SECTION C-READING COMPREHENSION

Passage 1
Questions 26-30 are based on the following passage.

1 Just like any other modern devices, the mobile phone has become an
indispensable part of our lives. These days, we trade our phones for newer
units, with sharper colour screens, digicams, as well as more polyphonic
ringtones. We seem to be getting new phones faster than we get new clothes.
However, not all old mobile phones go back to the market to be resold when
the owner decides to 5 get a new unit. Some are left at home to rot in the
drawer while others are sent to the garbage bin, a practice which, at the end of
the day, adds to the growing volume of toxic waste in our country’s landfills.
The fear by environmentalists is that as millions of mobile phones are
disposed of with other trash, the possibility exists for their toxins to be released
into the air and even ground water. 10

2 Mobile phones are full of pollutants such as lead (primarily from soldering),
arsenic, antimony, beryllium, copper, nickel, mercury and brominated
flameretardants. Older phone models use nickel-cadmium batteries which
contain cadmium, a toxin and suspected carcinogen. Therefore, the fear of the
environmentalists is genuine. 15

3 Even if Malaysians want to do the ‘right thing’, most are just too engrossed to
figure out the right way to get rid of their phones. A private college student, who
likes to follow the latest trends when it comes to mobile phones, disclosed that
when she buys a new one, the old one goes to her favourite charity.

4 The managing director of the Petaling Jaya Community Centre’s 20

Environment Centre, said that unfortunately it is not often that his office
gets unused or old mobile phones from the public. The few times that it
does receive mobile phones, the units are totally unusable and irreparable
and there’s nothing that can be done apart from tossing them into the
centre’s ‘scrap metal’ bin to be sold for their weight. If there are any that
can be used, they are sent to the shop to 25 be repaired.
5 Nokia Malaysia offers a wide range of electronic waste management services
including recycling, processing and refining. According to Nokia, a typical
mobile phone recycling process involves the material being shredded into scrap.
Metal and plastic parts are then separated. The metals are sold to metal
refineries, 30 where they are melted and purified for reuse. However, the
recycling rate of plastics is low, partly because recovered plastics often
contain impurities. Fortunately, most recycled plastics are suitable as a fuel
replacement for oil. In addition, the plastic scraps can also be turned into
plastic benches and fences.

6 Nokia encourages its mobile phone users to send mobile phones which are 35
beyond repair to them for proper disposal. If not stored in the correct conditions,
old and unused phone batteries may leak and toxic chemicals will be released
into homes. Even if stored in the best conditions, what happens to these
phones eventually? One day, they will probably be discarded with the trash
and end up in
landfills. 40

7 Although mobile phone sales continue to climb, it is unlikely that the number of
used phones will decline. All too often the one you used to love and take
everywhere with you, is now left at home, in a drawer, unwanted and abandoned.
However, attitudes are beginning to change as awareness and education grow.
Ongoing campaigns by various governments as well as by companies and 45
organizations within the telecommunications industry can and will help prevent
old mobile phones from making their way to landfills. Hence, it is our social
responsibility as users to help protect the environment for future generations.
Remember: reclaim, reuse and recycle for a greener earth.

Questions 26 – 30
Answer all questions. You are advised to answer them in the order set.

26(a) In paragraph 1, what has become an important part of our lives?

 (b) Not all mobile phones are traded for newer units. What happens to most of
them when owners get a new one?
27(a) From paragraph 2, give two reasons why mobile phones are considered
dangerous.
(b) (i) From paragraph 3, find a word which has the same meaning as
preoccupied.
(ii) What do you think is the ‘right thing’ to do?
28 From paragraph 4, why does the managing director of the Petaling Jaya
Community Centre’s Environment Centre, say “unfortunately it is not often that his
office gets unused or old mobile phones from the public”?

29 From paragraph 5, state one use of recycled plastics.

30 In your own words, state two ways how we can educate the public to recycle their
mobile phones.

Passage 2
Questions 26-30 are based on the following passage.

