Premise: With the rapid technological advancement today, bridges are becoming increasingly more sophisticated, and are spanning significantly greater distances. Earthquakes, however, remain a potential threat to these immense structures as they may do irreparable and costly damage to an important bridge. As a bridges major vulnerability to earth movement lies in its supportive structures, a promising solution has been found to be a self-anchored suspension bridge. This bridge design is one in which the pull of the cables is opposed by the push or the deck, thus eliminating the supporting anchorages.

Hypothesis: The self-anchored suspension bridge is the established solution to the threat of the earthquake damage.


Hypothesis: A possible solution to the risk of earthquake damage is the self-anchored suspension bridge as the forces of the cables and the anchorages oppose each other.


Hypothesis: Earthquakes inevitably cause costly damage to the bridges structure.


Hypothesis: Modern bridges have different structural features to those built before technological advancement of today.


Hypothesis: The elimination of the anchorages has been a proposed solution to the threat of damage caused by seismic activity.


Premise: With the rapid technological advancement today, bridges are becoming increasingly more sophisticated, and are spanning significantly greater distances. Earthquakes, however, remain a potential threat to these immense structures as they may do irreparable and costly damage to an important bridge. As a bridges major vulnerability to earth movement lies in its supportive structures, a promising solution has been found to be a self-anchored suspension bridge. This bridge design is one in which the pull of the cables is opposed by the push or the deck, thus elimination the supporting anchorages.

Hypothesis: Modern bridges have different structural features to those built before the technological advancement of today.


Hypothesis: The self-anchored suspension bridge is established solution to the threat of earthquake damage


Hypothesis: A possible solution to the risk of earthquake damage is the self-anchored suspension bridge as the forces of cables and the anchorages oppose each other.


Premise: Within the next decade, the weakening rural economy will be the biggest challenge faced by rural areas. Agriculture, which supplies a quarter of rural job opportunities, is experiencing a recession, while tourism provides fewer than half of the job opportunities provided by agriculture. However, rural manufacturing has developed dramatically in the past decade. Even so, fewer than one In every 20 people in rural areas are working in rural manufacturing. Rural manufacturing Is threatened by companies in industrial areas, because rural areas have a larger skilled worker team and better developed transportation system.

Hypothesis: In the future, agriculture Is likely to provide more Job opportunities.


Hypothesis: In rural areas, manufacture industry provides the fewest job opportunities.


Hypothesis: In the next decade, rural economy is expected to become stronger.


Premise: Without exception, living non-human primates habitually more around on all fours, or quadrupedally, when they are on the ground. Scientists generally assume therefore that the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees (our closest living relative) was also a quadrupted. Exactly when the last common ancestor lived is unknown, but clear indications of bipedalism, the trait that distinguishes ancient humans from other apes, are evident in the oldest known species of Australopithecus, which lived in Africa roughly four millions years ago.

Hypothesis: Bipedal apes are more evolutionarily advantaged than quadrupedal ones.


Hypothesis: Australopithecus is as closely related to ancient man as to the chimpanzee.


Hypothesis: Bipedalism is the main trait that distinguishes ancient humans from Australopithecus.


Premise: Words fail them It seems companies will soon begin to say goodbye to the written word. The basic unit of communication will no longer be typed out in e-mails. It will be shot in pictures and shown on video. Companies have already discovered that the written word is failing them. Its feebleness compared with the moving image was rammed home in 2010 when the sight of BP's oil spewing out into the Gulf of Mexico on YouTube sent a message to the world far more compelling than any written statement could ever be. If the word has become weak at conveying big corporate messages, it has become even weaker at conveying small ones. For years the in-boxes of all office workers have been overflowing with unread e-mails. But managers will do something about it and desist from communicating with staff in this way. E-mail will still exist as a way of talking to one person at a time, but as a means of mass communication it will be finished. Companies will find instead that to get a message over to employees, customers, shareholders and the outside world, video is far more effective. In the past three years video has come from nothing to make up nearly half of internet traffic; in another three, it is likely to be more than three-quarters. So far corporations have taken a back seat in this growth, but they will soon need to climb into the front and start to drive it. This shift in communications will have three important effects. It will change the sort of person who makes it to the corner office. It will alter the way that businesses are managed. And it will shift the position corporations occupy in society and possibly make us like some of them just a little bit more. The new corporate leaders will no longer be pen pushers and bean counters. The 20-year reign of faceless bosses will come to an end. Charisma will be back in: all successful business chiefs will have to be storytellers and performers. Just as political leaders have long had to be dynamite on TV to stand much hope of election or survival, so too will corporate leaders. They must be able to sell not only their vision of their companies but their vision of themselves. The new big boss will be expected to set an example; any leaders showing signs of human frailty will be out on their ears. The moral majority will tighten its hold on corporate life, first in America, but then elsewhere too. With this shift will come a change in management style. Numbers and facts will be supplanted by appeals to emotion to make employees and customers do what they are told. The businessperson's emotion may be no more genuine than the politician's, but successful bosses will get good at faking it. Others will struggle: prepare to cringe in as corporate leaders spout a lot of phoney stuff that used to look bad enough when written down, but will sound even worse spoken. One good consequence of the change, however, will be a greater clarity in the way companies think about their businesses. The written word was a forgiving medium for over-complicated, ill-conceived messages. Video demands simplicity. The best companies will use this to their advantage by thinking through more rigorously what it is they are trying to say and do.

Hypothesis: A business leaders ability to sell themselves will become more important.


