PRACTISE READING 2

Part 1: Read the following passage and decide which answer (A, B, C, or D) best fits each
gap. Write your answer in the numbered box.
There is no doubt at all that the Internet has made a huge difference to our lives. However,
most parents worry that their children spend too much time browsing the Internet or playing
computer games, hardly (1) ______ doing anything else in their spare time. Naturally, parents
want to know if these activities are harmful to their children. What should they do if their
children spend hours (2) ______ a computer screen?
Obviously, if children spend too much time (3) ______ in some game instead of doing their
homework, then something is wrong. It is a good idea if parents and children decide together
how much use should be (4) ______ of the Internet, and the child should (5) ______ that it
won't interfere with homework. If the child does not (6) ______ to this arrangement, parents can
take more drastic (7) ______ . Any parent who is (8) ______ alarmed about a child's behavior
should make an appointment to (9) ______ the matter with a teacher. Spending time in front of
a computer screen does not (10) ______ affect a child's performance at school. Even if a
youngster seems obsessed with the computer, he or she is probably just going through a phase,
and in a few months parents will have something else to worry about!
1. A. always B. ever C. never D. rare
2. A. peeping at B. glancing at C. staring at D. seeing
3. A. involved B. occupied C. taken D. absorbed
4. A. done B. had C. made D. taken
5. A. promise B. assure C. secure D. claim
6. A. commit B. stick C. follow D. hold
7. A. rules B. procedures C. steps D. regulations
8. A. actually B. heavily C. seriously D. urgently
9. A. speak B. discuss C. talk D. debate
10. A. possibly B. consequently C. probably D. necessarily

Part 2: Read the following passage and answer the questions from 11 to 20
11. ______
Telephone, television, radio, and the telegraph all help people communicate with each
other. Because of these devices, ideas and news of events spread quickly all over the world. For
example, within seconds, people can know the results of an election in Japan or Argentina. An
international soccer match comes into the home of everyone with a television set. News of a
disaster such as an earthquake or a flood can bring help from distant countries. Within hours,
help is on the way.
12. ______
How has speed of communication changed the world? To many people, the world has
become smaller. Of course, this does not mean that the world is physically smaller. Two
hundred years ago, communication between the continents took a long time. All news was
carried on ships that took weeks or even months to cross the oceans. In the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries, it took six weeks for news from Europe to reach the Americas. This time
difference influenced people's actions. For example, one battle in the war of 1812 between the
English and the United States armies could have been avoided if the warring sides had known
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that a peace agreement had already been signed. Peace was made in England, but the news of
peace took six weeks to reach America. During those six weeks, the large and serious Battle of
New Orleans was fought and many lives were lost.
13. ______
An important part of the history of the world is the history of communication. In
prehistoric times, people had limited knowledge of the world. They had little information about
geography, the study of the Earth. People knew very little beyond their small groups except
what was happening near their homes. Later, people were organized into villages, and verbal
communication between small towns was possible. Still, the people’s knowledge was limited
because they had no outside information. Kingdoms and small countries then developed, with a
king directing the people. Cities developed, too, but still communication was limited to the
small geographical area of the country. Much later in history, after the invention of the printing
press, many more people learned to read, and communication was improved.
14. ______
In this modern age, communication is so fast that it is almost instant. People's lives have
been changed because of the immediate spread of news. Sometimes the speed is so great that it
does not allow people time to think. For example, leaders of countries have only minutes, or, at
most, hours to consider all the parts of a problem. They are expected to answer immediately.
Once they had days and weeks to think before making decisions.
15. ______
The speed of communication demands a new responsibility from all people of the world.
People in different countries must try harder to understand each other. An example is that
people with different religions must try to understand each other's beliefs and values, even if
they do not accept them. Sometimes their cultures are quite different. What one group considers
a normal part of life is strange to another culture. In some cases, a normal part of one culture
might be bad or impolite to people of another culture. That kind of difference is a possible basis
for misunderstanding. People must learn not to judge others, but to accept them as they are. As
the world grows smaller, people must learn to talk to each other more effectively as well as
communicate more rapidly.

