Magic paper?

Scientists have (0).............. with a new type of paper that can be printed on and then used again up to 20 times. Users will be able to either remove the writing from the paper themselves, or (1)............. it to disappear over a period of time, after which the paper will be completely blank and ready to be printed on again.

There is no significant change in quality between the first and the twentieth printout. Under normal (2)................ it seems that the writing will remain perfectly (3)................ for at least three days, long enough for most  (4)................... purposes.

This new process does not (5).................... ink. Instead, the paper is printed on using a combination of chemicals and light. If users want the print to dlsappear more quickly, they can apply heat to the paper. This can take as little as ten minutes. The (6).......................  is that in the future this paper will be (7).......................  used, providing an environmentally friendly (8)..................... to ordinary paper.

The Freedom Ship

 Imagine the largest ship you've ever seen, then try to imagine (0).................. far bigger. In fact, try to imagine a ship (9)..................... size of a small island and big (10)................... to provide a permanent home for around 40,000 residents. Imagine this ship circling the globe once every two years, spending 70% of the time close to major cities and the rest following the warm weather as  (11)................. sails between countries.

This was the aim of the designers of the Freedom Ship, (12).................... dream it was to create a vast floating city, complete (13)................... hospitals, schools, shops and even an airport. First proposed in 1994, it has been advertised as a new way of living, a unique lifestyle in a global community (14).................... suit all budgets. 

However, such an elaborate plan comes at an extremely high price. (15)....................... a result, the designers have been unable to (16)....................... their exciting ideas into practice. But who can tell what possibilities the future holds?

New Yorkers jump on giant bed

In New York, a man decided to make a video to raise (0).............. for a children's charity. His (17)............... was also to spread joy in a city which sometimes has a reputation for being cold and (18)............. .

So he transported a giant bed around town and encouraged his fellow  (19)...............  to jump on it, when watched with (20)............... as large numbers of people did. Those who were more  (21)............ started to see which of their friends could jump the highest in preference to just jumping up and down. 

His first thought had been just to use a mattress, but then a friend built a proper frame with the (22).............. to support six adults jumping around at the same time. He was afraid of getting a negative  (23).............. from some people who would think the idea was silly and  (24).............. and refuse to do it. Most people who tried it, however, said the experience was really enjoyable and that they'd happily do it again!

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. A very friendly taki driver drove us into town.

DRIVEN

We ......................... a very friendly taxi driver.

The gap can be filled by the words 'were driven into town by'.

25. I think I can come to your party after all.

SHOULD

I ........................................................ to your party after all.

26. Last year, the number of complaints about the leisure centre rose.

INCREASE

Last year, there ........................................................ the number of complaints about the leisure centre.

27. Marta always starts to talk about something else when I try to discuss the history project with her.

SUBJECT

Marta changes ........................................................ time I try to discuss the history project with her.

28.There will be bikes available for you to use during the school trip.

DISPOSAL

There will be bikes ........................................................ during the school trip.

29.My geography teacher expects a lot from us, so I'm working hard on this project.

EXPECTATIONS

My geography teacher ........................................................ of us, so I'm working hard on this project.

30. Sorry, I completely forgot the time so I missed the bus.

REALISE

Sorry, I ........................................................ the time was so I missed the bus.

A special astronomy club

A group of US teenagers study the night sky.

The teenage members of the Earth to Sky Calculus Club live in and around Bishop, a mountain town in the USA surrounded almost entirely by wilderness, to the east or the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Over the last few years, this isolated group has launched over 50 balloons to the edge of space, around 35 km above the Earth's surface. It's a long-running science project but with a bit of a twist: it's part astronomy experiment, part backcountry adventure, which is possibly why teenagers get involved. I join them one weekend in late spring. They are about to release a high-altitude balloon, hoping to record shooting stars. These occur when a rock or piece of metal travelling through space enters the Earth's atmosphere, producing a trail of light.

As it gets dark, the teenagers secure a soft insulated $5 lunch box to the bottom of the balloon. Inside is a camera, an instrument to measure altitude and a thermometer to gauge the changes along the ascent. Two GPS trackers are mounted on the outside of the lunch box to help the group to find it later. A gas tank, donated by an enthusiast in a neighbouring state, is used to inflate the balloon, which slowly grows to the size of a small car. An older boy had (line 29) made a seven-hour round trip to get hold of it. ‘I didn't really mind,’ he says. Anyway, for kids in this club, that's a given.

Finally, it's time for lift-oft. ‘Five, four, three, two, one,’ they chant, and the balloon begins its ascent. Some of them run and track its path with powerful flashlights for as long as they are able, illuminating the creamy orb in the moonless sky. There is quiet, and a palpable sense of collective wonder. Then the balloon disappears into the night. 

When the launch is over, most of the students go home, but a few stay to watch the shooting stars. A boy climbs into a sleeping bag and promptly falls asleep. ‘We're the only ones talking,’ says one girl in hushed tones. ‘I know, whispers another. A meteor shoots across the middle of the sky.

As a balloon rises, the air pressure lessens and the balloon expands until it's almost the size of a house. Then it pops in a dramatic explosion. A parachute helps the equipment inside the lunch box land safely back on Earth. The students will find it the following day, using the GPS trackers as a guide. Getting it back isn't straightforward, but that's part of the appeal. There is little inhabited land around Bishop, so the lunch box almost always lands somewhere in the middle of nowhere. ‘To me, recoveries are a huge part or the program,’ said the group's leader, who notes they've lost only two lunch boxes in 53 launches. ‘Part of the journey has been becoming more familiar with this landscape in a way you never normally would.’

