PP Written Test Samples

WRITTEN EXAMINATION SAMPLE 1

Instructions
You must write clearly and legibly. If your paper cannot be read by the
evaluators, it
will not receive credit. You may use double spacing if you wish.
IMPORTANT: Write your summary in black or blue pen on the
dedicoted pages of the
answer booklet.
Suggested time: 45 minutes
Maximum score: 150 points
TEXT
Farmers in Ghana plant rows of cassava next to their chili peppers,
and plant banana trees in the middle of cocoa plantations. In India,
farmers hang
bouquets of flowers in their apple trees. And in Brazil, farmers have
increased appreciation of a law requiring them to leave a certain
portion of their farms as
natural habitat. Three seemingly incongruent situations but they have

a connection. All are solutions identified by FAO and its partners for
dealing with
one of the pressing problems agriculture faces today - the loss of
pollinators, mainly bees but also other Insects and birds. Farmers have
adopted these
measures in an effort to bring pollinators back to their fields, thanks to
the support they receive from FAO's Global Pollination Project. Bees
and other
pollinators make enormous contributions to the world's agriculture. In
terms of food production, staples such as wheat, maize, potatoes and
rice can
reproduce without animal pollination. But, most fruits and vegetables,
which are increasingly important in global agriculture, connot. While
the plants themselves
will survive, their yields may drop by as much as 90 percent without
pollination. This is especially critical considering that 75 percent of all
crops have some
dependence on pollinators. Plus, crops dependent on pollination are
five times more valuable than those that don't need pollination, it oil
adds up to an
enormous contribution in terms of improved yields. The French
National Institute for Agricultural Research has valued pollinators'
contributions to global
agriculture at more than USD 200 billion a year. Although pollinators
are essential to the world's ecosystems, the services those bees and
other pollinators provide
freely to agriculture were once taken for granted. It is only recently
that pollination has been recognized as an essential element of
agronomy, a
recognition mainly due to a crisis - the world's pollinators are
disappearing. The reasons include loss of habitat, intensive
agriculture, indiscriminate use of
pesticides and climate change. Climate change is a double issue that
not only affects pollinator survival, it also alters crop growing seasons,
which means that
the pollinators may not be available at the time that the crop is in
flower and needs the pollination. Global statistics are sketchy, but they
show that pollinator

populations In several parts of the world are steeply declining. In

Europe, where monitoring is more advanced than other parts of the
world, there is growing
evidence of parallel declines in both wild pollinators and in the plants
relying on them. In recent decades, commercial farmers have relied on
domesticated
honey bees as pollinators but for some crops, they just are not as
effective as their wild brethren. Agronomists now recognize that the
most effective, resilient
approach to managing pollination requires integrating a diversity of
wild species with managed pollinators such as honey bees. FAO's
Global Pollination Project
focuses on identifying the steps needed to bring wild pollinators back
to the fields - steps that vary from crop to crop and farming system to
farming system.
The project works with farming communities, national partners and
policy-makers in seven pilot countries, raising awareness of the need
to develop
agricultural policy that supports pollinators, meeting with farming
communities to help them develop pollination management plans, and
introducing pollination
into agricultural curricula. Through farmer field schools launched by
the project, farmers can share their traditional pollination solutions,
blend them with the
science-based practices, and observe the results throughout the
growing season. FAO is documenting the successful pollinator-friendly
practices, and
compiling a set of tools and best management practices that can be
applied to pollinator conservation efforts worldwide. The solutions are
rather obvious modify intensive systems, reduce pesticides and introduce diversity
through cover crops, crop rotations and hedgerows. The goal is to find
ways to support
pollinators without reducing yields. Apple growers in India
traditionally hung flower bouquets in their apple trees to simplify the
cross pollination essential for apples to produce fruit. But FAO and its
national partners discovered that by careful placement, the bouquets
also enticed small black flies - not just bees -

