UNIVERSITI TUN HUSSEIN ONN MALAYSIA

ACADEMIC ENGLISH
(UWB10102/UWB12202)
SEMESTER 1 (2014/2015)
READING COMPREHENSION TEST
(90 minutes)

DO NOT OPEN THIS QUESTION PAPER UNTIL YOU ARE TOLD TO DO SO.
This booklet consists of 20 printed pages.

NAME

: __________________________________________________

MATRIC NO. : __________________________________________________

SECTION

: __________________________________________________

LECTURER

: __________________________________________________

DATE

: __________________________________________________

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Reading Comprehension Test

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Read the instructions for each part of the paper carefully.

Answer all the questions.
Write your answers on the answer sheet. Use a pencil.
You must complete the answer sheet within the time limit.
At the end of the test, hand in both this question paper and your answer sheet.

INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES

There are 40 questions on this question paper.
Each question carries one mark.

READING PASSSAGE 1
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You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 10, which are based on Reading Passage 1
below.
The People of Corn
By Laura Carlsen, The New Internationalist (December 1, 2004)

Maize is Mexicos lifeblood the countrys history and identity are entwined
with it. But this centuries-old relationship is now threatened by free trade. Laura
Carlsen investigates the threat and profiles a growing activist movement.

On a mountain top in southern Mexico, Indian families gather. They chant and
sprinkle cornmeal in consecration, praying for the success of their new crops, the unity

of their communities and the health of their families. In this village in Oaxaca people
eat corn tamales, sow maize plots and teach children to care for the plant. The cultural
rhythms of this community, its labours, rituals and celebrations will be defined as they
have been for millennia by the lifecycle of corn. Indeed, if it werent for the
domestication of teocintle (the ancestor of modern maize) 9,000 years ago

10

mesoamerican civilization could never have developed. In the Mayan sacred book, the
Popol Vuh, the gods create people out of cornmeal. The people of corn flourished and
built one of the most remarkable cultures in human history.
C

But in Mexico and Central America today maize has come under attack. As a
result of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) Mexico has been flooded

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with imported corn from north of the border in the US. The contamination of native
varieties with genetically modified imported maize could have major consequences for
Mexican campesinos (farmers), for local biodiversity and for the worlds genetic
reserves.

A decade ago Mexican bureaucrats and business people had it all figured out.
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NAFTA would drive uncompetitive maize farmers from the countryside to work in
booming assembly factories across the country. Their standard of living would rise as
the cost of providing services like electricity and water to scattered rural communities
would fall. Best of all, cheap imported maize from the US the worlds most efficient
and most heavily subsidized producer would be a benefit to Mexican consumers.
E

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Unfortunately, it didnt turn out that way. There werent quite enough of those
factory jobs and the ones that did materialize continued to be along the US border, not
further in Mexico. And despite a huge drop in the price farmers received for their corn,
consumers often ended up paying more. The price of tortillas the countrys staple food
rose nearly fivefold as the Government stopped domestic subsidies and giant

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agribusiness firms took over the market. Free trade defenders like Mexicos former
Under-Secretary of Agriculture Luis Tellez suggest: Its not that NAFTA failed, its just
that reality didnt turn out the way we planned it. Part of that reality was that the
Government did nothing to help campesinos in the supposed transition. Nor did NAFTA
recognize inequalities or create compensation funds to help the victims of free trade

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unlike what occurred with economic integration in the European Union.

F

Basically, Mexico adopted a sink-or-swim policy for small farmers, opening the
floodgates to tons of imported US corn. Maize imports tripled under NAFTA and
producer prices fell by half. The drop in income immediately hit the most vulnerable
and poorest members of rural society. While more than a third of the corn grown by

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small farmers is used to feed their families, the rest is sold on local markets. Without
this critical cash, rural living standards plunged.
G

Maize is at the heart of indigenous and campesino identity. Jos Carrillo de la

Cruz, a Huichol Indian from northern Jalisco, describes that relationship: Corn is the
force, the life and the strength of the Huichol. If there were a change, if someone from
outside patented our corn, it would end our life and existence.

