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ĐỀ THI ĐỀ XUẤT MÔN TIẾNG ANH 11 TRƯỜNG THPT CHUYÊN NGUYỄN TẤT THÀNH – YÊN BÁI LISTENING (5 points) Part Listen to a talk about the Ant IPO delay and decide whether these statements are True (T), False (F) or Not Given (NG) Shanghai authorities disrupted Ant’s IPO at short notice on the grounds of its fragile business plans Ant Group’s IPO would have been unprecedented in the fintech industry Interference from China is the main reason accounting for the questionable status of Hong Kong as a major financial centre Winston Ma forecasts that the fintech industry will not cease to enjoy a period of phenomenal growth in the wilderness Recent regulations from the Chinese government will shift the role of Ant Group as a fintech company Your answers Part Listen to a talk about Neptune and answer the questions Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the recording for each answer in the corresponding numbered boxes provided What is the distance between Neptune and the Sun? What is Neptune’s core made up of besides water ice? What gives Neptune blue color? What can strong winds recorded on Neptune do? What is the name of the spacecraft that has visited Neptune? Part Listen to part of an interview with an artist about the subject of art and choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what you hear Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided How does Brendan feel about his work? A He prefers negative criticism to no reaction at all B His intention is to provoke critics with his art C He believes his art can only be viewed subjectively D His definition of art is at odds with general opinion According to Brendan, standing on a chair A is an example of what art should be B would be art if it was intended to be C is an example of mediocre art D would not be considered art by most people Brendan says that some successful artists A are not very good at drawing B have not been able to create original art C lack the ability to express ideas D use excessively old-fashioned techniques Brendan doesn't think that A throwing paint at a canvas would constitute art B it is difficult to come up with original ideas C critics are open-minded enough D modern art has nowhere left to go The invention of the camera A allowed more people to indulge their passion for taking portraits B enabled photographers to imitate life more closely C meant that artists were no longer restricted to copying from life D changed the way society viewed the role of the artist Your answers Part Listen to a talk about sleep and supply the blanks with the missing information Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the recording for each answer in the space provided SLEEP AND MENTAL HEALTH The culprit behind our relationship to sleep originates from our ancient understanding of the subject Parents of small children have a disposition to be in routine negotiations Every reversal becomes a drama, every disappointment turns into a catastrophe and every excitement shifts into An innovatively approach to bedtimes when growing up can be considered an expression of independence and individuality There are various ways of expressing our perceptions about lives, ranging from positive narratives to appalling tales of complete ignorance and When exhaustion sets in, we tend to think in a way When we lie in bed, we think that we bear a resemblance to a , for instance, a rabbit or a squirrel Given the harsh grown-up life, we need to be free to this It is inferred from curled squirrel position that mental problems cannot be universally handled by 10 It is not until we have treated ourselves with a or a long night’s sleep that we understand the reasons to live LEXICO - GRAMMAR (3 points) Part Choose the best option to complete the following sentences Sandra astounded all the spectators by winning the match down A heads B hands C hearts D feet When his manager went on a business trip, Mark stepped into the and chaired the meeting A hole B breach C pool D crack It is public knowledge that new magazines often use free gifts or other _ to get people to buy them A gimmicks B snares C plots D scams We should never have quarreled like that Let’s bury the and forget all about it A axe B argument C hatchet D subject It is often difficult for a householder to squatters and regain possession of his or her property A eliminate B withdraw C evict D vacate I'm not a serious investor, but I like to in the stock market A splash B splatter C paddle D dabble The teacher said 'Well done' and patted me on the head I can't stand people who treat me so A pompously B maternally C snobbishly D patronizingly The investigation was instigated the Prime Minister A on the part of B consequence of C subsequent to D at the behest of Teachers have the authority to discipline pupils by of their position as teachers A view B virtue C means D way 10 The consultant called in by the firm brought a of experience to bear on the problem A wealth B realm C bank D hoard 11 The thick fog out any possibility of our plane taking off before morning A ruled B struck C stamped D crossed 12 The new curriculum has been designed to students learning by combining theory with hands-on practice A endow B optimize C sharpen D estimate 13 When I was younger, I wanted to be an air pilot but I