NEC MOCK TEST 3
Subject:
ENGLISH
Time allotted: 180 minutes (excluding the time for paper distribution)
There are 12 pages in this paper.
Full name: ______________________________
Date:
LISTENING:
_____/ 50
USE OF ENGLISH: _____/ 40
READING:
_____/ 50
WRITING:
_____/ 60
___________________________
TOTAL SCORE:
_____/200
______________________________
SECTION A. LISTENING (50 points)
Link to audio: https://bom.so/CcWQkv
Part 1. For questions 1-5, listen to part of a news report about the Pokémania and answer the questions.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS taken from the recording for each answer.
1. What does the host describe Pokémon the movie, Pokémon the video game and Pokémon the trading card as?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
2. What phrase is used to describe the craze among youngsters across the nation?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
3. At Warner Brothers, what place was inundated with calls for tickets for Pokémon the first movie?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What message do experts believe the craze conveys?
_________________________________________________________________________________________
5. According to an interviewed parent, in order to budget for their recreational pursuit, kids have to learn to
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Part 2. For questions 6-10, listen to an interview with a pastry chef, Robert Higgins, and decide whether
the following statements are True (T) or False (F) according to what you hear.
List of statements
6. Robert explains that a pastry chef must have a range of skills.
7. Robert decided to attend the culinary course in order to realise a childhood ambition.
8. For Robert being a perfectionist is something he considers necessary .
9. At first, the chef Robert worked for was very strict.
10. Robert gives the impression that he is very dedicated to his profession.
Page 1 of 12 pages
Your answers
Part 3. For questions 11-15, listen to an interview with ethno-biologist Karl Court, who has spent most of
his career in the Amazon jingle and choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what
you hear.
11. In Karl's view, he is drawn to the jungle
A. for its natural beauty.
B. because it gives him a sense of well-being.
C. because the more you go, more you love it.
D. for reasons he cannot justify.
12. What annoys Karl about the world-traveler he meets is that he
A. insists on attaching himself the group.
B. teases local natives with his stories.
C. seems happy to live off other people.
D. runs from difficult situations.
13. What shocks Karl about Steve's case is that he had
A. been infected with the parasite for so long.
B. known about the parasite and done nothing.
C. not taken precautions against parasites at the time.
D. contracted the parasite in Peru.
14. What distinguishes 'ethno'-biologists from ordinary scientists
A. the aims of their research.
B. that they focus on particular types of illness.
C. that their concern is to educate indigenous peoples.
D. the starting point of their research.
15. During his time in Haiti, Karl
A. only confirmed previous Japanese research.
B. learned about a potentially important drug.
C. witnessed phenomena he could not explain.
D. identified for locals a potentially poisonous type of fish.
Part 4. For questions 16-25. listen to a talk on the Plesiosaur and fill in the missing information. Write NO
MORE THAN FIVE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER taken from the recording for each answer in the space
provided.
THE PLESIOSAUR
PLESIOSAURUS
PLIOSAUR
(16) _________________ head
smooth sharp teeth
short neck
large head
neck (17) ____________________ the body length
FEATURES
 neck
having
a
maximum
number
of
(18) __________________
 long, stiff neck allowing the plesiosaurs to stay
(19) _________________ while hunting or swimming
MAX MEASURES
 head length: (20) ___________________
 body length: 50 feet
 weight: (21) ____________________
 speed: (22) ____________________
COMMON FEATURES
Plesiosaurs use (23) _____________________ to swim, which forms movement resembling a dragonfly’s.
Despite being marine reptiles, plesiosaurs were (24) _____________________ emerging to the surface for
oxygen before diving without gills. By 66 million years ago, these dominant predators went extinct but remain
(25) _____________________ up to these days.
Page 2 of 12 pages
SECTION B. USE OF ENGLISH (40 points)
Part 1. For questions 26-40, choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D to each of the following questions.
Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
26. The student’s rude interruption brought a sharp _____ from his teacher.
A. retort
B. recoup
C. repeat
D. report
27. As soon as he read the letter, tears _____ in his eyes.
A. filled in
B. soaked up
C. welled up
D. weighed down
28. I assure you that I _____ no hostile feelings towards you.
A. shelter
B. harbour
C. embrace
D. cover
29. Enormous swells roused by ferocious winds made it impossible to _____ the ship to safety.
A. direct
B. control
C. steer
D. drive
30. Don’t be so concerned; it’s only a(n) _____ wound.
A. skin
B. shallow
C. exterior
D. flesh
31.Monsoon Wedding was described as a cinematic jewel when it hit the _____ screen.
