Section A
1. W I suppose you’ve bought some gifts for your family.
M Well I’ve bought a shirt for my father and two books for my sister. But I haven’t decided what to buy for my mother probably some jewels.
Q Who did the man buy the books for﹖
2. W Look it says they want a junior sales manager and it seems like it’s a big company. That’ll be good for you might have to travel a lot.
M Do they say anything about the experience﹖
Q What are they talking about﹖
3. W I think we’ve covered everything. What about a cup of coffee before we move onto the next item﹖
M Good idea. I really can’t wait another minute.
Q What does the woman suggest doing﹖
4. W But what happens if it rains. What are we going to do then﹖
M We’ll have to count on good weather. But if it does rain the whole thing will have to be canceled.
Q What do we learn from the conversation﹖
5. W You took an optional course this semester didn’t you﹖ How is it going﹖
M Terrible It seems like the more the professor talks the less I understand.
Q How does the man feel about the course﹖
6. W Mark is playing computer games.
M Should he do that when the final exam is drawing near﹖
Q What does the man think Mark should do﹖
7. M Jack seems to think this year’s basketball season will be disappointing.
W That’s his opinion. Most others think differently.
Q What does the woman mean﹖
8. M Is this the check-in counter for Flight 914 to Los Angeles﹖
M Yes but I’m sorry the flight is delayed because of a minor mechanical problem. Please wait for further notice.
Q What do we learn from this conversation﹖
9. M Excuse me I’d like to place an advertisement for a used car in this Sunday edition of your paper.
W Ok but you have to run your advertisement all week. We can’t quote rates for just Sunday.
Q Where is the conversation most probably taking place﹖
10. M I spend so much time polishing my letter application.
W It’s worthwhile to make the effort .You know just how important it is to give impression .
Q What do we know about the man ﹖
Section B
Passage One
Not everybody reads the daily newspaper .People who don’t read newspaper are sometimes referred to as non-readers . Early research has shown that the non-readers are generally low in education low in income either very young or very old .In addition non-readers are more likely to live in rural areas and have less contact with neighbours and friends .Other studies show that non-readers tend to isolate themselves from the community and less likely to own a home and seldom belong to local voluntary organizations
Why don’t these people read daily paper ﹖ They say they don’t have the time they prefer radio or TVthey have no interest in reading a tale and besides they think newspapers are too expensive. Recent surveyshoweverhave indicated the portrait of the non-reader is more complicated than first thought .There appears to be a group of non-readers that do not fit the type mentioned above .They are high in income and fall into the age group of 26 to 65 .They are far move likely to report that they don’t have the time to read the papers and they have no interest in the content .Editors and publishers are attempting to win them back. First they are also adding news briefs and comprehensive indexes. This will help overcome the time problem. And they are also giving variety to newspaper content to help build the reader’s interest.
11. What is typical of non-readers according to early research﹖
12. What are the finds of recent surveys﹖
13. What are editors and publishers doing to attract the non-readers﹖
Passage Two
Did you know that there’s a kind of bird that can sew﹖ This called the tailor bird uses its mouth as a needle. It sews leaves together in the shape of a cup then it adds a layer of straw to the inside of the cup and lays its eggs there. Each bird species builds its own special kind of nest. The most common materials used for nests are grasses branches and feathers. A bird must weave these materials into a nest. Just imagine building a house without cement or nails to hold together
Another bird is called the weaver bird. The weaver bird builds a nest that looks like a basket the nest shaped like a pear with a hole in the middle. The hole is the door of the nest. A third bird is called the oven bird. The oven bird makes a nest that is very solid. The nest is made of mud. The oven bird forms the mud into the shape of an oven and then let it dry in the sun. The sun bakes the mud making it very hard. Not all birds make their homes in branches. Some birds build their nests on the ground while others bury their eggs under the ground. And some birds do not build nests at all. So when you look for nests and eggs in branches of the trees and bushes remember that some nests may be right your feet.
14. What does the nest built by tailor bird look like ﹖
15. Why is there a hole in the weaver bird’s nest ﹖
16. What is the oven bird’s nest made of ﹖
17. What might surprise us about birds’ nests according to the speaker ﹖
Passage Three
You can tell the age of a tree by counting its rings but these records of trees’ life really say a lot more. Scientists are using tree rings to learn what’s being happening on the sun’s surface for the last ten thousand years. Each ring represents a year of growth. As the tree grows it adds a layer to its trunk taking up chemical elements from the air. By looking up the elements in the rings for a given year scientists can tell what elements were in the air that year. Doctors Stevenson is analysing one element——carbon-14 in ring from both living and dead trees. Some of the rings go back almost ten thousand years to the end of the Ice Age. When Stevenson followed the carbon-14 trail back in time he found carbon-4 levels change with the intensity of solar burning. You see the sun has cycles. Sometimes it burns fiercely and other times it’s relatively calm. During the sun’s violent periods it throws off charged particles in fast moving strings called solar winds. The particles interfere with the formation of carbon-14 on earth. When there’s more solar wind activity less carbon-14 is produced. Ten thousand years of tree rings show that the carbon-14 level rises and falls about every 420 years. The scientists concluded that the solar wind activity must follow the same cycle.
18. What is the purpose of the scientists in studying tree rings ﹖
19. What affects the amount of carbon-14 on earth ﹖
20. What do we learn from the passage about the solar wind activity ﹖
