IeltsRead

Academic Reading Workbook

Copyright pageThe National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research (NCELTR) was established at Macquarie University in 1988. The National Centre forms part of the Linguistics and Psychology discipline at Macquarie University.

This workbook is sold subject to the conditions that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.

The publishers have used their best efforts to contact all copyright holders for permission to reproduce artwork and text extracts and wish to acknowledge the following for providing copyright permission.

Text used in Step 6, adapted by Clutterbuck, Michael, from Savage, C.M., 1996, Fifth Generation Management, revised ed., Newton, MA: Butterworth Heinemann: Principles of management in the computer age.

Text used in Practice Reading test adapted by Dash, Anna with permission from Guterl, Fred, The Future of TV, Newsweek Issues 2003 Special Edition, Dec 2002 - Feb 2003, pp.86 - 89. www.newsweek.com

Text used in Steps 3, 4, 6, 7 written for this course by Dash, Anna, The Use of Comics in Education 2003.

Text used in Steps 5, 6, 8 adapted with permission from Ezzell, Carol, 2003, Clocking Cultures, Scientic American Journal, September, pp. 56-57.www.sciam.com

Text used in Steps 5, 6,7 written for this course by Fitchett, John, The Rush 2004.

Text used adapted with permission from Garbutt, Michael and Kerry Sullivan, Culture and Learning, IELTS Practice Tests, Sydney: NCELTR, Macquarie University, 1996, p. 31.www.nceltr.mq.edu.au/publications

Text used in Steps 5, 6, 8 adapted with permission from Gibbs, 2002, W. W., Endangered Languages, Scientic American, July, p. 79. www.sciam.com

Texts used from OSullivan, Kerry and Jere my Lindeck, 2002, Focusing on IELTS: Reading and Writing Skills, Sydney: NCELTR, Macquarie University: Cats, Esperanto, Migrant Labour. www.nceltr.mq.edu.au/publications

Text used in Steps 4, 5, 8 written for this course by Thompson, Bruce, Treating a disease or inventing one? 2004.

Text used in Practice Reading test written for this course by Thompson, Bruce, Good for you or not good for you? That is the question 2004.

Text used in Practice Reading test written for this course by Thompson, Bruce, Sensory Overload 2004.

Macquarie University 2005

Published by theNational Centre for English Language Teaching and ResearchMacquarie UniversitySydney NSW 2109

Design by Stephen Macchia, Centre for Flexibile Learning, Macquarie University

Welcome to the Academic Reading Workbook!

The Academic Reading Workbook is a collection of all the workbook activities in the Reading Module, which are indicated by the following icon:

The workbook also contains the reading passages for workbook activities.

What is the Academic Reading Workbook?

The Academic Reading Workbook is a very important part of the course, as it gives you a more realistic test experience. It allows you to read passages and practise answering IELTS Reading test questions as you will in the test - on paper.

We strongly encourage you to download the complete workbook all at one time, and keep it next to your computer so that you can refer to it whenever you encounter a workbook activity.

How is it useful?

When you encounter a workbook activity, look for the workbook activity number. For the activity to the right, the workbook activity number is 3.1

How do I use it?

You can then turn to your Activities Section of the Table of Contents at the front of the workbook to locate the page number of that activity.

We hope you enjoy your workbook!

Read the instructions on your screen carefully before you begin each workbook activity. After you have completed the activity in your workbook, return to the screen and click on the Check button to check your answers.

If you would like to repeat a workbook activity at any time during the course, you can print off the page individually. To do this simply click on the Print Page button on screen.

If you would like a clean copy of a reading passage, you can follow the same process above. Alternatively, you can click on the Reading Passage button on screen and print the passage in the popup box.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

To nd the reading passage you need, turn to the Passages Sections of the Table of Contents to nd the page number for the passage.

Step 3

3.1 Skimming a passage ...2

Table of Contents

Step 33.1 Skimming a passage ...23.2 Scanning to answer Short Answer questions ...33.3 More scanning practice to answer Short Answer questions ...43.4 Reading intensively for detail to answer T/F/NG questions ...53.5 Reading intensively for detail to answer Sentence Completion questions ...6

Step 44.1 Matching Paragraph Headings questions 1 ...84.2 Matching Paragraph Headings questions 2 ...94.3 Multiple Choice Paragraph Headings questions ...10

Step 55.1 Modied Multiple Choice questions ...125.2 Standard and Modied Multiple Choice questions ...135.3 Information Location questions 1 ...145.4 Information Location questions 2 ...155.5 True/False/Not Given Questions 2 and 3 ...165.6 True/False/Not Given questions 1 ...175.7 True/False/Not Given questions 2 ...18

Step 66.1 Summary Completion questions with a box of possible answers 1 ...206.2 Summary Completion questions using a box of possible answers 2 ...216.3 Summary Completion questions without a box of possible answers 1 ...226.4 Summary Completion questions without a box of possible answers 2 ...23

Step 77.1 Putting it all together ...26

Step 88.1 Yes/ No/Not Given questions ...288.2 Yes/ No/Not Given questions ...298.3 Matching Viewpoint questions ...308.4 Matching Viewpoint questions ...31

Language Focus Part 3Using punctuation to answer IELTS Reading test questions ...34

Final Practice Reading testReading Passage 1 ...36Reading Passage 2 ...39Reading Passage 3 ...42

Reading PassagesP1 Cats ...46P2 Clocking Cultures ...47P3 Culture and Learning ...49P4 Endangered Languages ...50P5 Esperanto ...52P6 Health Effects of Systemic Poisons ...53P7 Migrant Labour ...54P8 Principles of Management in the Computer Age ...55P9 The Rush ...56P10 Treating a Disease or Inventing One? ...58P11 The Use of Comics in Education ...60

3.1 Skimming a passage3.2 Scanning to answer Short Answer questions3.3 More scanning practice to answer Short Answer questions3.4 Reading intensively for detail to answer T/F/NG questions3.5 Reading intensively for detail to answer Sentence Completion questions

Step 3

Macquarie University Online IELTS Preparation Academic Reading Workbook

Copyright Macquarie University 20052

3.1

3.1 Skimming a passageLets now practise the skimming process by skimming all the paragraphs of the passage The Use of Comics in Education (P11) using the four-step skimming process.

Use a pencil to skim the passage. Underline the key words and write the main idea of each paragraph next to the paragraph.

Remember to review the Process on the screen before you begin the reading activity.

IMPORTANT NOTE

When you have nished, click on the Student Notes button to compare how you skimmed the passage with how Anthony skimmed the passage. Anthonys answer is a good example of how to skim this passage. You may have underlined or circled different words, which is ne. However, notice the words Anthony underlined as they are important.

Macquarie University Online IELTS Preparation

Copyright Macquarie University 2005 3


3.2 Scanning to answer Short Answer questions

3.2Lets now practise the scanning process by answering two more questions on the passage The Use of Comics in Education (P11). Use a pencil to help you and scan the passage in your workbook for the answers.

Time yourself. You should take no more than two minutes to answer these two questions.

Questions 2-3

Answer the following questions using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

2 Where were painted friezes found? ........................................................................

3 When were classic comics available? ........................................................................



3.3 More scanning practice to answer Short Answer questions

3.3Scan the passage The Use of Comics in Education (P11). Write your answers below.

