CAM 15 TEST 1

PASSAGE 3:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

We are all explorers. Our desire to discover, and The writer refers to visitors to New
then share that new-found knowledge, is part of York to illustrate the point that
what makes us human – indeed, this has played A. exploration is an intrinsic
an important part in our success as a species. element of being human.
Long before the first caveman slumped down B. most people are enthusiastic
beside the fire and grunted news that there were about exploring.
plenty of wildebeest over yonder, our ancestors C. exploration can lead to
had learnt the value of sending out scouts to surprising results.
investigate the unknown. This questing nature of D. most people find exploration
ours undoubtedly helped our species spread daunting.
around the globe, just as it nowadays no doubt
helps the last nomadic Penan maintain their
existence in the depleted forests of Borneo, and
a visitor negotiate the subways of New York.

Over the years, we've come to think of explorers According to the second
as a peculiar breed — different from the rest of paragraph, what is the writer’s
us, different from those of us who are merely view of explorers?
'well travelled', even; and perhaps there is a type A. Their discoveries have brought
of person more suited to seeking out the new, a both benefits and disadvantages.
type of caveman more inclined to risk venturing B. Their main value is in teaching
out. That, however, doesn't take away from the others.
fact that we all have this enquiring instinct, even C. They act on an urge that is
today; and that in all sorts of professions — common to everyone.
whether artist, marine biologist or astronomer D. They tend to be more attracted
— borders of the unknown are being tested each to certain professions than to
day. others.

Thomas Hardy set some of his novels in Egdon The writer refers to a description of
Heath, a fictional area of uncultivated land, and Egdon Heath to suggest that
used the landscape to suggest the desires and A. Hardy was writing about his
fears of his characters. He is delving into own experience of exploration.
matters we all recognise because they are B. Hardy was mistaken about the
common to humanity. This is surely an act of nature of exploration.
exploration, and into a world as remote as the C. Hardy’s aim was to investigate
author chooses. Explorer and travel writer Peter people’s emotional states.
Fleming talks of the moment when the explorer D. Hardy’s aim was to show the
returns to the existence he has left behind with attraction of isolation.
his loved ones. The traveller ‘who has for weeks
or months seen himself only as a puny and
irrelevant alien crawling laboriously over a
country in which he has no roots and no
background, suddenly encounters his other self,
a relatively solid figure, with a place in the
minds of certain people’.

In this book about the exploration of the earth’s In the fourth paragraph, the writer
surface, I have confined myself to those whose refers to ‘a golden age’ to suggest
travels were real and who also aimed at more that
than personal discovery. But that still left me A. the amount of useful
with another problem: the word ‘explorer’ has information produced by
become associated with a past era. We think exploration has decreased.
back to a golden age, as if exploration peaked B. fewer people are interested in
somehow in the 19th century – as if the process exploring than in the 19th century.
of discovery is now on the decline, though the C. recent developments have made
truth is that we have named only one and a half exploration less exciting.
million of this planet’s species, and there may D. we are wrong to think that
be more than 10 million – and that’s not exploration is no longer necessary.
including bacteria. We have studied only 5 per
cent of the species we know. We have scarcely
mapped the ocean floors, and know even less
about ourselves; we fully understand the
workings of only 10 per cent of our brains.

Each definition is slightly different – and tends In the sixth paragraph, when
to reflect the field of endeavour of each pioneer. discussing the definition of
It was the same whoever I asked: the prominent exploration, the writer argues that
historian would say exploration was a thing of A. people tend to relate exploration
the past, the cutting-edge scientist would say it to their own professional interests.
was of the present. And so on. They each set B. certain people are likely to
their own particular criteria; the common factor misunderstand the nature of
in their approach being that they all had, unlike exploration.
many of us who simply enjoy travel or C. the generally accepted
discovering new things, both a very definite definition has changed over time.
objective from the outset and also a desire to D. historians and scientists have
record their findings. more valid definitions than the
general public.

I’d best declare my own bias. As a writer, I’m In the last paragraph, the writer
interested in the exploration of ideas. I’ve done explains that he is interested in
a great many expeditions and each one was A. how someone’s personality is
unique. I’ve lived for months alone with isolated reflected in their choice of places
groups of people all around the world, even two to visit.
‘uncontacted tribes’. But none of these things is B. the human ability to cast new
of the slightest interest to anyone unless, light on places that may be
through my books, I’ve found a new slant, familiar.
explored a new idea. Why? Because the world C. how travel writing has evolved
has moved on. The time has long passed for the to meet changing demands.
great continental voyages – another walk to the D. the feelings that writers develop
poles, another crossing of the Empty Quarter. about the places that they explore.
We know how the land surface of our planet
lies; exploration of it is now down to the details
– the habits of microbes, say, or the grazing
behaviour of buffalo. Aside from the deep sea
and deep underground, it’s the era of specialists.
However, this is to disregard the role the human
mind has in conveying remote places; and this is
what interests me: how a fresh interpretation,
even of a well-travelled route, can give its
readers new insights.

CAM 15 TEST 2
PASSAGE 3:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

Humans start developing a sense of humour as When referring to laughter in

early as six weeks old, when babies begin to the first paragraphs, the writer
laugh and smile in response to stimuli. Laughter emphasises
is universal across all human cultures and even A. its impact on language.
exists in some form in rats, chimps, and B. its function in human
bonobos. Like other human emotions and culture.
expressions, laughter and humour provide C. its value to scientific
psychological scientists with rich resources for research.
studying human psychology, ranging from the D. its universality in animal
development of language to the neuroscience of societies.
social perception.

Theories focusing on the evolution of laughter What does the writer suggest
point to it as an important adaptation for social about Charley Douglass?
communication. Take, for example, the recorded A. He understood the
laughter in TV comedy shows. Back in 1950, importance of enjoying
US sound engineer Charley Douglass hated humour in a group setting.
dealing with the unpredictable laughter of live B. He believed that TV
audiences, so started recording his own ‘laugh viewers at home needed to be
tracks’. These were intended to help people at told when to laugh.
home feel like they were in a social situation, C. He wanted his shows to
such as a crowded theatre. Douglass even appeal to audiences across the
recorded various types of laughter, as well as social spectrum.
mixtures of laugher from men, women, and D. He preferred shows where
children. In doing so, he picked up on a quality audiences were present in the
of laughter that is now interesting researchers: a recording studio.
simple ‘haha’ communicates a remarkable
amount of socially relevant information.
In one study conducted in 2016, samples of What makes the Santa Cruz
laughter from pairs of English-speaking students study particularly significant?
were recorded at the University of California, A. the various different types
Santa Cruz. A team made up of more than 30 of laughter that were studied
psychological scientists, anthropologists, and B. the similar results produced
biologists then played these recordings to by a wide range of cultures
listeners from 24 diverse societies, from C. the number of different
indigenous tribes in New Guinea to city- academic disciplines involved
dwellers in India and Europe. Participants were D. the many kinds of people
asked whether they thought the people laughing whose laughter was recorded
were friends or strangers. On average, the
results were remarkably consistent: worldwide,
people’s guesses were correct approximately
60% of the time.

Researchers have also found that different types Which of the following
of laughter serve as codes to complex human happened in the San Diego
social hierarchies. A team led by Christopher study?
Oveis from the University of California, San A. Some participants became
Diego, found that high-status individuals had very upset.
different laughs from low-status individuals, and B. Participants exchanged
that strangers’ judgements of an individual’s roles.
social status were influenced by the dominant or C. Participants who had not
submissive quality of their laughter. In their met before became friends.
study, 48 male college students were randomly D. Some participants were
assigned to groups of four, with each group unable to laugh.
composed of two low-status members, who had
just joined their college fraternity group, and
two high-status members, older student took a
turn at being teased by the others, involving the
use of mildly insulting nicknames. Analysis
revealed that, as expected, high-status
individuals produced more dominant laughs and
fewer submissive laughs relative to the low-
status individuals. Meanwhile, low-status
individuals were more likely to change their
laughter based on their position of power; that
is, the newcomers produced more dominant
laughs when they were in the ‘powerful’ role of
teasers. Dominant laughter was higher in pitch,
louder, and more variable in tone than
submissive laughter.

