Reading passage 1

A The Atlantic spread before him like a pool of diamonds, its waves tossing gently in shards of fading bronze light. The young man could not wait to get in the water. As Charles Vansant surveyed the scene, a retriever came up beside him and licked his hand. Charles, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, was enjoying the weekend with his family at Beach Heaven, a resort on the New Jersey shore. He was in love, and looking forward to becoming engaged. His whole life seemed wonderfully arranged. B Vansant strode quickly into the shallows. When the water reached his chest, he jack-knifed his body and dived in. There were a few other swimmers splashing and foundering near shore, and Charles quickly swam beyond them. He was strong and moved swiftly into deeper water, the dog following close behind. The young man closed his eyes as his face churned rhythmically into the sharp, cold brine. He felt the rush of coolness along his torso, and his eyes stung with salt water as he stroked with the cadence of the waves. Not far away, the dog kicked with all four legs beneath the surface. The rapid paddling lifted his head above the water and left his shaggy tail floating in a trail of froth. C A small crowd on the beach watched Charles as he started to swim beyond the breakers. Among them were his father, Dr Eugene Vansant, a well-to-do doctor, and Charles sister Louise. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, the dog turned back towards the shore. Charles stopped, treaded water, calling out for it to return. But the dog climbed onto the beach and stood on the sand, looking out at the waves. Finally the young man gave up the game and headed back. As he did so, bystanders noticed something odd. D A dark fin appeared in the water and began moving towards Charles. Porpoises something rolled in schools parallel to the coast. But this fin was alone and heading swiftly in the direction of the swimmer. People on the beach cried out warnings. But Charles, in the through of the waves, did not appear to hear them. He was close to shore, in no more than 1 metres of water. Safety was at hand. But it was too late. The huge jaws rose from the water, and a white protective membrane rolled over the creatures eyes. Fifty triangular teeth closed with a pressure of about one tonne per square centimetre on the young mans left leg. E Charles Vansant screamed in mortal agony. On the shore, his father and sister stood transfixed in horror and disbelief. The young man fought valiantly, but his struggle to free himself only tightened the monsters grip on his femoral artery: the great teeth ground down to the bone. Charless sister would later describe how her brother thrashed about in the water. As we rushed towards him, Louis recalled, we could see great quantities of blood.

While Charles fought frantically to save himself, men entered the redtinged surf to rescue him. The first was Alexander Ott, who showed extraordinary courage by wading into bloodied water where the fish was taking its prey. Gripping Vansant under arms, Ott tried desperately to tow him to shore. He felt a powerful tug in the opposite direction, and faced the horrifying sight of the mammoth fish fastened to Vansants thigh.

G The animal and Ott were in a tug of war over the young mans body. The huge creature dwarfed its victim, and pulled against the rescuer with unimaginable strength. More men hurried into the water to help. They succeeded dragging Vansant nearly to the beach, but incredibly the fish followed, its massive conical body scraping the sand. For several seconds the desperate struggle continued. Then, suddenly, the beast released its hold and was gone. A whirl of foam trailed the dark fin as it submerged. Charles Vansant lay crumpled on the beach bleeding profusely. Source: Readers Digest Questions You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 to 14 which are based on Reading Passage 1 Questions 1 to 7 Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs A G. From the list of headings below, choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph. Write the appropriate numbers I ix in boxes 1 7 on your answer sheet.

i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix.

The tug of war. Man fought the beast. Charles swam beyond others. The attraction of the ocean. The brave man. People watched Charles swimming. The shark attacked. 1 Paragraph A Charles gasping for breath. 2 Paragraph B 3 Paragraph C A man dived in. 4 Paragraph D 5 Paragraph E 6 Paragraph F 7 Paragraph G

Questions 8 10 Choose the correct letters, A, B, C or D Write your answers in boxes 8 10 on your answer sheet. 8 Charles swam beyond the waves and was followed by A. B. C. D. 9 A. B. C. D. 10 A. B. C. D. His dog. His sister. A co swimmer. His father. Dr. Eugene Vansant is Charles Brother. Friend. Father. Family doctor. Charles was attacked by a Shark. Whale. Porpoise. Snake.