Time yourself. You should take no longer than three minutes to scan for the following answers.

Questions 4-6

Answer the following questions using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

4 Who is the Marketing Director of Warp Graphics? ..........................................................................

5 What organisation uses comics to motivate children? ....................................................................

6 Who wrote Comics and Reading Choices. (2 names) ...................................................................




3.4 Reading intensively for detail to answer T/F/NG questions

3.4Lets now practise the process for reading intensively for detail by answering three more T/F/NG questions on the passage The Use of Comics in Education (P11). Use a pencil to help you scan the passage and to read intensively for detail to answer the questions below.

Time yourself. You should take no more than three minutes to answer these three questions.

Remember you have already underlined and circled important words and written the main idea next to each paragraph. This will help you identify which paragraph to scan to locate where an answer is found.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Questions 2-4

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? 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

2 Paintings at Lascaux were accompanied by written inscriptions. ................

3 Comics were thought to be detrimental to a childs reading progress. ................

4 Violence was the only reason that comics were criticised. ................



3.5

3.5 Reading intensively for detail to answer Sentence Completion questions

Lets now practise the reading intensively for detail process by answering more Sentence Completion questions on the passage The Use of Comics in Education (P11). Use a pencil to help you scan the passage and to read intensively for detail to answer the questions.

Time yourself. You should take no longer than four to ve minutes to answer the following questions.

Questions 1-5

Complete each sentence with the correct ending A-H from the box below.

1 Some early forms of sequential art ................

2 Recently, ideas about comics ................

3 Reading projects using comic libraries ................

4 Superhero comics ................

5 Specially-designed comics ................

A were all used in religious ceremonies.B have been used in a university science class.C have been judged to be especially violent.D have been warmly received by children.E were popular reading in the 19th century.F were used as an aid to help the illiterate.G have been produced by governments.H have been re-evaluated.

4.1 Matching Paragraph Headings questions 14.2 Matching Paragraph Headings questions 24.3 Multiple Choice Paragraph Headings questions

Step 4




4.1

4.1 Matching Paragraph Headings questions 1

Complete the Matching Paragraph Headings questions for Paragraphs C, D and E of the passage Culture and Learning (P3).

Questions 1-5

The reading passage has ve paragraphs labelled A-E.

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the appropriate number (i-x) in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.

i. Cultural differences in writing stylesii. Primary and secondary school educationiii. Implications for overseas studentsiv. Academic writing stylesv. International languages

vi. Variation within culturesvii. Variations in subjects taughtviii. Tertiary educationix. Cultural variation in learning between culturesx. Changes in the British education system

1 Paragraph A ................

2 Paragraph B ................

3 Paragraph C ..................

4 Paragraph D ..................

5 Paragraph E ..................




Skim the passage. When you have nished, return to the screen and complete the Matching Paragraph Headings questions for the passage Treating a Disease or Inventing One? (P10)

4.2

4.2 Matching Paragraph Headings questions 2

Questions 1-8

The reading passage has ve paragraphs labelled A-E.

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

i. Consequences of ADHD for parents and childrenii. Opposition to chemical treatment of ADHD sufferersiii. Commonly asked questionsiv. ADHD or normal behaviour?v. Variations of acceptable behaviour in children

vi. An invented mental illnessvii. Current treatments only a temporary solutionviii. A questionable treatmentix. Common signs of an ADHD suffererx. Using ADHD to sell drugsxi. The denition of an average child

1 Paragraph A ..................

2 Paragraph B ..................

3 Paragraph C ..................

4 Paragraph D ..................

5 Paragraph E ..................

6 Paragraph F ..................

7 Paragraph G ..................

8 Paragraph H ..................


IMPORTANT NOTE




4.3

4.3 Multiple Choice Paragraph Headings questions

Complete the Multiple Choice Paragraph Headings questions for the passage Culture and Learning (P3).

Questions 1-2

Choose the correct letter A, B, C, or D.

1 Which of the following headings is the most appropriate for Paragraph D?

A Cultural differences in writing styles

B Subject-specic variations

C Variation within cultures

D Implications for overseas students

2 Which of the following headings is the most appropriate for Paragraph E?

A Cultural differences in learning styles

B Entrance to subject-specic discipline

C Secondary to tertiary variations

D Implications for overseas students

5.1 Modied Multiple Choice questions5.2 Standard and Modied Multiple Choice questions5.3 Information Location questions 15.4 Information Location questions 25.5 True/False/Not Given Questions 2 and 35.6 True/False/Not Given questions 15.7 True/False/Not Given questions 2

Step 5




5.1

5.1 Modified Multiple Choice questions

Read an extract of the passage Health Effects of Systemic Poisons (P6) and complete the Modied Multiple Choice questions below.

Questions 2-3

Choose TWO letters A-E.

Which TWO of the following are results of consuming non-soluble poisons?

A fecal blood

B digestive system

C mucous-producing glands

D lower intestine

E diarrhoea




5.2

5.2 Standard and Modified Multiple Choice questions

Read the rst ve paragraphs of the reading passage The Rush (P9) and answer the two Multiple Choice questions below.

Question 1

Choose THREE letters A-F.

1 Which THREE problems do doctors use adrenaline for?

A poor sports performance

B pain

C stress

D reduced concentration

E inability to sleep

F lack of energy

Question 2

Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.

2 Extreme sports can be addictive because they

A are physically challenging

B push individuals mentally

C stimulate adrenaline production

D encourage personal discovery.




5.3

5.3 Information Location questions 1Read the passage Clocking Cultures (P2) and answer the following Information Location questions.

Questions 1-6

The passage has eight paragraphs labelled A-H.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

NB You may use any letter more than once.

1 examples of how time is measured

2 a comparison of time expectations based on hierarchy

3 a cultural explanation of different perceptions of time

4 an analysis of the connection between time and work

5 effects of time on the perception of time

6 a recommendation of how to deal with different understandings of time




5.4 Information Location questions 2Read the passage Treating a Disease or Inventing One? (P10) again and answer the following Information Location questions.

Questions 1-6

The passage has eight paragraphs labeled A-H.



1 an example of different interpretations of acceptable behaviour

2 a description of everyday activities which indicate ADHD

3 an assertion that ADHD characteristics represent normal behaviour

4 reasons to reject the controversial ADHD drug treatment

5 an explanation of common misconceptions concerning ADHD medication

6 an analysis of why alternative treatments to drugs are often avoided

5.4




5.5 True/False/Not Given Questions 2 and 3

Use the process to answer True/False/Not Given Questions 2 and 3 below.

Questions 1-3





Krauss predicted that a very high percentage of the worlds languages would become extinct.

....................

There is evidence that the merging of languages helps international business.

....................

One expert believes that when a language dies, its culture dies too.

....................

1

2

3

Read the passage Endangered languages (P4) again and answer the True/False/Not Given questions below.

5.5




5.6

5.6 True/False/Not Given questions 1

Read the passage The Rush (P9) again and answer the True/False/Not Given questions below.

Questions 1-5





Alfred Ryan believes that people learn to conquer their fears through continuing to do extreme sports.

....................

Bernard worries that he wouldnt be a good husband.

....................

Bernards training can prevent all unpredictable events except bad weather.

....................

Bernard thinks that a short and dangerous life is better than a long but boring one.

