Why companies should welcome disorder

A
Organisation is big business. Whether it is of our lives – all those inboxes and
calendars – or how companies are structured, a multi-billion dollar industry helps
to meet this need.
We have more strategies for time management, project management and self-
organisation than at any other time in human history. We are told that we ought to
organize our company, our home life, our week, our day and seven our sleep, all as
a means to becoming more productive. Every week, countless seminars and
workshops take place around the world to tell a paying public that they ought to
structure their lives in order to achieve this.
This rhetoric has also crept into the thinking of business leaders and entrepreneurs,
much to the delight of self-proclaimed perfectionists with the need to get
everything right. The number of business schools and graduates has massively
increased over the past 50 years, essentially teaching people how to organise well.
B
Ironically, however, the number of business that fail has also steadily increased.
Work-related stress has increased. A large proportion of workers from all
demographics claim to be dissatisfied with the way their work is structured and the
way they are managed.
This begs the question: what has gone wrong? Why is it that on paper the drive for
organisation seems a sure shot for increasing productivity, but in reality falls well
short of what is expected?
C
This has been a problem for a while now. Frederick Taylor was one of the
forefathers of scientific management. Writing in the first half of the 20th century,
he designed a number of principles to improve the efficiency of the work process,
which have since become widespread in modern companies. So the approach has
been around for a while.
D
New research suggests that this obsession with efficiency is misguided. The
problem is not necessarily the management theories or strategies we use to
organise our work; it’s the basic assumptions we hold in approaching how we
work. Here it’s the assumption that order is a necessary condition for productivity.
This assumption has also fostered the idea that disorder must be detrimental to
organizational productivity. The result is that businesses and people spend time
and money organising themselves for the sake of organising, rather than actually
looking at the end goal and usefulness of such an effort.
E
What’s more, recent studies show that order actually has diminishing returns.
Order does increase productivity to a certain extent, but eventually the usefulness
of the process of organisation, and the benefit it yields, reduce until the point
where any further increase in order reduces productivity. Some argue that in a
business, if the cost of formally structuring something outweighs the benefit of
doing it, then that thing ought not to be formally structured. Instead, the resources
involved can be better used elsewhere.
F
In fact, research shows that, when innovating, the best approach is to create an
environment devoid of structure and hierarchy and enable everyone involved to
engage as one organic group. These environments can lead to new solutions that,
under conventionally structured environments (filled with bottlenecks in term of
information flow, power structures, rules, and routines) would never be reached.
G
In recent times companies have slowly started to embrace this disorganisation.
Many of them embrace it in terms of perception (embracing the idea of disorder, as
opposed to fearing it) and in terms of process (putting mechanisms in place to
reduce structure).
For example, Oticon, a large Danish manufacturer of hearing aids, used what it
called a ‘spaghetti’ structure in order to reduce the organisation’s rigid hierarchies.
This involved scrapping formal job titles and giving staff huge amounts of
ownership over their own time and projects. This approach proved to be highly
successful initially, with clear improvements in worker productivity in all facets of
the business.
In similar fashion, the former chairman of General Electric embraced
disorganisation, putting forward the idea of the ‘boundaryless’ organisation. Again,
it involves breaking down the barriers between different parts of a company and
encouraging virtual collaboration and flexible working. Google and a number of
other tech companies have embraced (at least in part) these kinds of flexible
structures, facilitated by technology and strong company values which glue people
together.
H
A word of warning to others thinking of jumping on this bandwagon: the evidence
so far suggests disorder, much like order, also seems to have diminishing utility,
and can also have detrimental effects on performance if overused. Like order,
disorder should be embraced only so far as it is useful. But we should not fear it –
nor venerate one over the other. This research also shows that we should
continually question whether or not our existing assumptions work.

Questions 27-34
Reading Passage 3 has eight sections, A-H
Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-ix, in boxes 27-34 on your answer sheet.
List of Headkings
i Complaints about the impact of a certain approach
ii Fundamental beliefs that are in fact incorrect
iii Early recommendations concerning business activities
iv Organisations that put a new approach into practice
v Companies that have suffered from changing their approach
vi What people are increasingly expected to do
vii How to achieve outcomes that are currently impossible
viii Neither approach guarantees continuous improvement
ix Evidence that a certain approach can have more disadvantages that
advantages
27 Section A
28 Section B
29 Section C
30 Section D
31 Section E
32 Section F
33 Section G
34 Section H

Questions 35-37
Complete the sentences below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 35-37 on your answer sheet.
35 Numerous training sessions are aimed at people who feel they are not
………………………. enough.
36 Being organised appeals to people who regard themselves as
……………………………
37 Many people feel ……………………….. with aspects of their work.

Questions 38-40
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage
3?
In boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet, 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
38 Both businesses and people aim at order without really considering its value.
39 Innovation is most successful if the people involved have distinct roles.
40 Google was inspired to adopt flexibility by the success of General Electric.
The Lost City
An explorer’s encounter with the ruined city of Machu Picchu, the most famous
icon of the Inca civilsation
A
When the US explorer and academic Hiram Bingham arrived in South America in
1911, he was ready for what was to be the greatest achievement of his life: the
exploration of the remote hinterland to the west of Cusco, the old capital of the
Inca empire in the Andes mountains of Peru. His goal was to locate the remains of
a city called Vitcos, the last capital of the Inca civilisation. Cusco lies on a high
plateau at an elevation of more than 3,000 metres, and Bingham’s plan was to
descend from this plateau along the valley of the Urubamba river, which takes a
circuitous route down to the Amazon and passes through an area of dramatic
canyons and mountain ranges.
B
When Bingham and his team set off down the Urubamba in late July, they had an
advantage over travelers who had preceded them: a track had recently been blasted
down the valley canyon to enable rubber to be brought up by mules from the
jungle. Almost all previous travelers had left the river at Ollantaytambo and taken
a high pass across the mountains to rejoin the river lower down, thereby cutting a
substantial corner, but also therefore never passing through the area around Machu
Picchu.
C
On 24 July they were a few days into their descent of the valley. The day began
slowly, with Bingham trying to arrange sufficient mules for the next stage of the
trek. His companions showed no interest in accompanying him up the nearby hill
to see some ruins that a local farmer, Melchor Arteaga, had told them about the
night before. The morning was dull and damp, and Bingham also seems to have
been less than keen on the prospect of climbing the hill. In his book Lost City of
the Incas, he relates that he made the ascent without having the least expectation
that he would find anything at the top.
D
Bingham writes about the approach in vivid style in his book. First, as he climbs up
the hill, he describes the ever-present possibility of deadly snakes, ‘capable of
making considerable springs when in pursuit of their prey’; not that he sees any.
Then there’s a sense of mounting discovery as he comes across great sweeps of
terraces, then a mausoleum, followed by monumental staircases and, finally, the
grand ceremonial buildings of Machu Picchu. ‘It seemed like an unbelievable
dream … the sight held me spellbound …’ he wrote.
E
We should remember, however, that Lost City of the Incas is a work of hindsight,
not written until 1948, many years after his journey. His journal entries of the time
reveal a much more gradual appreciation of his achievement. He spent the
afternoon at the ruins noting down the dimensions of some of the buildings, then
descended and rejoined his companions, to whom he seems to have said little about
his discovery. At this stage, Bingham didn’t realise the extent or the importance of
the site, nor did he realise what use he could make of the discovery.
F
However, soon after returning it occurred to him that he could make a name for
himself from this discovery. When he came to write the National Geographic
magazine article that broke the story to the world in April 1913, he knew he had to
produce a big idea. He wondered whether it could have been the birthplace of the
very first Inca, Manco the Great, and whether it could also have been what
chroniclers described as ‘the last city of the Incas’. This term refers to Vilcabamba,
the settlement where the Incas had fled from Spanish invaders in the 1530s.
Bingham made desperate attempts to prove this belief for nearly 40 years. Sadly,
his vision of the site as both the beginning and end of the Inca civilisation, while a
magnificent one, is inaccurate. We now know that Vilcabamba actually lies 65
kilometres away in the depths of the jungle.
G
One question that has perplexed visitors, historians and archaeologists alike ever
since Bingham, is why the site seems to have been abandoned before the Spanish
Conquest. There are no references to it by any of the Spanish chroniclers – and if
they had known of its existence so close to Cusco they would certainly have come
in search of gold. An idea which has gained wide acceptance over the past few
years is that Machu Picchu was a moya, a country estate built by an Inca emperor
to escape the cold winters of Cusco, where the elite could enjoy monumental
architecture and spectacular views. Furthermore, the particular architecture of
Machu Picchu suggests that it was constructed at the time of the greatest of all the
Incas, the emperor Pachacuti (c. 1438-71). By custom, Pachacuti’s descendants
built other similar estates for their own use, and so Machu Picchu would have been
abandoned after his death, some 50 years before the Spanish Conquest.