soon went the idea when I realised I hated flying A out B off C up D with 14 People can make themselves walk on nails or through fire It’s a question of mind over A body B material C matter D facts 15 We had a sale to sell off all the stuff we found in the attic A parking B garage C station D garden 16 Because of the dominance of retail chain-stores, most shopping centers show the same bland _ and no imagination A similarity B likeness C equality D uniformity 17 She wears the most _ color combinations you could ever imagine A hiding B hideout C hidebound D hideous 18 It would help _ me, if you could go to the Post Office for me A totally B absolutely C enormously D largely 19 The plastic surgery must have cost the , but there’s no denying she looks younger A world B planet C universe D earth 20 A few of the older campers were sent home after a week as they were A lenient B erratic C unruly D indulgent Your answers: 11 16 12 17 13 18 14 19 10 15 20 Part Give the correct form of the words in brackets The upper layers of Earth's oceans have cooled (1 SIGNIFY) _ over the past two years, even though the planet as a whole is warming up While this may just be part of the natural (2.VARY) of oceans, climatologists are still confounded by the massive unaccountable loss of heat Scientists have been (3 INCREASE) concerned by rising sea temperatures over the last 50 years but these new (4.FIND) tell a different story Generally speaking, the (5.ABSORB) of heat by the oceans reduces atmospheric warming Now (6 MEASURE) taken by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have put a wrinkle in the trend The researchers used data from 3000 floating buoys which monitor the oceans (7 WORLD) They found that the oceans dropped in temperature by an (8.BELIEVE) 0.02 degrees centigrade between 2011 and 2013 Now, that may not seem like much, but trying to account for the missing energy is proving to be enormously (9 PROBLEM) It is possible that (10 VOCANO) eruptions are one main cause of the phenomenon, but no firm answers have yet been provided Your answers: 6 10 READING (6 points) Part Fill in each blank with ONE word Anyone who has (1) been to a yoga or meditation class will know the enormous benefits of something as simple and natural as breathing Inhale slowly and steadily, and you can relax your entire body Stop and focus on the flow of (2) breath you take in and out, and you can quieten and focus your mind In (3) positive breathing will help you feel calmer, bring down your blood pressure and increase your mental alertness and energy levels Yet, breathing is so instinctive that most of the time we're hardly even aware of it Of course, that's (4) why it's easy to develop bad habits and why many of us don't it as well as we (5) But with a little practice, (6) _ it right can bring instant health benefits These include feeling more relaxed and being more mentally alert You may also find that there's an improvement in (7) physical symptoms, such as bloating and stomach pains, dizziness, headaches, pins and needles and low energy Learning to breathe correctly can dramatically improve your wellbeing and (8) of life Most people think that poor breathing means that you don't get enough oxygen, but it's (9) the carbon dioxide you're missing out (10) Your answers: 10 Part Read passage and choose the answer A, B, C or D that fits best according to the text It has become conventional wisdom that spending too much time playing video games has a detrimental effect on children’s studies and their social development However, some educationalists are now questioning this theory and are using video games as effective educational tools thus bridging the gap between recreational and educational activities Due to the sophisticated nature of today’s games, teachers are able to justify the inclusion of video and online games for many pedagogical reasons There may, for example, be sociological, psychological, and ethical implications built into the gameplay Harvey Edwards, who teaches IT classes in London, was one such educator who decided to use video games in his lessons To this, he chose Minecraft, an online game in which players create and develop imaginary worlds He was somewhat uneasy about attempting such an unconventional approach, not because of some students’ unfamiliarity with the game but rather due to them not being able to make sense of what he was trying to with it He worried that it might interfere with his learners’ focus, but he couldn’t have been more surprised by the results Minecraft is an example of a ‘sandbox game’, in which gamers roam around and change a virtual world at will Instead of having to pass through numbered levels to reach certain places, there’s full access from start to finish The original version can be adapted to control which characters and content are left in Each student can then be allocated tasks – such as house-building, locating items or problem-solving – which they must complete within the game Elements of more general skills can be subtly incorporated into the lessons, such as online politeness and safety, teamwork and resolving differences Edwards feels that presenting such lessons in the context of a game students probably already know and enjoy enables him to connect with them at greater depth, and in more motivational ways Bolstered by his success, Edwards