K.Jalilov

This Supplementary Reading is compiled
using practice tests of Russia’s State Exam,
Cambridge First (FCE), IELTS and Cambridge
Advanced (CAE)
EXAM
PREPARATION
COURSE FOR
TEACHERS
Supplementary Reading
Viva Vox 2016
CONTENTS
MATCHING HEADINGS ................................................................................................................................................. 2
TEST 1 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 2
TEST 2 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 3
TEST 3 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 4
TEST 4 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 5
TEST 5 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 7
TEST 6 ........................................................................................................................................................................... 9
TEST 7 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 11
TEST 8 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 13
TEST 9 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 15
TEST 10 ....................................................................................................................................................................... 17
MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS BASED ON A NARRATIVE TEXT .................................................................... 19
TEST 1 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 19
TEST 2 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 21
TEST 3 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 23
TEST 4 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 25
TEST 5 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 27
TEST 6 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 29
TEST 7 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 31
TEST 8 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 33
TEST 9 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 35
TEST 10 ....................................................................................................................................................................... 37
MATCHING SENTENCE ENDINGS AND MATCHING LISTS ................................................................................. 39
TEST 1 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 39
TEST 2 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 41
TEST 3 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 43
TEST 4 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 45
TEST 5 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 47
TEST 6 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 49
TEST 7 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 52
“TRUE – FALSE – NO INFORMATION” QUESTIONS............................................................................................... 55
TEST 1 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 55
TEST 2 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 56
TEST 3 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 57
TEST 4 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 59
TEST 5 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 61
ANSWER KEY ................................................................................................................................................................ 63
1
MATCHING HEADINGS
TEST 1
Match the following titles (A-G) with the texts (1-6).
Note: There are more headings than you need.
List of Headings:
A) Different Subjects
B) Many Students
C) Two Sections
D) Differing Opinions
E) Useful Facts
F) Important Lessons
G) Easier Answers
1. Oxford University has been a centre of learning for over 900 years. Today, there are over 16,000
people studying at Oxford, but they are not all British. About 4,000 of them come from other
countries. In fact, there are currently students from over 130 countries studying there. Every student
at Oxford is a member of a ‘college’. There are 39 main colleges, and each college is in a different
part of the town.
2. What’s the best age for a child to learn how to read? Some people believed that children should
learn at as young an age as possible. Because of this, some parents start teaching their children when
they are about three years old. Other people believe it’s better for a teacher at school to teach a class
of children how to read, so many children don’t learn to read until they are five or six years old.
3. In most countries, you are only allowed to drive a car on a public road if you have a driving licence.
You usually have to pass a driving test in order to get the licence. In European countries, this test is
in two parts. The first part is a ‘theory’ test. You have to answer questions about road safety. The
second part is a ‘practical’ test. You are in a ca with an examiner, who tell you where to drive and
asks you to do various things, such as parking or reversing around a corner.
4. When was Mozart born? What’s the capital of Nigeria? Before the Internet, if we wanted to find
out the answers to these questions, we’d have to look them up in reference books, such as
encyclopedias. If we couldn’t find the information in books at home, we’d have to go to a public
library. This kind of research would often take a very long time. Now, however, as long as you have
a computer connected to the Internet, you can find the answers to questions like these in seconds
5. Although people sometimes confuse astronomy and astrology, they are completely different.
Astronomy is the scientific study of the universe. Astronomers study stars, planets and other things
in space, such as comets and records their findings scientifically. Astrology, which is based on the
belief that the position of the planets affects human behaviour, is not a science. It is astrologers who
write horoscopes in magazines, telling us what they think is going to happen to us in the future.
6. A guide book can be extremely helpful when you’re visiting a place for the first time. Guide books
provide loads of practical information, such as the opening times and entrance fees of the main
attractions, and often recommend sights to visit and places to stay. They can also provide interesting
information about the history of the place and famous people who lived there.
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TEST 2
Match the following titles (A-H) with the texts (1-7).
Note: There are more headings than you need.
List of Headings:
A) A very important invention
B) Communicating without words
C) A festive meal
D) Healing the sick
E) A future invention
F) Helping communication
G) Unsafe medicine
H) A risky meal
1. Pufferfish contain a powerful poison called 'tetrodoxin' in their organs and skin that can kill a
person within hours. But to the Japanese, pufferfish (known as 'Fugu') is a delicacy - an expensive
dish that people enjoy eating on special occasions. Tokyo has between 700 and 800 restaurants that
serve pufferfish. Chefs have to pass a very difficult exam before they are allowed to prepare this
hazardous dish.
2. For over 3,000 years, the Chinese have used a special range of medical therapies to treat people
who are ill. These therapies include herbal medicine, acupuncture and massage, and they are still a
very important part of the public health care system in China. Today, some Western doctors also use
Chinese medicine. They use it to treat illnesses that Western medicine can not cure.
3. Earplugs are a wonderful way to keep out noise. The trouble is, they keep out the sounds you want
to hear, too! But don't worry because in a few years time, you will be able to buy earplugs that let you
hear the sounds you want to hear and block out the ones you don't! The scientists who are developing
these earplugs hope they will be in shops by 2013.
4. In the US, Thanksgiving Day is an annual one-day holiday on the fourth Thursday of November.
On this day, family and friends all get together to eat a large meal and to give thanks for what they
have. Certain kinds of food are traditionally served for Thanksgiving dinner - most famously, roast
turkey, mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie.
5. The telephone has changed our lives more than most people realise. The telephone made instant
communication possible and led to other amazing inventions such as the television and the computer.
Without the telephone, there would be no Internet, no radio and no mobile phones. Today, a world
without the telephone is unimaginable.
6. The Esperanto language was created in the late 18th century by Dr Ludovic Lazarus Zamenhof. It
took him about 10 years to develop. Dr Zamenhof created Esperanto because he wanted to encourage
peace and understanding between people of different countries. He thought that inventing a simple
language that everyone in the world could learn to speak very easily would help achieve this.
7. By watching other people's body language, facial expressions and tone of voice, you can learn a
lot. For example, if your friend tells you he is not angry with you, but his hands are clenched, his eyes
are narrow and his voice is shaking, you can be sure that he is. So, non-verbal signals can show others
what we are really thinking and feeling!
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TEST 3
Match the following titles (A-H) with the texts (1-7).
Note: There are more headings than you need.
List of Headings:
A) Smart shoppers
B) Different tastes
C) A more convenient food
D) The right information
E) A much-loved snack
F) Improving health
G) Not such a healthy snack
H) Shopping preferences
1. Sandwiches - or 'sarnies' as Brits like to call them - were first eaten in Western Europe, but they
are now enjoyed in countries all around the world. Sandwiches have been a favourite lunchtime snack
in Britain for years. Each year more than 2 billion are sold there. The most popular sandwich filling
is chicken, which accounts for 30% of all sandwich sales.
2. Some experts say that a visit to the countryside can be very good for you. Getting close to nature
can help people who feel angry, depressed, confused, tired or stressed, they say. And in fact, a recent
report showed that after spending a few hours on a farm, 95% of visitors felt less tired.
3. Recently, several newspapers have published articles with headlines like 'Bacon sandwich contains
more salt than 10 bags of crisps' and 'Cheese sandwich has more fat than a hamburger'. This came as
a shock to many people because they thought they had been buying something healthy to eat. Maybe
the best thing to do is to make your own sandwich at home.
4. Although teenagers research merchandise and learn about the latest trends online, it seems that
they prefer traditional shopping when it comes to purchasing the items they want. Teenage boys often
buy more online than girls. They sometimes buy items such as music and high-tech gadgets. It appears
that most teenage girls still prefer the social occasion of going to the shopping centre with their
friends.
5. Many people are trying to do their part to help solve environmental problems by making better
choices about what they buy. Consumers are learning more about which products are recyclable, nontoxic and energy efficient and deciding their purchases based on this information. Today, there are
more eco-friendly products to choose from than ever, which shows how the buying power of
consumers can make a difference.
6. In English-speaking countries, people generally prefer sweet-tasting ice cream - popular flavours
include chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. But in Japan, sour-tasting ice cream is very popular. Fishflavoured ice cream, cheese ice cream, beef ice cream and garlic ice cream are just a few of the strange
flavours available there. But you can also buy sweet ice cream in Japan; the two top-selling flavours
in the country are vanilla and chocolate.
7. Watermelons are a favourite summer fruit, but as they are so big, it isn't always easy to carry them
home from the supermarket. Well, now farmers have developed a baby watermelon that is only two
and a half centimetres in size! It is called the Pepquino micro-melon and it looks just like a normalsized melon but the skin is soft, it has a fresh, crisp taste like a cucumber and it can be eaten in just
one bite!
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TEST 4
Match the following titles (A-L) with the texts (1-10).
Note: There are more headings than you need.
List of Headings:
A) Changing Habits
B) Choose Proper Nutrition
C) Diet Dangers
D) Don’t Ignore Warning Signs
E) Eating Out
F) Fat People Are at Risk
G) Food Safety
H) Plan Your Diet Carefully
I) Popular but Useless
J) Staying in Shape is Important
K) Turn a Bad Habit into a Good Idea
L) Use Alternative Medicine
1. A quick look at junk food facts tells us junk food and diets do not go hand in hand. Junk foods are
also called ‘empty calorie’ foods and have no nutritional value. Nevertheless, they are enjoyed by lots
of people because of their simplicity to manufacture, consume and, of course, their taste. Chocolates,
burgers, pizzas, potato wafers and fries will surely find their way into everyone’s heart.
2. Do you mainly exercise for a few weeks in January before you forget your New Year’s resolution,
and then again when you realise your summer holiday is around the comer? You’d not be alone, but
keeping fit is something you should do all year round. You might not be particularly bothered about
your appearance or your weight, but keeping fit is as much about what’s on the inside as it is what’s
on the outside.
3. Families are cooking more meals at home, cutting back on take away in the face of the economic
downturn. In addition to cutting back on take away and eating out, families have begun cooking more
vegetarian meals and were adding vegetables, lentils and baked beans to allow them to cut back on
meat quantity. Consumers also indicate that they are likely to prepare meals that can be spread across
more than one mealtime.
4. Hey, couch potato! Don’t feel guilty indulging in serials or reality shows — use the commercials
as an excuse to burn calories. There is probably an average of 15 minutes of commercials in an hourlong program. If you exercised through each commercial break during just two hours of TV, you’d
already have met the recommended amount of daily exercise necessary to reduce health risks.
5. In recent years it has become common practice for celebrities and stars to publicize food products.
Businesses take advantage of consumers’ mentality of ‘following the stars’ and invite celebrities and
stars to perform ‘false advertising’ so as to mislead or even deceive consumers. The law stipulates
that those who publicize ‘faulty food products’ will share responsibility with food producers and
sellers.
6. It’s actually easy to make good choices at a fast-food restaurant or the cafeteria. Most cafeterias
and fast-food places offer healthy choices that are also tasty, like grilled chicken or salads. Be mindful
of portion sizes and high fat add-ons, like dressings, sauces or cheese. Most restaurant portions are
larger than the average serving of food at home. Ask for half portions or take half of your dish home.
7. Pain is our body’s means to indicate that something is wrong and requires immediate attention.
Pain for a short time can be taken care of by a painkiller but if the soreness is lingering for too long,
then it requires proper medical expertise. Sometimes life menacing problems have back pain and joint
pain as symptoms and can, if neglected, do permanent damage.
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8. There are numerous problems associated with obesity. It is not just a cosmetic problem but also a
health hazard. Doctors generally agree that the more obese a person is, the more likely he or she is to
have health problems. This is because obesity has been linked to several serious medical conditions.
People who are overweight can gain significant health benefits from losing weight.
9. Think about your car — the higher the grade of the fuel you put in it, the better it runs. Your body
works the same way. If you eat healthy foods, you’ll be healthier and feel better. Eating well is easy
if you’re aware of what foods are best for you. But don’t worry! Eating healthy food doesn’t mean
eliminating every single thing you love from your diet.
10. Vegetarian diets can be very healthy, but eating a balanced diet when you are vegetarian usually
requires a little extra attention. Because vegetarians eliminate certain foods from their diets, they
often need to work to add foods into their diet that will provide the nutrients found in meat products.
If properly planned, vegetarian diets can provide all the nutrients you need.
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TEST 5
Read the text. Choose the most suitable heading from the list (A-I) for each part (1-8) of the text.
Note: There are more headings than you need.
List of Headings:
A) Planning the filming
B) Selling it to the right person
C) Breaking down the budget
D) Not as glamorous as you think
E) Give people what they expect
F) The right leader with business sense
G) Putting the pieces together
H) Hard work, but worth it
I) It all has to work
1. Making a film is such a complicated process that it's a wonder any of them ever get made. When
you go to your local cinema to see what's on, do you ever think of all the separate steps that have to
come together to end up with what you see on the big screen? Where does it start?
2. Most films start as an idea. It might be in a director's mind, or in a writer's mind, but wherever it
comes from, it's the producer who needs convincing. The producer is the businessman who finds the
money to make the film. If you've got an idea for the next blockbuster, you need to find somebody
who is willing to make your film. The producer will then organize the budget and decide how much
it is worth spending on the film.
3. The producer will decide who is going to be responsible for making the film: the director. This is
an important decision since the director is the person who will be in charge of the whole cast and
crew. The producer will either find somebody who has made similar films in the past or he or she
might take a chance 011 a new director. Most importantly, the producer wants someone he or she can
trust to do a good job and to stay under budget.
4. The producer and director will then choose the other people to work on the film and will decide on
the members of the cast. People feel very strongly about actors and a film has to have the right ones
if it is to draw people into cinemas. Actors usually become associated with a particular kind of film
in the mind of the public and it can be a risk to cast an actor in a different kind of role. Auditions and
screen tests might be held to make final decisions and rehearsals will begin.
5. While the actors are developing their characters, the director will be making other key decisions
concerning things such as location. Where the film is shot is very important and the locations for
filming will be chosen carefully. The film will also be storyboarded, with pictures of all the key
moments. Special effects will be planned and costumes will be designed. This pre-production phase
can take a long time because there may not be a chance to change things later.