A. silver
B. gold
C. ruby
D. diamond
32. Brian is competing in the 110m ____ in the school’s sports tournament.
A. obstacles
B. obstructions
C. barriers
D. hurdles
33. Angry MPs have accused Atkinson of sitting back and twiddling his _____.
A. hands
B. fingers
C. thumbs
D. arms
34. One of the _____ benefits of Paula’s job was having access to the university’s superb library.
A. supporting
B. secondary
C. auxiliary
D. fringe
35. My heart was _____ as I skimmed the examination results table looking for my name.
A. pounding
B. skipping
C. bursting
D. shivering
36. They made _____ preparations in anticipation of the arrival of their celebrity guests.
A. degenerate
B. decadent
C. elaborate
D. strenuous
37. The prices were _____ and there was little value for money to be had in any of the items on the menu.
A. oppressive
B. exacting
C. extortionate
D. fraudulent
38. He has a(n) ______ collection of butterflies which he bought from the local Natural History museum.
A. reticent
B. ponderous
C. esoteric
D. reciprocal
39. The inebriated driver drove straight into a tree, _______ a huge hole in the front of her car.
A. pining
B. foraging
C. gouging
D. mincing
40. Hands _______, the dancers were circling to the right and left in an impressive manner.
A. held high
B. were held highly
C. high holding
D. having highly held
Part 2. For questions 41-50, write the correct form of each word in capital in the space provided.
The Other Mozart
Everyone has heard of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart; few of his son Franz
Xaver. A new CD collection (41) _____________ The Other Mozart
celebrates Franz's music - in all its haunting, (42) _____________
innocence. The 27 songs are brief slivers of ideas, (43) _____________
shadows of what might have been, reaching a beautiful fulfillment in the
later works. But it is clear that the music never reaches the
(44) _____________ of his genius father.
Franz was the youngest of Mozart's children, and his mother's hopes and ambitions
focused on him following the (45) _____________ death of his father. The very best teachers
were (46) _____________ available to Franz's, who made his public debut as a singer, aged
five. The songs bring to light Franz's (47) _____________ accomplishments; the piano parts
are extremely demanding. The songs hint at Franz's love for a woman; they speak time and
again of unattainable love and (48) _____________ (49) _____________.
(50) _____________, however, the fact remains that this music, had it been written by a
composure of any other name, would probably have remained buried in the archives.
Page 3 of 12 pages
TITLE
MELANCHOLY
DEVELOP
HIGH
MATURE
AUTOMATION
PIANO
FULFILL
LONG
REAL
Part 3. For questions 51-65, fill each of the following numbered blanks with ONE suitable word. Write your
answers in the corresponding numbered space provided.
The Galapagos
Visitors to the Galapagos Islands could be forgiven for asking what all the fuss
is (51) _____________. Disaster workers and ecologists (52) _____________
outnumbered tourists, but there are few visible signs of a disaster. A wrecked
oil tanker, stranded on rocks a mile (53) _____________, is a blot on the
tropical landscapes. Simply keeping catastrophe at (54) _____________ was never going to satisfy an
environmental (55) _____________ that wants the Galapagos Islands to remain as they were when Darwin visited
in 1839, (56) _____________ since most of the credit for the narrow escape is thanks to the winds and currents
that carried the spill (57) _____________ to the sea.
About a third of the islands’ 600 or (58) _____________ native plant species are found only there.
(59) _____________ the 57 species of reptiles, land birds and mammals, more than 80 percent are found nowhere
else. Among these is the world’s (60) _____________ marine lizard, the only species of penguin found in the
tropics, a cormorant that has lived so long without predators that it has lost the (61) _____________ to fly, and
many rare species of tortoise. All are uniquely vulnerable, hence the unique concern.
The Galapagos Islands were (62) _____________ a national park in 1959, and developed an apparently model
ecotourism industry – groups are sent (63) _____________ hopping to designated sites and always with a guide.
The local conservationists appeared confident at the helm, and the international environmental groups were
pleased to have one (64) _____________ place to worry about until the rusting ship ran (65) _____________ and
leaked its cargo of oil.
SECTION C. READING (50 points)
Part 1. For questions 66-75, decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
LOOKING INTO SPACE
Outer space has (66) _______ mankind ever since we first gazed upward. It was easy enough to see stars in
the night sky (67) _______ the naked eyes and many (68) _______ civilizations also noticed that certain groups
appeared to form familiar shapes. They used these constellations to help with navigation and as a means of
predicting the seasons and making calendars. Ancient astronomers also perceived points of light that moved.
They believed they were wandering stars and the word “planet” was (69) _______ from the Greek word for
“wanderers”. For much of human history, it was also believed that the Earth was the center of the Universe and
that the planets circled the Earth, and that falling meteorites and solar eclipses were (70) _______ of disaster.
It wasn’t until the 16th century that Polish mathematician and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus presented a
mathematical model of how the sun actually moved around the Earth, challenging the (71) _______ understanding
of how the solar system worked. The Italian physicist and astronomer Galileo Galilei then used a telescope to
prove this theory to be correct.
Many technological advances have allowed us to probe (72) _______ space since then, and one of the most
pioneering was when the first manned spacecraft, the Apollo 11, successfully (73) _______ gravity and touched
down on the moon’s surface. Nevertheless, much of our research must be done from far greater distances. The
Hubble Space Telescope was carried into orbit by a space shuttle in April 1990 and it has allowed cosmologists
to gather incredible data.
Most (74) _______, it has provided a great deal of evidence to support the Big Bang Theory, that is, the idea
that the Universe originated as a hot, (75) _______ state at a certain time in the past and has continued to expand
since then.
