Reading Exercises

Crop-growing skyscrapers

By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the Earth’s population will live in urban centres. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about three billion people by then. An estimated 109 hectares of new land (about 20% larger than Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming methods continue as they are practiced today.

At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use. Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done to ensure enough food for the world’s population to live on ?

The concept of indoor farming is not new, since hothouse production of tomatoes and other produce has been in vogue for some time. What is new is the urgent need to scale up this technology to accommodate another three billion people. Many believe an entirely new approach to indoor farming is required, employing cutting-edge technologies. One such proposal is for the ‘Vertical Farm’. The concept is of multi-storey buildings in which food crops are grown in environmentally controlled conditions. Situated in the heart of urban centres, they would drastically reduce the amount of transportation required to bring food to consumers. Vertical farms would need to be efficient, cheap to construct and safe to operate. If successfully implemented, proponents claim, vertical farms offer the promise of urban renewal, sustainable production of a safe and varied food supply (through year-round production of all crops), and the eventual repair of ecosystems that have been sacrificed for horizontal farming.

It took humans 10,000 years to learn how to grow most of the crops we now take for granted. Along the way, we despoiled most of the land we worked, often turning verdant, natural ecozones into semi-arid deserts. Within that same time frame, we evolved into an urban species, in which 60% of the human population now lives vertically in cities. This means that, for the majority, we humans have shelter from the elements, yet we subject our food-bearing plants to the rigours of the great outdoors and can do no more than hope for a good weather year. However, more often than not now, due to a rapidly changing climate, that is not what happens. Massive floods, long droughts, hurricanes and severe monsoons take their toll each year, destroying millions of tons of valuable crops.

The supporters of vertical farming claim many potential advantages for the system. For instance, crops would be produced all year round, as they would be kept in artificially controlled, optimum growing conditions. There would be no weather-related crop failures due to droughts, floods or pests. All the food could be grown organically, eliminating the need for herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers. The system would greatly reduce the incidence of many infectious diseases that are acquired at the agricultural interface. Although the system would consume energy, it would return energy to the grid via methane generation from composting nonedible parts of plants. It would also dramatically reduce fossil fuel use, by cutting out the need for tractors, ploughs and shipping.

A major drawback of vertical farming, however, is that the plants would require artificial light. Without it, those plants nearest the windows would be exposed to more sunlight and grow more quickly, reducing the efficiency of the system. Single-storey greenhouses have the benefit of natural overhead light; even so, many still need artificial lighting.

A multi-storey facility with no natural overhead light would require far more. Generating enough light could be prohibitively expensive, unless cheap, renewable energy is available, and this appears to be rather a future aspiration than a likelihood for the near future.

One variation on vertical farming that has been developed is to grow plants in stacked trays that move on rails. Moving the trays allows the plants to get enough sunlight. This system is already in operation, and works well within a single-storey greenhouse with light reaching it from above: it Is not certain, however, that it can be made to work without that overhead natural light.

Vertical farming is an attempt to address the undoubted problems that we face in producing enough food for a growing population. At the moment, though, more needs to be done to reduce the detrimental impact it would have on the environment, particularly as regards the use of energy. While it is possible that much of our food will be grown in skyscrapers in future, most experts currently believe it is far more likely that we will simply use the space available on urban rooftops.

Questions 1-7

Complete the sentences below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.

Indoor farming

1    Some food plants, including _____________________ are already grown indoors.

2    Vertical farms would be located in _____________________ meaning that there would be less need to take them long distances to customers.

3    Vertical farms could use methane from plants and animals to produce _____________________.

4    The consumption of_____________________  would be cut because agricultural vehicles would be unnecessary.

5    The fact that vertical farms would need _____________________ light is a disadvantage.

6    One form of vertical farming involves planting in _____________________ which are not fixed.

7    The most probable development is that food will be grown on _____________________ in towns and cities.  

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Questions 8-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?

In boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE    if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

8   Methods for predicting the Earth’s population have recently changed.

9   Human beings are responsible for some of the destruction to food-producing land.

10 The crops produced in vertical farms will depend on the season.

11  Some damage to food crops is caused by climate change.

12 Fertilizers will be needed for certain crops in vertical farms.

13 Vertical farming will make plants less likely to be affected by infectious diseases.

Traffic Jams — No End in Sight

A. There are no easy answers to the problems of traffic congestion. Traffic congestion affects people throughout the world. Traffic jams cause smog in dozens of cities across both the developed and developing world. In the U.S., commuters spend an average of a full work week each year sitting in traffic, according to the Texas Transportation Institute. While alternative ways of getting around are available, most people still choose their cars because they are looking for convenience, comfort and privacy.

