General Training Reading 2025-03 Test 2

A. Mary-Anne: I spent a while thinking about buying this sweater because of the price, but I'm glad I finally did. It's a long sweater but that's good as I'm quite tall. I normally find that the sleeves are too short when I try on a top, but not with this one. I tend to take medium but went for large, which was a wise decision as there is plenty of room for a T-shirt underneath when I wear it with jeans. B. Davina: These sweaters are an ideal weight for office wear. The purple one is pretty, though I expected a lighter shade from the picture. I wear a US size 12 / UK 16, and the medium is big enough to fit over a shirt with room to spare. It has long sleeves that I love to roll up at the wrist. I'm now trying to resist the temptation to buy it in grey too. C. Naga: This knitted sweater looks great in the pictures. I ordered the olive green with stripes and, although I wasn't sure it was going to look right on me, I was pleasantly surprised when I put it on. It's very soft and I love the long past-the-wrist sleeves too. I opted for the medium, but it was too tight so I exchanged it. D. Libby: This is the third of your sweaters that I've bought over the past two years. It's true to size and perfect for the winter months, though I should add that its loose knit means it's best to avoid playing with cats or young dogs when you're wearing it as they could pull threads in the body or sleeves. E. Laura: I couldn't decide which color to get so I bought the deep blue and the gray, with every intention of sending one of them back. That didn't happen, of course! I would say both colors match the online pictures. I bought size small, and the length is perfect for me, despite the unnecessarily long sleeves! These sweaters are lovely to wear with jeans but also stylish enough to wear to work.

Many thanks for offering your valuable time to volunteer as a train station helper to help those in need of assistance. REGISTRATION: Please remember to sign in and sign out every time you work a shift. This is essential owing to insurance law and emergency situations. The book is located in the staffroom on the 'office on duty' desk. Please remember to collect an official 'volunteer' badge from the orange box on the desk, and you are reminded to return it promptly after your shift. It is policy that this badge must be worn and visible at all times. GUIDELINES ON SMOKING: Smoking is banned entirely at all locations in and around the train station except for two clearly designated smoking rooms where it is permitted to smoke. Please note that this includes both real cigarettes and e-cigarettes. REFRESHMENTS POLICY: As an official volunteer you are entitled to a complimentary meal voucher for each full 5-hour shift that you work. This can only be redeemed in the official staff canteen that is easily found towards the rear of the West building. Complimentary hot drinks and cold water is constantly available too in the staff changing rooms. AVAILABILITY FOR WORK: It is understood that you are offering up your own free time to volunteer as a helper and therefore you are flexible. If anything should change in your availability please contact the volunteer coordinator directly on the phone number given (text or call). Your work shifts will be prepared a week in advance, and will be both emailed to you and posted on the staff notice board schedule. ADVICE ON PERSONAL WELFARE: Your safety is the upmost importance when working in a busy and bustling station filled with trains and passengers coming and going regularly in peak hours. You are strongly urged always to remain alert and vigilant because of this. In addition, any existing health concerns and conditions you have must be notified to the coordinator for legal reasons. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: To be situated in pairs at designated help desks located at certain points around the station to assist passengers with general enquiries and information. A CURRICULUM VITAE (CV for short and Latin for "the story of your life") is a detailed summary of your past experience. Its purpose is to set out your details in a precise, factual and interesting manner. It allows you to tell an employer what you can do and what skills you have, letting him or her know quickly and easily whether or not you have something to offer each other. First of all, we'll outline some crucial data that should always be included in your CV. Information that should be included: PERSONAL DETAILS: These should include your full name, address, date and place of birth, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address and any other details you wish to include, e.g. marital status, nationality. EDUCATION, QUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING: As well as schools and any exams passed, mention any part-time courses you have been on. Accurate dates are very important. You can also include here the information concerning grants or awards you may have obtained during your academic life. WORK EXPERIENCE (includes school work experience, part-time work, and voluntary work) Put these in order starting with the first or last job you had. Say where the job was, give the job title and say briefly what you did. If you had any gaps, eg. because of unemployment or bringing up a family, include them. Try to highlight the experience you have had and try to be positive. SKILLS: This can be, for some people, a very important section because it tells the employer what you have learned from past experiences and what you can bring to the new job. LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY: In this section you should list the languages you know and how well you know them. As a guide, you can use the following scale in order to rate your knowledge of those languages: basic, average, fluent, native. Example: Spanish: native, English: fluent, French: basic. INTERESTS/ HOBBIES: This area is important because it says a lot about the type of person you are. Try to include one where you mix with others. REFEREES: Always ask a person's permission to use his/her name. You usually need to supply two names, preferably including one who has known you in a work setting. Give their job titles and full address and telephone number.