66 A. aroused
B. struck
C. inquired
D. intrigued
67 A. by
B. with
C. from
D. in
68 A. primary
B. early
C. first
D. initial
69 A. derived
B. originated
C. descended
D. inferred
70 A. signals
B. images
C. heralds
D. omens
71 A. domineering
B. prevailing
C. controlling
D. dominating
72 A. at
B. on
C. into
D. towards
73 A. broke through
B. got over
C. came off
D. went ahead
74 A. magnificently
B. brilliantly
C. significantly
D. expressively
75 A. thick
B. dense
C. intense
D. fraught
Page 4 of 12 pages
Part 2. For questions 76-88, read the following passage and do the tasks that follow.
The Influence of the Crime Writer
Agatha Christie
Crime fiction books, in which detectives hunt for the perpetrators of crimes, have been
popular with readers for many decades — so popular, in fact, that at a recent London
Book Fair sales of the genre overtook general fiction for the first time ever, a
development that had been widely anticipated. Commercial success, of course, does
not impress everyone and there are those who believe crime fiction should not be held
in such high regard. Prominent in this group is Sebastian Franklin, who has argued that most crime fiction books
better resemble crossword puzzles than literature. His view is shared by other literary critics. However, increasingly
this is a minority opinion as crime fiction becomes recognised around the world as a rich and dynamic literary
genre in its own right.
Crime writing really came to prominence in the 1920s and 30s with the books of the British author Agatha Christie,
and to a slightly lesser extent the American James M. Cain. Agatha Christie was a prolific writer, publishing more
than 60 detective novels over a 50-year period, beginning in 1920. However, the majority of the general public
have never picked up one of her books and are more familiar with Christie from the numerous adaptations of her
work for films. The colourful locations around the world where Christie set many of her stories were not fictional
depictions, but were informed by her extensive travels, on the Orient Express train, to Cairo and the River Nile,
and elsewhere. Her memoir, Come, Tell Me How You Live, published in 1946, is a non-fiction account of these
real-life travels, so is unique among Christie's publications. Success brought Christie considerable wealth and
international fame, though she never lost her appetite for work, continuing writing and publishing until shortly
before her death in 1976.
Without doubt there are certain elements that tend to be repeated in Christie's books. The stories generally
revolve around a well-off if not aristocratic circle of people, whose privileged lives are thrown into chaos by an
unexplained crime. What's more, the location is often a confined space of some sort: a train, an island, a boat, an
isolated house or a village. This is quite different, for example, to the world of the fictional detective Sherlock
Holmes, who often has as his hunting ground the entire city of London. But the influence of Christie's sheltered,
secluded locations has been immense, for they have been used in countless television series ever since.
The writer Michael Utley argues that Christie's characters lack depth and are not convincing people we can
believe in. This is a not infrequent complaint, but it is quite untrue. Christie was a perceptive observer of human
nature and psychology and she put the traits of people she knew into many of her fictional characters. Part of the
reason her appeal has been so widespread is that she wrote about human relationships in a way so many of us
can relate to. Her very first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, features the amateur detective Hercule Poirot.
Poirot and Miss Marple are Christie's two best known and most frequently imitated characters precisely because
they are so well drawn and believable. Further evidence of Christie's ability at characterisation was provided by a
recent survey. The survey asked readers to identify the villain revealed in the final pages of Christie's sixteenth
book, Murder on the Orient Express. Most readers could not recall, because for them the really important aspect
of the book had been the interplay between the characters, not the outcome. The truth is that Christie's characters
were one of her greatest achievements as a writer.
The books are also action-packed, no less so than today's most popular thrillers. Christie mastered the art of the
page-turner: events unfold so quickly and unpredictably that we keep reading to find out what happens next. The
most significant consequence is that it is so simple to overlook vital clues. It is worth reading a Christie book a
second time just to notice how carefully she hides crucial information about the criminal's identity. It was there all
along, but we just fail to see it because she has created such tension and so many exciting distractions.
Attempts to retell Christie's stories in contemporary times have largely been unsuccessful; they work best in their
original early twentieth-century settings and cannot accommodate mobile phones, computers and DNA analysis.
But that does not mean her influence has come to an end. Indeed, a new generation of global crime writers is
emerging in nations as diverse as Brazil, Singapore, South Korea, India and Nigeria, to name but five. And though
each new writer adds something of their own, they all employ conventions first established by Christie. If we take
just one of her books, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, we find near perfect examples of conventions that are still
used today: tight plotting, clever sub-plots, unexpected twists, perceptive characterisation. Perhaps this is why
Christie herself is believed to have ranked The Murder of Roger Ackroyd above all her other work. Certainly, the
digital revolution has transformed crime fighting. But a survey of contemporary crime writing shows that Agatha
Christie's legacy is more important now than at any time previously, at the very point when crime writing has
become the most popular of all book genres.
Page 5 of 12 pages
For questions 76-81, decide whether the following statements are Yes (Y), No (N), or Not Given (NG). Write
your answers in the numbered boxes provided.
List of statements
Your answers
Sales of crime fiction were surprisingly high at a recent London Book Fair.
76
Literary critics such as Sebastian Franklin think that crime fiction is overrated.
