Tea and Industrial Revolution

A. Alan Macfarlane thinks he could rewrite history. The professor of anthropological science at King's College, Cambridge has, like other historians, spent decades trying to understand the enigma of the Industrial Revolution. Why did this particular important event - the world-changing birth of industry - happen in Britain? And why did it happen at the end of the 18th century?

B. Macfarlane compares the question to a puzzle. He claims that there were about 20 different factors and all of them needed to be present before the revolution could happen. The chief conditions are to be found in history textbooks. For industry to 'take off', there needed to be the technology and power to drive factories, large urban populations to provide cheap labour easy transport to move goods around, an affluent middle-class willing to buy mass-produced objects, a market-driven economy, and a political system that allowed this to happen. While this was the case for England, other nations, such as Japan, Holland and France also met some of these criteria. All these factors must have been necessary but not sufficient to cause the revolution. Holland had everything except coal, while China also had many of these factors.

C. Most historians, however, are convinced that one or two missing factors are needed to solve the puzzle. The missing factors, he proposes, are to be found in every kitchen cupboard. Tea and beer, two of the nation's favorite drinks, drove the revolution. Tannin, the active ingredient in tea, and hops, used in making beer, both contain antiseptic properties. This -plus the fact that both are made with boiled water- helped prevent epidemics of waterborne diseases, such as dysentery, in densely populated urban areas. The theory initially sounds eccentric but his explanation of the detective work that went into his deduction and the fact his case has been strengthened by a favorable appraisal of his research by Roy Porter (distinguished medical historian) the skepticism gives way to wary admiration.

D. Historians had noticed one interesting factor around the mid-18th century that required explanation. Between about 165D and 1740, the population was static. But then there was a burst in population. The infant mortality rate halved in the space of 20 years, and this happened in both rural areas and cities, and across all classes. Four possible causes have been suggested. There could have been a sudden change in the viruses and bacteria present at that time, but this is unlikely. Was there a revolution in medical science? But this was a century before Lister introduced antiseptic surgery. Was there a change in environmental conditions? There were improvements in agriculture that wiped out malaria, but these were small gains. Sanitation did not become widespread until the 19th century. The only option left was food. But the height and weight statistics show a decline. So the food got worse. Efforts to explain this sudden reduction in child deaths appeared to draw a blank.

E. This population burst seemed to happen at just the right time to provide labor for the Industrial Revolution. But why? When the Industrial Revolution started, it was economically efficient to have people crowded together forming towns and cities. But with crowded living conditions comes disease, particularly from human waste. Some research in the historical records revealed that there was a change in the incidence of waterborne disease at that time, the English were protected by the strong antibacterial agent in hops, which were added to make beer last. But in the late 17th century a tax was introduced on malt. The poor turned to water and gin, and in the 1720s the mortality rate began to rise again.

F. Macfarlane looked to Japan, which was also developing large cities about the same time, and also had no sanitation. Waterborne diseases in the Japanese population were far fewer than those in Britain. Could it be the prevalence of tea in their culture? That was when Macfarlane thought about the role of tea in Britain. The history of tea in Britain provided an extraordinary coincidence of dates. Tea was relatively expensive until Britain started direct hade with China in the early 18th century. By the 1740s, about the time that infant mortality was falling, the drink was common. Macfarlane guesses that the fact that water had to be boiled, together with the stomach-purifying properties of tea so eloquently described in Buddhist texts, meant that the breast milk provided by mothers was healthier than it had ever been. No other European nation drank tea so often as the British, which, by Macfarlane's logic, pushed the other nations out of the race for the Industrial Revolution.

G. But, if tea is a factor in the puzzle, why didn't this cause an industrial revolution in Japan? Macfarlane notes that in the 17th century, Japan had large cities, high literacy rates and even a futures market. However, Japan decided against a work-based revolution, by giving up labor-saving devices even animals, to avoid putting people out of work. Astonishingly, the nation that we now think of as one of the most technologically advanced, entered the 19th century having almost abandoned the wheel. While Britain was undergoing the Industrial Revolution, Macfarlane notes wryly, Japan was undergoing an industrious one.

Questions 1-7

Reading passage 1 has seven paragraphs, A-G

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A -G from the list of headings below. Write the correct number, i-x, in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet

List of headings

i Cases of Japan, Holland and France

ii City development in Japan

iii Tea drinking in Japan and Britain

iv Failed to find a plausible cause for mystery about lower mortality rate

V Preconditions necessary for industrial revolution

vi Time and place of industrialization

vii Conclusion drawn from the comparison with Japan

viii Relation between population and changes of drink in Britain

ix Two possible solutions to the puzzle

---------------

1 Paragraph A

2 Paragraph B

3 Paragraph c

4 Paragraph D

5 Paragraph E

6 Paragraph F

7 Paragraph G

Questions 8-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE	if the statement is true
FALSE	if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN	if the information is not given in the passage

 

8 The industrialization did not happen in China because of its inefficient railway transportation.

9 Tea and beer contributed to protect people from waterborne disease.

10 Roy Porter disagreed with the proposed theory about the missing factors

11 The reason of lower child deaths is fully explained by food.

12 The British made beer by themselves.

13 Tax on malt indirectly affected the increase of population in late 17th century

Section 2

Fossil files: "The Paleobiology Database"

A. Are we now living through the sixth extinction as our own activities destroy ecosystems and wipe out diversity? That's the doomsday scenario painted by many ecologists, and they may well be right. The trouble is we don't know for sure because we don't have a clear picture of how life changes between extinction events or what has happened in previous episodes. We don't even know how many species are alive today, let alone the rate at which they are becoming extinct. A new project aims to fill some of the gaps. The Paleobiology Database aspires to be an online repository of information about every fossil ever dug up. It is a huge undertaking that has been described as biodiversity's equivalent of the Human Genome Project. Its organizers hope that by recording the history of biodiversity they will gain an insight into how environmental changes have shaped life on Earth in the past and how they might do so in the future. The database may even indicate whether life can rebound no matter what we throw at it, or whether a human induced extinction could be without parallel, changing the rules that have applied throughout the rest of the planet's history.

