DIAGNOSTIC ENGLISH TEST SAMPLE PAPER

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1 NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE DIAGNOSTIC ENGLISH TEST SAMPLE PAPER INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS 1. Please fill in your particulars below. Do not write your name. 2. This test paper contains ONE question and comprises ELEVEN printed pages, excluding the cover page. 3. This is a CLOSED BOOK test. 4. Write your answer in this booklet. 5. Use a pen for this test. You are not allowed to use a pencil. Please fill in your particulars here. Student Number: NRIC/Passport Number: Test Venue: Seat Number: For Official Use: C O L Profile Band Marker s Initials: DO NOT TEAR OUT ANY PAGE FROM THIS BOOKLET

2 SAMPLE PAPER This test assesses your ability to write an essay that expresses your view on a topic. Your essay will be assessed for its content, organisation and language: Content: - fulfillment of task - sophistication and sufficiency of ideas - analysis and use of information from the reading texts to support ideas Organisation: - clarity of overall structure - logical development of ideas Language: - accuracy grammar, mechanics, cohesive devices - fluency communicative quality, vocabulary use and register Notes and instructions 1. Read Texts A and B carefully and write an argumentative essay in about 500 words in response to the following question. Genetically-modified foods (GM foods) have been harshly criticised by many food activists. On the other hand, many advocates have supported the production and consumption of GM foods. Which view do you agree with? 2. Use information from the texts, your knowledge and experience to support your arguments. 3. Use page 6 to plan and organise your ideas for the essay. 4. Write your essay on pages You are expected to acknowledge information taken from the reading texts. 1

3 SAMPLE PAPER Text A Can GM foods do harms to our body? Genetically Modified (GM) foods are produced from organisms whose genetic material (DNA) has been altered in such a way that does not occur naturally. Also known as genetic engineering (GE), GM technology allows for the introduction of new crop traits as well as a greater control over a food s genetic structure than previously afforded. Safety assessment of GM foods has been based on the idea of substantial equivalence such that if a GM food is found to be substantially equivalent in composition and nutritional characteristics to an existing food, it can be regarded as safe as the conventional food. However, several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food consumption including infertility, immune dysregulation, accelerated aging, dysregulation of genes associated with cholesterol synthesis and protein formation, and changes in the liver, kidney, spleen and gastrointestinal system. Studies also show that there is a correlation between GM foods and adverse health effects. The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease has been confirmed in several animal studies. Multiple animal studies show that significant immune dysregulation, including allergy and inflammation is associated with the consumption of GM food. Animal studies also prove altered structure and function of the liver caused by GM food, including altered metabolism and cellular changes leading to accelerated aging. Changes in the kidney, pancreas, and spleen have also been documented. A recent 2008 study links GM corn with infertility, showing a significant decrease in offspring over time and significantly lower weight in mice fed GM corn. This study also shows that over 400 genes were found to be expressed differently in the mice fed GM corn. These are genes known to control protein synthesis and modification, cell signalling, and cholesterol synthesis. Because of the mounting data, it is biologically possible for GM foods to cause adverse health effects in humans. In spite of this risk, the biotechnology industry claims that GM foods can feed the world through production of higher crop yields. However, a recent report by the Union of Concerned Scientists reviewed 12 academic studies that indicate otherwise: the several thousand field trials over the last 20 years for genes aimed at increasing operational or intrinsic yield (of crops) indicate a significant undertaking. Yet none of these field trials have resulted in increased yield in commercialized major food, with the exception of GM corn; it was further stated that this increase is largely due to traditional breeding improvements. Because GM foods pose a serious health risk in the areas of toxicology, immune function, metabolic, and genetic health, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) believes that it is imperative to adopt the precautionary principle, which is one of the main regulatory tools of the European Union environmental and health policy and serves as a 2

