TEST 4

LISTENING
SECTION 1
Questions 1-10: Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS
AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
PLAN FOR SHARING ACCOMMODATION
Example Answer

The discussion topic: lease for next year

The total rent: Peter £ 110 & Jim £ 1 _____________

Car parking: in the 2 ______________

A place to buy things: 3 ______________, because Jim works there.

The fees they should share: 4 _______________ fees

The appliances needed: • The landlord will provide the microwave.

• The 5 ____________ is needed in the kitchen.
• Peter will bring some dining room and living room
furniture.
• Jim will buy a 6 _____________ at the store.

Location of the telephone: in the 7 ________________

Move-in date: 8 ___________________

Watching the game together: on 9 ___________________

What Jim needs to do before take 10 ________________ in the morning

move-in:

SECTION 2
Questions 11-12: Complete the sentences below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each
answer.
The program is made for travellers to make 11 _________________
The program operates in cooperation with the 12 ________________
Questions 13-16: What is the internship stipulation of each country below?
Choose FOUR answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-F, next to questions 13-
16.
Internship Stipulation
A minimum time requirement
B formal report required
C home stay
D no summer program
E specific time period
F agriculture
Country
13 USA
14 Australia
15 South Africa
16 India
Questions 17-20: Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
17. What should you do to get the Global Travelling Certificate?
A. record activity everyday
B. formal report
C. talk the experience with the assessor
18. You can apply for the certificate
A. only after you come back.
B. while on the trip.
C. before you leave.
19. When should you pay the final instalment?
A. one month before you return
B. before you get your plane ticket
C. the day before you leave
20. Before your application, you need
A. to attend the workshop
B. to meet people with whom you will work.
C. to take a health check.
SECTION 3
Questions 21-30: Complete the notes below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS
AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer.
Group Presentation Assignment
Topic Information source

21 ___________ check at the 22 ___________

Views on 23 ___________ interview the manager of 24 ___________

Practice of 25 ___________ find relevant information from the

26____________

How to deliver the plan: as an 27 ____________

Date of giving the on 28 ______________

presentation:

Schedule of items due: First Phase: 29 _______________

Final Phase: Group 30 ______________

SECTION 4
Questions 31-40: Complete the notes below. Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
The Gherkin Building
Commissioned by: 31 ____________ firm called Foster and Partners
The features of its appearance:
• Its shape is like a 32 _____________
• It can reduce the carbon 33 _____________ of the citys.
• It lets 34 _____________ pass through the building, both reducing heating costs and
brightening up the workspace
• One false story claimed that the exterior of the building is partly made of 35
_______________
Architectural concept:
• links 36 ______________ with the workplace.
• relies less on 37 _______________ for temperature control than other similar buildings.
The features of its interior:
• The atria that let fresh air pass through the interior are known as 38 _______________
• There is a place for entertainment called the 39 ______________ at the top of the building.
The future of urban planning and architecture:
• It is likely that the entire 40 ______________ will be designed with more similarly eco
friendly buildings in future.
• A new building will be constructed aiming to produce zero waste and remove carbon
dioxide from us as much as possible.