Questions 11 14 Complete each of the following statements (questions 11 14) with the best endings A G from the box below Write the appropriate letters A G in boxes 11 14 on your answer sheet. 11 A small crowd on the beach watched Charles as 12 Charles fought frantically to save himself 13 Alexander Ott showed extraordinary courage 14 His father and sister stood on the shore

A From the ferocious animal. B By wading into bloodied water. C A relatively small collection of big corporate donors. D He started to swim beyond the breakers. E Transfixed in horror and disbelief.

Reading passage 2

A Its not easy to rescue an animal that has been abandoned by its mother. Its an icy morning in Krakow, the capital of Poland; Kuba blows on his hands and, with some difficulty, unlocks the iced-up padlocks. The bird cages he enters are slick with frost. B Hi! Sleep well? he says to a flock of pheasants. He takes a spade and a rack and starts on clearing away the snow. He uses a scourer to clean off the bird-houses and adjust the angle of the branches fixed next to them. Then he takes out the bowls of frozen water and brings in fresh ones. He washes the food bowls and fills them up with grain and grated vegetables. C It is a day like any other, but as Kuba passes the kangaroo enclosure memories flood in. Mietek could have been there with them, he says with a catch in his voice. Kuba Pyrek is 32 and has been a keeper in Krakows zoo for eleven years. He looks after the birds but has experience with all the animals D Hes got his dream job, says Barbara Pyrek, his mother. There arent many people who love animals as much as he does. When he was little he would bring home birds with broken wings, abandoned hamsters, sick cats and stray dogs. All those that life had treated badly he tried to restore to health and mobility. When his sister left home he arranged a mini zoo in her room, with aquariums, terrariums and cages inhabited by any animal that could be bought in a pet store. Sometimes there were problems, like when his dad had to dismantle the furniture to find a fugitive rat. E I always knew I wanted to be around animals, says Kuba. As soon as he finished school where he had been learning carpentry he went straight to the director of the zoo to ask for a job. You re too young, replied director Jozef Skotnicki. Go back to studying. If you dont change your mind by the time you finish, you can come back then. F At that moment, Kuba decided that even if he graduated from Harvard he was still going to work in a zoo. A friend persuaded him to study for all the exams. He passed and got a place at college to do zoo-techniques. He applied again for a job at the zoo. This time the director had no doubts. G Since youre still just as interested as all those years ago, of course you can have a job, he said, obviously pleased. That was in 1997.Kuba started with birds and monkeys, working and studying at

the same time. When it was time to write his masters paper he included in it his research into the wild birds and animals of the zoo. Even though I have a masters degree, Im not interested in going up the carrer ladder, he says. I dont like sitting behind in everyday direct contact with animals.
Source: Readers Digest Questions You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 15 27 which are based on Reading Passage 2 Questions 15 19 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 15 -19 in 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 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. Kuba lives in a snow covered area. Kubas mother is a bird watcher. Kubas aim in life was to become a zookeeper. There are elephants in the zoo he works in. He is working in the zoo for the last fifteen years.

Question 20 23 Look at the following persons or places (questions 20 23) and the list of statements below. Match each person or place to the correct statement. Write the correct letter A G in boxes 1 4 on your answer sheet.

20. 21. 22. 23.

Jozef Skotnicki Kuba Pyrek Barbara Pyrek Krakows zoo

A Is the place where Kuba works. B Is the director of the Krakows zoo. C Knows that her son is a genuine animal lover. D Went to the zoo at a very early age to join. E Have asked Kuba to come back after he finishes his studies.

Questions 24 27

Complete the following statements with the correct alternative from the box. Write the correct letter A F in boxes 24 27 on your answer sheet.

24. 25. 26. 27.

His dad had to dismantle the furniture to Kuba passed and got a place at When Kuba was little he would bring home Its an icy morning in Krakow,
A Birds with broken wings. B College to do zoo-techniques. C Find a fugitive rat. D Find a cat. E Where Kuba lives.

