Hong

Hong Kong
Kong Country
Country Parks
Parks There are 51 questions in this paper.
PRACTICE PAPER 3A — READING Time allowed: 1 hour
Text 1 Read the extracts from a guide to Hong Kong’s Country Parks below and then answer questions 1–13.
(18 marks)

Tai Lam Country Park covers 5,370 hectares in the central New Territories. Facilities
include a 14-station fitness trail, a tree walk, a forest trail, and a recently-opened mountain
bike trail. (Note: mountain bikers must be over 12 and have purchased a permit.) Chinese
leopard cat and barking deer can sometimes be seen. There are campsites in the park, and
barbecue and picnic sites along Route Twisk.
Transport: bus 51 from Kam Tin or Tseun Wan; minibus 71 from Yuen Long.

Lantau Country Park, 7,840 hectares. This is the place to ‘get away from it all’,
hiking, camping, swimming and fishing. A popular activity is to hike up to the summit of
Lantau Peak at night and watch the sun-rise. But be careful — the trail is steep and quite
dangerous in places! The Lantau Trail links places of historical interest. Accommodation at
campsites, monasteries and youth hostels (members only).
Transport: ferry from Central to Mui Wo, then bus or taxi.

Pat Sin Leng Country Park, 3,125 hectares. All 8 mountains in the range can be
climbed, the highest being 500m — which is for experienced walkers only. The 4km nature
trail is also quite rugged and not recommended for casual walkers. Much more accessible is
the path down to the Bride’s Pool Waterfall. Barbecue and camp sites are located along the
road from Luk Keng to Shuen Wan.
Transport: buses 75K and 275R from Tai Po Market.

Kam Shan and Lion Rock Country Park, 557 hectares. Located close to urban
areas, this park is popular with families and always busy. Facilities include barbecue sites, a
morning walk garden, a jogging trail, a 15-station fitness trail, a tree walk and a network of
easy paths. There are magnificent panoramic views towards Shatin, Tsing Yi and North
Kowloon. Long-tailed macaque monkeys are a common sight, but don’t feed them — they
bite!
Transport; buses 72, 81 and 86B pass by the park.

Tai Tam Country Park at 1,315 hectares, extends over 1/5 of Hong Kong Island. The
park is situated around 4 reservoirs built between 1889 and 1917. The park contains many
easy walking trails, a morning walker’s garden, a morning walker’s garden, a 2.5km jogging
trail, a tree walk. There are also barbecue pits and childrens’ play equipment. Visitors will
see nine species of birds, including kingfishers flitting between the trees.
Transport: buses 61 and 66 from Repulse Bay; 14 from Shaukeiwan.

Tai Po Kau Special Area is a 440 hectare nature reserve in a deeply-wooded valley
with a stream at the bottom. The area contains over 100 species of tree, 12 common birds,
plus barking deer, civet cat, porcupine and pangolin. This shady unspoilt valley is the perfect
place to find peace – no barbecues or fires are permitted. There are no cars, buses or
pollution – just five peaceful walks including a fascinating nature trail.
Transport: buses 70, 72 and 74 from Tai Po Road.

Aberdeen Country Park, 423 hectares is the ‘back garden’ for residents living in the
Wong Chuk Hang and Aberdeen housing estates. This busy park is well provided with
recreation sites for visitors of different ages and interests. Facilities: barbecue pits, picnic
tables, rain shelters, children’s play complex, fitness trail, wheelchair course, nature trail,
visitors’ centre.
Transport: the park is readily accessible on foot from many directions, including Aberdeen
Reservoir Road, Wong Nai Chung Gap Road, Wan Chai Gap Road.

90
Answer the following questions using information from the Country Parks guide. Write the letter(s)
(A–G) next to each question. The first has been done for you as an example. (6 marks)

Which is the largest Country Park? a. B

1. Which park on Hong Kong Island is a good place to see birds? 1.

2. Which has special facilities for disabled visitors? 2.
3. Which would be a good place to go mountain biking? 3.
4. Which does not contain barbecue facilities? 4.
5. Which contains a waterfall? 5.
6. Which two parks have special trails for joggers? 6. and

Decide whether these statements are True, False or the information is Not stated. Put a tick in ONE
box only for each statement. (5 marks)

True False Not stated

7. Kam Shan and Lion Rock Country Park is a good place
to take the family.
8. The Lantau Trail is suitable for jogging.
9. You can camp in Tai Lam Country Park.
10. Aberdeen Country Park is easy to get to.
11. Pat Sing Leng Country Park does not have any easy,
safe walks.

12. Which descriptions contain warnings to visitors? Fill in the table below. One has been done for you
as an example. (4 marks)

Lantau Country Park But be careful — the trail is steep and quite dangerous in places!

13. One of your friends said to you, “I’m feeling really stressed. I’d love to go somewhere quiet where
there are not many people, and no roads — somewhere dark and green where I can enjoy the trees, the
animals and the birds”.

Based on the information in the guide, which place would you recommend they visit, and why?
(3 marks)

91
 Text 2 Read the following article and then answer questions 14 – 34. (22 marks)

Keeping a balance in the country parks

The programme to identify and protect large areas of Hong Kong’s countryside as country
parks began in 1976. The Governor at the time, Murray MacLehose, strongly supported the idea. However,
many members of the Legislative Council were less enthusiastic. The Councillors believed that Hong
Kong people were too keen on city life to see the benefits of country parks. They thought that people
5 would be too busy working and earning money to take any interest in the countryside.

But of course, the Councillors were wrong. There are now 23 Country Parks covering 41,582
hectares. On average, a million of us go to the parks every month (12.2 million people last year).
Visiting them is the most popular form of recreation in Hong Kong. Perhaps most of us do not stray far
from the well-built paths and the picnic sites, but the parks provide us all with invaluable access to fresh
10 air and wide-open spaces.

It is clear that managing the parks is not an easy job. The basic problem is that the parks
authority has two competing objectives. On the one hand, the park rangers want to keep the country
parks as clean, green and unspoilt as possible. On the other, the parks have no purpose if they are not
used by the public. The whole point of the parks is to provide space for people to enjoy themselves in
15 safety, so emergency services, signs, toilets and rubbish bins must all be available.

Keeping the parks clean is a tough and often thankless task. Last year a massive 3,700 tonnes
of litter was collected from the country parks — only slightly down on the record 4,100 tonnes collected
in 2003-4. One ranger commented that the barbecue areas frequently look utterly disgusting on Monday
mornings, “Sometimes you can’t see the grass for the garbage.”

20 Apparently, day-time picnickers are gradually becoming more responsible, and are clearing up
their own rubbish. However, at night it can be a different story, especially if drunken barbecue parties
get out of control. It is often difficult for the rangers to do anything about these parties. The young
people involved are often drunk and aggressive, and the rangers have to call for police back-up before
they can deal effectively with the problem. As a result, many offenders go unpunished.

25 Some people think that the punishments for this sort of behaviour are simply not heavy enough.
About 1,200 people were prosecuted for offences committed inside country parks last year. About 650
of these involved littering, for which the standard penalty was a $500 fine. Some commentators have
proposed much heavier penalties than that, which would really deter people from littering. Another
suggestion is that offenders should very publicly be made to clear up other people’s litter, as a form of
30 community service.

Some park rangers have a little sympathy for the party-goers. “They’re just young people
enjoying the freedom and space that they can’t have in their cramped flats in the city. No wonder they
go a little wild!” commented one ranger. However, he continued, there was another side to the story.
“The parks belong to all the people of Hong Kong, not just to a minority. Throwing rubbish about and
35 breaking bottles ruins the beauty of the park for everybody. And, of course, it makes more unnecessary
and unpleasant work for us.”

14. According to paragraph 1, what were the opinions of the Governor and the Legislative Councillors
about country parks in 1976? (2 marks)
a) the Governor’s opinion:

92
 b) the Legislative Councillors’ opinion:

15. In line 7 ‘us’ refers to

16. Look at the word ‘stray’ in line 8. Now look at the dictionary entry for ‘stray’ below. Which meaning
corresponds to the meaning in line 8? Write the correct number in the box provided.
stray n 1 an animal that has got lost or separated from its owner, e.g. This
dog must be a stray.
stray adj 2 not in the right place, e.g. A few stray hairs had escaped from
under her hat.
stray v 3 to move away from a group, a path or place, e.g. Young children
should not be allowed to stray from their parents. 4 to leave the topic one
is supposed to be thinking about, e.g. My mind kept straying from my
Geography lesson to what was going to happen later that night.
16.

17. Paragraph 3 refers to ‘two competing objectives’. Which of the following competing objectives are
mentioned in the paragraph?
1. Providing recreation areas for the public.
2. Conserving rare trees, plants and animals.
3. Educating the public about nature.
4. Creating a natural environment.
5. Providing a place for scientists to study ecology and the environment.
A. 1 and 2. B. 1 and 3. C. 1 and 4.
D. 1 and 5. E. 3 and 4. F. 2 and 5. 17.

