Manufacturers of both systems say they are aware of possible public concern over computerized drivers. Neither system is entirely autonomous, as there will be on board a human driver to regulate the vehicle's speed and take over steering should the on-board system malfunction. This is in line with the local regulations of most cities. Despite reassurances, not everyone is comfortable with the idea of automatic steering systems, however. "We're not convinced about safety," says Mark Reddie, principal planner for the Phoenix Public Transit Department, which is also considering buying the new trams. "They haven't mass-produced them yet and we don't know how reliable they will be."
Questions 1-5
Classify the following statements as applying to
AP hileas only
BO mni only
CB oth vehicles
Write the appropriate letters A-C in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet.
1. steers itself
2. follows a painted line
3. still being tested
4. follows magnets
5. uses Dutch technology
Questions 6-9
Complete the labels in the diagram below.
Choose your answers from the box below the diagram, and write them in boxes 6-9 on your answer sheet.
NB There are more words/phrases than spaces, so you will not use them all.
DIAGRAM
Sketch of the Omni electric vehicle system cameras sensors wheelchair section on-board computer upper deck magnets lower deck
Questions 10-13
Complete the summary below. Choose your answers from the box below the summary, and write them in boxes 10-13 on your answer sheet.
NB there are more words/phrases than spaces, so you will not use them all.
The major advantage of the new 10 trams is the absence of 11. In addition, compared to motor-driven public transport vehicles, the trams make the processes of 12 and 13 more rapid.
computer-steered Dutch alighting virtual drivers tracks computers boarding kerbs pollution-free gridlocked
READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-27 which are based on Reading Passage 2.
Asian Economies Not as Vulnerable as Before
A Central bank governors from the Asia-Pacific region, at a recent meeting warned that the global trade environment is much tougher for their countries now than during the Asian crisis of four years ago. Singapore is in recession, and South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Taiwan and the Philippines have sharply slowing growth. The only bright spot is China, which has maintained brisk output growth because stronger investment and household spending have more than offset the regional export slowdown.
B However, a new financial crisis does not seem to be looming for the region, as some remarkable changes have taken place over the past four years. These changes mean that the region's economies are likely to experience slower but still positive growth this year, and stronger growth next year. The first change is that the economies of Korea, Thailand and Indonesia can no longer be broken by a stampede of foreign bank lenders. The hot money has already gone. According to the most recent International Monetary Fund statistics, net international bank claims in East Asia have fallen by US$354 billion over the last four years. Loans have been repaid by stronger flows of foreign direct investment, by lending from international institutions and by the re-emergence of a bond market in the first half of last year, as well as through large trade surpluses resulting from imports growing more slowly than exports. In the four years from 1997 to 2000, these economies accumulated current account surpluses of US$239 billion, compared to a cumulative deficit of US$88 billion during the five years from 1992.
C Large current account surpluses have seen not only foreign debt reduced, but also big reserves accumulated. These reserves are seen as a cushion against future financial shocks. The reserves in Southeast Asia have increased by US$214 billion in recent years. The central banks of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan hold most of this sum. Moreover, the central banks of the region have agreed on swap arrangements, which could allow the reserves for one currency to be used in the defense of another in case of the threat of another Asian financial crisis. As noted by a report prepared by the regional central banks, intervention is most effective when coordinated.
D These changes defend against a stampede and contagion, but do not, in themselves, encourage growth. That depends on the regional shift toward more flexible exchange rates. Although far from floating freely, most regional exchange rates are no longer hostage to unhedged US dollar bank debt or to entrenched convictions that exchange rate stability is essential. Managed floats have been adopted in most regional economies. Responding to the stronger US dollar, falling exports and slowing imports, these exchange rates have been depreciating. For example, the Singapore dollar recently reached a ten-year low, while the Taiwan dollar reached a 15-year low.
E Foreign direct investment is slowing, and exports are tumbling, but with room to expand domestic demand there are good reasons to think that the region will get through the most serious global downturn in a decade. Foreign investment flows and domestic reconstruction will maintain China's growth. Even South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan—all highly dependent on technology exports to the US—are now buttressed by trade surpluses, huge reserves and flexible exchange rates. All these factors are favorable for expanding domestic demand.
F The perennial problems of the Philippines apart, the economies at the greatest risk are those of Thailand and Malaysia, because they are attempting to sustain pegged exchange rates, and this weakens their ability to respond to sudden strains on their currencies. Although Thailand has sharply reduced its foreign debt, it has pegged its US dollar exchange rate at about 45 baht. Without strong capital controls,the informal peg limits Thailand's freedom to ease interest rates. As for Malaysia, its peg depends on its reserves, which have fallen by US$6 billion during the past year as the country has defended an exchange rate appreciating against those of its neighbors.
Questions 14-18
Reading Passage 2 has six paragraphs A-F. Choose the most suitable headings for paragraphs B-F from the list of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers (i-ix) in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
NB There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not use them all.
List of Headings
i. Disappearance of hot money
ii. Changes in the region's economies
iii. The role of the US dollar
iv. The region's weak spots
v. The importance of currency reserves
vi. Swap arrangements
vii. The need for flexible exchange rates
viii. Expanding domestic demand
ix. The Philippines' economic problems
14. Paraghraph B
15. Paraghraph C
16. Paraghraph D
17. Paraghraph E
18. Paraghraph F
Questions 19-22
Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage, answer the following questions. Write your answers in boxes 19-22 on your answer sheet.
19. Who is cooperating to stave off another Asian financial crisis?
20. According to the author, what do the changes in the region's economies NOT do?
21. Which country is an exception to the region's slow economic growth?
22. When was the last most serious worldwide economic slowdown?
Questions 23-27
Do the following statements agree with the information in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 23-27 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
23. The changes in the region's economies will accelerate their growth.
24. Pegged exchange rates are a danger to Thailand and Malaysia.
25. Most of the regional economies allow their exchange rates to float freely.
26. To survive the global economic slump, the region must export more than it imports.
27. Central bank governors are optimistic about the region's economic future.
READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3.