77
Agatha Christie and James M. Cain admired each other's writing.
78
Most people know about Christie from films rather than books.
79
Christie's descriptions of international locations were based on her own experience.
80
Christie enjoyed the wealth and fame she achieved through writing
81
For questions 82-84, choose the answer A, B, C or D which you think fits best according to the text.
82. What is the writer doing in the third paragraph?
A. discussing one weakness of Christie's style
B. identifying a writer who influenced Christie
C. contrasting different techniques Christie used
D. listing some features of a typical Christie story
83. What point does the writer make about Christie's writing style in the fifth paragraph?
A. Occasionally, the stories do not make sense.
B. Little happens compared to modern stories.
C. Important evidence is very easy to miss.
D. Some unnecessary details are included.
84. What does the writer conclude about Christie in the final paragraph?
A. Her influence is slowly beginning to decrease.
B. She is more influential today than ever before.
C. One book was more influential than the others.
D. She has only influenced writers in certain countries.
For questions 85-88, complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below. Write your answers in
the numbered space provided.
• A. is an example of a book disliked by many critics.
• B. has sold more copies than her other books.
• C. has illustrated the fact that readers cannot remember the ending.
• D. was Christie's own favourite from among her books for good reasons.
• E. is different from all of her other books.
• F. introduced one of her most famous and most often copied characters.
85. Christie's book Come, Tell Me How You Live, _____________
86. Christie's first book, The Mysterious Affair at Styles _____________
87. Christie's sixteenth book, Murder on the Orient Express _____________
88. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, published in 1926, _____________
Page 6 of 12 pages
Part 3. In the passage below, seven paragraphs have been removed. For questions 89-95, read the
passage and choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap. There is ONE extra paragraph
which you do not need to use. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
Would I lie to you?
Blatant dishonesty has invaded our culture. Sue Jackson explains how to spot a liar.
Who hasn’t told a lie? Even the most upstanding individual probably utters one occasionally to help the day to
run more smoothly. But, according to the experts, the extent to which people regularly tell serious untruths has
exploded. Lying has pervaded every aspect of our lives.
89
Research in California reveals that people lie up to 20 times a day, while in a poll last year, a quarter or
respondents admitted being untruthful on a daily basis. Only 8 per cent claimed they had never lied – although
there is always the chance, that even then they weren’t being honest. Many of these will be sweet little lies, the
type psychologists refer to as ‘false positives’ and the sort we are all guilty of committing when we want to appear
more enthusiastic about something than we really are.
90
Until recently it was thought that only manipulative and Machiavellian characters were prone to excessive
fabrication of this sort, but research has proved otherwise. According to experts, anyone under pressure or with
the being enough incentive is prepared to say something that isn’t true.
91
That figure rose to one in three among people with university qualifications. Apparently, this sort of background
gives people the vocabulary and the confidence to deceive. They are more sophisticated and plausible than you
might elsewhere in society.
92
The proliferation of lying in corporate culture means that there are huge profits to be gained by companies who
can weed out fraudsters before employing them. Numerous studies have been conducted, including using video
cameras, to analyse people who lie. There are two main methods of ousting liars, although one, the mechanical
lie detector or polygraph, requires subjects to be trussed up in electrodes, so it hardly lends itself to interviews.
That leaves body language and psychological testing.
93
However, sometimes the subconscious takes over. Liars often start blinking fast, a visual sight that the brain is
concentrating hard on the task in hand, and are likely to frequently touch their body and face with their hands.
Liars are also more likely to tap or swing a foot as they speak.
94
Everyone seems to agree that good liars don’t show non-verbal signals, so you need to know what to look for.
Lying takes a lot of effort, so often they will rely on past experience to see them through and reduce a cognitive
load.
95
Experts, however, agree that the one person you shouldn’t deceive is yourself – and that, once you begin to do
so, it is a sure sign that your untruthfulness is getting out of hand.
Page 7 of 12 pages
The missing paragraphs:
A. This makes detecting the charlatan who fibs his
way through a CV very difficult. In the film Liar,
Liar the comedian Jim Carrey played a smoothtalking lawyer and consummate liar who
specializes in dealing with untrustworthy clients
whom no one else will take on. Only when his
young son made a wish to see his father get
through an entire day without lying was Carrey’s
character forced to tell the truth. Mayhem
ensued.
B. Things like ‘That was delicious, thank you’, ’You
look great in that dress’ and ‘Of course I want to
see you’. They are mostly considered harmless
social fabricants. But at the other end of the
spectrum are compulsive liars who are
effortlessly dishonest.
C. Visual clues are not wholly reliable, as
experienced deceivers are aware of the
common give-away signs and take calculated
measures to avoid them. Shifty eyes, for
instance, are traditionally thought to be a sure
way to tell whether someone is being dishonest,
but experienced fabricators will capitalise on
this myth.
D. So, for instance, people who are lying about
where they have been may declare they were at
the cinema or the gym so that their untruths
doesn’t take too much mental planning. It is
easier to make up story about something they
know well and have done many times.