A random group of volunteers then listened to In the fifth paragraph, what did
an equal number of dominant and submissive the results of the San Diego
laughs from both the high- and low-status study suggest?
individuals, and were asked to estimate the A. It is clear whether a
social status of the laughter. In line with dominant laugh is produced by
predictions, laughers producing dominant laughs a high- or low-status person.
were perceived to be significantly higher in B. Low-status individuals in a
status than laughers producing submissive position of power will still
laughs. ‘This was particularly true for low-status produce submissive laughs.
individuals, who were rated as significantly C. The submissive laughs of
higher in status when displaying a dominant low- and high-status
versus submissive laugh,’ Oveis and colleagues individuals are surprisingly
note. ‘Thus, by strategically displaying more similar.
dominant laughter when the context allows, D. High-status individuals can
low-status individuals may achieve higher status always be identified by their
in the eyes of others.’ However, high-status way of laughing.
individuals were rated as high-status whether
they produced their natural dominant laugh or
tried to do a submissive one.

CAM 15 TEST 3
PASSAGE 3:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

Jack Zipes at the University of Minnesota, When discussing Tehrani’s

Minneapolis, is unconvinced by Tehrani’s views views, Jack Zipes suggests that
on fairy tales. ‘Even if they’re gruesome, they A. Tehrani ignores key
won’t stick unless they matter,’ he says. He changes in the role of women.
believes the perennial theme of women as B. stories which are too
victims in stories like Little Red Riding Hood horrific are not always taken
explains why they continue to feel relevant. But seriously.
Tehrani points out that although this is often the C. Tehrani overemphasises the
case in Western versions, it is not always true importance of violence in
elsewhere. In Chinese and Japanese versions, stories.
often known as The Tiger Grandmother, the D. features of stories only
villain is a woman, and in both Iran and Nigeria, survive if they have a deeper
the victim is a boy. significance.

Why does Tehrani refer to

Chinese and Japanese fairy
tales?
A. to indicate that Jack Zipes’
theory is incorrect
B. to suggest that crime is a
global problem
C. to imply that all fairy tales
have a similar meaning
D. to add more evidence for
Jack Zipes’ ideas
Mathias Clasen at Aarhus University in What does Mathias Clasen
Denmark isn’t surprised by Tehrani’s findings. believe about fairy tales?
‘Habits and morals change, but the things that A. They are a safe way of
scare us, and the fact that we seek out learning to deal with fear.
entertainment that’s designed to scare us – those B. They are a type of
are constant,’ he says. Clasen believes that scary entertainment that some people
stories teach us what it feels like to be afraid avoid.
without having to experience real danger, and so C. They reflect the changing
build up resistance to negative emotions. values of our society.
D. They reduce our ability to
deal with real-world problems.

CAM 15 TEST 4
PASSAGE 3:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

Our blaming of businesses also ignores the The main idea of the third
ultimate responsibility of the public for creating paragraph is that
the condition that let a business profit through environmental damage
destructive environmental policies. In the long A. requires political action if it
run, it is the public, either directly or through its is to be stopped.
politicians, that has the power to make such B. is the result of ignorance on
destructive policies unprofitable and illegal, and the part of the public.
to make sustainable environmental policies C. could be prevented by the
profitable. action of ordinary people.
D. can only be stopped by
educating business leaders.

The public can do that by suing businesses for n the fourth paragraph, the
harming them, as happened after the Exxon writer describes ways in which
Valdez disaster, in which over 40,000 m3 of oil the public can
were spilled off the coast of Alaska. The public A. reduce their own individual
may also make their opinion felt by preferring to impact on the environment.
buy sustainably harvested products; by making B. learn more about the impact
employees of companies with poor track records of business of the environment.
feel ashamed of their company and complain to C. raise awareness of the
their own management; by preferring their effects of specific
governments to award valuable contracts to environmental disasters.
businesses with a good environmental track D. influence the environmental
record; and by pressing their governments to policies of businesses and
pass and enforce laws and regulations requiring governments.
good environmental practices.
In turn, big businesses can exert powerful What pressure was exerted by
pressure on any suppliers that might ignore big business in the case of the
public or government pressure. For instance, disease BSE?
after the US public became concerned about the A. Meat packers stopped
spread of a disease known as BSE, which was supplying hamburgers to fast-
transmitted to humans through infected meat, food chains.
the US government's Food and Drug B. A fast-food company forced
Administration introduced rules demanding that their meat suppliers to follow
the meat industry abandon practices associated the law.
with the risk of the disease spreading. But for C. Meat packers persuaded the
five years the meat packers refused to follow government to reduce their
these, claiming that they would be too expensive expenses.
to obey. However, when a major fast-food D. A fast-food company
company then made the same demands after encouraged the government to
customer purchases of its hamburgers introduce legislation.
plummeted, the meat industry complied within
weeks. The public's task is therefore to identify
which links in the supply chain are sensitive to
public pressure: for instance, fast-food chains or
jewelry stores, but not meat packers or gold
miners

CAM 16 TEST 1
🟢PASSAGE 3:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

According to a leading business consultancy, 3— The first paragraph tells us about…

14% of the global workforce will need to switch A. the kind of jobs that will be
to a different occupation within the next 10—15 most affected by the growth of AI.
years, and all workers will need to adapt as their B. the extent to which AI will alter
occupations evolve alongside increasingly the nature of the work that people
capable machines. Automation — or ‘embodied do.
artificial intelligence (AI) — is one aspect of the C. the proportion of the world’s
disruptive effects of technology on the labour labour force who will have jobs in
market. ‘Disembodied AI’, like the algorithms AI in the future.
running in our smartphones, is another. D. the difference between ways
that embodied and disembodied AI
will impact on workers.

Dr Stella Pachidi from Cambridge Judge According to the second

Business School believes that some of the most paragraph, what is Stella Pachidi’s
fundamental changes are happening as a result of view of the ’knowledge economy’?
the ‘algorithmication’ of jobs that are dependent A. It is having an influence on the
on data rather than on production — the so-called number of jobs available.
knowledge economy. Algorithms are capable of B. It is changing people’s attitudes
learning from data to undertake tasks that towards their occupations.
previously needed human judgement, such as C. It is the main reason why the
reading legal contracts, analysing medical scans production sector is declining.
and gathering market intelligence. D. It is a key factor driving current
developments in the workplace.

Another issue is the extent to which the What did Pachidi observe at the
technology influences or even controls the telecommunications company?
workforce. For over two years, Pachidi A. staff disagreeing with the
monitored a telecommunications company. ‘The recommendations of AI
way telecoms salespeople work is through B. staff feeling resentful about the
personal and frequent contact with clients, using intrusion of Al in their work
the benefit of experience to assess a situation and C. staff making sure that AI
reach a decision. However, the company had produces the results that they want
started using a[n] … algorithm that defined when D. staff allowing AI to carry out
account managers should contact certain tasks they ought to do themselves
customers about which kinds of campaigns and
what to offer them.’

The algorithm — usually built by external

designers — often becomes the keeper of
knowledge, she explains. In cases like this,
Pachidi believes, a short-sighted view begins to
creep into working practices whereby workers
learn through the ‘algorithm’s eyes’ and become
dependent on its instructions. Alternative
explorations — where experimentation and
human instinct lead to progress and new ideas —
are effectively discouraged.

Pachidi and colleagues even observed people

developing strategies to make the algorithm work
to their own advantage. ‘We are seeing cases
where workers feed the algorithm with false data
to reach their targets,’ she reports.

