Comprehension Level 11

SECTION A
DIRECTED WRITING AND COMPOSITION

Read both texts, and then answer Question 1 on the question paper.

Text A
Why space tourism matters
The article below outlines some of the benefits of space tourism.

Right now, one of the most exciting space facilities in the world is a Second
World War hangar in the Mojave Desert, in California. The wooden hangar
belongs to one of the companies building rocket planes to fly tourists into
space. Further along the runway, another billionaire is developing a new
space launch system. Eleven other small space businesses are spread
around the site at the Mojave Air and Space Port.

Some of these companies are charging huge sums for the privilege of
experiencing five minutes of weightlessness; others will charge for a ride in a
two-seater rocket ship. The cost alone puts this fledgling space tourism
industry beyond most of us, but it’s worth outlining why space tourism matters.

There’s already talk of drastically reducing flight times between cities by

planes that can use space as a result of the work done by scientists working
with space tourism companies. Space tourism will also inspire a new
generation of engineers. ‘It’s an engineer’s dream job,’ one 26-year-old
working here says. ‘Most engineers sit behind a desk all day. I get to come
out here in the shop, turn wrenches and fire rocket engines.’

What’s more, the cost of reaching space will go down. Conventional space
rockets could only be used once, at huge cost, but space tourism is
developing space planes which will be able to reach orbit many times. Space,
the final frontier, could finally become economically viable to a lot more people.

Space travel will provide a new view of our planet. It is widely accepted that
one of the greatest achievements of the Apollo mission was the view of the
Earth from space. Apollo 8 astronaut, Bill Anders, summed it up: ‘We came all
this way to explore the Moon,’ he said, ‘and the most important thing is that
we discovered the Earth.’ The images put us in our place, a blue marble
against the backdrop of nothingness.

Every astronaut I have interviewed talks about how seeing the Earth from
space changed their view of the world. As a result, could it influence the
decisions we make on pollution or climate change?

Text B
Why on earth would I be a space tourist?
The passage below is an article arguing against space tourism.
Indulge me with this scenario for a moment: you have a (very) rich old uncle
with a serious passion for all things space. He’ll give you a very large sum of
money if you promise to fulfil a dream he knows he’s now too frail to achieve.
Yes, he wants you to book one of the first available tourist seats on a
commercial rocket into space.

A thrilling prospect beyond your wildest dreams? I, for one, would have to
respectfully suggest my uncle bestows his generous legacy elsewhere.

Even without speculating about how much good all that money could do for a
really worthwhile cause, it’s hard to justify the cost, both financially and
environmentally, of space tourism. There are millions of people who have
never travelled outside their own regions and for whom the very idea of
tourism here on Earth is unattainable. Even in wealthy countries, travel
beyond the borders is still relatively unusual. Sixty-four per cent of US citizens
have never left the country.
Before space becomes the new, must-see tourist destination, wouldn’t it be
nice if more people got to see more of their own beautiful world?

Relieving poverty and the effects of conflict are not fashionable fields of
endeavour for billionaires with money to burn. They won’t have a good return
on their investment in 10 or even 50 years. I can see the appeal of cutting-
edge technology and shiny new rockets lifting off in a blaze of fire.
But for the tiny elite of people who benefit, either as tourists or from jobs in the
industry, a huge and struggling population remains benighted and bereft.

It seems that all astronauts who have gazed down from space on their
terrestrial home are powerfully struck by its beauty. Don Thomas, who has
been in space four times, says as more people get to see such an awe-
inspiring sight on their tourist flights, ‘the better off we’re all going to be.’ But
he also describes how fragile the Earth looks from space and how ‘paper-thin’
the layer of atmosphere is protecting it. I’m really not sure how the burgeoning
space tourism industry is going to help with that!

My imaginary space-obsessed uncle will have to find someone else to waste

his money on, I think.