B. But already the project is attracting harsh criticism. Some experts believe it to be seriously flawed. They point out that a database is only as good as the data fed into it, and that even if all the current fossil finds were catalogued, they would provide an incomplete inventory of life because we are far from discovering every fossilised species. They say that researchers should get up from their computers and get back into the dirt to dig up new fossils. Others are more sceptical still, arguing that we can never get the full picture because the fossil record is riddled with holes and biases.

C. Fans of the Paleobiology Database acknowledge that the fossil record will always be incomplete. But they see value in looking for global patterns that show relative changes in biodiversity. "The fossil record is the best tool we have for understanding how diversity and extinction work in normal times," says John Alroy from the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in Santa Barbara. "Having a background extinction estimate gives US a benchmark for understanding the mass extinction that's currently under way. It allows us to say just how bad it is in relative terms."

D. To this end, the Paleobiology Database aims to be the most thorough attempt yet to come up with good global diversity curves. Every day between 10 and 15 scientists around the world add information about fossil finds to the database. Since it got up and running in 1998, scientists have entered almost 340,000 specimens, ranging from plants to whales to insects to dinosaurs to sea urchins. Overall totals are updated hourly at www.paleodb.org. Anyone can download data from the public part of the site and play with the numbers to their heart's content. Already, the database has thrown up some surprising results. Looking at the big picture, Alroy and his colleagues believe they have found evidence that biodiversity reached a plateau long ago, contrary to the received wisdom that species numbers have increased continuously between extinction events. "The traditional view is that diversity has gone up and up and up," he says. "Our research is showing that diversity limits were approached many tens of millions of years before the dinosaurs evolved, much less suffered extinction." This suggests that only a certain number of species can live on Earth at a time, filling a prescribed number of niches like spaces in a multi-storey car park. Once it's full, no more new species can squeeze in, until extinctions free up new spaces or something rare and catastrophic adds a new floor to the car park.

E. Alroy has also used the database to reassess the accuracy of species names. His findings suggest that irregularities in classification inflate the overall number of species in the fossil record by between 32 and 44 per cent. Single species often end up with several names, he says, due to misidentification or poor communication between taxonomists in different countries. Repetition like this can distort diversity curves. "If you have really bad taxonomy in one short interval, it will look like a diversity spike—a big diversification followed by a big extinction-when all that has happened is a change in the quality of names," says Alroy. For example, his statistical analysis indicates that of the 4861 North American fossil mammal species catalogued in the database, between 24 and 31 per cent will eventually prove to be duplicates.

F. Of course, the fossil record is undeniably patchy. Some places and times have left behind more fossil-filled rocks than others. Some have been sampled more thoroughly. And certain kinds of creatures—those with hard parts that lived in oceans, for example--are more likely to leave a record behind, while others, like jellyfish, will always remain a mystery. Alroy has also tried to account for this. He estimates, for example, that only 41 per cent of North American mammals that have ever lived are known from fossils, and he suspects that a similar proportion of fossils are missing from other groups, such as fungi and insects.

G. Not everyone is impressed with such mathematical wizardry. Jonathan Adrain from the University of Iowa in Iowa City points out that statistical wrangling has been known to create mass extinctions where none occurred. It is easy to misinterpret data. For example, changes in sea level or inconsistent sampling methods can mimic major changes in biodiversity. Indeed, a recent and thorough examination of the literature on marine bivalve fossils has convinced David Jablonsky from the University of Chicago and his colleagues that their diversity has increased steadily over the past 5 million years.

H. With an inventory of all living species, ecologists could start to put the current biodiversity crisis in historical perspective. Although creating such a list would be a task to rival even the Palaeobiology Database, it is exactly what the San Francisco-based ALL Species Foundation hopes to achieve in the next 25 years. The effort is essential, says Harvard biologist Edward o. Wilson, who is alarmed by current rates of extinction. "There is a crisis. We've begun to measure it, and it's very high," Wilson says. "We need this kind of information in much more detail to protect all of biodiversity, not just the ones we know well." Let the counting continue.

Questions 14-19

The reading passage has seven paragraphs, A-F

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-Ffrom the lừt below. Write the correct number, i-xi, in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

i Potential error exists in the database

ii Supporter of database recleared its value

iii The purpose of this paleobiology data

iv Reason why some certain species were not included in it

v Duplication of breed but with different names

vi Achievement of Paleobiology Databasesince

vii Criticism on the project which is waste of fund

----------------

14 Paragraph A

15 Paragraph B

16 Paragraph c

17 Paragraph D

18 Paragraph E

19 Paragraph F

Questions 20-22

Use the information in the passage to match the people (listed A-C) with opinions or deeds below. Write the appropriate letters A-C in boxes 20-22 on your answer sheet.

A. Jonathan Adrain  

B. John Alroy

C. David Jablonsky

D. Edward o. Wilson

---------------------

20 Creating the Database would help scientist to identify connections of all species.

21 Believed in contribution of detailed statistics should cover beyond the known species.

22 reached a contradictory finding to the tremendous species die-out.

Questions 23-24

Choose the TWO correct letter following

Write your answers in boxes 23-24 on your answer sheet.

