General Training Reading 2024-11 Test 4

Recycle from Home: is an easy-to-use weekly service for local residents that collects batteries (household and car), cans, engine oil, foil, glass, mobile phones, paper, shoes, textiles and yellow pages from your doorstep. For further information, contact ECT Recycling: 020 8371 3670/info@ECTrecycling.co.uk quoting ref: RH 1DL Bring Banks: The council has many bring banks in the borough. They can take some or all of the following materials: books, cans, glass, paper, shoes and textiles. For more information call: 020 8359 4654 quoting ref: BB 1DL Flats Recycling Service: is an easy-to-use free weekly service for all local residents living in flats. Recycling bins are installed to enable residents to recycle cans, glass and paper. To find out more, contact ECT Recycling: 020 8371 3670/info@ECTrecycling.co.uk quoting ref: FR 1DL Compost at Home: Home composting can reduce the rubbish in your household's bin by one third and create free compost! The council is helping to minimize waste by offering residents the opportunity to purchase home composters at subsidized prices. Anyone can take part and you do not need to be a keen gardener or have a big garden to make compost. For further information telephone: 020 8359 4654 and request a leaflet/order form quoting ref: COMP 1DL Civic Amenity and Recycling Centre: is based at Summers Lane. At the site you can recycle and dispose of a wide range of goods including: batteries (household and car), books, cardboard, fridges, furniture, gas bottles, garden waste, paint, plastic bottles, scrap metal, tyres and wood. Where possible please sort your waste into the above categories. The site is open Monday to Saturday 8 am to 4 pm and Sundays and Bank Holidays 9 am to 4 pm. The site is closed Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Residents bringing vans need to ring and make an appointment. The site does not accept commercial waste. For more information contact the site on: 020 8362 0752/info@ECTrecycling.co.uk

A require an arrangement to be made in advance. B means that residents can buy equipment at a reduced cost. C have been changed recently. D are situated in various locations in the area. E are not available to local residents. F involve residents leaving things out for collection. G include a request that people organize items themselves. H will accept a greater range of items than others. I may be discontinued in the future. J are not only for things that can be recycled.

What are the Difficulties in Climbing Mount Everest? 1. Altitude Sickness: This is the biggest risk to Mt. Everest climbers. It will affect many aspects of their health. The higher they get, the less oxygen there is in the air. Their body can slowly adapt to this but only up to a point. Even with the comparatively lengthy period required to climb this high, they are unlikely to ever feel quite themselves above base camp, and in the Death Zone above 8,000m they are beyond the limit of their ability to adapt to the altitude. 2. Temperature: Air temperature drops by roughly 0.65 degrees Centigrade per 100 meters of height gained. That means at 8,800m they can expect the temperature to be about 57 degrees Centigrade less than at sea level. That's a gross simplification ignoring many other factors but you get the idea: it is cold up there. It does not help that climbers switch from lying still in the darkness at night to slogging up-hill with the heat of the sun bearing down from above and reflecting up from the snow. 3. Weather: The window of opportunity for summiting will be dictated by a good weather forecast but many are the climbers who have been caught out by storms, holding out a little too long on summit day. They can't control the weather gods but they can get a good forecast, listen to their instincts and not ignore the early warning signs. 4. Falls: One of the highest direct causes of death on Everest is falls. These can happen both when actually climbing, particularly on the high ridges, and also in careless moments at the higher camps. Stepping out of the tent for a wee at night onto ground covered in ice being a particular example. Maintaining vigilance with their footwork, double checking knots and karabiners, and a good amount of prior experience on snow and ice are prudent steps for reducing this risk. 5. Avalanche: Twice as likely as falls to get them on the slopes of Qomolangma (Tibetan name for Everest) are avalanches. There tend to be specific areas in which the likelihood of their occurrence is higher. In addition to falling snow, falling ice and rocks are yet other hazards they can face. 6. Crevasses: These are great cracks that appear in glacial ice which threaten to swallow careless or unfortunate climbers. To aid safe travel across glaciers, teams tie ropes between each of their members so they can drag out anyone unlucky enough to take a fall. 7. Summit Fever: Easily said but near impossible to avoid entirely, the temptation to push on for "just another ten minutes" is strong in all of us. But combine it with the intoxication of so much effort and the mind-altering effects of altitude on the danger-ridden slopes of Mount Everest and you have a recipe for disaster. The practical advice is to have a set "turn-around time" at which point you head back down regardless of where you are. Something else worth doing is taking the time to go through your motivation for being on the mountain. If you keep the summit in perspective with the rest of the challenge it may help stop you from getting carried away.