Hypothesis: The new bosses will have to be physically stronger.


Hypothesis: Business leaders will have to be seen in public.


Hypothesis: Large corporations are already using video extensively.


Hypothesis: We will probably like the managers of corporations a lot more.


Premise: Work-related stress is one of the biggest causes of sick leave in the UK. If you've noticed you always seem to be rushing about, or miss meal breaks, take work home or dont have enough time for relaxation, seeing your family or for exercise, then you may well find yourself under stress, especially at work. There is often no single cause of work-related stress, but it can be caused by poor working conditions, long hours, relationship problems with colleagues, or lack of job security. Stress is often the result of a combination of these factors that builds up over time. Work-related stress can result in both physical problems such as headaches, muscular tension, back or neck pain, tiredness, digestive problems and sweating; or emotional problems, such as a lower sex drive, feelings of inadequacy, irritability and lack of concentration. According to recent surveys, one in six of the UK working population said their job is very stressful, and thirty percent of men said that the demands of their job interfere with their private lives.

Hypothesis: If you spend more time with your family, you will not suffer from stress.


Hypothesis: One in six working men say their job is very stressful.


Hypothesis: Work-related stress can result in tiredness and a lack of concentration.


Hypothesis: Stress at work is often caused by relationship problems with your partner.


Premise: Workers are becoming increasingly concerned about company relocation due to its association with employee distress and isolation, which can be caused by issues such as the management of property transitions and loss of community ties. Furthermore, moving home can put a strain on workers financial resources and close relationships, especially for those working parents who may feel guilty about moving children to new schools. Regardless of the disruption created, some individuals are very willing to relocate, due to the potential for enhanced career prospects and long-term financial stability.

Hypothesis: The potential benefits of job relocation are seen, by some, to be worth the associated distress and strain.


Hypothesis: The majority of employees feel isolated following relocation.


Hypothesis: Some people may feel guilty about the consequences of relocating.


Hypothesis: Company relocation has increased.


Premise: Workers are becoming increasingly concerned about company relocation due to its association with employee distress and isolation, which can be caused by issues such as the management of property transitions and loss of community ties. Furthermore, moving home can put a strain on workers financial resources and close relationships, especially for those working parents who may feel guilty about moving children to new schools. Regardless of the disruption created, some individuals are very willing to relocate, due to the potential for enhanced career prospects and long; term financial stability.


Premise: Workers now caught by the top rate of income tax include university lecturers, mid-ranking civil servants and officers of local authorities, specialist nurses and sisters, police inspectors and senior officers in the ambulance and fire service. This trend means that an extra 3.5 million workers are liable for the higher rate of tax compared to 10 years ago. More than 1 million extra people pay tax at the higher rate because growth in pay has increased faster than inflation-linked tax allowances. Over the period, these allowances have been increased in line with or less than inflation, while wages have increased at a rate of more than inflation. As a result, every year more people find themselves taxed at the highest rate for the first time. The Treasury defends the trend on the basis that the increase in numbers is a result of rising incomes and living standards. Critics point out that the higher rate of tax begins at a far lower point that in other countries. In Spain, the highest rate of tax is not applied until income is 2.5 times the average wage, while in the UK the highest rate is paid by anyone who earns 1.3 times the average wage.

Hypothesis: Linking tax allowances to inflation has caused over 3 million people to pay the higher rate of tax.


Hypothesis: The cause of the increase can correctly be summarized as growth in pay having outstripped inflation-linked tax allowances, so the number of people paying tax at the highest rate has increased.


Hypothesis: The trend to which the passage refers is of wages increasing at a rate higher than inflation.


Premise: Working in the movies When people ask French translator Virginie Verdier what she does for a living, it must be tempting to say enigmatically: Oh me? Im in the movies. Its strictly true, but her starring role is behind the scenes. As translating goes, it doesnt get more entertaining or glamorous than subtitling films. If youre very lucky, you get to work on the new blockbuster films before theyre in the cinema, and if youre just plain lucky, you get to work on the blockbuster movies that are going to video or DVD. The process starts when you get the original script and a tape. We would start with translating and adapting the film script. The next step is what we call timing, which means synchronising the subtitles to the dialogue and pictures. This task requires discipline. You play the film, listen to the voice and the subtitles are up on your screen ready to be timed. You insert your subtitle when you hear the corresponding dialogue and delete . it when the dialogue finishes. The video tape carries a time code which runs in hours, minutes, seconds and frames. Think of it as a clock. The subtitling unit has an insert key to capture the time code where you want the subtitle to appear. When you press the delete key, it captures the time code where you want the subtitle to disappear. So each subtitle would Subtitling is an exacting part of the translation profession. Melanie Leyshon talks to Virginie Verdier of London translation company VSI about the glamour and the grind. Virginie is quick to point out that this is as exacting as any translating job. You work hard. Its not all entertainment as you are doing the translating. You need all the skills of a good translator and those of a top-notch editor. You have to be precise and, of course, much more concise than in traditional translation work. have an in point and an out point which represent the exact time when the subtitle comes in and goes out. This process is then followed by a manual review, subtitle by subtitle, and time- codes are adjusted to improve synchronisation and respect shot changes. This process involves playing the film literally frame by frame as it is essential the subtitles respect the visual rhythm of the film. Different subtitlers use different techniques. I would go through the film and do the whole translation and then go right back from the beginning and start the timing process. But you could do it in different stages, translate lets say 20 minutes of the film, then time this section and translate the next 20 minutes, and so on. Its just a different method. For multi-lingual projects, the timing is done first to create what is called a spotting list, a subtitle template, which is in effect a list of English subtitles pre-timed and edited for translation purposes. This is then translated and the timing is adapted to the target language with the help of the translator for quality control. Like any translation work, you cant hurry subtitling, says Virginie. If subtitles are translated and timed in a rush, the quality will be affected and it will show. Mistakes usually occur when the translator does not master the source language and misunderstands the original dialogue. Our work also involves checking and reworking subtitles when the translation is not up to standard. However, the reason for redoing subtitles is not just because of poor quality translation. We may need to adapt subtitles to a new version of the film: the time code may be different. The film may have been edited or the subtitles may have been created for the cinema rather than video. If subtitles were done for cinema on 35mm, we would need to reformat the timing for video, as subtitles could be out of synch or too fast. If the translation is good, we would obviously respect the work of the original translator. On a more practical level, there are general subtitling rules to follow, says Virginie. Subtitles should appear at the bottom of the screen and usually in the centre. She says that different countries use different standards and rules. In Scandinavian countries and Holland, for example, subtitles are traditionally left justified. Characters usually appear in white with a thin black border for easy reading against a white or light background. We can also use different colours for each speaker when subtitling for the hearing impaired. Subtitles should have a maximum of two lines and the maximum number of characters on each line should be between 32 and 39. Our company standard is 37 (different companies and countries have different standards). Translators often have a favourite genre, whether its war films, musicals, comedies (one of the most difficult because of the subtleties and nuances of comedy in different countries), drama or corporate programmes. Each requires a certain tone and style. VSI employs American subtitlers, which is incredibly useful as many of the films we subtitle are American, says Virginie. For an English person, it would not be so easy to understand the meaning behind typically American expressions, and vice-versa.

