1MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY ENGLISH PROFICIENCY EXAM CAREFUL READING AND VOCABULARY PART PRACTICE MATERIAL FALL 2025 SET I
2TEXT IA Tourists of any sort were an unusual sight in Bodrum in 1961. A sleepy town along the southwestern part of Türkiye on the Aegean Sea, it was home to around 5,000 inhabitants, one motor vehicle for public transport, and a sponge fleet, which crowded its harbor.Therefore, when a large group of foreigners arrived with a mountain of up-to-date scuba diving gear and rented a big run-down house for the summer, they were greeted with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. Local people grew more suspicious, especially when word began to circulate that the group of foreigners was going to be diving on an old wreck that a local sponge diver had found a few years earlier. The wreck lay just off Yassı Ada, a low, rocky islet about a two-hour sail away. The group—a mix of American, British, French, and German archaeologists—was interested only in the ship’s early Byzantine history, its rotting timbers, and the cargo of amphorae that sank with it nearly 1,400 years earlier. But few locals believed them. In a sponge diving community like Bodrum, it was taken for granted that nobody took on the risks of diving unless there was clear profit to be had. It could mean only one thing: treasure.B “Things were becoming rather tense,” recalls Frederick van Doorninck, now 92, who was one of the archaeologists on the team. “Eventually, one of the local imams called a meeting and assured everyone that we were genuine, we really were archaeologists conducting an excavation underwater, as odd as that seemed. After that, things were much better.” The broader academic community took a little more convincing. Although underwater or maritime archaeology is a highly respected field today, in 1961 the idea of anyone conducting a rigorous archaeological excavation on the seabed seemed laughable. “People thought this was some kind of a show,” says van Doorninck, who would spend the next three summers diving on the wreck. It wasn’t that archaeologists had no interest in ships or maritime history; it just wasn’t deemed safe or practical to pursue research beneath the waves. Deep-sea diving was a risky business best left to the professionals. In 1900, when a sponge diver found an ancient wreck filled with exquisite marble and bronze statues near the island of Antikythera, the Greek government sent representatives from the Department of Antiquities to oversee the rescue. But these archaeologists remained strictly on the surface, cataloging the valuable-looking artifacts that the diving professionals brought up.C By the 1950s, Aqua-Lung gear , which was developed during World War II and revolutionized scuba diving, was making it possible for any reasonably fit person to explore under the sea. No longer did someone need a huge copper helmet, canvas suit, lead shoes, and a team operating pumps and air hoses from the surface. Treasure hunting and wreck diving became new adventure sports. Then in 1958 an American journalist, archaeology enthusiast, and sport diver named Peter Throckmorton traveled to Bodrum to follow up on a story about a local sponge diver who had found a bronze statue of the Greek goddess Demeter in one of the many ancient wrecks that were scattered along the coast. Throckmorton brought along his scuba gear and spent a month living aboard a sponge boat, diving with the sponge divers, and cataloging the wrecks they encountered. When Throckmorton returned to the United States, he approached the archaeology department at the University of Pennsylvania with a suggestion: Why not try excavating one of these wrecks formally, just as they would an ancient tomb or temple on land? The head of the university’s museum was intrigued by the idea and agreed to fund an expedition in the summer of 1961. A postgraduate named George Bass was chosen as the leader of the expedition.
