Level Three Final Exam Extensive Preview Reading Passages Module 2

Contents
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ....................................................................................................... 1 The Ozone Layer ..................................................................................................................................... 3 Do we Inherit our Health? ...................................................................................................................... 5 Biomimicry .............................................................................................................................................. 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:

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Preview Reading for L3 Final Exam

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 Questions that ask about certain words in the passage o Choose the correct dictionary definitions o Choose the correct meaning of a word

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. 2. 3. 4. Listening 1 (a dialogue conversation that you have heard before, with 7 questions Listening 2 (a lecture that you have heard before with about 10 questions) Listening 3 (a lecture that is new to you with about 10 questions) 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!

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Preview Reading for L3 Final Exam

The Ozone Layer

1. The Earth is surrounded by layers of gases that help to protect it from space. These layers of gases make up the Earths atmosphere. The second layer of the Earths atmosphere is called the stratosphere. It contains the ozone layer, which helps to protect the Earth from ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun. This protection is important for humans because ultraviolet radiation can cause skin cancer and other serious health problems. 2. For several decades, scientists and environmentalists have been worried about damage to the ozone layer. Measurements of the amount of ozone in the stratosphere have been taken over this period and have produced some disturbing results. For example, average levels of ozone in the stratosphere were 5% lower in the mid 1990s than in 1970. In addition, scientists have found much higher levels of ozone destruction at the North Pole and particularly at the South Pole. British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists Joseph Farman, Brian Gardiner and Jonathan Shanklin found that ozone levels fall by more than 50% in the Antarctic spring (September to November). Scientists call this loss of ozone the ozone hole. 3. Research into the ozone problem has produced several important findings. In 1969, Paul Crutzen, a Dutch chemist, published an article about ozone. He was interested in finding out which chemicals react with ozone to cause its destruction or to stop its creation. His experiments suggested that nitrogen compounds (mixtures of chemicals containing nitrogen) may be harmful to ozone. 4. In 1974, two American chemists, Mario Molina and Sherwood Rowland, from the University of California at Irvine suggested that another chemical, chlorine, may damage ozone. Specifically, they argued that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), mixtures of chlorine, fluorine and carbon, lead to the destruction of ozone. CFCs can be released into the atmosphere by appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners. Molina and Rowlands research suggested that the chlorine from the CFCs reacts with ozone and destroys it. 5. Further research by Crutzen and by Molina and Rowland supported the arguments about the effect of CFCs. In addition, these researchers found another chemical, bromine, has a harmful effect on ozone. Bromine is also a product of human activity, particularly of certain industrial processes. Because of the importance of these research findings, Crutzen, Molina and Rowland received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1995. 6. Scientists and environmentalists brought these problems to the attention of governments. As a result, it became clear that there was a need for international action. It seemed that human activity was causing the destruction of the ozone layer. On the one hand, appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners, and even aerosol cans, were producing CFCs. On the other hand, some industrial processes were producing bromine and nitrogen compounds. Consequently, in 1987, governments from around the world agreed to start dealing with the

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Preview Reading for L3 Final Exam

problems. This agreement, the Montreal Protocol, included targets for the reduction of CFC emissions and changes to harmful industrial processes. Since 1987, the governments have reviewed and updated the Montreal Protocol several times. 7. Despite the progress of governments and scientists, there were still many questions to answer about ozone. For example, scientists did not know why the ozone hole appeared over the Antarctic during springtime. Was it the result of human activity? Research by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has helped to answer this question. During the Antarctic winter, there is little movement of air above the South Pole. Because there is no sunlight, the air becomes very cold. These conditions lead to the formation of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs). When sunlight returns in the springtime, it causes chemical reactions in the PSCs. These reactions lead to the release of chlorine and bromine from the PSCs. It is this chlorine and bromine that destroys large amounts of ozone. Therefore, the ozone hole appears naturally and not as a result of human activity. When the Antarctic summer arrives, the PSCs disappear and new ozone forms. As a result, the ozone hole disappears. 8. Nevertheless, the role of human activity in the reduction of overall ozone levels around the world is still important. Therefore, the Montreal Protocol is still an essential tool. Research has shown that changes in technology have helped to reduce CFC, bromine and nitrogen compound emissions over recent years. As a result, levels of these harmful chemicals in the stratosphere are not rising. Most scientists therefore expect ozone levels to stop falling. Although it will probably take several decades, this process should eventually lead to the recovery of ozone levels in the stratosphere. 9. Unfortunately, however, solving one scientific problem can often lead to the creation of a new one. Ozone is a greenhouse gas. Therefore, as levels of ozone have fallen over the past few decades, scientists think these falls have tended to reduce the amount of global warming. In other words, global warming would be worse if ozone levels had not gone down over the past few decades. If ozone levels recover over the next few decades, scientists think this could make global warming worse. There is clearly plenty of research for scientists to do.
Adapted from Encyclopaedia Britannica (846 words, FK = 10.7)

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Preview Reading for L3 Final Exam

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. 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 mothers nose; a granddaughter may have her grandfathers 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.
Mendelian genetic inheritance chart.

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 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. It is important to understand, therefore, that most of us inherit a tendency rather than a Model of DNA. 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 you are genetically predisposed to a certain illness, you can change your lifestyle to cut down the risk of getting it. F Many of the links between genes and diseases have been discovered through the Human Genome Project. In 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 E

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Preview Reading for L3 Final Exam

life. It contained a description of every single one of our 25,000 genes of more than 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 babys 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.pdf Words: 842 Readability score: 10.7

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Preview Reading for L3 Final Exam

Biomimicry
Nature often provides the solutions to manmade problems
A. Have you ever wondered how designers decide on the shape and properties of the things they design? Take the Shinkansen bullet train in Japan, for example. Instead of having Any similarity? A Japanese bullet train a rounded front like most other trains, the designers of this and a kingfisher. train looked to a bird called the kingfisher for inspiration. 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. Biomimicry is a new field that studies nature's best ideas and then tries to use these designs and processes 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."

Velcro simple idea, multiple uses

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 to 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. However, it wasn't until the late 20th century that many 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, entrepreneurs from all over the world started calling her, seeking advice on resolving a particular issue in a non-traditional, naturecopying 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 Benyus. Her clients range from NASA to a multitude of companies.

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

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Preview Reading for L3 Final Exam

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 species of 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, Raindrops sliding off a lotus leaf has developed a paint that works in the same way and, up to now, this self-cleaning paint has been used on more than 350,000 buildings in Europe. F. The lotus leaf-inspired paint shows that solutions from nature can be more environmentallyfriendly 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 also the environment benefits because resources are used more wisely. This point is key because if designers and inventors look to nature for ideas, solutions are likely to be more ecologically sound. 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? Surprisingly, they made use of the cleverness of the termite, an insect that builds a hill out of soil, in which it 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 Just perfect a termite kept at a constant temperature without the use of air-conditioning or heating.
hill

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 turbines by Katia Moskvitch (www.bbc.co.uk) Other sources: www.inhabit; comwww.biomimicryinstitute

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Preview Reading for L3 Final Exam