PAPER1 - psins-mitra.org

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PAPER 1Listening

https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F77255790%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-EICo0&show_artwork=true&secret_url=true

For Question 1, write your answer in NOTMORE THAN 3 WORDS.

1. Besides honey, ………………………………………………..

For Questions 2, 3 and 4, write your answer in NOT MORE THAN 5 WORDS.

2. …………………………………………………..

3. …………………………………………………..

4. ……………………………………………………

For Questions 5 and 6, write your answers in NOTMORE THAN 5 WORDS.As an anti-irritant, what honey suitable for?

5. …………………………………………………….

6. …………………………………………………….

For Questions 7 and 8, circle the correct answer.

7. A person who takes honey regularly has ……… chances of reducing heart attacks.A. 10 percentB. 84 percentC. 20 percent

8. Which of the following is not mentioned in the promotion?A. Oral careB. Facts about honeyC. Benefits of taking honey

For Questions 9 and 10, complete the sentence using the letters A-F from the list below.A. Learn businessB. Test one’s own productsC. Earn a part time incomeD. Spend time productivelyE. Lease and renovate a shop

9. For most of the employed, flea markets are way to ………………………………….

10. Setting up a stall flea markets eliminates the cost to ………………………………..



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https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F77256876%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-f6dWk&show_artwork=true&secret_url=true

For Questions 11, 12, 13 and 14 circle the correct answer.

11. Most flea markets operate on …………………..A. FridaysB. SundaysC. Public holidays

12. Which of the following statement is true?A. Flea markets are also knows as weekends bazaarsB. Flea markets are only found in shopping complexesC. Flea markets only sell crystal jewelry and cute little bunniesD.

13. For those who at the beginning shied away from the flea markets, they find thatthe …………. the business very tempting.

A. Input they get throughB. Low cost involved in startingC. Extra income they earn through

14. One of the disadvantage faced by those who are running the stalls at flea markets is ;A. The weatherB. Looking out for shop liftersC. Having insufficient tables for their wares

https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F77257200%3Fsecret_token%3Ds-RiC5W&show_artwork=true&secret_url=true

For Questions 15 – 20 write your answers in NOT MORE THAN FIVE WORDS.

15. The caller feels that to preserve the environment people must be ……......................

16. The caller ……………………….. in schools is a good way of instilling consciousness ofthe environment.

17. Besides being at least 21 years old, a Malaysian citizen must also ………… in order tovote.

18. To be eligible to vote a person has to be ……………………..

19. Being the youngest world champion has made Nicol to ………………..

20. Nicol’s first international success in Hong Kong has ……………………. many othertournaments.





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PAPER 2SpeakingSet 1

Instructions to Candidates This test consists of two tasks, Task A and Task B. Task A is carried out first followed by Task B. You are given one minute to read the instructions and the tasks given.

Candidate A

Task A: Individual Presentation (2 minutes) You have two minutes to prepare your response. You have two minutes to present. Listen to the others while they are making their presentations and take down notes for the

group interaction in Task B.

SituationYou are a member of the Rotary Club in your area. You noticed that obesity has become a threatin your community. As a members of the community, express your views.

Task A: In your opinion, obesity is caused by overeating. Elaborate on this.

Task B: Group Interaction (10 minutes) You have two minutes to prepare for the discussion. You may maintain or change your views presented in Task A. In your discussion, you may support or oppose the other candidates’ views. You are given ten minutes for the discussion.

SituationYou are a member of the Rotary Club in your `area. You noticed that obesity has become a threatin your community. As a members of the community, express your views.

Task B: Discuss which of the following, is the main cause obesityi. Overeatingii. Too much of junk foodiii. Late night food consumptioniv. Lack of exercise

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Candidate B




Task A: In your opinion, obesity is caused by too much of junk food. Elaborate on this.




Candidate C




Task A: In your opinion, obesity is caused by late night food consumption. Elaborate on this.

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Candidate D




Task A: In your opinion, obesity is caused by overeating. Elaborate on this.




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SpeakingSet 2


Candidate A



SituationAccidents have become rampant nowadays. It happens every time. What are the reasons for this?

Task A: In your opinion, it is due to unkempt vehicles. Elaborate on this.



Task B:Why are there so many accidents?v. Unkempt vehiclesvi. Mobile phone usage while drivingvii. Tirednessviii. Poor maintenance of facilities

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Candidate B




Task A: In your opinion, it is due to mobile phone usage while driving. Elaborate on this.



Task B:Why are there so many accidents?i. Unkempt vehiclesii. Mobile phone usage while drivingiii. Tirednessiv. Poor maintenance of facilities

Candidate C




Task A: In your opinion, it is due to tiredness. Elaborate on this.

Task B: Group Interaction (10 minutes) You have two minutes to prepare for the discussion.

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You may maintain or change your views presented in Task A. In your discussion, you may support or oppose the other candidates’ views. You are given ten minutes for the discussion.


Task B:Why are there so many accidents?i. Unkempt vehiclesii. Mobile phone usage while drivingiii. Tirednessiv. Poor maintenance of facilities

Candidate D




Task A: In your opinion, it is due to poor maintenance of facilities. Elaborate on this.



Task B: Why are there so many accidents?i. Unkempt vehiclesii. Mobile phone usage while drivingiii. Tirednessiv. Poor maintenance of facilities

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SpeakingSet 3


Candidate A



SituationMalaysia has many tourist attractions but more is needed to be done to attract more tourists. As amembers of Tourism Board Malaysia, express how you are going to increase tourism inMalaysia.

Task A: In your opinion, we can promote Malaysian attractions through social media. Elaborateon this.



Task B:Ways of increasing tourism in Malaysia.i. Promote Malaysian attractions through social mediaii. Have proper facilitiesiii. Have road-shows on other countriesiv. Have Malaysian food fairs

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Candidate B




Task A: In your opinion, we should have proper facilities. Elaborate on this.



Task B:Ways of increasing tourism in Malaysia.i. Promote Malaysian attractions through social mediaii. Have proper facilitiesiii. Have road-shows on other countriesiv. Have Malaysian food fairs.

Candidate C




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Task A: In your opinion, we should have road-shows in other countries. Elaborate on this.




Candidate D




Task A: In your opinion, we can have Malaysian food fairs. Elaborate on this.


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PAPER 3ReadingSet 1

Questions 1 to 7 are based on the following passage.FACEBOOK has defied even optimists’ projections of how big the 12-year old firm

could day become. Today the company’s flagship social network claims 1.6 billion users, arounda billion of them log on each day. Facebook had attracted and engaged so many users byengineering features that are highly addictive and relevant to their lives, so people keep comingback for more hits (otherwise known as updates). Including the other apps it owns, such asWhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger, Americans spend 30 percent of their mobileinternet time in Facebook compared to around 11 percent on Google and You Tube combined.

The amount of data Facebook collects on users have helped it become the world’ssecond-largest advertising company on mobile devices. Last year it claimed 19 percent of theUSD70billion people spent on mobile advertising globally, compared to Twitter’s paltry 2.5percent. Its data advantage will make it difficult for rivals to unseat it, which explains why itsmarket capitalization has risen to around USD325 billion today.

Some might think that people already spent too much time on the social network.According to one estimate, most Americans spend the equivalent of two workdays each monthon Facebook. In future, might they pass even more time? Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO ofFacebook, is hoping that Facebook will be an even bigger part of the mobile ecosystem in thefuture. Being both useful and addictive could win Facebook even more friends.

Figure 1: Facebook’s average revenue per user, 5

(Adapted from The Economist. April 7, 2016)

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1. More than half of all Facebook users check their account every day.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

2. Facebook is the most popular social media app among Americans.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

3. Globally, Facebook is the biggest earner in online advertising.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

4. Facebook has never experienced a decline in revenue since it began.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

5. Americans spend the most time on social media in the mobile ecosystem.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

6. Facebook in Asia has the greatest potential for growth.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

7. Revenue from Facebook in Asia has been drastic growth from 2010 to 2015.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

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Question 8 to 14 are based on the following passage.

There are many compelling reasons to get up out of your desk chair and stand more atwork, since many modern professions are sedentary. Many of us spend six or seven hours tied toour desks each day. These long, uninterrupted periods of physical lethargy had been linked withincreased risks for diabetes, heart disease, premature mortality and, not least, weight gain.

In response many people, have begun to look for ways to break up our spending time. Wedownload smart phone apps that chirp and tell us to stand up several times every hour. Health-minded supervisors organize walking meetings, in which employees discuss business whilehoofing around hallways.

Recent studies indicate the measures that get us off our seats can us better regulate bloodsugar and lessen the risks for diabetes and chronic disease. But more to the point, many of us arerising from our chairs in the hopes that sitting less will help our waistlines and nether quartersfrom spreading.

Surprisingly few studies, however, have closely tracked how many additional calories weburn if we stand up or walk around our offices. So for the new experiment researchers at theUniversity of Pittsburgh rounded up 74 healthy volunteers. Many were in their mid-20s, ofnormal weight, and with some acquaintance with office life.

These volunteers were randomly assigned to four different groups. One group was askedto sit and type. Afterward, they immediately moved to a treadmill and walked for 15 minutes at agentle, strolling pace.

Another group also sat for 15 minutes, but watched a television screen and did not type.Afterward, they immediately moved to a treadmill and walked for 15 minutes at a gentle,strolling pace.

The third group stood up for 15 minutes and then sat down for 15 minutes.

And the final group walked on the treadmills for 15 minutes and then sat.

Throughout, the volunteers wore masks that precisely measured their energy expenditure,which means how many calories they were using.

Unsurprisingly, sitting was not very taxing. The volunteers generally burned about 20calories during their 15 minutes of sitting, whether they were typing or staring at a televisionscreen.

More unexpected, standing up was barely more demanding. While standing for 15minutes, the volunteers burned about two additional calories compared to when they sat down. Itdid not matter whether they stood up and then sat down or sat down and stood up. The totalcaloric expenditure was about the same and not sizable.

Overall, in fact, the researchers concluded, someone who stood up while working insteadof sitting would burns about eight or nine extra calories per hour. Just for comparison, a singlecup of coffee with cream and sugar consists around of 50 calories.

