Modelo Examen 6 – Reading

Part 1

Read the following text, then read the five statements. Some of these statements are true according to the text, some of them are false. Write T for True or F for False in the box next to each statement.

Flowers have long been symbols of love and caring. People send them to express sympathy, to apologise, or just wish someone well. But today, floriculture – the growing and selling of flowers – is very big business, worth £2.2 billion a year in the UK alone. The majority of the cut-flowers sold there are imported, these days mostly from countries such as Colombia and Kenya. The Netherlands is the traditional centre of flower production in Europe, and remains a major supplier of flowers. In recent years, however, as labour and production costs have soared, attention there has shifted from flower production to flower trading. Meanwhile, the Kenyan cut-flower industry has grown rapidly, and now provides a vital income for around two million people. It is the country’s largest agricultural foreign exchange earner after tea, producing £165 million annually.

For the environmentally conscious, it might seem wasteful that a commodity such as flowers should travel halfway around the world before arriving at a supermarket or florist shop. Just as some environmentalists say that it’s better to buy fruit and vegetables grown locally, some also advocate the buying of locally-grown flowers. Thanks to globalisation, however, the UK cut-flower industry now supplies just ten per cent of the country’s needs. Twenty years ago it was more like half. What’s more, it is suggested that reversing this trend would actually have serious environmental consequences. 

Research published in 2006 by Cranfield University in the UK showed that the production of Kenyan flowers, including delivery by air freight and truck, resulted in a carbon footprint nearly six times smaller than that caused by the production of Dutch flowers. Kenya has optimal growing conditions and the warm African sun provides heat and light, whereas growers in the Netherlands and other developed countries require significant inputs of gas and electricity to grow flowers year-round in artificial climate-controlled environments. But there are other environmental factors to consider. A vast range of pesticides, fertilisers and fumigants are used in producing cut flowers. Lake Naivasha, the centre of Kenya’s flower industry, is the ideal place to grow roses, thanks to its high altitude and abundant sunlight and water.

However, environmental damage has resulted from the development that has followed in the wake of floriculture. Lake Naivasha itself has shrunk to half its original size, with water levels dropping by three metres, fish catches falling and the native hippopotamus feeling the effects of pollution. Meanwhile, transporting flowers over long distances poses its own set of challenges. Roses, for example, have to be shipped by air rather than sea because they require constant refrigeration and wilt quickly. Transporting other types of flowers by sea can also be tricky compared to air freight. Demand is difficult to predict, which means entire shipping containers can seldom be filled with a single species, but mixing flowers is often inadvisable because some varieties emit gases that spoil others. One strategy is to opt for heartier breeds such as carnations and lilies which are easier to ship and require less refrigeration than roses.

1. In recent years, cut flowers have become more expensive to grow in the Netherlands.

2. Flowers represent Kenya’s most valuable agricultural export.

3. The UK has seen a marked decline in the proportion of locally-grown cut flowers on sale.

4. The Cranfield study concentrated on the environmental effects of transporting cut flowers. 

5. Supplies of some local food items have been affected by the impact of floriculture around Lake Naivasha.

6. Transporting cut flowers by sea is generally more successful than using other means of transport.

Part 2

Read the text and fill the gaps with the correct sentences A-H. Write the letter of the missing sentence in the box in the gap. There are two extra sentences you will not need.

A) The young fellow is eager to fight the system. “We live in a rotten society that diminishes disabled people”.

B) After leaving the army, he felt he wanted to do some sort of charity work, and when he heard that the British charity, the HALO Trust – which specialises in mine clearance – wanted an army officer with agricultural and command experience, he was keen to get involved. It was while clearing mines in Cambodia that he was abducted by the Khmer Rouge, an experience which, not surprisingly, had a profound effect on him.

C) He is also keen to challenge the concept of the disabled scrapheap. «Lots of disabled people are much better at what they do than able bodied people. We need to look at what people can do rather than what they can’t and have a fully integrated society.»

D) At present, Chris runs a company he set up to help clients solve problems in human resources and security management. He has called it Making The Best (MTB).

E) Not that he’s totally downhearted. «It’s statistically proven that those people who leave money to charity live three years longer than those who don’t.» Sounds good to me. Now, where’s my will?

F) The things he learned from this experience helped him to survive when he was blown up by a mine two years later, while walking in a supposedly clear area in Mozambique. He lost his lower right arm and leg, but does not consider himself a victim. He accepts responsibility because he chose to work in mined areas.

G) However, what disabled people despise the most is, undoubtedly, victim mentality.

H) After completing the degree he had plenty of job offers but felt he wanted to keep the focus on charity work. He was invited to speak at a large number of conferences and also found that friends with their own companies were asking him to talk to their employees about dealing with change.

The Making of a Hero

Part 3

Read the four texts below. There are eight questions about the texts. Decide which text (A, B, C or D) tells you the answer to the question. The first one is done for you.

2) say that in this city you can watch a film in the fresh air.

3) holds that you can watch professionals fighting.

Which text is saying the following?

4) The chance is to make a long-term investment.

5) You can get an interesting allowance.

