Reading 4: Text Completion Questions

Vocabulary: Techniques for guessing unknown words.

Read the following sentences and without using a dictionary, write down what you think the
words in italics mean.

1. In every country you visit, you will find a sport that captures the passions of the nation.
New Zealand has its rugby supporters, English has its legions of football fans, the
Japanese have taken baseball to their hearts and Scotland still proudly supports its
curling heroes.

2. It should come as no surprise that younger people spend too much time of their leisure
time on their feet, engaged in energetic activities, whereas older people opt for more
sedentary pursuits like going to the theatre or watching television.

3. There are many examples of the cooperation between people and dogs. Guide dogs, for
example, give essential assistance to the blind, while beagles, small dogs with short legs,
are often used by hunters.

4. In my opinion, boxing is an abhorrent sport. Modern society should be opposed to such

violent contact sports.

5. Although technology has made mountain climbing both safer and easier, it is not a sport
without risks. Bad weather can come quickly and last for long periods and the effects of
severely cold weather can lead to hypothermia and, if untreated, death.

6. English football supporters are often accused of being hooligans, although the majority
are actually well-behaved fans who have no intention of causing trouble.

7. Although it can be a little expensive, thermal clothing is essential when skiing.

8. Pilates, a form of exercise, is becoming increasingly popular.

9. Children from impoverished families rarely have overseas holidays or modern toys.

10. When climbing Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary experienced some of the world’s harshest
natural dangers, such as freezing weather, sudden snowstorms, and even avalanches.

Reading Passage 1
Working from home
A. Can you feel your anxiety and stress levels increasing every time you get caught in a traffic
jam? Do you find it difficult to control your tongue when your boss points out your
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 shortcomings yet again? Do you just not have the right kind of office attire, hate spending
hours shopping for it and, frankly, would feel much better if you only had more
independence, more freedom, more flexible hours and fewer people on your back? Do you
yearn for state-of-the-art technology in your home, that … wait for it … you haven’t had to
pay for? If you are shouting an enthusiastic ‘Yes!’ in answer to these questions, then it could
be time to make a career and life change that may not even require you to quit your job. Just
suggest to your boss that you wish to become one of the new breed of executives whose
office is based at home.
B. Working from home is a relatively new phenomenon, but is becoming an increasingly
popular option with both businesses and employees. The technology available to us now
means that we no longer need to be in the same office building as our colleagues to
communicate effectively with each other. E-mail, video conferencing, mobile telephone and
more, mean that we can do business just as efficiently, regardless of our location.
C. Companies may choose to employ a proportion of their staff as home-based workers, as, of
course, a workforce set up in such a way requires far less office space and fewer parking
facilities. The fixed costs of a business can be dramatically reduced. Employees can enjoy
the added benefit of freedom to schedule the day as they choose and freedom to spend more
time at home with their families. Working from home can be a particularly valid option for
young mothers who wish to pursue their careers but find it impossible to be out of the house
for nine or ten hours per day.
D. We can even go so far as to say that the working-from-home phenomenon could be one of
the answers to the pollution problems which the modern world has inflicted upon itself.
Fewer people travelling to work every day equals fewer cars. Fewer cars, of course, equates
to lower CO2 levels in the atmosphere. Governments have been trying for years to persuade
us to forsake our private car journey to work each day for the hideous experience of a
crowded bus or train. Most of us have been resistant, even when parking fees in city areas
have been on the rise and unpredictable traffic patterns mean we have to leave our house 30
minutes earlier than necessary anyway. But working from home gives us no excuse
whatsoever to emit CO2 into the atmosphere twice a day in our working week.
E. But what are the drawbacks to working from home? There must be some or everybody
would be doing it. For many of us, work is a means of escaping our nearest and dearest and
making our own mark on the world. The relationships we have with our colleagues, be they
good or bad, are a significant part of our life – after all, full-time workers spend a third of
their day in their workplace. After-hours pursuits of a game of squash or a pint in the pub
become part of our daily routine. We cement sound friendships at work and an astounding
percentage of us meet our life partner at our place of work. The people there have similar
ambitions and business interests and we are, after all, social animals. The majority of us
become depressed and withdrawn if we do not have enough interaction with others. Some
people who work from home feel that, because they do spend a large proportion of the day at
home alone with few distractions, they are actually much more productive and can get tasks
done in a much shorter time than in an office environment. Others, however, may be
demotivated by the isolation and find it difficult to get down to tasks which have a more
intangible deadline.
F. As with most aspects of life, a balance is probably the best solution for the majority of
workers – a job based at home which requires regular contact with colleagues at regular
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 meetings. Management surveys show that successful business is easier if we operate as a
team: brainstorming and sharing ideas and offering support and motivation to each other.
After all, we are only human and we need others to complain to if we have a bad day at
work!

Questions 1-4 Complete the sentences below. Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS.
1. Without office technology, we couldn’t ________________________________.
2. With fewer requirements for space, businesses ___________________________.
3. Despite political pressure, public transport is still ___________________________.
4. The social aspects of working in an office must not be _________________________.

