READING PASSAGE 1

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.

Trends in the Indian fashion and textile industries

During the 1950s, the Indian fashion scene was exciting, stylish and very graceful. There were no celebrity designers or models, nor were there any labels that were widely recognised. The value of a garment was judged by its style and fabric rather than by who made it. It was regarded as perfectly acceptable, even for high-society women, to approach an unknown tailor who could make a garment for a few rupees, providing the perfect fit, finish and style. They were proud of getting a bargain, and of giving their own name to the end result.

The 1960s was an era full of mischievousness and celebration in the arts, music and cinema. The period was characterised by freedom from restrictions and, in the fashion world, an acceptance of innovative types of material such as plastic and coated polyester. Tight-fitting kurtas*and churidars** and high coiffures were a trend among women.

The following decade witnessed an increase in the export of traditional materials, and the arrival in India of international fashion. Synthetics became trendy, and the disco culture affected the fashion scene.

It was in the early 80s when the first fashion store 'Ravissant' opened in Mumbai. At that time garments were retailed for a four-figure price tag. American designers like Calvin Klein became popular. In India too, contours became more masculine, and even the salwar kameez*** was designed with shoulder pads.

With the evolution of designer stores came the culture of designer fashion, along with its hefty price tags. Whatever a garment was like, consumers were convinced that a higher price tag signified elegant designer fashion, so garments were sold at unbelievable prices. Meanwhile, designers decided to get themselves noticed by making showy outfits and associating with the right celebrities. Soon, fashion shows became competitive, each designer attempting to out-do the other in theme, guest list and media coverage.

In the last decade of the millennium, the market shrank and ethnic wear made a comeback. During the recession, there was a push to sell at any cost. With fierce competition the inevitable occurred: the once hefty price tags began their downward journey, and the fashion-show industry followed suit. However, the liveliness of the Indian fashion scene had not ended - it had merely reached a stable level.

At the beginning of the 21st century, with new designers and models, and more sensible designs, the fashion industry accelerated once again. As far as the global fashion industry is concerned, Indian ethnic designs and materials are currently in demand from fashion houses and garment manufacturers. India is the third largest producer of cotton, the second largest producer of silk, and the fifth largest producer of man-made fibres in the world.

The Indian garment and fabric industries have many fundamental advantages, in terms of a cheaper, skilled work force, cost-effective production, raw materials, flexibility, and a wide range of designs with sequins, beadwork, and embroidery. In addition, that India provides garments to international fashion houses at competitive prices, with a shorter lead time, and an effective monopoly on certain designs, is accepted the whole world over. India has always been regarded as the default source in the embroidered garments segment, but changes in the rate of exchange between the rupee and the dollar has further depressed prices, thereby attracting more buyers. So the international fashion houses walk away with customised goods, and craftwork is sold at very low rates.

As far as the fabric market is concerned, the range available in India can attract as well as confuse the buyer. Much of the production takes place in the small town of Chapa in the eastern state of Bihar, a name one might never have heard of. Here fabric-making is a family industry; the range and quality of raw silks churned out here belie the crude production methods and equipment. Surat in Gujarat, is the supplier of an amazing set of jacquards, moss crepes and georgette sheers – all fabrics in high demand. Another Indian fabric design that has been adopted by the fashion industry is the 'Madras check', originally utilised for the universal lungi, a simple lower-body wrap worn in southern India. This design has now found its way on to bandannas, blouses, home furnishings and almost anything one can think of.

Ethnic Indian designs with batik and hand-embroidered motifs have also become popular across the world. Decorative bead work is another product in demand in the international market. Beads are used to prepare accessory items like belts and bags, and beadwork is now available for haute couture evening wear too.

____________________________

* knee-length tunics

** trousers

*** trouser suit

Questions 1-7

Complete the notes below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Indian fashion: 1950-2000

1950s

No well-known designers, models or 1 __________       

Elegant clothing cost little

Women were pleased to 0et clothes for a 2 __________        price

1960s

New materials, e.g. 3 __________ and polyester

Fitted clothing and tall hairstyles

1970s

Overseas sales of 4 __________ fabrics rose

Influence of international fashion

1980s

Opening of fashion store in Mumbai Popularity of American designers Clothing had a 5 __________shape

Designers tried to attract attention by presenting 6 __________clothes and mixing with stars

1990s

Fall in demand for expensive fashion wear Return to 7 __________       clothing

Questions 8-13

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?