6) Music in a religious building

7) An exotic taste will be displayed this year.

Part 4

Read the article and answer the questions. Write a maximum of five words for each answer.

DEFORESTATION

A recent report from the United Nations indicates that the world’s tropical forests are vanishing faster than previously thought. Up to 50 million acres a year are disappearing, almost the area of West Germany, 50 per cent more than expected. The World Resources Institute, which compiled the report, says that the rising rate of deforestation was «a tragedy for the biological richness of the earth and an ominous signal for the climatic conditions of the future.» About 100 forest species become extinct every day, with irreparable loss of part of the world’s genetic resources. The report says that deforestation accounts for a third of the world’s emissions of carbon dioxide, the biggest cause of global warming. 

The loss of the forests is largely the result of overpopulation. Hungry landless masses in Asia compete with commercial logging for the available resources. At the moment, the landless masses are winning. The overwhelming bulk of the wood and timber of tropical forests is burnt where it stands. Of that which is extracted, only 17 per cent goes for industrial use. The rest is used for firewood. The concept of natural forest as spare land ready for agriculture is predominant. It is the central reality of the deforestation crisis. In 1988, 60 million acres of Rondonia in the Brazilian Amazon was burnt for grazing and cropland. Billions of dollars worth of timber went up in smoke, wasted because there was no ready economic market for it. The forest was seen to have more value as agricultural land than as standing forests to be harvested. 

Just how bad the situation is can be revealed by satellite photograph. Such a photograph of the Amazon basin will reveal hundreds of points of light stretching from Bolivia to the Atlantic. Each point of light indicates a man-made forest fire at least half a mile wide. In 1988 and 1989, there were at least 15,000 such fires which meant that Brazil sent half as much carbon into the atmosphere as Japan. 

The head of Brazil’s environment institute points out: «It’s a problem of awareness. Farmers just don’t think of anything but making money, and some regional administrations support them because they think this is development. In one state, farmers are killing the rubber tappers. In another, they think only of profits from cattle ranching. They set fire to nature reserves. They could all think about the environment a little more.» The head of the satellite agency which analyzes the problem on a daily basis is more blunt. He says: «We know that burning in the Amazon is gigantic. It’s time they showed us a wealthy farmer in handcuffs.» 

If you want to know what happens when the rain forests are destroyed, the place to go is Vietnam. During the Vietnam war, the American air force sprayed more than 72 million litres of herbicides and defoliants over the country, dropping bombs and napalm over much of the rest. Almost half of Vietnam’s landscape is derelict. Since the end of the war things have got worse: the country’s 60 million people, like most inhabitants of the tropics, are dependent upon wood for fuel and construction. Demand for fuel and the clearance of land for agriculture has also destroyed thousands of acres. What the Vietnamese have discovered is that when the tropical forests go, they go for ever. The soil is poor. Once the cover is gone, tropical rainstorms wash out the nutrients. In the dry season, the grass catches fire and saplings are killed. Then more top soil is washed away. Tropical trees flower unpredictably, and their seeds are difficult to collect and germinate. 

The Americans, given a choice between being green and fighting the Peruvian drug barons, have chosen, as one would expect, to fight. The weapon to hand is Spike, a close relative of Agent Orange, the herbicide used in Vietnam. Spike would have carried deforestation into the densely forested eastern slopes of the Andes. However, the President of Peru, having made a helicopter flight over the area, called for a scientific study. He said: «An international scientific team should determine if the proposal is positive or negative for the environment.» He might have added that the Peruvian peasants and the coca barons can manage their own deforestation quite well without any help from American herbicides, thank you very much. 

It is not only the tropical trees that should fear man’s depredations. Even the cactus in the desert is being uprooted. It seems that the inhabitants of the palatial desert homes of Las Vegas and Palm Springs require a large cactus as a status symbol, just like a stretch limousine. The finest of the cacti of Arizona, despite being in protected tourist amenity areas, are being ripped out of the ground by organised gangs of cactus rustlers. These Saguaro cacti grow as high as five or six metres and weigh up to four tonnes. Larry Richards works full time as a cactus cop. He says: 

«I grew up on this land. I can tell you, in the last 10 years the Saguaros here have been thinned out by, oh, maybe half. In the next 10 years another half or more of the rest will go. These are prime, saleable specimens. It’s just a matter of time. There are 120 crooked dealers active in Arizona. They use lifting equipment and large trucks to transport the giants instantly to California, about 400 miles away, where black market prices are highest, about $40 for every foot of stem, and up to $100 for every arm which survives the move. A fairly ordinary sample can fetch $800. A big one, $15,000. A whole generation, covering 60 years of growing, is being wiped out.» In one case, the cactus fought back. It fell on top of a young man who was taking pot shots at it with his rifle, and killed him.

1) Where was the vegetation burnt because there was no market for it?

2) What is one of the main causes for global warming?

3)  Where is the flora extremely difficult to regenerate?

4) What wild plant is becoming an endangered species?

5) The main issue highlighted by a specialist on environment organization is…

6) Who is threatening Arizona’s desert for profit thirst? 

7) What practice has a devastating effect for the atmosphere?