Questions 14-20
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet.
List of headings
i Different accounts of the same journey
ii Bingham gains support
iii A common belief
iv The aim of the trip
v A dramatic description
vi A new route
vii Bingham publishes his theory
viii Bingham’s lack of enthusiasm
14 Paragraph A
15 Paragraph B
16 Paragraph C
17 Paragraph D
18 Paragraph E
19 Paragraph F
20 Paragraph G
Questions 21-24
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage
2?
In boxes 21-24 on your answer sheet, 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
21 Bingham went to South America in search of an Inca city.
22 Bingham chose a particular route down the Urubamba valley because it was
the most common route used by travellers.
23 Bingham understood the significance of Machu Picchu as soon as he saw it.
24 Bingham returned to Machu Picchu in order to find evidence to support his
theory.

Questions 25-26
Complete the sentences below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 25-26 on your answer sheet.
25 The track that took Bingham down the Urubamba valley had been created for
the transportation of …………………………….
26 Bingham found out about the ruins of Machu Picchu from a
…………………………….. it the Urubamba valley.
UK companies need more effective boards of directors
A
After a number of serious failures of governance (that is, how they are managed at
the highest level), companies in Britain, as well as elsewhere, should consider
radical changes to their directors’ roles. It is clear that the role of a board director
today is not an easy one. Following the 2008 financial meltdown, which resulted in
a deeper and more prolonged period of economic downturn than anyone expected,
the search for explanations in the many post-mortems of the crisis has meant blame
has been spread far and wide. Governments, regulators, central banks and auditors
have all been in the frame. The role of bank directors and management and their
widely publicised failures have been extensively picked over and examined in
reports, inquiries and commentaries.
B
The knock-on effect of this scrutiny has been to make the governance of
companies in general an issue of intense public debate and has significantly
increased the pressures on, and the responsibilities of, directors. At the simplest
and most practical level, the time involved in fulfilling the demands of a board
directorship has increased significantly, calling into question the effectiveness of
the classic model of corporate governance by part-time, independent non-executive
directors. Where once a board schedule may have consisted of between eight and
ten meetings a year, in many companies the number of events requiring board
input and decisions has dramatically risen. Furthermore, the amount of reading and
preparation required for each meeting is increasing. Agendas can become
overloaded and this can mean the time for constructive debate must necessarily be
restricted in favour of getting through the business.
C
Often, board business is devolved to committees in order to cope with the
workload, which may be more efficient but can mean that the board as a whole is
less involved in fully addressing some of the most important issues. It is not
uncommon for the audit committee meeting to last longer than the main board
meeting itself. Process may take the place of discussion and be at the expense of
real collaboration, so that boxes are ticked rather than issues tackled.
D
A radical solution, which may work for some very large companies whose
businesses are extensive and complex, is the professional board, whose members
would work up to three or four days a week, supported by their own dedicated staff
and advisers. There are obvious risks to this and it would be important to establish
clear guidelines for such a board to ensure that it did not step on the toes of
management by becoming too engaged in the day-to-day running of the company.
Problems of recruitment, remuneration and independence could also arise and this
structure would not be appropriate for all companies. However, more professional
and better-informed boards would have been particularly appropriate for banks
where the executives had access to information that part-time non-executive
directors lacked, leaving the latter unable to comprehend or anticipate the 2008
crash.
E
One of the main criticisms of boards and their directors is that they do not focus
sufficiently on longer-term matters of strategy, sustainability and governance, but
instead concentrate too much on short-term financial metrics. Regulatory
requirements and the structure of the market encourage this behaviour. The tyranny
of quarterly reporting can distort board decision-making, as directors have to
‘make the numbers’ every four months to meet the insatiable appetite of the market
for more date. This serves to encourage the trading methodology of a certain kind
of investor who moves in and out of a stock without engaging in constructive
dialogue with the company about strategy or performance, and is simply seeking a
short-term financial gain. This effect has been made worse by the changing profile
of investors due to the globalisation of capital and the increasing use of automated
trading systems. Corporate culture adapts and management teams are largely
incentivised to meet financial goals.
F
Compensation for chief executives has become a combat zone where pitched
battles between investors, management and board members are fought, often
behind closed doors but increasingly frequently in the full glare of press attention.
Many would argue that this is in the interest of transparency and good governance
as shareholders use their muscle in the area of pay to pressure boards to remove
underperforming chief executives. Their powers to vote down executive
remuneration policies increased when binding votes came into force. The chair of
the remuneration committee can be an exposed and lonely role, as Alison
Carnwath, chair of Barclays Bank’s remuneration committee, found when she had
to resign, having been roundly criticised for trying to defend the enormous bonus
to be paid to the chief executive; the irony being that she was widely understood to
have spoken out against it in the privacy of the committee.
G
The financial crisis stimulated a debate about the role and purpose of the company
and a heightened awareness of corporate ethics. Trust in the corporation has been
eroded and academics such as Michael Sandel, in his thoughtful and bestselling
book What Money Can’t Buy, are questioning the morality of capitalism and the
market economy. Boards of companies in all sectors will need to widen their
perspective to encompass these issues and this may involve a realignment of
corporate goals. We live in challenging times.

Questions 27-33
Reading Passage 3 has seven paragraphs, A-G
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 27-33 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i Disputes over financial arrangements regarding senior managers
ii The impact on companies of being subjected to close examination
iii The possible need for fundamental change in every area of business
iv Many external bodies being held responsible for problems
v The falling number of board members with broad enough experience
vi A risk that not all directors take part in solving major problems
vii Broads not looking far enough ahead
viii A proposal to change the way the board operates
27 Paragraph A
28 Paragraph B
29 Paragraph C
30 Paragraph D
31 Paragraph E
32 Paragraph F
33 Paragraph G

Questions 34-37
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage
3?
In boxes 34-37 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
34 Close scrutiny of the behaviour of boards has increased since the economic
downturn.
35 Banks have been mismanaged to a greater extent than other businesses.
36 Board meetings normally continue for as long as necessary to debate matters
in full.
37 Using a committee structure would ensure that board members are fully
informed about significant issues.

