Section C(10 marks)
In this section, there is one passage followed by 5 questions. Read the passage carefully, and then answer the questions in a maximum of 10 words. Remember to write the answers on the Answer Sheet.
Pavarotti Dies Aged 71 The Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti died at his home in Modena, aged 71. The tenor, who helped take opera to a new mass audience, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year and had further treatment in August 2007.
His manager, Terri Robson, said Pavarotti died at 5 am on September 6. ‘The maestro fought a long, tough battle against the pancreatic cancer which eventually took his life. Characteristically, he remained positive until finally succumbing to the last stages of his illness,’ Mr. Robson said in a statement.
Pavarotti was considered by some critics to have been the greatest tenor since Enrico Caruso. He made his professional debut in 1961, as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohemeat the opera house in Reggio Emilia. His most celebrated performance came at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House, where he hit nine high Cs in Donizetti’s La fille du regiment.
But Pavarotti reached a new global audience during the 1990 football World Cup, when his interpretation of the Puccini aria Nessun Dormawas chosen as the tournament’s theme tune. It became an international hit. Later, Essential Pavarotti became the first classical album to reach number 1 in the UK charts.
The 1990 World Cup was also the venue of the first of the hugely popular Three Tenor concerts that Pavarotti performed with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. His most high-profile performance in Britain was the Pavarotti in the Park concert, in a rain-sodden Hyde Park in 1991. His friend, Diana, Princess of Wales, was in the front row.
Like many opera stars, Pavarotti also had a reputation for being demanding. At a Royal Variety performance in Edinburgh, he reportedly demanded a fully fitted kitchen to be built into his hotel suite. He also frequently cancelled concerts at short notice. But he also raised millions of pounds for good causes around the world in a number of charity performances.
Domingo led the tributes to his fellow tenor. ‘I always admired the God-given glory of his voice,’ he said. ‘I also loved his wonderful sense of humor and on several occasions during our concerts with Jose Carreras we had trouble remembering that we were giving a concert before a paying audience, because we had so much fun between ourselves.’
The British tenor Russell Watson told GMTV that Pavarotti was ‘without question’ the man who brought opera to the people. “The World Cup was the Three Tenors led by Pavarotti, with a very entertaining version of Nessun Dorma. In fact, it’s now called ‘Pavarotti’s Nesson Dorma’,” Watson said. ‘His voice was so distinctive you only needed to listen to a couple of bars and you knew it was him, he had incredible power and control.’
QUESTIONS:
1.What was the cause of Pavarotti’s death?
2.Where did Pavarotti first perform professionally?
3.Who were The Three Tenors?
4.How did Pavarotti raise money for good causes?
5.Which piece of operatic music do people usually associate with Pavarotti?
Questions:
Why do couples in Russia often continue to live together after a divorce?
Because there is a ____
Directions:In this section, there is one passage followed by 5 questions. Read the passage carefully, then answer the questions in a maximum of 10 words. Remember to write the answers on the Answer Sheet.
High Dropout Rate in US
Many young people in the United States never finish high school. Exactly how many dropouts is another issue. Recent studies of dropout rates have had conflicting results. For one thing, schools define and measure their dropout rates differently.
Some researchers say about fifteen to twenty parents of public school students do not complete their education. But many other experts and policymakers believe that for the past twenty years, the dropout rate has been around thirty percent. For Latino and black students, the numbers are even higher. Researchers say almost half of them leave school.
At the same time, almost half the states let students leave school before the age of eighteen without informing their parents.
Finding a good job without a high school education is more and more difficult. A Northeastern University study in 2002 found that almost half of all dropouts aged sixteen to twenty-four did not have a job.
The lack of high school education can also lead to other problems. An estimated two-thirds of prisoners in the United States dropped out of high school.
Recent studies have shown that the majority of students who drop out do not do it because they are failing. Many are bored with their classes or feel disconnected from their school and teachers. Some students feel that educators place low expectations on them. Teen pregnancies also add to the dropout problem.
During the past twenty years, there have been efforts to increase graduation rate through education reforms. Some communities are working on dropout prevention programs. These include alternative high schools to meet special needs.
Some programs, for example, provide free transportation and childcare to help young mothers and fathers finish school. Yet special programs can cost a lot, and many school systems have limited budgets.
Federal spending on second-chance programs to help students finish school has decreased from the 1970s. This was shown in a report last year from the Educational Testing Service.
Experts suggest "early warning systems" to help identify young schoolchildren at risk of dropping out of high school. They say schools also need to get parents more involved, especially if their children are missing school often.
Questions:
1.What is the researchers’ estimated percentage of school dropouts among Latino and black students?
2.What efforts have been made to increase graduation rates?
3.What has been done to help young parents complete their education?
4.Who made a report about the decrease,of Federal spending on second-chance programs to help students finish school?
5.What do experts suggest setting up to help prevent students from dropping out of school?
