back when the animal is in full flight. There are two
main sub-groups of antelope: Hippotraginae, which includes the oryx and the
addax, and Antilopinae, which generally contains slighter and more graceful
animals such as the gazelle and the springbok. Antelopes are mainly grassland
species, but many have adapted to flooded grasslands: pukus, waterbucks, and
lechwes are all good at swimming, usually feeding in deep water, while the
sitatunga has long, splayed hooves that enable it to walk freely on swampy
ground.
The sub-family Caprinae includes the sheep and the goat, together with various
relatives such as the goral and the tahr. Most are woolly or have long hair.
Several species, such as wild goats, chamois, and ibex, are agile cliff- and
mountain-dwellers. Tolerance of extreme conditions is most marked in this
group: Barbary and bighorn sheep have adapted to arid deserts, while Rocky
Mountain sheep survive high up in mountains and musk oxen in arctic tundra.
The duiker of Africa belongs to the Cephalophinae sub-family. It is generally
small and solitary, often living in thick forest. Although mainly feeding on grass
and leaves, some duikers—unlike most other bovids—are believed to eat insects,
feed on dead animal carcasses, and even kill small animals.
The pronghorn is the sole survivor of a New World sub-family of herbivorous
ruminants, the Antilocapridae, in North America. It is similar in appearance and
habits to the Old World antelope. Although greatly reduced in numbers since the
arrival of Europeans and the subsequent enclosure of grasslands, the pronghorn
is still found in considerable numbers throughout North America, from
Washington State to Mexico. When alarmed by the approach of wolves or other
predators, hairs on the pronghorn’s rump stand erect, thus showing and
emphasising the white patch there. At this signal, the whole herd gallops off at
speeds of over 60 km per hour.
Questions 1-3
Choose the correct letter, A. B. C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 1 -3 on your answer sheet.
1. In which region is the biggest range of bovids to be found?
A. Africa
B. Eurasia
C. North America
D. South-east Asia
2. Most bovids have a preference for living in
A. isolation
B. small groups
C. tropical forest
D. wide open spaces
3. Which of the following features do all bovids have in common?
A. Their horns are shot
B. They have upper incisors
C. They store food in the body
D. Their hooves are undivided
Questions 4-8
Look at the following characteristics (Question 4-8) and the list of sub-families
below. Match each characteristic with the correct sub-family, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter, A, B, C or D, in boxes 4-8 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once
4. can endure very harsh environments
5. includes the ox and the cow
6. may supplement its diet with meat
7. can usually move at speed
8. does not defend a particular area of land
List of sub-families
A. Antelope
B. Bovinae
C. Caprinae
D. Cephalophinae
Question 9-13
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer. Write
your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet
9. What is the smallest species of Bovid called?
10. Which species of Boviae has now died out?
11. What facilitates the movement of the sitatunga over wetland?
12. What sort of terrain do barbary sheep live in?
13. What is the only living member of the Antilocapridae sub-family?
READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14 – 26, which are based on
Reading Passage 2 below
Twin study: Two of a kind
A
The scientific study of twins goes back to the late 19th century, when Francis
Galton, an early geneticist, realized that they came in two varieties: identical
twins born from one egg and non-identical twins that came from two. That
insight turned out to be key, although it was not until 1924 that it was used to
formulate what is known 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 (that is, more likely to be jointly present or absent) in identical twins
than in non-identical twins—and, in turn, will be more concordant in non-
identical twins than in non-siblings. Early work, for example, showed that the
statistical correlation of skin mole counts between identical twins was 0.4, while
non-identical twins had a correlation of only 0.2. (A score of 1.0 implies perfect
correlation, while a score of zero implies no correlation.) 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.
C
Twin research has shown that whether or not someone takes up smoking is
determined mainly by environmental factors, but once he does so, how much he
smokes is largely down to his genes. And 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 anxiety to thrill- and
novelty-seeking all have large genetic components. Parenting matters, but it does
not determine personality in the way that some had thought.
D
More importantly, perhaps, twin studies are helping the understanding of
diseases such as cancer, asthma, osteoporosis, arthritis, and immune disorders.
And twins can be used, within ethical limits, for medical experiments. A study
that administered vitamin C 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. However, for the
most part, the age-old dichotomy between nature and nurture is not very useful.
Many genetic programs are open to input from the environment, and genes are
frequently switched on or off by environmental signals. It is also possible that
genes themselves influence their environment. Some humans have an innate
preference for participation in sports. Others are drawn to novelty. Might people
also be drawn to certain kinds of friends and types of experience? In this way, a
person’s genes might shape the environment they act in as much as the
environment shapes the actions of the genes.
E
In the past, such research has been controversial. Josef Mengele, a Nazi doctor
working at the Auschwitz extermination camp during the Second World War,
was fascinated by twins. He sought them out among arrivals at the camp and
preserved them from the gas chambers for a series of brutal experiments. After
the war, Cyril Burt, a British psychologist who worked on the heredity of
intelligence, tainted twin research with results that appear, in retrospect, to have
been rather too good. Some of his data on identical twins who had been reared
apart were probably faked. In any case, the prevailing ideology in the social
sciences after the war was Marxist and disliked suggestions that differences in
human potential might have underlying genetic causes. Twin studies were thus
viewed with suspicion.
F
The ideological pendulum has swung back, however, as the Human Genome
Project and its aftermath have turned genes from abstract concepts to real pieces
of DNA. The role of genes in sensitive areas such as intelligence is acknowledged
by all but a few die-hards. The interesting questions 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 ask these
questions, are back 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
1979. Gradually, news spread, and more scientists began turning up. This year,
half a dozen groups of researchers were lodged in a specially pitched research
tent. In one corner of this tent, Paul Breslin, who works at the Monell Institute in
Philadelphia, watched over several tables where twins sat sipping clear liquids
from cups and making notes. It was the team’s third year at Twinsburg. Dr.
Breslin and his colleagues want to find out how genes influence human
perception, particularly the senses of smell and taste, and those (warmth, cold,
pain, tingle, itch, and so on) that result from stimulation of the skin. Perception is
an example of something that is probably influenced by both genes and
experience. Even before birth, people are exposed 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 exposure shapes taste
perception, there is evidence that it shapes preferences for foods encountered
later in life.
H
However, there are clearly genetic influences at work as well—for example, in
the ability to taste quinine. Some people experience this as intensely bitter, even
when it is present at very low levels. Others, whose genetic endowment is
different, are less bothered by it. Twin studies make this extremely clear. Within
a pair of identical twins, either both or neither will find quinine hard to swallow.
Non-identical twins will agree less frequently.
I
On the other side of the tent, Dennis Drayna, from the National Institute on
Deafness and Other Communication Disorders in Maryland, was studying
hearing. He wants to know what happens to sounds after they reach the ear. It is
not clear, he says, whether sound is processed into sensation mostly in the ear or
in the brain. Dr. Drayna has already been involved in a twin study which revealed
that the perception of musical pitch is highly heritable. At Twinsburg, he is
playing different words, or parts of words, into the left and right ears of his
twinned volunteers. The composite of the two sounds that an individual reports
hearing depends on how he processes this diverse information, and that, Dr.
Drayna believes, may well be influenced by genetics.
J
Elsewhere in the marquee, Peter Miraldi of Kent State University in Ohio was
trying to find out whether genes affect an individual’s motivation to
communicate with others. A number of twin studies have shown that personality
and sociability are heritable, so he thinks this is fertile ground. And next to Mr.
Miraldi was a team of dermatologists from Case Western Reserve University in
Cleveland. They are looking at the development of skin diseases and male-
pattern baldness. The goal of the latter piece of research is to find the genes
responsible for making men’s hair fall out.