Questions 38-40
Complete the sentences below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 38-40 on your answer sheet.
38 Before 2008, non-executive directors were at a disadvantage because of their
lack of ………………………..
39 Boards tend to place too much emphasis on ………………………….
considerations that are only of short-term relevance.
40 On certain matters, such as pay, the board may have to accept the views of
………………………..
What destroyed the civilisation of Easter Island?
A
Easter Island, or Rapu Nui as it is known locally, is home to several hundred
ancient human statues – the moai. After this remote Pacific island was settled by
the Polynesians, it remained isolated for centuries. All the energy and resources
that went into the moai – some of which are ten metres tall and weigh over 7,000
kilos – came from the island itself. Yet when Dutch explorers landed in 1722, they
met a Stone Age culture. The moai were carved with stone tools, then transported
for many kilometres, without the use of animals or wheels, to massive stone
platforms. The identity of the moai builders was in doubt until well into the
twentieth century. Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian ethnographer and adventurer,
thought the statues had been created by pre-Inca peoples from Peru. Bestselling
Swiss author Erich von Daniken believed they were built by stranded
extraterrestrials. Modern science – linguistic, archaeological and genetic evidence
– has definitively proved the moai builders were Polynesians, but not how they
moved their creations. Local folklore maintains that the statues walked, while
researchers have tended to assume the ancestors dragged the statues somehow,
using ropes and logs.
B
When the Europeans arrived, Rapa Nui was grassland, with only a few scrawny
trees. In the 1970s and 1980s, though, researchers found pollen preserved in lake
sediments, which proved the island had been covered in lush palm forests for
thousands of years. Only after the Polynesians arrived did those forests disappear.
US scientist Jared Diamond believes that the Rapanui people – descendants of
Polynesian settlers – wrecked their own environment. They had unfortunately
settled on an extremely fragile island – dry, cool, and too remote to be properly
fertilised by windblown volcanic ash. When the islanders cleared the forests for
firewood and farming, the forests didn’t grow back. As trees became scarce and
they could no longer construct wooden canoes for fishing, they ate birds. Soil
erosion decreased their crop yields. Before Europeans arrived, the Rapanui had
descended into civil war and cannibalism, he maintains. The collapse of their
isolated civilisation, Diamond writes, is a ’worst-case scenario for what may lie
ahead of us in our own future’.
C
The moai, he thinks, accelerated the self-destruction. Diamond interprets them as
power displays by rival chieftains who, trapped on a remote little island, lacked
other ways of asserting their dominance. They competed by building ever bigger
figures. Diamond thinks they laid the moai on wooden sledges, hauled over log
rails, but that required both a lot of wood and a lot of people. To feed the people,
even more land had to be cleared. When the wood was gone and civil war began,
the islanders began toppling the moai. By the nineteenth century none were
standing.
D
Archaeologists Terry Hunt of the University of Hawaii and Carl Lipo of California
State University agree that Easter Island lost its lush forests and that it was an
‘ecological catastrophe’ – but they believe the islanders themselves weren’t to
blame. And the moai certainly weren’t. Archaeological excavations indicate that
the Rapanui went to heroic efforts to protect the resources of their wind-lashed,
infertile fields. They built thousands of circular stone windbreaks and gardened
inside them, and used broken volcanic rocks to keep the soil moist. In short, Hunt
and Lipo argue, the prehistoric Rapanui were pioneers of sustainable farming.
E
Hunt and Lipo contend that moai-building was an activity that helped keep the
peace between islanders. They also believe that moving the moai required few
people and no wood, because they were walked upright. On that issue, Hunt and
Lipo say, archaeological evidence backs up Rapanui folklore. Recent experiments
indicate that as few as 18 people could, with three strong ropes and a bit of
practice, easily manoeuvre a 1,000 kg moai replica a few hundred metres. The
figures’ fat bellies tilted them forward, and a D-shaped base allowed handlers to
roll and rock them side to side.
F
Moreover, Hunt and Lipo are convinced that the settlers were not wholly
responsible for the loss of the island’s trees. Archaeological finds of nuts from the
extinct Easter Island palm show tiny grooves, made by the teeth of Polynesian rats.
The rats arrived along with the settlers, and in just a few years, Hunt and Lipo
calculate, they would have overrun the island. They would have prevented the
reseeding of the slow-growing palm trees and thereby doomed Rapa Nui’s forest,
even without the settlers’ campaign of deforestation. No doubt the rats ate birds’
eggs too. Hunt and Lipo also see no evidence that Rapanui civilisation collapsed
when the palm forest did. They think its population grew rapidly and then
remained more or less stable until the arrival of the Europeans, who introduced
deadly diseases to which islanders had no immunity. Then in the nineteenth
century slave traders decimated the population, which shrivelled to 111 people by
1877.
G
Hunt and Lipo’s vision, therefore, is one of an island populated by peaceful and
ingenious moai builders and careful stewards of the land, rather than by reckless
destroyers ruining their own environment and society. ‘Rather than a case of abject
failure, Rapu Nui is an unlikely story of success’, they claim. Whichever is the
case, there are surely some valuable lessons which the world at large can learn
from the story of Rapa Nui.
Questions 14-20
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-ix, in boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i Evidence of innovative environment management practices
ii An undisputed answer to a question about the moai
iii The future of the moai statues
iv A theory which supports a local belief
v The future of Easter Island
vi Two opposing views about the Rapanui people
vii Destruction outside the inhabitants’ control
viii How the statues made a situation worse
ix Diminishing food resources
14 Paragraph A
15 Paragraph B
16 Paragraph C
17 Paragraph D
18 Paragraph E
19 Paragraph F
20 Paragraph G
Questions 21-24
Complete the summary below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 21-24 on your answer sheet.
Jared Diamond’s View
Diamond believes that the Polynesian settlers on Rapa Nui destroyed its forests,
cutting down its trees for fuel and clearing land for 21……………. Twentieth-
century discoveries of pollen prove that Rapu Nui had once been covered in palm
forests, which had turned into grassland by the time the Europeans arrived on the
island. When the islanders were no longer able to build the 22…………… they
needed to go fishing, they began using the island’s 23…………….. as a food
source, according to Diamond. Diamond also claims that the moai were built to
show the power of the island’s chieftains, and that the methods of transporting the
statues needed not only a great number of people, but also a great deal
of 24……………….
Questions 25 and 26
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 25 and 26 on your answer sheet.
On what points do Hunt and Lipo disagree with Diamond?
A the period when the moai were created
B how the moai were transported
C the impact of the moai on Rapanui society
D how the moai were carved
E the origins of the people who made the moai
The MAGIC of KEFIR
A
The shepherds of the North Caucasus region of Europe were only trying to
transport milk the best way they knew how – in leather pouches strapped to the
side of donkeys – when they made a significant discovery. A fermentation process
would sometimes inadvertently occur en route, and when the pouches were opened
upon arrival they would no longer contain milk but rather a pungent, effervescent,
low alcoholic substance instead. This unexpected development was a blessing in
disguise. The new drink – which acquired the name kefir – turned out to be a health
tonic, a naturally-preserved dairy product and tasty addition to our culinary
repertoire.
B
Although their exact origin remains a mystery, we do know that yeast-
based kefir grains have always been at the root of the kefir phenomenon. These
grains are capable of a remarkable feat: in contradistinction to most other items
you might find in a grocery store, they actually expand and propagate with use.
This is because the grains, which are granular to the touch and bear a slight
resemblance to cauliflower rosettes, house active cultures that feed on lactose
when added to milk. Consequently, a bigger problem for most kefir drinkers is not
where to source new kefir grains, but what to do with the ones they already have!
C
The great thing about kefir is that it does not require a manufacturing line in order
to be produced. Grains can be simply thrown in with a batch of milk for ripening to
begin. The mixture then requires a cool, dark place to live and grow, with periodic
unsettling to prevent clumping (Caucasus inhabitants began storing the concoction
in animal-skin satchels on the back of doors – every time someone entered the
room the mixture would get lightly shaken). After about 24 hours the yeast cultures
in the grains have multiplied and devoured most of the milk sugars, and the final
product is then ready for human consumption.
D
Nothing compares to a person’s first encounter with kefir. The smooth, uniform
consistency rolls over the tongue in a manner akin to liquefied yogurt. The sharp,
tart pungency of unsweetened yogurt is there too, but there is also a slight hint of
effervescence, something most users will have previously associated only with
mineral waters, soda or beer. Kefir also comes with a subtle aroma of yeast, and
depending on the type of milk and ripening conditions, ethanol content can reach
up to two or three percent – about on par with a decent lager – although you can
expect around 0.8 to one per cent for a typical day-old preparation. This can bring
out a tiny edge of alcohol in the kefir’s flavour.
E
Although it has prevailed largely as a fermented milk drink, over the
years kefir has acquired a number of other uses. Many bakers use it instead of
starter yeast in the preparation of sourdough, and the tangy flavour also
makes kefir an ideal buttermilk substitute in pancakes. Kefir also accompanies sour
cream as one of the main ingredients in cold beetroot soup and can be used in lieu
of regular cow’s milk on granola or cereal. As a way to keep their digestive
systems fine-tuned, athletes sometimes combine kefir with yoghurt in protein
shakes.
F
Associated for centuries with pictures of Slavic babushkas clutching a shawl in one
hand and a cup of kefir in the other, the unassuming beverage has become a minor
celebrity of the nascent health food movement in the contemporary West. Every
day, more studies pour out supporting the benefits of a diet high in probiotics1.
This trend toward consuming probiotics has engulfed the leisure classes in these
countries to the point that it is poised to become, according to some commentators,
“the next multivitamin”. These days the word kefir is consequently more likely to
bring to mind glamorous, yoga mat-toting women from Los Angeles than austere
visions of blustery Eastern Europe.
G
Kefir’s rise in popularity has encouraged producers to take short cuts or alter the
production process. Some home users have omitted the ripening and culturation
process while commercial dealers often add thickeners, stabilisers and sweeteners.
But the beauty of kefir is that, at its healthiest and tastiest, it is a remarkably
affordable, uncluttered process, as any accidental invention is bound to be. All that
is necessary are some grains, milk and a little bit of patience. A return to the
unadulterated kefir-making of old is in everyone’s interest.
——————
1
Probiotic = substance containing beneficial and intestine-friendly microorganisms