B. The most promising technique for reducing city traffic is called congestion pricing, whereby cities charge a toll to enter certain parts of town at certain times of day. In theory, if the toll is high enough, some drivers will cancel their trips or go by bus or train. And in practice it seems to work: Singapore, London and Stockholm have reduced traffic and pollution in city centers thanks to congestion pricing.

C. Another way to reduce rush hour traffic is for employers to implement flexitime, which lets employees travel to and from work at off-peak traffic times to avoid the rush hour. Those who have to travel during busy times can do their part by sharing cars. Employers can also allow more staff to telecommute (work from home) so as to keep more cars off the road altogether.

D. Some urban planners still believe that the best way to ease traffic congestion is to build more roads, especially roads that can take drivers around or over crowded city streets. But such techniques do not really keep cars off the road; they only accommodate more of them.

E. Other, more forward-thinking, planners know that more and more drivers and cars are taking to the roads every day, and they are unwilling to encourage more private automobiles when public transport is so much better both for people and the environment. For this reason, the American government has decided to spend some $7 billion on helping to increase capacity on public transport systems and upgrade them with more efficient technologies. But environmentalists complain that such funding is tiny compared with the $50 billion being spent on roads and bridges. 

Questions 1-5

Read the paragraphs one by one to choose the correct headings. 

1. Paragraph A

2. Paragraph B

3. Paragraph C 

4. Paragraph D

5. Paragraph E

List of Headings

i        A solution which is no  solution

ii       Changing working practices

iii      Closing city centres to traffic

iv      Making cars more environmentally friendly

v       Not doing enough

vi      Paying to get in

vii     A global problem

The life and work of Marie Curie

Marie Curie is probably the most famous woman scientist who has ever lived. Born Maria Sklodowska in Poland in 1867, she is famous for her work on radioactivity, and was twice a winner of the Nobel Prize. With her husband, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel, she was awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics, and was then sole winner of the 1911 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.

From childhood, Marie was remarkable for her prodigious memory, and at the age of 16 won a gold medal on completion of her secondary education. Because her father lost his savings through bad investment, she then had to take work as a teacher. From her earnings she was able to finance her sister Bronia's medical studies in Paris, on the understanding that Bronia would, in turn, later help her to get an education.

In 1891 this promise was fulfilled and Marie went to Paris and began to study at the Sorbonne (the University of Paris). She often worked far into the night and lived on little more than bread and butter and tea. She came first in the examination in the physical sciences in 1893, and in 1894 was placed second in the examination in mathematical sciences. It was not until the spring of that year that she was introduced to Pierre Curie.

Their marriage in 1895 marked the start of a partnership that was soon to achieve results of world significance. Following Henri Becquerel's discovery in 1896 of a new phenomenon, which Marie later called 'radioactivity', Marie Curie decided to find out if the radioactivity discovered in uranium was to be found in other elements. She discovered that this was true for thorium.

Turning her attention to minerals, she found her interest drawn to pitchblende, a mineral whose radioactivity, superior to that of pure uranium, could be explained only by the presence in the ore of small quantities of an unknown substance of very high activity. Pierre Curie joined her in the work that she had undertaken to resolve this problem, and that led to the discovery of the new elements, polonium and radium. While Pierre Curie devoted himself chiefly to the physical study of the new radiations, Marie Curie struggled to obtain pure radium in the metallic state. This was achieved with the help of the chemist André-Louis Debierne, one of Pierre Curie's pupils. Based on the results of this research, Marie Curie received her Doctorate of Science, and in 1903 Marie and Pierre shared with Becquerel the Nobel Prize for Physics for the discovery of radioactivity.

The births of Marie's two daughters, Irène and Eve, in 1897 and 1904 failed to interrupt her scientific work. She was appointed lecturer in physics at the École Normale Supérieure for girls in Sèvres, France (1900), and introduced a method of teaching based on experimental demonstrations. In December 1904 she was appointed chief assistant in the laboratory directed by Pierre Curie.

