{{B}}Reading Module (60 minutes){{/B}}
Interviews form the basic selecting procedures for most large companies. However, some people think interviews are not a reliable means of choosing who to employ and there are some other better methods of selection. To what extent do you agree or disagree? (2015-12-03)
You should spend about 20 minutes on this task. Write to an English Speaking College regarding a course you intend to take. You need to ask questions about the course and course fees. You will be staying at the college hostel, so you need to confirm the fee quoted to you is correct. Write at least 150 words.
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.Write about the following topic:In the past, shopping was a routine domestic task. Many people nowadays regard it as a hobby.To what extent do you think this is a positive trend?Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.Write at least 250 words.
{{B}}Reading Module (60 minutes){{/B}}
Human activities have negative effects on plants and animal species. Some people think it is too late to do something about the problem, while others believe that effective actions can be taken to improve this situation. Discuss both views and give your own opinion. (2016-02-18)
Choose TWO letters, A-E.Write the correct letters in boxes 22 and 23 on your answer sheet.Which TWO of the following statements about playwrights and novelists are true?A They give more meaning to the stories.B They tell lies for the benefit of themselves.C They have nothing to do with the truth out there.D We can be misled by them if not careful.E We know there are lies in the content.
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write about the following topic:Some people choose to eat no meat or fish.They believe that this is not only better for their own health but also benefits the world as a whole.Discuss this view and give your own opinion.Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience. Write at least 250 words.
What main point does Adam Martin make about video games?
Completethetablebelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSforeachanswer.ProductSalesReport
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 9-13 on you answer sheet, writeTRUE if the statement agrees with the informationFALSE if the statement contradicts with the informationNOT GIVEN if there is no information on this.
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
Completethetablebelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSAND/ORANUMBERforeachanswer.Talkingaboutthehistoryofbikes
What does Nick Evans say about speakers of a creole?
Choose TWO letters, A-E.Which TWO things can visitors do at the museum?A buy home-made breadB ride a horseC ride on a tramD buy copies of original postersE go down a coal mine
Complete the sentences below.Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
Completetheflow-chartbelow.ChooseSIXanswersfromtheboxandwritethecorrectletter,A-l,nexttoquestions21-26.AactorsBfurnitureCbackgroundnoiseDcostumesElocalcouncilFequipmentGshootingscheduleHunderstudiesIshopowners
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below. Implication of False Belief ExperimentsA A considerable amount of research since the mid-1980s has been concerned with what has been termed children's theory of mind. This involves children's ability to understand that people can have different beliefs and representations of the world—a capacity that is shown by four years of age. Furthermore, this ability appears to be absent in children with autism. The ability to work out what another person is thinking is clearly an important aspect of both cognitive and social development. Furthermore, one important explanation for autism is that children suffering from this condition do not have a theory of mind (TOM). Consequently, the development of children's TOM has attracted considerable attention.B Wimmer and Perner devised a "false belief task" to address this question. They used some toys to act out the following story. Maxi left some chocolate in a blue cupboard before he went out. When he was away his mother moved the chocolate to a green cupboard. Children were asked to predict where Maxi will look for his chocolate when he returns. Most children under four years gave the incorrect answer, that Maxi will look in the green cupboard. Those over four years tended to give the correct answer, that Maxi will look in the blue cupboard. The incorrect answers indicated that the younger children did not understand that Maxi's beliefs and representations no longer matched the actual state of the world, and they failed to appreciate that Maxi will act on the basis of his beliefs rather than the way that the world is actually organised.C A simpler version of the Maxi task was devised by Baron-Cohen to take account of criticisms that younger children may have been affected by the complexity and too much information of the story in the task described above. For example, the child is shown two dolls, Sally and Anne, who have a basket and box, respectively. Sally also has a marble, which she places in her basket, and then leaves to take a walk. While she is out of room, Anne takes the marble from the basket, eventually putting it in the box. Sally returns, and the child is then asked where Sally will look for the marble. The child passes the task if she answers that Sally will look in the basket, where she put the marble; the child fails the task if she answers that Sally will look in the box, where the child knows the marble is hidden even though Sally cannot know, since she did not see it hidden there. In order to pass the task, the child must be able to understand that another's mental representation of the situation is different from her own, and the child must be able to predict behaviour based on that understanding. The results of research using false-belief tasks have been fairly consistent: most normally-developing children are unable to pass the tasks until around age four.D Leslie argues that, before 18 months, children treat the world in a literal way and rarely demonstrate pretence. He also argues that it is necessary for the cognitive system to distinguish between what is pretend and what is real. If children were not able to do this, they would not be able to distinguish between imagination and what is real. Leslie suggests that this pretend play becomes possible because of the presence of a de-coupler that copies primary representations to secondary representations. For example, children, when pretending a banana is a telephone, would make a secondary representation of a banana. They would manipulate this representation and they would use their stored knowledge of "telephone" to build on this pretence.E There is also evidence that social processes play a part in the development of TOM. Meins and her colleagues have found that what they term mind-mindedness in maternal speech to six-month-old infants is related to both security of attachment and to TOM abilities. Mind-mindedness involves speech that discusses infants' feelings and explains their behaviour in terms of mental states (eg "you're feeling hungry").F Lewis investigated older children living in extended families in Crete and Cyprus. They found that children who socially interact with more adults, who have more friends, and who have more older siblings tend to pass TOM tasks at a slightly earlier age than other children. Furthermore, because young children are more likely to talk about their thoughts and feelings with peers than with their mothers, peer interaction may provide a special impetus to the development of a TOM. A similar point has been made by Dunn, who argues that peer interaction is more likely to contain pretend play and that it is likely to be more challenging because other children, unlike adults, do not make large adaptations to the communicative needs of other children.G In addition, there has been concern that some aspects of the TOM approach underestimate children's understanding of other people. After all, infants will point to objects apparently in an effort to change a person's direction of gaze and interest; they can interact quite effectively with other people; they will express their ideas in opposition to the wishes of others; and they will show empathy for the feelings of others. All these suggest that they have some level of understanding that their own thoughts are different from those in another person's mind. Evidence to support this position comes from a variety of sources. When a card with a different picture on each side is shown to a child and an adult sitting opposite her, the three-year-old understands that she see a different picture to that seen by the adult.H Schatz studied the spontaneous speech of three-year-olds and found that these children used mental terms, and used them in circumstances where there was a contrast between, for example, not being sure where an object was located and finding it or between pretending and reality. Thus the social abilities of children indicate that they are aware of the difference between mental states and external reality at ages younger than four.I A different explanation has been put forward by Harris. He proposed that children use "simulation". This involves putting yourself in the other person's position, and then trying to predict what the other person would do. Thus success on false belief tasks can be explained by children trying to imagine what they would do if they were a character in the stories, rather than children being able to appreciate the beliefs of other people. Such thinking about situations that do not exist involves what is termed counterfactual reasoning.Questions 14-20Look at the following statements (Questions 14-20) and the list of researchers below.Match each statement with the correct researcher, A-G.Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 14-20 on your answer sheet.List of ResearchersA Baron-CohenB MeinsC Wimmer and PernerD LewisE DunnF SchatzG Harris
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-E, below. Write the correct letter, A-E, on your answer sheet.A young people have no problem separating their own lives from the ones they play on the screen.B levels of reading ability will continue to drop significantly.C new advances in technology have to be absorbed into our lives.D games cannot provide preparation for the skills needed in real life.E young people will continue to play video games despite warnings against doing so.