TEST 4

Part 1
For questions 1-8, read the text below and decide which answer (А, В, C or D) best fits each gap.
There is an example at the beginning (0).

High notes of the singing Neanderthals

Neanderthals have been misunderstood. The early humanoids traditionally 0characterizedas ape-
like brutes were deeply emotional beings with high-pitched voices. They may 1__________ have
sung to each other. This new image has 2__________ from two studies of the vocal apparatus
and anatomy of the creatures that 3__________ Europe between 200,000 and 35,000 years ago.
The research shows that Neanderthal voices might well have produced loud, womanly and highly
melodic sounds – not the roars and grunts previously 4__________ by most researchers. Stephen
Mithen, Professor of Archaeology and author of one of the studies, said: ‘What is emerging is a
picture of an intelligent and emotionally complex creature whose most likely 5__________ of
communication would have been part language and part song.’
Mithen’s work 6__________ with the first detailed study of a reconstructed Neanderthal
skeleton. Anthropologists brought together bones and casts from several sites to re-create the
creature. The creature that emerges would have 7__________ markedly from humans,
Neanderthals seem to have had an extremely powerful 8__________ and no waist.
Example:

0 A characterized B indicated C detailed D accounted

1 A further B just C even D so

2 A revealed B resulted C concluded D happened

3 A resided B dwelt C filled D occupied

4 A judged B assumed C considered D taken

5 A sort B practice C approach D form

6 A coincides B occurs C relates D co-operates

7 A differed B distinguished C compared D contrasted

8 A assembly B formation C build D scheme

Part 2

For questions 9-16, read the text below and think o f the word which best fits each gap. Use only
one word in each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Write your answers IN CAPITAL LETTERS on the separate answer sheet

Example: (0) PLACE
World Book Day
This year’s World Book Day (WBD), which is taking 0__________ on March 2, hopes to
encourage everyone, and especially children, to discover the joy of reading.
Schools and libraries are getting involved, with a packed schedule of events
designed 9__________ bring books to life. There will be writers popping 10__________ schools
to read from their books and answer questions, and story-telling events. Children will also be
able to take part in readings 11__________ that they really have a chance to engage with the
books.
As 12__________ as hoping to encourage children to catch the reading bug, WBD also hopes
to 13__________ reluctant adults hooked on books. So, 14__________ the first time, World
Book Day will also have an adult focus, with the launch of Quick Reads, 15__________
selection of short, fast-paced stories by well-known authors. The first set of Quick Reads will be
published on World Book Day, 16__________ a further collection of books being released later
in the summer.

Part 3
For questions 17-24, read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of the
lines to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line. There is an example at the
beginning (0).
Write your answers IN CAPITAL LETTERS on the separate answer sheet.
Example: (0) EFFECTIVE
Nordic Walking
Nordic walking is an 0__________ technique that uses poles to bring the upper 0 EFFECT
body into more use and boost the calorie-burning effects of walking. It 17 ORIGIN
was 17__________ devised in Finland by elite cross-country skiers as a way to 18 SEE
keep their fitness levels up during the summer. 19 TRAIN
At first 18__________, Nordic walking may look like skiing without the skis – or 20 WORK
the snow. But although, to the 19__________ eye, striding around the local park 21 NECESSARY
with a pair of poles may look a bit silly, it actually offers a serious 20__________ 22 MAXIMUM
for people of all ages and abilities. You don’t 21_____ have to go faster to get 23 STRONG
more out of it – just put in more effort with the poles. The poles, which can be 24 ENTIRE
made from aluminium or carbon fibre, are specially designed to 22__________ the
work done by the upper body. And because Nordic walking is also a weight-
bearing exercise, it’s great for 23__________ bones and joints. But the best news
is that because the effort is spread across the 24__________ of the body, Nordic
walking can actually feel easier and less tiring than normal walking.
Part 4
For questions 25-30, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the
first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between
three and six words, including the word given.
Example:(0):I didn’t know the way there, so I got lost.
GET
Not_____________________ there, I got lost.

