You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
GLOBAL WARMING
A The average facade temperature of the globe has augmented more than 1 degree Fahrenheit since 1900 and the speed of warming has been almost three folds the century long average since 1970. This increase in earth's average temperature is called Global warming. More or less all specialists studying the climate record of the earth have the same opinion now that human actions, mainly the discharge of greenhouse gases from smokestacks, vehicles, and burning forests, are perhaps the leading power driving the fashion.
B The gases append to the planet's normal greenhouse effect, permitting sunlight in, but stopping some of the ensuing heat from radiating back to space. Based on the study on past climate shifts, notes of current situations, and computer simulations, many climate scientists say that lacking of big curbs in greenhouse gas discharges, the 21st century might see temperatures rise of about 3 to 8 degrees, climate patterns piercingly shift, ice sheets contract and seas rise several feet. With the probable exemption of one more world war, a huge asteroid, or a fatal plague, global warming may be the only most danger to our planet earth.
C As said, the major cause of global warming is the emission of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide etc. into the atmosphere. The major source of carbon dioxide is the power plants. These power plants emit large amounts of carbon dioxide produced from burning of fossil fuels for the purpose of electricity generation. About twenty percent of carbon dioxide emitted in the atmosphere comes from burning of gasoline in the engines of the vehicles. This is true for most of the developed countries. Buildings, both commercial and residential represent a larger source of global warming pollution than cars and trucks.
Building of these structures requires a lot of fuel to be burnt which emits a large amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Methane is more than 20 times as effectual as CO2 at entrapping heat in the atmosphere. Methane is obtained from resources such as rice paddies, bovine flatulence, bacteria in bogs and fossil fuel manufacture. When fields are flooded, anaerobic situation build up and the organic matter in the soil decays, releasing methane to the atmosphere. The main sources of nitrous oxide include nylon and nitric acid production, cars with catalytic converters, the use of fertilizers in agriculture and the burning of organic matter. Another cause of global warming is deforestation that is caused by cutting and burning of forests for the purpose of residence and industrialization.
D Scientists all over the world are making predictions about the ill effects of global warming and connecting some of the events that have taken place in the past few decades as an alarm of global warming. The effect of global warming is increasing the average temperature of the earth. A rise in earth's temperatures can in turn root to other alterations in the ecology, including an increasing sea level and modifying the quantity and pattern of rainfall. These modifications may boost the occurrence and concentration of severe climate events, such as floods, famines, heat waves, tornados, and twisters. Other consequences may comprise of higher or lower agricultural outputs, glacier melting, lesser summer stream flows, genus extinctions and rise in the ranges of disease vectors. As an effect of global warming species like golden toad, harlequin frog of Costa Rica has already become extinct. There are number of species that have a threat of disappearing soon as an effect of global warming. As an effect of global warming various new diseases have emerged lately. These diseases are occurring frequently due to the increase in earth's average temperature since the bacteria can survive better in elevated temperatures and even multiplies faster when the conditions are favorable. The global warming is extending the distribution of mosquitoes due to the increase in humidity levels and their frequent growth in warmer atmosphere. Various diseases due to ebola, hanta and machupo virus are expected due to warmer climates. The marine life is also very sensitive to the increase in temperatures. The effect of global warming will definitely be seen on some species in the water. A survey was made in which the marine life reacted significantly to the changes in water temperatures. It is expected that many species will die off or become extinct due to the increase in the temperatures of the water, whereas various other species, which prefer warmer waters, will increase tremendously. Perhaps the most disturbing changes are expected in the coral reefs that are expected to die off as an effect of global warming. The global warming is expected to cause irreversible changes in the ecosystem and the behaviour of animals.
A group of scientists have recently reported on the surprisingly speedy rise in the discharge of carbon and methane release from frozen tundra in Siberia, now starting to melt because of human cause increases in earth's temperature. The scientists tell us that the tundra is in danger of melting holds an amount of extra global warming pollution that is equivalent to the net amount that is previously in the earth s atmosphere. Likewise, earlier one more team of scientists reported that the in a single year Greenland witnessed 32 glacial earthquakes between 4.6 and 5.1 on the Richter scale. This is a disturbing sign and points that a huge destabilization that may now be in progress deep within the second biggest accretion of ice on the planet. This ice would be enough to raise sea level 20 feet worldwide if it broke up and slipped into the sea. Each day passing brings yet new proof that we are now in front of a global emergency, a climate emergency that needs instant action to piercingly decrease carbon dioxide emissions worldwide in order to turn down the earth's rising temperatures and avoid any catastrophe.
E It is not easy to attach any particular events to global warming, but studies prove the fact that human activities are increasing the earth's temperature. Even though most predictions focus on the epoch up to 2100, even if no further greenhouse gases were discharged after this date, global warming and sea level would be likely to go on to rise for more than a millennium, since carbon dioxide has a long average atmospheric life span.