3D George Bass, his wife and archaeologist Anne Bass, and the rest of the team, many of whom would go on to be leaders in the field of underwater archaeology, were to excavate the Byzantine wreck off Yassı Ada. Van Doorninck, a classical archaeologist who had shown talent as a draftsman on ancient Greek sites, was asked if he would come along and draw the site plans and sketches on which the expedition’s success would ultimately depend. “If maritime archaeology was ever to be a legitimate field of archaeology, we had to be able to demonstrate that we could survey a site just as meaningfully as archaeologists do on land,” says van Doorninck. At the time, he knew next to nothing about ships or nautical architecture, but the idea interested him, and he agreed to join the team. Like nearly all the expedition members, van Doorninck was a newbie diver. “I took diving lessons, flunked the course, and had to redo it after I got to Turkiye,” he recalls with a laugh. “I never did like diving, not at all, but once I was down on the wreck, I forgot about everything else. I was always the one they had to remind to go back up to the surface.E Certainly there was plenty to see and do down there. The water of the Aegean surrounding Yassı Ada had been a graveyard for ships for over a thousand years, with at least a dozen wrecks lying in its depths, victims of a hidden reef that surrounded the islet. The remains of a Romanage wreck lay only yards from the Byzantine one they were excavating. “The fact that the wreck we were diving on was seventh-century Byzantine was secondary,” says van Doorninck. “We chose it because it was a fairly complete shipwreck, with substantial remnants of the hull intact and its cargo of 800 amphorae all in a tight cluster, ideal for trying out techniques for surveying an archaeology site underwater.” Working at depths of 120 feet (around 36.5 meters), close to the operating limit of the Aqua-Lung equipment of the day, they spent the next three field seasons at Yassı Ada. “We were really on the verge of significant changes in excavation techniques and were improvising as we went along,” notes van Doorninck. F By the time the team at Yassı Ada completed their final field season in 1963, van Doorninck was able to draft a nail-by-nail, plank-by-plank elevation of a 60-ton seventh-century Byzantine cargo vessel. It was a ship whose design favored speed over cargo capacity and was well equipped with 11 anchors, an extensive set of tools, and sufficient nails and canvases to allow the ship’s carpenter to make repairs at sea if necessary. Those aboard certainly dined well, too. The ship had an unusually fancy kitchen with a tiled roof and was equipped for preparing and serving elaborate meals in style. It had sunk in the summer of A.D. 626 while transporting a cargo of wine and olive oil to the struggling Byzantine troops campaigning in the east against the Persians in the final year of what historians call the last great war of antiquity. This uniquely human tragedy was among the first of countless long-lost stories that have since been pulled from the depths by archaeologists pursuing this novel field of underwater archaeology.www.nationalgeographic.com
41. What does the writer emphasize about Bodrum in paragraph A?a) As Bodrum has always been rich in ancient sites, local people were used to seeing foreign archaeologists even in the early 1960s.b) The sponge diving community of Bodrum welcomed the archaeologists and their project as they were used to risky undertakings.c) The local community in Bodrum believed that foreigners would only engage in the activity of diving if there was a promise of treasure.2. According to paragraph B, what is the significance of the excavation of 1900 that took place in Greece?a) It shows that at that time, under no circumstances did archaeologists carry out research in deep-sea because of the extreme risk it involved.b) It was the first time that archaeologists practiced deep-sea diving to save the valuable artifacts found in an ancient wreck.c) It is a good example of archaeologists and sponge divers working together underwater to bring up the valuable objects lying on the seabed.3. We can infer from paragraph C that the formal excavation of underwater wrecks started in the second half of the 20th century because, at that time, _________. a) many ancient wrecks had just been discovered along the Aegean coastb) universities had an increased interest in maritime archaeology c) there had been advances in the technical equipment used in diving4. As we understand from paragraph D, the key to the success of maritime archaeology is to_________.a) stay under water and analyze the site of the wreck for as long as possibleb) map out underwater sites as systematically as you would do the sites on landc) work in cooperation with expert archaeologists studying ancient remains on land 5. According to paragraph E, why did the team of archaeologists chose the Byzantine ship to carry out an excavation?a) There was already a lot of information available on Roman-age ships.b) The main elements of the Byzantine ship were complete and undamaged. c) The Byzantine ship contained a special selection of amphorae worth exploring.6. Which one of the following would be the best title for paragraph E?a) Pioneering techniquesb) A difficult choicec) An amazing discovery
57. Which one of the following can be concluded from paragraph F about the Byzantine ship? a) The ship’s priority was to carry the vital foods and drinks to the fighting troops as quickly as possible.b) It was a ship with a simple design, including basic tools and foods for the passengers.c) It aimed at taking part in the great war against the Persians and carried all the necessary weapons.8. What does the word rigorous in the text mean? a) extremely thorough and carefulb) satisfying by argument and proofc) very large in number or extent 9. What does the word exquisite in the text mean? a) rareb) valuablec) admirableTEXT IIA Human-caused climate change has ravaged sea ice at both ends of Earth in what may be a disturbing new normal. February this year saw global sea ice extent hit a record low as slowmoving ice growth during the Arctic winter coincided with the fourth consecutive year of extremely low sea ice cover during the Antarctic summer. “It’s like a missing piece of a continent,” says Ed Doddridge at the University of Tasmania in Australia. The millions of square kilometres of lost sea ice mean disaster for people and ecosystems in these remote parts of the planet. Yet the extraordinary decline will also have global consequences ranging from further disruption to Earth’s energy balance and ocean currents to a boost in carbon dioxide released by ice-free waters.B Sea ice in both the Arctic and Antarctica are now far below historical average levels. But the story is different at each pole. In the Arctic, where the ice floats in an ocean surrounded by continents, there has been a near-steady decline since the satellite record began in 1979. In every year since 2007, its minimum sea ice extent has dropped far below the long-term average, suggesting the region – which is warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the planet – is experiencing “a new normal”, says Walter Meier at the US National Snow and Ice Data Center. During its low point in Arctic summers, the area of missing sea ice is roughly equivalent to all of the continental US east of the Mississippi river. The ice is also declining in winter: in March this year, the maximum Arctic sea ice extent set a new record low, with more than 1.3 million square kilometres less ice than the long-term average.