Please choose TWO CORRECT descriptions about the The Paleobiology Database in this passage:

A. almost all the experts welcome this project 

B. intrigues both positive and negative opinions from various experts

C. all different creature in the database have unique name

D. aims to embrace all fossil information globally

E. get more information from record rather than the field

Question 25-26

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

Write your answers in boxes 25-26 on your answer sheet.

25 According to the passage, jellyfish belongs to which category of The Paleobiology Database?

A. repetition breed 

B. untraceable species

C. specifically detailed species

D. currently living creature

26 What is the author's suggestion according to the end of passage?

A. continue to complete counting the number of species in the Paleobiology Database

B. stop contributing The Paleobiology Database

C. try to create a database of living creature

D. study more in the field rather than in the book

Section 3

Communication in science

A. Science plays an increasingly significant role in people's lives, making the faithful communication of scientific developments more important than ever. Yet such communication is fraught with challenges that can easily distort discussions, leading to unnecessary confusion and misunderstandings.

B. Some problems stem from the esoteric nature of current research and the associated difficulty of finding sufficiently faithful terminology Abstraction and complexity are not signs that a given scientific direction is wrong, as some commentators have suggested, but are instead a tribute to the success of human ingenuity in meeting the increasingly complex challenges that nature presents. They can, however, make communication more difficult. But many of the biggest challenges for science reporting arise because in areas of evolving research, scientists themselves often only partly understand the full implications of any particular advance or development. Since that dynamic applies to most of the scientific developments that directly affect people's lives global warming, cancer research, diet studies — learning how to overcome it is critical to spurring a more informed scientific debate among the broader public.

C. Ambiguous word choices are the source of some misunderstandings. Scientists often employ colloquial terminology, which they then assign a specific meaning that is impossible to fathom without proper training. The term "relativity," for example, is intrinsically misleading. Many interpret the theory to mean that everything is relative and there are no absolutes. Yet although the measurements any observer makes depend on his coordinates and reference frame, the physical phenomena he measures have an invariant description that transcends that observer's particular coordinates. Einstein's theory of relativity is really about finding an invariant description of physical phenomena. True, Einstein agreed with the idea that his theory would have been better named "Invarianten theorie." But the term "relativity" was already entrenched at the time for him to change.

D. "The uncertainty principle" is another frequently abused term. It is sometimes interpreted as a limitation on observers and their ability to make measurements.

E. But it is not about intrinsic limitations on any one particular measurement; it is about the inability to precisely measure particular pairs of quantities simultaneously? The first interpretation is perhaps more engaging from a philosophical or political perspective. It’s just not what the science is about.

F. Even the word "theory" can be a problem. Unlike most people, who use the word to describe a passing conjecture that they often regard as suspect, physicists have very specific ideas in mind when they talk about theories. For physicists, theories entail a definite physical framework embodied in a set of fundamental assumptions about the world that lead to a specific set of equations and predictions — ones that are borne out by successful predictions. Theories aren’t necessarily shown to be correct or complete immediately. Even Einstein took the better part of a decade to develop the correct version of his theory of general relativity. But eventually both the ideas and the measurements settle down and theories are either proven correct, abandoned or absorbed into other, more encompassing theories.

G. "Global warming" is another example of problematic terminology. Climatologists predict more drastic fluctuations in temperature and rainfall —not necessarily that every place will be warmer. The name sometimes subverts the debate, since it lets people argue that their winter was worse, so how could there be global warming? Clearly "global climate change" would have been a better name. But not all problems stem solely from poor word choices. Some stem from the intrinsically complex nature of much of modem science. Science sometimes transcends this limitation: remarkably, chemists were able to detail the precise chemical processes involved in the destruction of the ozone layer, making the evidence that chlorofluorocarbon gases (Freon, for example) were destroying the ozone layer indisputable.

H. A better understanding of the mathematical significance of results and less insistence on a simple story would help to clarify many scientific discussions. For several months, Harvard was tortured months. Harvard was tortured by empty debates over the relative intrinsic scientific abilities of men and women. One of the more amusing aspects of the discussion was that those who believed in the differences and those who didn't used the same evidence about gender-specific special ability. How could that be? The answer is that the data shows no substantial effects. Social factors might account for these tiny differences, which in any case have an unclear connection to scientific ability. Not much of a headline when phrased that way, is it? Each type of science has its own source of complexity and potential for miscommunication. Yet there are steps we can take to improve public understanding in all cases. The first would be to inculcate greater understanding and acceptance of indirect scientific evidence. The information from an unmanned space mission is no less legitimate than the information from one in which people are on board.

I. This doesn't mean never questioning an interpretation, but it also doesn't mean equating indirect evidence with blind belief, as people sometimes suggest. Second, we might need different standards for evaluating science with urgent policy implications than research with purely theoretical value. When scientists say they are not certain about their predictions, it doesn't necessarily mean they've found nothing substantial. It would be better if scientists were more open about the mathematical significance of their results and if the public didn't treat math as quite so scary; statistics and errors, which tell us the uncertainty in a measurement, give us the tools to evaluate new developments fairly.

J. But most important, people have to recognize that science can be complex. If we accept only simple stories, the description will necessarily be distorted. When advances are subtle or complicated, scientists should be willing to go the extra distance to give proper explanations and patient about the truth. Even so, some difficulties are unavoidable. Most developments reflect work in progress, so the story is complex because no one yet knows the big picture.

Questions 27-31

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

Write your answers in boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet.

27 Why the faithful science communication Important?

A Science plays an increasingly significant role in people's lives.

B Science is fraught with challenges public are interested in.

C The nature of complexity in science communication leads to confusion.

D Scientific inventions are more important than ever before.