6. The actual shooting can take anywhere from a few weeks to a year, or possibly even more. The
actors spend a lot of time waiting for everything to be right — the set, the lighting, the cameras —
and boredom can be a real problem. Life at the Oscars might seem wonderful, but life on a film set
can be stressful and tedious.
7. Once filming is over, post-production begins. This is the stage where all the elements of the film
are brought together. The film is edited so that it tells a clear story and any special effects are
perfected. Music is added to emphasise the excitement or the emotion of certain moments in the film.
Often, the film is previewed to small audiences and changes are made, depending on their reactions.
Finally, the film makes its way into the cinemas.
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8. Once the process is over, what the backers will want to know is where the money has gone. We
hear a lot these days about the huge fees commanded by stars, but the cast will typically cost around
10% of the total budget. Pre- and post-production costs will account for 50%, while the director and
crew will take another 10%. This leaves around 30% of the total cost of the film to be spent on actual
filming.
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TEST 6
Read the text. Choose the most suitable heading from the list (A-I) for each part (1-8) of the text.
Note: There are more headings than you need.
List of Headings:
A) Before ozone existed
В) Repair gets slower
C) People ignore warnings
D) Ozone hole a certainty
E) The future is our responsibility
F) The function of the ozone layer
G) Delayed reactions
H) Humans to blame
I) Strange results
1. In September 1982, Dr Joe Farman, a British scientist working in the Antarctic, found that a
dramatic change had taken place in the atmosphere above his research station on the ice continent.
His instruments, set up to measure the amounts of a chemical called ozone in the atmosphere, seemed
to go wild. Over just a few days they recorded that half the ozone had disappeared.
2. He couldn't believe his eyes, so he came back to Britain to get a new instrument to check his
findings. But when he returned the following year at the same time, the same thing happened. He had
discovered a hole in the ozone layer -an invisible shield in the upper atmosphere - that turned out to
extend over an area of the sky as wide as the United States and as deep as Mount Everest is high.
When he published his findings in scientific journals, they caused a sensation. Scientists blamed
pollution for causing the ozone hole.
3. The ozone layer is between 15 and 40 kilometres up in the atmosphere, higher than most aeroplanes
fly. This region contains most of the atmosphere's ozone, which is a special form of the gas oxygen.
Ozone has the unique ability to stop certain dangerous invisible rays from the sun from reaching the
Earth's surface -rather like a pair of sunglasses filters out bright sunlight. These rays are known as
ultra-violet radiation. This damages living cells, causing sunburn and more serious diseases. The
ozone layer is vital to life on the surface of the Earth.
4. Until the ozone layer formed, about two thousand million years ago, it was impossible for any
living thing to survive on the surface of the planet. All life was deep in the oceans. But once oxygen
was formed in the air, and some of that oxygen turned to ozone, plants and animals could begin to
move on to land.
5. But now humans are damaging the ozone layer for the first time. In the past ten years, scientists
have discovered that some manmade gases, used in everything from refrigerators and aerosols to fire
extinguishers, are floating up into the ozone layer and destroying the ozone. The most common of
these gases are called chloroflu-orocarbons (CFCs).
6. The damage is worst over Antarctica, and near the North Pole, where scientists have seen small
holes appear for a short time each spring since 1989. So far, these holes have healed up again within
a few weeks by natural processes in the atmosphere that create more ozone. But each year, it seems
to take longer for the healing to be completed. Also, all round the planet, there now seems to be less
ozone in the ozone layer than even a few years ago.
7. The first new international law to stop people making or using CFCs was the Montreal Protocol,
agreed by most of the world's governments in 1987. Since then, there have been new controls on other
chemicals that destroy ozone. The problem is that it takes roughly eight years for CFCs, which are
released when an old fridge is broken up, to reach the ozone layer. That is why, despite all the cuts,
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ozone holes were deeper than ever around both the North and South Poles in 1993. Amounts of CFCs
in the atmosphere will continue to rise for another five years, say scientists.
8. Every year, the atmosphere will attempt to repair damage to the ozone layer caused by our
pollution. But we are stretching its capacity to recover to the limit. If we stop using all ozonedestroying chemicals within the next five years, it is likely to be at least the middle of the 21st century
before the ozone hole stops forming over Antarctica each year. And, if we are to survive, we all have
to face the problem now.
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TEST 7
Read the text. Choose the most suitable heading from the list (A-J) for each part (1-7) of the text.
Note: There are more headings than you need.
List of Headings:
A) Better area distribution of medicines
B) Time for a change
C) Research uncovers useful information
D) A checklist of procedures introduced
E) Tackling the problem through local enquiry
F) Excellent outcome gives hope to others
G) Tanzania gripped by disease
H) Immunisation programmes lack effect
I) Aid package comes with conditions
J) The vicious cycle of poverty and illness
1. Delivering medicine to the world's poorest people is a challenge. Hot, poor places such as Tanzania
have many microbes but microscopic health budgets. Dangerous myths deter many sick rural folk
from seeking medical help. Even if they do seek help, it is often unavailable, for they do not have the
money to pay for it, and their government rarely has the money to give it to them for free. Because
they cannot afford adequate health care, poor people are sick a lot of the time. And because they are
sick a lot of the time, they find it hard to put in the long hours of productive labour that might make
them less poor.
2. All hope is not lost, however. A recent experiment In Tanzania has shown that a small health budget
can go a long way, provided that the money is spent with care. With the help of a Canadian charity
called the International Development Research Center (IDRC), the Tanzanian health ministry set up
a health project in two rural districts, to the west of the capital Dar es Salaam, with a combined
population of about 700,000. Five years ago, annual health spending in Tanzania was about $8 a head.
This figure included an estimate for the annual cost of trained staff and buildings devoted to health
care. The IDRC added 52 a head to the pot, on condition that it was spent rationally. By this, the
donors meant that the amount of money spent on fighting a particular disease should reflect the burden
that disease imposed on the local population.
3. This may sound obvious; however, in this region, no one had a clue which diseases caused the most
trouble, so the first task was to find out. Researchers were sent out on bicycles to carry out a door-todoor survey, asking representative households whether anyone had been ill or died recently, and if so
with what symptoms. These raw numbers were then crunched to produce a 'burden of disease' profile
for the two districts. In other words, researchers sought to measure how many years of life were being
lost to each disease, including the damage done to families when breadwinners1 die.
4. They then compared their results with the amount spent by the local health authorities on each
disease and found that it bore no relation whatsoever to the harm which the disease inflicted on local
people. Some diseases were horribly neglected, such as malaria, which accounted for 30% of the
years of life lost but only 5% of the health budget. A duster of childhood problems, including
pneumonia, diarrhoea, malnutrition and measles, constituted 28% of the disease burden, but received
only 13% of the budget. Other conditions, meanwhile, attracted more than their fair share of cash.
Tuberculosis, which accounted for less than 4% of years of life lost, received 22% of the budget.
Vaccinations also appeared to be over-emphasised though the low incidence of vaccine-preventable
disease was probably a result of successful vaccination.
5. This tiny infusion of cash from the Canadians, in the form of an extra $2 a head, was enough to
allow the district health authorities to make their spending reflect the disease burden and smoothed
the transition to a more effective approach to health care. Health workers, mostly nurses or
paramedics rather than doctors, were given a set of rules on how to treat common symptoms. For
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example, if a child arrives coughing, and with a running nose and a hot brow, the nurse is instructed
to work through the checklist of other symptoms to determine whether it is merely a cold or something
worse. If the child is breathing more than 50 times a minute, for example, he is assumed to have
pneumonia, given an antibiotic and checked again after two days. In most cases, the cheapest
treatments are offered first. Children with diarrhoea are given oral re-hydration salts, which cost a
few cents. If the salts fail to work, the child is referred to a clinic for treatment.
6. Drugs are ordered according to what is needed; previously, the government had sent out the same
package of pills to all areas. Non-malarial mountain villages received as many malaria drugs as
mosquito-infected lowland ones, and areas where no one had ever suffered from asthma received
asthma pills. In addition to the improved drug allocation, people are now encouraged to use bednets
impregnated with insecticide as protection from mosquitoes and even the Masai, a fiercely
conservative tribe of nomadic cattle-herders, have started draping themselves in insecticide-soaked
bednets.
7. The results of all this were stunning. Infant mortality fell by 28% between 1999 and 2000 and the
proportion of children dying before their fifth birthday dropped by 14%. In nearby districts and in
Tanzania as a whole, there is no evidence of a similar improvement over the same period, and
anecdotal evidence suggests that better health has made the districts less poor. Could this success be
repeated elsewhere?
The government is keen that the lessons learned be applied in other parts of the country. So keen, in
fact, that it is pushing the organisers to move faster than they would prefer. Other countries could also
copy the Tanzanian model and donors should pay heed that, while more money is certainly needed to
tackle poor countries' health problems, how it is spent is more important than how much is spent.
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TEST 8
Read the text. Choose the most suitable heading from the list (A-I) for each part (1-6) of the text.
Note: There are more headings than you need.
List of Headings:
A) Fountain pens are history
B) Fame at last for the Biro brothers
C) A holiday helps bring the biro to America
D) A second design and a new country
E) War halts progress
F) Dissatisfaction leads to a new invention
G) Big claims bring big crowds
H) A government request brings a change of ownership
I) Many patents and many problems
1. One chilly autumn morning in 1945, five thousand shoppers crowded the pavements outside
Gimbels Department Store in New York City. The day before, Gimbels had taken out a full –page
newspaper advertisement in the New York Times, announcing the sale of the first ballpoint pens in
the United States. The new writing instrument was heralded as "fantastic ... miraculous ...guaranteed
to write for two years without refilling!" Within six hours, Gimbels had sold its entire stock of ten
thousand ballpoints at $12.50each - approximately $130 at today's prices.
2. In fact this 'new' pen was not new after all, and was just the latest development in a long search for
the best way to deliver ink to paper. In 1884Lewis Waterman had patented the fountain pen, giving
him the sole rights to manufacture it. This marked a significant leap forward in writing technology,
but fountain pens soon became notorious for leaking. In 1888, a leather tanner named John Loud
devised and patented the first "rolling-pointed marker pen" for marking leather. Loud's design
contained a reservoir of ink in a cartridge and a rotating ball point that was constantly bathed on one
side with ink. Loud's pen was never manufactured, however, and over the next five decades, 350
additional patents were issued for similar ball-type pens, though none advanced beyond the design
stage. Each had their own faults, but the major difficulty was the ink: if the ink was thin, the pens
leaked, and if it was too thick, they clogged. Depending on the climate or air temperature, sometimes
the pens would do both.
3. Almost fifty years later, Ladislas and Georg Biro, two Hungarian brothers, came up with a solution
to this problem. In 1935 Ladislas Biro was working as a journalist, editing a small newspaper. He
found himself becoming more and more frustrated by the amount of time he wasted filling fountain
pens with ink and cleaning up ink smudges. What's more, the sharp tip of his fountain pen often
scratched or tore through the thin newsprint paper. Ladislas and Georg (a chemist) set about making
models of new pen designs and creating better inks touse in them. Ladislas had observed that the type
of ink used in newspaper printing dried rapidly, leaving the paper dry and smudge-free. He was
determined to construct a pen using the same type of ink. However, the thicker ink would not flow
from a regular pen nib so he had to develop a new type of point. Biro came up with the idea of fitting
his pen with a tiny ball bearing in its tip. As the pen moved along the paper, the ball bearing rotated
and picked up ink from the ink cartridge which it delivered to the paper.
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4. The first Biro pen, like the designs that had gone before it, relied on gravity for the ink to flow to
the ball bearing at the tip. This meant that the pens only worked when they were held straight up, and
even then the ink flow was sometimes too heavy, leaving big smudges of ink on the paper. The Biro
brothers had to think and eventually devised a new design, which relied on capillary action rather
than gravity to feed the ink. This meant that the ink could flow more smoothly to the tip and the pen
could be held at an angle rather than straight up. In 1938, as World War II broke out, the Biro brothers
fled to Argentina, where they applied for a patent for their pen and established their first factory.
5. The Biros' pen soon came to the attention of American fighter pilots, who needed a new kind of
pen to use at high altitudes. Apparently, it was ideal for pilots as it did not leak like the fountain pen
and did not have to be refilled frequently. The United States Department of War contacted several
American companies, asking them to manufacture a similar writing instrument in the U.S. Thus
fortune smiled on the Biro brothers in May 1945, when the American company 'Eversharp' paid them
$500,000 for the exclusive manufacturing and marketing rights of the Biro ballpoint for the North
American market. Eversharp were slow to put their pen into production, however, and this delay
ultimately cost them their competitive advantage.
6. Meanwhile, in June 1945 an American named Milton Reynolds stumbled upon the Biro pen while
on vacation in Buenos Aires. Immediately seeing its commercial potential, he bought several pens
and returned to Chicago, where he discovered that Loud's original 1888 patent had long since expired.
This meant that the ballpoint was now in the public domain, and he therefore wasted no time making
a copy based on the Biro design. Establishing his pen company with just $26,000, Reynolds quickly
set up a factory with 300 workers who began production on 6thOctober 1945, stamping out pens from
precious scraps of aluminum that hadn't been used during the war for military equipment or weapons.
Just 23 days later, it was Reynolds' ballpoint pen that caused the stampede at Gimbels Department
Store. Following the ballpoint's debut in New York City, Eversharp challenged Reynolds in the law
courts, but lost the case because the Biro brothers had failed to secure a U.S. patent on their invention.
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TEST 9
Read the text. Choose the most suitable heading from the list (A-J) for each part (1-7) of the text.
Note: There are more headings than you need.
List of Headings:
A) An unexpected preference for modern items
B) Two distinct reasons for selection in one type of museum
C) The growing cost of housing museum exhibits
D) The growing importance of collections for research purposes
E) The global ‘size’ of the problem
F) Why some collections are unsafe
G) Why not all museums are the same
H) The need to show as much as possible to visitors
I) How unexpected items are dealt with
J) The decision-making difficulties of one curator
K) The two roles of museums
L) Who owns the museums exhibits?