introduced his approach to another school nearby He recalls that the first couple of sessions didn’t live up to his expectations Those who had played Minecraft before were keen for others to adopt their own style of play Unsurprisingly, this assortment of styles and opinions as to how the game should proceed were far from harmonious However, the sessions rapidly transformed into something more cohesive, with the learners driving the change With minimal teacher input, they set about choosing leaders and established several teams, each with its own clearly-defined role These teams, now party to clear common goals, willingly cooperated to ensure that their newborn world flourished, even when faced with the toughest of challenges ‘Human’ inhabitants in a Minecraft ‘society’ are very primitive and wander around the imaginary world, waiting for guidance from players [A] This dynamic bears a resemblance to traditional education, an observation highlighted by Martina Williams, one of the leaders of the group [B] ‘Through the game, we were no longer passive learners in the classroom, being told what and how to learn, but active participants in our own society [C] The leaders, meanwhile, had a vision for their virtual world as a whole, encouraging everyone to play their part in achieving the group’s goals [D] Through creating their own characters and using these to build their own ‘world’, students will have gained some experiential understanding of societal structure and how communities work But not everyone is convinced by video games’ potential academic value While many progressive commentators cite extensive evidence to maintain that video games encourage collaboration and build problem-solving skills, more traditional factions continue to insist they are a distraction that not merit inclusion in any curriculum Even less evangelical cynics, who may grudgingly acknowledge games have some educational benefit, assert that this is only the case in the hands of creative educators However, the accusation most often levelled at video games is that they detract from the social aspect of the classroom, particularly taking part in discussions Dr Helen Conway, an educational researcher, argues that video games can be used to promote social activities ‘Students become animated talking about the game and how to improve their gameplaying and problem-solving skills,’ she says ‘I find it strange, this image that many people have,’ Conway says ‘Children are often totally detached from their peers when undertaking more traditional activities, like reading books, but we never suggest that books are harmful because they’re a solitary experience The first time Edwards used a game in his classes, he was A convinced that learners would realise why he wanted them to play it B convinced that learners would see the reasons for playing it C anxious that he had chosen the wrong one for learners to play D sure that his reasons for getting learners to play it were valid The writer suggests that Minecraft is a good choice of educational game because A any number of learners can use it simultaneously B teachers can remove any inappropriate material C gamers can create educative tasks whilst playing it D players can develop their skills in a step-by-step way Which of the following words in the fourth paragraph is used to convey a feeling of approval? A keen B harmonious C driving D newborn In the fifth paragraph, the writer draws a comparison between a Minecraft ‘society’ and A relationships within the group as they played B the way in which countries organise themselves C typical students in a school environment D how leadership operates in different situations In the sixth paragraph, the writer feels that critics of video games in education A are unwilling to admit that using them in class has benefits B make accurate observations about teachers who use them C use flawed research to support their objections to using them D acknowledge the drawbacks of more traditional teaching methods The words ‘this image’ in the sixth paragraph refer to A people who criticise gaming in education B students discussing a game in a group C a group of students reading individually D a solitary player absorbed in a game Where does this sentence belong to in the fifth paragraph? Each group member had ideas as to how their function should develop A [A] B [B] C [C] D [D] The word ‘subtly’ in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to A intricately B ingeniously C ingenuously D haphazardly The word ‘grudgingly’ in the sixth paragraph is closest in meaning to A gleefully B vivaciously C genially D reluctantly 10 Which of the following best describes the author's attitude towards the application of gaming into education? A supportive B neutral C cynical D satirical Your answers: 10 Part Read the following passage and the tasks that follow The history of aspirin is a product of a rollercoaster ride through time, of accidental discoveries, intuitive reasoning and intense corporate rivalry A In the opening pages of Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug, Diarmuid Jeffreys describes this little white pill as ‘one of the most amazing creations in medical history, a drug so astonishingly versatile that it can relieve headache, ease your aching limbs, lower your temperature and treat some of the