READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–13, which are based on Passage 1 on pages 2
and 3.

The history of the Pencil

The history of the pencil starts with a turn out faster and more cheaply than their
violent thunderstorm. When some particularly European rivals. In addition to its value to the
ferocious weather struck the Lake District in armed forces, the government quickly realised
North West England in the sixteenth century, the commercial potential of the graphite at
locals in the village of Borrowdale discovered Borrowdale, and assumed control of all the
large uprooted tree. Underneath the tree lay an mines there during the sixteenth century,
unknown black substance which we find now Armed guards accompanied the precious
easily, was slightly shiny and smooth to the graphite all the way down to the metal
touch. And it left a black smear on the hands of foundries by the naval shipyards in the south of
all who touched it. England. The graphite was so valuable that the
locals, who called it wadd, started to steal it. As
Initially, the local farmers used the a deterrent, an act of parliament in 1752 made
newly discovered material as a handy way to this offence punishable by time in prison.
identify their sheep. However, others quickly
realised the potential for using this intriguing The Italians originally invented the
substance to write on paper. When it was wooden casing to hold a thin rod of plumbago
untreated the material was very soft, which firmly in place for ease of writing. Italian
meant that it was messy to handle. To make it craftsmen hollowed out two small sections of
fit for use with paper, people enclosed a thin cedar wood, into one of which they laid the
core of the substance in stiff sheep hides or lead. They then glued the other section over
rope. At this time chemistry was still in its the top and left the two halves to set. When
infancy. People searched for a word to dry, the whole apparatus formed what today we
describe this increasingly useful substance and know as a pencil. The Germans took this
came up with plumbago which, in Latin, means technique and developed it further by applying
acts or writes like lead. Later the name was mass- production techniques to pencils. At the
changed to graphite. But because words have same time Nicolas- Jacques Conte, a French
remarkable staying power, we still call graphite officer in Napoleon Bonaparte's army during
the lead of a pencil even though it is now the late 1700s, developed a method of mixing
known that there is no trace of real lead in powdered graphite and clay together for firming
graphite. in a kiln. Adding more clay to the mixture
helped make the pencil harder, sharper, and
Graphite has a very high melting point more precise in its mark. More graphite helped
at around 3, 500 degrees Celsius. This made it make a pencil mark that was softer, thicker and
invaluable to the British army and navy as a darker.
secret ingredient in the manufacture of cannon
balls. The Royal Ordnance, or weaponry The varying quality of pencil leads
section of the British armed forces, used eventually gave rise to a system for
graphite as a lining inside the moulds for categorizing the fineness of the pencil mark.
cannon balls, which as a result the British could Pencil manufactures all over the world still use
this so-called HB grading system today. The H as a well-known story shows. It is sometimes
stands for the Hardness of the pencil while the said that the American space programme spent
B stands for its Blackness. An HB pencil is a millions of dollars to invent a pen capable of
standard pencil and a variety of letters and writing in the zero gravity of space. The
numbers are used to designate different types Russians, by contrast, simply equipped their
of lead. astronauts with good old-fashioned pencils that
never let them down. It should be pointed out
Significant seams of graphite exist in though, that the popular myth about Americans
parts of China, which now produces most of overlooking the practical advantages of pencils
the world's pencils Interestingly, the Borrowdale in zero gravity is merely fiction. In actual fact,
mine in the Lake District remains the only both American and Russian astronauts were
significant source of graphite in its near-pure equipped with pencils in their respective
form in the world. Nowadays the highest grade country's first space flights. A private company
of graphite at Borrowdale is totally exhausted, later developed pens for writing in zero gravity.
although other grades can still be found, and In fact, astronauts of every nation now use
England's pencil industry continues to thrive in pens. But no matter - pencils remain in use in
the nearby town of Keswick. every classroom, every planning, building and
drawing office, and in every art studio in the
The pencil has turned out to be a world. And there is nothing to suggest that we
remarkably resilient and valuable tool whose are likely to invent anything better than graphite
use has survived well into our high-tech times, to use in our pencils.
Questions 1–6

Complete the notes below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 1–6 on your answer sheet.