Hypothesis: For translators, all subtitling work on films is desirable.


Hypothesis: Some subtitling techniques work better than others.


Hypothesis: Subtitling work involves a requirement that does not apply to other translation work.


Hypothesis: Few people are completely successful at subtitling comedies.


Premise: Worlds language. The pre-eminence of the English language globally may be under threat. One billion people in the world speak Mandarin, the dominant language of China, more than three times the number who speak English. If economic trends continue then China is set to dominate world trade and quite possibly global communication with it. It is perhaps surprising then that learning English is growing fast in China, where there are more English-language teaching jobs than in any other country. The International English Language Testing System or IELTS is taken by more than one million people worldwide, and last year 270,000 tests were taken in China. This fact belies the notion that the number of speakers of a language determines its status. English is set to remain influential because it is seen as the language of academia, diplomacy and especially science, where 95 per cent of scientific publications worldwide are written in English. The language of English is robust because it has a great literary heritage and prestige (though notably so did Latin, which subsequently declined), and it is the main language of the prosperous and stable nations of the West. The use of English became widespread following the expansion of the British Empire, and it remains the primary language of at least 45 countries and the official language of many international organizations. Above all else, it is the popularity of English as a second and third language that confirms its status as the worlds language. Globally there are almost three times as many non-native speakers of English as native speakers. The number of people who can speak English in India now exceeds the number in the United States. In Nigeria, more people can speak English (pidgin) than in the UK.

Hypothesis: More people speak English outside of the UK than in the UK.


Hypothesis: In terms of English speakers, four countries are ranked as follows: India, United States, Nigeria, UK (highest number first).


Hypothesis: There are fewer English-language teaching jobs in the UK than in China.


Hypothesis: The language of Latin was gradually displaced by English.


Premise: YoGo is a company that makes low-fat dairy products. It built its reputation making virtually fat-free yogurts, but has since branched out to produce low fat ice-creams, milkshakes and cooking sauces. YoGos biggest competitor is DairyFree, a company that makes fat-free, dairy-free products. In order to compete with DairyFree, YoGo is trying to lower the cost of its products. It hopes to do this by buying its ingredients in bulk, using automated production lines and reducing the amount of packaging. Since implementing these changes, YoGo has seen an increase in its profit margin but sales figures are yet to change. In comparison, DairyFree has out-sold its target for this month, as a result of a marketing scheme. This scheme included the giving away free samples and discount vouchers, a marketing ploy that YoGo will not be able to compete with.

Hypothesis: YoGo has lowered the costs and given away free samples


Hypothesis: YoGo will go into administration.


Hypothesis: YoGo implemented a scheme that aims to reduce the cost of production in attempt to compete with DairyFree


Hypothesis: YoGo implemented a scheme that gives away free samples and discount vouchers in attempt to compete with DairyFree


