Reading Passage 1-Understanding Your Gas Bill

Questions 1 – 14
Read the text and answer Questions 1 – 7

How can I get a duplicate bill or information on my latest bill
The easiest way to view or print a copy of your most recent or past bill is to register or log on to My Account.You can receive, view and pay your bill — all online.
When you log on to My Account, go to View My Bill, then Bill History.
There you can view and print out your account history — up to 25 months. Just click on the bill you’d like to
see. Try it now.
Or, if you’d prefer, you can call our automated service line 24 hours a day, at 1-800-772-5050*.
*Note, requests made through our phone line will take approximately 3-5 working days to complete. Billing information can
only be sent to the mailing address on record.

Billing Terms
§BTU: British Thermal Unit: One BTU is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. A more practical definition would be: how much gas an appliance will use to produce heat or cooling. As a result, gas appliances are sized by a BTU rating. 100,000 BTU’s equal 1 therm. For example, a 400,000 BTU heater, when in use, would use 4 therms of gas per hour. A 30,000 BTU range would use .3 therms per hour of use.

§CCF: Hundred of Cubic Feet: Method used for gas measurement. The quantity of gas at a temperature of sixty degrees Fahrenheit and a pressure of 14.73 pounds per square inch makes up one cubic foot.

§Billing Factor: An adjuster used to convert CCF into therms. It adjusts the amount of gas used to reflect the heat value of the gas at a given altitude. The heating value can vary from month to month; therefore, the billing factor is not always the same.

§Therm: A therm is approximately 100,000 BTUs. It is a standard unit of measurement. CCFs are converted to therms for purposes of billing.
Natural Gas Conversions
§1 cubic foot = 1050 Btu
§Therm = 100,000 Btu
§Ccf = 100 cubic foot, or 1 therm
§Mcf = 1000 cubic feet = 10.20 therms
§MMcf = 1 million cubic feet
§Bcf = 1 billion cubic feet
§Decatherm (Dth) = 10 therms = 1 million Btu
§Mmbtu = 1 million btu = 10 therms

About gas rates and how bills are calculated
Natural gas rates are made up of two primary charges:
§Gas delivery service, which The Gas Company provides – the “delivery” (or “transmission”) charge; and,
§The cost of the natural gas itself — which is reflected in the “procurement” charge.
Many people believe that The Gas Company produces natural gas, but we don’t. For our residential and smaller business customers, we buy natural gas from producers and marketers at the best possible prices on the open market. The wholesale gas prices we pay are based on market supply and demand. They’re not marked up by The Gas Company, and are shown on your monthly bill as the “commodity charge.”
The Gas Company’s delivery service charge covers the costs of transporting natural gas through our pipeline system. It is approved annually by the Public Utilities Commission and is not impacted by the price of natural gas.
Monthly Gas rates vary based on monthly gas prices
Since 1997, the cost of natural gas that customers pay in their rates is based on a forecasted monthly price instead of a forecasted annual price. This allows rates to more closely follow current natural gas market prices.
With monthly pricing, gas rates are based upon a 30-day forecast of natural gas market prices. This gives customers a better picture of the current price of natural gas, and means they no longer have to wait for annual adjustments to their bills to make up for differences between the 12-month forecast price and the actual price paid by The Gas Company on a monthly basis.
Does The Gas Company benefit from higher gas prices?
We do not produce natural gas; energy production companies produce natural gas. The Gas Company just delivers natural gas to its customers.
Baseline therm allowance
As determined by the Public Utilities Commission, under the direction of the State Legislature, “baseline therm allowances” are the amounts of natural gas needed to meet the minimum basic needs of the average home. The Gas Company is required to bill these “baseline” amounts at its lowest residential rates. The goal of these “baseline” amounts is to encourage efficient use of natural gas.

Charges on Your Bill from a Third Party
For bill questions and charges on your gas bill from third-party vendors —
§Commerce Energy (formerly ACN) 1-877-226-3649
§HomeServe 1-888-302-0137

 

Read the text and answer Questions 8 – 14

Parking Arrangements for Disabled People in Countries Outside Europe.

The design of badges differs in the various towns and cities of certain countries outside the European Union and you should read the following information for the arrangements that apply in the country, or countries, you intend to visit carefully.

