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READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 – 13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
Astronaut ice cream, anyone?
Breeze-drying is a technique that can help to provide food for astronauts. But it also has other applications nearer home.
Freeze-drying is like suspended animation for food: you can store a freeze-dried meal for years, and then, when you’re
finally ready to eat it. you can completely revitalise it with a little hot water. Even after several years, the original foodstuff
will be virtually unchanged.
The technique basically involves completely removing the water from some material, such as food while leaving the rest of
the material virtually intact. The main reason for doing this is either to preserve the food or to reduce its weight. Removing
the water from food keeps it from spoiling, because the microorganisms such as bacteria that cause spoiling cannot survive
without it. Similarly, the enzymes which occur naturally in food cannot cause ripening without water, so removing water from
food will also stop the ripening process.
Freeze-drying significantly reduces the total weight of the food because most food is largely made up of water; for example,
many fruits are more than 80 00% water. Removing this makes the food much lighter and therefore makes transportation
less difficult. The military and camping-supply companies freeze-dry foods to make them easier for an individual to carry
and NASA has also freeze-dried foods for the cramped quarters on board spacecraft.
The process is also used to preserve other sorts of material, such as pharmaceuticals. Chemists can greatly extend
pharmaceutical shelf life by freeze-drying the material and storing it in a container free of oxygen and water. Similarly,
research scientists may use freeze-drying to preserve biological samples for long periods of time. Even valuable
manuscripts that had been water damaged have been saved by using this process.
Freeze-drying is different from simple drying because it is able to remove almost all the water from materials, whereas
simple drying techniques can only remove 90-95%. This means that the damage caused by bacteria and enzymes can
virtually be stopped rather than just slowed down. In addition, the composition and structure of the material is not
significantly changed, so materials can be revitalised without compromising the quality of the original.
This is possible because in freeze-drying, solid water - ice - is converted directly into water vapour, missing out the liquid
phase entirely. This is called ‘sublimation’, the shift from a solid directly into a gas. Just like evaporation, sublimation occurs
when a molecule gains enough energy to break free from the molecules around it. Water will sublime from a solid (ice) to a
gas (vapour) when the molecules have enough energy to break free but the conditions aren't right for a liquid to form. These
conditions arc determined by heat and atmospheric pressure. When the temperature is above freezing point, so that ice can
thaw, but the atmospheric pressure is too low for a liquid to form (below 0.06 atmospheres (ATM)) then it becomes a gas.
This is the principle on which a freeze-drying machine is based. The material to be preserved is placed in a freeze-drying
chamber which is connected to a freezing coil and refrigerator compressor. When the chamber is sealed the compressor
lowers the temperature inside it. I he material is frozen solid, which separates the water from everything around it on a
molecular level, even though the water is still present. Next, a vacuum pump forces air out of the chamber, lowering the
atmospheric pressure below to 0.06 ATM. The heating units apply a small amount of heat to the shelves in the chamber,
causing the ice to change phase. Since the pressure in the chamber is so low, the ice turns directly into water vapour, which
leaves the freeze-drying chamber, and flows past the freezing coil. The water vapour condenses onto the freezing coil in the
form of solid ice, in the same way that water condenses as frost on a cold day.
The process continues for many hours (even days) while the material gradually dries out. This time is necessary to avoid
overheating, which might affect the structure of the material. Once it has dried sufficiently, it is sealed in a moisture-free
package. As long as the package is secure, the material can sit on a shelf for years and years without degrading, until it is
restored to its original form with a little hot water. If everything works correctly, the material will go through the entire
process almost completely unscathed.
In fact, freeze-drying, as a general concept, is not new but has been around for centuries. The ancient Incas of Peru used
mountain peaks along the Andes as natural food preservers. The extremely cold temperatures and low pressure at those
high altitudes prevented food from spoiling in the same basic way as a modern freeze-drying machine and a freezer.
PASSAGE 1: QUESTIONS 1-13
Questions 1-5
Complete the notes below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
Uses of freeze-drying:
food preservation
easy 1 of food items
long-term storage of 2 and biological samples
preservation of precious 3
Freeze-drying
is based on process of 4 is more efficient than 5

Questions 6-9
Label the diagram below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 6-9 on your answer sheet.

