Reading Day 1

English Placement Test - Reading
William Gilbert and Magnetism

A
The 16th and 17th centuries saw two great pioneers of modern science: Galileo
and Gilbert. The impact of their findings is eminent. Gilbert was the first
modern scientist, also the accredited father of the science of electricity and
magnetism, an Englishman of learning and a physician at the court of
Elizabeth. Prior to him, all that was known of electricity and magnetism was
what the ancients knew, nothing more than that the lodestone possessed
magnetic properties and that amber and jet, when rubbed, would attract bits of
paper or other substances of small specific gravity. However, he is less well
known than he deserves.
B
Gilbert’s birth pre-dated Galileo. Born in an eminent local family in

Colchester County in the UK, on May 24, 1544, he went to grammar school, and
then studied medicine at St John’s College, Cambridge, graduating in 1573.
Later he travelled in the continent and eventually settled down in London.
He was a very successful and eminent doctor. All this culminated in his election
to the president of the Royal Science Society. He was also appointed personal
physician to the Queen (Elizabeth I), and later knighted by the Queen. He
faithfully served her until her death. However, he didn’t outlive the Queen for
long and died on November 30, 1603, only a few months after his appointment
as personal physician to King James.
D
Gilbert was first interested in chemistry but later changed his focus due to the
large portion of mysticism of alchemy involved (such as the transmutation of
metal). He gradually developed his interest in physics after the great minds of
the ancient, particularly about the knowledge the ancient Greeks had about
lodestones, strange minerals with the power to attract iron. In the meantime,
Britain became a major seafaring nation in 1588 when the Spanish Armada was
defeated, opening the way to British settlement of America. British ships
depended on the magnetic compass, yet no one understood why it worked. Did
the Pole Star attract it, as Columbus once speculated; or was there a magnetic
mountain at the pole, as described in Odyssey, which ships would never
approach, because the sailors thought its pull would yank out all their iron nails
and fittings? For nearly 20 years, William Gilbert conducted ingenious
experiments to understand magnetism. His works include On the Magnet,
Magnetic Bodies, and the Great Magnet of the Earth.
E
Gilbert’s discovery was so important to modern physics. He investigated the

nature of magnetism and electricity. He even coined the word “electric”.
Though the early beliefs of magnetism were also largely entangled with
superstitions such as that rubbing garlic on lodestone can neutralise its
magnetism, one example being that sailors even believed the smell of garlic
would even interfere with the action of compass, which is why helmsmen were
forbidden to eat it near a ship’s compass. Gilbert also found that metals can be
magnetised by rubbing materials such as fur, plastic or the like on them. He
named the ends of a magnet “north pole” and “south pole”. The magnetic
poles can attract or repel, depending on polarity. In addition, however, ordinary
iron is always attracted to a magnet. Though he started to study the
relationship between magnetism and electricity, sadly he didn’t complete it. His
research of static electricity using amber and jet only demonstrated that
objects with electrical charges can work like magnets attracting small pieces of
paper and stuff. It is a French guy named du Fay that discovered that there are actually two
electrical charges, positive and negative.
F
He also questioned the traditional astronomical beliefs. Though a Copernican,

he didn’t express in his quintessential beliefs whether the earth is at the centre
of the universe or in orbit around the sun. However, he believed that stars are
not equidistant from the earth but have their own earth-like planets orbiting
around them. The earth itself is like a giant magnet, which is also why
compasses always point north. They spin on an axis that is aligned with the
earth’s polarity. He even likened the polarity of the magnet to the polarity of
the earth and built an entire magnetic philosophy on this analogy. In his
explanation, magnetism is the soul of the earth. Thus a perfectly spherical
lodestone, when aligned with the earth’s poles, would wobble all by itself in 24
hours. Further, he also believed that the sun and other stars wobble just like
the earth does around a crystal core, and speculated that the moon might also
be a magnet caused to orbit by its magnetic attraction to the earth. This was
perhaps the first proposal that a force might cause a heavenly orbit.
G
His research method was revolutionary in that he used experiments rather