6C In Antarctica, where sea ice rings a continent surrounded by ocean, the change has been more complex. Until recently, “Antarctic sea ice wasn’t playing along with the global warming theme”, says Meier. Other factors such as natural oscillations in ocean temperature and wind patterns drove changes in sea ice year-to-year. Its extent actually saw a slow increase since the beginning of the satellite record, until an abrupt decline in late 2016. In early 2022, sea ice cover during the Antarctic summer crashed below the previous record low, with nearly 2 million square kilometres less than average – a loss equivalent to an area about the size of Saudi Arabia. Each of the next three summers got close to or surpassed that, prompting researchers to suggest we are seeing a permanent “regime shift” like that in the Arctic. In other words, Antarctica is also experiencing large and persistent changes in the structure and function of its ecosystems. A recent reconstruction of Antarctic sea ice based on a longer-term record of changes in the atmosphere suggests the ice extent is now lower than at any point in the 20th century. D The fundamental change at both poles is already impacting people and ecosystems in these regions. (I) With this rate of icebergs breaking off and the speeding up of the flow of ice sheets into the oceans, global sea levels have been rising. (II) In Antarctica, for instance, emperorpenguin colonies that rely on the ice to raise their chicks have seen mass die-offs. (III) In the Arctic, Indigenous communities that use sea ice as a hunting platform have seen the length of their hunting season and size of their catch shrink. In regions such as Alaska’s northern coast, the loss of sea ice has accelerated erosion by exposing the land to waves. The structure andecology of the Arctic Ocean in general has started to become more like that seen at lower latitudes in a process called “Atlantification”. This term refers to the increasing influence of the Atlantic Ocean in the Arctic with warmer and saltier water extending its reach northward into theArctic Ocean.E The consequences of losing so much sea ice are hardly limited to the poles. One of the clearest global implications is a reduction in the amount of solar radiation reflected from Earth back into space. Ice reflects most of the sunlight that reaches it. When it melts, it exposes dark ocean, which absorbs most of the incoming solar energy. A recent study on this found the low levels of global sea ice since 2016 mean the cooling effect of the ice is now about 14 per cent weaker than in the 1980s. This impact is large relative to what we already know we are doing to the climate system via greenhouse gases. If measured for the Arctic alone, the change is even greater, with the ice there losing a quarter of its cooling effect over that period. This is fueling the accelerated rate of warming in the north known as “Arctic amplification”. The warming in turn reduces the difference in temperature between Arctic air and warmer air to the south, which can disrupt thepolar jet stream that controls weather across parts of the northern hemisphere. “That completely changes our weather systems over the US and Europe,” says Andreas Klocker at the Norwegian Research Centre, leading to more persistent heatwaves, torrential rain and frigid outbreaks of polar air.F The loss of sea ice in Antarctica may also be contributing to an observed slowdown in the overturning circulation of the world’s oceans. These powerful currents are driven by dense, salty water, which is left over from the formation of sea ice, sinking to the deep ocean. The currents driven by this so-called Antarctic bottom water enable the ocean to absorb more heat from the atmosphere and carry nutrient and oxygen-rich waters from the Southern Ocean to deep-water ecosystems across the planet. Researchers have observed a slowdown in the formation of this