M) A lengthy, but necessary task
1. When, in 1938, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, in Washington. DC. decided
it had run out of space, it began transferring part of its collection from the cramped attic and basement
rooms where the specimens had been languishing to an out-of-town warehouse. Restoring those
specimens to pristine conditions was a monumental task. One member of staff, for example, spent six
months doing nothing but gluing the legs back on to crane flies. But 30 million items and seven years
later, the job was done.
2. At least for the moment. For the Smithsonian owns 130 million plants, animals, rocks and fossils
and that number is growing at 2-3% a year. On an international scale, however, such numbers are not
exceptional. The Natural History Museum in London has 80 million specimens. And, in a slightly
different scientific context, the Science Museum next door to it has 300.000 objects recording the
history of science and technology. Deciding what to do with these huge accumulations of things is
becoming a pressing problem. They cannot be thrown away, but only a tiny fraction can be put on
display.
3. The huge, invisible collections behind the scenes at science and natural history museums are the
result of the dual functions of these institutions. On the one hand, they are places for the public to go
and look 3t things. On the other, they are places of research - and researchers are not interested merely
in the big, showy things that curators like to reveal to the public.
4. Blythe House in West London, the Science Museum's principal storage facility, has, as might be
expected, cabinets full of early astronomical instruments such as astrolabes and celestial globes. The
museum is also custodian to things that are dangerous. It holds a lot of equipment of Sir William
Crookes, a 19th century scientist who built the first cathode-ray tubes, experimented with radium and
also discovered thallium - an extremely poisonous element. He was a sloppy worker. All his
equipment was contaminated with radioactive materials but he worked in an age when nobody knew
about the malevolent effects of radioactivity.
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5. Neil Brown is the senior curator for classical physics, time and microscopes at the Science
Museum. He spends his professional life looking for objects that illustrate some aspect of scientific
and technological development. Collections of computers, and domestic appliances such as television
sets and washing machines, are growing especially fast. But the rapid pace of technological change,
and the volume of new objects, makes it increasingly hard to identify what future generations will
regard as significant. There were originally, for example, three different versions of the videocassette
recorder and nobody knew at the time, which was going to win. And who, in the 1970s, would have
realised the enormous effect the computer would have by the turn of the century?
6. The public is often surprised at the Science Museum's interest in recent objects. Mr Brown says he
frequently turns down antique brass and mahogany electrical instruments on the grounds that they
already have enough of them, but he is happy to receive objects such as the Atomic domestic coffee
maker, and a 114-piecc Do-It-Yourself toolkit with canvas case, and a green beer bottle.
7. Natural history museums collect for a different reason. Their accumulations are part of attempts to
identify and understand the natural world. Some of the plants and animals they hold arc "type
specimens". In other words, they are the standard reference unit, like a reference weight or length, for
the species in question. Other specimens are valuable because of their age. One of the most famous
demonstrations of natural selection in action was made using museum specimens. A study of moths
collected over a long period of time showed that their wings became darker (which made them less
visible to insectivorous birds) as the industrial revolution made Britain more polluted.
8. Year after year, the value of such collections quietly and reliably increases, as scientists find uses
that would have been unimaginable to those who started them a century or two ago. Genetic analysis,
pharmaceutical development, bio-mimetrics (engineering that mimics nature to produce new designs)
and bio-diversity mapping are all developments that would have been unimaginable to the museums'
founders.
9. But as the collections grow older, they grow bigger. Insects may be small, but there are millions of
them and entomologists would like to catalogue every one. And when the reference material is a pair
of giraffes or a blue whale, space becomes a problem. That is why museums such as the Smithsonian
are increasingly forced to turn to out of town storage facilities. But museums that show the public
only a small fraction of their material risk losing the fickle goodwill of governments and the public,
which they need to keep running. Hence the determination of so many museums to make their back
room collections more widely available.
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TEST 10
Read the text. Choose the most suitable heading from the list (A-J) for each part (1-7) of the text.
Note: There are more headings than you need.
List of Headings:
A) Time and technological development
B) A problem for those researching attitudes to time
C) Learning the laws of time for intercultural understanding
D) Time and individual psychology
E) Comparing the value of time for different groups of workers
F) Research and conclusions on the speed different nationalities live at
G) The history of time measurement
H) Attitudes to time and authority - a cross-cultural relationship
I) Variation in theoretical views of time
J) Attitude to time as an indication of cultural and individual differences
1. If you show up a bit late for a meeting in Brazil, no one will be too worried. But if you keep
someone in New York City waiting for ten or fifteen minutes, you may have some explaining to do.
Time is seen as relatively flexible in some cultures but is viewed more rigidly in others. Indeed, the
way members of a culture perceive and use time tells us about their society's priorities, and even their
own personal view of the world.
2. Back in the 1950s, anthropologist Edward T Hall described how the social rules of time are like a
'silent language' for a given culture. These rules might not always be made explicit, he stated, but
'they exist in the air'. He described how variations in the perception of time can lead to
misunderstandings between people from separate cultures. 'An ambassador who has been kept
waiting by a foreign visitor needs to understand that if his visitor "just mutters an apology", this is
not necessarily an insult,' Hall wrote. 'You must know the social rules of the country to know at what
point apologies are really due.'
3. Social psychologist Robert V Levine says 'One of the beauties of studying time is that it's a
wonderful window on culture. You get answers on what cultures value and believe in.' Levine and
his colleagues have conducted so-called pace-of-life studies in 31 countries. In A Geography of Time,
published in 1997, Levine describes how he ranked the countries by measuring three things: walking
speed on urban sidewalks, how quickly postal clerks could fulfill a request for a common stamp, and
the accuracy of public clocks. From the data he collected, he concluded that the five fastest-paced
countries are Switzerland, Ireland, Germany, Japan and Italy; the five slowest are Syria, El Salvador,
Brazil, Indonesia and Mexico.
4. Kevin Birth, an anthropologist, has examined time perceptions in Trinidad. In that country, Birth
observes, 'if you are meeting friends at 6.00 at night, people show up at 6.45 or 7,00 and say, "any
time is Trinidad time".' When it comes to business, however, that loose approach works only for the
people with power, A boss can show up late and just say 'any time is Trinidad time', but those under
him are expected to be on time. Birth adds that the connection between power and waiting time is
true for many other cultures as well.
5. The complex nature of time makes it hard for anthropologists and social psychologists to
investigate. 'You can't simply go into a society, walk up to someone and say, "Tell me about your
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concept of time",' Birth says. 'People don't really have an answer to that. You have to come up with
other ways to find out.'
6. Birth attempted to get at how Trinidadians regard time by exploring how closely their society links
time and money. He surveyed rural residents and found that farmers - whose days are dictated by
natural events, such as sunrise - did not recognise the phrases time is money, budget your time or
time management even though they had satellite TV and were familiar with Western popular culture.
But tailors in the same areas were aware of such notions. Birth concluded that wage work altered the
tailors' views of time. 'The ideas of associating time with money are not found globally,' he says, 'but
are attached to your job and the people you work with.'
7. In addition to cultural variations in how people deal with time at a practical level, there may be
differences in how they visualise it from a more theoretical perspective. The Western idea of time has
been compared to that of an arrow in flight towards the future; a one-way view of the future which
often includes the expectation that life should get better as time passes. Some cultures see time as
closely connected with space: the Australian Aborigines' concept of the 'Dreamtime' combines a myth
of how the world began with stories of sacred sites and orientation points that enable the nomadic
Aborigines to find their way across the huge Australian landscape. For other cultures, time may be
seen as a pattern incorporating the past, present and future, or a wheel in which past, present and
future revolve endlessly. But theory and practice do not necessarily go together. 'There's often
considerable variation between how a culture views the mythology of time and how they think about
time in their daily lives,' Birth asserts.
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MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS BASED ON A NARRATIVE TEXT
TEST 1
Read the text. For questions 1-5, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according
to the text.
The sea has been the most important thing in Ellen MacArthur's life since she spent a summer on her
Aunt Thea's boat on the English coast when she was eight years old. Her bedtime reading at that time
was a1biography of a famous yachtsman who had sailed round the world three times and her dream
was to do the same thing. Her parents, who are both teachers, understood that cross-country running
and hockey were not going to provide enough adventure for their daughter, and that they could do
nothing to alter her decision. Ellen had already started to save up her pocket money to buy a boat.
But as Ellen knew, it is easy to dream of doing a round-the-world voyage, but finding the money and
learning how to go about it is more difficult. At the age of eighteen she was only 163 cm tall and
weighed a little over 50 kilos, but she made her first solo trip around the coast of Great Britain. For
her this was a test to see if she could cope with the hardships of a lone voyage. In 1994 she started
talking about entering the Vendee Globe, the famous French single-handed, non-stop, round-theworld race. By 1996, she knew she had to do it.
Then the real struggle began. Ellen lived in a caravan to save money for the race and even slept under
her boat for a few nights during a Northern English winter while she got it ready for the heavy seas.
She wrote two thousand letters asking for sponsorship from companies and got two replies.
One of these was from the Kingfisher brewery, and an alliance was born. She named her boat after
them, and they are still her5sponsors today. 'My strongest quality is that I just don't give up,' she says.
By the time the boats lined up for the start of the 2000 Vendee Globe race, Ellen Mac Arthur had
sailed 120,000 kilometres in eight months in her beloved Kingfisher, more than anyone else in the
race had sailed in the previous two years. By now she was also a very experienced racer and was
considered to be one of the favourites. Nevertheless, the sight of this tiny figure at the helm of the
enormous ocean racing yacht made almost everyone in France feel protective towards her. For the
next three months, the news bulletins on French television contained not only race reports but also
medical updates on Ellen.
Ellen believes that everyone who finishes the Vendee Globe is a winner, but she still must have been
disappointed to come second. She had overtaken Michel Desjoyeaux, who eventually won, days
before the finish but ultimately he snatched back the lead. In the spirit of the race, Ellen went back to
the finish line to greet most of the other sailors on their return, including the 60-year-old Frenchman
who finished last after nearly five months at sea. 'For me, it's part of the tradition of the event,' says
Ellen. 'You're there at the start, you should be there at the finish.'
1. How did Ellen MacArthur's parents feel about her ambition?
A) They wanted her to take up other sports.
B) They thought she would change her mind.
C) They realised it was inevitable.
D) They thought it would cost too much money.
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2. What made Ellen decide to enter the Vendee Globe race?
A) She had proved to herself she could do it.
B) She wanted to learn more about sailing.
C) She was tired of sailing around Britain.
D) She wanted to become famous.
3. Once Ellen had decided to enter the Vendee Globe race, the most difficult thing for her was
…
A) finding somewhere to live.
B) adapting to the cold weather.
C) getting financial support.
D) feeling she wanted to give up.
4. Why did the French public like Ellen?
A) She had already won a lot of races.
B) She looked very small and vulnerable.
C) She overcame medical problems.
D) She appeared on French television a lot.
5. How does Ellen feel about yacht racing?
A) She finds losing very disappointing.
B) She thinks winning is the most important thing.
C) She thinks competing is the real achievement.
D) She thinks some of the traditions are pointless.
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TEST 2
Read the text. For questions 1-6, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according
to the text.
Thirty or so years after he arrived in London, Chanu decided that it was time to see the sights. ‘All I
saw was the Houses of Parliament. And that was in 1979! It was a project. Much equipment was
needed. Preparations were made. Chanu bought a pair of shorts which hung just below his knees. He
tried them on and filled the numerous pockets with a compass, guidebook, binoculars, bottled water,
maps and two types of disposable camera. Thus loaded, the shorts hung at mid-calf. He bought a
baseball cap and wore it around the flat with the visor variously angled up and down and turned
around to the back of his head. A money belt secured the shorts around his waist and prevented them
from reaching his ankles. He made a list of tourist attractions and devised a star rating system that
encompassed historical significance, something he termed ‘entertainment factor’ and value for
money. The girls would enjoy themselves. They were forewarned of this requirement.
On a hot Saturday morning towards the end of July the planning came to fruition. ‘I’ve spent more
than half my life here,’ said Chanu, ‘but I’ve hardly left these few streets.’ He stared out of the bus
windows at the grimy colours of Bethnal Green Road. ‘All this time I have been struggling and
struggling, and I’ve barely had time to lift my head and look around.’
They sat at the front of the bus, on the top deck. Chanu shared a seat with Nazneen, and Shahana and
Bibi sat across the aisle. Nazneen crossed her ankles and tucked her feet beneath the seat to make
way for the two plastic carrier bags that contained their picnic. ‘You’ll stink the bus out,’ Shahana
had said. ‘I’m not sitting with you.’ But she had not moved away.
‘It’s like this,’ said Chanu, ‘when you have all the time in the world to see something, you don’t
bother to see it. Now that we are going home, I have become a tourist.’ He pulled his sunglasses from
his forehead onto his nose. They were part of the new equipment.
He turned to the girls. ‘How do you like your holiday so far?’ Bibi said that she liked it very well, j
and Shahana squinted and shuffled and leaned her head against the side window.
Chanu began to hum. He danced with his head, j which wobbled from side to side, and drummed out
a rhythm on his thigh. The humming appeared to come from low down in his chest and melded with
the general tune of the bus, vibrating on the bass notes.
Nazneen decided that she would make this day unlike any other. She would not allow this day to
disappoint him.
The conductor came to collect fares. He had a slack-jawed expression: nothing could interest him.
‘Two at one pound, and two children, please,’ said Chanu. He received his tickets. ‘Sightseeing,’ he
announced, and flourished his guidebook. ‘Family holiday.’
‘Right,’ said the conductor. He jingled his bag, looking for change. He was squashed by his job.
The ceiling forced him to stoop.
‘Can you tell me something? To your mind, does the British Museum rate more highly than the
National Gallery? Or would you recommend the gallery over the museum?’
The conductor pushed his lower lip out with his tongue. He stared hard at Chanu, as if considering
whether to eject him from the bus.
‘In my rating system,’ explained Chanu, ‘they are neck and neck. It would be good to take an opinion
from a local.’
‘Where’ve you come from, mate?’
‘Oh, just two blocks behind,’ said Chanu. ‘But this is the first holiday for twenty or thirty years.’
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The conductor swayed. It was still early but the bus was hot and Nazneen could smell his sweat.
He looked at Chanu’s guidebook. He twisted round and looked at the girls. At a half-glance he knew
everything about Nazneen, and then he shook his head and walked away.
