Statements 1 through 10 (on your answer sheet circle + if the statement is true, - if it is false)

Reading Comprehension Test

For 10th Form Students

 

DO NOT OPEN THIS BOOKLET UNTIL ADVISED BY THE TEACHER

 

DICTIONARIES ARE NOT ALLOWED

 

 

 

STUDENT NUMBER: ____________

 

WARNING: TOP SECRET COLUMN

 

I wanted to be a spy when I was a kid. I wanted to drive around in cool cars, wear sharp suits, drink vodka martinis, and have beautiful women throw themselves at me, a la James Bond. After I watched my first Bond movie, I was convinced of the awesome power of suits and vodka martinis.

I knew I would be a good spy, because at age nine, my friend Eric Pratt and I snuck around the neighborhood on summer nights, trying to annoy all of our neighbors who were actually enemy spies. We didn't know who they were spying for, only that they were enemy spies. As we saw it, it was our patriotic duty to thwart these ne'er-do-wells from their villainy. (That was our battle cry.)

We were pretty good at it too. We snuck around from backyard to backyard, and not once did we ever get caught. Oh sure, the occasional dog would bark at us, but that's to be expected when they're highly trained enemy attack dogs. Those Scottish Terriers can be extremely vicious.

Eric's and my spying efforts were based on the ability to ring people's doorbells and run away without getting caught. We got good enough at it that we could do 15 doorbells in a single night. We had a few close calls, like the people who answered their door too quickly, or the people we rang three times in a row. But other than that, we were careful planners who plotted our escape routes and meeting points before each ring.

We eventually had to stop after the parents of one of our so-called "friends" ratted us out after we hit his house one night when he couldn't go out with us. But my dreams of being a spy never died.

When I was 13 years old, I got a book about spies. It was a behind-the-scenes look at what spies did and how they were recruited. There was even a test that I could take to see if I had the temperament to be a spy. I figured out that by answering 'C to all the questions, I would achieve the ideal score for a spy. And it only took me three tries to do it. The problem was, I didn't know who to tell about my test score or that it showed that I was qualified to drive cool cars and sleep with beautiful women. So I thought about writing a letter.

"Dear CIA, I took a test in the 'Handbook for Spies' book recently. I am sure you're familiar with the book, since it was written by someone in your line of work. I achieved a score of 82 on the test, which said that I would make an ideal spy. Do you have an opening for any agents? If so, could you please tell me where to get my suits and car? Sincerely yours, [Name stricken for security purposes]."

However, I decided against this approach, since an enemy spy might interpret my letter at the post office. That, and I didn't have the CIA's address.

But I was undeterred. I continued reading James Bond books and watching his movies. I even bought a plastic gun that fired suction cup darts, because it looked like the kind of gun Bond carried. For hours, I practiced concealing it, pulling it out quickly, and making difficult shots in my room. The end result was that if I ever came face to face with an enemy spy who could be killed with a suction cup dart from six feet away, I had nothing to worry about.

That all changed when I finally read a newspaper article about spies, and how James Bond basically over-glamorized the spy business. "It's not really like that", the article said. "It's all about sitting in windowless rooms, analyzing information. You never get to drive cool cars, and beautiful women don't throw themselves at you on a daily basis".

That article popped my dream of becoming a spy like a balloon on broken glass. I was adrift, without any motivation or long-term goals for weeks. But soon, I was embarked on a new career. One of glamour, intrigue, and even more beautiful women. Thanks to the TV show, "Magnum P. I.", I had a new goal in life.

"Dear Private Eye Agency, I would like to be a private investigator. I am very good at gathering secrets, and I already know how to shoot a plastic Walther PPK. Do you have an opening for any investigators? If so, could you please tell me where I could pick up my red Ferrari? Sincerely, [Name stricken for security purposes]".

 

DO NOT WRITE IN THIS BOOKLET.

 

1. The author seems to be possessed with something.

2. The events of the story cover at least four years.

3. It can be inferred that the boys' parents were not very attentive to their children.

4. The boys were trying to spot enemy spies.

5. The boys' night activities were based on pure impulse.

6. The test in the spy-book was dead easy.

7. If the letter had been sent, it would have resulted in something.

8. The boy found an authentic example to follow.

9. We may infer that the author could be easily affected by mass media. lO.The author's goal in life drastically changed.

EU gives green light for cloned food to go on sale in UK shops

 

EU scientists say meat and milk from cloned farm animals should be cleared for sale.

They admit cloned animals suffer higher rates of early death and disease but say there is no food safely reason to keep their products off shop shelves. The draft opinion of the European Food Safety Authority will horrify critics who see the development of such animals as "Frankenstein Farming", tampering with nature in a similar way to GM foods.

The authority's support would open the door to clone farming in the UK and the importation of products made from cloned meat and milk in the U.S., where the technique is already used.

Major supermarkets stressed last night that it is their policy not to stock cloned products. But they could f ace an impossible task in identifying them unless the EU insists on a costly system of labeling. This is highly unlikely, as the safety authority's report says there are no safety issues.

The Soil Association, which speaks for organic producers, said it was clear the rush to approve clone farming was being driven by pressure from the U.S. government, keen to boost the profits of the American companies behind the technology.

Association spokesman said: "Cloning involves ghastly and invasive techniques. The EFSA committee says there is no food safety issue, but now can they know? The research has not been done. When you have lots of clones dying at birth or suffering terrible malformations, that should raise serious questions of food safely which need to be understood".

Opponents say allowing clone farming will accelerate the trend towards super-size cows, producing vast quantities of milk, and monster pigs.

 

The draft opinion will now go out to public consultation and a final report is expected in May. EU ministers will be askeda final decision later this year, . and no individual government will be able to opt out. The UK government has indicated in the past that it has no objections to clone farming and rejected advice from one of its own expert committee to set up a regime to police it. But this policy may change as Hilary Benn, the new head of Defra, is a vegetarian who takes the suffering of farm animals particularly seriously.

Supermarkets - including Tesco, Salisbury's. Asda, Morrisons and Narks & Spenser - made clear they do not want to stock cloned foods. But a lack of labelling rules would make such policies virtually impossible to enforce.

Peter Stevenson, chief policy advisor at Compassion in World Farming said: "The only point of cloning is to produce faster growing chickens and pigs and higher-yielding dairy cows. Going down the road of cloning would lead to greater industrialization of farm animal production, which would be a disaster. We would urge the EU and the British government to step back from any support for clone farming".

 

DO NOT WRITE IN THIS BOOKLET.