Reading passage 1

A. "In adult centres the nerve paths are something fixed, ended, immutable. Everything may die, nothing may be regenerated." -- Santiago Ramon Y Cajal, "Degeneration and Regeneration in the Nervous System," 1928. This long-held tenet, first proposed by Professor Cajal, held that brain neurons were unique because they lacked the ability to regenerate. B. In 1998, the journal Nature Medicine published a report indicating that neurogenesis, the growth of new brain cells, does indeed occur in humans. As Sharon Begley remarked in her book, "Train Your Mind, Change Your Brain," "The discovery overturned generations of conventional wisdom in neuroscience. The human brain is not limited to the neurons it is born with, or even the neurons that fill in after the explosion of brain development in early childhood." C. What the researchers discovered was that within each of our brains there exists a population of neural stem cells which are continually replenished and can differentiate into brain neurons. Simply stated, we are all experiencing brain stem cell therapy every moment of our lives. As one might expect, the process of neurogenesis is controlled by our DNA. A specific gene codes for the production of a protein, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which plays a key role in creating new neurons. Studies reveal decreased BDNF in Alzheimer's patients, as well as in a variety of neurological conditions including epilepsy, depression, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder. D. Fortunately, many of the factors that influence our DNA to produce BDNF factors are under our direct control. The gene that turns on BDNF is activated by a variety of factors including physical exercise, caloric restriction, curcumin and the omega-3 fat, DHA. This is a powerful message. These factors are all within our grasp and represent choices we can make to turn on the gene for neurogenesis. Thus, we can treat ourselves to stem cell therapy by taking control of our gene expression. Laboratory rats that exercise have been shown to produce far more BDNF in their brains compared to sedentary animals. And there is a direct relationship between elevation of BDNF levels in these animals and their ability to learn, as one might expect. E. With this understanding of the relationship of BDNF to exercise, researchers in a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association , entitled "Effect of Physical Activity in Cognitive Function in Older Adults at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease," found that elderly individuals engaged in regular physical exercise for a 24-week period had an improvement of an astounding 1,800 percent on measures of memory, language ability, attention and other important cognitive functions compared to an agematched group not involved in the exercise program.

F. The mechanism by which exercise enhances brain performance is described in these and other studies as sitting squarely with increased production of BDNF. Just by engaging in regular physical exercise, you open the door to the possibility of actively taking control of your mental destiny. G. In January, 2009, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science published a study entitled "Caloric Restriction Improves Memory in Elderly Humans." In this study, German researchers imposed a 30 percent calorie reduction on the diets of elderly individuals and compared their memory function with a similar age group who basically ate whatever they wanted. At the conclusion of the three-month study, those who ate without restriction experienced a small, but clearly defined decline in memory function, while memory function in the group consuming the caloriereduced diet actually increased, and fairly profoundly. In recognition of the obvious limitations of current pharmaceutical approaches to brain health, the authors concluded, "The present findings may help to develop new prevention and treatment strategies for maintaining cognitive health into old age." What a concept. Preventive medicine for the brain. Source: The Huffington 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 paragraph. Write the appropriate numbers I ix in boxes 1 7 on your answer sheet.

i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix.

The influencing factors. The mechanism. China's culture of giving. The long-held tenet. Fostering widespread materialism. The report. Calorie reduction. The 1discovery. Paragraph A 2 Paragraph B Philanthropy among the 3 Paragraph C country's ultra-rich.

4 5 6 7

Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph Paragraph

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 If elderly people do exercise regularly they remain A. B. C. D. 9 A. B. C. D. 10 A. B. C. D. Tired. Physically inactive. Mentally fit. Mentally and physically fit. Many of the factors that influence our DNA to produce BDNF factors are Under our direct control. Under our time management. In our doctors hands. Not in our control. within each of our brains there exists a population of Neural stem cells. Dead cells. Blood cells. DNAs.

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 By engaging in regular physical exercise, you open the door to the possibility of 12 The gene that turns on BDNF is activated by 13 We can treat ourselves to stem cell therapy by 14 The human brain is not limited to

A The neurons it is born with. B A variety of factors. C A relatively small collection of big corporate donors. D Actively taking control of your mental destiny. E Finding Chinese rich to donate generously.