The good news is that the free-trade threat to Mexicos culture and food security
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Reading Comprehension Test

has sparked a lively resistance. In Defence of Corn, a movement to protect local

maize varieties, is not a membership organization but a series of forums and actions led
by campesinos themselves. Its a direct challenge to both free trade and the dictums of

50

corporate science.
I

The farmers tenacity and refusal to abandon the crop of their ancestors is
impressive. But larger economic conditions continue to shape their lives. Rural poverty
and hunger have soared under free trade and placed a heavier burden on women left
to work the land. The battle for food sovereignty continues. Movement leaders insist
that the Government reassess its free trade policies and develop a real rural
development programme.

Questions 1 3

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Reading Comprehension Test

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in the Reading Passage 1?
In boxes 1 3 on your answer sheet, write:

YES

if the statement agrees with the information

NO

if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN

if there is no information on this

After NAFTA, a lot of corn from the USA has been sold in Mexico.

The Mexican farmers were paid a lot less for their corn after NAFTA.

Many Mexican farmers wanted to leave Mexico after the Free Trade Agreement.

Questions 4 8
Complete the summary below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 4 8 on your answer sheet.

For thousands of years, corn has been a very important 4 __________ in the Mexican
culture. After the North American Free Trade Agreement, 5 __________corn has been imported
from the USA in very large amounts. Mexican business people hoped that this would mean that
Mexican farmers had to get jobs in factories and that their 6 __________ would increase. Instead
of this result, the farmers suffered from the low price of corn and people had to pay more for
their corn. The farmers wish that the government had 7 __________ them during this time. As a
result of the hardship, the farmers have organised themselves by forming a 8 __________.

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Questions 9 10
Choose the correct answer, A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 9 and 10 on your answer sheet.
9

Based on the sacred book of Mayan _________.

A the gods have built an outstanding culture of corn
B people are made out of cornmeal by the gods, Popol Vuh
C Popol Vuh, the people in Mexico have developed the rise of maize era

10

Which of the following statements is NOT the expected event from the existence of
NAFTA?
A Farmers would get the chance of employment from the increasing factories.
B The low price of imported corn would give benefits to Mexican consumers.
C The fall of the services cost would affect the living standard to maintain.

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READING PASSSAGE 2
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 11 20, which are based on Reading Passage
2 below.

What is music?
A
Music has probably existed for as long as man has been human, and it certainly
predates civilization by tens of millennia. Yet even today there is no clear definition of
exactly what music is. For example, birdsong is certainly melodic, but it is not tuneful,
and it is not created with the intention of being musical (in fact it is sometimes meant to
B

sound threatening) - therefore does it count as music?

On the other hand, some modern composers have been challenging the idea that
music should be arranged in a pleasant manner with the notes falling in an orderly
succession. Others, famously the avant guarde composer John Cage have even used
silence and called the result music. As a result there is no one definition of music.

10

Perhaps it should be said that music, like beauty, is what the person who sees or hears it
C

believes it to be.
Music is divided in many ways. Music itself is split into notes, clefts, quavers,
and semi-demi quavers. Ancient and medieval musicologists believed that these notes
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could be arranged 'horizontally' into melody (making notes that match on the same
scale) and 'vertically' (going up and down the scales to create harmony). Another very
basic measurement of music is the 'pulse'. This is present in almost all forms of music,
D

and is particularly strong in modern popular music. The pulse is the regular beat which

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runs through a tune. When you tap your foot or clap your hands in time to a song, you
are beating out the pulse of that song.
Another way of dividing music is by genre. Even a child who does not know
that (for example) rock and roll and classical music are different genres will be instantly
aware that these are very different sounds; though he will not be aware that one is a

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percussion-led melody while the other emphasizes harmony over rhythm and timbre.
Each genre of music has numerous sub-divisions. Classical music is divided by type
for example symphonies, concertos and operas, and by sub-genre, for example baroque
and Gregorian chant. Just to make it more fun, modern musicians have also been
E

experimenting with crossover music, so that we get Beatles tunes played by classical

30

orchestras, and groups like Queen using operatic themes in songs such as 'Bohemian
rhapsody'.
Almost all music is a collaboration between the composer, and the performer,
while song requires a lyricist to write the words as well. Sometimes old tunes are