F Many efforts are being made by various nations to cut down the rate of global warming. One such effort is the Kyoto agreement that has been made between various nations to reduce the emissions of various greenhouse gases. Also many non-profit organizations are working for the cause. Al Gore was one of the foremost U.S. politicians to heave an alarm about the hazards of global warming. He has produced a significantly acclaimed documentary movie called "An Inconvenient Truth", and written a book that archives his advice that Earth is dashing toward an immensely warmer future. Al Gore, the former vice president of United States has given various speeches to raise an awareness of global warming. He has warned people about the ill effects of Global warming and its remedies.
G But an interesting side of the global warming episode is that there are people who do not consider global warming as something that is creating a problem. Skeptics of global warming think that global warming is not an ecological trouble. According to the global warming skeptics, the recent enhancement in the earth's average temperature is no reason for alarm. According to them earth's coastlines and polar ice caps are not at a risk of vanishing. Global warming skeptics consider that the weather models used to establish global warming and to forecast its impacts are distorted. According to the models, if calculations are made the last few decades must have been much worse as compared to actually happened to be. Most of the global warming skeptics believe that the global warming is not actually occurring. They stress on the fact the climatic conditions vary because of volcanism, the obliquity cycle, changes in solar output, and internal variability. Also the warming can be due to the variation in cloud cover, which in turn is responsible for the temperatures on the earth.
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.
River dolphins, Vaquita and Northern Right Whale
A As a result of whaling and other human and natural influences, fourteen species of whales and dolphins are considered to be in danger of extinction according to the Endangered Species Act. Furthermore, because our knowledge about most dolphins and whales is lacking, there may be many more endangered species. Two species of river dolphins, along with the vaquita porpoise and the northern right whale are currently the most endangered species of whales and dolphins.
River dolphins
B River dolphins inhabit primarily fresh water rivers in Asia and South America. They have adapted quite well to the muddy river environment. They can navigate their way through the silty waters using a highly developed sense of echolocation. Each species of river dolphin is uniquely adapted to its environment. Amazon river dolphins have large pectoral fins, which they use to propel themselves through flooded forests and river shallows. Their cervical vertebrae are unfused, giving them the flexibility to maneuver in tight spots. Indus susus, and Ganges susus, two of the Asian species, are nearly blind and rely almost entirely on echolocation for navigating and feeding. They have huge paddle-like pectoral fins used to scoop mud on the river bottom as they forage. These unusual dolphins are also called "side-swimming dolphins" because they constantly swim on their sides. Of the five species of river dolphins two, the baiji and the Indus river dolphin, are in grave danger of extinction.
C The baiji, which resides in the Yangtze River in China, one of the most industrialized and polluted rivers in the world, is the most endangered cetacean. It will probably be extinct in the next twenty-five years. At last count, researchers could only locate five of these magnificent creatures. Everything from pollution to fishing, hunting, and habitat destruction threatens the baiji's survival. Researchers know almost nothing about the biology of this animal and have a difficult time breeding them in captivity. Even if they could successfully breed baiji in human care, researchers would have no natural environment to return them to.
D Though not as threatened as the baiji, the Indus River dolphin is also on the brink of extinction. It inhabits the Indus River in India and is almost indistinguishable from the more populous Ganges River dolphin. Dams and barrages that have been constructed to provide hydroelectric power have separated populations into completely separate stocks and threatened their survival. Like the baiji, the Indus River dolphin is affected by other human influences. Again, researchers know very little about the natural history of this animal, and as a result have had difficulty establishing any successful recovery plans.
Vaquita
E Like the baiji, the vaquita porpoise is very near extinction. The vaquita is the smallest cetacean in the world, and has one of the smallest habitats of any cetacean. It lives in the upper-most portion of the Sea of Cortez in the Gulf of California between Mexico and Baja. For both of these reasons, and because the vaquita is extremely elusive, few researchers have observed the vaquita in the wild. The vaquita was only discovered in the past fifty years when carcasses began to wash up entangled in fishing nets. Since then, we have learned little about the natural history of these shy animals.
F Unfortunately, the world may never know much about the vaquita because its numbers are quickly diminishing. In the past, gill nets used by totoaba (a large sea bass) and shark fisherman killed large numbers of these animals. Even though these fisheries have declined in recent years, other nets as well as trawlers remain a threat to the vaquita along with pollution and habitat destruction.
Northern Right Whale
G The Northern right whale is the most endangered large whale in the world. It resides in the North Atlantic, along the east coast of the United States and Canada, and its population is estimated to be about 300 animals.
