Passage 1
Weather in Britain
In Britain the weather is news. /A television weather forecast often begins with an
interesting fact /– the town with the top temperature of the day or the place with the
most rain. /The public like that kind of information. /But the BBC forecasters do not
have an easy job. /They are the only presenters on the television who do not use a
script, /and they cannot see the map they are describing. /Viewers are often critical,
especially of female presenters. /One woman left her job after rude letters and press
reports about her clothes. /
The British talk about the weather more than almost any other subject, /so it is a
surprise to discover /that seventy percent of television viewers cannot remember
/what they saw on the weather forecast. /What happens is that people like watching
and hearing the forecasts, /but they probably only take real notice when they need to. /
(152 words)
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Passage 3
Asian Elephant
The Asian elephant is one of the world’s rarest animals. /Unfortunately, its sad
condition has not been as well publicized as that of the African elephant. /This is
because Asian elephant’s ivory supplies only a small percentage of the world ivory
trade. /In fact, we know very little about the Asian elephant. /They live in the remote
forests of southern Asia /and it is therefore very difficult to study them. /Most
knowledge of Asian elephants is from those that have been captured, or tamed. / Asian
elephants are easier to tame than African elephants. /
The major reason for the decline of Asian elephants is the harm to their forests.
/The huge increase in the human population/ has caused the destruction of the Asian
forest. /As a result, the Asian elephants are compelled to scatter in different areas. /Originally they lived all over the continent, /but now there are only small isolated
populations left. /They are vulnerable to extinction. / (159 words)
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Passage 4
Happy Commuters
The Golden Gate Bridge joins the beautiful city of San Francisco /with the
suburbs to the north. /Each day about one hundred thousand automobiles cross the
bridge /taking people to and from the city. /More than half of them cross the bridge
during the morning and evening rush hours. /When traffic is so heavy, the trip is not
pleasant. /Now, however, there is at least one group of happy commuters. /These are
people who travel under the bridge instead of on it. /They go to work by boat /and
enjoy it so much that most of them say they will never go by car again. /The ferry
they take is spacious, quiet and comfortable. /Commuters can enjoy the sun on deck.
/The trip takes only 30 minutes and is not very costly. /Best of all, being on boat
seems to make people more friendly toward each other. /There has always been a
marriage of two commuters who met on the ferry. / (162 words)
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Passage 5
The Red Cross
The worldwide Organization of the Red cross stems from the ideal of Henri
Dunant, a Swiss Banker. /On 24th, June 1859, on his way from Geneva to France,
/Dunant witnessed a battle. /It was one of the fiercest battles of the 19th century.
/Shocked by the lack of medical supplies and attention given to the wounded, /Dunant
decided that volunteer service had to be organized. /He gathered together a number of
women /who attended the hundreds of wounded soldiers of all nationalities /and
helped the surgeons as best they could. /He determined to form a body of people /who
would rally together in times of war and attend to the needs of the wounded and the dying. /Many Europeans states supported him /and on 22nd, August 1864 the first
Geneva Convention was signed. /This lays down that once a soldier is wounded
/everyone else who comes to his help ceases to be an enemy. / (154 words)
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Passage 6
Cars in the Future
What kind of care will we be driving by the year 2030? /Rather different from the
type we know today. /With the next decade bringing greater change than the past 50
years, /the people who will be designing the models of tomorrow believe that
/environmental problems may well accelerate the pace of the car’s development. /The
vision is that of a machine with 3 wheels instead of 4, /electrically-powered,
environmentally clean and able to drive itself along intelligent roads, /equipped with
built-in power supplies. /Future cars will pick up the fuel during long journeys /from a
power source built into the road. /This view of future cars is based on a much more
sophisticated road system. /Cars will be automatically controlled by a computer. /All
the driver will have to do is to say where to go /and the computer will do the rest. /It
will be impossible for cars to crash into one another. / (155 words)
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Passage 7
Dogs as Pets
Most people have had a dog or wanted one as their companion at some time in
their life. /If you are thinking of buying a dog, /you should first decide what sort of
companion you need. /You must also be ready to devote a good deal of time to train
the dog when it is young /and give it the exercise it needs throughout its life. /
Dogs are demanding pets. /Whereas cats identify with the house /and so are
content if their place is secure, /a dog identifies with its master /and consequently
wants him to show proof of his affection. /The best time to buy a baby-dog is when it