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adapted for new lyrics - for example the song 'Happy Birthday' is based on a tune
F

originally called 'Have a nice Day'. At other times a performer might produce a song in
a manner which the original composer would not recognize. (A famous example is the
punk rock band the Sex Pistols performing the British national anthem 'God save the
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Queen'.)
This is because the composer and lyricist have to leave the performer some
freedom to perform in the way that suits him or her best. While many classical
G

compositions have notes stressing how a piece should be performed (for example a
piece played 'con brio' should be light and lively) in the end, what the listener hears is
the work of the performer. Jazz music has fully accepted this, and jazz performers are
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not only expected to put their own interpretation on a piece, but are expected to play
even the same piece with some variation every time.
Many studies of music do not take into account where the music is to be played

50

and who the audience will be. This is a major mistake, as the audience is very much a
part of the musical experience. Any jazz fan will tell you that jazz is best experienced in
small smoky bars some time after midnight, while a classical fan will spend time and
money making sure that the music on his stereo comes as close as possible to the sound
H

in a large concert hall. Some music, such as dance music, is designed to be interactive,
while other music is designed to remain in the background, smoothing out harsh sounds

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and creating a mood. This is often the case with cinema music - this powerfully changes
the mood of the audience, yet remains so much in the background that many
cinemagoers are unaware that the music is actually playing.
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Music is very much a part of human existence, and we are fortunate today in
having music of whatever kind we choose instantly available at the touch of a button.
Yet spare a thought for those who still cannot take advantage of this bounty. This
includes not only the deaf, but those people who are somehow unable to understand or
recognize music when they hear it. A famous example is United President Ulysses
Grant, who famously said 'I can recognise two tunes. One is 'Yankee doodle' and the
other one isn't.'

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Questions 11 15
Reading Passage 2 has eight paragraphs, A H. Which paragraph contains the following
information?
Write the correct letter, A H, in boxes 11 15 on your answer sheet.

Example

Answer

Some people cannot tell the difference between classical music

and birdsong.

11

People can tell genres of music apart even without musical training.

12

Where you hear music can be as important as the skill of the performer.

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Reading Comprehension Test

13

Music has been a part of human existence for many thousands of years.

14

A piece of music might have more than one set of words to go with it.

15

The basic divisions of music can be further discussed based on various arrangement and
measurement.

Questions 16 20
Look at the following groups of words and the list of terms in the box below. Match each group
of words with the correct term.
Write the correct letter, A F, in boxes 16 20 on your answer sheet.

Collaborators

John Cage

Classical

Baroque

Audience

Genres

Pulse

16

Rock and roll, classical music, jazz

17

Composer, lyricist, performer

18

Symphony, concerto, opera

19

Cinemagoer, jazz fan, dancer

20

Beat, tune, modern music

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READING PASSSAGE 3
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 21 30, which are based on Reading Passage
3 below.

HOW LOCK PICKING WORKS

Section A
Lock picking is an essential skill for locksmiths because it lets them get past a
lock without destroying it. When you lock yourself out of your house or lose your key, a
locksmith can let you back in very easily.
Lock-picking skills are not particularly common among burglars, mainly

because there are so many other, simpler ways of breaking into house (throwing a brick
through a back window, for example).For the most part, only intruders who need to cover
their tracks, such as spies and detectives, will bother to pick a lock.
Simply understanding the principles of lock picking may change your whole
attitude toward locks and keys. Lock picking clearly demonstrates that normal locks are

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not infallible devices. They provide a level of security that can be breached with minimal
effort. With the right tools, a determined intruder can break into almost anything.
Section B
Locksmiths define lock-picking as the manipulation of a locks components to
open a lock without a key. To understand lock-picking, then, you first have to know how

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locks and keys work.

Think about the normal deadbolt lock you might find on a front door. In this
sort of lock, a movable bolt or latch is embedded in the door so it can be extended out to
the side. This bolt is lined up with a notch in the frame. When you turn the lock, the bolt
extends into the notch in the frame, so the door cannot move. When you retract the bolt,
the door moves freely. The locks only job is to make it simple for someone with a key to
move the bolt but difficult for someone without a key to move it.