TEST 4
SECTION 1:
Plan For Sharing Accommodation
Peter: Hey Jim, it’s Peter.
Jim: Oh hey Peter. What’s up?
Peter: I thought I’d call so we could (1) ………………… out the details for next year’s lease.
Jim: That’s a good idea. Did we ever decide on how to split the total rent?
Peter: Well, I was thinking since my room is bigger I probably should pay a little more, so I
could pay £110 and you could pay £80 [1]. Does that sound okay?
Jim: Considering that my old (2) ………………… cost me £100 for a smaller room, I’m
definitely alright with that! Hey, I was looking at a map of the area, and can’t seem to find a
bus stop near it. Do you know where we would catch the bus?
Peter: Well, the bus is actually pretty far from us, but we have that garage [2] that we can
park out cars in.
Jim: Wow, that’s great! Convenient parking is hard to find, so we’re lucky we have that.
Okay, so we have a whole lot of things we’ll need to buy when we move in - how do you
want to split that up?
Peter: I was wondering - do you still work at the supermarket [3]?
Jim: Yep, every Tuesday and Saturday.
Peter: Would you be able to buy things from there if I send you a (4) …………………?
Jim: Sure, I can do that.
Peter: Great. Then I can take care of whatever else we need that you wouldn’t get at a
supermarket. If you want, I’ll pick you up from work that day and we can go to the apartment
together.
Jim: That would be great, thanks.
Peter: No problem - that way we can split the cost of petrol [4]
Jim: Works for me. It’s so expensive these days, isn’t it?
Peter: It’s downright (5) ………………….
Jim: So let’s figure out what appliances we need. Do we have a microwave?
Peter: Yes, the landlord’s providing that for us. Hey, do you still have that space heater [5]
though? We need one for the kitchen since it’s not connected to the central heating.
Jim: Oh, right, I’ll bring that. Anything else?
Peter: Well, I have some dining room and living room furniture I can bring, so that should
take care of most of the big stuff. You know what we do need though? Could you bring a
toaster ? [6]
Jim: I actually don’t have one. It doesn’t come with the microwave?
Peter: No, the landlord is only supplying the microwave. It would really help if you could
bring one.
Jim: Okay, I’ll pick one up at the store. You know, I also have this cool (8) …………………
rotary phone that would be a cool addition to the apartment. Sort of as decoration and utility.
Peter: Oh cool! The only thing is, we’d have to put it in the kitchen [7], unless you want it in
your room.
Jim: Why not put it in the living room?
Peter: The living room is too loud to have a phone conversation. The noise sort of (9)
…………………, so if one person is trying to watch TV or have friends over the person on
the phone won’t be able to hear.
Jim: Hm, okay, well I guess kitchen it is then. Any other big things we need? That seems like
everything
Peter: That’s all I can think of. And of course, move-in is
Jim: June 1st [8]. I can’t wait. We’ll be able to watch the big game in our new apartment -
it’s going to be (10) …………………!
Peter: Yeah, we can move in in the morning and then Friday night [9] we can sit back and
cheer on Liverpool.
Jim: I have an exam [10] in the morning, but will be done around 11 a.m. and can move in
after. Wait... Liverpool? You’re joking, right? I thought you were a Manchester United fan?
Peter: MAN U? No way! Liverpool all the way!
Jim: Oh no. I don’t know if I can live with a Liverpool fan...
SECTION 2:
Earn And Learn Company
Welcome to all of you… Can everybody see and hear me?... Good… I’m Sarah Conor, an HR
representative of Earn and Learn. I have been asked today to talk to you about our company.
So, for those of you who don’t know very much about the company, let me start by giving
you some basic information about it.
Earn and Learn started nearly twenty years ago. It is not a charity but a (11) …………………
company that enables promising entrepreneurs to make money [11] while traveling. During
the past ten years, it has grown rapidly and has gained great influence in most countries of the
world.
We have a partnership with the school [12] and take a large number of recent graduates from
the (12)…………………. So if you are a recent graduate I’d say you can consider applying to
our company.
Before your application, you might be curious about what sort of places you could go to.
There are four main locations, but you also have the freedom to submit a different location
and if they can make the necessary arrangements, you can go.
The first country Earn and Learn established locations in was the U.S., where you may choose
from multiple locations, as long as you can commit to their more (13) …………………
schedule of August to December [13]
Also, you could do the Australia (14) …………………. That one is really cool - you work at
a wildlife shelter and learn about the business practices of nonprofit organisations. You do
have to be willing to commit 8 months for that one, through [14]. Perhaps that’s a long time