Did you know that from last year, you don't have to wait on the phone to speak to your GP surgery? Just like online banking, you can look at your GP records on a computer using a website, a tablet or a smartphone using an app. You can also: • book and cancel appointments with a doctor or nurse online. • order repeat prescriptions online. Some patients have found that they don't have to waste lots of time, as they don't need to make a special trip to their surgery to order repeat prescriptions. • look at part of your GP records online. You can look at your records whenever you want, even from the comfort of your home, and find answers to questions you may have without ringing your doctor. • view clinical correspondence, such as hospital discharges. Online services are free to use and are just another way of contacting your surgery. You can still ring them or go to your surgery like you do now. You can also still request to see records from your surgery. They may charge you for this service. How can I start using GP online services? Follow these steps to access GP online services: 1. Take photo ID (passport or driving licence) and proof of your current address (such as a bill) to your GP practice and tell them you want to start using their online services. 2. If you do not have any ID, then either a member of staff will have to confirm your identity or you may have to answer questions about personal information in your GP records. Complete the registration form that you are given by your practice. 3. Once you have signed up, you will receive a letter with your unique username, password and instructions on how to log in. Did you know that you can choose to give another person access to your GP online services on your behalf? You don't need to know how to use these services or have a computer yourself to give another person access. Your surgery will provide them with login details, which will be separate from your own. Your surgery will give you details on how this can be set up. The recommended and safest way to give another person access to your online services is for them to have their own username and password. If you use online services yourself, you should not share your username and password with anyone. If you share your username and password, your surgery cannot tell whether you or someone else accessed your online services. This may be a problem if someone else misuses your login details and your surgery has to look into this. You can also choose which online services you want each person to use. These are booking appointments, ordering repeat prescriptions and looking at your GP records. If you have a carer, using GP online services can stop them wasting time, allowing them to spend more time looking after your needs. Staff at your surgery will give your chosen person a short form to fill in and they will witness the signature. Your chosen person should bring identification with them. You will also need to sign to confirm you agree with the information on the form.

Ethernet is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 1983 as IEEE 802.3. Ethernet has since been refined to support higher bit rates, a greater number of nodes, and longer link distances, but retains much backward compatibility. Over time, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies such as Token Ring, FDDI and ARCNET. The original Ethernet uses coaxial cable as a shared medium, while the newer Ethernet variants use twisted pair and fibre optic links with switches. Over the course of its history, Ethernet data transfer rates have been increased from the original 2.94 megabits per second (Mbit/s) to the latest 400 gigabits per second (Gbit/s). The Ethernet standards comprise several wirings and signalling variants of the OSI physical layer in use with Ethernet. Systems communicating over Ethernet divide a stream of data into shorter pieces called frames. Each frame contains source and destination addresses, and error-checking data so that damaged frames can be detected and discarded; most often, higher-layer procedures trigger retransmission of absent frames. Per the OSI model, Ethernet provides services up to and including the data link layer. The 48-bit MAC address was adopted by other IEEE 802 networking standards, including IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), as well as by FDDI. EtherType values are also used in Subnetwork Access Protocol (SNAP) headers. Ethernet is widely used in homes and industry and interworks well with wireless Wi-Fi technologies. The Internet Protocol is commonly carried over Ethernet and so it is considered one of the key technologies that make up the Internet. Ethernet has evolved to include higher bandwidth, improved medium access control methods, and different physical media. The coaxial cable was put in place of the point-to-point links connected by Ethernet repeaters or switches. Ethernet stations communicate by sending each other data packets: blocks of data individually sent and delivered. As with other IEEE 802 LANS, adapters come programmed with globally unique 48-bit MAC address so that each Ethernet station has a unique address. The MAC addresses are used to specify both the destination and the source of each data packet. Ethernet establishes link-level connections, which can be defined using both the destination and source addresses. On reception of a transmission, the receiver uses the destination address to determine whether the transmission is relevant to the station or should be ignored. A network interface normally does not accept packets addressed to other Ethernet stations. An Ether type field in each frame is used by the operating system on the receiving station to select the appropriate protocol module (e.g., an Internet Protocol version such as IPv4). Ethernet frames are said to be self-identifying, because of the EtherType field. Self-identifying frames make it possible to intermix multiple protocols on the same physical network and allow a single computer to use multiple protocols together. Despite the evolution of Ethernet technology, all generations of Ethernet use the same frame formats, Mixed-speed networks can be built using Ethernet switches and repeaters supporting the desired Ethernet variants. Due to the ubiquity of Ethernet, and the ever-decreasing cost of the hardware needed to support it, most manufacturers now build Ethernet interfaces directly into PC motherboards, eliminating the need for a separate network card.

