Section III Reading Comprehension

Part A

Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.

Text 1

It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and a final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia's Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure was passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on via the group's on-line service, Death NET. Says Hofsess: "We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isn't just something that happened in Australia. It's world history." The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief; others, including churches, right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia ? where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part ? other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia. In the U.S. and Canada, where the right-to-die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling. Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death ? probably by a deadly injection or pill ? to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as terminally ill by two doctors. After a "cooling off" period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. "I'm not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I'd go, because I've watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks," he says.

1. From the second paragraph we learn that

[A] the objection to euthanasia is diminishing in some countries.

[B] physicians and citizens have the same view on euthanasia.

[C] technological changes are chiefly responsible for the new law.

[D] it takes time to appreciate the significance of laws passed.

2. By saying that "observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling", the author means that

[A] observers are taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the future of euthanasia.   

[B] there is a possibility of similar bills being passed in the U.S. and Canada.   

[C] observers are waiting to see the movement end up in failure.

[D] the process of the bill taking effect may finally come to a stop.

Section IV Writing

Widespread tobacco consumption has led to grave consequences, yet the tobacco companies are still claiming that they make a valuable contribution to the world economy. Write an essay

[1] criticizing their view and

[2] justifying your stand. In your essay, make full use of the information provided in the pictures printed below. You should write approximately 160 ? 200 words on ANSWER SHEET 2.