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But walking was a different matter. When the volunteers walked for 15 minutes, even at afairly easy pace, they burned about three times as many calories as when they sat or stood. Ifthey walked for an hour, the researchers calculated, they would incinerate about 130 morecalories than if they stayed in their chairs or stood up at their desks.

The upshot of this experiment is that if your goal is to control your weight at work, then“standing up may not be enough,” said the lead author of the new study. You probably need toalso incorporate walking into your office routine. Maybe “put the printer at the other end of thehallways, or get up to walk to the water fountain every hour or so” instead of keeping a waterbottle at your desk. “Brief periods of walking can add up to make a big difference” in energyexpenditure, be seat, while standing barely budges your calorie burn.

Standing up almost certainly has other health benefits apart from weight management,better blood sugar control and less back and shoulder pain associated with bunching in a chair allday. So do not abundant your stand-up desk just yet.

(Adapted from The New York Times. 2014)

8. The nature of work for modern professionals leads to weight gains.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

9. Walking during meeting are effective than being remained by smart phones to exercise.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

10. The study on physical activity was conducted on 74 workers of the University of Pittsburgh.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

11. The method used in the study involved four groups of participants sitting, standing andwalking.

A. at regular intervalsB. at different intensityC. in different combinations

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12.

Why did the writer mention this?

A. To show how difficult it is to burn caloriesB. To show that coffee with cream and sugar is a high calorie drinkC. To show that drinking coffee is common among working professionals

13. The findings of the study showed thatA. standing only burned two caloriesB. you need to walk 15 minutes a dayC. walking burned three times more calories than standing

14. The main point of the last paragraph is standing while at workA. can help us lose weightB. can bring health benefitsC. reduces back and shoulder pain

Questions 15 to 21 are based on the following passage.

Imagine spending your entire career searching for something buried somewhere within theEarth – and then when you miraculously find it, the federal government seizes your discovery.That is the predicament paleontologist Peter Larson found himself in after he and his teamunearthed a nearly complete Tyrannosaurus rex (T-rex) skeleton in 1990, preserved for some 67million years in what is now the state of South Dakota.

On the morning of August 12, 1990, The Black Hills fossil hunter team’s vehicle brokedown, so Sue Hendrickson decided to venture out on her own Maurice Williams’ ranch wherethe team had spent weeks searching for fossils. That foggy morning, she walked into thediscovery of a lifetime.

“Anybody who had any idea what a fossil versus a rock looked like would have seen it,”Hendrickson said. “There were a lot of broken bones dribbling down and about eight feet up theside of the cliff, there were three articulated vertebrae and a couple of other pieces of bonessticking out.”

Hendrickson immediately showed one of the vertebrae to her colleagues. Amazed,Larson said he and the team “literally ran back to the site.” More than 80 percent of the skeletonwas recovered, making “Sue” the most complete and largest T-rex ever discovered. And thescientific impact was huge. One of the most interesting discoveries, according to Larson, wasthat the injuries to the bones indicated that Sue had died after being attacked by another T-rex.

Larson said he and the entire town hoped a public display of Sue would “put Hill City onthe map.” Their excitement soon turned to outrage as federal agents arrived on the doorstep of

Just for comparison (line 40)

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the Black Hills Institute. Around seven that morning, FBI agents and the National Guard arrivedat the institute and seized Sue, the records related to T-rex and other documents from the BlackHills Institute.

“The entire town of Hill City was in the morning when they took that dinosaur away,”said Black Hills Institute’s office manager Marion Zenker.

Even though the team had gotten permission and paid the landowner for the fossil find,Maurice Williams had apparently changed his claims and said the fossil belonged to him. Inaddition, it turned out Williams’ private ranch was part of Indian Trust land, which furthercomplicated who owned Sue.

On top of that, five years before Sue’s discovery, The National Park Service (NPS) hadbegun to investigate the Black Hills Institute for illegally collecting fossils on public lands, saidNPS senior geologist Vincent Santucci.

In the end, Williams made USD7.6 million from the eventual auction Sue, who was puton display at Chicago’s Field Museum and Peter Larson served 18 months in federal prison forcustoms violations unrelated to the T-rex. Despite everything that happened to him and his team,Larson says he is glad that Sue is on public display. He even went to the dinosaur’s 2000unveiling in Chicago as a guest of Sue Hendrickson’s.

“I think it’s probably the second best place she could have been,” he said, referring toChicago. “People can see her and get the same excitement that I have for her.”

(Adapted from http://edition.enn.com/2014/12/11)

15. What was the “predicament” (line 3) faced by Peter Larson?A. Advancing his career as a paleontologistB. The intervention from the federal governmentC. Difficulty in unearthing the Tyrannosaurus rex

16. The following could describe the discovery of the skeleton exceptA. it was obstructed by fogB. it was long awaitedC. it was accidental

17. According to Sue Hendrickson, the dinosaur skeleton wasA. easily recognizableB. severely damagedC. unusually large

18. outrage (line 22) can be replaced withA. fearB. angerC. confusion

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19. What was the main problem Larson faced in his work?A. Getting a permit from the National Park ServiceB. Dispute over ownership of the skeletonC. Paying customs duties

20. The writer’s tone in paragraph 9 indicatesA. ironyB. sarcasmC. mockery

21. From the passage it can be concluded that Larson wasA. considerateB. unfortunateC. sympathetic


He stares at the face in the mirror. A stranger’s face framed by a shock of grey hair andsideburns, a slightly creased forehead, a fine pointed nose, thin lips that form a small “o” and asharp chin marked with stubble. He strokes it with his fingers, tracing its planes and angles,marveling at the unfamiliar texture, “I’m still me,” he says fiercely too himself. “It’s me with anew face.”

Jerome, a private man who asked that his last name not be used, is stepping out from theshadows. He is the world’s first full face transplant, from his hairline down his neck, with tearducts that work, eyelids blink and a five o’clock shadow he will have to shave.

Arlette gazed down at her new baby, Jerome. It was January 30, 1975, winter in Brittanyon France’s west coast, and she was chilled, as if the wind was gusting into the hospital room.“What is it?” she asked, frightened. Only a few hours old, the tiny infant, his hands bunched intofists, had a dropping right eyelid and a terribly swollen upper lip. The doctor said only that anophthalmologist could see Jerome because he needed surgery on the eyelid so his sight coulddevelop normally with exposure to light. So the ordeal began, a hint of what was to come.

When Jerome was a toddler and later in primary school, he had more surgeries orcosmetic procedure to snip the odd growth from his face. But it would be nine years beforedoctors diagnosed his condition, a relatively common genetic disease called neurofibromatosis orNF. The symptoms can include skin discoloration and benign tumors that grow along nerves.Doctors told her the genes spontaneously mutate in up to half the cases, a cruel lottery that choseher younger son. The disease could get worse as he got older.

Then in 2007, Arlette, Jerome, and Jerome’s stepfather, Jacques, saw a televisiondocumentary about a man who had the same condition and had a partial face transplant. His facewas so disfigured that his mouth opening actually fell below his jaw. He too had spent his life inhiding. Arlette grabbed Jerome and Jacques in excitement. She remembered that the first partialface transplant had been performed in France in 2005 on a woman who had been mauled by a

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dog. But she never once imagined that the procedure could be done one someone with a geneticcondition like her son. She wrote down the name of doctor, Laurent Lantieri. Then she urgedJerome to get in touch with him.

It was not easy. It took Jerome four months to get up the courage to make an appointmentwith the doctor. Finally, in the winter of 2008, he found himself sitting across Lantieri in thesurgeon’s office at Henri Mondor hospital in Creteil, southeast of Paris. Lantieri was the chief ofthe hospital’s plastic surgery department and had successfully completed four partial transplants.Now, he was ready to go further. Yet, what he envisioned for Jerome had never before been done:A full face transplant. it would be easy, Jerome would have to go through a series of testsbeforehand to ensure he had physical strength to survive the surgery and the mental strength ofhaving someone else’s face become his own. Worse, if Jerome’s body rejected the transplant, itwould be a fatal one.

The wait for a donor was agonizing. One month passed, two, three and four. Finally, inJune 2010, the hospital, excited and afraid. Prepped to go into the operating room on June 27, hetaught that this could be the last time he would ever see his family. After almost 12 hours ofpainstaking procedures, the operation was a success.

Three months after the operation, Jerome admits he is no Tom Cruise, but a work-in-progress, a man who is slowly turning a donor’s gift into his own visage, with his bone structureto give it-shape and his personality to give it soul. Jerome looks forward to a future whereanything is possible. When he had the operation people feared he would wake up a differentperson but he still the same guy, bookish and quirky, a man who wants to find a good job intheatre or television, and who is ready to open himself to love. And for the time, he is amused tofind that he is beginning to show a hint of what most people already have: A sense of vanity.“Look at this nose,” he says. “It’s perfect!”

(Adapted from Reader’s Digest, July 2011)

22.… he fiercely to himself (line 5) indicates thatA. he wants to convince himselfB. he is angry with himselfC. he is expressing surprise

23.… stepping out from the shadows (line 6 and 7) suggest that JeromeA. has now gain confidence to face the worldB. is afraid that people will laugh at himC. is excited to start a new life

24. So the ordeal began, a hint of what was to come (line 16)

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This suggest that

A. Jerome was destined to be disabled from birthB. the doctor could not do anything to help JeromeC. Jerome’s condition was about to go from bad to worse

25. Paragraph 5 is mainly aboutA. how badly society treated JeromeB. the unimaginable distortion to Jerome’s faceC. the physical and emotional changes in Jerome

26. Why did Jerome take four months to make an appointment with Dr Lantieri?A. He was afraid that he would be disappointed.B. He was fearful of undergoing a long procedure.C. He was scared that he might die from the surgery.

27. agonizing (line 50) can best replaced withA. taxingB. unbearableC. demanding

28. What happened to Jerome after the operation?A. He wanted to be an actor.B. He started to become normal.C. He developed a new personality.

29. The passage is developed mainly throughA. problem and solutionB. compare and contrastC. description and narration


I no longer played in the alley of Waverly Place. I never visited the playground where thepigeons and men gathered. I went to school, then directly home to learn new chess secrets,cleverly concealed advantages, more escape routes.