to pollinate their trees If the trees flowered when It was too cold for
bees. Until then, the farmers had considered the flies to be pests and
sprayed to control
them. Farmers in Ghana now plant cassava rows around their chili
pepper fields to increase pollination. Bees do not like chili peppers, but
FAO found that bees
will come to the fields for the nector-rich cassava flowers and while
there, will also pollinate the chilles. Brazil's regulation that farmers
must keep a portion of
their farmland in its natural forested state in order to slow tropical
deforestation takes land out of production. But FAO and its national
partners have shown
farmers that the forest provides habitat to pollinators that. In turn,
increase the production of crops, such as canola. The increase In
productivity has been so
impressive that private sector processors of canola seeds are now
working with the FAO project personnel to train their technicians and
canola farmers in
pollination. The FAO Global Pollination Project is sharing its findings
across countries and regions, allowing more and more farmers and
countries access to
the knowledge about importance of pollination - knowledge that will
eventually inform the policy to ensure that pollinators are protected
and can continue to
do their job - supporting the world's agricultural crops.
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SAMPLE 2
Summarize the following text
IN YOUR OWN WORDS
. The text should be reduced to approximately one third of its original
length; the summary should have between 200 and 300words. Failure
to meet these guidelines will result in point loss.
A tree fungus could provide green fuel that can be pumped directly
into tanks, scientists say. The organism, found in the Patagonian
rainforest, naturally produces a mixture of chemicals that is
remarkably similar to diesel. "This is the only organism that has ever
been shown to produce suchan important combination of fuel

substances," said the plant scientist from Montana State University

who led the work. "We were totally surprised to learn that it was
making a plethora of hydrocarbons." In principle, biofuels are
attractive replacements for liquid fossil fuels used in transport that
generate greenhouse gases. The European Union has set biofuel
targets of 5.75% by2010 and 10% by 2020. But critics say current
biofuels scarcely reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cause food
price rises and deforestation. Producing biofuels sustainably is now a
target and this latest work has been greeted by experts as an
encouraging step. The fungus, called Gliocladium roseum and
discovered growing inside the ulmo tree (Eucryphia cordifolia) in
northern Patagonia, produces a range of long-chain hydrocarbon
molecules that are virtually identical to the fuel-grade compounds in
existing fossil fuels. Details of the concoction, which the scientist calls
"mycodiesel", will be published in the next issue of the journal
Microbiology. "The results were totally unexpected and very exciting
and almost every hair on my arms stood on end,"said the researcher.
Many simple organisms, such as algae, are already known to make
chemicals that are similar to the long-chain hydrocarbons present in
transport fuel but none produce the explosive hydrocarbons with the
high energy density of those in mycodiesel. The researcher in charge of
this project said that the chemical mixture produced by his fungus
could be used in a modern diesel engine without any modification.
Another advantage of the G. roseum fungus is its ability to eat up
cellulose. This is a compound that, along with lignin, makes up the cell
walls in plants and is indigestible by most animals. As such, it makes
up much of the organic wastecurrently discarded, such as stalks and
sawdust. Converting this plant waste into useful fuels is a major goal
for the biofuel industry, which currently uses food crops such as corn
and has been blamed for high food prices. Normally, cellulosic
materials are treated with enzymes that first
convert it to sugar, with microbes then used to ferment the sugar into
ethanol fuel. In contrast, G.roseum consumes cellulose directly to
produce mycodiesel. Although the fungus makes less mycodiesel when
it feeds on cellulose compared to sugars, new developments in
fermentation technology and genetic manipulation could help improve
the yield. In fact, the genes of the fungusare just as useful as the
fungus itself in the development of new biofuels. "Fungi are very

