test1

Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

Read the passage.

Speaking to the Dead

Spiritualism is a religious movement that started in the United States in the 1840s and spread to other English-
speaking countries through the 1920s. The prominent feature of spiritualism is the belief that gifted
individuals called mediums can communicate with the spirits of the dead. It was believed that these spirits
lived on a higher spiritual dimension and could provide guidance and comfort to the living.

The beginning of the movement can be traced back to March 31, 1848. On that day, Kate and Margaret Fox
of Hydesville, New York reported that they made contact with the spirit of a murdered peddler. What made
this incident unique was that the spirit communicated with the women through a series of loud tapping noises,
rather than appearing to a person in a trance. This incident grabbed the imagination of many Americans, and
seances with mediums became extremely popular. This was partly because it was a new form of
entertainment, but also because it proved to be a spiritual catharsis for people grieving the death of a loved
one. The possibility of contact with a dead husband, child, or dear friend was a strong incentive to embrace
spiritualism, and many unscrupulous men and women took advantage of grief-stricken people for personal
profit.

One of the most famous cases of medium fraud involved the Davenport Brothers, Ira and Henry. The
Davenport brothers were magicians who started to report that they were having the same kinds of experiences
as the Fox sisters, and that they had the ability to communicate with the spirit world. They developed various
illusions for their stage act that they claimed were only possible because of their supernatural powers. Their
shows were even introduced by a former minister and follower of Spiritualism, J.B. Ferguson, who assured
audiences that the Davenports possessed true supernatural powers and communicated with the spirit world. A
number of famous magicians and circus impresario P.T. Barnum wrote exposés of the Davenports and
performed duplicate illusions to show how the Davenports were duping audiences.

In spite of widespread fraud, Spiritualism quickly spread through the world and became particularly popular
in England, where an enormous number of families had lost loved ones in World War I. The supposed
opportunity to speak with a someone through a medium gripped the population of England, who were trying
to cope with the massive casualties that country experienced.

The most common form of communication with the dead was the seance. These were performed with a
medium in a dark or semi-dark room with the participants sitting around a table. The seance attendees were
generally there to communicate with a loved one who had passed away, and therefore predisposed to
believing the medium. For his or her part, the medium's tricks included making the table move, having objects
appear seemingly out of thin air, or making rapping sounds or music. Possibly the most dramatic element of
the seance was channelling, or the process by which the medium allows a spirit to use their body and voice to
communicate with one of the people sitting at the table.

The tricks of the medium were all easily faked, and the Spiritualism movement also spawned many skeptics
who made it their mission to publicly expose all the frauds. However, the emotional power of hearing a
message from a dead loved one is extremely compelling to many people, and the popularity of mediums have
persisted to the present day.
____ 1. What is the main topic of the passage?
a. seances c. Spiritualism
b. the 1840s d. the spirit world
____ 2. When did the Spiritualism movement start?
a. the 1920s c. during a seance
b. during World War I d. 1848
____ 3. What is a medium?
a. someone who can communicate with the dead
b. a magician
c. a skeptic
d. a war casualty
____ 4. Who were the Davenport brothers?
a. famous skeptics who exposed fake mediums
b. famous magicians who pretended to have supernatural powers
c. circus impresarios
d. ministers in the Spiritualism movement
____ 5. Why was the Spiritualism movement popular in England?
a. there were many mediums there
b. there were many people there who enjoyed entertainment
c. there were many spirits there
d. many people there wanted to contact loved ones who had died in the war
____ 6. Which statement is a fact?
a. Kate and Margaret Fox heard a spirit make tapping noises.
b. Many people believed that spirits could speak to the living.
c. Spirits live on a higher spiritual dimension.
d. Spirits can speak to the living.
____ 7. Which statement is a fact?
a. Mediums have supernatural powers.
b. Mediums can channel spirits.
c. Spiritualists believed mediums can speak to the dead.
d. All mediums used tricks.
____ 8. Which statement is a fact?
a. Spiritualism is a very interesting religion.
b. Spiritualism began in the 1840s.
c. People should not believe in Spiritualism.
d. Spiritualism was the most important religious movement.
____ 9. Which statement is an opinion?
a. People could speak to the dead during a seance.
b. Seance participants sat at a table.
c. Some mediums said they were channelling spirits.
d. Seances were performed in a dark room.
____ 10. Which statement is an opinion?
a. Many mediums were frauds.
b. The Davenport brothers were magicians.
c. All mediums were bad people.
d. Some magicians tried to expose frauds.

Read the passage.

 A New Corporate Culture

Traditionally, large business corporations had very similar corporate structures and ways of doing business.
Organizational hierarchies were very tall, meaning there were many executives, each with succeedingly more
important job titles. This particular structure gave rise to the term "corporate ladder." Also, the atmosphere of
the office would be quite formal: employees had to adhere to a strict dress code and communication among
employees was conducted through very formal channels.

Beginning in the 1970s, several companies bucked this trend to establish their own new corporate cultures.
Corporate culture is the attitudes, employee experiences, beliefs, and values of an organization. This culture is
the basis for characteristics of employees' behavior toward each other and towards their individual tasks and
responsibilities at work.

One of the most successful companies to originate this corporate trend was Apple, Inc. At Apple's corporate
offices in Cupertino, California, employees are encouraged to express their individuality. This can manifest
itself in work attire, office space organization, and project group interaction. The advantages behind this
looser, more casual organization is two-fold: employees' creativity is fostered and employees have more
loyalty to a company that they feel is taking care of their personal needs. In fact, the office complex in
Cupertino is not called an office, but a campus, as in university campus. Calling a workplace a campus gives
it a more collegial, friendly feeling, since a campus is a place where individual ideas are valued over power or
superficial image.

Another company that uses a nontraditional corporate structure to great effect is, ironically, Apple's biggest
competitor--Microsoft, Inc. Microsoft, with 71,553 employees in 102 countries as of July 2006, is often
described as having a developer-centered business culture. Microsoft spends an enormous amount of time and
money recruiting young software developers from universities. Great efforts are also made to keep them in
the company. One of the ways this is done is through the office layout and organization. In many software
companies, low-level employees are often given one impersonal cubicle among many other impersonal
cubicles in a large office space. At Microsoft, newly hired developers are assigned a private or semiprivate
office space.

Another organizational innovation at Microsoft is that rather than having traditional business school
executive-types at the higher levels of the hierarchy, key decision-makers at every level of the company are,
or were, software developers. The advantage of this is that decisions are made by insiders who have been with
the company a long time and have detailed practical knowledge of the products.

Southwest Airlines, a domestic airline in the United States, also uses an unconventional business culture.
Southwest earned its success by offering low-cost flights. They could charge less for their flights by cutting
down on many of the services of traditional airlines, such as food service. As a companion to their business
model, Southwest's culture is one that emphasizes the importance of employees and customers alike.
Southwest urges employees to have fun at work; in fact, the crews on planes are known for breaking into song
or making funny boarding announcements.

Each of these companies has crafted its own unique business culture, but what they all have in common is an
enormous amount of success.

____ 11. What is the main topic of the passage?

a. unique corporate cultures c. Apple, Inc.
b. Microsoft, Inc. d. corporate hierarchies
____ 12. What does the term "corporate ladder" refer to?
 a. the corporate offices
b. employee behavior at work
c. a tall organizational hierarchy
d. executives' communication with each other
____ 13. What is a corporate culture?
a. the salaries and health care plan of employees
b. the job titles of all employees
c. the size of the corporation
d. the attitudes, beliefs, and values of the employees
____ 14. Apple, Inc.'s corporate culture can be described as ____.
a. valuing the individual c. impersonal
b. formal d. having a tall hierarchy
____ 15. What is one thing all decision makers at Microsoft have in common?
a. they graduated business school
b. they are young
c. they are, or were, software developers
d. they work in cubicles
____ 16. What inference can be made about Apple, Inc.?
a. employees bring their own lunches to work
b. employees dress casually at work
c. employees are unhappy
d. employees have all been to business school
____ 17. What inference can be made about Southwest Airlines?
a. it has very few customers
b. it doesn't have a lot of employees
c. employees make a lot of money
d. employees have fun at work
____ 18. What inference can be made about a traditional corporate culture?
a. it is very formal
b. employees haven't graduated from business school
c. it values individuality
d. employees work in large groups
____ 19. What inference can be made about Microsoft, Inc.?
a. many employees quit the company
b. most employees have a business background
c. employees remain with the company for a long time
d. employees don't like their work space
____ 20. What inference can be made about businesses with a nontraditional corporate culture?
a. they have large offices c. they attract creative individuals
b. they are always successful d. employees work in cubicles

Read the passage.

