READING PASSAGE 1

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

The coconut palm

For millennia, the coconut has been central to the lives of Polynesian and Asian peoples. In the western world,
on the other hand, coconuts have always been exotic and unusual, sometimes rare. The Italian merchant traveller
Marco Polo apparently saw coconuts in South Asia in the late 13th century, and among the mid-14th-century
travel writings of Sir John Mandeville there is mention of ‘great Notes of Ynde’ (great Nuts of India). Today,
images of palm-fringed tropical beaches are cliches in the west to sell holidays, chocolate bars, fizzy drinks and
even romance.

Typically, we envisage coconuts as brown cannonballs that, when opened, provide sweet white flesh. But we see
only part of the fruit and none of the plant from which they come. The coconut palm has a smooth, slender, grey
trunk, up to 30 metres tall. This is an important source of timber for building houses, and is increasingly being
used as a replacement for endangered hardwoods in the furniture construction industry. The trunk is surmounted
by a rosette of leaves, each of which may be up to six metres long. The leaves have hard veins in their centres
which, in many parts of the world, are used as brushes after the green part of the leaf has been stripped away.
Immature coconut flowers are tightly clustered together among the leaves at the top of the trunk. The flower stems
may be tapped for their sap to produce a drink, and the sap can also be reduced by boiling to produce a type of
sugar used for cooking.

Coconut palms produce as many as seventy fruits per year, weighing more than a kilogram each. The wall of the
fruit has three layers: a waterproof outer layer, a fibrous middle layer and a hard, inner layer. The thick fibrous
middle layer produces coconut fibre, ‘coir’, which has numerous uses and is particularly important in
manufacturing ropes. The woody innermost layer, the shell, with its three prominent ‘eyes’, surrounds the seed.
An important product obtained from the shell is charcoal, which is widely used in various industries as well as in
the home as a cooking fuel. When broken in half, the shells are also used as bowls in many parts of Asia.

Inside the shell are the nutrients (endosperm) needed by the developing seed. Initially, the endosperm is a sweetish
liquid, coconut water, which is enjoyed as a drink, but also provides the hormones which encourage other plants
to grow more rapidly and produce higher yields. As the fruit matures, the coconut water gradually solidifies to
form the brilliant white, fat-rich, edible flesh or meat. Dried coconut flesh, ‘copra’, is made into coconut oil and
coconut milk, which are widely used in cooking in different parts of the world, as well as in cosmetics. A
derivative of coconut fat, glycerine, acquired strategic importance in a quite different sphere, as Alfred Nobel
introduced the world to his nitroglycerine-based invention: dynamite.
Their biology would appear to make coconuts the great maritime voyagers and coastal colonizers of the plant
world. The large, energy-rich fruits are able to float in water and tolerate salt, but cannot remain viable
indefinitely; studies suggest after about 110 days at sea they are no longer able to germinate. Literally cast onto
desert island shores, with little more than sand to grow in and exposed to the full glare of the tropical sun, coconut
seeds are able to germinate and root. The air pocket in the seed, created as the endosperm solidifies, protects the
embryo. In addition, the fibrous fruit wall that helped it to float during the voyage stores moisture that can be
taken up by the roots of the coconut seedling as it starts to grow.

There have been centuries of academic debate over the origins of the coconut. There were no coconut palms in
West Africa, the Caribbean or the east coast of the Americas before the voyages of the European explorers Vasco
da Gama and Columbus in the ate 15th and early 16th centuries. 16th century trade and human migration patterns
reveal that Arab traders and European sailors are likely to have moved coconuts from South and Southeast Asia
to Africa and then across the Atlantic to the east coast of America. But the origin of coconuts discovered along
the west coast of America by 16th century sailors has been the subject of centuries of discussion. Two
diametrically opposed origins have been proposed: that they came from Asia, or that they were native to America.
Both suggestions have problems. In Asia, there is a large degree of coconut diversity and evidence of millennia
of human use – but there are no relatives growing in the wild. In America, there are close coconut relatives, but
no evidence that coconuts are indigenous. These problems have led to the intriguing suggestion that coconuts
originated on coral islands in the Pacific and were dispersed from there.

Questions 1-8

Complete the table below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 1-8 on your answer
sheet.

THE COCONUT PALM

Part Description Uses

trunk up to 30 metres timber for houses and the making of
1…………………………………….
leaves up to 6 metres long to make brushes
flowers at the top of the trunk stems provide sap, used as a drink or
a source of 2……………………….
fruits middle layer (coir fibres) used for 3………………………….,
etc.
inner layer (shell) a source of 4………………………..
 (when halved) for 5……………….
coconut water a drink
a source of 6…………………….for
other plants
coconut flesh oil and milk for cooking and
7 ……………………
glycerine (an ingredient in
8……………………………….)

Questions 9-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

In boxes 9-13 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

9. Coconut seeds need shade in order to germinate.

10. Coconuts were probably transported to Asia from America in the 16th century.

11. Coconuts found on the west coast of America were a different type from those found on the east coast.

12. All the coconuts found in Asia are cultivated varieties.

13. Coconuts are cultivated in different ways in America and the Pacific.
READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on the Reading Passage 2 below.