7bottom water since the 1990s, which they have mainly attributed to more freshwater pouring in from melting ice. But a possible regime shift in the sea ice, along with more meltwater, adds to concerns that this could slow even further, with models projecting a 50 per cent decline over the next three decades under a high-emissions scenario. This would reduce the amount of heat the oceans can take up, says Klocker. A slowdown could also affect other vital currents, including the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation that warms Europe and the powerful AntarcticCircumpolar Current that isolates the continent from the rest of the world’s warming oceans. “There are lots of delicate balances here and the sea ice is right in the middle of all of them,” says Doddridge.www.newscientist.com10. What is the purpose of paragraph A? a) To explain why the loss of ice that will affect people and ecosystems at the polesb) To draw attention to local and global consequences of shrinking ice at the polesc) To emphasize the need to adapt to the new conditions of low ice levels at the poles 11. According to paragraph B, which one of the following is true about the loss of sea ice in the Arctic? a) For the first time in 2007 the sea ice extent dropped below the 1979 average level.b) The continuous loss of sea ice since 1979 has become a normal trend in the region.c) During the winter months this year the Arctic lost 1.3 million square kilometers of ice.12. According to paragraph C, which one of the following describes the changes in sea ice level in Antarctica?a) Ice coverage saw a slight increase between 2016 and 2022.b) In the last three years, Antarctica has lost 2 million square kilometers of ice. c) Recently, the ice extent has been below the record lows of the 20th century.13. Which one of the following statements does NOT belong in paragraph D? a) (I)b) (II)c) (III) 14. Which one of the following is the reason for “Arctic amplification” mentioned in paragraph E?a) More solar radiation has been reflected from Earth back into space in the Arctic.b) The ice in the Arctic is losing its cooling effect more quickly than in other regions.c) Extreme weather conditions completely changed the weather systems in the Arctic.
815. Which one of the following characterizes the Atlantic bottom water mentioned in paragraph F?a) It is dense and saltyb) It is the melting waterc) It is a vital current 16. What does the word “oscillations” in the text mean? a) attributionsb) disruptionsc) fluctuations17. What does the word “delicate” in the text mean? a) Lasting for a long timeb) Necessary to lifec) Requiring great careTEXT IIIA People have always sought to transcend the limits imposed by biology: clothes and glasses, as well as pacemakers and plastic surgery, are all forms of what we call enhancement. Now a combination of enthusiastic investors and government officials paves the way for treatments that redefine the capacity of the human mind and body. Enthusiasts of the industry of human enhancement can sound a little mad. Elon Musk, who in addition to better-known companies like Tesla has also founded a brain-implant firm called Neuralink, talks about giving people “superpowers”. Bryan Johnson, a 47-year-old tech billionaire, thinks his special health regime may allow him to live forever. _________. However, these do not prevent enhancers from eagerly adopting three broad categories of treatments: supplements, gene therapies and neural implants.B Health supplements are an industry in themselves, with annual sales of $485bn. In addition, enhancers also use some prescription medicines in ways their manufacturers do not recommend. Herbal extracts such as ginseng, ginkgo and lion’s mane (a type of mushroom) are taken to sharpen the mind, as is Adderall, a hyperactivity drug containing amphetamines beloved by sleep-deprived students. Nicotinamide mononucleotide, spermidine, creatine phosphate and, for men, testosterone are all used in the hope of delaying ageing or improving mental or physical ability. There is usually some kind of scientific theory behind these sorts of treatments, but typically not the strong evidence required to win approval for a prescription drug. The chemical concerned may have yielded positive results in research on animals (often mice), but may not have been tested on people. Or it may be intended to treat specific conditions in people, but has not been evaluated for the purpose to which enhancers are putting it.
