Mock Test – Reading Practice Test 01

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

The Concept of Childhood in Western Countries

The history of childhood has been a heated topic in social history since the highly
influential book Centuries of Childhood’, written by French historian Philippe Aries,
emerged in 1960. He claimed that ‘childhood’ is a concept created by modern society.
Whether childhood is itself a recent invention has been one of the most intensely debated
issues in the history of childhood. Historian Philippe Aries asserted that children were
regarded as miniature adults, with all the intellect and personality that this implies, in
Western Europe during the Middle Ages (up to about the end of the 15th century). After
scrutinising medieval pictures and diaries, he concluded that there was no distinction
between children and adults for they shared similar leisure activities and work; However,
this does not mean children were neglected, forsaken or despised, he argued. The idea of
childhood corresponds to awareness about the peculiar nature of childhood, which
distinguishes the child from adult, even the young adult. Therefore, the concept of
childhood is not to be confused with affection for children.
Traditionally, children played a functional role in contributing to the family income in the
history. Under this circumstance, children were considered to be useful. Back in the
Middle Ages, children of 5 or 6 years old did necessary chores for their parents. During
the 16th century, children of 9 or 10 years old were often encouraged or even forced to
leave their family to work as servants for wealthier families or apprentices for a trade.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, industrialisation created a new demand for child labour;
thus many children were forced to work for a long time in mines, workshops and factories.
The issue of whether long hours of labouring would interfere with children’s growing
bodies began to perplex social reformers. Some of them started to realise the potential of
systematic studies to monitor how far these early deprivations might be influencing
children’s development.
The concerns of reformers gradually had some impact upon the working condition of
children. For example, in Britain, the Factory Act of 1833 signified the emergence of legal
protection of children from exploitation and was also associated with the rise of schools
for factory children. Due partly to factory reform, the worst forms of child exploitation
were eliminated gradually. The influence of trade unions and economic changes also
contributed to the evolution by leaving some forms of child labour redundant during the
19th century. Initiating children into work as ‘useful’ children was no longer a priority, and
childhood was deemed to be a time for play and education for all children instead of a
privileged minority. Childhood was increasingly understood as a more extended phase of
dependency, development and learning with the delay of the age for starting full-time
work- Even so, work continued to play a significant, if less essential, role in children’s lives
in the later 19th and 20th centuries. Finally, the ‘useful child’ has become a controversial
concept during the first decade of the 21st century, especially in the context of global
concern about large numbers of children engaged in child labour.
The half-time schools established upon the Factory Act of 1833 allowed children to work
and attend school. However, a significant proportion of children never attended school in
the 1840s, and even if they did, they dropped out by the age of 10 or 11. By the end of
the 19th century in Britain, the situation changed dramatically, and schools became the
core to the concept of a ‘normal’ childhood.
It is no longer a privilege for children to attend school and all children are expected to
spend a significant part of their day in a classroom. Once in school, children’s lives could
be separated from domestic life and the adult world of work. In this way, school turns into
an institution dedicated to shaping the minds, behaviour and morals of the young.
Besides, education dominated the management of children’s waking hours through the
hours spent in the classroom, homework (the growth of ‘after school’ activities), and the
importance attached to parental involvement.
Industrialisation, urbanisation and mass schooling pose new challenges for those who are
responsible for protecting children’s welfare, as well as promoting their learning. An
increasing number of children are being treated as a group with unique needs, and are
organised into groups in the light of their age. For instance, teachers need to know some
information about what to expect of children in their classrooms, what kinds of instruction
are appropriate for different age groups, and what is the best way to assess children’s
progress. Also, they want tools enabling them to sort and select children according to
their abilities and potential.

Questions 1-7
Do the following statements agree with the information give in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
1 Aries pointed out that children did different types of work to adults during the Middle
Ages.
2 Working children during the Middle Ages were generally unloved.
3 Some scientists thought that overwork might damage the health of young children.
4 The rise of trade unions majorly contributed to the protection of children from
exploitation in the 19th century.
5 the aid of half-time schools, most children went to school in the mid-19th century.
6 the 20th century, almost all children needed to go to school with a full-time schedule.
7 Nowadays, children’s needs are much differentiated and categorised based on how old
they are.

Questions 8-13
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 8-13 on your answer sheet.
8 What had not become a hot topic until the French historian Philippe Aries’ book caused
great attention?
9 According to Aries, what was the typical image of children in Western Europe during
the Middle Ages?
10 What historical event generated the need for a large number of children to work for a
long time in the 18th and 19th centuries?
11 What bill was enacted to protect children from exploitation in Britain in the 1800s?
12 Which activities were becoming regarded as preferable for almost all children in the
19th century?
13 In what place did children spend the majority of time during their day in school?