28 What is the reason that the author believe for the biggest challenges for science reporting

A phenomenon such as global warming, cancer research, diet studies are too complex

B Scientists themselves often only partly understand the Theory of Evolution

C Scientists do not totally comprehend the meaning of certain scientific evolution

D Scientists themselves often partly understand the esoteric communication nature

29 According to the 3rd paragraph, the reference to the term and example of "theory of relativity" is to demonstrate

A theory of relativity is about an invariant physical phenomenon 

B common people may be misled by the inaccurate choice of scientific phrase

C the term "relativity," is designed to be misleading public

D everything is relative and there is no absolutes existence

30 Which one Is a good example of appropriate word choice:

A Scientific theory for uncertainty principle

B phenomenon of Global warming

C the importance of ozone layer

D Freon's destructive process on environmental

31 What Is surprising finding of the Harvard debates In the passage?

A There are equal intrinsic scientific abilities of men and women.

B The proof applied by both sides seemed to be of no big difference,

C The scientific data usually shows no substantial figures to support a debated idea.

D Social factors might have a clear connection to scientific ability.

Questions 32-35

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

In boxes 32-35 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement is true

FALSE if the statement is false

NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage

32 "Global warming" scientifically refers to greater fluctuations in temperature and rainfall rather than a universal temperature rise.

33 More media coverage of "global warming" would help public to recognize the phenomenon.

34 Harvard debates should focus more on female scientist and male scientists

35 Public understanding and acceptance of indirect scientific evidence in all cases would lead to confusion

Questions 36-40

Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using no more than two words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.

Science Communication is fraught with challenges that can easily distort discussions, leading to unnecessary confusion and misunderstandings. Firstly, Ambiguous 36.............are the source of some misunderstandings. Common people without proper training do not understand clearly or deeply a specific scientific meaning via the 37…………scientists often employed. Besides, the measurements any 38.............makes can not be confined to describe in a(n) constant 39.............yet the phenomenon can be. What's more, even the word "theory" can be a problem. Theories aren't necessarily shown to be correct or complete immediately since scientists often evolved better versions of specific theories, a good example can be the theory of 40............ Thus, most importantly people have to recognize that science can be complex.

 

Reading Test 16

Section 1

Can We Hold Back the Flood?

A. LAST winter's floods on the rivers of central Europe were among the worst since the Middle Ages, and as winter storms return, the spectre of floods is returning too. Just weeks ago, the river Rhone in south-east France burst its banks, driving 15,000 people from their homes, and worse could be on the way. Traditionally, river engineers have gone for Plan A: get rid of the water fast, draining it off the land and down to the sea in tall-sided rivers re-engineered as high-performance drains. But however big they dig city drains, however wide and straight they make the rivers, and however high they build the banks, the floods keep coming back to taunt them, from the Mississippi to the Danube. And when the floods come, they seem to be worse than ever.

B. No wonder engineers are turning to Plan B: sap the water's destructive strength by dispersing it into fields, forgotten lakes, flood plains and aquifers. Back in the days when rivers took a more tortuous path to the sea, flood waters lost impetus and volume while meandering across flood plains and idling through wetlands and inland deltas. But today the water tends to have an unimpeded journey to the sea. And this means that when it rams in the uplands, the water comes down all at once. Worse, whenever we close off more flood plain, the river’s flow farther downstream becomes more violent and uncontrollable. Dykes are only as good as their weakest link - and the water will unerringly find it.

C. Today, the river has lost 7 per cent of its original length and runs up to a thứd faster. When it rains hard in the Alps, the peak flows from several tributaries coincide in the main river, where once they arrived separately. And with four-fifths of the lower Rhine's flood plain barricaded off, the waters rise ever higher. The result is more frequent flooding that does ever-greater damage to the homes, offices and roads that sit on the flood plain. Much the same has happened in the US on the mighty Mississippi, which drains the world's second largest river catchment into the Gulf of Mexico.

D. The European Union is trying to improve rain forecasts and more accurately model how intense rains swell rivers. That may help cities prepare, but it won't stop the floods. To do that, say hydrologists, you need a new approach to engineering not just

Agency - country £1 billion - puts it like this: "The focus is now on working with the forces of nature. Towering concrete walls are out, and new wetlands are in." To help keep London's upstream and reflooding 10 square k outside Oxford. Nearer to London it has spent £100 million creating new wetlands and a relief channel across 16 kilometres.

E. The same is taking place on a much grander scale in Austria, in one of Europe's largest river restorations to date. Engineers are regenerating flood plains along 60 kilometres of the river Drava as it exits the Alps. They are also widening the river bed and channelling it back into abandoned meanders, oxbow lakes and backwaters overhung with willows. The engineers calculate that the restored flood plain can now store up to 10 million cubic metres of flood waters and slow storm surges coming out of the Alps by more than an hour, protecting towns as far downstream as Slovenia and Croatia.

F. "Rivers have to be allowed to take more space. They have to be turned from flood-chutes into flood-foilers," says Nienhuis. And the Dutch, for whom preventing floods is a matter of survival, have gone furthest. A nation built largely on drained marshes and seabed had the fright of its life in 1993 when the Rhine almost overwhelmed it. The same happened again in 1995, when a quarter of a million people were evacuated from the Netherlands. But a new breed of "soft engineers" wants our cities to become porous, and Berlin is theft governed by tough new rules to prevent its drains becoming overloaded after heavy rains. Harald Kraft, an architect working in the city, says: "We now see rainwater as giant Potsdamer Platz, a huge new commercial redevelopment by DaimlerChrysler in the heart of the city.

