Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions:
Volunteering offers many of the same social benefits, with the added bonus of helping others and developing useful skills to put on your CV. Plus, students are in a unique position to help, suggests Tom Fox. "They can take their enthusiasm and excitement for opportunities and share their passions, subject knowledge and experience with people." The idea of giving up time for nothing might seem impractical at first, especially once the pressures of study and coursework or exams begin to mount up. However, Michelle Wright, CEO of charity support organization Cause4, suggests seeing volunteering as a two-way street. "I think it is fine for undergraduates to approach volunteering as a symbiotic relationship where doing good is just one part of the motivation for reaching personal and professional goals."
Katerina Rudiger, head of skills and policy campaigns at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), says: "Volunteering can be a valuable way of gaining that experience, as well as building confidence, broadening your horizons, becoming a better team player and developing those all- important 'employability skills' such as communication and decision making." Amanda Haig, graduate HR manager, agrees that volunteering can help your employment prospects. "Volunteering can demonstrate positive personality traits and skill sets, such as proactivity, and teamwork," she says.
A positive side-effect of volunteering is improving your time at university by getting involved in the local community. Leaving the student bubble can make your time as an undergraduate much more varied. At Bath Spa University, more than 1,000 students volunteered over the past year, doing everything from working on local environmental projects to helping in schools or assisting the elderly. ”Quite often there can be a divide between students and permanent residents," says students' union president Amy Dawson, "but if students invest a little time now, they will be giving something back to the local community and will reap the benefits in the future."
“You might also find that volunteering helps your studies if you choose the right program. At Lancaster, volunteering is linked into academic modules in some cases", explains Fox. "This has multiple
wins. Students get to apply their learning in the classroom and share their interests with children in local schools or community organizations, while schools gain skilled students with a passion for a subject that enthuses their pupils."

hich of the following most accurately reflects Fox’s explanation in the last paragraph?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best first each of the numbered blanks
Many animals in the wild are suspicious and fearful of human beings. Many animals would take escape  instantly  (1).......... a  human  approaches.  Man,  however,  soon  discovered  that  some animals  can  be  tamed  or domesticated.  Unlike  animals  in  the  wild,  these  animals  would  (2).........man to come close to them. They would even allow their owners to stroke or pet them.
In the early times man would domesticate animals by setting traps to catch their young. A young animal is (3)........ easily domesticated than an adult one.  From young,the animal learns to trust and obey its owner.
Many different kinds of animals have been domesticated. Some common examples are animals like horses, elephants, chickens and pigs. The dog, which is  also (4).............. as "man's best friend", is one of the first animals to have been domesticated. In England, long ago, the pig was a wild animal. It was a  ferocious  and aggressive (5).......... which was not easily captured. Yet nowadays, the domesticated pig is no longer the lean and tough than creature it used to be.
(2)......................................

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions:
The majority of medium and large companies pay higher wage rates to men than to women, according to the latest government figures. The disparity, known as the gender pay gap, reflects the different average hourly salaries earned by men and women. The government data showed 74% of firms pay higher rates to their male staff. just 15% of businesses with more than 250 employees pay more to women. As many as 11% of firms said there is no difference between the rates paid to either gender.
Unlike pay inequality - which compares the wages of men and women doing the same job - a gender pay difference at a company is not illegal, but could possibly reflect discrimination. The average gender pay gap across all medium and large-sized firms is now 8.2%, as measured by median pay. in other words, men typically earn over 8% more per hour than women. Among those with the largest gender pay gap are airlines such as Tui and Easyjet, and banks including Virgin Money, the Clydesdale and TSB. Easyjet has said its pay gap of 45.5% is down to the fact that most of its pilots are male, while most of its more modestly paid cabin crew are female. Tui Airways - where men earn 47% more than 214women - has the same issue. Many banks also appear to have a gender bias on salaries. The Bank of England's wage rate for men is 24% higher than for its female employees.
By law, all firms with more than 250 staff must report their gender pay gap to the government by 4 April this year. So far only 1,047 firms have complied, leaving another 8,000 to go. Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the CBI, denied companies were dragging their feet in reporting the data. "I don't see a reluctance," she told the Today programme. "I think this is genuinely quite difficult data to find, it is often sitting on different systems and firms are working very hard towards that deadline.

