SMJK PEREMPUAN CHINA PULAU PINANG
MALAYSIAN UNIVERSITY ENGLISH TEST
TRIAL EXAMINATION 2010
FORM SIX UPPER
PAPER 3 (READING COMPREHENSION)
TIME: 90 MINUTES
Questions 1 to 7 are based on the following passage.
Indicators attempt to convey a broader image than the underlying statistics would
suggest. For instance, the average life expectancy of an infant is usually taken to
indicate the public health of a population. (Infant mortality rate is defined as deaths
among children between birth and one year of age, per 1000 live births.) Below are two
sets of indicators: demographic indicators and health/disease indicators.
Table 1: Demographic Indicators
Indicator
UK
Ghana
Annual population growth rate
0.1%
2.1%
Urban population – percentage of total
89.4%
37.9%
Percentage of population <15
19.1%
41.4%
Infant mortality rate per 1000 live births
6 (18)
63 (111)
Note: For IFM (Infant Mortality Rate), 1970 figures shown in brackets.
Zambia
2.3%
39.5%
46.5%
112 (109)
Health indicators reflect the major public health concerns and were chosen based on
their ability to motivate action, the availability of data to measure their progress, and
their relevance as broad public health issues. Underlying each of these indicators is the
significant influence of income and education.
Table 2: Health/disease indicators
Indicator
UK
Ghana
Percentage of adult population with HIV/AIDS
Malaria cases (per 100,000 people)
Tuberculosis cases (per 100,000 people)
0.11%
0
10
3.6%
11,941
53
Zambia
19.95%
37,458
482
(Source:http://www.healthypeople.gov/document/html/uih/uih_4.htm)
1 Health and demographic indicators can provide a better picture of a population’s
public health than the statistics.
A True
B False
C Not stated
2 Zambia has the largest dependent population.
A True
B False
C Not stated
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3 Zambia’s infant mortality rate has increased in the last 35 years.
A True
B False
C Not stated
4 Family income is taken into consideration when choosing health indicators.
A True
B False
C Not stated
5 The number of tuberculosis cases in the UK is one-fifth of Ghana’s.
A True
B False
C Not stated
6 There are so many HIV/AIDS cases in Zambia because they have a large population
of young people.
A True
B False
C Not stated
7 From the tables we can deduce that the UK will have the largest ageing population.
A True
B False
C Not stated
Questions 8 – 14 are based on the following passage.
1
Not since Americans crossed the continent in covered wagons have they
exercised and dieted as strenuously as they are doing today. Consequently,
they do not only look younger and slimmer, nut feel netter. Because of
increased physical fitness, life expectancy in the nation has risen to seventythree years, with fewer people suffering from heart disease, the nation’s
number one killer.
2
Jogging, the easiest and cheapest way of improving the body, keeps over 30
million people of all ages on the run. For the price of a good pair of running
shoes, anyone anywhere can join the race.
3
Dieting, too, has become a national pastime. Promoters of fad diets that
eliminate eating one thing or another, such as fats or carbohydrates, promise
as much as 20-pound weight losses within two weeks. Books describing such
miraculous diets consistently head up the best-seller lists because every
corpulent person wants to lose weight quickly and easily.
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Nevertheless, both jogging and dieting, carried to extremes, can be
hazardous. Many confused joggers overdo and ultimately suffer from ankle
and foot damage. Fad dieting, fortunately, becomes only a temporary means
for shedding a few pounds while the body is deprived of the balanced nutrition
it requires, so most dieters cannot persevere on fad diets. Above all, common
sense should be the keystone for any dieting and exercise scheme.
8
A very large number of Americans are exercising to get into shape.
A True
B False
C Not stated
9
Fad diets are extremely popular in America.
A True
B False
C Not stated
10 The weight lost on a fad diet is a temporary loss.
A True
B False
C Not stated
11 The main idea of paragraph 1 is
A exercise and diet are more widespread in America than ever before
B heart disease is the number one killer among Americans
C Americans live longer than they did before
12 The main idea of paragraph 3 is
A people are so eager to lose weight that they will try any kind of diet
B fad diets are so popular because they are on the best-sellers lists
C diet books guarantee 20-pound weight losses
13 The writer is of the opinion that
A jogging and dieting are harmful to the body when carried out together
B jogging can damage the body because it is too strenuous an exercise
C improperly controlled diet and exercise harm rather than benefit the body
14 You can infer from this passage that
A a person’s life expectancy depends upon diet
B Americans place a lot of importance on looking slim and young
C More Americans are jogging because running shoes are cheap
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Questions 15 - 21 are based on the following passage.
