Cooking with fire

People have probably used fire to cook food for (0).......... as long as they have lived on Earth. People would always have been (1).......... of fire because they had seen fires start naturally under the hot sun or when lightning (2).......... a tree. We can (3).......... that the first people to make their own fires did so by taking burning wood from one of these natural fires. People then (4) .......... out how to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together. There was a great (5).......... of wood available at the time, so this (6) .......... people to cook their food on large outdoor fires.

It was probably the cold during the last Ice Age about 20,000 years ago which encouraged people to build fires inside, to keep their caves warm. When people started living in houses in villages and wood became more (7).........., they built ovens. These needed less wood, so people were able to make sure their supplies (8)........... . Our ovens today use the same basic idea but look very
different.

Unusual new bookstore

A new bookstore opened a (0).............. months ago in Japan. Those accustomed to browsing through thousands of books in large bookshops (9).......... likely to find this new store strange. That's (10).......... this tiny bookstore stocks copies of only a single title at a time.

The store owner began his career (11)............ a sales assistant in a traditional bookshop. (12)............ was while he was there that he realised customers usually came into the store with just one title in mind. So he began to wonder (13)............. a store could exist by selling just one title. He decided to give it (14)............. try. At his new store, the selected book changes weekly. The shop is decorated simply with a white table in the centre of the room, but he often adds something else. For example, when selling a book about botany, he decorated the shop with flowers which had been mentioned in the book.

The idea might seem risky, but things appear to (15)............. going well. Apparently over 2,100 books have been sold (16)............... the store opened.

Camels

Camels are well known for their (0)............ to manage without water for several days. They also travel long (17)............. in the desert with little to eat. They can do this thanks to the humps on their backs, which they use very (18)........... Because of the conditions in the desert, few animals can stay alive there. (19)................ other ther large mammals, though, camels  can. Their humps store enormous amounts of fat, which is converted into water and energy, ensuring their (20)..............

Camels have another extremely useful (21)................ which helps them endure the difficulties of their (22)............. environment: they sweat very little, even when exposed to  (23).............. high temperatures.

There are two main types of camel: Bactrian camels, with two humps, and Arabiancamels, with one. There are no wild Arabian camels left, and wild Bactrian camels are at risk of extinction. But humans have made use of their (24)................and stamina to transport heavy loads for 6,000 years, so at least the future of working camels is secure.

Reading and use of English

Part 4

For question 25—30, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given.

Do not change the word given. You must use between two and five words, including the word given. Here is an example (O).

Example:

0. Prizes are given out when the school year finishes.

PLACE

Prize-giving ......................... end of the school year.

The gap can be filled by the words 'takes place at the'.

25. I invented an excuse because I didn't want to play tennis.

MADE

I didn't want to play tennis....................................................... a reason not to.

26. I think you should ask the teacher for help with this homework.

WERE

If .................................................. ask the teacher for help with this homework.

27. The sportswear shop didn't have any more of the new football shirts yesterday.

RAN

The sportswear shop......................................................... the new football shirts yesterday.

28. One of my father's cousins is a famous actor.

WHO

My father ....................................... is a famous actor.

29. I'm sure Jenny was excited to see her old friends again.

MUST

It .................................... for Jenny to see her old friends again.

30. ’I'm really sorry I forgot to bring your book back,’ said Annie.

REMEMBERING

Annie apologised for .................................. bring back my book. 

New city, new school

'You must be Olivia,’ he said. She saw his shoes first. ‘It is Olivia, isn't it?’ The boy moved his weight uncertainly from one shoe to the other. ‘My name's Miles.’ Olivia Larsen uncrossed her arms and sat up. Had she been sleeping? She remembered finding a hidden spot on the grass by the double-wide doors of Golden Gate School just as the bell was ringing for lunch. She remembered staring at the sidewalk, watching her new classmates as they walked in and out. But she could tell by the way Miles was looking at her, with an awkward little half-smile, that he'd been standing there for a while.

Olivia stood up, feeling her jeans for patches of dirt. That was all she needed: to be paraded around on her first day of school with wet brown marks all over her trousers. ‘I'm supposed to give you a tour,’ Miles said. ‘Our moms work together, right?’ He held one hand out for her to shake and then quickly pulled it back, as if he'd accidentally touched something hot. ‘Are you okay?’ Olivia tried to nod, but an enormous yawn stretched her mouth wide open, her eyes squeezing shut. She hadn't had a solid night's sleep since her family had arrived in San Francisco a few days before. Strange, new city sounds were keeping her awake. ‘You must be exhausted,’ Miles said.

Olivia swung her ancient backpack over one shoulder. She almost hadn't brought it — what was the point of a book bag when you didn't yet have any books? But it was the same bag she'd carried to school every day since the beginning of seventh grade, navy blue with faded nylon straps, and it reminded her of home.

‘We can do this another time, if you want,’ Miles said, shoving his hands into the pockets of his dark green corduroy pants. ‘No,’ Olivia said quickly, feeling bad. It wasn't his fault their moms worked at the same law firm downtown and had arranged for him to show her around at lunch. ‘I'll be fine.’ Miles took his hands out of his pockets. ‘Okay,’ he said,’so are you ready for the grand tour?’

Olivia followed Miles around the corner and through a narrow, dark corridor. ‘The school's not so bad once you get used to the place,’ Miles said. Olivia nodded, her legs stiff and her black boots heavy as she struggled to keep up. ‘Speaking of which,’ Miles said, ‘what are you doing here, anyway?’ Olivia felt a familiar red stain spreading across her face and neck. She was used to the fact that she wore her emotions for all to see, and arranged her blond hair so that it fell over one shoulder, hoping to hide her blushing face. ‘Er, sorry,’ Miles said quickly, cringing at his clumsy attempt at conversation, ‘that sounded way kinder in my head. It's just that we don't usually get anybody new this late in the term, and all my mom told me is that you moved. She didn't say where from.’