4 SAMPLE PAPER foundation for several international agreements. The most commonly used definition is from the 1992 Rio Declaration that states: In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by countries according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation. Another often used definition originates from an environmental meeting in the US in 1998 stating: When an activity raises threats to the environment or human health, precautionary measures should be taken, even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically. In this context, the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof (of the safety of the activity). Because GM foods have not been properly tested for human consumption, and because there is ample evidence of probable harm, the AAEM asks physicians to educate their patients, the medical community, and the public to avoid GM foods when possible and provide educational materials concerning GM foods and their health risks. Adapted from: Dean, A., & Armstrong, J. (2009). Genetically modified foods. Retrieved from the website of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine at 3

5 SAMPLE PAPER Text B Making a case for GM food Given the crises facing the planet, with the population set to reach the nine billion mark by 2050 and increasing strains being placed on water and food supplies, it would be wrong to hope there could be a single solution to the storms that lie ahead. As the UK government s chief scientific adviser, Sir John Beddington, once put it in an Observer interview: There will be no silver bullet. However, Beddington added a crucial caveat. It would also be imprudent not to make the maximum use of the new technologies that are being developed in order to alleviate some of the worst hazards humanity will face in the decades that lie ahead. Among those scientific wonders, the use of GM crops has a particularly rich potential. Beddington believes that GM crops would deal with the problems of water shortages and salination of existing water supplies that the world is facing. It is a convincing point, as crop losses from insect pests can be staggering, resulting in devastating financial loss for farmers and starvation in developing countries. Farmers typically use tons of chemical pesticides annually. Consumers do not wish to eat food that has been treated with pesticides because of potential health hazards; in addition, run-off of agricultural wastes from excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers can poison the water supply and cause harm to the environment. Growing GM foods such as larva-resistant corn can help eliminate the application of chemical pesticides and reduce the cost of bringing a crop to market. We should also consider the simple issue of food that is lost before it can be harvested because it has been eaten by pests that humans have never learned to control. Experts calculate that the loss comes to around 30%, a rate that cannot be allowed to continue and GM crops are perfectly placed to resolve that issue. The work of scientists at the Rothamsted research station in England provides a good example of the benefits that can be achieved through genetic modification. They have engineered a strain of wheat that emits a chemical called E-beta-farnesene which is also emitted by aphids when they are threatened. It tells other aphids to fly away. For good measure, E-beta-farnesene also attracts aphid predators such as ladybirds and wasps, thereby delivering a double whammy and one with rich potential. Aphids cause an estimated 100m of damage to crops every year in the UK alone. At present, the effectiveness of Rothamsted s anti-aphid GM wheat has only been demonstrated in the laboratory. Earlier this year field trials were prepared but were threatened by anti-gm campaigners. However, their protest became ineffectual gradually, a development that suggests the green movement is growing up over its opposition to GM crops. Another advantage of GM foods is their nutritional value. Malnutrition is common in third world countries where impoverished peoples rely on a single crop such as rice for the main 4

6 SAMPLE PAPER staple of their diet. However, rice contains inadequate amounts of all necessary nutrients to prevent malnutrition. If rice could be genetically engineered to contain additional vitamins and minerals, nutrient deficiencies could be alleviated. For example, blindness due to vitamin A deficiency is a common problem in third world countries. Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology have created a strain of golden rice containing an unusually high content of beta- carotene (Vitamin A). Since this rice was funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, a non-profit organization, the Institute hopes to offer the golden rice seed free to any third world country that requests it. Plans were underway to develop a golden rice that also has increased iron content. However, the grant that funded the creation of these two rice strains was not renewed, likely because of the vigorous anti- GM food protesting in Europe, and so this nutritionally-enhanced rice may not come to market at all. In the end, science can only delay the inevitable, as Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington has pointed out. We need to act now to start to cope with crises over water supply, world population numbers and rising carbon emissions in the hope that advances in agriculture and genetics can give us time for such measures to be introduced and take effect. As Beddington argues, there are almost a billion people today who are suffering from serious food shortages and who are facing starvation. It is unimaginable that in the next 10 to 20 years there will not be a worsening of that problem unless we take action now, and we have to include the widest possible range of solutions. Adapted from: McKie, R. (2012, October). GM food: We can no longer afford to ignore its advantages. The Guardian, Retrieved from crops-geneticmodification 5

7 SAMPLE PAPER USE THIS PAGE FOR PLANNING YOUR ESSAY 6

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