1. In what sense was the sightseeing trip a ‘project’ (line 4)?
A) Chanu felt a duty to do it.
В) It was something that Chanu had wanted to do for a long time.
C) Chanu took it very seriously.
D) It was something that required a good deal of organization.
2. The descriptions of Chanu’s clothing are intended to …
A) show how little he cared about his appearance.
В) create an impression of his sense of humour.
C) create amusing visual images of him.
D) show how bad his choice of clothes always was.
3. Chanu had decided to go on a sightseeing trip that day because …
A) he regretted the lack of opportunity to do so before.
В) he felt that it was something the girls ought to do.
C) he had just developed an interest in seeing the sights.
D) he had grown bored with the area that he lived in.
4. As they sat on top of the bus, …
A) Nazneen began to regret bringing so much food with them.
В) the girls felt obliged to pretend that they were enjoying themselves.
C) Chanu explained why he had brought the whole family on the trip.
D) the family members showed different amounts of enthusiasm for the trip.
5. When Chanu showed him the guidebook, the conductor …
A) made it clear that he wanted to keep moving through the bus.
В) appeared to think that Chanu might cause a problem.
C) initially pretended not to have heard what Chanu said.
D) felt that he must have misunderstood what Chanu said.
6. What was strange about Chanu’s use of the word ‘local?
A) It was not relevant to the places he was asking about.
В) It could equally have been applied to him.
C) He was not using it with its normal meaning.
D) He had no reason to believe it applied to the conductor.
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TEST 3
Read the text. For questions 1-7, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according
to the text.
Although I left university with a good degree, I suddenly found that it was actually quite hard to find
a job. After being unemployed for a few months, I realised I had to take the first thing that came along
or I'd be in serious financial difficulties. And so, for six very long months, I became a market research
telephone interviewer.
I knew it wasn't the best company in the world when they told me that I'd have to undergo three days
of training before starting work, and that I wouldn't get paid for any of it. Still, I knew that the hourly
rate when I actually did start full time would be a lot better than unemployment benefit, and I could
work up to twelve hours a day, seven days a week if I wanted. So, I thought of the money I'd earn
and put up with three days of unpaid training. Whatever those three days taught me — and I can't
really remember anything about them today - 1 wasn't prepared for the way I would be treated by the
supervisors.
It was worse than being at school. There were about twenty interviewers like myself, each sitting in
a small, dark booth with an ancient computer and a dirty telephone. The booths were around the walls
of the fifth floor of a concrete office block, and the supervisors sat in the middle of the room, listening
in to all of our telephone interviews. We weren't allowed to talk to each other, and if we took more
than about two seconds from ending one phone call and starting another, they would shout at us to
hurry up and get on with our jobs. We even had to ask permission to go to the toilet. I was amazed
how slowly the day went. Our first break of the day came at eleven o'clock, two hours after we started.
I'll always remember that feeling of despair when I would look at my watch thinking, 'It must be
nearly time for the break', only to find that it was quarter to ten and that there was another hour and a
quarter to go. My next thought was always, 'I can't believe I'm going to be here until nine o'clock
tonight.'
It wouldn't have been so bad if what we were doing had been useful. But it wasn't. Most of our
interviews were for a major telecommunications company. We'd have to ring up businesses and ask
them things like, 'Is your telecoms budget more than three million pounds a year?' The chances are
we'd get the reply, 'Oh, I don't think so. I'll ask my husband. This is a corner shop. We've only got
one phone.' And so the day went on.
The most frightening aspect of the job was that I was actually quite good at it. 'Oh no!' I thought.
'Maybe I'm destined to be a market researcher for the rest of my life.' My boss certainly seemed to
think so. One day – during a break, of course — she ordered me into her office. 'Simon,' she said, 'I'm
promoting you. From tomorrow, you're off telecoms and onto credit card complaints. I'm sure you
can handle it. There's no extra pay, but it is a very responsible position.' Three weeks later I quit. It
was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
1. Why did the writer become a market research telephone interviewer?
A) He had completely run out of money.
B) He had the right university degree for the job.
C) It was the first job he was offered.
D) He knew it was only for six months.
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2. The writer had doubts about the company when …
A) they only offered him three days of training.
B) they told him he wouldn't receive payment for his training.
C) they told him he had to be trained first.
D) he was told what the hourly rate would be.
3. His workplace could best be described as …
A) large and noisy.
B) silent and dirty.
C) untidy and crowded.
D) old-fashioned and uncomfortable.
4 How did he feel when he realised it wasn't time for the break yet?
A) He felt that he would have to go home early.
B) He felt that he wouldn't survive to the end of the day.
C) He felt that the end of the day seemed so long away.
D) He felt that he must have made a mistake.
5. What would have made the job more bearable?
A) knowing that he was carrying out a valuable service
B) being able to phone much larger companies
C) not having to talk to shopkeepers
D) not having to ring up businesses
6. What was unusual about Simon's promotion?
A) It showed how good he was at his job.
B) It meant he would be phoning different people.
C) It involved greater responsibility.
D) There was no increase in salary.
7. What would be the most suitable title for this extract?
A) Typical Office Life
B) Unpleasant Employment
C) How To Earn a Decent Salary
D) You Get What You Deserve
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TEST 4
Read the text. For questions 1-7, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according
to the text.
Oliver glanced at his watch. There were ten minutes left until the supermarket closed and he was
rushing round, quickly dropping things he needed for the weekend into his trolley. He hadn't been in
his own flat long and now his mother had invited herself for dinner the following day. He really
wanted to impress her with his ability to cope on his own, but he knew that the usual critical comments
would soon appear if everything wasn't perfect. He hoped that the three days he'd spent cleaning the
place from top to bottom wouldn't be wasted, and he'd even gone so far as painting the front door.
His mother wouldn't notice that, though, of course. What she would notice was the dust on top of the
pictures, or the old sofa, or one of a thousand other things that Oliver had forgotten about. Still, he
was determined to give her a good meal, and maybe that would put her in a slightly better mood than
usual.
He checked his shopping list again and bent over to look through his trolley. He mentally ticked off
the items and then realised that he still needed eggs. As he straightened up to set off towards the dairy
section, there was an enormous collision, a clatter of tins and a loud shriek of pain. When Oliver had
recovered his balance, he saw an attractive woman of about nineteen on her knees, putting tins and
vegetables back into a handheld basket.
'Why don't you watch where you're going?" she snapped at him over her shoulder. 'Some people just
have no manners. Honestly ... '
'Er ... sorry,' stammered Oliver. 'Let me help you." He began to pick tins up. 'It really wasn't my fault,
though, you know. I was just ... 'The girl grabbed a tin of tuna from his hands.
'Never mind,' she said, her basket now full, and she strode off down the aisle without looking back.
Oliver watched her go and sighed. He never seemed to have much luck with girls. Maybe that was
just what he needed to show his mother how grown up he was. He turned back to his own trolley and
began to push it. Maybe if she came to dinner and he introduced her to an intelligent, charming young
woman then she would stop calling him every day to check he was okay. As Oliver thought about
this possibility, something caught his eye and he stopped his trolley. There was a red leather purse on
top of his shopping. It must have come out of the girl's basket and landed in his trolley. Oliver quickly
glanced around, looking for the girl. She wouldn't be able to pay for her shopping. He picked up the
purse, left his trolley and sprinted towards the line of checkouts.
When he got there, he scanned the lines of customers waiting to pay. There were about a dozen
queues, but Oliver couldn't see the girl in any of them. Thinking that she must still be shopping
somewhere in the supermarket, Oliver turned to go and find her when he suddenly heard a familiar
voice at the front of the queue next to him.
'I'm sure I had it here a minute ago. I want to speak to the manager. I think it's been stolen. It must be
someone in this supermarket because I know ... '
She stopped as she realised that Oliver was standing next to her, holding her purse out towards her.
'Lost something?' Oliver asked.
The girl smiled, then recognised Oliver and frowned, before her expression softened again and she
took the purse with a faint smile on her lips.
'Thanks,' she said quietly.
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VIVA VOX
1. Oliver is anxious to prove to his mother that he …
A) has learned a lot about cooking.
B) is capable of living independently.
C) knows she looked after him very well.
D) has learned not to be so negative.
2. When she visits his flat, Oliver's mother will …
A) appreciate the effort he has made.
B) find something she isn't happy about.
C) help him do up his flat.
D) remind him to get new furniture.
3. The young woman drops her shopping because …
A) she and Oliver bump into each other.
B) her basket is too full.
C) she is frightened by Oliver.
D) she feels pain in her knees.
4. When Oliver offers to help, the young woman …
A) forgives him for what he has done.
B) shows that she doesn't trust him.
C) thanks him despite her anger.
D) refuses to listen to his explanation.
5. Oliver thinks that his mother might give him more independence if he …
A) found a friend for her.
B) had a girlfriend.
С) told her to stop phoning him.
D) had nicer friends.
6. When he sees the purse, Oliver realises that …
A) he might be accused of theft.
B) there's no money in it.
C) he could get his revenge.
D) it fell into his trolley by accident.
7. Oliver manages to find the girl because he …
A) sees her standing in one of the queues.
B) knows where she is still shopping.
C) recognises her voice when she speaks.
D) joins the same queue as her.
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EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
FOR TEACHERS
VIVA VOX
TEST 5
Read the text. For questions 1-7, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according
to the text.
I looked out of the window again and then back at the clock. 'Typical Helen!' I thought to myself,
wondering what excuse she would try this time. We had had this arrangement for a year now. We
took it in turns to drive to work, stopping along the way to pick the other up. It saved petrol and was
better for the environment, which was something that Helen claimed to care about, although I had
seen her empty her ashtray out of the car window more than once. For me, the main advantage was
the stress reduction. If I could avoid battling the city centre traffic a few days a week, I'd put up with
any amount of meaningless gossip along the way. A car horn sounded and I looked up to see Helen
waving from her car window and pointing at her watch as if to say, 'Hurry up’. I deliberately sat down
out of view and counted to thirty before picking up my jacket and bag and heading towards the car,
locking the front door behind me.
'Sorry, Vanessa!' Helen called. 'Justin just wouldn't get ready for school this morning.' If Helen's
excuses were to be believed, then Justin was the most difficult child imaginable. He also seemed to
be the unluckiest, having suffered from half a dozen different minor illnesses in the last month alone.
It was strange that he never seemed to have any problems on mornings when it was my turn to drive.
'Never mind,' I replied, fastening my seat belt. 'We should be okay.' Helen set off and we joined the
rush hour traffic. 'Did you read the report?' she asked mc after a minute and I nodded. 'What did you
think?' I had been expecting the question, but still I hesitated for a moment. I couldn't say what I
really thought, which was that Helen would be lucky to keep her job because the report was very
critical of her department. Helen glanced at me. 'I know,' she said. 'It's bad, isn't it? I knew that
Peterson was out to get mc.' Carl Peterson was the area manager. The report was the result of a monthlong study of the company and we had all been asked to read it over the weekend. I understood why
Helen didn't get on with him. Both were determined to get to the top in the company. The difference
was that where Helen had no idea how to deal with other people and spent her time finding ways of
avoiding blame, Carl was a talented manager. 'I'm sure that's not the case,' I said. 'He's just doing his
job.' Helen's lips tightened.
'Hmm,' she said. After a moment, she continued. 'Look. I know I'm not perfect, but it's not my fault.
I ...'
Just at that moment, a young child on a bicycle pulled out into the road in front of us. I shouted 'Look
out!' and Helen slammed on the brakes and turned the wheel quickly. There was a crunch of metal as
we hit the back of the car in front, which had stopped at the traffic lights. The boy glanced over his
shoulder before quickly pedalling off. Steam began to rise from under the bonnet. Helen hit the
steering wheel in anger and frustration. 'You okay?' I asked.
'Yes, fine,' she replied, and then I saw her expression change from anger to shock and she let her head
fall forward onto the wheel. I followed where she had been looking and saw what she had seen. The
driver of the other car had got out and was standing by the car, looking at us with a fixed expression.
It was Carl Peterson.
1. When Vanessa thinks 'Typical Helen!' she implies that …
A) has learned a lot about cooking.
B) is capable of living independently.
C) knows she looked after him very well.
D) has learned not to be so negative.
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EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
FOR TEACHERS
VIVA VOX
2. Vanessa mentions Helen emptying her ashtray to show …
A) how much Helen's views on the environment have changed.
B) how their arrangement makes a big difference to pollution.
C) that she thinks their arrangement is a bad idea.
D) that she doubts that Helen really cares about the environment.
3. Vanessa feels that the driving arrangement …
A) gives her and Helen a good chance to chat.
B) makes getting to work more relaxing.
C) causes arguments between her and Helen.
D) helps to reduce the amount of traffic on the road.
4. Vanessa waits before leaving the house to join Helen …
A) to show that she won't allow Helen to hurry her.
B) to check that she has everything she needs.
C) because she knows they have plenty of time.
D) because she has to check that the door is locked.
5. Vanessa believes that Justin …
A) gets ill more than other children his age.
B) is used as an excuse by his mother.
C) is a difficult child to deal with.
D) should learn to deal with his problems himself.
6. Vanessa thinks that Carl …
A) is jealous of Helen's success.
B) wants Helen to do his job for him.
C) is very good at his job.
D) gives everyone too much work to do.
7. In the final paragraph, Helen realises that …
A) she and Vanessa will be late for work.
B) she is lucky to be alive.
C) the boy is badly injured.
D) she has made her situation worse
28
EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
FOR TEACHERS
VIVA VOX
TEST 6
Read the text. For questions 1-8, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according
to the text.
During the past few years, Mr Boggis had achieved considerable fame among his friends in the trade
by his ability to produce unusual and often quite rare items with astonishing regularity. Apparently,
the man had a source of supply that was almost inexhaustible, a sort of private warehouse, and it
seemed that all he had to do was to drive out to it once a week and help himself. Whenever they asked
him where he got the stuff he would smile knowingly and wink and murmur something about a little
secret.
The idea behind Mr Boggis's little secret was a simple one, and it had come to him as a result of
something that had happened on a certain Sunday afternoon nearly nine years before, while he was
driving in the country. He'd gone out in the morning to visit his old mother, and on the way back the
fanbelt on his car had broken, causing the engine to overheat. He had got out of the car and walked
to the nearest house, a smallish farm building about fifty yards off the road, and had asked the woman
who answered the door if he could please have a jug of water.