But I found it difficult to concentrate at home. My mother had a habit of standing overme while I plotted out my games. I think she thought of herself as my protective ally. Her lipswould be sealed tight, and after each move I made, a soft “Hmmmmph” would escape from hernose.

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“Ma, I can’t practice when you stand there like that,” I said one day. She retreated to thekitchen and made loud noises with the pots and pans. When the crashing stopped, I could see outof the corner of my eye that she was standing in the doorway, “Hmmmmph!” Only this one cameout of her tight throat.

My parents made many concessions to allow me to practice. One time I complained thatthe bedroom I shared was noisy that I couldn’t think. Thereafter my brothers slept in a bed in theliving room facing the street. I said I couldn’t finish my rice; my head didn’t work right when mystomach was full. I left the table with half-finished bowls and nobody complained. But there wasone duty I couldn’t avoid. I had to accompany my mother on Saturday market days when I hadno tournament to play. My mother would proudly walk with me, visiting many shops, buyingvery little. “This my daughter Wave-ly Jong,” she said whoever looked her way.

One day after we left a shop I said under my breath, “I wish you wouldn’t do that, tellingeveryone I’m your daughter.” My mother stopped walking. Crowds of people with heavy bagspushed past us on the sidewalk, bumping into the first one shoulder than another.

“Aiii-ya. So shame be with mother?” She grasped my hand even tighter as she glared atme.

I looked down, “It’s not that, it’s just so obvious. It’s just embarrassing.”

“Embarrass you be my daughter?” Her voice was cracking with anger.

“That’s not what I meant. That’s not what I said.”

“What you say?”

I knew it was a mistake to say anything more, but I heard my voice speaking. “Why doyou have to use me to show off? If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to playchess?”

My mother’s eyes turned into dangerous black slits. She had no words for me, just sharpsilence.

I felt the wind rushing around my hot ears. I jerked my hand out of my mother’s tightgrasp and spun around, knocking into an old woman. Her back of groceries spilled to the ground.

“Aiii-ya! Stupid girl,” my mother and the woman cried. Oranges and tin cans careeneddown the sidewalk. As my mother stepped to help the old woman pick up the escaping food, Itook off.

I raced down the street, dashing between people and not looking back as my motherscreamed shrilly, “Meimei! Meimei!” I fled down an alley, past dark, curtained shops andmechanics washing the grime off their windows. I speed into the sunlight, into a large streetcrowded with tourists examining trinkets and souvenirs. I decked unto another dark alley, downanother street, up another alley. I run until it hurt and I realized I had nowhere to go, that I wasnot running from anything. The alleys contained no escape routes.

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(Adapted from The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan)

30. I no longer played in the alley… (line 1) shows thatA. Meimei spend a lot of time in school training to be chess playerB. Meimei’s life changed drastically after winning the tournamentC. Meimei was not interested in playing chess with the old manD. Meimei’s mother did not allow her to play in the alley

31. Meimei made the demands as described in paragraph 4 because sheA. was fussy about her foodB. wanted a room of her ownC. know that her parents wanted her to play more tournamentsD. took advantages of her parents’ hope on her winning tournaments

32.…visiting many shops, buying very little (lines 18 and 19) emphases the point thatA. Meimei was unhappy that her mother took a long time shoppingB. Meimei’s mother is proud of her daughter’s beautyC. Meimei and her mother have a close relationshipD. Meimei’s mother like to show off her daughter

33. Which of the following does not describe Meimei’s mother?A. CruelB. ProudC. FierceD. Sensitive

34. The details given in the last paragraph about Meimei’s running showA. how stubborn she could beB. how hard she wished to escapeC. her familiarity with her neighborhoodD. her wish to get away from the crowded market

35. The alleys contained no escape routes. (line 47 and 48) implies thatA. Meimei found it difficult to escape through the alleysB. Meimei realized that no one would help her with her problemsC. Meimei knew that her problem with her mother had to be resolvedD. Meimei had to stop running because she knew she would be caught

36. There is mention of escape routes (lines 3 and 48). This phrase implies thatA. a winner has to be clever strategistB. the moves in chess and in life are very similarC. Meimei is planning to run away from her parentsD. playing chess gives as much pleasure as playing in the alley

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37. The passage is mainly aboutA. the spiritedness of a young girlB. a young girl trying to be a good chess playerC. a mother who is too ambitious for her daughterD. the conflict of emotions that exists between parents and a child


After Darth Vader lopped off Luke Skywalker’s hand in the Star Wars movie “The EmpireStrikes back,” Rebel Alliance doctors installed a prosthetic that immediately moves and feels justlike a human hand. Science fiction is coming closer to reality. At Johns Hopkins University,researchers recently adapted a brain mapping technology to enable patient to independentlymove individual fingers on a prosthetic arm just by thinking about it.

While such technology is years from practical application in patients, the breakthroughby biomedical engineers and physicians from Johns Hopkins University and its School ofMedicine is the latest advancement in a growing field of researchers into mind-controlledmovement of artificial limbs. The Johns Hopkins researchers said their work, published thismonth in the Journal of Neural Engineering, is the first to accomplish such precise,individualized motion of the fingers and shows promise for one day providing amputees withprosthetic that more closely mimic the movements of real hands and arms. While prostheticshave improved in recent years, they still can be bulky and hard to manoeuvre. The fingers onexisting prosthetic move as one unit, or in unison, opening and closing together, like whengrasping a soda can.

“We still have a bit of a way to go before we get this in a practical clinical setting fullyrestoring the natural dexterity of people – but I think that day is coming,” said Guy Hotson, anelectrical and computer engineering graduate student at Johns Hopkins who was lead author onthe study.

Funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the experimentused a modular prosthetic arm developed by Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.Considerate the world’s most sophisticated upper-extremity prosthetic, the arm can performalmost all the same movements as a human arm and hand.

The lab’s research and development of the arm itself was funded under theRevolutionising Prosthetic programme of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency with theintent of restoring limb function to wounded military members.

While building such a mechanically sophisticated prosthetic is possible, how to control itremains an open question. That’s where the Johns Hopkins researchers thought that brain-mapping technology could be used. But they needed a subject to whom they could applysensitive electrodes directly to the brain. Because the study involved opening the brain, theresearchers needed to find someone already getting brain surgery for something else, so theyrecruited a young epileptic man undergoing brain surgery to stop seizures not controlled by

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medicine. As part of the procedure, doctors placed electrodes on the patient’s brain to helpdetermine where his seizures originated, and then removed those parts of his brain.

The surgeons applied the same brain mapping technique to determine which parts of hisbrain controlled finger movement. A set of 128 electrodes sitting on a film the size of a creditcard were placed on the parts of the brain that control hand and arm movement. Each sensormeasured a millimeter of brain tissue.

The researchers then asked the patients, who was awake throughout the surgery, to moveindividual’s fingers. The computer programme developed by John Hopkins engineers recordedthe parts of the brain that were activated through electrical signals detected by the sensors as hemoved each fingers. Using the data collected from the patient’s brain, the prosthetic arm wasprogrammed to move particular fingers when corresponding parts of the brain were activated.

“It will be interesting to see how and if they are able to bring any of this technology tomarket; that’s always a challenge,” Gondo said. “It could be years before mind-controlledprosthetics are even ready for commercialization,” the John Hopkins researchers said.

(Adapted from http;//www.baltimoresum.com/2016)

38.

This means that

A. science fiction reflects modern lifeB. modern inventions evolve from scientific ideasC. fictitious idea in movies are becoming true in lifeD. the idea in the movies inspire scientific inventions

39. What is the main idea in paragraph 1?A. Using a human-like prosthetic arm in combatB. Learning from science fiction in developing prostheticsC. Possibility of the mind controlling the use of a prosthetic armD. Introduction to brain mapping technology at Johns Hopkins University

40. Which of the following words has the same meaning as mimic (line 14)?A. MirrorB. ExtendC. RestoreD. Replace

Science fiction is coming close to reality (line 3 and 4)

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41. The following disadvantages associated with the use of prosthetic exceptA. it is cumbersomeB. it is difficult to controlC. it takes a long time to developD. it does not allow easy finger movement

42. The development of the prosthetic arm was the result ofA. a joint effort among agenciesB. a graduate engineering projectsC. an initiative by the defense agencyD. massive funding by Johns Hopkings University

43. The subject from the study on mind map technology was selected becauseA. he was not on medicationB. he was a Johns Hopkings’ patientC. he was scheduled for brain surgeryD. he needed to use electrodes for his treatment

44. The purpose of the experiment of the patient isA. to track the patient’s finger movementsB. to obtain information for programmingC. to test the operation of the prosthetic armD. to observe how the patient responded to specific instructions

45. In the last paragraph, the researcher soundedA. cautiousB. skepticalC. optimisticD. unconvinced

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Set 2

Questions 1 to 7 are based on the following passage

Despite having tertiary education, women are shying away from the workforce becauseof low wages, a recent study by the National Human Resources Institute revealed. The 2008study showed that jobs dominated by women were generally ‘undervalued’. Institute Director,Amir Omar said one of the reasons for this was because women dominated jobs like nursing andteaching, while men dominated top management positions. These two sectors (nursing andteaching) happen to have lesser pay compared with the other sector (top management) and thismay have contributed to the statistics. Also, due to the lesser pay, men are less inclined to jointhe two sectors while more women are inclined to join due to the nature of the work. This couldbe due to general perception that women are more suited for such jobs.

Amir explained that the statistics gathered in the study, derived from the private sector,also stated the total pay-out to employees, including overtime claims and other allowances. It isnot that women are not willing to work extra hours, but responsibilities at home, such as reachinghome on time to do housework make them more inclined to refuse the extra hours and thus, theextra pay.

He said the Labour Force Participation rate statistics, which referred to the portion of the15 to 64 years age group of females who were economically active, were also worrying.According to him, only 45 per cent of the 3.95 million females who fell into the category choseto work compared with the 79 per cent of the 7.07 million males in the workforce. One of thereasons given by them for not joining the workforce was the low salary offered to female staff.They also quoted the high cost of sending children to nursery. Some said they wanted to furthertheir studies. Amir added that what made the situation more worrying was women currentlymade up 60 per cent of the country’s total university intake. If women do not work, then thegovernment’s investment in tertiary education will go waste.