The best title for this passage could be     .

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks. 
Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising, and cloud forests are dying. More alarmingly, wildlife is scrambling to keep (1) ________. It's becoming clear that humans have caused most of the past century's warming by (2) _________ heat-trapping gases as we power our modern lives. Called greenhouse gases, their levels are higher now than in the last 650,000 years.
We call the result global warming, but it is causing a set of changes to the Earth's climate, or long-term weather patterns, that varies from place to place. As the Earth spins each day, the new heat swirls with it, (3) __________ up moisture over the oceans, rising here, settling there. It's changing the rhythms of climate that all living things have come to rely upon.
What will we do to slow this warming? How will we cope (4) ____ the changes we've already set into (5) ________? While we struggle to figure it all out, the face of the Earth as we know it-coasts, forests, farms and snow-capped mountains-hangs in the balance. 

(3)...................

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Before the grass has thickened on the roadside verges and leaves have started growing on the trees is a perfect time to look around and see just how dirty Britain has become. The pavements are stained with chewing gum that has been spat out and the gutters are  full  of discarded fast food cartons. Years ago I remember travelling abroad and being saddened by the  plastic bags, discarded bottles and soiled nappies at the edge of every road. Nowadays, Britain seems to look at least as bad. What has gone wrong?
The problem is that the rubbish created by our increasingly mobile lives lasts a  lot  longer  than before. If it is not cleared up and properly thrown away, it stays in the undergrowth for years; a semi-permanent reminder of what a tatty little country we have now. Firstly, it is estimated that 10 billion plastic bags have been given to shoppers. These will take anything  from  100  to 1,000 years to rot. However, it is not as if there is no solution to this. A few years ago, the Irish government introduced a tax on non-recyclable carrier bags and in three months reduced their  use by 90%. When he was a minister, Michael Meacher attempted to introduce a  similar arrangement  in Britain. The plastics industry protested, of course. However, they need not have bothered; the  idea was killed before it could draw breath, leaving supermarkets free to give away plastic bags.
What is clearly necessary right now is some sort of combined initiative, both individual and collective, before it is too late. The  alternative is  to  continue sliding downhill until we  have a country that looks like a vast municipal rubbish tip. We may well be at  the  tipping  point.  Yet we know that people respond to their environment. If things around them are clean and tidy, people behave cleanly and tidily. If they are surrounded by squalor, they behave squalidly. No  much  of Britain looks pretty squalid. What will it look like in five years?

The word 'they in the last paragraph may refer to    _.

Read the passage below and decide whether the statements are TRUE or FALSE?

   In 1981, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) created a Species Survival Plan (SSP) in order to help preserve specific endangered and threatened species through captive breeding. With over 450 SSP Plans, there are a number of endangered species that are covered by the AZA with plans to cover population management goals and recommendations for breeding for a diverse and healthy population, created by Taxon Advisory Groups. These programs are commonly created as a last resort effort. SSP Programs regularly participate in species recovery, veterinary care for wildlife disease outbreaks, and a number of other wildlife conservation efforts. The AZA's Species Survival Plan also has breeding and transfer programs, both within and outside of AZA - certified zoos and aquariums. Some animals that are part of SSP programs are giant pandas, lowland gorillas, and California condors.

   Some animals that are part of SSP programs are giant pandas, lowland gorillas, and California condors.