The Vikings' Voyage to Eternity
Since the Merovingian Age, during the post-Roman era of the 6th-7th centuries AD, Norsemen have been associated with ships—for trade, exploration, and of course war. No aspect of Viking culture was entirely separate from the influence of ships, including their view of death. In fact, kings and heroes, believing that they would sail to the other world after death, had themselves buried in their ships. This is amply attested to by the epics and sagas which tell of the heroic deeds of the Vikings, many of which have survived to our own day. The greatest details regarding early Scandinavian history, including the custom of ship burial, come from the writings of the Icelandic chronicler Snorri Sturluson,who composed the Heimskringla (History of the Kings of Norway) sometime between AD 1220 and 1235, plus numerous other works. Although much is lost in modern translations, the original poetry of the sagas remains on many levels, and historians are ever grateful to their predecessor for his attention to detail. For about four centuries, the sagas and legends were meticulous in their portrayal of ships. Documentation, of course, may have been embellished for the sake of a good story.
In addition to the legends, there is visible evidence of the pervasive influence of ships and the sea in Viking lore, as a number of ship burials have been discovered in the past two centuries. Therefore, we can use both the archaeological and the literary evidence to piece together a small window into the world of the Vikings. It is particularly interesting that the ships that do remain to this day were buried on land, an intriguing practice which, due to its pagan implications,died out soon after the Viking conversion to Christianity. Boat burials, in combination with sagas, indicate that Viking activity, whether trading or raiding, depended upon reliable ships to sail, and without them the longer sea crossings that we know to have occurred would have been impossible. The voyages that had become commonplace in the 9th century would have been unthinkable 100 years earlier.
The Vikings treated their mortal warriors with as much reverence as their deified ones, and this is evident in Norse mythology, particularly with the tale of Balder. This god of light was killed by a "dart of mistletoe" thrown by the mischievous Loki, resulting in "the greatest misfortune ever to befall gods and men" (Snorri Sturluson, Prose Edda). Balder was afforded a lavish ship burial, as recorded in the Prose Edda.
Epics and sagas were tales of pride and grandeur. Naval power, perfected early by Norsemen, had an exceptional place in these tales, and continued to be used in Christian narratives after the Conversion. There is not a great deal in the way of iconographic evidence for the earliest period of boat building by the Nordic people, but the record does increase from about the 11th century AD until the end of the Viking era. There is also literary evidence, present in many heroic sagas, of the abundance of Viking exploration and acquisition of land, beginning in about the 9th century. The most valuable evidence, however, undoubtedly comes from archaeology.
In archaeological terms, the survival of a boat burial depends entirely upon the soil in which it was interred. For example,soil that surrounded the early 7th century AD find at Ladby is highly acidic,thus all that remained of the original vessel were the rivets in a ghostly outline. Nevertheless, this, combined with previous knowledge of Viking boat construction, sagas, and other finds, allows us to determine how the ships were made.
The Nydam boat, found in 1863 in Southern Jutland, dates from the fifth century and is a precursor of the characteristic long boat associated with the height of the Viking period. Previously, ships had been designed for both trading and warfare, but the Nydam boat, measuring 76 ft overall, shows characteristics that indicate that it was built primarily as a warship. This trend toward militarization of the ships would continue until its climax in the Gokstad ship. The Vikings also decorated their ships with fearsome figureheads. Norse ships were decorated with heads and forms of various creatures: On the sterns can be seen different faces of metal ornamented with silver and gold.
The Gokstad ship, found in 1880 in Sandefjorde, Norway, is 79 ft overall, double-ended, like all Nordic ships, with a high curving stem and stern posts. The remains of the mast fitting suggest that the original would have been about 42 ft high, making the ship rather powerful and swift in the water. The Gokstad ship was also recovered with shields attached to the gunwale, at the ready for the warriors on board. The technical perfection of this ship came as a result of a long tradition of experience and experiment that first yielded sailing ships suitable for the open seas about one hundred years before the Gokstad ship was even built.
The Ladby ship, believed to date from the 10th century, was unearthed in 1935 on Funen, Denmark. The wooden skeleton had disintegrated, leaving only an impression in the soil and rivets. From this feature, archeologists were able to determine that the vessel was 67.5 ft long and 9.5 ft wide, much smaller than the Gokstad ship, but closer in length-to-beam ratio (1∶7) for a fast-oared warship. Inside, a nobleman's body was found, together with 11 horses and several dogs. One of the nobleman's horses bore an elaborate harness. Many other artifacts were unearthed, including a game board, arrows and a shield.
The ship burial discovered in 1904 at Oseberg turned out to be the grave of a noble woman of sufficient status to warrant a very lavish burial. Apart from the boat, the grave also contained an assortment of artifacts including three sledges, a cart, a saddle and the remains of ten horses and two oxen, tents, beds and other domestic items that the Lady would need in her next life. The ship was most likely used as coastal transportation by the noblewoman,rather than a working ship or "modern" warship, but still embodies transitional features found in later ships.
By the beginning of the Viking period in the ninth century AD, the long ships, as they were called, were about eight meters in length, but there is one of a whopping 23 meters. Through the evidence found at ship-burial sites, and other grave locations, it is clear that there was a common belief among the Norse peoples in life after death—a continuation of existence in which death was only one chapter among many. It is also demonstrated that there was not only a continuing of life, but of social status—the most complex funerals were those of the most wealthy and powerful men, and this evidence comes not only from grave goods but from accounts such as those found in sagas and epics.