There should be commitment by companies in the private sector to pay attention to thedifference in wages between men and women. The National Council of Women Organizationswants the disparity addressed as soon as possible through affirmative action on the part ofemployers. Deputy President Datuk Ramani Gurusamy said companies should have quotasystems as an interim measure to increase the portion of women at different levels, especially atthe decision-making levels. This is in keeping with the government’s policy of working towardsat least 30 per cent of women at management levels. Ramani added that companies should alsofind out if differenced in pay scales were a result of a lack of supportive and enablingenvironment to achieve their potential.

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Figure 1: Average Monthly Basic Wage in Malaysian 2008

(Adapted from National Human Resources Institute, Ministry of Human Resources)

(Adapted from New Straits Times, Monday, July 12, 2019)

1. Jobs like nursing and teaching are less important to society than top management jobs.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not Stated

2. According to the Labour Force Participation Rate statics, 3.95 million females workcompared to 7.07 million males.

A. TrueB. FalseC. Not Stated

3. Access to affordable day-care centers for children will encourage more women to join theworkforce.

A. True

Occupation

Male

(RM)

Female

(RM)

Difference

(RM)

Senior officials and managers 4296 2522 1774

Professionals 3670 2848 822

Technicians and associate

professionals

2007 1957 50

Clerical workers 1407 1325 82

Service workers and sales works 924 802 122

Skilled agricultural workers 730 513 217

Craft and related trade workers 1081 727 354

Plant and machine operators 860 623 237

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B. FalseC. Not Stated

4. According to the article, the responsibility of addressing the disparity of wages betweengender lies with the government.


5. To increase the proportion of women in the workforce, a least 30 per cent of employeesin all levels must be women.


6. Figure1 shows that there are more male senior officials and managers than female.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not Stated

7. Figure 1 shows that male seniors officials and managers earn more than double comparedto the female.



Medical tourists are presently travelling to faraway countries for cosmetic surgery, assistedreproductive technology, orthopedic surgery, cardiac surgery, organ transplantation, genderreassignment procedures, and even executive health evaluations. A number of countries inCentral and South America have developed strong reputations for cosmetic and plastic surgeryand dental care. India, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand are well-established medical tourismdestinations that have become popular for patients seeking cardiac surgery and orthopedicsurgery. These destinations boast modern facilities with advanced technology and appealingaccommodations. A substantial number of the physicians’ in medical tourism destinationreceived postgraduate training in industrialized nations, have board certification, and may havepractised in the country where they completed their training.

For patients from highly industrialized nations, the primary reason to have medical servicesin less developed countries is attractively low cost. Such cost-conscious patients choose to acceptthe inconvenience and uncertainties of offshore healthcare to obtain service at prices they canmore comfortably afford. A patient from United States is likely to be a middle class adultrequiring elective surgical care who has no health insurance or who has inadequate coverage.The other group pursuing medical tourism are people seeking cosmetic surgery, dentalreconstruction, fertility treatment, gender reassignment procedures, and other treatments not

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covered by health insurance. The common feature in both groups are that their resources areadequate to purchase healthcare in low-cost medical tourism destinations but insufficient forthem to comfortably have the same services in their local market. For patients from othercountries where a governmental healthcare system controls access to services, the major reasonto choose offshore medical care is to circumvent delays associated with long waiting lists.National health programmes do not typically pay for cosmetic surgery and similar type services;therefore, patients from Canada and the United Kingdom desiring these procedures pursuemedical tourism for the same economic reasons as those from the United States.

Patients also travel offshore medical destinations to have procedures that are not widelyavailable in their own countries. For example, stem cell therapy for any one of a number ofproblems may be unavailable or restricted in industrialized countries but may be much moreavailable in the medical tourism marketplace. Some patients, particularly those undergoingplastic surgery, sex change procedures, and drug rehabilitation, choose to go to medical tourismdestinations because they are more confident that their privacy and confidentiality will beprotected in a faraway setting. Finally, some patients have medical care abroad for theopportunity to travel to exotic locations and vacation in affordable luxurious surroundings.Although medical tourism agents and travel professionals may be promote the “tourism” aspectof offshore care, the recreational value of travel has decreasing importance to patients withcomplex or serious medical problems.

The primary reason that medical centers in developing countries are able to providehealthcare services inexpensively is directly related to the nation’s economic status. Indeed, theprices charged for medical care in a destination country generally correlate with that nation’s percapita gross domestic product. Accordingly, the charges for healthcare services are appropriatefor the level of economic development in which the services are provided. Low administrativeand medico-legal expenses for overseas practitioners also contribute to the affordability ofoffshore medical care. For example, the professional liability insurance premium for a surgeon inIndia is four per cent of that for a surgeon in New York.

The medical tourism industry is fueled and driven by patients by patients who feeldisenfranchised by the healthcare system in their home country. These informed patients shopoutside the organized medical system in their home country. These informed patients shopoutside the organized medical system to find services that are affordable, timely, or simplyavailable. It is increasingly apparent that the medical tourism is changing the healthcarelandscape in industrialized and developing countries around the world, and there is every reasonto believe that this trend will continue to evolve.

(Adapted from Medscape General Medicine Journal, 2007)

8. Most physicians involved in medical tourism are well-trained and experiencedA. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

9. Medical tourists cannot afford to pay for surgeries in their own countriesA. True

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B. FalseC. Not stated

10. Most patients who seek elective surgeries are females.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

11. Circumvent ( line 26 ) meansA. AvoidB. PreventC. Shorten

12. The main reason for a patient with a serious medical problem to seek treatment abroad isA. Opportunity to travelB. Privacy and anonymityC. Availability of treatment

13. Developing countries are able to keep medical costs low because of the followingreasons except

A. Cost of living is lowB. Medical insurance is affordableC. Economic development is rapid

14. A medical tourist is likely to be someone whoA. Likes to travel abroadB. Is well-informed about medical facilitiesC. Has no health insurance in his home country


The music to ‘Happy Birthday To You’ was written in the late 19th century by two sisterswho called the version ‘Good Morning To All’. That song later evolved into the version populartoday and was copyrighted by the sisters’ publisher. The rights to the song were eventuallypurchased by Warner for USD25 million in the 1980s.

But now a group of artists challenging Warner’s claim to the copyright. The challengers saidthey had found proof that the song belongs in the public domain, making it available for anyoneto use, for any purpose, at no cost. They say a 1922 songbook containing the song predates thesong’s 1935 copyright. A ruling in the case could put the song in public domain years beforeWarner claims it’s copyright expires in United States (US), in 2030.

For now, people who want to use ‘Happy Birthday To You’ in a movie, television episode,advertisement, or other public performance must pay Warner a fee. The company rakes in aboutUSD2 million per year from these fees, according to an estimate by George Washington

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University Professor Robert Brauneis, who is now working as a consultant to the plaintiffs in thecase. One of the plaintiffs is documentary filmmaker Jennifer nelson, who set out to make amovie about the song and ended up suing Warner after learning she would have to cough upUSD1500 to feature the song in her film.

1Suing is just the most recent action to the song’s licensing fee. In the past, advertisers, writers,and even chain restaurants have devised clever ways to skirt the copyright. They have includedjust the beginning or the end of the song played ‘For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow’ instead, orcrafted a completely different birthday song. And over the last few years, they have developed anew tactic – joke about how they cannot sing the song because the licensing fees are tooexpensive.

Paul Greco who has been working as a music producer in the advertising industry since 1991says in all his years in the industry, he has not once licensed the song, nor could he think of anynotable ads that had. Ideas involving children’s birthday parties would often be tossed because ofthe licensing fee, Greco says, or his team would create its own music or pick a song that was inthe public domain.

But in recent years writers have begun to make fun of the fact that they cannot include thesong because of the licensing fee. “It’s almost become a clinche now to make fun of the fact thatwe’re not allowed to sing this,” says Robert Thompson, director of the Centre for Television andPopular Culture at Syracuse University in New York.

In a 2009 episode of the NBC sitcom 30 Rock, the show’s crew throws a birthday party whenthe song’s copyright comes up, “Did you know that if you sing Happy Birthday on a TV showyou have to pay for it?” one character asks before the cast breaks into song. They only manage toget out “Happy” before they are cut off by the entrance of another character, who spares 30 Rockfrom paying the fee.

The joke highlights the dissonance between the song’s ubiquity in American culture – it istranscendence of social class, age and geography – Thompson says, and the fact that a singlecompany holds exclusive rights to it and charges a fee for using it in public performances. Butthat dissonance could be over soon - if a judge declares Warner’s copyright is invalid.

(Adapted from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine)

15. Which statement about the music to ‘Happy Birthday To You’ is true ?A. It was composed in the late of 1900sB. Its original title was ‘Good Morning To All’C. Its copyright was originally held by its composers.

16. What is the challenge to warner’s copyright of the music ?A. The copyright fee is too highB. The music belongs to the publicC. Warner’s copyright should expire before 2030

17. Paragraph 4 is mainly about

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine

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A. suing Warner about the licensing feeB. reasons why people are reluctant to pay the licensing feeC. strategies used by people to avoid paying the licensing fee

18. The purpose of Paragraph 5 is to illustrate howA. new advertising ideas related to birthdays are developedB. the advertising industry deals with the song licensing issueC. other music is used to replace the birthday song

19. Which paragraph illustrates the new tactic (line 23)?A. Paragraph 5B. Paragraph 6C. Paragraph 7

20. The expression It’s almost become a clinche now (line 31) suggests that somethingA. Has been overusedB. Is no longer amusingC. Has lost its original meaning

21. What is the writer’s opinion about the Warner’s copyright to the music?A. It has no basisB. It should have been resolved earlierC. It will be overruled by the judge soon


The doctrine of marginal gains’ is all about small incremental improvements in anyprocess adding up to a significant improvement when they are all added together. It is perhapseasier to understand by considering the approach in different areas.

SportsWhen Sir Dave Brailsford became the performance director of team Great Britain (GB), he

set about breaking down the objective of winning races into its component parts. Brailsfordbelieved that if it was possible to make a one per cent improvement in a whole host of areas, thecumulative gains would end up being hugely significant. He was on the look-out for all theweaknesses I the team’s assumptions, all the latent problems, so he could improve on each ofthem.