His recently published research answers the In his recently published research,
question of whether automation, AI and robotics Ewan McGaughey…
will mean a ‘jobless future’ by looking at the A. challenges the idea that
causes of unemployment. ‘History is clear that redundancy is a negative thing.
change can mean redundancies. But social B. shows the profound effect of
policies can tackle this through retraining and mass unemployment on society.
redeployment.’ C. highlights some differences
between past and future job losses.
He adds: ‘If there is going to be change to jobs as D. illustrates how changes in the
a result of AI and robotics then I’d like to see job market can be successfully
governments seizing the opportunity to improve handled
policy to enforce good job security. We can
“reprogramme” the law to prepare for a fairer
future of work and leisure.’ McGaughey’s
findings are a call to arms to leaders of
organizations, governments and banks to pre-
empt the coming changes with bold new policies
that guarantee full employment, fair incomes and
a thriving economic democracy.

🟡 CAM 16 TEST 2
🟢 PASSAGE 2:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

Microbes, most of them bacteria, have What point does the writer make
populated this planet since long before about microbes in the first
animal life developed and they will outlive paragraph?
[Link] to the naked eye, they are A. They adapt quickly to their
ubiquitous. They inhabit the soil, air, rocks environment. B. The risk
and water and are present within every form they pose has been exaggerated.
of life, from seaweed and coral to dogs and C. They are more plentiful in animal
humans. And, as Yong explains in his utterly life than plant life.
absorbing and hugely important book, we D. They will continue to exist for
mess with them at our peril. longer than the human race.

Every species has its own colony of In the second paragraph, the writer is
microbes, called a ‘microbiome’, and these impressed by the fact that…
microbes vary not only between species but A. each species tends to have vastly
also between individuals and within different different microbes.
parts of each individual. What is amazing is B. some parts of the body contain
that while the number of human cells in the relatively few microbes.
average person is about 30 trillion, the C. the average individual has more
number of microbial ones is higher — about microbial cells than human ones.
39 trillion. At best, Yong informs us, we are D. scientists have limited
only 50 per cent human. Indeed, some understanding of how microbial cells
scientists even suggest we should think of behave.
each species and its microbes as a single unit,
dubbed a ‘holobiont’.

For most of human history we had no idea What is the writer doing in the fifth
that microbes existed. The first man to see paragraph?
these extraordinarily potent creatures was a A. explaining how a discovery was
Dutch lens-maker called Antony van made
Leeuwenhoek in the 1670s. Using B. comparing scientists’ theories
microscopes of his own design that could about microbes
magnify up to 270 times, he examined a drop C. describing confusion among
of water from a nearby lake and found it scientists
teeming with tiny creatures he called D. giving details of how microbes
‘animalcules’. It wasn’t until nearly two cause disease
hundred years later that the research of
French biologist Louis Pasteur indicated that
some microbes caused disease. It was
Pasteur’s ‘germ theory’ that gave bacteria the
poor image that endures today.

🟢 PASSAGE 3:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

Across cultures, wisdom has been considered one What point does the writer make
of the most revered human qualities. Although in the first paragraph?
the truly wise may seem few and far between, A. Wisdom appears to be unique
empirical research examining wisdom suggests to the human race.
that it isn’t an exceptional trait possessed by a B. A basic assumption about
small handful of bearded philosophers after all — wisdom may be wrong.
in fact, the latest studies suggest that most of us C. Concepts of wisdom may
have the ability to make wise decisions, given the depend on the society we belong
right context. to.
D. There is still much to be
discovered about the nature of
wisdom.

‘It appears that experiential, situational, and

cultural factors are even more powerful in What does Igor Grossmann
shaping wisdom than previously imagined,’ says suggest about the ability to make
Associate Professor Igor Grossmann of the wise decisions?
University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. A. It can vary greatly from one
‘Recent empirical findings from cognitive, person to another.
developmental, social, and personality B. Earlier research into it was
psychology cumulatively suggest that people’s based on unreliable data.
ability to reason wisely varies dramatically across C. The importance of certain
experiential and situational contexts. influences on it was
Understanding the role of such contextual factors underestimated.
offers unique insights into understanding wisdom D. Various branches of
in daily life, as well as how it can be enhanced psychology define it according to
and taught.’ their own criteria.

It seems that it’s not so much that some people According to the third paragraph,
simply possess wisdom and others lack it, but Grossmann claims that the level
that our ability to reason wisely depends on a of wisdom an individual shows…
variety of external factors. ‘It is impossible to A. can be greater than they think
characterize thought processes attributed to it is.
wisdom without considering the role of B. will be different in different
contextual factors,’ explains Grossmann. ‘In circumstances.
other words, wisdom is not solely an “inner C. may be determined by
quality” but rather unfolds as a function of particular aspects of their
situations people happen to be in. Some personality.
situations are more likely to promote wisdom D. should develop over time as a
than others.’ result of their life experiences.

Grossmann and his colleagues have also found What is described in the fifth
that one of the most reliable ways to support paragraph?
wisdom in our own day-to-day decisions is to A. a difficulty encountered when
look at scenarios from a third-party perspective, attempting to reason wisely
as though giving advice to a friend. Research B. an example of the type of
suggests that when adopting a first-person person who is likely to reason
viewpoint we focus on ‘the focal features of the wisely
environment’ and when we adopt a third-person, C. a controversial view about the
‘observer’ viewpoint we reason more broadly and benefits of reasoning wisely
focus more on interpersonal and moral ideals D. a recommended strategy that
such as justice and impartiality. Looking at can help people to reason wisely
problems from this more expansive viewpoint
appears to foster cognitive processes related to
wise decisions.

CAM 16 TEST 4
PASSAGE 2:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

The iPad is the new pacifier for babies and What is the writer’s main point in
toddlers. Younger school-aged children read the first paragraph?
stories on smartphones; older kids don’t read at A. Our use of technology is
all, but hunch over video games. Parents and having a hidden effect on us.
other passengers read on tablets or skim a flotilla B. Technology can be used to
of email and news feeds. Unbeknown to most of help youngsters to read.
us, an invisible, game-changing transformation C. Travellers should be
links everyone in this picture: the neuronal circuit encouraged to use technology on
that underlies the brain’s ability to read is subtly, planes.
rapidly changing and this has implications for D. Playing games is a more
everyone from the pre-reading toddler to the popular use of technology than
expert adult. reading.

As work in neurosciences indicates, the What main point does Sherry

acquisition of literacy necessitated a new circuit Turkle make about innovation?
in our species’ brain more than 6,000 years ago. A. Technological innovation has
That circuit evolved from a very simple led to a reduction in print reading.
mechanism for decoding basic information, like B. We should pay attention to
the number of goats in one’s herd, to the present, what might be lost when
highly elaborated reading brain. My research innovation occurs.
depicts how the present reading brain enables the C. We should encourage more
development of some of our most important young people to become involved
intellectual and affective processes: internalized in innovation.
knowledge, analogical reasoning, and inference; D. There is a difference between
perspective-taking and empathy; critical analysis developing products and
and the generation of insight. Research surfacing developing ideas.
in many parts of the world now cautions that
each of these essential ‘deep reading’ processes
may be under threat as we move into digital-
based modes of reading.

This is not a simple, binary issue of print versus

digital reading and technological innovation. As
MIT scholar Sherry Turkle has written, we do not
err as a society when we innovate but when we
ignore what we disrupt or diminish while
innovating. In this hinge moment between print
and digital cultures, society needs to confront
what is diminishing in the expert reading circuit,
what our children and older students are not
developing, and what we can do about it.

We know from research that the reading circuit is What point is the writer making in
not given to human beings through a genetic the fourth paragraph?
blueprint like vision or language; it needs an A. Humans have an inborn ability
environment to develop. Further, it will adapt to to read and write.
that environment’s requirements — from B. Reading can be done using
different writing systems to the characteristics of many different mediums.
whatever medium is used. C. Writing systems make
unexpected demands on the brain.
D. Some brain circuits adjust to
whatever is required of them.