Collecting as a hobby
Collecting must be one of the most varied of human activities, and it's one that many of us psychologists find
fascinating.

Many forms of collecting have been dignified with a technical name: an archtophilist collects teddy bears, a
philatelist collects postage stamps, and a deltiologist collects postcards. Amassing hundreds or even thousands of
postcards, chocolate wrappers or whatever, takes time, energy and money that could surely to much more
productive use. And yet there are millions of collectors around the world. Why do they do it?

There are the people who collect because they want to make money - this could be called an instrumental reason
for collecting; that is, collecting as a means to an end. They'll look for, say, antiques that they can buy cheaply
and expect to be able to sell at a profit. But there may well be a psychological element, too - buying cheap and
selling dear can give the collector a sense of triumph. And as selling online is so easy, more and more people are
joining in.

Many collectors collect to develop their social life, attending meetings of a group of collectors and exchanging
information on items. This is a variant on joining a bridge club or a gym, and similarly brings them into contact
with like-minded people.

Another motive for collecting is the desire to find something special, or a particular example of the collected item,
such as a rare early recording by a particular singer.

Some may spend their whole lives in a hunt for this. Psychologically, this can give a purpose to a life that
otherwise feels aimless. There is a danger, though, that if the individual is ever lucky enough to find what they're
looking for, rather than celebrating their success, they may feel empty, now that the goal that drove them on has
gone.

If you think about collecting postage stamps another potential reason for it - Or, perhaps, a result of collecting is
its educational value. Stamp collecting opens a window to other countries, and to the plants, animals, or famous
people shown on their stamps. Similarly, in the 19th century, many collectors amassed fossils, animals and plants
from around the globe, and their collections provided a vast amount of information about the natural world.
Without those collections, our understanding would be greatly inferior to what it is.

In the past - and nowadays, too, though to a lesser extent - a popular form of collecting, particularly among boys
and men, was trainspotting. This might involve trying to see every locomotive of a particular type, using published
data that identifies each one, and ticking off each engine as it is seen. Trainspotters exchange information, these
days often by mobile phone, so they can work out where to go to, to see a particular engine. As a by-product,
many practitioners of the hobby become very knowledgeable about railway operations, or the technical
specifications of different engine types.

Similarly, people who collect dolls may go beyond simply enlarging their collection, and develop an interest in
the way that dolls are made, or the materials that are used. These have changed over the centuries from the wood
that was standard in 16th century Europe, through the wax and porcelain of later centuries, to the plastics of
today's dolls. Or collectors might be inspired to study how dolls reflect notions of what children like, or ought to
like.

Not all collectors are interested in learning from their hobby, though, so what we might call a psychological reason
for collecting is the need for a sense of control, perhaps as a way of dealing with insecurity. Stamp collectors, for
instance, arrange their stamps in albums, usually very neatly, organising their collection according to certain
commonplace principles-perhaps by country in alphabetical order, or grouping stamps by what they depict -
people, birds, maps, and so on.

One reason, conscious or not, for what someone chooses to collect is to show the collector's individualism.
Someone who decides to collect something as unexpected as dog collars, for instance, may be conveying their
belief that they must be interesting themselves. And believe it or not, there is at least one dog collar museum in
existence, and it grew out of a personal collection.

Of course, all hobbies give pleasure, but the common factor in collecting is usually passion: pleasure is putting it
far too mildly. More than most other hobbies, collecting can be totally engrossing, and can give a strong sense of
personal fulfilment. To non-collectors, it may appear an eccentric, if harmless, way of spending time, but
potentially, collecting has a lot going for it.

Questions 14-21

Complete the sentences below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer. Write your
answers in boxes 14-21 on your answer sheet.

14. The writer mentions collecting ......................... as an example of collecting in order to make money.

15. Collectors may get a feeling of ......................... from buying and selling items.

16. Collectors’ clubs provide opportunities to share ......................... .

17. Collectors’ clubs offer ......................... with people who have similar interests.

18. Collecting sometimes involves a life-long ......................... for a special item.

19. Searching for something particular may prevent people from feeling their life is completely .........................

20. Stamp collecting may be ......................... because it provides facts about different countries.

21. ......................... tends to be mostly a male hobby.

Questions 22-26

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? In boxes 22-26 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

22. The number of people buying dolls has grown over the centuries.

23. Sixteenth century European dolls were normally made of wax and porcelain.

24. Arranging a stamp collection by the size of the stamps is less common than other methods.

25. Someone who collects unusual objects may want others to think he or she is also unusual.

26. Collecting gives a feeling that other hobbies are unlikely to inspire.
READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on the Reading Passage 2 below.

