Test 1: Reading

READING

READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 mi utes on Questions 1-14, which are based o Reading Passage belo .

Questions 1-5
Reading Passage has six paragraphs, A-F

Choose the correct headi g for paragraphs 8 from the list of headi gs belo

Write the cor ct number, i- x, next to Questions 5

List of Headings
What are metabolites?
The negative ffects of allelopathy
iii Biological warfare in the plant world
iv Why we cannot us allelopathic chem cals at present
What is allelopat y?
vi The reasons why plants compete with other plants
vii Th effects of allelopathy and r alisation of its possible uses
viii How could we se allelopat ic c emicals in farming?
ix Specific examples of allelopathic plants

Example ns er
Paragrap A iii

1 Paragrap B
2 Paragrap C

'
3 Paragrap D
Paragraph E
5 Paragraph F
 Mutual harm
A In rests and fields all over the world, plants are engaged in a deadly chemical war
to suppress other plants and create conditions for their own success. But what if we
could learn the secrets of these plants and use them or our own purposes? Would
it be possible to use their strategies and weapons to help us improve cu ure by
preventing weeds from germinating and encouraging growth in crops? This possibility
is leading agricultural researchers to explore the ef ects plants have on other plants
with the aim of applying their indings to arming.

The phenomenon by which an organism produces one or more chemicals that

influence the growth survival and reproduction of other organisms is called allelopathy.
These chemicals are a subset of chemicals produced by organisms called secondary
metabolites plant's primary metabolites are associated with growth and development
llelochemicals however are part of a plant's defence system and have a secondary
unction in the life of the organism he term a lelo athy comes from the Greek: / /o
and a y meaning mutual harm' he term was first used by the ustrian scientist
Hans Molisch in 1937 but people have been noting the negative e ects that one plant
can have on another for a long time In 300 BC the Greek philosopher Theophrastus
noticed that pigweed had a negative ef ect on alfalfa plants In China around the first
century D the author of Shennong Ben o J ng described 267 plants that have the
ability to kill pests

llelopathy can be observed in many aspects of plant ecology. It can a ect where
certain species o plants grow the fertility of competitor plants the natural change of
plant communities over time which plant species are able to dominate a particular
area and the diversity of plants in an area Plants can release allelopathic chemicals
in several ways their roots can release chemicals directly into the soil and their
bark and leaves can release chemicals into the soil as they rot Initially scientists
were interested in the negative e ects o allelopathic chemicals Observations of the
phenomenon included poor growth of some rest trees damage to crops changes in
vegetation patterns and interestingly the occurrence of weed-free areas It was also
realised that some species could have beneficial e ects on agricultural crop plants
and the possible application o allelopathy became the subject of research

oday research is cused on the e ects of weeds on crops the ef ects of crops on
weeds and how certain crops a ect other crops gricultural scientists are exploring
the use of allelochemi als to regulate growth and to act as natural herbicides thereby
promoting sustainable agriculture by using these natural chemicals as an alternative
to man made chemicals For example a small fast growing tree found in Central
merica sometimes called the miracle tree' contains a poison that slows the growth
of other trees but does not a ect its own seeds Chemicals produced y this tree
 Test 1: Reading
have been shown to improve the production of rice. Similarly, box elder - another
tree - stimulates the growth of bluestem grass, which is a tall prairie grass und in the
mid western United States Many weeds may use allelopathy to become eco ogically
successful; a study in China und that 25 out of 33 highly oisonous eeds had
significant allelo athic properties.

E There may be at least three a lications of allelopathy to agriculture Firstly the

allelopathic pr per ies of wild or cultivated plants may be bred into crop plants through
genetic modif cation or traditional breeding methods to improve the release of desired
allelochemicals and thus improve cro yield Secondly, a plant with strong allelopathic
properties could be used to control weeds by planting it in rotation with an agricultural
crop and then leaving it to rot and become part of the soil in order to inhibit the
growth of weeds. Finally, naturally occurring allelopathic chemicals could be used
in combination with man made chemicals Boosting the e iciency of man made
herbicides could lead to a reduction in the amount of herbicides used in agriculture
which is better r the environment.