Premise: You and your CV It is the first thing a future employer sees about you, and if its not right, may be the last. An employer will do no more than glance at your CV its estimated that most employers spend more than twenty seconds looking at each CV, so you have very little time to make the impression. Heres some advice to help you make the most of those twenty seconds. What it should look like The first rule of all CVs is to keep them clear and simple anything complicated or long tends to get rejected instantly. Achieving that is a matter of making good use of lists, bullet points and note form, and of keeping your CV to the right length. There are no fixed rules on how long it should be, and it will vary, of course, according to your age, experience, etc. , but keep it to one page if you can this length is convenient for your reader to work with. As for style, there are different kinds of layouts you can follow look at the examples on this site to see which one you prefer but the basic rule is to use headings well to signal clearly where all the relevant information is. Make sure you include these sections: qualifications, skills, education, work experience, references, personal interests/hobbies, personal qualities, then label them clearly so that your prospective employer can find the information they want quickly and easily. Content CVs tend to follow a fixed order. They start with your personal details such as name, address and contact details, then go on to personal qualities such as those things in your personality that might attract an employer e. g. conscientious, adventurous, punctual, etc. , and your career goals. After this comes the main part of your CV starting with education, then work experience. Use reverse chronological order to list these, starting with what youre doing now. Its most common to go back no more than 10 years. Give your job details such as job titles, the names of the organisations you worked for, an outline of your job duties and then note your particular achievements. Then go on to your personal interests and finish up with the details of some good, reliable referees. Your future employer may not follow up on these, but they do make an impression. Dos and donts A glance at your CV should create a good impression. Dont make spelling mistakes, and dont send in anything crumpled or with coffee stains on it. Anything like that leads to instant rejection. Use good quality A4 paper and dont send in anything other than a cover letter. Diplomas, testimonials, etc. , will be requested later ~ theyre interested in you. When you think youve finished writing your CV, read it over very carefully. Check your full stops, use of bullets, indentation, use of capital letters, etc. And never include in your CV anything thats not true. Its very easy for an employer to check, and if your CV doesnt match what they find out, then your chances of getting that job are probably gone. Finally, carry out the instructions in the job ad very carefully. If they require three copies, then send them three copies, not two or four. Make sure you meet the deadline too, and put the right stamp on your envelope. Youll need to accompany your CV with a cover letter. This should be tailored to each job you apply for. Follow the link below for advice on how to write a cover letter. And last of all Good luck! Remember to include: Career history Skills and strengths Awards and achievements Contact details

Hypothesis: The style of CVs varies from country to country.


Hypothesis: Employers spend a long time reading applicants CVs.


Hypothesis: CVs are essential when applying for jobs.


Premise: You can find out so much about people on the internet these days that civil liberty campaigners are arguing for new laws so that people can get back some vestige of control over their personal data. The 1998 Data Protection Act gives us the right to know the personal information companies are holding. But the new threat to personal liberty is quite the opposite it is the threat of complete strangers finding out our personal details. Undertake an internet search on someone you know with any of the main search engines and you are likely to obtain thousands of results which if trawled through can provide particulars of employment, a work phone number and e-mail address. Find a CV belonging to that person and you will get hold of their home address, date of birth, home telephone number, personal e-mail address and a listing of their educational history and interests. If the person for whom you are searching is active on a social network site or an internet specialist interest forum then you may well be able to identify a database of friends and contacts and by reading recent postings obtain a flavour of their views and preferences. Search the database of a genealogy site and you may well be able to identify generations of family members.

Hypothesis: The threat to personal liberty is no longer one of secrecy and finding out what organizations know about us.


Hypothesis: The penultimate sentence of the passage illustrates the sort of things that people post on the internet.


Premise: You cannot be very intelligent if you do not know how smart you are until you have been told your IQ rate. It is probably unwise to take an IQ test because if you do then you risk feeling either superior or disappointed when you get the result, and neither of these sentiments is beneficial. What difference would it make to your life anyway, if you were to find out that you have the IQ of a genius or well below average? These considerations did not stop almost half a million Europeans from taking part in an internet IQ test. In the test, men scored 110 while women scored 105; left- handed people scored much higher than right-handed people; and people with brown eyes scored best while people with red hair scored the least.

Hypothesis: The results suggest that men are more intelligent than women.


Hypothesis: It is reasonable to surmise that the author would have difficulty understanding why someone would want to know their IQ.


Hypothesis: The passage is written in a satirical style.


Premise: Your New Electron Washing Machine These introductory notes will outline some basic information regarding your new Electron Washing Machine. Read the notes carefully, as you will avoid some possible problems. 1. Remember, always get your washing machine installed by a qualified installer. This will include all qualified electricians and plumbers. Your retailer will probably be able to recommend someone or provide the service. Dont use friends or try it yourself and beware of cowboys! Non-qualified installation will lead to the nullification of the guarantee. 2. Your new Electron Washing Machine will work with any good quality washing detergent, but it has been designed to work with some better brands. See the main users guide for a list of recommended detergents. 3. It is very possible that the water where you live is hard. Prolonged use with hard water will lead to scale calcification in all washing machines, and no technology can stop this. To avoid this, it is recommended that you install a water softener to the washing machine water supply. Local plumbers will be able to advise you of your areas water type and what water softener would be suitable if applicable. 4. All new Electron Washing Machines come with a standard 2 year manufacturers guarantee. While we are confident that your new Electron Washing Machine has been manufactured to the highest possible quality standards, if you would like to invest in a 5 year guarantee, this can be purchased online on our website, www. electronmachines. com. We believe its the best thing to do for peace of mind. 5. Before washing clothes for the first time in your new Electron Washing Machine, it is important that you run the machine one time with no clothes. You can use detergent if you wish, but this is not necessary. Use setting 8 at 40 degrees for best results. 6. Remember, before washing clothes, check all pockets etc. for any coins, tissues or other belongings. Coins and tissues can sometimes get into the machinery and cause your new Electron Washing Machine to break down. 7. Some minor faults with your new Electron Washing Machine can be fixed without having to call in expensive help. To help you with this, we have created a troubleshooting guide on our website, www. electronmachines. com. There are straightforward questions that cover most possible problems and, once diagnosed, the problems can usually be dealt with by yourself without having to call the plumber or electrician. 8. Why not take a little time to register your new Electron Washing Machine with us? It doesnt take much time, and if we know who you are, we will be able to service you better. Just go to the appropriate icon on our website (www. electronmachines. com) to register. You will be taken to a page where you will be asked for a few details. 9. Finally, we are extremely interested to know what your experience is like with your new Electron Washing Machine. On our website, www. electronmachines. com, we have feedback pages, blogs and forums where you can have your say. Come and share with us!