A simplified freeze-drying machine

6 7 8 9………

Questions 10-13
Complete the summary below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.
Freeze-drying prevents food from going bad by stopping the activity of microorganisms or 10 Its advantages
are that the food tastes and feels the same as the original because both the 11 and structure are preserved.
The process is carried out slowly in order to ensure that 12 does not take place. The people of one
ancient mountain civilisation were able to use this method of food preservation because the conditions needed were
present at 13 .
READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14 – 26, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
THE WILD SIDE OF TOWN
The countryside is no longer the place to see wildlife, according to Chris Barnes. These days you are more likely to find
impressive numbers of skylarks, dragonflies and toads in your own back garden.
The past half century has seen an interesting reversal in the fortunes of much of Britain's wildlife. Whilst the rural
countryside has become poorer and poorer, wildlife habitat in towns has burgeoned. Now, if you want to hear a deafening
dawn chorus of birds or familiarise yourself with foxes, you can head for the urban forest.
Whilst species that depend on wide open spaces such as the hare, the eagle and the red deer may still be restricted to
remote rural landscapes, many of our wild plants and animals find the urban ecosystem ideal. This really should be no
surprise, since it is the fragmentation and agrochemical pollution in the farming lowlands that has led to the catastrophic
decline of so many species.
By contrast, most urban open spaces have escaped the worst of the pesticide revolution, and they are an intimate mosaic
of interconnected habitats. Over the years, the cutting down of hedgerows on farmland has contributed to habitat isolation
and species loss. In towns, the tangle of canals, railway embankments, road verges and boundary hedges lace the
landscape together, providing first-class ecological corridors for species such as hedgehogs, kingfishers and dragonflies.
Urban parks and formal recreation grounds are valuable for some species, and many of them are increasingly managed
with wildlife in mind. But in many places their significance is eclipsed by the huge legacy of post-industrial land demolished
factories, waste tips, quarries, redundant railway yards and other so-called ‘brownfield’ sites. In Merseyside, South
Yorkshire and the West Midlands, much of this has been spectacularly colonised with birch and willow woodland, herb-rich
grassland and shallow wetlands. As a consequence, there are song birds and predators in abundance over these once-
industrial landscapes.
There are fifteen million domestic gardens in the UK. and whilst some are still managed as lifeless chemical war zones,
most benefit the local wildlife, either through benign neglect or positive encouragement. Those that do best tend to be
woodland species, and the garden lawns and flower borders, climber-covered fences, shrubberies and fruit trees are a
plausible alternative. Indeed, in some respects gardens are rather better than the real thing, especially with exotic flowers
extending the nectar season. Birdfeeders can also supplement the natural seed supply, and only the millions of domestic
cats may spoil the scene.
As Britain’s gardeners have embraced the idea of ‘gardening with nature’, wildlife’s response has been spectacular.
Between 1990 and the year 2000. the number of different bird species seen at artificial feeders in gardens increased from
17 to an amazing 81. The BUGS project (Biodiversity in Urban Gardens in Sheffield) calculates that there are 25.000
garden ponds and 100.000 nest boxes in that one city alone.
We are at last acknowledging that the wildlife habitat in towns provides a valuable life support system. The canopy of the
urban forest is filtering air pollution, and intercepting rainstorms, allowing the water to drip more gradually to the ground.
Sustainable urban drainage relies on ponds and wetlands to contain storm water runoff, thus reducing the risk of flooding,
whilst reed beds and other wetland wildlife communities also help to clean up the water. We now have scientific proof that
contact with wildlife close to home can help to reduce stress and anger. Hospital patients with a view of natural green space
make a more rapid recovery and suffer less pain.
Traditionally, nature conservation in the UK has been seen as marginal and largely rural. Now we are beginning to place it
at the heart of urban environmental and economic policy. There are now dozens of schemes to create new habitats and
restore old ones in and around our big cities. Biodiversity is big in parts of London. thanks to schemes such as the London
Wetland Centre in the south west of the city.
This is a unique scheme masterminded by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust to create a wildlife reserve out of a redundant
Victorian reservoir. Within five years of its creation the Centre has been hailed as one of the top sites for nature in England
and made a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It consists of a 105-acre wetland site, which is made up of different wetland
habitats of shallow, open water and grazing marsh. The site attracts more than 104 species of bird, including nationally
important rarities like the bittern.
We need to remember that if we work with wildlife, then wildlife will work for us and this is the very essence of sustainable
development.
PASSAGE 2: QUESTIONS 14-26 What represents a threat to wildlife in urban gardens?
Questions 14-19 22
Do the following statements agree with the information
At the last count, how many species of bird were spotted
given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet write in urban gardens? 23
TRUE if the statement is true Question 24-26
FALSE if the statement is false Choose THREE letters A-G.
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage Write your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.
In which THREE ways can wildlife habitats benefit people
14 There is now more wildlife in UK living in urban areas?
cities than in the countryside.
15 Rural wildlife has been reduced by A They can make the cities greener.
the use of pesticides on farms.
B They can improve the climate.
16 In the past, hedges on farms used
C They can promote human well-being.
to link up different habitats.
17 New urban environments are D They can extend the flowering season.
planned to provide ecological corridors for wildlife. E They can absorb excess water.
18 Public parks and gardens are F They can attract wildlife.
being expanded to encourage wildlife.
G They can help clean the urban atmosphere
19 Old industrial wastelands have Question 27
damaged wildlife habitats in urban areas. Choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D.
Questions 20-23 Write your answer in box 27 on your answer sheet.
Answer the questions below, using NO MORE THAN 27 The writer believes that sustainable development is
THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage dependent on
for each answer.
A urban economic policy.
Write your answers in boxes 20-23 on your answer sheet.
Which type of wildlife benefits most from urban B large restoration schemes.
gardens? 20 C active nature conservation.
What type of garden plants can benefit birds and D government projects.
insects? 21

READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27 - 40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.
Running on empty
A revolutionary new theory in sports physiology.
A For almost a century, scientists have presumed, not unreasonably, that fatigue - or exhaustion in athletes originates in
the muscles. Precise explanations have varied but all have been based on the ‘limitations theory’. In other words, muscles
tire because they hit a physical limit: they either run out of fuel or oxygen or they drown in toxic by-products.
B In the past few years, however, Timothy Noakes and Alan St Clair Gibson from the University of Cape Town, South
Africa, have examined this standard theory. The deeper they dig, the more convinced they have become that physical
fatigue simply isn't the same as a car running out of petrol. Fatigue, they argue, is caused not by distress signals springing
from overtaxed muscles, but is an emotional response which begins in the brain. The essence of their new theory is that the
brain, using a mix of physiological, subconscious and conscious cues, paces the muscles to keep them well back from the
brink of exhaustion. When the brain decides its time to quit, it creates the distressing sensations we interpret as unbearable
muscle fatigue. This ‘central governor* theory remains controversial, but it does explain many puzzling aspects of athletic
performance.
C A recent discovery that Noakes calls the ‘lactic acid paradox' made him start researching this area seriously. Lactic acid
is a by-product of exercise, and its accumulation is often cited as a cause of fatigue. But when research subjects exercise in
conditions simulating high altitude, they become fatigued even though lactic acid levels remain low. Nor has the oxygen
content of their blood fallen too low for them to keep going. Obviously, Noakes deduced, something else was making them
tire before they hit either of these physiological limits.
D Probing further, Noakes conducted an experiment with seven cyclists who had sensors taped to their legs to measure the
nerve impulses travelling through their muscles. It has long been known that during exercise, the body never uses 100% of
the available muscle fibres in a single contraction. The amount used varies, but in endurance tasks such as this cycling test
the body calls on about 30%.
E Noakes reasoned that if the limitations theory was correct and fatigue was due to muscle fibres hitting some limit, the
number of fibres used for each pedal stroke should increase as the fibres tired and the cyclist’s body attempted to
compensate by recruiting an ever-larger proportion of the total. But his team found exactly the opposite. As fatigue set in,
the electrical activity in the cyclists' legs declined - even during sprinting, when they were striving to cycle as fast as they
could.
F To Noakes, this was strong evidence that the old theory was wrong. ‘The cyclists may have felt completely exhausted,’ he
says, ‘but their bodies actually had considerable reserves that they could theoretically tap by using a greater proportion of
the resting fibres.’ This, he believes, is proof that the brain is regulating the pace of the workout to hold the cyclists well
back from the point of catastrophic exhaustion.
G More evidence comes from the fact that fatigued muscles don’t actually run out of anything critical. Levels of glycogen,
which is the muscles’ primary fuel, and ATP. the chemical they use for temporary energy storage, decline with exercise but
never bottom out. Even at the end of a marathon, ATP levels are 80-90% of the resting norm, and glycogen levels never get
to zero.
H Further support for the central regulator comes from the fact that top athletes usually manage to go their fastest at the
end of a race, even though, theoretically, that's when their muscles should be closest to exhaustion. But Noakes believes
the end spurt makes no sense if fatigue is caused by muscles poisoning themselves with lactic acid as this would cause
racers to slow down rather than enable them to sprint for the finish line. In the new theory, the explanation is obvious.
Knowing the end is near, the brain slightly relaxes its vigil, allowing the athlete to tap some of the body’s carefully hoarded
reserves.
I But the central governor theory does not mean that what's happening in the muscles is irrelevant. The governor constantly
monitors physiological signals from the muscles, along with other information, to set the level of fatigue. A large number of
signals are probably involved but, unlike the limitations theory, the central governor theory suggests that these physiological
factors are not the direct determinants of fatigue, but simply information to take into account.
J Conscious factors can also intervene. Noakes believes that the central regulator evaluates the planned workout, and sets
a pacing strategy accordingly. Experienced runners know that if they set out on a 10-kilometre run. the first kilometre feels
easier than the first kilometre of a 5-kilometre run, even though there should be no difference. That, Noakes says, is
because the central governor knows you have farther to go in the longer run and has programmed itself to dole out fatigue
symptoms accordingly.
K St Clair Gibson believes there is a good reason why our bodies arc designed to keep something back. That way, there's
always something left in the tank for an emergency. In ancient times, and still today, life would be too dangerous if our
bodies allowed us to become so tired that we couldn't move quickly when faced with an unexpected need.
PASSAGE 3: QUESTIONS 27-40
Questions 28-33
Reading Passage 3 has eleven paragraphs A-K.
Choose the correct heading for Paragraphs A-F from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number (i-viii) in boxes 28-33 on your answer sheet.
i Avoiding tiredness in athletes
ii Puzzling evidence raises a question
iii Traditional explanations
iv Interpreting the findings
v Developing muscle fibres
viA new hypothesis
viiDescription of a new test
viiiSurprising results in an endurance test
28 Paragraph A
29 Paragraph B
30 Paragraph C
31 Paragraph D
32 Paragraph E
33 Paragraph F
Questions 34-40
Classify the following ideas as relating to
Write the correct letter A, B or C in boxes 34-40 on your answer sheet.
NB: You may use any letter more than once.
A. the Limitations Theory
B. the Central Governor Theory
C. both the Limitations Theory and the Central Governor Theory