Match the headings given in the box below with their appropriate numbers (101 - 105)
that lead the five paragraphs and write the letters A-H in the corresponding numbered
boxes. (The headings outnumber the paragraphs, so you will not use all of them).
A. A disadvantage of fast communication
B. High speed of communication and its benefits
C. Our shrinking world
D. Communication devices
E. A brief history of communication development
F. Modern communication and a change in thinking pattern
G. The changing world resulting from fast communication
H. Modern communication and expected responsibility
Then choose the correct answer to each of the following questions by circling A, B, C, or D.
16. Modern communications have ______.
A. affected the results of elections and news of disasters
B. only allowed people to see world sports events at home
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 C. kept people better informed of their world and beyond
D. made people happier, busier, but less informed
17. Before the invention of communication devices, ______.
A. people gave better care to their local affairs
B. there was no transportation between countries
C. people were much interested in world affairs
D. people were mostly kept in the dark about the world
18. A negative aspect of fast communication is that it ______.
A. makes people think too fast
B. will push governments into dead ends
C. deprives decision makers of correct information
D. may rush governments into decisions
19. There were instances in which lives could have been saved if ______.
A. intercommunication had been established
B. there had not been a delay in communication
C. officers’ demands of information had been met
D. carrier pigeons had arrived in time
20. The speed of communication has helped create opportunity for ______.
A. mutual understanding and cultural tolerance
B. better understanding and freer trade
C. the expansion of cultural differences
D. the growth of the physical world
Part 3: Read the following passage and complete the statements that follow by circling A, B,
C, or D to indicate your answer which you think fits best.
Bringing up children
Where one stage of child development has been left out, or not sufficiently experienced,
the child may have to go back and capture the experience of it. A good home makes this
possible - for example, by providing the opportunity for the child to play with a clockwork car
or toy railway train up to any age if he still needs to do so. This principle, in fact, underlies all
psychological treatment of children in difficulties with their development, and is the basic of
work in child clinics.
The beginnings of discipline are in the nursery. Even the youngest baby is taught by
gradual stages to wait for food, to sleep and wake at regular intervals and so on. If the child
feels the world around him is a warm and friendly one, he slowly accepts its rhythm and
accustoms himself to conforming to its demands. Learning to wait for things, particularly for
food, is a very important element in upbringing, and is achieved successfully only if too great
demands are not made before the child can understand them. Every parent watches eagerly the
child's acquisition of each new skill: the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the
beginning of reading and writing. It is often tempting to hurry the child beyond his natural
learning rate, but this can set up dangerous feelings of failure and states of anxiety in the child.
This might happen at any stage. A baby might be forced to use a toilet too early, a young child
might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads. On
the other hand, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning opportunities,
he loses his natural zest for life and his desire to find out new things for himself.

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 Learning together is a fruitful source of relationship between children and parents. By
playing together, parents learn more about their children and children learn more from their parents.
Toys and games which both parents and children can share are an important means of achieving
this co-operation. Building-block toys, jigsaw puzzles and crosswords are good examples.
Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness or indulgence towards their children.
Some may be especially strict in money matters; others are severe over times of coming home
at night, punctuality for meals or personal cleanliness. In general, the controls imposed
represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community as much as the child's own
happiness and well-being.
With regard to the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency is
very important in parental teaching. To forbid a thing one day and excuse it the next is no
foundation for morality. Also, parents should realize that “example is better than precept”. If
they are hypocritical and do not practice what they preach, their children may grow confused
and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they
have been, to some extent, deceived. A sudden awareness of a marked difference between their
parents' ethics and their morals can be a dangerous disillusion.
21. The principle underlying all treatment of developmental difficulties in children ______.
A. is in the provision of clockwork toys and trains
B. is to send them to clinics
C. is to capture them before they are sufficiently experienced
D. offers recapture of earlier experiences
22. Learning to wait for things is successfully taught ______.
A. in spite of excessive demands being made
B. only if excessive demands are avoided
C. because excessive demands are not advisable
D. is achieved successfully by all children
23. The encouragement of children to achieve new skills ______.
A. should be focused on only at school
B. can never be taken too far
C. will always assist their development
D. should be balanced and moderate
24. Parental controls and discipline ______.
A. serve a dual purpose
B. are designed to promote the child’s happiness
C. reflect only the values of the community
D. should be avoided as far as possible
25. The practice of the rule “Example is better than precept” ______.
A. only works when the children grow old enough to think for themselves
B. would help avoid the necessity for ethics and morals
C. will free a child from disillusion when he grows up
D. is too difficult for all parents to exercise
26. In the 1st paragraph, the author lays some emphasis on the role of the __ in helping the child in trouble.
A. psychiatrists B. community C. family D. nursery
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27. The phrase ‘conforming to’ in the 2 paragraph means ______.
A. adapting to B. accepting C. agreeing with D. following
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28. The word ‘zest’ in the 2nd paragraph can be best replaced by ______.
A. appetite B. excitement C. enthusiasm D. enjoyment
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29. The word ‘imposed’ in the 4 paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.
A. excepted B. introduced C. made D. constrained
30. Hypocrisy on the part of the parents may ______.
A. result in their children’s wrong behavior B. make their children lose faith in them
C. disqualify their teachings altogether D. impair their children’s mind