Questions 1-7
Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs, A–G.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i–x, in boxes 1–7 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i A unique sensory experience
ii Getting back to basics
iii The gift that keeps on giving
iv Variations in alcohol content
v Old methods of transportation
vi Culinary applications
vii Making kefir
viii A fortunate accident
ix Kefir gets an image makeover
x Ways to improve taste
1 Section A
2 Section B
3 Section C
4 Section D
5 Section E
6 Section F
7 Section G
Questions 8–11
Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the
passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 8–11 on your answer sheet.
8 What do kefir grains look like?
9 What needs to happen to kefir while it is ripening?
10 What will the yeast cultures have consumed before kefir is ready to drink?
11 The texture of kefir in the mouth is similar to what?
Questions 12 and 13
Choose TWO letters, A–E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 12 and 13 on your answer sheet.
Which TWO products are NOT mentioned as things which kefir can replace?
A Ordinary cow’s milk
B Buttermilk
C Sour cream
D Starter yeast
E Yoghurt
Television and Sport
when the medium becomes the stadium
A
The relationship between television and sports is not widely thought of as
problematic. For many people, television is a simple medium through which sports
can be played, replayed, slowed down, and of course conveniently transmitted live
to homes across the planet. What is often overlooked, however, is how television
networks have reshaped the very foundations of an industry that they claim only to
document. Major television stations immediately seized the revenue-generating
prospects of televising sports and this has changed everything, from how they are
played to who has a chance to watch them.
B
Before television, for example, live matches could only be viewed in person. For
the majority of fans, who were unable to afford tickets to the top-flight matches, or
to travel the long distances required to see them, the only option was to attend a
local game instead, where the stakes were much lower. As a result, thriving social
networks and sporting communities formed around the efforts of teams in the third
and fourth divisions and below. With the advent of live TV, however, premier
matches suddenly became affordable and accessible to hundreds of millions of new
viewers. This shift in viewing patterns vacuumed out the support base of local
clubs, many of which ultimately folded.
C
For those on the more prosperous side of this shift in viewing behaviour, however,
the financial rewards are substantial. Television assisted in derailing long-held
concerns in many sports about whether athletes should remain amateurs or ‘go
pro’, and replaced this system with a new paradigm where nearly all athletes are
free to pursue stardom and to make money from their sporting prowess. For the last
few decades, top-level sports men and women have signed lucrative endorsement
deals and sponsorship contracts, turning many into multi-millionaires and also
allowing them to focus full-time on what really drives them. That they can do all
this without harming their prospects at the Olympic Games and other major
competitions is a significant benefit for these athletes.
D
The effects of television extend further, however, and in many instances have led
to changes in sporting codes themselves. Prior to televised coverage of the Winter
Olympics, for example, figure skating involved a component in which skaters drew
‘figures’ in the ice, which were later evaluated for the precision of their shapes.
This component translated poorly to the small screen, as viewers found the whole
procedure, including the judging of minute scratches on ice, to be monotonous and
dull. Ultimately, figures were scrapped in favour of a short programme featuring
more telegenic twists and jumps. Other sports are awash with similar regulatory
shifts – passing the ball back to the goalkeeper was banned in football after
gameplay at the 1990 World Cup was deemed overly defensive by television
viewers.
E
In addition to insinuating changes into sporting regulation, television also tends to
favour some individual sports over others. Some events, such as the Tour de
France, appear to benefit: on television it can be viewed in its entirety, whereas on-
site enthusiasts will only witness a tiny part of the spectacle. Wrestling, perhaps
due to an image problem that repelled younger (and highly prized) television
viewers, was scheduled for removal from the 2020 Olympic Games despite being a
founding sport and a fixture of the Olympics since 708 BC. Only after a fervent
outcry from supporters was that decision overturned.
F
Another change in the sporting landscape that television has triggered is the
framing of sports not merely in terms of the level of skill and athleticism involved,
but as personal narratives of triumph, shame and redemption on the part of
individual competitors. This is made easier and more convincing through the
power of close-up camera shots, profiles and commentary shown during extended
build-ups to live events. It also attracts television audiences – particularly women –
who may be less interested in the intricacies of the sport than they are in broader
‘human interest’ stories. As a result, many viewers are now more familiar with the
private agonies of famous athletes than with their record scores or matchday
tactics.
G
And what about the effects of male television viewership? Certainly, men have
always been willing to watch male athletes at the top of their game, but female
athletes participating in the same sports have typically attracted far less interest
and, as a result, have suffered greatly reduced exposure on television. Those sports
where women can draw the crowds – beach volleyball, for example – are often
those where female participants are encouraged to dress and behave in ways
oriented specifically toward a male demographic.
H
Does all this suggest the influence of television on sports has been overwhelmingly
negative? The answer will almost certainly depend on who among the various
stakeholders is asked. For all those who have lost out – lower-league teams,
athletes whose sports lack a certain visual appeal – there are numerous others who
have benefitted enormously from the partnership between television and sports,
and whose livelihoods now depend on it.
Questions 27-33
Reading Passage 3 has eight paragraphs, A–H.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A–H from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i–xi, in boxes 27–33 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i Gender bias in televised sport
ii More money-making opportunities
iii Mixed views on TV’s role in sports
iv Tickets to top matches too expensive
v A common misperception
vi Personal stories become the focus
vii Sports people become stars
viii Rules changed to please viewers
ix Lower-level teams lose out
x Skill levels improve
xi TV appeal influences sports’ success
27 Paragraph B
28 Paragraph C
29 Paragraph D
30 Paragraph E
31 Paragraph F
32 Paragraph G
33 Paragraph H
Questions 34–37
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage
3?
In boxes 34–37 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
34 Television networks were slow to recognise opportunities to make money
from televised sport.
35 The average sports fan travelled a long way to watch matches before live
television broadcasts.
36 Television has reduced the significance of an athlete’s amateur status.
37 The best athletes are now more interested in financial success rather than
sporting achievement.
Questions 38–40
Complete the notes below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 38–40 on your answer sheet.
Effect of television on individual sports
 Ice skating – viewers find ‘figures’ boring so they are replaced with
a 38………………..
 Back-passing banned in football.
 Tour de France great for TV, but wrestling initially dropped from Olympic
Games due to 39………………..
 Beach volleyball aimed at 40………………..