Question 1
Imagine you have a rich relative who is considering whether or not to reserve
a seat on one of the first tourist space flights and they have asked you for
your views.
Write a letter to your relative.
In your letter you should:
• evaluate the ideas and opinions in both texts
• give your own views to your relative, based on what you have read.
Base your letter on what you have read in both texts, but be careful to use
your own words.
Address both of the bullet points.
Write about 250 to 350 words.
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(40)

QUESTION 2
COMPOSITION WRITING

Write about 350 to 450 words on one of the following questions.

Descriptive Writing
Describe a room in a house that belongs to an older person.
OR
Describe moving from a stressful place to one which is peaceful.

Narrative Writing
Write a narrative about a time you had an important responsibility.
OR
Write a narrative which includes the words, ‘I was so focused’.

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(40)

SECTION B
COMPREHENSION

Read Text A, and then answer Questions 1(a)–1(e) on the question paper.

Text A
The city of the lost giants
This text is about a mysterious ancient city in Ecuador that appears once to
have been occupied by giants.

Ecuadorian legends tell of an ancient city of giants. As a matter of fact, tribes

from all
over the Amazonian basin recollect the existence of an ancient race of giants
that
inhabited thriving cities long before ‘regular-sized’ humans arrived in the area.

Locals talk about the prehistoric stone city with a mixture of fear and respect.
The reason behind their attitude becomes clear when you first view the
ancient structures on site.

The largest structure is an 80-metres-tall by 80-metres-wide pyramid with an

inclination too high to be natural. It was built using hundreds of huge boulders,
each one weighing approximately 2 tonnes. Furthermore, bones much larger
than those of an average-sized human were discovered in nearby caves. The
most interesting discovery, however, came in the form of tools. Oversized and
ancient, they litter the forest floor. Their purpose is unknown but it is
suspected that they were used in metalworking. One thing is certain, though:
their size would have made it very difficult for a normal-sized human to wield
them.

This evidence has been wilfully ignored by the authorities. In 2013, the
Ecuadorian
Ministry of Culture sent one of their teams to briefly inspect the pyramid. They
saw the regular size of the blocks, yet still concluded that it was nothing more
than a natural formation. Researchers at the ancient city disagree and point to
the precision with which the blocks were cut and then assembled as proof of
their artificial origin.

Furthermore, several other interesting large ‘mounds’ wait to be excavated.

Although
embedded in mud and covered by dense vegetation, their shape suggests
pyramids
may be buried beneath them. This excites researchers, often very eager to
believe
stories that, in other parts of the world, such complexes are built around a
central
pyramid where a leader is buried.

Question 1
Re-read paragraph 1 (‘Ecuadorian legends tell in the area.’). Give two
reasons why locals believe an ancient race of giants once existed, according
to the text.
(a)
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(b) Using your own words, explain what the text means by:
(i) ‘thriving cities’ (line 3):
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(2)
(ii) ‘ancient structures’ (line 5):
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(c) Re-read paragraph 3 (‘The largest structure is to wield them.’).
Give two reasons why it might be assumed that the giants worked hard.
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(d) Re-read paragraph 4 (‘This evidence has artificial origin.’).
(i) Identify two pieces of evidence that the Ecuadorian authorities did not want
to believe the findings.
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(ii) Explain why researchers believe that these are man-made pyramids.
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(e) Re-read paragraph 5 (‘Furthermore, several other leader is buried.’).
Using your own words, explain why it is possible that the researchers are
wrong in their theories.
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(3)

SECTION C
SUMMARY

Read Text B, and then answer Question 1(f) on the question paper.

Text B
The Crooked Forest
In this text, the writer describes his visit to the Crooked Forest in Western
Poland. The Crooked Forest consists of approximately 400 pine trees that
grow in an unusual way outwards from their base. The writer is very interested
in how they are formed.

My visit to the Crooked Forest took me by train to the station of Dolna Odra. I
say station and not town, because I really felt like I was in the middle of
nowhere, with no people about and just a small gravel road heading off
towards the forest. I wandered down this rough track, contemplating the
popular idea that the deformation of these trees had resulted during the
invasion of Poland in the Second World War.