Increasing reports from educators and from According to Mark Edmundson,

researchers in psychology and the humanities the attitude of college students…
bear this out. English literature scholar and A. has changed the way he
teacher Mark Edmundson describes how many teaches.
college students actively avoid the classic B. has influenced what they select
literature of the 19th and 20th centuries in favour to read.
of something simpler as they no longer have the C. does not worry him as much as
patience to read longer, denser, more difficult it does others.
texts. D. does not match the views of
the general public.

🟢 PASSAGE 3:
 PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

Artificial intelligence (AI) can already predict the What is the writer doing in
future. Police forces are using it to map when and Section A?
where crime is likely to occur. Doctors can use it A. providing a solution to a
to predict when a patient is most likely to have a concern
heart attack or stroke. Researchers are even B. justifying an opinion about an
trying to give AI imagination so it can plan for issue
unexpected consequences. C. highlighting the existence of a
problem
D. explaining the reasons for a
phenomenon

This is just one example of people's lack of According to Section C, why

confidence in AI and their reluctance to accept might some people be reluctant to
what AI has to offer. Trust in other people is accept AI?
often based on our understanding of how others A. They are afraid it will replace
think and having experience of their reliability. humans in decision-making jobs.
This helps create a psychological feeling of B. Its complexity makes them feel
safety. AI, on the other hand, is still fairly new that they are at a disadvantage.
and unfamiliar to most people. Even if it can be C. They would rather wait for the
technically explained (and that’s not always the technology to be tested over a
case), AI’s decision-making process is usually period of time.
too difficult for most people to comprehend. And D. Misunderstandings about how
interacting with something we don’t understand it works make it seem more
can cause anxiety and give us a sense that we’re challenging than it is.
losing control.

Many people are also simply not familiar with What does the writer say about
many instances of AI actually working, because the media in Section C of the
it often happens in the background. Instead they text?
are acutely aware of instances where AI goes A. It leads the public to be
wrong. Embarrassing AI failures receive a mistrustful of Al.
disproportionate amount of media attention, B. It devotes an excessive amount
emphasising the message that we cannot rely on of attention to Al.
technology. Machine learning is not foolproof, in C. Its reports of incidents
part because the humans who design it aren’t. involving AI are often inaccurate.
D. It gives the impression that AI
failures are due to designer error.

CAM 17 TEST 1
PASSAGE 3:
 PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

Charles Spencer’s latest book, To Catch a King, What is the reviewer’s main
tells us the story of the hunt for King Charles II in purpose in the first paragraph?
the six weeks after his resounding defeat at the A. to describe what happened
Battle of Worcester in September 1651. And what during the Battle of Worcester
a story it is. After his father was executed by the B. to give an account of the
Parliamentarians in 1649, the young Charles II circumstances leading to Charles
sacrificed one of the very principles his father had II's escape
died for and did a deal with the Scots, thereby C. to provide details of the
accepting Presbyterianism* as the national Parliamentarians’ political views
religion in return for being crowned King of Scots. D. to compare Charles II’s
His arrival in Edinburgh prompted the English beliefs with those of his father
Parliamentary army to invade Scotland in a pre-
emptive strike. This was followed by a Scottish
invasion of England. The two sides finally faced
one another at Worcester in the west of England in
1651

One of the joys of Spencer’s book, a result not Why does the reviewer include
least of its use of Charles II’s own narrative as examples of the fugitives’
well as those of his supporters, is just how close behaviour in the third paragraph?
the reader gets to the action. The day-by-day A. to explain how close Charles
retelling of the fugitives’ doings provides II came to losing his life
delicious details: the cutting of the king’s long B. to suggest that Charles II’s
hair with agricultural shears, the use of walnut supporters were badly prepared
leaves to dye his pale skin, and the day Charles C. to illustrate how the events of
spent lying on a branch of the great oak tree in the six weeks are brought to life
Boscobel Wood as the Parliamentary soldiers D. to argue that certain aspects
scoured the forest floor below. Spencer draws out are not as well known as they
both the humour - such as the preposterous refusal should be
of Charles’s friend Henry Wilmot to adopt
disguise on the grounds that it was beneath his
dignity - and the emotional tension when the
secret of the king’s presence was cautiously
revealed to his supporters.

Charles’s adventures after losing the Battle of What point does the reviewer
Worcester hide the uncomfortable truth that whilst make about Charles II in the
almost everyone in England had been appalled by fourth paragraph?
the execution of his father, they had not welcomed A. He chose to celebrate what
the arrival of his son with the Scots army, but had was essentially a defeat.
instead firmly bolted their doors. This was partly B. He misunderstood the motives
because he rode at the head of what looked like a of his opponents.
foreign invasion force and partly because, after C. He aimed to restore people’s
almost a decade of civil war, people were faith in the monarchy.
desperate to avoid it beginning again. This makes D. He was driven by a desire to
it all the more interesting that Charles II himself be popular.
loved the story so much ever after. As well as
retelling it to anyone who would listen, causing
eye-rolling among courtiers, he set in train a series
of initiatives to memorialise it. There was to be a
new order of chivalry, the Knights of the Royal
Oak. A series of enormous oil paintings depicting
the episode were produced, including a two-metre-
wide canvas of Boscobel Wood and a set of six
similarly enormous paintings of the king on the
run. In 1660, Charles II commissioned the artist
John Michael Wright to paint a flying squadron of
cherubs* carrying an oak tree to the heavens on
the ceiling of his bedchamber. It is hard to
imagine many other kings marking the lowest
point in their life so enthusiastically, or indeed
pulling off such an escape in the first place.

Charles Spencer is the perfect person to pass the What does the reviewer say
story on to a new generation. His pacey, readable about Charles Spencer in the
prose steers deftly clear of modern idioms and fifth paragraph?
elegantly brings to life the details of the great tale. A. His decision to write the book
He has even-handed sympathy for both the comes as a surprise.
fugitive king and the fierce republican regime that B. He takes an unbiased
hunted him, and he succeeds in his desire to approach to the subject matter.
explore far more of the background of the story C. His descriptions of events
than previous books on the subject have done. would be better if they included
more detail.
D. He chooses language that is
suitable for a twenty-first-
century audience.

The tantalising question left, in the end, is that of When the reviewer says the book
what it all meant. Would Charles II have been a ‘doesn’t quite hit the mark’, she
different king had these six weeks never is making the point that
happened? The days and nights spent in hiding A. it overlooks the impact of
must have affected him in some way. Did the need events on ordinary people.
to assume disguises, to survive on wit and charm B. it lacks an analysis of
alone, to use trickery and subterfuge to escape prevalent views on monarchy.
from tight corners help form him? This is the one C. it omits any references to the
area where the book doesn’t quite hit the mark. deceit practised by Charles II
Instead its depiction of Charles II in his final years during his time in hiding.
as an ineffective, pleasure-loving monarch doesn’t D. it fails to address whether
do justice to the man (neither is it accurate), or to Charles M’s experiences had a
the complexity of his character. But this one lasting influence on him.
niggle aside, To Catch a King is an excellent read,
and those who come to it knowing little of the
famous tale will find they have a treat in store.

CAM 17 TEST 2
 PASSAGE 3:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

Scientific discovery is popularly believed to result The purpose of the first

from the sheer genius of such intellectual stars as paragraph is to
naturalist Charles Darwin and theoretical physicist A. defend particular ideas.
Albert Einstein. Our view of such unique B. compare certain beliefs.
contributions to science often disregards the C. disprove a widely held view.
person’s prior experience and the efforts of their D. outline a common
lesser-known predecessors. Conventional wisdom assumption.
also places great weight on insight in promoting
breakthrough scientific achievements, as if ideas
spontaneously pop into someone’s head - fully
formed and functional.