READING PASSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-27 which are based on Reading
Passage 2 below.

The Study of Chimpanzee Culture

A
After studying the similarities between chimpanzees and humans for years, researchers
have recognised these resemblances run much deeper than anyone first thought in the
latest decade. For instance, the nut cracking observed in the Tai Forest is not a simple
chimpanzee behaviour, but a separate adaptation found only in that particular part of
Africa, as well as a trait which is considered to be an expression of chimpanzee culture by
biologists. These researchers frequently quote the word ‘culture’ to describe elementary
animal behaviours, like the regional dialects of different species of songbirds, but it turns
out that the rich and varied cultural traditions chimpanzees enjoyed rank secondly in
complexity only to human traditions.

B
During the past two years, the major research group which studies chimpanzees
collaborated unprecedentedly and documented some distinct cultural patterns, ranging
from animals’ use of tools to their forms of communication and social customs. This
emerging picture of chimpanzees affects how human beings ponder upon these amazing
creatures. Also, it alters our conception of human uniqueness and shows us the
extraordinary ability of our ancient ancestors to create cultures.
C
Although we know that Homo sapiens and Pan Troglodytes have coexisted for hundreds of
millennia and their genetic similarities surpass 98 per cent, we still knew next to nothing
about chimpanzee behaviour in the wild until 40 years ago. All this began to change in the
1960s when Toshisada Nishida of Kyoto University in Japan and renowned British
primatologist Jane Goodall launched their studies of wild chimpanzees at two field sites in
Tanzania. (Goodall’s research station at Gombe—the first of its kind—is more famous, but
Nishida’s site at Mahale is the second oldest chimpanzee research site in the world.)
D
During these primary studies, as the chimpanzees became more and more accustomed to
close observation, the remarkable discoveries emerged. Researchers witnessed a variety
of unexpected behaviours, ranging from fashioning and using tools, hunting, meat eating,
food sharing to lethal fights between members of neighbouring communities.
E
In 1973, 13 forms of tool use and 8 social activities which appeared to differ between the
Gombe chimpanzees and chimpanzee species elsewhere were recorded by Goodall. She
speculated that some variations shared what she referred to as a ‘cultural origin’. But
what exactly did Goodall mean by ‘culture’? According to the Oxford Encyclopedic English
Dictionary, culture is defined as ‘the customs. . .and achievements of a particular time or
people.’ The diversity of human cultures extends from technological variations to
marriage rituals, from culinary habits to myths and legends. Of course, animals do not
have myths and legends, but they do share the capacity to pass on behavioural traits
from one generation to another, not through their genes but via learning. From biologists’
view, this is the fundamental criterion for a cultural trait—something can be learnt by
observing the established skills of others and then passed on to following generations.
F
What are the implications for chimpanzees themselves? We must place a high value upon
the tragic loss of chimpanzees, who are decimated just when finally we are coming to
appreciate these astonishing animals more completely. The population of chimpanzees
has plummeted and continued to fall due to illegal trapping, logging and, most recently,
the bushmeat trade within the past century. The latter is particularly alarming because
logging has driven roadways, which are now used to ship wild animal meat—including
chimpanzee meat to consumers as far afield as Europe, into forests. Such destruction
threatens not only the animals themselves but also a host of fascinatingly different ape
cultures.
G
However, the cultural richness of the ape may contribute to its salvation. For example, the
conservation efforts have already altered the attitudes of some local people. After several
organisations showed videotapes illustrating the cognitive prowess of chimpanzees, one
Zairian viewer was heard to exclaim, ‘Ah, this ape is so like me, I can no longer eat him.’
H
How did an international team of chimpanzee experts perform the most comprehensive
survey of the animals ever attempted? Although scientists have been delving into
chimpanzee culture for several decades, sometimes their studies contained a fatal defect.
So far, most attempts to document cultural diversity among chimpanzees have solely
relied upon officially published accounts of the behaviours reported at each research site.
But this approach probably neglects a good deal of cultural variation for three reasons.
I
First, scientists normally don’t publish an extensive list of all the activities they do not see
at a particular location. Yet this is the very information we need to know—which
behaviours were and were not observed at each site. Second, there are many reports
describing chimpanzee behaviours without expressing how common they are; without this
information, we can’t determine whether a particular action was a transient phenomenon
or a routine event that should be considered part of its culture. Finally, researchers’
description of potentially significant chimpanzee behaviours often lacks sufficient detail,
which makes it difficult for scientists from other spots to report the presence or absence
of the activities.
J
To tackle these problems, my colleague and I determined to take a new approach. We
asked field researchers at each site to list all the behaviours which they suspected were
local traditions. With this information, we assembled a comprehensive list of 65
candidates for cultural behaviours.
K
Then we distributed our list to team leaders at each site. They consulted with their
colleagues and classified each behaviour regarding its occurrence or absence in the
chimpanzee community. The major brackets contained customary behaviour (occurs in
most or all of the able-bodied members of at least one age or sex class, such as all adult
males), habitual (less common than customary but occurs repeatedly in several
individuals), present (observed at the site but not habitual), absent (never seen), and
unknown.