K
The busiest part of the tent, however, was the queue for forensic science research
into fingerprints. The origins of this study are shrouded in mystery. For many
months, the festival’s organisers have been convinced that the Secret Service—
the American government agency responsible for, among other things, the safety
of the president—is behind it. When The Economist contacted the Secret Service
for more information, we were referred to Steve Nash, who is chairman of the
International Association for Identification (IAI), and is also a detective in the
scientific investigations section of the Marin County Sheriff’s Office in California.
The IAI, based in Minnesota, is an organisation of forensic scientists from around
the world. Among other things, it publishes the Journal of Forensic Identification.
Questions 14-18
The reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-K.
Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter A-K,
in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
14. Mentioned research conducted in Ohio
15. Medical contribution to the researches for twins.
16. Research situation under life threatening conditions
17. Data of similarities of identical twins
18. Reasons that make one study unconvincing
Questions 19-20
Summary
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage 2 , using
no more than two words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your
answers in boxes 19-20 on your answer sheet.
The first one that conducted research on twins is called ………………..
19………………… He separated twins into two categories: non identical and
identical twins. The twin research was used in medical application in as early as
the year of………………………………… 20………………
Questions 21-23
Choose the correct letters in following options:
Write your answers in boxes 21-23 on your answer sheet.
Please choose THREE research fields that had been carried out in Ohio,
Maryland and Twinsburgh?
A. Sense
B. Cancer
C. Be allergic to Vitamin D
D. Mole heredity
E. Sound
F. Boldness of men
Questions 24-26
Choose the correct letters in following options:
Write your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.
Please choose THREE results that had been verified in this passage.
A. Non identical twins come from different eggs.
B. Genetic relation between identical twins is closer than non-identical ones.
C. Vitamin C has evident effect on a cold.
D. Genetic influence to smoking is superior to environment’s.
E. If a pregnant woman eats too much sweet, it would lead to skin disease.
F. Hair loss has been found to be connected with skin problem.
READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading
Passage 3 below
The significant role of mother tongue language in education
One consequence of population mobility is an increasing diversity within schools.
To illustrate, in the city of Toronto in Canada, 58% of kindergarten pupils come
from homes where English is not the language of communication. Schools in
Europe and North America have experienced this diversity for years, but
educational policies and practices vary widely between countries—and even
within countries. Some political parties and groups search for ways to solve the
"problem" of diverse communities and their integration into schools and society.
They see few positive consequences for the host society and worry that diversity
threatens the identity of the host society. Consequently, they promote
unfortunate educational policies aimed at making the “problem” disappear. If
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 policymakers is to shape the evolution of
national identity in such a way that the rights of all citizens (including
schoolchildren) are respected, and the cultural, linguistic, and economic
resources of the nation are maximized. To waste these resources by discouraging
children from developing their mother tongues is, quite simply, unintelligent
from the point of view of national self-interest. A first step in providing an
appropriate education for culturally and linguistically diverse children is to
examine what existing research says about the role of children’s mother tongues
in their educational development.
In fact, the research is very clear. When children continue to develop their
abilities in two or more languages throughout their primary school years, they
gain a deeper understanding of language and how to use it effectively. They get
more practice in processing language, especially when they develop literacy in
both. More than 150 research studies conducted over the past 35 years strongly
support what Goethe, the famous eighteenth-century German philosopher, once
said: that the person who knows only one language does not truly know that
language. Research also suggests that bilingual children may develop greater
flexibility in their thinking as a result of processing information through two
different languages.
The level of development in children’s mother tongue is a strong predictor of
their second language development. Children who come to school with a solid
foundation in their mother tongue develop stronger literacy abilities in the
school language. When parents and other caregivers (e.g., grandparents) are able
to spend time with their children—telling stories or discussing issues in ways
that develop the mother tongue—children come to school well-prepared to learn
the school language and succeed academically. Children’s knowledge and skills
transfer across languages from the mother tongue to the school language. This
transfer can be two-way: both languages nurture each other when the
educational environment allows children access to both.
Some educators and parents are suspicious of mother tongue–based teaching
programs because they worry these take time away from the majority language.