G. Los Angeles has spent billions of dollars digging huge drains and concreting river beds to carry away the water from occasional intense storms. "In LA we receive half the water we need in rainfall, and we throw it away. Then we spend hundreds of millions to import water," says Andy Lipkis, an LA environmentalist who kick-started the idea of the porous city by showing it could work on one house. Lipkis, along with citizens groups like Friends of the Los Angeles River and Unpaved LA, want to beat the urban flood hazard and fill the taps by holding onto the city's flood water. And it's not just a pipe dream. The authorities this year launched a $100 million scheme to road-test the porous city in one flood-hit community in Sun Valley. The plan is to catch the rain that falls on thousands of driveways, parking lots and rooftops in the valley. Trees will soak up water from parking lots. Homes and public buildings will capture roof water to irrigate gardens and parks. And road drains will empty into old gravel pits and other leaky places that should recharge the city's underground water reserves. Result: less flooding and more water for the city. Plan B says every city should be porous, every river should have room to flood naturally and every coastline should be left to build its own defences. It sounds expensive and utopian, until you realise how much we spend trying to drain cities and protect our watery margins - and how bad we are at it.

Questions 1-6

The reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-G. Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter A-G, in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet

1 A new approach carried out in the UK

2 Reasons why twisty path and dykes failed

3 Illustration of an alternative Plan in LA which seems much unrealistic

4 Traditional way of tackling flood

5 Effort made in Netherlands and Germany

6 One project on a river benefits three nations

Questions 7-11

 

Summary

Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using no more than two words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 7-11 on your answer sheet.

Flood makes river shorter than it used to be, which means faster speed and more damage to constructions on flood plain. Not only European river poses such threat but the same things happens to the powerful____7_____in the US.

In Europe, one innovative approach carried out by UK's Environment Agency, for example a wetland instead of concrete walls is generated not far from the city of____8_____to protect it from flooding. In 1995, Rhine flooded again and thousands of people left the country of_____9______. A league of engineers suggested that cities should be porous, _____10____set an good example for others. Another city devastated by heavy storms casually is ______11______, though its government pours billions of dollars each year in order to solve the problem.

Questions 12-13

 

Choose TWO correct letter, write your answers in boxes 12-13 on your answer sheet

 

What TWO benefits will the new approach in the UK and Austria bring to US according to this passage?

A We can prepare before flood comes 

 

B It may stop the flood involving the whole area

c Decrease strong rainfalls around Alps simply by engineering constructions 

D Reserve water to protect downstream towns E Store tons of water in downstream area

Section 2

When the Tulip Bubble Burst

Tulips are spring-blooming perennials that grow from bulbs. Depending on the species, tulip plants can grow as short as 4 inches (10 cm) or as high as 28 inches (71 cm). The tulip's large flowers usually bloom on scapes or sub-scapose stems that lack bracts. Most tulips produce only one flower per stem, but a few species bear multiple flowers on their scapes (e.g. Tulipa turkestanica). The showy, generally cup or star-shaped tulip flower has three petals and three sepals, which are often termed tepals because they are nearly identical. These six tepals are often marked on the interior surface near the bases with darker colorings. Tulip flowers come in a wide variety of colors, except pure blue (several tulips with "blue" in the name have a faint violet hue)

A. Long before anyone ever heard of Qualcomm, CMGI, Cisco Systems, or the other high-tech stocks that have soared during the current bull market, there was Semper Augustus. Both more prosaic and more sublime than any stock or bond, it was a tulip of extraordinary beauty, its midnight-blue petals topped by a band of pure white and accented with crimson flares. To denizens of 17th century Holland, little was as desirable.

B. Around 1624, the Amsterdam man who owned the only dozen specimens was offered 3,000 guilders for one bulb. While there's no accurate way to render that in today's greenbacks, the sum was roughly equal to the annual income of a wealthy merchant. (A few years later, Rembrandt received about half that amount for painting The Night Watch.) Yet the bulb's owner, whose name is now lost to history, nixed the offer.

C. Who was crazier, the tulip lover who refused to sell for a small fortune or the one who was willing to splurge. That's a question that springs to mind after reading Tulip mania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower and the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused by British journalist Mike Dash. In recent years, as investors have intentionally forgotten everything they learned in Investing 101 in order to load up on unproved, unprofitable dot-com issues, tulip mania has been invoked frequently. In this concise, artfully written account, Dash tells the real history behind the buzzword and in doing so, offers a cautionary tale for our times.

D. The Dutch were not the first to go gaga over the tulip. Long before the first tulip bloomed in Europe-in Bavaria, it turns out, in 1559-the flower had enchanted the Persians and bewitched the rulers of the Ottoman Empire. It was in Holland, however, that the passion for tulips found its most fertile ground, for reasons that had little to do with horticulture.

E. Holland in the early 17th century was embarking on its Golden Age. Resources that had just a few years earlier gone toward fighting for independence from Spain now flowed into commerce. Amsterdam merchants were at the center of the lucrative East Indies trade, where a single voyage could yield profits of 400%. They displayed their success by erecting grand estates surrounded by flower gardens. The Dutch population seemed tom by two contradictory impulses: a horror of living beyond one's means and the love of a long shot.

F. Enter the tulip. "It is impossible to comprehend the tulip mania without understanding just how different tulips were from every other flower known to horticulturists in the 17th century," says Dash. "The colors they exhibited were more intense and more concentrated than those of ordinary plants." Despite the outlandish prices commanded by rare bulbs, ordinary tulips were sold by the pound. Around 1630, however, a new type of tulip fancier appeared, lured by tales of fat profits. These "florists," or professional tulip traders, sought out flower lovers and speculators alike. But if the supply of tulip buyers grew quickly, the supply of bulbs did not. The tulip was a conspirator in the supply squeeze: It takes seven years to grow one from seed. And while bulbs can produce two or three clones, or "offsets," annually, the mother bulb only lasts a few years.