....................

Bernards team would only regret an expedition if his team suffered a tragedy.

....................

1

2

3

4

5




5.7

5.7 True/False/Not Given questions 2Read the passage Treating a Disease or Inventing One? (P10) again and answer the True/False/Not Given questions below. Remember to skim the passage before you answer the questions.

Questions 1-5





Brain function of ADHD sufferers is different to that of other people.

...................

Bryant claims that children who are put on drugs to help their ADHD become addicted to illegal drugs later in life.

...................

Professor Mitchell believes that ADHD is a convenient label for problems with other causes.

...................

In some countries, the disorder of ADHD is not known.

...................

The author believes that other methods should be used to help some children with behavioural problems.

...................

1

2

3

4

5

6.1 Summary Completion questions with a box of possible answers 16.2 Summary Completion questions with a box of possible answers 26.3 Summary Completion questions without a box of possible answers 16.4 Summary Completion questions without a box of possible answers 2

Step 6


IMPORTANT NOTE




6.1

6.1 Summary Completion questions with a box of possible answers 1

Read the passage The Rush (P9) again and complete the Summary Completion questions below.

Questions 1-6

Complete the following summary using words from the box.

An increasing number of people are becoming addicted to extreme sports, performing death

defying feats for 1.................................. This natural high is caused by adrenaline released into

the 2.................................. to help the body deal with 3.................................. When this chemical

begins circulating throughout the body, a person experiences an increase in 4.................................,

awareness and concentration.

5.................................. can make extreme sports enthusiasts such as Bernard Peters push

themselves further for the excitement and high it gives them. Peters and others recognise that

there are drawbacks to such hazardous pursuits. They require time, money and an acceptance

of the 6.................................. involved. However, participants nd the experiences rewarding and

worth the risks involved.

scientic discovery adrenaline powerdanger risky feats sudden changesblood adrenal glands stress

the rush stressful situation energy


IMPORTANT NOTE




6.2 Summary Completion questions using a box of possible answers 2

Read the passage Principles of Management in the Computer Age (P8) and complete the Summary Completion questions below.

6.2

Questions 1-6

Complete the summary of the rst four paragraphs (A-D) of the reading passage Principles of Management in the Computer Age using words from the box.

The principles of management used in the past are not suitable for the 1........................... While in

the past steep triangular management systems were common, there is now an emergence in

2.......................... using 3.......................... and human contact. Modern 4.......................... allows

people to share information and build businesses. However, 5.......................... becomes very

important with individuals making their own 6.......................... within the boundaries of a common

plan.

teams industrial-eraatter network organisations triangular management systemsnetworking technology technical infrastructureworking in teams Internet technologychallenges computer systemsdecisions computer age


IMPORTANT NOTE




6.3

6.3 Summary Completion questions without a box of possible answers 1

Read the passage Clocking Cultures (P2) again and complete the Summary Completion questions below.

Questions 1-4

Complete the summary using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage.

If you are having trouble answering the Summary Completion questions, click on the Hint buttons on the screen.

Different societies often have different views on time. These views can indicate each societies

1.........................................................., as well as the way they see the world. The differences in

2.......................................................... in various cultures have been documented. This means that

each culture has its own unspoken language and understanding of the rules of 3.............................

........................... These different rules explain why it is acceptable in some cultures to keep certain

people waiting and why it is considered rude to do so in others, leading to 4......................................

.................... between people of different cultures.


IMPORTANT NOTE




6.4

6.4 Summary Completion questions without a box of possible answers 2

Read the passage Endangered Languages (P4) again and complete the Summary Completion questions below.

Questions 1-7

Complete the summary using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage.

Some linguists have predicted that half of the worlds languages will disappear in the next hundred

years due to 1..................................................... resorting to speaking the dominant language. This

2..................................................... boosts the social and economic status of 3...............................

....................... However, it is a great loss to the linguistic study of the limits of human speech, the

study of ancient migration patterns and to the diversity of cultures.

Other linguists have claimed that these studies usually focus on the 4.........................................

............, rather than whether the speakers of the language were actively using and teaching the

language to their offspring, ensuring its survival. When speakers doubt 5.....................................

........... of their language, it is more likely to disappear because if people view their language as

insignicant, they stop using it.

The solution to the problem of 6..................................................... is for people to speak two or

more languages. This is common in many parts of the world, however, in North America, Australia

and Russia, people react negatively to other languages being spoken in front of them. This has

lead to these parts of the world being where languages are dying the fastest. To save these

languages the worlds 7..................................................... must be convinced to let the minorities

speak in their own languages.

7.1 Putting it all together

Step 7




7.1 Putting it all togetherRead the passage The Rush (P9) again and answer the Viewpoint Questions 1-10 below.

Questions 1-3

Choose the letter A-C that most closely describes the writers viewpoint for each question.

1 Professor Vice states that adrenaline

A assists the body in dealing with stressful situations

B prevents people from being attacked

C helps sports people perform beyond their physical and psychological abilities.

2 According to Ryan, addiction to extreme sports results from

A the feeling of euphoria caused by the release of adrenaline into the blood

B overcoming natural barriers to fear

C pursuing increasingly risky sports.

3 Bernard Peters believes that

A pursuing extreme sports is preferable to getting married

B extreme sports are as risky as crossing the road

C everything in life requires people to take risks.

Questions 4-8

Do the following statements reect the viewpoint of the writer? Write:

TRUE if the statement agrees with the writer

FALSE if the statement contradicts the writer

NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage

4 People participate in extreme sports in order to benet scientic research.

..................

5 With careful planning and training, extreme sports are relatively safe.

..................

6 Safety equipment, transport and accommodation are often difcult to organise.

..................

7 It is possible for almost anyone to participate in extreme sports.

..................

8 It is inevitable that more mountaineers will lose their lives Everest.

..................

7.1

8.1 Yes/No/Not Given questions 18.2 Yes/No/Not Given questions 28.3 Matching Viewpoint questions 18.4 Matching Viewpoint questions 2

Step 8


IMPORTANT NOTE




8.1

8.1 Yes/ No/Not Given questions 1

Read the passage Cats (P1) again and answer Questions 1-5 below.

Questions 1-5

Do the following statements reect the statements made by the writer? Write:

YES if the statement agrees with the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the writer


1 The large number of plants in gardens has helped to increase the bird population.

..................

2 The activity of predators, such as lions, causes extinction of other animals.

..................

3 Other animals eat more birds than cats.

..................

4 Cats are a particular problem in Victoria.

..................

5 There are more birds per kilometre in towns and cities than in a forest environment.

..................


IMPORTANT NOTE




8.2 Yes/ No/Not Given questions 2

Questions 1-5

Do the following statements reect the statements made by the writer? Write:

YES if the statement agrees with the writer

NO if the statement contradicts the writer


Professor Jane Mitchell believes all children suffer from ADHD at some stage.

..................

Parents can prevent ADHD by educating their children properly.

..................

Drug treatment leading to later substance abuse is a myth according to Professor Jane Mitchell.

..................

The writer thinks diagnosing children with ADHD is the easy solution but that other solutions should be explored.

..................

ADHD does not exist in Melanesian societies.

..................

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2

3

4

5

8.2

Read the passage Treating a Disease or Inventing One? (P10) again and answer Questions 1-5 below.