to be so far away, but I would say it is really an amazing opportunity.
I don’t know whether some of you are in decent physical shape. If so, the South Africa
internship is another exciting one - you learn a lot about sustainable farming - but you would
be doing some of the (15) ………………… involved in maintaining a farm. [15]
Indeed, it’s hard work, but I think you would definitely be able to do it. It may be wise to wait
until after their summer is over so it's not so terribly hot [16]
In addition, There is a most recent established location in India. This one gives you more of a
study abroad feel, given that they arrange a host family for you to stay with. In the other
locations, you live in an apartment with other (16) …………………, so this is definitely a
unique experience.
Regardless of where you go, at the end of the program you get a Global Traveling Certificate,
as long as you can explain your experience. You can provide a written log of what you did. I
recommend writing journal or (17) ………………… about what you do everyday, or a
weekly summary of each day [17]
Of course you don’t have to write up a formal report or anything like that. And you need to
apply for it once you have returned [18]
Some students may want to know whether this is a (18) ………………… internship. Actually
you have to pay for the flight there yourself. But you have the opportunity to create your own
small business, which could earn you money if it’s successful.
So basically you pay for it all up front, but when you’re there you can find ways to make
money. That is to say, you pay for two thirds of the cost up front as a (19) …………………
and then give the final installment one month prior to your return [19]
Finally, I have to remind you that you need a health check before you go [20], to make sure
you’re not going to spread any (20) …………………. In addition, before you go, you don’t
have to attend any meetings or workshops. You’ll meet everyone you'll be working with once
you get there.
Okay, well, that’s all I’ve time for today. Thanks for listening and I’m happy to take any
questions if you have them...
SECTION 3: 🡪 SKIP!
SECTION 4:
The Gherkin Building
Today I’d like to tell you about how U.K architects are playing their part to address the issue
of global warming. You have seen many of these (35) ………………… buildings while
going about your everyday life, but you may not know how they are affecting your tomorrow.
In 2003, construction was completed on the famous Swiss Re Building, or more informally
called the Gherkin, a true masterpiece (36) ………………… by the law offices of Foster and
Partner [31]. This is not the first ambitious endeavor of the film - they are renowned for their
various philanthropic, environmental efforts.
The Gherkin, with its cutting edge green initiative and sharp design, is gaining recognition as
an icon in modern architecture. You can pick it out of the London skyline by its (37)
………………… cigar shape [32]
While its appearance is the obvious (38) ………………… at which to marvel, there is far
more to this building than meets the eye. And let’s face it - there’s a lot about this building
that meets the eye. The building helps reduce the city’s carbon footprint in a number of ways
[33]
Just a quick note - in case you’re not familiar with the term ‘carbon footprint’, get used to it!
It’s a buzzword you’ll hear relentlessly to talk about reducing emissions. Think of it as the
amount of harmful (39) ………………… that are given off into the environment by a single
person, organisation, or product.
So going back to the Gherkin Building - perhaps the most obvious as well as the most
significant eco-friendly feature is the glass windows, which allow light [34] to pass through
the building, both reducing heating costs and brightening up the workspace.
The ingenuity behind the various eco-friendly aspects of the Gherkin has seen its fair share of
publicity both from serious and (40) ………………… sources.
In a recent April Fool’s Day edition, one e-publication printed a story detailing plans to
replace 50% of the current exterior with grass [35], which would not only make large steps in
the name of (41)…………………, but also give the building the green hue that would truly
earn it the nickname of the Gherkin.
The only drawback is as you may have guessed, that this story was an April Fool’s Day joke
and completely made up.
In all seriousness though, the building is setting a new standard of design that other architects
and city planners just cannot ignore. The building’s bold and (42) ………………… design
has won a number of architectural awards, including the Stirling Prize, the London Region
Award, and the Emporis Skyscraper Award among others.
The design comfortably accommodates a large number of offices while keeping maintenance
and operational costs down, striking a (43) ………………… between nature [36] and the
workplace.
Nature is well and good, as long as the weather is nice outside. Given London’s notoriously
