A level south west regional mock gce 2022 English Language 1

A level south west regional mock gce 2022 English Language 1

A level south west regional mock gce 2022 English Language 1

SECTION A
READING COMPREHENSION (16 marks)
Read the following passage and answer the questions below it.
In the 20’* century, death by road accident had become ;an, e p.d t “j
accidents just over aasmillion “one of cars theingreatest Britain,,perhaps and 7300 the people greatest d,edofon thehnation^’s public^health p problems Kennedy _ By the,. nearly ^ »
40.000 people were dying on the roads each year in the US; today that figure is pretty well unchanged, despite*
there being three and a halftimes as many vehicles. Now, the people most affected by road accidents are the
world’s poor.
The statistics paint a sombre picture. Seventy percent of road deaths every year occur in developing countries.
Sixty-five percent of those killed are pedestrians. The majority of people hurt or killed in road accidents in the
developing world are not the vehicle occupants; they are walking, they are on motorbikes, t ey are on bicycles10
or other non-motorized vehicles.
The problem is getting worse too. A study by Harvard University and the World Health Organization projected
that by 2020 road traffic accidents would be the third biggest cause of death or permanent injury in the world.
They are already the second biggest cause of premature death for men aged between 15 and 44-beaten only by
HIV/AIDS. As well as the tragic loss of life, this statistic hides a whole host of other problems. Men in the15
prime of their lives tend to be the breadwinners in a family. Even if their injuries are not fatal, they may greatly
reduce their ability to earn. When the family loses its main income, especially in poorer countries, there are few
safety nets to catch them. The effect on the family’s standard of living can be disastrous.
In countries where there is a high level of car ownership, the number of death seems to be declining. In
developed countries, the number of road accidents has fallen by about 25% since the early 1970s—despite20
massive increase in the number of cars on the roads. Indeed, the so-called “ highly motorized countries” account
for 60 percent of the global vehicles, but only about 14percent of the global deaths.
So what is the difference? Why, once again, are developing countries over represented in a public health crisis,
and what can be done?
If you drive a car in a richer country, it’s more likely to be a newer vehicle, and subject to safety checks25
required by law. Your car is likely to have a number of safety components installed; airbags for instance, or
anti-lock braking. You’ll be driving on well maintained roads. And there are likely to be strict laws preventing
you from doing things that will impair your driving skills: drinking, for example, taking drugs or talking on a
mobile telephone.
In some developing countries, many people drive without ever having passed a test. The number of vehicles onM
the road is dramatically increasing in many countries, and the roads often haven’t kept pace with this sudden
surge in drivers. They may be narrow, badly surfaced, and potholed. Due to corruption or stretched resources,
are poorly policed. If an accident does happen, it may take a long time for emergency services to
attend, thus increasing the chance that people will die at the scene or be left with permanent disabilities. And if
the ambulances do come in time, the medical treatment may be prohibitively expensive In Ghana, one study35
showed that only 27 percent of people injured in road crashes used hospital services. The most common reason
cited for not seeking healthcare: the victims could not afford it