Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word whose underlined part differs from the other three in pronunciation in each of the following questions

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 30 to 34 

     During the early years of this century, wheat was seen as the very lifeblood of Western Canada. When the crops were good, the economy was good; when the crops failed, there was depression. People on city streets watched the yields and the price of wheat with almost as much feeling as if they were growers. The marketing of wheat became an increasingly favorite topic of conversation. 

     War set the stage for the most dramatic events in marketing the western crop. For years, farmers mistrusted speculative grain selling as carried on through the Winnipeg Grain Exchange. Wheat prices were generally low in the autumn, but farmers could not wait for markets to improve. It had happened too often that they sold their wheat soon after harvest when' farm debts were coming due, only to see prices rising and speculators getting rich. On various occasions, producer groups asked for firmer controls. but governments had no wish to become involved, at least not until wartime wheat prices threatened to run wild. 

          Anxious to check inflation and rising living costs, the federal government appointed a board of grain supervisors to handle deliveries from the crops of 1917 and 1918. Grain Exchange trading was suspended, and farmers sold at prices fixed by the board. To handle the crop of 919, the government appointed the first Canadian Wheat Board, with full authority to buy, sell, and set prices

According to the passage, most farmers debts had to be paid 

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 30 to 34 

     During the early years of this century, wheat was seen as the very lifeblood of Western Canada. When the crops were good, the economy was good; when the crops failed, there was depression. People on city streets watched the yields and the price of wheat with almost as much feeling as if they were growers. The marketing of wheat became an increasingly favorite topic of conversation. 

     War set the stage for the most dramatic events in marketing the western crop. For years, farmers mistrusted speculative grain selling as carried on through the Winnipeg Grain Exchange. Wheat prices were generally low in the autumn, but farmers could not wait for markets to improve. It had happened too often that they sold their wheat soon after harvest when' farm debts were coming due, only to see prices rising and speculators getting rich. On various occasions, producer groups asked for firmer controls. but governments had no wish to become involved, at least not until wartime wheat prices threatened to run wild. 

          Anxious to check inflation and rising living costs, the federal government appointed a board of grain supervisors to handle deliveries from the crops of 1917 and 1918. Grain Exchange trading was suspended, and farmers sold at prices fixed by the board. To handle the crop of 919, the government appointed the first Canadian Wheat Board, with full authority to buy, sell, and set prices

What is the main purpose of the passage? 

Mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the word whose underlined part differs from the other three in pronunciation in each of the following questions

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 35 to 42 

     There has been much debate over the past few decades concerning fears that automation will lead to robots replacing human workers on a massive scale. 

     The increasing use of robotics, computers and artificial intelligence is a reality, but its full implications are far from cut and dried. Some forecasts present the future in a utopian way, claiming that robots will take over the tedious heavy work thus freeing up human time and potential, allowing for more creativity and innovation. At the other end of spectrum are those who foresee an employment apocalypse, predicting that almost fifty percent of all American jobs could vanish within the next few decades. Former Microsoft chairman Bill Gates states that in 20years robots could be in place in a number of job categories, particularly those at lower end of the scale in terms of skills. 

     The bottom line is that while the future is always uncertain, robots are a fixture of our society, which is not going to disappear. As with the Industrial Revolution, where machines were utilized in many tasks in place of manual laborers and social upheaval followed, the Digital Revolution is likely to place robots in various jobs. In spite of that, many of today’s jobs were not in existence before the Industrial Revolution, such as those of programmers, engineers and data scientists. 

     This leads other experts to criticize this alarmist approach of robot scare-mongering, which is invariably compared to the 19^th-century “Luddites”. This group was textile workers who feared being displaced by machines and resorted to violence, burning down factories and destroying industrial equipment – their rejection of inevitable progress has come to symbolize mindless ignorance. 

          Needless to say, exactly what new kinds of jobs might exist in the future is difficult to envision at present. Therefore, the crux of the issue is not whether jobs will be lost, but whether the creation of new vacancies will outpace the ever-increasing number of losses and what skills will be required in the future. It is clearly not all doom and gloom, as demand for employees with skills in data analysis, coding, computer science, artificial intelligence and human-machine interface is rising and will continue to do so.  Furthermore, the demand for skills in jobs where humans surpass computers, such as those involving care, creativity and innovative craftmanship, are likely to increase considerably. Ultimately, the key lies in the adaptation of the workforces, through appropriate education and training, to keep pace with our world’s technological progress

What is the modern-day view of the Luddites? 

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 30 to 34 

     During the early years of this century, wheat was seen as the very lifeblood of Western Canada. When the crops were good, the economy was good; when the crops failed, there was depression. People on city streets watched the yields and the price of wheat with almost as much feeling as if they were growers. The marketing of wheat became an increasingly favorite topic of conversation. 

     War set the stage for the most dramatic events in marketing the western crop. For years, farmers mistrusted speculative grain selling as carried on through the Winnipeg Grain Exchange. Wheat prices were generally low in the autumn, but farmers could not wait for markets to improve. It had happened too often that they sold their wheat soon after harvest when' farm debts were coming due, only to see prices rising and speculators getting rich. On various occasions, producer groups asked for firmer controls. but governments had no wish to become involved, at least not until wartime wheat prices threatened to run wild. 

          Anxious to check inflation and rising living costs, the federal government appointed a board of grain supervisors to handle deliveries from the crops of 1917 and 1918. Grain Exchange trading was suspended, and farmers sold at prices fixed by the board. To handle the crop of 919, the government appointed the first Canadian Wheat Board, with full authority to buy, sell, and set prices

The author uses the term "lifeblood" to indicate that wheat was 

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 35 to 42 

     There has been much debate over the past few decades concerning fears that automation will lead to robots replacing human workers on a massive scale. 

     The increasing use of robotics, computers and artificial intelligence is a reality, but its full implications are far from cut and dried. Some forecasts present the future in a utopian way, claiming that robots will take over the tedious heavy work thus freeing up human time and potential, allowing for more creativity and innovation. At the other end of spectrum are those who foresee an employment apocalypse, predicting that almost fifty percent of all American jobs could vanish within the next few decades. Former Microsoft chairman Bill Gates states that in 20years robots could be in place in a number of job categories, particularly those at lower end of the scale in terms of skills. 

     The bottom line is that while the future is always uncertain, robots are a fixture of our society, which is not going to disappear. As with the Industrial Revolution, where machines were utilized in many tasks in place of manual laborers and social upheaval followed, the Digital Revolution is likely to place robots in various jobs. In spite of that, many of today’s jobs were not in existence before the Industrial Revolution, such as those of programmers, engineers and data scientists. 

     This leads other experts to criticize this alarmist approach of robot scare-mongering, which is invariably compared to the 19^th-century “Luddites”. This group was textile workers who feared being displaced by machines and resorted to violence, burning down factories and destroying industrial equipment – their rejection of inevitable progress has come to symbolize mindless ignorance. 

          Needless to say, exactly what new kinds of jobs might exist in the future is difficult to envision at present. Therefore, the crux of the issue is not whether jobs will be lost, but whether the creation of new vacancies will outpace the ever-increasing number of losses and what skills will be required in the future. It is clearly not all doom and gloom, as demand for employees with skills in data analysis, coding, computer science, artificial intelligence and human-machine interface is rising and will continue to do so.  Furthermore, the demand for skills in jobs where humans surpass computers, such as those involving care, creativity and innovative craftmanship, are likely to increase considerably. Ultimately, the key lies in the adaptation of the workforces, through appropriate education and training, to keep pace with our world’s technological progress

Why is the example of the Industrial Revolution given?