What kind of questions should we ask our students when we want to give them a reason to read?
Passage 2Questions 34-35 ● Read the extract of an article below about product promotion. ● In most of the lines 34-45 there is one extra word. It is either grammatically incorrect or does not fit in with the sense of the text. Some lines, however, are correct. ● If a line is correct, write CORRECT on your Answer Sheet. ● If there is an extra word in the line, write the extra word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet. ● The exercise begins with two examples, (0) and (00). Example: Choosing the Right Promotional Product Can Attract Buzz 0. It is important to know as much as that you can about the recipient of a 00. promotional item or corporate gift. If you give one group an iPod they will 34. be motivated by it, while another group will see it as something which they 35. can use it to re-gift to someone else. And unless your product ends up in the 36. hands of the person you intended to, the influence over their behavior you 37. were hoping to leverage is completely lost. “It’s got to have lasting value 38. and that doesn’t necessarily mean a high cost,” says a client. ‘I’ve got a 39. flashlight at home that I use every time when the power goes out and it’s still 40. got the name of the company that gave it to me on it.’ Size is also a factor. If 41. most of your attendees are within their driving distance of your event then 42. you can give them something so big because it’s not going to be a problem 43. to take home. But if the majority of attendees have been flown in, then a 44. smaller, more portable item would be a better bet. High-quality T-shirts, the 45. latest high-tech mouse pad or a few high-end golf balls may be fit the bill.
George took a test of a certain number of questions, each question having the same value. He answered 10 questions incorrectly. This resulted in an accuracy score of 60%. How many questions were in the test?
Passage 13Questions 8—12
● Read the article below about public relations.
● Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.
● For each gap(8—12), mark one letter (A—G) on your Answer Sheet.
● Do not use any letter more than once.
● There is an example at the beginning. (0)
PR: The Wildcard Marketing Strategy
What is the true purpose of public relations and how can it really help impact the growth of your small business? (0)______. This is where you, the business owner or marketing executive, come in.
Most small business owners think that public relations is too time-consuming of an effort. (8)______. It is just a matter of prioritizing your goals and leveraging the resources that you do have to take advantage of what is an invaluable marketing tactic. Here are a few tips to get you started in the right direction:
1. Create several creative story pitches. The way to get into the hearts and minds of the media is through a great story pitch. (9)______.Not only that, but editors may classify you as that annoying self-promoter that won’t stop pitching their product line, and then refer you to the advertising department. When developing story pitches you should ask yourself the following questions: What makes this story different from the hundreds of other stories being submitted? Will this benefit readers financially, professionally, or emotionally in any way? Is this really entertaining or fun to read? If the answer to any of these questions is “No”, then it is time to adjust your stow until the answer is “Yes”.
2. Match your target audience with the right media channels. (10)______. Really understanding your target audience will help you in the next step of your PR plan—targeting the right media channels.
3. Have a spokesperson or PR firm represent your company. So let’s assume that you have executed your calling campaign and have sparked interest with an editor or reporter looking to secure an interview with someone in your firm. They contact your office but no one is available to take their call. One thing that journalists and editors lack is patience, and rightfully so — they have deadlines to fulfill! (11)______.
4. Take advantage of your opportunities when presenting your company. PR results do not happen overnight. You must be patient and persistent. (12)______. So do not forget to include your company information through a sentence describing your company, author byline (if applicable), and a URL of your website. Media professionals will sometimes forget to include this information so it is your job to show it in your press release, articles, or interview.
In sum, PR is a wildcard marketing strategy that can yield tremendous results if implemented correctly. Don’t forget that your number-one goal is to get in front of your target audience and the rest will take care of itself.
A. Shamelessly promoting your business or its products is not going to do you much good.
B. However, when activity comes up, you must ensure that the company is rewarded for the hard work put in!
C. This mav be true in cases where small businesses have very limited resources (i. e. staff, budget), but this should not prevent you from doing it.
D. If your company’s main customer base is women in their 30s, then you probably don’t want to focus on media channels that target a demographic of men in their 50s.
E. The last thing you want is to be unavailable when an editor or reporter wants more information about your company or products.
F. It helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.
G. In order for the media to succeed, they need information that is both useful and entertaining for their readers.
Directions:In this section, there is one passage followed by 5 questions. Read the passage carefully, then answer the questions in a maximum of 10 words. Remember to write the answers on the Answer Sheet.
Questions 1 - 5 are based on the following passage.
Alarmed by a 20-year decline in student achievement, American schools are considering major upheavals in the career structure of teachers, school boards around the country are planning to abandon traditional salary schedules and single out outstanding teachers for massive pay rise.
The idea is regarded with deep suspicion by the United States’ biggest teachers’ unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers. They say the creation of a cadre of elite teachers will sour professional relationships and encourage teachers to compete instead of cooperate; they also question whether a fair way can be devised to tell which teachers really do perform better than their colleagues.