Read the passage about a 10-day course at the Outward Bound School in Lumut.

1 When put together under circumstances that are physically, emotionally and
spiritually taxing, a close bonding among people can occur. What I am going to
relate to you is the experience of a group who started out with fear, anxiety and
distrust but felt a special bond of love and understanding at the end of the period.
Yes, a group of strangers can become closer than a family. 5
2 I will never forget the 10-day course at the Outward Bound School in Lumut.
The term outward bound is used to refer to a ship leaving port to venture out into
the open sea. And that was exactly what we, the participants, were doing. We were
leaving the safe haven of our homes to have a changed self-concept, an increased
understanding of others and to accept physical, mental and social challenges. 10
What we did not realize was how tough it was going to be and more so, the
changes that were going to take place within us.

3 All participants were put in groups called watches, which were named after
famous Malaysian mountains such as Kinabalu, Tahan and Jerai. Each watch
consisted of fifteen participants, headed by one instructor and one assistant. This 15
was to help organize the large group into smaller, more manageable groups.
Moreover, people feel great to be associated with mountains—big, tall, majestic and
inspiring! The instructors guided and encouraged us, especially through the rough
times. We did not quite expect them to encourage us as we came with the
preconceived idea that the instructors were going to be mean and push us to 20
physical and emotional despair. This was far from true. Our instructors and the
other administrative staff proved to be a source of comfort, solace, encouragement,
inspiration and friendship. This was least expected and it goes to show that life is a
store of surprises!

4 I was in the Kinabalu watch with fourteen other participants, all of whom were
25 young professionals sponsored by their companies. Most of the first day was
spent doing tedious administrative work and getting to know one another.
Introductions were particularly awkward at first between the girls and the boys but
with a bit of teasing, giggles and jokes, we soon got to know one another. On the
second day, we were awakened at 6 a.m. for a 2-kilometre run. Many of us were
lethargic 30 because we did not have a good night’s sleep. Out large, comfortable
dormitories had one flaw—rats. The detested pests did a fine job of ruining our
sleep!

5 After the run came the 12-kilometre hike. The hike up the hill was treacherous
and long. The watches started leaving at 7.30 in the morning and trickled back to
the school only by 6 a.m. the next day. All except one. My watch, Kinabalu, had 35
been the first to leave but had not returned. We got lost! It was a terrifying
experience as the day wore on and it grew dark. At night, we lighted a fire and
huddled together to keep warm. As our compass had gone bust, we had to depend
on our instinct to find our way back the next morning.
6 Several instructors went out to look for our group but with no success. It was
40 only 24 hours later that the Kinabalu watch made it back to the school. The next
ten minutes was chaotic for everyone was yelling, screaming and hugging one
another. This misadventure was an unexpected inclusion in the programme but it
certainly bonded the group strongly.

7 All too soon the course came to an end. I felt sad to leave because the friends
I 45 had made there were special. I did achieve my personal goal, that is, to meet as
many people as I could. The OBS is not only about learning jungle survival skills or
climbing across ropes 200 metres above the ground. It teaches us to be tolerant, to
care and to be concerned for one another. All of us had been thrown together into
an unfamiliar environment and—through trust and cooperation—became a team. 50
More importantly, we became friends.

Questions 26 – 30
Answer all questions. You are advised to answer them in the order set.

26 (a) In paragraph 3, why were the participants divided into groups?

(b) The groups were named after mountains. What effect did this have on the
participants?
27 (a) From paragraph 4, mention two unpleasant events on the first day. [2marks]
28 (a) From paragraph 5, which word shows that the hike up the hill was not easy.
(b) How do you know that the hike was long? State one evidence.
29 (a) From paragraph 6, when the Kinabalu watch finally returned, the rest of the
participants were relieved and happy. How did the participants show this?
(b) What resulted from the misadventure of the Kinabalu watch?
30 You have been selected to attend the OBS (Outward Bound School) course. Would
you accept? Give two reasons to support your answer.