22. Latest Ethernet options use contorted pair and fibre optic connections in conjunction with _________. 23. Frames are the distribution of _________ into tinier fragments. 24. The higher-layer protocols prompt _________ of vanished frames. 25. The point-to-point links were swapped by _________, linked by ethernet switches. 26. The MAC addresses are employed to stipulate the target as well as the _________ of all data packet. 27. Blending several protocols on the similar physical network is only made feasible by _________.

Dark chocolate history goes back at least 3000 years. What began as a bitter drink in the pre-historic tropics of South America has become one of the world's most popular treats. A Throughout the tropical areas of Central and South America, a room-temperature drink made from cacao seeds has been enjoyed for several thousand years, with the earliest documented usage between 1400 BC to 1100 BC. Pre-Columbian societies, through the Maya and Aztecs, used the drink for ceremonial and medicinal purposes, and also as a luxury for the elite. This drink was very bitter and was laced with various additions such as vanilla, chili pepper, sometimes alcohol, other spices, and cornmeal. It was served warm, with no sugar or other sweetener, and would not be particularly recognizable today. B Columbus was exposed to the native chocolate drink, but was unimpressed. It was not until Hernando Cortez arrived that the value and possibilities in Spain were recognized. The Spanish added cane sugar, or sometimes honey, to the formula and also started serving the drink hot. For almost 100 years, the secrets of chocolate belonged exclusively to the Spanish, but then spread throughout Europe. It wasn't until 1689 that milk was added to the chocolate drink by Hans Sloan in Jamaica. C During the 19th century, the development, and growth of large plantations and markets, and the industrial revolution and mass production techniques, led to chocolate that was inexpensive enough to be available to everyone. In 1828, the Dutch chocolate maker Conrad van Houten invented a hydraulic press to make cocoa powder, an alkalizing process used to mellow the taste, and to make the powder easier to mix with water. This process is now known as the "Dutch process" or "Dutching process". In 1847, Fry and Sons of England created the first solid-eating chocolate using a process similar to that used today. This product was, of course, a dark chocolate. D Cadbury's began business operations in England in 1860. Tobler was making hand-made chocolates in Switzerland in 1864. By 1876 the Swiss were adding dry milk to the formula to make milk chocolate. Lindt invented the conch in 1879. Milton Hershey began operations in 1894. In 1899, Lindt and Sprüngli were formed, and Tobler opened its first factory. E Dark chocolate may even go as far as protecting against heart attack and stroke. A large Australian study from 2012 found that daily consumption of dark chocolate could prevent major cardiovascular events in people with risk factors for heart disease. Additionally, a German study published in 2010 tracked 20,000 people over eight years and found that those who ate one square of chocolate a day had a 39 percent less chance of stroke and heart attack. Beyond heart health, dark chocolate may also protect against diabetes. "Some studies have shown that the antioxidants in dark chocolate may help the body use its insulin more efficiently to control blood sugar," McDaniel says. A British study found that the flavanols in chocolate boost blood flow to the brain, which could aid alertness and cognition. Plus, dark chocolate has a modest amount of caffeine, along with the milder stimulant theobromine, making it a great all-natural pick-me-up. F To get all of these health benefits, you have to choose the right kind. "It is a myth that all dark chocolate is good for you," says McDaniel. "Sugar is often the first ingredient listed on many dark chocolate bars." Cocoa solids contain the desirable flavanols responsible for heart health protection, so they should hold the number-one spot on the ingredients list." McDaniel says. "A good rule of thumb is to look for at least 70 percent cocoa solids, which means the chocolate will have a slightly bitter taste. But you can train your taste buds over time to enjoy this less-sweet flavor." You also want to avoid dark chocolates that have added milk fat or hydrogenated vegetable oils, which are saturated fats.

LIST OF HEADINGS i. Spanish Discovery ii. Healthy ingredients in chocolate iii. Native American Drink iv. Industrial Business of chocolate v. Bitter taste chocolate vi. 19th-Century Change and Innovation vii. Health benefits of chocolate viii. McDaniel's inventions