DHARANEE WEERASEKARA (LL. B, LL.M, M.

A, ATTORNEY AT LAW)

COMPREHENSION

01. Genealogy is fun. Just as a piece of furniture or a picture takes on much more
interest if you know its history, so does an individual become more real once the
ancestral elements that shaped him are known. An in-depth family history is a
tapestry of all those to whom we owe our existence.

Which statement best conveys the theme of this paragraph?

A: Finding out about our ancestors is more interesting than researching the history
of objects.

B: Genealogy is a study of people and their belongings in the past.

C: Genealogy is a study of family history.

D: Genealogical research can bring meaning and life to a family’s history.

E: Most genealogies are a waste of effort.

02. Tailgating another vehicle is unsafe and illegal. Many rear-end collisions are
caused by drivers following too close to the vehicle in front of them. The rules
state that a driver must keep sufficient distance from the vehicle in front in order
to stop safely and avoid a collision. Drivers should allow a minimum two
seconds’ gap between their vehicle and the one ahead. At sixty kilometres an
hour, this equates to thirty-three metres; at a hundred it equates to fifty-five
metres. More distance is needed to safely stop in rain or poor visibility.

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 Tailgating another vehicle is unsafe because:

A: all rear end collisions are caused by drivers following too close to the vehicle
in front.

B: it may not allow sufficient time and space to stop and avoid a collision.

C: it is against the road rules.

D: it is a reckless practice.

E: None of these.

03. There is a place forty kilometers north-east of Portland, Victoria, which makes
for an unusual visit. It is Lake Condah. Here are to be found remains of aboriginal
settlements: the circular stone bases of several hundred huts, rock-lined water
channels, and stone tools chipped from rock not normally found in the area. One
of the attractions of Lake Condah long ago was its fish and the most startling
evidence of aboriginal technology and engineering to be found there are the
systems built to trap fish. Water courses had been constructed by redirecting
streams, building stone sides and even scraping out new channels. At strategic
spots, they piled rocks across the water courses to create weirs and build funnels
to channel eels and fish into conical baskets. This is an eel-fishing technique
which has hardly changed to the present day. Beside some of the larger traps,
there are the outlines of rectangular, stone-lined ponds, probably to hold fish and
keep them fresh. On the bluffs overlooking the lake, stone circles are all that
remain of ancient dwellings. Not all of the stones were quarried locally. The huts
vary in size, but all have gaps for doorways located on the side, away from the
prevailing wind. One theory is that the stone walls were only waist to shoulder
high, with the top roofed by branches and possibly packed with mud. The site
presents a picture of a semi-settled people quite different from the stereotype of
nomadic hunter-gatherers of the desert.

The word ‘stereotype’ as used in the above passage means:

A: distant culture. B: opposite picture. C: electronic print version. D:

standard view. E: None of these.

Lake Condah is seen as unusual, mainly because:

A: it is so close to a main town.

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 B: there are remains of buildings still to be seen.

C: it reveals a society that was at least partly settled and had building and
engineering skills.

D: there is evidence that some of the building stone was imported.

E: it shows the lake dwellers were totally reliant on fish for a food source.

04. The debate on whether Australia will have a nation-wide carbon trading scheme
ended last week with the government committed to a national emissions scheme
from 2012. However, the decision-making as to how we power the economy in a
carbon constrained world is only just beginning. Fossil fuels like coal and oil
have underpinned our economic growth and standard of living for decades. The
current resources boom is there because other countries want our fossil fuels, and
for all these reasons it is profitable to keep mining them. Ironically, the income
may help develop the technologies to replace them, but it is a matter of which
and when. Almost certainly, in the race to reduce emissions, new technologies
such as solar, wind and geothermal (heat from rocks) power will compete against
gas, clean coal and perhaps nuclear energy to win the hearts and minds of the
business world. In the end, business will favour whatever is a cheap, abundant
and reliable solution. You can imagine the lobbying that will ensue from the
different interest groups, to attract business capital and government support so
that their technology wins out. There may be many collapsed ventures and lost
fortunes along the way.

Fossil fuels will be in demand for some time yet because:

A: we have no other options.

B: they are plentiful and cheap in Australia.

C: our wealth and lifestyle are at present dependent on them.

D: A and B together.

E: B and C together.

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 In the writer’s view ‘there may be many collapsed ventures’ along the way
because:

A: cheaper fossil fuels will continue to be used for a long time.

B: business will favour existing sources, rather than undergoing expensive

change.

C: carbon emission rules will cripple new energy sources.

D: not all the options will be adopted, so the cheaper and more efficient will
survive.

E: None of these.

05. With a culture that entwines with the coconut tree and a climate that ensures an
around the year harvesting, Sri Lanka is the fourth-largest exporters of coconut
products to the world. Among the most popular Sri Lankan coconut exports to
the global market are desiccated coconut, virgin coconut oil and coconut water,
while the country’s bristle fiber products manufactured through indigenous
‘Drum’ extraction method and activated carbon made with coconut shells are also
in high demand. Coconut accounts for approximately 12% of all agricultural
produce in Sri Lanka. New measures have been introduced to enhance the annual
coconut crop to 3600 million nuts per year. Sri Lanka is very popular in the world
market for Desiccated Coconut (DC) and Brown fiber. Distinguishable white
colour and characteristic taste of Sri Lankan DC ranks Sri Lanka at the 4th
position of the world export market for all kernel products. Sri Lanka holds the
global No.1 for the exports of brown fiber. The drum system used to extract fiber,
produces long pure fiber, which are more suitable for the brush industry. Coconut
Development Authority, Coconut Cultivation Board and Coconut Research
Institute are the three major Government Institutions that are responsible for the
production & quality improvement, supply development and research
respectively.

i) Name two reasons for coconut cultivation to be popular in Sri Lanka?

