F According to the World Bank report titled "African Development Indicators", the African people face problems in all aspects of life. One is poverty. About 300 million people, almost nearly half of the continent's population survives on less than 65 cents a day. The average GNP is US $492, but in 24 countries it is less than $350. Ethiopia's GNP is below $100; the Democratic Republic of Congo, less than $110; Burundi, less than $120; and Sierra Leone, less than $130. Most of the poor people are constantly moving to urban areas and swelling the population in town and city slums. Another is health care. This is one of the areas where the IMF and World Bank policies have had a huge impact. Governments have been forced to slash health care funding, and the result is shown by the increased infant mortality rates. Countries that had made some progress in reducing infant mortality rates in the 1960s and 1970s are now faced with increased mortality rates. Mortality rate in Africa is 10% but on average about 151 of every 1,000 children die before the age of 5. Very small improvement has been made on this. Developing countries have mortality rates ranging from 6 to 8. On top of this, the AIDS epidemic is having a disastrous effect on life expectancy. The third problem is poor education. Illiteracy levels remain at 41%, on average. For women the number is at 49%. In some countries, the progress made in the 1960s and 1970s is being reversed, because the high cost of education is cutting the school enrolment levels and as well as increasing dropout rates.
G Zambia, host to the upcoming Organisation of African Unity (OAU) summit, has called for concerted action" to deal with these problems. "The challenges that our founding fathers sought to address 38 years ago remain alive and relevant in today's world," Zambian Vice-President Enoch Kavindele told the OAU's council of ministers. Part of this "concerted action" is a move to integrate the OAU into a more comprehensive body to be called the African Union (AU). The AU, modeled loosely on the European Union, is the idea of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. It will consist of an executive, a central bank, a monetary fund, a parliament and a court of justice. In another move, Mbeki is pushing for the merger of the MAP with the Omega Plan. The latter, spearheaded by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, has set goals and defined financial means to narrow infrastructural gaps. The merger plan will be presented to the upcoming OAU summit.
Questions 14-19
Reading Passage 2 has 7 paragraphs (A-G). State which paragraph discusses each of the points below. Write the appropriate letter (A-G) in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.
Example Answer
The debilitating effect of debt on Africa. E
14 The problems ordinary Africans face
15 Efforts to find a unified voice for Africa
16 Demand for aid from rich countries
17 Proposed reforms to be undertaken by African countries
18 The new plan to attract more funding for Africa
19 A favorable international response
Questions 20-23
Which of the ideas below are associated with the following people? In boxes 20-23 write
M if the idea is associated with Robert Mugabe
T if the idea is associated with Thabo Mbeki
G if the idea is associated with Muammar Gaddafi
20 A proposal to attract more investment in Africa
21 The developed world owes compensation to Africa.
22 Africa should copy the European Union.
23 "African renaissance"
Questions 24-27
Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS answer the following questions.
Write your answers in boxes 24-27 on your answer sheet.
23 What did Blair want Africans to do?
24 What is the biggest problem faced by people trying to help Africa?
26 Why has the life expectancy dropped drastically in Africa?
27 What strategy have African leaders adopted to solve their problems?
READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28-39 which are based on Reading Passage 3.
NZ CORE VALUES UNDER THREAT
PART A
The core values that are vital to New Zealanders' sense of themselves and their attraction for outsiders are under threat from the values, technologies and lifestyles of the global economy. Our own indigenous New Zealand experience is in danger of being swamped by a pre-packaged multinational culture. Our food is threatened by genetic engineering, pesticides, antibiotics and growth hormones.
Ozone depletion from the aerosols and refrigerants we used 20 years ago is forcing today's children to keep away from what used to be health-giving sunshine and fresh air. Our vaunted "egalitarian society" is being destroyed by global economic competition, increasing the gap between the rich and the poor and sending New Zealand jobs overseas.
The rules of the global economy even threaten our national sovereignty. Our food standards, for instance, are dictated from abroad. And food labeling, environmental standards and even the buying of local produce by government departments can be seen as being against the rules of the World Trade Organization—as barriers in the way of free trade.
The result is that we have created a dysfunctional society, in which social connection and cohesion are being undermined. Alongside this is a widespread disillusion and cynicism about the political process. Leadership demands courage and ethics, while ethics must be rooted in a sensitivity to human wholeness, potential and capability.
PART B
(A) Central to building wholesome ethics is education. Unsurprisingly, employers still value reliability, honesty and loyalty more than paper qualifications. So, character formation should be to the fore in the school curriculum. Nobody is born with a perfectly formed character or set of skills. About two decades of nurture and learning are necessary. In the formation of the characters of young people, it is essential to stress responsibility to our fellow members of society, as well as to the environment we all live in.
(B) We can not restore the core values that most of us still cherish by the pursuit of material goods. Human relationships must be nurtured as well. Relationships are full of surprise, delight and frustration. You have to work at them, and you get back from them in proportion to what you put in.
(C) The most reliable glue ever discovered to keep the fabric of society together is the family. It is sound parenting that forms a solid foundation on which to build—or nowadays to rebuild —the core values which permit human beings to thrive rather than to become disillusioned and broken.
(D) The long-term answer to the problem of our fragmented society is to make sure that every child is securely attached to a home with preferably one parent of each gender and playmates by the age of three. Much scholarship shows that secure attachment to family and friends early in life is our best predictor of all good life outcomes, including mental health, relationships, educational success, and avoidance of crime. We must extend this early formation of a good parent-child relationship to our relationships with each other, and then to other nations, with future generations, and with nature and other species. Successful relationships are based on respect rather than dominance or subservience, and respect goes a long way to harmonizing race relations.
