READING PASSAGE 1
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which
are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
Roman shipbuilding
and navigation
Shipbuilding
today is based on science and ships are built using computers and sophisticated
tools. Shipbuilding in ancient Rome, however, was more of an art relying on
estimation, inherited techniques and personal experience. The Romans were not
traditionally sailors but mostly land-based people, who learned to build ships
from the people that they conquered, namely the Greeks and the Egyptians.
There
are a few surviving written documents that give descriptions and
representations of ancient Roman ships, including the sails and rigging.
Excavated vessels also provide some clues about ancient shipbuilding
techniques. Studies of these have taught us that ancient Roman shipbuilders
built the outer hull first, then proceeded with the frame and the rest of the ship.
Planks used to build the outer hull were initially sewn together. Starting from
the 6th century BCE, they were fixed using a method called mortise and tenon,
whereby one plank locked into another without the need for stitching. Then in
the first centuries of the current era, Mediterranean shipbuilders shifted to
another shipbuilding method, still in use today, which consisted of building
the frame first and then proceeding with the hull and the other components of
the ship. This method was more systematic and dramatically shortened ship
construction times. The ancient Romans built large merchant ships and warships
whose size and technology were unequalled until the 16th century CE.
Warships
were built to be lightweight and very speedy. They had to be able to sail near
the coast which is why they had no ballast or excess load and were built with a
long, narrow hull. They did not sink when damaged and often would lie crippled
on the sea’s surface following naval battles. They had a bronze battering ram, which
was used to pierce the timber hulls or break the oars of enemy vessels.
Warships used both wind (sails) and human power (oarsmen) and were therefore
very fast. Eventually, Rome’s navy became the largest and most powerful in the
Mediterranean, and the Romans had control over what they therefore called Mare
Nostrum meaning ‘our sea’.
There
were many kinds of warship. The ‘trireme’ was the dominant warship from the 7th
to 4th century BCE. It had rowers in the top, middle and lower levels, and
approximately 50 rowers in each bank. The rowers at the bottom had the most
uncomfortable position as they were under the other rowers and were exposed to
the water entering through the oar-holes. It is worth noting that contrary to
popular perception, rowers were not slaves but mostly Roman citizens enrolled
in the military. The trireme was superseded by larger ships with even more
rowers.
Merchant
ships were built to transport lots of cargo over long distances and at a
reasonable cost. They had a wider hull, double planking and a solid interior
for added stability. Unlike warships, their V-shaped hull was deep underwater,
meaning that they could not sail too close to the coast. They usually had two
huge side rudders located off the stern and controlled by a small tiller bar
connected to a system of cables. They had from one to three masts with large
square sails and a small triangular sail at the bow. Just like warships,
merchant ships used oarsmen, but coordinating the hundreds of rowers in both
types of ship was not an easy task. In order to assist them, music would be
played on an instrument, and oars would then keep time with this.
The
cargo on merchant ships included raw materials (e.g. iron bars, copper, marble
and granite), and agricultural products (e.g. grain from Egypt’s Nile valley).
During the Empire, Rome was a huge city by ancient standards of about one
million inhabitants. Goods from all over the world would come to the city
through the port of Pozzuoli situated west of the bay of Naples in Italy and
through the gigantic port of Ostia situated at the mouth of the Tiber River.
Large merchant ships would approach the destination port and, just like today,
be intercepted by a number of towboats that would drag them to the quay.
The
time of travel along the many sailing routes could vary widely. Navigation in
ancient Rome did not rely on sophisticated instruments such as compasses but on
experience, local knowledge and observation of natural phenomena. In conditions
of good visibility, seamen in the Mediterranean often had the mainland or
islands in sight, which greatly facilitated navigation. They sailed by noting
their position relative to a succession of recognisable landmarks. When weather
conditions were not good or where land was no longer visible, Roman mariners
estimated directions from the pole star or, with less accuracy, from the Sun at
noon. They also estimated directions relative to the wind and swell. Overall,
shipping in ancient Roman times resembled shipping today with large vessels
regularly crossing the seas and bringing supplies from their Empire.
Questions 1-5
Do
the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1-5 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
1 The Romans’ shipbuilding
skills were passed on to the Greeks and the Egyptians.
2 Skilled craftsmen were
needed for the mortise and tenon method of fixing planks.
3 The later practice used by
Mediterranean shipbuilders involved building the hull before the frame.
4 The Romans called the
Mediterranean Sea Mare Nostrum because they dominated its use.
5 Most rowers on ships were
people from the Roman army.
Questions 6-13
Complete
the summary below.
Choose ONE
WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 6-13 on
your answer sheet.
Warships and
merchant ships
Warships
were designed so that they were 6 ………………… and moved quickly.
They often remained afloat after battles and were able to sail close to land as
they lacked any additional weight. A battering ram made of 7 …………………
was included in the design for attacking and damaging the timber and oars of
enemy ships. Warships, such as the ‘trireme’, had rowers on three
different 8 ………………… .
Unlike
warships, merchant ships had a broad 9 ………………… that lay far
below the surface of the sea. Merchant ships were steered through the water
with the help of large rudders and a tiller bar. They had both square and 10 …………………
sails. On merchant ships and warships, 11 ………………… was used to
ensure rowers moved their oars in and out of the water at the same time.
Quantities of
agricultural goods such as 12 ………………… were transported by
merchant ships to two main ports in Italy. The ships were pulled to the shore
by 13 ………………… . When the weather was clear and they could see
islands or land, sailors used landmarks that they knew to help them navigate
their route.
READING PASSAGE 2
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26 which are
based on Reading Passage 2 below.
Climate change
reveals ancient artefacts in Norway’s glaciers
A
Well
above the treeline in Norway’s highest mountains, ancient fields of ice are
shrinking as Earth’s climate warms. As the ice has vanished, it has been giving
up the treasures it has preserved in cold storage for the last 6,000 years –
items such as ancient arrows and skis from Viking Age* traders. And those
artefacts have provided archaeologists with some surprising insights into how
ancient Norwegians made their livings.
———–
*Viking
Age: a period of European history from around 700 CE to around 1050 CE when
Scandinavian Vikings migrated throughout Europe by means of trade and warfare
B
Organic
materials like textiles and hides are relatively rare finds at archaeological
sites. This is because unless they’re protected from the microorganisms that
cause decay, they tend no to last long. Extreme cold is one reliable way to
keep artefacts relatively fresh for a few thousand years, but once thawed out,
these materials experience degradation relatively swiftly.
With
climate change shrinking ice cover around the world, glacial archaeologists
need to race the clock to find newly revealed artefacts, preserve them, and
study them. If something fragile dries and is windblown it might very soon be
lost to science, or an arrow might be exposed and then covered again by the
next snow and remain well-preserved. The unpredictability means that glacial archaeologists
have to be systematic in their approach to fieldwork.
C
Over
a nine-year period, a team of archaeologists, which included Lars Pilø of
Oppland County Council, Norway, and James Barrett of the McDonald Institute for
Archaeological Research, surveyed patches of ice in Oppland, an area of
south-central Norway that is home to some of the country’s highest mountains.
Reindeer once congregated on these ice patches in the later summer months to
escape biting insects, and from the late Stone Age**, hunters followed. In
addition, trade routes threaded through the mountain passes of Oppland, linking
settlements in Norway to the rest of Europe.
The
slow but steady movement of glaciers tends to destroy anything at their bases,
so the team focused on stationary patches of ice, mostly above 1,400 metres.
That ice is found amid fields of frost-weathered boulders, fallen rocks, and
exposed bedrock that for nine months of the year is buried beneath snow.
‘Fieldwork
is hard work – hiking with all our equipment, often camping on permafrost – but
very rewarding. You’re rescuing the archaeology, bringing the melting ice to
wider attention, discovering a unique environmental history and really
connecting with the natural environment,’ says Barrett.
—————
**The
Stone Age: a period in early history that began about 3.4 million years ago
D
At
the edges of the contracting ice patches, archaeologists found more than 2,000
artefacts, which formed a material record that ran from 4,000 BCE to the
beginnings of the Renaissance in the 14th century. Many of the artefacts are
associated with hunting. Hunters would have easily misplaced arrows and they
often discarded broken bows rather than take them all the way home. Other items
could have been used by hunters traversing the high mountain passes of Oppland:
all-purpose items like tools, skis, and horse tack.
E
Barrett’s
team radiocarbon-dated 153 of the artefacts and compared those dates to the
timing of major environmental changes in the region – such as periods of
cooling or warming – and major social and economic shifts – such as the growth
of farming settlements and the spread of international trade networks leading
up to the Viking Age. They found that some periods had produced lots of
artefacts, which indicates that people had been pretty active in the mountains
during those times. But there were few or no signs of activity during other
periods.
F
What
was surprising, according to Barrett, was the timing of these periods.
Oppland’s mountains present daunting terrain and in periods of extreme cold,
glaciers could block the higher mountain passes and make travel in the upper
reaches of the mountains extremely difficult. Archaeologists assumed people
would stick to lower elevations during a time like the Late Antique Little Ice
Age, a short period of deeper-than-usual cold from about 536-600 CE. But it
turned out that hunters kept regularly venturing into the mountains even when
the climate turned cold, based on the amount of stuff they had apparently
dropped there.
