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READING PASSAGE 1
The Clipper Races: an era of competition between cargo ships
A. During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the British East India Company had the monopoly on
trade with China and India. This meant that because no rival could legally import tea or other goods from
these countries at this time, the company was rarely in a hurry to transport its merchandise. Instead, its
priority was to minimise costs by carrying as much as possible on each ship. This meant that its ships -
known as East Indiamen - were enormous, strong and very slow.
B. By 1800, the average East Indiaman could carry 1,200 tons of merchandise. The trading pattern for China
tea usually meant the East Indiamen set sail from Britain in January, sailed round the Cape of Good Hope
at the southernmost tip of Africa, and arrived in China in September. There they would load up that year’s
tea harvest, set off again and, depending on the wind and weather, aim to arrive back by the following
September. So even with favourable sailing conditions, the round trip lasted almost two years, and if
anything went wrong it could take a lot longer.
C. However, by 1834 the company had lost its trading monopolies, and tea had become a freely traded item.
Having no more use for its great ships, the company sold them off, and many were bought by merchants
or their captains, who continued to plough the seas between Britain and China. But now that tea could be
traded freely, a few smart sailors began to realise that whoever brought each new harvest of tea to Britain
first, stood to make the most money.
D. This was partly because if you were home first, you could sell your shipment of tea before your
competitors even arrived, and partly because consumers in Britain in the nineteenth century believed that
the fresher and earlier-picked the tea, the better the resulting drink. Tea traders now needed faster,
sleeker ships to bring their precious cargo back. Nevertheless, in Britain this idea only caught on slowly,
and white the 1840s saw a few faster ships launched, for the time being many merchants remained
satisfied with the slow but reliable East Indiamen.
E. In fact, it was the Americans who pioneered the first clipper ships. These vessels were fast and slender,
with a narrow hull that was deeper at the back than at the front and masses of sails on tall masts. They
earned their name from the way that they clipped off journey times British merchants resolved to build
their own clippers to rival the Americans and the first British tea clipper, Stornaway, was built in Aberdeen
in 1850 More tea clippers were designed and built in Britain throughout the 1850s and 1860s, they had a
narrower beam than their American equivalents, making them less powerful during storms, but faster in
calmer weather.
F. There was a great spirit of competition between the British and American ships plying the tea trade, but to
begin with the Americans had the edge. Then in 1851 a British ship owner, Richard Green, built the aptly
named clipper Challenger, with the stated intention of beating the American ships. Loaded with tea,
Challenger left China for London in 1852 at the same time as the American clipper Challenge, a much
larger, older ship, already greatly admired for its speed. Large sums were bet on which would complete
the journey first. In the event, the British ship beat its rival to London by two days, amid much jubilation.
From then on, such international races grew in popularity.
G. After 1855, American participation in the British tea trade gradually stopped. But even without the Anglo-
American rivalry, the competitive spirit continued. It was really ignited when new ports were opened up for
trade in China. These included Fouchow, which was much closer to the tea-producing areas than Canton,
the port used previously. As a result, tea could be loaded onboard earlier and fresher, and the clippers
could set off in late May or early June - sometimes not even taking time to fill out the official paperwork -
racing back to Britain whatever the difficulties.
H. They sped down through the South China Sea and into the Indian Ocean, then raced to get round the
southernmost tip of Africa at the Cape of Good Hope. Then it was north across the vast Atlantic, past the
Azores, through the English Channel and into the estuary of the River Thames. Once there, they would
be towed by tugs, up the river and into the docks.
I. The cargo of the winning ship could earn a premium of up to sixpence per pound-and so the captain and
crew were rewarded by the owners of the cargo. But the races were about more than just money the
crews, about 40 men on each clipper, were expert sailors, proud of their ships, and they delighted in
competing against each other. Without their enthusiasm, the races would never have happened, since
getting the ship home as fast as possible required the crew to be totally dedicated and to sacrifice much
of their rest for the duration of the race.
Questions 1 - 6
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 1-6 on your
answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1 In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the British East India Company faced a lot of
competition.
2 Before 1800, cargo size was the most important consideration for the East India Company.
3 At best, voyages of the East Indiamen to China and back took nearly two years to complete.
4 Before 1834, voyages to and from China were considered to be highly dangerous.
5 After 1834, the ships which had served the East India Company stopped being used for commercial
purposes.