E. ‘We are experiencing an epidemic of lying’ says
Professor Leo Damak, an expert in lie detection
at a leading university. ‘It has always been
around, but we are much more aware of it now.’
In one study of collage students, 85 per cent of
couples reported that one or both of them had
lied about past relationships or recent events. In
another, it was found that dating partners lie to
each other in about a third of their conversations.
F. A recent study found that pathological liars are
just as likely to be self-confident, attractive and
popular as they are introverted and withdrawn. It
also seems that the better educated a person is,
the higher level of deceit. It was found that
falsehoods typically occurred in one fifth of all
ten-minute conversations they have.
G. Obviously, many won’t stand for ambiguity any
more. By being more aware of how and why
someone will tell a lie, they have more chance of
catching him before he tells another and causes
real harm.
H. However, vocabulary and sounds are generally
considered more reliable indicators than body
movements. Liars tend to use fewer words, take
longer to start answering a question and a pause
a lot as if to mentally rehearse what they are
about to say. Their voices may adopt a high pitch
and they are prone to repetition.
Part 4. For questions 96-105, read the following passage and choose the answer A, B, C or D which you
think fits best according to the text.
Deciphering the Grammar
Of Mind, Music and Maths
I
magine a locked room in which a person sits alone staring into space. There is nothing to look at. Nothing to
touch or taste or smell. Most of the world is stripped away. Except for sounds.
But these sounds resemble nothing heard before. [A] They lack all similarity to experience and any reference
to surroundings. [B] Now imagine that those sounds - heard for the first time - are the sounds of a Beethoven
Symphony. Or an Indian raga. [C] What would that disembodied ear and mind make of them? [D]
In recent decades such a situation would have been considered artificial, abstract and irrelevant. What kind of
musical understanding can grow out of this kind of isolation, lacking the resonance of a cultural framework, lacking
the expectations provided by the knowledge of a style and lacking some sense of historical and political context?
To understand music, we have been taught, that room has to be unlocked, the windows opened and the world
fully engaged.
But now the emphasis may be changing. The appeal of a more abstract way of thinking about music may be
growing. There is a search for timeless laws and principles; it may be that something can be learned from the
listener in the locked room.
A new field, for example, sometimes called biomusicology, is preoccupied with how music affects the brain. What
regions of the brain respond to changes in harmony or melody? Is there a single region that makes sense of
music? Is there a difference between the way neurons react to frequency differences in speech (intonation) and
frequency differences in pitch (melody)? In such research the contingencies of culture and history are often
stripped away. The foundations of musical perception are sought, as are the biological laws that make music a
human universal.
Page 8 of 12 pages
This change in emphasis may also be contributing to a renewed interest in the relationship between music and
mathematics. More than 20 years ago when I wrote an article about the subject for The New York Times and later
when I explored it in a book, I argued that there was more to musical meaning than was evident in influential
political and programmatic interpretations. For all of music's deep connections to human experience and social
life, music was also similar to mathematics in important respects, as ancient philosophical and musical texts insist.
Harmony and counterpoint, after all, are sonic reflections of ratio and number. Musical languages seem to
possess their own premises and laws. And a coherent and elegantly phrased composition can display the beauty
and inevitability of a mathematical proof. Mathematicians and musicians have long had reciprocal interests. For a
time, though, such musical idealism became something of an eccentricity.
But more recently seminars in music and mathematics have been proliferating at universities. Last fall Oxford
University Press published an anthology, ''Music and Mathematics: From Pythagoras to Fractals.''
What sort of picture of musical understanding is taking shape with this renewed interest? Much of the brain
research is teasingly inconclusive. Every effort to examine the effects of single musical variables - pitch, meter,
harmony – inadvertently shows just how much more music is than the sum of its parts. Despite attempts to
identify a particular musical region of the brain, for example, Dr. Tramo has shown that many regions are active
when music is heard; even motor areas of the brain can become active though the body
might be at rest.
The relationship between music and language is also complex. The Russian composer
Vissarion Shebalin continued to write music for a decade after a stroke in 1953
damaged his speech and language understanding. In one classic study, brain-damaged
patients could identify instruments and wrong notes but could not recognize melodies.
Some acoustic phenomena - say variations in pitch - are interpreted differently when
heard in music and in speech. A recent paper on the tone-deaf by researchers who included
Aniruddh D. Patel at the Neurosciences Institute in San Diego shows that while such individuals may have no
trouble discriminating intonations in speech, they are stymied by sliding musical imitations of those intonations.
Sonic events may be experienced differently when they become part of music. This is where that locked room
becomes so suggestive. We have all been in the position of that abstract listener, particularly when hearing music
of an alien culture for the first time or hearing new music that can at first seem like little more than random sounds.
But music has a power unique among forms of human communication: it can teach itself. Gradually over repeated
hearings, without the use of a dictionary or any reference to the world outside, music shows how it is to be
understood. The listener begins to hear patterns, repeated motifs and changes in meter and realizes that
something is happening, that sounds have punctuation, that phrases are being manipulated, transformed and
recombined.
Nothing else is quite like this self-contained, self-teaching world. Music may be the ultimate self-revealing code;
it can be comprehended in a locked room. This is one reason that connections with mathematics are so profound.