Write

TRUE                 if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE                if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN     if there is no information on this

8       At the start of the 21st century, key elements in the Indian fashion industry changed.

9       India now exports more than half of the cotton it produces.

10     Conditions in India are generally well suited to the manufacture of clothing.

11     Indian clothing exports have suffered from changes in the value of its currency.

12     Modern machinery accounts for the high quality of Chapa’s silk.

13     Some types of Indian craftwork which are internationally popular had humble origins.

READING PASSAGE 2

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.

Pottery production in ancient Akrotiri

Excavations at the site of prehistoric Akrotiri, on the coast of the Aegean Sea, have revealed much about the technical aspects of pottery manufacture, indisputably one of the basic industries of this Greek city. However, considerably less is known about the socio-economic context and the way production was organised.

The bulk of pottery found at Akrotiri is locally made, and dates from the late fifteenth century BC. It clearly fulfilled a vast range of the settlement's requirements: more than fifty different types of pots can be distinguished. The pottery found includes a wide variety of functional types like storage jars, smaller containers, pouring vessels, cooking pots, drinking vessels and so on, which all relate to specific activities and which would have been made and distributed with those activities in mind. Given the large number of shapes produced and the relatively high degree of standardisation, it has generally been assumed that most, if not all, of Akrotiri pottery was produced by specialised craftsmen in a non­domestic context. Unfortunately neither the potters^' workshops nor kilns have been found within the excavated area. The reason may be that the ceramic workshops were located on the periphery of the site, which has not yet been excavated. In any event, the ubiquity of the pottery, and the consistent repetition of the same types in different sizes, suggests production on an industrial scale.

The Akrotirian potters seem to have responded to pressures beyond their households, namely to the increasing complexity of regional distribution and exchange systems. We can imagine them as full­time craftsmen working permanently in a high production-rate craft such as pottery manufacture, and supporting themselves entirely from the proceeds of their craft. In view of the above, one can begin to speak in terms of mass-produced pottery and the existence of organised workshops of craftsmen during the period 1550-1500 BC. Yet, how pottery production was organised at Akrotiri remains an open question, as there is no real documentary evidence. Our entire knowledge comes from the ceramic material itself, and the tentative conclusions which can be drawn from it.

The invention of units of quantity and of a numerical system to count them was of capital importance for an exchange-geared society such as that of Akrotiri. In spite of the absence of any written records, the archaeological evidence reveals that concepts of measurements, both of weight and number, had been formulated. Standard measures may already have been in operation, such as those evidenced by a graduated series of lead weights - made in disc form - found at the site. The existence of units of capacity in Late Bronze Age times is also evidenced, by the notation of units of a liquid measure for wine on excavated containers.

It must be recognised that the function of pottery vessels plays a very important role in determining their characteristics. The intended function affects the choice of clay, the production technique, and the shape and the size of the pots. For example, large storage jars (pithoi) would be needed to store commodities, whereas smaller containers would be used for transport. In fact, the length of a man's arm limits the size of a smaller pot to a capacity of about twenty litres; that is also the maximum a man can comfortably carry.

The various sizes of container would thus represent standard quantities of a commodity, which is a fundamental element in the function of exchange. Akrotirian merchants handling a commodity such as wine would have been able to determine easily the amount of wine they were transporting from the number of containers they carried in their ships, since the capacity of each container was known to be 14-18 litres. (We could draw a parallel here with the current practice in Greece of selling oil in 17 kilogram tins.)

We may therefore assume that the shape, capacity, and, sometimes decoration of vessels are indicative of the commodity contained by them. Since individual transactions would normally involve different quantities of a given commodity, a range of 'standardised' types of vessel would be needed to meet traders' requirements.