The early history of graphite in Britain

▪ Graphite was first found below a 1 ……………. blown down in a storm.

▪ The first use of graphite was to make marks on 2 …………….

▪ The characteristics of raw graphite:

- dirty to use because it is so 3 …………….

- originally wrapped in 4 …………….

- or animal skin to make it useable as a pencil.

▪ Graphite came to the notice of the government for military and commercial purposes.

- The government completely took over the 5 ……………. at Borrowdale.

- They employed guards to protect the graphite on its journey south.

▪ Local people began to 6 ……………. graphite for the money involved.

- The government passed a law to protect the graphite industry.

Questions 7–13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 7–13 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

7 The Italians were the first to make pencils out of wood.

8 The Germans used different types of wood to produce pencils.
9 More clay in a pencil makes it write more darkly.
10 After the HB code was introduced, it very quickly became used by all manufacturers.
11 English pencil factories have now all closed down.
12 American astronauts used pencils on their early journeys into space.
13 The use of graphite pencils is unlikely to continue into the future.
READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14–26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 on
page 7 and 8.

Questions 14–20

Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A–G.

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i–ix, in boxes 14–20 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings acclimatize to sth

get used to/ adapt to
i Early research into athletes' physiology

ii A convenient method of acclimatization

reasonable/ thoughts x emotion
iii The need for a rational approach

iv Changes in the body

v The athletes who break the rules

worries based on facts
vi Well-founded concerns

vii The surprising outcome of a race

viii The reversal of a decision reversal (n)

reverse (v)
ix The runners who dominate
dominate (v) control

14 Paragraph A vii
…………….

15 Paragraph B vi
…………….

16 Paragraph C ix
…………….

17 Paragraph D …………….
iv

18 Paragraph E ii
…………….

19 Paragraph F viii
…………….

20 Paragraph G iii
…………….
 topic sentence
linking words --> connections
verbs, nouns, adj
tense/ noun/ verbs: positive/ negative / focus on
What is an unfair advantage in sport?
Olympic athletes increasingly depend on technology to help them win­ but is that fair?

A What happened to the Australian athlete Ron Clarke in the 10,000 metres at the Mexico City
Olympics of 1968 is now virtually forgotten, though at the time it was headline news. Clarke was
the greatest distance runner in history he'd broken more world records than anybody else. But in
front of 55,000 horrified spectators, the event went disastrously wrong In the third lap, one runner
keeled over and with six laps to go, two more were carried away. Yet the race was being
conducted at a relatively leisurely speed: the halfway time was the slowest since the Paris
Olympics of 1924. With two laps to go. Clarke was in the leading pack. 'I'd never felt better in a
race,' he says. But suddenly he too began to struggle, and as the frontrunners moved up a gear, a
gap opened up. Clarke remembers nothing of his last lap which he ran in 90 seconds 'Normally I
would run it in 64,' he explains He stumbled across the line in sixth place and collapsed, He was
administered oxygen and stretchered off the track.

B Mexico City is surrounded by mountains and is over 2,240 metres above sea level. That the
altitude would have an impact on the Games was predicted Clarke had raised the issue himself,
but had been told by the Australian sports authorities that complaining was regarded as bad
sportsmanship. As it turned out, he had good reason to do so. Cleary, the link between athletic
performance and altitude needed further investigation.

