level three final exam ‘extensive preview’ reading ... · the water crisis ... am, gr, ps april...

Preview Extensive Reading

AM, GR, PS April 12 Preview Reading for L3 Final Exam 1

Level Three Final Exam ‘Extensive Preview’ Reading Passages Module 2

Contents

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) .....................................1

Biomimicry .............................................................................3

The Water Crisis ....................................................................5

Do we Inherit our Health? ......................................................7

FAQs

1. What are these?

They are 3 reading passages. One of these will be in your

Final Exam. The idea behind these preview readings is that

you get to see what you are going to be tested on, long

before the exam. You will not know which reading will be

used so you will have to read them all. And you will not

know what the questions are until the day of the exam. The

marks for the exam will count towards your L3 grade. The

maximum possible for the exam will be 20% of your final

grade. The midterm exam you did about 2 weeks ago, was

worth 10%. In total, the preview listenings and readings in

the Final Exam are worth about 12% to you. One of these

readings alone is worth about 5% of your total grade.



2. Why are we doing this?

To help you. This gives you a chance to get higher grades

through your own work. We have chosen Reading and

Listening because these were the areas that you did worst in

the Level 3 Exams and the IELTS Exam last semester. In

addition, we think that if you work on the Extensive Preview

Readings and Listenings, your reading and listening ability

generally will improve. This will be particularly important if

you pass Level 3 and go on to do IELTS. The passages in

this exam were specially chosen because they are very

similar to those used in IELTS exams.

3. What should you do with them?

Work on them independently and with your friends. You will

only get a little help in class. Your teacher will concentrate

on your regular course. You will be sent some extra

questions to help you with these passages.

You should read the passages carefully and do everything

you need to do to understand them, for example:

Highlight difficult or new words and find out what they

mean.

Write down in a few words what the topic is.

Write down in a few words what the topic of each

paragraph is.

Find difficult sentences and ideas and work out exactly

what they mean.

Find all the pronouns (I, you, he, him, her, them, they

etc.) and work out what they refer to.



Make up questions that you think might be in the exam.

Work with other students who are also repeating Level

3. Compare answers, share information, discuss each

reading.

4. What types of questions will be asked in the

Reading section of the Extensive Preview exam?

Mostly, the same types of questions as in the Level 3 Mid-

term and Final Exams, for example:

Questions that ask about general meaning -

o Identify the topic of the whole passage

o Fill in gaps in a summary

o Identify the topics of paragraphs

Questions that ask about detailed meaning -

o Identify specific information – people, things,

amounts, names.

o Identify specific ideas – how, why, what, when,

which things happened.

o Question types such as multiple choice,

true/false/not given, matching, fact/opinion

5. Will these readings be the only things tested in the

exam?

No, you will also be tested on 2 of 4 ‘Extensive Preview’

Listening passages too. Also, remember, you will only be

tested on one of these readings. The listenings in the exam

will be one dialogue (conversation) and one lecture. So in

the Final Exam there will be six parts:



1. Listening 1 (a dialogue – conversation – that you have

heard before, with 7 questions)

2. Listening 2 (a lecture that you have heard before with

about 10 questions)

3. Listening 3 (a lecture that is new to you with about 10

questions)

4. Reading 1 (Understanding Graphics - 5 Questions on an

IELTS Writing Task 1 diagram, flow chart or map)

5. Reading 2 (one of the readings in this reading booklet

with 15 questions)

6. Reading 3 (a reading passage that is new to you, with

15 questions)

Now it is up to you! Work hard and good luck!



Any similarity? A Japanese

‘bullet train’ and a kingfisher.

Velcro – simple idea, multiple uses

Biomimicry

Nature often provides the

solutions to man-made problems…

A. Have you ever wondered how

designers decide on the shape and

properties of the things they

design? Consider the Shinkansen

bullet train in Japan. When they were deciding on the shape

of the train the designers of this train looked to a bird called

the kingfisher. This bird dives from the air into water at great

speed, and its beak helps it to do this. Next time you see a

picture of the Shinkansen look at the front of the train and

notice the similarity with a kingfisher's beak. This design

feature means that the train can enter tunnels at high speed

because there's no pressure wave as with ordinary trains.

Also, it means that this train uses 15% less electricity than

conventional trains. The design of the Shinkansen bullet train

is just one example of biomimicry.

B. So, what is 'biomimicry' exactly? The

word was first used by Janine Benyus, a

natural history writer, in 1998. It is made from

two words: 'bio' meaning life and ‘mimic’

meaning imitate or copy. So biomimicry

means ‘copying life’. Biomimicry is a new field that studies

nature's best ideas and then tries to use them to solve



human problems. As Janine says, "It's important to look at

nature - after all, it has had 3.8 billion years to come up with

ideas."

