Occupational English Test

Reading sub-test
Part A Text booklet
Sample Test

You must record your answers for Part A in the

Part A Answer booklet using pen or pencil.

Please print in BLOCK LETTERS

Candidate number

Family name

Other name(s)

City

Date of test

Candidates signature

YOU MUST NOT REMOVE OET MATERIAL FROM THE TEST ROOM

The OET Centre

GPO Box 372 Telephone: +613 9652 0800
Melbourne VIC 3001 Facsimile: +613 9654 5329
Australia www.occupationalenglishtest.org

Cambridge Boxhill Language Assessment - Sample Test ABN 69 159 885 257
READING: Part A Text Booklet
Instructions
TIME LIMIT: 15 MINUTES

Complete the summary on pages 2 and 3 of Part A Answer Booklet using the information in
the four texts (A1-4) below.
You do not need to read each text from beginning to end to complete the task. You should scan
the texts to find the information you need.
Gaps may require 1, 2 or 3 words. Answer ALL questions. Marks are NOT deducted for incorrect
answers.
You should write your answers next to the appropriate number in the right-hand column.
Please use correct spelling in your responses. Do not use abbreviations unless they appear in
the texts.

Diseases of Affluence

Text 1: Tobacco

Tobacco smoking is also an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Currently, an
estimated 930 million of the worlds 1.1 billion smokers live in the developing world. Tobacco
smoking increased among men, followed by women, in industrialized nations in the last century,
and has subsequently declined in some nations such as Canada, the United States, and the United
Kingdom. Descriptive models based on historical patterns in the industrialized world predict a
reduction in the number of male smokers and an increase in the number of female smokers in the
developing world over the coming decades. However, there have been major recent
transformations in global tobacco trade, marketing, and regulatory control. As a result, tobacco
consumption among men and women in most nations is primarily determined by opposing
industry efforts and tobacco control measures, and by the socio-cultural context, rather than
national income.

Text 2: BMI

The observed rapid BMI increase with national income indicates that preventing obesity, which
may be more effective than reacting after it has occurred, should be a priority during economic
growth and urbanization of a nation. Overweight and obesity are also important because they
cause a number of non- cardiovascular outcomes including cancers, diabetes, and osteoarthritis
which cannot be addressed by reducing risk factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol.
Current intervention options for obesity in principle include those that reduce calorie intake and
increasing energy expenditure of a population through urban design which incorporates space for
outdoor activities.
Text 3:
Source: Public Library of Open Science Authors: Ezzati, M et al 2005 Current Research
Background

Cardiovascular diseases and their nutritional risk factorsincluding overweight and obesity,
elevated blood pressure, and cholesterolare among the leading causes of global mortality and
morbidity, and have been predicted to rise with economic development in countries and societies
throughout the world.

Methods and Findings

We examined age-standardized mean population levels of body mass index (BMI), systolic
blood pressure, and total cholesterol in relation to national income, food share of household
expenditure, and urbanization in a cross-country analysis. Data were from a total of over 100
countries and were obtained from systematic reviews of published literature, and from national
and international health agencies.
BMI and cholesterol increased rapidly in relation to national income, then flattened, and
eventually declined. BMI increased most rapidly until an income of about I$5,000 (international
dollars) and peaked at about I$12,500 for females and I$17,000 for males. Cholesterols point of
inflection and peak were at higher income levels than those of BMI (about I$8,000 and I$18,000,
respectively). There was an inverse relationship between BMI/cholesterol and the food share of
household expenditure, and a positive relationship with proportion of population in urban areas.
Mean population blood pressure was not significantly affected by the economic factors
considered.

Conclusions
When considered together with evidence on shifts in incomerisk relationships within developed
countries, the results indicate that cardiovascular disease risks are expected to systematically
shift to low and middle income countries and, together with the persistent burden of infectious
diseases, further increase global health inequalities.
Preventing obesity should be a priority from early stages of economic development,
accompanied by measures to promote awareness of the causes of high blood pressure and
cholesterol.