bad weather, the architects knew they must (44) ………………… a quality temperature
regulation system, and that they did.
A special system designed to reduce the building’s reliance on air-conditioning [37] was
devised that cuts consumption in half compared to standard office buildings.
There are atria that link each floor vertically to one another, forming (45) …………………
spaces up the entire building. They serve not just as social common spaces but also act as the
building’s lungs [38], distributing clean air from the opening panels in the (46)
………………… through the entire building.
The building isn’t all business though - it has its fair share of fun as well. At the very top, a
clubroom [39] offers a picturesque entertainment spot for company functions, private parties,
etc., with a breathtaking (47) ………………… view of the city.
The creation of such an (48) ………………… structure has many wondering what the future
of urban planning and architecture may be. Well, if the other projects currently commissioned
by Foster and Partners are any (49) …………………, the entire city [40] constructed with
similarly eco-friendly buildings is not far in the distance.
The Masdar City development aims to create a desert city that produces zero waste and
removes as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as it puts in - a huge feat in protecting
our earth.
The Gherkin is a truly (50) …………………, yet it is not the only one worth noting. Now to
move on to another green initiative, I’ll tell you about the Eden Foundation Building, found in
Cornwall…
READING
READING PASSAGE 1
The Origins Of Laughter
While joking and wit are uniquely human inventions, laughter certainly is not. Other
creatures, including chimpanzees, gorillas and even rats, laugh. The fact that they laugh
suggests that laughter has been around for a lot longer than we have.
There is no doubt that laughing typically involves groups of people. “Laughter evolved as a
signal to others — it almost disappears when we are alone,” says Robert Provine, a
neuroscientist at the University of Maryland Provine found that most laughter comes as a
polite reaction to everyday remarks such as “see you later”, rather than anything particularly
funny. And the way we laugh depends on the company we’re keeping. Men tend to laugh
longer and harder when they are with other men, perhaps as a way of bonding. Women tend
to laugh more and at a higher pitch when men are present, possibly indicating flirtation or
even submission.
To find the origins of laughter, Provine believes we need to look at play. He points out that
the masters of laughing are children, and nowhere is their talent more obvious than in the
boisterous antics, and the original context is play. Well-known primate watchers, including
Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall, have long argued that chimps laugh while at play. The sound
they produce is known as a pant laugh. It seems obvious when you watch their behavior —
they even have the same ticklish spots as we do. But after removing the context, the parallel
between human laughter and a chimp’s characteristic pant laugh is not so clear. When Provine
played a tape of the pant laughs to 119 of his students, for example, only two guessed
correctly what it was.
These findings underline how chimp and human laughter vary- When we laugh the sound is
usually produced by chopping up a single exhalation into a series of shorter with one sound
produced on each inward and outward breath. The question is: does this pant laughter have
the same source as our own laughter? New research lends weight to the idea that it does. The
findings come from Elke Zimmerman, head of the Institute for Zoology in Germany, who
compared the sounds made by babies and chimpanzees in response to tickling during the first
year of; their life. Using sound spectrographs to reveal the pitch and intensity of
vocalizations, she discovered that chimp and human baby laughter follow broadly the same
pattern Zimmerman believes the closeness of baby laughter to chimp laughter supports the
idea that laughter was around long before humans arrived on the scene. What started simply
as a modification of breathing associated with enjoyable and playful interactions has acquired
a symbolic meaning as an indicator of pleasure.
Pinpointing when laughter developed is another matter. Humans and chimps share a common
ancestor that lived perhaps 8 million years ago, but animals might have been laughing long
before that. More distantly related primates, including gorillas, laugh, and anecdotal evidence
suggests that other social mammals can do too. Scientists are currently testing such stories
with a comparative analysis of just how common laughter is among animals. So far, though,
the most compelling evidence for laughter beyond primates comes from research done by
Jaak Panksepp from Bowling Green State University, Ohio, into the ultrasonic chirps
produced by rats during play and in response to tickling