For example, in a bilingual program where 50% of the time is spent teaching in
children’s home language and 50% in the majority language, some fear that
children won’t progress as far in the latter. However, one of the most strongly
established findings of educational research is that well-implemented bilingual
programs can promote literacy and subject-matter knowledge in a minority
language without any negative effects on children’s development in the majority
language. Within Europe, the Foyer program in Belgium, which develops
children’s speaking and literacy abilities in three languages (their mother tongue,
Dutch, and French), clearly illustrates the benefits of bilingual and trilingual
education (see Cummins, 2000).
It is easy to understand how this happens. When children are learning through a
minority language, they are also learning concepts and intellectual skills. Pupils
who know how to tell the time in their mother tongue already understand the
concept of telling time. In order to tell time in the majority language, they do not
need to relearn the concept. Similarly, at more advanced stages, there is transfer
across languages in skills such as identifying the main idea versus supporting
details in a written passage or distinguishing fact from opinion. Studies of
secondary school pupils are providing interesting findings in this area, and it
would be worth extending this research.
Many people marvel at how quickly bilingual children seem to “pick up”
conversational skills in the majority language at school (although it takes much
longer for them to catch up to native speakers in academic language skills).
However, educators are often much less aware of how quickly children can lose
their ability to use their mother tongue, even within the home. The extent and
rapidity of language loss vary depending on the concentration of families from a
particular linguistic group in the neighborhood. Where the mother tongue is used
extensively in the community, language loss among young children is less likely.
However, where language communities are not concentrated, children can lose
the ability to communicate in their mother tongue within two to three years of
starting school. They may retain receptive skills in the language, but will use the
majority language to speak with their peers and siblings and to respond to their
parents. By the time they become adolescents, this linguistic division between
parents and children may have deepened into an emotional chasm. Pupils often
become alienated from both the culture of home and the culture of school, with
predictable consequences.
Questions 27-30
Choose the correct letter, A，B，C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.
27. What point the writer making in the second paragraph?
A. Some present studies on children’s mother tongues are misleading
B. A culturally rich education programme benefits some children more than
others.
C. Bilingual children can make a valuable contribution to the wealth of a
country
D. The law on mother tongue use at school should be strengthened.
28. Why does the writer refer to something that Goethe said?
A. to lend weight his argument
B. to contradict some research
C. to introduce a new concept
D. to update current thinking
29. The writer believes that when young children have a firm grasp of their
mother tongue
A. they can teach older family members what they learn at school
B. they go on to do much better throughout their time at school
C. they can read stories about their cultural background
D. they develop stronger relationships with their family than with their
peers.
30. Why are some people suspicious about mother tongue-based teaching
programmes?
A. They worry that children will be slow to learn to read in either language
B. They think that children will confuse words in the two languages.
C. They believe that the programmes will make children less interested in
their lessons
D. They fear that the programmes will use up valuable time in the school day.
Questions 31-35
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage using no
more than Two words from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 31-35 on your answer sheet.
Bilingual children
It was often recorded that Bilingual Children acquire the 31 …………………………
to converse in the majority language remarkable quickly. The fact that the
mother tongue can disappear at a similar 32……………………………………. is less well
understood. This phenomenon depends to a certain extent, on the proposition of
people with the same linguistic background that have settled in a particular
33 ………………………………..; If this is limited, children are likely to lose the active
use of their mother tongue. And thus no longer employ it even with
34………………………………. although they may still understand it. It follows that
teenager children in these circumstances experience a sense of
35……………………………………………. in relation to all aspects of their lives.
A Teachers B school C dislocation
D Rate E time F family
G communication H type I ability
J Area
Questions 36-40
Do the following statement 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 with the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
36. Less than half the children who attend kindergarten in Toronto have English
as their Mother tongue.
37. Research proves that learning the host country language at school can have
an adverse effect on a child’s mother tongue.
38. The foyer Program is to be accepted by the French education system.
39. Bilingual children are taught to tell the time earlier than monolingual
children.
40. Bilingual children can eventually apply reading comprehension strategies
acquired in one language when reading in the other.