Live to Be 100 the Okinawan Way

 For years doctors and scientists have tried to unlock the secrets to longevity. Modern-day researchers have
known that genetics as well as lifestyle play their parts in how long a person will live, but just how much
influence each factor has, has been the subject of much debate. That is until 1998 when scientists in Sweden
studied identical twins separated at birth and what these scientists found was that lifestyle, what we eat, how
much we exercise, etc., is much more of a factor in predicting longevity than genetics.

There are several populations in the world who seem to have found the key to longevity, and one of them is
the residents of the Ryukyu Islands, the southernmost islands of Japan. The inhabitants of these islands, of
which Okinawa is the largest and most well known, have the world's largest population of centenarians, with
almost 600 of its 1.3 million inhabitants living past 100 years. What's equally noteworthy about these people
is that not only do they live for a long time, but also they remain very active well into their old age and look
decades younger than their actual age. And a big part of their secret is their diet.

A typical breakfast in Okinawa is whole-grain rice and miso soup with vegetables. Lunch and dinner is a stir-
fry with goya (a gourd), imo (a sweet potato), egg, and tofu. Snacks tend to be fruit. This kind of diet is
absolutely the best for human health: it is low in fat and salt and rich in fiber and antioxidants. A key
ingredient to this diet is soy; in fact, they consume more soy than anyone on earth. Soy is packed with
flavonoids, a substance shown to protect against cancer. For Okinawans, this translates into extremely low
rates of cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

Okinawans also have a low rate of osteoporosis, with 20% fewer hip fractures than mainland Japanese, who
have 40% fewer than Americans. This is linked to the high calcium levels in their natural drinking water and
their food, the flavonoids in soy, high vitamin D levels from being outside in the sun, and the continuance of
daily physiccal exercise throughout their lives.

Another important factor in the Okinawans' longevity equation is the amount they eat. They live by the
dietary code of hara hachi bu, literally, "eight parts out of ten full," meaning that they only eat until they are
about 80% full. For the average adult, this makes for a daily intake of about 1,800 calories, which is very low.
Scientists have found that a low-calorie diet has a great impact on increasing longevity in lab animals, and the
Okinawans' eating habits seem to bear this out with humans.

It certainly is desirable to live to 100, but only if the quality of life is high. The Okinawans' diet helps with
this as well. Elderly Okinawans have a very low rate of dementia, or senility, much lower than the elderly in
the United States or Europe. This is due to the fact that Okinawans' diet has a high amount of vitamin E,
which has been shown to protect the brain.

The Okinawa diet has attracted much international attention from people who are trying to find the modern-
day fountain of youth. Many books, magazine articles, and TV programs have outlined the basic diet plan. If
there is a resulting increase in centenarians is yet to be seen.

____ 21. What is the main topic of the passage?

a. the longevity of identical twins c. longevity studies
b. the Okinawa diet and longevity d. genetics and longevity
____ 22. What is imo?
a. a gourd c. a sweet potato
b. a kind of tofu d. a kind of rice
____ 23. Why are flavonoids important?
a. they are high in calories c. they protect the brain
b. they are high in vitamin D d. they protect against cancer
____ 24. Flavonoids are found in ____.
 a. soy c. eggs
b. whole-grain rice d. goya
____ 25. How many calories does the average Okinawan eat every day?
a. 600 c. 1,800
b. 100 d. 80
____ 26. The natural drinking water in Okinawa has a high level of ____.
a. flavonoids c. antioxidants
b. calcium d. salt
____ 27. Who did scientists in Sweden study?
a. Okinawans c. lab animals
b. Americans d. identical twins
____ 28. What do Okinawans eat for breakfast?
a. eggs c. miso soup
b. fruit d. stir fry
____ 29. How many people live in the Ryukyu Islands?
a. 600 c. 1,800
b. 1.3 million d. 100
____ 30. What is another word for dementia?
a. senility c. flavonoid
b. imo d. hara hachi bu

Read the passage.

The Future of Cloning

In 1997, the world was amazed, and concerned, by a scientific breakthrough--the cloning of Dolly, the sheep
in Scotland. While the medical applications of this feat are exciting and far-reaching, the ethical concerns of
cloning continue to cause much debate in the scientific community, as well as society at large.

Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of a living thing. Cloning can result in a molecule or
multi-cellular organism that is genetically identical to the molecule or organism being cloned. There are
different types of cloning; reproductive cloning was the technology used to create Dolly. This kind of cloning
is when the cloned animal has the same nuclear DNA as another existing animal. Whereas most people are
fascinated with the mere fact that science can create life in such a way, cloning is among the most
controversial of scientific advances.

One of the more hotly debated ethical issues surrounding cloning is the cloning of humans. One of the ethical
problems in human cloning has to with the possibility of cloning humans for the farming of organs for
transplants. In this scenario, the cloned human would be euthanized so that the organs needed could be used.
This process could potentially increase life expectancy for the original human by 50 years. Many conservative
and religious groups have called for the halt of all further experimentation on this front. However, it is not
only religious groups who are against cloning practices. Much of the general population, whether they have
religious beliefs or not, is uncomfortable with the idea of changing the natural order of life and death.

Another potential use of cloning technology is the cloning of extinct and endangered species. Even though
this has been an attractive possibility for many scientists and conservationists, the ethical questions remain for
many others. The implications of this type of cloning were depicted in the popular Jurassic Park books and
movies: dangerous extinct dinosaurs were recreated but then couldn't be controlled.
 The ethical problems have not deterred many scientists from attempting to use the technology for this
purpose, however. Over the last few years, several endangered species have been cloned, with varying
degrees of success. Even the successes make the problems immediately obvious. For example, if an extinct
species were cloned, there would be no parents to teach the animal how to behave in a natural way. Therefore
these animals would most likely become mere oddities and not live to their potential as natural, living
organisms in their own right.

Many conservationists and environmentalists are opposed to this kind of cloning practice. This is because
they think that if endangered species can just be cloned, the general public will no longer feel the need to
preserve the animals' natural habitats or give donations to the organizations that work to do so.

One of the other cloning controversies is the practice of therapeutic cloning, or, the creation of human
embryos to harvest their stem cells and then destroying them. These stem cells would then be used in treating
diseases and in conducting medical research. The concerns here are that this research would lead to human
cloning, and that a huge number of human eggs would need to be harvested in order to make research
possible.

Given all the ethical concerns, there is no doubt that the public debate on cloning will continue.

____ 31. What is the main topic of the passage?

a. endangered species c. medical advances using cloning
b. the ethical issues of cloning d. the scientific community
____ 32. What does cloning create?
a. an identical copy c. endangered species
b. a sheep d. new kinds of animals
____ 33. Dolly was ____.
a. a scientist c. a cloned sheep
b. a conservationist d. an endangered species
____ 34. Why don't some conservationists like cloning endangered animals?
a. the animals don't look the same as the original
b. people will stop protecting natural habitats
c. it is too expensive
d. the conservationists are religious
____ 35. Stem cells can be used for ____.
a. medical research c. preserving natural habitats
b. cloning sheep d. organ transplants
____ 36. Where do stem cells come from?
a. Scotland c. cloned animals
b. endangered species d. human embryos
____ 37. What did Jurassic Park depict?
a. how science can help humans
b. how cloning extinct animals is dangerous
c. how cloning humans is dangerous
d. how dinosaurs became extinct
____ 38. In reproductive cloning, the cloned animal has ____.
a. a new natural habitat
b. the same DNA as the original animal
c. different molecules than the original animal
d. different organs than the original animal
____ 39. What is therapeutic cloning?
a. the creation of human embryos
b. harvesting stem cells and then destroying them
c. using stem cells to treat disease or conduct medical research
d. all of the above
____ 40. What is one problem with therapeutic cloning?
a. it needs many human eggs c. it can't save lives
b. it is too advanced d. the stem cells are destroyed

True/False
Indicate whether the statement is true or false.

Read the passage.

Speaking to the Dead

Spiritualism is a religious movement that started in the United States in the 1840s and spread to other English-
speaking countries through the 1920s. The prominent feature of spiritualism is the belief that gifted
individuals called mediums can communicate with the spirits of the dead. It was believed that these spirits
lived on a higher spiritual dimension and could provide guidance and comfort to the living.