Australia
Disabled travel in Australia
The demand for information on travel for people with disabilities has never been greater. To participate independently in community life, including the enjoyment of travel, people with disabilities need barrier-free environments. This includes seemingly simple requirements such as easy access to public transport, buildings and footpaths, and thoughtfully designed facilities and services from airports to accommodation.
By international standards, Australia offers quite good access for people with disabilities. Many of the hotels, restaurants, cinemas, theatres and shops in Australia’s major cities have facilities for those with disabilities although not all of them cater for people in wheelchairs. It is advisable to give advance notice wherever possible to ensure the best possible assistance.

Car parking
Most public car parking stations have dedicated parking spots for disabled drivers, clearly identified by the international disabled sign. The bays are close to ramps and lifts and are generally wider than the regular parking spaces. The use of disabled parking bays is closely monitored and heavy fines apply to unauthorised users. In order to use disabled parking, you must obtain a temporary disabled parking permit.
Regulations regarding disabled parking permits (DPP) vary from state to state. Generally the following procedures apply:

International visitors:
Bring your overseas permit with you.
Overseas permits may be used in Queensland, Australian Capital Territory (Canberra), Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. In New South Wales, application may be made for a temporary permit at any Roads and Traffic Authority office. In Victoria, a temporary permit for a holder of an overseas parking permit may be arranged before arrival through VicRoads. Apply at least one month before arrival by facsimile or by post, enclosing a copy of your overseas permit together with the dates you will be in Australia and address when first arriving in Victoria. A temporary permit issued in New South Wales or Victoria will be recognised throughout Australia. Visitors are advised to contact the relevant authorities for information well in advance of travel:
New South Wales
Roads and Traffic Authority, Mobility Parking Scheme, GPO Box K198, Sydney NSW 2000
Tel: +61 2 9218 6670 (Freecall within Australia: 13 22 13)
Victoria
Vic Roads (VR), Traffic & Road User Management Dept, Disabled Person’s Parking Scheme, 60 Denmark
Road, Kew VIC 3101
Tel: +61 3 9854 2666
Fax: +61 3 9854 2918

Always remember to:
Make sure your permit will not expire during your travel.
Display your permit as in your home state/country.
Parking permits do not authorise vehicles to park in loading zones, bus zones, no-stopping zones and the like.
Most parking permit applications must be completed in part by a doctor or accompanied by a valid doctor’s certificate that clearly states the nature of disability.
A fee of $A10-$A15 usually applies

 

Reading Passage 2-Social Body

Questions 15 – 27
Read the text and answer Questions 15 – 20

Offer accessible and diverse leisure opportunities to enhance the well-being of individuals and strengthen a sense of community in a safe and welcoming environment.
Objectives
To assist, develop and to foster community spirit throughout the community. To promote the educational, social, cultural and athletic endeavours of the community. To assist any organization, group, company or individual whose sole aim is to promote the educational, social, cultural or athletic well-being of the people of the community. To receive donations, or do such things as may be necessary to raise funds to carry out the objectives. To carry on the operations of the Association principally in the Marpole Oakridge community

Board of Directors
The Community Association Board meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month at 7:00 pm. All members are welcome. If you are interested in joining the Board or a Committee contact the Community Recreation Coordinator at 604-257-8177.
Duties of the Board
To Jointly operate the Community Centre with the Park Board. To identify needs of the community and act in the best interest of the community in fulfilling these needs. To exercise the care, diligence and skill of a reasonably prudent person in exercising his/her powers and performing his/her function as a Director. To direct the activities, participation and aims of the Society in conformity with its’ Constitution & By-laws. To determine the policy of the Society, both internally and in regard to its relationship with the Park Board staff. To elect from among its’ members each year the officers of the Society. To attend meeting of the Board and meeting of such committees to which he/she may be appointed. To discharge accepted responsibilities in accordance with the direction of the Board. To work with the professional staff in determining the needs of the community, and support the staff in the undertakings of the Community Centre. To accept from the membership at large complaints and suggestions and requests for programs; to study such complaints and suggestions and to pass them on to the professional staff. To act as liaison between Park Board and the community at large in relationship to park development and
delivery of recreational services. To liaison and cooperate with the other community agencies for betterment of the community
Meetings
The Community Association Board meetings at 990 West 59th Avenue. All members of the community are welcome to attend.