Passage 3
Questions 26-30 are based on the following passage.

Read the passage about the danger of extinction that species of primates face and the
need to preserve them.
1 Nearly half of all the species of monkeys and apes in the world are in danger
of extinction with primates as a whole representing one of the most threatened
groups of mammals today. The latest assessment of man’s closest living relatives
has found that 48 per cent of the 634 different kinds of primates could soon die out
completely due to factors such as habitat loss and hunting. 5
2 Scientists who carried out the study for the International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) believe that the situation has worsened significantly
since the last time a similar investigation of primates was done five years ago in
2005. In some parts of the world the threat to primates has reached crisis
proportions. In Vietnam and Cambodia, for instance, about nine out of every
ten 10 species are now listed as either vulnerable, endangered or critically
endangered, the three categories approved by IUCN.

3 “What is happening in south-east Asia is terrifying. To have a group of animals

under such a high level of threat is, quite frankly, unlike anything we have recorded
among any other group of species to date,” said Jean-Christophe Vie, deputy head
15 of the IUCN’s species programme. The review was carried out by hundreds of
primatologists who assessed factors such as the loss of habitat, total population
size or pressures from hunting which could affect a species’ chances of survival in
the coming century. “We’ve raised concerns for years about primates being in peril,
but now we have solid data to show the situation is far more severe than we 20
imagined,” said Russ Mittermeier, president of Conservation International.

4 Tropical forest destruction has always been the main cause, but now it
appears that hunting is just as serious a threat in some areas, even where the
habitat is still intact. In many places, primates are quite literally being eaten to
extinction.
5 Primates include species as small as the tiny mouse lemurs of Madagascar,
25 which can fit inside a teacup, to the large lowland gorilla of western Africa. They
also include man’s closest living relative, the chimpanzee, which shares about 98
per cent of its DNA with humans. Records show that one in every three primate
species is now either endangered or critically endangered compared to about one
in five primates classified in these two risk categories before the results of this 30
latest assessment emerged.

6 The pressures on them have increased with the big push towards growing
monoculture crops, in part for their use as biofuels. The growing of palm oil crops in
south-east Asia and soya beans in the Amazon have taken their toll. But hunting of
primates for bush meat has also increased. This was a subsistence issue but 35
now it has almost become a luxury food with a higher price than for chicken or fish,
both in Africa and in south-east Asia.

7 Among the most threatened primate species were two of the red colobus
monkeys—Bouvier’s red colobus and Miss Waldron’s red colobus, neither of which
has been seen by primatologists for the past quarter of a century. Despite the 40
threats to primates, scientists have since 2000, described 53 new primate species
that are new to science, including 40 species from Madagascar. In 2007,
researchers discovered a population of greater bamboo lemurs living in a wetland
site on the island, about 240 miles from the only other known population of the
species—bringing the total number of individuals living in the wild to about 140. 45
Other successful stories include the black lion tamarin and the gold lion tamarin of
Brazil’s decimated Atlantic Forest, which have been brought back from the edge of
extinction, being classified as endangered rather than critically endangered. 8
If there are forests, you can save primates. Conserving forest fragments and
reforesting to create corridors that connect these forest corridors is not only vital for
50 primates, but offers the multiple benefits of maintaining healthy ecosystems and
water supplies while reducing greenhouse gases emissions that cause climate
change.

Questions 26 – 30
Answer all questions. You are advised to answer them in the order set.

26 (a) From paragraph 1, how many percent of primates is in danger of extinction?

(b) State one factor that is responsible for the extinction of the primates?

27 (a) From paragraph 3, what is one of the factors taken into account in a
primatologist’s work?
(b) From paragraph 4, which word has the same meaning as ‘in its original state’?
28 (a) From paragraph 5, why do you think the chimpanzee is man’s closest relative
in the animal world?
(b) From paragraph 6, what is the cause for the loss of animal habitat?
29 (a) From paragraph 7, what have scientists discovered since 2000?
(b) What is the present Brazil’s Atlantic Forest status?
30 In your opinion, do you think that forests should be conserved? Give two reasons
to support your answer.