The beginning of the movement can be traced back to March 31, 1848. On that day, Kate and Margaret Fox
of Hydesville, New York reported that they made contact with the spirit of a murdered peddler. What made
this incident unique was that the spirit communicated with the women through a series of loud tapping noises,
rather than appearing to a person in a trance. This incident grabbed the imagination of many Americans, and
seances with mediums became extremely popular. This was partly because it was a new form of
entertainment, but also because it proved to be a spiritual catharsis for people grieving the death of a loved
one. The possibility of contact with a dead husband, child, or dear friend was a strong incentive to embrace
spiritualism, and many unscrupulous men and women took advantage of grief-stricken people for personal
profit.

One of the most famous cases of medium fraud involved the Davenport Brothers, Ira and Henry. The
Davenport brothers were magicians who started to report that they were having the same kinds of experiences
as the Fox sisters, and that they had the ability to communicate with the spirit world. They developed various
illusions for their stage act that they claimed were only possible because of their supernatural powers. Their
shows were even introduced by a former minister and follower of Spiritualism, J.B. Ferguson, who assured
audiences that the Davenports possessed true supernatural powers and communicated with the spirit world. A
number of famous magicians and circus impresario P.T. Barnum wrote exposés of the Davenports and
performed duplicate illusions to show how the Davenports were duping audiences.

In spite of widespread fraud, Spiritualism quickly spread through the world and became particularly popular
in England, where an enormous number of families had lost loved ones in World War I. The supposed
opportunity to speak with a someone through a medium gripped the population of England, who were trying
to cope with the massive casualties that country experienced.
 The most common form of communication with the dead was the seance. These were performed with a
medium in a dark or semi-dark room with the participants sitting around a table. The seance attendees were
generally there to communicate with a loved one who had passed away, and therefore predisposed to
believing the medium. For his or her part, the medium's tricks included making the table move, having objects
appear seemingly out of thin air, or making rapping sounds or music. Possibly the most dramatic element of
the seance was channelling, or the process by which the medium allows a spirit to use their body and voice to
communicate with one of the people sitting at the table.

The tricks of the medium were all easily faked, and the Spiritualism movement also spawned many skeptics
who made it their mission to publicly expose all the frauds. However, the emotional power of hearing a
message from a dead loved one is extremely compelling to many people, and the popularity of mediums have
persisted to the present day.

____ 41. Spiritualism was popular in England.

____ 42. The Fox sisters tried to expose frauds.
____ 43. Channelling is when a medium hears tapping noises.
____ 44. Many families in England lost loved ones during World War I.
____ 45. Spiritualists believed that mediums could communicate with spirits.

Read the passage.

A New Corporate Culture

Traditionally, large business corporations had very similar corporate structures and ways of doing business.
Organizational hierarchies were very tall, meaning there were many executives, each with succeedingly more
important job titles. This particular structure gave rise to the term "corporate ladder." Also, the atmosphere of
the office would be quite formal: employees had to adhere to a strict dress code and communication among
employees was conducted through very formal channels.

Beginning in the 1970s, several companies bucked this trend to establish their own new corporate cultures.
Corporate culture is the attitudes, employee experiences, beliefs, and values of an organization. This culture is
the basis for characteristics of employees' behavior toward each other and towards their individual tasks and
responsibilities at work.

One of the most successful companies to originate this corporate trend was Apple, Inc. At Apple's corporate
offices in Cupertino, California, employees are encouraged to express their individuality. This can manifest
itself in work attire, office space organization, and project group interaction. The advantages behind this
looser, more casual organization is two-fold: employees' creativity is fostered and employees have more
loyalty to a company that they feel is taking care of their personal needs. In fact, the office complex in
Cupertino is not called an office, but a campus, as in university campus. Calling a workplace a campus gives
it a more collegial, friendly feeling, since a campus is a place where individual ideas are valued over power or
superficial image.
 Another company that uses a nontraditional corporate structure to great effect is, ironically, Apple's biggest
competitor--Microsoft, Inc. Microsoft, with 71,553 employees in 102 countries as of July 2006, is often
described as having a developer-centered business culture. Microsoft spends an enormous amount of time and
money recruiting young software developers from universities. Great efforts are also made to keep them in
the company. One of the ways this is done is through the office layout and organization. In many software
companies, low-level employees are often given one impersonal cubicle among many other impersonal
cubicles in a large office space. At Microsoft, newly hired developers are assigned a private or semiprivate
office space.

Another organizational innovation at Microsoft is that rather than having traditional business school
executive-types at the higher levels of the hierarchy, key decision-makers at every level of the company are,
or were, software developers. The advantage of this is that decisions are made by insiders who have been with
the company a long time and have detailed practical knowledge of the products.

Southwest Airlines, a domestic airline in the United States, also uses an unconventional business culture.
Southwest earned its success by offering low-cost flights. They could charge less for their flights by cutting
down on many of the services of traditional airlines, such as food service. As a companion to their business
model, Southwest's culture is one that emphasizes the importance of employees and customers alike.
Southwest urges employees to have fun at work; in fact, the crews on planes are known for breaking into song
or making funny boarding announcements.

Each of these companies has crafted its own unique business culture, but what they all have in common is an
enormous amount of success.

____ 46. Apple, Inc. has a very traditional corporate culture.

____ 47. Before the 1970s, most companies had a "corporate ladder."
____ 48. Apple, Inc. is a very innovative company.
____ 49. Southwest Airlines flies all over the world.
____ 50. Microsoft has a traditional office layout.

Read the passage.

Live to Be 100 the Okinawan Way

For years doctors and scientists have tried to unlock the secrets to longevity. Modern-day researchers have
known that genetics as well as lifestyle play their parts in how long a person will live, but just how much
influence each factor has, has been the subject of much debate. That is until 1998 when scientists in Sweden
studied identical twins separated at birth and what these scientists found was that lifestyle, what we eat, how
much we exercise, etc., is much more of a factor in predicting longevity than genetics.

There are several populations in the world who seem to have found the key to longevity, and one of them is
the residents of the Ryukyu Islands, the southernmost islands of Japan. The inhabitants of these islands, of
which Okinawa is the largest and most well known, have the world's largest population of centenarians, with
almost 600 of its 1.3 million inhabitants living past 100 years. What's equally noteworthy about these people
is that not only do they live for a long time, but also they remain very active well into their old age and look
decades younger than their actual age. And a big part of their secret is their diet.
 A typical breakfast in Okinawa is whole-grain rice and miso soup with vegetables. Lunch and dinner is a stir-
fry with goya (a gourd), imo (a sweet potato), egg, and tofu. Snacks tend to be fruit. This kind of diet is
absolutely the best for human health: it is low in fat and salt and rich in fiber and antioxidants. A key
ingredient to this diet is soy; in fact, they consume more soy than anyone on earth. Soy is packed with
flavonoids, a substance shown to protect against cancer. For Okinawans, this translates into extremely low
rates of cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

Okinawans also have a low rate of osteoporosis, with 20% fewer hip fractures than mainland Japanese, who
have 40% fewer than Americans. This is linked to the high calcium levels in their natural drinking water and
their food, the flavonoids in soy, high vitamin D levels from being outside in the sun, and the continuance of
daily physiccal exercise throughout their lives.

Another important factor in the Okinawans' longevity equation is the amount they eat. They live by the
dietary code of hara hachi bu, literally, "eight parts out of ten full," meaning that they only eat until they are
about 80% full. For the average adult, this makes for a daily intake of about 1,800 calories, which is very low.
Scientists have found that a low-calorie diet has a great impact on increasing longevity in lab animals, and the
Okinawans' eating habits seem to bear this out with humans.

It certainly is desirable to live to 100, but only if the quality of life is high. The Okinawans' diet helps with
this as well. Elderly Okinawans have a very low rate of dementia, or senility, much lower than the elderly in
the United States or Europe. This is due to the fact that Okinawans' diet has a high amount of vitamin E,
which has been shown to protect the brain.

The Okinawa diet has attracted much international attention from people who are trying to find the modern-
day fountain of youth. Many books, magazine articles, and TV programs have outlined the basic diet plan. If
there is a resulting increase in centenarians is yet to be seen.

____ 51. Identical twins separated at birth always live to the same age.
____ 52. Vitamin E protects against dementia.
____ 53. The Okinawan diet is low in calories.
____ 54. Okinawans don't get a lot of physical exercise.
____ 55. Older Okinawans have a high quality of life.