C. Of course, there were early examples of biomimicry. The

Wright brothers, for instance, spent years observing pigeons

as part of their attempts to build the first aeroplane, which

they finally completed in 1903. Several decades later,

businesses began to realize that nature could help them, too.

Probably one of the most well-known nature-inspired

technologies of the last century is the fastener, Velcro. The

man who invented this, George de Mestral, is said to have

been inspired by burrs (seeds that stick clothes and other

surfaces and are difficult to take off). He constantly had to

remove these from his dog's fur. De Mestral went on to

invent Velcro, widely used today as a fastener for shoes,

wallets and other items.

D. It was in the late 20th century that companies really

started to spend time and money looking at biological

solutions for technological challenges. After Janine Benyus's

book, Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature, was

published, businessmen from all over the world started

calling her, seeking advice on resolving a particular issue in

a non-traditional, nature-copying way. The world's first

Biomimicry Institute was set up in 2005, with a team of

consultants trained to help businesses. "Product designers

contact us, we learn what it is they're trying to do, and we

look for that same function in the natural world." says Ms



Raindrops sliding off a

lotus leaf

Benyus. Her clients range from design companies to legal

firms and government organizations, including NASA.

E. "There are three types of biomimicry -

one is copying form and shape, another is

copying a process, like photosynthesis in a

leaf, and the third is trying to copy an

ecosystem, like building a nature-inspired

city," says Ms Benyus. “Businesses are

usually interested in the first two categories,” she adds. One

example of an idea that has been adopted on a large scale is

a kind of paint that makes use of the shape of a lotus leaf.

This Lotus plant has small bumps on its leaves and this

makes them self-cleaning: the tiny bumps mean that when it

rains the dirt on the leaves is washed off. The paint

company, Lotusan, has developed a paint that works in the

same way - this self-cleaning paint has now been used on

more than 350,000 buildings in Europe.

F. The Lotusan paint shows that solutions from nature can

be more environmentally-friendly than man-made ideas; if

paint on buildings is self-cleaning it lasts longer so buildings

don't need to be repainted as often. The company benefits

because maintenance costs are reduced and the

environment benefits because resources are used more

wisely. This point is key because ideas that come from

nature are usually friendlier to nature. Natural processes and

designs tend to be efficient. They use less material and

energy and are less damaging to the environment than many

man-made inventions.



G. A good example of a “green building” is the Eastgate

Centre in Harare, Zimbabwe. The architects who

designed this office and shopping complex

wanted a building that used very little energy.

They were so successful that they came up with a

building that uses only 10% of the energy that a

similarly-sized building would normally consume. How did

they do it? Interestingly, they made use of the cleverness of

the termite, an insect that builds a hill out of soil, where it

lives and keeps its food source. The hill must be kept at a

certain temperature and termites maintain the temperature

by opening and closing holes in the hill. The architects used

this idea and the Eastgate Centre has a series of vents, or

holes, which mean that the building can be kept at a

constant temperature without the use of air-conditioning or

heating.

H. "I'm sure all of the answers to what we want to solve

exist in some form or another, in nature," says Ms Welch, a

designer who has used biomimicry principles in her work.

"Nature provides balanced solutions. Human beings have

demonstrated a terrible track record of maintaining

environmental balance in trying to solve 'problems'. So

copying nature may just be the way to go."

900 words Readability Score: 10.1 Adapted from:Biomimicry: Beaks on trains and flipper-like

turbinesby Katia Moskvitch (www.bbc.co.uk) Other sources:

www.inhabit; comwww.biomimicryinstitute

A termite

hill

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

http://www.biomimicryinstitute/



The reservoir behind

Sameura Dam in Japan is

running low.

The Water Crisis

Greater efficiency in water use is needed to meet the

growing demands of a changing world…

A Water usage per person has been

increasing for many years. As countries

and their citizens become richer, the

amount of water they use quickly

increases. Annual water usage in the

USA, for example, is about 1,700 cubic

metres per person, four times the level in China and fifty

times the level in Ethiopia. In the 21st century, the world's

limited supply of renewable fresh water is having to meet the

demands of both a larger total population and increased

individual consumption. The only ways to resolve this

problem in the longer term are to charge more and to save

more.

B About 70% of the world's fresh water is used on farms,

so improvements in irrigation could be the most effective way

of saving water. At present, up to 50% of water used in

agriculture is wasted. Simple changes could improve the

rate considerably, but, unfortunately, this is difficult to do in

developing countries due to a lack of money and an

untrained workforce.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sameura_dam_20050903.jpg



Many bodies of water on

earth are drying up.