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Section C
The most widely-used lock design is the cylinder lock. In this kind, the key turns
a cylinder in the middle of the lock, which turns the attached mechanism. When the

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cylinder is turned one way, the mechanism pulls in on the bolt and the door can open.
When the cylinder turns the other way, the mechanism releases the bolt so the door
cannot open.
One of the most common cylinder locks is the pin design. Its main components
are the housing (the outer part of the lock which does not move), the central cylinder,

30

several vertical shafts that run down from the housing into the cylinder. Inside these
shafts are pairs of metal pins of varying length, held in position by small springs.
Without the key, the pins are partly in the housing and partly in the cylinder, so
that the mechanism cannot turn and the lock, therefore cannot open. When you put the
correct key into the cylinder, the notches in the key push each pair of pins up just enough

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so that the top pin is completely in the housing and the bottom pin is entirely in the
cylinder. It now turns freely, and you can open the lock.
Section D
To pick a pin lock, you simply move each pin pair into the correct position, one by
one. There are two main tools used in the picking process.

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Picks: long, thin pieces of metal that curve up at the end (like a dentists pick).
A tension wrench: the simplest sort of tension wrench is a thin screwdriver.
The first step in picking a lock is to insert the tension wrench into the keyhole and
turn it in the same direction that you would turn the key. This turns the cylinder so that it
is slightly offset from the housing around it, creating a slight ledge in the pin shafts.

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While applying pressure on the cylinder, you slide the pick into the keyhole and
begin lifting the pins. The object is to lift each pin pair up to the level at which the top pin
moves completely into the housing, as if pushed by the correct key.
When you do this while applying pressure with the tension wrench, you feel or
hear a slight click when the pin falls into position. This is the sound of the upper pin
falling into place on the ledge in the shaft. The ledge keeps the upper pin wedged in the
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housing, so it would not fall back down into the cylinder. In this way, you move each pin
pair into the correct position until all the upper pins are pushed completely into the
housing and all the lower pins rest inside the cylinder. At this point, the cylinder rotates
freely and you can open the lock.

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Section E
You will find pin locks everywhere, from houses to padlocks. They are so popular
because they are relatively inexpensive but offer moderate security. Another common
type of cylinder lock is the wafer lock. These work the same basic way as pin locks, but
they have flat, thin pieces of metal called wafers rather than pins. You pick the wafers

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exactly the same way you pick pins. In fact, it is a little bit easier to pick wafer locks
because the keyhole is wider. Despite giving relatively low security. These locks are
found in most cars.
Tubular locks provide superior protection to pin and wafer locks, but they are also
more expensive. Instead of one row of pins, tubular locks have pins positioned all the way 65
around the circumference of the cylinder. This makes them much harder to pick.
Conventional lock-picking techniques do not usually work on this type of lock, which is
why they are often found on vending machines.
Source: Taken from www.science. howstuffworks.com/lockpicking

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Reading Comprehension Test

Questions 21 25
This reading passage has five sections A-E.
Choose the most suitable headings for the sections A-E from the list of heading below.
Write the correct number i x in boxes 21 25 on your answer sheet.
List of headings
i How to make the locks in your home more secure
ii How to open a lock without a key
iii Choosing the right tools to open locks
iv The cylinder and the bolt
v How to open a lock with a different key
vi Lock varieties
vii How a basic deadbolt system works
viii The people who open locks without a key
ix How a cylinder lock works
x How to pick different kinds of lock

2
1

Section A

2
2

Section B

2
3

Section C

2
4

Section D

2
5

Section E

Questions 26 28
Complete the table below. Choose NOT MORE
THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for

each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 26 28 on your answer sheet.
Type of lock

How secure?

Where used?

Pin

26 ___________________

Houses, padlocks, etc

27 ________________

Relatively low security

Most cars

Tubular

Superior protection
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28 _______________________

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Reading Comprehension Test

Questions 29 30
Complete the notes below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS FROM the passage for each answer.
Write your answer in the boxes 29 30 on your answer sheet.
Picking a lock
Turn cylinder tightly using a tension wrench.
Hold cylinder still and insert 29 ___________________.
Push top pin into shaft.
Hold top pin above cylinder, on 30 _____________________.
Lift and hold all other pins in same way.
Turn cylinder and open lock.

READING PASSSAGE 4
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 31 40, which are based on Reading Passage
4 below.

UNMASKING SKIN
A

If you took off your skin and laid it flat, it would cover an area of about twentyone square feet, making it by far the bodys largest organ. Draped in place over our
bodies, skin forms the barrier between what is inside us and what is outside. It protects
us from a multitude of external forces. It serves as an avenue to our most intimate
physical and psychological selves.