While he was waiting for her to fetch it, he happened to glance in through the door of the living-room,
and there, not five yards from where he was standing, he spotted something that made him so excited
the sweat began to come out all over the top of his head.
It was a large oak armchair of a type that he had only seen once before in his life. Each arm, as well
as the panel at the back, was supported by a row of eight beautifully turned spindles. The back panel
itself was decorated by an inlay of the most delicate floral design, and the head of a duck was carved
to lie along half the length of either arm. 'Good God!' he thought. This thing is late fifteenth century!'
Mr Boggis poked his head in farther through the door and there, by heavens, was another of them on
the other side of the fireplace! He couldn't be sure, but two chairs like that must be worth at least a
thousand pounds up in London. And, oh, what beauties they were!
When the woman returned, Mr Boggis introduced himself and straight away asked if she would like
to sell her chairs.
'Dear me,' she said. But why on earth should she want to sell her chairs? No reason at all, except that
he might be willing to give her a pretty nice price. And how much would he give? They were
definitely not for sale, but just out of curiosity, just for fun, you know, how much would he give?
'Thirty-five pounds.'
'How much?'
'Thirty-five pounds.'
'Dear me, thirty-five pounds.' Well, well, that was very interesting. She'd always thought they were
valuable. They were very old. They were very comfortable too. She couldn't possibly do without
them, not possibly. No, they were not for sale, but thank you very much all the same.
They weren't really so very old, Mr Boggis told her, and they wouldn't be at all easy to sell, but it just
happened that he had a client who rather liked that of thing. Maybe he could go up another two pound
to call it thirty-seven. How about that?
They bargained for half an hour, and of course, the end Mr Boggis got the chairs and agreed to pass
something less than a twentieth of their value.
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EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
FOR TEACHERS
VIVA VOX
1. What impressed Mr Boggis's friends?
A) He had a private warehouse.
B) His supply of items was secret.
C) He had a regular supply of items.
D) His fame was considerable.
2. How did Mr Boggis discover his source of supply?
A) through nine years of driving in the country
B) by chance
C) by having a secret idea
D) by looking for it for more than nine years
3. Why did Mr Boggis go to the farmhouse?
A) to visit his mother
B) because he was thirsty
C) to get a new part for his car
D) to get some water for his car
4. Why did he start sweating?
A) because he was afraid of something
B) because it was so hot in the house
C) because of what he saw
D) because there was something on top of his head
5. What was special about the armchair?
A) It was very old.
B) It was supported by eight spindles.
C) It was carved in the form of a duck.
D) It was the only one of its kind.
6. Mr Boggis liked the chairs because …
A) they were very beautiful.
B) they looked very comfortable.
C) he was curious about them.
D) he hoped to sell them for a profit.
7. The woman thought her chairs were …
A) extremely valuable.
B) less valuable than they really were.
C) worth a thousand pounds in London.
D) not worth selling.
8. What do you think would be a good title for this text?
A) Where Mr Boggis found his source of supply
B) Mr Boggis's day out
C) An unexpected find
D) Why Mr Boggis likes driving
30
EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
FOR TEACHERS
VIVA VOX
TEST 7
Read the text. For questions 1-7, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according
to the text.
You may think to yourself "Who is Mike Judge?", but if I say ‘Beavis and Butthead’ everyone seems
to know who they are; two cartoon characters with large heads, large nostrils and deformed mouths,
whose laughter is as distraught as they are. Mike Judge, their creator, goes on to describe them as the
most unsightly Americans ever. They are not only uncool and uneducated, but they also live in a vast
suburban wasteland, where their presence seldom goes unnoticed. But how much do these social
outcasts resemble Mike Judge?
Born in Ecuador in 1962 and brought up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Mike Judge was the son of
an ex-marine pilot and a Spanish teacher. Being a skinny, pale faced, blonde nerd in a neighbourhood
where racial tensions ran high, he describes his high school years as being far from his best. If this
wasn’t enough, he was dyslexic and like Butthead he had to wear braces to straighten his teeth. His
only defence against being teased was his never-ending attempts to make everyone laugh - and so a
comedian was born!
Nevertheless, Mike never really made a career out of comedy. After working part-time as a paperboy
and at a drugstore, he finally landed a job at a local fast food restaurant, from which he was sacked
for eating too many French fries. Eventually, he moved to San Diego, where he studied physics and
later received his bachelor’s degree. However, things didn’t work out as he had planned. In 1988,
after working as an electronics engineer for a company which designed test programs for military
aircraft, he moved back to Texas, where he joined a band. There, he soon got married to his college
sweetheart, Francesca Morocco.
Mike Judge’s first contact with animation didn’t come until he visited an animation festival at a Dallas
theatre. He was so fascinated by it all that he visited the local library and read almost all the books
about drawing cartoons. His initial attempts produced cartoons such as Frog Baseball’, 'Office Spare’
and Huh?’, but it wasn’t until he sent some of his work to MTV that he gained any acknowledgement.
Amazed by 'Frog Baseball’ and a couple of Beavis and Butthead’ cartoons, Abbv Terkuhle, executive
producer at MTV, finally offered Mike his own show in the autumn of 1992. At present, he still does
most of the voices for Beavis and Butthead’, but unlike them, he doesn’t have an enormous head or
a strange-looking mouth.
Recently, Mike Judge has been working on a movie called Beavis and Butthead Do America’. Here
the two characters set out to find their stolen television, but along the way, they are mistaken for hired
killers and evil masterminds and are eventually hunted down by government agents. According to
their creator, a sense of pity arises from seeing them as personae non gratae - that is, liked by no-one.
In fact, the viewer may become a little more empathetic with Beavis and Butthead this time round.
Despite this, the characters themselves have absolutely no self-awareness and continue with their
antics unhindered.
Unlike his creations, Mike Judge is a married self-made cartoonist with two daughters, a fast car and
whatever else is part of the American Dream. His future ambitions include a new series called King
of the Hill’ and possibly some short films of his own. Whatever Mike’s endeavours might be,
however, there is no doubt that his work will have global appeal.
31
EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
FOR TEACHERS
VIVA VOX
1. Why did Mike Judge have a difficult time as a teenager?
A) Because his parents were strict.
В) Because he was a racist.
C) Because everyone thought he looked like Butthead.
D) Because of his appearance and learning disorder.
2. In high school, how did Mike Judge deal with his problems?
A) by laughing at his classmates
В) by getting various part-time jobs
C) by entertaining the people around him
D) by straightening his teeth
3. How did Mike Judge learn how to draw cartoons?
A) by reading a lot of books about cartoon drawing
В) by visiting an animation festival in Dallas
C) by stitching animation at college
D) by going to the library and reading all the books about animation
4. When was Mike Judge's work first recognized?
A) just before Abby Terkuhle saw some of his work
В) as soon as lie began doing all the voices for the cartoons he produced
C) when some of his first cartoons were seen by a television producer
D) after Beavis and Butthead was shown on television
5. According to Mike Judge, in what way is the Beavis and Butthead film different from the
MTV show?
A) It presents the more sensitive sides of Beavis and Butthead’.
В) It makes the audience sympathise with the characters.
C) It deals with the problems of being socially unacceptable.
D) It is not as successful as the television show.
6. As soon as he finished college, Mike Judge …
A) joined a band.
В) got married
C) found a challenging job.
D) flew military aircraft.
7. According to the writer, Mike Judge’s work …
A) reflects the American Dream.
В) will make him successful.
C) will attract interest worldwide.
D) is too ambitious.
32
EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
FOR TEACHERS
VIVA VOX
TEST 8
Read the text. For questions 1-8, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according
to the text.
A few days later, Lyn's mother told her to spend her evening sorting out and packing her belongings.
'I'll see to your clothes,' she said. 'I want you to do your books and paints and things. I've put some
cardboard boxes in your room.'
'You should've asked me,' said Lyn, following her into the bedroom and seeing the assorted boxes. 'I
would've got some. There's lots outside the supermarket near school.'
'These came from the local shop. Oh it's all right, I've shaken out all the dirt,' she said as Lyn tipped
up the nearest one, checking that it was empty.
'OK. I'll do it,' said Lyn. 'We're ready to move then, are we?'
'Yes, the day after tomorrow. You're going to miss the end of school term, but you won't mind that,
will you?'
'You mean Friday's my last day at school?' Lyn pushed the boxes aside with her foot to clear a path
to her bed so that she could sit down. 'You could've told me,' she said. 'I have got people to say
goodbye to, you know.'
'I am telling you,' said her mother reasonably. 'It doesn't take two days to say goodbye, does it? You'll
only get upset.'
'Why are we doing my things first?' Lyn asked. 'I haven't got much. There's all the other stuff in the
house - shouldn't we start on that first?'
'Don't worry about that. Mrs. Wilson's coming to help me tomorrow.'
Lyn remembered what Mandy Wilson had said all those days ago. 'My mum's coming round to help
you pack.' She felt angry with herself for not having said something straightaway - it was probably
too late now. But worth a try. 'I can help you,' she said. 'We can do it together.'
'You'll be at school - you want to say goodbye.'
'I'll go in at lunchtime for that. Mum, we can do it together. I don't want that Mrs. Wilson touching
our things.' Mandy Wilson's mother - picking things over- telling Mandy what they'd found - Mandy
at school announcing importantly, 'My mother says they've got cheap plates and half of them are
cracked and none of their towels match.' The image was intolerable.
Lyn's mother moved over to sit beside her on the bed. She was wearing her harassed expression.
She was clearly feeling the pressure too, but managed to keep her patience. 'Nothing's ever
straightforward with you, is it?' she said. 'It's been agreed for a long time and it's extremely kind of
her to help. Everything's got to be wrapped up carefully so it doesn't get broken, then put in storage
boxes in the right order - I don't doubt you'd do your best, but there's not room for anyone else - and
she offered first.'
Lyn said no more and got on with the job she'd agreed to do. Her bedroom looked odd when she'd
finished, but not as odd as the rest of the house when she got home from school next day.
It was so sad. There were no curtains at the windows and no ornaments on the shelves, and in the
middle of the room stood four large wooden boxes, full of objects wrapped in newspaper. But what
really struck Lyn most were the rectangles of lighter-coloured paint on the wall where pictures had
once hung. It was as if they had been atomised by a ray gun. Moving into the kitchen, she saw empty
cupboards, their doors wide open. They had done a thorough job.
Lyn turned to her mother. 'Bur I want to bake a cake to take to school tomorrow, to say goodbye.'
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EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
FOR TEACHERS
VIVA VOX
'Everything's packed away and I can't start getting stuff out again now. I know it's all very unsettling,
but it's only till we get to the new place. I wish I could've left it all till tomorrow morning, but I wasn't
sure how long it would all take.' Even the prospect of going to the usually frowned upon fast-food
restaurant for dinner couldn't cheer Lyn up, and she was quiet all evening.
Next morning, however, she got up to find a home-made chocolate cake waiting for her in the
otherwise bare and uninviting kitchen.
1. When Lyn is asked to pack her belongings, she …
A) objects to putting her clothes in boxes.
B) is worried whether the boxes are clean.
C) thinks that boxes are unsuitable for the job.
D) is annoyed that she forgot to get better boxes.
2. When Lyn says 'I'll do it', she is talking about …
A) filling something.
B) checking something.
C) collecting something.
D) replacing something.
3. How does Lyn react to the news that the family is moving soon?
A) She's sad to learn that she's leaving her old home.
B) She wonders how her friends will take the news.
C) She's worried about missing her schoolwork.
D) She wishes she'd been told earlier.
4 Why does Lyn offer to do more of the packing?
A) She feels her mother needs her support.
B) She regrets having refused to do it before.
C) She distrusts the person who is coming to help.
D) She's concerned that some things will get damaged.
5. The word 'harassed' (in bold) shows that Lyn's mum was feeling …
A) amused.
B) stressed.
C) annoyed.
D) disappointed.
6 What reason does Lyn's mother give for not accepting Lyn's offer of help?
A) Other people have already said they will do it. B) The job will take more than two people.
C) Lyn would not be capable of doing it.
D) Lyn would not enjoy doing it.
7. What made the greatest impression on Lyn when she came home the next day?
A) how sad her bedroom looked
B) the empty spaces where things had once been
C) how the things from the house had been packed
D) the fact that the kitchen had been completely cleared
8. When Lyn mentioned that she wanted to make a cake, her mother …
A) suggested getting one from a restaurant.
B) said she'd have to wait and do it later.
C) explained why it was impossible.
D) offered to make one for her.
34
EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
FOR TEACHERS
VIVA VOX
TEST 9
Read the text. For questions 1-8, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according
to the text.
'This came today, Jo. I forgot to tell you', Dad said, an opened brown envelope in his hand. He took
out a letter, saying as he handed it to me, 'The big house at the back of ours has been bought by a
property developer. The letter's from the City Council, asking if we object. They've applied for
permission to pull down the house and put up an apartment block instead, plus eight three-storey
houses on the garden.' This came as such a shock that I didn't say anything about it at all at first.
Dad had been right when he'd said that whoever bought the big house would probably really be buying
the garden. What neither of us had realised, though, was that it wouldn't be the garden itself they'd be
after. I couldn't imagine it with a big block of flats and houses standing on it, the earth covered over
and suffocated; my greatest fear was that there would be nowhere for the butterflies and bees to come
any more. Some might move into our little gardens, but there wouldn't be much room.
That night I had a dream about bulldozers and I woke up in the morning with a terrible jump. I
supposed that everyone else in our street would have had the same letter as us. I wondered why they
weren't all out there, talking over their garden walls - painting banners, tying themselves to trees protesting. Come to think of it, why wasn't I? Before I had time to feel guilty about that, though, the
scramble to get to school began and I stopped thinking about it for a while.
I often go into Dad's study after school. He always pretends he wants to be left till about six, but he's
on his own all day and I think he must need a bit of company by four-ish, to see him through. That
day he was trying to finish designing a book called Home Maintenance. He'd scanned a lot of pictures
and diagrams into the computer and he was busy numbering them, muttering that the text was too
long as always.