 

Read the text and answer Questions 21 – 27

Top Trends in Society & culture

A Speeding up
Everything is speeding up thanks to our obsession with technology and efficiency – although whether anything is actually moving in the right direction is a moot point. You can blame computers, email, the Internet, globalisation, mobile devices, low cost travel, whatever you like. The result is 24/7 access to goods and services, multi-tasking, meals in minutes, hectic households, microwave mums, meals on the run, insecurity, one minute wins and individuals (and organisations) that want everything tomorrow. The result is stress, anxiety, a lack of sleep, a blurring of boundaries between work and home, work-life imbalance and, conversely, an interest in slowing things down.

B Demographic change
Demographics is the mother of all trends (or, as someone more eloquently once put it, (‘demographics is destiny’). The big demographic shift is ageing. In Europe 25% of the population is already aged 65+. Linked to this is the rise in single person households (46 million in Europe) caused by an increase of widows and widowers, but also caused by more people getting divorced and by people marrying later or not at all (42% of the US workforce is unmarried). Add a declining fertility rate (below the replacement rate in many developed nations) and you have a recipe for significant socio-economic change. Other linked trends include older parents, more one-parent families, male/female imbalance (eg China) and less traditional family units. In 1950 80% of US households were the traditional 2 parent & kids nuclear family. Now the figure is 47%, while over in Europe there will be14% less nuclear families in 2006 than in 1995. This could all change of course, but it’s in the nature of demographic trends that change is usually slow in any given direction.

C Global and local
Globalisation is obviously a huge trend but if you look forward far enough it looks like the future will be local. You can already see evidence for this shift in the fact that the opposite, localisation – is a major trend in everything from food to politics. And it is entirely possible that the EU could collapse back into local units or even small city-states and the consequences of this would be extraordinary. Theoretically, globalisation still has many years to run (and will run alongside an interest in all things local) but we are increasingly at the mercy of resources. Put simply, when natural resources such as oil run out, we will have
no choice but to stop moving around and adopt a more local way of life. Back to where it all started in other words.

D Happiness
Materialism is still in full swing but for many people it’s starting to lose its appeal. We are working harder and working longer – and earning more money as a result – but it’s becoming increasingly obvious that money can’t buy you happiness. People are also starting to realise that identity is not shaped by what you own or consume but by who you are and how you live. To some extent the happiness phenomenon is really a search for meaning. Hence the increase in spiritualism. But it is also down to the fact that people have too much time on their hands. A century or two ago people were focussed on survival and just didn’t have time for self-introspection. Keep an eye on how often the topic of happiness appears in the general media and when politicians and companies pick up on the issue you’ll know the trend has truly arrived.

E Authenticity
Life is complicated and getting more so. We are suffering from Too Much Information (TMI), Too Much Choice (TMC) and Too Much Technology (TMT). We are also being subjected to multiple truths (one minute coffee is going to kill you, the next it’s a miracle cure) and fed a seemingly endless diet of half-truths and lies from companies and politicians who want to sell us something. The response to all this is an interest in authenticity or ‘realness’. People want to know where things (or people) are from and whether they can trust them. They also want to know what the story is. Of course there are contradictions. On the one hand we expect people and products to be trustworthy, ethical, real and tell stories about their history. On the
other hand we are ourselves leading increasingly fake lives – filling our lips with Botox, dying our hair blonde, enlarging our breasts and pretending we’re happier than we really are.

F Memory
We increasingly live in a world that forgets. Companies have almost no sense of their own history while politicians positively revel in the fact that voters cannot remember (or choose to forget) lies, deceptions and even criminal behaviour. This is a problem because power is essentially a battle between memory and forgetting. Unfortunately, memory loss is a by-product of trends like speeding-up and convergence. It means that attention spans can almost be measured in nano-seconds (have you noticed how members of Generation Y won’t wait for anything anymore?). This in turn may give rise to memory loss in older age (cue various technical and pharmaceutical solutions). Conversely, we are also becoming increasingly fixated with preserving our own memory. ‘Life caching’ is a major trend (and a US $2.5 billion industry) where people effectively download (or upload) everything from emails and text messages to photographs, video clips, words and spoken words. Similarly scrap booking is a hot trend at the moment, although one suspects that this might have more to do with nostalgia and relaxation than immortality.

G Networked
They used to say that when the US sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. These days we all get to see and hear that cold in real time. Everything from countries and computers to industries and gadgets are increasingly linked together. In the future you can expect to see this trend accelerate even more thanks to everything from RFID tags to smart dust. This is both good news and bad. It’s good because information (good and bad) will travel around the world instantly. This means everything becomes transparent. It’s bad because in the future there will be little or no privacy and, since everything is connected, if something fails in one area the whole ‘network’ can be effected (‘cascading failure’ is the term used by some people). This explains how SARS can travel around the world at such speed and also how innovations are copied so quickly. We are assured that the Internet and devices such as mobile phones are immune from such networked failures due to their design. We disagree. Expect a catastrophic (but recoverable) failure within the next ten years.

H Personalisation
How can you have a list of top trends and innovations without mentioning Apple’s i-Pod somewhere? The i-Pod is an excellent example of all sorts of trends including place shifting, device convergence, Moore’s Law and miniaturisation. However, the most interesting thing about the innovation is that it personifies personalisation.Globalisation creates commodification and homogenisation, which in turn creates the counter trend of personalisation as people react against standard issue products. Add a dose of technology and hey presto you’ve got a product that users can tailor to their own tastes and needs. Expect dozens of products in different markets to offer a similar degree of personalisation in the coming years as customer desire meets technological possibilities.

Reading Passage 3-The DNA database

Questions 28 – 40
Read the text and answer Questions 28 – 40

A At the start of the 20th century, Scotland Yard’s fingerprint bureau began a quiet revolution in policing. A hundred years on, detectives have a new tool at their disposal in the form of DNA matching. In 1995 the government set up a national database recording the DNA of everyone who was convicted of a crime, hoping that it would make future cases easier to crack. Since then the England and Wales database has swollen to 5.5m entries, covering 4.8m citizens, some profiles are duplicates, or some 9% of the population. It is thought to be the biggest DNA database in the world. Despite plans announced this week to limit its growth, it looks likely to stay that way.

B The reason for the database’s size is that since 2004 it has included not just those convicted of crimes but those who have been merely arrested. As far as police are concerned, the bigger the pool, the more chance of a match with their next crime scene. But the inclusion of people who have never committed a crime has been controversial. Up to a million of those in the database do not have a conviction. Chief constables have the discretion to remove profiles if they choose, but that seldom happens. One MP, Diane Abbott, is running surgeries to show her constituents how to appeal. Still, only a few hundred profiles are deleted each year.

C Last December the European Court of Human Rights ruled that holding so many innocent people’s DNA records “could not be regarded as necessary in a democratic society”. On November 11th the Home Office released plans to trim the number of people being included, a bit. People arrested and released will still have their DNA held, but only for six years. Under-18s in the same situation will stay on the database for three years.

D As is now customary, the plans include tougher rules on terrorism: those cleared of terror offences could still have their DNA held indefinitely, subject to regular reviews. And the Home Office proposes to give the police the power to take DNA from people who have convictions pre-dating the database. No one knows how many are in this group, but the back catalogue could inflate the database dramatically. Chris Sims, the chief constable with responsibility for the database, expects forces to use the power “proactively”.

E Whether the European Court will be satisfied with these tweaks remains to be seen. The opposition Conservatives say that if they win power at the approaching general election they will copy the Scottish system, in which people who are not convicted usually have their DNA removed from the database as soon as the case against them is dropped. Keeping the records of those who have done nothing wrong undermines the traditional presumption of innocence, the Tories say.

F The government argues that shrinking the pool of people on the database means that fewer crimes will be solved. The Association of Chief Police Officers examined a set of homicide and rape cases from last year in which a DNA match had been made with a profile on the national database. In about a tenth of these cases, the match was with someone who was on the database despite not having a conviction.

G Home Office boffins justify the six-year retention of innocents’ DNA with research showing that people who are let off after an arrest are more likely than the general public to be rearrested. Their likelihood of rearrest only drops back to average levels after six years, the number-crunchers found. Interestingly, juveniles take longer to return to a ‘normal’ risk profile than adults, leading Home Office scientists to note that there is a case for retaining their DNA for longer than that of adults, not shorter, as the government has decided.

H High profile cases have made even liberal-minded folk think twice about limiting the size of the database. Last year Mark Dixie was jailed for a rape and murder that might never have been solved had he not had a DNA sample taken following his arrest, and subsequent release, over a pub brawl a few months later. The prospect of even a handful of killers evading justice will make it hard for any government to cut the database back much more.