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35-37 (13/10 - 17/10)

35 Reading 1

ou should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CHILDREN’S PLAY

Brick by brick, six-year-old Alice is building a magical kingdom. Imagining fairy-tale turrets and fire-breathing dragons, wicked witches and gallant heroes, she’s creating an enchanting world. Although she isn’t aware of it, this fantasy is helping her take her first steps towards her capacity for creativity and so it will have important repercussions in her adult life.

Minutes later, Alice has abandoned the kingdom in favour of playing schools with her younger brother. When she bosses him around as his ‘teacher’, she’s practising how to regulate her emotions through pretence. Later on, when they tire of this and settle down with a board game, she’s learning about the need to follow rules and take turns with a partner.

‘Play in all its rich variety is one of the highest achievements of the human species,’ says Dr David Whitebread from the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge, UK. ‘It underpins how we develop as intellectual, problem-solving adults and is crucial to our success as a highly adaptable species.’

Recognizing the importance of play is not new: over two millennia ago, the Greek philosopher Plato extolled its virtues as a means of developing skills for adult life, and ideas about play-based learning have been developing since the 19th century.

But we live in changing times, and Whitebread is mindful of a worldwide decline in play, pointing out that over half the people in the world now live in cities. ‘The opportunities for free play, which I experienced almost every day of my childhood, are becoming increasingly scarce,’ he says. Outdoor play is curtailed by perceptions of risk to do with traffic, as well as parents’ increased wish to protect their children from being the victims of crime, and by the emphasis on ‘earlier is better’ which is leading to greater competition in academic learning and schools.

International bodies like the United Nations and the European Union have begun to develop policies concerned with children’s right to play, and to consider implications for leisure facilities and educational programmes. But what they often lack is the evidence to base policies on.

‘The type of play we are interested in is child-initiated, spontaneous and unpredictable – but, as soon as you ask a five-year-old “to play”, then you as the researcher have intervened,’ explains Dr Sara Baker. ‘And we want to know what the long-term impact of play is. It’s a real challenge.’

Dr Jenny Gibson agrees, pointing out that although some of the steps in the puzzle of how and why play is important have been looked at, there is very little data on the impact it has on the child’s later life.

Now, thanks to the university’s new Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning (PEDAL), Whitebread, Baker, Gibson and a team of researchers hope to provide evidence on the role played by play in how a child develops.

‘A strong possibility is that play supports the early development of children’s self-control,’ explains Baker. ‘This is our ability to develop awareness of our own thinking progresses – it influences how effectively we go about undertaking challenging activities.’

In a study carried out by Baker with toddlers and young pre-schoolers, she found that children with greater self-control solved problems more quickly when exploring an unfamiliar set-up requiring scientific reasoning. ‘This sort of evidence makes up think that giving children the chance to play will make them more successful problem-solvers in the long run.’

If playful experiences do facilitate this aspect of development, say the researchers, it could be extremely significant for educational practices, because the ability to self-regulate has been shown to be a key predictor of academic performance.

Gibson adds: ‘Playful behavior is also an important indicator of healthy social and emotional development. In my previous research, I investigated how observing children at play can give us important clues about their well-being and can even be useful in the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism.’

Whitebread’s recent research has involved developing a play-based approach to supporting children’s writing. ‘Many primary school children find writing difficult, but we showed in a previous study that a playful stimulus was far more effective than an instructional one.’ Children wrote longer and better-structured stories when they first played with dolls representing characters in the story. In the latest study, children first created their story with Lego*, with similar results. ‘Many teachers commented that they had always previously had children saying they didn’t know what to write about. With the Lego building, however, not a single child said this through the whole year of the project.’

Whitebread, who directs PEDAL, trained as a primary school teacher in the early 1970s, when, as he describes, ‘the teaching of young children was largely a quiet backwater, untroubled by any serious intellectual debate or controversy.’ Now, the landscape is very different, with hotly debated topics such as school starting age.

