PART 1

Questions 1-6. Read the text. Fill in each gap with ONE word. You must use a word which is somewhere in the rest of the text.

The WHO has announced a shocking finding about the air we breathe. It said almost everyone on Earth breathes unhealthy 1. . The WHO's air quality update said that 99 per cent of the world's population breathes air that breaks air quality limits. Researchers looked at data from over 6,000 cities in 117 countries. People living in poorer 2. breathe the unhealthiest air. Millions of 3. die in these countries from pollution-related diseases. The WHO said: "After surviving a pandemic, it is unacceptable to still have 7 million preventable deaths due to air pollution." The WHO stressed the need to move away from fossil fuels. It asked governments to do more to cut air 4. . It wants the world to quickly change to cleaner and healthier energy. It added that high gas prices, energy security, air pollution, and climate change mean the world must use 5. fuels less. The WHO report has many recommendations for change. One of these is the use of clean 6. for cooking, heating and lighting. Another is to "build safe and affordable public transport systems and pedestrian- and cycle-friendly networks".

PART 2

Read the texts 7-14 and the statements A-J. Decide which text matches with the situation described in the statements. Each statement can be used ONCE only. There are TWO extra
statements which you do not need to use. Mark your answers on the answer sheet. Questions 7-14

• A) You would like to book a cruise for 2005 - to enjoy big savings you must book early.
• B) You would like to spend a week on an island holiday.
• C) You would like to travel to France and return 10 days later.
• D) You want to travel to Chine on ferry.
• E) You would like to go to Italy for a long-weekend.
• F) You are travelling to Spain by car and decide it would be best to be across the Channel by early morning.
• G) You would like to take your partner to Paris for a weekend city break.
• H) You would like to go on holiday to Germany taking your car.
• I) You are planning to travel to Sahara Desert.
• J) You would like to have a holiday in Ireland this summer.

PART 3

Questions 15 – 20
Read the text and choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use all of them. You cannot use any heading more than once. Mark your answers on the answer sheet.

The Cultural Significance and Global Adaptability of Rice

I. Rice has long played a central role in cultural traditions. In many Asian countries, rice is part of marriage ceremonies, symbolizing wishes for a large family and prosperity. In India, rice is the first food offered to Buddha, and it is commonly used in offerings at Buddhist temples.

II. Cooking rice is simple. The basic recipe uses two cups of water brought to a boil, then heat is reduced and the pot is covered for 15 to 20 minutes until the water is absorbed. Rice cookers make the process even easier. In many Asian cultures, rice is served with every meal.

III. Rice is the primary source of nutrition for more than half of the world’s population. It is a staple in the national cuisines of countries like Japan, India, Nigeria, and Mexico. In China, the word for rice is the same as the word for food. In Thailand, “eat rice” is a phrase used to call the family to dinner. During the 2008 global rice shortage, some governments controlled rice sales to manage rising prices.

IV. Rice is considered one of the healthiest food choices. It contains no cholesterol and almost no fat. Half a cup of rice has about 100 calories and is rich in folic acid, iron, and zinc. As a carbohydrate, rice is a great source of energy and can positively affect mood. Brown rice is 100% whole grain.

V. Archaeologists believe rice has been cultivated as a food source for nearly 4000 years. It originated in China and was later introduced to India. Today, rice is grown in Peru, Egypt, the United States, and over 90% of it is grown in Asia. It thrives in wet subtropical climates and often requires intensive human and animal labor.

VI.Rice is highly adaptable in global cuisines. In Japan, vinegared rice is combined with raw fish to make sushi. In Mexico, rice is cooked with cumin and tomatoes to create a colorful side dish. In West Africa, jollof rice is served with fried plantain.

List of Headings

A) One product — many dishes

B) Simple to prepare

C) Once local — now global

D) Good for everyone

E) More than food

F) Impossible to grow

G) Synonymous to food

H) Different table manners

PART 4

Read the following text for questions 21 - 29.

Deserts are areas of land where there is almost no rainfall. The land can be rocky or sandy. Most deserts lie in hot zones although some are cold. Also, very hot deserts can be very cold at night. Very little grows in desert lands, although some plants can survive from water beneath the surface.

The animals which live in the desert have learned how to survive. Reptiles, insects, birds and some mammals live in deserts. Camels are mammals which can go for long periods of time without water. Very few people live in deserts. It is difficult to adjust to the hot, dry climate.

Only a fifth of the world's deserts are sand. Sand is made up of very small particles of stone. These particles have worn off rock in time by the wind. The rest of the desert area is stone of some kind, mountains, or various types of dry soil. Stony deserts are called reg. Rocky deserts are called hamada. Not very many people live in desert areas. Some live at oases. These are spots in the desert that have a supply of water. The water comes from deep wells under the sand.

Small towns can grow up around these oases. The residents keep farm animals and grow dates and olives. Nomads are farmers who wander from place to place in the desert. They use camels to travel from one oasis to another. The camels carry all of their possessions. Animals which live in the desert usually go out at night when it is cooler. During the day they stay in the shade. The smaller ones dig burrows to stay in during the hot part of the day. The kangaroo rat does this as well. Reptiles in the desert can stand more heat than mammals. Their skin is waterproof and it helps them keep their body moisture.

Desert animals can go without water for a long time. Some, like the kangaroo rat, get water from plants. Desert birds travel to oases to find water. They can also get water from seeds or insects. Some animals can go for long periods of time without food. The scorpion is on one of these.