5
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This impervious yet permeable barrier, less than a millimetre thick in places, is
composed of three layers. The outermost layer is the bloodless epidermis. The dermis
includes collagen, elastin, and nerve endings. The innermost layer, subcutaneous fat,
contains tissue that acts as an energy source, cushion and insulator for the body.

From these familiar characteristics of skin emerge the profound mysteries of

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touch, arguably our most essential source of sensory stimulation. We can live without
seeing or hearing - in fact, without any of our other senses. But babies born without
effective nerve connections between skin and brain can fail to thrive and may even die.
D

Laboratory experiments decades ago, now considered unethical and inhumane,

kept baby monkeys from being touched by their mothers. It made no difference that the

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babies could see, hear and smell their mothers; without touching, the babies became
apathetic, and failed to progress.
E

For humans, insufficient touching in early years can have lifelong results. In
touching cultures, adult aggression is low, whereas in cultures where touch is limited,
adult aggression is high, writes Tiffany Field, director of the Touch Research Institutes

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at the University of Miami School Of Medicine. Studies of a variety of cultures show a

correspondence between high rates of physical affection in childhood and low rates of
adult physical violence.

While the effects of touching are easy to understand, the mechanics of it are less
so. Your skin has millions of nerve cells if various shapes at different depths, explains

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Stanley Bolanowski, a neuroscientist and associate director of the Institutes for Sensory
Research at Syracuse University. When the nerve cells are stimulated, physical energy
is transformed into energy used by the nervous system and passed from the skin to the
spinal cord and brain. It is called transduction, and no one knows exactly how it takes
place. Suffice it to say that the process involves the intricate, split-second operation of
a complex system of signals between neurons in the skin and brain.
G

This is starting to sound very confusing until Bolanowski says: In simple terms
people perceive three basic things via skin: pressure, temperature, and pain. And then I
am sure he is wrong. When I get wet, my skin feels wet, I protest. Close your eyes
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and lean back, says Bolsnowski.

H

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Something cold and wet is on my forehead so wet, in fact, that I wait for water
to start dripping down my cheeks. Open your eyes, Bolanowski says, showing me that
the sensation comes from a chilled, but dry, metal cylinder. The combination of pressure
and cold, he explains, is what makes my skin perceive wetness. He gives me a surgical
glove to put on and has me put a finger in a glass of cold water. My finger feels wet,

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even though I have visual proof that it is not touching water. My skin, which seemed so
reliable, has been deceiving me my entire life. When I shower or wash my hands, I now
realize, my skin feels pressure and temperature. It is my brain that says I feel wet.
Perceptions of pressure, temperature, and pain manifest themselves in many
I

different ways. Gentle stimulation of pressure receptors can result in ticklishness; gentle
stimulation of pain receptors, in itching. Both sensations arise from a neurological
transmission, not from something that physically exists. Skin, I am realizing, is under
constant assault, both from within the body and from forces outside.
Source: Taken from National Geographic

Questions 31 34
This reading passage has 9 paragraphs A I
Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A I in boxes 31 34 on your answer sheet.
3 The features of human skin, on and below the surface
1
3 An experiment in which the writer can see what is happening
2
3 Cruel research methods used in the past
3
3 Advice on how you can avoid damage to the skin
4
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Questions 35 36
Choose the correct answer.
Write your answer in boxes 35 36 on your answer sheet.
35

36

How does a lack of affectionate touching affect children?

A

It makes them apathetic.

They are more likely to become violent adults.

They will be less aggressive when they grow up.

We do not really know.

After the wetness experiments, the writer says that

A

his skin is not normal.

his skin was wet when it felt wet.

he knew why it felt wet when it was dry.

the experiments taught him nothing new.

Questions 37 40
Complete each sentence with the correct ending A I from the box below.
Write the correct letter A I in boxes 38 40 on your answer sheet.
A

because it is both cold and painful.

because the outer layer of the skin can mend itself.

because it can be extremely thin.

because there is light pressure on the skin.

Touch isweunique
fivetosenses
E3 because
do not among
need thethe
others
survive.
F7 because there is a good blood supply to the skin.
G3 because
of a small
of pain.
A substance
mayamount
feel wet
H8 because there is a low temperature and pressure.
I 3 because
it is hurting
a lot.
Something
may tickle
J 9 because all humans are capable of experiencing20
it

4 The skin may itch

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END OF QUESTION PAPER

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