Text 4: Health Repercussions of Western Lifestyle

Factors associated with the increase of these illnesses appear to be, paradoxically, things which
many people would regard as lifestyle improvements. They include:
-Less strenuous physical exercise, often through increased use of a car
-Easy accessibility in society to large amounts of low-cost food
-More food generally, with much less physical exertion expended to obtain a moderate amount of food
-More high fat and high sugar foods in the diet are common in the affluent developed economies
-Higher consumption of meat and dairy products
-Higher consumption of grains and white bread
-More foods which are processed, cooked, and commercially provided (rather than seasonal, fresh foods
prepared locally at time of eating)
 FOR OFFICE USE ONLY
ASSESSOR NO.

Occupational English Test

READING SUB-TEST
Part A - Answer Booklet
Practice test

You must record your answers for Part A in the

Part A - Answer Booklet using pen or pencil.

Please print in BLOCK LETTERS

Candidate number

Family name

Other name(s)

City

Date of test

Candidates signature

YOU MUST NOT REMOVE OET MATERIAL FROM THE TEST ROOM.

The OET Centre Telephone: +61 3 9652 0800

GPO Box 372 Facsimile: +61 3 9654 5329
Melbourne VIC 3001 www.occupationalenglishtest.org
Australia

OET Centre Practice test ABN 84 434 201 642

 READING: Part A Answer Booklet
Instructions
TIME LIMIT: 15 MINUTES

Instructions
Complete the following summary using the information in the texts for this task.
Skim and scan the texts to find the information required.
Gaps may require 1, 2 or 3 words.
Write your answers in the appropriate space in the column on the right hand side.
Make sure your spelling is correct.

1
Diseases of (1)___ is a term used to describe a range of risk
2
factors associated with cardiovascular disease which increase
along with a countrys or societys (2)____. These risk factors 3
include obesity, high blood pressure and (3)____.
4

Yet the causes of these conditions are things often regarded as 5

(4) ____ in their lifestyles. For example, the ability to afford a
car can lead to reduced (5)____. This combined with higher 6
consumption of (6)____and (7)___ products, grains and white
7
bread can have negative health consequences. Foods in
affluent countries are also high in (8)___ and (9)___and 8
commercially processed.
9

10

A 2005 study by (10)____ analysed data from over (11)____. 11

According to their findings, (12)____and cholesterol rose
12
markedly before leveling off and finally (13)____in relation to
national income. Whereas the economic factors did not 13
(14)____the average population blood pressure.
14

15

Based on this information, preventing (15)____ should be a 16

priority while countries are experiencing (16)____ and
(17)____. Methods to reduce obesity include reducing 17
(18)____ and focussing on (19)___ to ensure that there is 18
(20)____for outside activities.
19

20
Cigarette smoking is also a significant health concern for the
developing world with approximately (21)____ of the worlds 21
(22)____ smokers from developing nations. Based on patterns
22
of the industrialised world, the number of male smokers will
(23)____ while the number of female smokers is likely to 23
(24)____. However, future tobacco consumption patterns may
not associate directly with (25)____, as efforts to control its 24
use become widespread.
25

26
In summary, cardiovascular disease risks are likely to transfer
to (26)____ income countries which when combined with the 27
current problem of (27)____, will lead to further inequalities in 28
(28)____. Therefore prevention of (29)____ as well as
education in the areas of blood pressure and cholesterol must 29
be a (30)____ for developing nations.
30
 Reading Part A

Highlighted Answers

Diseases of (1)Affluence
Source: Public Library of Open Science
Authors: Ezzati, M et al 2005
Text 1

Tobacco

Tobacco smoking is also an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.

Currently, an estimated (21)930 million of the worlds (22)1.1 billion smokers live in
the developing world. Tobacco smoking increased among men, followed by women,
in industrialized nations in the last century, and has subsequently declined in some
nations such as Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Descriptive
models based on historical patterns in the industrialized world predict a
(23)reduction/reduce in the number of male smokers and an (24)increase in the
number of female smokers in the developing world over the coming decades.
However, there have been major recent transformations in global tobacco trade,
marketing, and regulatory control. As a result, tobacco consumption among men and
women in most nations is primarily determined by opposing industry efforts and
tobacco control measures, and by the socio-cultural context, rather than (25)national
income.