deadliest human diseases’ B Its properties have been known for thousands of years Ancient Egyptian physicians used extracts from the willow tree as an analgesic, or pain killer Centuries later the Greek physician Hippocrates recommended the bark of the willow tree as a remedy for the pains of childbirth and as a fever reducer But it wasn't until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that salicylates the chemical found in the willow tree became the subject of serious scientific investigation The race was on to identify the active ingredient and to replicate it synthetically At the end of the nineteenth century a German company, Friedrich Bayer & Co succeeded in creating a relatively safe and very effective chemical compound, acetylsalicylic acid, which was renamed aspirin C The late nineteenth century was a fertile period for experimentation, partly because of the hunger among scientists to answer some of the great scientific questions, but also because those questions were within their means to answer One scientist in a laboratory with some chemicals and a test tube could make significant breakthroughs whereas today, in order to map the human genome for instance, one needs ‘an army of researchers, a bank of computers and millions and millions of dollars’ D But an understanding of the nature of science and scientific inquiry is not enough on its own to explain how society innovates In the nineteenth century, scientific advance was closely linked to the industrial revolution This was a period when people frequently had the means, motive and determination to take an idea and turn it into reality In the case of aspirin that happened piecemeal - a series of minor, often unrelated advances, fertilised by the century’s broader economic, medical and scientific developments, that led to one big final breakthrough E The link between big money and pharmaceutical innovation is also a significant one Aspirin’s continued shelf life was ensured because for the first 70 years of its life, huge amounts of money were put into promoting it as an ordinary everyday analgesic In the 1970s other analgesics, such as ibuprofen and paracetamol, were entering the market, and the pharmaceutical companies then focused on publicising these new drugs But just at the same time, discoveries were made regarding the beneficial role of aspirin in preventing heart attacks, strokes and other afflictions Had it not been for these findings, this pharmaceutical marvel may well have disappeared F So the relationship between big money and drugs is an odd one Commercial markets are necessary for developing new products and ensuring that they remain around long enough for scientists to carry out research on them But the commercial markets are just as likely to kill off' certain products when something more attractive comes along In the case of aspirin, a potential ‘wonder drug* was around for over 70 years without anybody investigating the way in which it achieved its effects, because they were making more than enough money out of it as it was If ibuprofen or paracetamol had entered the market just a decade earlier, aspirin might then not be here today It would be just another forgotten drug that people hadn't bothered to explore G None of the recent discoveries of aspirin's benefits were made by the big pharmaceutical companies; they were made by scientists working in the public sector 'The reason for that is very simple and straightforward,' Jeffreys says in his book 'Drug companies will only pursue research that is going to deliver financial benefits There's no profit in aspirin any more It is incredibly inexpensive with tiny profit margins and it has no patent any more, so anyone can produce it.' In fact, there's almost a disincentive for drug companies to further boost the drug, he argues, as it could possibly put them out of business by stopping them from selling their more expensive brands H So what is the solution to a lack of commercial interest in further exploring the therapeutic benefits of aspirin? More public money going into clinical trials, says Jeffreys ‘If I were the Department of Health I would say “this is a very inexpensive drug There may be a lot of other things we could with it." We should put a lot more money into trying to find out.' I Jeffreys' book which not only tells the tale of a 'wonder drug' but also explores the nature of innovation and the role of big business, public money and regulation reminds us why such research is so important Questions 1-6 The Reading Passage has nine paragraphs A-I Choose the correct heading for each paragraph (A-F) from the list of headings below Write the correct number (i-x) in boxes 1-6 List of headings: i The most powerful analgesic ii The profit potential of aspirin iii Saved from oblivion by drug companies iv Recognition of an important medicinal property v A double-edged sword vi An unstructured pattern of development vii Major pharmaceutical companies viii A wonder drug ix Roots of the scientific advancements in the 19th century x The discovery of new medical applications Paragraph A Paragraph B Paragraph C Paragraph D Paragraph E Paragraph F Questions 7-13 Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer? YES if the statement agrees with the views of the writer NO if the statement contradicts the views of the writer NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this The discovery of aspirin’s full medicinal properties was a very unusual one The 19th century saw significant changes in the way in which scientific experiments were carried out For nineteenth-century scientists, small-scale research was far from enough to make important discoveries 10 The creation of a market for aspirin as a painkiller was achieved through commercial advertising campaigns 11 In the 1970s sales of new analgesic drugs overtook sales of aspirin 12 Between 1900 and 1970, there was little research into aspirin because commercial companies thought it had been adequately exploited 13 Jeffrey suggests that there should be state support for further research into the possible applications of aspirin Your answers: 6 11 12 13 10 Part You are going to read a magazine article Seven paragraphs have been removed from the article Choose from the paragraphs A - H the one which fits each gap (24 - 30) There is one extra paragraph which you not need to use Mobile Misgivings It's getting hard to be anonymous To anything, you have to prove who you are Want to buy something or draw some cash? That's a wodge of credit cards to lug around, and a plethora of fourdigit PINs to remember Even before stepping out of the front door, you've got to find your driving licence or rail pass, perhaps even your passport Inside every digital mobile phone is a SIM card SIM stands for Subscriber Information Module, and the chip embedded in the SIM card is what makes the mobile yours For now, the SIM just identifies you to the phone system, and maybe holds details of your favourite phone numbers In future it could identify you to everyone who needs to know who you are and would enable you to carry out transactions which require a form of identification The Finnish government is looking at using SIM's in place of a national identity card - and eventually a passport Under this plan, the SIM wilt become a person's legal proof of identity And there's no reason why it couldn't unlock your health records, social security details and other personal information One click and a hospital would know exactly who it's dealing with People can loge or mislay their phones, and they are a tempting target for thieves, who can easily dispose of them on the black market That's bad enough when there's only a large phone bill at stake When your phone becomes the key to your identity, secrets and cash, you'll want so make sure it stays safely locked up, even if only the gadget itself falls into the wrong Lands "Having something that contains all this information would be extremely rash," says Roger Needham, managing director of Microsoft's British research laboratory in Cambridge "People will simply find it unacceptable." The beauty of this system is that the identifier would act as one half of what's called a public key encryption system The identifier, kept safe inside the phone, acts as a key, known to no one else To read a message locked with this private key requires a second, public key, which can be freely distributed An increasing number of countries are passing laws to give private keys the same legal force as signatures This has unleashed a flood of encryption systems, and the problem now is to get governments and companies to agree on a standard "It needs to be simple, secure and transparent," says Mica Nierninen, head of mobile commerce company More Magic Software, in Helsinki "We have the maths to show that it is secure The only problem now is making it global." The private key is protected by a PIN, and the card will shut itself off if wrong numbers are keyed in three times To switch it back on, the owner must take it to a police station with another form of ID If a card is stolen, the police will cancel it permanently Either way, information on the card stays safe Pearson thinks consumers, too, will learn to trust a chip with their identity, not least because it will make life so much easier A private key will away with hard-to-remember log-in codes and passwords for websites, as well as all those credit cards and PINS "People already give up their privacy quite happily just to get access to a website," he says "As long as they get something out of it." A But for these dreams to become reality, there'll have to be a revolution in public attitudes People will have to let go of their apprehensions about e-commerce and learn to trust their mobiles; "Cultivating that trust is a very difficult thing to and takes it lot of time," says Ian Pearson, resident futurologist at British Telecom B Your credit history could be accessed by your bank manager with your agreement, which would negate the need for you to visit the bank The manager could communicate with you through your mobile phone and either give you advice over the phone or invite you to the bank for a face-to-face consultation This has already been piloted in Britain and has received a positive reception C The solution, according to experts in the field, is to share precious information on secure servers accessible via a WAP connection on the web The SIM would only store a personal identifier - a long string of digits that would unlock the servers and give access to the information they hold To use the identifier, the phone's owner would have to punch in a PIN D "Even in its embryonic form, FINEID