Despite the promising uses of allelopathic chemicals, agricultura scientists are still
cautious. Firstly, allelopathic chemicals may break down and disap ear in the soil
more easily than artificial chemicals Secondly allelopathic chemicals may be harmful
to plants other than eeds. Thirdly allelo athic che icals could ersist in the soil f r
a long time and may a ect cr ps grown in the same f eld as the allelopathic plants
at a later date. Because the e ects of allelopathic chemicals are not yet fully known
agricultural scientists will need to continue to study the biological war between lants
Questions 6-9
Choose the corr t letter, A B or D.

6 What does the term 'allelopathy refer to?

A the growth and development of a plant
B the relationship between plants that grown in the sa e area
C the effects of che icals produced by a plant on another plant
D a plant s pri ary metabolic processes

7 Which of the following does allelopathy NOT affect?

A how certain species of plants change the nature of the soil where they grow
B the diversity of plants in an area
C the nutrients present in the soil
D the location in which plants can grow

8 Scientists are ainly interested in

A being able to exploit allelopathy in sustainable far ing.
B the beneficial effects of weeds on crops
C the effect of allelopathy on forests
D the negative effects of weeds

9 Which of the following is NO entioned in the text?

A a tree which is highl poisonous to weeds
B a tree which akes a type of grass grow better
C a tree wh ch akes rice ore productive
D a tree which produces a che ical that affects the growth of other trees
 Test 1: Reading

Questions 10-14
Complete the summary of paragraphs E and F below.

Choose NO MOR THN TWO WORDS from the passage for each ans e

rite your ans ers in spaces 10-14

Scientists can see three potential uses of allelopathic chemicals in farming. Firstly the ability to
produce allelopathic chemicals could be (10) ________
cultivated plants into agr cultural crops;
planting rotion
secondly, allelopathic plants could be planted in rotation with the (11) ________
man-made chemicals
finally naturally produced chemicals could be combined with (12) ________
herbicides However agriculturalists are still (13) ________
cautions as allelopathic
plants may have negative effects on plants which are not the intended target and the chemicals
could remain in the ground for a n (14) ________
allelopathic plants even after the plants
themselves have died
READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 15- 6, wh ch are based on Read ng Passage 2 be o .

Ordinary treasures
When Andy Warhol, one of the wentieth cent 's most in uential a ists died his ur- oor hous
was so ll of items that the only rooms you could walk through wer the kitchen and th b d oom.
t t ed o t that Warhol had compulsive hoarding disorder, which is de ned as th xcessiv
acc m lation of objects and a re sal to throw them away. But Warhol's case is not ncommon;
aro nd ve per c nt of Americans nearly 15 million p opl su er om compulsiv hoarding
disord r This disorder inter res with daily activities such as sl ping and cooking, and in an
e tr m rm it can harm one's h alth be a re risk and ven l ad to d ath Although r search rs
s spect that the disorder is more wid spread in th W st cas s of hoarding hav b n r cord d in
almost eve y co ntr
Twenty ears ago, comp lsiv hoarding disorder was a relativ ly n xplor d psychological
phenomenon o en treated as an aspect of obsessive compulsiv disorder th compulsion to r p at
a certain action over and over Ho ever it is now recognis d as a separat disord r Sci ntists om
man disciplines including psychologists n rologists and b havioural r s arch rs ar looking at
gene sequences within hoarders DNA and scanning th ir brains to t y to nderstand th ir b havio r
in the hope that the can be h lp d
There ar several theories r th b havio r First of all hoarding appears to n in mili s
and may have g netic ca ses with mily memb rs o n having similar iss s In a study of
219 milies researchers at Johns Hopkins Univ rsity und that mili s with two or mor
hoarding members showed a linkage b twe n hoarding b haviour and chromosome 4 one of
the 23 pairs of chro osomes that make p h man NA A s cond th ory stat s that th instinct
to hoard may be an evolutionary su vival strategy: th re ar pl n y of xamples of hoarding in
the animal kingdom Th Arctic gray jay hoards around 100 000 berries and ins cts so that it has
enough od r th long winter months Humans, how v r ar th only sp ci s that tak th
strategy to extrem s sometim s lling th ir hom s with so many objects that th y v n ually
becom uninhabitable
Recent psychological research, however mphasises t at hoard rs do not just coll ct j nk; nor
are they lazy or disorganised v n if their hom s ar chaotic Many hoard rs hav normal liv s
with r gular jobs and normal relationships with i nds d mily Cognitively hoard rs t nd to
be emotional attaching s ntim ntal val to belongings that oth r p ople would discard Th y
also tend to be intelligent well d cated and mor cr ativ than averag How v r th y can b
indecisive and ma sta t several di er nt pro ects at th sam tim
 Test 1: Reading
Carol Mathews, a leading researcher into the condition, used magnetic resonan e imaging (MRI)
to show brain activity in the process of decision making. People with compulsive hoarding disorder
display increased activi in an area of the brain related to decision making when asked to organise
objects This increased activity is due to their greater emotional atta hment to possessions. In other
tests, Mathews und that people with hoarding behaviour had di cul y grouping sim lar objects
and remembering the sequence of things In e ect, people with ompulsive hoarding disorder do
not ategorise obje ts in the same way as other people, and when they are asked to do so, show an
increase in brain activity associated with the decision-making process It seems that people with
hoarding behaviour see and treat objects di erently and might have a di erent appreciation of the
physical world For example, a pile of objects in the middle of a room may be seen as a work of
art by a hoarder rather than just a heap of junk
Treating hoarding e ectively may depend upon whether we can identi speci c character
traits Dr Monika Eck eld of the Universi y of Cali ia, San Francisco believes there are wo
di erent kinds of people with hoarding behaviour She alls one kind impulsi e a quirers, who
buy objects out of excitement and keep them because they are interested in them The other type
are the worried-keepers the hoarders who a quire items passively and keep them in case they
need them in ture Worried keepers spend more time so ing and organising belongings. While
both kinds of hoarders ofeither gender nd it nearly impossible to throw anything away, more men
than women belong to the er category whilst more women ll into the worried-keeper group