IMPORTANT NOTE




8.3

8.3 Matching Viewpoint questions 1

Read the passage Endangered Languages (P4) again and answer Questions 1-3 below.

Questions 1-3

Look at the following people and the list of viewpoints below.

Match each person with the viewpoint that they express.

A Patrick McConvellB Michael KraussC James MatisoffD Douglas Whalen

1 3,000 languages will die out in the next hundred years. ............................

2 Knowledge of culture is lost when a language ceases to be used. ............................

3 Not all predictions regarding languages have been correct. ............................


IMPORTANT NOTE




8.4 Matching Viewpoint questions 2

Questions 1-4

Read the passage Clocking Cultures (P2) again and answer Questions 1-4 below.

Look at the following people and the list of viewpoints below.

Match each person with the viewpoint that they express.

A Robert LevineB Edward Hall Jr.C Ziauddin SardarD Kevin Birth

1 Misunderstandings between different cultures can be caused by different perceptions of time.

............................

2 How time is valued shows what is important to different cultures.

............................

3 There is a relationship between power and waiting time.

............................

4 Not all cultures view time as past, present and future.

............................

8.4

Using punctuation to answer IELTS Reading Test questions

Language Focus Part 3



La

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Fo

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3Academic Reading Workbook

Using punctuation to answer IELTS Reading Test questionsRead the rst three paragraphs from the passage The Use of Comics in Education (P11) again and circle all the punctuation marks as you read. Notice how the punctuation marks are used. Use this to help you answer the T/F/NG questions.

Questions 1-6





Sequential art is a group of drawings that depict a story.

.............................

Sequential art was no longer used after writing was invented.

............................

Friezes are a form of written inscription.

............................

Sequential art was used in Egypt and Europe so that the illiterate could participate in religious activities.

............................

Warp Graphics publishes comics.

............................

Catherine L. Kouns states that comics hinder childrens literary skills.

............................

1

2

3

4

5

6

Reading Passage 1Reading Passage 2Reading Passage 3

Final Practice Reading test



Fin

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READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1.

Questions 1-5

The passage has eight paragraphs A-H.

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs C-H from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number i-x in boxes 1-5 on your Answer Sheet.

i. A healthier optionii. Asian countries know bestiii. Fast food companies go healthyiv. A growing businessv. Importance of good eating habits

vi. Mixed messagesvii. A return to dairy productsviii. Healthy becomes unhealthyix. Allergies to dairyx. Concern over negative reaction to mixed messages

1 Paragraph C ..............

2 Paragraph D ..............

3 Paragraph E ..............

4 Paragraph G ..............

5 Paragraph H ..............



Fin

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Good for you or not good for you? That is the question.

At no time in history has the worlds population ever been so well-informed about nutrition and health. Consumers in the developed world are constantly bombarded with advertising messages which promote the health benets of a wide range of food products. However, they are also exposed to the constant promotion of junk food as well. Fast food companies have become sensitive to the criticisms they face over the potential damage their food causes and have begun to vigorously defend the nutritional value of the meals they serve. With this constant ow of messages often contradictory how are todays consumers supposed to determine precisely what is healthy to eat?

According to nutritionist Susan McCaskill, many people today intend to eat healthily, but have become confused about how to do so. It is not just that the traditional denitions of a healthy diet have changed, though this is certainly signicant. Many grew up being told that the more milk you drank, the healthier you would be. Then dairy foods became bad in the eyes of many health professionals and many people sought alternatives to it. Now these alternatives are coming under the same sort of criticism.

The alternative McCaskill is referring to is soya milk. A generation of consumers who were labeled allergic to cows milk products embraced soya substitutes enthusiastically. In fact, the soya bean itself was promoted as a kind of miracle food overall. Claims were made it had the potential to not only provide all the protein required for a healthy diet, but that it could prevent heart disease and cancer. Slogans such as Its Soy Good for you... began to appear in nutritional advice columns.

Now suddenly you can nd messages on health-related websites claiming Its not soy good and even Its SOY bad for you. A generation of health-conscious eaters who previously abandoned milk products for soy are now worried and confused. The same chemicals (known as isoavones) in soya beans which were claimed to ght cancer and other diseases are now listed as the cause of some cancers, and are also implicated in hormonal problems and thyroid gland disorders. Dr David Steinman of the Eastern Sydney University Medical School considers the praise of soya products in many alternative health circles to be without scientic foundation. Soya proponents suggest we look to the health statistics of Asian countries as proof of the benets of soy. When we look closely at the countries where soya products are consumed regularly, it is clear that though they are widely used, they are also eaten in very moderate quantities. Many people seeking a healthy diet today are eating ten times that much soy, particularly through drinking vast amounts of soya milk and eating other non-traditional foods such as soya-based ice-cream.

Susan McCaskill considers the latest negative publicity about soy to be exaggerated, but she admits that it does raise some very relevant questions. It still appears to me that soya beans have many notable nutritional benets to oer, but the key thing here is moderation. What frequently happens now is that people go from eating much too much of one thing to eating too much of something else.

Both McCaskill and Steinman concede that the recent soya controversy is just one example of how food fashions are confusing the health-conscious today. Red meat has often been blamed for high rates of heart disease and other health problems, then has been praised for its high iron content. Carbohydrate rich foods such as pasta, rice and potatoes have been promoted since the seventies as healthy staples of our diet, and then recently have received the blame for the growing numbers of people who are seriously overweight.

Dr Steinman echoes the words of McCaskill on one key point - moderation is the most signicant factor in any healthy diet. However, he fears that modern obsessions with perfect food habits can simply leave people so discouraged that they give up completely. If you rush to a new diet because youve been told your old one was bad, then nd the new one has its own critics, what do you do next? I worry that many will simply stop thinking about healthy eating habits and head to the nearest fast food outlet.

It is certainly undeniable that the fast food industry is booming. Whether this is because of confused and discouraged eaters of health food is dicult to determine. What is clear, however, is that advertisers are working harder and harder to inuence the worlds eating habits, and that the needs of both health enthusiasts and fast food customers are now coming together: the fastest growing customer base in many major fast food chains is now people attracted by their new healthy choices. The question remains: who will decide in the end precisely what a healthy choice is?

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Questions 6-10

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 6-10 on your Answer Sheet, write:




6 Fast food companies admit that the food they serve is unhealthy.

7 Soy products have been proven to stop certain illnesses.

8 Some health-conscious people are overconsuming certain foods.

9 One health expert worries that frustration might stop people maintaining a good diet.

10 Fast food advertising will increasingly inuence what people think is healthy.

Questions 11-13

Choose the correct letters A, B or C.

Write the correct letter in boxes 11-13 on your Answer Sheet.

11 People are unsure about what is considered healthy because

A dairy foods are now considered unhealthy B the healthier replacements to unhealthy foods are being criticised C junk food is promoted as being healthy.

12 According to the article, soya can be considered healthy because

A it has been found to be a miracle food B it doesnt promote allergies as dairy products do C healthy people in Asia eat it in average amounts.

13 The main reason for the increase in fast food customers is

A the option of healthier food B effective advertising C confusion about healthy food choices.



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READING PASSAGE 2You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-27 which are based on Reading Passage 2.