Though math requires reference to the world, it too proceeds by noting similarities and variations in patterns, in
contemplating the structure of abstract systems, in finding the ways its elements are manipulated, connected and
transformed. Mathematics is done the way music is understood.
96. Which of the square brackets [A], [B], [C], or [D] best indicates where in the first paragraph the sentence
“How much would be understood?” can be inserted?
A. [A]
B. [B]
C. [C]
D. [D]
97. Why does the writer mention the Beethoven symphony in the second paragraph?
A. to illustrate that certain kinds of music do not make sense when heard in isolation
B. to emphasise the difference between a well-known piece of music and music that has never been heard before
C. to demonstrate that music needs to be related to the outside world in order to be appreciated
D. to speculate what it would sound like to a person with no previous experience of this kind of music
98. What preconception about musical thinking is now under question?
A. that music has to be heard in a suitable environment in order to be understood
B. that an understanding of music depends on the listener's cultural conditioning
C. that people lack the historical and cultural background to make sense of music
D. that our knowledge of music is essentially abstract and artificial
99. Biomusicology
A. is the study of how the brain understands and reacts to music.
B. examines the relationship between language and music.
C. is the study of how neurons react to language and music.
D. examines which regions of the brain respond to changes in intonation.
Page 9 of 12 pages
100. The word “contingencies” in the paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to
A. fortuities.
B. serendipities.
C. possibilities.
D. flukes.
101. According to the writer, the patterns in a musical composition
A. illustrate the connection between philosophy and mathematics.
B. can only be understood in a mathematical context.
C. can be compared to the patterns studied in mathematics.
D. no longer express the range of human experience.
102. Research indicates
A. that the relationship between music and the mind is unexpectedly complex.
B. that several areas of the brain respond exclusively to music.
C. that when the listener is in motion, certain areas of the brain are activated.
D. that pitch, metre and harmony stimulate all parts of the brain.
103. The word “inadvertently” in the paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to
A. unwittingly.
B. cautiously.
C. steadfast.
D. dubiously.
104. Studies have also shown that some people with brain damage
A. can tell the difference between notes and intonations in speech.
B. are unable to distinguish or identify specific tunes.
C. are unable to recognise notes played on certain instruments.
D. fail to notice when a musician strikes a wrong note.
105. In the last paragraph, the writer suggests that
A. music can only be successfully interpreted in a locked room.
B. ultimately music can be appreciated in any context.
C. we understand music in the same way that we approach mathematics.
D. the brain responds to music in the same way it responds to language.
Part 5. The passage below consists of six paragraphs marked A-F. For questions 106-115, read the
passage and do the task that follows. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes
provided.
FOUR AMAZING TENNIS PLAYERS!
A. Roger Federer
Roger Federer is the man who, on paper at least, is the undisputed greatest of them all. He
has smashed virtually every record in existence and amassed an incredible seventeen Grand
Slam titles, a full three more than his nearest rival, Pete Sampras. Now 30, he has had a
pretty barren spell by his lofty standards of late, but did manage to break a two-year majortitle drought at Wimbledon, in 2012, beating Andy Murray in the final. On the strength of his
record, he could be regarded as the greatest player by some margin, but, title tally aside,
there are other things to consider here, such as the fact that his rise to prominence coincided
with a time of transition in the sport when the existing powers - Sampras, Agassi etc. - were
on the wane and ready to pass on the baton to a new generation. Federer was a very willing recipient of course,
but, truth told, he beat a lot of second-rate players and players past their prime in the process of amassing over
half his total haul of slams in those early years. But, with the emergence of Nadal, that would all change.
B. Rafael Nadal
Nadal, like most Spaniards, grew up playing on the ubiquitous clay, so it is hardly surprising
that his style of play is best-suited to the surface, nor that he favoured the red soil in those
early days and produced his best performances on it, while, at the same time, struggling
initially to make any real impact on grass or hard courts. Nadal exhibited a level of humility
and determination rare in this sport of egos, and set about reinventing himself as an allrounder. And what a transformation it proved to be, one which must surely have surpassed
the expectations of even his most optimistic and faithful supporters, for adapt his game he
did, and so successfully that, by 2008, he was ready to do the unthinkable, beating a peakof-his-powers Federer on his favourite surface (grass) in a Wimbledon final lauded as the
greatest tennis match of all time, sending shockwaves through the sport. Nadal went on to dominate men's tennis
and his arch rival for the best part of the next three years. The world of tennis was suddenly forced into a swift
rethink; paper stats were brushed aside as it was soon clear that while no one could compete with Federer in the
talent stakes, Nadal had shown himself to be a superior match player and fighter. Still a young man, he could
potentially even surpass Federer's achievements on paper, but it remains to be seen if his career can have the
Page 10 of 12 pages
longevity of the Fed's, so demanding is his style of play on the body. And shock early-round losses at both the
2011 and 2012 Wimbledon championships remain serious blots on an otherwise stellar career to date.