'Everyone will have had that letter we had, won't they?' I said, leaning against his work table to watch
him. Dad said they would. I noticed he was wearing his chewed-up grey sweater, the one he puts on
when he's expecting a job to be challenging. 'Well, will they do anything?'
'Like what?' He wasn't paying attention. He was sliding a diagram about on the screen, and trying to
fit some text in beside it. It wasn't going to be easy.
'Well, will they do something to stop it happening?’
Dad shifted his chair to the right, shunting me aside. He didn't really need to do this at all, he was
just making the point that he thought I was in his way. 'Shouldn't think so,' he said. 'It's not going to
be stopped by anything we say.'
I felt sure he was missing the point. Even though he was making a big thing about looking at me and
not looking at his screen, I knew what his mind was really on. 'The developers have asked for
permission,' I said, in the same annoyingly patient voice he'd been using. 'If you ask for permission
that means someone could refuse. The Council must be able to.'
'They could’, said Dad, speaking even more 'patiently'. 'Our not wanting it isn't a good enough reason,
Jo. We've got our own houses and gardens, nobody's taking those away.’
'We could try,' I said, but Dad shook his head.
Mum was no more help at dinner that evening. 'People need homes,' she said, sloshing lasagne on to
our plates. 'There's a lot of silly prejudice against these developers.'
'You think they're all kind and caring people, do you?' said Dad.
'I think they're no nicer or nastier than anyone else', said Mum. 'And they do a useful service –
providing homes and shops and offices for the rest of us.'
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EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
FOR TEACHERS
VIVA VOX
'And they make money,' said Dad, taking some more salad.
'Of course they do,' said Mum. 'Do you work for nothing?'
'I doubt if I make as much in a year as the average property developer makes in a week,' said Dad.
'But don't you just wish you did?' said Mum.
1. From the first paragraph, we learn that the letter Jo's father gave her …
A) informed the family of a decision already made.
B) contained news that the family had been expecting.
C) was replying to a question that the family had asked.
D) was giving the family the chance to give their opinion.
2. What concerns Jo most about the proposed housing development?
A) how it would change her family's garden
B) how the building work would be carried out
C) the effect it would have on the local wildlife
D) the type of buildings that would be constructed
3. The word 'that' (Paragraph 3, in bold) refers to Jo's …
A) attitude towards her neighbours.
B) failure to protest against the plans.
C) dream about the proposed buildings.
D) lateness in getting reading for school.
4. In the fourth paragraph, we discover that Jo's father usually …
A) spends most of his day working alone.
B) works for a company that makes computers.
C) gets home from work at a regular time each day.
D) welcomes interruptions during his working day.
5. Jo realised that her father was having a difficult day because of …
A) the look on his face.
B) the way he was sitting.
C) the way he was dressed.
D) the fact he stopped to talk to her.
6. The word 'shunting' (in bold) indicates a way of …
A) talking.
B) moving.
C) speaking.
D) watching.
7. How does Jo's father feel about the proposed building development?
A) resigned to its going ahead
B) angry not to be able to prevent it
C) sure that they'd soon get used to it
D) worried about the council's attitude towards it
8. Jo's mother suggests that the developers who have bought the land …
A) would be willing to listen to Jo's concerns.
B) shouldn't be allowed to make so much money.
C) may be planning to build other types of building.
D) might not deserve the reputation they seem to have.
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EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
FOR TEACHERS
VIVA VOX
TEST 10
Read the text. For questions 1-10, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best
according to the text.
As Andrea turned off the motorway onto the road to Brockbourne, the small village in which she
lived, it was four o'clock in the afternoon, but already the sun was falling behind the hills. At this time
in December, it would be completely dark by five o'clock. Andrea shivered. The interior of the car
was not cold, but the trees bending in the harsh wind and the patches of yesterday's snow still heaped
in the fields made her feel chilly inside. It was another ten miles to the cottage where she lived with
her husband Michael, and the dim light and wintry weather made her feel a little lonely.
She was just coming out of the little village of Mickley when she saw an old lady, standing by the
road, with a crude hand-written sign saying 'Brockbourne' in her hand. Andrea was surprised. She
had never seen an old lady hitchhiking before. However, the weather and the coming darkness made
her feel sorry for the lady, waiting hopefully on a country road like this with little traffic. Normally,
Andrea would never pick up a hitchhiker when she was alone, thinking it was too dangerous, but what
was the harm in doing a favor for a little old lady like this? Andrea pulled up a little way down the
road, and the lady, holding a big shopping bag, hurried over to climb in the door which Andrea had
opened for her.
When she did get in, Andrea could see that she was not, in fact, so little. Broad and fat, the old lady
had some difficulty climbing in through the car door, with her big bag, and when she had got in, she
more than filled the seat next to Andrea. She wore a long, shabby old dress, and she had a yellow hat
pulled down low over her eyes. Panting noisily from her effort, she pushed her big brown canvas
shopping bag down onto the floor under her feet, and said in a voice which was almost a whisper,
'Thank you dearie. I'm just going to Brockbourne.'
'Do you live there?' asked Andrea, thinking that she had never seen the old lady in the village in the
four years she had lived there herself. 'No, dearie,' answered the passenger, in her soft voice, 'I'm just
going to visit a friend. He was supposed to meet me back there at Mickley, but his car won't start, so
I decided to hitchhike. I knew some kind soul would give me a lift.'
Something in the way the lady spoke, and the way she never turned her head, but stared continuously
into the darkness ahead from under her old yellow hat, made Andrea uneasy about this strange
hitchhiker. She didn't know why, but she felt instinctively that there was something wrong, something
odd, something ... dangerous. But how could an old lady be dangerous? It was absurd. Careful not to
turn her head, Andrea looked sideways at her passenger. She studied the hat, the dirty collar of the
dress, the shapeless body, the arms with their thick black hairs... Thick black hairs? Hairy arms?
Andrea's blood froze. This wasn't a woman. It was a man.
At first, she didn't know what to do. Then suddenly, an idea came into her terrified brain. Swinging
the wheel suddenly, she threw the car into a skid, and brought it to a halt. 'My God!' she shouted, 'A
child! Did you see the child? I think I hit her!' The 'old lady' was clearly shaken by the sudden skid.
'I didn't see anything dearie,' she said. 'I don't think you hit anything.' 'I'm sure it was a child!' insisted
Andrea. 'Could you just get out and have a look? Just see if there's anything on the road?' She held
her breath. Would her plan work?
It did. The passenger slowly opened the car door, leaving her bag inside, and climbed out to
investigate. As soon as she was out of the vehicle, Andrea gunned the engine and soon she had put a
good three miles between herself and the awful hitchhiker.
It was only then that she thought about the bag lying on the floor in front of her. Maybe the bag would
provide some information about the real identity of the old woman who was actually not an old
woman. Pulling into the side of the road, Andrea lifted the heavy bag onto her lap and opened it
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curiously. It contained only one item — a small hand axe, with a razor-sharp blade. The axe, and the
inside of the bag, were covered with the dark red stains of dried blood. Andrea began to scream.
1. Andrea shivered because …
A) the sun was falling behind the hills.
B) it was chilly inside the car.
C) it was snowing outside.
D) the weather was wintry.
2. Andrea decided to give the old woman a lift because …
A) she normally picked up hitchhikers.
B) she didn't think it was dangerous.
C) had never seen an old lady hitchhiking before.
D) she was alone.
3. The old lady is described as …
A) obese.
B) senile.
C) delicate.
D) ailing.
4. The old lady said that she was hitchhiking as …
A) she liked being given a lift.
B) she wanted to get home earlier.
C) her friend failed to pick her up.
D) she couldn’t start her car.
5. The old lady seemed strange to Andrea since …
A) she wore old shabby clothes.
B) her behaviour was unnatural.
C) she didn't take off her yellow hat.
D) she had a big shopping bag.
6. The word “skid” (Paragraph 6, in bold) is closest in meaning to …
A) a noise.
B) a crash.
C) a movement.
D) a race.
7. Andrea suddenly stopped her car because …
A) she thought she had hit a child.
B) the car skidded as there was ice on the road.
C) she wanted to make the passenger get out of the car.
D) she intended to frighten her passenger.
8. Andrea opened the bag because …
A) she was going to find the address of 'the old lady.
B) she would like to use her things.
C) she intended to throw her things away.
D) she wanted to find out who the passenger was.
9. Andrea felt terrified because the hitchhiker turned out to be …
A) a thief.
B) a smuggler.
C) a murderer.
D) a woodcutter.
10. It can be inferred from the text that Andrea was …
A) resourceful.
B) careless.
C) cold-hearted.
D) persistent.
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MATCHING SENTENCE ENDINGS AND MATCHING LISTS
TEST 1
Read the text and answer the questions.
Go into a coffee bar, sit down, relax and try to talk to someone. It may look to others as though you
are wasting your time. It may even feel that way to you. But so long as you are doing this in a foreign
country, where you speak the language badly or not at all, you are probably acquiring a new language
better than you ever could by formal study with a teacher and a textbook.
The social situation, properly used, beats the classroom hollow. It is full of native speakers asking
you questions, telling you Lo do things, urging you to take an active part in conversation, and using
gestures freely lo make their intentions clearer — just like your parents did when you were an infant.
So plunge in. All you have lo do is talk back.
The proposition that infants can acquire languages by prolonged exposure to them is sell-evidently
true: it is the only way available to them. Older children and teenagers who move to a different
country can pick up a new language with a speed that baffles their parents. But in adulthood we find
ourselves envying our rare contemporaries who can still acquire languages easily.
There may be biological reasons why the capacity to learn languages falls away with age, even more
than the capacity to learn other things. The brain may be designed to do its best language-learning in
infancy, and then to redeploy its resources at puberty. Bui psychological factors play a big part too.
As we get older, we get more self-conscious, more inhibited, more dependent on other people's
judgements. This process may undermine our capacity to acquire a new language, because language
underpins our sense of personality and identity. We fear lo make mistakes in it.
Stepen Krashen, an expert on second-language acquisition, makes a strong case for the dominance of
psychological factors. According to Mr Krashen, people with outgoing personalities do best at
learning a new language because 'they have the ego to make the necessary mistakes involved in
learning'.
When we want to learn a new language in mid-life for reasons of career or curiosity, we commonly
but wrongly tackle it with the sense of doing something difficult and unnatural. We turn lo grammar
books and compact discs expecting a fight. We are going lo 'struggle' with the language. We will
'master' it, unless it defeats us. And with that sort of attitude, it probably will.
All other things being equal, the best learner will be the person who is the most relaxed in
conversation, and the most self-confident.
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Questions 1-5
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-H, below.
Note: there are more endings than you need.
Sentence endings:
A) taking a negative approach
B) demonstrating an unusual ability
C) worrying about the views of others
D) being in a classroom situation
E) losing all sense of identity
F) producing errors in front of others
G) moving to another country
H) living with other speakers of the language
1. For adult language learners, an informal setting is better than … .
2. It is obviously the case that children learn language as a result of … .
3. Adults who have a natural talent for new languages are generally … .
4. Confident people learn languages fast because they are not afraid of … .
5. Middle-aged language learners are often unaware that they are … .
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TEST 2
Read the text and answer the questions.
It's not easy to understand why people become referees. From American football to baseball, from
ice hockey to polo, referees haves been shouted at, sworn at, spat at, pushed, punched and kicked.
They have had their eyesight questioned, and their dressing rooms damaged. Certainly, nobody
becomes a referee to win a popularity contest.
And yet most of them continue to tolerate the abuse along with their small financial reward, and give
up their spare time entirely for the love of the game. To get to the top as a football referee – and
qualify for an allowance of around £300 for each Premiership match - takes at least 15 years.
It's not an easy job to excel at. Referees have to take written and oral examinations and they also have
to pass stringent eyesight and colour tests. Their performance and fitness are constantly monitored.
Because it takes so long to rise through the ranks most of the top referees are in their forties, but they
will run between 10 km and 15 km in the course of a 90-minute match, much of it backwards.
Cricket umpires don't require the fitness of football or rugby arbiters, but their task is no less arduous.
They have to stand for hours in blazing sunshine, and make instant decisions on something that
happens 20 m away as a consequence of a ball hurled at 145 km an hour. It requires an experienced
eye to achieve that.
Tennis umpires face similar problems, although they have the advantage of being able to carry out
their duties while they are seated. Furthermore, at the top level, they now have the help of modern
technology in the form of 'Cyclops', the electronic eye on the service line.
Unlike cricket umpires, tennis umpires also have to keep the score and run several stopwatches
simultaneously. There are now limits for the length of time between games, points, first and second
services, and for injury assessment and treatment. In addition, they have to adjudicate for 'racket
abuse' (in other words outbursts of bad temper)and issue periodic warnings against the use of mobile
phones or flash photography by spectators. Their only reward is a brief handshake at the end of the
match.
All sports present certain problems for the referees. The rules for American football run to 250 pages
and this is the only sport where referees use microphones to explain their decisions to the crowd.
Water polo referees suffer a particular disadvantage in that they stand beside the pool, though 75 per
cent of fouls are committed under water.
Bowls referees have to ensure that none of the players are wearing jeans. The use of talcum powder
on the sales of shoes, to facilitate a smooth slide of the foot when releasing the ball, is also forbidden.
Referees of physical sports, especially rugby, boxing and ice hockey, must be brave. A boxing referee
has to protect the losing fighter from further punishment and be prepared to throw himself into the
fight. Consider, too, the Sumo wrestling judges who must get close enough to recognise a legitimate
hold and be quick enough not to get crushed underneath a 300 kg man mountain.
Refereeing is a dirty (and sometimes dangerous) job. Referees and umpires will never be loved. As
football manager Ron Atkinson said after his team were knocked out of a European Cup tie in
controversial circumstances: 'I never comment on referees and I'm not going to break the habit of a
lifetime for that twerp.'
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Questions 1-7
Match the following statements (1-7) with the sports (A-H).
Note: There are more sports than statements.
