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Reading passage 1

A. Four Lions, written by Morris and three veterans ofThe Thick of It(Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bainand Simon Blackwell), applies the kamikaze approach of Morris' TV shows to a quintet of

fictional mujahedin. They could be soul brothers to any bunch of not-so-bright movie males,

from Mean Streets to The Hangover, who stumble into big trouble except that this lot has

sanctified murder on its mind.

B. Faisal (Adeel Akhtar) wants to train crows to be tiny suicide bombers. Waj (Kayvan Novak)shoots off a rifle and calls himself a "Paki Rambo," though he also uses a talking toy "prayer

bear" to assist in his daily devotions. Hassan (Arsher Ali), the newest recruit, spouts holy-terror

hip-hop. At a college debate on Islam, Hassan pulls open his jacket to reveal what looks like a

bomb belt but, when it explodes, sends out only paper streamers in what he means to be

performance art "jihad of the mind."

C. Barry (Nigel Lindsay), the one native Englander, also has the group's most bizarre scheme:radicalizing the local faithful by bombing a mosque. Once, as Omar reminds him, Barry "got on

the local news for baking a Twin Towers cake and leaving it in a synagogue on 9/11." When the

gang's getaway car breaks down, Barry blames it on "the parts they're Jewish. Jews invented

spark plugs to control global traffic."

D. Omar is the brains of the group, pretty much by default, and the film gets much of its humorfrom the slow burn on his face as his comrades screw up yet again. To his feebler jihadi-cell

mates, he must explain the difference between life and the afterlife as going to a Sheffield

amusement park: "Life is nothing. It's like being stuck in the queue at Alton Towers. Do you want

to be in the queues, or do you want to be on the rides?" But Omar's no genius either. On a

training mission in Pakistan (where, at prayer time, the insurgents have trouble figuring out

which way Mecca is), he spots a fighter plane overhead, picks up a ground-to-air missile and

fires it the wrong way, at a meeting of radical clerics. One of them, we learn at the end, was

Osama bin Laden.

E. Four Lions has no rational onscreen intermediary certainly not Omar, who for all his surfaceplausibility is the most determined suicide bomber. (It's also creepy that his intelligent wife is

willing to enable his mission, and that his young son listens raptly to bedtime stories of a heroic

bomber dying with a smile on his face.) Stranded without the usual moral compass, the

audience is on its own to decide what's funny or awful, or awful funny.

F. Because the film puts us solely in the company of Omar and his co-conspirators, it has beenaccused of humanizing them. But, Morris told Thorn, "The whole point is they're human, and

that's ... the thing you have to address. Some of them think they're the good guys. Now how do

you deal with that? You have to deal with that rage." As his film makes clear, that rage is

reinforced by the jihadis' isolation in the cell of their wild scheming. "Just give me a couple of

days with three guys in a room," Morris says. "I could turn us into suicide bombers with nothing

more than a bit of aggravation, a bit of grief about something and a copy ofThe Lion King."

G. In the real world, people like Omar and his gang can't be laughed off because 1) not all of themare idiots and 2) the law of averages suggests that even the dim ones, if enough of them scheme

to blow things up, will eventually do some damage. The bloopers could be fatal. Nonetheless,

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it's Morris' aim to question both the efficiency of homegrown terrorists and the public's

sustaining fear of an unlikely threat. The result is the blackest, ballsiest political comedy since

Dr. Strangelove. And, for those of strong stomach, one of the funniest.

Source: Time

Questions

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 to 14 which are based on Reading Passage 1

Questions 1 to 7

Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs A G.

From the list of headings below, choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph.

Write the appropriate numbers I ix in boxes 1 7 on your answer sheet.

1 Paragraph A2 Paragraph B3 Paragraph C4 Paragraph D5 Paragraph E6 Paragraph F7 Paragraph G

Questions 8 10

Choose the correct letters, A, B, C or D

Write your answers in boxes 8 10 on your answer sheet.

8 Faisal wants to train crows to beA. Tiny suicide bombers.

i. The tiny suicide bombers.ii. Omar the brains.iii. The failure of the film.iv. Four Lions.v. The plan.vi. Omar and his gang can't be

laughed off.

vii. The group's most bizarre scheme.viii. Omar and his co-conspirators.ix. No rational onscreen intermediary.

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B. Suicide bombers.C. Sniper.D. Technologist.9 is the most determined suicide bomber.A. Omar.B. Faisal.C. Thorn.D. Morris.10 Life is nothing. It's like being stuck in the queue atA. Tower Bridge.B. Alton Towers.C. PETRONAS Tower.D. Tower of London.

Questions 11 14

Complete each of the following statements (questions 11 14) with the best endingsA Gfrom the box

below

Write the appropriate lettersA G in boxes 11 14 on your answer sheet.