than pure logic and reasoning like the ancient Greek philosophers did. It was a
new attitude towards scientific investigation. Until then, scientific experiments
were not in fashion. It was because of this scientific attitude, together with his
contribution to our knowledge of magnetism, that a unit of magneto motive
force, also known as magnetic potential, was named Gilbert in his honour. His
approach of careful observation and experimentation rather than the
authoritative opinion or deductive philosophy of others had laid the very
foundation for modern science.
Questions 1-7
Reading Passage 1 has seven paragraphs A-G.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings
below.
Write the correct number i-x in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.
2. Read the text and mark the correct answer (a–c) to each question (14–15).
Estelle Dupont was 100 years old in 2000. She was born near Bordeaux in France, where
her father was a rich businessman. Today she lives in an old people’s home in Paris.
“My father was a rich businessman and we lived in a chateau about ten kilometres from
Bordeaux. Our home was very comfortable. The house was very big – there were twenty
bedrooms, beautiful gardens and lots of servants. But my childhood wasn’t happy. I was
an only child, and my mother was always ill. She died when I was eight, and my father
died two years later when I was ten. It was a very bad time. I was a very unhappy child,
but life is better now.”
14 Where did she live when she was a child?
a) She lived in the city of Bordeaux, France.
b) She lived in an old people’s home in Paris.
c) She lived in a chateau near Bordeaux.
15 What happened to her parents?
a) Estelle’s mother died two years after her father.
b) Her father died two years after her mother.
c) She was an only child.
3 Read the text and choose the best answer (a–d) for each question (16–17).
Tim Berners-Lee looks ordinary – he is about 45 years old and has brown hair. His life is
quite normal – he was born in England, but his home is now in Massachusetts, USA. But,
in 1989, Tim had a very important idea. He invented the World Wide Web.
Tim went to school in London. His parents both worked with computers, so it isn’t
surprising that he loved computers from an early age. When he was eighteen, he left
school and went to Oxford University, where he studied Physics. At Oxford he became
more and more interested in computers, and he made his first computer from an old
television. He graduated in 1976 and got a job with a computer company in Dorset,
England. In 989, he went to work in Switzerland, where he first had the idea of an
international information network linked by computer …and he decided to call it the
World Wide Web. In 1994, he went to live in the United States, where he now works. In
1995, he wrote an article in the New York Times where he said ‘The Web is a Universe of
information: it is for everyone.’ His idea of a web where people from all over the world
can exchange information, is now real.
16 What did he make when he was at Oxford?

a) a television
b) the first computer
c) a computer company
d) a computer
17 When did he invent the world wide web?
a) 45 years old
b) in Switzerland
c) in 1989
d) in 1994
4. Read the four texts quickly and choose the correct answer (a–d) for each
question (18-19).
During the last ten years, Ameet had had ten different jobs: he has worked in an import-
export business, he has been an estate agent and now he has just started his own company
which sells mobile phones – but he hasn’t made a million pounds yet!
Edward has moved to the United States, where he now works, designing computer
games. His most popular game, Death Rider, has already sold over ten million copies,
and has made him very rich! He isn’t married, in fact, he’s never had a girlfriend, and he
still spend most of his time playing computer games in his bedroom.
Lucy is an actress and a part-time waitress. In the last few years, she’s appeared in
several plays and a couple of TV commercials – but there has been no call from
Hollywood yet!
Since leaving university with a brilliant degree, Kate has worked for Greenpeace and
other similar organisations, first as a volunteer and now as a manager. She’s just had her
first baby.
In the last ten years, Hannah has been married three times, and has lived in Italy, Egypt,
France and Australia. At present, she’s running a bar on the Greek island of Kos with her
third husband, Nikos.
18 Who has earned the most money?

a)Ameet c) Hannah
b) Lucy d) Edward
19 Who worked for no money?
a)Edward c) Hannah
b) Lucy d) Kate
Reading
1 Read this text quickly and match the correct word (a–c) with each definition
(20).
In some parts of Kentucky and Virginia, USA, it is quite normal for girls of twelve or
thirteen to get married and start a family. Often their husbands are only sixteen or
seventeen, so young couples tend to live with their parents until they finish their
education. Many schools in these areas have crèches to look after their pupils’ babies
while they are studying. The majority on Inuit people from Alaska are nomads, moving
from one place to another, hunting and fishing to survive. They don’t tend to live in
houses, preferring tents or houses built from ice, called ‘igloos’. Even today, it is quite
common for a man to have several wives.
20 people who have no permanent home, but move from place to place according to the
time of year.
a) nomads b) Inuit c) Alaskans

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English Placement Test - Reading

William Gilbert and Magnetism

Gilbert’s birth pre-dated Galileo. Born in an eminent local family in

Gilbert’s discovery was so important to modern physics. He investigated the

He also questioned the traditional astronomical beliefs. Though a Copernican,

His research method was revolutionary in that he used experiments rather

16 What did he make when he was at Oxford?

18 Who has earned the most money?

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