A part of SSP programs are giant pandas, lowland gorillas, and California condors.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct word or phrase that best fits each of the numbered blanks. 
        The tradition of gift giving is a worldwide (1)_________ that is said to have been around since the beginning of human beings. Over time, different cultures have developed their own gift giving customs and traditions.
         In France, the gift of wine for the hostess of a dinner party is not an appropriate gift as the hostess would prefer to choose the vintage for the night. In Sweden, a bottle of wine or flowers are an appropriate gift for the hostess. In Viet Nam, a gift of whisky is appropriate for the host, and some fruit or small gifts for the hostess, children or elders of the home. Besides, gifts should never be wrapped in black paper because this color is unlucky and associated with funerals in this country. Gifts (2)____________symbolize cutting such as scissors, knives and other sharp objects should be avoided because they mean the cutting of the relationship. Also, in some countries you should not open the gift in front of the giver and in (3)__________ it would be an insult if you did not open the gift.
       Beyond the gift itself, give careful consideration to the manner in which it is presented. Different cultures have different customs regarding how a gift should be offered - using only your right hand or using both hands, (4)_____. Others have strong traditions related to the appropriate way to accept a gift. In Singapore, for instance, it is the standard to graciously refuse a gift several times before finally accepting it. The recipient would never unwrap a gift in front of the giver for fear of appearing greedy.
       Understanding these traditions and customs, as well as taking time to choose an appropriate gift, will help you to avoid any awkwardness or (5)__________ as you seek to build a better cross-cultural relationship.

(1)...................

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The word robot first appeared in a 1921 stage play by Czech writer Karel Capek. In the play, a man makes a machine that can think, which he calls a robot and which ends up killing its owner. In the 1940s, the American science fiction writer Isaac Asimov wrote a series of stories about robots and invented the term robotics, the science of robots. Meanwhile, in the real world, the first robots were developed by an engineer, Joseph F. Engelberger, and an inventor, George C. Devol. Together they started Unimation, a manufacturing company that produces the first real robot in 1961, called the Unimate. Robots of this type were installed at a General Motors automobile plant and proved to be a success. They worked reliably and saved money for General Motors, so other companies were soon acquiring robots as well.
These industrial robots were nothing like the terrifying creatures that can often be seen in science fiction films. In fact, these robots looked and behaved nothing like humans. They were simply pieces of computer-controlled machinery, with metal “arms” or “hands”. Since they were made of metal, they could perform certain jobs that were difficult or dangerous for humans, particularly jobs that involve high heat. And since robots were tireless and never got hungry, sleepy, or distracted, they were useful for tasks that would be tiring or boring for humans. Industrial robots have been improved over the years, and today they are used in many factories around the world. Though the use of robots has meant the loss of some jobs, at the same time other jobs have been created in the design, development, and production of the robots.

What can be said about Karel Capek?

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions. 
There are many different metaphors used to describe culture. My favorite one is the iceberg. I think, it demonstrates so vividly what can happen to us if we believe only in the visible and ignore or underestimate the invisible part. The hidden part of our culture is that part which we know instinctively because we absorbed it from childhood on. It's handed down to us from generation to generation. We could also say, it's the "thinking" and "feeling" part of culture: habits, assumptions, attitudes, desires, values, tastes, etc.
Now, if we are in a new culture, our customary evaluations and interpretations are likely not to be on target because we see everything through our own cultural glasses. Imagine yourself in a new city trying to get around with a map from your own hometown. It wouldn't take long for you to get lost and completely frustrated! When we experience an encounter in the new culture that puzzles us, the most common reaction is to judge it through our own cultural glasses. 
I want to propose an alternate approach to our initial gut reaction. Instead of immediately and instinctively judging a situation through our own glasses, we might first just pause and notice what is happening and then realize that this is a cultural learning situation. Remember the iceberg metaphor! The new culture becomes your mirror that shows you a hidden part of your own culture. What an opportunity for personal growth and new insight! You can compare two different approaches, that of the new culture and of your own culture. This gives you a choice. Now you can decide what fits best for you or even take the best from both sides. 

The word “downtime” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _______.

Choose the option that best completes each of the following sentences

Computer programmer David Jones earns £35,000 a year designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank prepared to let him have a cheque card. Instead, he has been told to wait another two years, until he is 18.

The 16-year-old works for a small firm in Liverpool, where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job. David's firm releases two new games for the expanding home computer market each month.

But David's biggest headache is what to do with his money.

Despite his salary, earned by inventing new programs within tight schedules, with bonus payments and profit-sharing, he cannot drive a car, take out a mortgage, or obtain credit cards. He lives with his parents in their council house in Liverpool, where his father is a bus driver. His company has to pay £150 a month in taxi fares to get him the five miles to work and back every day because David cannot drive.

David got his job with the Liverpool-based company four months ago, a year after leaving school with six O-levels and working for a time in a computer shop. "I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs," he said.