Questions 14-18
Reading Passage 2 has eleven paragraphs, A-K.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-K, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
14 an approach to research on chimpanzees culture that is only based on official
sources
15 mention of a new system designed by two scientists who aim to solve the problem
16 reasons why previous research on ape culture is problematic
17 new classification of data observed or collected
18 an example showing that the tragic outcome of animals leads to an indication of a
change in local people’s attitude in the preservation

Questions 19-23
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 19-23 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage
19 The research found that scientists can make chimpanzees possess the same complex
culture as human beings.
20 Humans and apes lived together long time ago and shared most of their genetic
substance.
21 Even Toshisada Nishida and Jane Goodall’s beginning studies observed many
surprising features of civilised behaviours among chimpanzees.
22 Chimpanzees, like humans, have the ability to deliver cultural behaviours mostly
from genetic inheritance.
23 For decades, researchers have investigated chimpanzees by data obtained from both
unobserved and observed approaches.

Questions 24-27
Answer the questions below.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each
answer.
Write your answers in boxes 24-27 on your answer sheet.
24 When did the unexpected discoveries of chimpanzee behaviour start?
25 Which country is the researching site of Toshisada Nishida and Jane Goodall?
26 What did the chimpanzee have to get used to in the initial study?
27 What term can be used to depict that Jane Goodall found the chimpanzees in
different regions used the different tools in 1973?

READING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28-40 which are based on Reading
Passage 3 below.