important but we often overlook these organisms," a fungus expert at

Swansea University, said: "This is the first time that a fungus has been
shown to produce hydrocarbons that could potentially be exploited as
a source of fuel in the future. Concept-wise, the discovery and its
potential applications are fantastic. However, more research is
needed, as well as a pilot study to determine the costs and benefits.
Even so, another potential supply of renewable fuel allows us to
diversify our energysources and is certainly an exciting discovery." The
executive director of the National Energy Research Centre also
welcomed the discovery but noted it is at its earliest stage of
development.
"This appears another encouraging discovery that natural processes
are more capable of producing materials of real value to mankind than
we had previously known. It's another piece of evidence that there is
real potential to adapt such processes to provide energy sources that
can help reduce our need for, and dependence on, fossil fuels." The
next stage for this breakthrough research will be to refine the
extraction of mycodiesel from the fungus. This requires more
laboratory work to identify the most efficient ways to grow the
organism and, perhaps, genetic modification of the fungus to improve
yields. If successful, this new technology will then need to be tested in
a large-scale demonstration plant to solve any problems in scaling up
to commercial production. This discovery also raises questions
abouthow fossil fuelswere made in the first place. The accepted theory
is that crude oil, which is used to make diesel, is formed from the
remains of dead plants and animals that have been exposed to heat
and pressure for millions of years. But if fungi like this are producing
mycodiesel all over the rainforest, they may have contributed to the
formation of fossil fuels.
Specialized paper (650 points):
The Specialized Paper tests your substantive knowledge and analytical
thinking. It is specific to the exam subject you are taking the exam in.
This part of the written examination can be answered in any of the six
official UN languages. You can score a maximum of 650 points in the
Specialised paper.
part 1: Multiple choice items (- 50 Multiple Choice)
Part I of the Specialized Paper consists of up to 50 multiple choice
questions relevant to the exam subject you are applying for. Each

question is worth 3 points; no points are deducted for a wrong answer.

The answers to the multiple choice items need to be indicated in the
Answer Booklet by filling in the circle corresponding to the correct
answer from the Questions Booklet.
Samples:
This one for Administration exam
Multiple Choice Items
1. A company can choose from four mutually exclusive projects. The
forecasted net cash inflow
for each of the possible outcomes is:
Market
Po Avera Go
Condition
or ge
od
44
56
Project A
470
0
0
40
58
Project B
550
0
0
36
48
Project C
400
0
0
32
42
Project D
380
0
0
If the company applies the MAXI-MIN criterion, the project chosen
would be?
a. Project A
b. Project B
c. Project C
d. Project D
What is PRINCE2?
a. Method of integrating constraints into core project phases to
maximize
opportunity
b. Method of planning and managing a project execution, designed to
deal with
constraints
c. Methodology for managing projects within a clearly defined
framework
d. Methodology for repetitive, functional activities to produce products
or services
Which of the following circumstances justifies sole source

procurement?
a. Only one vendor at the location of the requirement can meet the
requirement
b. Only one vendor is registered for this requirement in the vendor
register
c. The buyer met with one vendor who demonstrated his capability of
meeting
perfectly the requirement
d. There is no competitive marketplace for the requirement needed
Part II: Constructed response items
Part II of the Specialised Paper consists of up to 13 items where
candidates need to produce a longer text, speech, analysis or a similar
answer. Candidates are expected to write a longer response (up to 4
pages) to the first three questions and a shorter text to questions 4
to13 (up to two pages). Please note that not every exam will have three
longer and ten shorter questions. Sometimes an exam may have fewer
questions as well.
SAMPLE.
Constructed Response Items
1.
a) The United Nations is responding to increasingly challenging issues
around the world, while going through a period of unprecedented
economic constraints. These two conflicting forces demand that the
Organization rethinks its operating model by looking for ways to
improve efficiency without impacting effectiveness in delivering our
core mission.
b) The deployment of Umoja, the Enterprise Resource Planning
initiative that commenced in 2013, marks one of the foremost
transformative processes currently underway in the United Nations
Secretariat. The harmonization, integration and automation of
business processes globally will facilitate a new way of working and
will change the way the Organization does business. As a result, the
UN will strengthen oversight and accountability, gain additional
opportunities for consolidation and significantly improve the
efficiency of its operations.
c) With this objective in mind, the Organization will re-engineer its
back-office processes as performed by the different United Nations
Secretariat departments. The goal is to migrate from the current,