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At a scientific meeting in November 1906, German physician Alois Alzheimer
presented the case of ‘Frau Auguste D.,’ a 51-year-old woman brought to see
him in 1901 by her family. Auguste had developed problems with memory,
unfounded suspicions that her husband was unfaithful, and difficulty speaking
and understanding what was said to her. Her symptoms rapidly grew worse,
and within a few years she was bedridden. She died in Spring 1906, of
overwhelming infections from bedsores and pneumonia.
Dr. Alzheimer had never before seen anyone like Auguste D., and he
gained the family’s permission to perform an autopsy. In Auguste’s brain, he
saw dramatic shrinkage, especially of the cortex, the outer layer involved in
memory, thinking, judgement and speech. Under the microscope, he also saw
widespread fatty deposits in small blood vessels, dead and dying brain cells,
and abnormal deposits in and around cells.
The condition entered the medical literature in 1907, when Alzheimer
published his observations about Auguste D. In 1910, Emil Kraepelin, a
psychiatrist noted for his work in naming and classifying brain disorders,
proposed that the disease be named after Alzheimer. Two abnormal structures
called plaques and tangles are prime suspects in damaging and killing nerve
cells. Plaques and tangles were among the abnormalities that Dr Alois
Alzheimer saw in the brain of Auguste D., although he called them different
names.
Plaques build up between nerve cells. They contain deposits of a protein
fragment called beta-amyloid. Tangles are twisted fibres of another protein
called tau. Tangles form inside dying cells. Though most people develop some
plaques and tangles as they age, those with Alzheimer’s tend to develop far
more. The plaques and tangles tend to form in a predictable pattern, beginning
in areas important in learning and memory and then spreading to other
regions.
Scientists are not absolutely sure what role plaques and tangles play in
Alzheimer’s disease. Most experts believe they somehow block communication
among nerve cells and disrupt activities that cells need to survive. Just like the
rest of our bodies, our brains change as we age. Most of us notice some slowed
thinking and occasional problems remembering certain things in old people.
Nevertheless, serious memory loss, confusion and other major changes in the
way our minds work are not a normal part of ageing. They may be a sign that
brain cells are failing. The brain has 100 billion nerve cells called neurons. Each
nerve cell communicates with many others to form networks. Nerve cell
networks have special jobs. Some are involved in thinking, learning and
remembering. Others help us see, hear and smell. Still others tell our muscles
when to move.
To do their work, brain cells operate like tiny factories. They take in
supplies, generate energy, construct equipment and get rid of waste. Apart
from that they also process and store information. Keeping everything running
requires coordination as well as large amounts of fuel and oxygen. In
Alzheimer’s disease, parts of the cell’s factory stop running well. Scientists are
not sure exactly where the trouble starts but just like a real factory, backups
and breakdowns in one system cause problems in other areas. As damage
spreads, cells lose their ability to do their jobs well. Eventually, they die.
Currently, more than 15 million population of the world have Alzheimer’s.
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Although symptoms can vary widely, the first problem many people notice is
forgetfulness severe enough to affect their work, lifelong hobbies or social life.
As the disease progresses, other symptoms include confusion, trouble with
organising and expressing thoughts, misplacing things, getting lost in familiar
places, and changes in personality and behaviour.
It is indeed a sad fate that there is yet to be found a cure for Alzheimer’s
disease. Hitherto, treatments for symptoms, combined with the right services
and support, can make life better for the millions of people living with
Alzheimer’s.
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(Source: ‘Alzheimer’ http://www.alz.org)