There may be some limited truth to this view. What are the writers doing in
However, we believe that it largely misrepresents the second paragraph?
the real nature of scientific discovery, as well as A. criticising an opinion
that of creativity and innovation in many other B. justifying a standpoint
realms of human endeavor. C. explaining an approach
D. supporting an argument

Setting aside such greats as Darwin and Einstein - In the third paragraph, what do
whose monumental contributions are duly the writers suggest about
celebrated - we suggest that innovation is more a Darwin and Einstein?
process of trial and error, where two steps forward A. They represent an exception
may sometimes come with one step back, as well to a general rule.
as one or more steps to the right or left. This B. Their way of working has
evolutionary view of human innovation undermines been misunderstood.
the notion of creative genius and recognizes the C. They are an ideal which
cumulative nature of scientific progress. others should aspire to.
D. Their achievements deserve
greater recognition.

Consider one unheralded scientist: John Nicholson, John Nicholson is an example

a mathematical physicist working in the 1910s who of a person whose idea
postulated the existence of‘proto-elements’ in outer A. established his reputation as
space. By combining different numbers of weights an influential scientist.
of these proto-elements’ atoms, Nicholson could B. was only fully understood at
recover the weights of all the elements in the then- a later point in history.
known periodic table. These successes are all the C. laid the foundations for
more noteworthy given the fact that Nicholson was someone else’s breakthrough.
wrong about the presence of proto-elements: they D. initially met with scepticism
do not actually exist. Yet, amid his often fanciful from the scientific community.
theories and wild speculations, Nicholson also
proposed a novel theory about the structure of
atoms. Niels Bohr, the Nobel prize-winning father
of modern atomic theory, jumped off from this
interesting idea to conceive his now-famous model
of the atom.

The so-called ‘acey-deucy’ stirrup placement, in What is the key point of interest
which the rider’s foot in his left stirrup is placed as about the ‘acey-deucy’ stirrup
much as 25 centimeters lower than the right, is placement?
believed to confer important speed advantages A. the simple reason why it was
when turning on oval tracks. It was developed by a invented
relatively unknown jockey named Jackie Westrope. B. the enthusiasm with which it
Had Westrope conducted methodical investigations was adopted
or examined extensive film records in a shrewd C. the research that went into its
plan to outrun his rivals? Had he foreseen the speed development
advantage that would be conferred by riding acey- D. the cleverness of the person
deucy? No. He suffered a leg injury, which left him who first used it
unable to fully bend his left knee. His modification
just happened to coincide with enhanced left-hand
turning performance. This led to the rapid and
widespread adoption of riding acey-deucy by many
riders, a racing style which continues in today’s
thoroughbred racing.

CAM 17 TEST 3
PASSAGE 3:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

In Building the Skyline, Jason Barr takes the reader What point does Shester make
through a detailed history of New York City. The about Barr’s book in the first
book combines geology, history, economics, and a paragraph?
lot of data to explain why business clusters A. It gives a highly original
developed where they did and how the early explanation for urban
decisions of workers and firms shaped the skyline development.
we see today. Building the Skyline is organized B. Elements of Barr’s research
into two distinct parts. The first is primarily papers are incorporated
historical and addresses New York’s settlement and throughout the book.
growth from 1609 to 1900; the second deals C. Other books that are
primarily with the 20th century and is a available on the subject have
compilation of chapters commenting on different taken a different approach.
aspects of New York’s urban development. The D. It covers a range of factors
tone and organization of the book changes that affected the development of
somewhat between the first and second parts, as the New York.
latter chapters incorporate aspects of Barr’s related
research papers.
Chapters two and three take the reader up to the How does Shester respond to
Civil War (1861-1865), with chapter two focusing the information in the book
on the early development of land and the about tenements?
implementation of a grid system in 1811. Chapter A. She describes the reasons for
three focuses on land use before the Civil War. Barr’s interest.
Both chapters are informative and well researched B. She indicates a potential
and set the stage for the economic analysis that problem with Barr’s analysis.
comes later in the book. I would have liked Barr to C. She compares Barr’s
expand upon his claim that existing tenements* conclusion with that of other
prevented skyscrapers in certain neighborhoods writers.
because ‘likely no skyscraper developer was D. She provides details about
interested in performing the necessary “slum the sources Barr used for his
clearance’”. Later in the book, Barr makes the research.
claim that the depth of bedrock** was not a
limiting factor for developers, as foundation costs
were a small fraction of the cost of development.
At first glance, it is not obvious why slum
clearance would be limiting, while more expensive
foundations would not.

Chapter five also has an interesting discussion of What does Shester say about
the technological advances that led to the chapter six of the book?
construction of skyscrapers. For example, the A. It contains conflicting data.
introduction of iron and steel skeletal frames made B. It focuses too much on
thick, load-bearing walls unnecessary, expanding possible trends.
the usable square footage of buildings and C. It is too specialised for most
increasing the use of windows and availability of readers.
natural light. Chapter six then presents data on D. It draws on research that is
building height throughout the 20th century and out of date.
uses regression analysis to ‘predict’ building
construction. While less technical than the research
paper on which the chapter is based, it is probably
more technical than would be preferred by a
general audience

Chapters eight and nine focus on the birth of What does Shester suggest
Midtown and the building boom of the 1920s. about the chapters focusing on
Chapter eight contains lengthy discussions of urban the 1920s building boom?
economic theory that may serve as a distraction to A. The information should have
readers primarily interested in New York. been organised differently.
However, they would be well-suited for B. More facts are needed about
undergraduates learning about the economics of the way construction was
cities. financed.
C. The explanation that is given
for the building boom is
unlikely.
D. Some parts will have limited
appeal to certain people.

In the final chapter (chapter 10), Barr discusses What impresses Shester the
another of his empirical papers that estimates most about the chapter on land
Manhattan land values from the mid-19th century values?
to the present day. The data work that went into A. the broad time period that is
these estimations is particularly impressive. covered
B. the interesting questions that
Barr asks
C. the nature of the research
into the topic
D. the recommendations Barr
makes for the future

CAM 18 TEST 2
🟢 PASSAGE 2:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

This has been the decade of Al, with one What point does the writer make
astonishing feat after another. A chess- playing about Al in the first paragraph?
Al that can defeat not only all human chess A. It is difficult to predict how
players, but also all previous human quickly Al will progress.
programmed chess machines, after learning the B. Much can be learned about the
game in just four hours? That’s yesterday's use of Al in chess machines.
news, what’s next? True, these prodigious C. The future is unlikely to see
accomplishments are all in so called narrow Al, limitations on the capabilities of
where machines perform highly specialised Al.
tasks. But many experts believe this restriction D. Experts disagree on which
is very temporary. specialised tasks Al will be able
to perform.

By mid-century, we may have artificial general What is the writer doing in the
intelligence (AGI) — machines that can achieve second paragraph?
human-level performance on the full range of A. explaining why machines will
tasks that we ourselves can tackle. be able to outperform humans
If so, there’s little reason to think it will stop B. describing the characteristics
there. Machines will be free of many of the that humans and machines share
physical constraints on human intelligence. C. giving information about the
development of machine
intelligence
D. indicating which aspects of
humans are the most advanced

Once machines are better than us at designing Why does the writer mention the
even smarter machines, progress towards these story of King Midas?
limits could accelerate. What would this mean A. to compare different visions of
for us? Could we ensure a safe and worthwhile progress
coexistence with such machines? On the plus B. to illustrate that poorly defined
side, Al is already useful and profitable for objectives can go wrong
many things, and super Al might be expected to C. to emphasise the need for
be super useful, and super profitable. But the cooperation
more powerful Al becomes, the more important D. to point out the financial
it will be to specify its goals with great care. advantages of a course of action
Folklore is full of tales of people who ask for
the wrong thing, with disastrous consequences
— King Midas, for example, might have wished
that everything he touched turned to gold, but
didn’t really intend this to apply to his breakfast.

