Part 1
Read the following text and for questions 31-36 choose the correct answers:
It is often suggested that teachers and librarians aren't pushing secondary school readers towards titles that challenge them enough, and so the organisers of World Book Day have announced a list which might provide some inspiration for anyone who's stuck for ideas. This list of popular books for young adults, voted for by 10,000 people across the UK, features a top 10 to 'shape and inspire' teenagers, and handle some of the challenges of adolescence.
All but one of the books have already been made into films, demonstrating that when a book makes it to the big screen, it often then acquires more readers thanks to the film's success. Of course, this isn't always the case, as with George Orwell's _1984_, where the rather mediocre film does not compare so favourably with the book's ability to conjure up a dark vision of life in a police state.
James Bowen's _A Streetcat Named Bob_, published in 2012, is one of the few relatively contemporary books here. It's also certainly for me the least predictable member of the list, but its extended stay on the bestseller list earned it - and its author - a devoted following. It is the touching story of Bob, the cat who helped a homeless man called James get his life back on track. Bob sits on James's shoulder and sleeps at his feet while he plays the guitar on the street, and soon becomes the centre of attention. What makes the story particularly powerful is that it is based on author James Bowen's real life.
Also on the list are J. K. Rowling's _Harry Potter_ books. In this case it's actually the whole series rather than one particular title that makes the shortlist. Perhaps the judges struggled to agree which one book to pick. For me, the books are rather more pre-teen than the rest of the books on the list, which are aimed at a more mature readership.
But Harry Potter is a special case: as Harry gets older in each successive book in the series, the stories do become more complex and darker. In a way, readers themselves grow up with Harry and his friends. Rowling asks some tough questions about standing up to authority, challenging 'normal' views and many other subjects close to teenage readers' hearts. This should get rid of the idea that the whole series is just for young kids. In actual fact, half of all _Harry Potter_ readers are over the age of 35, but that's another story.
The list goes right back to the nineteenth century with Charlotte Brontë's great romance _Jane Eyre_, showing that some books never grow old, though the majority are twentieth-century works such as Anne Frank's heartbreaking wartime memoir _The Diary of a Young Girl_, which even now I find hard to get through without shedding tears. Personally, I would have swapped J. R. R. Tolkien's _The Lord of the Rings_ for one of the many classics that didn't make the final selection, _Lord of the Flies_ perhaps, William Golding's nightmare vision of schoolboys stuck on an island.
Of course there'll always be some choices we don't agree with, but that's what I think makes a list like this so fascinating. I've been using it with my class of 16-year-olds, and I got them to evaluate it and make other suggestions for what to include or how it could be changed. But what I hope can really make a lasting difference is if it stimulates them to try out writers on the list, perhaps ones they haven't come across before, and be introduced to new styles of writing.
31 What criticism does the writer make in the first paragraph?
A. World Book Day has been poorly organised.
B. School librarians aren't working hard enough.
C. Teenagers are reading books that are too easy.
D. Teachers don't encourage pupils to read enough.
32 What point is made about books which are made into films?
A. The best books tend to be made into films.
B. The film of a book makes more people read the book.
C. Many people prefer to watch a film than read the book.
D. It is useful to be able to compare the book and the film.
33 What does the writer suggest about A Streetcat Named Bob?
A. She is surprised that it is on the list.
B. The book did not sell as well as it deserved to.
C. It is the most recently published book on the list.
D. It is the only autobiography on the list.
34 How does the writer justify the presence of the Harry Potter books on the list?
A. The books' fame can help the list get more attention.
B. The later books in the series are more suitable for teenagers.
C. Teenagers should read books that they will also enjoy as adults.
D. It makes sense to have a whole series as well as individual books.
35 Which book does the writer feel shouldn't be on the list?
A. Jane Eyre
B. The Diary of a Young Girl
C. The Lord of the Rings
D. Lord of the Flies
36 What does the writer intend to do?
A. be more fully developed in future
B. prompt pupils to read more widely
C. enable pupils to write more effectively
D. provide a useful topic for discussion in class
Part 2
Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-G the one which fits each gap. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.
Open-air teaching In Germany
A bold experiment in education that aims to help young students become independent thinkers
In 2013, Wolfgang Schwarz became Assistant Headteacher at a Hamburg school. It was a conventional school: teachers taught lessons that pupils had to attend, and set compulsory homework for pupils. The school taught all the usual subjects from English to maths. The Senior Management team told the teachers what to do, and the teachers told the pupils what to do.
Shortly after this, Schwarz read an article about open-air schools, whose aim is to encourage children to be more independent and develop important life skills in a natural setting. This is in contrast to more traditional schools like where Schwarz was working, where (according to critics) the focus is too much on the teaching and learning of factual information, and where children aren't given enough opportunity to learn how to think for themselves. They maintain the physical limitations of the classroom stop students learning naturally. Learning outside, in a forest or on a beach encourages students to think more about the world around them.
