Reading passage 1

A. In 2008, President Obama won Rhode Island with 63 per cent -- his thirdhighest percentage in the country. Two years later, in the four-way race to succeed term-limited Gov. Don Carcieri (R), it appears that the onetime Democratic frontrunner could well finish third. A new poll out today shows former GOP Sen. Lincoln Chafee (I) leading the four-way race with 35 per cent, while Republican John Robitaille takes 28 per cent, state Treasurer Frank Caprio (D) 25 per cent and Moderate Party candidate Ken Block 2 per cent. B. The new results mark a big shift from a survey conducted in late September showing Caprio leading with 36 per cent, Chafee at 24 per cent, Robitaille trailing with 13 per cent and Block winning 2 per cent. Much of the reason for Caprio's decline can be chalked up to a spat with the White House over its endorsement in the race. Caprio has come under fire for remarks he made Monday in an appearance on a radio show in which he told Obama to "take his endorsement and really shove it" after his campaign learned that the president would not get behind any candidate in the race. Much of the new survey, though not all of it, was conducted after Caprio made the comments. C. (Obama served in the Senate with Chafee until Chafee lost his re-election bid in 2006, and Chafee endorsed Obama's presidential bid ahead of the 2008 primary. Caprio backed then-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) in the 2008 presidential primary; Clinton went on to an overwhelming 58 per cent to 40 per cent win over Obama in the primary.)While Obama did not offer an endorsement in the race, former President Bill Clinton is slated to visit the state on Sunday to campaign for Caprio. On Monday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) will campaign for Chafee. And on top of all that, Caprio had been rumoured to be considering a switch to the GOP earlier this year. (Caprio tamped down again on those rumours earlier this week.)The volatility of three- and four-way races makes the current state of play hard to gauge, but five days out from Election Day, those closely watching the race believe that Chafee is well-positioned to win and that Caprio may indeed slip down to third place. D. For one thing, Caprio's drop in the polls is an indication that the "shove it" remark was not well received by voters; indeed, it seems to have contributed to a narrative Chafee's campaign was already building around the candidate as lacking the character and temperament to be governor. As one long time veteran of Rhode Island politics put it, Caprio's remarks were "impertinent." "Talking to the president like he's a dock worker, I don't think it's well-received, especially among older voters," the observer added. E. In the new poll, 36 per cent of respondents said that Caprio's remarks made them less likely to vote for him, while 57 per cent said his

comments made no difference. Also working in Chafee's favour is the fact that Robitaille has a small base to work with. According to the most recent statistics provided by the state secretary of state's office, of Rhode Island's 631,000 active voters, 41 per cent are registered Democrats, 49 per cent are unenrolled in any political party and only 10 per cent are registered Republicans. Those figures are similar to registration statistics in neighbouring Massachusetts, and they mean that Robitaille has a much smaller natural base of support that he'll be hard-pressed to offset even if significant numbers of independents and Democrats shift over from Caprio. F. Both national parties have been spending heavily on the race; the Democratic Governors Association spent more than $1 million from Oct. 525 on TV ads slamming Chafee, while the Republican Governors Association spent nearly $500,000 on TV ads backing Robitaille during the same period. Robitaille's camp is hoping that an endorsement today by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and a visit on Monday by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) will give him a boost of late momentum; even so, a win by Robitaille would be a significant upset. G. As Alaska, Delaware and now Rhode Island have demonstrated, some of the most surprising campaign developments have taken place in the most, well, surprising places. The Rhode Island gubernatorial race remains volatile heading into the final stretch before Election Day, but a Caprio win -- once viewed as more likely than not -- now looks like an increasingly dim possibility. Source: The Washington Post Questions You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 to 14 which are based on Reading Passage 1 Questions 1 to 7 Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs A G. From the list of headings below, choose the most suitable heading for each i. Caprio's drop in the polls. paragraph. Write the appropriate numbers I ix in boxes 1 7 on your answer sheet. ii. The volatility of three- and four-way races. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. A big shift. Rumours. Fostering widespread materialism. The new poll. The heavy spending. President Obamas win. Surprising campaign developments.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph

A B C D E F G

Questions 8 10 Choose the correct letters, A, B, C or D Write your answers in boxes 8 10 on your answer sheet. 8 The Democratic Governors Association spent more than $1 million from Oct. 5-25 on A. B. C. D. 9 A. B. C. D. 10 A. B. C. D. Posters. TV ads. Overall campaigns. Street shows. Obama served in the Senate with George Bush. Bill Clinton. Chafee. Hillary Clinton. Much of the reason for Caprio's decline can be chalked up to a spat with The The The The President. Federal Government. Senate. White House.

Questions 11 14 Complete each of the following statements (questions 11 14) with the best endings A G from the box below Write the appropriate letters A G in boxes 11 14 on your answer sheet. 11 Caprio backed then-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) 12 The Rhode Island gubernatorial race remains 13 36 per cent of respondents said that Caprio's remarks

14

Both national parties have been A Volatile heading into the final stretch.

B Made them less likely to vote for him. C A relatively small collection of big corporate donors. D In the 2008 presidential primary. E Spending heavily on the race.