Hypothesis: The Electron washing machine includes technology that stops calcification


Hypothesis: Registering the washing machine requires giving an email address.


Hypothesis: Reading the troubleshooting guide can save you money.


Hypothesis: Buying an extended warranty is a good idea.


Hypothesis: When using the washing machine for the first time, run a cycle with some old clothes or towels.


Hypothesis: Installers must provide the customer with a certificate of installation.


Premise: Zeus Temple Holds Secrets of Ancient Game Athens already is preparing for the summer games of 2004. But todays games offer a far different spectacle from the contests of ancient Greece, where naked young men with oiled bodies raced and wrestled and boxed to honor their gods. Those great Panhellenic events began more than 2,700 years ago, first in Olympia and later at Delphi, lsthmia and Nemea. And at Nemea, where the games began in 573 B. C. , a Berkeley archaeologist has been patiently reconstructing a site whose legends helped inspire the modern Olympics. For Stephen G. Miller, exploring the site at Nemea, 70 miles from Athens, involves more than analyzing artifacts and ruins, dating ancient rock strata or patiently assembling broken pottery shards. It also means reliving the events he's studying. For the last two summers, large crowds have flocked to an ancient Nemean stadium (capacity 40,000) to watch a modern re-enactment of the ancient Nemean games. Seven hundred runners from 45 nations bare foot and clad in white tunics raced around the reborn stadium in groups of 12. Winners of the races were crowned just as they were in antiquity with wreaths of wild celery. Miller is a professor of classics at the University of California at Berkeley, but he also has been a barefoot runner, a slave carrying water for the athletes and a priest presiding over the re-enacted rituals of the legendary Nemean games. Playing those roles gives you a deeper sense of antiquity and a feel for the spirit of the people who lived and worked and played there so long ago, he said recently after returning from this years field work. Excavating the site every summer since 1973, Miller and his crew have found and re-assembled limestone columns that once stood proudly around the Temple of Zeus. Exactly a decade after they began the excavation and just east of the temple, they found the remains of a great altar to Zeus where athletes and their trainers performed sacrifices and swore oaths just before competing. And from ancient Greek records, two years later, Millers team also learned that his Nemea site had once seen major horse races in a hippodrome that must have existed next to the great stadium. In an earthen mound his team could trace the patterns of faint wheel marks indicating that chariots must have raced there too. In 1997 Miller and his crew, seeking more evidence of the hippodrome, dug down into a spot where four low rock walls indicate there might be a structure underneath. There they found a wine jug, drinking mugs, coins and a crude little figure of a centaur. The next summer, after digging down 20 feet, they still hadnt reached bottom. Miller wondered what purpose this deep rock-walled pit might have served, and finally concluded it must have been a reservoir holding copious quantities of water from a river near the site that now irrigates vineyards. The reservoir is a phenomenal find, Miller said, We believe it provided water for as many as 150 horses who raced in the hippodrome during the games. But how were the horses fed? And what did they do with that much manure every day? Trying to answer questions like that is one of the joys of the whole project. Eight months after finding the reservoir Miller and his team uncovered an ancient chamber that served the Nemean athletes as a locker room the apodyterion where they anointed themselves with olive oil. They then would have walked 120 feet through a vaulted entrance tunnel the krypte esodos whose walls are still marked by graffiti scratched by the athletes on their way into the stadium. The wine jug and cups unearthed in one layer of the buried reservoir may have been left by victors in one of the ancient Nemean races, but just what kind of wine they drank remains unknown. Today, the local red wine served in Nemean taverns is called the Blood of Hercules, honoring the hero who strangled the ferocious Nemean lion there more than 5,000 years ago. As in so much of archaeology, the discoveries that Miller has made at Nemea all seem to recall ancient legends and link them to reality. The Berkeley team, for example, has unearthed a tiny bronze figurine identified as the image of an infant named Opheltes, whose fate inspired the first of the Nemean games. As Miller recounts the tale, Opheltes was the son of Lykourgos and Eurydike, who had tried for many years to produce an heir. When the Oracle at Delphi warned them that their child must not touch the ground until he had learned to walk, they ordered a Nemean slave woman to care for the infant day and night. One day, when seven warrior heroes passed through Nemea on their way to march against the citadel of Thebes they were the legendary Seven Against Thebes whose bloody war was immortalized by Aeschylus the nurse placed the child on a bed of wild celery while she offered drink to the heroes. Instantly, a serpent lurking in the vegetation killed the infant and the warriors re-named the boy Archemoros, the Beginner-of- Doom, and held the first Nemean games in his honor as a funerary festival. Wreaths of wild celery crowned winners of those games, as they did the modern winners at Nemea last summer. As with all classical archaeologists, whose excavations shed so much surprising light on antiquity, Miller and his students are now ready to organize and classify their treasured finds from the summer season, and to plan for next seasons dig. In the earthen mound where we saw the imprints of wheel cuts, we also have a bronze vessel of the kind that was always used for pouring libations, Miller said. That mound goes back to 600 B. C. , so now we wonder what happened there in that complex of religion and athletics even before the Nemean games. Archaeology doesnt come cheap, and each season at Nemea costs at least $150,000 for the team, the equipment, and the 35 local workers from the nearby town of modern Nemea, whom Miller calls the core of the project. The money all comes from private sources and not the least of Millers jobs is lecturing to the public and combing the territory for contributions.