List of Sports:
A) Cricket
B) Tennis
C) American football
D) Water polo
E) Bowls
F) Ice hockey
G) Boxing
H) Sumo wrestling
1. The referee has to give the spectators reasons for his decisions.
2. The weather conditions may make the umpire uncomfortable.
3. The referee may ask to examine players' footwear.
4. There's a danger that the referee could be injured by a heavy contestant.
5. The umpire may have to warn spectators about their behaviour.
6. The referee may get involved in the action to prevent injury.
7. It's especially difficult for the referee to see when rules are broken.
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TEST 3
Read the text and answer the questions.
During the scientific revolution of the 17th century, scientists were largely men of private means who
pursued their interest in natural philosophy for their own edification. Only in the past century or two
has it become possible to make a living from investigating the workings of nature. Modern science
was, in other words, built on the work of amateurs. Today, science is an increasingly specialised and
compartmentalised subject, the domain of experts who know more and more about less and less.
Perhaps surprisingly, however, amateurs - even those without private means - are still important.
A recent poll carried out at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
by astronomer Dr Richard Fienberg found that, in addition to his field of astronomy, amateurs are
actively involved in such fields as acoustics, horticulture, ornithology, meteorology, hydrology and
palaeontology. Far from being crackpots, amateur scientists are often in close touch with
professionals, some of whom rely heavily on their co-operation.
Admittedly, some fields are more open to amateurs than others. Anything that requires expensive
equipment is clearly a no-go area. And some kinds of research can be dangerous; most I amateur
chemists, jokes Dr Fienberg, are either locked up or have blown themselves to bits. But amateurs can
make valuable contributions in fields from rocketry to palaeontology and the rise of the Internet has
made it easier than ever before to collect data and distribute results.
Exactly which field of study has benefited most from the contributions of amateurs is a matter of
some dispute. Dr Fienberg makes a strong case for astronomy. There is, he points out, a long tradition
of collaboration between amateur and professional sky watchers. Numerous comets, asteroids and
even the planet Uranus were discovered by amateurs. Today, in addition to comet and asteroid
spotting, amateurs continue to do valuable work observing the brightness of variable stars and
detecting novae - 'new' stars in the Milky Way and supernovae in other galaxies. Amateur observers
are helpful, says Dr Fienberg, because there are so many of them (they far outnumber professionals)
and because they are distributed all over the world. This makes special kinds of observations possible:
if several observers around the world accurately record the time when a star is eclipsed by an asteroid,
for example, it is possible to derive useful information about the asteroid's shape.
Another field in which amateurs have traditionally played an important role is palaeontology. Adrian
Hunt, a palaeontologist at Mesa Technical College in New Mexico, insists that his is the field in which
amateurs have made the biggest contribution. Despite the development of high-tech equipment, he
says, the best sensors for finding fossils are human eyes - lots of them. Finding volunteers to look for
fossils is not difficult, he says, because of the near-universal interest in anything to do with dinosaurs.
As well as helping with this research, volunteers learn about science, a process he calls 'recreational
education'.
Rick Bonney of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York, contends that amateurs
have contributed the most in his field. There are, he notes, thought to be as many as 60 million
birdwatchers in America alone. Given their huge numbers and the wide geographical coverage they
provide, Mr Bonney has enlisted thousands of amateurs in a number of research projects. Over the
past few years their observations have uncovered previously unknown trends and cycles in bird
migrations and revealed declines in the breeding populations of several species of migratory birds,
prompting a habitat conservation programme.
Despite the successes and whatever the field of study, collaboration between amateurs and
professionals is not without its difficulties. Not everyone, for example is happy with the term V
'amateur'. Mr Bonney has coined the term 'citizen scientist' because he felt that other words, such as
'volunteer' sounded disparaging. A more serious problem is the question of how professionals can
best acknowledge the contributions made by amateurs. Dr Fienberg says that some amateur
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astronomers are happy to provide their observations but grumble about not being reimbursed for outof-pocket expenses. Others feel let down when their observations are used in scientific papers, but
they are not listed as f co-authors. Dr Hunt says some amateur palaeontologists are disappointed when
told that they cannot take finds home with them.
These are legitimate concerns but none seems insurmountable. Provided amateurs and professionals
agree the terms on which they will work together beforehand, there is no reason why co-operation
between the two groups should not flourish. Last year Dr S. Carlson, founder of the Society for
Amateur Scientists won an award worth $290,000 for his work in promoting such co-operation. He
says that one of the main benefits of the prize is the endorsement it has given to the contributions of
amateur scientists, which has done much to silence critics among those professionals who believe
science should remain their exclusive preserve.
At the moment, says Dr Carlson, the society is involved in several schemes including an innovative
rocket-design project and the setting up of a network of observers who will search for evidence of a
link between low-frequency radiation and earthquakes. The amateurs, he says, provide enthusiasm
and talent, while the professionals provide guidance 'so that anything they do discover will be taken
seriously'. Having laid the foundations of science, amateurs will have much to contribute to its everexpanding edifice.
Questions 1-5
Match the following opinions (1-5) with the scientists (A-D).
Note: You may use any name more than once.
List of Scientists:
A) Dr Fienberg
B) Adrian Hunt
C) Rick Bonney
D) Dr Carlson
1. Amateur involvement can also be an instructive pastime.
2. Amateur scientists are prone to accidents.
3. Science does not belong to professional scientists alone.
4. In certain areas of my work, people are a more valuable resource than technology.
5. It is important to give amateurs a name which reflects the value of their work.
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TEST 4
Read the text and answer the questions.
Less than three years ago, doom merchants were predicting that the growth in video games and the
rise of the Internet would sound the death knell for children's literature. But contrary to popular myth,
children are reading more books than ever. A recent survey by Books Marketing found that children
up to the age of 11 read on average for four hours a week, particularly girls.
Moreover, the children's book market, which traditionally was seen as a poor cousin to the more
lucrative and successful adult market, has come into its own. Publishing houses are now making
considerable profits on the back of new children's books and children's authors can now command
significant advances. 'Children's books are going through an incredibly fertile period,' says Wendy
Cooling, a children's literature consultant. 'There's a real buzz around them. Book clubs are
happening, sales are good, and people are much more willing to listen to children's authors.'
The main growth area has been the market for eight to fourteen-year-olds, and there is little doubt
that the boom has been fuelled by the bespectacled apprentice, Harry Potter. So influential has J. K.
Rowling's series of books been that they have helped to make reading fashionable for pre-teens. 'Harry
made it OK to be seen on a bus reading a book,' says Cooling. 'To a child, that is important.' The
current buzz around the publication of the fourth Harry Potter beats anything in the world of adult
literature.
'People still tell me, "Children don't read nowadays",' says David Almond, the award-winning author
of children's books such as Skellig. The truth is that they are skilled, creative readers. When I do
classroom visits, they ask me very sophisticated questions about use of language, story structure,
chapters and dialogue.' No one is denying that books are competing with other forms of entertainment
for children's attention but it seems as though children find a special kind of mental nourishment
within the printed page.
'A few years ago, publishers lost confidence and wanted to make books more like television, the
medium that frightened them most,' says children's book critic Julia Eccleshare. 'But books aren't TV,
and you will find that children always say that the good thing about books is that you can see them in
your head. Children are demanding readers,' she says. 'If they don't get it in two pages, they'll drop
it.'
No more are children's authors considered mere sentimentalists or failed adult writers. 'Some feted
adult writers would kill for the sales,' says Almond, who sold 42,392 copies of Skellig in 1999 alone.
And advances seem to be growing too: UK publishing outfit Orion recently negotiated a six-figure
sum from US company Scholastic for The Seeing Stone, a children's novel by Kevin CrossleyHolland, the majority of which will go to the author.
It helps that once smitten, children are loyal and even fanatical consumers. Author Jacqueline Wilson
says that children spread news of her books like a bushfire. 'My average reader is a girl often,' she
explains. 'They're sociable and acquisitive. They collect. They have parties - where books are a good
present. If they like something, they have to pass it on.' After Rowling, Wilson is currently the bestselling children's writer, and her sales have boomed over the past three years. She has sold more than
three million books, but remains virtually invisible to adults, although most ten- year-old girls know
about her.
Children's books are surprisingly relevant to contemporary life. Provided they are handled with care,
few topics are considered off-limits for children. One senses that children's writers relish the chance
to discuss the whole area of topics and language. But Anne Fine, author of many award- winning
children's books is concerned that the British literati still ignore children's culture. 'It's considered
worthy but boring,' she says.
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'I think there's still a way to go,' says Almond, who wishes that children's books were taken more
seriously as literature. Nonetheless, he derives great satisfaction from his child readers. 'They have a
powerful literary culture,' he says. 'It feels as if you're able to step into the store of mythology and
ancient stories that run through all societies and encounter the great themes: love and loss and death
and redemption.'
At the moment, the race is on to find the next Harry Potter. The bidding for new books at Bologna
this year - the children's equivalent of the Frankfurt Book Fair - was as fierce as anything anyone has
ever seen. All of which bodes well for the long-term future of the market - and for children's authors,
who have traditionally suffered the lowest profile in literature, despite the responsibility of their role.
Questions 1-7
Match the following statements (1-7) with the experts (A-E).
Note: You may use any name more than once.
List of People:
A) Wendy Cooling
B) David Almond
C) Julia Eccleshare
D) Jacqueline Wilson
E) Anne Fine
1. Children take pleasure in giving books to each other.
2. Reading in public is an activity that children have not always felt comfortable about doing.
3. Some well-known writers of adult literature regret that they earn less than popular children's
writers.
4. Children are quick to decide whether they like or dislike a book.
5. Children will read many books by an author that they like.
6. The public do not realise how much children read today.
7. We are experiencing a rise in the popularity of children's literature.
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TEST 5
Read the text and answer the questions.
Australia's National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Committee estimates that burning wood from cleared
forests accounts for about 30 per cent of Australia's emissions of carbon dioxide, or 156 million tonnes
a year. And water tables are rising beneath cleared land. In the Western Australian wheat belt,
estimates suggest that water is rising by up to 1 metre a year. The land is becoming waterlogged and
unproductive or is being poisoned by salt, which is brought to the surface. The Australian
Conservation Foundation (ACF) reckons that 33 million hectares have been degraded by salination.
The federal government estimates the loss in production from salinity at A$200 million a year.
According to Jason Alexandra of the ACF, this list of woes is evidence that Australia is depleting its
resources by trading agricultural commodities for manufactured goods. In effect, itsells topsoil for
technologies that will be worn out or redundant in a few years. The country needs to get away from
the "colonial mentality" of exploiting resources and adopt agricultural practices suited to Australian
conditions, he says.
Robert Hadler of the National Farmers' Federation (NFF) does not deny that there is a problem, but
says that it is "illogical" to blame farmers. Until the early 1980s, farmers were given tax incentives to
clear land because that was what people wanted. If farmers are given tax breaks to manage land
sustainably, they will do so. Hadler argues that the two reports on land clearance do not say anything
which was not known before. Australia is still better off than many other developed countries, says
Dean Graetz, an ecologist at the CSIRO, the national research organisation. "A lot of the country is
still notionally pristine," he says. "It is not transformed like Europe where almost nothing that is left
is natural." Graetz, who analysed the satellite photographs for the second land clearance report, argues
that there is now better co-operation between Australian scientists, government officials and farmers
than in the past.
But the vulnerable state of the land is now widely understood, and across Australia, schemes have
started for promoting environment friendly farming. In 1989, Prime Minister Bob Flawke set up
Landcare, a network of more than 2000 regional conservation groups. About 30 per cent of
landholders are members. "It has become a very significant social movement," says Helen Alexander
from the National Landcare Council. "We started out worrying about not much more than erosion
and the replanting of trees but it has grown much more diverse and sophisticated."
But the bugbear of all these conservation efforts is money. Landcare's budget is A$110 million a year,
of which only A$6 million goes to farmers. Neil Clark, an agricultural consultant from Bendigo in
Victoria, says that farmers are not getting enough. "Farmers may want to make more efficient use of
water and nutrients and embrace more sustainable practices, but it all costs money and they just don't
have the spare funds," he says.
Clark also says scientists are taking too large a share of the money for conservation. Many problems
posed by agriculture to the environment have been "researched to death", he says. "We need to divert
the money for a while into getting the solutions into place." Australia's chief scientist, Michael
Pitman, disagrees. He says that science is increasingly important. Meteorologists, for example, are
becoming confident about predicting events which cause droughts in Australia."If this can be done
with accuracy then it will have immense impact on stocking levels and how much feed to provide,"
says Pitman. "The end result will be much greater efficiency."
Steve Morton of the CSIRO Division of Wildlife and Ecology says the real challenge facing
conservationists is to convince the 85 per cent of Australians who live in cities that they must foot a
large part of the bill. "The land is being used to feed the majority and to produce wealth that circulates
through the financial markets of the cities," he says. One way would be to offer incentives to extend
the idea of stewardship to areas outside the rangelands, so that more land could be protected rather
than exploited. Alexander agrees. "The nation will have to debate to what extent it is willing to support
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rural communities," she says. "It will have to decide to what extent it wants food prices to reflect the
true cost of production. That includes the cost of looking after the environment."
Questions 1-8
Match the following statements (1-8) with the experts (A-G).
Note: You may use any name more than once.
List of People:
A) Jason Alexandra
B) Robert Hadler
C) Dean Graetz
D) Helen Alexander
E) Neil Clark
F) Michael Pitman
G) Steve Morton
1. Current conservation concerns are focused on a broad range of problems.
2. Conserving land is too expensive for farmers.
3. Holding farmers responsible for land misuse makes no sense.
4. Australia should review its import/export practices.
5. More conservation funds should be put into helpful, practical projects.
6. Much of the land in Australia is unspoilt.
7. Weather research can help solve conservation problems.
8. Those involved in conservation are working together more efficiently than before.
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TEST 6
Read the text and answer the questions.
Our distant ancestors led pretty simple lives. Until around 10,000 BC, all humans were huntergatherers and lived a nomadic life, searching endlessly for food. It was the development of agriculture
that enabled humans to settle down and live, first as farmers and then as villagers. Around 3500 BC,
small towns began appearing in Mesopotamia, surrounded by defensive high walls and irrigated fields
that fed the town's population.
In the thousand years that followed, when agriculture had become more of a science and crop yields
had risen, fewer people were needed to produce food. People took other jobs, became wealthier and
more and more chose to live in towns close to shops and markets. This worked well for centuries.