By experimenting in a wind tunnel, he noted that the bike was not sufficiently aerodynamic.By analyzing the mechanics area in a team truck, he discovered that dust was accumulating onthe floor, undermining bike maintenance. So he had the floor painted pristine white, in order tospot any impurities. Each weakness was not a threat, but an opportunity to make adaptations, andcreate marginal gains. Rapidly, they began to accumulate.

He went further. The team started to use antibacterial hand gel to cut down on infections. Heredesigned the team bus to improve comfort and recuperation. They started to probe deeper into

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untested assumptions, such as dynamic relationship between the intensity of the warm-down andspeed of recovery. As they learned more, they created further marginal gains.

At the turn of the century, Team GB were losing badly in world cycling. Indeed, one punditdescribed the operation as “a laughing stock”. But in the last two Olympics, Team GB hascaptured 16 gold medals and British riders have won the Tour De France three times in the lastfour years. This is the power of a questioning mindset and a commitment to continuousimprovement. But if this approach can have such dramatic results in sports, what could it dobeyond sports ?

HealthcarePreventable medical error is one of the biggest killers in the UK. It kills more people than

traffic accidents. These mistakes should not happen, but they do, over and over again. One keyreason is that some doctors struggle to admit to their mistakes and weaknesses, because theyworry about the effect on reputation and possible litigation. But imagine a different approach,where doctors were up-front, open and on constant look-out for marginal gains.

In fact, this kind of system was adopted at Virginia Mason, a hospital in Seattle, Staff wereencouraged to file reports if anything went wrong, like accidentally prescribing the wrongmedicine. That gave the hospital an opportunity to make small changes, such as altering thelabeling on drugs so that they could easily identified under pressure of time.

This commitment to continuous improvement also led to the discovery that a newly admittedpatient had received a colour-coded wristband signifying “Do Not Resuscitate” instead of oneindicating drug allergies (as a result of a nurse being colour blind). So, text was added to thewristbands. It was another marginal gains.

But this was just the start. They started to use checklists in the operating theatre to alter theergonomic design of surgical equipment to systematically improve clinical hygiene. Eachimprovement seemed small, but they rapidly accumulated.

Since the new approach was taken, Virginia Mason has overseen to astonishing 74 per centreduction in the liability insurance permission. It is now regarded as one of the safest hospitals inthe world.

(Adapted from http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine)

22. The passage starts withA. A definitionB. A descriptionC. A classificationD.

23. The purpose of paragraph 2 is toA. List the weaknesses of Team GBB. Explain how the principle of marginal gains worksC. Describe the challenges faced by Sir Dave BrailsfordD.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine

35

24. What is the most suitable word to describe Sir Dave Brailsford’s achievements ?A. MeasurableB. RemarkableC. Unexpected

25. What sentence is the topic sentence of paragraph 4?A. He went further. (line 17)B. He redesigned the team bus to improve comfort and recuperation. (line 18)C. They started to probe deeper into untested assumptions… (line 18 and 19)

26. The main idea of paragraph 5 isA. The lack of respect that people had for Team GBB. The achievements of Team GB in the 21st centuryC. How much Team GB has achieved with the new approaches

27. Why was the patient given the wrong colour – coded wristband ?A. The nurse did not see the texts on the wristbandB. The nurse could not tell the difference between coloursC. The nurse did not know what colour is for what purpose

28. The writer is of the opinion that the doctrine of marginal gainsA. Has general applicabilityB. Can bring immediate successC. Is most useful in sports and healthcare

29. Which sub-topic is the writer most likely to discuss next?A. TennisB. FinanceC. Motor racing


An increasing number of people are going to bed hungry every night as food prices moveinto uncharted territory. With rice stocks at a 25 year low, lower production, very tight suppliesand increased demand will have far-reaching consequences for the global economy and security.Food aid agencies are finding it harder to provide assistance to and feed the increasing number inneed of basic requirements.

A combination of factors –reduced land area under food crops, including rice and wheat, highfuel prices, resulting in higher cost of fertilizer production, increased costs of harvesting andtransportation, speculation by traders – add to the woes of the world’s poor.

Then again, some of the traditional rice and other crop growing areas have been abandonedas people move to cities, including in China and India, in search of the bright lights and betterjob opportunities. The weather, too, has played its part. Prolonged drought in Australia, floods in

36

Bangladesh, Vietnam and Philippines coupled with the outbreak of pests in Vietnam, the second-largest exporter of rice after Thailand, caused havoc to fields and decimated crop production.

The push of alternatives to oil, for example biofuels, also had an impact on food supplies.The acreage under biofuels is increasing in the United States (US). This is prompted by theincreased subsidies offered by the US for ethanol to farmers who have switched from growingfood crops to biofuels.

All these factors coming together amount to a “perfect storm” that has pushed food prices upas supplies dwindle. Added to this the move by rice producers to curb exports and cap prices tocater to their own domestic demand. Malaysia, which is about 70 per cent self-sufficient rice,imports the rest from the neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.China has put price controls on cooking oils, grain, meat, and eggs.

While the recent increase in the price of oil has caught the attention of people around theworld, the increase in food prices and the problems accompanying these increases have notreceived the same attention. This is because, “no one is starving in rich countries”, according toJoachim Von Braun, Director-General of the International Food Policy Research Institute inWashington.

But with the lines for food stamps growing longer by the day in the world’s most advancedand the richest economy, it is a matter of time before the issue gets the attention it deserves. Thenumber of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year,the highest level since the aid programe began in the 1960s.

An increasing number of “people who were not in the urgent category are now moving intothat category”, according to Josette Sheeran, executive director of the United Nations WorldFood Programme. As of December last year, 37 countries faced a food crisis and 20 had imposedsome food price control.

The millions of people, some living on less that RM2 a day, are not just feeling it, they aredemonstrating. As the old proverb has it, “A hungry man is an angry man”. This is clearlyevident in the growing tension and strife in a number of areas. Food riots have erupted in Guinea,Mauritania, Mexico, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Yemen in recent months. In Pakistan,troops are reported to have been deployed to guard lorries carrying wheat and flour. In Africa,the main household expense is on meals and even a slight increase can be devastating.

The worsening food situation has put greater pressure on the multilateral food aidorganizations. They are finding it hard to meet the increasing demands- the problems of limitedbudgets and higher prices are compounded by the increasing number of people around the worldturning to them for aid. But the funds are not coming. The World Food Programme says it isfaced with USD500 million (RM1.5 billion) funding shortage purely due to rising costs ofbuying and distributing food – and this even before taking into account the increasedrequirements for aid.

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Before the situation gets worse and security and stability become even greater issues, it istime to take stock of the situation and meet this most urgent and basic need of people – food.

(Adapted from The Strait Times, April 2008)

30. The phrase food prices move into uncharted territory (lines 1 and 2) suggest that foodprices have

A. Risen a lot worldwideB. Caused many people to starveC. Increased beyond expectationsD. Resulted in decrease in demand

31. The following are the reasons why food aid agencies are finding it difficult to meet thedemand for rice except

A. Low rice stocksB. Less production of riceC. Global demand for rice has increasedD. Rice is more expensive than other food crops

32. All these factors coming together amount to a “perfect storm” (line 20). The “perfectstorm” implies that

A. There are too many problems to overcomeB. There will be possibility of protests and riotsC. There is an urgent need for preventive measuresD. There is no escape from a very difficult situation

33. The increase in food prices has received less attention than the increase in oil prices. Thisis because it

A. Affects mainly the Asian countriesB. Is not as high as the increase in oil pricesC. Does not affect the rich nations as much as the poorD. Creates fewer problems compared to the increase in oil prices

34. … the issue gets the attention it deserves (line 32 and 33). The issue refers toA. A lack of fundingB. The increase in food pricesC. A need for more food stampsD. The rich countries not giving aid

35. The central idea of paragraphs 9 to 11 isA. An inadequate supply of affordable food will cause instabilityB. Poverty is increasing even in the more advanced economiesC. An increasing number of people are facing food crisisD. The food situation can only worsen

36. The writer supports the point made mainly byA. Presenting actual studiesB. Giving illustrative examplesC. Providing research statisticsD. Quoting the opinions from authorities

37. The concluding paragraph contains aA. Summary

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B. PredictionC. GeneralizationD. Recommendation


My wife, Susan is a great pie make. Do you think it is coincidental that her mother was too?The apple (pie maker) does not fall far from the tree. My favourite example in research is thestudy of thirty men who were identified as growing up in working-class, blue-collar families.Fifteen of the thirty men eventually became college professors and fifteen remained in bluecollar careers. In handpicking the thirty, the researchers made sure all came from similarsocioeconomic backgrounds with similar family traumas (family alcoholism, parent death,divorce, and etc.)

If the thirty men began life in similar circumstances, how can we explain the fifteen who rose farabove their beginning stories? In extensive interview with the thirty, significant differencesappeared regarding books and reading as children.

Twelve of the fifteen professors were read to or told stories by their parents,compared to only four of the blue-collar workers.

Fourteen but of fifteen professors came from homes where books and print wereplentiful; among blue-collar workers, only four had books

Thirteen of the professors’ mothers and twelve of the fathers were identified asfrequent readers of newspapers, magazines, or books; blue-collar workersidentifies six mothers and four fathers.

All fifteen professors were encouraged to read as children, compared with onlythree of the blue-collar workers.

A significant part of the study was what the fifteen professors found motivating or interestingin their childhood reading. They identified reading that provided answers or information relatingto problems in their lives. The book, in a manner of speaking, became food for the starving child.Typical in their respect was Professor Respondent No.2, “a sociologist whose mother died whenhe was seven years old, with the result that he respondent was put into an orphanage, where hestayed until he was ‘on my own’ at about age seventeen. This respondent experienced greatanxiety at being put into an orphanage and he identified the chief problem as being the‘uncertainty of what happens to orphans’”. The report continues: “In the orphanage library, at theage eight, this respondent discovered the Horatio Alger books. The discovery had a profoundimpact on him because all of a sudden he ‘realised that I could create my own life’ even he wasin the orphanage. He had been looking for an answer to the question of what would become ofhim and now he realized that what would become of him was up to him. Horatio Alger booksprovided him the model of a boy whose life was his own and who could create it as he chose.”