Answer: KNOWING HOW TO GET

25 Can anyone solve this problem?

COME
Can anyone_____________________ to this problem?
26 I’m sure you’re wondering why I haven’t contacted you for so long.
HAS
You must_____________________ so long since I contacted you.
27 Are you saying that I’m lying about what happened?
TRUTH
Are you accusing _____________________ about what happened?
28 He made a very quick decision and he didn’t think about the matter enough.
WITHOUT
He made a very quick decision _____________________ to the matter.
29 Recently, the number of people who are out of work has gone down.
DECREASE
Recently, _____________________ the number of people who are out of work.
30 It doesn’t matter how badly he behaved, you shouldn’t have been so rude to him.
HOWEVER
You shouldn’t have been so rude to him, _____________________ was

Part 5

You are going to read a newspaper article about trees and leaves. For questions 31-36, choose the
answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
Those brilliant autumn outfits may be saving trees
As trees across the northern areas of the globe turn gold and crimson, scientists are debating
exactly what these colours are for. The scientists do agree on one thing: the colours are for
something. That represents a major shift in thinking. For decades, textbooks claimed that autumn
colours were just a by-product of dying leaves. ‘I had always assumed that autumn leaves were
waste baskets’ said Dr. David Wilkinson, an evolutionary ecologist at Liverpool John Moores
University in England. ‘That’s what I was told as a student.’

During spring and summer, leaves get their green cast from chlorophyll, the pigment that plays a
major role in capturing sunlight. But the leaves also contain other pigments whose colours are
masked during the growing season. In autumn, trees break down their chlorophyll and draw
some of the components back into their tissues. Conventional wisdom regards autumn colours as
the product of the remaining pigments, which are finally unmasked.

Evolutionary biologists and plant physiologists offer two different explanations for why natural
selection has made autumn colours so widespread. Dr. William Hamilton, an evolutionary
biologist at Oxford University, proposed that bright autumn leaves contain a message: they warn
insects to leave them alone. Dr. Hamilton’s ‘leaf signal’ hypothesis grew out of earlier work he
had done on the extravagant plumage of birds. He proposed it served as an advertisement from
males to females, indicating they had desirable genes. As females evolved a preference for those
displays, males evolved more extravagant feathers as they competed for mates. In the case of
trees, Dr. Hamilton proposed that the visual message was sent to insects. In the autumn, aphids
and other insects choose trees where they will lay their eggs. When the eggs hatch the next
spring, the larvae feed on the tree, often with devastating results. A tree can ward off these pests
with poisons. Dr. Hamilton speculated that trees with strong defences might be able to protect
themselves even further by letting egg-laying insects know what was in store for their eggs. By
producing brilliant autumn colours, the trees advertised their lethality. As insects evolved to
avoid the brightest leaves, natural selection favoured trees that could become even brighter.

‘It was a beautiful idea’ said Marco Archetti, a former student of Dr. Hamilton who is now at the
University of Fribourg in Switzerland. Dr. Hamilton had Mr. Archetti turn the hypothesis into a
mathematical model. The model showed that warning signals could indeed drive the evolution of
bright leaves – at least in theory. Another student, Sam Brown, tested the leaf-signal hypothesis
against real data about trees and insects. ‘It was a first stab to see what was out there,’ said Dr.
Brown, now an evolutionary biologist at the University of Texas.

The leaf-signal hypothesis has also drawn criticism, most recently from Dr. Wilkinson and Dr.
H. Martin Schaefer, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Freiburg in Germany. Dr.
Wilkinson and other critics point to a number of details about aphids and trees that do not fit Dr.
Hamilton’s hypothesis. Dr. William Hoch, a plant physiologist at the University of Wisconsin,
argues that bright leaves appear on trees that have no insects to ward off. ‘If you are up here in
the north of Wisconsin, by the time the leaves change, all the insects that feed on foliage are
gone’ Dr. Hoch said. In their article, Dr. Schaefer and Dr. Wilkinson argue that a much more
plausible explanation for autumn colours can be found in the research of Dr. Hoch and other
plant physiologists. Their recent work suggests that autumn colours serve mainly as a sunscreen.

Dr. Hamilton’s former students argue that the leaf-signal hypothesis is still worth investigating.
Dr. Brown believes that leaves might be able to protect themselves both from sunlight and from
insects. Dr. Brown and Dr. Archetti also argue that supporters of the sunscreen hypothesis have
yet to explain why some trees have bright colours and some do not. ‘This is a basic question in
evolution that they seem to ignore’ Dr. Archetti said. ‘Idon’t think it’s a huge concern,’ Dr. Hoch
replied. ‘There’s natural variation for every characteristic.’

Dr. Hamilton’s students and their critics agree that the debate has been useful, because it has
given them a deeper reverence for this time of year. ‘People sometimes say that science makes
the world less interesting and awesome by just explaining things away’ Dr. Wilkinson said. ‘But
with autumn leaves, the more you know about them, the more amazed you are.’