Sending money home

the economics of migrant remittances
A
Every year millions of migrants travel vast distances using borrowed money for
their airfares and taking little or no cash with them. They seek a decent job to
support themselves with money left over that they can send home to their families
in developing countries. These remittances exceeded $400 billion last year. It is
true that the actual rate per person is only about $200 per month but it all adds up
to about triple the amount officially spent on development aid.
B
In some of the poorer, unstable or conflict-torn countries, these sums of money are
a lifeline – the only salvation for those left behind. The decision to send money
home is often inspired by altruism – an unselfish desire to help others. Then again,
the cash might simply be an exchange for earlier services rendered by the
recipients or it could be intended for investment by the recipients. Often it will be
repayment of a loan used to finance the migrant’s travel and resettlement.
C
At the first sign of trouble, political or financial upheaval, these personal sources of
support do not suddenly dry up like official investment monies. Actually, they
increase in order to ease the hardship and suffering of the migrants’ families and,
unlike development aid, which is channelled through government or other official
agencies, remittances go straight to those in need. Thus, they serve an insurance
role, responding in a countercyclical way to political and economic crises.
D
This flow of migrant money has a huge economic and social impact on the
receiving countries. It provides cash for food, housing and necessities. It funds
education and healthcare and contributes towards the upkeep of the elderly. Extra
money is sent for special events such as weddings, funerals or urgent medical
procedures and other emergencies. Occasionally it becomes the capital for starting
up a small enterprise.
E
Unfortunately, recipients hardly ever receive the full value of the money sent back
home because of exorbitant transfer fees. Many money transfer companies and
banks operate on a fixed fee, which is unduly harsh for those sending small sums at
a time. Others charge a percentage, which varies from around 8% to 20% or more
dependent on the recipient country. There are some countries where there is a low
fixed charge per transaction; however, these cheaper fees are not applied
internationally because of widespread concern over money laundering. Whether
this is a genuine fear or just an excuse is hard to say. If the recipients live in a
small village somewhere, usually the only option is to obtain their money through
the local post office. Regrettably, many governments allow post offices to have an
exclusive affiliation with one particular money transfer operator so there is no
alternative but to pay the extortionate charge.
F
The sums of money being discussed here might seem negligible on an individual
basis but they are substantial in totality. If the transfer cost could be reduced to no
more than one per cent, that would release another $30 billion dollars annually –
approximately the total aid budget of the USA, the largest donor worldwide –
directly into the hands of the world’s poorest. If this is not practicable,
governments could at least acknowledge that small remittances do not come from
organised crime networks, and ease regulations accordingly. They should put an
end to restrictive alliances between post offices and money transfer operators or at
least open up the system to competition. Alternately, a non-government
humanitarian organisation, which would have the expertise to navigate the
elaborate red tape, could set up a non-profit remittance platform for migrants to
send money home for little or no cost.
G
Whilst contemplating the best system for transmission of migrant earnings to the
home country, one should consider the fact that migrants often manage to save
reasonable amounts of money in their adopted country. More often than not, that
money is in the form of bank deposits earning a tiny percentage of interest, none at
all or even a negative rate of interest.
H
If a developing country or a large charitable society could sell bonds with a
guaranteed return of three or four per cent on the premise that the invested money
would be used to build infrastructure in that country, there would be a twofold
benefit. Migrants would make a financial gain and see their savings put to work in
the development of their country of origin. The ideal point of sale for these bonds
would be the channel used for money transfers so that, when migrants show up to
make their monthly remittance, they could buy bonds as well. Advancing the idea
one step further, why not make this transmission hub the conduit for affluent
migrants to donate to worthy causes in their homeland so they may share their
prosperity with their compatriots on a larger scale?

Questions 1-7
Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs, A–G.
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B–H from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i–x, in boxes 1–7 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i Stability of remittances in difficult times
ii Effect of cutback in transaction fees
iii Targeted investments and contributions
iv Remittances for business investment
v How to lower transmission fees
vi Motivations behind remittances
vii Losses incurred during transmission
viii Remittances worth more than official aid
ix How recipients utilise remittances
x Frequency and size of remittances
xi Poor returns on migrant savings
Example:
Paragraph G xi
1 Paragraph A
2 Paragraph B
3 Paragraph C
4 Paragraph D
5 Paragraph E
6 Paragraph F
7 Paragraph H
Questions 8–13
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 8–13 on your answer sheet.
Countries are unwilling to enforce lower transaction fees as they are worried
about 8……………….., and villagers lose out when post offices have a special
relationship with one particular money transfer agency.
Each remittance might be small but the total cost of remittance fees is huge.
Governments should 9……………….. on small amounts and end the current post
office system or make it more competitive. Another idea would be for a large non-
profit association, capable of handling complicated 10……………….. to take
charge of migrant remittances.
Migrants who send money home are able to save money, too, but it receives little
or no interest from 11………………… If a country or organisation sold bonds that
earned a reasonable rate of interest for the investor, that money could fund the
development of homeland 12………………… The bonds could be sold at the
remittance centre, which could also take donations from 13..……………….. to
fund charitable projects in their home country.