Read the passage.

The Future of Cloning

In 1997, the world was amazed, and concerned, by a scientific breakthrough--the cloning of Dolly, the sheep
in Scotland. While the medical applications of this feat are exciting and far-reaching, the ethical concerns of
cloning continue to cause much debate in the scientific community, as well as society at large.

Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of a living thing. Cloning can result in a molecule or
multi-cellular organism that is genetically identical to the molecule or organism being cloned. There are
different types of cloning; reproductive cloning was the technology used to create Dolly. This kind of cloning
is when the cloned animal has the same nuclear DNA as another existing animal. Whereas most people are
fascinated with the mere fact that science can create life in such a way, cloning is among the most
controversial of scientific advances.
 One of the more hotly debated ethical issues surrounding cloning is the cloning of humans. One of the ethical
problems in human cloning has to with the possibility of cloning humans for the farming of organs for
transplants. In this scenario, the cloned human would be euthanized so that the organs needed could be used.
This process could potentially increase life expectancy for the original human by 50 years. Many conservative
and religious groups have called for the halt of all further experimentation on this front. However, it is not
only religious groups who are against cloning practices. Much of the general population, whether they have
religious beliefs or not, is uncomfortable with the idea of changing the natural order of life and death.

Another potential use of cloning technology is the cloning of extinct and endangered species. Even though
this has been an attractive possibility for many scientists and conservationists, the ethical questions remain for
many others. The implications of this type of cloning were depicted in the popular Jurassic Park books and
movies: dangerous extinct dinosaurs were recreated but then couldn't be controlled.

The ethical problems have not deterred many scientists from attempting to use the technology for this
purpose, however. Over the last few years, several endangered species have been cloned, with varying
degrees of success. Even the successes make the problems immediately obvious. For example, if an extinct
species were cloned, there would be no parents to teach the animal how to behave in a natural way. Therefore
these animals would most likely become mere oddities and not live to their potential as natural, living
organisms in their own right.

Many conservationists and environmentalists are opposed to this kind of cloning practice. This is because
they think that if endangered species can just be cloned, the general public will no longer feel the need to
preserve the animals' natural habitats or give donations to the organizations that work to do so.

One of the other cloning controversies is the practice of therapeutic cloning, or, the creation of human
embryos to harvest their stem cells and then destroying them. These stem cells would then be used in treating
diseases and in conducting medical research. The concerns here are that this research would lead to human
cloning, and that a huge number of human eggs would need to be harvested in order to make research
possible.

Given all the ethical concerns, there is no doubt that the public debate on cloning will continue.

____ 56. Cloning is a very controversial issue.

____ 57. Cloning an organism creates a genetically different organism.
____ 58. Extinct animals can never be cloned.
____ 59. Dolly was created using reproductive cloning.
____ 60. Stem cells can't be used for treating disease.

Completion
Complete each statement.

Read the passage.

Speaking to the Dead

 Spiritualism is a religious movement that started in the United States in the 1840s and spread to other English-
speaking countries through the 1920s. The prominent feature of spiritualism is the belief that gifted
individuals called mediums can communicate with the spirits of the dead. It was believed that these spirits
lived on a higher spiritual dimension and could provide guidance and comfort to the living.

The beginning of the movement can be traced back to March 31, 1848. On that day, Kate and Margaret Fox
of Hydesville, New York reported that they made contact with the spirit of a murdered peddler. What made
this incident unique was that the spirit communicated with the women through a series of loud tapping noises,
rather than appearing to a person in a trance. This incident grabbed the imagination of many Americans, and
seances with mediums became extremely popular. This was partly because it was a new form of
entertainment, but also because it proved to be a spiritual catharsis for people grieving the death of a loved
one. The possibility of contact with a dead husband, child, or dear friend was a strong incentive to embrace
spiritualism, and many unscrupulous men and women took advantage of grief-stricken people for personal
profit.

One of the most famous cases of medium fraud involved the Davenport Brothers, Ira and Henry. The
Davenport brothers were magicians who started to report that they were having the same kinds of experiences
as the Fox sisters, and that they had the ability to communicate with the spirit world. They developed various
illusions for their stage act that they claimed were only possible because of their supernatural powers. Their
shows were even introduced by a former minister and follower of Spiritualism, J.B. Ferguson, who assured
audiences that the Davenports possessed true supernatural powers and communicated with the spirit world. A
number of famous magicians and circus impresario P.T. Barnum wrote exposés of the Davenports and
performed duplicate illusions to show how the Davenports were duping audiences.

In spite of widespread fraud, Spiritualism quickly spread through the world and became particularly popular
in England, where an enormous number of families had lost loved ones in World War I. The supposed
opportunity to speak with a someone through a medium gripped the population of England, who were trying
to cope with the massive casualties that country experienced.

The most common form of communication with the dead was the seance. These were performed with a
medium in a dark or semi-dark room with the participants sitting around a table. The seance attendees were
generally there to communicate with a loved one who had passed away, and therefore predisposed to
believing the medium. For his or her part, the medium's tricks included making the table move, having objects
appear seemingly out of thin air, or making rapping sounds or music. Possibly the most dramatic element of
the seance was channelling, or the process by which the medium allows a spirit to use their body and voice to
communicate with one of the people sitting at the table.

The tricks of the medium were all easily faked, and the Spiritualism movement also spawned many skeptics
who made it their mission to publicly expose all the frauds. However, the emotional power of hearing a
message from a dead loved one is extremely compelling to many people, and the popularity of mediums have
persisted to the present day.

spirits seance unscrupulous supernatural participants

61. Many ____________________ people tried to take money from grieving family members.
62. She said that she could speak to the ____________________ of the dead.
63. The ____________________ in the book club talked about the new book.
64. He said that he had ____________________ powers and could speak to spirits.
65. Everyone at the ____________________ sat around a table in the dark.

Read the passage.

Speaking to the Dead

Spiritualism is a religious movement that started in the United States in the 1840s and spread to other English-
speaking countries through the 1920s. The prominent feature of spiritualism is the belief that gifted
individuals called mediums can communicate with the spirits of the dead. It was believed that these spirits
lived on a higher spiritual dimension and could provide guidance and comfort to the living.

The beginning of the movement can be traced back to March 31, 1848. On that day, Kate and Margaret Fox
of Hydesville, New York reported that they made contact with the spirit of a murdered peddler. What made
this incident unique was that the spirit communicated with the women through a series of loud tapping noises,
rather than appearing to a person in a trance. This incident grabbed the imagination of many Americans, and
seances with mediums became extremely popular. This was partly because it was a new form of
entertainment, but also because it proved to be a spiritual catharsis for people grieving the death of a loved
one. The possibility of contact with a dead husband, child, or dear friend was a strong incentive to embrace
spiritualism, and many unscrupulous men and women took advantage of grief-stricken people for personal
profit.

One of the most famous cases of medium fraud involved the Davenport Brothers, Ira and Henry. The
Davenport brothers were magicians who started to report that they were having the same kinds of experiences
as the Fox sisters, and that they had the ability to communicate with the spirit world. They developed various
illusions for their stage act that they claimed were only possible because of their supernatural powers. Their
shows were even introduced by a former minister and follower of Spiritualism, J.B. Ferguson, who assured
audiences that the Davenports possessed true supernatural powers and communicated with the spirit world. A
number of famous magicians and circus impresario P.T. Barnum wrote exposés of the Davenports and
performed duplicate illusions to show how the Davenports were duping audiences.

In spite of widespread fraud, Spiritualism quickly spread through the world and became particularly popular
in England, where an enormous number of families had lost loved ones in World War I. The supposed
opportunity to speak with a someone through a medium gripped the population of England, who were trying
to cope with the massive casualties that country experienced.

The most common form of communication with the dead was the seance. These were performed with a
medium in a dark or semi-dark room with the participants sitting around a table. The seance attendees were
generally there to communicate with a loved one who had passed away, and therefore predisposed to
believing the medium. For his or her part, the medium's tricks included making the table move, having objects
appear seemingly out of thin air, or making rapping sounds or music. Possibly the most dramatic element of
the seance was channelling, or the process by which the medium allows a spirit to use their body and voice to
communicate with one of the people sitting at the table.