So we need to create powerful Al machines that What challenge does the writer
are ‘human-friendly’ — that have goals reliably refer to in the fourth paragraph?
aligned with our own values. One thing that A. encouraging humans to behave
makes this task difficult is that we are far from in a more principled way
reliably human-friendly ourselves. We do many B. deciding which values we want
terrible things to each other and to many other Al to share with us
creatures with whom we share the planet. If C. creating a better world for all
superintelligent machines don’t do a lot better creatures on the planet
than us, we’ll be in deep trouble. D. ensuring Al is more human-
friendly than we are ourselves

For safety’s sake, then, we want the machines to What does the writer suggest
be ethically as well as cognitively superhuman. about the future of Al in the fifth
We want them to aim for the moral high ground, paragraph?
not for the troughs in which many of us spend A. The safety of machines will
some of our time. Luckily they'll be smart become a key issue.
enough for the job. If there are routes to the B. It is hard to know what impact
moral high ground, they'll be better than us at machines will have on the world.
finding them, and steering us in the right C. Machines will be superior to
direction. humans in certain respects.
D. Many humans will oppose
machines having a wider role.

However, there are two big problems with this Which of the following best
utopian vision. One is how we get the machines summarises the writer’s argument
started on the journey, the other is what it would in the sixth paragraph?
mean to reach this destination. The ‘getting A. More intelligent machines will
started’ problem is that we need to tell the result in greater abuses of power.
machines what they're looking for with B. Machine learning will share
sufficient clarity that we can be confident they very few features with human
will find it — whatever ‘it’ actually turns out to learning.
be. This won't be easy, given that we are tribal C. There are a limited number of
creatures and conflicted about the ideals people with the knowledge to
ourselves. We often ignore the suffering of program machines.
strangers, and even contribute to it, at least D. Human shortcomings will
indirectly. How then, do we point machines in make creating the machines we
the direction of something better? need more difficult.

CAM 18 TEST 3
PASSAGE 2:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

But the glory days of steam cars were few. A What point does the writer make
new technology called the Internal Combustion about the steam car in Paragraph
Engine soon appeared, which offered the ability B?
to drive down the road just moments after A. lts success was short-lived.
starting up. At first, these noisy gasoline cars B. Not enough cars were made.
were unpopular because they were more C. Car companies found them
complicated to operate and they had difficult hard to sell.
hand-crank starters, which were known to break D. People found them hard to
arms when the engines backfired. But in 1912 drive.
General Motors introduced the electric starter,
and over the following few years steam power
was gradually phased out.

Even as the market was declining, four brothers When building their first steam
made one last effort to rekindle the technology. car, the Doble brothers
Between 1906 and 1909, while still attending A. constructed all the parts
high school, Abner Doble and his three brothers themselves.
built their first steam car in their parents’ B. made written notes at each
basement. It comprised parts taken from a stage of the construction.
wrecked early steam car but reconfigured to drive C. needed several attempts to
an engine of their own design. Though it did not achieve a competitive model.
run well, the Doble brothers went on to build a D. sought the advice of
second and third prototype in the following years. experienced people in the car
Though the Doble boys’ third prototype, industry.
nicknamed the Model B, still lacked the
convenience of an internal combustion engine, it
drew the attention of automobile trade magazines
due to its numerous improvements over previous
steam cars. . The Model B proved to be superior
to gasoline automobiles in many ways. Its high-
pressure steam drove the engine pistons in virtual
silence, in contrast to clattering gas engines
which emitted the aroma of burned
hydrocarbons. Perhaps most impressively, the
Model B was amazingly swift. It could accelerate
from zero to sixty miles per hour in just fifteen
seconds, a feat described as ‘remarkable
acceleration’ by Automobile magazine in 1914.

The following year Abner Doble drove the In order to produce the Model C,
Model B from Massachusetts to Detroit in order the Doble brothers
to seek investment in his automobile design, A. moved production to a
which he used to open the General Engineering different city.
Company. He and his brothers immediately B. raised financial capital.
began working on the Model C, which was C. employed an additional
intended to expand upon the innovations of the worker.
Model B. D. abandoned their earlier
designs.

🟢 PASSAGE 2:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

"It’s an English literature lesson in a UK school, The writer describes the

and the teacher has just read an extract from Romeo and Juliet lesson in
Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet with a class of 15- order to demonstrate
year-olds. He’s given some of the students copies A. how few students are
of No Fear Shakespeare, a kid-friendly translation interested in literature.
of the original. For three students, even these B. how a teacher handles a
literacy demands are beyond them. Another girl range of learning needs.
simply can’t focus and he gives her pens and paper C. how unsuitable Shakespeare
to draw with. The teacher can ask the No Fear is for most teenagers.
group to identify the key characters and maybe D. how weaker students can
provide a tentative plot summary. He can ask most disrupt their classmates’
of the class about character development, and five learning.
of them might be able to support their statements
with textual evidence. Now two curious students
are wondering whether Shakespeare advocates
living a life of moderation or one of passionate
engagement. As a teacher myself, I’d think my
lesson would be going rather well if the discussion
went as described above. But wouldn’t this kind of
class work better if there weren’t such a huge gap
between the top and the bottom? If we put all the
kids who needed literacy support into one class,
and all the virtue of moderation into another?"

The practice of ‘streaming’, or ‘tracking’, involves What does the writer say about
separating students into classes depending on their streaming in the third
diagnosed levels of attainment. At a macro level, it paragraph?
requires the establishment of academically A. It has a very broad appeal.
selective schools for the brightest students, and B. It favours cleverer students.
comprehensive schools for the rest. Within schools, C. It is relatively simple to
it means selecting students into a ‘stream’ of implement.
general ability, or ‘sets’ of subject- specific ability. D. It works better in some
The practice is intuitively appealing to almost schools than others.
every stakeholder.

Mixed-ability classes bore students, frustrate What idea is suggested by the

parents and burn out teachers. The brightest ones reference to Mount
will never summit Mount Qomolangma, and the Qomolangma in the fifth
stragglers won’t enjoy the lovely stroll in the park paragraph?
they are perhaps more suited to. Individuals suffer A. students following
at the demands of the collective, mediocrity unsuitable paths
prevails. So: is learning like hiking? B. students attempting
interesting tasks
C. students not achieving their
full potential
D. students not being aware of
their limitations

The current pedagogical paradigm is arguably that What does the word
of constructivism, which emerged out of the work ‘scaffolding’ in the sixth
of psychologist Lev Vygotsky. In the 1930s, paragraph refer to?
Vygotsky emphasised the importance of targeting a A. the factors which prevent a
student’s specific ‘zone of proximal development’ student from learning
(ZPD). This is the gap between what they can effectively
achieve only with support — teachers, textbooks, B. the environment where most
worked examples, parents and so on — and what of a student’s learning takes
they can achieve independently. The purpose of place
teaching is to provide and then gradually remove C. the assistance given to a
this ‘scaffolding’ until they are autonomous. If we student in their initial stages of
accept this model, it follows that streaming learning
students with similar ZPDs would be an efficient D. the setting of appropriate
and effective solution. And that forcing everyone learning targets for a student's
on the same hike — regardless of aptitude — aptitude
would be madness.

CAM 18 TEST 4
🟢 PASSAGE 2:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

Over the past century, a powerful idea has taken root

in the educational landscape. The concept of What can we learn from the first
intelligence as something innate has been supplanted paragraph?
by the idea that intelligence is not fixed, and that, A. where the notion of innate
with the right training, we can be the authors of our intelligence first began
own cognitive capabilities. Psychologist Alfred B. when ideas about the nature
Binet, the developer of the first intelligence tests, of intelligence began to shift
was one of many 19th-century scientists who held C. how scientists have
that earlier view and sought to quantify cognitive responded to changing views of
ability. Then, in the early 20th century, progressive intelligence
thinkers revolted against the notion that inherent D. why thinkers turned away
ability is destiny. Instead, educators such as John from the idea of intelligence
Dewey argued that every child’s intelligence could being fixed
be developed, given the right environment.

