Part 1 For questions 1-8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0). In the exam, mark your answers on the separate answer sheet. Example: 0 A hit B knocked C banged OD _ beat Ors [paren Bauer a, The Mysterious Isle In the early morning of 23 January, 2009, the most powerful storm for a decade (0) ........ western France. With wind speeds in (1) ........ of 120 miles per hour, it flattened forests, (2) ........ down power lines and caused massive destruction to buildings and roads. But it also left behind an extraordinary creation. Seven miles out to sea at the (3) ........ where the Atlantic Ocean meets the estuary of the River Gironde, a small island had (4) ........ out of the water. Locals soon gave it the name The Mysterious Isle. What was so remarkable, (5) ........ its sudden apparition, was the fact that the island (6) ........ intact in what is often quite a hostile sea environment. It could well become a permanent (7) ... Scientists quickly realised that the island's appearance (8) ........ a unique ‘opportunity to study the creation and development of a new ecosystem. Within months, it had been colonised by seabirds, insects and vegetation. 4 A_ surplus B advance C excess D put 2 A fetched B_ brought © carried D sent 3 A scene B mark © stage D point 4 A tisen B grown lifted D surfaced 5 A inspiteof B insteadof | © apartfrom D_ onaccount of 6 A prolonged B remained C_resided D persevered 7 A item B issue C matter D feature 8 A delivered B awarded © proposed D offeredPart 2 For questions 9-16, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0). In the exam, write your answers IN CAPITAL LETTERS on the separate answer sheet. Example: [0] [6[R|E[A|T LI Choosing Binoculars For independent travellers, a good pair of binoculars often represents an essential .. deal of bird-watching or other specialist activities, however, there's no need to invest (9) ........ a full-size pair. piece of kit. Unless you're planning to do a (0) Compact binoculars are fine when (10) .... in good light. What's (11) ... comes to general all-purpose viewing ... they are certainly easier to carry round. Everyone has (12) ........ own idea of what makes a comfortable pair of binoculars. ‘When you're considering (13) ........ of the many brands and models on the market you should choose, don’t base your decision on price alone. A better idea (14) ... .. those that fall within to pop down to your local photographic store and (15) . your price range a test run. (16) ... and viewing position comfortable. Finally, make sure the binoculars come with a .. you might like the look of a particular pair, you may not find the handling decent case and a comfortable neck strap. These details can make all the difference when you're out in the field.Part 3 For questions 17-24, read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of the lines to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line. There is an example at the beginning (0). In the exam, write your answers IN CAPITAL LETTERS on the separate answer sheet. Example: |0| |D/A/T/L/Y The Inventor of the Bar Code Although you may never have heard of Joe Woodland, you almost certainly use his invention on a (0) .......... basis. For Joe was the man who came up with the idea of the bar code — that little box containing parallel lines of (17) . width and (18) .......... that you find on the packaging of most products that are offered for sale at retail (19) ..... world wide. Joe Woodland actually invented the bar code way back in 1949, when the manager of a supermarket in Philadelphia asked him to design an electronic (20) .. system which would be both simple and effective. The . information purpose of the bar code is to store (21) .. about the product, which (22) ........ speeds up the process of recording sales and restocking the shelves. The idea was way ahead of its time however, and didn't find any immediate practical (23) . . Itwas the (24) .......... of laser gun technology decades later which allowed Joe's invention to come into everyday use. DAY REGULAR LONG LET CHECK CODED POTENTIAL APPLY ARRIVEPart 4 For questions 25-30, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between three and six words, including the word given. Here is an example (0). Example: 0 Chloe would only eat a pizza if she could have a mushroom topping. ON Chloe .... a mushroom topping when she ate a pizza. The gap can be filled with the'words ‘insisted on having’, so you write: Example: | 0 INSISTED ON HAVING In the exam, write only the missing words IN CAPITAL LETTERS on the separate answer sheet. 25 We were late arriving at the cinema and so missed the start of the film. BY The film had ... . we arrived at the cinema. 26 Simon found the recipe book very hard to follow. DIFFICULTY Simon . in following the recipe book. 27 The ice-skater performed faultlessly and received full marks. GAVE The ice-skater . and received full marks. 28 | was just about to call you to see what time you were coming. POINT i uns YOU to See What time you were coming. 29 Harry was disappointed to hear the news that the match had been cancelled. CAME News of the cancellation of the match to Harry. 