Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the questions.
Peer influence is when you choose to do something you wouldn’t otherwise do, because you want to feel accepted and valued by your friends. It isn’t just or always about doing something against your will. You might hear the term ‘peer pressure’ used a lot. But peer influence is a better way to describe how teenagers’ behaviour is shaped by wanting to feel they belong to a group of friends or peers. Peer pressure and influence can be positive. For example, pre-teens and teenagers might be influenced to become more assertive, try new activities or get more involved with school. But it can be negative too. Some pre-teens and teenagers might choose to try things they normally wouldn’t be interested in, like vaping or behaving in antisocial ways. Coping well with peer influence is about getting the balance right between being yourself and fitting in with your group. Here are ideas to help your child with this.
Build your child’s confidence
Confidence can help your child resist negative peer influence. If your child is confident, they’re better able to make safe, informed decisions and avoid people and situations that aren’t right for them. You can build your child’s confidence by encouraging them to try new things that give them a chance of success and to keep trying even when things are hard. Praising your child for trying hard is important for building confidence too. You can also be a role model for confidence and show your child how to act confident as the first step towards feeling confident.
Build your child’s self-compassion
Self-compassion is being kind to yourself and treating yourself with the same warmth, care and understanding you’d give to someone you care about. Self-compassion can help your child handle stress and anxiety related to peer influence. A strong relationship with you helps your child feel loved, accepted and secure. It’s important for self-compassion.
Suggest ways to say no
Your child might need to have some face-saving ways to say no if they’re feeling influenced to do something they don’t want to do. For example, friends might be encouraging your child to try vaping. Rather than simply saying, ‘No, thanks’, your child could say something like, ‘No, it makes my asthma worse’, or ‘No, I don’t like the way it makes me smell’.
Give your child a way out
If your child feels they’re in a risky situation, it might help if they can contact you for back-up. You and your child could agree on a coded message for those times when your child doesn’t want to feel embarrassed in front of friends. For example, they could say that they’re checking on a sick grandparent, but you’ll know that it really means they need your help.
If you notice changes in your child’s mood, behaviour, eating or sleeping patterns, which you think are because of their friends, it might be time to have a talk with your child. Some mood and behaviour changes are normal in pre-teens and teenagers. But if your child seems to be in a low mood for more than 2 weeks, or their low mood gets in the way of things they normally enjoy, they might need support for their mental health.

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the questions.

Forests still cover about 30 percent of the world’s land area, but they are disappearing at an alarming rate. Since 1990, the world has lost more than 420 million hectares or about a billion acres of forest, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations—mainly in Africa and South America. About 17 percent of the Amazonian rainforest has been destroyed over the past 50 years, and losses recently have been on the rise. The organization Amazon Conservation reports that destruction rose by 21 percent in 2020, a loss the size of Israel.

Farming, grazing of livestock, mining, and drilling combined account for more than half of all deforestation. Forestry practices, wildfires and, in small part, urbanization account for the rest. In Malaysia and Indonesia, forests are cut down to make way for producing palm oil, which can be found in everything from shampoo to saltine crackers. In the Amazon, cattle ranching and farms—particularly soy plantations—are key culprits. Logging operations, which provide the world’s wood and paper products, also fell countless trees each year. Loggers, some of them acting illegally, also build roads to access more and more remote forests—which leads to further deforestation. Forests are also cut as a result of growing urban sprawl as land is developed for homes. Not all deforestation is intentional. Some is caused by a combination of human and natural factors like wildfires and overgrazing, which may prevent the growth of young trees.

Eighty percent of Earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and deforestation threatens species including the orangutan, Sumatran tiger, and many species of birds. Removing trees deprives the forest of portions of its canopy, which blocks the sun’s rays during the day and retains heat at night. That disruption leads to more extreme temperature swings that can be harmful to plants and animals. With wild habitats destroyed and human life ever expanding, the line between animal and human areas blurs, opening the door to zoonotic diseases. In 2014, for example, the Ebola virus killed over 11,000 people in West Africa after fruit bats transmitted the disease to a toddler who was playing near trees where bats were roosting.

Many conservationists see reasons for hope. A movement is under way to preserve existing forest ecosystems and restore lost tree cover by first reforesting (replanting trees) and ultimately rewilding (a more comprehensive mission to restore entire ecosystems). Organizations and activists are working to fight illegal mining and logging—National Geographic Explorer Topher White, for example, has come up with a way to use recycled cell phones to monitor for chainsaws. In Tanzania, the residents of Kokota have planted more than 2 million trees on their small island over a decade, aiming to repair previous damage. And in Brazil, conservationists are rallying in the face of ominous signals that the government may roll back forest protections. For consumers, it makes sense to examine the products and meats you buy, looking for sustainably produced sources when you can. Nonprofit groups such as the Forest Stewardship Council and the Rainforest Alliance certify products they consider sustainable, while the World Wildlife Fund has a palm oil scorecard for consumer brands.

Complete the text below with the correct form of the words in capitals.
Everyone's obsessed with Taylor Swift's (28) ____________ stadium tour — including her opening acts. From indie pop star Gracie Abrams to GRAMMY nominee GAYLE, hear backstage memories and (29) ____________ from the people who take stage right before the superstar. To say Taylor Swift's Eras Tour is leaving everyone wonderstruck would be an (30) ____________. Distilling a 17-year discography as iconic as Swift's into one show sounds impossible, but the star has proven that no task is too daunting for her. Enchanting hundreds of thousands since March, Swift's latest tour is as delightful as it is (31) ____________, providing a perfectly satisfying mix of nostalgia and surprises in true Swift fashion. Even though the musician is technically in her Midnights era, the celebration of her (32) ____________ career is undoubtedly historic — and she's determined to share the moment with other artists during her trek across the globe.