Cathy Freeman – Australian’s track queen

A
Runner Cathy Freeman is the first Aborigine, the name given to indigenous
Australians, ever to compete in the Olympics, and the first to wave the Aboriginal
flag at a sporting event. Freeman lit the Olympic flame at the 2000 Olympics in
Sydney, and won a gold medal in the 400 meters at those Games.
B
Freeman’s grandmother was part of the “stolen generation” of Aboriginal people in
Australia—from the early 20th century until the 1970s; many Aboriginal children
were taken from their parents to be raised in state-run institutions. This practice
was intended to remove the children from the poverty, disease, and addiction that
plagued many aboriginal people, but it also resulted in tragically broken family ties
and loss of ancient cultural traditions. Although Freeman was not taken from her
family, she had a difficult childhood. Both her younger sister and her father died
when she was young.
C
When Freeman was still a girl; her talent in running was obvious. Her mother,
Cecilia, encouraged her to pursue her interest in athletics, and when she was ten,
her stepfather told her she could win a gold medal at the Olympics if she trained
properly. However, although she had the talent, she was also a member of a
minority group that historically had not had access to the same resources that other
athletes had. Freeman was one of only a few Aborigines who won a scholarship to
a boarding school where she could learn and train.
D
At the age of 15, she competed at the National School Championships, and did
well enough to be encouraged to try out for the 1990 Commonwealth Games team.
She made the team as a sprinter, and was a member of the 4 X 100-meter relay
team, which won gold at the Commonwealth Games. In 1990, she competed in the
Australian National Championships, winning the 200 meters, and then ran in the
100, 200, and 4 X 100-meter races at the World Junior Games. During this time,
she met Nick Bideau, an Australian track official who would later become her
coach, manager, and boyfriend.
E
In 1992, she competed in the 400-meter relay at the Barcelona Olympics, making it
to the second qualifying round. She was also a member of the 4 X 100 meter team,
which ran in the final but did not win a medal. At the World Junior Championships
in 1992, she won a silver medal in the 200 meters. In 1993, she made it to the
semifinals in the 200 meters in the World Championships.
F
In 1994, Freeman won the 200 meters and the 400 meters at the Commonwealth
Games in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. After winning the 400 meters,
Freeman ran her victory lap, carrying not the Australian national flag, but the red,
black, and yellow Aboriginal flag. She was criticised in the press, and Australian
team leader Arthur Tunstall told her she should not display the flag again. Freeman
used the publicity she got to publicly discuss what the flag meant to Aboriginal
people, explaining its symbolism: red for earth, yellow for sun, and black for skin.
Defying Tunstall’s orders, she ran with the flag again after winning the 200 meters.
G
At the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta, Freeman won a silver medal in the 400
meters. After those Games, she broke off her romantic relationship with Bideau,
although he continued as her manager. Freeman won the World Championships in
the 400 meters in 1997 and 1998, even though she suffered a heel injury in 1998.
H
In 1999, Freeman met Alexander Bodecker, an American executive for the Nike
shoe company, and the two fell in love. As a result, her relationship with Bideau
became strained, and she eventually fired him. Freeman and Bodecker were
married on September 19, 1999, in San Francisco. Bideau subsequently claimed
that she owed him over $2 million in assets from deals he negotiated while he
represented her, leading to a long court battle.
I
Freeman was, of course, Australia’s favourite to win a gold medal in the 400
meters at the 2000 Olympics, held in Sydney. Like any athlete, Freeman wanted to
win in order to meet her own goals, but she also knew that she was viewed as a
representative of the Aboriginal people, and she wanted to win for them. “I could
feel the crowd all over me,” she told Mark Shimabukuro in the Sporting News. “I
felt the emotion being absorbed into every part of my body.” When she won, with
a time of 49.11 seconds, she was so relieved that she dropped to her knees on the
track after completing the race.
J
Freeman’s shoes were yellow, black, and red, traditional Aboriginal colours, but
after she won, she took them off and ran her victory lap, in traditional Aboriginal
style, carrying both the Australian and Aboriginal flags around the track as the
crowd cheered. This time, instead of being criticised for carrying the Aboriginal
flag around the track; she was widely celebrated by the Australian media and
public.

Questions 1-9
The text has ten paragraphs labelled A–J.
Choose the correct heading for sections B–J from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i–xii, in boxes 1-9 on your answer sheet.
The first one is done for you as an example below.
Paragraph Headings
i An Australian sporting icon
ii A new love
iii Early competition
iv Winning isn’t everything
v Family support for running
vi Her first Olympics
vii Adored by her nation
viii Aboriginal identity on the track
ix Winning the top medal at home
x Second on the big stage
xi A difficult childhood
xii Losing in Sydney
e.g Paragraph 1 ___i___
1 Paragraph 2
2 Paragraph 3
3 Paragraph 4
4 Paragraph 5
5 Paragraph 6
6 Paragraph 7
7 Paragraph 8
8 Paragraph 9
9 Paragraph 10
Questions 10–14
Complete the notes below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 10-14 on your answer sheet.
How Cathy Freeman became a sports star
 Although she had a hard upbringing she got support from her mother
and 10………………..
 She won a 11……………… at a young age to train and study which helped
her develop as an athlete.
 Her first international success was in 1990 at the 12……………….. as part
of the Australian sprint team.
 At her second Olympics in 1996 she won a silver medal for coming second
in the 13…………………….
• In 2000, she finally won a 14………………….. at the Sydney Olympics making
here one of the most loved sports star in Australia.
READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28-40 which are based on
Reading Passage 3 below.
A
When you get tired of typical sight-seeing, when you have had enough of
monuments, statues, and cathedrals, then think outside the box. Read the four
paragraphs below about the innovative types of tourism emerging around the globe
and discover ways to spice up your itinerary.
B
One could eat your way through your travels if one wished. A comparatively new
kind of tourism is gaining popularity across the world. In this, food and beverages
are the main factors that motivate a person to travel to a particular destination.
Combining food, drink and culture, this type of travel provides for an authentic
experience, the food and restaurants reflecting the local and unique flavors of a
particular region or country. Studies conducted into this travel phenomenon have
shown that food plays, consciously or unconsciously, an important part in the
vacations of a good number of travelers. Those trying this are looking for a more
participatory style of holiday experience. Analysts have noticed a shift from
‘passive observation’ to ‘interaction and involvement’ in tourists, whereby the
visitor comes into close contact with locals and their way of life rather than
remaining a mere spectator.
C
This is a novel approach to tourism in which visitors do not visit the ordinary
tourist attractions in traditional fashion. Rather, they let their whims be their
guides! Destinations are chosen not on their standard touristic merit but on the
basis of an idea or concept often involving elements of humor, serendipity, and
chance. One example is known as Monopoly-travel. Participants armed with the
local version of a Monopoly game board explore a city at the whim of a dice roll,
shuttling between elegant shopping areas and the local water plant – with the
occasional visit to jail.
Another example is Counter-travel, which requires you to take snapshots with your
back turned to landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben. Joël Henry, the French
founder of Latourex, has developed dozens of ideas since coming up with the
concept in 1990. The traveler must increase his or her receptiveness, in this way,
no trip is ever planned or predictable. Henry’s most unusual invention is known as
“Erotravel”, where a couple heads to the same town but travels there separately.
The challenge is to find one another abroad. He and his wife have engaged in the
pursuit in five cities and have managed to meet up every time.
D
This involves any crop-based or animal based operation or activity that brings
visitors to a farm or ranch. It has recently become widespread in America, and
participants can choose from a wide range of activities that include picking fruits
and vegetables, riding horses, tasting honey, learning about wine and cheese
making, or shopping in farm gift shops for local and regional products or
handicrafts. For rural economies struggling to stay afloat in this age of industrial
farming, it has become an important and marketable opportunity for improving the
incomes and potential economic viability of small farms and rural communities. In
western North Carolina, the organization ‘HandMade in America’ is using this
method to develop their local economy and craft trades, and to educate visitors
about farming practices. On their website, it is described as a niche market. As
people are becoming more interested in the ecological importance of local food
production, related projects reinforce the need to support local growers and allow
visitors to experience the relationship between food and our natural environment.
E
This is the trend of traveling to destinations that are first seen in movies, for
instance, touring London in a high-speed boat like James Bond or visiting the
stately homes that are seen in Jane Austin films. The term was first coined in the
US press in the New York Post by journalist Gretchen Kelly, who wrote a 2007
article entitled “The sexiest film locations from 2007 to visit now.”
Currently, summer blockbuster movies are being used as themed marketing tools
by companies like Expedia and Fandango, who are promoting trips to where the
Steven Spielberg film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was
made. Corporations as well as convention and tourism boards are exploiting the
trend, creating their own location based travel maps, like the Elizabeth: The
Golden Age movie map published by VisitBritain, Britain’s official travel and
tourism guide. Other travel itineraries have been created by tourism boards for
movies including The Da Vinci Code (France), In Bruges (Belgium), and P.S. I
Love You (Ireland). Although a new concept, it’s fast becoming a major factor in
the choices travelers make in an increasingly tight economic climate. If a traveler
has seen a site in a major motion picture, its media exposure makes it a compelling
choice for a family vacation or honeymoon.