11 People like Omar and his gang12 It's Morris' aim to question both the13 Barry got on the local news for baking14 Hassan, the newest recruit,

Reading passage 2

A. HUMANS are a gregarious lot. We appreciate company. And we appreciate our companyappreciating us. One way to preserve this mutual appreciation is to emulate others. This gives

A Can't be laughed off.B Among early voters might be succeeding.C Theyve given a good fight.D Efficiency of homegrown terrorists.E A Twin Towers cake.F Spouts holy-terror hip-hop.G Is the main brain behind all the attacks.

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rise to trends or, in a less charitable turn of phrase, herd mentality. We appear to be wired to

find all manner of fads psychologically irresistible. Advertisers have long understood this. So

have retailersin increasingly tech-savvy ways. Some have been developing smart trolleys, which

relay information on their contents to digital displays on shelves. These, in turn, would inform

passing shoppers how many other customers are about to plump for the same item. And no self-

respecting online venture would be complete without a constantly updated "most

recommended" box (just look at this screen, to the right of this blog post).

B. It's likely that such ruses work because it made evolutionary sense to copy neighbours, to avoiddanger or find food and shelter. Sometimes, this atavistic tendency ends in tears, when it

prompts us to act contrary to what is, on reflection, our self-interest. (Witness stock-market

crashes, stampedes and tamagotchi.) What made sense to a relatively homogeneous gaggle of

several dozen nomads needn't hold for millions of strangers.

C. As modern Homo sapiens migrates to the online savannah, trends have been spreading to evergreater numbers. So the wise men and women of our now-massive tribe have been tracking

web versions of these ancient behaviours. However, most of the research (both on- and offline)

to date has focused on either a small subset of users or the most successful herd-driven

behaviours. Now Felix Reed-Tsochas of Oxford University's Sad Business School and Jukka-

PekkaOnnela from Harvard University have broached the subject with an admirably broad

brush.

D. As the pair report in the latest Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they pored over(anonymous) data of the entire Facebook population in July and August 2007 (around 50m at

the time), and at all but a few of the 2720 apps available for download in the same period (the

15 that didn't make the cut were partly corrupted). This amounted to a total of some 104m app

installations. At that time, a Facebook user's apps were all visible to friends, who were also

notified when any new app was downloaded (a practice Facebook has since abandoned). This,

along with a display of the total number of installations of each app, were the only ways apps

were plugged, permitting the researchers to control for the effects of external advertising. Any

effects observed would thus be wholly attributable to social influence, not canny ad men.

E. Dr Reed-Tsochas and Dr Onnela duly discovered that the social networkers' herd mentality wasintact, with popular apps doing best, and the trendiest reaching stratospheric levels. A typical

app was installed around 1,000 times, but the highest-ranked notched up an astonishing 12m

users. What did come as something of a surprise, though, was that our inner lemming only

kicked in once the app had breached a clear threshold rate of about 55 installations a day. Any

fewer than that and users seemed oblivious to their friends' preferences. Interestingly, after

some serious number crunching, the researchers found that this cannot be put down purely to

the network effect, ie, the idea that adopting a certain innovation only makes sense if enough

other people have done so. Indeed, this effect appeared less pronounced than might have been

expected.

F. Moreover, the data suggest that the sudden spike in installations doesn't come about simplybecause a discovered threshold has been passed. This means the observed threshold rate is

unlike an infectious disease's basic reproduction number. (This is what epidemiologists call the

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average number of secondary cases caused by a typical infected individual in a population

lacking immunity, with no efforts to control the outbreak.)

G. In other words, it would be inaccurate to speak of an epidemic of popularity. Rather, Dr Reed-Tsochas and Dr Onnela suggest that two discrete behavioural patterns emerged. Users appeared

to treat any app with more than 55 daily installations differently to those with fewer

downloads. Under 55 daily installations, friend behaviour was an instrumental part of the

decision to install. Over 55 daily installations, and friend behaviour didn't matter one jot. Virtual

lemmings are, it seems, discriminating in ways we still don't quite comprehend. As is, no doubt,

the offline troop.

Source: Wikipedia.com

Questions

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 15 27 which are based on Reading Passage 2

Questions 15 19

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?In boxes 15 -19 in your answer sheet 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

15.There is a virtual human society building around us.16.Humans are the most unsocial animal compared to the many species in the wilderness.17. In the busy schedule of the modern life a person goes for a virtual society for some refreshment.18.People in todays life dont know even his neighbours.19.A Facebook user's apps were all visible to friends.

Question 20 23

Look at the following topics (questions 20 23) and the list of statements below.

Match each topic to the correct statement.

Write the correct letterA G in boxes 1 4 on your answer sheet.

20.Dr Reed-Tsochas21.Modern Homo sapiens22.Jukka-PekkaOnnela23.The National Academy of Sciences

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Questions 24 27

Complete the following statements with the correct alternative from the box.

Write the correct letterA Fin boxes 24 27 on your answer sheet.