"I suppose £35,000 sounds a lot but actually that's being pessimistic. I hope it will come to more than that this year." He spends some of his money on records and clothes, and gives his mother £20 a week. But most his spare time is spent working.

"Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school," he said. "But I had been studying it in books and 'magazines for four years in my spare time. I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school. Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway."

David added: "I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement is a possibility. You never know when the market might disappear."

David's greatest problem is ...............

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions:
Cooking shows on TV are usually all about exotic foods. Thanks to globalization, people everywhere are introducing their taste buds to dishes from every corner of the world. At the same time, other people are discovering that food from their area is the best kept secret. In the past few years, this movement of purchasing local produce keeps picking up steam because it offers a lot of benefits. For starters, local food is often tastier because it is fresher. Goods that are imported from abroad must be flown or shinped in from far away, so they naturally lose some of their freshness during the journey. A simple way to test this is to sample a banana from overseas versus one that was grown locally and compare the tastes. Imported goods must also be washed and packaged in plastic or other containers so they can survive the journey. These materials may cause the nutritional value of these goods to decline during the shipping process. Food safety is another reason why people are choosing local produce. Today's laws regarding foods vary from country to country. This causes confusion and makes it difficult to detect if any harmful pesticides were used. When you know the local farmer who grows your food and the fields that are used to produce it, the chances of it being contaminated are greatly reduced.
Buying local foods can also have beneficial impact on the environment. By supporting local growers, consumers can maintain green space and farmland in their communities. Buying locally also helps to build the local community. If farmers can sell directly to consumers instead of a middleman, they will earn more money for their families. Additional profits also enable farmers to better care for their soil and keep quality standards high. In the end, it is a win-win situation for both parties.
If you are interested in incorporating more local foods into your diet, you can start by attending a farmers' market in your area. This is an open market where farmers sell fruits, vegetables, and meat directly to the public. If you have any questions about the production process or quality of these goods, you can ask the farmers directly. Once you experience the freshness of local foods for yourself, it might be tough to go back to the supermarket.

What happen when consumers buy from local farmers instead of from middlemen?

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Peru’s Inca Indians first grew potatoes in the Andes Mountains in about 200 BC. Spanish conquistadors brought potatoes to Europe, and colonists brought them to America. Potatoes are fourth on the list of the world’s food staples – after wheat, corn, and rice. Today, Americans consume about 140 pounds of potatoes per person every year, while Europeans eat twice as many.
One of our favourite ways to eat potatoes is in the form of potato chips. While Benjamin Franklin was the American ambassador to France, he went to a banquet where potatoes were prepared in 20 different ways. Thomas Jefferson, who succeeded Franklin as our French ambassador, brought the recipe for thick–cut, French fried potatoes to America. He served French fries to guests at the White House in 1802 and at his home, Monticello.
A native American chef named George Crum created the first potato chips on August 24, 1853, at Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga, New York. He became angry when a diner complained that his French fries were too thick, so he sliced the potatoes as thinly as possible, making them too thin and crisp to eat with a fork. The diner loved them, and potato chips were born. In 1860, Chef Crum opened his own restaurant and offered a basket of potato chips on every table.
Joe “Spud” Murphy and Seamus Burke produced the world’s first seasoned crisps, cheese & onion and salt & vinegar chips, in the 1950s in Ireland. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, crisps are what we, in the United States, call potato chips, while their chips refer to our French fries. Ketchup–flavored chips are popular in the Middle East and Canada. Seaweed–flavored chips are popular in Asia, and chicken– flavored chips are popular in Mexico. Other flavors from around the world include: paprika, pickled onions, béarnaise, meat pie, chili crab, salmon teriyaki, borscht, Caesar salad, roasted sausage, firecracker lobster, roast ox, haggis and black pepper, olive, and spaghetti.

What happened in the 1950s?

Choose the option that best completes each of the following sentences

Computer programmer David Jones earns £35,000 a year designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank prepared to let him have a cheque card. Instead, he has been told to wait another two years, until he is 18.

The 16-year-old works for a small firm in Liverpool, where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job. David's firm releases two new games for the expanding home computer market each month.

