General Training Reading

SECTION 1 — Questions 1–14

Read the text below and answer Questions 1–7.

Holiday Cottages in the Dales

A Bramble Cottage
A cosy stone cottage for up to four people, with a wood-burning stove and a small garden. Well-behaved dogs are very welcome (maximum of two per booking). The village pub, which serves food every evening, is a five-minute walk away. Minimum stay: three nights.

B The Old Dairy
A spacious barn conversion sleeping six. One bedroom and a wet room are on the ground floor, with level access throughout, making the cottage suitable for guests who use a wheelchair. Large enclosed garden. The nearest shop is two miles away, so a car is essential. Sorry, no pets.

C Harbour Loft
A stylish top-floor apartment for two, with views across the harbour. Please note that the apartment is reached by a steep spiral staircase and is not suitable for children under twelve. There is no private parking, but there is a public car park 400 metres away (£5 per day).

D Larch Lodge
A modern lodge for up to eight people, set in woodland, with its own hot tub. Four bicycles are included in the price. During the school summer holidays, the lodge can only be booked for full weeks, from Saturday to Saturday. Short breaks available at other times.

E Mill House
A traditional farmhouse for five, on a working sheep farm. Children are welcome to help feed the animals each morning. A hamper of local bread, eggs and cheese will be waiting for you on arrival. The village railway station is a ten-minute walk from the door.

Questions 1–7

Look at the five holiday cottages, A–E, above.

For which cottage are the following statements true?

Write the correct letter, A–E. You may use any letter more than once.

Read the text below and answer Questions 8–14.

Pine Street Dental Practice: Changes from 1 March

Opening hours
From 1 March, the practice will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday to Friday, with a late opening until 8 p.m. on Tuesdays. We will no longer open on Saturday mornings.

Booking appointments
Appointments can be booked online at any time, or by phone. The phone line is open from 8.30 a.m. on weekdays.

Missed appointments
If you cannot attend an appointment, please give us at least 24 hours' notice so that we can offer the time to another patient. Patients who miss two appointments without giving notice may be removed from the practice's list.

Charges
A routine check-up costs £28. Treatment for children under 18 is free of charge.

Staff changes
Dr Patel will retire at the end of February after 30 years at the practice. His patients will be transferred to Dr Wong automatically. If you would prefer to see a different dentist, please let reception know.

Emergencies
If you are in severe pain outside our opening hours, please call the NHS 111 service for advice.

Parking
Our car park is now shared with the pharmacy next door. Parking is limited to one hour.

Questions 8–14

Do the following statements agree with the information given in the text above?

Write

• TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
• FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
• NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

SECTION 2 — Questions 15–27

Read the text below and answer Questions 15–20.

Corbett Logistics: Sickness Absence — A Guide for Employees

A If you are too ill to come to work, you must phone your line manager before 9 a.m., or at least one hour before the start of your shift if you work shifts. Please do not send a text message or an email. If you are unable to reach your manager, call the Human Resources duty line on 01632 960 418 instead.

B For absences of up to seven calendar days, you do not need a note from a doctor. Instead, you should complete a self-certification form on your first day back at work. If you are absent for more than seven days, you must provide a fit note from your doctor.

C Once you have completed your six-month probation period, you will receive your full pay for up to four weeks of sickness absence in any twelve-month period. During your probation period, you will receive only the minimum sick pay set by law.

D If you are absent for more than a week, your manager may phone you once a week to ask how you are. The purpose of these calls is to offer support and to plan for your return. They are not intended to make you return to work before you are ready.

E On your first day back, your manager will hold a short return-to-work meeting with you. After a long absence, it may be possible to agree a phased return, in which you work reduced hours for a few weeks before returning to your normal pattern. Your manager may also refer you to our occupational health service for advice.

F Wherever possible, appointments with doctors, dentists and hospitals should be arranged outside your working hours. If this is not possible, you may take up to three hours of paid time off for each appointment, provided that you give your manager at least one week's notice.

G If you fall ill while you are on holiday, you may be able to take the days on which you were ill as sick leave, and use your holiday on another date. You must report your illness on the first day, in the same way as any other sickness absence.

Questions 15–20

The text has seven sections, A–G.

Which section contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A–G, next to Questions 15–20.

Read the text below and answer Questions 21–27.

Corbett Logistics: Safe Lifting in the Warehouse

Before you lift
Every package in the warehouse has a label showing its weight. Loads of more than 25 kg must not be lifted alone. Use a trolley, or arrange a team lift with a colleague. Before you pick anything up, check that the route you will take is clear of obstacles, and that any doors on the way are open.

How to lift
Stand with your feet apart and one foot slightly forward. Bend your knees, not your back, and get a firm grip on the load. Keep the load close to your waist as you lift, with the heaviest side next to your body. Never twist your body while carrying a load. If you need to change direction, turn by moving your feet.

