INTI COLLEGE MALAYSIA FOUNDATION IN BUSINESS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (CFP) ENL 108: INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH FINAL EXAMINATION: JANUARY 2005 SESSION

Transcription

1 ENL 108 (F) / Page 1 of 10 INTI COLLEGE MALAYSIA FOUNDATION IN BUSINESS INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (CFP) ENL 108: INTERMEDIATE ENGLISH FINAL EXAMINATION: JANUARY 2005 SESSION SECTION A: Answer ALL questions Question 1 Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow. Controlling rabbit population has been a major problem for many countries, especially Australia and Britain. Wild rabbits have been causing widespread devastation in Australia for over 100 years. The total rabbit population in Australia is estimated between 200 and 300 million. Australians have attempted to control the rabbit population with the combination of measures including shooting and hunting with dogs and ferrets, biological control (for example, the myxoma virus and rabbit flea) and poison baiting. These methods have impacted on the rabbit population. However, the rabbit s breeding vigour and adaptability have made effective control impossible. Experience clearly shows a combination of biological and conventional method is needed. Commercial harvesting, including hunting, has not proved effective in controlling rabbits to lower enough numbers to protect natural resources. Shooting may only remove a portion of the population and they can be quickly replaced by reproduction. The harvesting rabbit industry is unlikely to kill enough rabbits to control them in order to maintain numbers at low levels. Rabbit shooters harvest between 1 2 % to the population size. But rabbits can regain their former numbers just within a year even after 70% reduction of their population. In 1991, an estimation of two to three million rabbits were harvested in Australia with a wholesale value of about $52 million to $58 million. Rabbit numbers are at a 40-year high in Britain. Disease, natural predators and men with guns keep numbers in reasonable check. But every so often populations surge, and this is what is happening now. This year the problem is pretty bad, says the National Farmers Union chairman for Huntingdon. It s so bad, in fact, that they re breeding above ground. All the set -aside land is partially to blame We consider them as vermin. Shooting is one way of keeping numbers down. Another is blocking up the burrows, filling them with gas and leaving the rabbits to die underground. But the British Government has another, more constructive plan: rabbit ranching

2 ENL 108 (F) / Page 2 of 10 It proposes that wild rabbits be left to be bred in enclosures of acres, protected from predators. All it would need would be sandy soil and a sound fence. The rabbits would provide cash-strapped farmers with good profits at a minimal investment. For, every so often, the rabbits would be harvested for human consumption. It is hard to see where the plan can go wrong. Rabbits kept in limited numbers do not damage the landscape. They may be beneficial. There are no sharp hooves to disturb the soil, and their nibbling prevents delicate plants from being swamped by long grass. The Normans introduced rabbits from the Mediterranean in the 12 th century, and ranching peaked in Britain during the 19 th century. As recent as 70 years ago, these ranches were operating on a huge scale and some covered thousands of acres for example, 128,856 animals were harvested at Lakenheath, Suffolk, in alone. By 1950, the industry was worth 2 billion pounds in modern terms. Modern-day rabbit ranching could also find favour with the animal rights lobby. Britain already has 1,000 commercial rabbit farms, producing 3,750 tons of meat a year which is mainly sold abroad. The conditions in which rabbits are kept are comparable to those of battery chickens. The kits are separated from their mothers at three weeks and put in wire cages. Each kit is allowed only six square inches of space. At nine weeks they are slaughtered. Philip Lymbery, campaigns director for compassion in World Farming, is a bitter opponent of battery rabbit farms. He says their number is increasing alarmingly. Mr Lymbery is initially welcoming of the wild ranching scheme: We d have to see the details how they were killed and so on but in principle it s great improvement on battery units. So, what is the future for wild rabbit meat? Intensively reared rabbit will probably remain as an expensive speciality. Commercial rabbit is where the money is. Oven-ready wild rabbit fetches 1 a kilo wholesale, while commercial rabbits are worth three times that. Admittedly, compared with a bland, textureless eight-week-old chicken, wild rabbit is boney and unpredictable. But it is undoubtedly good for us. With at least 27 percent protein, it beats chicken and lamb and it is low in cholesterol and virtually fat-free. Wild rabbit is also free-range and organic; perfect for the health-conscious consumer Extracted from Target SPM English 1119 (2000)