Arriving at the location, I had mixed reactions. While the trees were definitely
as warped as I had expected, the grove they occupied was small and sparse
and, furthermore, surrounded by perfectly straight pine trees on all sides.
Perplexed, I dismissed my compelling image of heavy enemy tanks ploughing
through the midst of a huge forest, flattening young saplings in all directions,
and decided to take photographs instead.

The small group of pot-bellied stick figures posed jauntily for my camera lens.
At their bases, they extended outwards anything from three to nine feet and
then their trunks grew perfectly erect. It did seem highly unlikely that the
trauma of being run over by ridiculously heavy tanks would result in the odd
yet uniform curvature, if the young trees survived at all.

Some kind of genetic mutation maybe? I remembered reading about a plant

specialist who discovered a group of aspen trees in Canada that had become
gnarled and twirly as a consequence of genetic malfunction. But the whole
tree had been affected in these cases.

Back at the hotel, locals had been quite voluble in their theories. Talk of alien
or
supernatural activity led to anecdotes about ‘sightings’, designed presumably
to fool
gullible visitors. Meanwhile, the hotel manager eagerly hypothesised that
fluctuations
in gravitational forces or a unique gravitational pull in the area could be
responsible.
As I contemplated the cartoon images of squat misshapen trees on my hotel
room walls, it seemed to me that the manager’s words ignored basic laws of
physics – that gravity pulls downwards not sideways.

Sitting now on one of the very solid horizontal lower trunks and contemplating
the
white-coated landscape surrounding me on this early spring morning, I
wondered too
about the effects of heavy snowfall. Still I observed the vast number of
perfectly vertical pines forming a neat and protective circle around me. Were
the curves in these trees man-made then? I’d heard how people sculpted
trees into furniture, knots or baskets, like the ‘circus trees’ at Gilroy Gardens
in California. American Indians also bent marker trees into symbols they used
to navigate and communicate in the forest.
But these trees are often found solo, and not necessarily in Europe ...

Read Text B, The Crooked Forest, and then answer Question 1(f) on this
question
paper.
Question 1f
According to Text B, why are the existing theories about how the Crooked
Forest was formed unlikely to be correct?
You must use continuous writing (not note form) and use your own words
as far as possible.
Your summary should not be more than 120 words.
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SECTION C
LANGUAGE

Read Text C, and then answer Questions 2(a)–2(d) and Question 3 on the
question paper.
Text C
Lost mining city
For centuries stories had been passed down about an ancient city in a very
remote part of Brazil, the inhabitants of which mined vast quantities of gold,
silver and precious stones from the surrounding mountains. An adventurer
called Raposo took a team on a long expedition across rough terrain to find
the ancient city. This is an account of the final stage of their journey.

The party was travelling again, tired of this seemingly endless wandering, and
disheartened by their failure so far to locate the lost mines or evidence of
ancient
civilisation. Raposo worked hard to keep their spirits high, but many of his
companions had long decided that no such places existed. They had come
through swamps and bush country, stumbling and complaining, and now a
range of jagged mountains showed up ahead, beyond a grassy plain broken
by thin belts of green forest.

These were no ordinary mountains. As the party came nearer, the sides lit up
in flame, for it had been raining and the setting sun was reflected from wet
rocks rich in colour and light. To the onlooking explorers they seemed to be
studded with gems. Streams leaped from rock to rock and, over the crest of
the ridge, a rainbow beckoned.

‘An omen!’ cried Raposo. ‘See! Our destination is just on the other side. We
will be
rich!’ However, night had fallen, forcing them to camp before they could reach
the foot of the immense mountain range.

Next morning, when the sun came up from behind them, the crags appeared
black and menacing. To the eyes of many their height was vast, and when the
party reached them it was to find sheer, unscalable precipices. All day they
struggled over boulders and crevices, seeking a way up those glossy sides.

Eventually, judging that weariness was overwhelming his party, Raposo called
a halt.
‘We’d better return to our old trail and try to go northwards and around these
mountains.’

‘Camp!’ was the wail. ‘Let’s camp. We’ve had enough for one day. Tomorrow
we can
return to the trail.’