Texting the Television

A
Once upon a time, if a television show with any self-respect wanted to target a young
audience, it needed to have an e-mail address. However, in Europe’s TV shows, such
addresses are gradually substituted by telephone numbers so that audiences can text the
show from their mobile phones. Therefore, it comes as no shock that according to
Gartner’s research, texting has recently surpassed Internet usage across Europe. Besides,
among the many uses of text messaging, one of the fastest-growing uses is to interact
with television. The statistics provided by Gartner can display that 20% of French
teenagers, 11% in Britain and 9% in Germany have responded to TV programmes by
sending a text message.
B
This phenomenon can be largely attributed to the rapid growth of reality TV shows such
as ‘Big Brother’, where viewers get to decide the result through voting. The majority of
reality shows are now open to text-message voting, and in some shows like the latest
series of Norway’s ‘Big Brother’, most votes are collected in this manner. But TV-texting
isn’t just about voting. News shows encourage viewers to, comment by texting messages;
game shows enable the audience to be part of the competition; music shows answer
requests by taking text messages; and broadcasters set up on-screen chatrooms. TV
audiences tend to sit on the sofa with their mobile phones right by their sides, and ‘it’s a
supernatural way to interact.’ says Adam Daum of Gartner.
C
Mobile service providers charge appreciable rates for messages to certain numbers, which
is why TV-texting can bring in a lot of cash. Take the latest British series of ‘Big Brother’
as an example. It brought about 5.4m text-message votes and £1.35m ($2,1m) of profit.
In Germany, MTV’s ‘Videoclash’ encourages the audience to vote for one of two rival
videos, and induces up to 40,000 texts per hour, and each one of those texts costs €0.30
($0.29), according to a consultancy based in Amsterdam. The Belgian quiz show ‘1
Against 100’ had an eight-round texting match on the side, which brought in 110,000
participants in one month, and each of them paid €0.50 for each question. In Spain, a
cryptic-crossword clue invites the audience to send their answers through text at the
expense of €1, so that they can be enrolled in the poll to win a €300 prize. Normally,
6,000 viewers would participate within one day.
At the moment, TV-related text messaging takes up a considerable proportion of mobile
service providers’ data revenues. In July, Mm02 (a British operator) reported an
unexpectedly satisfactory result, which could be attributed to the massive text waves
created by ‘Big Brother’. Providers usually own 40%-50% of the profits from each text,
and the rest is divided among the broadcaster, the programme producer and the
company which supplies the message-processing technology. So far, revenues generated
from text messages have been an indispensable part of the business model for various
shows. Obviously, there has been grumbling that the providers take too much of the
share. Endemol, the Netherlands-based production firm that is responsible for many
reality TV, shows including ‘Big Brother’, has begun constructing its own database for
mobile-phone users. It plans to set up a direct billing system with the users and bypass
the providers.
D
How come the joining forces of television and text message turn out to be this successful?
One crucial aspect is the emergence of one-of-a-kind four-, five- or six-digit numbers
known as ‘short codes’. Every provider has control over its own short codes, but not until
recently have they come to realise that it would make much more sense to work together
to offer short codes compatible with all networks. The emergence of this universal short
codes was a game-changer, because short codes are much easier to remember on the
screen, according to Lars Becker of Flytxt, a mobile-marketing company.
E
Operators’ co-operation on enlarging the market is by a larger trend, observes Katrina
Bond of Analysys, a consultancy. When challenged by the dilemma between holding on
tight to their margins and permitting the emergence of a new medium, no provider has
ever chosen the latter WAP, a technology for mobile-phone users to read cut-down web
pages on their screens, failed because of service providers’ reluctance towards revenue
sharing with content providers. Now that they’ve learnt their lesson, they are altering the
way of operating. Orange, a French operator, has come such a long way as to launch a
rate card for sharing revenue of text messages, a new level of transparency that used to
be unimaginable.
F
At a recent conference, Han Weegink of CMG, a company that offers the television market
text-message infrastructure, pointed out that the television industry is changing in a
subtle yet fundamental way. Instead of the traditional one-way presentation, more and
more TV shows are now getting viewers’ reactions involved.
Certainly, engaging the audiences more has always been the promise of interactive TV.
An interactive TV was originally designed to work with exquisite set-top devices, which
could be directly plugged into the TV. However, as Mr Daum points out, that method was
flawed in many ways. Developing and testing software for multiple and incompatible
types of set-top box could be costly, not to mention that the 40% (or lower) market
penetration is below that of mobile phones (around 85%). What’s more, it’s quicker to
develop and set up apps for mobile phones. ‘You can approach the market quicker, and
you don’t have to go through as many greedy middlemen,’ Mr Daum says. Providers of
set-top box technology are now adding texting function to the design of their products.
G
The triumph of TV-related texting reminds everyone in the business of how easily a fancy
technology can all of a sudden be replaced by a less complicated, lower-tech method.
That being said, the old-fashioned approach to interactive TV is not necessarily over; at
least it proves that strong demands for interactive services still exist. It appears that the
viewers would sincerely like to do more than simply staring at the TV screen. After all,
couch potatoes would love some thumb exercises.

Questions 28-32
Reading Passage 3 has seven sections, A-G.
Choose the correct heading for sections B-E and G from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-ix, inboxes 28-32 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
i An application of short codes on the TV screen
ii An overview of a fast-growing business
iii The trend that profitable games are gaining more concerns
iv Why Netherlands takes the leading role
v A new perspective towards sharing the business opportunities
vi Factors relevant to the rapid increase in interactive TV
vii The revenue gains and bonus share
viii The possibility of the complex technology replaced by the simpler ones
ix The mind change of set-top box providers
Example Answer
Section A ii
28 Section B
29 Section C
30 Section D
31 Section E
Example Answer
Section F ix
32 Section G

Questions 33-35
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 33-35 on your answer sheet.
33 In Europe, a research hints that young audiences spend more money on
A thumbing text messages.
B writing e-mails.
C watching TV programmes.
D talking through mobile phones.
34 What would happen when reality TV shows invite the audience to vote?
A Viewers would get attractive bonus.
B They would be part of the competition.
C Their questions would be replied.
D Their participation could change the result.

35 Interactive TV will change from concentrating on set-top devices to

A increasing their share in the market.
B setting up a modified set-top box.
C building an embedded message platform.
D marching into the European market.

Questions 36-40
Look at the following descriptions (Questions 36-40) and the list of companies below.
Match each description with the correct company, A-F.
Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 36-40 on your answer sheet.
List of Companies
A Flytxt
B Analysys
C Endemol
D CMG
E Mm02
F Gartner
36 offered mobile phone message technology
37 earned considerable amount of money through a famous programme
38 expressed the view that short codes are convenient to remember when turning up
39 built their own mobile phone operating applications
40 indicated that it is easy for people to send message in an interactive TV