Text 3

BMI

The observed rapid BMI increase with national income indicates that preventing (15)
obesity, which may be more effective than reacting after it has occurred, should be a
priority during (16)economic growth and (17)urbanization of a nation. Overweight
and obesity are also important because they cause a number of non- cardiovascular
outcomes including cancers, diabetes, and osteoarthritis which cannot be addressed by
reducing risk factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol. Current intervention
options for obesity in principle include those that reduce (18)calorie intake and
increasing energy expenditure of a population through (19)urban design which
incorporates (20)space for outdoor activities.

This resource was developed by OET Online 6

Website: http://oetonline.com.au Email: oetonline@gmail.com
 Reading Part A

Text 3
Source: Public Library of Open Science Authors: (10)Ezzati, M et al
2005

Background
Cardiovascular diseases and their nutritional risk factorsincluding overweight and
obesity, elevated blood pressure, and (3)cholesterolare among the leading causes of
global mortality and morbidity, and have been predicted to rise with (2)economic
development in countries and societies throughout the world.
Methods and Findings
We examined age-standardized mean population levels of body mass index (BMI),
systolic blood pressure, and total cholesterol in relation to national income, food share
of household expenditure, and urbanization in a cross-country analysis. Data were
from a total of over (11)100 countries and were obtained from systematic reviews of
published literature, and from national and international health agencies.
(12)BMI and cholesterol increased rapidly in relation to national income, then
flattened, and eventually (13)declined/declining. BMI increased most rapidly until an
income of about I$5,000 (international dollars) and peaked at about I$12,500 for
females and I$17,000 for males. Cholesterols point of inflection and peak were at
higher income levels than those of BMI (about I$8,000 and I$18,000, respectively).
There was an inverse relationship between BMI/cholesterol and the food share of
household expenditure, and a positive relationship with proportion of population in
urban areas. Mean population blood pressure was not (14)significantly affected by the
economic factors considered.
Conclusions
When considered together with evidence on shifts in incomerisk relationships within
developed countries, the results indicate that cardiovascular disease risks are expected
to systematically shift to (26)low and middle income countries and, together with the
persistent burden of (27)infectious diseases, further increase (28)global health
inequalities. Preventing (29)obesity should be a (30)priority from early stages of
economic development, accompanied by measures to promote awareness of the
causes of high blood pressure and cholesterol.
Text 4

Factors associated with the increase of these illnesses appear to be, paradoxically,
things which many people would regard as lifestyle (4)improvements. They include:
-Less strenuous (5)physical exercise, often through increased use of a car
-Easy accessibility in society to large amounts of low-cost food
-More food generally, with much less physical exertion expended to
obtain a moderate amount of food
-More high (8)fat and high (9)sugar foods in the diet are common in the
affluent developed economies
-Higher consumption of (6)meat and (7)dairy products
-Higher consumption of grains and white bread
-More foods which are processed, cooked, and commercially provided
(rather than seasonal, fresh foods prepared locally at time of eating)

This resource was developed by OET Online 7

Website: http://oetonline.com.au Email: oetonline@gmail.com
Answer Sheet

1. affluence
2. economic development
3. cholesterol
4. improvements
5. physical exercise
6. meat
7. dairy
8. fat
9. sugar
10. Ezatti, M/Ezatti
11. 100 countries
12. BMI
13. Declining (requires word form change to gerund)
14. Significantly affect (requires change of verb to active form)
15. obesity
16. economic growth
17. urbanisation
18. calorie intake
19. urban design
20. space
21. 930 million
22. 1.1 billion
23. reduce (verb form of reduction)/decline
24. increase/rise
25. national income
26. low and middle (all 3 words required)
27. infectious diseases
28. global health
29. obesity
30. priority