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Ultimately, the purpose of literature, especially fiction, is to provide meaning in our liveswhich is really the purpose of all education. Child psychologist Bruno Bettelheim wrote thatfinding this meaning is the greatest need and most difficult achievement for any human being atany age. Who am I? Why am I here? What can I be? In ‘The Uses of Enchantment’, Bettelheimwrites that the two factors most responsible for giving the child this belief that he can make asignificant contribution to life are parents or teachers and literature – that is, life experiences andstories about life experience.

Literature is considered such an important medium – more than television, more than films,more than art or overhead projectors – because literature brings us closest to the human heart.And of the two forms of literature (fiction and nonfiction), the one that brings us closest andpresents the meaning of life most clearly to the child is fiction.

It is worth nothing that in an international study of 250 000 teens in thirty-two nations, thosewho read the widest variety of material, but most fiction, had the highest literacy scores. Thesuggestion here is that all readings helps us to get better at reading, but in fiction forces us toconcentrate the most in order to find meaning and therefore deepens out “engagement” and helpscomprehension. One other finding in that study is worth nothing: All in thirty-two nations, themale fifteen-year-olds scored lower than the females. They also read less fiction. Perhaps it is acoincidence, but if you walk into one of those mega-bookstores, where do u find the fewest male?The fiction section.

(Adapted from Jim Trelease, The Read-Aloud Handbook, Penguin book, 2006)

38. The apple (pie maker) does not fall far from the tree (line 2). What does this imply?A. Both Susan and her mother are pie makers in coincidenceB. Children tend to have similar occupation as their parentsC. Parents have great influence on their children’s interestsD. Susan makes very good apple pies

39. From the study of thirty men, it can be concluded that success is linked yoA. The parents’ occupationB. Education level of parentsC. Early exposure to books and readingD. Availability of a wide variety of reading materials

40. The writer quotes Respondent No.2 to illustrateA. Reading provides direction in lifeB. Children who read are more curiousC. The influence of Horatio Alger books on childrenD. Children in orphanages experience uncertainty about life

41. The phrase this belief (line 40) relates to the idea about thatA. His life can be meaningfulB. Education will change his lifeC. Teachers play an important role

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D. Adverse circumstances can be motivating

42. The following are findings of the international study exceptA. Those who read the widest variety of material become better readersB. Those who read widely obtained the highest literacy scoresC. Those who read most fiction obtained the highest scoresD. Those who read more comprehend better

43. The fact there are fewer males in the fiction section in the bookstores support thefollowings

I. Females prefer to read fictionII. Males obtain lower literacy scoresIII. Males read more non-fiction materialIV. Reading fiction improves literacy scores

A. I, II, IIIB. I, II, IVC. I, III, IVD. II, III, IV

44. The word “engagement” (line 52) meansA. AttractionB. FamiliarityC. FascinationD. Involvement

45. The writer develops his viewpoints mainly byA. Narrating storiesB. Giving research dataC. Presenting hypothetical situationsD. Reviewing recorded interviews material

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Set 3


Electronic cigarettes, which are also known as electronic nicotine delivery systems(ENDS) and e-cigarettes, are devices that deliver a vaporized mixture of nicotine and otherchemical to the user’s lungs. Each device has an electronic vaporization system and controls,rechargeable batteries, and cartridges, which contain varying amounts of liquid nicotine to bevaporized instead of the usual tobacco.

Most ENDS also contain propylene glycol, which is an irritant when inhaled. SomeENDS have flavors that are attractive to the user, and some claim they do not contain. Althoughmany ENDS appear like their tobacco counterparts, a match or lighter is not required for its use.All that is needed is for the user to puff on the device, and the ENDS heats up to liquid nicotine,converting it to a vapour, which is inhaled. The user appears to be smoking a cigarette but thereis no smell because there is no burning.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Tobacco Survey 2011, therewere 4,747 million smokers until mid-year of 2011. The report also indicated that about 21percent of adults in Malaysia had heard about e-cigarettes and a popularity of ENDS smoking inMalaysia adults was only 0.8 percent an estimated 164 000 people. It is estimated that about onefive smokers in developed countries have tried ENDS.

Table 1 presents the percentage of smokers aged 15 years and older. The use of suchproducts was very low, with 0.9 percent being male, and 0.6 percent being female.

Table 1: Percentage of smokers aged 15 years and older who use e-cigarettesMale Female

Current users of electronic cigarettes 0.9% 0.6%- Daily smoker 0.4% 0.5%- Occasional smoker 0.5% 0.1%Non-users of electronic cigarettes 99.1% 99.4%

The jury is still out on the safety of ENDS. There is insufficient information fromscientific studies available to make definitive conclusions about its safety. There are, however,reports that the vapour from ENDS causes irritation to the eyes, nose and throat, affectingbreathing and causing nausea in people with certain health conditions. All in all, whether it isconventional cigarette or ENDS, inhaling chemical substances into one’s body is still hazardousto our health.

(Adopted from The Star, December 2013)

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1. Electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS) convert tobaccos into water vapors.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

2. E-cigarettes appeal to users because they do not emit any smell.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

3. According to the report, the number of Malaysian e-cigarettes users is increasing.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

4. The majority of e-cigarette users were occasional users.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

5. Many e-cigarette users are below the age of fifteen.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

6. The introduction of ENDS has led to a healthier lifestyle among smokers.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

7. Conventional cigarettes have more harmful substances than ENDS.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

Questions 8 to 14 are based on the following passage.The wrong approach to wiping out mosquitoes that cause dengue infection could lead to worseepidemics in the future, according to a recent study. Targeting only mosquito-larvae – and notthe adults – with insecticides may work in the short run, but could result in higher resistance in inthe insects and less immunity among humans, especially in urban settings, the study found.

Dengue is a mosquito-borne infection that causes severe flu-like symptoms in some 50million people every year, mainly in developing countries. Global incidence of the disease,which is rarely fatal but often debilitating, has risen dramatically in recent decades, linked to

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both rapid urbanization and the impact of global warning. Some 2.5 billion people are at risk.There is no treatment, cure of vaccine – the only way to control the disease is to kill themosquitoes that carry it, especially on species; Aedes aegypti. But which insecticide works best,how frequently they should be applied and whether it is more effective to target mosquitoes intheir larval or adult stage are still being debated among experts.

Researchers led by Paula Luz of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation of Rio de Janeiro usedmathematics and computer models to stimulate the impact over five years of dozens of differentstrategies for the reducing the vectors involved in the transmission and spread of dengue. Thecost of different approaches was also taken into account, using World Health Organization(WHO) cost-effectiveness guidelines, that is, the trade-off between results and the price tag.

The method used in most countries – attempting to destroy breeding areas – is misguidedaccording to the study published in The Lancent. “Year-round larval control can be counter-productive, exacerbating epidermis in later years because of evolution of insecticide resistanceand lost herd immunity,” the researchers said, “Herd immunity” is the term scientists use todescribe immunity that occurs when enough of the population is inoculated from having had thedisease to prevent it from spreading easily. The problem of mosquitoes adapting to insecticide –as happened with dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) in the 1950s and 1960s – was commonto all strategies. All the strategies employed so far were not as effective as expected becausemosquitoes could adapt to the insecticide as was the case DDT in 1950s and 1960s.

“The main conclusion is that when you compare all the proposals for controlling dengue,the most cost-effective is killing adult mosquitoes,” commented Eduardo Massad, a professor atthe School of Medicine at the University of Sao Paulo. “This is one that has the least problem ofevolving resistance, and which is most effective in killing mosquitoes,” Massad said his ownmodelling research had reached a similar conclusion, showing that targeting adults is manythousands of times more effective.

He has not, however, been able to convince health officials in his country to switchtactics, he added, “The most applied strategy is to search and destroy breeding places. This hasnot worked well – we need a new strategy, one that does not exist yet, but I am sure that we fillone soon,” he said.

(Adapted from The Sun, May 18, 2011)

8. There is no connection between the dramatic increase in dengue infection and rapidurbanization.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

9. More people in developing countries are dying from dengue infection.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

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10. Trying to kill mosquito larvae with insecticide can lead to mosquito developing resistanceto the insecticide.A. TrueB. FalseC. Not stated

11. The aim of the research conducted at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro isto studyA. the long-term impact of mosquito-borne diseases using scientific modelsB. the different procedures for reducing the vectors involved in dengue infectionC. the relationship between the breeding plates of mosquitoes and the incidence of

dengue

12. This is one of the least problem (line 36). One refers toA. a methodB. a proposalC. a conclusion

13. The strategy to search and destroy breeding places (lines 41 to 42)A. is popularB. is the most effectiveC. is easy to implement

14. The article ends onA. a hopeful noteB. a cheerful noteC. a determined note


Most scientific research follows a logical progression, with one experiment following upon the following up on the findings of another. Every now and then, however, coincidence playsa part. Such is the case with a paper just published in Current Biology, which reveals to theworld a moth capable of chewing up plastic.

The experiment behind the paper was inspired when Federica Bertocchini, an amateurbeekeeper who is also a biologist at Cantabria University, in Spain, noticed caterpillars chewingholes through the wax in some of her hives and lapping up then honey. To identify them, shetook some home in a plastic shopping bag. But when, a few hours later, she got around to look ather captives she found the bag was full of holes and the caterpillars were roaming around herhouse. After rounding them up, she identified them as larvae of the greater wax moth, a well-known pest of bee hives. On considering their escape from their shopping-bag prison, tough, shewondered whether they might somehow be put to as garbage-disposal agents.

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Past attempts to use living organisms to get rid of plastics have not gone well. Even themost promising species, a bacterium called Nocadia asteroids, takes more than six months todestroy a film of plastic a mere half millimetre thick. Most identified oraginsms were just notefficient enough. Judging by the job they had done her bag, Dr Bertocchini suspected wax-mothcaterpillars would perform much better than that.