PART C
Because of the small size of New Zealand, we must be careful that we are not economically strangled by the large multinational corporations as other small countries have been, after they opened their doors too widely. We can survive and thrive in this new world order by taking advantage of our fertile land and highly educated people. With this endowment, we are capable of having one of the highest qualities of life in the world.
We can develop a draft vision that is tested and further developed with the participation of all the people. A set of benchmarks can be published, showing where we stand socially, economically and environmentally. On the basis of these, we can plan improvements to our standard of living. Then a people-focussed strategy can be created to bring together organizations and individuals to work toward the goals.
Questions 28-31
Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Part A of Reading Passage 3. In boxes 28-31 on your answer sheet write
YES if the statement agrees with the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
Example Answer
New Zealanders are in danger of losing control of their own laws YES
28 New Zealanders are proud of their political system.
29 New Zealand should raise tariff barriers against foreign goods.
30 Globalization is increasing unemployment in New Zealand.
31 New Zealand's core values are admired by foreigners.
Questions 32-35
These questions are based on Part B of Reading Passage 3. In paragraphs A-D the author describes four factors by which the core values of New Zealand society may be rebuilt. Match the list of factors (i-vi) to the paragraphs. Write the appropriate number (i-vi) in boxes 32-35 on your answer sheet.
Paragraphs Factors
32 Paragraph A i. Human relationships
33 Paragraph B ii. Reliability
34 Paragraph C iii. Glue
35 Paragraph D iv. Secure attachments
v. Education
vi. The family
Questions 36-38
Based on your reading of Part C, complete the sentences below with words taken from the passage. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 36-38 on your answer sheet.
Small countries which embrace globalization recklessly have sometimes been 36 Its land and people are the 37 which can give New Zealand an advanced standard of living.
Goals for improving the lives of New Zealanders can be planned based on 38.
Question 39
Choose the appropriate letter A-D and write it in box 39 on your answer sheet.
39 An alternative heading for Passage 3 could be:
A Restoring New Zealand's Egalitarian Spirit
B Shielding New Zealand from Globalization
C Making New Zealand a Wholesome Society
D What Happened to New Zealand's Core values?
Academic Reading Test 4
INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE
TESTING SYSTEM
ACADEMIC READING
TEST 4
TIME ALLOWED:
NUMBER OF QUESTIONS:
1 hour38
Instructions
WRITE ALL YOUR ANSWERS ON THE ANSWER SHEET
The test is in 3 sections:
Reading Passage 1 Questions 1-10
Reading Passage 2 Questions 11-25
Reading Passage 3 Questions 26-38
Remember to answer all the questions. If you are having trouble with a question, skip it and return to it later.
READING PASSAGE 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-10, which are based on Reading Passage 1.
Question 1
1. The author of "Addictions and How to Tackle Them" refers to three types of
addiction. One of them is negative addiction. What are the other two?
Addictions and How to Tackle Them
An addiction is an activity or substance we repeatedly crave to experience, and for which we are willing if necessary to pay a price (or suffer an unwanted consequence). Common addictions involve alcohol, cigarettes, food, drugs, gambling,etc. This article discusses techniques and concepts which can be helpful in coping with addictive behavior.
Relatively minor addictions, such as watching too much television, eating a certain kind of candy, or lying in bed on weekend mornings, are often not even considered addictions, because the price paid for indulging them is not high. On the other hand, we tend to use the term "addict" to describe the person who, at least in the eyes of others, continues to indulge in addictive behavior long after it has become clear that the substantial price being paid was not worth the benefit. The individual who has lost career, house, family and friends because of cocaine use, but is unwilling to consider stopping, is an unfortunate example.
Negative addictions range from those with very minor negative consequences, to those as serious as the cocaine addict just mentioned, with much area in between. Although it is sometimes true that a negative addiction grows stronger (i.e., worse) over time, this is not necessarily, or even typically, true. For instance, most overweight individuals do not keep gaining and gaining weight, but rather settle into a weight range that, if far from ideal,is also not morbidly obese. On the other hand, even a constant level of addictive behavior (e.g., overspending $200 a week) can lead to an increasing level of negative consequences.
You may be surprised to learn that addictions can also be considered positive. Positive addictions are those in which the benefits outweigh the price. A common example would be the habit of regular exercise. The price of membership in a gym, the time involved and any clothing expense is outweighed by the benefits of better health, energy, self-confidence and appearance. As with negative addictions, positive addictions may not get stronger (i.e., better; greater benefits are obtained) over time, and there is a broad range of how much benefit is actually obtained.
What is common to both positive and negative addictions, and what helps us realize that they are two sides of the same coin, is the urge or craving to engage in the addictive behavior, and the satisfaction that is felt when the urge is acted upon. The urge is a state of tension and anticipation that is experienced as a desire for the substance or activity. The urge is also experienced as uncomfortable, perhaps intensely so, especially if it lasts long enough. Because we experience relief when the urge is acted upon, there is an increased likelihood that we will act on the urge again. One of the primary benefits of an addiction for many individuals is the fact that the urge can be driven away by the addictive behavior. Hunger, and eating to satisfy it, provide a good example of a (positive or negative, depending on whether the individual eats in a healthy or unhealthy manner) addiction.
Once having become a part of our behavior, pleasures (and the habits based on them) continue or die away depending on whether we continue to experience them as pleasurable. Life is a continuing process of developing, revising and outgrowing pleasures. Although we may never entirely abandon a well-established pleasure, the frequency with which we engage in it can diminish dramatically. Each of us can probably remember pleasures from childhood which were very strong at the time, but are now no longer very pleasurable. For instance, how may adults still routinely look for opportunities to play in the mud, or suck their thumbs, or be praised for using the bathroom instead of a diaper? Consequently, addictions both develop and possibly get outgrown according to the pleasure we believe them to provide us.