6 In the nineteenth century, British drinkers preferred tea made from mature leaves to that made from
younger leaves
Questions 7-13: Complete the notes below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage.
Clipper races
The ships
● Clipper ships were first used for trading by American merchants.
● The ships were remarkable for the number of 7__________ they had.
● The performance of British tea clippers was particularly affected when there were 8__________ at sea.
The races
● It was in a ship called 9__________ that the British first competed successfully against the Americans.
● Richard Green’s ship arrived two days ahead of its competitor.
● Competition increased when additional Chinese trading 10__________ were established.
● Merchants were occasionally in such a hurry that they failed to complete the 11__________ before leaving
China.
● At the end of their journey, the ships needed the help of 12__________
The rewards
● The crews were motivated by both 13__________ and their enthusiasm for the competition.
READING PASSAGE 2
Orientation of birds
A For many of US, the way birds are able to orientate is both astounding and difficult to appreciate fully. For
instance, the annual migration of tire golden plover of the Pacific takes it from Alaska to Hawaii on a flight of
well over 3000 kilometres, and if it were to deviate by only one degree, it would miss the island on which it
nests.
B The first systematic studies on orientation in birds were made possible by the ‘homing instinct’ exhibited by
so many species. Birds are caught at a time when they show an attachment to their territory, especially
during the nesting season. They are taken to some spot, released, and the percentage of returns is
recorded. The distance can be varied, and the direction, as well as the method of transporting them, and
then the influence of climatic and other factors on their ability to find their way home can be studied. These
experiments have shown a wide variation in ability to home, and three types of homing behaviour have been
identified.
C In the first type, birds methodically explore the area in which they are released until they pick up some
familiar feature, and then they quickly find their way back to the nest. Such birds possess a highly developed
visual memory, as experiments with pigeons have shown. Domestic pigeons have been trained to peck at a
certain point on an aerial photograph, with a system of rewards, and four years later the birds were still able
to respond to this training when placed on the aerial photograph. Birds’ eyes have a power of resolution two
to three times greater than ours, enabling them to pick up very fine details. If a bird uses only this type of
homing behaviour, however, it can only succeed if the point of release is not too far away. If the birds are
transported 800 kilometres from their nest, it is only by good fortune that they find their way back as a result
of long exploratory flights. Usually, the area known to a bird is its feeding territory. Released within this area,
the birds soon make their return; release them outside it and far fewer return. However, if a bird is released
for a second time in the same place, its visual memory comes into play, and the bird, no longer requiring
tedious exploratory flights, will return much more quickly.
D The second type of homing behaviour is shown by birds that are capable of choosing their flight direction
and holding to it for the rest of their journey. How do they decide what direction to take? They appear to
choose their normal migration direction even if they are released in a different place from their usual stalling
point. If, for example, birds which normally fly to the north-east to reach latitude 45 degrees north are
released at that latitude, they will immediately start flying north-east anyway. So, if they’re released further to
the west, they’ll maintain the correct direction, but fly west of their destination, and so fail to arrive.
E The third type of homing behaviour shows the highest degree of orientation. Released at one point, the
birds immediately take stock of it, compare its position with that of the nest, decide on the direction and fly
off. This happens even if the birds are in a country right off their migration routes, where they have never
been before. In one example, a laysan albatross returned to its nesting area on Midway Island in the middle
of the Pacific, having flown over 5000 kilometres from the west coastal of the USA in just over ten days. This
is a perfect example of the third type of homing, for the albatross clearly couldn’t rely on any landmarks over
the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
F The percentage of successful birds varies greatly, being highest in those species with a strong migratory
behaviour. Thus, the lesser black-backed gull is more migratory than the herring gull and more often reaches
‘home’. Great migrants such as the swift have the highest percentage of returns. In one case, seven out of
nine alpine swifts were recaptured at their nests after being displaced some 1400 kilometres; one made the
journey in three days.
G What part does heredity play in all this? Two research studies suggest that instinctive, i.e., genetically
inherited, behaviour patterns play a part in navigation. The first was carried out by Ernst Schuz and it is
highly significant. Schuz caught first year European storks and released them later, after the departure of the
adult storks at a time when they normally make their south-west autumn migration to Africa. The recaptures
showed that, in spite of thefact that there were no adults to guide them, the birds unanimously headed south-
west. This was a most striking finding, for it showed that the birds had an innate and unlearned attraction for
the African wintering area that they have occupied for thousands of years.
