Test C: English (Listening) Part 1: You will hear people speaking in six different situations. For questions 1-6, choose A,B or c for the best answer

C) they are so similar to baseball. 
D) he doesn’t understanf them himself. 
47. The Commonwealth countries … 
A) 
Make the popularity of cricktet in 
global arena. 
B) 
Are only teams which play cricket 
C) 
Don’t allow others to coplete with 
them 
D) 
Are the most popular in baseball. 
 48.The writer says that the curret 
Australian cricket team ….. 
A) have better facilities than other teams 
B) are the best team in the world at the 
moment 
C) are losing their dominant position in 
the sports 
D) are a team other teams don’t like to 
play. 
 
49. The process of professionalism ….. 
A) has made the sport more popular 
B) has made cricket more difficult to 
understand 
C) has raised the standard of the sport 
D) has required its participation to be 
braver. 
 
50. Whom is the text aimed at? 
A) 
Amateur cricketers 
B) 
Cricket fans 
C) 
Newcomers to cricket 
D) 
People who don’t like cricket. 

---

 
Questions 51-55 are based on the following text. 
 
South-East Asia on Track with Mass Transit Railways 
A number of cities, including Toronto and Vancouver, are constructing mass transit railways in an 
attempt to overcome the inadequate road systems, where simple travelling five blocks can take over 
an hour. In this article, we take a look at this form of transport in three South-East Asian cities: 
Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore 
Bangkok is a thriving city with a population of six million and a further two million who travel into the 
city every day. Well-known for the terrible daily traffic jams, the Thai government desperately needed a 
transport system that would reduce pressure on the already busy roads. In 1992, city administrators 
embarked upon the Sky Train project, notable for several reasons. 
First of all, the government was reluctant to invest public funds in the huge project (around $1.7 billion), 
so private investment had to be found. In the end, a conglomerate including Siemens and the Italian-
Thai Construction Company won the contract but in 1997, when the Asian economic crisis hit, the 
whole enterprise nearly collapsed when nervous investors wanted to pull the plug. A second major issue 
was the actual construction, which was taking place in the middle of the road and, whilst accidents were 
rare, a taxi driver was killed when a beam fell from one of the viaducts. Construction was stopped for 
two months and stricter safety rules were implemented. A further difficulty involved personnel who all 
had to be trained from scratch. 
Yet despite all these problems, the Sky Train opened ahead of schedule. Now, though, there is a further 
challenge for the operators: persuading the people to use the system. Compared to the buses, tickets are 
not particularly cheap. In order to pay the debt, the operators need to aim for a minimum of 680,000 
trips a day which presents a real marketing challenge. And the Sky Train is only the first part of an 
ambitious plan: a further 240 kilometres of track, including an underground portion, is already in the 
pipeline. 
Private investment in the rail system proved to be an unsuccessful approach for Malaysia, whose 
government was forced to take over the finances of Kuala Lumpur’s mass transit system in 
2001.Although construction had already been completed, severe financial problems hit the companies 
responsible for the transit system. Now, the government has arranged a $5.5 billion bond to buy the 
assets, which will then be leased back to the companies. 
 The Light Rail Transit (LRT) system has 24 stations and is a combination of tunnel and elevated track, 
designed to avoid impacting on existing roads. At present, around 10,000 people ride the train daily, but 
the target figure is 30,000. Safety and automation feature heavily: the trains are driverless, the signalling 
is fully automated and it is able to provide a service level of 90 seconds between trains during peak 
hours. In terms of safety, passengers can communicate directly with the control centre from two-way 
phones and every platform has emergency buttons and CCTV cameras. There is even an ‘intrusion 
detection system’ which can detect when passengers get too close to the moving trains or tracks. As well 
as extending the system, the government is looking at introducing an integrated ticketing system for 
buses and LRT as well as merging six competing bus services. 
Adding to Singapore’s existing Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) is the new North East Line: a $2.6 billion, 
20-kilometreunderground system which was opened in 2003 by the state’s Land Transport Authority. 
The line, including the stations, is fully automatic. It can carry 40,000 people per hour in each direction 
without anyone operating the trains or opening the doors at the station. Like the Malaysian system, an 
operating time of 90 seconds can be achieved during peak times, although currently, trains reach the 
stations every three minutes. 
A concept that is being explored is the use of ‘multi-modal’ stations. These would incorporate bus 
stations, MRT interchange stations, residential developments and retail space. This would allow total 
integration of
transport systems as well as ease of transfer and should be in place by 2008. For a small country like 
Singapore, encouraging the community to use public transport instead of cars makes nothing but sense. 

---