The passage discusses the history and development of rocket technology. It notes that: 1) Rockets were likely first developed in China in the 10th century using gunpowder, and were initially used to propel arrows and other projectiles. 2) By the 13th century, the Chinese were commonly using rocket-propelled fire arrows and other incendiary weapons. 3) Europeans did not seriously consider using rockets as weapons until the 18th century after seeing their effectiveness used by Indian forces against the British.

1. IELTS
1.
Each of the short paragraphs below gives information about the five types of visa A-E. Read
each paragraph and choose which of the five links would contain this information. There is
one paragraph that you do not need.
paragraph i. If you have already completed a course of study in the UK and do not intend to
study further, you can apply for this visa to extend your stay. This visa allows you to work in
the UK for a further 6 months.
paragraph ii. If you are under the age of 17 and wish to study for less than six months, you
can apply for this visa. If you wish to extend your course of study, you may not swap to a
student visa while you are in the UK. You must return to your home country and do so there.
paragraph iii. Students in post-16 education can apply for this visa. This visa is suitable for
students attending courses for over six months. Holders of this visa may be eligible to work
in the UK.
paragraph iv. Students over the age of 18 who wish to study for up to six months can apply
for this visa. This visa does not allow students to work in the UK. Students may only extend
their visa or switch to a student visa by returning to their home country.
paragraph v. You can apply for this visa if you are between the ages of 4 and 15 and intend
to attend a full-time, fee-paying independent school for a period of over six months or more.
16 and 17 year olds may attend part-time, fee-paying establishments.
paragraph vi. If you want to come to the UK before choosing your course of study, you can
apply for this visa. You will need to start your course within 6 months of arrival. You may
switch to an adult or child student visa while in the UK without returning to your home
country.
1. A - Child Student

2. 2. B - Child Visitor
3. C - Adult Student
4. D - Student Visitor
5. D - Prospective Student
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
TRUE - if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE - if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN - if there is no information on this
2. identifying information
The Motor Car
A There are now over 700 million motor vehicles in the world - and the number is
rising by more than 40 million each year. The average distance driven by car users is
growing too - from 8km a day per person in western Europe in 1965 to 25 km a day in
1995. This dependence on motor vehicles has given rise to major problems, including
environmental pollution, depletion of oil resources, traffic congestion and safety.
B While emissions from new cars are far less harmful than they used to be, city streets
and motorways are becoming more crowded than ever, often with older trucks, buses
and taxis which emit excessive levels of smoke and fumes. This concentration of
vehicles makes air quality in urban areas unpleasant and sometimes dangerous to
breathe. Even Moscow has joined the list of capitals afflicted by congestion and
traffic fumes. In Mexico City, vehicle pollution is a major health hazard.
C Until a hundred years ago, most journeys were in the 20km range, the distance
conveniently accessible by horse. Heavy freight could only be carried by water or rail.
Invention of the motor vehicle brought personal mobility to the masses and made
rapid freight delivery possible over a much wider area. In the United Kingdom, about
90 per cent of inland freight is carried by road. The world cannot revert to the horse-

3. drawn wagon. Can it avoid being locked into congested and polluting ways of
transporting people and goods?
D In Europe most cities are still designed for the old modes of transport. Adaptation to
the motor car has involved adding ring roads, one-way systems and parking lots. In
the United States, more land is assigned to car use than to housing. Urban sprawl
means that life without a car is next to impossible. Mass use of motor vehicles has
also killed or injured millions of people. Other social effects have been blamed on the
car such as alienation and aggressive human behaviour.
E A 1993 study by the European Federation for Transport and Environment found that
car transport is seven times as costly as rail travel in terms of the external social costs
it entails - congestion, accidents, pollution, loss of cropland and natural habitats,
depletion of oil resources, and so on. Yet cars easily surpass trains or buses as a
flexible and convenient mode of personal transport. It is unrealistic to expect people
to give up private cars in favour of mass transit.
F Technical solutions can reduce the pollution problem and increase the fuelled
efficiency of engines. But fuel consumption and exhaust emissions depend on which
cars are preferred by customers and how they are driven. Many people buy larger cars
than they need for daily purposes or waste fuel by driving aggressively. Besides,
global car use is increasing at a faster rate than the improvement in emissions and fuel
efficiency which technology is now making possible.
G Some argue that the only long-term solution is to design cities and neighbourhoods so
that car journeys are not necessary - all essential services being located within
walking distance or easily accessible by public transport. Not only would this save
energy and cut carbon dioxide emissions, it would also enhance the quality of
community life, putting the emphasis on people instead of cars. Good local
government is already bringing this about in some places. But few democratic
communities are blessed with the vision – and the capital – to make such profound
changes in modern lifestyles.
H A more likely scenario seems to be a combination of mass transit systems for travel
into and around cities, with small ‘low emission’ cars for urban use and larger hybrid
or lean burn cars for use elsewhere. Electronically tolled highways might be used to
ensure that drivers pay charges geared to actual road use. Better integration of
transport systems is also highly desirable - and made more feasible by modern

4. computers. But these are solutions for countries which can afford them. In most
developing countries, old cars and old technologies continue to predominate
Sample Passage 7 has eight paragraphs labelled A-H.
Which paragraphs contains the following information?
Write the correct letter A-H in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
14 a comparison of past and present transportation methods
15 how driving habits contribute to road problems
16 the relative merits of cars and public transport
17 the writer’s prediction on future solutions
18 the increasing use of motor vehicles
19 the impact of the car on city development
3. Identifying writer’s views/claims
The Risks of Cigarete Smoke
Discovered in the early 1800s and named ‘nicotianine’, the oily essence now called
nicotine is the main active ingredient of tobacco. Nicotine, however, is only a small
component of cigarette smoke, which contains more than 4,700 chemical compounds,
including 43 cancer-causing substances. In recent times, scientific research has been
providing evidence that years of cigarette smoking vastly increases the risk of developing
fatal medical conditions.
In addition to being responsible for more than 85 per cent of lung cancers, smoking is
associated with cancers of, amongst others, the mouth, stomach and kidneys, and is thought
to cause about 14 per cent of leukemia and cervical cancers. In 1990, smoking caused more
than 84,000 deaths, mainly resulting from such problems as pneumonia, bronchitis and
influenza. Smoking, it is believed, is responsible for 30 per cent of all deaths from cancer and
clearly represents the most important preventable cause of cancer in countries like the United
States today.
Passive smoking, the breathing in of the side-stream smoke from the burning of
tobacco between puffs or of the smoke exhaled by a smoker, also causes a serious health risk.
A report published in 1992 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emphasized
the health dangers, especially from side-stream smoke. This type of smoke contains more

5. smaller particles and is therefore more likely to be deposited deep in the lungs. On the basis
of this report, the EPA has classified environmental tobacco smoke in the highest risk
category for causing cancer.
As an illustration of the health risks, in the case of a married couple where one partner
is a smoker and one a non-smoker, the latter is believed to have a 30 per cent higher risk of
death from heart disease because of passive smoking. The risk of lung cancer also increases
over the years of exposure and the figure jumps to 80 per cent if the spouse has been smoking
four packs a day for 20 years. It has been calculated that 17 per cent of cases of lung cancer
can be attributed to high levels of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke during childhood
and adolescence.
A more recent study by researchers at the University of California at San Francisco
(UCSF) has shown that second-hand cigarette smoke does more harm to non-smokers than to
smokers. Leaving aside the philosophical question of whether anyone should have to breathe
someone else’s cigarette smoke, the report suggests that the smoke experienced by many
people in their daily lives is enough to produce substantial adverse effects on a person’s heart
and lungs.
The report, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (AMA),
was based on the researchers’ own earlier research but also includes a review of studies over
the past few years. The American Medical Association represents about half of all US doctors
and is a strong opponent of smoking. The study suggests that people who smoke cigarettes
are continually damaging their cardiovascular system, which adapts in order to compensate
for the effects of smoking. It further states that people who do not smoke do not have the
benefit of their system adapting to the smoke inhalation. Consequently, the effects of passive
smoking are far greater on non-smokers than on smokers.
This report emphasizes that cancer is not caused by a single element in cigarette
smoke; harmful effects to health are caused by many components. Carbon monoxide, for
example, competes with oxygen in red blood cells and interferes with the blood’s ability to
deliver life-giving oxygen to the heart. Nicotine and other toxins in cigarette smoke activate
small blood cells called platelets, which increases the likelihood of blood clots, thereby
affecting blood circulation throughout the body.
The researchers criticize the practice of some scientific consultants who work with the
tobacco industry for assuming that cigarette smoke has the same impact on smokers as it does
on non-smokers. They argue that those scientists are underestimating the damage done by

6. passive smoking and, in support of their recent findings, cite some previous research which
points to passive smoking as the cause for between 30,000 and 60,000 deaths from heart
attacks each year in the United States. This means that passive smoking is the third most
preventable cause of death after active smoking and alcohol-related diseases
The study argues that the type of action needed against passive smoking should be
similar to that being taken against illegal drugs and AIDS (SIDA). The UCSF researchers
maintain that the simplest and most cost-effective action is to establish smoke-free work
places, schools and public places.
Questions 1 – 4
Do the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in the reading passage?
In boxes 4-7 on your answer sheet write
YES if the statement reflects 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
4 Thirty per cent of deaths in the United States are caused by smoking-related diseases.
5 If one partner in a marriage smokes, the other is likely to take up smoking.
6 Teenagers whose parents smoke are at risk of getting lung cancer at some time during their
lives.
7 Opponents of smoking financed the UCSF study
4. Matching Features

7. The invention of rockets is linked inextricably with the invention of 'black powder'. Most historians of
technology credit the Chinese with its discovery. They base their belief on studies of Chinese writings or
on the notebooks of early Europeans who settled in or made long visits to China to study its history and
civilisation. It is probable that, some time in the tenth century, black powder was first compounded from
its basic ingredients of saltpetre, charcoal and sulphur. But this does not mean that it was immediately
used to propel rockets. By the thirteenth century, powder-propelled fire arrows had become rather
common. The Chinese relied on this type of technological development to produce incendiary
projectiles of many sorts, explosive grenades and possibly cannons to repel their enemies. One such
weapon was the 'basket of fire' or, as directly translated from Chinese, the 'arrows like flying leopards'.
The 0.7 metre-long arrows, each with a long tube of gunpowder attached near the point of each arrow,
could be fired from a long, octagonal-shaped basket at the same time and had a range of 400 paces.
Another weapon was the 'arrow as a flying sabre', which could be fired from crossbows. The rocket,
placed in a similar position to other rocket-propelled arrows, was designed to increase the range. A
small iron weight was attached to the 1.5m bamboo shaft, just below the feathers, to increase the arrow's
stability by moving the centre of gravity to a position below the rocket. At a similar time, the Arabs had
developed the 'egg which moves and burns'. This 'egg' was apparently full of gunpowder and stabilised
by a 1.5m tail. It was fired using two rockets attached to either side of this tail.
It was not until the eighteenth century that Europe became seriously interested in the possibilities of
using the rocket itself as a weapon of war and not just to propel other weapons. Prior to this, rockets
were used only in pyrotechnic displays. The incentive for the more aggressive use of rockets came not
from within the European continent but from far-away India, whose leaders had built up a corps of
rocketeers and used rockets successfully against the British in the late eighteenth century. The Indian
rockets used against the British were described by a British Captain serving in India as ‘an iron envelope
about 200 millimetres long and 40 millimetres in diameter with sharp points at the top and a 3m-long
bamboo guiding stick’. In the early nineteenth century the British began to experiment with incendiary
barrage rockets. The British rocket differed from the Indian version in that it was completely encased in
a stout, iron cylinder, terminating in a conical head, measuring one metre in diameter and having a stick
almost five metres long and constructed in such a way that it could be firmly attached to the body of the
rocket. The Americans developed a rocket, complete with its own launcher, to use against the Mexicans
in the mid-nineteenth century. A long cylindrical tube was propped up by two sticks and fastened to the
top of the launcher, thereby allowing the rockets to be inserted and lit from the other end. However, the
results were sometimes not that impressive as the behaviour of the rockets in flight was less than
predictable.

8. Questions 7 – 10
Look at the following items (Questions 7-10) and the list of groups below.
Match each item with the group which first invented or used them.
Write the correct letter A-E in boxes 7-10 on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
7 black powder
8 rocket-propelled arrows for fighting
9 rockets as war weapons
10 the rocket launcher
First invented or used by
A the Chinese
B the Indians
C the British
D the Arabs
E the Americans
5. Matching Headings
This Passage has six sections, A-F.
Choose the correct heading for sections A-D and F from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number i-ix in boxes 1-5 on your answer sheet. List of Headings
i The probable effects of the new
ii international trade agreement
iii The environmental impact of
iv modern farming
v Farming and soil erosion
vi The effects of government policy
vii in rich countries
viii Governments and management
ix of the environment
The effects of government policy
in poor countries

9. Farming and food output
The effects of government policy
on food output
The new prospects for world
trade
1 Section A
2 SectionB
3 Section C
4 Section D
Example Section E vi
5 Section F
Section A
The role of governments in environmental management is difficult but inescapable.
Sometimes, the state tries to manage the resources it owns, and does so badly. Often,
however, governments act in an even more harmful way. They actually subsidise the
exploitation and consumption of natural resources. A whole range of policies, from farm-
price support to protection for coal-mining, do environmental damage and (often) make no
economic sense. Scrapping them offers a two-fold bonus: a cleaner environment and a more
efficient economy. Growth and environmentalism can actually go hand in hand, if politicians
have the courage to confront the vested interest that subsidies create.
Section B
No activity affects more of the earth's surface than farming. It shapes a third of the planet's
land area, not counting Antarctica, and the proportion is rising. World food output per head
has risen by 4 per cent between the 1970s and 1980s mainly as a result of increases in yields
from land already in cultivation, but also because more land has been brought under the
plough. Higher yields have been achieved by increased irrigation, better crop breeding, and a
doubling in the use of pesticides and chemical fertilisers in the 1970s and 1980s.
Section C
All these activities may have damaging environmental impacts. For example, land clearing
for agriculture is the largest single cause of deforestation; chemical fertilisers and pesticides
may contaminate water supplies; more intensive farming and the abandonment of fallow

10. periods tend to exacerbate soil erosion; and the spread of monoculture and use of high-
yielding varieties of crops have been accompanied by the disappearance of old varieties of
food plants which might have provided some insurance against pests or diseases in future.
Soil erosion threatens the productivity of land in both rich and poor countries. The United
States, where the most careful measurements have been done, discovered in 1982 that about
one-fifth of its farmland was losing topsoil at a rate likely to diminish the soil's productivity.
The country subsequently embarked upon a program to convert 11 per cent of its cropped
land to meadow or forest. Topsoil in India and China is vanishing much faster than in
America.
Section D
Government policies have frequently compounded the environmental damage that farming
can cause. In the rich countries, subsidies for growing crops and price supports for farm
output drive up the price of land. The annual value of these subsidies is immense: about $250
billion, or more than all World Bank lending in the 1980s. To increase the output of crops per
acre, a farmer's easiest option is to use more of the most readily available inputs: fertilisers
and pesticides. Fertiliser use doubled in Denmark in the period 1960-1985 and increased in
The Netherlands by 150 per cent. The quantity of pesticides applied has risen too: by 69 per
cent in 1975-1984 in Denmark, for example, with a rise of 115 per cent in the frequency of
application in the three years from 1981.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s some efforts were made to reduce farm subsidies. The most
dramatic example was that of New Zealand, which scrapped most farm support in 1984. A
study of the environmental effects, conducted in 1993, found that the end of fertiliser
subsidies had been followed by a fall in fertiliser use (a fall compounded by the decline in
world commodity prices, which cut farm incomes). The removal of subsidies also stopped
land-clearing and over-stocking, which in the past had been the principal causes of erosion.
Farms began to diversify. The one kind of subsidy whose removal appeared to have been bad
for the environment was the subsidy to manage soil erosion.
In less enlightened countries, and in the European Union, the trend has been to reduce rather
than eliminate subsidies, and to introduce new payments to encourage farmers to treat their
land in environmentally friendlier ways, or to leave it fallow. It may sound strange but such
payments need to be higher than the existing incentives for farmers to grow food crops.
Farmers, however, dislike being paid to do nothing. In several countries they have become