THE STORY OF COFFEE

A

Coffee was first discovered in Eastern Africa in an area we know today as Ethiopia. A popular legend refers to a
goat herder by the name of Kaldi, who observed his goats acting unusually friskily after eating berries from a
bush. Curious about this phenomenon, Kaldi tried eating the berries himself. He found that these berries gave him
renewed energy.

The news of this energy laden fruit quickly moved throughout the region. Coffee berries were transported from
Ethiopia to the Arabian Peninsula, and were first cultivated in what today is the country of Yemen. Coffee
remained a secret in Arabia before spreading to Turkey and then to the European continent by means of Venetian
trade merchants.

Coffee was first eaten as a food though later people in Arabia would make a drink out of boiling the beans for its
narcotic effects and medicinal value. Coffee for a time was known as Arabian wine to Muslims who were banned
from alcohol by Islam. It was not until after coffee had been eaten as a food product, a wine and a medicine that
it was discovered, probably by complete accident in Turkey, that by roasting the beans a delicious drink could be
made. The roasted beans were first crushed and then boiled in water, creating a crude version of the beverage we
enjoy today. The first coffee houses were opened in Europe in the 17th Century and in 1675, the Viennese
established the habit of refining the brew by filtering out the grounds, sweetening it, and adding a dash of milk.

If you were to explore the planet for coffee, you would find about 60 species of coffee plants growing wild in
Africa, Malaysia, and other regions. But only about ten of them are actually cultivated. Of these ten, two species
are responsible for almost all the coffee produced in the world: Coffea Arabica and Coffea Canephora (usually
known as Robusta). Because of ecological differences existing among the various coffee producing countries,
both types have undergone many mutations and now exist in many sub-species.

Although wild plants can reach 10 - 12 metres in height, the plantation one reaches a height of around four metres.
This makes the harvest and flowering easier, and cultivation more economical. The flowers are white and sweet-
scented like the Spanish jasmine. Flowers give way to a red, darkish berry. At first sight, the fruit is like a big
cherry both in size and in colour. The berry is coated with a thin, red film (epicarp) containing a white, sugary
mucilaginous flesh (mesocarp). Inside the pulp there are the seeds in the form of two beans coupled at their flat
surface. Beans are in turn coated with a kind of resistant, golden yellow parchment, (called endocarp). When
peeled, the real bean appears with another very thin silvery film. The bean is bluish green verging on bronze, and
is at the most 11 millimetres long and 8 millimetres wide.

Coffee plants need special conditions to give a satisfactory crop. The climate needs to be hot-wet or hot temperate,
between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, with frequent rains and temperatures varying from 15
to 25 Degrees C. The soil should be deep, hard, permeable, well irrigated, with well-drained subsoil. The best
lands are the hilly ones or from just-tilled woods. The perfect altitude is between 600 and 1200 metres, though
some varieties thrive at 2000-2200 metres. Cultivation aimed at protecting the plants at every stage of growth is
needed. Sowing should be in sheltered nurseries from which, after about six months, the seedlings should be
moved to plantations in the rainy season where they are usually alternated with other plants to shield them from
wind and excessive sunlight. Only when the plant is five years old can it be counted upon to give a regular yield.
This is between 400 grams and two kilos of arabica beans for each plant, and 600 grams and two kilos for robusta
beans.

Harvesting time depends on the geographic situation and it can vary greatly therefore according to the various
producing countries. First, the ripe beans are picked from the branches. Pickers can selectively pick approximately
250 to 300 pounds of coffee cherry a day. At the end of the day, the pickers bring their heavy burlap bags to
pulping mills where the cherry coffee can be pulped (or wet milled). The pulped beans then rest, covered in pure
rainwater to ferment overnight. The next day the wet beans are hand-distributed upon the drying floor to be sun
dried. This drying process takes from one to two weeks depending on the amount of sunny days available. To
make sure they dry evenly, the beans need to be raked many times during this drying time. Two weeks later the
sun dried beans, now called parchment, are scooped up, bagged and taken to be milled. Huge milling machines
then remove the parchment and silver skin, which renders a green bean suitable for roasting. The green beans are
roasted according to the customers’ specifications and, after cooling, the beans are then packaged and mailed to
customers.

Questions 28 - 33

From the list of headings below choose the most suitable headings for paragraphs B – G.

Write the appropriate number (i – xi) in boxes 28 – 33 on your answer sheet.

 List of headings
i Growing Coffee
ii Problems with Manufacture
iii Processing the Bean
iv First Contact
v Arabian Coffee
vi Coffee Varieties
vii Modern Coffee
viii The Spread of Coffee
ix Consuming Coffee
x Climates for Coffee
xi The Coffee Plant
Example Answer

Paragraph A iv

28. Paragraph B 31. Paragraph E

29. Paragraph C 32. Paragraph F

30. Paragraph D 33. Paragraph G

Questions 34 - 36

Complete the labels on the diagram of a coffee bean below.

Choose your answers from the text and write them in boxes 34 - 36 on your answer sheet
Questions 37 – 40

Using the information in the passage, complete the flow chart below.

Write your answers in boxes 37 – 40 on your answer sheet.

Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.