Questions 28-31
Reading Passage 3 has five sections, A–E.
Choose the correct heading for sections B–E from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i–viii, in boxes 28–31 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i Experimental Tourism
ii Cuisine Tourism
iii Adventure Tourism
iv Fashion Tourism
v Photographic Travels
vi Set-jetting.
vii Agritourism.
viii Introduction
ix Capital Cities
Example:
Section A viii
28 Section B
29 Section C
30 Section D
31 Section E
Questions 32–35
Look at the following statements (Questions 32–35).
Read passage 3 and complete the sentences using one word only from the text.
Write the answers for questions 32-35 on your answer sheet.
Putting together and enjoying culinary delights ensures the trip is more 32……..
……………
Moving quickly between more mundane public service facilities and malls that are
more 33…………………….
Film sets for hugely popular blockbuster movies are attracting couples to go there
for their 34…………………….
In the USA, visiting a strawberry picking field or listening to lectures on producing
good wine is becoming increasingly 35…………………….
Questions 36-39
Label as true, false or not given (T / F / NG)
Do the following statements agree with the information given in passage 2?
Write your answers in the boxes for questions 36-39 as:
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
36 Enjoying good foods is the most critical part of any good holiday for the
majority of travellers.
37 Taking photos facing directly opposite from and facing away from a popular
tourist site is a need for Counter-travel.
38 People are gaining appreciation for the need to back those producing local
grown vegetables and other crops.
39 The term for promoting travel related to the film industry was first used in the
British media.
Question 40
Read the text and choose the best match for the underlined phrase in the text, from
the three options, A-C.
For people who are bored of doing the usual activities such as looking at the
common tourist attractions, they need to reconsider things from a different
perspective. This means to think is a way that is ………………….
A unique.
B new.
C creative.
The Life of Sir Isaac Newton
A
Isaac Newton was born on January 4, 1643, in Lincolnshire, England. The son of a
farmer, who died three months before he was born, Newton spent most of his early
years with his maternal grandmother after his mother remarried. Following an
education interrupted by a failed attempt to turn him into a farmer, he attended the
King’s School in Grantham before enrolling at the University of Cambridge’s
Trinity College in 1661, where he soon became fascinated by the works of modern
philosophers such as René Descartes. When the Great Plague shut Cambridge off
from the rest of England in 1665, Newton returned home and began formulating
his theories on calculus, light and color, his farm the setting for the supposed
falling apple that inspired his work on gravity.
B
Newton returned to Cambridge in 1667. He constructed the first reflecting
telescope in 1668, and the following year he received his Master of Arts degree
and took over as Cambridge’s Professor of Mathematics. In 1671 he was asked to
give a demonstration of his telescope to the Royal Society of London in 1671, the
same year he was elected to the prestigious Society. The following year, fascinated
with the study of light, he published his notes on optics for his peers. Through his
experiments, Newton determined that white light was a composite of all the colors
on the spectrum, and he asserted that light was composed of particles instead of
waves. His methods were heavily criticized by established Society member Robert
Hooke, who was also unwilling to compromise again with Newton’s follow-up
paper in 1675. Known for his temperamental defense of his work, Newton engaged
in heated correspondence with Hooke before suffering a nervous breakdown and
withdrawing from the public eye in 1678. In the following years, he returned to his
earlier studies on the forces governing gravity.
C
In 1684, English astronomer Edmund Halley paid a visit to the reclusive Newton.
Upon learning that Newton had mathematically worked out the elliptical paths of
celestial bodies, such as the movement of the planets around the sun, Halley urged
him to organize his notes. The result was the 1687 publication of “Philosophiae
Naturalis Principia Mathematica” (Mathematical Principles of Natural
Philosophy), which established the three laws of motion and the law of universal
gravity. Principia made Newton a star in intellectual circles, eventually earning
him widespread acclaim as one of the most important figures in modern science.
D
As a now influential figure, Newton opposed King James II’s attempts to reinstate
Catholic teachings at English Universities, and was elected to represent Cambridge
in Parliament in 1689. He moved to London permanently after being named
warden of the Royal Mint in 1696, earning a promotion to master of the Mint three
years later. Determined to prove his position wasn’t merely symbolic, Newton
moved the pound sterling from the silver to the gold standard and sought to punish
forgers.
E
The death of Hooke in 1703 allowed Newton to take over as president of the Royal
Society, and the following year he published his second major work, “Opticks.”
Composed largely from his earlier notes on the subject, the book detailed Newton’s
experiments with refraction and the color spectrum, and also contained his
conclusions on such matters as energy and electricity. In 1705, he was knighted by
Queen Anne of England.
F
Around this time, the debate over Newton’s claims to originating the field of
calculus, the mathematical study of change, exploded into a nasty dispute. Newton
had developed his mathematical concept of ‘fluxions’ (differentials) in the mid-
1660s to account for celestial orbits, though there was no public record of his
work. In the meantime, German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz formulated his
own theories and published them in 1684. As president of the Royal Society,
Newton oversaw an investigation that ruled his work to be the founding basis of
the field, but the debate continued even after Leibniz’s death in 1716. Researchers
later concluded that both men likely arrived at their conclusions independent of
one another.
G
Newton was also obsessed with history and religious doctrines, and his writings on
those subjects were collected into multiple books that were published after his
death. Having never married, Newton spent his later years living with his niece at
Cranbury Park, near Winchester, England. He died on March 31, 1727, and was
buried in Westminster Abbey. A giant even among the brilliant minds that drove
the Scientific Revolution, Newton is remembered as an extraordinary scholar,
inventor and writer. His theories about the movement of bodies in the solar system
transformed our understanding of the universe and his precise methodology helped
to give birth to what is known as the scientific method. Although his theories of
space-time and gravity were eventually superseded by those of Einstein his work
remains the foundation stone of modern physics was built.