30 At this time of year, the area is often affected by violent storms. FEELS At this time of year, the area often .... violent storms.Part5. You are going to read an article about the effects of digital media on people's minds. For questions 31-36, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text. In the exam, mark your answers on the separate answer sheet. In an article in Science, Patricia Greenfield, a developmental psychologist who runs UCLA's Children's Digital Media Center, reviewed dozens of studies on how different media technologies influence our cognitive abilities. Some of the studies indicated that cerain computer task, like paying video games, increase the speed at which people can shift their focus among icons and other images on screens. Other studies, however, found that such rapid shifts in focus, even if performed adepty, result in less rigorous and “more automatic’ thinking. In one experiment at an American university, half a class of students was allowed to use internet-connected laptops during a lecture, while the other half had to keep their computers shut, Those who browsed the web performed much worse on a subsequent test of how wel, they retained the lecture’ content. Earlier experiments revealed that as the number of links in an online document goes up, reading comprehension falls, and as more types of information are placed on a screen, ‘we remember less of what we see. Greenficld concluded that ‘every medium develops some cognitive sills at the expense of others. Our growing use of screen-based media, she sid, has strengthened visual-spatial incelligence, which can strengthen the ability to do jobs tha involve keeping track of lots of rapidly changing signals, ike piloting a plane or monito a patient during surgery: However, thar has been accompanied by ‘new weaknesses in higher-order cognitive processes, including ‘abstract vocabulary, mindfulness, inductive problem-solving, critical thinking and imagination’. We'e becoming, in a word, shallower. Seudies of our behaviour online support this conclusion, German researchers found that web browsers usually spend less than ten seconds looking at a page. Even people doing academic research online tend t0 “bounce rapidly beoween documents, rarely reading more than a page or two, according to a University College London study. Such mental juggling takes a big coll. In a recent experiment at Stanford University, researchers gave various cognitive rests ro 49 people who do a lor cof media multitasking and 52 people who multitask much less frequently. The heavy multicaskers performed poorly on all che ests. They were more easily distracted, had less control over their atention, and were much Is the internet making us stupid? less able to distinguish important information from trivia, The researchers were surprised by the results. They expected the intensive multitaskers to have gained some ‘mental advantages. That wasnt the case, though. In fact, the mulctaskers weren't even good at multitasking, “Everything distracts them, said Clifford Nass, one of the researchers. Ik would be one thing if che ill effects went away as soon as we turned of our computers and mobiles, but they dont. The cellular structure of the human brain, scientists have discovered, adapts readily to the tools we tse to find, store and share information. By changing our habits of mind, each new technology strengthens certain neural pathways and weakens others. The alterations shape the way we think even when we're not using the technology. The pioncering neuroscientist Michael Merzenich believes our brains ae being ‘massively remodelled’ by our ever-intensifying use of the web and related media. In 2009, he said that he was profoundly wworticd about the cognitive consequences ofthe constant distractions and interruptions the internet bombards us with, The long-term effect on the quality of our intellectual lives, he said, could be ‘deadly’. Norcall distractions are bad. As most of us know, if we ‘concentrate too intensively on a tough problem, we can get stuck in a mental rut. However, if we let the problem sit unattended fora time, we often return to it witha fesh perspective and a burst of creativity. Research by Dutch psychologist Ap Dijkstechuis indicates thac such breaks in our attention give our unconscious mind time to grapple with a problem, bringing to bear information and cognitive processes unavailable to conscious deliberation. We usually, ake better decisions, his experiments reveal, if we shift our attention away froma mental challenge fora time. But Dijksterhuis's workalso shows that our unconscious thought processes dontt engage with a problem undil weve dearly and consciously defined what the problem is. If we dont have a particular goal in mind, he writes, ‘unconscious thought does nor occur. The constant distractednessthat the Nec encouragesis very different from the kind of temporary, purposeful diversion of our mind that reffeshes our thinking, What we seem to be sacrificing in our surfing and scarching is our capacity co engage in the quieter, attentive modes of thought that underpin contemplation, reflection and introspection.3 32 33 34 35 36 What do we learn about Patricia Greenfield's research in the first paragraph? A It focused on problems resulting from use of media technologies. It did not produce consistent patterns in connection with computer use. It involved collating the results of work done by