The sudden death of her husband in 1906 was a bitter blow to Marie Curie, but was also a turning point in her career: henceforth she was to devote all her energy to completing alone the scientific work that they had undertaken. On May 13, 1906, she was appointed to the professorship that had been left vacant on her husband's death, becoming the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne. In 1911 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the isolation of a pure form of radium.

During World War I, Marie Curie, with the help of her daughter Irène, devoted herself to the development of the use of X-radiography, including the mobile units which came to be known as ‘Little Curies', used for the treatment of wounded soldiers. In 1918 the Radium Institute, whose staff Irène had joined, began to operate in earnest, and became a centre for nuclear physics and chemistry. Marie Curie, now at the highest point of her fame and, from 1922, a member of the Academy of Medicine, researched the chemistry of radioactive substances and their medical applications.

In 1921, accompanied by her two daughters, Marie Curie made a triumphant journey to the United States to raise funds for research on radium. Women there presented her with a gram of radium for her campaign. Marie also gave lectures in Belgium, Brazil, Spain and Czechoslovakia and, in addition, had the satisfaction of seeing the development of the Curie Foundation in Paris, and the inauguration in 1932 in Warsaw of the Radium Institute, where her sister Bronia became director.

One of Marie Curie's outstanding achievements was to have understood the need to accumulate intense radioactive sources, not only to treat illness but also to maintain an abundant supply for research. The existence in Paris at the Radium Institute of a stock of 1.5 grams of radium made a decisive contribution to the success of the experiments undertaken in the years around 1930. This work prepared the way for the discovery of the neutron by Sir James Chadwick and, above all, for the discovery in 1934 by Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie of artificial radioactivity. A few months after this discovery, Marie Curie died as a result of leukaemia caused by exposure to radiation. She had often carried test tubes containing radioactive isotopes in her pocket, remarking on the pretty blue-green light they gave off.

Her contribution to physics had been immense, not only in her own work, the importance of which had been demonstrated by her two Nobel Prizes, but because of her influence on subsequent generations of nuclear physicists and chemists.

Questions 1-6

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage?

In boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE    if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE    if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN    if there is no information on this

1. Marie Curie’s husband was a joint winner of both Marie’s Nobel Prizes.

2. Marie became interested in science when she was a child.

3. Marie was able to attend the Sorbonne because of her sister’s financial contribution.

4. Marie stopped doing research for several years when her children were born.

5. Marie took over the teaching position her husband had held.

6. Marie’s sister Bronia studied the medical uses of radioactivity.

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Questions 7-13

Complete the notes below.

Choose ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet.

Marie Curie’s research on radioactivity

•    When uranium was discovered to be radioactive, Marie Curie found that the element called 7_______________________  had the same property.

•    Marie and Pierre Curie’s research into the radioactivity of the mineral known as 8________________________  led to the discovery of two new elements.

•    In 1911, Marie Curie received recognition for her work on the element 9__________________________.

•    Marie and Irene Curie developed X-radiography which was used as a medical technique for 10________________________.

•    Marie Curie saw the importance of collecting radioactive material both for research and for cases of 11________________________.

•    The radioactive material stocked in Paris contributed to the discoveries in the 1930s of the 12__________________  and of what was known as artificial radioactivity.

•    During her research, Marie Curie was exposed to radiation and as a result she suffered from 13______________________.

A spark, a flint: How fire leapt to life
The control of fire was the first and perhaps greatest of humanity’s steps towards a life-enhancing technology.

To early man, fire was a divine gift randomly delivered in the form of lightning, forest fire or burning lava. Unable to make flame for themselves, the earliest peoples probably stored fire by keeping slow burning logs alight or by carrying charcoal in pots.

How and where man learnt how to produce flame at will is unknown. It was probably a secondary invention, accidentally made during tool-making operations with wood or stone. Studies of primitive societies suggest that the earliest method of making fire was through friction. European peasants would insert a wooden drill in a round hole and rotate it briskly between their palms This process could be speeded up by wrapping a cord around the drill and pulling on each end.

The Ancient Greeks used lenses or concave mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays and burning glasses were also used by Mexican Aztecs and the Chinese.

Percussion methods of fire-lighting date back to Paleolithic times, when some Stone Age tool-makers discovered that chipping flints produced sparks. The technique became more efficient after the discovery of iron, about 5000 years ago In Arctic North America, the Eskimos produced a slow-burning spark by striking quartz against iron pyrites, a compound that contains sulphur. The Chinese lit their fires by striking porcelain with bamboo. In Europe, the combination of steel, flint and tinder remained the main method of fire-lighting until the mid 19th century.