The tricks of the medium were all easily faked, and the Spiritualism movement also spawned many skeptics
who made it their mission to publicly expose all the frauds. However, the emotional power of hearing a
message from a dead loved one is extremely compelling to many people, and the popularity of mediums have
persisted to the present day.

fraud casualties faked imagination gifted

66. Many of the mediums' tricks could be ____________________.

67. There were many____________________ in World War I.
68. She is a ____________________ piano player. She could play Mozart when she was 5.
69. Did you hear a ghost or was it just my ____________________?
70. He was a ____________________; nothing he said about spirits was true.

Read the passage.

A New Corporate Culture

Traditionally, large business corporations had very similar corporate structures and ways of doing business.
Organizational hierarchies were very tall, meaning there were many executives, each with suceedingly more
important job titles. This particular structure gave rise to the term "corporate ladder." Also, the atmosphere of
the office would be quite formal: employees had to adhere to a strict dress code and communication among
employees was conducted through very formal channels.

Beginning in the 1970s, several companies bucked this trend to establish their own new corporate cultures.
Corporate culture is the attitudes, employee experiences, beliefs, and values of an organization. This culture is
the basis for characteristics of employees' behavior toward each other and towards their individual tasks and
responsibilities at work.

One of the most successful companies to originate this corporate trend was Apple, Inc. At Apple's corporate
offices in Cupertino, California, employees are encouraged to express their individuality. This can manifest
itself in work attire, office space organization, and project group interaction. The advantages behind this
looser, more casual organization is two-fold: employees' creativity is fostered and employees have more
loyalty to a company that they feel is taking care of their personal needs. In fact, the office complex in
Cupertino is not called an office, but a campus, as in university campus. Calling a workplace a campus gives
it a more collegial, friendly feeling, since a campus is a place where individual ideas are valued over power or
superficial image.

Another company that uses a nontraditional corporate structure to great effect is, ironically, Apple's biggest
competitor--Microsoft, Inc. Microsoft, with 71,553 employees in 102 countries as of July 2006, is often
described as having a developer-centered business culture. Microsoft spends an enormous amount of time and
money recruiting young software developers from universities. Great efforts are also made to keep them in
the company. One of the ways this is done is through the office layout and organization. In many software
companies, low-level employees are often given one impersonal cubicle among many other impersonal
cubicles in a large office space. At Microsoft, newly hired developers are assigned a private or semiprivate
office space.

Another organizational innovation at Microsoft is that rather than having traditional business school
executive-types at the higher levels of the hierarchy, key decision-makers at every level of the company are,
or were, software developers. The advantage of this is that decisions are made by insiders who have been with
the company a long time and have detailed practical knowledge of the products.

Southwest Airlines, a domestic airline in the United States, also uses an unconventional business culture.
Southwest earned its success by offering low-cost flights. They could charge less for their flights by cutting
down on many of the services of traditional airlines, such as food service. As a companion to their business
model, Southwest's culture is one that emphasizes the importance of employees and customers alike.
Southwest urges employees to have fun at work; in fact, the crews on planes are known for breaking into song
or making funny boarding announcements.
 Each of these companies has crafted its own unique business culture, but what they all have in common is an
enormous amount of success.

corporation trend competitor innovation culture

71. There is a(n) new ____________________ towards having gourmet food in office cafeterias.
72. The ____________________ of our company is very formal and impersonal.
73. Microsoft is one of the most successful ____________________ in the world.
74. One work place ____________________ was to allow employees to bring their pets to the office.
75. Joe's Italian Restaurant's main ____________________ is Maria's Italian Cafe across the street.

Read the passage.

A New Corporate Culture

Traditionally, large business corporations had very similar corporate structures and ways of doing business.
Organizational hierarchies were very tall, meaning there were many executives, each with suceedingly more
important job titles. This particular structure gave rise to the term "corporate ladder." Also, the atmosphere of
the office would be quite formal: employees had to adhere to a strict dress code and communication among
employees was conducted through very formal channels.

Beginning in the 1970s, several companies bucked this trend to establish their own new corporate cultures.
Corporate culture is the attitudes, employee experiences, beliefs, and values of an organization. This culture is
the basis for characteristics of employees' behavior toward each other and towards their individual tasks and
responsibilities at work.

One of the most successful companies to originate this corporate trend was Apple, Inc. At Apple's corporate
offices in Cupertino, California, employees are encouraged to express their individuality. This can manifest
itself in work attire, office space organization, and project group interaction. The advantages behind this
looser, more casual organization is two-fold: employees' creativity is fostered and employees have more
loyalty to a company that they feel is taking care of their personal needs. In fact, the office complex in
Cupertino is not called an office, but a campus, as in university campus. Calling a workplace a campus gives
it a more collegial, friendly feeling, since a campus is a place where individual ideas are valued over power or
superficial image.

Another company that uses a nontraditional corporate structure to great effect is, ironically, Apple's biggest
competitor--Microsoft, Inc. Microsoft, with 71,553 employees in 102 countries as of July 2006, is often
described as having a developer-centered business culture. Microsoft spends an enormous amount of time and
money recruiting young software developers from universities. Great efforts are also made to keep them in
the company. One of the ways this is done is through the office layout and organization. In many software
companies, low-level employees are often given one impersonal cubicle among many other impersonal
cubicles in a large office space. At Microsoft, newly hired developers are assigned a private or semiprivate
office space.
 Another organizational innovation at Microsoft is that rather than having traditional business school
executive-types at the higher levels of the hierarchy, key decision-makers at every level of the company are,
or were, software developers. The advantage of this is that decisions are made by insiders who have been with
the company a long time and have detailed practical knowledge of the products.

Southwest Airlines, a domestic airline in the United States, also uses an unconventional business culture.
Southwest earned its success by offering low-cost flights. They could charge less for their flights by cutting
down on many of the services of traditional airlines, such as food service. As a companion to their business
model, Southwest's culture is one that emphasizes the importance of employees and customers alike.
Southwest urges employees to have fun at work; in fact, the crews on planes are known for breaking into song
or making funny boarding announcements.

Each of these companies has crafted its own unique business culture, but what they all have in common is an
enormous amount of success.

atmosphere strict hierarchy executives attire

76. The company has a very tall ____________________. It takes a long time to move up the corporate ladder.
77. On Fridays we are allowed to wear casual work ____________________.
78. My boss is very ____________________. We are not allowed to make any personal phone calls, and we only
get thirty minutes for lunch.
79. The ____________________ at work is much happier since we got a great new boss.
80. The ____________________ at my company have their own separate lunch room and bathroom.

Read the passage.

Live to Be 100 the Okinawan Way

For years doctors and scientists have tried to unlock the secrets to longevity. Modern-day researchers have
known that genetics as well as lifestyle play their parts in how long a person will live, but just how much
influence each factor has, has been the subject of much debate. That is until 1998 when scientists in Sweden
studied identical twins separated at birth and what these scientists found was that lifestyle, what we eat, how
much we exercise, etc., is much more of a factor in predicting longevity than genetics.

There are several populations in the world who seem to have found the key to longevity, and one of them is
the residents of the Ryukyu Islands, the southernmost islands of Japan. The inhabitants of these islands, of
which Okinawa is the largest and most well known, have the world's largest population of centenarians, with
almost 600 of its 1.3 million inhabitants living past 100 years. What's equally noteworthy about these people
is that not only do they live for a long time, but also they remain very active well into their old age and look
decades younger than their actual age. And a big part of their secret is their diet.

A typical breakfast in Okinawa is whole-grain rice and miso soup with vegetables. Lunch and dinner is a stir-
fry with goya (a gourd), imo (a sweet potato), egg, and tofu. Snacks tend to be fruit. This kind of diet is
absolutely the best for human health: it is low in fat and salt and rich in fiber and antioxidants. A key
ingredient to this diet is soy; in fact, they consume more soy than anyone on earth. Soy is packed with
flavonoids, a substance shown to protect against cancer. For Okinawans, this translates into extremely low
rates of cancer, heart disease, and stroke.
 Okinawans also have a low rate of osteoporosis, with 20% fewer hip fractures than mainland Japanese, who
have 40% fewer than Americans. This is linked to the high calcium levels in their natural drinking water and
their food, the flavonoids in soy, high vitamin D levels from being outside in the sun, and the continuance of
daily physiccal exercise throughout their lives.

Another important factor in the Okinawans' longevity equation is the amount they eat. They live by the
dietary code of hara hachi bu, literally, "eight parts out of ten full," meaning that they only eat until they are
about 80% full. For the average adult, this makes for a daily intake of about 1,800 calories, which is very low.
Scientists have found that a low-calorie diet has a great impact on increasing longevity in lab animals, and the
Okinawans' eating habits seem to bear this out with humans.