18. In paragraph 4, which word means ‘totally’?

19. According to paragraph 5, people who behave badly in country parks are often not punished because
the park rangers cannot manage the problem on their own. (Tick the appropriate box).
True False Not stated

20. In line 27 ‘these’ refers to

The sentences below are possible summaries of the last three paragraphs of the article. From the six
sentences (A–F) below, choose the most suitable sentence for each paragraph (5-7) and write the letter in
the space provided. (3 marks)

21. Paragraph 5 _______ 22. Paragraph 6 _______ 23. Paragraph 7 _______

A. Country Parks were created to give people the freedom to do what they want.
B. Young people should be allowed to enjoy themselves but they must not spoil the enjoyment
of others.
C. Police should patrol the Country Parks in order to prevent trouble.
D. Park rangers cannot cope with badly-behaved visitors.
E. Littering is a big problem in the Country Parks.
F. Offenders should be punished more severely.

93
 Complete these key facts about country parks based on the information given in the article. (5 marks)

Country Parks — key facts

24.Date of first park

25.Total number of parks

26.Total area

27.Average annual number of visitors

28.Litter collection — most recent figures

Below is a summary of the litter problem in country parks. However, there are some missing words. Read
paragraphs 4 to 6 of the article and then fill in each blank with ONE word only which best completes the
sentence, keeping the meaning of the original text. Note that the most suitable word may or may not
appear in the article. You should also make sure that your answers are grammatically correct. The first
two have been done for you as examples. (6 marks)

Litter is the second (a) serious problem in the parks, a) most

after fires. A massive quantity of litter is (b) each b) collected

year, most of (29) from barbecues pits and picnic sites. 29.

Daytime visitors to the parks are becoming (30) . 30.

responsible about (31) up their litter, but youngsters 31.

holding night-time barbecues are still a big (32) . As a 32.

result many people are (33) heavier punishments for 33.

littering — at present the (34) fine is only $500. 34.

94
 Text 3 Read the following account and then answer questions 35 – 51. (17 marks)

What should we do about hill-side fires?

Hong Kong’s hills start turning brown in October. If no rain falls and the days are
sunny, in a few weeks the country hillsides become dangerously dry. At the end of the
month, during the Chung Yeung Festival: worshippers clean their family graves, offer up
prayers, and burn papers and joss sticks. Across the territory, these activities unintentionally
5 start countless hill-fires. It is the same story every April at the Ching Ming Festival — in
one year over 180 fires started during that festival. In fact, all Hong Kong hill-fires are
caused by careless humans, and we do not do enough to prevent them.

The cost of hill-fires is high, in both human (a) . In 1996, five people died —
three of them children — in the Pat Sin Leng hill-fire. In addition to human tragedy, hill-fires
10 bring environmental losses: plants and animals are killed, the beauty of the countryside is
destroyed and recreational amenities (37) . In bad years, more trees are burned (38) .
In the last ten years, the country parks saw 1,480 fires inside (or threatening) (39) .
Some 150 square kilometres were burnt, and almost 900,000 trees (40) .

Experts say the devastation could be reduced if simple fire prevention measures were
15 put in place. Unfortunately, the government seems to be reluctant to spend money on fire
prevention, which it sees as being too expensive. However, if we add up all the costs of
hill-side fires, both short-term and long-term, we find that the price we are currently paying
is very high. In the short-term, there are the costs of fire fighting and the costs to the medical
system caused by injury and loss of life. In the long-term, there are the costs of repairing
20 recreational amenities and restoring the ecology of the areas affected by fires. As with many
environmental issues, when all these costs are added together the existing practices look
more expensive than ecologically-friendly fire prevention measures.

Most ecological costs are not easy to quantify financially, but one — the costs of
restoring woodland — can be calculated. 900,000 trees in Hong Kong’s country were
25 damaged by fire in the last ten years. On average, it costs $25 to plant and establish one tree,
so replacing those trees cost about $15 million.

Now let’s look at the costs of enhancing fire prevention. It is almost impossible to
prevent fires from starting, so the aim is to prevent them from spreading. One simple but
effective measure to control fires is to cut fire breaks around hillside cemeteries, and to cut
30 grass within them. This is labour-intensive and expensive — country park labourers earn
about $400 per day. Nevertheless, these costs are minimal compared with the $15 million
spent over ten years on replanting trees.

Once hill-fires have started, water-bombing from helicopters is the single best means
of fighting them. The Government Flying Services have three Black Hawk S70 helicopters,
35 capable of dropping 2,500 litres of water per load. But, because of other duties, only two
helicopters can normally be spared for fire-fighting — and sometimes only one. So, very
often, the helicopters arrive too late to prevent fires from spreading.

When hill-fires take hold and spread, fire-fighting becomes extremely expensive. Those
costs are so great that, in remote areas outside the country parks, the fire services generally
40 ignore even widespread fires — unless they threaten places where people live. If the

95
 Government bought four ‘fire dedicated’ Black Hawks, the flying services could put out
most fires before they got out of control.