Passage 4
Question 26-30 are based on the following passage.

1 Space enthusiasts are conducting a lively debate about whether to make the
planet Mars habitable for human beings or to leave it in its pristine state as a
place hostile to life.

2 In the vision, settlers would initially set up house in the Martian deserts in
capsule homes looking like small grain silos. The yard outside would look semi- 5
suburban, with a rover parked in the driveway and radishes and carrots growing
under frames. The capsules would accommodate five people who would need
space suits for forays outside until scientists can fix the atmosphere outside. This
is because Mars is not only lacking in oxygen but is also cold and dusty.
However, enthusiasts at international conferences or over the Internet say that
the Red Planet 10 can be colonised with the same pluck shown by the earlier
settlers who settled on the shores of America.

3 “Technically, I would say that colonization is possible,” commented Ulrich Walter,

a professor of space flight technology at the Technical University of Munich.

4 Technology offers various ways to provide Mars with an Earth-style atmosphere

15 and gradually warm it up over several centuries. With an atmosphere mainly
of carbon dioxide and the presence of water recently confirmed by orbiters, Mars
has a lot going for it. After all, Stephen Hawking, renowned cosmologist and
physicist has warned that continued climate change on Earth may one day leave
man no other
choice but to emigrate to another planet. 20

5 What are the challenges that have to be solved? They include construction of
bigger and more powerful vehicles than today’s rockets since a huge amount of
equipment will have to be taken along. A flight from Earth to Mars would take
more than 200 days; meaning return flights might have to wait up to a year to be
launched. Sunspots are a particular risk and settlers need to wear special
 protective 25 sheaths for protection from solar radiation. Houses or ‘habitats’
would be two- storeyed capsules with a diameter of about eight metres and an
area of 100 square metres, enough for a communal apartment. Electricity would
be generated by solar cells.

6 “You have to establish the infrastructure for human life first,” explained Walter, a
30 scientist who flew on the US shuttle ‘Columbia’ in 1993.

7 Waste management would be a prime concern, with the inhabitants required to

sort all garbage for possible recycling. Methane and oxygen fuel for the return trip
would have to be manufactured, using either a nuclear reactor or a solar-energy
‘form’. 35

8 “We already possess the technologies to manufacture everything on site,” said

Walter. Heated vegetable frames, for example, could grow food, with the plants
using photosynthesis to convert the plant’s carbon dioxide into oxygen. However,
we need to do a lot more research to understand the complexities of the Mars
atmosphere. 40

9 One objective would be to heat up Mars and melt its ice caps. Suggested
methods include flying, giant sunlight-catching mirrors over the planet and
releasing special organisms that would spread across the Martian surface,
making it darker so that it would absorb more sunlight.

10 Other experts have suggested releasing the greenhouse gases currently 45

blamed for causing global warming on Earth. Melting the ice would, it is hoped,
lead to the formation of rivers and lakes. Evaporation would lead to rain, and
plants would begin to grow. Over a period of centuries, they would convert much
of the carbon dioxide into oxygen.

11 The dusty red planet would turn into a green one, and the sky over Mars might 50
even turn blue like that on Earth if the cycle of cloud formation and rain was
sufficient to wash down all the airborne dust.

12 Among the more exciting things to adapt to would be Martian gravity; because of
the planet’s smaller mass, the settlers would feel only two thirds as heavy as on
Earth, and would be able to go out walking in giant bounds. 55

Questions 26 – 30
Answer all questions. You are advised to answer them in the order set.
26 From paragraph 1, what is the debate about?
27 (a) From paragraph 2, what kind of houses would people who want to migrate to
Mars live in?
(b) Why would people who want to go outdoors need to wear space suits? Give 2
reasons.
28 (a) From Paragraph 4, what does the word ‘it’ refer to?
(b) Why, according to Stephen Hawking, might human beings be forced to
emigrate to another planet?
29 From paragraphs 9 and 10, state two suggestions that have been put forward to
change the temperature on Mars.