But David's biggest headache is what to do with his money.

Despite his salary, earned by inventing new programs within tight schedules, with bonus payments and profit-sharing, he cannot drive a car, take out a mortgage, or obtain credit cards. He lives with his parents in their council house in Liverpool, where his father is a bus driver. His company has to pay £150 a month in taxi fares to get him the five miles to work and back every day because David cannot drive.

David got his job with the Liverpool-based company four months ago, a year after leaving school with six O-levels and working for a time in a computer shop. "I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs," he said.

"I suppose £35,000 sounds a lot but actually that's being pessimistic. I hope it will come to more than that this year." He spends some of his money on records and clothes, and gives his mother £20 a week. But most his spare time is spent working.

"Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school," he said. "But I had been studying it in books and 'magazines for four years in my spare time. I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school. Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway."

David added: "I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement is a possibility. You never know when the market might disappear."

He left school after taking O-levels because ..............

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions. 
Volunteering has been acknowledged as part of the wider health policy, with the NHS five-year plan identifying a need to encourage community volunteering. It also has an important role to play in tackling social exclusion, through projects such as lunch clubs for older people, assisted gardening schemes, or young play leaders.
Volunteering can help to provide people with ways out of poverty, by giving them new skills, confidence and aid social integration. This is of particular value to those who are most excluded from the labour market, such as recent migrants or people with disabilities. But while the benefits of volunteering are clear, there is worrying evidence that the people who could benefit most from giving their time are precisely those least likely to be involved.
There are many reasons for people not to volunteer. For older people, the barriers can include poor health, poverty, lack of skills, poor transport links, or having caring responsibilities, such as looking after grandchildren. Younger people can be deterred by feeling they don’t have the time to volunteer, or not knowing anyone else who volunteers. Many of them also think volunteering is just for older people with time on their hands. Volunteering has an image problem – particularly with men and younger people.
More should be done to promote the value of volunteering to the particular needs of different groups. There is evidence on why people choose to volunteer, and we need to make better use of that information. For instance, a recent survey showed that 95% of young people, aged 13-24, hoped to develop new skills through volunteering, compared to just 32% of volunteers aged over 55. Almost three quarters of young people were keen to gain qualifications through volunteering compared to just 13% of those over 55. Over three quarters of disabled volunteers were keen to develop new skills and nearly two thirds hoped to improve their health and wellbeing through volunteering.

The word “deterred” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _____________.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions:
The concept of being environmentally conscious, or “green”, has become more prevalent in twenty first-century U.S culture. It has begun to affect the manufacturing of everything from non-toxic household cleaning products to motor vehicles powered by alternative sources of energy. However, one way of being “green” that is perhaps not as apparent to the viewer but of equal importance in being environmentally conscious, is the construction of buildings that are considered “sustainable”. Sustainable buildings are those that do not impose on the environment or rely on the over-utilization of energy or natural resources. There are four main principles of sustainability, which includes consideration of the health and stability of all living things and their environmental diversity, as well as the economic opportunities of humanity.
Sustainable architecture consists of environmentally conscious design techniques. In the past, the demolition of an old building meant that all or most of the debris of the building would end up in a landfill or a waste disposal site. Today, architects can plan and design a building that uses recycled materials, such as wood, concrete, stone, or metal. These materials are salvaged from the demolition of an older building and can be appropriately incorporated into a new construction. Architects and construction supervisors may also choose to recycle more organic parts of demolished buildings, such as wooden doors, windows and other glass, ceramics, paper, and textiles.
A problem that has often arisen has been with how a site crew-whether it is demolition or construction crew determines and sorts what is “waste” and what is recyclable. Architects and environmental scientists have to decide whether or not a material is appropriate for use in new construction and how it will impact the environment. They must evaluate the materials from the demolition and determine what those materials contain, and if they meet the standards set by the U.S, government’s Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA). If the debris from the demolition contains hazardous materials that are harmful to the environment or to the consumer, such as asbestos, then the material is not salvageable. Use of the asbestos for insulation and as a form of fire retardation in buildings and fabrics was common in the nineteenth century. Asbestos was once used in shingles on the sides of buildings, as well as in the insulation in the interior walls of homes or other construction. In new “green” construction, insulation that once asbestos- based can be replaced with recycled denim or constructed with cellulose-a fibrous material found in paper products. The same-assessment applies to wood or wallboard painted with toxic lead-based paints. In addition, gas-flow regulators and meters on both water and gas heating systems constructed prior to 1961 must be carefully evaluated to determine that they do not contain dangerous substances such as mercury. Mercury can be harmful to humans and the environment if it is spilled during the removal of these devices.