G. Bulb prices rose steadily throughout the 1630s, as ever more speculators into the market. Weavers and farmers mortgaged whatever they could to raise cash to begin trading. In 1633, a farmhouse in Hoorn changed hands for three rare bulbs. By 1636 any tulip-even bulbs recently considered garbage-could be sold off, often for hundreds of guilders. A futures market for bulbs existed, and tulip traders could be found conducting their business in hundreds of Dutch taverns. Tulip mania reached its peak during the winter of 1636-37, when some bulbs were changing hands ten times in a day. The zenith came early that winter, at an auction to benefit seven orphans whose only asset was 70 fine tulips left by then father. One, a rare Violetten Admirael van Enkhuizen bulb that was about to split in two, sold for 5,200 guilders, the all-time record. All told, the flowers brought in nearly 53,000 guilders.

H. Soon after, the tulip market crashed utterly, spectacularly. It began in Haarlem, at a routine bulb auction when, for the first time, the greater fool refused to show up and pay. Within days, the panic had spread across the country. Despite the efforts of traders to prop up demand, the market for tulips evaporated. Flowers that had commanded 5,000 guilders a few weeks before now fetched one-hundredth that amount. Tulip mania is not without flaws. Dash dwells too long on the tulip's migration from Asia to Holland. But he does a service with this illuminating, accessible account of incredible financial folly.

I. Tulip mania differed in one crucial aspect from the dot-com craze that grips our attention today: Even at its height, the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, well-established in 1630, wouldn't touch tulips. "The speculation in tulip bulbs always existed at the margins of Dutch economic life," Dash writes. After the market crashed, a compromise was brokered that let most traders settle then debts for a fraction of then liability. The overall fallout on the Dutch economy was negligible. Will we say the same when Wall Street's current obsession finally runs its course?

Questions 14-18

The reading Passage has seven paragraphs A-I.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-I, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.

14 Difference between bubble burst impacts by tulip and by high-tech shares

15 Spread of tulip before 17th century

16 Indication of money offered for rare bulb in 17th century

17 Tulip was treated as money in Holland

18 Comparison made between tulip and other plants

Questions 19-23

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 19-23 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE	if the statement is true
FALSE	if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN	if the information is not given in the passage

19 In 1624, all the tulip collection belonged to a man in Amsterdam.

20 Tulip was first planted in Holland according to this passage.

21 Popularity of Tulip in Holland was much higher than any other countries in 17th century.

22 Holland was the most wealthy country in the world in 17th century.

23 From 1630, Amsterdam Stock Exchange started to regulate Tulips exchange market.

Questions 24-27

Summary

Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using no more than two words from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 24-27 on your answer sheet.

Dutch concentrated on gaining independence by ____24____ against Spain in the early 17th century; consequently spare resources entered the area of _____25_____. Prosperous traders demonstrated their status by building great _____26____ and with gardens in surroundings. Attracted by the success of profit on tulip, traders kept looking for______27_____and speculator for sale.

Section 3

The Secrets of Persuasion

A. Our mother may have told you the secret to getting what you ask for was to say please. The reality is rather more surprising. Adam Dudding talks to a psychologist who has made a life's work from the science of persuasion. Some scientists peer at things through high-powered microscopes. Others goad rats through mazes, or mix bubbling fluids in glass beakers. Robert Cialdini, for his part, does curious things with towels, and believes that by doing so he is discovering important insights into how society works.

B. Cialdini's towel experiments (more of them later), are part of his research into how we persuade others to say yes. He wants to know why some people have a knack for bending the will of others, be it a telephone cold-caller talking to you about timeshares, or a parent whose children are compliant even without threats of extreme violence. While he's anxious not to be seen as the man who's written the bible for snake-oil salesmen, for decades the Arizona State University social psychology professor has been creating systems for the principles and methods of persuasion, and writing bestsellers about them. Some people seem to be born with the skills; Cialdini's claim is that by applying a little science, even those of US who aren't should be able to get our own way more often. "All my life I've been an easy mark for the blandishment of salespeople and fundraisers and I'd always wondered why they could get me to buy things I didn't want and give to causes I hadn't heard of," says Cialdini on the phone from London, where he is plugging his latest book.

C. He found that laboratory experiments on the psychology of persuasion were telling only part of the story, so he began to research influence in the real world, enrolling in sales-training programmes: "I learn how to sell automobiles from a lot, how to sell insurance from an office, how to sell encyclopedias door to door." He concluded there were six general "principles of influence" and has since put them to the test under slightly more scientific conditions. Most recently, that has meant messing about with towels. Many hotels leave a little card in each bathroom asking guests to reuse towels and thus conserve water and electricity and reduce pollution. Cialdini and his colleagues wanted to test the relative effectiveness of different words on those cards. Would guests be motivated to co-operate simply because it would help save the planet, or were other factors more compelling? To test this, the researchers changed the card's message from an environmental one to the simple (and truthful) statement that the majority of guests at the hotel had reused their towel at least once. Guests given this message were 26% more likely to reuse their towels than those given the old message. In Cialdini's book "Yes! 50 Secrets from the Science of Persuasion", co-written with another social scientist and a business consultant, he explains that guests were responding to the persuasive force of "social proof', the idea that our decisions are strongly influenced by what we believe other people like US are doing.

D. So much for towels. Cialdini has also learnt a lot from confectionery. Yes! cites the work of New Jersey behavioural scientist David Strohmetz, who wanted to see how restaurant patrons would respond to a ridiculously small favour from their food server, in the form of an after-dinner chocolate for each diner. The secret, it seems, is in how you give the chocolate. When the chocolates arrived in a heap with the bill, tips went up a miserly 3% compared to when no chocolate was given. But when the chocolates were dropped individually in front of each diner, tips went up 14%. The scientific breakthrough, though, came when the waitress gave each diner one chocolate, headed away from the table then doubled back to give them one more each, as if such generosity had only just occurred to her. Tips went up 23%. This is "reciprocity" in action: we want to return favours done to US, often without bothering to calculate the relative value of what is being received and given.