Few plants grow in the dry conditions of a desert. Some get their water from deep in the ground with long roots. Some can store water in leaves or stems. Cactus plants store a large amount of water. Some plants don't grow at all when it is dry. When rain appears, they shoot up from the ground. When the land dries up again, the seeds lie dormant. They may sprout after the next rain or it can be many years before this happens.

Many desert areas are getting bigger. People try to use the land for grazing. They can graze it too often and make the land bare. They chop down the trees and hen rain doesn't come droughts occur. The wind blows the soil away. There is nothing to hold the soil in place. Mining can add to the creation of desert land. Governments in many countries are trying to save the land. They plant trees and they provide food for animals so they won't have to graze. They are teaching farmers new ways of farming to help preserve the soil. In summary, deserts are regions with little or no rainfall. They can be sandy or rocky. Most deserts lie in hot climate areas, though some can be in cold zones. Nights in hot deserts are may be cold as well. Not many plants can survive in the dryness of the desert. The ones which do often get their water from deep in the ground.

For questions 21-24, choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D. Mark your answers on the answer sheet.

21. Which of the following is an oasis?

22. Where do desert plants get their water?

23. Which of the following tells why desert areas are getting larger?

24. Nomads …

For questions 25-29, decide if the following statements agree with the information given in the text. Mark your answers on the answer sheet.

25. Deserts may be hot during the day and cool at night.

26. Kangaroo rats dig burrows in the heat of the day.

27. People who live in the desert plans to migrate to mild climates.

28. Grazing leads to desertification.

29. Governments aren’t trying to save the land from desertification.

PART 5
Read the following text for questions 30-35.

Elephants’ Early Warning System

A new study shows that elephants may communicate with other herds through seismic vibrations.

Few sights in nature are as awesome as a six-ton elephant guarding her baby from a hungry predator. Rather than retreat, the threatened mother is likely to launch a mock charge - a terrifying display of ground stomping, ear flapping and frantic screaming designed to frighten off lions and hyenas.

But elephant researchers have discovered that there is more to a mock charge than meets the eye. According to a new study in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (JASA), foot stomping and low-frequency rumbling also generate seismic waves in the ground that can travel nearly 20 miles along the surface of the earth. More astonishing is the discovery that elephants may be able to sense these vibrations and interpret them as warning signals of a distant danger.

'Elephants may be able to detect stress from a herd many miles away,’ says Caitlin O'Connell-Rodwell, an affiliate of the Stanford Centre for Conservation Biology. 'They may be communicating at much farther distances than we thought,’ adds O'Connell- Rodwell, author of the JASA study.

In the early ‘90S, O'Connell-Rodwell began to suspect there was more to long- distance elephant communication than airborne rumblings alone. ‘I started working with elephants in Etosha National Park in 1992,’ she recalls. ‘I was observing them at a drinking hole when I noticed this strange set of behaviours. They would lean forward, pickup one leg and freeze - or begin stomping their feet for no apparent reason.’ She theorized that the elephants were responding to vibrations in the ground from approaching herds. ‘When I returned to the University of California at Davis, I teamed up with my Ph.D. adviser, Lynette Hart, and geophysicist Byron Aranson to find out if there really are seismic communications among elephants,’ she says.

To test the theory that elephants transmit and receive underground messages, O’Connell-Rodwell and her colleagues conducted several experiments with elephants in Africa, India and at a captive elephant facility in Texas, USA. We went to Etosha National Park in Namibia and recorded three acoustic calls commonly made by wild African alephants,’ she says. ‘One is a warning call, another is a greeting and the thirs is the elephant equivalent of ‘Let’s Go!’

The researchers wanted- to find out if elephants would respond to recordings played through the ground; so they installed seismic transmitters at a tourist facility in Zimbabwe where eight trained, young elephants were housed. The idea was to convert audible 'Greetings!', 'Warning!" and "Let's go!" calls into underground seismic waves that an elephant could feel but not hear directly through the air. 'We used a mix of elephant calls, synthesized low-frequency tones, rock music and silence for comparison," says O'Connell-Rodwell. "When the Warning calls were played, one female got so agitated that she bent down and bit the ground,' she notes. 'That's very unusual behaviour for an elephant, but it has been observed in the wild under conditions of extreme agitation. The young female had the same agitated response each time the experiment was repeated.

Researchers also played recorded calls to seven captive males. ‘The bulls reacted too, but their response was much more subtle,’ notes O'Con nell-Rodwell. ‘We think they’re sensing these underground vibrations through their feet,’ she adds. ‘Seismic waves could travel from their toe nails to the ear via bone conduction.’

For questions 30 - 33, fill in the missing information in the numbered spaces. Write no more than ONE WORD and /or A NUMBER for each question.

According to newly published findings, by stomping their feet, elephants tend to send a (30) message to other elephants in the distance. O‘Connell-Rodwell wanted to study elephants further because he witnessed unusual (31) of these giant animals. When warning calls were played in the experiment, an elephant bit the ground, which case was (32) before, but when they had agitated extremely. The scientists hypothesized that elephants use their (33) to detect the vibrations.

For questions 34 - 35, choose the correct answer А, В, C, or D.
34. According to newly published findings

35. The elephants Caitlin saw in 1992 were acting strangely because