Passage Two
More than fifty years ago, the United Nations declared that literacy is a basic human right. It’s very important for improving the live s of individuals, however, it is estimated that 880 million adults around the world are illiterate, that is, they are unable to read or write. A majority of them are women. More than 110 million school age children in the world do not attend school. Many others complete school or fail to finish their studies without learning to read or write. Many countries depend on the efforts of people who offer their time to help illiterate individuals. For example, John Mogger became concerned about the problem of illiteracy three years ago, so he started teaching five prisoners in Brazil. In his teaching, he developed a system with this group of prisoners. He says his way of teaching can help anyone learn how to read and write with about thirty hours of study. To learn his system, people must first know how to write letters of the alphabet and learn which sounds they represent. The system divides letters into three groups. The first group of letters can be written between two lines. The second can be written between two lines but part of the letters is above the top line. The third group has letters that are partly written below the lower line. John Mogger taught his students to write simple words from the letters, in this way, his students learned more than 700 words. Many of them can now write to family members. They also can read newspapers and magazines. Questions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard. 30. According to the speaker, which group of people makes up of the majority of the illiterate population?
31. What is the most important feature of John Mogger’s method of teaching the alphabet?
32. What does John Mogger say about his teaching method? Passage Three
Farmers usually use ploughs to prepare their fields for planting crops. Plows cut into the ground, and lift up weeds and other unwanted plants. However, plowing is blamed for causing severe damage to topsoil by removing the plants that protect soil from being blown or washed away. Many farmers in South Asia are now trying a process called Low Till Farming. Low Till Farming limits the use of ploughs. In this method of farming seeds and fertilizer are put into the soil through a small cut made in the surface of the ground. Low Till Agriculture leaves much or all of the soil and remains of plants on the ground. They serve as a natural fertilizer and help support the roots of future crops. They take in rain and allow it to flow into the soil instead of running off. It has been proved that Low Till Farming increases harvests and reduces water use, and this method reduces the need for chemical products because there are fewer unwanted plants. Scientists say Low Till Farming is becoming popular in South Asia, which is facing a severe water shortage. They say the area will become dependent on imported food unless water is saved through methods like Low Till Farming. Currently, more than 150 million people in South Asia depend on local rice and wheat crops. Farmers grow rice during
wet weather. During the dry season they grow wheat in the same fields. Farmers are using the Low Till method to plant wheat after harvesting rice. Scientists say Low Till Agriculture is one of the best examples in the world of technologies working for both people, and the environment.
Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
33. What is the main problem caused by the usual way of plowing?
34. What does the speaker say about Low Till Farming?
35. Where is Low Till Farming becoming popular?
Section C
Adults are getting smarter about how smart babies are. Not long ago, researchers learned that 4-day-olds could understand addition and subtraction. Now, British research psychologist Graham Schafer has discovered that infants can learn words for uncommon things long before they can speak. He found that 9-month-old infants could be taught, through repeated show-and-tell, to recognize the names of objects that were foreign to them, a result that challenges in some ways the received wisdom that, apart from learning to identify things common to their daily lives, children don’t begin to build vocabulary until well into their second year.
―It’s no secret that children learn words, but the words they tend to know are words linked to specific situations in the home, ‖explains Schafer. ―This is the first demonstration that w e can choose what words the children will learn and that they can respond to them with an unfamiliar voice giving instructions in an unfamiliar setting.‖ Figuring out how humans acquire language may shed light on why some children learn to read and write later than others, Schafer says, and could lead to better treatments for developmental problems. What’s more, the study of language acquisition offers direct insight into how humans learn. ―Language is a test case for human cognitive development,‖ says Scha fer. But parents eager to teach their infants should take note：even without being taught new words a control group caught up with the other infants within a few months. ―This is not about advancing development,‖ he says. ―It’s just about what children can do at an earlier age than what educators have often thought.‖