‘Remarkably,
though, the finds from the ice may have continued through this period, perhaps
suggesting that the importance of mountain hunting increased to supplement
failing agricultural harvests in times of low temperatures,’ says Barrett. A
colder turn in the Scandinavian climate would likely have meant widespread crop
failures, so more people would have depended on hunting to make up for those
losses.
G
Many
of the artefacts Barrett’s team recovered date from the beginning of the Viking
Age, the 700s through to the 900s CE. Trade networks connecting Scandinavia
with Europe and the Middle East were expanding around this time. Although we
usually think of ships when we think of Scandinavian expansion, these recent
discoveries show that plenty of goods travelled on overland routes, like the
mountain passes of Oppland. And growing Norwegian towns, along with export
markets, would have created a booming demand for hides to fight off the cold,
as well as antlers to make useful things like combs. Business must have been
good for hunters.
H
Norway’s
mountains are probably still hiding a lot of history – and prehistory – in
remote ice patches. When Barrett’s team looked at the dates for their sample of
153 artefacts, they noticed a gap with almost no artefacts from about 3,800 to
2,200 BCE. In fact, archaeological finds from that period are rare all over
Norway. The researchers say that could be because many of those artefacts have
already disintegrated or are still frozen in the ice. That means archaeologists
could be extracting some of those artefacts from retreating ice in years to
come.
Questions 14-19
Reading
Passage 2 has eight sections, A-H.
Which
section contains the following information?
Write the correct number, A-H, in
boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.
14 an explanation for weapons
being left behind in the mountains
15 a reference to the physical
difficulties involved in an archaeological expedition
16 an explanation of why less food
may have been available
17 a reference to the possibility of
future archaeological discoveries
18 examples of items that would have
been traded
19 a reference to the pressure
archaeologists are under to work quickly
Questions 20-22
Complete
the summary below.
Choose ONE
WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 20-22 on
your answer sheet.
Interesting finds
at an archaeological site
Organic
materials such as animal skins and textiles are not discovered very often at
archaeological sites. They have little protection against 20 …………………,
which means that they decay relatively quickly. But this is not always the
case. If temperatures are low enough, fragile artefacts can be preserved for
thousands of years.
A
team of archaeologists have been working in the mountains in Oppland in Norway
to recover artefacts revealed by shrinking ice cover. In the past, there were
trade routes through these mountains and 21 ………………… gathered
there in the summer months to avoid being attacked by 22 …………………
on lower ground. The people who used these mountains left things behind and it
is those objects that are of interest to archaeologists.
Questions 23 and 24
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 23 and 24 on
your answer sheet.
Which TWO of
the following statements does the writer make about the discoveries of
Barrett’s team?
A Artefacts found in the
higher mountain passes were limited to skiing equipment.
B Hunters went into the
mountains even during periods of extreme cold.
C The number of artefacts
from certain time periods was relatively low.
D Radiocarbon dating of artefacts
produced some unreliable results.
E More artefacts were found
in Oppland than at any other mountain site.
Questions 25 and 26
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 25 and 26 on
your answer sheet.
Which TWO of
the following statements does the writer make about the Viking Age?
A Hunters at this time
benefited from an increased demand for goods.
B The beginning of the
period saw the greatest growth in the wealth of Vikings.
C Vikings did not rely on
ships alone to transport goods.
D Norwegian towns at this
time attracted traders from around the world.
E Vikings
were primarily interested in their trading links with the Middle East.
READING PASSAGE 3
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are
based on Reading Passage 3 below.
Plant ‘thermometer’
triggers springtime growth by measuring night-time heat
A photoreceptor molecule in plant cells has been
found to have a second job as a thermometer after dark – allowing plants to
read seasonal temperature changes. Scientists say the discovery could help
breed crops that are more resilient to the temperatures expected to result from
climate change
A
An
international team of scientists led by the University of Cambridge has
discovered that the ‘thermometer’ molecule in plants enables them to develop
according to seasonal temperature changes. Researchers have revealed that
molecules called phytochromes – used by plants to detect light during the day –
actually change their function in darkness to become cellular temperature
gauges that measure the heat of the night.
The
new findings, published in the journal Science, show that
phytochromes control genetic switches in response to temperature as well as
light to dictate plant development.
B
At
night, these molecules change states, and the pace at which they change is
‘directly proportional to temperature’, say scientists, who compare
phytochromes to mercury in a thermometer. The warmer it is, the faster the
molecular change – stimulating plant growth.
C
Farmers
and gardeners have known for hundreds of years how responsive plants are to
temperature: warm winters cause many trees and flowers to bud early, something
humans have long used to predict weather and harvest times for the coming year.