3 ENL 108 (F) / Page 3 of 10 (a) For how long have Australians had problems with wild rabbits? (1 mark) (b) Name at least 2 ways the Australians have used to control the rabbit population. (2 marks) (c) How does rabbit expand its population? (1 mark) (d) Despite all the methods used to control the rabbit population, it is still impossible to lower the number in Australia. Why? (1 mark) (e) What helps to keep rabbit numbers down in Britain? (2 marks) (f) What happens if the burrows are blocked up and filled with gas? (1 mark) (g) Explain how rabbit ranching is beneficial to farmers. (2 marks) (h) How were rabbits introduced in Britain? (1 mark) (i) Which type of ranching is preferred by the animal rights lobby. Why? (2 marks) (j) In what ways is wild rabbit meat better than chicken and lamb? (2 marks) (k) Write the meaning of each of the following words as used in the passage. (i) devastation (line 3) (ii) surge (line 22) (iii) enclosures (line 29) (iv) human consumption (line 32) (v) bland (line 58) (Total: 20 marks)

4 ENL 108 (F) / Page 4 of 10 Question 2 Describe the following pie charts on student intake in the School of Business and Law in ICM. STUDENT INTAKE : JAN 450 ('04) 280 ('00) Year ('01) ('03) 350 ('02) STUDENT INTAKE : MAY 280 ('04) 100 ('00) 180 ('01) Year ('03) 200 ('02)

5 ENL 108 (F) / Page 5 of 10 STUDENT INTAKE : SEPT 320 ('04) 220 ('00) Year ('01) ('03) 270 ('02) (20 marks)

6 ENL 108 (F) / Page 6 of 10 Question 3 For each topic below, provide a topic sentence and three supporting sentences. (a) (b) (c) (d) Buying a house Topic sentence: (2 marks) (i) (1 mark) (ii) (1 mark) (iii) (1 mark) Part time jobs Topic sentence : (2 marks) (i) (1 mark) (ii) (1 mark) (iii) (1 mark) Effects of competition Topic sentence : (2 marks) (i) (1 mark) (ii) (1 mark) (iii) (1 mark) Cable television Topic sentence : (2 marks) (i) (1 mark) (ii) (1 mark) (iii) (1 mark) (20 marks) Question 4 Write an essay of about 350 words on any ONE of the following topics. (a) Illustrate how using a mobile phone while driving can be potentially dangerous. (b) Compare and contrast vacations you had in two different places. (c) People are more materialistic these days. Discuss. (20 marks)

7 ENL 108 (F) / Page 7 of 10 SECTION B: Answer any TWO (2) questions. Question 5 This passage contains errors. Identify any 10 and write out the correct word in your answer sheet. Use the numbers as reference. (1)A superficial friendship is one that often makes us fell into materialistic behaviour against our better judgement. (2)When I am in junior high school at the age of 12, I had some girlfriend who used to told me I was quite conservative and that I would has to dress like them if I want to continue being part of her group. (3)I thought, I don t want to be lonely, and suddenly I turns into a very different person who changed her own way of being and thinking. (4)Conversations between my girlfriends and me was about new fashion, jewellery, singers and so on mainly not very important thing. (5) I felt uncomfortable pretending to be somebody that I weren t. (6) This kind of relationship are not very deep or sentimental and never lasts for a long times precisely because it was superficial. (10 marks) Question 6 Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs given in the brackets. Believe it or not, the busiest retailer in Britain is not Sainsbury or Marks & Spencer, but Richer Sounds, a little known, privately-owned, cut-price retailer of hi-fi equipment with 12 shops in the UK. The man behind Richer Sounds success (1) (be) founder, managing director and 98% shareholder Julian Richer, a 31- year-old Londoner who, at the age of 14, (2) (use) to buy and sell candles during the emergency crisis of A likeable man who wears his blonde hair in a pony tail and (3) (operate) from a small converted Victorian vinegar factory in South London, he raps out his sales pitch.