11. interested in the possibility of using fuel produced from crop residues either as a replacement
for petrol (as ethanol) or as fuel for power stations (as biomass). Such fuels produce far less
carbon dioxide than coal or oil, and absorb carbon dioxide as they grow. They are therefore
less likely to contribute to the greenhouse effect. But they are rarely competitive with fossil
fuels unless subsidised - and growing them does no less environmental harm than other crops.
Section E
In poor countries, governments aggravate other sorts of damage. Subsidies for pesticides and
artificial fertilisers encourage farmers to use greater quantities than are needed to get the
highest economic crop yield. A study by the International Rice Research Institute of pesticide
use by farmers in South East Asia found that, with pest-resistant varieties of rice, even
moderate applications of pesticide frequently cost farmers more than they saved. Such waste
puts farmers on a chemical treadmill: bugs and weeds become resistant to poisons, so next
year's poisons must be more lethal. One cost is to human health. Every year some 10,000
people die from pesticide poisoning, almost all of them in the developing countries, and
another 400,000 become seriously ill. As for artificial fertilisers, their use world-wide
increased by 40 per cent per unit of farmed land between the mid 1970s and late 1980s,
mostly in the developing countries. Overuse of fertilisers may cause farmers to stop rotating
crops or leaving their land fallow. That, in turn, may make soil erosion worse.
Section F
A result of the Uruguay Round of world trade negotiations is likely to be a reduction of 36
per cent in the average levels of farm subsidies paid by the rich countries in 1986-1990. Some
of the world's food production will move from Western Europe to regions where subsidies
are lower or non-existent, such as the former communist countries and parts of the
developing world. Some environmentalists worry about this outcome. It will undoubtedly
mean more pressure to convert natural habitat into farmland. But it will also have many
desirable environmental effects. The intensity of farming in the rich world should decline,
and the use of chemical inputs will diminish. Crops are more likely to be grown in the
environments to which they are naturally suited. And more farmers in poor countries will
have the money and the incentive to manage their land in ways that are sustainable in the
long run. That is important. To feed an increasingly hungry world, farmers need every
incentive to use their soil and water effectively and efficiently.
6. Multiple Choice

12. All these activities may have damaging environmental impacts. For example, land clearing
for agriculture is the largest single cause of deforestation; chemical fertilisers and pesticides
may contaminate water supplies; more intensive farming and the abandonment of fallow
periods tend to exacerbate soil erosion; and the spread of monoculture and use of high-
yielding varieties of crops have been accompanied by the disappearance of old varieties of
food plants which might have provided some insurance against pests or diseases in future.
Soil erosion threatens the productivity of land in both rich and poor countries. The United
States, where the most careful measurements have been done, discovered in 1982 that about
one-fifth of its farmland was losing topsoil at a rate likely to diminish the soil's productivity.
The country subsequently embarked upon a program to convert 11 per cent of its cropped
land to meadow or forest. Topsoil in India and China is vanishing much faster than in
America.
Government policies have frequently compounded the environmental damage that farming
can cause. In the rich countries, subsidies for growing crops and price supports for farm
output drive up the price of land. The annual value of these subsidies is immense: about $250
billion, or more than all World Bank lending in the 1980s. To increase the output of crops per
acre, a farmer's easiest option is to use more of the most readily available inputs: fertilisers
and pesticides. Fertiliser use doubled in Denmark in the period 1960-1985 and increased in
The Netherlands by 150 per cent. The quantity of pesticides applied has risen too: by 69 per
cent in 1975-1984 in Denmark, for example, with a rise of 115 per cent in the frequency of
application in the three years from 1981.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s some efforts were made to reduce farm subsidies. The most
dramatic example was that of New Zealand, which scrapped most farm support in 1984. A
study of the environmental effects, conducted in 1993, found that the end of fertiliser
subsidies had been followed by a fall in fertiliser use (a fall compounded by the decline in
world commodity prices, which cut farm incomes). The removal of subsidies also stopped
land-clearing and over-stocking, which in the past had been the principal causes of erosion.
Farms began to diversify. The one kind of subsidy whose removal appeared to have been bad
for the environment was the subsidy to manage soil erosion.
In less enlightened countries, and in the European Union, the trend has been to reduce rather
than eliminate subsidies, and to introduce new payments to encourage farmers to treat their
land in environmentally friendlier ways, or to leave it fallow. It may sound strange but such

13. payments need to be higher than the existing incentives for farmers to grow food crops.
Farmers, however, dislike being paid to do nothing. In several countries they have become
interested in the possibility of using fuel produced from crop residues either as a replacement
for petrol (as ethanol) or as fuel for power stations (as biomass). Such fuels produce far less
carbon dioxide than coal or oil, and absorb carbon dioxide as they grow. They are therefore
less likely to contribute to the greenhouse effect. But they are rarely competitive with fossil
fuels unless subsidised - and growing them does no less environmental harm than other crops.
Choose the appropriate letters A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.
1 Research completed in 1982 found that in the United States soil erosion
A reduced the productivity of farmland by 20 per cent.
B was almost as severe as in India and China.
C was causing significant damage to 20 per cent of farmland.
D could be reduced by converting cultivated land to meadow or forest.
2 By the mid-1980s, farmers in Denmark
A used 50 per cent less fertiliser than Dutch farmers.
B used twice as much fertiliser as they had in 1960.
C applied fertiliser much more frequently than in 1960.
D more than doubled the amount of pesticide they used in just 3 years.
3 Which one of the following increased in New Zealand after 1984?
A farm incomes
B use of fertiliser
C over-stocking
D farm diversification
7. Multiple Choice
1
Introducing dung beetles into a pasture is a simple process: approximately 1,500
2
beetles are released, a handful at a time, into fresh cow pats in the cow pasture. The beetles
immediately disappear beneath the pats digging and tunnelling and, if they successfully adapt
to their new environment, soon become a permanent, self-sustaining part of the local ecology.
In time they multiply and within three or four years the benefits to the pasture are obvious.