Hypothesis: Religion played a key role in the games.


Hypothesis: Miller goes far beyond what an archaeologist traditionally normally does.


Hypothesis: The games were far more interesting in the past than now.


Hypothesis: The author believes it must be also difficult for Miller to find funds for the excavation.


Hypothesis: The Nemean games influenced the modern Olympic Games.


Premise: Zoo conservation programmes One of London Zoos recent advertisements caused me some irritation, so patently did it distort reality. Headlined Without zoos you might as well tell these animals to get stuffed, it was bordered with illustrations of several endangered species and went on to extol the myth that without zoos like London Zoo these animals will almost certainly disappear forever. With the zoo worlds rather mediocre record on conservation, one might be forgiven for being slightly sceptical about such an advertisement. Zoos were originally created as places of entertainment, and their suggested involvement with conservation didnt seriously arise until about 30 years ago, when the Zoological Society of London held the first formal international meeting on the subject. Eight years later, a series of world conferences took place, entitled The Breeding of Endangered Species, and from this point onwards conservation became the zoo communitys buzzword. This commitment has now been clearh defined in The World Zpo Conservation Strategy (WZGS, September 1993), which although an important and welcome document does seem to be based on an unrealistic optimism about the nature of the zoo industry The WZCS estimates that there are about 10,000 zoos in the world, of which around 1,000 represent a core of quality collections capable of participating in co-ordinated conservation programmes. This is probably the documents first failing, as I believe that 10,000 is a serious underestimate of the total number of places masquerading as zoological establishments. Of course it is difficult to get accurate data but, to put the issue into perspective, I have found that, in a year of working in Eastern Europe, I discover fresh zoos on almost a weekly basis. The second flaw in the reasoning of the WZCS document is the naive faith it places in its 1,000 core zoos. One would assume that the calibre of these institutions would have been carefully examined, but it appears that the criterion for inclusion on this select list might merely be that the zoo is a member of a zoo federation or association. This might be a good starting point, working on the premise that members must meet certain standards, but again the facts dont support the theory. The greatly respected American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (AAZPA) has had extremely dubious members, and in the UK the Federation of Zoological Gardens of Great Britain and Ireland has 24Reading occasionally had members that have been roundly censured in the national press. These include Robin Hill Adventure Park on the Isle of Wight, which many considered the most notorious collection of animals in the country. This establishment, which for years was protected by the Isles local council (which viewed it as a tourist amenity), was finally closed down following a damning report by a veterinary inspector appointed under the terms of the Zoo Licensing Act 1981. As it was always a collection of dubious repute, one is obliged to reflect upon the standards that the Zoo Federation sets when granting membership. The situation is even worse in developing countries where little money is available for redevelopment and it is hard to see a way of incorporating collections into the overall scheme of the WZCS. Even assuming that the WZCSs 1,000 core zoos are all of a high standard complete with scientific staff and research facilities, trained and dedicated keepers, accommodation that permits normal or natural behaviour, and a policy of co-operating fully with one another what might be the potential for conservation? Colin Tudge, author of Last Animals at the Zoo (Oxford University Press, 1992), argues that if the worlds zoos worked together in co-operative breeding programmes, then even without further expansion they could save around 2,000 species of endangered land vertebrates. This seems an extremely optimistic proposition from a man who must be aware of the failings and weaknesses of the zoo industry the man who, when a member of the council of London Zoo, had to persuade the zoo to devote more of its activities to conservation. Moreover, where are the facts to support such optimism? Today approximately 16 species might be said to have been saved by captive breeding programmes, although a number of these can hardly be looked upon as resounding successes. Beyond that, about a further 20 species are being seriously considered for zoo conservation programmes. Given that the international conference at London Zoo was held 30 years ago, this is pretty slow progress, and a long way off Tudges target of 2,000.

Hypothesis: The number of successful zoo conservation programmes is unsatisfactory.


Hypothesis: Colin Tudge was dissatisfied with the treatment of animals at London Zoo.


Hypothesis: London Zoos advertisements are dishonest.


Hypothesis: Zoos made an insignificant contribution to conservation up until 30 years ago.


Hypothesis: No-one knew how the animals were being treated at Robin Hill Adventure Park.


Hypothesis: The WZCS document is not known in Eastern Europe.


Hypothesis: Zoos in the WZCS select list were carefully inspected.


Premise: asset liquidity and market liquidity Asset liquidity is influenced by the mobility of market. Stock market exchanges liquidable finacial instruments such as bonds and shares. Some assets are not liquidable due to market is said to be "illiquid".

Hypothesis: Asset liquidity is influenced by the market mobility.


Hypothesis: Some assets are not liquidable on the market because they are unsellable.


Hypothesis: Bonds and stocks are "illiquid" on the market.


Premise: directors should work with all other groups in the community

Hypothesis: the group's meetings are solely for directors


Premise: final salary and commission distributionFinal Salary Scheme: -They provide benefits according to a fixed formula. The benefits are based on salary on the date of retirement (Guarantee payment of a fraction of the final salary)-Employer assumed all risk -Both the employer and the employee will make contributions into this type of pension scheme -Benefits not depend on investment returns or annuity rateFinal salary exists before world war two, final salary system requires more pension funds that the company has to pay for employees, and distribution salary reduces cost. Companies adopt distribution salary have fewer employees register scheme.