gives people a secure way to access sensitive information," says Vatka "And when you get it in a mobile phone you're not even tied to a terminal," he says Many believe that identity theft will be inevitable no matter how careful safeguards are But since it is already taking place and this system is more secure, businesses will probably be keen to adopt it E In a few years, this plastic and paper baggage could be history A single chip hidden in your cellphone will be all you need - a little treasure that holds your complete identity But beware! Lose your phone, and your identity and money go with it The big question is whether people will be willing to trust so much to a sliver of silicon F You might use this set-up to send a request to a bank using its public key to see the details of your account, which it would decrypt using its private key The bank would then send you the requested information encrypted with your public key, which only your private key could decrypt Thus both messages would be secure G To pay for a meal, say, you will use the phone to transfer money through the phone network to a restaurant's computer There will be no payment slip to sign because your SIM will it for you Likewise, when you board a plane you won't have to wait in line for a boarding pass and seat number H "The Finnish government has taken the initiative with a national standard that companies can use free of charge," says Vesa Vatka of the Finnish Population Register Centre in Helsinki "At the moment this system - called FINEID - uses a smart card and a card reader attached to a computer, but the plan is to integrate to a SIM," says Vatka Your answers: 10 Part The passage below consists of four paragraphs marked A-D Read the passage and the task that follows Write your answers (A-D) in the corresponding numbered boxes provided Studying the law A Ordinary people regularly encounter law in a variety of circumstances Freely-negotiated commercial contracts may bind them to act in particular ways By becoming members of a sports club or a trade union they agree to comply with a set of rules Sometimes these forms of law will use the courts to enforce their arrangements In other cases privately-instituted adjudication bodies are established, a third party being appointed to decide whether an agreement or rule has been broken or not These kinds of arrangements may seem very different from the normal idea of law, especially if law is thought of mainly in terms of the criminal law However, it is possible to see law simply as a way of regulating our actions, of deciding what can be done and what cannot be done Most laws are not about something spectacular but, rather, about the details of ordinary life Every time a purchase is made, a contract is made Both parties make promises about what they will do; one to hand over the goods, one to pay the price In this and other ways, everybody is involved in law every day of their lives B Legal rules can be divided up in many different ways The rules show differences in purpose, in origin and form, in the consequences when they are breached, and in matters of procedure, remedies and enforcement One of the most fundamental divisions in law is the division between criminal and civil law Newcomers to the study of law tend to assume that criminal law occupies the bulk of a lawyer's caseload and of a law student's studies This is an interesting by-product of the portrayal of the legal system by the media Criminal law weighs very lightly in terms of volume when measured against non-criminal (that is, civil) law There are more rules of civil law than there are of criminal law; more court cases involve breach of the civil law than that of the criminal law C The term 'national law' is used to mean the internal legal rules of a particular country, in contrast to international law which deals with the external relationships of a state with other states There is no world government or legislature issuing and enforcing laws to which all nations are subject The international legal order has no single governing body and operates by agreement between states This means that the creation, interpretation and enforcement of international law lie primarily in the hands of states themselves Its scope and effectiveness depend on the sense of mutual benefit and obligation involved in adhering to the rules Disputes about the scope and interpretation of international law are rarely resolved by the use of international courts or binding arbitration procedures of an international organisation This is because submission to an international court or similar process is entirely voluntary and few states are likely to agree to this if there is a serious risk of losing their case or where important political or national interests are at stake D One source of detailed information about the legal system is statistical analyses Information about the number of cases handled by a court shows in specific terms what a court's workload is Changes in these from year to year may indicate some effects of changes in the law and practice Statistical tests can establish that there is a relationship, a correlation, between different things For example, the length of a sentence for theft may correlate with the value of the items stolen or the experience of the judge who heard the case This means