15 Dr Alois Alzheimer found Frau Auguste D.’s case to be
A dramatic
B unique
C alarming
16 The main cause for Alzheimer’s disease it the
A build up of plaques in between nerve cells
B formation of tangles inside dying cells
C death of nerve cells
17 In paragraph 5 the writer says that when a person loses memory it means that the
A brain cells are confused
B brain cells are dying
C person is ageing
18 To explain the workings of brain cells, the writer uses ________ of a factory.
A a metaphor
B an allegory
C an analogy
19 Trace the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease as it progresses.
I Unable to get around familiar places without assistance
II Having trouble recalling names
III Difficulties in expressing ideas
IV Changes in behaviour
A I, II, III, IV
B III, II, I, IV
C II, III, I IV
20 The extract has most likely been taken from a
A journal
B textbook
C newsletter
5
21 right services and support (lines 56 and 57) would most probably include the
following except
A providing nutritional meals for the patient
B providing physical assistance
C seeking treatment to prevent further deterioration of the patient’s physical
condition
22 The following is true about Alzheimer’s except
A it is a fatal disease
B it is a terminal disease
C it is a degenerative brain disease
23 The most suitable title for this passage is
A Causes and Symptoms of Alzheimer’s Disease
B The Mystery of Alzheimer’s Disease
C The Brain Disease
Questions 24 – 30 are based on the following passage
SMALL-TOWN WEB by John Chambers, President and CEO of Cisco Systems.
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There was a time when local merchants greeted you when you entered a shop.
There was no need to place your order – they already knew what you wanted
based on months or years of previous purchases. Instead shoptalk focused on
families, politics or Friday night’s football game. Shopping was a social event,
something you enjoyed. In most communities, this sort of customer intimacy is
a distant memory. Shopping malls, superstores, warehouse discounters and
population growth are typically blamed for its demise. Some even accuse the
Internet of contributing to the death of personalised, small-town commerce –
replacing bricks and mortar with clicks and orders.
I think this criticism has it exactly backward. While the playing field has
changed, customer service has never been more important for business
success, and Internet technology is becoming the customer-service backbone
for businesses around the globe. Ironically, the Internet – once viewed as
undermining the mom-pop business – is introducing a new small-town
commerce experience based on high-level interactions between sellers and
buyers. These interactions can significantly boost both productivity and
revenues, in addition to increasing customer satisfaction.
In simplest terms, interactions are based on information accumulated from
previous exchanges between businesses and their customers. For example, I
have been eating at two restaurants near our San Jose. California,
headquarters for so many years, the employees have learned my tastes and
interests, from my favourite drinks to my preferred entrees. They tailor my
experience there accordingly. This is a classic interaction based on information
collected from earlier exchanges. If I visit the same restaurants during a trip to
New York, where I’, not a regular, there’s no reason for them to store my
information. This is simple transaction and the experience, is, to say the least,
quite different. I finish my meal and leave. Today, companies are building
customer relationships by using the Internet to turn transactions into closer
interactions.
Here’s another, more critical, example of how interactions improve the
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customer experience – and even save lives. More people in the United States
die each year from taking prescription drugs in fatal combinations than from
auto accidents. If pharmacies have information about other medications that
patients are taking, they can prevent deadly mistakes. By doing so, they are
changing mere transactions (filling prescriptions) into interactions (filling
prescriptions with care).
The Old World, small-town customer-merchant relationship may be
becoming a thing of the past. However, interactions utilise the power of
today’s IP networks to deliver new services that the local merchant of
yesteryear could only dream about, while satisfying the customer’s need for a
personal experience.
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(Adapted from Newsweek Special Edition, December2005 – February 2006)
24 The main idea of paragraph 1 is that
A shoptalk is enjoyable
B shopping has become impersonal
C the Internet has destroyed small town commerce
25 customer intimacy is a distant memory (lines 5 and 6) implies
A local merchants today are unfriendly and dependent on the Internet
B customers are now not receiving personlised service from the local merchants
C shopping is no longer a social event
26 The writer says this criticism has it exactly backward (line 10) because
A the Internet has made customer service even more important
B the Internet has revived small town commerce
C the way of conducting business has changed
27 In paragraph 3, the writer uses examples of dining in two restaurants to
A highlight the importance of personalised customer service
B illustrate the difference between transactions and interactions
C reveal how businesses collect information about their customers
28 This is a classic interaction (line 23). Classic means
A normal
B special
C traditional
29 In paragraph 4, filling prescriptions with care (lines 35 and 36) implies
A tailoring to the needs of customers
B that pharmacies are becoming more careful
C that patients are increasingly more demanding
30 The following are the writer’s views about the loss of small-town commerce except
A he welcomes the change
B he feels that social activities have increased
C he sees more benefits in the modern way of conducting business
7
Questions 31 – 37 are based on the following passage.
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India’s rise as a leading source of software for the world is a strange
phenomenon.
Traditionally,
agrarian
economies
first
graduate
to
manufacturing before making the lead to become post-industrial service
societies. One does not expect a country with a per capita Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) of $3100, a literacy rate of 65 percent and 65 percent of the
population in the rural sector to be an Information Technology (IT)
superpower. Yet India’s knowledge-based exports are expected to surpass $50
billion by 2010.