Hypothesis: Company wants more to use the distribution salary than final salary.


Hypothesis: The popularization of distribution salary drives its uptake.


Hypothesis: Distribution salary reduces cost


Hypothesis: There are fewer companies that use final salary system.


Premise: globalisation is causing a shift in the roles of government and business. Since the end of the Cold war the rivalry between nations has assumed a predominantly economic form. Foreign policy is increasingly subordinated to commercial policy. Yet at the same time the joint interests of national governments and corporations are diverging. As corporations become more independent of their national roots, governments will have to attract foreign business investment to become globally competitive. However, because the population at large is unenthusiastic about globalisation, governments risk gaining business while losing votes.

Hypothesis: The general public does not understand the advantages of competing at the global level.


Hypothesis: Governments and corporations used to have more similar interests.


Premise: he Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located underneath the border of France and Switzerland, 1s currently the biggest experiment in the world. Its construction mvolved 9,000 magnets and over 10,000 tons of nitrogen are used for its cooling processes. Scientists and engineers have spent 4.5 billion on building an underground track at CERN, the worlds largest particle physics laboratory. This enormous scientific instrument will collect a huge amount of data, but only a small percentage of what is recorded will be useful. When proton atoms travelling almost at light speed collide inside the LHC, theoretical physicists expect new forces and particles to be produced. It may even be possible to study black holes using this experiment.

Hypothesis: The LHC 1s the largest experiment ever conducted in Europe.


Hypothesis: The cost of the LHCs track was over 4.5 billion.


Hypothesis: Protons travel around the LHC at light speed.


Hypothesis: The LHC was designed to study black holes.


Hypothesis: The LHC uses over 10,000 tons of oxygen for its coohng processes.


Premise: he concept of childhood in the western countries The history of childhood has been a topic of interest in social history since the highly influential 1960 book Centuries of Childhood, written by French historian Aries. He argued that "childhood" is a concept created by modern society. A. One of the most hotly debated issues in the history of childhood has been whether childhood is itself a recent invention. The historian Philippe Aries argued that in Western Europe during the Middle Ages (up to about the end of the fifteenth century) children were regarded as miniature adults, with all the intellect and personality that this implies. He scrutinized medieval pictures and diaries, and found no distinction between children and adults as they shared similar leisure activities and often the same type of work. Aries, however, pointed out that this is not to suggest that children were neglected, forsaken or despised. The idea of childhood is not to be confused with affection for children; it corresponds to an awareness of the particular nature of childhood, that particular nature which distinguishes the child from the adult, even the young adult. B. There is a long tradition of the children of the poor playing a functional role in contributing to the family income by working either inside or outside the home. In this sense children are seen as 'useful. Back in the Middle Ages, children as young as 5 or 6 did important chores for their parents and, from the sixteenth century, were often encouraged (or forced) to leave the family by the age of 9 or 10 to work as servants for wealthier families or to be apprenticed to a trade. C. With industrialization in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a newdemand for child labour was created, and many children were forced to work for long hours, in mines, workshops and factories. Social reformers began to question whether labouring long hours from an early age would harm children's growing bodies. They began to recognize the potential of carrying out systematic studies to monitor how far these early deprivations might be affecting children's development. D. Gradually, the concerns of the reformers began to impact on the working conditions of children. In Britain, the Factory Act of 1833 signified the beginning of legal protection of children from exploitation and was linked to the rise of schools for factory children. The worst forms of child exploitation were gradually eliminated, partly through factory reform but also through the influence of trade unions and economic changes during the nineteenth century which made some forms of child labour redundant. Childhood was increasingly seen as a time for play and education for all children, not just for a privileged minority. Initiating children into work as 'useful' children became less of a priority. As the age for starting full-time work was delayed, so childhood was increasingly understood as a more extended phase of dependency, development and learning. Even so, work continued to play a significant, if less central role in children's lives throughout the later nineteenth and twentieth century. And the 'useful child' has become a controversial image during the first decade of the twenty-first century especially in the context of global concern about large numbers of the world's children engaged in child labour. E. The Factory Act of 1833 established half-time schools which allowed children to work and attend school. But in the 1840s, a large proportion of children never went to school, and if they did, they left by the age of 10 or 11. The situation was very different by the end of the nineteenth century in Britain. The school became central to images of 'a normal' childhood . F. Attending school was no longer a privilege and all children were expected to spend a significant part of their day in a classroom. By going to school, children's lives were now separated from domestic life at home and from the adult world of work. School became an institution dedicated to shaping the minds, behaviour and morals of the young. Education dominated the management of children's waking hours, not just through the hours spent in classrooms but through 'home' work, the growth of 'after school' activities and the importance attached to 'parental involvement. G. Industrialization, urbanization and mass schooling also set new challenges for those responsible for protecting children's welfare, and promoting their learning. Increasingly, children were being treated as a group with distinctive needs and they were organized into groups according to their age. For example, teachers needed to know what to expect of children in their classrooms, what kinds of instruction were appropriate for different age groups and how best to assess children's progress. They also wanted tools that could enable them to sort and select children according to their abilities and potential.

Hypothesis: During the Middle Age, going to work necessarily means children were unloved indicated by Aries.