The latest research pinpoints for the first time a molecular mechanism in
plants that reacts to temperature – often triggering the buds of spring we long
to see at the end of winter.
D
With
weather and temperatures set to become ever more unpredictable due to climate
change, researchers say the discovery that this light-sensing molecule also
functions as the internal thermometer in plant cells could help us breed
tougher crops. ‘It is estimated that agricultural yields will need to double by
2050, but climate change is a major threat to achieving this. Key crops such as
wheat and rice are sensitive to high temperatures. Thermal stress reduces crop
yields by around 10% for every one degree increase in temperature,’ says lead
researcher Dr Philip Wigge from Cambridge’s Sainsbury Laboratory. ‘Discovering
the molecules that allow plants to sense temperature has the potential to
accelerate the breeding of crops resilient to thermal stress and climate
change.’
E
In
their active state, phytochrome molecules bind themselves to DNA to restrict
plant growth. During the day, sunlight activates the molecules, slowing down
growth. If a plant finds itself in shade, phytochromes are quickly inactivated
– enabling it to grow faster to find sunlight again. This is how plants compete
to escape each other’s shade. ‘Light-driven changes to phytochrome activity
occur very fast, in less than a second,’ says Wigge.
At
night, however, it’s a different story. Instead of a rapid deactivation
following sundown, the molecules gradually change from their active to inactive
state. This is called ‘dark reversion’. ‘Just as mercury rises in a
thermometer, the rate at which phytochromes revert to their inactive state
during the night is a direct measure of temperature,’ says Wigge.
F
‘The
lower the temperature, the slower the rate at which phytochromes revert to
inactivity, so the molecules spend more time in their active,
growth-suppressing state. This is why plants are slower to grow in winter. Warm
temperatures accelerate dark reversion, so that phytochromes rapidly reach an
inactive state and detach themselves from the plant’s DNA – allowing genes to
be expressed and plant growth to resume.’ Wigge believes phytochrome
thermo-sensing evolved at a later stage, and co-opted the biological network
already used for light-based growth during the downtime of night.
G
Some
plants mainly use day length as an indicator of the reason. Other species, such
as daffodils, have considerable temperature sensitivity, and can flower months
in advance during a warm winter. In fact, the discovery of the dual role of
phytochromes provides the science behind a well-known rhyme long used to
predict the coming season: oak before ash we’ll have a plash, ash before oak
we’re in for a soak.
Wigge
explains: ‘Oak trees rely much more on temperature, likely using phytochromes
as thermometers to dictate development, whereas ash trees rely on measuring day
length to determine their seasonal timing. A warmer spring, and consequently a
higher likeliness of a hot summer, will result in oak leafing before ash. A
cold spring will see the opposite. As the British know only too well, a colder
summer is likely to be a rain-soaked one.’
H
The
new findings are the culmination of twelve years of research involving
scientists from Germany, Argentina and the US, as well as the Cambridge team.
The work was done in a model system, using a mustard plant called Arabidopsis,
but Wigge says the phytochrome genes necessary for temperature sensing are
found in crop plants as well. ‘Recent advances in plant genetics now mean that
scientists are able to rapidly identify the genes controlling these processes
in crop plants, and even alter their activity using precise molecular
“scalpels”,’ adds Wigge. ‘Cambridge is uniquely well-positioned to do this kind
of research as we have outstanding collaborators nearby who work on more
applied aspects of plant biology, and can help us transfer this new knowledge
into the field.’
Questions 27-32
Do
the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 27-32 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
27 The Cambridge scientists’
discovery of the ‘thermometer molecule’ caused surprise among other scientists.
28 The target for
agricultural production by 2050 could be missed.
29 Wheat and rice suffer from
a rise in temperatures.
30 It may be possible to
develop crops that require less water.
31 Plants grow faster in
sunlight than in shade.
32 Phytochromes change their
state at the same speed day and night.
Questions 33-37
Reading
Passage 3 has eight sections, A-H.
Which
section contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-H, in boxes
33-37 on your answer sheet.
33 mention of specialists who can
make use of the research findings
34 a reference to a potential
benefit of the research findings
35 scientific support for a
traditional saying
36 a reference to people traditionally
making plans based on plant behaviour
37 a reference to where the research
has been reported
Questions 38-40
Complete
the sentences below.
Choose NO
MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 38-40 on your answer
sheet.
38 Daffodils are likely to
flower early in response to ………………….. weather.
39 If ash trees come into
leaf before oak trees, the weather in ………………….. will probably be wet.
40 The
research was carried out using a particular species of ………………….. .
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