C. After agriculture, industry is the second biggest user of

water. In monetary terms, it is sixty times more productive

than agriculture. However, some industrial processes use

vast amounts of water. For example,

production of 1 kg of aluminium might

require 1,500 litres, that's 1,500 kg of

water. Paper production uses a great

deal of water too. New processes have

greatly reduced the amount of water

used but a more reductions need to be

made.

D In rich countries, water usage has gradually been

slowed down by three things: use of modern technology,

recycling and by increasing the price of water. In the USA,

for example, while industrial production has risen four times

since 1950, water consumption has actually fallen by more

than a third. Japan has also improved its use of water in

manufacturing processes. Japanese industry now recycles

more than 75% of the water it uses. In contrast, in

developing countries industrial water consumption is

continuing to increase sharply . With water usage in homes

and on farms also increasing in these countries, it is very

difficult for water supply systems to keep up.

E Many experts believe that the best way to stop this trend

is to make people pay what water actually costs to produce.

Few governments charge enough for water, especially to

farmers. Even in rich California, farmers get water for less

than a tenth of the cost of supply. In many developing



Finding clean water

can be difficult in

India.

countries there is virtually no charge for water for farming.

Water, which was once regarded as a free gift from heaven,

is becoming a commodity which must be bought and sold on

the open market just like oil.

F Another way to cut back on water consumption is simply

to prevent leaks and other wastage. In some of the biggest

cities of the Third World, more than half of the water entering

the system is lost through leaks in pipes, dripping taps and

broken installations. Even in the UK, losses were estimated

at 25% in the early 1990s because of the failure to maintain

the national water system, which in many parts of the country

is over 150 years old and badly in need of repair.

In addition, millions of tons of water are simply

flushed away into rivers or the sea. The modern

approach is to see used water as a resource

which can be put to good use - either in

irrigation for farms – or, after careful treatment,

as recycled water for use in the home.

Singapore, for instance, has spent heavily on technology for

making used water clean again. Treated, recycled water

accounts for most farm irrigation there and is even recycled

back into domestic systems for drinking.

G Another way of conserving water resources involves

better management of the environment generally. Changes

in the countryside can have a severe effect on both local

rainfall patterns and water run-off. Forest clearings

associated with India's Kabini dam project reduced local

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2008/20080526_fillingvessels.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2008/2008-05-26-04.html&usg=__AA-Jv6PThs2SAsgwT4bO2Z8fR1Q=&h=284&w=336&sz=32&hl=en&start=3&zoom=1&tbnid=jy2NAYxcpGwrHM:&tbnh=101&tbnw=119&ei=PPaaT5HkD8LPrQfD3sC-Dg&prev=/search?q=water+crisis&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&rlz=1T4ACAW_enUS413AE361&tbm=isch&um=1&itbs=1



rainfall by 25%. This reduction in rainfall has been seen in

several other parts of the world where large-scale

deforestation has taken place. This is because grass and

trees act as a sponge which absorbs rainfall and feeds it

slowly into the ground. Removal of the trees means that

rainfall runs off the top of the land, increasing erosion instead

of being gradually fed into the soil to renew ground water.

H Global warming is sure to affect rainfall patterns too. It is

likely that, as sea levels rise, countries in low-lying coastal

areas will be affected as seawater mixes with ground water.

Other countries will see changes in rainfall which could have

a major impact on agriculture. Some countries will benefit

and others will suffer. In broad terms, it is thought that rainfall

zones will move north, meaning even less rain will fall in

Africa, the Middle East and the Mediterranean. If this turns

out to be true, in these parts of the world, not only will there

be increased demand for fresh water but there will also be

reduced supply.

Words: 847

Readability score: 10.6



Mendelian genetic

inheritance chart.

Do We Inherit Our Health?

Whether or not we develop certain diseases is a family

matter…

A We have all heard of people who do everything to stay

healthy but then die of a heart attack at age 50. We also

know of people who eat fatty foods, smoke, and

never take exercise and yet live until they are 90.

Most of us think a healthy diet plus regular

exercise will give us a long, healthy life, but the

reality is that there is another factor in the

health equation: genetic inheritance; that is,

those things in our nature that came to us

because we are our parents’ children.

B You only have to look at the similarities between

members of your own family to see that many physical

characteristics are inherited by children from parents and

grandparents. A son may have his mother’s nose; a

granddaughter may have her grandfather’s eyes. But it is

not just physical characteristics like hair or eye colour that

are passed down from one generation to the next. It is also

our general health.