‘Somehow the importance of play has been lost in recent decades. It’s regarded as something trivial, or even as something negative that contrasts with “work”. Let’s not lose sight of its benefits, and the fundamental contributions it makes to human achievements in the arts, sciences and technology. Let’s make sure children have a rich diet of play experiences.’

———————————- * Lego: coloured plastic building blocks and other pieces that can be joined together

Complete the notes below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.

Children’s play

Uses of children’s play

• building a ‘magical kingdom’ may help develop 1…………………………………

• board games involve 2 ……………………………. and turn-taking

Recent changes affecting children’s play

• populations of 3 ………………………… have grown

• opportunities for free play are limited due to

– fear of 4 ………………………………

– fear of 5 ………………………………

– increased 6 …………………………… in schools

International policies on children’s play

• it is difficult to find 7 …………………………… to support new policies

• research needs to study the impact of play on the rest of the child’s 8 ……………………………..

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

In boxes 9-13 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

Children with good self-control are known to be likely to do well at school later on.

TRUE

FALSE

NOT GIVEN

The way a child plays may provide information about possible medical problems.

TRUE

FALSE

NOT GIVEN

Playing with dolls was found to benefit girls’ writing more than boys’ writing.

TRUE

FALSE

NOT GIVEN

Children had problems thinking up ideas when they first created the story with Lego.

TRUE

FALSE

NOT GIVEN

People nowadays regard children’s play as less significant than they did in the past.

TRUE

FALSE

NOT GIVEN

Answer

Đáp án đúng:CREATIVITY

Đáp án đúng:RULES

Đáp án đúng:CITIES

Đáp án đúng:TRAFFIC

Đáp án đúng:CRIME

Đáp án đúng:COMPETITION

Đáp án đúng:EVIDENCE

Đáp án đúng:LIFE

Đáp án đúng:TRUE

Đáp án đúng:NOT GIVEN

Đáp án đúng:FALSE

Đáp án đúng:TRUE

Listening Part 3

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Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

Cities built by the sea

Carla and Rob were surprised to learn that coastal cities

A. contain nearly half the world’s population.

B. include most of the world’s largest cities.

C. are growing twice as fast as other cities.

According to Rob, building coastal cities near to rivers

A. may bring pollution to the cities.

B. may reduce the land available for agriculture.

C. may mean the countryside is spoiled by industry.

What mistake was made when building water drainage channels in Miami in the 1950s?

A. There were not enough for them.

B. They were made of unsuitable materials.

C. They did not allow for the effects of climate change.

What do Rob and Carla think that the authorities in Miami should do immediately?

A. take measures to restore ecosystems

B. pay for a new flood prevention system

C. stop disposing of waste materials into the ocean

What do they agree should be the priority for international action?

A. greater coordination of activities

B. more sharing of information

C. agreement on shared policies

What decision do the students make about each of the following parts of their presentation?

Choose FIVE answers from the box and write the correct letter, A-G, next to Questions 26-30.

Decisions

A use visuals

B keep it short

C involve other students

D check the information is accurate

E provide a handout

F focus on one example

G do online research

Parts of the presentation

Historical background ……………..

Geographical factors ……………..

Past mistakes ……………..

Future risks ……………..

International implications ……………..

Transcript

TUTOR: OK, so what I’d like you to do now is to talk to your partner about your presentations on urban planning. You should have done most of the reading now, so I’d like you to share your ideas, and talk about the structure of your presentation and what you need to do next.

CARLA: OK Rob. I’m glad we chose quite a specific topic – cities built next to the sea. It made it much easier to find relevant information.

ROB: Yeah. And cities are growing so quickly – I mean, we know that more than half the world’s population lives in cities now.

CARLA: Yeah, though that’s all cities, not just ones on the coast. But (Q21) most of the biggest cities are actually built by the sea. I’d not realised that before.

ROB: Nor me. And what’s more, a lot of them are built at places where rivers come out into the sea. But apparently this can be a problem.

CARLA: Why?

ROB: Well, as the city expands, agriculture and industry tend to spread further inland along the rivers, and so agriculture moves even further inland up the river. That’s not necessarily a problem, except (Q22) it means more and more pollutants are discharged into the rivers.