mostly compartmentalized model of operation to one which will allow

the United Nations Secretariat globally to share resources and
harmonize back-office processes, including the alignment and
rationalization of our many information and communications
technology efforts.
d) In the coming years, the Organization will migrate from multiple
operating models to a common operating model that will be applied
across the global Secretariat. According to the Secretary-General, this
change will affect every workplace and will require a major collective
effort to come to fruition.
In this context, please discuss what you see as the opportunities and
challenges of such an organizational transformation initiative. In your
response, please address impact on People, Processes, Technology and
any other areas you deem relevant.
2. In a situation of a mandatory reassignment from one duty station to
another, outline the components of a fair compensation package.
3. Identify and briefly discuss three major advantages of introducing
electronic data processing equipment to assist in management
functions.
4. What is budgetary control? What is the difference between
budgetary control and management control?
SAMPLE 2
Social Affairs.
A. How do the various aspects of rural development contribute to
poverty eradication in developing countries? Explain.
B. Economic growth, while necessary, is alone not sufficient to ensure
comprehensive social development. Discuss.
C. Full employment and decent work are considered important to
social development.
a) Explain the meaning of "full employment" and "decent work".
b) Explain why they are important.
c) Discuss how governments and the private sector can achieve full
employment and decent work.
Migration plays a key role in development. Give one example each of:
a) Its benefits to sending and receiving countries.
b) lis costs to sending and receiv ing countries.
2. Define social integration and explain its significance for economic
and social development.

3. Name one cost and benefit each of the public versus private
provision of social services (healthcare, education____).
4. Describe, using an example, the human rights-based approach to
development.
5. What is the role of the United Nations in helping to prevent the
supply and use of drugs? Give one example each.
SAMPLE 3. Public information.
ESSAYS;
A. Several influential media have been criticising the United Nations
for being ineffective in addressing crucial issues of importance to the
international community, such as terrorism, human rights,
democracy, peacekeeping and UN reform, including financial control
and management. As a result, the image of the United Nations has
suffered. You have been tasked to formulate a public information
strategy in order to counter the criticisms in one of the areas above
and to help improve the image of the Organisation. Explain your
strategy and how your strategy can be implemented.
B. The Security Council held a high-level meeting on "Mediation and
Settlement of Disputes". The United Nations News Centre, an on-line
news service, wants to highlight the debate on its news website. Using
the press release issued on the debate (see Annex), draft an
appropriate news article for the website. Start with a heading.
C. The Secretary-General wants to publish an op-ed article on the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in an international
newspaper. MDGs are listed below. 2009 marks the first year after the
half point was reached between the agreement on the MDGs and the
planned date for the accomplishments of the MDGs. Draft an op-ed
article under the name of the Secretary-General on the state of affairs
on this important milestone. Take into account the fact that an op-ed
article is relatively short and. should be well structured and convey key
messages. Discuss where we stand now and what remains to be
accomplished. You may decide to address future challenges as a whole
or focus on no more that 4 goals.
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QUESTIONS;
1. 2009 is the international year of biodiversity. The UN would like to
set up a website to promote the year and you have been asked to

design it. Briefly present with bullet points the design: decide on 3 key
messages and your strategy to promote them.
2. You have been assigned to produce a three-minute news video for
United Nations Television, which will be aired on an international
satellite television station. The topic is violence against women".
Describe your video production proposal. What elements would you
choose for the proposal?
3. United Nations Radio is preparing a 5-minute feature story on
climate change and the role of the United Nations in it. How would
you go about preparing the story? Describe the essential steps you
would take and how you would structure the radio presentation.
4. A civil society group active in genocide prevention wants to organize
an exhibition at United Nations Headquarters or at a United Nations
office in the field. List three (3) criteria that the United Nations should
consider in order to approve the proposal.
5. The next soccer World Cup will be held in South Africa in 2010. The
Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Sport for Development and
Peace wants to use this event as a platform to highlight the role of
sports for African development. What activities would you recommend
to the Special Adviser? List three (3) and explain how these activities
can be most effectively carried out.
6. You have been tasked to prepare events for the International Day of
Non-Violence. What events would you undertake? Describe your activ
ities in three (3) key media.
7. A new peacekeeping mission is being established in a buffer zone
between two countries with poor communications and transport
infrastructure. The mission's mandate is to monitor a ceasefire in the
buffer zone, to undertake de-mining and to provide social serv ices to
the war- affected population. Your task is to set up a public
information unit for the new mission. Briefly describe:
a. The structure of the Public Information Unit:
b. Three (3) key activities it should undertake:
c. Target audience(s);
d. How to reach this/these audience(s)?