Fire-lighting was revolutionised by the discovery of phosphorus, isolated in 1669 by a German alchemist trying to transmute silver into gold. Impressed by the element’s combustibility, several 17th century chemists used it to manufacture fire-lighting devices, but the results were dangerously inflammable. With phosphorus costing the equivalent of several hundred pounds per ounce, the first matches were expensive.

The quest for a practical match really began after 1781 when a group of French chemists came up with the Phosphoric Candle or Ethereal Match, a sealed glass tube containing a twist of paper tipped with phosphorus. When the tube was broken, air rushed in, causing the phosphorus to self-combust. An even more hazardous device, popular in America, was the Instantaneous Light Box — a bottle filled with sulphuric acid into which splints treated with chemicals were dipped.

The first matches resembling those used today were made in 1827 by John Walker, an English pharmacist who borrowed the formula from a military rocket-maker called Congreve. Costing a shilling a box, Congreves were splints coated with sulphur and tipped with potassium chlorate. To light them, the user drew them quickly through folded glass paper.

Walker never patented his invention, and three years later it was copied by a Samuel Jones, who marketed his product as Lucifers. About the same time, a French chemistry student called Charles Sauria produced the first “strike-anywhere” match by substituting white phosphorus for the potassium chlorate in the Walker formula. However, since white phosphorus is a deadly poison, from 1845 match-makers exposed to its fumes succumbed to necrosis, a disease that eats away jaw-bones. It wasn’t until 1906 that the substance was eventually banned. 

That was 62 years after a Swedish chemist called Pasch had discovered non-toxic red or amorphous phosphorus, a development exploited commercially by Pasch’s compatriot J E Lundstrom in 1885. Lundstrom’s safety matches were safe because the red phosphorus was non-toxic; it was painted on to the striking surface instead of the match tip, which contained potassium chlorate with a relatively high ignition temperature of 182 degrees centigrade.

America lagged behind Europe in match technology and safety standards. It wasn’t until 1900 that the Diamond Match Company bought a French patent for safety matches — but the formula did not work properly in the different climatic conditions prevailing in America and it was another 11 years before scientists finally adapted the French patent for the US.

The Americans, however, can claim several “firsts” in match technology and marketing. In 1892 the Diamond Match Company pioneered book matches. The innovation didn’t catch on until after 1896, when a brewery had the novel idea of advertising its product in match books. Today book matches are the most widely used type in the US, with 90 percent handed out free by hotels, restaurants and others.

Other American innovations include an anti-after-glow solution to prevent the match from smouldering after it has been blown out; and the waterproof match, which lights after eight hours in water.

Questions 1-8

Complete the summary below. Choose your answers from the box at the bottom of the page and write them in boxes 1 8 on your answer sheet.

NB There are more words than spaces so you will not use them all You may use any of the words more than once.

EARLY FIRE-LIGHTING METHODS

Primitive societies saw fire as a ... (Example) ... gift.    Answer: heavenly

They tried to 1_______________ burning logs or charcoal 2________________ that they could create fire themselves.

It is suspected that the first man-made flames were produced by 3__________________

The very first fire-lighting methods involved the creation of 4________________ by, for example, rapidly 5_______________a wooden stick in a round hole.

The use of 6________________ or persistent chipping was also widespread in Europe and among other peoples such as the Chinese and 7_________________

European practice of this method continued until the 1850s 8________________ the discovery of phosphorus some years earlier.

List of Words

Mexicans random rotating despite preserve realising sunlight lacking heavenly percussion chance friction unaware without make heating Eskimos surprised until smoke

Questions 9-15

Look at the following notes that have been made about the matches described in Reading Passage. Decide which type of match (A-H) corresponds with each description and write your answers in boxes 9-15 on your answer sheet.

NB There are more matches than descriptions so you will not use them all.
You may use any match more than once.

Types of Matches

A    the Ethereal Match

B    the Instantaneous Lightbox

C    Congreves

D    Lucifers

E    the first strike-anywhere match

F    Lundstrom’s safety match

G    book matches

H    waterproof matches

NOTES

9      made using a less poisonous type of phosphorus     

10    identical to a previous type of match

11    caused a deadly illness

12    first to look like modern matches

13    first matches used for advertising

14    relied on an airtight glass container

15    made with the help of an army design

The history of glass

From our earliest origins, man has been making use of glass. Historians have discovered that a type of natural glass - obsidian - formed in places such as the mouth of a volcano as a result of the intense heat of an eruption melting sand - was first used as tips for spears. Archaeologists have even found evidence of man-made glass which dates back to 4000 BC; this took the form of glazes used for coating stone beads. It was not until 1500 BC, however, that the first hollow glass container was made by covering a sand core with a layer of molten glass.

