SAMPLE QUESTIONS

PISA
TAGUIG INTEGRATED SCHOOL
READING UNIT 1: LAKE
CHAD Figure 1 shows changing levels of Lake Chad, in Saharan North Africa.
Lake Chad disappeared completely in about 20,000 BC, during the
last Ice Age.

QUESTION 1.1 What is the depth of Lake Chad today?

A. About two metres.
B. About fifteen metres.
C. About fifty metres.
D. It has disappeared completely.
E. The information is not provided

QUESTION 1.2 In about which year does the graph in Figure 1 start?

QUESTION 1.3 Why has the author chosen to start the graph at this
point?
QUESTION 1.4
Figure 2 is based on the assumption that
A. the animals in the rock art were present in the area at the time they were
drawn.
B. the artists who drew the animals were highly skilled.
C. the artists who drew the animals were able to travel widely.
D. there was no attempt to domesticate the animals which were depicted in the
rock art
QUESTION 1.5
For this question you need to draw together information from Figure 1 and
Figure 2. The disappearance of the rhinoceros, hippopotamus and aurochs from
Saharan rock art happened

A. at the beginning of the most recent Ice Age.

B. in the middle of the period when Lake Chad was at its highest level.
C. after the level of Lake Chad had been falling for over a thousand years.
D. at the beginning of an uninterrupted dry period
READING UNIT 2: FLU
ACOL VOLUNTARY FLU IMMUNISATION PROGRAM

As you are no doubt aware the flu can strike rapidly and extensively
during winter. It can leave its victims ill for weeks.

The best way to fight the virus is to have a fit and healthy body.
Daily exercise and a diet including plenty of fruit and vegetables
are highly recommended to assist the immune system to fight this
invading virus. ACOL has decided to offer staff the opportunity to be immunised against
the flu as an additional way to prevent this insidious virus from spreading
amongst us. ACOL has arranged for a nurse to administer the
immunisations at ACOL, during a half-day session in work hours in the
week of May 17. This program is free and available to all members of
staff.

Participation is voluntary. Staff taking up the option will be asked to sign

a consent form indicating that they do not have any allergies, and that
they understand they may experience minor side effects.
Medical advice indicates that the immunisation does not produce infl uenza. However, it may cause
some side eff ects such as fatigue, mild fever and tenderness of the arm.
Who should be immunised?
Anyone interested in being protected against the virus.

This immunisation is especially recommended for people over the age of 65. But regardless of age, ANYONE who has a
chronic debilitating disease, especially cardiac, pulmonary, bronchial or diabetic conditions.

In an office environment ALL staff are at risk of catching the flu.

Who should not be immunised? Individuals hypersensitive to eggs, people suffering from an acute feverish illness
and pregnant women.

Check with your doctor if you are taking any medication or have had a previous reaction to a flu injection.

If you would like to be immunised in the week of May 17 please advise the personnel officer, Fiona McSweeney, by
Friday May 7. The date and time will be set according to the availability of the nurse, the number of participants and the
time convenient for most staff. If you would like to be immunised for this winter but cannot attend at the arranged time
please let Fiona know. An alternative session may be arranged if there are sufficient numbers.
QUESTION 2.1
Which one of the following describes a feature of the ACOL flu
immunisation program?

A. Daily exercise classes will be run during the winter.

B. Immunisations will be given during working hours.
C. A small bonus will be offered to participants.
D. A doctor will give the injections.

QUESTION 2.2 We can talk about the content of a piece of writing

(what it says). We can talk about its style (the way it is presented).
Fiona wanted the style of this information sheet to be friendly and
encouraging. Do you think she succeeded? Explain your answer by
referring in detail to the layout, style of writing, pictures or other
graphics.
 QUESTION 2.3
This information sheet suggests that if you want to protect yourself against the flu virus, a flu injection is

A. more effective than exercise and a healthy diet, but more risky.
B. a good idea, but not a substitute for exercise and a healthy diet.
C. as effective as exercise and a healthy diet, and less troublesome.
D. not worth considering if you have plenty of exercise and a healthy diet.

QUESTION 2.4
Part of the information sheet says: Who should be immunised? Anyone interested in being protected against
the virus. After Fiona had circulated the information sheet, a colleague told her that she should have left out
the words “Anyone interested in being protected against the virus” because they were misleading. Do you
agree that these words are misleading and should have been left out? Explain your answer

QUESTION 2.5
According to the information sheet, which one of these staff members should contact Fiona?

A. Steve from the store, who does not want to be immunised because he would rather rely on his natural
immunity.
B. Julie from sales, who wants to know if the immunisation program is compulsory.
C. Alice from the mailroom who would like to be immunised this winter but is having a baby in two months.
D. Michael from accounts who would like to be immunised but will be on leave in the week of May 17
READING UNIT 3 :
GRAFFITI The two letters above come from the
Internet and are about graffiti. Graffiti
is illegal painting and writing on walls
and elsewhere. Refer to the letters to
answer the questions below

QUESTION 3.1
The purpose of each of these letters
is to
A. explain what graffiti is.
B. present an opinion about graffiti.
C. demonstrate the popularity of
graffiti.
D. tell people how much is spent
removing graffiti.

QUESTION 3.2 Why does Sophia refer

to advertising?
QUESTION 3.3 Which of the two letter writers do you agree with?
Explain your answer by using your own words to refer to what is said in
one or both of the letters.

QUESTION 3.4 We can talk about what a letter says (its content). We
can talk about the way a letter is written (its style). Regardless of which
letter you agree with, in your opinion, which do you think is the better
letter? Explain your answer by referring to the way one or both letters
are written.
 READING UNIT 4:
The tree diagram below shows the structure of a country’s labour force or “working-age population”.

LABOUR
The total population of the country in 1995 was about 3.4 million.

QUESTION 4.1
What are the two main groups into which
the working-age population is divided?

A. Employed and unemployed

B. Of working age and not of working
age.
C. Full-time workers and part-time
workers.
D. In the labour force and not in the
labour force.

QUESTION 4.2
How many people of working age were
not in the labour force? (Write the
QUESTION 4.3
In which part of the tree diagram, if any, would each of the people listed in the table below be
included?
Show your answer by placing a cross in the correct box in the table.
The first one has been done for you.
QUESTION 4.4
Suppose that information about the labour force was presented in a tree diagram like this
every year.

Listed below are four features of the tree diagram. Show whether or not you would expect
these features to change from year to year, by circling either “Change” or “No change”.
The first one has been done for you.
QUESTION 4.5
The information about the labour force structure is presented as a tree diagram,
but it could have been presented in a number of other ways, such as a written
description, a pie chart, a graph or a table.

The tree diagram was probably chosen because it is especially useful for
showing

A. changes over time.

B. the size of the country’s total population.
C. categories within each group.
D. the size of the each group.
READING UNIT 5: PLAN
INTERNATIONAL
 The table on the previous page is part of a report published by PLAN International, an
international aid organisation. It gives some information about PLAN’s work in one of its regions of
operation (Eastern and Southern Africa). Refer to the table to answer the questions below.

QUESTION 5.1
What does the table indicate about the level of PLAN International’s
activity in Ethiopia in 1996, compared with other countries in the
region?

A. The level of activity was comparatively high in Ethiopia.

B. The level of activity was comparatively low in Ethiopia.
C. It was about the same as in other countries in the region.
D. It was comparatively high in the Habitat category, and low in the
other categories

QUESTION 5.2 In 1996 Ethiopia was one of the poorest countries in

the world. Taking this fact and the information in the table into
account, what do you think might explain the level of PLAN
International’s activities in Ethiopia compared with its activities in