Reading passage 2 A. If you're looking for a true stinker of a campaign slogan, you couldn't do much better than "Vote for me, I'll raise your taxes!" (Don't believe it? Ask Walter Mondale. It ain't easy to lose 49 states.) But suppose you changed your bumper sticker slightly? Here's one way: "Vote for me. I'll raise your taxes and save your life." That, according to the Campaign for TobaccoFree Kids, could be a winner both for public health and for cash-strapped states at least if all the tax burden fell on cigarette sales. B. It's no secret that the recession has wrecked the balance sheets of most state governments, and while there's been no shortage of reporting about the effect this has had on police and fire departments, education budgets and public works, it's had an unexpected impact on smoking rates too. According to a report in today's Wall Street Journal, states have allocated a collective $517 million to tobacco-prevention programs in fiscal year 2011, 9.2% less than the previous year and a cut of 28% since 2008. C. That spells trouble since state programs have historically had a direct cause-and-effect impact on smoking among the locals. Ohio, for example, cut its smoking rate 5% from 2001 to 2005, when it was spending $60 million per year on anti-tobacco programs, according to the Journal, but only an additional 2% in the following four years when it slashed its antitobacco budget to just $6 million per year. D. But the Tobacco-Free Kids group sees a way around that. A state-by-state tax hike of $1 per pack on cigarettes, the group calculates, could raise $9.1 billion per year nationwide, keep 2.3 million kids from becoming hooked on tobacco and save at least 1 million lives. The economic impact of such a move could ripple out in multiple directions, reducing the $96 billion spent annually on smoking-related ills, including $31 spent by Medicaid. But the money could be a boon to state treasuries as well. E. In California, which yields to no state in the category of budgetary dysfunction, a $1 increase in the current 87-cent per-pack tax could raise $575.2 million per year. Texas, with a current $1.41 tax, could raise $418.8 million per year by bumping the tax up to $2.41. Tobacco-friendly Virginia, with just a 30-cent tax per pack, could haul in an additional $317.7 million per year. States could double-down on the health effectiveness of the tax by plowing at least a bit of the new revenue back into their scaled-down anti-smoking programs. F. All politics being local, the Tobacco-Free site also includes a rollover map that breaks down the tax benefits state by state, including the local

savings in productivity, the number of adults who would be likely to quit smoking and the number of kids who would be deterred from starting. It's that last category keeping young nonsmokers from ever getting hooked that is the low-hanging fruit of all anti-tobacco efforts. If you can make it into adulthood without ever having smoked, the odds increase dramatically that you never will. Kids, more than most people, are especially price sensitive, and the sticker shock of a pack of cigarettes is often more effective than health warnings or parental lectures could ever be. G. In recent years, the anti-tax crowd has made almost any new revenueraising efforts politically radioactive. But the anti-tax crowd has kids too. Keeping them safe just might be worth a buck a pack. 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. Raising taxes can save your life. 16. People are in support of imposing taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products. 17. The passive smoking is very dangerous. 18. Governments earn a lot of money by selling cigarettes. 19. The US Government has imposed heavy taxes on cigarettes to make people quit smoking..

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. Walter Mondale 21. Virginia 22. California A Yields to no state in the category of budgetary 23. Ohio dysfunction. B Takes pledge to save peoples lives by raising taxes. C Is famous for its tobacco. D Cut its smoking rate 5% from 2001 to 2005.

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. Texas could raise $418.8 million per year The anti-tax crowd has made almost any The Tobacco-Free site also includes a rollover map A state-by-state tax hike of $1 per pack on cigarettes A Could make people healthier. B Could save at least 1 million lives. C By bumping the tax up to $2.41. D New revenue-raising efforts politically radioactive. E With significant potential hazards. Reading Passage 3 A. Taking the witness stand for a second day, Elizabeth Smart provided a riveting account of how she survived nine months as a prisoner of the man on trial, Brian David Mitchell. It was, she told the Salt Lake City jury, a seemingly hopeless life, as Mitchell took his first wife, Wanda Barzee, and his second "wife" Elizabeth whom he had married in a self-presided ceremony shortly after kidnapping her on June 5, 2002 on religious wanderings, partly to search for a potential third wife. They dressed in biblical robes, evaded the police, slipped in and out of Salt Lake City from their mountain hideaway and even relocated briefly to Southern California. B. During this time, Elizabeth said she was set free from the tether that anchored her to a tree when she was abducted (see Elizabeth Smart's previous testimony). The three took frequent trips to Salt Lake City together eating at restaurants, attending large house parties, spending time in public parks, staying at people's houses and traveling by public transportation, all done while a massive search for the young girl was under way. Elizabeth's face was plastered on billboards and taped on flyers in shop windows across the Salt Lake valley. Elizabeth said Mitchell showed her articles on the massive search saying that "we were being protected by God [because] they weren't able to find us." C. For their trips to Salt Lake City, Mitchell instructed Elizabeth that she needed to stay next to him at all times, that she wasn't to speak to

anyone or go anywhere without him. He had already threatened her with death for disobedience several times. Prior to the first trip to Salt Lake City, Elizabeth said, Mitchell told her to remove the remnants of blue toenail polish because there "couldn't be any sort of mark or sign that I was Elizabeth Smart." When people did try to speak with the teenager, Mitchell would step in. Once at a large keg party, a young man approached Elizabeth and tried to talk with her. "It felt very much like he was flirting with me, that he was hitting on me," Elizabeth told the jury. "The defendant came up and said, 'This is my daughter. She can't speak to you.'" Elizabeth was always introduced as the daughter of Barzee and Mitchell, not as his wife. D. In the fall of 2002, Mitchell and his wives were nearly discovered. During a visit to a Salt Lake City library, Elizabeth recalled, a homicide detective approached her and asked her to remove the veil that she and Barzee were forced to wear to cover the lower half of their face. Elizabeth and Barzee had just emerged from the restrooms, and Mitchell had not returned yet. "I remember a man approaching us as the defendant was walking back," Elizabeth told the jury. "He introduced himself as a homicide detective. He wanted me to remove the veil so he could see my face. [Barzee's] hand was clenching my leg. I interpreted it to mean 'Don't say anything, don't move.' [The detective] was looking for Elizabeth Smart." When Mitchell returned, he stood between Elizabeth and the detective and calmly explained that removing the veil was not allowed in their religion, that only the girl's husband would be able to see her face. E. "I felt helpless walking out the [library] door," Elizabeth said on the stand. "I was mad at myself that I didn't say anything. I felt upset with myself that I hadn't done anything." According to her, Mitchell said that the close encounter was a sign "that the Lord was really protecting us" but that also "it was a sign that it was time for [us] to leave." F. Mitchell decided the three had to relocate to the San Diego area to find another wife. He had already made a botched attempt to kidnap one of Elizabeth's cousins on July 24. He wanted a devout Mormon like Elizabeth who was young and thus "still malleable," she said. G. To prepare for the move to California, Mitchell spent time panhandling for money. "To me it felt fake, but I guess to whomever saw him, he seemed quiet, very genuine, very calm, very sincere in his panhandling," Elizabeth testified. "He wasn't serious. He knew how to manipulate people. That's what he was good at." 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. Mitchell was very cruel to his wives. The detective could not recognise Elizabeth because she was in a veil. As they were not caught made Mitchell think that god is kind to him. Mitchell wanted Elizabeth to be his third wifes instructor. Elizabeth was the prime reason for Mitchell to get caught.

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.

Elizabeth was always introduced as the daughter of . When people did try to speak with the teenager, Mitchell would . During a visit to a Salt Lake City library a homicide detective . They dressed in biblical robes, evaded the police, slipped in and out of .

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. Mitchell said that the close encounter was a sign that it was 37 He had already made a botched attempt to kidnap one of 38 . To prepare for the move to California, Mitchell spent time 39 .. Elizabeth testified that he wasn't serious as he knew how to manipulate people. At least that's what 40 .