‘Boston,’ Olivia offered. ‘Wow,’ Miles said, ‘you didn't drive all the way over from Boston to San Francisco, did you?’ ‘No,’ Olivia said a little too (line 61) loudly, recoiling at the idea of a road trip with her parents across the United States. They weren't exactly the kind of family who amused themselves with word games and car songs. ‘We flew in over the weekend so my mom could start at work,’ she explained. ‘I guess they made her an offer that was too good to refuse.’ ‘Right,’ Miles said, with a careful nod that said he guessed she wasn't letting on about everything. ‘It was certainly too far for her to travel to work every day,’ Olivia added, smiling as he pushed through another set of thick glass doors and led them outside.

My city

College student, James Coleman, describes how his love of architecture photography has changed the may he sees his city

I love roaming around a city I've never been to before. It's just so different to wandering around the place where you live. And as it's all new and unfamiliar, I tend to focus much more on everything around me, especially the key sights of the city.

On the other hand, I've always assumed I know the city I live in so well that I barely pay any attention to it. I guess I just feel I know every last detail of every building threw up around most of them, after all.(37)………….. But recently, I've begun to wonder how much I really know about the place. Is what I know really that interesting, or nothing more than a means of navigating my way to college or to my favourite café?

My dad's an architect and it's from him that I originally got my interest in photography and architecture. It's mainly because of this interest that I've begun to feel I've been walking around my city with my eyes shut! I see it in a whole new light, and my attitude has completely changed. (38)………...... Now I make a point of walking around the commercial district of my city, which is just this amazing mass of state-of-the-art steel and glass constructions.

But the big thing for me is to find striking buildings and unusual views that will make good photos. I'm constantly looking up to catch sight of traditional buildings that have remained relatively unchanged.  (39)………….. I've even been on guided tours with my dad to learn about some of these places. It's been fascinating!

I'm ashamed to admit, however, that even though my dad's an architect, I have absolutely no clue about the technical details of architecture, the names of building styles and so on. (40)…...……… I'm always on the lookout for buildings I find visually appealing. And luckily, I get the chance to look at a few of my favourites when I'm walking to college.

Photography has definitely brought me closer to my city, but I've also found my pictures can actually turn it into something quite abstract — so much so that you can t always identify it from the images! (41)……..…….. That's because I sometimes try to get the place to look more futuristic than it is, or the buildings to seem bigger.

I've learned that by photographing architecture, you get to discover loads about your own city. But I also try to encourage other people to see things differently. (42)..…………..There's far more to photographing a city than just documenting buildings. I think that what I'm really trying to do is to create an abstract portrait of my city.

It can sometimes be a good idea to do nothing!

Studies showthat in our increosingly best-paced files it is important to have periode of doing nothing

A. The idea that doing nothing is a skill that can be learned might seem bewildering at Surely, its just a question of stopping doing anything else? Yet that's far easier said than done. It's long been recognised that constantly doing things can be a kind of compulsion, an addiction not acknowledged as such only because society praises us for it. Indeed, learning how to do nothing might be the most vital skill for thriving in our intense, overwhelming, always-connected world. But despite appearances, you're always doing something — even if you're just savouring the pleasures of idleness. To psychologists, such savouring is far from passive: it's a learnable set of skills for relishing the moment, for example, by focusing on each of your senses in turn. What's usually meant by doing nothing is actually doing nothing useful. And usefulness is intrinsically future-oriented: it yanks you from the moment you're in, making appreciation of that moment impossible. So perhaps doing nothing is synonymous with feeling alive.

B. There are good reasöns why so many celebrated authors and artists incorporate long walks into their daily routines. One is the well-studied incubation effect: ceasing to focus on a project seems to give your unconscious mind permission to get to work. In a recent study, people who expected to be returning to a mentally challenging task after stopping for a IittIe while did much better at it when they resumed, unlike those who weren't expecting to return to the task — suggesting that it was unconscious processing, not simply taking a rest, that made the difference. Other studies looking at boredom have suggested it motivates people to find interesting ways to alleviate it — thereby triggering innovative thoughts. Moreover, aimless reflection combats the tunnel vision that can result from focusing exclusively on goals. When youve no end in mind, you're less likely to exclude new ideas as irrelevant.

C. We constantly confuse effort with productivity. A day spent on trifling tasks feels exhausting and virtuous, so we assume, often wrongly, it must have been worthwhile. We ve traditionally assumed that the way to get more done is to push ourselves, or others, to keep going for longer. But neuroscientists are increasingly finding that our brains depend on downtime. It helps us not only to recharge our batteries, but to deal with data, to consolidate memory and reinforce learning by strengthening the brain's neural pathways. In one study, brain imaging suggested that people faced with a strange task — controlling a computer joystick that didn't obey the usual rules — were actively coming to grips with learning how to do this during seemingly passive rest periods.

D. Doing nothing isn't easy: resisting the urge to do things takes willpower. According to the meditation instructor Sarah Rivers, ‘Busyness can be seen as a form of laziness. Its a failure to with hold your attention from whatever random email, task or webpage lays claim to it.’ The challenge has never been harder: modern life, especially online, is a battle for your attention. But the good news is that learning to do nothing will help you retake control of your attention at other times too. One trick is to schedule time in which you do nothing, just as you'd schedule tasks. Just don't expect others to understand when you decline some social event on the grounds that you're busy not being busy.

In which section does the writer....