Questions 1-6
The text has seven paragraphs labelled A–G.
Reading passage 1 has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Choose the correct headings for paragraphs B-G from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i Continued breakthroughs in research
ii Competing claims of originality
iii The early years of Sir Isaac Newton
iv The legacy of an exceptional mind
v Routine life at a 17th century university
vi Heated academic disputes
vii A new venture
viii His crowning achievement
ix A controversial theory about planets
Answer Example
iii Paragraph A
1 Paragraph B
2 Paragraph C
3 Paragraph D
4 Paragraph E
5 Paragraph F
6 Paragraph G
Questions 7-8
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer
Write your answers in boxes 7-8 on your answer sheet.
7 With which scientific organization was Newton associated for much of his
career?
8 With whom did Newton live as he got older?
Questions 9-13
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet.
Sir Isaac Newton’s achievements
 Created first reflecting 9………………….., subsequently made a professor
at Cambridge at the age of 25.
 Helped develop the scientific method with his experiments
in 10……………………, the study of light; showed that it
is 11………………….., not waves, that constitute light.
 Worked out the laws of the movement of bodies in space (planets etc.),
published Principia Mathematica with laws of gravity
and 12……………………..
 Joint founder (with Leibniz) of 13……………………., a new branch of
mathematics.
Texting the Television
A
Once upon a time, if a television show with any self-respect wanted to target a
young audience, it needed to have an e-mail address. However, in Europe’s TV
shows, such addresses are gradually substituted by telephone numbers so that
audiences can text the show from their mobile phones. Therefore, it comes as no
shock that according to Gartner’s research, texting has recently surpassed Internet
usage across Europe. Besides, among the many uses of text messaging, one of the
fastest-growing uses is to interact with television. The statistics provided by
Gartner can display that 20% of French teenagers, 11% in Britain and 9% in
Germany have responded to TV programmes by sending a text message.
B
This phenomenon can be largely attributed to the rapid growth of reality TV shows
such as ‘Big Brother’, where viewers get to decide the result through voting. The
majority of reality shows are now open to text-message voting, and in some shows
like the latest series of Norway’s ‘Big Brother’, most votes are collected in this
manner. But TV-texting isn’t just about voting. News shows encourage viewers to,
comment by texting messages; game shows enable the audience to be part of the
competition; music shows answer requests by taking text messages; and
broadcasters set up on-screen chatrooms. TV audiences tend to sit on the sofa with
their mobile phones right by their sides, and ‘it’s a supernatural way to interact.’
says Adam Daum of Gartner.
C
Mobile service providers charge appreciable rates for messages to certain numbers,
which is why TV-texting can bring in a lot of cash. Take the latest British series of
‘Big Brother’ as an example. It brought about 5.4m text-message votes and £1.35m
($2,1m) of profit. In Germany, MTV’s ‘Videoclash’ encourages the audience to
vote for one of two rival videos, and induces up to 40,000 texts per hour, and each
one of those texts costs €0.30 ($0.29), according to a consultancy based in
Amsterdam. The Belgian quiz show ‘1 Against 100’ had an eight-round texting
match on the side, which brought in 110,000 participants in one month, and each of
them paid €0.50 for each question. In Spain, a cryptic-crossword clue invites the
audience to send their answers through text at the expense of €1, so that they can
be enrolled in the poll to win a €300 prize. Normally, 6,000 viewers would
participate within one day.
At the moment, TV-related text messaging takes up a considerable proportion of
mobile service providers’ data revenues. In July, Mm02 (a British operator)
reported an unexpectedly satisfactory result, which could be attributed to the
massive text waves created by ‘Big Brother’. Providers usually own 40%-50% of
the profits from each text, and the rest is divided among the broadcaster, the
programme producer and the company which supplies the message-processing
technology. So far, revenues generated from text messages have been an
indispensable part of the business model for various shows. Obviously, there has
been grumbling that the providers take too much of the share. Endemol, the
Netherlands-based production firm that is responsible for many reality TV, shows
including ‘Big Brother’, has begun constructing its own database for mobile-phone
users. It plans to set up a direct billing system with the users and bypass the
providers.
D
How come the joining forces of television and text message turn out to be this
successful? One crucial aspect is the emergence of one-of-a-kind four-, five- or
six-digit numbers known as ‘short codes’. Every provider has control over its own
short codes, but not until recently have they come to realise that it would make
much more sense to work together to offer short codes compatible with all
networks. The emergence of this universal short codes was a game-changer,
because short codes are much easier to remember on the screen, according to Lars
Becker of Flytxt, a mobile-marketing company.
E
Operators’ co-operation on enlarging the market is by a larger trend, observes
Katrina Bond of Analysys, a consultancy. When challenged by the dilemma
between holding on tight to their margins and permitting the emergence of a new
medium, no provider has ever chosen the latter WAP, a technology for mobile-
phone users to read cut-down web pages on their screens, failed because of service
providers’ reluctance towards revenue sharing with content providers. Now that
they’ve learnt their lesson, they are altering the way of operating. Orange, a French
operator, has come such a long way as to launch a rate card for sharing revenue of
text messages, a new level of transparency that used to be unimaginable.
F
At a recent conference, Han Weegink of CMG, a company that offers the
television market text-message infrastructure, pointed out that the television
industry is changing in a subtle yet fundamental way. Instead of the traditional
one-way presentation, more and more TV shows are now getting viewers’
reactions involved.
Certainly, engaging the audiences more has always been the promise of interactive
TV. An interactive TV was originally designed to work with exquisite set-top
devices, which could be directly plugged into the TV. However, as Mr Daum
points out, that method was flawed in many ways. Developing and testing software
for multiple and incompatible types of set-top box could be costly, not to mention
that the 40% (or lower) market penetration is below that of mobile phones (around
85%). What’s more, it’s quicker to develop and set up apps for mobile phones.
‘You can approach the market quicker, and you don’t have to go through as many
greedy middlemen,’ Mr Daum says. Providers of set-top box technology are now
adding texting function to the design of their products.
G
The triumph of TV-related texting reminds everyone in the business of how easily
a fancy technology can all of a sudden be replaced by a less complicated, lower-
tech method. That being said, the old-fashioned approach to interactive TV is not
necessarily over; at least it proves that strong demands for interactive services still
exist. It appears that the viewers would sincerely like to do more than simply
staring at the TV screen. After all, couch potatoes would love some thumb
exercises.

Questions 28-32
Reading Passage 3 has seven sections, A-G.
Choose the correct heading for sections B-E and G from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-ix, inboxes 28-32 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i An application of short codes on the TV screen
ii An overview of a fast-growing business
iii The trend that profitable games are gaining more concerns
iv Why Netherlands takes the leading role
v A new perspective towards sharing the business opportunities
vi Factors relevant to the rapid increase in interactive TV
vii The revenue gains and bonus share
viii The possibility of the complex technology replaced by the simpler ones
ix The mind change of set-top box providers
Example Answer
Section A ii
28 Section B
29 Section C
30 Section D
31 Section E
Example Answer
Section F ix
32 Section G

Questions 33-35
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 33-35 on your answer sheet.
33 In Europe, a research hints that young audiences spend more money on
A thumbing text messages.
B writing e-mails.
C watching TV programmes.
D talking through mobile phones.
34 What would happen when reality TV shows invite the audience to vote?
A Viewers would get attractive bonus.
B They would be part of the competition.
C Their questions would be replied.
D Their participation could change the result.
35 Interactive TV will change from concentrating on set-top devices to
A increasing their share in the market.
B setting up a modified set-top box.
C building an embedded message platform.
D marching into the European market.

Questions 36-40
Look at the following descriptions (Questions 36-40) and the list of companies
below.
Match each description with the correct company, A-F.
Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.
List of Companies
A Flytxt
B Analysys
C Endemol
D CMG
E Mm02
F Gartner
36 offered mobile phone message technology
37 earned considerable amount of money through a famous programme
38 expressed the view that short codes are convenient to remember when turning
up
39 built their own mobile phone operating applications
40 indicated that it is easy for people to send message in an interactive TV