……………………………………………………………………………………
…………………….

ii) What are the most renowned Sri Lankan coconut exports?

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 ……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………

……………………………………………………………………………………
…………….

iii) What are the significant features of Sri Lankan Desiccated Coconut?

……………………………………………………………………………………
…………………….

iv) What are the three major government institutions established for enhancing
coconut industry?

……………………………………………………………………………………
…………………….………

……………………………………………………………………………………
…………….

v) Write synonyms for the following words

Method-………….. Popular ……………

Global ……………. Manufacture…………….

Improvement………………. More Suitable ………………

06. On 9th April 1929 Mrs Mary M'Alister or Donoghue brought an action against
David Stevenson aerated water manufacturer Paisley, in which she claimed £500
as damages for injuries sustained by her through drinking ginger beer which had
been manufactured by the defender. The pursuer averred, "At or about
8.50 P.M. on or about the 26th August 1928, the pursuer was in the shop occupied
by Francis Minchella, and known as Wellmeadow Café, at Wellmeadow Place,
Paisley, with a friend. The said friend ordered for the pursuer ice cream, and
ginger beer suitable to be used with the ice cream as an iced drink. Her friend,
acting as aforesaid, was supplied by the said Mr. Minchella with a bottle of ginger

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 beer manufactured by the defender for sale to members of the public. The said
bottle was made of dark opaque glass, and the pursuer and her friend had no
reason to suspect that the said bottle contained anything else than the aerated
water. The said Mr. Minchella poured some of the said ginger beer from the bottle
into a tumbler containing the ice cream. The pursuer then drank some of the
contents of the tumbler. Her friend then lifted the said ginger beer bottle and was
pouring out the remainder of the contents into the said tumbler when a snail,
which had been, unknown to the pursuer, her friend, or the said Mr. Minchella,
in the bottle, and was in a state of decomposition, floated out of the said bottle.
In consequence of the nauseating sight of the snail in said circumstances, and of
the noxious condition of the said snail-tainted ginger beer consumed by her, the
pursuer sustained the shock and illness hereinafter condescended on. The said
Mr. Minchella also sold to the pursuer's friend a pear and ice. The said ginger
beer bottle was fitted with a metal cap over its mouth. On the side of the said
bottle there was pasted a label containing inter alia, the name and address of the
defender, who was the manufacturer. It was from this label that the pursuer's said
friend got the name and address of the defender. The shock and illness suffered
by the pursuer were due to the fault of the defender.
The law takes no cognizance of carelessness in the abstract. It concerns itself with
carelessness only where there is a duty to take care and where failure in that duty
has caused damage. In such circumstances carelessness assumes the legal quality of
negligence, and entails the consequences in law of negligence. What then are the
circumstances which give rise to this duty to take care? In the daily contacts of social
and business life, human beings are thrown into, or place themselves in, an infinite
variety of relations with their fellows; and the law can refer only to the standards of
the reasonable man in order to determine whether any particular relation gives rise
to a duty to take care as between those who stand in the relation to each other. The
grounds of action may be responsibility may develop in adaptation to altering social
conditions and standards. The criterion of judgment must adjust and adapt itself to
the changing circumstances of life. The categories of negligence are never closed.
The cardinal principle of liability is that the party complained of should owe to the
party complaining a duty to take care, and that the party complaining should be able
to prove that he has suffered damage in consequence of a breach of that duty. Where
there is room for diversity of view, it is in determining what circumstances will
establish such a relationship between the parties as to give rise, on the one side, to a
duty to take care, and, on the other side, to a right to have care taken.
1) What did the pursuer’s friend find in the bottom of the bottle?
2) What is the test of reasonability recognized by the law mentioned in this case?
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3) What is the main principle of liability in the case mentioned?
4) How much money was claimed by Mrs. Donoghue against the defendant? And
on what ground?
5) Write the similar English meanings of the following terms.
I. Averred –
II. Defender –
III. Manufactured –
IV. suspect –
V. Decomposition -
VI. nauseating sight –
VII. noxious condition –

6)Write whether the following statements are true or false according to the
paragraph.
1. The defendant was the shop owner who sold the ginger beer ( )
2. The snail in the bottle was alive ( )
3. The shop owner gave his address to file the case ( )
4. In daily life human beings are subjected to limited relationships ( )
5. Pursuer’s friend only purchased a bottle of ginger beer from the café ()
6. The bottle was transparent so everything was clearly visible ( )
7. The shock and illness suffered by the pursuer were due to the fault of Mr.
Minchella ( )
8. According to this case carelessness assumes the legal quality of negligence (
)
9. The law can refer only to the standards of the reasonable man ( )
10. They ordered ginger beer to be used with the ice cream as an iced drink ( )

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