‘Growth mindset theory’ is a relatively new — and The second paragraph describes
extremely popular — version of this idea. In many how schools encourage students
schools today you will see hallways covered in to
motivational posters and hear speeches on the A. identify their personal
mindset of great sporting heroes who simply ambitions.
believed their way to the top. A major focus of the B. help each other to realise
growth mindset in schools is coaxing students away their goals.
from seeing failure as an indication of their ability, C. have confidence in their
and towards seeing it as a chance to improve that potential to succeed.
ability. As educationalist Jeff Howard noted several D. concentrate on where their
decades ago: ‘Smart is not something that you just particular strengths lie.
are, smart is something that you can get.’

The idea of the growth mindset is based on the work In the third paragraph, the
of psychologist Carol Dweck in California in the writer suggests that students
1990s. In one key experiment, Dweck divided a with a fixed mindset
group of 10- to 12 year-olds into two groups. All A. tend to be less competitive.
were told that they had achieved a high score onatest B. generally have a low sense of
but the first group were praised for their intelligence self-esteem.
in achieving this, while the others were praised for C. will only work hard if they
their effort. The second group — those who had are given constant
been instilled with a ‘growth mindset’ — were encouragement.
subsequently far more likely to put effort into future D. are afraid to push themselves
tasks. Meanwhile, the former took on only those beyond what they see as their
tasks that would not risk their sense of worth. This limitations.
group had inferred that success or failure is due to
innate ability, and this ‘fixed mindset’ had led them
to fear of failure and lack of effort. Praising ability
actually made the students perform worse, while
praising effort emphasised that change was possible.

🟢 PASSAGE 3:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

Readers interested in the specific detail of What is Mott T Greene doing in
zWegener’s career will see that he often the fifth paragraph?
stopped pursuing a given line of investigation A. describing what motivated him
(sometimes for years on end), only to pick it to write the book
up later. I have tried to provide guideposts to B. explaining why it is desirable
his rapidly shifting interests by characterizing to read the whole book
different phases of his life as careers in C. suggesting why Wegener
different sciences, which is reflected in the pursued so many different careers
titles of the chapters. Thus, the index should D. indicating what aspects of
be a sufficient guide for those interested in a Wegener’s life interested him
particular aspect of Wegener’s life but perhaps most
not all of it. My own feeling, however, is that
the parts do not make as much sense on their
own as do all of his activities taken together.
In this respect I urge readers to try to
experience Wegener's life as he lived it, with
all the interruptions, changes of mind, and
renewed efforts this entailed.

Wegener left behind a few published works What is said about Wegener in the
but, as was standard practice, these reported sixth paragraph?
the results of his work — not the journey he A. He was not a particularly
took to reach that point. Only a few hundred ambitious person.
of the many thousands of letters he wrote and B. He kept a record of all his
received in his lifetime have survived and he scientific observations.
didn’t keep notebooks or diaries that recorded C. He did not adopt many of the
his life and activities. He was not active (with scientific practices of the time.
a few exceptions) in scientific societies, and D. He enjoyed discussing new
did not seek to find influence or advance his discoveries with other scientists.
ideas through professional contacts and
politics, spending most of his time at home in
his study reading and writing, or in the field
collecting observations.

Some famous scientists, such as Newton, What does Greene say about some
Darwin, and Einstein, left mountains of other famous scientists?
written material behind, hundreds of A. Their published works had a
notebooks and letters numbering in the tens of greater impact than Wegener’s
thousands. Others, like Michael Faraday, left did.
extensive journals of their thoughts and B. They had fewer doubts about
speculations, parallel to their scientific their scientific ideas than
notebooks. The more such material a scientist Wegener did.
leaves behind, the better chance a biographer C. Their scientific ideas were
has of forming an accurate picture of how a more controversial than
scientist's ideas took shape and evolved. Wegener's.
D. They are easier subjects to
write about than Wegener.

I am firmly of the opinion that most of us, What is Greene’s main point in
Wegener included, are not in any real sense the final paragraph?
the authors of our own lives. We plan, think, A. It is not enough in life to have
and act, often with apparent freedom, but most good intentions.
of the time our lives ‘happen to us’, and we B. People need to plan carefully if
only retrospectively turn this happenstance they want to succeed.
into a coherent narrative of fulfilled C. People have little control over
intentions. This book, therefore, is a story both many aspects of their lives.
of the life and scientific work that Alfred D. It is important that people
Wegener planned and intended and of the life ensure they have the freedom to
and scientific work that actually ‘happened to act.
him’. These are, as I think you will soon see,
not always the same thing.

CAM 19 TEST 1
PASSAGE 3:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

Misinformation - both deliberately promoted What point does the writer make
and accidentally shared - is perhaps an about misinformation in the first
inevitable part of the world in which we live, paragraph?
but it is not a new problem. People likely have A. Misinformation is a relatively
lied to one another for roughly as long as recent phenomenon.
verbal communication has existed. Deceiving B. Some people find it easy to
others can offer an apparent opportunity to gain identify misinformation.
strategic advantage, to motivate others to C. Misinformation changes as it is
action, or even to protect interpersonal bonds. passed from one person to
Moreover, people inadvertently have been another.
sharing inaccurate information with one D. There may be a number of
another for thousands of years. reasons for the spread of
misinformation.

However, we currently live in an era in which What does the writer say about
technology enables information to reach large the role of technology?
audiences distributed across the globe, and thus A. It may at some point provide
the potential for immediate and widespread us with a solution to
effects from misinformation now looms larger misinformation.
than in the past. Yet the means to correct B. It could fundamentally alter the
misinformation might, over time, be found in way in which people regard
those same patterns of mass communication information.
and of the facilitated spread of information. C. It has changed the way in
which organisations use
misinformation.
 D. It has made it easier for people
to check whether information is
accurate.

At least three observations related to What is the writer doing in the

misinformation in the contemporary mass- fourth paragraph?
media environment warrant the attention of A. comparing the different
researchers, policy makers, and really everyone opinions people have of
who watches television, listens to the radio, or misinformation
reads information online. First of all, people B. explaining how the effects of
who encounter misinformation tend to believe misinformation have changed
it, at least initially. Secondly, electronic and over time
print media often do not block many types of C. outlining which issues
misinformation before it appears in content connected with misinformation
available to large audiences. Thirdly, are significant today
countering misinformation once it has enjoyed D. describing the attitude of
wide exposure can be a resource-intensive policy makers towards
effort. misinformation in the media

Such programs, although laudable and useful, What point does the writer make
do not keep false advertising off' the airwaves. about regulation in the USA?
In addition, even misinformation that is A. The guidelines issued by the
successfully corrected can continue to affect FDA need to be simplified.
attitudes. This leads us to our third observation: B. Regulation does not affect
a campaign to correct misinformation, even if people’s opinions of new
rhetorically compelling, requires resources and prescription drugs.
planning to accomplish necessary reach and C. The USA has more regulatory
frequency. For corrective campaigns to be bodies than most other countries.
persuasive, audiences need to be able to D. Regulation fails to prevent
comprehend them, which requires either effort misinformation from appearing in
to frame messages in ways that are accessible the media.
or effort to educate and sensitize audiences to
the possibility of misinformation. That some
audiences might be unaware of the potential for
misinformation also suggests the utility of
media literacy efforts as early as elementary
school. Even with journalists and scholars
pointing to the phenomenon of ‘fake news’,
people do not distinguish between
demonstrably false stories and those based in
fact when scanning and processing written
information.

