Happiness is considered very important in life. Why is it difficult to define? What factors are important in achieving happiness?

Fossil fuels (e.g. coal, oil, natural gas) are the main sources of energy in many countries, but in some countries the use of alternative sources of energy is encouraged. Is it a positive or negative development?

The government should control the amount of violence in films and on television in order to decrease the number of violent crimes in society. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?

In some countries young people are encouraged to work or travel for a year between finishing high school and starting university studies. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages for young people who decide to do this.

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Look at the following statements(Questions 22-26)and list of books(A-E)below.Match each statement with the correct book, A-E.Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 22-26 on your answer sheet. List of cookery booksA De re coquinaraB The Book of Household ManagementC Le Guide CulinaireD The Boston Cooking-School Cook BookE Mediterranean Food

Complete the sentences below.Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.Write your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.

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 7-13 on your answer sheet.

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below. The growth of intelligenceNo one doubts that intelligence develops as children grow older. Yet the concept of intelligence has proved both quite difficult to define in unambiguous terms and unexpectedly controversial in some respects. Although, at one level, there seem to be almost as many definitions of intelligence as people who have tried to define it, there is broad agreement on two key features. That is, intelligence involves the capacity not only to learn from experience but also to adapt to one's environment. However, we cannot leave the concept there. Before turning to what is known about the development of intelligence, it is necessary to consider whether we are considering the growth of one or many skills. That question has been tackled in rather different ways by psychometricians and by developmentalists.The former group has examined the issue by determining how children's abilities on a wide range of tasks intercorrelate, or go together. Statistical techniques have been used to find out whether the patterns are best explained by one broad underlying capacity, general intelligence, or by a set of multiple, relatively separate, special skills in domains such as verbal and visuospatial ability. While it cannot be claimed that everyone agrees on what the results mean, most people now accept that for practical purposes it is reasonable to suppose that both are involved. In brief, the evidence in favour of some kind of general intellectual capacity is that people who are superior(or inferior)on one type of task tend also to be superior(or inferior)on others. Moreover, general measures of intelligence tend to have considerable powers to predict a person's performance on a wide range of tasks requiring special skills. Nevertheless, it is plain that it is not at all uncommon for individuals to be very good at some sorts of task and yet quite poor at some others.Furthermore the influences that affect verbal skills are not quite the same as those that affect other skills.This approach to investigating intelligence is based on the nature of the task involved, but studies of age-related changes show that this is not the only, or necessarily the most important, approach. For instance, some decades ago, Horn and Cattell argued for a differentiation between what they termed 'fluid' and 'crystallised' intelligence. Fluid abilities are best assessed by tests that require mental manipulation of abstract symbols. Crystallised abilities, by contrast, reflect knowledge of the environment in which we live and past experience of similar tasks; they may be assessed by tests of comprehension and information. It seems that fluid abilities peak in early adult life, whereas crystallised abilities increase up to advanced old age.Developmental studies also show that the interconnections between different skills vary with age. Thus in the first year of life an interest in perceptual patterns is a major contributor to cognitive abilities, whereas verbal abilities are more important later on. These findings seemed to suggest a substantial lack of continuity between infancy and middle childhood. However, it is important to realise that the apparent discontinuity will vary according to which of the cognitive skills were assessed in infancy. It has been found that tests of coping with novelty do predict later intelligence. These findings reinforce the view that young children's intellectual performance needs to be assessed from their interest in and curiosity about the environment, and the extent to which this is applied to new situations, as well as by standardised intelligence testing.These psychometric approaches have focused on children's increase in cognitive skills as they grow older. Piaget brought about a revolution in the approach to cognitive development through his arguments(backed up by observations)that the focus should be on the thinking processes involved rather than on levels of cognitive achievement. These ideas of Piaget gave rise to an immense body of research and it would be true to say that subsequent thinking has been heavily dependent on his genius in opening up new ways of thinking about cognitive development. Nevertheless, most of his concepts have had to be so radically revised, or rejected, that his theory no longer provides an appropriate basis for thinking about cognitive development. To appreciate why that is so, we need to focus on some rather different elements of Piaget's theorising.The first element, which has stood the test of time, is his view that the child is an active agent of learning and of the importance of this activity in cognitive development. Numerous studies have shown how infants actively scan their environment; how they prefer patterned to non-patterned objects, how they choose novel over familiar stimuli, and how they explore their environment as if to see how it works. Children's questions and comments vividly illustrate the ways in which they are constantly constructing schemes of what they know and trying out their ideas of how to fit new knowledge into those schemes or deciding that the schemes need modification. Moreover, a variety of studies have shown that active experiences have a greater effect on learning than comparable passive experiences. However, a second element concerns the notion that development proceeds through a series of separate stages that have to be gone through step-by-step, in a set order, each of which is characterised by a particular cognitive structure. That has turned out to be a rather misleading way of thinking about cognitive development, although it is not wholly wrong.Questions 27-30Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.Write your answers in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet.

You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. Your neighbours have recently written to you to complain about the noise from your house/flat. Write a letter to your neighbours. In your letter, you should explain the reasons for the noise, apologise to them and describe what action you will take. Write at least 150 words.

Scientists say we eat too much junk food and that this is harmful to our health. Some people believe the solution to this problem lies with education, but others argue that education is useless. Discuss both views and give your opinion.

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Some people believe that the funds from the government should be used for supporting the art and sports education rather than holding professional art and sports competitions. Do you agree or disagree? (2015-11-19B)

Youshouldspendabout20minutesonthistask.ThetwopicturesshowatypicalJapaneseofficeandatypicalAmericanoffice.Summarisetheinformationbyselectingandreportingthemainfeatures,andmakecomparisonswhererelevant.Writeatleast150words.

Complete the form below. Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answer. Home Insurance Quotation Form Example Answer Name: Janet Evans Address: 49【L1】______Court Email: 【L2】______ Telephone number: (020) 4251 -9443 Best time to contact: 【L3】______pm Property Information Property size: 【L4】______m 2 Material(s): 【L5】______Security measures (if any): 【L6】______ Coverage Items to cover: building contents 【L7】______ Quotation: 【L8】￡______ Coverage start date: 【L9】______ Reference number: 【L10】______

Some people claim that unpaid community work (e.g. working for a charity; teaching sports to children) should be a compulsory part of the high school curriculum. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Complete the notes below.Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.GIVING A SPEECHReasons for nervousnessLecturers often feel more nervous if the speech is【L31】______Many think that the ability to make a good public speaking is【L32】______while in fact it is a skill that can be learned by anyone.How to prepare a quality speechThe audience will only remember the【L33】______sentence of a speech.Ensure that your speech is【L34】______Do's and Don'ts× Don't start your speech until audience is【L35】______√ You can make your main ideas or notes on cards or a【L36】______. × You do not need to write down the 【L37】______speech.√ You can just write 【L38】______ ideas.√ Remember to 【L39】______ yourself to see how long your speech will be. × Don't just 【L40】______a script.

Complete the notes below.Write NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER for each answerENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE DISCUSSIONIn Southeast Mexico, farmers did too much 【L21】______ so that the environment has been destroyed.According to Dick, vegetation problems caused 【L22】______A back issue of a periodical reported an interview with 【L23】______According to one of the articles in the periodical, land 【L24】______ show it is very tough for plant growth there.In the past ten years, almost 【L25】______ kilometers of forest has disappeared.

Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.

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