Write T if the statement is true according to the passage; F if the statement is not true, and
NG if the information is not given in the passage.
31. It is important for a child to gradually get used to his daily demands in the process of mental development.
32. To force children to learn different skills beyond their natural learning rate is encouraged by parents.
33. The understanding between parents and children plays an important role in mental development.
34. Parents should leave their children’s mental development for school education.
35. Parents are advised to do everything for their children right from early childhood.
Part 4: Read the following passage and choose the most suitable sentence from the list A to G
for each gap from 36 to 40. There are two extra sentences which you do not need to use.
Then answer the questions from 41 to 50 that follow.
The days when only men would hold management positions are over. (36) __________.
Despite a slowing economy, the number of women in management has risen to 16% in 1995, when
it used to be less than 9%. One result of this tendency is that women are now more accepted in
these roles, and it has also been found that women in management ease tension and gender conflict
in the workplace.
A comprehensive nation-wide study of executive performance accidentally found that
women scored higher in almost all areas of performance evaluation, while compiling a large-
scale analysis of 425 high-level managers. (37) __________. They tend to work harder behind
the scenes, while men prefer the glamorous, more aggressive side of management. The
masculine approach is more suited to the traditional style of business, where the boss would
work alone and simply dictate orders to his staff. Now, in the global information age, teamwork
and partnership are increasingly important, and these are exactly the areas where women excel.
(38) __________. It may be that the same qualities that make women more effective as
managers are also holding them back. Most women get stuck in jobs which involve human
resources or public relations, while their skills make them highly suitable for this type of work.
However, the posts in these areas rarely lead to the top. Ambitious women are frustrated by this,
and many left to start their own companies. Another reason why women are overlooked for
promotion is that men are seen as more dynamic and competitive. Women tend to work for the
good of the company as a whole, while men are looking out for themselves. Some bosses may
interpret the feminine approach as showing a lack of vision. A woman will often adopt the
strategy of making people think that they are the authors of new ideas, so that they will co-
operate with her plan. Although this is an effective way of achieving an objective, the result is
that she will lose credit for her creativity and innovation.
It is also surprising to learn that the greatest prejudice against female bosses comes from
women themselves. In a recent Gallup poll, 70% of men said that they would be prepared to
accept a female boss, compared to 66% of women. (39) __________. Since nearly all bosses
used to be male, women feel more comfortable being supervised by a man than by another
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woman. Some women also feel that a male boss is less demanding and he feels more relaxed
about being in a position of authority. Since women have to work harder to get to the top, they
expect more of their staff when they get there.
In conclusion, although more and more women are rising to higher positions, there are
still many deep-rooted prejudices and double standards that keep them from achieving the very
top positions. Companies may say that they value interpersonal skills, but they still look for a
leader who is decisive and a risk taker. (40) __________. Although women have proved that
they are capable of leading a company, it seems that they will not get the chance to do so until
they are prepared to start their own businesses.
A. One possible reason for this is that of tradition
B. Areas where women are particularly effective are in supporting their staff, and sharing information
C. More and more women are moving into top jobs in the USA
D. Although women are not as decisive as men, they still play an important role in social work
E. Although the number of women in middle management is on the increase, there are still
few women running large companies
F. These qualities are perceived as being mainly
Complete the following statements by circling A, B, C, or D.
41. The participation by women in business management has ______.
A. increased a sexist attitude among men
B. started new business conflicts
C. caused gender conflict among the staff
D. made the workplace more agreeable
42. Women managers are found more skilful in areas where they can promote their ability to ______.
A. build relationships with people B. fight their way to the top
C. deal with their male bosses D. give directions to the staff
43. Women are often overlooked for the top jobs because ______.
A. other women do not like working for them
B. they do not take credit for their own ideas
C. they cannot make big decisions
D. they leave to start their own businesses
44. Women prefer a male boss because ______.
A. male bosses work harder B. men are more competitive
C. it is more usual to work for a man D. female bosses are more demanding
45. A female boss often demands more of her staff because ______.
A. other women do not like working for them
B. she herself has to toil her way to the position
C. she can always make big decisions
D. her staff do not tend to submit themselves to her
Write T if the statement is true according to the passage; F if the statement is not true, and
NG if the information is not given in the passage.
46. Working with other people has become more important in modern business.
47. Businesses owned by women are more successful than those owned by men.
48. Most women work for their own promotion, not for the good of the company.
49. More men than women work for female bosses.
50. Companies may not tell the truth about the qualities they look for in a manager.
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