Using equipment
Pallet trucks may only be used by staff who have completed a training session and received a certificate. If you notice that any lifting equipment is damaged, do not use it. Attach a yellow tag to it and inform your supervisor.

Reporting injuries
Any pain or injury, however minor, must be reported to a first aider and recorded in the accident book. Many back injuries develop slowly, and early reporting allows us to prevent more serious problems.

Questions 21–27

Complete the notes below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the text for each answer.

Safe lifting: key points

• Loads over 25 kg must not be lifted 212 words .
• Before lifting, make sure that your 222 words is clear.
• Bend your 232 words rather than your back.
• Hold the load close to your 242 words .
• To change direction, move your 252 words instead of twisting.
• Mark damaged equipment with a 262 words .
• Report all pain and injuries, and record them in the 272 words .

SECTION 3 — Questions 28–40

Read the text below and answer Questions 28–40.

Britain's canals

A In 1761, a new waterway opened in north-west England that would change the country's history. The Duke of Bridgewater owned coal mines at Worsley, about ten kilometres from the growing industrial town of Manchester, but transporting the coal along poor roads by horse and cart was slow and expensive. With the engineer James Brindley, he built a canal that carried the coal by boat. Unusually, the canal did not begin at the mines but ran straight into them, through underground tunnels, so that coal could be loaded onto boats where it was dug. The effect was dramatic. The price of coal in Manchester is said to have fallen by around half.

B The success of the Bridgewater Canal encouraged investors across the country, and by the 1790s, so many new canals were being planned that the period became known as "canal mania". By the 1830s, England had a network of several thousand kilometres of navigable waterways. The reason was simple. A horse walking along the path beside a canal, known as the towpath, could pull a boat carrying many times more than it could pull in a cart on the road. Canals also provided a much smoother journey, which made them ideal for transporting fragile goods such as pottery.

C The boats used on most canals, known as narrowboats, were around two metres wide, so that they could fit through the narrow locks of the canals. The crews often lived on board with their families. A family of several people might share a cabin only about three metres long, at the back of the boat, while the rest of the boat was filled with cargo. Children helped to steer the boat and lead the horse from an early age, and many received little or no schooling, because their families were constantly moving from place to place.

D The canals' golden age was short. From the 1830s onwards, railways offered a much faster way of moving goods, and they could be built where canals could not. Many canals were bought by railway companies, which had little interest in maintaining them. Traffic declined steadily over the following century, and by the 1950s many canals had become unusable. Some were filled in or built over, while others became overgrown and were used for dumping rubbish.

E That the canals survived at all is largely due to a group of enthusiasts. In 1944, the writer Tom Rolt published Narrow Boat, an account of a journey he had made along the canals with his wife. The book was a surprising success, and two years later Rolt and a small group of supporters founded the Inland Waterways Association, which campaigned to keep the canals open. Over the following decades, thousands of volunteers spent their weekends clearing rubbish and repairing locks. One of their greatest achievements was the Kennet and Avon Canal in southern England, which reopened in 1990 after decades of work.

F Restoration has sometimes required new engineering. In Scotland, two canals, the Forth and Clyde and the Union Canal, had once been connected by a series of eleven locks, which were removed in the 1930s. The two canals are at very different heights, and when a project to reopen them was planned, engineers had to find a new way of connecting them. Their solution, the Falkirk Wheel, opened in 2002. It is a rotating boat lift that raises boats 24 metres from one canal to the other in a few minutes, and it has become a popular tourist attraction in its own right.

G Today, the canals are used almost entirely for leisure. Most of those in England and Wales are managed by a charity, the Canal & River Trust, which took over from a government organisation in 2012. Holiday boats are popular, but an increasing number of people now live on boats all year round, often because they cannot afford to buy or rent a home on land. Boaters without a permanent mooring must move to a new place at least every 14 days. Some residents of popular areas have complained about overcrowding, but many people welcome the life that boats bring to the canals. Meanwhile, the towpaths, once used by working horses, are now enjoyed by walkers and cyclists.

Questions 28–34

The text has seven paragraphs, A–G.

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.

Write the correct number, i–x, next to Questions 28–34.

List of Headings

• i A dramatic fall in prices
• ii The advantages of water transport
• iii A hard life in a small space
• iv Losing out to a faster rival
• v Saved by a campaign
• vi Solving the problem of a difference in height
• vii From working waterways to leisure
• viii The cost of building a canal
• ix A government rescue plan
• x The pollution caused by industry

Questions 35–37

Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

• A It was paid for by the government.
• B It went directly into the coal mines.
• C It was the longest canal in England.
• D It was designed to carry passengers.

• A They could carry very heavy loads.
• B They were faster than roads.
• C They provided a smoother journey.
• D They kept goods dry.

• A a government decision to close the canals
• B the popularity of a book about a canal journey
• C the reopening of the Kennet and Avon Canal
• D a request from railway companies

Questions 38–40

Complete the sentences below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the text for each answer.