CAMBRIDGE ENGLISH IELTS 3
TEST 1
PASSAGE 2
You
should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 15-28, which are based on Reading
Passage 2 on the following pages.
The Risks of Cigarette Smoke
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Discovered in the early 1800s and named
‘nicotianine’, the oily essence now called nicotine is the main active
ingredient of tobacco. Nicotine, however, is only a small component of
cigarette smoke, which contains more than 4,700 chemical compounds, including
43 cancer-causing substances. In recent times, scientific research has been
providing evidence that years of cigarette smoking vastly increases the risk
of developing fatal medical conditions.
In addition to being responsible for
more than 85 per cent of lung cancers, smoking is associated with cancers of,
amongst others, the mouth, stomach and kidneys, and is thought to cause about
14 per cent of leukemia and cervical cancers. In 1990, smoking caused more
than 84,000 deaths, mainly resulting from such problems as pneumonia, bronchitis
and influenza. Smoking, it is believed, is responsible for 30 per cent of all
deaths from cancer and clearly represents the most important preventable
cause of cancer in countries like the United States today.
Passive smoking, the breathing in of
the side-stream smoke from the burning of tobacco between puffs or of the
smoke exhaled by a smoker, also causes a serious health risk. A report
published in 1992 by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) emphasized
the health dangers, especially from side-stream smoke. This type of smoke
contains more smaller particles and is therefore more likely to be deposited
deep in the lungs. On the basis of this report, the EPA has classified
environmental tobacco smoke in the highest risk category for causing cancer.
As an illustration of the health risks,
in the case of a married couple where one partner is a smoker and one a
non-smoker, the latter is believed to have a 30 per cent higher risk of death
from heart disease because of passive smoking. The risk of lung cancer also
increases over the years of exposure and the figure jumps to 80 per cent if
the spouse has been smoking four packs a day for 20 years. It has been
calculated that 17 per cent of cases of lung cancer can be attributed to high
levels of exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke during childhood and
adolescence.
A more recent study by researchers at
the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) has shown that
second-hand cigarette smoke does more harm to non-smokers than to smokers.
Leaving aside the philosophical question of whether anyone should have to breathe
someone else’s cigarette smoke, the report suggests that the smoke
experienced by many people in their daily lives is enough to produce
substantial adverse effects on a person’s heart and lungs.
The report, published in the Journal of
the American Medical Association (AMA), was based on the researchers’ own
earlier research but also includes a review of studies over the past few
years. The American Medical Association represents about half of all US
doctors and is a strong opponent of smoking. The study suggests that people
who smoke cigarettes are continually damaging their cardiovascular system,
which adapts in order to compensate for the effects of smoking. It further
states that people who do not smoke do not have the benefit of their system
adapting to the smoke inhalation. Consequently, the effects of passive
smoking are far greater on non-smokers than on smokers.
This report emphasizes that cancer is
not caused by a single element in cigarette smoke; harmful effects to health
are caused by many components. Carbon monoxide, for example, competes with
oxygen in red blood cells and interferes with the blood’s ability to deliver
life-giving oxygen to the heart. Nicotine and other toxins in cigarette smoke
activate small blood cells called platelets, which increases the likelihood
of blood clots, thereby affecting blood circulation throughout the body.
The researchers criticize the practice
of some scientific consultants who work with the tobacco industry for
assuming that cigarette smoke has the same impact on smokers as it does on
non-smokers. They argue that those scientists are underestimating the damage
done by passive smoking and, in support of their recent findings, cite some
previous research which points to passive smoking as the cause for between
30,000 and 60,000 deaths from heart attacks each year in the United States.
This means that passive smoking is the third most preventable cause of death
after active smoking and alcohol-related diseases.
The study argues that the type of
action needed against passive smoking should be similar to that being taken
against illegal drugs and AIDS (SIDA). The UCSF researchers maintain that the
simplest and most cost-effective action is to establish smoke-free work
places, schools and public places.
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Questions
15-17
Choose
the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 15-17 on your answer sheet.
15
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According
to information in the text, leukaemia and pneumonia
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A
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are
responsible for 84,000 deaths each year.
are
strongly linked to cigarette smoking.
are
strongly linked to lung cancer.
result
in 30 per cent of deaths per year.
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B
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C
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D
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16
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According
to information in the text, intake of carbon monoxide
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A
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inhibits
the flow of oxygen to the heart.
increases
absorption of other smoke particles.
inhibits
red blood cell formation.
promotes
nicotine absorption.
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B
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C
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D
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17
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According
to information in the text, intake of nicotine encourages
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A
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blood
circulation through the body.
activity
of other toxins in the blood.
formation
of blood clots.
an
increase of platelets in the blood.
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B
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C
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D
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Questions
18-21
Do
the following statements reflect the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 2.
In
boxes 18-21 on your answer sheet, write
YES
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if
the statement reflects the claims of the writer
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NO
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if
the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
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NOT
GIVEN
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if
it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
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18
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Thirty
per cent of deaths in the United States are caused by smoking-related
diseases.
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19
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If
one partner in a marriage smokes, the other is likely to take up smoking.
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20
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Teenagers
whose parents smoke are at risk of getting lung cancer at some time during
their lives.
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21
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Opponents
of smoking financed the UCSF study.
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Questions
22-24
Choose
ONE phrase from the list of phrases A-J below to complete each of the following
sentences (Questions 22-24).
Write
the appropriate letters in boxes 22-24 on your answer sheet.
22
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Passive
smoking _________________
Compared
with a non-smoker, a smoker _________________
The
American Medical Association ________________________
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23
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24
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A
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includes
reviews of studies in its reports.
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B
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argues
for stronger action against smoking in public places.
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C
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is
one of the two most preventable causes of death.
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D
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is
more likely to be at risk from passive smoking diseases.
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E
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is
more harmful to non-smokers than to smokers.
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F
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is
less likely to be at risk of contracting lung cancer.
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G
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is
more likely to be at risk of contracting various cancers.
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H
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opposes
smoking and publishes research on the subject.
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I
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is
just as harmful to smokers as it is to non-smokers.
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J
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reduces
the quantity of blood flowing around the body.
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Questions
25-28
Classify
the following statements as being
A
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a
finding of the UCSF study
an
opinion of the UCSF study
a
finding of the EPA report
an
assumption of consultants to the tobacco industry
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B
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C
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D
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Write
the appropriate letters A-D in boxes 25-28 on your answer sheet.
NB
You may use any letter more than once.
25
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Smokers’
cardiovascular systems adapt to the intake of environmental smoke.
There
is a philosophical question as to whether people should have to inhale
others’ smoke.
Smoke-free
public places offer the best solution.
The
intake of side-stream smoke is more harmful than smoke exhaled by a smoker.
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26
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27
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28
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ANSWER
KEY
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