14  Paragraph A: The rapid growth of private transport (viii).

The introductory paragraph is unconventional in the sense that has two topics: (1) that transportation systems continue to increase in importance, which serves as general introduction to the whole article; (2) the first of two reasons for this trend, namely, the “spectacular growth in car use” for passenger transport. Heading viii summarizes this second topic. Getting the right answer here depends on recognizing that paragraph A has two parts and that the second part is the one that really distinguishes this paragraph from the others. The topic is summarized in the first sentence of the second part.
Knowledge or skills required:

• Recognizing that first paragraph in an article may have a structure that differs from those in the other paragraphs

• Vocabulary: recognizing that ‘spectacular growth’ is similar in meaning to ‘rapid growth’

• General knowledge: knowing that the great majority of cars on the road are used for personal (or ‘private’) transportation purposes.

 

15  Paragraph B: Changes affecting the distances goods may be transported (iii).

The first sentence in paragraph B mentions ‘goods’, which is a big clue since only heading iii mentions goods. The rest of the paragraph explains that because the EU has transitioned from a stock economy to a flow economy, goods are now more likely to be transported longer distances to get them to the point of consumption. These are the ‘changes’ and ‘distances’ mentioned in the heading.

Knowledge or skills required:

• Recognizing the general topic of a paragraph in its first sentence

• Recognizing cause and effect relationship within a paragraph (here the cause is changes in the EU economy, and the effect is changes in the distances goods are transported.)
   

16 Paragraph C: Transport trends in countries awaiting EU admission (xi)

Again, the first sentence provides the biggest clues, and it’s quite easy if you understand that “countries which are candidates for entry to the EU’ means almost the same as “countries awaiting EU admission”. You don’t need to pay close attention (in this case) to the years and percentages mentioned in the rest of the paragraph. You just need to recognize that they provide details of transportation trends.

Knowledge or skills required:

• Recognizing the general topic of a paragraph in its first sentence

• Saving time by recognizing that close attention to details is not a useful strategy for ‘choose the heading’ type questions.

• Knowing that a ‘candidate’ for something may become that thing in the future but has not done so yet.

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17 Paragraph D: A fresh and important long-term goal (i)

The fresh and important goal here is ‘sustainable development’ mentioned in the first sentence. It is not called a ‘goal’ in the paragraph, but it is twice called an ‘objective’, which is very similar in meaning to ‘goal’. In the first sentence it is called an ‘imperative’, i.e., something that must be done, which is also similar in meaning to ‘goal’. The last sentence tells us that this goal will ideally be achieved in 2040, which means that it is a long-term goal.

Knowledge or skills required:

• Recognizing that sometimes no single sentence adequately summarizes a paragraph’s main idea.

• Vocabulary: goal, objective, imperative = something that we try to achieve

 

18 Paragraph E: The environmental costs of road transport (v)

Again, a big clue is provided in the first sentence, which mentions that transportation is to ‘blame’ for 28% of CO2 emissions. In other words, transportation has an unwanted environmental cost. Later in the paragraph, it is made clear that most of this unwanted environmental cost is due to road transport (“road transport is the main culprit”)

Knowledge or skills required:

• General knowledge: i.e., knowing that CO2 emissions are an ‘environmental cost’.

• Avoiding wasting time reading details of numbers, years, and percentages.

 

19 Paragraph G: Restricting road use through charging policies alone (x)

The answer is almost given in the first sentence alone, which mentions an approach that focuses on “road transport solely through pricing”. From the previous paragraphs, we know that the approach here is to the problem of too much road transportation, which has a negative environmental impact. ‘Solely’ is a synonym here for ‘alone’, and ‘pricing’ is roughly equivalent to ‘charging policy’. With this vocabulary knowledge, it may not be necessary to read the whole paragraph to get the right answer.

Knowledge or skills required:

• Recognizing paraphrases of the first sentence in a paragraph.

• Vocabulary: ‘solely’, ‘pricing’

 

20  Paragraph H: Charging for roads and improving other transport methods (ii)

Again, the answer can be found in the first paragraph if we know that “road transport pricing” refers to charging for roads and that “other modes” here refers to other transport methods.

Knowledge or skills required:

• Recognizing paraphrases of the first sentence in a paragraph.

• Vocabulary: ‘modes’, ‘pricing’

 

21 Paragraph I: Taking all steps necessary to change transportation patterns (iv)

The first sentence expands the list of methods mentioned in the two previous paragraphs. Some inference may be required to know that the “series of measures” is supposed to mean the same thing as “all steps”. Nevertheless, (iv) is clearly the best answer as the paragraph clearly states that this approach is the most comprehensive of the three.

Knowledge or skills required:

• Recognizing paraphrases of the first sentence in a paragraph.

• Vocabulary: measures = steps

 

22 The need for transport is growing, despite technological developments. TRUE

This is an abbreviation of the second sentence in the first paragraph.

 

23 To reduce production costs, some industries have been moved closer to their relevant consumers. FALSE

The answer is to be found in the last sentence of the second paragraph. ‘Users’ here is a synonym for consumers. The sentences tells us that some industries have moved their productions sites “hundreds or even thousands of kilometers away from” users.

 

24 Cars are prohibitively expensive in some EU candidate countries. NOT GIVEN

Cars are mentioned only in paragraphs A and G, and there is no mention of their cost. It might be inferred that the statement is false since cars there has been a rapid increase in car use, perhaps implying that cars are cheap. But this would be an unjustified inference, as there could be many other reasons to account for the increase in car use.

 

25 The Gothenburg European Council was set up 30 years ago. NOT GIVEN

Although the number ’30 years’ appears in the text, the surrounding text makes it clear that it refers to a future date. There is no information about when the Gothenburg European Council was set up.

 

26 By the end of this decade, CO2 emissions from transport are predicted to reach 739 billion tonnes.  FALSE

An easy question. Just scan to locate the number ‘739’ and read the entire sentence. Clearly this is a number that refers to the past, so it cannot be a prediction. Moreover, the previous sentence contains a prediction for the future. It is 1,113 billion tones, not 739.
 

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