31 What is stated about the colours of autumn leaves in the first two paragraphs?
A There has previously been no disagreement about what causes them.
В The process that results in them has never been fully understood.
C Different colours from those that were previously the norm have started to appear.
D Debate about the purpose of them has gone on for a long time.

32 The writer says that Dr Hamilton’s work has focused on

A the different purposes of different colours.
В the use of colour for opposite purposes.
C the possibility that birds and insects have influenced each other’s behaviour.
D the increased survival rates of certain kinds of tree.

33 Dr Hamilton has suggested that there is a connection between

A the colours of autumn leaves and the behaviour of insects.
B the development of brighter leaves and the reduced numbers of certain types of insect.
C the survival of trees and the proximity of insects to them.
D the brightness of leaves and the development of other defence mechanisms in trees.

34 What is said about the work done by former students of Dr Hamilton?

A Neither of them was able to achieve what they set out to do.
В Mr Archetti felt some regret about the outcome of the work he did.
C Both of them initiated the idea of doing the work.
D Dr Brown did not expect to draw any firm conclusions from his work.

35 Critics of Dr Hamilton’s theory have expressed the view that

A it is impossible to generalise about the purpose of the colours of autumn leaves.
В his theory is based on a misunderstanding about insect behaviour.
C the colours of autumn leaves have a different protective function.
D his theory can only be applied to certain kinds of insect.

36 In the debate between the two groups of people investigating the subject, it has been
suggested that
A something regarded as a key point by one side is in fact not important.
В further research will prove that Dr Hamilton’s theory is the correct one.
C both sides may in fact be completely wrong.
D the two sides should collaborate.
Part 6

You are going to read four extracts from articles on freelance work. For questions 37-40, choose
from the reviews A-D. The extracts may be chosen more than once.
The world of freelance work
Four writers look at the working life of freelancers

A
Anyone contemplating going freelance should bear in mind that to make a real go of it may well
involve working harder than in an employed position. The life doesn’t suit everyone and many
employed people see freelancers as a totally different breed of worker, doing something that they
couldn’t do and wouldn’t want to. Freelancers can find that they have less free time than they
used to and that they take on more than they should out of a reluctance to turn down any offer.
Furthermore, they may find themselves working for less money as they go along, as any rise in
the number of freelancers in their field can drive fees down as a result of competition – some
freelancers will be willing to accept low fees just to get work. There are dangers for companies
too: using a large proportion of freelancers can mean that knowledge that is crucial to the
company’s operations lies outside the company itself.
В
As more and more people join the freelance workforce, it is perhaps time for an appraisal of this
development. For the freelancers themselves, this means that a higher proportion of the working
population consists of people who are free to decide on their own destinies, surely no bad thing.
For companies, the development allows them ever-increasing flexibility, enabling them to adapt
to changing circumstances quickly rather than having permanent staff who are underemployed at
times. Freelance life, as anyone who does it knows well, is tough in some ways and to do well
you need to be highly disciplined and organised, as well as hard-working and reliable – qualities
that not everyone has when they are left to their own devices. A lot of employed people don’t see
things that way at all, tending to assume that freelancers have an easy life in which they can
‘pick and choose’ what they do, and may choose to do little.
C
An interesting by-product of companies relying on a significant number of freelancers is that a
gap can open up between those freelancers and the employed personnel on the premises. This
can be problematic, for example with key personnel in a project not on hand immediately if
something urgent comes up. On the other hand, the increasing number of freelancers has big
advantages for everyone involved, in a wide range of areas including flexible hours, child care
arrangements and matching personnel to specific requirements. It is common for employed
people to envy freelancers their, perceived freedom compared to their own situation, but this is
largely a myth. To maintain a regular and viable income in freelance work takes effort and the
equation is a simple one of effort and reward – your income depends on how hard you are
prepared to work.
D
Freelancers often take more responsibility for their work than employed staff, who can become
bored and demotivated, and in this regard it can be said that the more freelancers there are out
there, the better it is for companies. To ensure the smooth running of this set-up, companies need
to manage carefully their relationship with the freelance workforce – a coherent and mutually
acceptable attitude needs to be developed for dealing with people who cannot be treated in the
same way as permanent employees. For freelancers, making a sustainable career can be a nerve-
racking business, as it can largely depend on chance encounters, word-of-mouth information
from other freelancers and unexpected approaches from potential clients. It is this high-risk
factor that puts many employees off the idea of going freelance.
Which writer …

37 expresses a similar view to writer C on the consequences for companies of employing a large
number of freelancers?
38 takes a different view from the others on the desirability of an increase in the number of
people becoming freelancers?
39 takes the same view as writer В on the attitude of employed people to freelance work?
40 has a different opinion from the others on the extent to which freelancers are in control of
how successful they become?