that the sentence will be longer if, for example, more items are stolen or the judge is more experienced A correlation can provide evidence for a theory Such confirmation is important; without it we have little to establish the impact the law has, being forced to rely on individual instances of its application and having to assume that these have general truth Empirical study of the operation of law may reveal areas of improvement It can also confirm that, measured by particular standards, the courts are working well In which extract are the following mentioned? the relative frequency of certain types of legal cases 11 input by those who are not directly involved in a dispute how common transactions assume certain guarantees ascertaining the effectiveness of a legal system determining the consequences of altering the legal system the influence of popular depictions of the law a reluctance to submit to formal legal processes how a decentralised legal system depends on a feeling of reciprocity the lack of drama in the way the law operates 10 the absence of a certain type of legal institution Your answers: 10 WRITING (6 pts) Part Read the following text and use your own words to summarize it between 120 and 140 words long You MUST NOT copy the original Throughout history, various people have demonstrated a high degree of confidence in the ability of certain animals to predict the weather It may seem surprising today in view of the complex equipment now involved in weather forecasting to understand that in certain cases, the behavior of animals does indeed provide an indication of inclement weather Sensitivity of certain animals to falling air pressure or to low-frequency sound waves that humans cannot hear, which are indicators of approaching storms, causes behaviors in animals that certain societies have come to recognize as predictors of storms A number of animals are remarkably sensitive to variations in air pressure, and some of these animals show consistent, noticeable, and predictable behaviors as air pressure drops before a storm hits Where the air pressure drops before a storm, some animals move closer to the ground to equalize the pressure in their ears: some birds such as swallows tend to stay on the ground or roost in trees instead of soaring in the skies when a storm is imminent because of the decreasing air pressure Other animals make more noise than usual as air pressure drops: an unusual amount of quacking by ducks and a high volume of croaking by frogs are both indicators that are believed to occur because of the high degree of sensitivity of ducks and frogs to the change in pressure Finally, still other animals become more active before storms as a reaction to the falling air pressure: dolphins and porpoises seem to be taking part in a frenzied sort of play, and bees and ants become more active prior to storms, most likely because of their sensitivity to lower pressure There is good reason to believe that the fact that these animal behaviors seem to occur regularly prior to storms may have a scientific basis and that the animals demonstrating these behaviors may actually be good short-range weather forecasters However, their ability to predict long-range weather patterns is rather suspect Certain proverbs, for example, are based on what is most likely the idea that squirrels are good indicators of long-range weather patterns One proverb indicates that, if a squirrel seems busier than usual in gathering nuts, then a long and cold winter is on its way; however, this behavior in squirrels is more likely due to a large supply of nuts available for gathering, which occurs because of earlier good weather, and is not an indicator of cold weather to come Another proverb about squirrels indicates that if a squirrel grows a long and bushy tail in the fall, then a particularly harsh winter is on its way; in this case too, the squirrel develops a long and bushy tail because of earlier good weather and not as a warning of bad weather to come …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… 12 …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… Part The chart below shows the percentage of adults of different age in the UK who used the Internet everyday from 2003-2006 Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features and make comparisons where relevant …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… 13 …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… Part Write an essay on the following topic Society is based on rules and laws It could not function if individuals were free to whatever they wanted To what extent you agree or disagree? …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… …….………………………………………………………………………………………………… 14 ... time playing video games has a detrimental effect on children’s studies and their social development However, some educationalists are now questioning this theory and are using video games as effective... classes in London, was one such educator who decided to use video games in his lessons To this, he chose Minecraft, an online game in which players create and develop imaginary worlds He was somewhat... own ‘world’, students will have gained some experiential understanding of societal structure and how communities work But not everyone is convinced by video games’ potential academic value While