Stepping into a new management role can be unnerving. Here's how to inspire your team: Set the tone of your leadership style from the outset. Be confident, self-assured and respectful with everyone you meet. Speak as you want to be spoken to, and remember to listen. The first few weeks is when people develop their perceptions of you, so work hard to earn their trust. This will be key to effective change and progress. Part of a leader's brief is to set bold goals. They could take years to achieve, but they need to be specific enough that everyone in the organization understands them, buys into them and is willing to work together to achieve them. Don't do everything yourself. Great leaders surround themselves with talented individuals and they should trust them to make things happen. If things need changing, tell people and involve them in making the changes by participating in the design of a new strategy. If the team is too cautious to embrace change, give them one more chance but be clearer about what you want. Stamp out the 'them and us' culture. In many organizations, employees feel distant from senior management. The message must be plain: we all work together, but leaders need to work hard to ensure this filters through to everyone in the organization. Allow time for innovation. It's important to give staff time to come up with new ideas and solutions that will fix new problems. However, be clear that a decision is expected; set a time limit and stick to it. It is likely that the formula that makes the business you are managing successful will have been created many years ago - but it's important to remember how the business started. Honor those early pioneers and instill a sense of pride across the organization. Leaders need to accept that some risk may be required if the situation calls for it. Playing it safe is never a good business rule, and leaders must make sure their business stays ahead by being prepared to act quickly. Show you are passionate and enthusiastic. People spend a large part of their lives working for an organization, and having a leader who is genuinely thrilled about its future is hugely inspiring.

More and more Americans are working from home, thanks to technological advances that make communication and collaboration over the miles easier. But before you take the plunge into a work-from-home situation, consider the pros and cons of this option... Working from Home Pros: 1) Offers greater flexibility for moms. If you work from home, you are likely to have more control over the hours you work, and can carve out time for doctor's appointments, attending the school party, or dropping off and picking up your kids from school. However, some employers want their work-from-home staff to be available at all times during standard office hours, so make sure you're clear about 2) Cuts out commute time. When working from home, it's like adding another two hours back to your day-time that can be invested in the kids, exercise, or preparing a family meal. 3) Every day is a Casual Friday. Working from home cuts out the need for so many work appropriate clothes, and gives you a break on the budget in this area. It's also just nice to be able to spend a rainy work day in your favorite cozy sweater and yoga pants, rather than tromping down the sidewalk to the office in heels. 4) Savings on lunch and gas. Unless you're disciplined enough to pack a lunch every day, working away from home will cause you to dine out for lunch pretty frequently. Work-from-home types can just cruise into the kitchen and heat up last night's lasagna, saving major dollars. Ditto for saving on transportation costs from eliminating that commute. Working from Home Cons: 1) Isolation. If you thrive on the social interaction and collaboration that comes with an office environment, working from home might feel isolated and lonely to you. 2) Distractions at home. Working from home requires a different level of self-discipline. After all there's no one around to know if you're on task all day, and you have no accountability outside of your own integrity. If you work for an employer, you have to find a way to create a work environment at home that keeps you focused and putting in the hours each day that you'd devote to your job in the office. If you're self-employed, you still need boundaries to make sure that things get done, or your productivity-and income-will suffer. 3) Cost of setting up a home office. To work from home, you'll have to make an initial investment in basic equipment for production and communication with your employer and/or clients. A computer, printer, fast internet service, and conferencing accessibility are important to making yourself efficient and available. 4) Corporate disconnect. Remember the water cooler, where you learned about that coveted positions that were opening up in your department, or those lay-offs were coming and you'd better be on your toes? Working from home cuts you off from some of this type of important info. You'll have to be more proactive about networking and staying in the loop with your co-workers and bosses. 5) Keeping work and family separate. When you're working at home, you have to be careful that your work doesn't spill into family time. Just because you can work from home doesn't mean you should be available 24/7. When you're off-duty, be sure you switch your focus to family.