C. Novak Djokovic
And so we come to the Serb, a player who, it seemed, was destined to play second
fiddle to Nadal and Federer's stars. For him, 2011 was a watershed year, and his
performances and the manner of his victories were so utterly emphatic that he was
instantly catapulted right to the top of the game, prevailing over the once invincible
Nadal in three consecutive slam finals. Tennis now had a new number one, and
Djokovic had prised the title of the most consistent, hard-hitting, counter-attacking
player on the circuit away from the Spaniard with shocking ease. 2012 also started
well for the new poster boy of tennis, but Djokovic's level has since dropped enough
to have enabled Nadal to enjoy success over him in their more recent slam- final tussles. His tally of six major
titles is not to be sniffed at, but the Serb has much yet to prove if he is to one day be considered the very best.
D. Andy Murray
By comparison to the achievements of the players already profiled, Murray's record looks
pretty ordinary indeed. And yet, were it not for the fact that he has had the misfortune of
playing the game at the same time as arguably the three greatest sportsmen to have ever
graced tennis, this talented all-rounder would already have amassed a considerable haul
of major titles of his own. And, consider this: unlike his three rivals, who faced debutants
when winning their first slam finals, Murray has had no such luck, and, in fact, on every
occasion he has made it to the last two, has faced the daunting prospect of having to
overcome one of the aforementioned trio. He has also had the weight of expectation of
an entire nation on his shoulders, and, wide though they are, this must surely have been a terrible cross for him
to bear. But, at long last, the mon- key is off his back. Andy Murray bounced back like a Trojan from his loss to
Federer in the 2012 Wimbledon final, claiming Olympic gold and his first Grand Slam the same year. The ghost
of his near-miss at Wimbledon was also banished in 2013, when, somehow, amid a nation's furore, he kept a cool
head and gave what must go down as one of the greatest performances by any athlete in history to beat Federer
in three straight sets to claim the holy grail of tennis. He may never reach the heights of success of his great rivals,
but this brave Scot has already made his mark on tennis history, and there will, no doubt, be more slams to come.
To which person does each statement relate?
Your answers
He was determined to make a transition that required him to come out of his comfort zone
106
and alter his style of play.
He held his nerve under a huge amount of external pressure to come back from a serious
107
setback and win a particular major title at the second time of asking.
Despite enjoying a hot streak of form during which he landed some major titles, he has yet
108
to convince the tennis world of the exact extent of his greatness.
He pushes himself physically to such a degree that his career may be cut short.
109
He took excellent advantage of a temporary lack of depth in his sport.
110
He was faced with the task of having to try to overcome already seasoned champions in
title matches in his efforts to claim a first Grand Slam.
Although he has since bested a player who comprehensively outplayed him for a spell,
early exits from a major tournament have tarnished his reputation.
Despite the fact that he will probably never amass as many major titles as any of his
rivals, one stunning display in a slam final will be forever remembered.
He endured an unusually long period out of the major-title winner's enclosure at one point
in his career.
He dominated a rival for a season only to later taste defeat in a title-decider at the hands
of the same player.
Page 11 of 12 pages
111
112
113
114
115
SECTION D. WRITING (60 points)
Part 1. Read the following extract and use your own words to summarize it. Your summary should be 100
to 120 words.
Marsupials are a group of mammals that are born alive after a very short gestation period. Since a marsupial
appears quite early in its life cycle, it must complete its embryonic development while nursing. In order to survive,
the young underdeveloped marsupial must crawl from the exit of the reproductive tract over its mother’s body to
attach itself to a nipple inside a fold of skin called the marsupium but better known as a pouch. During embryonic
development, which can be weeks or months, depending on the species, a marsupial nurses and grows inside the
pouch. Most marsupials do not form family groups. It is the female marsupial that cares for the offspring. The
young marsupial may stay with the mother for more than a year, climbing in and out of the pouch to nurse or sleep.
Although marsupials once ranged throughout North and South America, as well as in Antarctica, only a few
species now live outside of New Zealand and Australia where more than 250 species are still found. There is quite
a diversity of marsupials within these species, and they have adapted to a number of different habitats; however,
some characteristics are universal among them. Auditory and olfactory senses are very important to marsupials
because they are nocturnal creatures that depend on their ears and eyes to locate their food at night. Some
marsupials prefer plants, although others eat insects or meat. Like other mammals, marsupials are covered with
hair. Unlike their placental cousins, however, marsupials have additional bones that project from the pelvis, a
support that may strengthen the wall of the abdomen to reinforce the pouch that is their unique adaptation.
Part 2.
The diagram below shows information about carbon dioxide emissions for popular private jets.
Summarize the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where
relevant.
Write at least 150 words.
Gallons of
fuel/hr
Pounds (lbs)
of CO2/hr
Flight cost/hr
Cessna CJ II
136
3,002
$2,700
Beechjet 400
182
4,017
$2,700
Hawker 400XP
188
4,149
$2,700
Cessna Citation XLS
204
4,502
$4,500
Learjet 60
209
4,613
$4,500
Hawker 800XP
188
4,149
$4,500
Gulfstream III
488
10,078
$6,750
Gulfstream 550
378
8,342
$6,750
Challenger 605
280
6,180
$6,750
Aircraft
Part 3. Write an essay of 350 words on the following topic:
Some people believe that unpaid community service should be a compulsory part of high school
programs (for example, working for the charity, improving the neighborhood, or teaching sports to
younger children).