QUESTIONS 15-19
Do the f l owing statements agree with the in ormation given in Reading Passage 2?
Write

UE if the statement agrees with the in rmation

FALSE if the statement contradicts the in rmation
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

15 People have died as a result of extreme hoarding behaviou .

16 Compulsive hoarding disorder is a type of obsessive compulsive disorder

17 People with compulsive hoarding disorder usually have parents with the same condition
8 People who take collecting to extremes eventually cannot live in their homes
19 Hoarders show more activity in parts of the brain associated with the emotions
Questions 20-25
Classify the llowing as typical o
A impulsive-acquirer hoarde
B worried keeper hoarders
C both

Write the correct letter, A B or , next to Questions 20 25.

20 This type o hoarder finds it almost impossible to iscard anything.

21 This type of ho r e keeps possessions because he/she finds them inte esting
22 This type of hoa e keeps objects fo futu e use
23 This type of ho rder buys things because he/she is excite by them
24 This type of ho er has a g eater ten ency to sort objects
25 This type of hoar er inclu es more men than women.

Quest on 26
Choose the correct letter, B or

The writer of the article views people with compulsive hoa ding isorde as
A lazy n disorganised
B abnorm l bec use they cannot lea normal life.
C h ving ifferent pe ception of physic l objects f om the m jo ity of people
 Test 1: Reading

READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend abo t m nutes on Questions 27-10, which are based on Read ng Passage 3 belo .

A m jor c u of bl h u r l worl -r l m cul r

r o ( MO). I c pprox m ly hr m ll o p opl lob lly
ccou or rou p r c of ll bl h c r xp c o
oubl by h y r 2020 h worl popul o cr Sc h v b
work o w r m for o yp of h by u m c ll o r p r
m o h r w h po v r ul . wo wom m r c , bo h r r
bl , w r v h w r m y h r v o mprov ju w k r
h yw r j c wh h m c ll W h uch prom r ul or co o
wh ch pr v ou ly h o r m r rch r r po v bou h r c o of h
m c ll r m .