Sensory Overload

Are you suering from a feeling of annoyance? Does life seem to get more and more irritating all the time? Do you struggle day to day just to stay calm and clear-headed in the face of more and more frustrating experiences? If your answer to these questions is YES, you are not alone. In fact, you are part of a growing trend that demonstrates the signicance of the small events which annoy us on a day to day basis.

According to psychologist Maurice Penman, inhabitants of todays modern cities face a far more aggressive range of sensory experiences than ever before. It is not simply that the pace of life is faster in todays world, or that people are under more pressure at work. Of course, both those things are true. But today people are exposed to a greater number of both visual and auditory stimuli. Basically, this means we are being asked to both look at and listen to far more than we ever have been before.

However, Penman is quick to point out that many of the things which are contributing to these problems are also the same things many of us value. A greater sense of irritation is the price we pay for the convenience of the Internet and mobile phones. Mobile phones are a very signicant example to consider. There is no doubt that they are useful in a multitude of ways, and most people do not want to go back to the days before them. But at the same time, mobile phones have almost completely destroyed a sense of quiet public space. There was a time when you could rely on public transport being relatively quiet, a place to think about the events of the day on the way home. Now a bus or a train carriage can feel like being locked in a busy oce.

The increase in sensory demands is not just due to the use of mobile phones. Advertisers are reaching out to potential consumers more aggressively than ever. News services are now broadcast on buses and at train platforms. Family meals are frequently interrupted by telephone canvassers and email users are often forced to deal with an avalanche of unsolicited promotional messages, or SPAM. One could easily imagine that our children and their children may have to guard their homes from an overwhelming amount of annoyance

While it is dicult to deny the growth in these increasingly annoying events in our day, is there actually any real signicance to these facts? Penman argues: There is no doubt that on the surface, this increase of stimuli in our day simply appears to be a matter of minor annoyance. But when we look closely, we can see that this has the potential to signicantly aect our psychological health. He goes on to explain that if exposure to these irritations is frequent and prolonged, very subtly our stress levels begin to rise. As they do, we nd there is a compound eect. Stress from the minor episodes in the day starts to increase our feeling of pressure when faced with major challenges at work. We are increasingly carrying a greater and greater stress load, with opportunities to relax and unwind more and more restricted. Penman points out that even though we all sometimes crave stimulation, we have become so obsessed with it in the twenty-rst century that it has now become almost impossible to avoid. Shops increasingly feel the need to play loud, thumping rock or techno music. Advertising becomes more and more energetically aggressive all the time. This, Penman maintains, prevents us from dealing with our daily stress and eliminating it from our systems. He adds: You really do need to get right out of the city and into a quiet space now, though most of us are too busy to do that very often.

It might be easy for critics to dismiss the annoying experience of too many mobile phones on the bus, or any of the other stimuli Maurice Penman cites. However, it is the failure to eliminate stress which leads to potentially fatal consequences. If these daily distractions are contributing seriously to our stress levels, then Penman has identied a signicant danger. We now know that stress truly is a killer, and has been implicated in the rise of depression, heart disease and even weight problems, as it increases hormones in the body which stimulate the appetite for fattening carbohydrate-rich foods.

There is no denying that Maurice Penns main arguments are compelling. It seems that stress has become so prevalent that people are getting stressed about their levels of stress. But what are we supposed to do? He suggests we do everything we can to go within ourselves and try to maintain a sense of personal peace and

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space. He recommends the use of meditation and relaxation tapes, exercise at the end of the day whenever possible and greater emphasis on fun. Unfortunately, Maurice Penman had no suggestions for those of us who nd meditation frustrating, or who get annoyed at relaxation tapes. He had no recommendations for days when you cant nd any equipment you need in the gym, or nd yourself irritated at those around you who keep saying you need to have more fun.



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Questions 14-20

The reading passage has eight paragraphs A-H.


Write the correct letter A-H in boxes 14-20 on your Answer Sheet.


14 an example of how a place has changed due to modern conveniences

15 physical effects of stress

16 a recommendation of how to deal with modern-day pressures and over-stimulation

17 an explanation of sensory overload and todays irritations that cause stress

18 an assertion about peoples level of stress

19 a reason why small amounts of stress can feel greater

20 a prediction about growing irritations and interruptions to our personal space

Questions 21-24

Complete the summary below using words from the passage. Write NO MORE THAN FOUR WORDS for each answer.

Write the correct answers in boxes 21-24 on your Answer Sheet.

People in todays world are faced with much more 21............................................ stimulation than

they used to be. On a daily basis, our modern conveniences represent small but signicant

22............................................... , which contribute to increasing levels of stress. Psychologist

Maurice Penman suggests that because people 23.................................................. from time to

time, we are now in a world where we cant escape it. However, we must escape it and relax or

there could possibly be 24........................................................

Questions 25-27

Answer the questions below using words from the passage. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

Write the correct answers in boxes 25-27 on your Answer Sheet.

25 What word is used to describe how advertising has become?

26 What does stress make you want to eat?

27 What does Penman believe people should place more importance on in order to relieve stress?



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Since its earliest days, television (TV) has been the perfect example of passive entertainment. Now some are trying to change that. Media and entertainment companies plan new interactive services designed to make television a centre of games, information and family activity. Many of these services are enhancements of regular programming like displaying several football games at once. Some are new ways of doing old things, like video on demand (VOD), which allows viewers to choose from a selection of movies available through their TV at any time. Perhaps one of the most intriguing is personal video recording, which lets them pause and fast-forward TV programs.

This is not the rst time that the television industry has attempted to persuade viewers to become more active. In the 1970s, a project to provide movies to order was shelved because of the high cost of bringing two-way networks into peoples homes. In 1990 some providers oered text enhancement, giving viewers the option of seeing news, weather and stock prices run across their screen on top of regular programs. This project was also dropped. But circumstances may be more favourable today. The television industry has some advantages which did not exist when previous experiments were undertaken. First, cable and satellite television now reach a large number of homes. Second, the Internet has made most people in the developed world familiar with the process of pointing and clicking. In a sense, interactive television is a way of bringing television a little closer to the Internet.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC a public television channel) has probably been the most experimental network in this eld. Its rst really successful attempt was made during the Wimbledon tennis tournament in June 2001. Rather than deciding which tennis match to televise at any one time, the BBC allowed viewers to watch up to ve at once on a split screen or they could choose to watch one or more of the matches at the same time. This attracted more than ve million viewers. Since then, the BBC has produced a steady stream of new interactive programming.

Were taking factual drama and creating a quiz show around the main programming, says Ashley Higheld, Thats totally new and exciting for us. ...... I would love to get involved in interactive dramas, maybe allowing the viewer to switch from one characters point of view (to that of another). But sport continues to be the BBCs biggest drawcard. What were working on for the future is to have football matches with the option of hearing the partisan commentary from local radio stations, says Higheld. Commercial television companies, which have to keep an eye on prot, have been less daring. However, according to Josh Berno, an analyst at Forrester Research, a lack of copyright may delay growth over the next ve years. That is why the rst companies to oer VOD have been cable channels that own their own content.

The biggest barrier to VOD and other interactive services is technophobia fear of technology. In test markets, viewers often dont know they have the service, or are reluctant to use it. One solution is to give the TV screen the look of a Web page, with toolbars and display menus. Since younger consumers tend to be early adopters of new technology, videogames may take o quickly. In recent months, the three biggest manufacturers of TV games have introduced online components. In two years, experts say, most gamers may go online via TV.

