Part B
Directions: In the following article some paragraphs have been removed. For Questions 66-70, choose the most suitable paragraph from the list A-F to fit into each of the numbered gaps. There is one paragraph which does not fit in any of the gaps. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.
Supermarket shoppers have never been more spoilt for choice. But just when we thought traditional systems of selective farming had created the most tempting array of foods money can buy, we are now being presented with the prospect of genetically created strains of cabbages, onion, tomato, potato and apple.
It may not tickle the fancy of food purists but it fires the imagination of scientists. Last week they discovered that the classic Parisian mushroom contains just the properties that, when genetically mixed with a wild strain of mushroom from the Sonora desert in California, could help it grow en masse while at the same time providing it with the resilience of the wild strain.
66.______
" We have found a way of increasing the success rate from one to 90 per cent. "
This is just one of the many products that, according to skeptics, are creating a generation of "Frankenfoods". The first such food that may be consumed on a wide scale is a tomato which has been genetically manipulated so that it does not soften as it ripens.
67.______
Critics say that the new tomato—which cost $25 million to research—is designed to stay on supermarket shelves for longer. It has a ten-day life span.
Not surprisingly, every-hungry US is leading the search for these forbidden fruit. By changing the genes of a grapefruit, a grower from Texas has created a sweet, red, thin-skinned grapefruit expected to sell at a premium over its California and Florida competitors.
For chip fanatics who want to watch their waist-lines, new high-starch, low-moisture potatoes that absorb less fat when fried have been created, thanks to a gene from intestinal bacteria.
The scientists behind such new food argue that genetic engineering is simply an extension of animal and plant breeding methods and that by broadening the scope of the genetic changes that can be made, sources of food are increased. Accordingly, they argue, this does not inherently lead to foods that are less safe than those developed by conventional techniques. But if desirable genes are swapped irrespective of species barriers, could things spiral out of control? "Knowledge is not toxic, "said Mark Cantley , head of the biotechnology unit at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, "It has given us a far greater understanding of how living systems work at a molecular level and there is no reason for people to think that scientists and farmers should use that knowledge to do risky things. "
Clearly, financial incentive lies behind the development of these bigger, more productive foods. But we may have only ourselves to blame. In the early period of mass food commerce, food varieties were developed by traditional methods of selective breeding to suit the local palate. But as suppliers started to select and preserve plant variants that had larger fruit, consumer expectations rose, leading to the development of the desirable clones. Still, traditionalists and gourmets in Europe are fighting their development.
68.______
Even in the pre-packaged US, where the slow-softening tomato will soon be reaching supermarkets, 1, 500 American chefs have lent their support to the Pure Food Campaign which calls for the international boycott of genetically engineered foods until more is known about the consequences of the technology and reliable controls have been introduced.
In the short term, much of the technology remains untested and in the long term the consequences for human biology are unknown. Questions have arisen over whether new proteins in gen
&8226;Read the article about international auditing standards.
&8226;For each question 31-40, write one word in CAPITAL LETTERS on your Answer Sheet.
International Auditing Standards
Generally accepted accounting principles are different all over the world. As a result, worldwide harmonization (31) auditing standards is made difficult. Besides, required qualifications for auditors also differ (32) different countries. While MNEs, audit firms, and governments attempt to standardize their practices (33) also permit the cross national transfer of audit, services there will still be obstacles to auditing. Although there are a number of obstacles in worldwide harmonization of auditing standards, there (34) a clear trend toward this harmonization. Internationalization of capital market is the driving force behind this trend, and its impact is quite evident.
International auditing standards encourage and assist developing nations (35) adopt codified sets of national auditing standards. Corresponding benefits in the evolution of domestic accounting standards in developing nations can (36) expected to flow from the work of the IASC. Many developing countries rely (37) a large extent on foreign investment, and foreign investors are more likely to channel funds into a developing country if they have confidence (38) the accounting and auditing standards used in that country. For example, countries such as China have adopted international accounting standards as they move capital pursuits.
When auditing standards are determined and set on a country-by-country basis, financial statement users may be confused (39) the proliferation of different national auditing standards. In the extreme, in those countries which lack adequate national auditing standards, there is a danger (40) users may place unwarranted reliance on an entity's audited financial statements.
(31)