14. Dung beetles work from the inside of the pat so they are sheltered from predators such as
birds and foxes. Most species burrow into the soil and bury dung in tunnels directly
underneath the pats, which are hollowed out from within. Some large species originating
from France excavate tunnels to a depth of approximately 30 cm below the dung pat. These
beetles make sausage-shaped brood chambers along the tunnels. The shallowest tunnels
belong to a much smaller Spanish species that buries dung in chambers that hang like fruit
from the branches of a pear tree. South African beetles dig narrow tunnels of approximately
20 cm below the surface of the pat. Some surface-dwelling beetles, including a South African
species, cut perfectly-shaped balls from the pat, which are rolled away and attached to the
bases of plants.
For maximum dung burial in spring, summer and autumn, farmers require a variety of species
with overlapping periods of activity. In the cooler environments of the state of Victoria, the
large French species (2.5 cms long), is matched with smaller (half this size), temperate-
climate Spanish species. The former are slow to recover from the winter cold and produce
only one or two generations of offspring from late spring until autumn. The latter, which
multiply rapidly in early spring, produce two to five generations annually. The South African
ball-rolling species, being a sub-tropical beetle, prefers the climate of northern and coastal
New South Wales where it commonly works with the South African tunneling species. In
warmer climates, many species are active for longer periods of the year.
Glossary
1. dung: the droppings or excreta of animals
2. cow pats: droppings of cows
Complete the table below.
Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 1-5 on Size Preferred Complementa Start of active
your answer sheet. Species climate ry species period
French 2.5 cm cool Spanish late spring
Spanish 1.25 cm 1 ............ 10 ............
South African ball roller 4 ............ 13 ………...
8. skimming the text

15. Example 1:
This city was probably founded in the 16th century and is laid out ile the citn a grid –
that is, most of its streets are straight, like lines drawn on a sheet of paper from top to bottom
and from side to side. One very impressive avenue is 140m across and is said to be the widest
in the world. The main government building is for tourists is watching – or dancing – the
tango. The hottest months of the year are January and February.
Complete these notes. These notes come in the same order as the relevant part of the passage.
CHOOSE NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.
1. most streets in this city form a ........
2. ‘The Pink House’ is used by the ......
3. a popular dance in this city is the ......
Example 2:
This city was founded in the early 18th century to increase the trade by sea with
eastern Europe. A lot of canals were excavated, which made it resemble the city of Venice.
As a result, this city is often called ‘ the Venice of the North’. Between 1712 and 1918, it was
gis again known by its original name. One of the most attractions in this city is the
Hermitage, an art gallery largely located in the Winter Palace. In contains an amazing
collection of paintings.
Complete these notes. These notes come in the same order as the relevant part of the passage.
CHOOSE NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.
1. like Venice, this city contains a large number of ....
2. this city used to be the .... of the country.
3. many people visit a palace here to see the impressive display of...
Example 3:

16. Although there aren’t many historic sites to attract tourist, this is a fascinating city.
It’s a major business center, and it’s a port is one of te busiest in the world. A constraction
boom that began in te early 1990s means there are now a large number of high rese buildings.
In Januari 2004, an exciting new transport link when into service-maglev trains (using
magnetic levitation technology) run between the city center and the international airport,
reaching a speed of 430 km per hour. a traditional garden in the old city contains a tea hous
that may be the model for the wellknown willow pattern design, which is used on plates
around the world.
Complete these notes. These notes come in the same order as the relevant part of the passage.
CHOOSE NO MORE THAN ONE WORD from the passage for each answer.
1. a large of amount .... has taken place in recent years.
2. there is a great deal of activity in city’s ....
3. very fast ... connect the city with its airport.