It certainly is desirable to live to 100, but only if the quality of life is high. The Okinawans' diet helps with
this as well. Elderly Okinawans have a very low rate of dementia, or senility, much lower than the elderly in
the United States or Europe. This is due to the fact that Okinawans' diet has a high amount of vitamin E,
which has been shown to protect the brain.

The Okinawa diet has attracted much international attention from people who are trying to find the modern-
day fountain of youth. Many books, magazine articles, and TV programs have outlined the basic diet plan. If
there is a resulting increase in centenarians is yet to be seen.

longevity identical inhabitants centenarian diet

81. The two girls are ____________________. No one can tell them apart.
82. Because of better healthcare, ____________________ rates in many countries have increased.
83. Our town's ____________________ has a birthday tomorrow. She'll have one hundred candles on her cake!
84. They are very healthy because their ____________________ is low in fat and salt.
85. All the ____________________ of Okinawa have a good chance of living to one hundred.

Read the passage.

Live to Be 100 the Okinawan Way

For years doctors and scientists have tried to unlock the secrets to longevity. Modern-day researchers have
known that genetics as well as lifestyle play their parts in how long a person will live, but just how much
influence each factor has, has been the subject of much debate. That is until 1998 when scientists in Sweden
studied identical twins separated at birth and what these scientists found was that lifestyle, what we eat, how
much we exercise, etc., is much more of a factor in predicting longevity than genetics.

There are several populations in the world who seem to have found the key to longevity, and one of them is
the residents of the Ryukyu Islands, the southernmost islands of Japan. The inhabitants of these islands, of
which Okinawa is the largest and most well known, have the world's largest population of centenarians, with
almost 600 of its 1.3 million inhabitants living past 100 years. What's equally noteworthy about these people
is that not only do they live for a long time, but also they remain very active well into their old age and look
decades younger than their actual age. And a big part of their secret is their diet.
 A typical breakfast in Okinawa is whole-grain rice and miso soup with vegetables. Lunch and dinner is a stir-
fry with goya (a gourd), imo (a sweet potato), egg, and tofu. Snacks tend to be fruit. This kind of diet is
absolutely the best for human health: it is low in fat and salt and rich in fiber and antioxidants. A key
ingredient to this diet is soy; in fact, they consume more soy than anyone on earth. Soy is packed with
flavonoids, a substance shown to protect against cancer. For Okinawans, this translates into extremely low
rates of cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

Okinawans also have a low rate of osteoporosis, with 20% fewer hip fractures than mainland Japanese, who
have 40% fewer than Americans. This is linked to the high calcium levels in their natural drinking water and
their food, the flavonoids in soy, high vitamin D levels from being outside in the sun, and the continuance of
daily physiccal exercise throughout their lives.

Another important factor in the Okinawans' longevity equation is the amount they eat. They live by the
dietary code of hara hachi bu, literally, "eight parts out of ten full," meaning that they only eat until they are
about 80% full. For the average adult, this makes for a daily intake of about 1,800 calories, which is very low.
Scientists have found that a low-calorie diet has a great impact on increasing longevity in lab animals, and the
Okinawans' eating habits seem to bear this out with humans.

It certainly is desirable to live to 100, but only if the quality of life is high. The Okinawans' diet helps with
this as well. Elderly Okinawans have a very low rate of dementia, or senility, much lower than the elderly in
the United States or Europe. This is due to the fact that Okinawans' diet has a high amount of vitamin E,
which has been shown to protect the brain.

The Okinawa diet has attracted much international attention from people who are trying to find the modern-
day fountain of youth. Many books, magazine articles, and TV programs have outlined the basic diet plan. If
there is a resulting increase in centenarians is yet to be seen.

typical researchers lifestyle population ingredients

86. One of the ____________________ of my stir fry is tofu.

87. The ____________________ are studying the effects of low calorie diets.
88. The ____________________ of our town is 70,000.
89. A low-fat diet and daily exercise are important parts of a healthy ____________________.
90. A ____________________ breakfast in the United States is cereal and coffee.

Read the passage.

The Future of Cloning

In 1997, the world was amazed, and concerned, by a scientific breakthrough--the cloning of Dolly, the sheep
in Scotland. While the medical applications of this feat are exciting and far-reaching, the ethical concerns of
cloning continue to cause much debate in the scientific community, as well as society at large.
 Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of a living thing. Cloning can result in a molecule or
multi-cellular organism that is genetically identical to the molecule or organism being cloned. There are
different types of cloning; reproductive cloning was the technology used to create Dolly. This kind of cloning
is when the cloned animal has the same nuclear DNA as another existing animal. Whereas most people are
fascinated with the mere fact that science can create life in such a way, cloning is among the most
controversial of scientific advances.

One of the more hotly debated ethical issues surrounding cloning is the cloning of humans. One of the ethical
problems in human cloning has to with the possibility of cloning humans for the farming of organs for
transplants. In this scenario, the cloned human would be euthanized so that the organs needed could be used.
This process could potentially increase life expectancy for the original human by 50 years. Many conservative
and religious groups have called for the halt of all further experimentation on this front. However, it is not
only religious groups who are against cloning practices. Much of the general population, whether they have
religious beliefs or not, is uncomfortable with the idea of changing the natural order of life and death.

Another potential use of cloning technology is the cloning of extinct and endangered species. Even though
this has been an attractive possibility for many scientists and conservationists, the ethical questions remain for
many others. The implications of this type of cloning were depicted in the popular Jurassic Park books and
movies: dangerous extinct dinosaurs were recreated but then couldn't be controlled.

The ethical problems have not deterred many scientists from attempting to use the technology for this
purpose, however. Over the last few years, several endangered species have been cloned, with varying
degrees of success. Even the successes make the problems immediately obvious. For example, if an extinct
species were cloned, there would be no parents to teach the animal how to behave in a natural way. Therefore
these animals would most likely become mere oddities and not live to their potential as natural, living
organisms in their own right.

Many conservationists and environmentalists are opposed to this kind of cloning practice. This is because
they think that if endangered species can just be cloned, the general public will no longer feel the need to
preserve the animals' natural habitats or give donations to the organizations that work to do so.

One of the other cloning controversies is the practice of therapeutic cloning, or, the creation of human
embryos to harvest their stem cells and then destroying them. These stem cells would then be used in treating
diseases and in conducting medical research. The concerns here are that this research would lead to human
cloning, and that a huge number of human eggs would need to be harvested in order to make research
possible.

Given all the ethical concerns, there is no doubt that the public debate on cloning will continue.

amazed ethical conservative organs endangered

91. The heart is one of the ____________________ that can be transplanted.

92. There are only two hundred of that kind of bird left; they are now ____________________.
93. We were ____________________ by the new scientific breakthrough.
94. Cloning brings up many important ____________________ questions.
95. She belongs to a very ____________________ group that believes cloning should not be done for any reason.

Read the passage.

 The Future of Cloning

In 1997, the world was amazed, and concerned, by a scientific breakthrough--the cloning of Dolly, the sheep
in Scotland. While the medical applications of this feat are exciting and far-reaching, the ethical concerns of
cloning continue to cause much debate in the scientific community, as well as society at large.

Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of a living thing. Cloning can result in a molecule or
multi-cellular organism that is genetically identical to the molecule or organism being cloned. There are
different types of cloning; reproductive cloning was the technology used to create Dolly. This kind of cloning
is when the cloned animal has the same nuclear DNA as another existing animal. Whereas most people are
fascinated with the mere fact that science can create life in such a way, cloning is among the most
controversial of scientific advances.

One of the more hotly debated ethical issues surrounding cloning is the cloning of humans. One of the ethical
problems in human cloning has to with the possibility of cloning humans for the farming of organs for
transplants. In this scenario, the cloned human would be euthanized so that the organs needed could be used.
This process could potentially increase life expectancy for the original human by 50 years. Many conservative
and religious groups have called for the halt of all further experimentation on this front. However, it is not
only religious groups who are against cloning practices. Much of the general population, whether they have
religious beliefs or not, is uncomfortable with the idea of changing the natural order of life and death.

Another potential use of cloning technology is the cloning of extinct and endangered species. Even though
this has been an attractive possibility for many scientists and conservationists, the ethical questions remain for
many others. The implications of this type of cloning were depicted in the popular Jurassic Park books and
movies: dangerous extinct dinosaurs were recreated but then couldn't be controlled.

