LESSON 4:

WRITING TASK 2:

TOPIC: Most people in developing countries do not have food to eat and place to

live. Instead of saving forest to protect the environment, we should aim to

maximize land for food production and making homes for the homeless.

          Do you agree or disagree?

READING

I. Read the passage and answer these following questions.

Wrigley’s Chewing Gum

Wrigley’s chewing gum was actually developed as a premium to be given
away with other Products rather than as a primary product for sale. As a
teenager, William Wrigley Jr. was working for his father in Chicago selling
soap that had been manufactured in his father’s factory. The soap was not
very popular with merchants because it was priced at five cents, and this
selling price did not leave a good profit margin for the merchants. Wrigley
convinced his father to raise the price to ten cents and to give away cheap
umbrellas as a premium for the merchants. This worked successfully,
confirming to Wrigley that the use of premiums was an effective sales tool.
Wrigley then established his own company; in his company he was selling
soap as a wholesaler, giving baking soda away as a premium, and using a
cookbook to promote each deal. Over time, the baking soda and cookbook
became more popular than the soap, so Wrigley began a new operation
 selling baking soda. He began hunting for a new premium item to give away
with sales of baking soda; he soon decided on chewing gum. Once again,
when Wrigley realized that demand for the premium was stronger than the
demand for the original product, he created the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company
to produce and sell chewing gum.
Wrigley started out with two brands of gum, Vassar and Lotta Gum, and
soon introduced Juicy Fruit and Spearment. The latter two brands grew in
popularity, while the first two were phased out. Juicy Fruit and Spearment
are two of Wrigley’s main brands to this day.
 1. It is NOT indicated in paragraph 1 that young William was working
___________.

o A. in Chicago  o C. as a soap salesman 

o B. for his father  o D. in his father’s factory 
 2. According to paragraph 1, it is NOT true that the soap that young
Wrigley was selling ________.
o A. was originally well-liked 
o B. was originally priced at five cents 
o C. originally provided little profit for merchants 
o D. eventually became more popular with merchants 
 3. According to paragraph 2, it is NOT true that, when Wrigley first
founded his own company, he was ______________.
o A. selling soap 
o B. selling chewing gum 
o C. giving away cookbooks 
o D. using baking soda as a premium 
 4. It is NOT mentioned in paragraph 2 that Wrigley later
______________.
o A. sold baking soda 
o B. used chewing gun as a premium to sell baking soda 
o C. sold chewing gum 
o D. used baking soda as a premium to sell chewing gum 
 5. According to paragraph 3, the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company did all of
the following EXCEPT _________.
o A. begin with two brands of gum 
o B. add new brands to the original two 
o C. phase out the last two brands 
o D. phase out the first two brands 

II. Read the passage and answer these following questions.

Frank Gehry was once considered just another Southern California eccentric.
It wasn’t until the late 1980s that he began receiving international acclaim as
one of the world’s foremost architects. Outside the mainstream, his random
designs have been so unique as to have defied categorization. In the late
1970s he was preoccupied with the notion of things in progress and his
belief that buildings are most interesting when still unfinished. To give the
impression of a structure in the state of construction, Gehry incorporated
exposed studs and joinings, unpainted walls, and transparent skeletal
framework in his buildings. In the early 1980s he explored the relation
between space, structure, and light.

Like the renderings of artists, Gehry’s work is very expressive. His close
identity with painters and sculptors has inspired him to infuse his buildings
with the qualities of immediacy, spontaneity, and improvisation. His
fascination with textures and materials led him to experiment with the effect
of combining different building materials, such as plywood, metal, and
glass.

While Gehry has achieved international prominence as one of the era’s most
provocative and creative architects, he continues to experiment with form
and structure. With his casual, intuitive approach to design, his buildings
continue to demonstrate a high degree of freedom and invention. His work
has inspired architects worldwide, who have taken his style and themes to
cities around the globe.

1. It is implied in the passage that _________________.

A. California is known for its conventional artists 

B. California is internationally known for its architecture 
C. Many Californians are nonconformists 
D. Some people think California is a traditional state 
2. The passage suggests that Frank Gehry _____________________.

A. has been labeled a modernist 

B. had defied definition as a certain type of architect 
C. has not influenced architects outside the United States 
D. has always worked within the confines of traditional architectural
design 
3. From the passage, it can be inferred that Gehry's buildings
________________.
 A. have a very unusual look 
B. are archaic in form and structure 
C. fit in well with surrounding structures 
D. are simplistic and elegant 
4. It is most probable that Gehry's designs ___________________.

A. will be limited to certain areas 

B. will lose their appeal to future architects 
C. will become conventional over time 
D. will continue to be evident in urban architecture on a global scale
 
III. Read the passage and answer these following questions.

New World Epidemics

A huge loss of life resulted from the introduction of Old World diseases into
the Americas in the early sixteenth century. The inhabitants of the Americas
were separated from Asia, Africa, and Europe by rising oceans following the
Ice Ages, and, as a result, they were isolated by means of this watery barrier
from numerous virulent epidemic diseases thathad developed across the
ocean, such as measles, smallpox, pneumonia, and malaria. Pre-Columbian
Americans had a relatively disease-free environment but also lacked the
antibodies needed to protect them from bacteria and viruses brought to
America by European explorers and colonists. A devastating outbreak of
disease that strikes for the first time against a completely unprotected
population is known as a Virgin soil epidemic. Virgin soil epidemics
contributed to an unbelievable decline in the population of native inhabitants
of the Americas, one that has been estimated at as much as an 80 percent
decrease of the native population in the centuries following the arrival of
Europeans in the Americas.
1. The word “they” in the passage refers to _______________.

A. the inhabitants 
B. epidemic diseases 
C. rising oceans 
D. the Ice Ages 
 2. The word “that” in the passage refers to __________.

A. a disease-free environment 
B. this watery barrier 
C. virulent epidemic diseases 
D. the ocean 
3. The word “them” in the passage refers to ________________.

A. pre-Columbian Americans 
B. the antibodies 
C. bacteria and viruses 
D. European explorers and colonists 
4. The word “one” in the passage refers to ______________.

A. a Virgin soil epidemic 

B. an unbelievable decline 
C. the population of native inhabitants 
D. the arrival of Europeans

LISTENING PART 2: