Important: Write all answers on the Reading Answer Sheet. You will not be marked on this booklet. Use CAPITAL LETTERS. One answer per question only.

PASSAGE 1 — Questions 1-16

I’ve Found The Titanic!

A. As a boy, Robert Ballard liked to read about shipwrecks. He read a lot about the Titanic. “My lifelong dream was to find this great ship,” he says.

B. On August 31, 1985, Ballard’s dream came true. He found the wreck of the Titanic. The ship was in two main parts, lying four kilometers under the sea. Using video cameras and an undersea robot, Ballard looked around the ship. He found many items that told the sad story of the Titanic’s end. For example, he found a child’s shoes, a reminder of the many deaths that happened that night in 1912.

C. In 1986, Ballard visited the Titanic again. This time, he reached the ship in a small submarine. A deep-sea robot took photos inside the ship. When other people saw the photos, they wanted to visit the ship, too.

D. When Ballard returned in 2004, he found the Titanic in very bad condition. Other explorers had taken away about 6,000 items, like clothes, dishes, and shoes. Some even took pieces of the ship. They think these things should be moved to a safer place, but Ballard doesn’t agree.

E. Ballard believes that taking things from the Titanic is wrong. Instead, he wants to put lights and cameras on and around the shipwreck. This way, people can see the great ship and remember what happened to it. “As long as she needs protection,” says Ballard, “the Titanic will always be part of my life.

PASSAGE 2 — Questions 17-25

DIGGING FOR THE PAST

by Nora Shawki

A When I was in third grade, I watched a video that recreated the discovery of King Tutankhamen’s tomb. I remember Howard Carter, a famous British archeologist, peering through a narrow hole in the tomb with a candle. A workman asked what he could see: “Wonderful things!” Carter said. From that moment, I knew what I wanted to do with my life.

B Today, I’m lucky to work as an archeologist. I study the lives of people who lived in Egypt’s Nile Delta. It’s exciting work. Sometimes you find something that was buried three thousand years ago. Holding a piece of history is an amazing feeling.

C So I decided what I wanted to be at the age of nine, and I made it happen. Seems easy, right? Not quite! The road wasn’t easy. I did my studies—university, then a PhD. But along the way I was told many things: I was too young, I wasn’t qualified, I should get married and have kids. I also needed money, so I applied for six grants. The first five replies I got said no. Six months later, the last reply came: This time it was yes. Finally, I could start my own excavation.

D For anyone thinking about a career, I would say: Never give up. If you want to do something, keep trying. If people tell you no, use that—it will push you. At the beginning, it hurts. But the next no hurts a little less. It makes you stronger and actually helps you.

E Second, focus on your goals. And I stress yours. You don’t have to follow other people. If they say something has never been done, make it happen. You may be the first to do it! There are always challenges, but you overcome them in the end.

PASSAGE 3— Questions 26-40

THE HOTTEST CHILIES

A You may have experienced the feeling. Your mouth feels like it’s on fire. Your eyes start to water. You just ate one of nature’s hottest foods—the chili pepper!

B Chili peppers, also called chilies, are found in dishes around the world. They are in dishes like Indian curries, Thai tom yum soup, and Mexican enchiladas. Chilies come from the capsicum plant. They are “hot” because they contain something called capsaicin.

C Capsaicin is very good for your health. It helps you breathe better, and it may even help keep you fit. Capsaicin makes you feel less hungry. It also makes your body burn more calories.

D We can measure the heat of chilies in units called Scoville heat units (SHU). The world’s hottest chili is the Carolina Reaper. It sometimes measures up to 2 million SHU!

E Eating a hot chili can be painful, but some people love to eat them. Anandita Dutta Tamuly, a woman from Assam, India, became famous for eating chilies. She ate 51 hot peppers in just two minutes! The peppers were Naga Jolokia (“ghost peppers”). They grow in Assam and are the third-hottest chilies in the world.

F “I found eating chilies was a great way to stay healthy,” says Tamuly. She began eating chilies when she was a child. She eats chilies when she is sick, too. “Every time I have a cold or flu, I just eat some chilies and I feel better. To be honest, I barely notice them now.”