CARLA: So these are brought downstream to the cities?

ROB: Right. Hmm. Did you read that article about Miami, on the east coast of the USA?

CARLA: No.

ROB: Well, apparently back in the 1950s they build channels to drain away the water in case of flooding.

CARLA: Sounds sensible.

ROB: Yeah, they spent quite a lot of money on them. (Q23) But what they didn’t take into account was global warming. So they built the drainage channels too close to sea level, and now sea levels are rising, they’re more or less useless. If there’s a lot of rain, the water can’t run away, there’s nowhere for it to go. The whole design was faulty.

CARLA: So what are the authorities doing about it now?

ROB: I don’t know. I did read that they’re aiming to stop disposing of waste into the ocean over the next ten years.

CARLA: But that won’t help with flood prevention now, will it?

ROB: No. Really (Q24) they just need to find the money for something to replace the drainage channels, in order to protect against flooding now. But in the long term they need to consider the whole ecosystem.

CARLA: Right. Really, though, coastal cities can’t deal with their problems on their own, can they? I mean, they’ve got to start acting together at an international level instead of just doing their own thing.

ROB: Absolutely. The thing is, everyone knows what the problems are and environmentalists have a pretty good idea of what we should be doing about them, so (Q25) they should be able to work together to some extent. But it’s going to be a long time before countries come to a decision on what principles they’re prepared to abide by.

CARLA: Yes, if they ever do.

——————————

CARLA: So I think we’ve probably got enough for our presentation. It’s only fifteen minutes.

ROB: OK. So I suppose we’ll begin with some general historical background about why coastal cities were established. But (Q26) we don’t want to spend too long on that, the other students will already know a bit about it. It’s all to do with communications and so on.

CARLA: Yes. We should mention some geographical factors, things like wetlands and river estuaries and coastal erosion and so on. We could have some maps of different cities with these features marked.

ROB: On a handout you mean? Or (Q27) some slides everyone can see?

CARLA: Yeah, that’d be better.

ROB: It’d be good to go into past mistakes in a bit more detail. Did you read that case study of the problems there were in New Orleans with flooding a few years ago?

CARLA: Yes, (Q28) We could use that as the basis for that part of the talk. I don’t think the other students will have read it, but they’ll remember hearing about the flooding at the time.

ROB: OK. So that’s probably enough background.

CARLA: So then we’ll go on to talk about what action’s being taken to deal with the problems of coastal cities.

ROB: OK. What else do we need to talk about? Maybe something on future risks, looking more at the long term, if populations continue to grow.

CARLA: Yeah. We’ll need to do a bit of work there, I haven’t got much information, have you?

ROB: No. (Q29) We’ll need to look at some websites. Shouldn’t take too long.

CARLA: OK. And I think we should end by talking about international implications. Maybe (Q30) we could ask people in the audience. We’ve got people from quite a lot of different places.

ROB: That’d be interesting, if we have time, yes. So now shall we …

Answer

Đáp án đúng:B

Đáp án đúng:A

Đáp án đúng:C

Đáp án đúng:B

Đáp án đúng:A

Đáp án đúng:B

Đáp án đúng:A

Đáp án đúng:F

Đáp án đúng:G

Đáp án đúng:C

Listening Part 4

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Complete the notes below.

Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.

Marine renewable energy (ocean energy)

Introduction

More energy required because of growth in population and 31…………………..

What’s needed:

● renewable energy sources

● methods that won’t create pollution

Wave energy

Advantage: waves provide a 32………………… source of renewable energy

Electricity can be generated using offshore or onshore systems

Onshore systems may use a reservoir

Problems:

● waves can move in any 33…………………..

● movement of sand, etc. on the 34…………………… of the ocean may be affected

Tidal energy

Tides are more 35…………………. than waves

Planned tidal lagoon in Wales:

● will be created in a 36…………………. at Swansea

● breakwater (dam) containing 16 turbines

● rising tide forces water through turbines, generating electricity

● stored water is released through 37………………….., driving the turbines in the reverse direction

Advantages:

● not dependent on weather

● no 38…………………… is required to make it work

● likely to create a number of 39…………………..