The ethical problems have not deterred many scientists from attempting to use the technology for this
purpose, however. Over the last few years, several endangered species have been cloned, with varying
degrees of success. Even the successes make the problems immediately obvious. For example, if an extinct
species were cloned, there would be no parents to teach the animal how to behave in a natural way. Therefore
these animals would most likely become mere oddities and not live to their potential as natural, living
organisms in their own right.

Many conservationists and environmentalists are opposed to this kind of cloning practice. This is because
they think that if endangered species can just be cloned, the general public will no longer feel the need to
preserve the animals' natural habitats or give donations to the organizations that work to do so.

One of the other cloning controversies is the practice of therapeutic cloning, or, the creation of human
embryos to harvest their stem cells and then destroying them. These stem cells would then be used in treating
diseases and in conducting medical research. The concerns here are that this research would lead to human
cloning, and that a huge number of human eggs would need to be harvested in order to make research
possible.

Given all the ethical concerns, there is no doubt that the public debate on cloning will continue.

conservationists extinct habitats donations harvest

96. Dinosaurs have been ____________________ for millions of years.

97. We received many ____________________ to help us clean up the city park.
 98. Environmentalists work to preserve animals' natural ____________________.
99. Many people don't think it is ethical to ____________________ human eggs for therapeutic cloning.
100. ____________________ are trying to help save endangered species.

Essay

Read the passage.

Speaking to the Dead

Spiritualism is a religious movement that started in the United States in the 1840s and spread to other English-
speaking countries through the 1920s. The prominent feature of spiritualism is the belief that gifted
individuals called mediums can communicate with the spirits of the dead. It was believed that these spirits
lived on a higher spiritual dimension and could provide guidance and comfort to the living.

The beginning of the movement can be traced back to March 31, 1848. On that day, Kate and Margaret Fox
of Hydesville, New York reported that they made contact with the spirit of a murdered peddler. What made
this incident unique was that the spirit communicated with the women through a series of loud tapping noises,
rather than appearing to a person in a trance. This incident grabbed the imagination of many Americans, and
seances with mediums became extremely popular. This was partly because it was a new form of
entertainment, but also because it proved to be a spiritual catharsis for people grieving the death of a loved
one. The possibility of contact with a dead husband, child, or dear friend was a strong incentive to embrace
spiritualism, and many unscrupulous men and women took advantage of grief-stricken people for personal
profit.

One of the most famous cases of medium fraud involved the Davenport Brothers, Ira and Henry. The
Davenport brothers were magicians who started to report that they were having the same kinds of experiences
as the Fox sisters, and that they had the ability to communicate with the spirit world. They developed various
illusions for their stage act that they claimed were only possible because of their supernatural powers. Their
shows were even introduced by a former minister and follower of Spiritualism, J.B. Ferguson, who assured
audiences that the Davenports possessed true supernatural powers and communicated with the spirit world. A
number of famous magicians and circus impresario P.T. Barnum wrote exposés of the Davenports and
performed duplicate illusions to show how the Davenports were duping audiences.

In spite of widespread fraud, Spiritualism quickly spread through the world and became particularly popular
in England, where an enormous number of families had lost loved ones in World War I. The supposed
opportunity to speak with a someone through a medium gripped the population of England, who were trying
to cope with the massive casualties that country experienced.

The most common form of communication with the dead was the seance. These were performed with a
medium in a dark or semi-dark room with the participants sitting around a table. The seance attendees were
generally there to communicate with a loved one who had passed away, and therefore predisposed to
believing the medium. For his or her part, the medium's tricks included making the table move, having objects
appear seemingly out of thin air, or making rapping sounds or music. Possibly the most dramatic element of
the seance was channelling, or the process by which the medium allows a spirit to use their body and voice to
communicate with one of the people sitting at the table.
 The tricks of the medium were all easily faked, and the Spiritualism movement also spawned many skeptics
who made it their mission to publicly expose all the frauds. However, the emotional power of hearing a
message from a dead loved one is extremely compelling to many people, and the popularity of mediums have
persisted to the present day.

101. Do you believe in the spirit world or an afterlife? Why or why not? Use words from the passage.
102. What are other supernatural occurrences that many people believe in? Why do you think people believe in
them? Use words from the passage.

Read the passage.

A New Corporate Culture

Traditionally, large business corporations had very similar corporate structures and ways of doing business.
Organizational hierarchies were very tall, meaning there were many executives, each with succeedingly more
important job titles. This particular structure gave rise to the term "corporate ladder." Also, the atmosphere of
the office would be quite formal: employees had to adhere to a strict dress code and communication among
employees was conducted through very formal channels.

Beginning in the 1970s, several companies bucked this trend to establish their own new corporate cultures.
Corporate culture is the attitudes, employee experiences, beliefs, and values of an organization. This culture is
the basis for characteristics of employees' behavior toward each other and towards their individual tasks and
responsibilities at work.

One of the most successful companies to originate this corporate trend was Apple, Inc. At Apple's corporate
offices in Cupertino, California, employees are encouraged to express their individuality. This can manifest
itself in work attire, office space organization, and project group interaction. The advantages behind this
looser, more casual organization is two-fold: employees' creativity is fostered and employees have more
loyalty to a company that they feel is taking care of their personal needs. In fact, the office complex in
Cupertino is not called an office, but a campus, as in university campus. Calling a workplace a campus gives
it a more collegial, friendly feeling, since a campus is a place where individual ideas are valued over power or
superficial image.

Another company that uses a nontraditional corporate structure to great effect is, ironically, Apple's biggest
competitor--Microsoft, Inc. Microsoft, with 71,553 employees in 102 countries as of July 2006, is often
described as having a developer-centered business culture. Microsoft spends an enormous amount of time and
money recruiting young software developers from universities. Great efforts are also made to keep them in
the company. One of the ways this is done is through the office layout and organization. In many software
companies, low-level employees are often given one impersonal cubicle among many other impersonal
cubicles in a large office space. At Microsoft, newly hired developers are assigned a private or semiprivate
office space.

Another organizational innovation at Microsoft is that rather than having traditional business school
executive-types at the higher levels of the hierarchy, key decision-makers at every level of the company are,
or were, software developers. The advantage of this is that decisions are made by insiders who have been with
the company a long time and have detailed practical knowledge of the products.
 Southwest Airlines, a domestic airline in the United States, also uses an unconventional business culture.
Southwest earned its success by offering low-cost flights. They could charge less for their flights by cutting
down on many of the services of traditional airlines, such as food service. As a companion to their business
model, Southwest's culture is one that emphasizes the importance of employees and customers alike.
Southwest urges employees to have fun at work; in fact, the crews on planes are known for breaking into song
or making funny boarding announcements.

Each of these companies has crafted its own unique business culture, but what they all have in common is an
enormous amount of success.

103. What other nontraditional company do you know about? Why do you think employees like to work there?
Use words from the passage.
104. Imagine you run a large successful business. What would your offices be like? Use words from the passage.

Read the passage.

Live to Be 100 the Okinawan Way

For years doctors and scientists have tried to unlock the secrets to longevity. Modern-day researchers have
known that genetics as well as lifestyle play their parts in how long a person will live, but just how much
influence each factor has, has been the subject of much debate. That is until 1998 when scientists in Sweden
studied identical twins separated at birth and what these scientists found was that lifestyle, what we eat, how
much we exercise, etc., is much more of a factor in predicting longevity than genetics.

There are several populations in the world who seem to have found the key to longevity, and one of them is
the residents of the Ryukyu Islands, the southernmost islands of Japan. The inhabitants of these islands, of
which Okinawa is the largest and most well known, have the world's largest population of centenarians, with
almost 600 of its 1.3 million inhabitants living past 100 years. What's equally noteworthy about these people
is that not only do they live for a long time, but also they remain very active well into their old age and look
decades younger than their actual age. And a big part of their secret is their diet.

A typical breakfast in Okinawa is whole-grain rice and miso soup with vegetables. Lunch and dinner is a stir-
fry with goya (a gourd), imo (a sweet potato), egg, and tofu. Snacks tend to be fruit. This kind of diet is
absolutely the best for human health: it is low in fat and salt and rich in fiber and antioxidants. A key
ingredient to this diet is soy; in fact, they consume more soy than anyone on earth. Soy is packed with
flavonoids, a substance shown to protect against cancer. For Okinawans, this translates into extremely low
rates of cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

Okinawans also have a low rate of osteoporosis, with 20% fewer hip fractures than mainland Japanese, who
have 40% fewer than Americans. This is linked to the high calcium levels in their natural drinking water and
their food, the flavonoids in soy, high vitamin D levels from being outside in the sun, and the continuance of
daily physiccal exercise throughout their lives.