But heightened public anxiety about secondary education appears to have given the master teacher concept unstoppable political momentum. Florida and Tennessee are racing to introduce ambitious statewide master teacher schemes before the end of the year. Less grandiose proposals to pay teachers on the basis of merit instead of seniority have already been implemented in countless school districts. And the Secretary of Education, Mr. Terrel Bell, recently promised substantial incentive grants to states which intend to follow their example.
Low pay is believed to be the single most important reason for the flight from teaching. The average salary of a teacher in the United States is just under $19,000, much less than that of an engineer ($34,700) and not much more than that of a secretary($16,500). To make ends meet it is common for teachers to take second jobs in the evening and in their summer holidays, and women, who used to make up the bulk of teacher candidates are turning to better paid professions.
The unions insist that the answer to this problem is to increase the basic pay of all teachers, but most states would find that too expensive, they would be better able to afford schemes that confine pay increases to a small number of exceptional teachers. Champions of the idea say it would at least hold out the promise of high pay and status to bright graduates who are confident of their ability to do well in the classroom, but are deterred by the present meager opportunities for promotion.
One of the first large-scale tests of this approach will come in Tennessee, where a year of painstaking negotiations has just overcome bitter union opposition to a wide-ranging master teacher scheme. Tennessee promised that they will allocate $300 million as education budget. In return for a chance to earn bigger salaries and faster promotion, teachers will subject themselves to closer scrutiny.
The Tennessee plan will make it harder for poor teachers to join the profession. Beginners will have to serve a probationary year before qualifying, and another three apprentice years before receiving tenure. Apprentice teachers who fail to reach a required standard will not be allowed to stay on. Survivors will be designated “career teachers” and given a chance to climb through three career rugs and earn bonuses of up to $7,000. Advancement will not be automatic. The performance of each teacher will be closely assessed by committees of teachers drawn from other districts.
Questions:
1.What support is the federal government offering to states that set up a master teacher scheme?
2.What’s the purpose of the master teacher scheme?
3.In the state of Tennessee, how will teachers be assessed?
4.What is the main idea of the text?
5.What can be inferred from the text about the master teacher scheme?
Passage 2Questions 8—12
● Read the article below about a psychologist’s advice to managers.
● Choose the best sentence from the opposite page to fill each of the gaps.
● For each gap 8-12, mark one letter (A-G) on your Answer Sheet.
● Do not use any letter more than once.
● There is an example at the beginning, (0).
If overflowing in-trays frighten you or solving problems makes you sweat, there’s new range of business books called The Management Guides that you can turn to with confidence. (0)______. In addition, they’re written in accessible language by Kathy Harman, a chartered occupational psychologist who heads her own London-based consultancy business. She says that the guides are intended for professionals working in small British companies, where thinking about management can be a low priority because of endless lists of other responsibilities.
(8)______. After this initial message to the reader the following pages contain sections on every aspect of business, from managing your own time and selecting employees to planning ahead for the future.
One of the reasons Harman wrote these guides was that she knows not every business is able to invest in training. The difficulty, especially for small businesses, is that, “People are professionals first and foremost and somehow they are just expected to pick up management skills as they go along.” (9)______. And becoming one, she recognizes, is especially difficult if you’re not used to communicating effectively or delegating work.
She adds, “It’s all very well managing areas that you have control over and you can do all the planning you feel is necessary, but there are always going to be other people out there who do the most unexpected things.” (10)______. Such a choice of approaches is essential to any business. This can only be achieved by managers having good, friendly relationships with all their staff and business contacts. “The important thing in management,” says Harman, “is the human element.”
Her advice to managers everywhere is to maintain professionalism at all times. “If you’ve ever managed anyone,” she says, “you’ll know that you’re not allowed to be fed up because when the staff come to you, they don’t want to know about your problems, they want their problems solved.”
Harman feels confident about making such an analysis because of her years of training as an occupational psychologist. (11)______. “What you find there is that most senior managers have had some kind of psychological training, while in this country most managers get their management psychology second-hand by listening to other managers.”
The overall message from Harman is a simple one, and it’s got nothing to do with technology or databases. (12)______. “More and more managers,” she says, “are realizing this and beginning to appreciate that without the right staff at all levels, you really haven’t got a business. People are your principal resource.”
A. And when they do, managers need a variety of strategies to fall back on.
B. This, of course, is unlikely to be easy, because being an expert in your field doesn’t necessarily make you a good manager.
C. The question that most of them ask is, “Can we actually afford a management training course?”
D. Although this area of study is becoming more acceptable in the business world, Britain is a long way behind the rest of Europe.
E. It’s about creating a working environment that promotes the post room to the board room.
F. This is illustrated at the beginning of each guide with the quote. “This book is for those who would like to manage better but are too busy to begin.”
G. They’re short, pocket-sized, and very reasonably priced at £2.99 each.
Follow-up questions
Interlocutor:
Q1: What other reasons might there be for relocating a company? (Why?)