All this still doesn’t answer the question of why we laugh at all. One idea is that laughter and
tickling originated as a way of sealing the relationship between mother and child. Another is
that the reflex response to tickling is protective, alerting us to the presence of crawling
creatures that might harm us or compelling us to defend the parts of our bodies that are most
vulnerable in hand-to-hand combat. But the idea that has gained the most popularity in recent
years is that laughter in response to tickling is a way for two individuals to signal and test
their trust in one another. This hypothesis starts from the observation that although a little
tickle can be enjoyable, if it goes on too long it can be torture. By engaging in a bout of
tickling, we put ourselves at the mercy of another individual, and laughing is what makes it a
reliable signal of trust, according to Tom Flamson, a laughter researcher at the University of
California, Los Angels. “Even in rats, laughter, tickle, play and trust are linked. Rats chirp a
lot when they play,” says Flamson. “These chirps can be aroused by tickling. And they get
bonded to us as a result, which certainly seems like a show of trust.”
We’ll never know which animal laughed the first laugh, or why. But we can be sure it wasn’t
in response to a prehistoric joke. The funny thing is that while the origins of laughter are
probably quite serious, we owe human laughter and our language-based humor to the same
unique skill. While other animals pant, we alone can control our breath well enough to
produce the sound of laughter. Without that control there would also be no speech — and no
jokes to endure.
Questions 1-6: Match each finding with the correct person, A, B, C or D.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
1. Babies and some animals produce laughter which sounds similar.
2. Primates are not the only animals who produce laughter.
3. Most human laughter is not a response to a humorous situation.
4. Laughter can be used to show that we feel safe and secure with others.
5. Laughter is a social activity.
6. Animal laughter evolved before human laughter.
List of people
A. Provine
B. Zimmerman
C. Panksepp
D. Flamson
Questions 7-10: Complete the summary using the list of words, A-K, below.
Some scientists believe that laughter first developed out of 7 _______. Research has revealed
that human and chimp laughter may have the same 8 _______. Scientists have long been
aware that
9_______ laugh, but it now appears that laughter might be more widespread than once
thought. Although the reasons why humans started to laugh are still unknown, it seems that
laughter may result from the 10 _______ we feel with another person.
A. combat B. chirps C. pitch D. origins E. play F.
rats
G. primates H. confidence I. fear J. babies K. tickling
Questions 11-13: Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading
Passage 1?
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
11 Both men and women laugh more when they are with members of the same sex.
12 Primates lack sufficient breath control to be able to produce laughs the way humans do.
13 Chimpanzees produce laughter in a wider range of situations than rats do.