However, there were only a small number of outdoor schools across Germany. In 2014, that is exactly what he did, and the Hamburg Outdoor School was born. With four teachers and 42 children aged between 4 and 18, Schwarz's school had a small building set in large grounds near a beach and private forest. Now they use the areas outside the school more than the old classrooms. Most lessons take place outside.
What actually makes it an 'outdoor' school? How does it work in practice? There are no tests and no homework you have to do, although some parents have, additionally, set their children academic tasks to complete away from school.
The curriculum is certainly not conventional. Last year, the students sampled more than 80 different subjects, learning some maths, history and physics in the process.
And some of the teaching is done by the students themselves, such as a course on geology, taught by 13-year-old Dieter Altmann, which has become one of the most popular at the school. Other subjects range from juggling to fishing techniques.
However, student independence isn't just limited as to how the children actually do their learning.
At these sessions, anything can be discussed, ranging from discipline issues to deciding who should be allowed to start at the school. Everyone, from the youngest child to the school Headteacher, has an equal vote in all this. All decisions are made democratically, so the teachers can be outvoted by the children theoretically; this is something which does happen from time to time. The key question is this: does a school with optional lessons and student-led courses on juggling really provide students with the best start in life? Accepting that students in normal schools may become better at certain skills, he maintains that children can learn facts much better in a natural environment through experimentation and observation. 'If you learn out of the classroom in the natural world, it makes learning more meaningful and memorable'.
A Schwarz is convinced that it can.
B But Schwarz never saw this as a problem.
C These include critical thinking and the ability to socialise.
D Simple: the children make the rules, choose their classes and where to work.
E They basically run the school too, through their weekly discussion meetings.
F So this got Schwarz thinking: why not open one himself?
G The pupils study rare crafts like soap-making, and Mr Schwarz has even taught classes in cheese-tasting.
Part 3
You are going to read an article about four teenagers who have started their own business. For questions 43-52, choose from the teenagers (A-D). The teenagers may be chosen more than once.
Which teenager
Four teenage business stars
A Rebecca Dundee, 16
I suppose it was obvious I had a head for business when I was about six. I used to make my parents cups of tea in the morning - and charge them 20p for each one. And it was another 20p if it needed reheating. And then about a year ago I was in a chain coffee shop waiting in line to get my drink, and I just realised how dreadful the whole experience was - dirty tables, rubbish WiFi and grumpy staff. And I thought 'I bet I could do better than that'. So a friend and I launched an app enabling people to access menus, order and interact with each other. Since then I haven't looked back. I was concerned that I wasn't doing too well at school, which was a bit depressing, but with the business going so well, it feels great to be where I am now.
B Jimbo, 15
When people ask what I do, I tell them I advise people about their brand on social media. They can't believe I'm doing this while I'm so young. But I love it. The tricky bit is getting everything done that I need to; sometimes there aren't enough hours in the day! I've been doing the job about six months, and it took quite a lot of effort at the start to persuade my mum and dad that it wasn't just a waste of time. But now they're confident I'm doing OK. Which is just as well, because now that I've launched an online magazine, I should have several more projects on the way, as long as I can get the money together. One's going to be setting up a firm with my best mate - it should start to do quite well after about a year. So watch this space!
C Sarah McFinny, 18
Using social media comes naturally to me, and it's not something I've ever had to try to get my head around. I'm in my first year at uni, and I was lending a hand to someone who wanted to organise a social media campaign for a university sports club. I did lots of work for her, setting it up and publicising it, and she couldn't believe the results I got. It was amazing! So I thought, 'You know what - I could make some money out of doing this sort of thing'. When I'm talking to clients, obviously I don't shout about my age, I mean you want to be taken seriously. When I graduate, I want to help my parents run their business, or at least do that part-time. I'm excited about the future.
D Duncan Jackson, 15
Well, I've never liked spending money, even at a really young age. But now that I've worked out how to make money, I'm really driven to get out of bed every morning and make as much as I can. I basically run an online shop, and I've had over 100 customers so far. It's always nice when a customer visits the store and buys from you again - you know you're doing something right. I don't always get things right though. In fact, there are lots of things I've got very wrong, like setting my prices too high - or too low! But that can be useful, because when something doesn't go as planned, you can always adapt and hope you do it better next time.
says they are highly motivated?
has started to feel more confident?
is planning to open another business?
says that managing time can be hard?
says they learn from their mistakes?
says that their age surprises some people?
tends not to tell people how old they are?
wanted to improve an experience for customers?
says their work involves something they find easy?
realised what they wanted to do while helping someone else?