How did this happen? After independence in 1947, India was reeling from
the effects of being part of the Empire, and took self-reliance very seriously.
The first post-colonial leader, Jawaharlal Nehru, say that India required a cadre
of people trained in the latest technology and skills. So just over 50 years ago,
the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) were set up to ensure that the best
and the brightest Indians could get a quality education. During the decades of
economic sluggishness that followed, the graduates of the IITs and other
institutions of higher learning were often unemployed, and many migrated
abroad.
Then came the liberalization of 1991. The then Finance Minister Manmohan
Singh took the bold step to remove the cobwebs of licensing and controls. This
coincided with the advances in technology that made it possible to do remote
work over satellite and fibre-optic cables. The capital markets bloomed with
modern stock exchanges and foreign investors. The world’s largest companies
saw the potential of Indian human capital. And Bangalore happened.
Today India has more than 350 engineering colleges, producing several
hundred thousand graduates per year. During the last year at Infosys
Technologies, they received 1.3 million applications for 20 000 jobs. When the
government recently proposed to limit the number of times an aspirant could
apply to the IITs, there were riots on the streets of Delhi.
While the software revolution ended up creating jobs for the technically
educated, further advances in broadband and Internet technology made it
possible to perform a wide swathe of functions from India. Today you have
firms doing everything from processing sales orders to fixed-income research
to patent searches. These jobs are not only for engineers, but also for
accountants and people with a basic science or arts degree.
The connection between education and social upward mobility has never
been more stark for the Indian people. There are countless examples of
families sacrificing on basic necessities to ensure that their children get the
right education. Demand for English classes, from the first grade onwards, is
booming. But primary education remains the bane of India. For Indians older
than 6, the national mean for years of schooling is 3. In neighbouring Sri
Lanka it is 7.5. There is now a huge drive to ensure that basic education is
made accessible to every Indian child. India’s youthful demographics should be
a competitive advantage, but it will be wasted without broader access to
primary education.
The final frontier of the rise of Indian education is in governance. India has
the benefit of being a free society. The diversity of opinion, the traditional
adherence to representational democracy and a vigorous free media help
ensure that there is healthy debate, with checks on the abuse of power and
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corruption. Yet there are still those who yearn for a harder regime, with less
debate about development strategies and more action. And there is still too
much government secrecy and corruption. The solution to this conundrum is to
marry all the strengths of India – its highly educated and globally aware talent,
its democratic traditions and the power of modern information technology. If
this is done, India could even be a model for nations seeking to go from
developing to developed status on the strength of its education and knowledge
economy.
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(Adapted from Newsweek (Special Edition), December 2005 – February 2006)
31 Traditionally, agrarian economies first graduate to manufacturing before making
the lead to become post-industrial service societies (lines 2 and 3). This means that
A India has become an IT superpower
B India has skipped the normal development steps
C India’s knowledge-based exports have grown tremendously
32 The main idea of paragraph 2 is
A reasons for the migration of Indian IT graduates
B India’s need to be self-reliant after independence
C India’s efforts at setting up Institutes of Technology
33 Then came the liberalisation of 1991 (line 18). “Liberalisation” involved
A advancing in IT and skills
B streamling licensing and controls
C creating more extensive communication channels
34 A suitable heading for paragraph 4 is
A rise in unemployment
B popularity of IT degrees
C potential of human capital
35 The main problem with India’s education is
A a lack of primary education
B it allows for three years of schooling
C it is too expensive for the average Indians
36 Based on the passage, the following is true of India except
A people are culturally diverse
B free media helps control abuse of power
C it has progressed from developing to developed status
37 The writer’s attitude towards India’s future can best be described as
A cynical
B cautious
C optimistic
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Questions 38 – 45 are based on the following passage.
A Two-child Policy for China?
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A quarter of a century after China began urging its citizens to have only one
child, calls are growing for a change of policy. Some scholars now say the
costs of coping with a rapidly aging population will outweigh the benefits of
maintaining draconian population controls. Even the official media are
beginning to publish suggestions that a two-child policy would be preferable.
Various exceptions to the one-child-per-couple rule have long been
permitted. In the rural areas, couples are allowed to have a second child if the
first is a girl. Ethnic minorities are allowed two or more children. And in urban
areas since 2001, if both husband and wife are from one-child families
themselves, they may have two. Despite the loopholes, the policy has
undoubtedly helped to reduce the fertility rate, which fell from 2.29 children
per woman in 1980 to 1.69 this year, according to estimates by America’s
Census Bureau. A fertility rate of 2.1 is considered the level at which a
population can replace itself. China’s population, currently the world’s biggest
at 1.3 billion, should begin to shrink by mid century.