E. Geeling Ng, operations manager at Auckland's Soul Bar, says she's never heard of Kiwi waiting staff using such a cynical trick, not least because New Zealand tipping culture is so different from that of the US: "If you did that in New Zealand, as diners were leaving they'd say 'can we have some more?" ' But she certainly understands the general principle of reciprocity. The way to a diner's heart is "to give them something they're not expecting in the way of service. It might be something as small as leaving a mint on their plate, or it might be remembering that last time they were in they wanted their water with no ice and no lemon. "In America it would translate into an instant tip. In New Zealand it translates into a huge smile and thank you." And no doubt, return visits.

THE FIVE PRINCIPLES OF PERSUASION

F. Reciprocity: People want to give back to those who have given to them. The trick here is to get in first. That's why charities put a crummy pen inside a mailout, and why smiling women in supermarkets hand out dollops of free food. Scarcity: People want more of things they can have less of. Advertisers ruthlessly exploit scarcity ("limit four per customer", "sale must end soon"), and Cialdini suggests parents do too: "Kids want things that are less available, so say 'this is an unusual opportunity; you can only have this for a certain time'."

G. Authority: We trust people who know what they're talking about. So inform people honestly of your credentials before you set out to influence them. "You'd be surprised how many people fail to do that," says Cialdini. "They feel it's impolite to talk about then expertise." In one study, therapists whose patients wouldn't do then exercises were advised to display then qualification certificates prominently. They did, and experienced an immediate leap in patient compliance.

H. Commitment/consistency: We want to act in a way that is consistent with the commitments we have already made. Exploit this to get a higher sign-up rate when soliciting charitable donations. Ffrst ask workmates if they think they will sponsor you on your egg-and-spoon marathon. Later, return with the sponsorship form to those who said yes and remind them of their earlier commitment/

I. Liking: We say yes more often to people we like. Obvious enough, but reasons for "liking" can be weird. In one study, people were sent survey forms and asked to return them to a named researcher. When the researcher gave a fake name resembling that of the subject (eg, Cynthia Johnson is sent a survey by "Cindy Johansen"), surveys were twice as likely to be completed. We favour people who resemble US, even if the resemblance is as minor as the sound of their name.

J. Social proof: We decide what to do by looking around to see what others just like US are doing. Useful for parents, says Cialdini. "Find groups of children who are behaving in a way that you would like your child to, because the child looks to the side, rather than at you." More perniciously, social proof is the force underpinning the competitive materialism of "keeping up with the Joneses"

Questions 28-31

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

Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

28. The main purpose of Ciadini’s research of writing is to

A. explain the reason way researcher should investigate in person 

B. explore the secret that why some people become the famous sales person

C. help people to sale products

D. prove maybe there is a science in the psychology of persuasion

29. Which of statement is CORRECT according to Ciadini‘s research methodology

A. he checked data in a lot of latest books 

B. he conducted this experiment in laboratory

C. he interviewed and contact with many sales people

D. he made lot phone calls collecting what he wants to know

30. Which of the followings is CORRECT according to towel experiment in the passage?

A. Different hotel guests act in a different response 

B. Most guests act by idea of environment preservation

C. more customers tend to cooperate as the message requires than simply act environmentally

D. people tend to follow the hotel’s original message more

31. Which of the followings is CORRECT according to the candy shop experiment in the passage?

A. Presenting way affects diner's tips 

B. Regular customer gives tips more than irregulars

C. People give tips only when offered chocolate

D. Chocolate with bill got higher tips

Questions 32-35

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 32-35 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE	if the Statement is true
FALSE	if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN	if the information is not given in the passage

/

32 Robert Cialdini experienced "principles of influence" himself in realistic life.

33 Principle of persuasion has different types in different countries.

34 In New Zealand, people tend to give tips to attendants after being served a chocolate.

35 Elder generation of New Zealand is easily attracted by extra service of restaurants by principle of reciprocity.

Questions 36-40

Use the information in the passage to match the category (listed A-E) with correct description below. Write the appropriate letters A-E in boxes 32-37 on answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

A. Reciprocity of scarcity 

B. Authority

C. previous comment

D. Liking

-----------------

36 Some expert may reveal qualification in front of clients.

37 Parents tend to say something that other kids are doing the same.

38 Advertisers ruthlessly exploit the limitation of chances

39 Use a familiar name in a survey.

40 Ask colleagues to offer a helping hand

 

Reading Test 17

Section 1

MENTAL GYMNASTICS

A. THE working day has just started at the head office of Barclays Bank in London. Seventeen staff are helping themselves to a buffet breakfast as young psychologist Sebastian Bailey enters the room to begin the morning's framing session. But this is no ordinary training session. He's not here to sharpen their finance or management skills. He's here to exercise their brains.

B. Today’s workout, organised by a company called the Mind Gym in London, is entitled "having presence". What follows is an intense 90-minute session in which this rather abstract concept is gradually broken down into a concrete set of feelings, mental tricks and behaviours. At one point the bankers are instructed to shut then eyes and visualise themselves filling the room and then the building. They finish up by walking around the room acting out various levels of presence, from low-key to over the top.

C. It's easy to poke fun. Yet similar mental workouts are happening in corporate seminar rooms around the globe. The Mind Gym alone offers some 70 different sessions, including ones on mental stamina, creativity for logical thinkers and "zoom learning". Other outfits draw more directly on the exercise analogy, offering "neurobics" courses with names like "brain sets" and "cerebral fitness". Then there are books with titles like Pumping Ions, full of brainteasers that claim to "flex your mind", and software packages offering memory and spatial-awareness games.

