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Test 3
READING
SECTION 1 Questions 1-14
Read the text below and answer Questions 1-6.
Local countryside walks
The following walks have coloured marker posts to guide you
A Grove Mill
Take either the yellow path or the blue path - both eventually come out at the
Old Water Mill and are at about the same level of difficulty. There is a shallow
stream which runs alongside the yellow path. Dogs enjoy a swim here if it's
hot, and there are trees to help keep you cool while you wait.
B Blackhill Trail
Follow the marker posts carefully as you make your way through some dense
forest. If you take a wrong turn, as walkers often do, your walk could end up
being a lot longer than you expected. The sun may be shining, but there is
plenty of damp undergrowth, so wear a tough pair of hiking boots if you don't
want your feet to get wet. It isn't advisable to take small dogs on this trail.
C Fern Way
The route is winding but fairly flat and doesn't require any special footwear or
equipment. It is accessed by a gate with a strong bolt to keep sheep and cows
in the field. The path is lined on both sides by firs and some majestic redwoods
that date back to the nineteenth century. There are benches along the way,
where you can rest and admire the beauty of the area.
D Bay Red Valley
Be prepared to go up and down a bit on this route. The first section is uphill,
then the path flattens out - but not for long, so you need to be fairly fit. The
exercise is worth it, though, as there are some spectacular views across the
valley. There is a viewing platform, from which you may be lucky enough to
see one of the herds of deer that roam the area.
E Brownwater Trail
A circular path will take you past tree and plant species from around the world
that are cared for by a dedicated team of volunteers. If you bring your dog,
keep it on a lead as the smaller shrubs can be easily destroyed. The path itself
is open and unprotected, so be sure to wear a hat or you could get sunburnt.
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Reading
Questions 1-6
Look at the five descriptions of walks, A - E, on page 62.
For which walk are the following statements true?
Write the correct letter, A - E, in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
1 There is very little shade.
2 There are some steep sections.
3 There is a choice of route on this walk.
4 There is a special site for watching wildlife.
5 Dogs must not be allowed to run freely.
6 You can sit down in several places.
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Test3
Read the text below and answer Questions 7-14.
Poppi Properties
Review by Sally Hanugoldi
I have had a terrible experience with Poppi Properties and as an ex-tenant, I advise
you to go elsewhere if you want to rent or buy a property - as I have now done.
When I initially viewed my Poppi Properties flat, I was accompanied by Lillee
Eggerton, one of the two staff who run the company. The flat was located close to the
office where I have been working for the past year, so I went there before the working
day had begun. I knew immediately that it was the right property for me because
of the convenient location, and a few days later I paid the deposit and the first two
months' rent. The flat was on the 12th floor, which I admit was a surprise to me as I
thought it was lower when I first read about it, but Lillee was very encouraging, and
I felt confident that I was making the right choice. At this point, she was professional
and kind, but once I had moved into the property, I discovered that she was far less
approachable than she had been during the viewing period and whenever I tried to
contact her, she was unavailable.
At the start of my tenancy, a number of issues were unsatisfactory in the property.
For example, as a new tenant, you have a right to expect your flat to be clean. In fact,
carpets should be professionally cleaned, but mine had not even been hoovered. I had
hoped chat this problem would be addressed quickly, but nothing happened and so I
did the job myself. Similarly, the oven worked when I switched it on, but it was black
inside and smelt horrible. The company did nothing, so in the end I just avoided
using the oven while I lived there. Several times, I asked to speak to the landlord
directly but was told this was not possible. No one should have to put up with these
problems, particularly when Poppi Properties charge such high rents!
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Reading
Questions 7-14
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text on page 64?
In boxes 7-14 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
7 Sally Hanugoldi is still renting a property with Poppi Properties.
8 Sally Hanugoldi was the first person to view the flat.
9 Sally made a quick decision to rent the property.
10 The flat was on a lower level than Sally had expected.
11 Lillee's behaviour towards Sally changed over time.
12 The flat that Sally rented from Poppi Properties was unfurnished.
13 Sally employed someone to clean her carpets.
14 The landlord raised Sally's rent while she was living in the flat.
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➔ ID p.128 I 65
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Test3
SECTION 2 Questions 15-27
Read the text below and answer Questions 15-21.