 According to paragraph 1, which of the following is true?

Choose the best answer: 
There are many advantages of having online friends. First, they can be anywhere in the world, so you can learn about (1)..........cultures and lifestyles. Distance does not matter, as all you need is a computer. Second, you can contact them whenever you wish - (2)as long as they are online- and you can end the conversation easily when you have other things to do. What’s more, you can save a lot of money as there’ll be no dinners, parties or get-togethers. You don’t have to spend money (3).............. things like food and drinks or cinema tickets. Most importantly, you can quickly end a relationship when you don’t feel comfortable with the person any more. The only thing,
perhaps, you don’t like about this kind of (4).......... is that sometimes you don’t know for sure who these friends really are. They may not use their real names and post other people’s photos

3.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions:
You have learned about dinosaurs in school. Maybe you have seen them in museums. But how much do you really know about these animals? Not all dinosaurs were just big reptiles. For years, scientists thought dinosaurs were big, dumb, and cold blooded - in other words, just giant reptiles. Some dinosaurs were huge. But many were about the size of modern-day birds or dogs. Were dinosaurs warm- or cold blooded? Paleontologists- are not sure. But they believe some were intelligent. Of course, no dinosaur was as smart as a human or even a monkey. However, some smaller dinosaurs - like the two- meter (six-foot) Troodon — had fairly large brains.
Was Tyrannosaurus rex a powerful predator? Some scientists think the opposite is true. In the movies, T.rex is often a speedy giant, but in fact, this dinosaur could not run very fast. Physically, it was too large. In reality, T.rex probably moved as fast as an elephant. Also, T. rex had very small arms. Without strong legs or arms, this dinosaur probably wasn’t a powerful hunter. It may have been a scavenger instead, only eating animals that were already dead.
Did an asteroid kill the dinosaurs? An asteroid hit Mexico’s Yucantan Peninsula about 65 million years ago. It created a 180-kilometer (HO-mile) wide crater called Chicxulub. Many believe this asteroid caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. But even before this, dinosaurs were already dying out around the world, for many reasons. At the end of the Cretaceous period, for example, the global climate was changing and Earth's temperature was getting colder.Dinosaurs completely disappeared about 65 million years ago. However, scientists believe modern-day birds are descendants of certain dinosaurs. If this  true, then dinosaurs' relatives are still walking - and flying - among us!

The word "descendants" in paragraph 4 means     .

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Millions of people tune into the weather forecast each evening on televisions. Most of them imagine that the presenter does little more than arrive at the studio a few minutes before the broadcast, read the weather, and then go home.
In fact, this imagine is far from the truth. The two-minute bulletin which we all rely on when we need to know tomorrow’s weather is the result of a hard day’s work by the presenter, who is actually a highly-qualified meteorologist.
Every morning after arriving at the TV studios, the first task of the days is to collect the latest data from the national Meteorological Office. This office provides up-to-the- minute information about weather conditions throughout the day, both in Britain and around the world. The information is very detailed and includes predictions, satellite and radar pictures, as well as more technical data. After gathering all the relevant material from this office, the forecaster has to translate the scientific terminology and maps into images and word which viewers can easily understand.
The final broadcast is then carefully planned. It is prepared in the same way as other programmes. The presenter decides what to say and in what order to say it. Next, a “story board” is drawn up which lay out the script word for word. What make a weather forecast more complicated than other programmes are the maps and electronic images which are required. The computer has to be programmed so that the pictures appear in the correct order during the bulletin.
The time allocated for each broadcast can also alter. This is because the weather report is screened after the news, which can vary in length. The weather forecaster doesn’t always know how much time is available, which means that he/ she has to be thoroughly prepared so that the material can be adapted to the time available.
Another related complication is that the weather forecast has to be a live broadcast; it cannot be pre- recorded. Live shows are very nerve- racking for the presenter because almost anything can go wrong. Perhaps the most worrying aspect for every weather
forecaster is getting the following day’s predictions wrong. Unfortunately for them this is not an unusual occurrence; the weather is not always possible to predict accurately.
The weather is a national obsession in Britain, Perhaps because it is so changeable. It’s the national talking point, and most people watch at least one daily bulletin. It can be mortifying for a weather man or woman who has predicted rain for the morning to wake up to brilliant sunshine. These days, a weather forecaster’s job is even more complicated because they are replied upon to predict other environmental conditions. For example, in the summer the weather forecast has to include the pollen count for hay fever sufferers. Some also include reports on ultraviolet radiation intensity to help people avoid sunburn.
The job of the weather forecaster is certainly far more complicated than just pointing at a map and describing weather conditions. It’s a job for professionals who can cope with stressful and demanding conditions.