D. But whatever the style, the companies' sales pitch is invariably the same—follow our routines to shape and sculpt your brain or mind, just as you might tone and train your body. And, of course, they nearly all claim that their mental workouts draw on serious scientific research and thinking into how the brain works.

E. One outfit, Brainergy of Cambridge, Massachusetts (motto: "Because your grey matter matters") puts it like this: "Studies have shown that mental exercise can cause changes in brain anatomy and brain chemistry which promote increased mental efficiency and clarity. The neuroscience is cutting-edge." And on its website, Mind Gym trades on a quote from Susan Greenfield, one of Britain's best known neuroscientists: "It's a bit like going to the gym, if you exercise your brain it will grow."

F. Indeed, die Mind Gym originally planned to hold its sessions in a local health club, until its founders realised where the real money was to be made. Modem companies need flexible, bright thinkers and will seize on anything that claims to create them, especially if it looks like a quick fix backed by science. But are neurobic workouts really backed by science? And do we need them?

G. Nor is there anything remotely high-tech about what Lawrence Katz, co-author of Keep Your Brain Alive, recommends. Katz, a neurobiologist at Duke University Medical School in North Carolina, argues that just as many of US fail to get enough physical exercise, so we also lack sufficient mental stimulation to keep our brain in trim. Sine we are busy with jobs, family and housework. But most of this activity is repetitive routine. And any leisure time is spent slumped in front of the TV.

H. So, read a book upside down. Write or brush your teeth with your wrong hand. Feel your way around the room with your eyes shut. Sniff vanilla essence while listening intently to orchestral music. Anything, says Katz, to break your normal mental routine. It will help invigorate your brain, encouraging its cells to make new connections and pump out neuroteophins, substances that feed and sustain brain circuits.

I. Well, up to a point it will. "What I'm really talking about is brain maintenance rather than bulking up your IQ," Katz adds. Neurobics, in other words, is about letting your brain fulfill its potential. It cannot create super-brains. Can it achieve even that much, though? Certainly the brain is an organ that can adapt to the demands placed on it. Tests on animal brain tissue, for example, have repeatedly shown that electrically stimulating the synapses that connect nerve cells thought to be crucial to learning and reasoning, makes them stronger and more responsive. Brain scans suggest we use a lot more of our grey matter when carrying out new or strange tasks than when we're doing well-rehearsed ones. Rats raised in bright cages with toys sprout more neural connections than rats raised in bare cages— suggesting perhaps that novelty and variety could be crucial to a developing brain. Katz, And neurologists have proved time and again that people who lose brain cells suddenly during a stroke often sprout new connections to compensate for the loss—especially if they undergo extensive therapy to overcome any paralysis.

J. Guy Claxton, an educational psychologist at the University of Bristol, dismisses most of the neurological approaches as "neuro-babble". Nevertheless, there are specific mental skills we can learn, he contends. Desirable attributes such as creativity, mental flexibility, and even motivation, are not the fixed faculties that most of US think. They are thought habits that can be learned. The problem, says Claxton, is that most of US never get proper training in these skills. We develop our own private set of mental strategies for tackling tasks and never learn anything explicitly. Worse still, because any learned skill— even driving a car or brushing our teeth-quickly sinks out of consciousness, we can no longer see the very thought habits we're relying upon. Our mental tools become invisible to US.

K. Claxton is the academic adviser to the Mind Gym. So not surprisingly, the company espouses his solution-that we must return our thought patterns to a conscious level, becoming aware of the details of how we usually think. Only then can we start to practise better thought patterns, until eventually these become our new habits. Switching metaphors, picture not gym classes, but tennis or football coaching.

L. In practice, the training can seem quite mundane. For example, in one of the eight different creativity workouts offered by the Mind Gym—entitled "creativity for logical thinkers" one of the mental strategies taught is to make a sensible suggestion, then immediately pose its opposite. So, asked to spend five minutes inventing a new pizza, a group soon comes up with no topping, sweet topping, cold topping, price based on time of day, flat-rate prices and so on.

M. Bailey agrees that the trick is simple. But it is surprising how few such tricks people have to call upon when they are suddenly asked to be creative: "They tend to just label themselves as uncreative, not realising that there are techniques that every creative person employs." Bailey says the aim is to introduce people to half a dozen or so such strategies in a session so that what at first seems like a dauntingly abstract mental task becomes a set of concrete, learnable behaviours. He admits this is not a short cut to genius. Neurologically, some people do start with quicker circuits or greater handling capacity. However, with the right kind of training he thinks we can dramatically increase how efficiently we use it.

N. It is hard to prove that the training itself is effective. How do you measure a change in an employee's creativity levels, or memory skills? But staff certainly report feeling that such classes have opened their eyes. So, neurological boosting or psychological training? At the moment you can pay your money and take your choice. Claxton for one believes there is no reason why schools and universities shouldn't spend more time teaching basic thinking skills, rather than trying to stuff heads with facts and hoping that effective thought habits are somehow absorbed by osmosis.

Questions 1-5

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1 In boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet, write

YES	if the statement is true
NO	if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN	if the information is not given in the passage

 

1 Mind Gym coach instructed employees to imagine that they are the building.

2 Mind Gym uses the similar marketing theory that is used all round

3 Susan Greenfield is the founder of Mind Gym.

4 All business and industries are using Mind Gym's session globally.

5 According to Mind Gym, extensive scientific background supports their mental training sessions.

Questions 6-13

Use the information in the passage to match the people (listed A-D) with opinions or deeds below. Write the appropriate letters A-D in boxes 6-13 on your answer sheet.

A. Guy Claxton

B. Sebastian Bailey