9C The lack of data and clinical trials is no accident. Medical research has, to a very large extent, focused on treating serious diseases, rather than on improving the capabilities of people who are already healthy. Regulators have developed systems to test whether drugs alleviate known ailments, but these are typically not well suited to assess whether a treatment has a positive effect on those who are already well. Since such enhancements might be considered less urgent, it is anyway less clear how risks and rewards should be balanced. What is more, naturally occurring substances cannot be patented, so there is little incentive for pharmaceutical firms to pour money into research on their effects.D Another type of treatment championed by enhancers is gene therapy, whereby new genetic material is introduced to the body to alter the way it functions. George Church, a geneticist at Harvard University, argues that humans are reaching the limits of improvements in physical and mental performance that can be achieved through diet and exercise. Further gains, he says, will require advanced technologies such as gene editing. Whatever the case may be, improvements in various Olympic records have slowed in recent years. Whether related to the body’s limits or to stricter anti-doping controls, the slowdown tends to support enhancers’ arguments. Existing gene therapies used for standard medical purposes, such as boosting the production of red blood cells for anaemics, or strengthening muscles for those with a wasting disease, are also of interest to enhancers. Doping agencies are worried that athletes will use such treatments, which are hard to detect in competitive sports. E A third form of treatment advocated by enhancers is brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). They can be headsets or implants inserted into the brain itself. They can collect and analyse signals from the brain or send signals to it. Although they are new technologies, they have already been used to achieve surprisingly sophisticated results. Scientists have been able to decode activity in the area of the brain that processes visual information to work out what kind of images people are looking at, and even reconstruct those images in some cases. An implant developed by Mr. Musk’s firm, Neuralink, has allowed a paraplegic (a person affected by paralysis) to operate a computer with his thoughts. Mr. Musk says that it should soon be possible for brain implants to allow disabled patients to move artificial limbs as well. Neuralink is also developing an implant to restore sight to the blind, although it has not yet started human trials. In the long run, however, Mr. Musk wants not just to overcome disabilities, but to increase patients’ mental powers. He hopes to use BCIs to connect human brains to artificial intelligence, massively augmenting reasoning capacity and knowledge.F The jurisdiction, i.e. the system of law courts, in which BCIs are being developed most eagerly is China, where multiple trials are under way involving monkeys and humans. Chinese scientists recently claimed to have developed the world’s first two-way BCI, allowing a drone and human pilot to communicate with one another. The government has also issued various regulations to speed up the adoption of BCIs. BCIs raise all manner of ethical and legal concerns. If the technology gets sophisticated enough, ensuring privacy and preventing subtle forms of mind control will become urgent and difficult. Regulators will naturally be cautious, but some entrepreneurs hope that the American authorities will soon be taking, at least, a more permissive approach to enhancement in general: Robert Kennedy, America’s new health secretary, is happy to break with medical orthodoxy and has personally embraced some supposed forms of enhancement. He has complained in the past that America’s Food and Drug
10Administration (FDA) is suppressing research into stem-cell therapies. President Trump has nominated Jim O’Neill, a longevity enthusiast, as one of Mr. Kennedy’s deputies. He, too, has criticised the FDA as overly cautious in licensing experimental treatments.G The advocates of enhancement may be very excited, but the general public does not share this enthusiasm. A study conducted in 2018 found that the overwhelming majority of Americans approved of treatments that could restore normal physical functions to people who lacked or had lost them, such as the blind and paraplegics. However, only a minority endorsed the idea of developing enhancements to human abilities beyond the typical range. Whether this reflects only a fear of the unknown, which will melt away as the potential of enhancement becomes clear, or a more deep-seated unease about tinkering with nature, is hard to say. Other interfering technologies, such as mobile phones, have been greeted with scepticism at first only to be almost universally embraced as their benefits become apparent. www.theeconomist.com18. Which one of the following statements best fits the blank in paragraph A? a) Mr. Johnson spends $2m a year on a program that is supervised by a team of scientists.b) The enhancement industry still faces many scientific uncertainties and moral dilemmas.c) Enthusiasts of enhancement intend to minimise the biological indications of ageing. 19. As we understand from paragraph B, the problem with the enhancers’ use of some drugs is that these__________.a) have not been manufactured for the purpose of improving capabilitiesb) have had some harmful effects when mixed with strong herbal extractsc) have not been tested on animals before the clinical trials on humans20. According to paragraph C, which one of the following is emphasized in existing health systems?a) Using naturally occurring substances in medicinesb) Preferring long-term treatments to urgent interventionc) Treating serious diseases that are known to scientists 21. We can infer from Church’s remarks in paragraph D that, to be able to break Olympic records in the future, athletes should __________.a) supplement gene therapy with diet and exercise b) boost their red blood cells and strengthen their musclesc) make use of advanced gene editing technologies