Procedure for making a complaint at work
If you have a problem or complaint at work, you might want to take this up with your
employer. This is called 'raising a grievance'.
Often the best way to sort out a problem is to request an informal meeting with your
immediate manager to explain your concerns. You may find it is possible to sort the
problem out in this way without having to take any further action. However, if you do not
feel your problem has been solved, you may decide to raise a formal grievance. In this
case you should first try to find out your company's grievance procedure. You should be
able to find details of this in your Company Handbook, HR or Personnel manual, or on
your company's HR intranet site.
The next step will probably be to write to your employer. Explain your problem, and if
you can think of a possible solution for resolving it, give details of this. When you have
written your letter, check that you have written the date, and retain a copy so that you
have a record of what you wrote. Your employer should arrange an initial meeting at a
reasonable time and place to discuss your grievance. You are entitled to ask either a
colleague from work or a trade union representative to go to the meeting with you. After
the meeting, your employer should write to you, telling you what they have decided to do
about your grievance.
If you don't agree with your employer's decision, you have the right to appeal against it.
This must be done in writing. A further meeting should then be called, which should be
led by a more senior manager if possible. If you are still not satisfied with the decision
made at this meeting, you may consider whether one way to solve the problem might
be through mediation. This may be done inside the company or by an external agent.
Alternatively, you can make an employment tribunal claim. You must do this no more
than three months after the time when the event you are complaining about happened.
If your application is received after this time limit, the tribunal will not usually accept it.
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Reading
Questions 15-21
Complete the flowchart below.
Choose ONE WORD AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 15-21 on your answer sheet.
Raising a grievance at work
Ask to see your immediate manager on an 15 ......................................................... basis.
If not satisfied, find details of your company's grievance procedure.
This may be in a handbook, a 16 ......................................................... or on an intranet site.
Write to your employer with details of your complaint.
You may also. suggest a 17 ......................................................... .
Make sure there is a date on your letter and keep a copy.
Your employer should hold a meeting.
You have the right to be accompanied by a 18 ......................................................... or a trade
union representative.
Your employer should then inform you of the decision in writing.
If you are not happy with the decision, you can appeal in writing.
Your employer should then arrange a further meeting.
Where possible, this should be led by a manager who is 19 .........................................................
to the previous one.
If you are still not happy with the decision, you can
think about the possibility of 20 ......................................................... .
• make an employment tribunal claim. This must be done within
21 ......................................................... of the date of the event.
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Test3
Read the text below and answer Questions 22-27.
Driving a taxi or private hire vehicle
Taxis are an important part of any town or city's transport system. Taxis have a licence
plate and roof sign that states they are a taxi. As a taxi driver you might be booked
in advance, wait on a taxi rank or pick up passengers while on the move. You could
combine normal 'pick-up' jobs with prearranged contracts such as regular trips for
schoolchildren or those unable to drive. You might also make longer-distance trips such
as taking people to airports. T he other type of passenger transport is a private hire
vehicle. As a private hire driver, you can only collect passengers who have pre-booked
through your operator. You cannot be flagged down in the street.
When working in a taxi or private hire vehicle, you would:
• take job details over the radio from the operator at the office or by an in-car computer
• help to load and unload passengers' luggage
• assist passengers with any physical conditions that make it difficult for them to get in
and out of the vehicle
• take payments
• keep the vehicle clean and roadworthy
• keep accounts and records, if self-employed.
Working conditions and skills
You would spend most of your time on the road, sometimes in heavy traffic, and you
would be constantly on the move. The job allows you to choose your hours, but you will
find more work in the evenings. You would work between 40 and 60 hours a week if full
time. In the UK, 17% of taxi drivers are employed full time, 17% are employed part time
and 66% are self-employed. As well as being a skilled driver, you need to be good at
communicating with people and helping customers. You must be tactful when dealing
with problems and have good time management and numeracy skills.