In trying to reconstruct systems of capacity by measuring the volume of excavated pottery, a rather generous range of tolerances must be allowed. It seems possible that the potters of that time had specific sizes of vessel in mind, and tried to reproduce them using a specific type and amount of clay. However, it would be quite difficult for them to achieve the exact size required every time, without any mechanical means of regulating symmetry and wall thickness, and some potters would be more skilled than others. In addition, variations in the repetition of types and size may also occur because of unforeseen circumstances during the throwing process. For instance, instead of destroying the entire pot if the clay in the rim contained a piece of grit, a potter might produce a smaller pot by simply cutting off the rim. Even where there is no noticeable external difference between pots meant to contain the same quantity of a commodity, differences in their capacity can actually reach one or two litres. In one case the deviation from the required size appears to be as much as 10 - 20 percent.

The establishment of regular trade routes within the Aegean led to increased movement of goods; consequently a regular exchange of local,luxury and surplus goods,including metals, would have become feasible as a result of the advances in transport technology. The increased demand for standardised exchanges, inextricably linked to commercial transactions, might have been one of the main factors which led to the standardisation of pottery production. Thus, the whole network of ceramic production and exchange would have depended on specific regional economic conditions, and would reflect the socio-economic structure of prehistoric Akrotiri.

Questions 14-15

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

14 What does the writer say about items of pottery excavated at Akrotiri?

A There was very little duplication.

B They would have met a big variety of needs.

C Most of them had been imported from other places.

D The intended purpose of each piece was unclear.

15 The assumption that pottery from Akrotiri was produced by specialists is partly based on

A   the discovery of kilns.

B   the central location of workshops.

C   the sophistication of decorative patterns.

D   the wide range of shapes represented.

Questions 16-19

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below.

Write the correct letter, A-F.

16 The assumption that standard units of weight were in use could be based on

17 Evidence of the use of standard units of volume is provided by

18 The size of certain types of containers would have been restricted by

19 Attempts to identify the intended capacity of containers are complicated by

A the discovery of a collection of metal discs.

B   the size and type of the sailing ships in use.

C   variations in the exact shape and thickness of similar containers.

D  the physical characteristics of workmen.

E   marks found on wine containers.

F   the variety of commodities for which they would have been used.

Questions 20-25

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 2? Write

YES                               if the statement agrees with 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

20 There are plans to excavate new areas of the archaeological site in the near future.

21 Some of the evidence concerning pottery production in ancient Akrotiri comes from written records.

22Pots for transporting liquids would have held no more than about 20 litres.

23It would have been hard for merchants to calculate how much wine was on their ships.

24The capacity of containers intended to hold the same amounts differed by up to 20 percent.

25Regular trading of goods around the Aegean would have led to the general standardisation of quantities.

Questions 26

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

26 What does the writer say about the standardisation of container sizes?

A Containers which looked the same from the outside often varied in capacity.

B The instruments used to control container size were unreliable.

C The unsystematic use of different types of clay resulted in size variations. D Potters usually discarded containers which were of a non-standard size.

READING PASSAGE 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.

Learning lessons from the past

Many past societies collapsed or vanished, leaving behind monumental ruins such as those that the poet Shelley imagined in his sonnet, Ozymandias. By collapse, I mean a drastic decrease in human population size and/or political/economic/social complexity, over a considerable area, for an extended time. By those standards,most people would consider the following past societies to have been famous victims of full-fledged collapses rather than of just minor declines: the Anasazi and Cahokia within the boundaries of the modern US, the Maya cities in Central America, Moche and Tiwanaku societies in South America, Norse Greenland, Mycenean Greece and Minoan Crete in Europe, Great Zimbabwe in Africa, Angkor Wat and the Harappan Indus Valley cities in Asia, and Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean.

The monumental ruins left behind by those past societies hold a fascination for all of us. We marvel at them when as children we first learn of them through pictures. When we grow up, many of us plan vacations in order to experience them at first hand. We feel drawn to their often spectacular and haunting beauty, and also to the mysteries that they pose. The scales of the ruins testify to the former wealth and power of their builders. Yet these builders vanished, abandoning the great structures that they had created at such effort. How could a society that was once so mighty end up collapsing?

It has long been suspected that many of those mysterious abandonments were at least partly triggered by ecological problems: people inadvertently destroying the environmental resources on which their societies depended. This suspicion of unintended ecological suicide (ecocide) has been confirmed by discoveries made in recent decades by archaeologists, climatologists, historians, paleontologists, and palynologists (pollen scientists). The processes through which past societies have undermined themselves by damaging their environments fall into eight categories, whose relative importance differs from case to case: deforestation and habitat destruction, soil problems, water management problems, overhunting, overfishing, effects of introduced species on native species, human population growth, and increased impact of people.