Glass blowing became the most common way to make glass containers from the first century BC. The glass made during this time was highly coloured due to the impurities of the raw material. In the first century AD, methods of creating colourless glass were developed, which was then tinted by the addition of colouring materials. The secret of glass making was taken across Europe by the Romans during this century. However, they guarded the skills and technology required to make glass very closely, and it was not until their empire collapsed in 476 AD that glass-making knowledge became widespread throughout Europe and the Middle East. From the 10th century onwards, the Venetians gained a reputation for technical skill and artistic ability in the making of glass bottles, and many of the city’s craftsmen left Italy to set up glassworks throughout Europe.

A major milestone in the history of glass occurred with the invention of lead crystal glass by the English glass manufacturer George Ravenscroft (1632 - 1683). He attempted to counter the effect of clouding that sometimes occurred in blown glass by introducing lead to the raw materials used in the process. The new glass he created was softer and easier to decorate, and had a higher refractive index, adding to its brilliance and beauty, and it proved invaluable to the optical industry. It is thanks to Ravenscroft’s invention that optical lenses, astronomical telescopes, microscopes and the like became possible.

In Britain, the modem glass industry only really started to develop after the repeal of the Excise Act in 1845. Before that time, heavy taxes had been placed on the amount of glass melted in a glasshouse, and were levied continuously from 1745 to 1845. Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace at London’s Great Exhibition of 1851 marked the beginning of glass as a material used in the building industry. This revolutionary new building encouraged the use of glass in public, domestic and horticultural architecture. Glass manufacturing techniques also improved with the advancement of science and the development of better technology.

From 1887 onwards, glass making developed from traditional mouth-blowing to a semi-automatic process, after factory- owner HM Ashley introduced a machine capable of producing 200 bottles per hour in Castleford, Yorkshire, England - more than three times quicker than any previous production method. Then in 1907, the first fully automated machine was developed in the USA by Michael Owens - founder of the Owens Bottle Machine Company (later the major manufacturers Owens- Illinois) - and installed in its factory. Owens’ invention could produce an impressive 2,500 bottles per hour Other developments followed rapidly, but it | was not until the First World War when Britain became cut off from essential glass suppliers, that glass became part of the scientific sector. Previous to this, glass had been seen as a craft rather than a precise science.

Today, glass making is big business. It has become a modem, hi-tech industry operating in a fiercely competitive global market where quality, design and service levels are critical to maintaining market share. Modem glass plants are capable of making millions of glass containers a day in many different colours, with green, brown and clear remaining the most popular. Few of us can imagine modem life without glass. It features in almost every aspect of our lives - in our homes, our cars and whenever we sit down to eat or drink. Glass packaging is used for many products, many beverages are sold in glass, as are numerous foodstuffs, as well as medicines and cosmetics.

Glass is an ideal material for recycling, and with growing consumer concern for green issues, glass bottles and jars are becoming ever more popular. Glass recycling is good news for the environment. It saves used glass containers being sent to landfill. As less energy is needed to melt recycled glass than to melt down raw materials, this also saves fuel and production costs. Recycling also reduces the need for raw materials to be quarried, thus saving precious resources.

Questions 1-8

Complete the notes below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet

The History of Glass

•    Early humans used a material called 1______________  to make the sharp points of their 2________________

•    4000 BC: 3______________  made of stone were covered in a coating of man-made glass.

•    First century BC: glass was coloured because of the 4_________________  in the material.

•    Until 476 AD: Only the 5________________  knew how to make glass.

•    From 10th century: Venetians became famous for making bottles out of glass.

•    17th century: George Ravenscroft developed a process using 6_____________  to avoid the occurrence of 7________________  in blown glass.

•    Mid-19th century: British glass production developed after changes to laws concerning 8___________________ 

Questions 9-13

In boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE    if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

9   In 1887, HM Ashley had the fastest bottle-producing machine that existed at the time.

10 Michael Owens was hired by a large US company to design a fully-automated bottle manufacturing machine for them.

11  Nowadays, most glass is produced by large international manufacturers.

12   Concern for the environment is leading to an increased demand for glass containers.

13   It is more expensive to produce recycled glass than to manufacture new glass.

The water hyacinth

The water hyacinth grows in tropical countries. It has beautiful purple-blue flowers, but everybody hates it. Why?