Hypothesis: Scientists think that overworked labour damages the health of young children


Hypothesis: Aries pointed out that children did different types of work as adults during the Middle Age.


Hypothesis: the rise of trade union majorly contributed to the protection children fromexploitation in 19 th century


Hypothesis: By the aid of half-time schools, most children went to school in the mid of 19 century.


Hypothesis: In 20 century almost all children need to go to school in full time schedule.


Hypothesis: Nowadays, childrens needs were much differentiated and categorised based on how old they are


Premise: lack of water is an ever-worsening global crisis, with over forty percent of the worlds population now suffering from regular and severe water shortage. Increases in population mean that there is less water available per capita. In addition, pollution-related global warming is making some countries, which were already short of water, even hotter and drier(). Demand for water is doubling every twenty year and there are predictions that, in the future, nations may go to war to fight for its control.

Hypothesis: Neither climate change nor population expansion are exacerbating the water shortage problem.


Hypothesis: Oil shortages, more than a lack of water, are likely to result in war.


Hypothesis: Some countries are not affected by global warning.


Premise: new weapon to fight cancer British scientists are preparing to launch trials of a radical new way to fight cancer, which kills tumours by infecting them with viruses like the common cold. If successful, virus therapy could eventually form a third pillar alongside radiotherapy and chemotherapy in the standard arsenal against cancer, while avoiding some of the debilitating side-effects. Leonard Seymour, a professor of gene therapy at Oxford University, who has been working on the virus therapy with colleagues in London and the US, will lead the trials later this year. Cancer Research UK said yesterday that it was excited by the potential of Prof Seymour's pioneering techniques. One of the country's leading geneticists, Prof Seymour has been working with viruses that kill cancer cells directly, while avoiding harm to healthy tissue. "In principle, you've got something which could be many times more effective than regular chemotherapy, " he said. Cancer-killing viruses exploit the fact that cancer cells suppress the body's local immune system. "If a cancer doesn't do that, the immune system wipes it out. If you can get a virus into a tumour, viruses find them a very good place to be because there's no immune system to stop them replicating. You can regard it as the cancer's Achilles' heel. " Only a small amount of the virus needs to get to the cancer. "They replicate, you get a million copies in each cell and the cell bursts and they infect the tumour cells adjacent and repeat the process, " said Prof Seymour. Preliminary research on mice shows that the viruses work well on tumours resistant to standard cancer drugs. "It's an interesting possibility that they may have an advantage in killing drug-resistant tumours, which could be quite different to anything we've had before. " Researchers have known for some time that viruses can kill tumour cells and some aspects of the work have already been published in scientific journals. American scientists have previously injected viruses directly into tumours but this technique will not work if the cancer is inaccessible or has spread throughout the body. Prof Seymour's innovative solution is to mask the virus from the body's immune system, effectively allowing the viruses to do what chemotherapy drugs do - spread through the blood and reach tumours wherever they are. The big hurdle has always been to find a way to deliver viruses to tumours via the bloodstream without the body's immune system destroying them on the way. "What we've done is make chemical modifications to the virus to put a polymer coat around it - it's a stealth virus when you inject it, " he said. After the stealth virus infects the tumour, it replicates, but the copies do not have the chemical modifications. If they escape from the tumour, the copies will be quickly recognised and mopped up by the body's immune system. The therapy would be especially useful for secondary cancers, called metastases, which sometimes spread around the body after the first tumour appears. "There's an awful statistic of patients in the west ... with malignant cancers; 75% of them go on to die from metastases, " said Prof Seymour. Two viruses are likely to be examined in the first clinical trials: adenovirus, which normally causes a cold-like illness, and vaccinia, which causes cowpox and is also used in the vaccine against smallpox. For safety reasons, both will be disabled to make them less pathogenic in the trial, but Prof Seymour said he eventually hopes to use natural viruses. The first trials will use uncoated adenovirus and vaccinia and will be delivered locally to liver tumours, in order to establish whether the treatment is safe in humans and what dose of virus will be needed. Several more years of trials will be needed, eventually also on the polymer-coated viruses, before the therapy can be considered for use in the NHS. Though the approach will be examined at first for cancers that do not respond to conventional treatments, Prof Seymour hopes that one day it might be applied to all cancers.

Hypothesis: Virus therapy, if successful, has an advantage in eliminating side-effects.


Hypothesis: Cancer Research UK is quite hopeful about Professor Seymours work on the virus therapy.


Hypothesis: Virus can kill cancer cells and stop them from growing again.


Hypothesis: Cancers Achilles heel refers to the fact that virus may stay safely in a tumor and replicate.


Hypothesis: To infect the cancer cells, a good deal of viruses should be injected into the tumor.


Hypothesis: Researches on animals indicate that virus could be used as a new way to treat drug-resistant tumors.


Premise: some time on the night of October 1st, the Copacabana Club was burnt to the ground. The police are treating the fire as suspicious. The only facts known at this stage are: The club was insured for more than its real value. The club belonged to John Hodges. Les Braithwaite was known to dislike John Hodges. Between October 1st and October 2nd, Les Braithwaite was away from home on a business trip. There were no fatalities. A plan of the club was found in Les Braithwaite's flat.

Hypothesis: John Hodges could have been at the club when the fire took place.


Hypothesis: The flat where the plan was found is close to the club.


Hypothesis: A member of John Hodges' family died in the blaze


Hypothesis: There are definite grounds to arrest John Hodges for arson.


Hypothesis: If the insurance company pays out in full, John Hodges stands to profit from the fire.