1122. According to paragraph E, which one of the following have BCIs already achieved?a) Increasing humans’ knowledge and thinking capacityb) Allowing patients to operate computers by sending brain signalsc) Enabling the disabled to move their limps with their thoughts23. According to paragraph F, which one of the following best reflects Robert Kennedy’s approach to the use of BCIs?a) He warns regulators against the threats of mind control and privacy attacks in the use of BCIs.b) He criticizes Chinese government’s eagerness to test BCI technologies on humans. c) He demands the relaxation of the rules that regulate the adoption of BCIs for enhancement.24. According to paragraph G, how does the American public feel about enhancement technologies?a) They are excited about a possible improvement in human capabilities.b) They feel uncomfortable about technologies that interfere with human nature.c) They believe that enhancement will become an inseparable part of their lives.25. What does the word “alleviate” in the text mean? a) Destroy completelyb) Make less severec) Restore to health26. What does the word “subtle” in the text mean? a) So fine that it is hard to distinguishb) Firmly established and unlikely to changec) Causing disruption and annoyance
12TEXT IVA The leaders of the Chinese Communist Party might be surprised to find they are indebted to an energetic 20-year-old live streamer from Ohio called Darren Watkins junior. He goes by the screen name “IShowSpeed” and has in one visit done more for China’s image abroad than any amount of boring party propaganda. On a two-week trip in March and April he showed his 38 million followers the country’s rich history (with a different interpretation of the Great Wall), friendly people (He joked with China’s finest Donald Trump impersonator.) and advanced technology (He danced with a humanoid robot, had a Kentucky Fried Chicken meal delivered by drone, and tried a flying taxi.). As he drove into a lake in Shenzhen, safe within an amphibious (working both on land and on water) James-Bond-style electric vehicle, Mr. Watkins was excited. “Oh my God, this car is not sinking…China got it, these Chinese cars got it!” Or, as he says frequently throughout his visit, “China’s different, bro.”B It is the kind of enthusiasm that leaders have long wanted to inspire in foreigners. The partyhas tried to cultivate “soft power” that gets a country what it wants without using “hard” coercion and has long criticized the “anti-China” narrative in Western media. In 2013 the Politburo said soft power was essential to the “Chinese dream of national renewal”. This was no easy task. China’s propaganda has failed to produce the intended effect overseas, where many are cautious about its authoritarian past and present. Increasingly, though, more people, especially the young, seem willing to look past China’s ugly side. That is not mainly thanks to the party’s political advisors. Darren Watkins is one of a parade of foreign vloggers posting on their trips since China reopened after covid. Chinese firms have cutting-edge technology and cultural exports. In addition, the country’s image has been helped by a fall in America’s popularity, courtesy of President Trump. In May this year, there was a sense that the People’s Daily, a newspaper that is the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, could not quite believe it was publishing an article entitled “How did China become cool?”C A decade ago China was spending $10 billion a year attempting to boost its image overseas, according to one American scholar. The sum may now be higher. Officials have set up 500 “Confucius Institutes” in foreign colleges that offer Mandarin tuition and cultural programs. State-run media churn out positive stories on Western social media, hundreds of foreign journalists are invited to China each year and shown highlights such as the impressive highspeed rail network. But these top-down efforts have been eclipsed by bottom-up innovations. DeepSeek, an artificial-intelligence star, made headlines in December last year when it announced models that were much cheaper to train and nearly as effective as Western ones. Chinese electric vehicles are being bought quickly by overseas buyers, and Chinese consumer drones have been world-leading for years. D Now cultural products are gaining fans overseas. China watched with envy as South Korean kpop took off round the world in the 2010s. Chinese music and television remain niche interests outside the Mandarin-speaking world, but the country is becoming a big hitter in gaming. Four of the ten highest-grossing mobile games of 2024 were made in China. One such is Genshin Impact, a role-playing adventure which earns over $1billion a year. Last year a Chinese firm