To test this idea, she teamed up with Paolo Bombelli and Christopher Howe, twobiochemists at Cambridge University. Dr Bombelli and Dr Howe pointed out that, like beeswax,many plastics are held together by methylene bridges, which are structures that consist of onecarbon and hydrogen atoms, with the carbon also linked to the other atoms. Few organisms haveenzymes that can break such bridges, which is why these plastics are not formally biodegradable.The team suspected wax moths had cracked the problem.

However, they decided to put the moths to a greater test. One of the most persistentconstituents of rubbish dumps is polyethylene, which is composed exclusively of methylenebridges linked to one another. So it was on polyethylene that the trio concentrated. When theyput wax-moth caterpillars onto the sort of film it had taken Nocadia asteriodes half a year to dealwith, they found that holes appeared in it within 40 minutes.

On closer examination, Dr Bertochini and her colleagues discovered that their caterpillars,each ate an average of 2.2 holes, three millimetres across, every hour, the plastic film. A follow-up found a caterpillar took about 12 hours to consume a milligram of shopping bag. Such bagsweigh about three grams, so 100 larvae might, if they spent half their lives eating, consume onein a month.

Whether releasing wax moths on the world’s surplus plastic really is sensible is not yetclear. For one thing, it has not been established whether the caterpillars gain nutritional valuefrom the plastics they eat, as well as being able to digest short – and, even if they do, they willneed other nutrients to thrive and grow. Another question is the composition of their feces. Ifthese turn out to be a toxic, then there will be little point in pursuing the matter.

Regardless of this, though the discovery that wax-moth larvae can eat plastic is intriguing.Even if moths themselves are not the answer to the problem of plastic waste, some other animalout there might be.

(Adapted from the The Economist, April 2017)

15. Federica Bertocchini’d research was based onA. a previous researchB. an unexpected incidentC. an article from Current Biology

16. What is paragraph 2 about?A. Federica’s work as a biologistB. The discovery of plastic eating mothsC. The caterpillars escape from the shopping bag

17. Previous attempts of using living organism to destroy plastics were unsuccessful because

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A. it is difficult to extract Norcadia esteriodesB. they take too long to consume the plasticsC. they could not destroy thick plastics

18. The team suspected wax moths had cracked the problem (lines 26 and 27). What is theproblem?A. Time taken to break down plasticsB. Breaking down the methylene bridgesC. Finding organisms to break down the bridges

19. The word constituents (line 29) meansA. classesB. componentsC. characteristic

20. The purpose of paragraph 7 is to discussA. the feasibility of using wax moths for breaking down plasticsB. the risks of toxins emitted by wax mothsC. the nutritional needs of wax moths

21. In the last paragraph, the researchers are about solving the problemsof plastic waste using organisms.A. hopefulB. confidentC. persistent


Planting vegetables at home

As a mother and chef of the house, it has become my routine to buy groceries every week.Amid the slow economy, increase in fuel price and climate change. I have witnessed the ratherdrastic price increase of fruits and vegetables. The idea of growing my own vegetables did crossmy mind but I was often held back due to many reasons, including the hassle of handling soil,expensive fertilisers, pesticide control as well as the amount of time and energy needed to takecare of the plant. However, talking to Jatnes Phe has made me think seriously about plantingvegetables at home.

To James Phe, who first tried out the soilers planting method more than 20 years ago using ahydroponic starter-pack, planting vegetables at home is easy but yet at the same time, requires alot of patience and effort. The main problem with soil-based gardening is the weeds and soil-borne pests that make is necessary to constantly fertilise the soil. The heavy digging, thecompetition of soil and the amount of water required are other factors which make soil-basedgardening unattractive to people who are thinking of planting vegetables for home consumption.

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The word hydroponics first appeared in 1937, Williams Gericke, a scientist at the Universityof California, created the word to refer to growing of plants in some medium other than soil.However, it was Julius von Sachs, a researcher in plant nutrition, who pioneered modernhydroponics. Hydroponics was initially often used to grow plants for research purposes but in thelast 50 years, hydroponics has been used on a commercial basis. Now hydroponics appears tohave made inroads as a hobby, to people like James Phe.

Phe said he did some research on hydroponics gardening methods which require continuousmonitoring on the amount of water and sunlight for the vegetables to grow. In hydroponicsgardening, soil is substituted by liquid nutrients comprising nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium andtrace elements. With hydroponics, plants take a shorter time to grow and less pesticide is needed.Cost-wise, it depends on how elaborate the hydroponics system is. In s full specification, theinitial cost for the whole set is rather high and there is a high maintenance cost as well. For anautomatic watering system, electricity is required to support the system.

For the first 10 years, Phe grew many different kinds of vegetables like tomatoes, mustard,lettuce and eggplants as well as fruits using hydroponics systems which his wife helped to mind.After his wife passed away, he buried himself in his day job as a manpower supplier in the oiland gas industry and his gardening hobby was put aside along with his many memories of hiswife.

When Phe retired more than a couple of years ago, he picked up where he had left off. Thistime, Phe ventured into the technology of aquaponics, a method he found to be much moreefficient compared to hydroponics. His experience with hydroponics made it easier for him toventure into aquaculture.

Aquaponics is a combination of aquaculture and hydroponics technology by growing plantsand fish in one integrated system. The fish waste provides an organic food source for thegrowing plants and the plants become a natural filter for the water, supplying clean, purifiedwater back into the fish tank. Within the system, microbes convert the ammonia from the fishwaste into nitrities as food for the plants. This is not only a greet way to capitalize on the benefits,it also helps cut down the cost of maintenance and saves water. Aquaponics uses much less watercompared to soil-based gardening and hydroponics.

However, aquaponics may fail if the fish is not taken care of first. As the environment maynot be naturally healthy for the fish, there is a need to use medicines like antibiotics to protectthem. Higher ammonia may occur in the fish caused by fish urine and waste. This is a pitfall thatnovices is aquaponics may fall into but Phe knows a secret of converting them to nitrities whichare needed for plant growth.

Every now and then, Phe receives visits from students wanting to learns about aquaponics.Most recently were students from PACTS Education Clubhouse. He showed them the system hebuilt from scratch and proudly showed them the healthy palnts he had grown.

(Adapted from The Borneo Post, 22 March 2017)

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22 The writer begins the passage withA how James Phe inspired her to grow her own vegetablesB reasons why she did not plant her own vegetablesC causes for the increase in vegetable prices

23 In paragraph 3, the writer’s intention is toA show that it is sound scientific method of growing plantsB explain the changes in the use of hydroponics over timeC highlight the pioneering efforts in hydroponics

24 Paragraph 4 is developed mainly throughA comparison and contrastB problem and solutionC cause and effect

25 Why did Phe stop hydroponics gardening for some time?A Too much of his time and energy was spent on hydroponics gardening.B Hydroponics gardening reminded him of his wife.C His day job became too demanding.

26 The following explains why aquaponics is better than hydroponics exceptA aquaponics is less costlyB aquaponics uses less waterC aquaponics uses less fertilizer

27 One difficulty of aquaponics isA maintaining a healthy environment for the fishB using the right amount of antibiotics on fishC getting rid of fish urine and waste

28 pitfall (line 52) meansA barrierB problemC dilemma

29 It can be inferred from the last paragraph thatA people are now concerned about healthy eatingB students are interested to study plant nutritionC Phe has become an expert in aquaponics


Few things in life are as traumatic as the end of a long-term, romantic relationship.Nonetheless, many people are able to eventually recover and move on relatively unscathed.Others aren’t so lucky. Even years later, they remain mired in the pain of the experience. Anyreminder of their former partner – whether it’s a casual mention in conversation or a Facebook

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photo – can elicit profound feelings of sadness, anger and resentment. Why is it some peoplecontinue to be haunted by the ghosts of their romantic pasts, struggling to let go of the pain ofrejection.

In a new research, my colleague Carol Dweck and I found that rejection actually makessome people redefine themselves – and their future romantic prospects.

In one study, we asked people to write about any lessons they’d taken away from a pastromantic rejection. Analysing their responses, we realized that a number of respondents thoughtthe rejection unmasked a basic negative truth about themselves – one that would also sabotagetheir future relationships. Some said they’d realized that they were too “clingy”. Others thoughtthey’d been “too sensitive” or “bad at communicating”.

Another study explored the consequences of believing that rejection had revealed afundamental flaw. By linking rejection to some aspects of their core identity, people found itmore difficult to ove on from the experience. Some said they “put up walls” and became warierabout ne relationships. Other were afraid to disclose the rejection to a new partner, tearing thatthis person would change their opinion of them, thinking they had “baggage”. This might explainwhy some people hide past rejections, treating them like a scar or stigma.

We then wondered: What makes someone more likely to link a romantic rejection to someaspect of “who they really are”? After all, other respondents wrote that rejection was merely apart of life, that it was an important part of growing up and actually caused them to becomebetter people.

It turns out that your belief about personality can play a big role in how you’ll respond toromantic rejection. Past research has found that people hold divergent views abouttheir personalcharacteristics, whether it’s their intelligence or shyness. Some people have a “fixed mindset”,believing that these personality is something that can evolve and develop throughout their lives.These basic beliefs shape how people respond to failure. For example, when people believe thatintelligence is fixed, they’ll feel worse about themselves – and are less likely to persist – afterexperiencing a setback.

We thought that beliefs about personality might determine whether people see rejection as apiece of evidence about who they really are – as a sign of whether they are a flawed andundesirable person.

In yet another study, we divided people inti two groups, those who think personality is fixed,and those who think personality is malleable. Participants then read one of two stories. In one,we asked them to imagine being left, out of the blue, by a long-term partner. In the other, weasked them to imagine meeting someone at a party, feeling a spark and them later overhearingthat person telling a friend that they would never be romantically interested in her on him.

We might expect that only a severe rejection front a serious relationship would have thepower to make people question who they are. Instead, a pattern emerged. For people with a fixedview of personality, we found that even a rejection from a relative stranger could prompt them to

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wonder what this rejection unveiled about their core self. These people might worry that therewas something so obviously undesirable about them that a person would reject them outright –without even getting to know them.

So what can we do to prevent people from linking rejection to the self in this negative way?One promising piece of evidence shows that changing someone’s beliefs about personality canshift his or her reaction to rejection.