other people. It highlighted differences between people when using computers. coon Two of the experiments mentioned in the second paragraph concerned A. the amount of attention people pay to what they see on computers. B_ the connection between computer use and memory. the use and non-use of computers for studying. D_ changes that happen if people's computer use increases. One of Greenfield's conclusions was that certain claims about the advantages of computer use are false. computer use has reduced a large number of mental abilities. people do not care about the effects of computer use on their minds. too much emphasis has been placed on the benefits of computer use. comp One of the pieces of research mentioned in the fourth paragraph indicated that A. some people are better at multitasking than others. B_ ‘mental juggling’ increases the mental abilities of only a few people. C_ beliefs about the effectiveness of multitasking are false. D__ people read online material less carefully than other material. What is the writer's purpose in the fifth paragraph? ‘A to advise on how to avoid the bad effects of new media technology B_ to present opposing views on the consequences of use of new media technology C to warn about the damage done by use of new media technology D_ to. summarise the findings of the previously-mentioned research The writer mentions Ap Dijksterhuis's research in order to make the point that ‘A. not all research supports beliefs about the dangers of computer use. the mind functions in ways that computers cannot problem-solving can involve very complex mental processes. uninterrupted concentration on something is not always @ good thing. oonPart 6 You are going to read four extracts about a new high-rise building. For questions 37-40, choose from the extracts A-D. The extracts may be chosen more than once. The Pinnacle Four writers give their opinions about the city’s newest high-rise building. A Inhabitants of our capital city rarely get excited about modern architecture, only really sitting up and taking notice when new structures reach out above the neighbouring roofline and pierce the horizon. So it is with the Pinnacle — the country’s tallest new office block which is nearing completion. It seems that, in the world of high-rise architecture, no sooner has a dizzying new height been achieved than work starts on the next contender for that particular crown. By all accounts, how. he and scale of the Pinnacle will take some beating, and the same can be s aesthetic impact. Shaped like a tall elegant pyramid, the building seems set to become a mainstay on the itinerary of visitors to the city, who will be unable to resist its photographic opportunities. Located in the unfashionable east of the city, the building will also bring work and development to an area that has long been in need of it. B ‘Though not yer finished, the Pinnacle’ intrusion into our horizon ensures that most citizens are ready to offer opinions about it long before we've had the chance to work in its offices, sleep in its hotel, or visit the viewing gallery ar the top. There is something about rall buildings thar attracts us, as is witnessed by the queues of day trippers eagerly awaiting their chance to ride to the top of the city’s current tallest building on the other side of the river. Some have questioned the Pinnacle’s location in an otherwise undeveloped quarter, dwarfing as it does the cighteenth-century houses below it. But I would disagree. The graceful structure blends in remarkably well with its immediate environment, and local people have benefited from the improved public transport links that have been pur in place as a result of the project. c Wonderfully designed it may be, bur the Pinnacle is hardly a thing of beauty. More important, however, is the wider significance of the project. It’s a fool who argues that a city should nor grow, should be preserved as a historic monument for the benefit of the rourist industry, but to look upon the Pinnacle is to see a monumental reminder that most citizens have no stake in the way their environment is changing. There’s no doubt it stands to regenerate a rather run down part of the city, bur how keen are the local residents on having this monstrous structure spring up literally on their doorstep? The central business district, already the site of other high-rise structures, could surely have accommodated the intrusion more easily. D Despite our fascination with the rather brutal visual impact the new structure has on its surroundings, it is the wider impact of the Pinnacle that may prove to be its greatest legacy. And its a legacy that may endure beyond the building's inevitably short-lived reign as the city's tallest structure. So many people will work in the building that the city’s public transport network has had to be radically rethought in order to accommodate it, a move which will benefit commuters and locals alike for years to come, even if they never go up the tower itself. This is why the decision to build the structure in a forgotten corner of the city, originally perceived as rather unwise, has proved a stroke of genius. There can be little doubr thar visitors to the city will be drawn to the east bank by the building, not only for the experience of riding in its high-speed lifts, but for the fine view of the city’s other skyscrapers that can be gained from the viewing terrace on the roof.Which writer supports the opinion put forward in Extract A about the appearance of the building? expresses the same view as Extract D regarding the probable role of the building as a tourist attraction? disagrees with Extract D about how long the building is likely to hold a particular record? puts forward a different view from others about the choice of site for the building? AAASPart7 You are going to read a magazine article about a training session with a stuntman — someone who performs the dangerous and exciting actions in films. Six paragraphs have been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs A~G the one which fits each gap (41-46). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use. In the exam, mark your answers on the separate answer sheet. “Now sce if you can touch your toes,’ says Steve Truglia. Asa former Army physical taining instructor, he is used to dealing with less chan sharp trainees, But how hard can that be? Fifteen seconds of blind confusion ensue before | finally locate my feet. The truth is I cant reach much past iy knees and the effort of doing even that seems to be rupturing my kidneys. | Learning to be an action hero ‘Alex: Benady has a lesson in fitness from a film stuntman. exhausted. So I design my training regime to reflect that. Ac first, this part of the session consists of standard strength- building exercises: dips — pushing yourself up and down on the arms of a high chair, for triceps and chest; some bench presses, again for chest; lower back exercises; and curls to build up biceps. Then Steve introduces me to the chinning bar, which involves movements for building strengch in your back and arms. These days, Steve is one of Britain's cop stuntmen, You right have seen him in various well-known action movies. Although I have no real desire to enter rooms through the ceiling or drive into walls at high speed like him, I wouldnt mind looking a bit more like an action hero, so Steve is showing me exactly how he stays ‘stunt it, ‘les a very particular, very extreme kind of fitness’ he explains, ‘consisting of stamina, Rexbilty strength and core stability, balance and coordination.” | Right now. we are working on spatial awareness, a subset of coordination which he says is key co being a stuntman. ‘Ids easy to get disorientated when you are upside down, But if you have a high fall and you don't know exactly where your body is, you won't be able ro land safely. If you are lucky, youll just end up with some serious injuries.’ From where T'm hanging, that sounds like a pretty positive outcome. Yet it had all started so well. He usually does this at the end of the session. ‘On set, you can guarantee that if you have a big dangerous stunt, you won't do it until the end of the day, when you are completely es We move on to balance and coordination, starting by walking along three-inch-wide bars. Nor easy, but do-able. “Now turn round,’ says Steve. Not easy and not do-able. | fall off. Now he shows me how to jump on to the bar. ‘Guess what? | can't do that either. Then he points to a two- inch-wide bar at about waist height. gE Now its outside for some elementary falls. He shows me how to slap the ground when you land, to earth your kinetic energy. He throws me over his shoulder and I are gracefully through the air, landing painlessly. Buc when it’s my turn, I dont so much throw him as trip him up and he smashes into the ground at my feet, well short of the crash, mat, Sorry, Steve, x Atleast I'll never suffer from an anatomical anomaly is what happens when your thighs are so massive, the other parts of your anatomy look rather small by comparison.‘A ‘We'll just warm up first’ says Steve as. E Much to my surprise, I can actually do a we enter the Muscleworks Gym in East London. Five minutes on the recumbent cycle and I'm thinking eis stunt lark is a piece of cake. Then we start some strength work, vital for hanging off helicopters, leaping off walls, exc. B_ Its clear that 1 have some work to do before I am ready to amaze the world with my dripping physique and daredevil stunts. But I have taken one comforting piece of knowledge from my experience. © Instead, we work on what he calls our ‘cores. ‘All powerful movements originate from the centre of the body out, and never from the limbs alone,’ he sa : welll be building up the deep stabi finscks In oor tala, the pur of the body from the waist to the neck. D_ He reckons anyone can get there with a couple of gym sessions and a couple of runs a week, ‘The key is variety: do as many different types of exercise as possible. Even 20 minutes a day will do.’ few. Then he says innocently: ‘Just raise your legs so they are at 90 degrees 10 your body.’ Pain, pain, pain, ‘Now open and close your legs in a scissor motion.” I manage to do that once. You may think that this sounds a bit feeble, But I was dangling upside down at the time, suspended from a bar by a pair of gravity boots. With feet firmly together, he leaps on, balances himself, leaps off, on, off. For good measure he circuits the gym, leaping from one to another, using his thighs to generate the power to leap and the power to stop himself from falling when he lands. Despite his heavy build, he has the feet ofa ballerina.Part You are going to read a magazine article about jobs in Britain that used to be common but are uncommon now. For questions 47-56, choose from the sections of the article (A—D). The sections may be chosen more than once. In the exam, mark your answers on the separate answer sheet. In connection with which of the jobs are the following mentioned? how hard it can be to find someone who does this job aT a significant event involving people doing this job the kind of people who need this kind of expertise a comment on how little interest there is now in this kind of work z improvements that were made for people doing this job ist] a prediction that proved to be accurate EL the kind of people still doing this job [53 | a positive result of not many people doing this job anymore z something that people doing the job now find surprising [35] the reason why this job is no longer common in Britain but exists elsewhere | 56 |EWS nos couple of years into his career, Wayne Tanswell told his father he was in a dying trade. Having left school in 1980, to train in sign-painting, he then watched as high streets moved to plastic shop-front lettering. ‘But my dad said: “Wait and stick at it; these things will come back. The more technology comes into it, the more you'll be seen as a specialist.” He had a lot of foresight.” Technology has helped Tanswell. Now that his trade has become such a rare one, he is summoned far from his home, with work ranging from period numerals by the doors of London houses to shop fronts in villages with strict planning restrictions. ‘Sam Roberts curates an online archive, blog and burgeoning maps of hand-painted wall ads. These signs, painted onto brickwork, once kept sign- painters in demand. Their work remains, faded but unmistakable, in many cities. ‘Mention them to people and they'll look quizzical,’ Roberts says, “ut next time they see you, they'll have started to spot them.” EEN ‘Though a few thousand new electric models are stil sold in Britain each year, the typewriter is not what it once was. Search online for a once-indispensable brand of correction fluid and the first page of hits will be for something completely different. Search your high street for a typewriter repairman and your chances of a result at all are ribbon-thin. There are still a handful of typewriter repair businesses operating in Britain, mostly on the South Coast. They not only serve septuagenarian retirees and technophobes (and diehard novelists who shun PCs), but are also approached by people weaned on digital keyboards who see typewriters as relics of a distant past. In 1986, George Blackman set up an equipment and typewriter repair shop. He trained on the old manual machines and Blackman's employees stil find themselves working on those beautiful, formidably heavy old machines. ‘it amazes us the price the old manual machines sell for on the internet,’ one explains, and their new buyers want them spruced up when they've splashed out. They get the old machines gleaming and operational by raiding the vast collection of spare parts they've accumulated ‘over the years (and you can't buy them any more). | THE WAY WE WORKED Britain’ disappearing jobs, and the people keeping them alive. EE ‘There's a light that never goes out, even if it burns less brightly than it once did. Female match-makers have long been a celebrated part of British labour history. In 1888, thousands of matchgirls at the Bryant and May factory in London famously went on strike to protest over conditions. Over subsequent decades, the long hours, tiny pay packets and exposure to toxic chemicals were addressed before the industry largely relocated its production to other countries where labour was cheaper. ‘Today, there are still female match-makers in Brite in Bristol, at the country's last match factory, Octavius Hunt. The company long ago diversified into other products but still makes matches. Its commercial director, Kerry Healey, says that the majority of staff are still female. ‘Matches are a small part of our business, but an important one. Depending on the size of orders, we have between ‘two and 12 people working in the department, of which two are men — so it's still mainly femal Since the first pieces of Oriental lacquer work arrived on the Continent in the seventeenth century, European craftsmen have attempted to replicate the incredible effects of this time-consuming process. But by the 1920s, chemical shortcuts had been developed to replace the Japanese approach of applying, sanding and polishing numerous layers of paint. Today, there are only a handful of traditional lacquerers. Pedro da Costa Felgueiras, who runs the London Lacquer Studios, has been the capital's go-to guy for authentic lacquer work and period pigments for over a decade. In a world where even ‘most paints are just plastic and dye’, he's called in to provide historically accurate colours for walls and furniture from the Seventeenth to the Nineteenth century and to lacquer new things the old way, with 30 or 40 coats of paint, each being left to dry and then being polished before the next. ‘| remember a friend once telling me to be careful with my recipes ‘as someone might steal and use them,’ he recalls. “My answer was: even if | show them how to do it, no one wants to. irl