Televisions best minds are convinced that interactive TV will eventually succeed. But if this happens, what will be the eect on the status quo? Will greater viewer control overthrow the whole business model of TV, which is based on selling advertising to a largely captive audience. Network executives face a dilemma. The more control they give viewers, the more they threaten the practice of selling prime-time advertising.

Rick Mandler, a Disney vice-president of enhanced TV feels that interactive TV companies will press for a redesign of personal recording services so that they are advertising friendly. Tracey Swedlow, editor of the newsletter Interactive TV Today, believes that advertising is going to have to adapt. How much will the rest

READING PASSAGE 3You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3.

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adapted with permission from Gutrel, Fred, The Future of TV, Newsweek Issues 2003 Special Edition, Dec 2002 Feb 2003.

of us have to adapt? Its going to be a gradual process, not a revolution, says Maggie Wilderotter, an interactive TV executive in California. People watch TV to be entertained. Its not work. She feels that viewers do not want to do too much themselves. Swedlow, on the other hand, thinks the changes will be more fundamental. TV will feel more like a tool you can use.... Itll be something you can manage rather than just take in.

Questions 28-32

Look at the following opinions (Questions 28-32) and the list of people below.

Match each opinion with the person credited with it.

Write the correct letter A-E in boxes 28-32 on your Answer Sheet.

28 TV viewers may be unwilling to exert themselves.

29 TV companies will urge the adaptation of programming to suit advertisers.

30 Legal complications may slow TV innovation.

31 Advertisers, rather than viewers or broadcasters, will need to change.

32 New elements may be added to existing program types.

A Ashley Higheld

B Josh Bernoff

C Rick Mandler

D Maggie Wildrotter

E Tracey Swedlow



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Questions 33-39

Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs labeled A-G.


Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 33-39 on your Answer Sheet.


33 examples of unsuccessful experiments in interactive TV

34 a description of how interactive TV may threaten its revenue base

35 a prediction of who will most readily adopt interactive TV

36 an explanation of why interactive TV is easier for cable channels to offer

37 a prediction of the speed at which interactive TV will grow

38 a description of the rst successful interactive TV services

39 reasons why interactive TV may be more successful now than in the past

Questions 40

Choose the correct letter A, B or C.

Write your answer in box 40 on your Answer Sheet.

40 Which of the following is the most suitable title for Reading Passage 3?

A Video on Demand B Persuading Viewers to be More Interactive C Is TV Ready for a New Era?

P1 CatsP2 Clocking Cultures P3 Culture and Learning P4 Endangered Languages P5 Health Effects of Systemic PoisonsP6 EsperantoP7 Migrant Labour P8 Principles of Management in the Computer AgeP9 The Rush P10 Treating a Disease or Inventing One?P11 The Use of Comics in Education

Reading Passages

Macquarie University Online IELTS Preparation Academic ReadingWorkbook


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P1 - CatsA The campaign against cats has become so exaggerated it has lost its focus. Much energy that could be put to

good use is being wasted on futile campaigns that do little more than aggravate cat owners.

It is widely believed that because cats prey on native birds they could bring about their extermination. But predation seldom leads to extinction in such a simplistic way. If it did there would be no animals left in Africa, as those big cats called Lions would have eaten them all up.

Enormous numbers of birds are killed by pets in gardens, it is true. But while this may sound alarming, ecologically there is nothing wrong with it- predation is a fact of life. Birds are killed in forests too, by a whole gamut of predators including snakes, goannas, falcons, butcherbirds, quolls, dingoes and even spiders. Pet cats are the urban counterparts to a large range of native predators.

Hunting by pet cats would only be a problem if the rate of predation, combined with other deaths, exceed the breeding rate of the birds. This does not seem to be the case. Several studies show the urban environments actually support a higher density of birds than native forests, despite all the cats. This is partly because of all the garden plants with berries and nectar rich owers.

The native garden birds killed by cats are nearly all widespread adaptable species that are thriving in response to urbanisation. Some of them are probably more abundant now than they were before European settlement. This denitely seems to be the case for the common garden skinks that cats often kill.

Feral cats are a much greater threat to wildlife than pet cats, and in some situations they are a major hazard. But not usually to birds, which they seldom eat. Studies of their diet conrm what cartoonists have always known: that cats prefer rats, mice and other small mammals. In a major article on cats (Nature Australia, Winter 1993) Chris Dickman stated: In most Australian studies, rabbits constitute the single most important prey.

To be useful, the anti-cat campaign should focus on specic situations where cats are a proven problem, and where something can actually be done about it. But to make the sweeping claim that Cats threaten the future survival of most wildlife, as the Victorian Department of Education does in a leaet, is to exaggerate the case.

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P2 - Clocking Cultures

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If you show up an hour late in Brazil, no one notices. But if you keep someone in New York City waiting for ve or 10 minutes, you have some explaining to do. Time is elastic in many cultures but is tighter and more xed in others. Indeed, the way members of a culture perceive and use time reects their societys priorities and even their own worldview.

Social scientists have recorded wide dierences in the pace of life in various countries and in how societies view time whether as an arrow piercing the future or as a revolving wheel in which past, present and future cycle endlessly. Some cultures combine time and space: the Australian Aborigines concept of the Dreamtime encompasses not only a creation myth but a method of nding their way around the countryside. Interestingly, however, some views of time such as the idea that it is acceptable for a more powerful person to keep someone of lower status waiting cut across cultural dierences and seem to be found universally. s

The study of time and society can be divided into the pragmatic and the cosmological. On the practical side, in the 1950s anthropologist Edward T. Hall, Jr., wrote that the rules of social time constitute a silent language for a given culture. The rules might not always be made explicit, he stated, but they exist in the air They are either familiar and comfortable or unfamiliar and wrong. In 1955 he described how diering perceptions of time can lead to misunderstandings between people from separate cultures. An ambassador who has been kept waiting for more than half an hour by a foreign visitor needs to understand that if his visitor just mutters an apology this is not necessarily an insult. Hall wrote. The time system in the foreign country may be composed of dierent basic units, so that the visitor is not as late as he may appear to us. You must know the time system of the country to know at what point apologies are really due Dierent cultures simply place dierent values on the time units.

Most cultures around the world now have watches and calendars, uniting the majority of the globe in the same general rhythm of time. But that doesnt mean we all march to the same beat. One of the beauties of studying time is that its a wonderful window on culture, says Robert V. Levine, a social psychologist at California States University at Fresno. You get answers on what cultures value and believe in. You get a really good idea of whats important to people.

Levine and his colleagues have conducted so-called pace-of-life studies in 31 countries. In A Geography of Time, published in 1997, Levine describes how he ranked the countries by using three measures: walking speed on urban sidewalks, how quickly postal clerks could fulll a request for a common stamp, and the accuracy of public clocks. Based on these variables, he concluded that the ve fastest-paced countries are Switzerland, Ireland, Germany, Japan, and Italy; the ve slowest are Syria, El Salvador, Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico

Kevin K. Birth, an anthropologist at Queens College, has examined time perception in Trinidad. Births 1999 book, Any Time Is Trinidad Time: Social Meanings and Temporal Consciousness, refers to a commonly used phrase to excuse lateness. In that country, Birth observes, if you have a meeting at 6:00 at night, people show up at 6:45 or 7:00 and say, Any time is Trinidad time. When it comes to business, however, that loose approach to timeliness works only for the people with power. A boss can show up late and toss o any time is Trinidad time, but the underlings are expected to be more punctual. For them, the saying goes, time is time. Birth adds that the tie between power and waiting time is true for many other cultures as well.