In a final study, he created article that described personality as something that can evolvethroughout the course of a lifetime, rather than as something that’s predetermined. When weasked people with a fixed view of personality to read these articles, they become less likely tointerpret rejections as an indications of a permanent, fatal deficiency. By encouraging the beliefthat personality can change and develop over time, we may be able to help people exorcise theghosts of their romantic pasts – and move on the satisfying relationships in the future.

(Adapted from The Express Tribute, 29 June 2016)

30 In paragraph 1, the writer develops the ideas by usingA compare and contrastB problem and solutionC time and chronologyD cause and effect

31 In paragraph 3, some words are in quotation marks (“….”) because theyA are someone else’s wordB have special meaningC are colloquial wordsD are important

32 In paragraph 3, the writer focuses onA the aim of the studyB the cause of breakupsC the respondents commentsD how the study was conducted

33 baggage (line 22) refers toA previous experiencesB responses to failureC personal beliefsD long held ideas

34 Which of the following individuals in likely to respond positively to rejections?A Those who are intelligentB Those who are more matureC Those who are more open about their relationshipsD Those who believe that one’s personality is not fixed

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35 What can be done to help people move on after a romantic rejection?A Get them to talk about their failed relationshipsB Get them to read articles about changes in personalityC Help them to forget the pains from their failed relationshipsD Help them to see romantic rejections as part of growing up

36 How many studies did the writer and her colleague carry out?A 2B 3C 4D 5

37 What is the central idea of the passage?A How to survive a breakupB There is life after a breakupC Why breakups are harder on some peopleD The causes and consequences of breakups


There are bones hidden away in almost every cupboard in many of the rooms of NewYork University’s primatology department, and James Higham is keen to explain to me whatthey can tell us about an important part of our evolution; Why we have such a big, heavy brains.He shows me hordes of lemur skulls, as well as casts of our extinct relatives. Of particularinterest to him are the sizes of their braincases. After studying this feature in primates includingmonkeys, lemurs and humans, he and his colleagues have presented an intriguing new idea as towhy our brains are so large.

The reason why some primates have bigger brains than others is often said ti be their socialbehaviour. That is, primates that move around in bigger and more complex social groups requirebigger brains in order to efficiently manage all of those social relations.

The new analysis found that diet – not social group size- was the key factor linked to brainsize. This theory has been around for over two decades, and is called “the social brainhypothesis”. Following a large-scale analysis of primates, Higham and his colleague AlexDeCasien are confident that the social brain theory does not tell the whole story.

Rather, brain size is more accurately predicted by primates’ diet, according to their new studypublished in the journal Nature, Ecology and Evolution. To come to this conclusion, the team,led by DeCasien, put together a dataset of 140 primate species, including animals like the aye-aye and several species of gibbon. This allows them to compare the size of primate brains andseveral social behavioral factors, such as group size and social structure.

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They tell me that this is the first time such a large dataset has been used to explore the idea.When the social brain hypothesis was formulated, it did not consider primates like orang-utans,which have large brains despite often living solitary lives. The new analysis found that diet – notsocial group size was the key factor linked to brain size.

This is not to say that social group size plays no role in the evolution of large brains. It hasbeen long known that fruit-eating primates (frugivorous) tend to have bigger brains than leaf-eating primates (folivorous), says Higham. This might be because these are benefits to eatingfruit. It has a higher nutritional value and is far easier to digest than leaves.

However, it is also a more demanding diet in some ways. For instance, fruit is more patchilydistributed in both space and time, which makes the task of finding food more complex, saysHigham. That is not to say that social group size plays no role in abundant than leaves,frugivorous often travel across larger ranges. They tend to form larger social groups for thoselong journeys.

“If there’s another group in that fruit tree, what determines which group ends up holding thefruit is usually just above group size,” says Higham.

DeCasiens and Higham are aware that their findings will have their critics. I put theirconclusions to the research behind the social brain hypothesis, Robin Dunbar of the University ofOxford in the UK. He contests the findings.

First, Dunbar says that it is not overall brain size that is the important factors. Instead, it is thesize of a particular part of the brain called the neocortex, which plays an important role incognition, spatial reasoning and the language.

Second, Dunbar points out that social groups size and diet need not be two alternativeexplanation of brain evolution. “ Both are necessarily true,” he says. In line with DeCasien andHigham, Dunbar thinks these features must be connected at a deep level. “You cannot evolve alarge brain to handle anything, social or otherwise, unless you change your diet to allow greaternutrient acquisition, so as to grow a larger brain,” he says.

However, Dunbar still maintains that social group size, not diet, is the key driving force.(Adapted from http://www.bbc.com)

38 What is the best substitute for an intriguing new idea (line 7)?A A captivating new ideaB A mysterious new ideaC A refreshing new ideaD A peculiar new idea

39 A criticism of the ‘social brain hypothesis” by DeCasien and associates is thatA there is no comparison between brain size and nutritionB too much emphasis was given to fruit eating primates

http://www.bbc.com

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C there was insufficient sampling of primatesD social behaviour is difficult to study

40 Fruit is more patchily distributed (lines 34 and 35) meansA in greater varietyB in demandC seasonalD scarce

41 Which of the following conclusions from paragraph 6 and 7 is made by the researchers isNew York University ?A Fruit eating primates develop heavier brainsB Social group size does play a role in brain sizeC Getting enough food is a challenge for primatesD Travelling long distances for food is common among folivores

42 In paragraph 8, Higham’s statement can be paraphrased asA fruit eating primates compete for food which is scarceB primates in the competing larger group will get the foodC group size is of utmost importance in determining food ownershipD strong competition exists between primate groups in the search for food

43 DeCasien and Higham’s findings were conveyed to Dunbar because heA was a critic of both theoriesB developed the social brain theoryC worked at a prestigious universityD was not satisfied with their findings

44 What is Dunbar’s stand on DeCasien and Higham’s findings?A He partially agrees with themB He disagrees with themC He concurs with themD He remains neutral

45 What is the purpose of the passage?A To explain the debate of the theory of evolutionB To present findings on the effects of group sizeC To report on alternatives theories on brain sizeD To discuss differences in diets of primates

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READINGANSWERSSET 11 A 2 C 3B 4 A 5 C 6 C 7 B 8 A 9 C 10 B11 C 12 A 13 C 14 B 15 B 16 A 17 A 18 B 19 B 20 A21 B 22 A 23 A 24 C 25 C 26 A 27 B 28 B 29 C 30 B31 D 32 D 33 A 34 B 35 C 36 B 37 D 38 C 39 D 40 A41 C 42 A 43 C 44 B 45 B

SET 21 C 2 B 3C 4 B 5 B 6 B 7 B 8 A 9 A 10 C11 A 12 C 13 C 14 C 15 B 16 B 17 C 18 B 19 C 20 A21 A 22 A 23 B 24 B 25 A 26 C 27 B 28 A 29 B 30 C31 D 32 D 33 C 34 B 35 A 36 B 37 D 38 C 39 C 40 A41 A 42 D 43 A 44 D 45 B

SET 31 B 2 C 3C 4 B 5 C 6 B 7 C 8 B 9 C 10 A11 B 12 B 13 A 14 C 15 B 16 B 17 B 18 B 19 B 20 A21 A 22 B 23 C 24 A 25 B 26 C 27 C 28 B 29 C 30 D31 A 32 C 33 A 34 D 35 B 36 C 37 B 38 A 39 C 40 C41 B 42 B 43 A 44 A 45 A

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PAPER 4WritingSet 1

Question1You are advised to spend about 40 minutes on this task

You have been asked to write a short article about salary of male and female among ethnics inUSA .Your article should integrate the information given below. You should write 150 to 200words

Question 2You are advised to spend about 40 minutes on this task

Co-educational schools are better than single gender schools. Do you agree?You should write at least 350 words

56

Set 2Question1You are advised to spend about 40 minutes on this task

You have been asked to write a short article about occurrence of accidents while playing whileplaying fireworks in Malaysia in 2008 and 2012. Your article should integrate the informationgiven below. You should write 150 to 200 words.

Question 2You are advised to spend about 40 minutes on this taskMobile phones should be allowed in schools. Do you agree?You should write at least 350 words.

Figure 1: FireworksAccidents: 2008

Figure 2: FireworksAccidents: 2012

Figure 3: Types ofFireworks MostCommonly Used

At publicdisplay 32%

At club / societydisplay 30%

At a familyparty 15%

At club /society

display 25%

At afamilyparty28%

Children playingaround 10%

FountainFireworks

64%Bombs13%

SpinningFireworks 9%

Rockets8%

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Set 3Question1You are advised to spend about 40 minutes on this task

You have been asked to write a short article about internet usage among Redwood SecondarySchool. Your article should integrate the information given below. You should write 150 to 200words

)

Question 2You are advised to spend about 40 minutes on this taskUrban migration has become a norm nowadays. Discuss.You should write at least 350 words

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Set 1AnswersQ1

1. In general – gender biasness between male and female2. Clear difference – in the white and Asian community3. Not much difference in Black American and Hispanic community

Q2For

1. Students understand each other better2. Prepare them for the outside world as they have to work together3. Shyness and being sceptic can be avoided4. Positive show-off among genders5. Bonding for the future

Against1. Love matter2. Gender difference being obvious3. The weaker gender couldn’t perform due to dominance4. Gender biasness

Set 2Q1 Answer

- Compare 2008 and 2012- Detail the difference between the years- Relate it to the types of fireworks- Make a general statement about the whole8

Q2 AnswerYES

- For easier communication- Students’ safety –

easier to contact parents easy for parent’ to know their children’s whereabouts

- For students’ to do online assignments- For students’ to find information

NO- Theft- Inferiority complex based on the cost of phones- Copying- Pornography in schools- On called for photography- Uncalled for audio recording- Engrossed with social media and video games

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Set 3Q1 Answer

- Make a general statement about the graphs- Compare boys and girls- Discuss the gradual increase of usage of internet by girls compared to boys

Q2 AnswerWhy people migrate to urban areas?

- Job opportunities- Better facilities- Better infrastructure- Entertainment- Better communication network- Lifestyle

Effects- Overcrowding – traffic jams, high number of people- Slums- Unwanted diseases due to crowd

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