24.The sudden spike in installations25.Some have been developing smart trolleys,26.The wise men and women of our now-massive tribe have been27. It's likely that such ruses work because it made

Reading Passage 3

A. A day after President Barack Obama publicly endorsed India's claim to a permanent seat on theU.N. Security Council, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley poured cold water on any

expectation of New Delhi's elevation anytime soon. "It is inconceivable that you could

contemplate U.N. Security Council reform without considering a country like India," Crowley said

Tuesday. "But we have to recognize ... this is a process that has been going on for some time,

and it is a process through which we must consult with others within the U.N. and within the

Security Council." In other words, India, don't hold your breath.

B. The five permanent members, or P5, of the Security Council the U.S., Russia, China, Britainand France not only get to stay on when the other 10 members are rotated out every two

years for replacements elected from their region, they hold the coveted veto power that allows

them to nix any decisions on questions of war, peace and security that are not to their liking.

A Joined hands with the government.B Have broached the subject with an admirably broad brush.C Have created a new theory on the subject.D They pored over data of the entire Facebook population.E Migrates to the online savannah.F The social networkers' herd mentality was intact.G Is very hopeful about the modern society.

A Its life simple.B Doesn't come about.C Which relay information on their contents.D To carry the concept further.E Tracking web versions of these ancient behaviours.F Evolutionary sense to copy neighbours.

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That veto power has certainly helped sustain the illusion of superpower relevance for Britain

and France, which have long since fallen by the wayside by measure of military strength

indeed, they had better hope nobody noticed their agreement last week to pool much of their

defense capability, lest it be suggested that their two permanent Security Council seats be

consolidated into one. It has also proven useful to a country like Israel, on whose behalf the U.S.

has regularly intervened to block critical U.N. resolutions. Given the power that attaches to a

permanent seat on the Security Council, then, it's not hard to see why some of the incumbents

are not exactly enthusiastic about sharing their status with anyone but their closest allies.

C. The P5 attained their status at the U.N.'s creation a half-century ago, on the basis of having beenostensibly the five key nations allied against the Axis powers in World War II. But Britain and

France were drastically diminished colonial powers holding desperately to the last remnants of

empire in Africa and Asia. Still, within two decades, each of the permanent five had all burnished

their veto power in the real world by building nuclear weapons, becoming the original nuclear

club years before India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea followed suit.

D. It's plain to see, though, that the makeup of the permanent five no longer accurately reflects theglobal balance of power, and the 21st century distribution of responsibility for keeping the

peace which, after all, is the primary function of the U.N. Countries such as India, Brazil and

Turkey are emerging as major economic powerhouses with the capacity to play a far larger

strategic role in their regions than some of those currently in the P5, while Germany and Japan

have long claimed the same status. It has also long been suggested that one of Africa's more

powerful countries, such as Nigeria or South Africa, will do the same on the mother continent.

So talk of enlarging the P5 has been around for years.

E. President Obama's nomination of India underscores precisely why Security Council reform maybe years away. Washington is making no secret of the fact that it is promoting a greater

strategic role for India, a democratic ally, in response to China's growing regional ambitions.

China may beg to differ it is the only permanent member that has not publicly backed India's

claim and it will certainly be encouraged to do so by its long-standing ally, Pakistan, which

cites what it says are India's continued violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions over

Kashmir as grounds for exclusion.

F. China has also opposed any move to elevate its old enemy, Japan, into permanent membership.Although Brazil's efforts to join the permanent five were thought to have suffered in the U.S.

and France as a result of its opposition, along with Turkey's, to sanctions against Iran, Britain on

Tuesday reiterated its support for Brazilian membership, expressly talking of strengthening its

own ties with Latin America. And France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, for similar reasons, is

pressing for an African seat.

G. Those powers currently holding permanent seats certainly want help in policing the world, buteach will be looking to safeguard their own strategic interests in the course of any expansion of

the P5. And in a world where geopolitical rivalry is intensifying, that's a recipe for deadlock.

Everybody supports reforming the Security Council to expand the P5, but agreeing on a list of

new veto wielders will take many years and a lot of big-ticket horse-trading.

Source: Time

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Questions

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 2840which are based on Reading Passage 3.

Questions 28 32

The passage has seven paragraphs labelledA

G.

Which paragraph contains the following information?

Write the correct letter A-G in boxes 28-32 on your answer sheet.

NB: You may use any letter more than once.

28. There are five permanent members in the security council of the UN.29. The P5 attained their status at the U.N.'s creation a half-century ago.30. Nigeria or South Africa will do the same on the mother continent.31. The five permanent members are the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France.32. Washington is promoting a greater strategic role for India.

Questions 33 36

Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage 3.

Use NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 33-36 on your answer sheet.

33. Within two decades, each of the permanent five had all burnished their veto power .34. That veto power has certainly helped sustain the illusion of superpower relevance for.35. Their two permanent Security Council seats be .36. Germany and Japan have long claimed .

Questions 37

40

Complete the summary of the paragraphs EG below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDSfor each answer.

Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

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President Obama's nomination of India underscores precisely why Security Council reform 37

.. China has also opposed any move to elevate 38. France's President Nicolas

Sarkozy, for similar reasons, is pressing 39 .. Everybody supports reforming the Security

Council to expand the P5, but agreeing on a list of new veto wielders 40..