The impact of the policy is particularly evident in urban areas, where the
government has found it easier to enforce the rules. Fines can range from
between three and ten times the average annual urban income. Officials and
employees of state-owned enterprises can be demoted or dismissed and the
second child can find it difficult to get a place in school.
The extent of compliance in the countryside is more difficult to gauge.
Although rural violators are sometimes treated brutally – forced abortions and
destruction of property are not uncommon – village officials often turn a blind
eye in order to avoid confrontation with peasants desperate to ensure support
in their old age. Rural fertility rates are believed to be higher than China’s
statistics show, since many children are concealed from census takers.
Although these measures have resulted in some 300 million fewer births in
the last 30 years, helping to ease pressure on scarce resources and reduce
once widespread poverty, they are also aggravating demographic imbalances
that could undermine these gains. In the next decade, if current trends
continue, the proportion of China’s population will shrink. The ratio of working
age people to retirees will fall from six today to two in 2040. This will impose
colossal financial burdens in a country already struggling to meet its pension
commitments to the elderly.
The sex ratio is also becoming increasingly skewed. Cultural bias for male
offspring has produced an officially recorded ratio at birth of 118 boys to 100
girls (China’s national census, 2000). The normal ratio is about 105 to 100.
Some female births (as well as some male births, though fewer) are not
recorded, for obvious reasons, but the skewed ratio is largely caused by
selective abortions. Infanticide is far rarer, but neglect or maltreatment of
female babies results in a considerably higher mortality rate than boys.
State officials have hinted in the past that the policy could be eased after
2010, and studies of its impact are said to be underway. Already some places
are making it easier to have two children. In 2001, Jilin province removed
stipulations that those qualified to have two children must wait four years
before having the second. Hainan province and Shanghai have followed suit.
Economic change is already undermining the government’s efforts to
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enforce the policy. Rich urbanites are increasingly willing to pay the fines, or
sometimes even pay for expensive treatments to help increase their chances of
multiple births. Some try to have a second child abroad, so that the child can
get a foreign passport and not be counted by Chinese family-planning officials.
A two-child policy would certainly boost fertility rates and cause China to
exceed its maximum population of 1.6 billion in 2050. But it could also slow
down the ageing of the population and, by changing the ratio of young workers
to old people, give time for the creation of a decent social-security system. Not
least, it would come as a relief to Chinese citizens to have another one of the
remaining few controls of the Communist government over their lives
removed.
(Adapted from The Economist, December, 2004)
38 The one-child policy makes exceptions for the following groups of people except
A couples from ethnic minorities
B couples whose first child is a girl
C couples who can afford more children
D couples who are from one-child families
39 What do village officials turn a blind eye (lines 23 and 24) to?
A the forced abortions
B the destruction of property
C the high fertility rates of villages
D the second pregnancies of village women
40 The main reason why villagers want a change in the one-child-per-couple policy
is that
A they want to be sure of support in their old age
B they need more young people to work
C they want more male offspring
D they are richer now
41 How do villagers who have more than one child avoid being found out?
A They hide their child.
B They bribe the census takers.
C They send their child abroad.
D They obtain a foreign passport for their child.
42 What are the demographic imbalances (line29) that the writer refers to?
I High ratio of boys to girls
II A swelling urban population
III A huge proportion of only children
IV High ratio of ageing to working population
A I and II
B I and IV
C II and III
D III and IV
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43 The one-child policy has
A burdened the country financially.
B led to a higher rate of abortion.
C resulted in the increased number of female babies being killed.
D resulted in a cultural bias for male offspring.
44 Economic change is already undermining the government’s efforts to enforce the
Policy (lines 47 and 48). What is this economic change?
A Increasing burden of pensions
B Increasing poverty in rural areas
C Increasing expenditure on health care
D Increasing wealth of people in the cities
45 Which of the following is not a positive consequence of a two-child policy?
A There would be less personal restrictions.
B China would exceed its maximum population in 2050.
C Ageing parents would be able to depend on their children.
D The policy would help balance the ratio of ageing to young workers.
Set by
Wee Gim Hwa
Approved by
Cheow Mei Ling
12
Confirmed by
Fook Joo Fun