Millions and millions of these plants grow in rivers and lakes. Sometimes the plants become so thick that people can walk on them. People cannot travel in boats on the water, and they cannot fish in it. The plants stop the water from moving. Then the water carries diseases.
Farmers cannot use the water on their land.

Now scientists think that water hyacinths can be useful. The plants are really a tree crop. No one has to take care of them. They just grow and grow and grow. What can farmers use them for?

Some fish like to eat them. Farmers can grow these fish in the lakes and rivers. Workers can collect and cut the plants with machines. Then they can make fertilizer to make their crops grow better. They can also make feed for their farm animals. Maybe it will be possible to make methane gas for energy. (We burn gas from petroleum for energy. Methane gas comes from plants.)

Then poor tropical countries will not have to buy so much expensive petroleum. Maybe in the future people will love the water hyacinth instead of hating it. 

Questions 1-6

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3?

Write

YES                  if the statement agrees with the views of the writer

NO                   if the statement contradicts the views of the writer

NOT GIVEN       if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this 

1  Water hyacinths grow very thick on some tropical lakes and rivers.
2  Water hyacinths help make water clean.
3  Water hyacinths grow in parts of Asia and Africa.

4 Some kinds of fish like to eat water hyacinths.

5  Water hyacinths can make petroleum.

6  Water hyacinths are a tree crop.

The Motor Car

A

There are now over 700 million motor vehicles in the world - and the number is rising by more than 40 million each year. The average distance driven by car users is growing too - from 8 km a day per person in western Europe in 1965 to 25 km a day in 1995. This dependence on motor vehicles has given rise to major problems, including environmental pollution, depletion of oil resources, traffic congestion and safety.

B 

While emissions from new cars are far less harmful than they used to be, city streets and motorways are becoming more crowded than ever, often with older trucks, buses and taxis, which emit excessive levels of smoke and fumes. This concentration of vehicles makes air quality in urban areas unpleasant and sometimes dangerous to breathe. Even Moscow has joined the list of capitals afflicted by congestion and traffic fumes. In Mexico City, vehicle pollution is a major health hazard.

C

Until a hundred years ago, most journeys were in the 20 km range, the distance conveniently accessible by horse. Heavy freight could only be carried by water or rail. The invention of the motor vehicle brought personal mobility to the masses and made rapid freight delivery possible over a much wider area. Today about 90 per cent of inland freight in the United Kingdom is carried by road. Clearly the world cannot revert to the horse-drawn wagon. Can it avoid being locked into congested and polluting ways of transporting people and goods?

D

In Europe most cities are still designed for the old modes of transport. Adaptation to the motor car has involved adding ring roads, one-way systems and parking lots. In the United States, more land is assigned to car use than to housing. Urban sprawl means that life without a car is next to impossible. Mass use of motor vehicles has also killed or injured millions of people. Other social effects have been blamed on the car such as alienation and aggressive human behaviour.

E

A 1993 study by the European Federation for Transport and Environment found that car transport is seven times as costly as rail travel in terms of the external social costs it entails such as congestion, accidents, pollution, loss of cropland and natural habitats, depletion of oil resources, and so on. Yet cars easily surpass trains or buses as a flexible and convenient mode of personal transport. It is unrealistic to expect people to give up private cars in favour of mass transit.

F

Technical solutions can reduce the pollution problem and increase the fuel efficiency of engines. But fuel consumption and exhaust emissions depend on which cars are preferred by customers and how they are driven. Many people buy larger cars than they need for daily purposes or waste fuel by driving aggressively. Besides, global car use is increasing at a faster rate than the improvement in emissions and fuel efficiency which technology is now making possible.

G

One solution that has been put forward is the long-term solution of designing cities and neighbourhoods so that car journeys are not necessary - all essential services being located within walking distance or easily accessible by public transport. Not only would this save energy and cut carbon dioxide emissions, it would also enhance the quality of community life, putting the emphasis on people instead of cars. Good local government is already bringing this about in some places. But few democratic communities are blessed with the vision - and the capital - to make such profound changes in modern lifestyles.