Those past collapses tended to follow somewhat similar courses constituting variations on a theme. Writers find it tempting to draw analogies between the course of human societies and the course of individual human lives - to talk of a society's birth, growth, peak, old age and eventual death. But that metaphor proves erroneous for many past societies: they declined rapidly after reaching peak numbers and power, and those rapid declines must have come as a surprise and shock to their citizens. Obviously, too, this trajectory is not one that all past societies followed unvaryingly to completion: different societies collapsed to different degrees and in somewhat different ways, while many societies did not collapse at all.

Today many people feel that environmental problems overshadow all the other threats to global civilisation. These environmental problems include the same eight that undermined past societies, plus four new ones: human-caused climate change, buildup of toxic chemicals in the environment, energy shortages, and full human utilisation of the Earth's photosynthetic capacity. But the seriousness of these current environmental problems is vigorously debated. Are the risks greatly exaggerated, or conversely are they underestimated? Will modern technology solve our problems, or is it creating new problems faster than it solves old ones? When we deplete one resource (e.g. wood, oil, or ocean fish), can we count on being able to substitute some new resource (e.g. plastics, wind and solar energy, or farmed fish)? Isn't the rate of human population growth declining, such that we've already on course for the world's population to level off at some manageable number of people?

Questions like this illustrate why those famous collapses of past civilisations have taken on more meaning than just that of a romantic mystery. Perhaps there are some practical lessons that we could learn from all those past collapses. But there are also differences between the modern world and its problems, and those past societies and their problems. We shouldn't be so naive as to think that study of the past will yield simple solutions, directly transferable to our societies today. We differ from past societies in some respects that put us at lower risk than them; some of those respects often mentioned include our powerful technology (i.e. its beneficial effects), globalisation, modern medicine, and greater knowledge of past societies and of distant modern societies. We also differ from past societies in some respects that put us at greater risk than them: again,our potent technology (i.e., its unintended destructive effects), globalisation (such that now a problem in one part of the world affects all the rest), the dependence of millions of us on modem medicine for our survival, and our much larger human population. Perhaps we can still learn from the past, but only if we think carefully about its lessons.

Questions 27-29

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

27. When the writer describes the impact of monumental ruins today, he emphasises

A the income they generate from tourism.

B the area of land they occupy.

C their archaeological value.

D their romantic appeal.

28. Recent findings concerning vanished civilisations have

A overturned long-held beliefs.

B caused controversy amongst scientists.

C come from a variety of disciplines.

D identified one main cause of environmental damage.

29. What does the writer say about ways in which former societies collapsed?

A The pace of decline was usually similar.

B The likelihood of collapse would have been foreseeable.

C Deterioration invariably led to total collapse.

D Individual citizens could sometimes influence the course of events.

Questions 30-34

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer in Reading Passage 3?

Write

YES                       if the statement agrees with 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

30. It is widely believed that environmental problems represent the main danger faced by the modern world.
31. The accumulation of poisonous substances is a relatively modern problem.

32. There is general agreement that the threats posed by environmental problems are very serious.
33. Some past societies resembled present-day societies more closely than others.
34. We should be careful when drawing comparisons between past and present.

Questions 30-34

Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-F, below.

Write the correct letter, A-F.

35. Evidence of the greatness of some former civilisations
36. The parallel between an individual's life and the life of a society
37. The number of environmental problems that societies face
38. The power of technology
39. A consideration of historical events and trends

A is not necessarily valid.

B   provides grounds for an optimistic outlook.

C   exists in the form of physical structures.

D   is potentially both positive and negative.

E   will not provide direct solutions for present problems.

F   is greater now than in the past.

Question 40

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

40. What is the main argument of Reading Passage 3?

A There are differences as well as similarities between past and present societies.

B More should be done to preserve the physical remains of earlier civilisations.

C Some historical accounts of great civilisations are inaccurate.

      D Modern societies are dependent on each other for their continuing survival.

KEYS:

Passage 1

Passage 2

Passage 3