13released Black Myth Wukong, the country’s first blockbuster video game. Featuring the mischievous Monkey King, it is steeped in Chinese folklore. Some 30% of its 25m players are said to be outside the country.E The media the world consumes are increasingly shaped by China, too. TikTok, a short-video app owned by Bytedance, a Chinese firm, is downloaded more than any other social-media app worldwide. Viewers in countries such as Mexico and Indonesia have also embraced Chinese “micro-dramas”, minute-long episodes designed to be watched on mobile phones. Several polls suggest China’s popularity hit a low point during the pandemic but then turned a corner. Every year Brand Finance, a consultancy, asks 100,000 respondents worldwide what they think of different countries and their influence. The results put China’s “brand” at eighth in the world in 2021 and second this year, behind America. Polls by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, an NGO in Denmark, show a steady improvement in global attitudes towards China since 2022, with its “net perception rating” rising from -4% that year to +14% in the latest survey, published this month. America’s has dropped from +22% to -5% just in the past year. A recent poll by Pew, a pollster, showed that even in America, where China is widely disliked, opinions have warmed recently. Young people, in particular, are softer on China.F Asian neighbours tend to be more skeptical. Many have territorial disputes with China and worry about its military spending. In Europe, there are “hard limits” to how popular China can become because of its lack of democracy and poor human-rights record, reckons Andrew Chubb of Lancaster University in Britain. Plenty of critics of Communist Party policies towards the Uyghurs in Xinjiang, for instance, say the current enthusiasm whitewashes the party’s authoritarianism. Others say the party is just shrewder now. They believe it is quietly but actively facilitating visitors like Mr. Watkins. Still, China’s government seems confident that, if people pay a visit, they will like it, wherever they are from. Officials are hurrying up to get tourists back after numbers slumped during the pandemic. Last year China cancelled visa restrictions for citizens from 38 (mainly European) countries to visit for up to a month. Some 30m foreign tourists visited China in 2024, nearly 80% more than the year before, though still fewer than the pre-covid peak.G The trickiest task for China’s propagandists is to let the country’s appealing side speak for itself, says Shaoyu Yuan of Rutgers University in New Jersey. That is “uncomfortable for a system that’s built on message discipline and control”, he says. Last year a group of 70 students from Duke University in North Carolina visited China on a study trip. They were annoyed by state-run media pressing them to say nice things about China, according to an online account by one displeased student. A camera crew, she recalled, “taught me to recite a poem in Mandarin that included the line ‘I love China’”. As any teenager will tell you, China would be much cooler if it did not try so hard.www.theeconomist.com
1427. What is the main message given in paragraph A about Chinese image?a) China’s image abroad has improved recently thanks to their advanced technology and rich history advertised on social mediab) Some westerners who promote China on social media are more successful in creating an attractive image than the party propagandac) Foreigners are allowed to share aspects of Chinese life on social media only if they campaign for Chinese technological devices 28. According to paragraph B, why have China’s attempts to develop “soft power” in the west failed until recently?a) The Communist Party’s propaganda could not overcome the image of the Chinese state as being authoritarian and oppressive. b) President Trump has weakened China’s image in the west as a result of his conflict with Chinese rulers. c) Chinese political advisors’ critical approach to western leaders and their media has prevented the spread of a positive image.29. According to paragraph C, which one of the following exceeded the success of topdown efforts in boosting Chinese image? a) Confucius Institutes abroadb) The high-speed rail network c) Chinese electric vehicles30. According to paragraph D, which one of the following Chinese cultural products is gaining worldwide popularity?a) Pop musicb) Computer gamesc) Television shows31. What can we conclude about Chinese media from the facts and figures given in paragraph E?a) In South America and Asia, Chinese micro-dramas have been more influential than TikTok.b) Chinese media has been perceived with an increasingly positive attitude in different parts of the world.c) Since the pandemic, Chinese media has become more popular in Europe than in North America.
1532. What is meant, in paragraph F, by the expression “the current enthusiasm whitewashes the party’s authoritarianism”? a) The effort to spread a positive attitude towards China is an attempt to hide the oppressive acts committed by Chinese administration.b) Although Chinese officials are more welcoming towards visitors, there are still many territorial disputes with several countries.c) As more tourists visit China, they form a more favorable opinion of Chinese life style and become less critical of its authoritarianism. 33. What can we infer from paragraph G about Chinese propaganda? a) Young people in America think that Chinese propaganda should be carried out with more discipline.b) Propaganda efforts should concentrate on new Chinese brands rather than on culture and literature.c) There is no need for explicit propaganda as foreigners will be naturally attracted to China by themselves.34. What does the word “coercion” in the text mean? a) The process of being mentally stimulated to do something b) The practice of using force to make someone act in a certain way c) The process of trying to acquire skills through education or training
16CAREFUL READING AND VOCABULARY FALL 2025 SET I ANSWER KEY TEXT I1 C2 A3 C4 B5 B6 A7 A8 A9 CTEXT II 10 B11 B12 C13 A14 B15 A16 C17 CTEXT III18 B19 A20 C21 C22 B23 C24 B25 B26 ATEXT IV27 B28 A29 C30 B31 B32 A33 C34 B