H

A more likely scenario seems to be a combination of mass transit systems for travel into and around cities, with small 'low emission' cars for urban use and larger hybrid or lean burn cars for use elsewhere. Electronically tolled highways might be used to ensure that drivers pay charges geared to actual road use. Better integration of transport systems is also highly desirable - and made more feasible by modern computers. But these are solutions for countries which can afford them. In most developing countries, old cars and old technologies continue to predominate.

Questions 1-6

Reading Passage 2 has eight paragraphs (A-H). Which paragraphs concentrate on the following information?

Write the appropriate letters (A-H) in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

NB You need only write ONE letter for each answer.

1 a comparison of past and present transportation methods

2 how driving habits contribute to road problems

3 the relative merits of cars and public transport

4 the writer's own prediction of future solutions

5 the increasing use of motor vehicles

6 the impact of the car on city development

Questions 7-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?

In boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet write

YES    if the statement agrees with the information

NO    if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this in the passage

7   Vehicle pollution is worse in European cities than anywhere else.

8   Transport by horse would be a useful alternative to motor vehicles.

9   Nowadays freight is not carried by water in the United Kingdom.

10 Most European cities were not designed for motor vehicles.

11   Technology alone cannot solve the problem of vehicle pollution.

12  People's choice of car and attitude to driving is a factor in the pollution problem.

13 Redesigning cities would be a short-term solution.

Eco-Resort Management

A    Ecotourism is often regarded as a form of nature-based tourism and has become an important alternative source of tourists. In addition to providing the traditional resort-leisure product, it has been argued that ecotourism resort management should have a particular focus on best-practice environmental management, an educational and interpretive component, and direct and indirect contributions to the conservation of the natural and cultural environment (Ayala, 1996).

B    Couran Cove Island Resort is a large integrated ecotourism-based resort located south of Brisbane on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. As the world’s population becomes increasingly urbanised, the demand for tourist attractions which are environmentally friendly, serene and offer amenities of a unique nature, has grown rapidly. Couran Cove Resort, which is one such tourist attractions, is located on South Stradbroke Island, occupying approximately 150 hectares of the island. South Stradbroke Island is separated from the mainland by the Broadwater, a stretch of sea 3 kilometers wide. More than a century ago, there was only one Stradbroke Island, and there were at least four aboriginal tribes living and hunting on the island. Regrettably, most of the original island dwellers were eventually killed by diseases such as tuberculosis, smallpox and influenza by the end of the 19th The second ship wreak on the island in 1894, and the subsequent destruction of the ship (the Cambus Wallace) because it contained dynamite, caused a large crater in the sandhills on Stradbroke Island. Eventually, the ocean broke through the weakened land form and Stradbroke became two islands. Couran Cove Island Resort is built on one of the world’s few naturally-occurring sand lands, which is home to a wide range of plant communities and one of the largest remaining remnants of the rare livistona rainforest left on the Gold Coast. Many mangrove and rainforest areas, and Malaleuca Wetlands on South Stradbroke Island (and in Queensland), have been cleared, drained or filled for residential, industrial, agricultural or urban development in the first half of the 20th century. Farmer and graziers finally abandoned South Stradbroke Island in 1939 because the vegetation and the soil conditions there were not suitable for agricultural activities.

SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES OF COURAN COVE RESORT

Being located on an offshore island, the resort is only accessible by means of water transportation. The resort provides hourly ferry service from the marina on the mainland to and from the island. Within the resort, transport modes include walking trails, bicycle tracks and the beach train. The reception area is the counter of the shop which has not changed in 8 years at least. The accommodation is an octagonal “Bure”. These are large rooms that are clean but! The equipment is tired and in some cases just working. Our ceiling fan only worked on high speed for example. Beds are hard but clean, there is television, radio, an old air conditioner and a small fridge. These “Bures” are right on top of each other and night noises do carry so be careful what you say and do. The only thing is the mosquitos but if you forget to bring mosquito repellant they sell some on the island.

As an ecotourism-based resort, most of the planning and development of the attraction has been concentrated on the need to co-exist with the fragile natural environment of South Stradbroke Island to achieve sustainable development.