34 Lactic acid is produced in muscles during exercise.

35 Athletes can keep going until they use up all their available resources.
36 Mental processes control the symptoms of tiredness.
37 The physiological signals from an athlete's muscles are linked to fatigue.
38 The brain plans and regulates muscle performance in advance of a run.
39 Athletes' performance during a race may be affected by lactic acid build-up.
40 Humans are genetically programmed to keep some energy reserves.
TEST READING Answer Keys:
1 transportation
2 pharmaceuticals
3 manuscripts
4 sublimation
5 simple drying (techniques)
6 (freeze-drying) chamber
7 shelves
8 freezing coil
9 (refrigerator) compressor
10 enzymes
11 composition
12 overheating
13 high altitudes
14 NOT GIVEN
15 TRUE
16 TRUE
17 NOT GIVEN
18 NOT GIVEN
19 FALSE
20 woodland species
21 exotic flowers
22 (domestic) cats
23 81
24 26 C,E,G
27 C
28 iii
29 vi
30 ii
31 vii
32 viii
33 iv
34 C
35 A
36 B
37 C
38 B
39 A
40 B
Vocab
Reading- Astronaut ice cream, anyone
1. Revitalise- re-energise
2. Virtually- effectively
3. Unscathed- unhurt, safe
4. Burgeoned-expand
5. Agrochemical- a chemical used in agriculture like pesticides
6. Catastrophic- tragic
7. Controversial- arguable
8. Exhaustion- emission
9. Genetically- related to games
10. Endurance- to tolerate