‘Very well,’ answered the leader, and then to two adventurers, ‘You, Jose and
Manoel, off you go to find wood for the fire!’ Jose glanced at Manoel in
disbelief at their misfortune before nodding briefly, and reluctantly followed
Manoel into the darkness.

Camp was pitched and the party was resting, when confused shouting and
crashing in the bush brought them to their feet. Manoel burst into view. ‘We’ve
found it!’ Manoel cried. ‘We’ve found the way up!’ Jose appeared behind him,
his face like stone.

Searching for firewood in the scrub, they had seen a dead tree at the edge of
a small
wooded creek. This was the best fuel to be had, and they were making their
way towards it, when a deer sprang up on the other side of the creek and
disappeared beyond a corner of the cliff. Surprised at its agility and how
quickly it had vanished, Manoel followed, and came to a deep cleft in the face
of the precipice. He saw that it was possible to climb through it to the summit.
Firewood was forgotten in his excitement.
Raposo cajoled the weary adventurers, and soon, packs shouldered, they set
off with Raposo and Manoel leading. Jose dropped behind, muttering to
others who wore similar mutinous expressions.

The group entered the crevice in single file to find that it widened inside.
Raposo
exclaimed in wonder at traces of old man-made paving. In places, the sheer
walls of
the cleft seemed to bear the almost obliterated marks of tools. Clusters of rock
crystals and frothy masses of quartz gave the wide-eyed leader the feeling of
having entered a fairyland, and, in the dim light filtering down through the
tangled mass of creepers overhead, his anticipation of a wondrous citadel on
the other side was palpable.

The climb was so difficult that three hours passed before the group emerged
breathless on a ledge above the surrounding plain. There, Raposo picked up
an abandoned axe head and gazed outwards, as if he was lost in a dream.
Ahead of them lay the broken remains of a human settlement.

Raposo spun round on his feet and stared in disbelief at the other men.

Read Text C, Lost mining city, and then answer Questions 2(a)–(d) on this
question paper.

Question 2
Identify a word or phrase from the text which suggests the same idea as
the words underlined:
(a)
(i) The adventurers were fed up of constantly roaming around.
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(ii) Jose unwillingly trailed Manoel.
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(iii) Manoel had not expected the deer to have such speed and
sprightliness.
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(iv) Raposo tried to encourage and sweet-talk the men.
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(b) Using your own words, explain what the writer means by each of the
words underlined:
Camp was pitched and the party was resting, when confused shouting and
crashing in the bush brought them to their feet. Manoel burst into view.
‘We’ve found it!’ Manoel cried. ‘We’ve found the way up!’
(i) resting
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(ii) confused
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(iii) burst
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(c) Use one example from the text below to explain how the writer suggests
the feelings of the leader, Raposo, when the adventurers enter the cleft.
Use your own words in your explanation.
Clusters of rock crystals and frothy masses of quartz gave the wide-eyed
leader the feeling of having entered a fairyland, and, in the dim light filtering
down through the tangled mass of creepers overhead, his anticipation of a
wondrous citadel on the other side was palpable.
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(d) Re-read paragraphs 2 and 4.
• Paragraph 2 begins ‘These were no ordinary mountains ’ and is about the
sight of the mountains to the weary adventurers.
• Paragraph 4 begins ‘Next morning ’ and is about how the adventurers try to
ascend the mountain by daylight.
Explain how the writer uses language to convey meaning and to create effect
in these paragraphs. Choose three examples of words or phrases from each
paragraph to support your answer. Your choices should include the use of
imagery.
Write about 200 to 300 words.

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Question 3
You are Jose. A day later you write an entry in your journal, in which you:
• describe where you have been and what you have seen in the final stages of
your adventure • explain how you have felt during the recent days about the
expedition and your leader, Raposo
• describe what has happened since you saw the broken remains of the
human settlement.
Write the words of your journal.
Base your journal entry on what you have read in Text C, but be careful to
use your own words. Address each of the three bullets.
Write about 250 to 350 words.

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