On this occasion, the lunch box had landed 84 km west of Bishop, but to get to it, the recovery team would have to drive south of the Sierra and then back up the western side of the mountain range. Then they'd have to agree whether driving or walking would be preferable (line 58) — things could turn treacherous if the lunch  box was on a high peak, or even worse, up a very tall tree. ‘It's important to keep in mind that these students are native to the Eastern Sierra,’ their leader says. ‘What may seem wild and perilous to some, is simply a way of life to others.

In the end, it took them 11 hours to find the lunch box. It was in a canyon, high on a flat rock, in the middle of a cascading waterfall. The camera hadn't recorded any shooting stars. Sure, it's a bit of a disappointment, but it's one more tale of adventure to share with anyone who asks.

For questions 31 – 36, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

CIevex seals

Scientists believe some seals haue discovered a new may to hunt for fish.

Tiny electronic devices attached to wild animals have become an increasingly common way for scientists to study those that are difficult to locate and follow on a day-to-day basis. The devices, known as acoustic tags', send out signals in the form of sound waves that the human ear cannot hear. The animals to which they are attached cannot hear them either, so are not disturbed by them. However, now it seems that clever seals are using them to their advantage to catch fish!

This finding was revealed in a recent study published by a team of researchers from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.  (37)………….. Previous research by another team had also indicated that while the sounds produced by acoustic tags could not be heard by the fish they were attached to other  animals that hunted the fish, like seals and sea lions, were able to detect the signal quite easily.

To verify if that was true, the St. Andrews University researchers selected a group of ten young grey seals that had been born in captivity and never lived in the wild. This meant that the marine animals had never encountered the ocean. (38)………...... The researchers placed the seals one at a time inside a pool that contained 20 boxes, only two of which contained fish —one with tags and the other without.

Choose from the sentences A – G the one which fits each gap (37 – 42). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Each seal was allowed to enter the pool on a number of occasions to explore the boxes. In order to ensure that the seals were not depending on their memory, the fish were randomly moved to different boxes each time. There was initially no difference in the amount of time it took the seals to discover the tagged and untagged fish. (39)………….. 

What was even more interesting was that the more experienced the seals became, the more frequently they visited the box containing the tagged fish. (40)…...………  To confirm that the animals were in fact making use of the tags, the researchers conducted a second experiment using two boxes — one containing pieces of fish and the other just acoustic tags.(41)……..…….. 

While this experiment involved only seals, the researchers believe that other marine mammals may also be using the information to avoid predators. They are worried that sharks, for example, which have been tagged by scientists may be negatively affected, as the signals emitted by the acoustic tags could warn smaller animals or their presence and so prevent the sharks from catching their prey. Apart from messing up nature's food chain, another potential concern relating to the use of acoustic tags has arisen. (42)..………….. Now that the secret is out, scientists will have to come up with another innovative way to conduct their studies — one that cannot be detected by clever marine animals.

Football matches

A. Phoebe

It would have been impossible for a 10-year- old taken to the football stadium every other weekend, as I was, not to get sucked in by the atmosphere in the stands and out on the pitch. And to stand among the crowd of spectators was like being welcomed into one great big family. There was a heightened sense of glamour, too, as we had a player in our team who'd also played internationally. To me, he seemed to have been sent from another universe. Anyway, at least 1 got to witness some of the club's glory years, even though my first match was a whole two seasons after they'd won a major cup. Still, plenty of great memories — luckily, because the club hasn't done so well in recent years.

B. Mark

I've been going to football matches ever since I was about six. When I think back, 1 can't remember the player's names so well, but I do remember that our best goal scorer, when I first started going, was a tall agile guy who'd just curl the ball into the back of the net. On one occasion he slammed it into the goal from 40 metres away before the goalkeeper even had time to raise his hands. I've never seen a better goal since, although I only got a really good view of it because my dad led us up the wrong steps in the stand, after the half-time break. It was followed by the best celebration: a fantastic pointing-at-the-skies moment. We won 2-1 but, to be honest, after that amazing spectacle, nothing else really mattered. Dad bought me a celebratory burger on the way home.

C. Thomas

The first time I went to a football match was quite an experience. The club I supported had just knocked out the favourites from a national tournament, and every time I turned on the radio I heard our captain telling the press that the cup was as good as ours. There were 40,000 people packed into the stadium, but it was seeing the floodlit grounds below from the top of the steeply arranged seats that stuck in my mind. That was the moment I really fell in love with football. And then they kicked off. My team lost — a word combination I quickly got used to. That time it was due to one brilliant player scoring from 25 metres. Then his second goal went in and the final score was 2-1 to them. lt was still amazing as far as I was concerned.

D. Teresa

On my first ever visit to the stadium, my team were playing on a muddy pitch that got worse as the rain kept falling. But that didn't put one player off — a teenager who'd recently come up from the youth team and later went on to achieve great lame. He scored our only goal in the final minutes. I vaguely recall the ball bouncing over the goalkeeper, who'd come out to the edge of his area. He ran back and dived for it but slipped in the mud and couldn't keep it out of the net. The weather was so bad, the teenager could barely see what had happened and didn't realise at first that he'd actually scored. So there we go —pouring rain, muddy pitch, 5-1 defeat for my team, got soaked. And I still decided to support them!

Which person....