WATER AND ENERGY MANAGEMENT

C  South Stradbroke Island has groundwater at the centre of the island, which has a maximum height of 3 metres above sea level. The water supply is recharged by rainfall and is commonly known as an unconfined freshwater aquifer. Couran Cove Island Resort obtains its water supply by tapping into this aquifer and extracting it via a bore system. Some of the problems which have threatened the island’s freshwater supply include pollution, contamination and over-consumption. In order to minimise some of these problems, all laundry activities are carried out on the mainland. The resort considers washing machines as onerous to the island’s freshwater supply, and that the detergents contain a high level of phosphates which are a major source of water pollution. The resort uses LPG-power generation rather than a diesel-powered plant for its energy supply, supplemented by wind turbine, which has reduced greenhouse emissions by 70% of diesel-equivalent generation methods. Excess heat recovered from the generator is used to heat the swimming pool. Hot water in the eco-cabins and for some of the resort’s vehicles are solar-powered. Water efficient fittings are also installed in showers and toilets. However, not all the appliances used by the resort are energy efficient, such as refrigerators. Visitors who stay at the resort are encouraged to monitor their water and energy usage via the in-house television system, and are rewarded with prizes (such as a free return trip to the resort) accordingly if their usage level is low.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

D  We examined a case study of good management practice and a pro-active sustainable tourism stance of an eco-resort. In three years of operation, Couran Cove Island Resort has won 23 international and national awards, including the 2001 Australian Tourism Award in the 4-Star Accommodation category. The resort has embraced and has effectively implemented contemporary environmental management practices. It has been argued that the successful implementation of the principles of sustainability should promote long-term social, economic and environmental benefits, while ensuring and enhancing the prospects of continued viability for the tourism enterprise. Couran Cove Island Resort does not conform to the characteristics of the ResortDevelopmentSpectrum, as proposed by Prideaux (2000). According to Prideaux, the resort should be at least at Phase 3 of the model (the National tourism phase), which describes an integrated resort providing 3-4 star hotel-type accommodation. The primary tourist market in Phase 3 of the model consists mainly of interstate visitors. However, the number of interstate and international tourists visiting the resort is small, with the principal visitor markets comprising locals and residents from nearby towns and the Gold Coast region. The carrying capacity of Couran Cove does not seem to be of any concern to the Resort management. Given that it is a private commercial ecotourist enterprise, regulating the number of visitors to the resort to minimize damage done to the natural environment on South Stradbroke Island is not a binding constraint. However, the Resort’s growth will eventually be constrained by its carrying capacity, and quantity control should be incorporated in the management strategy of the resort.

Questions 1-5

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

Write your answers in boxes 27-31 on your answers sheet.

1    The Stradbroke became two islands

A     by an intended destruction of the ship of the Cambus Wallace

B     by an explosion of dynamite on a ship and following nature erosion

C     by the movement sandhills on Stradbroke Island

D     by the volcanic eruption on island

2    Why are laundry activities for the resort carried out on the mainland

A     In order to obtain its water supply via a bore system

B     In order to preserve the water and anti-pollution

C     In order to save the cost of installing onerous washing machines

D     In order to reduce the level of phosphates in water around

3    What is the major water supplier in South Stradbroke Island is by

A    desalinizing the sea water

B    collecting the rainfall

C     transporting from the mainland

D     boring ground water

4    What is applied for heating water on Couran Cove Island Resort

A    the LPG-power

B    a diesel-powered plant

C   the wind power

D    the solar-power

5    What does, as the managers of resorts believe, the prospective future focus on

A    more awards of for resort’s accommodation

B    sustainable administration and development in a long run

C    Economic and environmental benefits for the tourism enterprise

D    successful implementation the Resort Development Spectrum

Questions 6-10

Complete the following summary of the Reading Passage, using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 6-10 on your answer sheet.

Being located away from the mainland, tourists can attain the resort only by 6_______________  in a regular service. Within the resort, transports include trails for walking or tracks for both 7____________  and the beach train. The on-island equipment is old-fashioned which is barely working such as the 8_____________  overhead. There is television, radio, an old 9__________  and a small fridge. And you can buy the repellant for 10_____________  if you forget to bring some.

Questions 11-13

Choose THREE correct letters among, A-E.

Write your answers in boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet.

What is true as to the contemporary situation of Couran Cove Island R in the last paragraph

A     Couran Cove Island Resort goes for more eco-friendly practices.

B    The accommodation standard only conforms to the Resort Development Spectrum of Phase 3.

C    Couran Cove Island Resort should raise the accommodation standard and build more facilities.

D    The principal group visiting the resort is international tourists.

E     Its carrying capacity will restrict the future business’ expansion.