Birth attempted to nd out how Trinidadians value time by exploring how closely their society links time and money. He surveyed rural residents and found that farmers whose days are dictated by natural events, such as sunrise did not recognize the phrases, time is money, budget your time, or time management, even though they had satellite TV and were familiar with Western popular culture. But tailors in the same areas were aware of such notions. Birth concluded that wage work altered the tailors view of time. The ideas of associating time with money are not found globally, he says, but are attached to your job and the people you work with.

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Some cultures do not draw neat distinctions between the past, present and future Ziauddin Sardar, a British Muslim author and critic, has written about time and Islamic cultures. Muslims always carry the past with them, says Sardar, who editor of the journal Futures and visiting professor of postcolonial studies at City University, London. In Islam, time is a tapestry incorporating the past, present and future. The past is ever present. Sadar asserts that the West has colonized time by spreading the expectation that life should become better as time passes: If you colonize time, you also colonize the future. If you think of time as an arrow, of course you think of the future as progress, going in on direction. But dierent people may desire dierent futures.

adapted with permission from Gutrel, Fred, The Future of TV, Newsweek Issues 2003 Special Edition, Dec 2002 Feb 2003.

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P3 - Culture and LearningEvery culture has its own distinctive conventions regarding what should be learned and how learning should take place. In one culture, students may be encouraged to work with their classmates, while in another culture this activity may be prohibited. In some societies, students are discouraged from asking questions, while in others they may be required to do so.

Diversity exists not only between cultures, but also within a single culture. Most British primary and secondary schools, for example, the teacher is the primary provider of required information and rote learning plays an important role in the acquisition of this information. However, when these students proceed to university, they face a new set of academic norms and expectations. Although memorisation is still required, much more emphasis is placed on the critical evaluation of learning and independent research.

The analysis of writing by students from dierent cultures suggests that the thinking and writing process is a culture-specic phenomenon. The ability to write well in one language does not necessarily guarantee an equivalent competence in another language, irrespective of an individuals grammatical prociency in that language. Although most researchers would argue that writing and thinking are culture-specic phenomena, considerable controversy has been aroused by attempts to provide cognitive proles for specic cultures. An American study which analysed the way in which students from dierent cultural backgrounds structured a paragraph of factual writing argued that at least ve cognitive proles could be distinguished.

It may be argued that a similar diversity of cognitive and rhetorical style also exists between academic disciplines. Although standard models for writing reports exist in both Chemistry and physics, an adequate physics report may not satisfy the requirements of the chemistry sub-culture. The departments of tertiary institutions generally publish study guides which provide detailed writing guidelines. These list the rhetorical, referencing and formatting conventions required by each discipline. Before submitting any written work, students are advised to consult appropriate guides and ensure that their written assignments conform to expectations.

There are, in short, three levels of cultural adjustment which face the overseas undergraduate student: adjustment to a dierent culturally based learning style; adjustments associated with the move from secondary to tertiary education; and the adjustments related to entry into a specic disciplinary sub-culture.

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P4 - Endangered LanguagesTen years ago Michael Krauss sent a shudder through the discipline of linguistics with his prediction that half of the 6,000 or so languages spoken in the world would cease to be uttered within a century. This prediction was based upon the fact that many of the worlds languages were rapidly falling from use. In essence, younger generations are not being taught how to speak their local language or dialect and many indigenous communities have resorted to speaking the dominant language. Krauss maintained that unless scientists and community leaders directed a worldwide eort to stabilize the decline and conserve these endangered local languages, nine-tenths of the linguistic diversity of humankind would probably be doomed to extinction.

Krausss prediction was little more than an educated guess, but other respected linguists had been expressing similar alarm. Kennith L. Hale of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has stated that eight languages on which he has done eldwork have since passed into extinction. A 1990 survey in Australia found that 70 of the 90 surviving Aboriginal languages were no longer used regularly by all age groups. The same was true for all but 20 of the 175 Native American languages spoken in the U.S.

On the face of it, the consolidation of human language might seem like a good trend, one that could ease ethnic tensions and aid global commerce. Linguists dont deny those benets, and they acknowledge that in most cases small communities choose (often unconsciously) to switch to the majority language because they believe it will boost their social or economic status.

Many experts in the eld nonetheless mourn the loss of rare languages, for several reasons. To start, there is scientic self-interest: some of the most basic questions in linguistics have to do with the limits of human speech, which are far from fully explored. Many researchers would like to know which structural elements of grammar and vocabulary if any are truly universal and probably therefore hardwired into the human brain. Other scientists try to reconstruct ancient migration patterns by comparing borrowed words that appear in otherwise unrelated languages. In each of these cases, the wider portfolio of languages you study, the more likely you are to get the right answers. I think the value is mostly in human terms, says James A. Matiso, a specialist in rare Asian languages at the University of California at Berkeley. Language is the most important element in the culture of a community. When it dies, you lose the special knowledge of that culture and a unique window on the world.

However, it is not all bad news. Just because a speech community is small does not mean it is doomed. At last report, Akira Yamamoto of the University of Kansas in the United States, there were just 185 people who spoke Karitiana. But they all lived in the same village in Brazil, which had just 191 inhabitants. So more than 96 percent of the population was still speaking the language and teaching it to their children. Because surveys of endangered languages tend to look only at the number of speakers, there has been a history of linguists predicting the death of languages only to return 20 years laer to nd them still there, says Patrick McConvell of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies in Canberra.

One factor that always seems to occur in the demise of a language, according to theorist Hans-Jurgen Sasse of the University of Cologne in Germany, is that the speakers begin to have collective doubts about the usefulness of language loyalty. Once they start regarding their own language as inferior to the majority language, people stop using it for all situations. Kids pick up on the attitude and prefer the dominant language. In many cases, people dont notice until they suddenly realize that their kids never speak the language, even at home, says Douglas H. Whalen of Yale University in the United States. This is how Cornish and some dialects of Scottish Gaelic slipped into extinction. And it is why Irish Gaelic is still only rarely used for daily home life in Ireland, 80 years after the republic was founded with Irish as its rst ocial language.

Ultimately, the answer to the problem of language extinction is multilingualism, Matiso argues, and many linguists agree. Even uneducated people in the world speak more than one tongue, and in places such as Cameroon (279 languages), Papua New Guinea (823) and India (387) it is common to speak three or four distinct languages and a dialect or two as well.

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Many Americans, and Canadians to the west of Quebec, have a gut reaction that anyone speaking another language in front of them is committing an immoral act, Grimes observes. You get the same reaction in Australia and Russia. It is no coincidence that these are the areas where languages are disappearing the fastest. The rst step in saving dying languages is to persuade the worlds majorities to allow the minorities among them to speak with their own voices.

adapted with permission from Gibbs, W.W., Endangered Languages, Scientic American, July 2002.