H Commercial whaling severely depleted right whale populations to virtual commercial extinction by the end of the nineteenth century. People continued to take right whales, however, and in 1935 an international treaty adopted a voluntary ban on hunting because the right whales were on the brink of biological extinction. Unfortunately, whaling of right whales continued until the 1960's. Currently, whaling is no longer a threat to the right whale, but because their numbers are so small, other human-related impacts threaten the population, namely collisions with ships and entanglement in nets.
I The Western North Atlantic is the only population of right whales for which we have enough data on their distribution, demography, and human interactions to develop measures of protection. Over the past twenty years, the average number of calves born was fewer than twelve, and the reproduction rate is on the decline. Any form of protection for the right whales is crucial because even a small number of deaths will affect the population.
J Since 1970, 40% of confirmed right whale deaths have been attributed to human factors, and 90% of those deaths have been a result of ship collisions. In 1991, NOAA Fisheries developed a right whale recovery plan that divided the east coast of the United Stated into two halves, Northeast and Southeast. The plan for the Southeast coast established protection for right whale calving grounds. The Northeast program was coordinated with humpback whale recovery, and protects feeding grounds in New England. Focus has been centered on reducing the number of ship collisions.
K Reducing the number of ship collisions has proved to be difficult because collisions are rare and mariners do not perceive themselves or the whales as a threat. Whales are also difficult to spot in time to change the course of a ship and collisions are usually unintentional. As a result, protection measures have focused on changing operating procedures for vessels that frequent right whale habitat, forming early warning systems, distributing educational material for mariners about right whales, instituting mandatory right whale reporting for ships in key habitats and conducting research to learn more.
L Although only two of the total confirmed deaths of right whales since the 1970's have been caused by entanglement in fishing gear, commercial fishing is still considered a major threat to right whales. More than 60% of right whales have been photographed with scars from fishing gear and eight whales were last seen with potentially fatal entanglements. In order to address these issues, NOAA Fisheries developed the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team in 1996. They are focusing on fishing restrictions in key habitats, fishing gear that would be less likely to entangle whales, and detection of entangled whales.
M Unfortunately, funding for right whale protection has been insufficient. As a result, a National Whale Conservation Fund Act was established in 1998. Now, right whale conservation programs can make money from logos and accept donations from the public.
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.
COMMISSION FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, TO ADDRESS EMPLOYMENT, AGEING, DISABILITY
• Employment, ageing and disability will be the main issues addressed by the Commission for Social Development when it convenes from 7 to 16 February at United Nations Headquarters for its forty-fifth session.
• The Commission will discuss shifting trends in employment, such as the rise of unemployment even when the economy is going strong, the growing conditions of job insecurity and instability experienced by workers worldwide, the expansion in the number of the self-employed and the fast growth of the service sector, which is poised to overtake agriculture as the world's largest source of employment.
• The Commission will review the Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing, five years after it was adopted at the Second World Assembly on Ageing. The Plan is the first international agreement that specifically recognizes the potential of older people to contribute to the development of their societies, and commits Governments to include ageing in all social and economic development policies.
Employment
• Before the Commission is a report of the Secretary-General on Promoting full employment and decent work for all. Total employment has risen since the mid-1990s, the report says, but problems of unemployment and underemployment have worsened. A large number of people, despite working, remain below the poverty line. An increasing share of the labour force works under conditions of job insecurity, instability and discrimination.
• The global labour force (people who were either working or looking for work) grew between 1995 and 2005 by some 438 million, or 16.5 per cent, to over 3 billion, says the report. In 2005, about 84 per cent of the global labour force was in developing countries, with Asia and the Pacific accounting for about 60 per cent of world employment. The number of people in work rose by 400 million (16.3 per cent) to 2.85 billion. But at the same time that global economic output grew by 3.8 per cent per year, the number of unemployed worldwide rose by 21.9 per cent, to 192 million people, and the unemployment rate rose from about 6 to 6.3 per cent.
• Women's earnings are substantially lower than men's throughout the world. Women are also overrepresented in the informal economy, where jobs are less stable and workers' rights are less protected. The increasing number of women working outside the home poses a problem for social integration, since work outside the home often means less time spent in traditional roles.
• Older persons in poorer regions continue to participate, to a great extent, to the labour force because of the limited coverage of social security systems and the relatively low guaranteed incomes.
• Persons with disabilities are disproportionately unemployed: in some countries, as many as 80 per cent of them are without work. They are often underemployed, paid below minimum wage and doing work below their skill levels. Many work in the informal economy. According to estimates by the International Labour Organization (ILO), 368 million of the world's working-age people have a disability.
• Poverty is pervasive in most indigenous communities because of lack of employment opportunities. Migration, which is becoming the coping mechanism for indigenous populations, increases their vulnerability, because migrants often lack the skills required to operate in the formal economy and are often discriminated against.