To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Present argumentation to highlight your opinion on this matter. Give reasons and specific examples to support
your opinion(s).
-THE ENDPage 12 of 12 pages
ANSWER KEY
SECTION A. LISTENING (50 points)
Part 1
1. must-sees and must-haves
4. violence
2. an undeniable obsession
5. save their allowance
3. the switchboard
Part 2
6. TRUE
7. FALSE
8. TRUE
9. FALSE
10. TRUE
Part 3
11. D
12. C
13. A
14. D
15. B
Part 4
16. small, triangular
18. 76/seventy-six distinct vertebrae
20. 10/ten feet
22. 10/ten kilometers per hour/kmp/km/h
24. air(-)breathers
17. spanning half
19. streamlined
21. 100,000/100 thousand pounds
23. (all four of their) flippers
25. a point of fascination
SECTION B. USE OF ENGLISH (40 points)
Part 1
26. A
34. D
27. C
35. A
Part 2
41. entitled
46. automatically
Part 3
51. about
56. especially
28. B
36. C
29. C
37. C
42. melancholic
47. pianistic
52. currently/for
57. out
62. declared/
designated/made
61. ability
30. D
38. C
31. A
39. C
43. underdeveloped
48. unfulfilled
32. D
40. A
44. heights
49. longing
33. C
45. premature
50. Realistically
53. away/off
58. more/so
54. bay
59. Of
55. group/lobby
60. largest/rarest
63. island
64. less
65. aground
SECTION C. READING (50 points)
Part 1
66. D
67. B
Part 2
76. NO
82. D
85. E
Part 3
89. E
68. B
69. A
77. YES
70. D
78.NOT GIVEN
83. C
86. F
90. B
91. F
71. B
72. C
79. YES
73. A
80. YES
84. B
87. C
92. A
74. C
75. B
81.NOT GIVEN
88. D
93. C
94. H
95. D
Part 4
96. D
97. D
98. B
99. A
100. C
101. C
102. A
103. A
104. B
105. C
Part 5
106. B
107. D
108. C
109. B
110. A
111. D
112. B
113. D
114. A
115. C
SECTION D: WRITING (60 points)
Part 1
Sample summary
Marsupials are mammals that are distinguished by the way that they complete their embryonic
development. marsupials emerge after a short gestation and find their way from the birth canal to the
mother’s pouch, where they attach themselves to one of the nipples to nurse until they are fully
developed. marsupials are not prone to family groupings, but the young stay with the mother for a year
or longer. Although marsupials were once abundant on several continents, today there are few outside
of New Zealand and Australia where more than 250 species may still be found. Some of the
characteristics that they share are a keen sense of smell and hearing, which are important to their
nocturnal nature, and additional pelvic bones that support the pouch.
(125 words)
Part 2
Sample report
The table compares and contrasts data on the differences in the emission of carbon dioxide by nine
private jets, fuel consumption and the hourly cost of flying each jet.
In general, although there is not a perfect correlation between these three categories higher fuel
consumption, and therefore flight cost, usually results in higher production levels of carbon dioxide.
Although the cost per hour of flying time is the same at $6,750, the number of gallons of fuel used per
hour for the Challenger 605 is over 200 less than for the Gulfstream III at 280 and 488 gallons
respectively. By contrast, the Hawker 400XP and 800XP jets both use the same amount of fuel at 188
gallons per hour, but the cost of an hour's flight is $2.700 and $4,500 respectively. The two jets most
similar in running cost and fuel consumption are the Learjet 60 and the Cessna Citation XLS as they
both cost $4,500 per hour and vary by only 5 gallons per hour in fuel consumption.
(169 words)
Part 3
Sample essay
Community service is a useful way of helping in areas where the local government is unable to.
However, as it is unpaid, the idea is often not very appealing to young people. This causes problems
that it is important to find solutions to.
Community service and charitable programmes generally help to take care of the most vulnerable in
society. This can mean providing food and care for the poor, the homeless, or the elderly, or it may
mean improving the public spaces where they live. If young people do not become involved in this work,
the responsibility falls to older people, who may have the time but not the physical strength or resources
needed. As a result, the vulnerable will suffer and the places where they live will eventually deteriorate.
Unless the problem is solved, the culture of taking care of others could disappear. A community where
people only think about themselves is not a healthy one, so it is important to find a solution.
There are several ways to approach this problem. The first, and perhaps most obvious, is to make
community service compulsory for all high school students. While this would go a long way to solving
the problem, it may not be easy to implement, and is likely to be unpopular. A second, and more
successful approach, would be to find a way to encourage younger people to help. For example, by
making sure they receive training, and learn useful skills in return for their efforts. Participants could
also be given good references to improve their employment prospects. This would mean even more if
employers actively looked for this type of experience when recruiting. Therefore, an effective solution
requires more than the efforts of young people.
In conclusion, community service is an important part of any society and everyone suffers if it fails. In
my view, the best way to encourage young people to get involved is to offer good incentives, and to
show just how important it is to everyone.
(334 words)