Requirements
You will need a special licence from your local authority to be a taxi driver or private car
hire driver. For this, you usually need to be over 21 years old, to have a clean current
driving licence and to have been driving for at least 12 months. You may also need to
pass a test of knowledge about the local geography. If you are using your own vehicle, it
will also need a special licence.
Many employers value additional driver training which could include the Advanced
Driving Test offered by the Institute of Advanced Motorists. Evidence of basic mechanical
skills, such as RQF level 4, would also be welcome.
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Reading
Questions 22-27
Complete the sentences below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 22-27 on your answer sheet.
22 Private hire drivers only take passengers by arrangement with an
23 A driver's job may involve helping those with ......................................................... problems.
24 Working hours for drivers may vary, but the greatest demand is in the
25 The majority of drivers are ......................................................... .
26 A driver needs to be familiar with the ......................................................... of the area.
27 It may be useful if a driver has evidence of some ......................................................... ability.
➔ 1'1 p.128 I 69
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Test3
SECTION 3 Questions 28-40
Read the text on pages 71 and 72 and answer Questions 28-40.
Questions 28-33
The text on pages 71 and 72 has six paragraphs, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-vii, in boxes 28-33 on your answer sheet.
List of Headings
The extra time is worth it
ii The preferred rhubarb for consumers
iii Yorkshire's declining air quality
iv Observing the selection process
v Suggesting a possible beginning
vi A long-standing family business
vii The best region for forced rhubarb
28 Paragraph A
29 Paragraph B
30 Paragraph C
31 Paragraph D
32 Paragraph E
33 Paragraph F
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Reading
Forced r ubarb
Rhubarb has large fan-shaped· leaves and long, green ed1b./e, sta,lkst which are
commonly cooked' with sugar to make pie,.s a , nd other desserts. One type of rhubarb is
grown in ,the dark ta produce longer,. rosier stalks and this is called 'forced rhubarb'
A 1·n the north of, Eng:land, a cold winter s good news for some, and not just snowmen
and woolly hat makers- .According! to Yorkshire farmer David Westwood., this year's
forced rhubarb is the best for years.. Westwood, a softly spoken Yorksh reman,
should know. He's been growing and seUing rhubarb for 62. years, since he s· tarted
picking on the farm aged 11 .. Hiis son Jonathan works on the farm too, ma'king him
the• s1.xth ,generat·on of the. Westwoods to gmw the pink stems or 'petiol esi' as they
1
are otherwise known ..
B We meet at his farm .. a few miles from the, city of Wakefie d, which with the citi,es of
Bradford and Leeds form the three points of the Rhubarb Triang11e, the heart of the
'Br1Ush rhubarb industry.. 'It doesn·•t grow as well anywhere else.,' ins·sts Westwood.
He has a number of theories .as to why this is. The loam s011 on a clay base 1s
p erfect for the roots or ··crowns' which rhubarb g,rows from. l.n Victorian time,s · the
1
mid-to-late ·1 aoos - when rhubarb's popularity was at ets peak, the local coal mines
provided cheap fue1I for heating the sheds a crucial part O • f the ·forcmg proce•ss,
which involves depriving the plants of light as they· develop. At the same time, the
· ffluence from the industry enriched the soi, l for farmers_ On top
e
to Westwood t the high levels of poHution m the arir would have been ideali
irhubarb, as 'rhubarb
C ·westwood's farm pr o , duces both the greenish outdoor rhubarb. the· kind that girows
well 1n gardens all ,over the country, and the s.tarmngly pink forced rhubarb. It's this
·hat i:s the cream of the crop' the upper clas:s. of the rhubarb ·family.. Forced rhubarb
is the· one that's most ''kely to convert rhubarb-haters who've been traumatised
by harshly flavoured :school pies made from green overgrown outdoor stems The 1
•
slender. magenta spears, w'· th a sherbet•tangy flavour and dehca.te texture, a.re a
far cry from that coarse,· bitter stuff. Ifs also, a rare local fruit (although technically
a vegetable) at a time when imports dominate, and a welcome splash O · f colour in
the drab winter months No wonder chefs and foodl wri:ters have faUen in love with
forced rhubarb all ,over agai:n. Ifs, enjoying, a remarkable renai.ssance, for only 20
years ago it was in such decliine that. Westwood, one of the last 12 growers 1eft from
1
a peak of 200, was considering abandoning it
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Test3
D There are certainly simpler ways to grow food. First the plant roots, or crowns,
are grown outside for more than two years. Then, at the start of their third winter,
they are left in the ground until it is cold enough to break the crowns' dormancy.