PASSAGE 2
The Lost City
Thanks to modern remote-sensing techniques, a ruined city in Turkey is slowly revealing
itself as one of the greatest and most mysterious cities of the ancient world. Sally Palmer
uncovers more.
A. The low granite mountain, known as Kerkenes Dag, juts from the northern edge of the
Cappadocian plain in Turkey. Sprawled over the mountainside are the ruins of an enormous
city, contained by crumbling defensive walls seven kilometres long. Many respected
archaeologists believe these are the remains of the fabled city of Pteria, the sixth-century BC
stronghold of the Medes that the Greek historian Herodotus described in his famous work The
Histories. The short-lived city came under Median control and only fifty years later was
sacked, burned and its strong stone walls destroyed.
B. British archeologist Dr Geoffrey Summers has spent ten years studying the site.
Excavating the ruins is a challenge because of the vast area they cover. The 7 km perimeter
walls run around a site covering 271 hectares. Dr Summers quickly realised it would take far
too long to excavate the site using traditional techniques alone. So he decided to use modern
technology as well to map the entire site, both above and beneath the surface, to locate the
most interesting areas and priorities to start digging.
C. In 1993, Dr Summers hired a special hand-held balloon with a remote controlled camera
attached. He walked over the entire site holding the balloon and taking photos. Then one
afternoon, he rented a hot-air balloon and floated over the site, taking yet more pictures. By
the end of the 1994 season, Dr Summers and his team had a jigsaw of aerial photographs of
the whole site. The next stage was to use remote sensing, which would let them work out
what lay below the intriguing outlines and ruined walls. “Archaeology is a discipline that
lends itself very well to remote sensing because it revolves around space,” says Scott
Branting, an associated director of the project. He started working with Dr Summers in 1995.
D. The project used two main remote-sensing techniques. The first is magnetometry, which
works on the principle that magnetic fields at the surface of the Earth are influenced by what
is buried beneath. It measures localised variations in the direction and intensity of this
magnetic field. “The Earth’s magnetic field can vary from place to place, depending on what
happened there in the past,” says Branting. “if something containing iron oxide was heavily
burnt, by natural or human actions, the iron particles in it can be permanently reoriented, like
a compass needle, to align with the Earth’s magnetic field present at that point in time and
space.’The magnetometer detects differences in the orientations and intensities of these iron
particles from the present-day magnetic field and uses them to produce an image of what lies
below ground.
E. Kerkenes Dag lends itself particularly well to magnetometry because it was all burnt at
once in a savage fire. In places the heat was sufficient to turn sandstone to glass and to melt
granite. The fire was so hot that there were strong magnetic signatures set to the Earth’s
magnetic field from the time around 547 BC-resulting in extremely clear pictures.
Furthermore, the city was never rebuilt, “if you have multiple layers confusing picture,
because you have different walls from different periods giving signatures that all go in
different directions,” says Branting. “We only have one going down about 1.5 meters, so we
can get a good picture of this fairly short-lived city”
F. The other main subsurface mapping technique, which is still being used at the site, is
resistivity. This technique measures the way electrical pulses are conducted through
subsurface soil. It’s done by shooting pulses into the ground through a thin metal probe.
Different materials have different electrical conductivity. For example, stone and mudbrick
are poor conductors, but looser, damp soil conducts very well. By walking around the site and
taking about four readings per metre, it is possible to get a detailed idea of what is where
beneath the surface. The teams then build up pictures of walls, hearths and other remains. “It
helps a lot if it has rained, because the electrical pulse can get through more easily,” says
Branting. “Then if something is more resistant, it really shows up.” This is one of the reasons
that the project has a spring season, when most of the resistivity work is done. Unfortunately,
testing resistivity is a lot slower than magnetometry. “If we did resistivity over the whole site
it would take about 100 years,” says Branting. Consequently, the team is concentrating on
areas where they want to clarify pictures from the magnetometry.
G. Remote sensing does not reveal everything about Kerkenes Dag, but it shows the most
interesting sub-surface areas of the site. The archaeologists can then excavate these using
traditional techniques. One surprise came when they dug out one of the fates in the defensive
walls. “Our observations in early seasons led us to assume that we were looking at a stone
base from a mudbrick city wall, such as would be found at most other cities in the Ancient
Near East,” says Dr Summers. “When we started to excavate we were staggered to discover
that the walls were made entirely from stone and that the gate would have stood at least ten
metres high. After ten years of study, Pteria is gradually giving up its secrets.”
Questions 14-17: Which paragraph contains the following information?
14. The reason for the development of variety of investigative methods
15. An example of an unexpected find.
16. How the surface of the site was surveyed from above
17. The reason why experts are interested in the site.
Questions 18-25: Use no more than THREE words from the Reading Passage for each
answer.
Exploring the Ancient City of Pyteria
Archaeologists began working ten years ago. They started by taking photographs of the site
from the ground and then from a distance in a 18 ___________. They focused on what lay
below the surface using a magnetometer, which identifies variations in the magnetic field.
These variations occur when the 19____________ in buried structures have changed direction
as a result of great heat. They line up with the surrounding magnetic field just as a
20____________ would do.
The other remote-sensing technique employed was resistivity. This uses a 21 ____________
to fire electrical pulses into the earth. The principle is that building materials like 22
______________ and stone do not conduct electricity well, while 23 ____________ does this
much more effectively. This technique is mainly employed during the 24 _____________
when conditions are more favourable. Resistivity is mainly being used to
25_______________ some images generated by the magnetometer.
Question 26: How do modern remote-sensing techniques help at the Pteria site?
A. They detect minute buried objects for the archaeologists to dig up.
B. They pinpoint key areas which would be worth investigating closely.
C. They remove the need for archaeologists to excavate any part of the site.
D. They extend the research period as they can be used at any time of year.