H The case of starlings is a little different. These birds have a great aptitude for homing, but this behaviour
differs in the different age groups. Birds that were shifted to the south-east of their normal migration route
split into two lots. The adults, in full possession of their gift for orientation, found their wintering area by
modifying their direction by 90 degrees, whereas the juveniles sought their winter quarters to the south-east
of their real position.
Questions 14-18: Complete the summary below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the
passage for each answer.
Types of homing behaviour
First type:
Birds rely on their sophisticated 14__________. However, they are generally most successful if they are
released within their feeding territory.
Second type:
Birds select their accustomed 15__________ no matter where they are released. As a result, they may miss
their 16__________
Third type:
Birds orientate correctly, even when they are released in an unfamiliar place and have no 17__________ to
make use of. One bird with this type of skill is the 18__________
Questions 19-22: Reading Passage 2 has eight paragraphs, A-H. Which paragraph contains the
following information?
NB You may use any letter more than once.
19 the effects of distance on some birds’ ability to find their nests
20 a methodology for testing the general ability of birds to find their nests
21 one aspect of physical ability in humans and birds
22 how some birds’ migration was delayed for experimental purposes
Questions 23-26: Look at the following types of birds (Questions 23-26) and the list of points which
the author wishes to illustrate below. Match each bird with the point which it illustrates, A-G.
23 domestic pigeon
24 alpine swift
25 European stork
26 starling
List of points which the author wishes to illustrate
A an ability to orientate without previous training
B the speed at which birds can fly
C the ability to remember things seen previously
D the effect of age on homing ability
E the strength required to fly a great distance
F a high success rate in finding nests
G the importance of seasonal cues for migrating birds
READING PASSAGE 3
The role of accidents in business
A. In 1894 Dr John Kellogg and his brother, Will, were supervising a hospital and health spa in Michigan.
The patients were on a restricted diet. One day, the brothers left cooked wheat untended for more than
24 hours. When they returned, they saw what they had done. It was no good to eat, but they decided to
run the stale wheat through rollers, just to see how it would turn out. Normally, the process produced long
sheets, but they were surprised to discover that this time the rollers created flat flakes. They baked them,
and then tried the same thing with corn. From this accidental discovery came the cornflakes that
generations have now been eating for breakfast.
B. Accidents happen; there is nothing predictable and orderly about innovation. Nobel laureate Sir Alan
Hodgkin, who discovered how nerve cells transmit electrical impulses between the skin and the brain,
commented: ‘I believe that the record of my published papers conveys an impression of directedness and
planning which does not at all coincide with the actual sequence of events.’
C. The same rule applies in business. The mistake that gave US cornflakes keeps repeating itself in the
history of disruptive innovation, the kind that transforms markets. Louis Daguerre, for instance,
discovered the technique that gave US photography in the 1830s, when drops of mercury from a
shattered thermometer produced a photographic image. The microwave was discovered when Peroy
Spender, a scientist with Raytheon, was testing a new vacuum tube and discovered that the sweet in his
pocket had melted. The artificial sweetener, saccharin, was the unintentional result of a medical
scientist’s work on a chemical treatment for gastric ulcers. While working for the firm 3M, researcher Art
Fry had no idea he was taking the first steps towards Post-It Notes when he used bits of adhesive office
paper that could be easily lifted off the page to replace the scrap paper bookmarks that kept falling out of
his hymn book.
D. Breakthrough and disruptive innovation are rarely driven by orderly process. Usually, they come out of a
chaotic, haphazard mess, which is why big companies, full of managers schooled in business
programmes designed to eliminate random variation and mistakes, struggle with them. In these
conventional sorts of environments, accidents are called failures and are discouraged.
E. It is no surprise then that research from the late British economist Paul Geroski and London Business
School’s Constantinos Markides found that companies that were skilled at innovation were usually not
that skilled when it came to commercialisation, and vice versa. Their book, Fast Second, divides
businesses into ‘colonists’ and ‘consolidators’. Small and nimble, colonists are adept at creating market
niches but are terrible institution builders. Consolidators, with their strong cultures of discipline and cost
control, know how to take clever ideas from other firms and turn them into mass market items. Microsoft
is a prime instance of this.