Reading passage 2 A. A team of public health researchers from Yale University's Rudd Centre for Food Policy & Obesity spent more than a year compiling data on 12 of the nation's big fast-food restaurants, and what they found surprised even them: despite industry efforts to reduce marketing aimed at children, fastfood advertising geared toward 2-to-18-year-olds increased. The research focused on menu composition, external advertising, in-store marketing and consumer behaviour for McDonald's, Wendy's, Subway, KFC, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, Sonic, Domino's, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts.. B. The marketing seems to be working: a whopping 40% of parents reported that their child asked to go to McDonald's at least once a week, and 15% of preschoolers' parents said they fielded such a request every day. Most of the parents gave in: 84% reported bringing their 2-to-11-year-olds to a fast food restaurant within the previous week. C. Eating fast food has pretty much become routine for many families, the researchers found. One-third of children and teens reported consuming fast food at least once a week, and 16% to 17% of adolescents' caloric intake came from fast food restaurants. On an average visit to a fast-food restaurant, teens ordered 800 to 1,100 calories in a single meal (30% of which came from saturated fat or sugar) that's half of their recommended daily caloric intake. D. "[Going to a fast food restaurant] is no longer a special event, it's ingrained in our culture and that's why it's of concern," said Kelly Brownell, co-founder and director of the Rudd Centre. Researchers' investigations also revealed that of 3,039 possible meal combinations intended for children (such as McDonald's Happy Meal), only 12 met nutritional criteria the researchers set for preschoolers and 15 met the criteria for older children. Of the 12 that were deemed healthy for kids, all were from Subway or Burger King, and all were variations that included one of two main components: the Subway's Veggie DeLite sandwich or Burger King's Mac and cheese E. Brownell says the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is now looking into designating children as a "protected" group in order to shield them from

advertising of unhealthy foods. While fast-food purveyors may have reduced advertising during traditional kids shows, researchers found that youngsters were still being exposed to similar ads geared at adults and teens during TV shows like American Idol or televised sports events a phenomenon the researchers call "second hand exposure." And although restaurants like McDonald's and Burger King pledged to reduce marketing to kids that related primarily to television advertising. But these companies maintain active presences online: McDonald's has 13 different websites targeted at various age groups; one site, Ronald.com, is specifically designed for preschoolers. Together, McDonald's family of websites got 365,000 unique visitors aged 12 or younger per month and 249,000 teen visitors, the new report found. Nine of the 12 restaurant chains studies also had at least 1,000,000 "fans" on Facebook; Starbucks lead with 13 million fans. What's more, banner ads for fast food on websites for Nickelodeon and Disney attracted "tens of millions" of unique visitors per month, according to Marlene Schwartz, deputy director of Rudd. F. In addition to digital marketing, fast-food restaurants relied heavily on instore marketing to kids tactics like putting toys in Happy Meals (a move that San Francisco recently moved to ban). "Companies are saying, 'We don't advertise to children,' but all they are really talking about is what they have in TV commercials. So to say that, 'We take this product, we put it in a colourful box and we add a toy to it, but, no, we're not marketing it to children' it's a little bit disingenuous," she said. The end goal of fastfood marketing is to improve brand affinity starting at an early age, the researchers found. In fact, much of the chains' advertising was targeted at parents the thinking is that the more exposure Mom and Dad have, the more routine fast food dining would seem. It helps also that the current generation of new parents is the first to have grown up with exposure to fast-food advertising themselves. These parents already have a built-in childhood connection to companies like McDonald's. G. And that's bad news for everyone: constant exposure to fast-food marketing helps normalize the kind of eating behaviour associated with such restaurants. It makes outsized portions look normal and encourages snacking: Taco Bell even has an ad campaign based around the concept of a fourth daily meal. How can this trend be reversed? Brownell believes it requires a shift in public attitude, combined with legislative action to end advertising targeted to kids. "Children are simply too big a target for them," he said. "We need to redefine what child-targeting marketing is and companies need to stop marketing to preschoolers entirely. [Change] will either [come from] public outcry or legislation." Source: Time Questions You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 15 27 which are based on Reading Passage 2 Questions 15 19

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 15 -19 in 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 15. Eating fast food has pretty much become routine for many families. 16. Fast food doesnt cause obesity among kids. 17. Almost all the kids are fond of having fast food at least twice a week. 18. Kids get easily attracted by the television ads that market the fast food brands. 19. The schools are troubled with the childrens asking for fast food in their canteens.

Question 20 23 Look at the following persons or places (questions 20 23) and the list of statements below. Match each person or place to the correct statement. Write the correct letter A G in boxes 1 4 on your answer sheet. 20. The Federal Trade Commission 21. McDonald 22. Rudd Centre for Food Policy & Obesity 23. Kelly Brownell A Conducted a research on fast food habit among children. B Is a favourite hub for children to eat. C Co-founder and director of the Rudd Centre. D Is worried about the obesity among children. E Supported the research financially.

Questions 24 27 Complete the following statements with the correct alternative from the box. Write the correct letter A F in boxes 24 27 on your answer sheet. 24. 25. 26. 27. Youngsters were still being exposed to Fast-food restaurants relied heavily on McDonald's and Burger King pledged to A whopping 40% of parents reported that their child asked

A The heavy advertisements meant for adults. B Similar ads geared at adults and teens. C To eat outside at least once in a week. D Reduce marketing to kids. E In-store marketing to kids.

Reading Passage 3 A. It's a timeworn tactic for politicians. When you fail at home, go abroad. Four days after the Democrats' defeat in the U.S. midterm elections, Barack Obama headed on his longest overseas journey as President: a 10day tour of Asia, where his foreign fans far outstrip his domestic ones. B. The itinerary of America's self-proclaimed "first Pacific President" has taken him to India (the world's largest democracy) and Indonesia (the world's biggest Muslim-majority democracy) before he attends a pair of global summits in South Korea (a dictatorship turned democracy that was saved from communism by U.S. intervention) and in Japan (Asia's oldest democracy). Even though the vagaries of democratic politics had just dealt Obama what he called a "shellacking," the U.S. President has spent much of his tour highlighting the virtues of governance by the people. "Instead of being lured by the false notion that progress must come at the expense of freedom, you built the institutions upon which true democracy depends," Obama told the Indian Parliament on Nov. 8. "The lesson is clear: India has succeeded not in spite of democracy; India has succeeded because of democracy." C. While Obama's trip is a celebration of Asia's liberal bastions, it is the dragon in the room decidedly undemocratic China, a nation not even on the President's itinerary that is the underlying focus of his grand tour. In recent months, China's international image has morphed from global economic savior into, frankly, a bit of a bully. Asian nations that once showed only gratitude for Chinese investment are now discovering that the cash often comes with the economic and even political imprint of state-owned Chinese companies. D. At the same time, China's increasingly aggressive territorial claims in surrounding seas have spooked countries that lie within its historic sphere of influence. From Japan to Vietnam, Asian nations have cozied up to the U.S. as a geopolitical counterweight to their giant neighbor. "Asia, which faces many uncertainties, including the rise of China, will need the firm diplomatic and economic engagement of the United States," said the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan's top financial daily, in an editorial. E. Just a year ago, as America was mired in recession, Obama visited China and spoke of "deep and even dramatic ties" with what is now the world's

second largest economy. Yet through 2010, China's foreign policy has displayed little of the maturity expected of a rising power: Beijing has reacted with outsize indignation to perceived slights like Obama's meeting with the Dalai Lama or Tokyo's detention of a Chinese trawler that collided with a Japanese naval vessel in disputed waters. In the wake of the October awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to imprisoned writer Liu Xiaobo, Beijing unleashed a shrill fury that makes it nigh impossible to ignore the nation's tendency to silence anyone who contradicts the narrative of a stable, happy China. Since Liu's award was announced on Oct. 8, dozens of his fellow intellectuals have been placed under house arrest or barred from traveling overseas, while the Nobel laureate himself still languishes in jail. F. Beijing has also dismissed Washington's recent suggestion that it could dip a mediating hand in the contested waters of the East and South China Seas, even though such American involvement would be welcomed by many of China's neighbors. "The freedom of navigation which the U.S. claims to protect is actually the freedom of the U.S. military to threaten other countries," fulminated an editorial in the Global Times, a Chinese Communist Partyowned daily. "The U.S. cannot tolerate the reasonable growth of China's national strength and regional influence." G. Beijing, which has a historical distrust of any foreign interference, insists that it is pursuing a policy of "peaceful development." China's assertive stance against external challengers and internal critics, however, has triggered a rethink of the so-called Beijing Consensus, China's development model based upon authoritarian capitalism. Even a few months ago, the Beijing Consensus was being hawked across the developing world as the most stable and efficient way to build an economy. But as Obama tours democratic Asia, it is the alternative Mumbai Consensus that is serving as the philosophy du jour. A term popularized this summer by White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers, the Mumbai Consensus refers to an altogether messier but democratically rooted economic model in which private enterprise has a big role and in which, Summers said, "respect for individuals is the paramount value." Source: Time Questions You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28 40 which are based on Reading Passage 3. Questions 28 32 The passage has seven paragraphs labelled AG. Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 28-32 on your answer sheet. NB: You may use any letter more than once. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. Obama is America's self-proclaimed "first Pacific President". When politicians fail at home, they go abroad. China does not want to allow the US to interfere in their national matters. Asian nations have cozied up to the U.S. as a geopolitical counterweight to their giant neighbor. The Mumbai Consensus refers to an altogether messier.

Questions 33 36 Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage 3. Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet.

33. 34. 35. 36.

Beijing has a historical distrust of any . The Beijing Consensus was being hawked across the world as . Obama's trip is a celebration of Asia's . Progress must come at the .

Questions 37 40 Complete the summary of the paragraphs E G below. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet. Obama visited China and spoke of "deep and even dramatic ties" with what is now the world's 37 . China's assertive stance against external challengers and internal critics, however, has triggered a rethink of the 38 . The alternative Mumbai Consensus is serving as the 39 .. The Mumbai Consensus refers to a democratically rooted economic model in which private enterprise 40