Questions 5-9 Complete the summary by using words from the box below.
Technology has allowed us to (5) _______________ at home instead of the office. For the
company, there are (6) _______________ incentives and for the employee, there is more
(7) _______________. There are even (8) _______________ for the environment. However,
there is a (9) _______________ factor to be considered.

benefits psychological workplace friendships conduct business

financial flexibility release

Questions 10-15 Choose the appropriate heading for each paragraph of the following text from
the list below.
List of headings
i. Time for change
ii. Social impact 10. Paragraph A
iii. Management decisions 11. Paragraph B
iv. Flexibility of technology 12. Paragraph C
v. Wasted time on the road 13. Paragraph D
vi. Technology keeping us at home 14. Paragraph E
vii. Benefits for all 15. Paragraph F
viii. Business in the workplace
ix. Keeping it clean
x. The best of both worlds

Reading Passage 2
Fighting the dust
We used to think that dust blew in through the window. Now we know better, says Alison
Motluk.
A. It’s hard to defend yourself against dust. Attack it, and it scatters and escapes you, but the
moment your guard is down it silently returns – on lampshades and bookshelves, in corners
and under beds. And that’s just in your home. Imagine having to look after a larger place,
somewhere packed with delicate objects, with tens of thousands of people passing through
each year. So serious is the fight against dust that those responsible for running museums, art
galleries and historic buildings have realized it can only be won by making it the subject of
systematic research.
B. Cleaning exhibits in museums and historic buildings take a lot of time and money. But a
more serious problem is that the process of removing dust can sometimes cause damage.

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 Morten Ryhl-Svendsen of the National Museum of Denmark’s analytical lab in Copenhagen
is studying dust deposition on 1000-year-old Viking ships on display at a museum in
Roskilde. ‘Every time the ships are cleaned, some bits break off,’ he says. ‘Though some
fragments can be retrieved from the vacuum cleaner bag and replaced, cleaning is clearing
accelerating the exhibits’ decay. And no matter how small the breakage, each represents the
disappearance of some information about the objects,’ Ryhl-Svendsen says.
C. Several studies have been launched in the past few years, attempting to put the study of dust
on a scientific footing. Researchers have been investigating where it comes from, and the
best way of keeping it under control. ‘The conventional view is that dust comes from outside
the building,’ says Peter Brimblecombe, an atmospheric chemist and dust expert at the
University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK. He is involved in a study at London’s Tate
Gallery which is beginning to overturn that idea. In the study, microscope slides were placed
on top of the frames of several paintings and left there for seven days. Some were in older
galleries, where ventilation was mainly through open doors and windows; others were in
newer areas where the air within the room was continually recirculated by air conditioners.
The amount of dust that had collected was measured and analyzed, and it was found that the
air-conditioned areas still had considerable amounts of dust.
D. Ryhl-Svendsen and a colleague used a similar technique to study the dust on the Viking
ships in Roskilde. They positioned sticky patches at various locations in and around the open
ships. When they analyzed the dust they had collected, they discovered a toxic plasticizer
believed to come from floor tiles elsewhere in the museum, together with textile fibres, skin
flakes and hair.
E. Both studies indicated the same culprits: people like you and me visiting the exhibitions.
Where there were large numbers, dust levels were high. And the objects that visitors got
nearest to were the ones that were most densely shrouded in fluff. Skin flakes and strands of
hair contribute to the problem, but the biggest menace turns out to be clothes. We are
surrounded by an invisible cloud of fibres coming from the things we wear – woolen
sweaters, coats, scarves and so on. In the case of the Viking ships, a noticeable proportion of
the fibres were thin strands of blue denim from visitors’ jeans.
F. So what is the answer? The electronics and pharmaceutical industries have already
developed sophisticated devices such as air showers to clean anyone who sets foot inside
their premises. They’re effective, but not exactly what a tourist might expect on a visit to a
historical building.
G. It turns out that much of the dust causing the problem is shed from our clothes between the
shoulders and the waist. Dust kicked up by feet is heavier and usually falls back to the
ground. So clear plastic barriers up to shoulder level could cut out a good deal of the
dustiness, say the researchers.
H. They also discovered that the more vigorously people move, the more fibres their clothes
shed, which suggests there might be some benefit in changing the way visitors are directed
past exhibits. People tend to be most active at the beginning of their visit – adjusting
rucksacks, taking off jackets and coats – so the most precious exhibits should be displayed
last. This would have the added advantage, from a conservation point of view, that visitors
will be getting tired by then and may spend less time admiring the exhibits. And no twists
and turns, advises Brimblecombe: ‘Design routes so people don’t turn corners sharply or
walk back and forth.’
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I. Brimblecombe has also found that for each additional metre people are kept back from
furniture or pictures, the quantity of dust they deposit is halved. At least two metres should
separate a piece of antique furniture, for example, from a visitor’s woolen jacket. It seems
that the best way to protect museums and their contents for future generations to enjoy is to
keep the current generation as far away as possible.

Questions 1-9 Complete the sentences below with words taken from the Reading Passage. Use
NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.
1. The authorities are aware that _________________ is needed to solve the problem of
dust in buildings containing historical items.
2. Keeping historical items clean is difficult because of the time, expense and potential
_______________ that is involved.
3. Small pieces broken from ancient ________________ exhibited in Roskilde have later
been rescued from vacuum cleaner bags.
4. Ryhl-Svendsen says that even small breakages are serious as they mean
______________ is lost.
5. Brimblecombe’s research at London’s Tate Gallery does not support the idea that dust
enters the building from _______________.
6. Brimblecombe and Ryhl-Svendsen used microscope slides and _________________ to
collect dust samples for analysis.
7. Their research findings suggest that levels of dust depend on both visitor
_____________ and on their closeness to the exhibits.
8. The researchers found that the most serious threat came from the ______________ of
visitors.
9. It was found that a significant component of the dust on the Viking ships consisted of
________________ from visitor’s jeans.

Questions 10-13 Choose FOUR letters A-H

Which FOUR of the solutions below are recommended by the researchers to prevent exhibits
from being damaged?
A. wide space between people and F. transparent walls between visitors and
exhibits exhibits
B. restrictions on visitor numbers G. no sudden changes of direction for
C. location of most valuable exhibits at visitors
end of route H. coats and jackets to be left at entrance
D. no rucksacks in exhibition rooms
E. visitors use air showers before entry