The Cancer-Prone Personality

Paragraph A
One of the reasons scientists think that there is a link between stress and cancer is the
idea that there may be a cancer-prone personality. The cancer-prone personality consists
of a set of personality traits that are found more frequently in people who have cancer
than in those who do not.
Paragraph B
What personality traits make up the cancer-prone personality? Most often, people who are
polite, unaggressive, and agreeable are said to have this type of personality. They seem to
have trouble showing when they are angry. Even in situations in which they should be
angry, they appear to be calm and happy.
Paragraph C
When faced with a stressful event, people with the cancer-prone personality do not show
stress outwardly. Instead, they keep their emotions bottled inside. They repress, or hide,
their emotions, even from themselves.
Paragraph D
The cancer-prone personality is linked to the likelihood of getting cancer, and the same
personality traits seem to help affect a cancer victim's recovery. For example, some
studies have looked at cancer patients who accept the cancer without getting angry. These
patients get sick faster and they die sooner than people who became angry at their cancer
and fight
the disease.
Paragraph E
However, it is important to keep in mind that some scientists interpret these research
findings differently. First of all, not everyone who has a cancer-prone personality gets
cancer. And not everyone who has cancer has a cancer-prone personality. Even more
important, there is no proof that having a cancer-prone personality causes cancer. In fact,
it may be the other way around: getting cancer may cause people to develop a cancer-
prone personality.
Questions 1-5
The reading passage The Cancer-Prone Personality has 5 paragraphs A-E. Choose the
most suitable heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the
appropriate numbers (I-VII). There are more headings than you can use.

1. Paragraph A:
2. Paragraph B:
3. Paragraph C:
4. Paragraph D:
5. Paragraph E:
 Climate Change and the Inuit
The threat posed by climate change in the Arctic and the problems faced by Canada’s Inuit people

A
Unusual incidents are being reported across the Arctic. Inuit families going off on
snowmobiles to prepare their summer hunting camps have found themselves cut off from
home by a sea of mud, following early thaws. There are reports of igloos losing their
insulating properties as the snow drips and refreezes, of lakes draining into the sea as
permafrost melts, and sea ice breaking up earlier than usual, carrying seals beyond the
reach of hunters. Climate change may still be a rather abstract idea to most of us, but in
the Arctic it is already having dramatic effects – if summertime ice continues to shrink at
its present rate, the Arctic Ocean could soon become virtually ice-free in summer. The
knock-on effects are likely to include more warming, cloudier skies, increased
precipitation and higher sea levels. Scientists are increasingly keen to find out what’s
going on because they consider the Arctic the ‘canary in the mine’ for global warming – a
warning of what’s in store for the rest of the world
B
For the Inuit the problem is urgent. They live in precarious balance with one of the
toughest environments on earth. Climate change, whatever its causes, its direct threat to
their way of life. Nobody knows the Arctic as well as the locals, which is why they are
not content simply to stand back and let outside experts tell them what’s happening. In
Canada, where the Inuit people are jealously guarding their hard-won autonomy in the
country’s newest territory, Nunavut; they believe their best hope of survival in this
changing environment lies in combining their ancestral knowledge with the best of
modern science. This is a challenge in itself
C
The Canadian Arctic is a vast treeless polar desert that’s covered with snow for most of
the year. Venture into this terrain and you get some idea of the hardships facing anyone
who calls this home. Farming is out of the question and nature offers meagre pickings.
Humans first settled in the Arctic a mere 4,500 years ago, surviving by exploiting sea
mammals and fish. The environment tested them to the limits: sometimes the colonists
were successful, sometimes they failed and vanished. But around a thousand years ago,
one group emerged that was uniquely well adapted to cope with the Arctic environment.
These Thule people moved in from Alaska, bringing kayaks, sledges, dogs, pottery and
iron tools. They are the ancestors of today’s Inuit people
D
Life for the descendants of the Thule people is still harsh. Nunavut is 1.9 million square
kilometres of rock and ice, and a handful of islands around the North Pole. It’s currently
home to 2,500 people, all but a handful of the indigenous Inuit. Over the past 40 years,
most have abandoned their nomadic ways and settled in the territory's 28 isolated
communities, but they still rely heavily on nature to provide food and clothing. Provisions
available in local shops have to be flown into Nunavut on one of the most costly air
networks in the world, or brought by supply ship during the few ice-free weeks of
summer. It would cost a family around £7,000 a year to replace meat they obtained
themselves through hunting with imported meat. Economic opportunities are scarce, and
for many people, state benefits ate their only income
E
While the Inuit may not actually starve if hunting and trapping are curtailed by climate
change, there has certainly been an impact on people’s health. Obesity, heart disease and
diabetes are beginning to appear in a people for whom these have never before been
problems. There has been a crisis of identity as the traditional skills of hunting, trapping
and preparing skins have begun to disappear. In Nuvavut’s igloo and email’ society,
where adults who were born in igloos have children who may never have been out on the
land, there’s a high incidence of depression
F
With so much at stake, the Inuit are determined to play a key role in teasing out the
mysteries of climate change in the Arctic. Having survived there for centuries, they
believe their wealth of traditional knowledge is vital to the task. And the Western
scientists are starting to draw on this wisdom, increasingly referred to as ‘Inuit
Qaujimajatuqangit’, or IQ. ‘In the early days, scientists ignored us when they came up
here to study anything. They just figured these people don’t know very much so we won’t
ask them’ says John Amagoalik, an Inuit leader and politician. ‘But in recent years IQ has
had much more credibility and weight.’ In fact, it is now a requirement for anyone hoping
to get permission to do research that they consult the communities, who are helping to set
the research agenda to reflect their most important concerns. They can turn down
applications from scientists they believe will work against their interests, or research
projects that will impinge too much on their daily lives and traditional activities
G
Some scientists doubt the value of traditional knowledge because the occupation of the
Arctic doesn’t go back far enough. Other, however, point out that the first weather
stations in the far north date back just 50 years. There are still huge gaps in our
environmental knowledge, and despite the scientific onslaught, many predictions are
more than best guesses. I could help to bridge the gap and resolve the tremendous
uncertainly about how much of what we’re seeing is natural capriciousness and how
much is the consequence of human activity.

Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-G from the list of headings below. There are
more headings than you can use.
I. The reaction of the Inuit community to climate change
II. Understanding of climate change remains limited
III. Alternative sources of essential supplies
IV. Respect for Inuit opinion grows
V. A healthier choice of food
VI. A difficult landscape
VII. Negative effects on well-being
VIII. Alarm caused by unprecedented events in the Arctic
IX. The benefits of an easier existence
Paragraph B:
Paragraph C:
Paragraph D:
Paragraph E:
Paragraph F:
Paragraph G: