City standards

By Ajarn Helen Jandamit
Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post

University Tips is here to help you prepare for the English exams and tests that are coming your way. It gives you practise answering questions similar to those you may have at school and also on the University Entrance Examination.

Read the following from the Bangkok Post. Then, answer the questions that follow.

According to a recent Mercer's worldwide survey, Bangkok's quality of living was far lower than that of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

The Mercer Company recently revealed the Quality of Living Index 2011, which included 221 cities around the world. The findings were based on various factors such as political stability, social environment, economy, public services, transportation and other cultural factors.

The survey showed that Vienna has the world's best standard of living, while Singapore has the best standard of living among Southeast Asian countries. In addition, Singapore was the only Asian city to be in the top 25.

Mercer conducted the survey to help governments and multinational companies to compensate employees fairly when placing them on international assignments.

As for the rankings, Bangkok was ranked 121st after Kuala Lumpur (76), Bandar Seri Begawan (97) and Johor Bahru (101). Asian cities ranked lower than Bangkok included Manila (128), Jakarta (140), Hanoi (147), Ho Chi Minh City (149), Vientiane (169), Phnom Penh (186) and Yangon (196).

Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta were given low scores because of political instability, traffic jams and high air pollution, according to the survey.

Section 1

Read the news. Then answer the following multiple-choice questions.

1. What is the story about?

a. A survey on political stability.
b. A survey on traffic jams in Bangkok.
c. A survey on the quality of living in various cities.
d. A survey on public services.

2. Which city was ranked first in the index?

a. Vientiane.
b. Hanoi.
c. Singapore.
d. Vienna.

3. Which cities mentioned in the article were ranked lower than Bangkok?

a. Vienna and Kuala Lumpur.
b. Jakarta and Manila.
c. Banda Seri Begawan and Johor Bahru
d. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

4. Which of the following was not a determining factor in the survey?

a. Political stability.
b. Public services.
c. Transportation.
d. Natural disasters.

Section 2

Read the following sentences. Then, choose the sentence from the choices given that best keeps the meaning of the original sentence.

5. Bangkok's quality of living was ranked far lower than that of Singapore.
a. Singapore's quality of living was ranked lower than that of Bangkok.
b. Singapore's quality of living was ranked much higher than that of Bangkok.
c. Singapore's and Bangkok's quality of living were ranked at the same level.
d. Bangkok's quality of living was ranked higher than that of every other city.

6. Jakarta was given low scores because of high air pollution.

a. Jakarta was given low scores due largely to noise pollution.
b. Jakarta will get lower scores if its air pollution cannot be reduced.
c. Air pollution in Jakarta was not taken into consideration in the survey.
d. High air pollution caused Jakarta to be given low scores.

7. The survey revealed that Vienna has the world's best standard of living.

a. The survey indicated that Vienna has a low standard of living.
b. Vienna has the best standard of living in the world, according to the survey.
c. The survey revealed that Vienna lacks standards of living.
d. Vienna, according to the survey, has the world's worst standard of living.

8. Singapore was the only Asian city to be in the top 25.

a. Singapore was ranked 25th.
b. Singapore was one of many Asian cities that topped the list.
c. Singapore was the only city in Asia to be in the top 25.
d. Singapore was the only Asian city on the list.

Section 3

Read the story again. Then, decide whether the following statements are true or false.

9. Bangkok's scores were lower than that Johor Bahru.

.....................................................................................

10. Mercer did not take cultural factors into account when undertaking the survey.

.....................................................................................

11. Mercer conducted the survey to help employees find new jobs in other countries.

.....................................................................................

12. The survey showed the quality of living in more than 230 cities worldwide.

.....................................................................................

Section 4

Write down the past tense forms of the following verbs.

13. Given .....................................................................

14. Has ........................................................................

15. Compensate ........................................................

16. Help .......................................................................

Section 5

Find words in the story that are synonyms of the following words.

17. Poll ........................................................................

18. Points ...................................................................

19. Results ................................................................

20. Assist ..................................................................

Section 6

Find words in the story that are antonyms of the following words.

21. Worst .........................................................................

22. Unfairly .......................................................................

23. Higher .........................................................................

24. Excluded ....................................................................