C It has been known for a long time that diseases like

heart disease, diabetes and thalassemia can be caused by a

defective or damaged gene which is passed down in the

family. Scientists are now discovering that many other

http://www.google.ae/imgres?imgurl=http://www.patient.co.uk/pilsinl/173.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.patient.co.uk/health/Haemochromatosis.htm&usg=__QfciCU5s7QRonrMRgEzutAazPkw=&h=244&w=206&sz=6&hl=en&start=44&zoom=1&tbnid=IRUYlDbRlxqZSM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=93&ei=3PaaT9TZLMLsrAfy3-WXDg&prev=/search?q=gene+inheritance&start=40&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4ACAW_enUS413AE361&biw=1366&bih=530&tbm=isch&um=1&itbs=1



diseases also have family roots. These include high blood

pressure, allergies and even depression and mental illness.

D Of course, genes are not the only cause of disease.

Environment and lifestyle also play an important role. For

example, a woman with a family history of lung cancer that

lives in a polluted city may have an even greater chance of

developing the disease because of where she lives. If she

lived in a city where the air was cleaner, she would lower her

risk. Similarly, someone with a strong history of family

diabetes can lower the probability of getting the disease by

having a very healthy lifestyle. In these situations, it is a

combination of both genes and environment which leads to

disease.

E It is important to understand, therefore, that most of us

inherit a tendency rather than a definite disease. This

is known as genetic predisposition. A man who has a

history of heart disease in his family will not definitely

suffer a heart attack, but he is more likely to have one

than a person without this genetic factor. In other

words, his or her genetic predisposition to heart attack is

greater. Knowledge about genetic predisposition is helping

doctors find the causes of many common diseases as well

as to recommend ways to stop them occurring. The good

news here is that if you know that your genes give you an

increased chance of getting a certain illness, you can change

your lifestyle to reduce the risk of getting it.

F Many of the links between genes and diseases have

been discovered through the Human Genome Project. In

Model of DNA.

http://www.google.ae/imgres?imgurl=http://images.stanzapub.com/readers/2009/03/03/dnaoverview_1.png&imgrefurl=http://scienceray.com/biology/human-biology/the-incredible-human-genome-project-brilliant-stem-cell-research-the-marvelous-promise-to-cure-degenerative-diseases-and-genetic-disorders/&usg=__vm2jnJhDTNbKcho1EwMQlxEMslI=&h=1351&w=540&sz=669&hl=en&start=44&zoom=1&tbnid=2o6j7t0L7fJImM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=60&ei=TvmaT8KwNJDyrQeOuomdDg&prev=/search?q=genome+project&start=40&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4ACAW_enUS413AE361&biw=1366&bih=530&tbm=isch&um=1&itbs=1



this project, an international team of scientists set out to

investigate all the information which is stored in human

genes and the diseases they may cause. This vast

investigation was completed in the year 2003, and produced

the genome record, a kind of “handbook of human life”. It

contained a description of every single one of our 25,000

genes and the 3 billion chemical base pairs that make them

up. It was an enormous project it has brought even more

enormous benefit. Just in terms of money, for example, it

cost $3.8 billion dollars, but, according to the Batelle Report*,

has created $796 billion worth of business and jobs.

G The main benefit, however, has been in terms of health.

Finding the genes which lead to specific diseases is

revolutionizing modern medicine. Doctors can print out a

baby’s genetic code on a computer as soon as it is born – or

even before birth. This precious information is called our

genetic blueprint. It shows many the diseases which might

affect the baby in later life and can even say what that

person will probably die of and when.

H Similarly for adults, a range of genetic tests can now tell

us our chances of getting certain diseases. This information

enables doctors and their patients to take more appropriate

action. Such action might be simple; for example, checking

regularly for early signs of a particular type of cancer so that,

if it appears, treatment can be given quickly, before it

spreads . Or it might be in terms of changing diet, eating

less red meat, for example, in order to reduce the chances of

a heart attack. Or, increasingly, the action taken might be



one of the newer, more complicated treatments. Doctors are

now giving drugs which are specifically designed for people

with particular genes. Doctors are even developing

methods of ‘gene replacement’: replacing ‘faulty’ genes with

healthy ones.

I Finally, let us not forget the example we began with:

those lucky people who, despite smoking and eating fatty

food, enjoy good health even into their 90s. Apparently, we

do not just inherit ‘faulty’ genes. The Human Genome

project has revealed that we can also get protective genes

from our parents and grandparents and these defend us

against many diseases, even, in some cases, the common

cold.

*http://www.battelle.org/publications/humangenomeproject.p

df

Words: 842

Readability score: 10.7

level three final exam ‘extensive preview’ reading ... · the water crisis ... am, gr, ps april...

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