PASSAGE 3
Designed to Last: Could Better Design Cure Our Throwaway Culture?
Jonathan Chapman, a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton, UK, is one of a new breed
of 'sustainable designers'. Like many of us, they are concerned about the huge waste
associated with Western consumer culture and the damage this does to the environment.
Some, like Chapman, aim to create objects we will want to keep rather than discard. Others
are working to create more efficient or durable consumer goods, or goods designed with
recycling in mind. The waste entailed in our fleeting relationships with consumer durables is
colossal.
Dometic power tools, such ao electric drills, are a typical example of such waste. However
much DIY the purchaser plans to do, the truth is that these things are thrown away having
been used, on average, for just ten minutes. Most will serve 'conscience time', gathering dust
on a shelf in the garage; people are reluctant to admit that they have wasted their money.
However, the end is inevitable: thousands of years in land- fill waste sites. In its design,
manufacture, packaging, transportation and disposal, a power tool consumes many times its
own weight of resources, all for a shorter active lifespan than that of the average small insect.
To understand why we have become so wasteful, we should look to the underlying motivation
of consumers. "People own things to give expression to who they are, and to show what group
of people they feel they belong to," Chapman says. In a world of mass production, however,
that symbolism has lost much of its potency. For most of human history, people had an
intimate relationship with objects they used or treasured. Often they made the objects
themselves, or family members passed them on. For more specialised objects, people relied
on expert manufacturers living close by. whom they probably knew personally. Chapman
points out that all these factors gave objects a history - a narrative - and an emotional
connection that today's mass- produced goods cannot possibly match. Without these personal
connections, consumerist culture idolises novelty instead. People know that they cannot buy
happiness, but the chance to remake themselves with glossy, box-fresh products seems
irresistible. When the novelty fades, they simply renew the excitement by buying more.
Chapman's solution is what he calls 'emotionally durable design'. He says the challenge for
designers is to create things we want to keep. This may sound like a tall order, but it can be
surprisingly straightforward. A favourite pair of old jeans, for example, just do not have the
right feel until they have been worn and washed a hundred times. It is as if they are sharing
the wearer's life story. The look can be faked, but it is simply not the same. Walter Stahel,
visiting professor at the University of Surrey, UK, calls this 'the teddy bear factor'. No matter
how ragged and worn a favourite teddy becomes, we don't rush out and buy another one. As
adults, our teddy bear connects us to our childhood and this protects it from obsolescence.
Stahel argues that this is what sustainable design needs to do with more products.
The information age was supposed to lighten our economies and reduce our impact on the
environment, but, in fact, the reverse seems to be happening. We have simply added
information technology to the industrial era and speeded up the developed world's
metabolism. The cure is hardly rocket science: minimise waste, stop moving things around so
much and use people more. So what will post-throwaway consumerism look like? It might be
as simple as installing energy-saving light bulbs, more efficient washing machines or
choosing locally produced groceries with less packag- ing. In general, we will spend less on
goods and more on services. Instead of buying a second car, for example, we might buy into a
car-sharing network. Rather than following our current wasteful practices, we will buy less
and rent a lot more: why own things such as tools that you use infrequently, especially things
are likely to be updated all the time?
Consumer durables will increasingly be sold with plans for their disposal. Electronic goods
such as mobile phones will be designed to be recyclable, with the extra cost added into the
retail price. Following Chapman's notion of emotionally durable design, there will be a move
away from mass production and towards tailor-made articles and products designed and
manufactured with greater craftsmanship, products which will be repaired rather than
replaced, in the same way as was done in our grandparents' time. Companies will replace
profit from bulk sales by servicing and repairing products chosen because we want them to
last.
Chapman acknowledges that it will be a challenge to persuade people to buy fewer goods, and
ones that they intend to keep. At the moment, price competition between retailers makes it
cheaper for consumers to replace rather than repair.
Products designed to be durable and emotionally satisfying are likely to be more expensive,
so how will we be persuaded to choose sustainability? Tim Cooper, from Sheffield Hallam
University in the UK, points out that many people are already happy to pay a premium for
quality, and that they also tend to value and care more for expensive goods. Chapman is also
positive: "People are ready to keep things for longer," he says, "The problem is that a lot of
industries don't know how to do that." Chapman believes that sustainable design is here to
stay. "The days when large cor- porations were in a position to choose whether to jump on the
sustainability band- wagon or not are coming to an end," he says. Whether this is also the
beginning of the end of the throwaway society remains to be seen.
Questions 27-31: Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
27. In the second paragraph, the expression 'conscience time' refers to the fact that the
owners
A. feel that the tool will increase in value in the future.
B. would feel guilty if they threw the tool away immediately.
C. wish they had not bought the power tool.
D. want to make sure the tool is stored safely.
28. Jonathan Chapman uses the word 'narrative' in the third paragraph to refer to the
fact that the owner
A. felt that the item became more useful over time.
B. was told that the item had been used for a long time.
C. told a story about how the item was bought.
D. was aware of how the item had come into being.
29. In the third paragraph, the writer suggests that mass-produced goods are
A. attractive because of their lower prices.
B. less tempting than goods which are traditionally produced.
C. inferior in quality.
D. less likely to be kept for a long time.
30. Lack of personal connection to goods is described as producing
A. a desire to demonstrate status through belongings.
B. a desire to purchase a constant stream of new items.
C. a belief that older goods are superior.
D. an attraction to well-designed packaging.
31. Jeans and teddy bears are given as examples of goods which
A. are valued more as they grow older.
B. are used by the majority of the population.
C. have been very well designed.
D. take a long time to show wear.
Questions 32-35: Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in
reading Passage 3?
TRUE if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
FALSE if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
32. People often buy goods that they make little use of. T
33. Understanding the reasons for buying goods will help to explain why waste occurs.
34. People already rent more goods than they buy.
35. Companies will charge less to repair goods in the future.
Questions 36-40: Complete the summary using the list of words, A-I, below
A cure for our wasteful habits
The writer believes that the recipe for reducing our impact on the environment is a simple
one. He states that we should use less energy for things such as lighting or 36 _________ and
buy 37 _________ that will not need to be moved across long distances. Some expensive
items such as 38 _________ could be shared, and others which may be less expensive but
which are not needed often, such as 39_________ could be rented instead of being purchased.
He believes that manufacturers will need to design high-technology items such as
40_________ so that they can be recycled more easily.
A. mobile phones D. laundry G. heating B. clothing E. computers
H. cars C. tools F. food I. teddy bears