This is one of the factors that gives British rhubarb the edge over imports from the
Netherlands, which arrive in the country a scene-stealing couple of weeks before
the Yorkshire crop. To bring them to market that early, the Dutch crowns are fed
with gibberellic acid, to replace the hormones naturally generated by a period
of cold weather. Westwood is relaxed on the subject of the imported rhubarb,
remarking only: 'It's good-looking all right, but the flavour's nowhere near.' Back
in Yorkshire, sometime around the middle of November, the crowns are dug up,
transferred to sheds with earthen floors, and watered in. The light is blocked out
completely and the heating is turned on. In the warm and dark, the shoots appear
so quickly that the buds can be heard gently popping. Within three weeks or so, the
first round of picking, or 'pulling' as it's known, can begin.
E In Westwood's 1920s rhubarb sheds, it is pitch black. I slip and slide on the narrow
troughs that serve as paths between the beds of rhubarb crowns. It's a relief
when a team of 'pullers' arrive, all local men, some of whom have been working
for Westwood for 40 years. Each carries a sturdy candle, and their pale, flickering
light reveals a sea of yellow leaves stretching 40 metres to the far wall. The men
walk the beds plucking the satiny stems expertly, choosing only the ones that
have reached the length of an arm. Then, cradling the fuchsia pink bundles in
their arms, they move on to the next patch. It's an extraordinary sight in this age
of mechanised, computerised agriculture. 'The pulling's done much the same way
as it always has been,' Westwood says. 'Electric light spoils the colour.' A labour
intensive process, it goes some way to explain the admittedly eye-watering price
of the best forced rhubarb- that and the heating, now from oil or propane rather
than coal.
F So how was this arcane cold-dark-heat process, in use since Victorian times,
discovered? Westwood's story is appealingly earthy. A gardener threw an old
crown onto the horse stable muck pile. The manure was hot, and the plant was
soon covered. The stable boy must have been puzzled by the startling pink
spears that came pushing through the dirt a week or two later, but happily he had
the good sense to gather them. Where there's muck there's money- and good
eating indeed.
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Reading
Questions 34-36
Choose the correct letter, A , B C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes 34-36 on your answer sheet.
34 What aspect of forced rhubarb does the writer praise in Paragraph C?
A its suitability for pies
B the smoothness of its stems
C its superiority over other types of rhubarb
D the number of places it can be successfully grown
35 Why does the writer think forced rhubarb has become more popular among
cooking experts?
A It is cheap and easy to grow.
B It is attractive and pleasant to eat.
C Local farmers are producing more of it.
D Imported varieties are in limited supply.
36 In the final paragraph, the writer suggests that forced rhubarb was first produced
A by accident.
B as animal feed.
C through trial and error.
D while growing something else.
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Test3
Questions 37-40
Complete the summary below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the text for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes37-40 on your answer sheet.
Growing forced rhubarb
During November, rhubarb crowns are removed from the soil and replanted in dark
sheds that have plenty of heating. These conditions encourage such fast growth that
the buds make a 37 ................................................................ sound as the pink stalks appear.
The growing period lasts around three weeks. After that, the rhubarb can be
picked by a group of people known as 38 ................................................................ . They use a
39 ................................................................ to inspect the stems and to make sure they are as long
as a human 40 ................................................................ , before handling them with
expert skill.
14 ➔lap. 12a1
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