Another important factor in the Okinawans' longevity equation is the amount they eat. They live by the
dietary code of hara hachi bu, literally, "eight parts out of ten full," meaning that they only eat until they are
about 80% full. For the average adult, this makes for a daily intake of about 1,800 calories, which is very low.
Scientists have found that a low-calorie diet has a great impact on increasing longevity in lab animals, and the
Okinawans' eating habits seem to bear this out with humans.
 It certainly is desirable to live to 100, but only if the quality of life is high. The Okinawans' diet helps with
this as well. Elderly Okinawans have a very low rate of dementia, or senility, much lower than the elderly in
the United States or Europe. This is due to the fact that Okinawans' diet has a high amount of vitamin E,
which has been shown to protect the brain.

The Okinawa diet has attracted much international attention from people who are trying to find the modern-
day fountain of youth. Many books, magazine articles, and TV programs have outlined the basic diet plan. If
there is a resulting increase in centenarians is yet to be seen.

105. Is it important to you to live to be 100? Why or why not? Use words from the passage.
106. Is the average diet in your country healthy? Use words from the passage.

Read the passage.

The Future of Cloning

In 1997, the world was amazed, and concerned, by a scientific breakthrough--the cloning of Dolly, the sheep
in Scotland. While the medical applications of this feat are exciting and far-reaching, the ethical concerns of
cloning continue to cause much debate in the scientific community, as well as society at large.

Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of a living thing. Cloning can result in a molecule or
multi-cellular organism that is genetically identical to the molecule or organism being cloned. There are
different types of cloning; reproductive cloning was the technology used to create Dolly. This kind of cloning
is when the cloned animal has the same nuclear DNA as another existing animal. Whereas most people are
fascinated with the mere fact that science can create life in such a way, cloning is among the most
controversial of scientific advances.

One of the more hotly debated ethical issues surrounding cloning is the cloning of humans. One of the ethical
problems in human cloning has to with the possibility of cloning humans for the farming of organs for
transplants. In this scenario, the cloned human would be euthanized so that the organs needed could be used.
This process could potentially increase life expectancy for the original human by 50 years. Many conservative
and religious groups have called for the halt of all further experimentation on this front. However, it is not
only religious groups who are against cloning practices. Much of the general population, whether they have
religious beliefs or not, is uncomfortable with the idea of changing the natural order of life and death.

Another potential use of cloning technology is the cloning of extinct and endangered species. Even though
this has been an attractive possibility for many scientists and conservationists, the ethical questions remain for
many others. The implications of this type of cloning were depicted in the popular Jurassic Park books and
movies: dangerous extinct dinosaurs were recreated but then couldn't be controlled.

The ethical problems have not deterred many scientists from attempting to use the technology for this
purpose, however. Over the last few years, several endangered species have been cloned, with varying
degrees of success. Even the successes make the problems immediately obvious. For example, if an extinct
species were cloned, there would be no parents to teach the animal how to behave in a natural way. Therefore
these animals would most likely become mere oddities and not live to their potential as natural, living
organisms in their own right.

Many conservationists and environmentalists are opposed to this kind of cloning practice. This is because
they think that if endangered species can just be cloned, the general public will no longer feel the need to
preserve the animals' natural habitats or give donations to the organizations that work to do so.
 One of the other cloning controversies is the practice of therapeutic cloning, or, the creation of human
embryos to harvest their stem cells and then destroying them. These stem cells would then be used in treating
diseases and in conducting medical research. The concerns here are that this research would lead to human
cloning, and that a huge number of human eggs would need to be harvested in order to make research
possible.

Given all the ethical concerns, there is no doubt that the public debate on cloning will continue.

107. Do you think cloning humans is unethical? Why or why not? Use words from the passage.
108. Do you think it is important to continue cloning research? Why or why not? Use words from the passage.
test1
Answer Section

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. ANS: C PTS: 1
2. ANS: D PTS: 1
3. ANS: A PTS: 1
4. ANS: B PTS: 1
5. ANS: D PTS: 1
6. ANS: B PTS: 1
7. ANS: C PTS: 1
8. ANS: B PTS: 1
9. ANS: A PTS: 1
10. ANS: C PTS: 1
11. ANS: A PTS: 1
12. ANS: C PTS: 1
13. ANS: D PTS: 1
14. ANS: A PTS: 1
15. ANS: C PTS: 1
16. ANS: B PTS: 1
17. ANS: D PTS: 1
18. ANS: A PTS: 1
19. ANS: C PTS: 1
20. ANS: C PTS: 1
21. ANS: B PTS: 1
22. ANS: C PTS: 1
23. ANS: D PTS: 1
24. ANS: A PTS: 1
25. ANS: C PTS: 1
26. ANS: B PTS: 1
27. ANS: D PTS: 1
28. ANS: C PTS: 1
29. ANS: B PTS: 1
30. ANS: A PTS: 1
31. ANS: B PTS: 1
32. ANS: A PTS: 1
33. ANS: B PTS: 1
34. ANS: B PTS: 1
35. ANS: A PTS: 1
36. ANS: D PTS: 1
37. ANS: B PTS: 1
38. ANS: B PTS: 1
39. ANS: D PTS: 1
40. ANS: A PTS: 1
TRUE/FALSE

41. ANS: T PTS: 1

42. ANS: F PTS: 1
43. ANS: F PTS: 1
44. ANS: T PTS: 1
45. ANS: T PTS: 1
46. ANS: F PTS: 1
47. ANS: T PTS: 1
48. ANS: T PTS: 1
49. ANS: F PTS: 1
50. ANS: F PTS: 1
51. ANS: F PTS: 1
52. ANS: T PTS: 1
53. ANS: T PTS: 1
54. ANS: F PTS: 1
55. ANS: T PTS: 1
56. ANS: T PTS: 1
57. ANS: F PTS: 1
58. ANS: F PTS: 1
59. ANS: T PTS: 1
60. ANS: F PTS: 1

COMPLETION

61. ANS: unscrupulous

PTS: 1
62. ANS: spirits

PTS: 1
63. ANS: participants

PTS: 1
64. ANS: supernatural

PTS: 1
65. ANS: seance

PTS: 1
66. ANS: faked

PTS: 1
67. ANS: casualties

PTS: 1
68. ANS: gifted

PTS: 1
69. ANS: imagination

PTS: 1
70. ANS: fraud

PTS: 1
71. ANS: trend

PTS: 1
72. ANS: culture

PTS: 1
73. ANS: corporations

PTS: 1
74. ANS: innovation

PTS: 1
75. ANS: competitor

PTS: 1
76. ANS: hierarchy

PTS: 1
77. ANS: attire

PTS: 1
78. ANS: strict

PTS: 1
79. ANS: atmosphere

PTS: 1
80. ANS: executives

PTS: 1
81. ANS: identical

PTS: 1
82. ANS: longevity

PTS: 1
83. ANS: centenarian

PTS: 1
84. ANS: diet
 PTS: 1
85. ANS: inhabitants

PTS: 1
86. ANS: ingredients

PTS: 1
87. ANS: researchers

PTS: 1
88. ANS: population

PTS: 1
89. ANS: lifestyle

PTS: 1
90. ANS: typical

PTS: 1
91. ANS: organs

PTS: 1
92. ANS: endangered

PTS: 1
93. ANS: amazed

PTS: 1
94. ANS: ethical

PTS: 1
95. ANS: conservative

PTS: 1
96. ANS: extinct

PTS: 1
97. ANS: donations

PTS: 1
98. ANS: habitats

PTS: 1
99. ANS: harvest

PTS: 1
100. ANS: Conservationists
 PTS: 1

ESSAY

101. ANS:
Answers will vary.

PTS: 1
102. ANS:
Answers will vary.

PTS: 1
103. ANS:
Answers will vary.

PTS: 1
104. ANS:
Answers will vary.

PTS: 1
105. ANS:
Answers will vary.

PTS: 1
106. ANS:
Answers will vary.

PTS: 1
107. ANS:
Answers will vary.

PTS: 1
108. ANS:
Answers will vary.

PTS: 1