Part 7

You are going to read a newspaper article about a space programme. Six paragraphs have been
removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs A -G the one which fits each gap (41-46).
There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.
How I Became a British Astronaut
May 18, 2009 was a sunny evening – a night that I have good cause to remember. I had recently
retired from the Army Air Corps after an extremely rewarding career of nearly 18 years as a
helicopter pilot and the future looked good – I’d been fortunate to secure a dream job working as
a senior test pilot for a private firm. I had also just completed a year-long selection process for
the European Astronaut Corps – an incredible experience that had opened my eyes to the world
of human spaceflight.

41 …
A privately funded multi-million dollar seat as a ‘spaceflight participant’ was unattainable for
most. And opportunities such as the commercially sponsored Project Juno, which launched the
first Briton, Helen Sharman, into space in 1989, were extremely rare.

42 …
This was designed to identify natural ability in various cognitive skills. In reality, this meant
around eight hours of individual computer-based exercises, becoming progressively harder and
with only short breaks in between. Skills such as memory retention, concentration, spatial
awareness and coordination were evaluated, alongside psychological questionnaires that were to
become the benchmark of this selection process – hundreds of repetitive questions, aimed at
ensuring consistency of answers over a long duration.

43 …
Historically, around 50 per cent of candidates fail the exacting medical requirements. Although
good physical fitness is a strong attribute, the medical selection was not looking for potential
Olympians. Instead, it was intended to select those individuals who pose the least risk of having
a medical occurrence during their career. Space is no place to become ill.

44 …
As it happens, the medical selection caused exactly 50 per cent attrition, with failure to meet
cardiovascular and eyesight requirements being the two main causes. Having endured the most
gruelling week of my life, I was delighted to be among the 22 remaining candidates.

45 …
The remainder of the selection process consisted of formal interviews, culminating in the final 10
being invited to meet ESA’s Director General, Jean Jacques Dordain. That was one month before
that sunny evening in 2009, and I wondered who the lucky few would be. I suspected that I
would not be one of them: an ESA press release had already announced that the new candidates
would be presented at ESA headquarters in Paris on Wednesday. It was Monday night, I had not
been contacted and time was getting tight.

46 …
This was a decision that would affect not just me but also my family. Thankfully, there was no
time to dwell – I had to book a flight to Paris for the following day.

A It was also good to find that there were five British people in the group. Considering that, at
the time, the UK was still in the shadow of a historical government policy not to participate in
human spaceflight, it was encouraging to see the high level of interest regarding this astronaut
selection.
В Other skills include being trained to perform spacewalks for external science and maintenance
tasks and to manipulate the robotic arm in order to capture and berth visiting resupply vehicles.
Then there is the medical training, communications skills training, emergency training – the list
goes on.
C So when the phone rang and I was offered an opportunity to join the European Astronaut
Corps, there was what can only be described as a wild mix of emotions – elation, excitement,
shock and trepidation, due to an overwhelming realization that I was about to take my first steps
down one of life’s major forks in the road.
D It was interesting to meet the other candidates from all over Europe and to acknowledge the
plethora of diverse career paths that had led us to this common goal. While it is fair to say that
the best chances of success are to have a solid foundation in the core sciences or experience as a
pilot, there really is no single route to becoming an astronaut – it has more to do with being
passionate about what you do and being as good as you can be.
E Yet that situation changed when the European Space Agency (ESA) announced a selection for
a new class of astronauts in 2008, and UK citizens were eligible to apply. My application joined
the pile of nearly 10,000 others, and soon there followed an invitation to Hamburg to begin the
testing process.
F During the previous five years working as a military test pilot, I had become much more
involved in the space sector – aviation and space are intrinsically linked and share many similar
technologies. However, I had not seriously contemplated a career as an astronaut, since the
options to do so were extremely limited.
G Although the Soyuz spacecraft offers an emergency return to Earth in less than 12 hours from
the International Space Station, this is an absolute last resort. Also, it is not available once a
spacecraft has reached out beyond low Earth orbit.