CAM 19 TEST 2
PASSAGE 3:
 PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

According to my colleague Prof Deborah Eyre, What does Eyre believe is

with whom I’ve collaborated on the book Great needed for children to equal
Minds and I low to Grow Them, the latest ‘gifted’ standards?
neuroscience and psychological research A. strict discipline from the
suggests most individuals can reach levels of teaching staff
performance associated in school with the gifted B. assistance from their peers in
and talented. However, they must be taught the the classroom
right attitudes and approaches to their learning C. the development of a spirit of
and develop the attributes of high performers - inquiry towards their studies
curiosity, persistence and hard work, for D. the determination to surpass
example - an approach Eyre calls ‘high everyone else’s achievements
performance learning’. Critically, they need the
right support in developing those approaches at
home as well as at school.

Prof Anders Ericsson, an eminent education What is the result of Ericsson s

psychologist at Florida State University, US, is research?
the co-author of Peak: Secrets from the New A. Very gifted students do not
Science of Expertise. After research going back need to work on improving
to 1980 into diverse achievements, from music memory skills.
to memory to sport, he doesn’t think unique and B. Being born with a special gift
innate talents are at the heart of performance. is not the key factor in becoming
Deliberate practice, that stretches you every step expert.
of the way, and around 10,000 hours of it, is C. Including time for physical
what produces the goods. It’s not a magic exercise is crucial in raising
number - the highest performers move on to performance.
doing a whole lot more, of course. Ericsson’s D. 10,000 hours of relevant and
memory research is particularly interesting demanding work will create a
because random students, trained in memory genius.
techniques for the study, went on to outperform
others thought to have innately superior
memories - those who you might call gifted.

Eyre says we know how high performers learn. In the penultimate paragraph, it
From that she has developed a high performing is stated the key to some
learning approach. She is working on this with a deprived children’s success is
group of schools, both in Britain and abroad. A. a regular and nourishing diet
Some spin-off research, which looked in detail at home.
at 24 of the 3,000 children being studied who B. the loving support of more
were succeeding despite difficult circumstances, than one parent.
found something remarkable. Half were getting C. a community which has well-
free school meals because of poverty, more than funded facilities for learning.
half were living with a single parent, and four in D. the guidance of someone who
five were living in disadvantaged areas. recognises the benefits of
Interviews uncovered strong evidence of an learning.
adult or adults in the child’s life who valued and
supported education, either in the immediate or
extended family or in the child’s wider
community. Children talked about the need to
work hard at school, to listen in class and keep
trying.

CAM 19 TEST 3
PASSAGE 3:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

Noise, Alex Waibel tells me, is one of the major What does the reader learn
challenges that artificial speech translation has about the conversation in the
to meet. A device may be able to recognise first paragraph?
speech in a laboratory, or a meeting room, but A. The speakers are
will struggle to cope with the kind of communicating in different
background noise I can hear in my office languages.
surrounding Professor Waibel as he speaks to B. Neither of the speakers is
me from Kyoto station in Japan. I’m struggling familiar with their environment.
to follow him in English, on a scratchy line that C. The topic of the conversation
reminds me we are nearly 10,000 kilometres is difficult for both speakers.
apart - and that distance is still an obstacle to D. Aspects of the conversation
communication even if you’re speaking the are challenging for both
same language, as we are. We haven’t reached speakers.
the future yet. If we had, Waibel would have
been able to speak more comfortably in his
native German and I would have been able to
hear his words in English.

At Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where he What assists the electronic

is a professor of computer science, Waibel and translator during lectures at
his colleagues already give lectures in German Karlsruhe Institute of
that their students can follow in English via an Technology?
electronic translator. The system generates text A. the repeated content of
that students can read on their laptops or phones, lectures
so the process is somewhat similar to subtitling. B. the students’ reading skills
It helps that lecturers speak clearly, don’t have C. the languages used
to compete with background chatter, and say D. the lecturers’ technical
much the same thing each year. ability

The idea of artificial speech translation has been When referring to The
around for a long time. Douglas Adams’ science Hitchhiker's Guide to the
fiction novel, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the writer suggests that
Galaxy, published in 1979, featured a life form A. the Babel fish was
called the 'Babel fish’ which, when placed in the considered undesirable at the
ear, enabled a listener to understand any time,
language in the universe. It came to represent B. this book was not seriously
one of those devices that technology enthusiasts intending to predict the future,
dream of long before they become practically C. artificial speech translation
realisable, like TVs flat enough to hang on was not a surprising
walls: objects that we once could only dream of development,
having but that are now commonplace. Now D. some speech translation
devices that look like prototype Babel fish have techniques are better than
started to appear, riding a wave of advances in others.
artificial translation and voice recognition.

For a conversation, both speakers need to have What does the writer say about
devices called Pilots (translator earpieces) in sharing earpieces?
their ears. ‘We find that there’s a barrier with A. It is something people will
sharing one of the earphones with a stranger,’ get used to doing.
says Ochoa. That can’t have been totally B. The reluctance to do this is
unexpected. The problem would be solved if understandable.
earpiece translators became sufficiently C. The equipment will be
prevalent that strangers would be likely to unnecessary in the future.
already have their own in their ears. Whether D. It is something few people
that happens, and how quickly, will probably need to worry about.
depend not so much on the earpieces
themselves, but on the prevalence of voice-
controlled devices and artificial translation in
general.

CAM 19 TEST 4
PASSAGE 3:

PASSAGE QUESTION Explanation + Vocab

There has long been a general assumption that What is the writer doing in the
human beings are essentially selfish. We’re first paragraph?
apparently ruthless, with strong impulses to A. setting out two opposing
compete against each other for resources and to views about human nature
accumulate power and possessions. If we are kind B. justifying his opinion about
to one another, it’s usually because we have our tendency to be greedy
ulterior motives. If we are good, it’s only because C. describing a commonly held
we have managed to control and transcend our belief about people’s behaviour
innate selfishness and brutality. D. explaining why he thinks
that humans act in a selfish
manner

This bleak view of human nature is closely What point is made about
associated with the science writer Richard Richard Dawkins’ book The
Dawkins, whose 1976 book The Selfish Gene Selfish Gene?
became popular because it fitted so well with - and A. Its appeal lay in the radical
helped to justify - the competitive and nature of its ideas.
individualistic ethos that was so prevalent in late B. Its success was due to the
20th-century societies. Like many others, Dawkins scientific support it offered.
justifies his views with reference to the field of C. It presented a view that was
evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary psychology in line with the attitudes of its
theorises that present-day human traits developed time.
in prehistoric times, during what is termed the D. It took an innovative
‘environment of evolutionary adaptedness’. approach to the analysis of
human psychology.

It’s important to remember that in the prehistoric What does the writer suggest
era, the world was very sparsely populated. about the prehistoric era in the
According to some estimates, around 15,000 years fourth paragraph?
ago, the population of Europe was only 29,000, and A. Societies were more
the population of the whole world was less than complex than many people
half a million. Humans at that time were hunter- believe.
gatherers: people who lived by hunting wild B. Supplies of natural resources
animals and collecting wild plants. With such small were probably relatively
population densities, it seems unlikely that plentiful.
prehistoric hunter-gatherer groups had to compete C. Most estimates about
against each other for resources or had any need to population sizes are likely to be
develop ruthlessness and competitiveness, or to go inaccurate.
to war. D. Humans moved across
continents more than was
previously thought.

There is significant evidence to back this notion The writer refers to Bruce
from contemporary hunter-gatherer groups, who Knauft’s work as support for
live in the same way as prehistoric humans did. As the idea that
the anthropologist Bruce Knauft has remarked, A. selfishness is a relatively
hunter-gatherers are characterized by ‘extreme recent development in human
political and sexual egalitarianism'. Knauft has societies.
observed that individuals in such groups don’t B. only people in isolated
accumulate property or possessions and have an communities can live in an
ethical obligation to share everything. They also unselfish manner.
have methods of preserving egalitarianism by C. very few lifestyles have
ensuring that disparities of status don't arise. survived unchanged since
prehistoric times.
D. hunter-gatherer cultures
worldwide are declining in
number.