8 ENL 108 (F) / Page 8 of 10 Even when I (4) (be) at school I wanted to go into business, he says, but my age was against me. I couldn t go into property or cars as I was too young, so I (5) (turn)to hi-fi, which was catching on at school. I bought a secondhand Bang & Olufsen for 10, (6) (do) it up and sold it for 22. In 1979, at the age of 19, he (7) (open) his first shop the one on London Bridge Walk. Since then, little (8) (change). In simple terms, Richer Sounds sells discounted hi-fi from tiny, basic shops with low overheads. Stock turnover (9) (be) rapid and the company s smallness gives it flexibility to (10) (take) advantage of deals offered by manufacturers on end-of line or surplus equipment. (10 marks) Question 7 Fill in the blanks with a suitable connector from the box. Some connectors can be used more than once. Although but even though however yet though whereas despite while and The Elgin Marbles are statues which date back to the 5 th Century BC. (0) Although they were created in Greece and were located there until the late 18 th Century, they are now exhibited in the British Museum, London. The statues used to be in Athens (1) they were brought in 1799 by the Englishman Lord Elgin, who wanted to bring them back to Britain as part of his personal art collection. (2), on the sea voyage back to England, the ship carrying them was sunk and the Marbles were temporarily lost. It would be an incredibly expensive operation to recover them. (3), Elgin did so, and (4) he was a very rich man, he placed himself in enormous debt. (5) his own desires, he had to sell the Marbles to the British Museum, where they have remained ever since.

9 ENL 108 (F) / Page 9 of 10 In recent times, (6), the statues have become the subject of debate between Britain and Greece and, indeed, among British historians and archaeologists. (7) the Greek authorities have requested the return of the Marbles on many occasions, the request have been refused. There are arguments on both sides. Some people believe that it would be foolish to return them, valid (8) the Greek request may be, because of the pollution that is affecting the Parthenon and the possibility of earthquakes in Greece. Restored to the Parthenon, the Marbles could be exposed to damage, (9) they are safe in the British Museum. Of course, there are equally compelling arguments for their return, especially on the moral level. It cannot be denied that the statues are part of the Greek heritage. Many people also refute the argument that Athens would not be a safe place for them. On the contrary, they claim that if the statues were returned to Greece, a new state-of-the-art building would be constructed to house them, where they would be both safe and in their rightful environment. Furthermore, the British authorities have long used the argument that works of art should not be subject to ownership, but should be kept where they are accessible to most people. Yet in the past they have returned a number of cultural artifacts from other civilizations to their origins. The argument continues, (10) is likely to do so for some time in the future. (10 marks) Question 8 Complete the sentences with the correct forms of the verbs in parentheses. Treasure Island is one of the best known and most loved children s adventure stories. It (1) (be) first published in 1883 but remains popular to this day. People think that the story was solely the work of Stevenson s imagination, but recent research (2) (uncover) the true origin of this thrilling tale of hidden treasure and bloodthirsty pirates. Treasure Island s author, Robert Louis Stevenson, (3) (be) a Scotsman born in Edinburgh in Although he (4) (live) abroad for many years, in 1881 he returned to the land of his birth for a holiday. With him was his American wife Fanny, whom he (5) (meet) five years earlier in France, and his stepchildren

10 ENL 108 (F) / Page 10 of 10 from Fanny s first marriage. The location of their holiday was Braemar in the rugged Scottish Highlands. The family soon settled into a relaxing routine. Each morning Stevenson got up early and took them out for long walks over the hills. They (6) (enjoy) this for several days when the weather suddenly took a turn for the worse. Trapped indoors by the heavy rain, Robert s twelve-year-old stepson, Lloyd was becoming increasingly bored and restless. Desperate to keep the boy amused, Robert (7) (get) out some drawing paper and asked the boy to do some painting. After he (8) (paint) for several hours the boy returned to his stepfather with a beautiful coloured map of a tropical island. Robert noticed Lloyd had drawn a large cross in the middle of the island. What s that? he asked. That s the buried treasure, said the boy. The thirty-one-year-old author suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He was recently asked to contribute stories to a children s magazine published by his friend and he was beginning to see the gem of an adventure story in the boy s picture. While the rain (9) (beat) down the roof, the author (10) (sit) down by the fire to write a story. He would make the hero a twelve-year-old boy, just like his own stepson. So, thanks to a rainy September in Scotland and the inventiveness of a twelveyear-old American boy, we have one of the greatest adventure stories in the English language. (10 marks) - THE END - enl108f/junaidah osman/nisa ENL108(F)JAN05/Christy/rev230305