The phrase up- to- the- minute in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions:
Accidents do not occur at random. People eighty-five years of age and older are twenty-two times likelyto die accidentally than are children five to nine years old. The risk for native Americans is four times that for Asian-Americans and twice that for white Americans or African-Americans. Males suffer accidents at more than twice the rate of females, in part because they are more prone to risky behavior. Alaskans are more than three times as likely as Rhode Islanders to die in an accident. Texans are twenty- one times more likely than New Jerseyites to die in a natural disaster. Among the one hundred most populous counties, Kern County, California (Bakersfield), has an accident fatality rate three times greater than Summit County, Ohio (Akron).
Accidents happens more often to poor people. Those living in poverty receive inferior medical care, are more apt to reside in houses with faulty heating and electrical systems, drive older cars with fewer safety features, and are less likely to use safety belts. People in rural areas have more accidents than city or suburban dwellers because farming is much riskier than working in a factory or office and because emergency medical services are less readily available. These two factors - low income and rural residence
- may explain why the south has a higher accident rate than the north.

The word “inferior” in the passage is closest in meaning to    .

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions:
In the American colonies there was little money. England did not supply the colonies with coins and did not allow the colonies to make their own coins, except for the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which received permission for a short period in 1652 to make several kinds of silver coins. England wanted to keep money out of America as a means of controlling trade: America was forced to trade only with England if it did not have the money to buy products from other countries. The result during this pre-revolutionary period was that the colonists used various goods in place of money: beaver pelts, Indian wampum, and tobacco leaves were all commonly used substitutes for money. The colonists also made use of any foreign coins they could obtain. Dutch, Spanish, French, and English coins were all in use in the American colonies.
During the Revolutionary War, funds were needed to finance the world, so each of the individual states and the Continental Congress issued paper money. So much of this paper money was printed that by the end of the war, almost no one would accept it. As a result, trade in goods and the use of foreign coins still flourished during this period.
By the time the Revolutionary War had been won by the American colonists, the monetary system was in a state of total disarray. To remedy this situation, the new Constitution of the United States, approved in 1789, allowed Congress to issue money. The individual states could no longer have their own money supply. A few years later, the Coinage Act of 1792 made the dollar the official currency of the United States and put the country on a bimetallic standard. In this bimetallic system, both gold and silver were legal money, and the rate of exchange of silver to gold was fixed by the government at sixteen to one.

The word “remedy” in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to

Choose the best answer: 
There are many advantages of having online friends. First, they can be anywhere in the world, so you can learn about (1)..........cultures and lifestyles. Distance does not matter, as all you need is a computer. Second, you can contact them whenever you wish - (2).............. they are online- and you can end the conversation easily when you have other things to do. What’s more, you can save a lot of money as there’ll be no dinners, parties or get-togethers. You don’t have to spend money (3).............. things like food and drinks or cinema tickets. Most importantly, you can quickly end a relationship when you don’t feel comfortable with the person any more. The only thing,
perhaps, you don’t like about this kind of (4).......... is that sometimes you don’t know for sure who these friends really are. They may not use their real names and post other people’s photos

2.