• However, the report notes, Governments have sought to improve the labour market opportunities of women and youth. The inclusion of persons with disabilities has also gained impetus and Governments are beginning to enact policies and programmes to address the needs of indigenous peoples.
• Looking at trends by sector, the service sector could soon overtake agriculture as the largest global source of employment. The fastest-growing sector, it employed 1.1 billion people in 2005, almost equal to the number employed in agriculture. Its share of total employment rose from 34.5 to 38.9 per cent over the last 10 years. Industry in 2005 employed about 600 million people, or 21 per cent of world employment.
• Self-employment has grown in recent years. In developing countries, self-employment outside of agriculture accounts for 60-70 per cent of informal work. The growth has also been significant in developed countries. In the United States, the number of businesses with no paid employees was 18.6 million in 2003, the highest figure since the Census Bureau began releasing such statistics.
• Various trends are affecting the workplace, the report says. Stiff competition under increased globalization has led to reduced job security and job-related benefits, as well as to a diminished role for organized labour. The "standard" employment relationship has been declining in favour of more precarious forms of employment that typically offer lower wages, poorer working conditions and less social protection, such as on-call or temporary work, self-employment or home-based work. Where State-supported social protection systems exist, they have not been modified to accommodate the growth of precarious employment.
• To address this situation, says the report, the goals of full and productive employment and decent work for all should become central in national and international policies and national development strategies. A key challenge is creating an international and national enabling environment that supports full employment and decent work.
• Offshoring, which can have a considerable impact on the labour market of developing countries, should be better regulated to arrest a possible "race to the bottom" in labour standards. At the same time, for many countries participation in these systems is an important way to attract investment and increase technological capacity.
• The employment intensity of growth should be increased through measures to remove policy discriminations against the agricultural sector. Programmes should provide small agricultural producers with credit, extension services and marketing assistance. Likewise, policy changes should remove biases against small enterprises, provide incentives for their subcontracting and provide them with more information and marketing assistance.
• Active labour market policies (ALMPs) should facilitate adjustment to changes brought about by trade liberalization and globalization. These include retraining for displaced workers, job search assistance and other measures to facilitate labour mobility. Social dialogue should be strengthened on economic reform programmes and on worker-management cooperation about enterprise restructuring. Such dialogue is essential to reach consensus on reforms that improve the functioning of labour markets while preserving essential protection for workers.
• Policymakers' tendency to equate progress in reducing unemployment or poverty with progress in social integration is inadequate. In particular, employment and poverty reduction strategies still do not adequately target marginalized and vulnerable groups. Various social, political and economic forces have opposed improving social integration through employment, and have led to the marginalization of various segments of the labour force, especially the most vulnerable. Specific efforts should address this increasing marginalization to make the objectives of full employment and decent work attainable for all.
Ageing
• A report of the Secretary-General addresses Major Developments in the Area of Ageing since the Second World Assembly on Ageing (document E/ CN.5/2007/7). Progress in achieving "a society for all ages" has been uneven, the report says. Growing awareness of ageing is a clear sign of advances, but in many countries progress since 2002 in achieving the objectives of the Madrid Plan of Action appears rather slow.
• The report suggests that the Commission recommend to Governments to redouble their efforts to integrate older persons into the mainstream of development policies. Coordinated actions should seek to improve working conditions for older workers, dismantle employer barriers to hiring and retaining older workers, promote employability and provide better care services.
• The Commission should reiterate the importance of independent and impartial monitoring of progress in implementing the Madrid Plan of Action, and invite academia and civil society organizations to conduct studies, share their findings during the review and appraisal and formulate proposals for policy action.
• The first cycle of the review and appraisal of the Plan of Action will be concluded at the Commission's next session in 2008.
Disability
• A note of the Secretary-General on Monitoring the Implementation of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (document E/CN.5/2007/4) includes the annual report of the Special Rapporteur on Disabilities on that subject.
• A global survey on implementation of the 1993 Standard Rules, carried out in 1995-1996 by the office of the Special Rapporteur and the South-North Centre for Dialogue and Development, yielded the most comprehensive data yet on the actions taken by Member States. On the basis of the information provided by 114 Member States, the Special Rapporteur submits a number of recommendations to Governments.
• These include adopting policies and passing legislation to implement the measures identified by the Standard Rules; allocating financial resources to such programmes; intensifying awareness-raising efforts; enrolling the media in a campaign to change attitudes and behaviours; and ensuring that medical care, rehabilitation and assistive services are available in a way that enables full participation and equality to live independent lives.
• The Rapporteur also recommends treating all forms of accessibility – whether the built environment, transportation, information or communication – with the same importance; ensuring integrated education and employment; supporting organizations of persons with disabilities financially and technically; increasing regional and international cooperation, sharing of information and expertise, and signing and ratifying the 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.