But still Hong Kong needs convincing. “The general public does not see hill-fires as
a disaster, because they are so common,” says Richard Corlett, from the University of Hong
45 Kong. Most people think that hill-fires do not do much long-term damage, because grasses
grow back relatively quickly and conceal the evidence of the fire. But damage to trees and
animal habitats takes years to repair.

But we should remember that every hill-fire brings the risk of tragedy. Lifelong
suffering from burns, or even death, can affect anyone — local residents, hikers, grave
50 visitors or fire-fighters. The Government should invest money now to implement effective
countryside fire prevention.

35. The main point in paragraph 1 is that ....

A. Hong Kong’s best weather is in the autumn.
B. the Chung Yeung Festival is in the autumn.
C. people start fires at their family graves.
D. many hill-fires break out during the two grave-visiting festivals. 35.

36. In paragraph 1, which word means ‘accidentally’?

Phrases are missing from the paragraph 2. From the six phrases (A–F) below, choose the four which best
complete the blanks 37 – 40 in the text. Write the letters in the spaces provided. One has been done for
you as an example. (4 marks)

(a) D

37.
38.
39.

40.

A. their boundaries
B. are damaged
C. were affected
D. and environmental terms
E. in many ways
F. than government workers can plant

41. Look at the word ‘measures’ in line 14. Now look at the dictionary entry for ‘measure’ below. Which
meaning corresponds to the meaning in line 14? Write the correct number in the box provided.
measure n 1 an action taken to achieve a purpose, e.g. safety measures.
2 a unit used for stating the size of sth, e.g. The metre is a measure of
length. 3 an instrument such as a rod, tape or container used for testing
the length or volume of sth, e.g. a tape measure 4 [sing] ~ sth a certain
amount of sth, e.g. She had a measure of success with her first CD.
41.

96
42. According to paragraph 3, the writer supports the government’s approach to fire prevention. (Tick
the appropriate box.)
True False Not stated

43. The main point in paragraph 3 is that ....

A. fire prevention is not expensive.
B. the government wants to improve prevention.
C. people underestimate the true cost of hill-fires.
D. fighting hill-fires is a waste of money. 43.

44. According to paragraph 4, the cost of restoring woodland is different from most environmental costs
because you can .

45. In line 27, ‘enhancing’ means ....

A. reducing.
B. upgrading.
C. spending.
D. ignoring. 45.

46. In paragraph 5, the writer implies that ....

A. park labourers are paid too much.
B. hill-fires cannot be stopped from spreading.
C. cutting grass in and around cemeteries cannot prevent fires spreading.
D. cutting grass in and around cemeteries is expensive but worthwhile. 46.

47. In line 34, ‘them’ means .

48. According to paragraph 6, Hong Kong’s three Black Hawk helicopters often cannot fight fires
effectively because they ....
A. do not have the right fire fighting equipment.
B. are expensive to operate.
C. are not always available for fire fighting.
D. fly too slowly. 48.

49. In remote country areas outside the country parks, the fire services ....
A. only fight fires burning close to houses.
B. fight only the big hill-fires.
C. fight all hill-fires, big and small.
D. often do not know where the hill-fires are. 49.

50. According to paragraph 8, most Hong Kong people do not think hill-fires are a serious problem.
(Tick the appropriate box.)
True False Not stated

51. In this article the writer’s main purpose is to ....

A. warn people not to start hill-fires.
B. persuade people that more should be done to prevent fires.
C. criticise the country parks for wasting money.
D. inform people what to do if caught in a fire. 51.

END OF PAPER 97
 PRACTICE PAPER 3B — WRITING

Complete both tasks. Time allowed: 11/2 hours

Task 1 (100 words)

When you last visited a Country Park, you were given the feedback form below as you were leaving.
Complete the feedback form. (If you have never visited a Country Park, imagine you have visited one.
You can use the information in Text 1 on page 90 if you like.) Write in complete sentences, about 100
words in total.
COUNTRY PARK — VISITOR FEEDBACK FORM

Name of Country Park you visited, date, time

What did you do in the park?

What park facilities did you use? (e.g. toilets, fitness trail, nature trail, barbecue site, etc.)

What suggestions do you have to improve the facilities in this park?

98
Task 2
Write about 250 words on ONE of the following topics.

1. You have seen this poster for a competition and you decide to enter it. Write your competition entry.

Country and Marine Parks Authority

Essay competition — win $500!

The two most serious problems facing the Country Parks Authority are fires and
litter. Write an essay about ONE of these problems — describe the problem and
suggest some solutions.

Write about 250 words.

2. You and a friend have gone for a walk in a Country Park. Your friend has run on ahead down the path.
Suddenly you hear your friend shout, “Hey, come quick and look at this!” Complete the story.

END OF PAPER

99