F. With companies spending hundreds of billions of dollars on research and development, US academics
Robert Austin and Lee Devin examined how managers can encourage productive slip-ups. In their article
Accident, Intention and Expectation in the Innovation Process, they argue that business processes
actually prevent helpful mis-steps from occurring. According to their catalogue of accidents, not all false
steps and mishaps are equal. Accidents, they say, come from unlikely mental associations such as
memories and vague connections, looking for something and finding it in an unexpected way, looking for
one thing and finding something else, and not looking for anything but finding something valuable.
G. Accident-prone innovation, they say, requires companies to get outside the ‘cone of expectation’. It
means throwing together groups from diverse backgrounds, and combining ideas in unpredictable ways,
other strategies also include having systems that watch out for accidents and examine them for value,
generating them when they do not happen often enough, seizing oil the useful ones, capturing their
valuable features, and building on them to add value and give potential for useful accidents.
H. All this, however, requires thinking that is often ‘counter-intuitive’ to the way businesses operate. In other
words, it is the kind of thinking that goes against the beliefs of most business managers. It runs counter to
the notion frequently pushed by consultants that you can ‘harness’ creativity and direct it to line up with
intention. ‘People tend to treat all of those accidents as failure.’
I. There are tentative signs that more companies are starting to realise that failure can lead to commercial
gain, and that this is part or the risk-taking that underpins innovation. Australia’s largest brewing
company, for example, made a bad error when it launched a new beer called Empire Lager, pitched at
younger consumers. Having spent a fortune creating a beer with a sweeter taste, designing a great-
looking bottle and a television campaign, Foster’s was left with a drink that no one wanted to buy. The
target market was more interested in brands built up by word of mouth.
J. Instead of wiping the unsuccessful product launch, Fosters used this lesson learned to go on and develop
other brands instead. One of them, Pure Blonde, is now ranked as Australia’s fifth-largest beer brand.
Unlike Empire Lager, there has been almost no promotion and its sales are generated more by word of
mouth.
K. Other companies are taking similar steps to study their own slip-ups. Intuit, the company behind financial
tools such as Quicken, holds regular ‘When Learning Hurts’ sessions. But this sort of transformation is
never easy. In a market that focuses on the short-term, convincing employees and shareholders to
tolerate failure and not play it safe is a big thing to ask.
Questions 27-31: Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage
3? In boxes 27-31 on your answer sheet, write
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
27 The delay in the process used by the Kellogg brothers affected the final product.
28 Sir Alan Hodgkin is an example of someone whose work proceeded in a logical and systematic way.
29 Daguerre is an exception to the general rule of innovation.
30 The discovery of saccharin occurred by accident during drug research.
31 The company 3M should have supported Art Fry by funding his idea of Post-It Notes.
Questions 32-35: Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-H, below.
32 The usual business A can be found in unusual thoughts and chance events.
environment
B can be taught in business schools.
33 Geroki and Markides’s book
C has made a success from someone else’s invention.
34 Microsoft is an example of a
D is designed to nurture differences.
company which
E is unlikely to lead to creative innovation
35 The origin of useful accidents
F says that all mistakes are the same.
G shows that businesses are good at either inventing or selling.
H suggests ways of increasing the number of mistakes
Questions 36-40: Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
36 How do Austin and Devin advise companies to get out of the ‘cone of expectation’?
A by decreasing the number of company systems
B by forming teams of different types of people
C by hiring new and creative people
D by holding regular brainstorming meetings
37 In recommending ‘counter-intuitive’ thinking, what do Austin and Devin imply?
A that failing at business is bad for staff morale
B that innovation cannot be planned for
C that most businesses should be devoted to avoiding mistakes
D that the cost of mistakes is an important consideration
38 The writer describes the Empire Lager disaster in order to show that
A success can come out of a business failure
B the majority of companies now value risk-taking.
C TV advertising works better on older people
D young beer drinkers do not like a sweet taste
39 Pure Blonde has been more successful than Empire Lager because
A digital media other than TV were used.
B it was advertised under a different brand name.
C it was launched with very little advertising.
D the advertising budget was larger
40 The writer concludes that creating a culture that learns from mistakes
A brings short-term financial gains.
B can be very difficult for some companies.
C holds no risk for workers.
D is a popular move with shareholders