Problem:

● may ham fish and birds, e.g. by affecting 40…………………. and building up silt

Ocean thermal energy conversion

Uses a difference in temperature between the surface and lower levels

Water brought to the surface in a pipe

Transcript

Producing enough energy to meet our needs has become a serious problem. Demand is rising rapidly, because of the world’s increasing population and expanding (Q31) industry. Burning fossil fuels, like gas, coal and oil, seriously damages the environment and they’ll eventually run out. For a number of years now, scientists have been working out how we can derive energy from renewable sources, such as the sun and wind, without causing pollution. Today I’ll outline marine renewable energy – also called ocean energy – which harnesses the movement of the oceans.

Marine renewable energy can be divided into three main categories: wave energy, tidal energy and ocean thermal energy conversion, and I’ll say a few words about each one.

First, wave energy. Numerous devices have been invented to harvest wave energy, with names such as Wave Dragon, the Penguin and Mighty Whale, and research is going on to try and come up with a really efficient method. This form of energy has plenty of potential, as the source is (Q32) constant, and there’s no danger of waves coming to s standstill. Electricity can be generated using onshore systems, using a reservoir, or offshore systems. But the problem with ocean waves is that they’re erratic, with the wind making them travel in every (Q33) direction. This adds to the difficulty of creating efficient technology: ideally all the waves would travel smoothly and regularly along the same straight line. Another drawback is that sand and other sediment on the ocean (Q34) floor might be stopped from flowing normally, which can lead to environmental problems.

——————————–

The second category of marine energy that I’ll mention is tidal energy. One major advantage of using the tide, rather than waves, as a source of energy is that it’s (Q35) predictable: we know the exact time of high and low tides for years to come.

For tidal energy to be effective, the difference between high and low tides needs to be at least five metres, and this occurs naturally in only about forty places on Earth. But the right conditions can be created by constructing a tidal lagoon, an area of sea water separated from the sea.

One current plan is to create a tidal lagoon on the coast of Wales. This will be an area of water within a (Q36) bay at Swansea, sheltered by a U-shaped breakwater, or dam, built out from the coast. The breakwater will contain sixteen hydro turbines, and as the tide rises, water rushes through the breakwater, activating the turbines, which turn a generator to produce electricity. Then, for three hours as the tide goes out, the water is held back within the breakwater, increasing the difference in water level, until it’s several metres higher within the lagoon than in the open sea. Then, in order to release the stored water, (Q37) gates in the breakwater are opened. It pours powerfully out of the lagoon, driving the turbines in the breakwater in the opposite direction and again generating thousands of megawatts of electricity. As there are two high tides a day, this lagoon scheme would generate electricity four times a day, every day, for a total of around 14 hours in every 24 – and enough electricity for over 150,000 homes.

This system has quite a lot in its favour: unlike solar and wind energy it doesn’t depend on the weather; the turbines are operated without the need for (Q38) fuel, so it doesn’t create any greenhouse gas emissions; and very little maintenance is needed. It’s estimated that electricity generated in this way will be relatively cheap, and that manufacturing the components would create than 2,000 (Q39) jobs, a big boost to the local economy.

On the other hand, there are fears that lagoons might harm both fish and birds, for example by disturbing (Q40) migration patterns, and causing a build-up of silt, affecting local ecosystems.

There are other forms of tidal energy, but I’ll go on to the third category of marine energy: ocean thermal energy conversion. This depends on there being a big difference in temperature between surface water and the water a couple of kilometres below the surface, and this occurs in tropical coastal areas. The idea is to bring cold water up to the surface using a submerged pipe. The concept dates back to 1881, when …

Answer

Đáp án đúng:INDUSTRY

Đáp án đúng:CONSTANT

Đáp án đúng:DIRECTION

Đáp án đúng:FLOOR

Đáp án đúng:PREDICTABLE

Đáp án đúng:BAY

Đáp án đúng:GATES

Đáp án đúng:FUEL

Đáp án đúng:JOBS

Đáp án đúng:MIGRATION

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