Reading Passage 3 A. I grew up on the edge of a former mining village. On the way to school we used to pass grassy mounds that were once slag heaps and from our playground we could see the remains of the miners rows, those small brick houses that once rang with the sound of early alarm clocks and singsongs on a Saturday night. Elderly neighbours told us the air used to smell of burning tar; just to think of it, one old man told me, brought back the powerful memory of summer days in the town before the war, when children used sticks and stones to draw scenes from their lives in the Whinstone dust that covered the pavement. B. In 1934, the town of Ashington, situated about thirty kilometres north of Newcastle, had a few thousand more inhabitants than it does today, around thirty thousand. It was a centre of deep coal mining since the 1840s, when new seams were opened, employing thousands of Irish workers escaping the potato famine for fresh starting Northumberland. The locals of Ashington are considered to be a hardy and accepting people; they speak a regional variation of the dialect called Pitmatic, much less pronounced today but once the characteristic speech of Englands northern coalfield. That was in the day before the coal industry died a death, when human expression in Ashington was rooted in the local land and in the work people did to make that land yield a living. C. But in 1934, something happened in Ashington that would make it different from any other mining community in Britain: in the most unlikely of circumstances, between the wars a group of working-class men made a raid on the hallowed regions of fine art. In human terms, what secures Ashingtons place on the map is not the story of miners mining but of miners painting.

D. Robert Lyon was a stranger to the coalfields, and educated, modestly gifted mural painter and a master of painting at a local college. He appears to have been on those people who wished to stretch themselves by stretching others, for in 1934 he decided to lead extra mural class in an old army hut in Ashington. The town was a smoggy, hard-bitten place where thousands of men toiled daily in damp and the dark underground, the entire place several worlds away from the azure summers of Monet and Matisse, but Robert Lyon was determined to tap into something new in the working men of Ashington. E. It was a cold biting October night when Lyon first made his way to the hut, not knowing just who would come and uncertain what they would make of it if they did. As it happened, a few dozen men turned up to learn about art appreciation. The men were tired but robust, keen for a new experience. They signed their names on a piece of paper that still exists, placing their occupations alongside: each man worked in a job relating to coal mining, except for one, Harry Wilson, a dental mechanic. It was not unusual in the 1930s Britain for working men to have pastime that involved getting education they had missed at school. In any event, Lyons art class met in all weathers every Tuesday night with a regular attendance roll of around 22 men. F. At first, some of the men seemed confused by Robert Lyon, this gentle, inward-looking man with strong features and neatly cropped hair. They wandered at his intentions. Why was he so interested in bringing the classics of Renaissance painting into this blackened corner of the coalfield? In the early days of the Ashington Group there was a mild intellectual tussle Lyon wanted to show them slide shows of great art, while the men themselves wanted to learn the practical skills of drawing and painting. Crowded in the small hut, they wanted to learn not only how to have thoughts about art but how to think like artists themselves. G. Lyon hesitated at first. It was against labour rule to induct the men into new ways of making money, but they soon got over this sticking point. In quick time, the mild mannered teacher put away his slides and soon the men were making engravings on to wood and Bakelite. Many in the group would come to feel this was the most important event in their lives. It was not only the start of something new it was a revelation. Source: Readers Digest Questions You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28 40 which are based on Reading Passage 3. Questions 28 32 The passage has seven paragraphs labelled AG.

Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 28-32 on your answer sheet. NB: You may use any letter more than once. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. Robert Lyon was an educated, modestly gifted mural painter. Some of the men seemed confused by Robert Lyon. 1934 was an eventful year for Ashington. The locals of Ashington speak a regional variation of the dialect called Pitmatic. A few dozen men turned up to learn about art appreciation, keen for a new experience.

Questions 33 36 Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage 3. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet.

33. 34. 35. 36.

The narrator grew up near a . A group of working-class men made a raid on the hallowed regions of . Each man worked in a job relating to coal mining, except for one . It was against labour rule to induct the men into new ways .

Questions 37 40 Complete the summary of the paragraphs E G below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet. In a biting cold October day, Lyon went to the hut to start 37 .. Initially there were a few men who came to 38 but the number rose to 22. Robert Lyon was successful in making them feel 39 .. For these innocent miners, it was not merely an art class they were attending but was a 40 .