Part 8
You are going to read an article about the design of new stations on the London Underground
railway system. For questions 47-56, choose from the sections of the article (A-D). The sections
may be chosen more than once.
In which section of the article are the following mentioned?

47 the previously unattractive nature of the locations of most of the stations

48 a comparison Paoletti made to illustrate his approach to the JLE project
49 the immediate and massive effect that one of the stations had on its surroundings
50 a description that Paoletti considered not to be wholly accurate
51 a fundamental question concerning the function of station in underground systems
52 an explanation Paoletti gave for why certain comments about the new buildings were
incorrect
53 Paoletti’s desire to unite elements that had previously been seen as wholly different from each
other
54 personal qualities that enabled Paoletti to tackle the JLE project successfully
55 parts of a station architects were not responsible for in the past
56 Paoletti’s opinion of those previously responsible for designing stations
Roland Paoletti
An architect who revolutionized the lives of London’s commuters
A
Roland Paoletti was the driving force behind the dramatic, award-winning stations on the ?3
billion Jubilee Line Extension (JLE) to the London Underground system, the most ambitious
building programme on the Tube for many decades. An irascible Anglo-Italian, Paoletti
possessed the persuasiveness and tenacity to take on the vested political interests at play in the
planning of the 10-mile Jubilee Line Extension to ensure good design and innovation.
Historically, architects employed on Tube projects had been restricted to ‘fitting out’ the designs
of railway and civil engineers with few or no aesthetic concerns, and whom Paoletti dismissed as
visionless ‘trench-diggers’. The Jubilee line would be unique in that for the first time the
architects would be responsible for designing entire underground stations.
В
As the commissioning architect in overall charge, Paoletti’s approach was to let light flood down
into the stations along the line. The project’s centrepiece was the extraordinary huge new station
at Canary Wharf, designed by Norman Foster and Partners to handle up to 40,000 passengers an
hour at peak times. ‘Everybody keeps saying that it’s like a cathedral,’ complained Paoletti.
‘They’re wrong. It actually is a cathedral.’ Explaining his approach to designing underground
stations, Paoletti likened the Jubilee line to architectural free-form jazz, the stations responding
to their different contexts as dramatic variations on a theme. Instead of uniformity, Paoletti
envisaged variety achieved in the beauty of raw materials like concrete, and the architectural
power of simple, large spaces for robust and practical stations.
C
He procured the most talented individual architects he could find to design 11 new stations along
the line, creating a unique variety of architectural statement pieces – notably different but all
beautiful – in what had been a largely desolate stretch off urban east London. ‘For the price of an
underground ticket,’ he promised, ‘you will see some of the greatest contributions to engineering
and architecture worldwide.’ Paoletti’s sweeping vision did not disappoint. With their swagger
and individualism, the stations have been widely acclaimed as a tour de force in public transport
architecture.
D
In pressing for a seamless marriage between architecture and engineering, Paoletti was
concerned to make the stations pleasing to the eye, and the daily grind of commuters using them
as uplifting an experience as possible. The result was generally reckoned to be the finest set of
stations since the classic designs for the Piccadilly line by Charles Holden In the 1930s. In
Holden’s day, design stopped at the top of the escalators leading down to the platforms, a
symptom of the Tube’s tradition of treating architecture and engineering as separate disciplines.
From the start Paoletti promised ‘a symbiosis of architecture and engineering’ throughout. This
is particularly evident at Westminster station, where Michael Hopkins solved structural
difficulties by designing fantastic supporting structures redolent of science-fiction – what
Paoletti called ‘engineering that expresses itself as architecture … in which people can delight’.
E
He wanted the designs of the JLE stations to have a uniformity of voice, or, as he put it, ‘a
philosophical uniformity’. Paoletti contrasted the drama of MacCormac Jamieson Prichard’s
design for Southwark station with the vast glass drum of Ron Herron’s Canada Water station,
intended as a response to the area’s bleakness, ‘a big, splendid beacon that has transformed the
area from a wasteland almost overnight’. To critics who complained about the expense of these
grand designs, Paoletti pointed out that the same cut-and-cover, box-station design that allowed
his architects a free hand with their various structures also saved London Underground millions
in tunnelling costs. ‘In any case,’ he noted, ‘you have to decide at the beginning whether you’re
going to see an underground station as a kind of vehicular underpass that happens to have people
in it, or whether it’s a building; a building with some other kind of job to do, like making people
comfortable.