30 In your own words, state 2 ways how it might be possible to turn Mars into a green
planet.

Passage 5
Question 26-30 are based on the following passage.

1 Being blind has not stopped Hesham Kamel from participating in the
cyberworld. He has also made it possible for other blind people to draw images.
Blinded seventeen years ago by the errant hand of a surgeon, Hesham Kamel
has nonetheless excelled in a field that relies heavily on the ability to produce
complex
 charts and graphs. A PhD student at UC Berkeley's Department of Electrical 5
Engineering and Computer Sciences, Hesham found his research efforts
were often hindered by his reliance on a sighted person who could assist with
the production of graphical elements.

2 About four years ago, after being forced to miss a deadline when his
sighted assistant was on vacation, he decided to take matters into his own 10
hands. Hesham designed a unique computer-drawing program called
Integrated Communication 2 Draw, or IC2D, that allows visually-impaired
users to create and `see' images on the computer screen.

Although the computing industry has made some big strides in developing
3 software to assist the sight-impaired, there is still a lack of products on the
market, particularly when it comes to computer-assisted drawing. There is 15
also a common misconception that blind people simply cannot handle visual
tasks. Such erroneous beliefs provided another major motivation for
Hesham's efforts. He found that people would ask him why blind people
would even need to draw something that they could not see. "There are many
people out there who can't understand that blind people have imagination, 20
just as sighted people do," he asserts.

4 In addition, Hesham was frustrated by the short-sightedness of the

computer industry. Although the trend in technology is generally towards
smaller, faster and cheaper products, Hesham found quite the reverse to be
true when it came to products for the sightless. "The devices we need to use
with computers - such as a 50-pound Braille printer - are large, expensive or 25
both," he notes. Thus, one of his primary goals in devising the IC2D software
was that it be both portable and compatible with any computer screen reader
for the blind. "More than anything, I want to change the way people think
when they develop technology for the visuallyimpaired," he explains.
30
IC2D uses a familiar schematic - the common telephone keypad - in order
5 to create a system that is user-friendly. The computer screen is divided into a
three-bythree grid numbered like a telephone keypad. As the user moves the
cursor between each square, audio feedback alerts them to the location
point. Each of the nine cells on the grid can be repeatedly divided to form a
total of 729 cells, meaning that the user can create images that are as
35
complex, or as basic, as they like.

Since pull-down menus are obviously impractical for blind users, the
6 commands, shapes, colors and lines are all controlled by way of the keypad
arrangement. According to Hesham, the use of the keypad as a basis for the
interface speeds navigation and thus creates a superior experience for the
user. "To help users see what I draw, I developed a technique to give the 40
components of the picture a meaningful label." For example, an audio marker
for a rear car wheel may also include subsequent sound signifiers for the
wheels hubcap and black rubber threads.

Obviously, vision-impaired people have no way to `find' their way back to a

7 previously selected point on a computer screen. By establishing locators that 45
can be referenced by sound feedback, users can bypass this fundamental
obstacle. Moreover, hearing the labels referenced by the grid helps them to
conceptualize the entire image.

Recently, Hesham has been busy taking his invention round the
8 conference circuit in both America and Europe. With IC2D, users would be 50
able to create elaborate drawings for work and pleasure.
Questions 26 – 30
Answer all questions. You are advised to answer them in the order set.

26 (a) From paragraph1, when did Hesham become blind?

(b) How did he become blind?

(c) What hindrance did he face in his research?

27 From paragraph 2, it was stated that ‘ … he decided to take matters into his own
hands’.
Explain the phrase above in your own words.

28 From paragraph 3, what is a common misconception about the blind ?

29 From paragraph 4,

(a) what did Hesham find frustrating about the computer industry?

(b) What did Hesham want for the blind?

30 From the passage, what kind of a person do you think Hesham is? Give evidence
to support your answer.