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P5

P5 - EsperantoEsperanto is an articial language designed to serve internationally as an auxiliary means of communication among speakers of dierent languages. Esperanto, the invention of Ludwig Zamenhof, a Polish-Jewish ophthalmologist, was rst presented in 1887. An international movement to promote its use has continued to ourish and has members in more than 80 countries.

Esperanto is used internationally across language boundaries by about one million people, particularly in specialised elds. It is used in personal contacts, on radio broadcasts, and in a number of publications as well as in translations of both modern works and classics. Its popularity has spread from Europe both East and West to parts of Asia including Japan. Despite having no impact on the neighbouring countries of Korea and Vietnam, Esperanto has had its greatest impact in China, where it is taught in universities and used in many translations (often in scientic or technological works). El Popola Cinio, a monthly magazine in Esperanto from the Peoples Republic of China, is read worldwide. Radio Beijings Esperanto program is the most popular program in Esperanto in the world.

Esperantos vocabulary is drawn primarily from Latin, the Romance languages, English and German. Spelling is completely regular. A simple and consistent set of endings indicates grammatical functions of words. Thus, for example, every noun ends in o, every adjective in a, and the innitive of every verb in i.

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P6 - Health Effects of Systemic PoisonsThe intestinal section located between the upper-bowel tract and the stomach is lined with many nger-like projections of mucous membrane, known as villi. The villi are surrounded by capillary blood vessels, whose function is to absorb the products of digestion. Soluble poisons are rapidly absorbed by the villi into the bloodstream. In the case of lead poisoning, this results in a wide variety of eects on the blood-forming mechanism, the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system.

The passage of non-soluble poisons through the digestive system stimulates mucous-producing glands in the stomach and bowel. The production of mucus then induces spastic movements of the stomach which may result in the expulsion of the toxins by vomiting or as fecal matter via the lower intestine. The ingestions of non-soluble toxins is associated with fecal blood, diarrhoea and constipation.

The intestinal section located between the upper-bowel tract and the stomach is lined with many nger-like projections of mucous membrane, known as villi. The villi are surrounded by capillary blood vessels, whose function is to absorb the products of digestion. Soluble poisons are rapidly absorbed by the villi into the bloodstream. In the case of lead poisoning, this results in a wide variety of eects on the blood-forming mechanism, the gastrointestinal tract and the central nervous system.

The passage of non-soluble poisons through the digestive system stimulates mucous-producing glands in the stomach and bowel. The production of mucus then induces spastic movements of the stomach which may result in the expulsion of the toxins by vomiting or as fecal matter via the lower intestine. The ingestions of non-soluble toxins is associated with fecal blood, diarrhoea and constipation.

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P7

P7 - Migrant LabourMigrant workers, those workers who move repeatedly in search of economic opportunity, typically perform societys temporary jobs. The migrants low paid work includes stooped labour like cultivating crops, menial services such as cleaning public restrooms, sweatshop work such as making apparel, and assembly line factory work like putting together computer parts. Migrant workers are often pivotal for economic growth.

Until the twentieth century most migrant labour was internal. For example, generations of former slaves from the southern parts of the United States annually followed the crops north. Recently, however, most migrant labour in Europe and America has been external that is, workers from other countries.

Migrant workers rarely understand the customs and language of their host societies and are frequently ill-housed, malnourished, underpaid, and denied basic legal rights. Their children fall behind in school and are then apt to be put to work in violation of child labour laws. Poor sanitation, unsafe drinking water and overcrowded living conditions make migrant labourers especially susceptible to contagious disease. In the 1980s and 1990s their tuberculosis and hepatitis rates far exceeded national norms. AIDS also spread rapidly. In short, the lives of migrant workers tend to be less comfortable and shorter that those of non-migrants.

International economics determines where external migrants go. In the 1940s, when railroad workers and farmhands went o to ght in World War II, the United States reached an agreement with Mexico to provide millions of temporary Mexican migrants. In the post-war period, guest workers from southern Europe, Turkey and North Africa helped rebuild north-western Europe. In the 1970s and 1980s the oil-rich monarchs of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait ew Asians in to build their new cities.

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Final Practice R

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P8

P8 - Principles of Management in the Computer Age

Advances in technology in dierent periods of history have led to the need to change principles of management. In the agricultural era principles were unable to cope with the arrival of machinery-based technology and new forms of management and work had to be developed. The industrial era that followed used new principles to divide work, reward people and control activities, resulting in steep systems of industrial management and global markets. Today, we nd ourselves in the computer age and past industrial era assumptions, principles and values are no longer valid. There is now a need for more eective integration and teamwork within companies and with their suppliers, partners and customers.

The early industrial era experienced many problems in implementing and exploiting newly available technology. The result was steep triangular management systems, where work was broken down into smaller steps and dierent people were assigned to carry out these activities. They were structured according to boss-employee relationships. Everyone had a boss who determined what activities were to be carried out and how.

We are now nding atter network organisations are beginning to emerge replacing the steep triangular management systems of the industrial era. This networking has two dimensions: (1) the technical infrastructure that links computer systems and people, and (2) the human process, networking with other people, linking knowledge and hopes.

We are fascinated by the wonders of local and wide-area networking technology, including the Internet and World Wide Web. These technologies are allowing us to bring together applications, databases, and people in new ways. Networking technology is essential if we hope to build successful enterprises, but by itself, it is not enough. Human input is the basis of the integration process. It is a continuing process of reaching out to one another to form multiple cross-functional work teams within and between organisations. In a networking environment, people work together on whole sets of challenges in teams and groups of teams across functional and organisational boundaries. Network enterprises build upon peer-to-peer relationships. People are expected to take initiatives, based upon their understanding of an agreed plan.

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adapted from Savage, C.M., 1996, Fifth Generation Management, revised ed., Newton, MA: Butterworth Heinemann.



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P9

P9 - The Rush Lying, huddled in his sleeping bag, Bernard Peters listens to the howling wind bueting the walls of his tent. In the distance, the occasional sound of falling ice and rock, rumbles into the valley below. After initially falling asleep quite quickly at around 9pm, the sound of the gale tearing through the mountain peaks has kept him awake for the past 2 hours. He glances at his watch. It is now 3 am. Only two more hours of sleep and it will be time to continue his assault on Mount Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world standing at a daunting 8163 metres, just 685 metres lower than nearby Mount Everest.

Bernard is part of an ever-growing group of people addicted to so-called extreme sports. These sports, which include activities such as mountain climbing, scuba diving, bungie jumping and sky diving, challenge the individual to push themself to and beyond their physical and psychological limit. The aim of performing such death defying feats is not to further science or for the discovery of anything that could benet humanity. If asked, participants of such activities will tell you they are there for the rush. .

This rush they refer to is actually the biological phenomenon of the release of adrenaline into the blood. Adrenaline is a chemical produced by the body in the adrenal glands, located above the kidneys. According to Professor Vice of Alablast University, when people nd themselves in a stressful situation, the glands release adrenaline into the bloodstream, where it provides the body with a sudden surge of energy. This causes the heart rate and body temperature to increase and senses such as sight and smell to become more sensitive whilst reducing pain receptors. Blood is drawn into the body core, so that if the skin is cut open, there will be less bleeding and the muscles of the body tighten ready for use. Professor Vice says that these reactions are

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