C Although there were few standout performances in distance running at the Mexico Games, they
marked a turning point: the start of an astonishing record of success by east Africans. While Clarke
lay crumpled in a heap, runners from Kenya and Ethiopia were celebrating their gold and silver
medals. The record books confirm how entrenched this pattern has become. The names of the
seven fastest men in history over 5, 000 metres are Bekele, Gebrselassie, Komen, Kipchoge,
Sihine, Songkok and Chereno. They are all from either Kenya or Ethiopia. Between 1997 and 2011
the 10,000 metres men’s world record was smashed five times, dropping from 26.31.32 to 26:
17.53. Each time, the record was broken by a Kenyan or an Ethiopian. While there is a complex
mix of economic, political, social and cultural explanations for the pre-eminence of east Africans,
one factor is surely that many of these athletes have lived most of their lives in thin air. quickly/ suddenly/
completely
D At high altitudes, a number of physiological alterations occur, most importantly. More red blood
cells and haemoglobin are produced. This, in tum, increases the capacity of the blood to carry
oxygen, which feeds the muscles and which gives an advantage to the athletes when they return
to sea level. However, it is impossible to train with the same level of intensity in the mountains-
aerobic capacity and cardio-respiratory function both suffer at altitude. As a result, the consensus
is that the optimum approach to athletic preparation is: Live High, Train low (LHTL). Yet that has
obvious practical drawbacks. Not many people live in the mountains and those who do would
prefer not to spend several hours each day driving up and down winding treacherous roads.

E That's where the altitude tent-sometimes called the hypoxic tent-comes in Around two decades
ago, two different scientists had the same exciting thought. If they could artificially control the
atmosphere within a confined space, they could simulate the effects of high altitude and save an
athlete at sea-level from the time and expense of travelling to higher ground. Altitude tents have
improved over the years: they're not as hot or as noisy as the early prototypes, and are much
 cheaper too. They are also perfectly lawful. Five years ago, when the tents were investigated by
Wada (the World Anti Doping Agency), it was ruled that they did not violate the spirit of distance
running. It is now routine for athletes to sleep in them in preparation for an event.

F However, it is not the case that all new technologies gain approval. In 2008, a staggering 105
world records were broken in swimming. the vast majority achieved by competitors wearing the
new Speedo LZR Racer suit These suits use a high-tech fabric tested in Nasa's wind tunnels,
which reduces drag and improves buoyancy. The LZR was initially sanctioned by Fina, the
international swimming body. But as better suits were produced by Speedo and other
manufacturers, and more records were broken, they became increasingly controversial. In a 2009
ruling, Fina changed its mind banning all suits made with this high-tech fabric.

G Going faster, higher, stronger is integral to the logic of athletics in general, and the Olympics in
particular. Athletes believe they need records all the time. And the only way minute changes of
0.0001 of a second. But when a new technology is invented, the relevant sports authority has to
consider whether to embrace or reject it. In some cases, athletes are granted permission to use
the technology: in others, it is banned. But whatever the outcome, rulings should not appear
chance arbitrary: arguments have to be examined and weighed and the rules of logic ought to apply in
every case.
Questions 21 and 22

Choose TWO letters, A­E.

Write the correct letters in boxes 21 and 22 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following statements about Ran Clarke are made in the passage?

A Clarke was not performing well immediately prior to the Mexico Games.
B The worries Clarke had before the Mexico Games were not taken into account.
C Clarke's experiences at the Mexico Games are widely talked about today.
D At one stage of the Mexico Games 10,000 metres Clarke was near the front.
E Clarke was the only runner at the Mexico Games who appeared to be affected by the altitude.

Questions 23–26

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 23–26 on your answer sheet.

Do all new technologies gain approval?

Some people may be puzzled by attitudes towards performance-enhancing technologies in sport. For
example, why is the altitude tent considered acceptable, but not the LZR Racer suit? For distance
running. Wada concluded that the attitude tent was not contrary to the 23 ……………. of the sport.

However, the LZR swimsuit, which is made from a special fabric that aids buoyancy and cuts down 24
……………. was banned. Athletes think they have to continually set fresh 25 ……………. . This is
made possible by better 26 ……………. and training, as well as improved clothing and equipment.
However, when sports authorities have to decide whether to give permission for a new performance-
enhancing technology to be used, it is important that their decisions are not seen as arbitrary.