B MO u u lly c h l rly l hou h you r p opl c l o v lop v r o

of h co o P opl w h MO yp c lly h v rk p ch h c r of h r
v o h r or o k pl c ov r mo h y r l hou h p opl w h
MO o o lo h r h compl ly h y o lo c r l v o wh ch v l for
l work c v lk r rv , o h l orm l l f c
b com mpo bl ov r m I h c of h wo m r c wom o w
r ph c r who b o lo h r v o h r w h lo mo of h r
c r l v o h b c m u bl o work h v u lly b c m mpo bl
or h r o r co p opl or w ch V h co wom b c m u bl o
r co f c , h o op r v h coul o l v h r hom

C ou r MO, w ou r how our y work E lly hollow

b ll h y h umb r of l y r h ou r l y r co of h wh of h y
h cor h cor h r p r r f o of h colour r
h bl ck pup l h c r of h r h m l l y r of h y c bloo
v l h r , wh ch r ul h mou of l h r h y . Ju b h
h r h l wh ch focu m o h r wh ch cov r h of
h y b ll h r h p r of h y h co pho or c p or c ll h
l h. N f br from h pho or c p or h r jo o h r o rm
h op c rv , wh ch h x h y b ll r m v u l rm o o h
br h pho or c p or r of wo yp ro co h ro r v
ol h y h co r v o colour h y r mo l co c r
h p of h r c ll h m cul h o ly h z of r of r c bu
r po bl f r our c r l v o mo of our colour v o our v u l cu y
or h rp of v o h pho or c p or c ll l o h l y r of c ll h prov
h m w h ur c rry w y w Wh h u rly c ll or r
m h pho or c p or c ll c o fu c o prop rly h l o lo of
v o .
D amage to the macula can result from a variety of factors. Age is the main risk factor
but smoking also damages blood vessels and the structure of the e e Smo e s e
three times more likely to develop AMO, as are people with poor diets A diet lacking in
fruit and vegetables cannot help the body defend itself against free radical molecules
which damage cells Fruit and vegetables contain antioxidants which rotect the
body against these free radicals Finally eople with high blood pressure are one and
a half times more likely to contract AMO, as are those people with a family history of
the disease
E The new treatment for AMO developed by r Rober Lanza at Advanced Cell
Technology involves changing embryonic stem cells into more s ecialised eye
stem cells and injecting 50 000 of them into the layer of the eye that supports the
hotoreceptors A stem cell is a primary cell that has the ability to divide and form
specialised cells that per orm various functions within the body First a single stem
cell was taken from a human embryo and grown into a colony of millions of cells.
The cells were checked to make sure they were healthy Then another procedure
encouraged the stem cells to develop into the type of cell that f rms the layer under
the photoreceptor cells The eye stem cells were injected below the retina through a
cut into the eyeball where they filled in the ga s le by dead and damaged cells and
began functioning again
For the two patients the results have been stunning. Tests have indicated that healthy
cells have grown where the stem cells were injected. The first woman has regained
enough vision to be able to cycle Meanwhile the second woman can read cook and
go shopping by herself again The hope is that the treatment could be a way rward r
other currently incurable conditions so that other people can lead normal lives again

Questions 27-32
Reading P ssage 3 has six paragraphs, A-F

Which par gr phs A-F contain the f l owing inf rmation?

te the correct letter A F ne t to Questions 27 32.

27 the symptoms of AMO Answer : B

28 details about the treatment process Answer : E

29 factors that may contri ute to AMO Answer : C

30 the phys cal causes of AMO Answer : D

31 potential future uses of stem cell treatment Answer : F
32 he f equency of occurrence of AMO Answer : A
 Test 1: R ading

Questions 33- 5
Label the diagram be ow using words from the box.

macula
cornea
optic nerve

iris

retina
pupil
cornea macula 34
33

optic nerve
35
e s

Questions 36-40
Comp ete the summa be o

Choose NO MORE N TWO RDS from the passage f r each answe

Wite your answe in spaces 36-40

Age- e ated macu a degene ation IAMDl is one of the main causes of oss of sight in the
(36) old age · A though AMO can affect (37) younger people , the
majo ity of suffe e s a e o der. Despite being ve y sma the macu a is essentia to ou
(38) ________
central vision as we as detai ed vision and some co ou vision AMO happens
when the ce s beneath the (39) ________
retina ce s a e damaged o die A new
t eatment to epai the damaged ce s invo ves (40) ________ 50 000 stem ce s
injecting
unde the etina afte which they egene ate the damaged a ea