A. From the very first caveman to scale a tree or hang from a cliff face, to the mighty armies of the Greco-Roman empires and the gymnasiums of modern American high schools, calisthenics has endured and thrived because of its simplicity and utility. Unlike strength training which involves weights, machines or resistance bands, calisthenics uses only the body's own weight for physical development. B. Calisthenics enters the historical record at around 480 B.C., with Herodotus' account of the Battle of Thermopylae. Herodotus reported that, prior to the battle, the god-king Xerxes sent a scout party to spy on his Spartan enemies. The scouts informed Xerxes that the Spartans, under the leadership of King Leonidas, were practicing some kind of bizarre, synchronized movements akin to a tribal dance. Xerxes was greatly amused. His own army comprised over 120,000 men, while the Spartans had just 300. Leonidas was informed that he must retreat or face annihilation. The Spartans did not retreat, however, and in the ensuing battle, they managed to hold Xerxes' enormous army at bay for some time until reinforcements arrived. It turns out their tribal dance was not a superstitious ritual but a form of calisthenics by which they were building awe-inspiring physical strength and endurance. C. The Greeks took calisthenics seriously not only as a form of military discipline and strength but also as an artistic expression of movement and an aesthetically ideal physique. Indeed, the term calisthenics itself is derived from the Greek words for beauty and strength. We know from historical records and images from pottery, mosaics and sculptures of the period that the ancient Olympians took calisthenics training seriously. They were greatly admired – and still are, today – for their combination of athleticism and physical beauty. You may have heard a friend whimsically sigh and mention that someone 'has the body of a Greek god'. This expression has travelled through centuries and continents and the source of this envy and admiration is the calisthenics method. D. Calisthenics experienced its second golden age in the 1800s. This century saw the birth of gymnastics, an organised sport that uses a range of bars, rings, vaulting horses and balancing beams to display physical prowess. This period is also when the phenomena of strongmen developed. These were people of astounding physical strength and development who forged nomadic careers by demonstrating outlandish feats of strength to stunned populations. Most of these men trained using hand balancing and horizontal bars, as modern weight machines had not yet been invented. E. In the 1950s, Angelo Siciliano – who went by the stage name Charles Atlas – was crowned "The World's Most Perfectly Developed Man". Atlas's own approach stemmed from traditional calisthenics and through a series of mail-order comic books he taught these methods to hundreds of thousands of children and young adults through the 1960s and 1970s. But Atlas was the last of a dying breed. The tides were turning, fitness methods were drifting away from calisthenics, and no widely-regarded proponent of the method would ever succeed him. F. In the 1960s and 1970s, calisthenics and the goal of functional strength combined with physical beauty was replaced by an emphasis on huge muscles at any cost. This became the sport of bodybuilding. Although body building's pioneers were drawn from the calisthenics tradition, the sole goal soon became an increase in muscle size. Bodybuilding icons, people such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sergio Oliva, were called mass monsters because of their imposing physiques. Physical development of this nature was only attainable through the use of anabolic steroids, synthetic hormones which boosted muscle development while harming overall health. These bodybuilders also relied on free weights and machines, which allowed them to target and bloat the size of individual muscles rather than develop a naturally proportioned body. Calisthenics, with its emphasis on physical beauty and a balance in proportions, had little to offer the mass monsters. G. In this "bigger is better" climate, calisthenics was relegated to groups perceived to be vulnerable, such as women, people recuperating from injuries and school students. Although some of the strongest and most physically developed human beings ever to have lived acquired their abilities through the use of sophisticated calisthenics, a great deal of this knowledge was discarded and the method was reduced to nothing more than an easily accessible and readily available activity. Those who mastered the rudimentary skills of calisthenics could expect to graduate to weight training rather than advanced calisthenics. H. In recent years, however, fitness trends have been shifting back toward the use of calisthenics. Bodybuilding approaches that promote excessive muscle development frequently lead to joint pain, injuries, unbalanced physiques and weak cardiovascular health. As a result, many of the newest and most popular gyms and programmes emphasize calisthenics-based methods instead. Modern practices often combine elements from a number of related traditions such as yoga, Pilates, kettle-ball training, gymnastics and traditional Greco-Roman calisthenics. Many people are keen to recover the original Greek vision of physical beauty and strength and harmony of the mind-body connection.

During the sixties and seventies, attaining huge muscles became more important than 35_______ or having an attractive-looking body. The first people to take up this new sport of bodybuilding had a background in calisthenics but the most famous practitioners became known as 36 _______ on account of the impressive size of their muscles. Calisthenics then became the domain of 'weaker' people: females, children and those recovering from 37 _______. Much of the advanced knowledge about calisthenics was lost and the method was subsequently downgraded to the status of a simple, user-friendly activity. Once a person became skilled at this, he would progress to 38_______. Currently, a revival of calisthenics is underway as extreme muscle building can harm the body leaving it sore, out of balance, and in poor 39 _______