Towns flourished and eventually one of the grandest, Rome, became the world's first city of more
than one million people around 100 AD.
Although the fertile lands surrounding Rome could have adequately fed the city, the Roman people
began importing food and became reliant on long supply chains. When Gaiseric the Vandal began
withholding vital North African grain supplies from Rome in 455 AD, the city's power went into
steep decline. The Dark Ages that ensued saw people deserting cities across Europe and returning to
the countryside.
It was not until 1200 AD that people began flocking back to the cities, a trend encouraged by the
growth of iron technology and further improvements in agriculture. Cities and towns began to spring
up across Europe and Asia.
The main factor which determined where a city was founded, according to Derek Keene, Director of
the Centre for Metropolitan History at the University of London's Institute of Historical Research,
was simple geography. "Was it accessible to people who wished to so trade there or bring in
supplies?"
However, there were other important considerations. "A city might be successfully founded in a desert
if there was a need for a staging post or an interchange on a trade route," he says. Then there were the
simple demands of a ruler's ego, or a need to defend people against invaders. Finally, there was one
other major motivating force: religion. "A sacred site attracts many visitors who require service,"
Keene says.
In medieval times, cities grew to exploit trade routes. Bruges in Belgium became rich by weaving
wool from Britain. Florence, too, prospered from its wool industry until banking came to dominate
its economy.
Constantinople became by far Europe's largest city and premiere trading centre, the true heir to the
Roman legacy during the Middle Ages. The gateway between the Eastern Mediterranean, India and
Africa on one side and Europe on the other, Constantinople played a crucial role in the trade of Eastern
riches for Western wool and heavy iron products. At the same time, Venice was so prospering thanks
to trade, its proximity to the sea, Africa and the treasures of Persia. The city-state traded luxury goods
such as precious stones, spices, silks and ivory.
The lure of trading riches has encouraged the growth of cities in unlikely locations. When the East
India Trading Company needed a base with good access to the Ganges Valley, it founded Calcutta on
swamp land. The site was the furthest inland point that could be reached by ocean-going ships, and
the city has grown to a population of 15.5 million today. The most ludicrously located city has to be
St Petersburg, built as the capital of a vast empire by Peter the Great. Thousands of slave labourers
died during its construction, and he had to force people to live there.
Other major world capitals had no such problems. London, founded in 50 AD, grew steadily and is
the least planned world city, with snobbery playing a large part in determining its layout. Mainline
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stations are dotted around the periphery of inner London as wealthy I9th-century residents refused
construction of a giant central London rail terminal
By the 1930s, US architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, was arguing that city size should be limited. But as
Wright's treatise was published, New York was becoming the world's first city with a population of
ten million, and cities have since grown at an astonishing rate - Mexico City is home to 16.5 million
people and 26.9 million now live in Tokyo.
Questions 1-9
Match the following statements (1-9) with the cities (A-I).
List of Cities:
A) Rome
B) Bruges
C) Florence
D) Constantinople
E) Venice
F) Calcutta
G) St Petersburg
H) London
I) New York
1. grew into a successful trading city because of its location close to the sea.
2. became an important centre for banking
3. was the largest city in the world in the 1930s
4. was important for weaving in the Middle Ages
5. was built on unsuitable land but has developed into a major world city
6. was Europe's most powerful city in the Middle Ages
7. has inconvenient rail connections
8. lost its power and influence rapidly when it suffered food shortages
9. cost many lives to build
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Questions 10-14
Complete each of the following sentences (1-7) with the correct ending (A-I).
Note: there are more endings than you need.
Sentence endings:
A) were convenient for trade.
B) the growth of the population.
C) the protection of the inhabitants.
D) its dependence on imported supplies.
E) the presence of a religious site.
F) were required to work on the land.
G) made money and left the countryside.
H) were unable to grow their own food.
I) were able to live permanently in one place.
10. As farming became more scientific, not so many people …
11. As a result of the development of farming, people …
12. The design of the earliest towns was for …
13. Towns first began to grow and prosper when people …
14. Rome finally lost its power because of …
15. Cities were usually established in places which …
16. One reason for people to visit a city was …
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TEST 7
Read the text and answer the questions.
Uganda may be one of the world's poorest countries, but it has been blessed with a climate that is
almost perfect. With sunshine going spare, one Ugandan electrician believes he has the solution to
the country's power shortage - low-tech solar panels that can run anything from a radio to a mobile
phone.
The electrician, Fred Kajubi, belongs to an organisation known as the Uganda Change Agents
Association, which helps local people learn skills that can make a difference to their lives and their
communities. Members of the organisation, who are known as Change Agents, run credit unions, set
up self-help groups in villages, become active in local politics and, in Mr Kajubi's case, promote the
use of solar power. He has set up his own small company, Sunshine Solutions, which offers customers
a solar panel to meet their every need.
The materials for the solar panels come from a company in Britain called BioDesign, set up five years
ago by a retired inventor, Graham Knight. After seeing a TV programme on the invention of a radio
powered by clockwork, Mr Knight decided that in some parts of the world, solar power would be a
more effective energy resource for radios and similar everyday equipment. He set up a firm to make
the components for low-cost solar panels for use in Africa and South America. These are sent out in
kit form, together with instructions on how to assemble them. Graham Knight's panels, which use
amorphous silicon, are ten times cheaper than the crystalline silicon panels more commonly used for
large-scale solar power production. Sunshine Solutions can therefore sell solar panels that are much
less expensive than the ones available in the shops.
Only a small minority of Ugandans currently have access to mains electricity, which leaves most
families reliant on batteries to power their radios and on kerosene lamps to light their houses. But for
just 15,000 shillings ($8.50), the same price as two months' supply of batteries, one of the solar panels
sold by Sunshine Solutions can run a radio for several years. In spite of this, it's proving a struggle
for the company to persuade people to invest in their solar panels. Although the solar panels work out
cheaper than batteries in the long term, the initial cost is more than many people can afford.
Uganda plans to bring power to poor villages over the next five years, with the building of a big dam
on the Nile. But even if the ambitious plans for rural electrification succeed, there will still be sections
of the population that cannot afford to hook up to the national grid. 'The experience of the last couple
of decades in developing countries is that ambitious schemes are not effective in getting power to the
poorest people,' says Andrew Simms, an expert from the New Economics Foundation in London.
'Small-scale enterprises have a better track record at getting energy to the people who need it.' Better
still, solar and other renewable energy sources allow countries to avoid the effects of pollution caused
by heavy reliance on fossil fuels, Mr Simms says.
Even the World Bank, often criticised for being obsessed with large-scale power projects, recognises
that there is place for solar power. According to a World Bank representative, solar power can be an
effective complement to grid-based electricity, which is often too costly for sparsely settled and
remote areas.
But even cheap technology is hard to sell in a country where half the population lives below the
poverty line and there are few effective marketing and distribution channels. Mr Simms believes that
the only solution to spreading solar energy more widely is government subsidies, because the initial
costs of the solar power panels are beyond most household budgets.
In the meantime, Mr Kajubi is pinning his hopes on the spread of micro-credit schemes that will loan
money to families to help them raise the cash for his products. His company has yet to make a profit,
although he says sales are picking up. He is planning another trip into the countryside to demonstrate
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EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
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his solar panels as well as a new solar cooker. Asked if he ever gets downhearted, he points to the
motto on his workshop wall: Never give up, it says.
Questions 1-6
Complete each of the following sentences (1-6) with the correct ending (A-J).
Note: there are more endings than you need.
Sentence endings:
A) ambitious enterprises
B) amorphous silicon
C) batteries
D) cheap technology
E) clockwork mechanisms
F) crystalline silicon
G) mains electricity
H) energy from renewable sources
I) in the past
J) local solution
1. Graham Knight believes that for some purposes, it may be better to use solar power rather than
energy from …
2. Sunshine Solutions’ solar panels are cheap because they use …
3. At present, the majority of Ugandans use batteries and kerosene as sources of power, rather than
…
4. In the long term, solar panels are a cheaper source of power for radios than …
5. It has been shown that in some places, small-scale projects for energy production are more
successful than …
6. Fossil fuels cause more damage to the environment than …
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EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
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Questions 7-13
Match the following statements (7-13) with the experts (A-D).
Note: You may use any name more than once.
List of People:
A) Fred Kajubi
B) Graham Knight
C) Andrew Simms
D) a World Bank representative
7. He has set up a business selling solar panels.
8. He believes that small-scale projects are the most effective way of providing people with power.
9. He believes he can solve a problem affecting his country.
10. He says that solar power is more suitable than electricity for far-off places where very few people
live.
11. He uses a very inexpensive method to produce the components for solar panels.
12. He thinks that the government should help people by paying pan of the cost of solar power
products.
13. He supports the idea of lending money to people to help them buy solar panels.
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“TRUE – FALSE – NO INFORMATION” QUESTIONS
TEST 1
Read the text and answer the questions.
Herbal remedies are more popular than ever. Estimates vary, but the global market has grown rapidly
in the past decade, and according to the European Herbal Practitioners Association, the European
Union market is worth 6.8 billion euros a year.
No one doubts that herbs are full of medicinal chemicals — after all, plants are the source of half the
pharmaceuticals in our modern medicine cabinet. Most of the top seven sellers, such as Ginseng and
Garlic powder, seem to have something going for them. But why take a risk by swallowing something
as unpredictable as plant material when modern science can isolate the active ingredient and serve it
to you straight?
Herbalists claim it is because mixtures are better than pure chemicals. They say the dozens of
biologically active compounds in a plant work together to produce a greater effect than any one
chemical on its own. It sounds like New Age hokum, but scientists are finding that the herbalists are
sometimes right.
In fact, herbs could point us towards a whole new generation of drugs. Modern medicine is hooked
on the idea of the 'magic bullet' - the pure drug molecule, like aspirin or penicillin. Even multi-drug
approaches such as combination therapy for HIV are just more of the same. Each ingredient in the
cocktail is a magic bullet in its own right.
Revolutionary though modern medicine has been, there are a host of illnesses, from depression to
multiple sclerosis, for which there is no magic bullet. Some respond better to the kind of mixtures
found in herbs. Is it time for a rethink?
Questions 1-6
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the reading passage? Choose:
TRUE (T)
if the statement agrees with the writer's claims
FALSE (F)
if the statement contradicts the writer's claims
NO INFORMATION (NI)
if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.
1. More herbal remedies are sold in the European Union than anywhere else in the world.
2. It is widely known that herbal medicines lack proper chemical ingredients.
3. The risks associated with herbal medicine are well documented.
4. Research has provided some evidence for the effectiveness of herbal ingredients.
5. Combination therapy is based on the same concept as herbal medicine.
6. Some current illnesses are more effectively treated by herbal remedies than by modern medicine.
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TEST 2
Read the text and answer the questions.
All over the world, libraries have begun the Herculean task of making faithful digital copies of the
books, images and recordings that preserve the intellectual effort of humankind. For armchair
scholars, the work promises to bring such a wealth of information to the desktop that the present
Internet may seem amateurish in retrospect.
Librarians see three clear benefits to going digital. First, it helps them preserve rare and fragile objects
without denying access to those who wish to study them. The British Library, for example, holds the
only medieval manuscript of Beowulf in London. Only qualified scholars were allowed to see it until
Kevin S. Kiernan of the University of Kentucky scanned the ancient manuscript with three different
light sources (revealing details not normally apparent to the naked eye) and put the images up on the
Internet for anyone to peruse. Tokyo's National Diet Library is similarly creating detailed digital
photographs of 1,236 woodblock prints, scrolls and other materials it considers national treasures so
that researchers can scrutinise them without handling the originals.
A second benefit is convenience. Once books are converted to digital form, patrons can retrieve them
in seconds rather than minutes. Several people can simultaneously read the same book or view the
same picture. Clerks are spared the chore of reshelving. And libraries could conceivably use the
Internet to lend their virtual collections to those who are unable to visit in person.
The third advantage of electronic copies is that they occupy millimetres of space on a magnetic disk
rather than metres on a shelf. Expanding library buildings is increasingly costly. The University of
California at Berkeley recently spent $46 million on an underground addition to house 1.5 million
books - an average cost of $30 per volume. The price of disk storage, in contrast, has fallen to about
$2 per 300-page publication and continues to drop.
Questions 1-7
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the reading passage? Choose:
TRUE (T)
if the statement agrees with the writer's claims
FALSE (F)
if the statement contradicts the writer's claims
NO INFORMATION (NI)
if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.
1. Digital libraries could have a more professional image than the Internet.
2. Only experts are permitted to view the scanned version of Beowulf.
3. The woodblock prints in Tokyo have been damaged by researchers.
4. Fewer staff will be required in digital libraries.
5. People may be able to borrow digital materials from the library.
6. Digital libraries will occupy more space than ordinary libraries.
7. The cost of newly published books will fall.
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TEST 3
Read the text and answer the questions.
The novelist's medium is the written word, one might almost say the printed word; the novel as we
know it was born with the invention of printing. Typically, the novel is consumed by a silent, solitary
reader, who may be anywhere at the time. The paperback novel is still the cheapest, most portable
and adaptable form of narrative entertainment. It is limited to a single channel of information writing. But within that restriction it is the most versatile of narrative forms. The narrative can go,
effortlessly, anywhere: into space, people's heads, palaces, prisons and pyramids, without any
consideration of cost or practical feasibility. In determining the shape and content of his narrative,
the writer of prose fiction is constrained by nothing except purely artistic criteria.
This does not necessarily make his task any easier than that of the writer of plays and screenplays,
who must always be conscious of practical constraints such as budgets, performance time, casting
requirements, and so on. The very infinity of choice enjoyed by the novelist is a source of anxiety
and difficulty. But the novelist does retain absolute control over his text until it is published and
received by the audience. He may be advised by his editor to revise his text, but if the writer refused
to meet this condition no one would be surprised. It is not unknown for a well-established novelist to
deliver his or her manuscript and expect the publisher to print it exactly as written. However, not even
the most well established playwright or screenplay writer would submit a script and expect it to be
performed without any rewriting. This is because plays and motion pictures are collaborative forms
of narrative, using more than one channel of communication.
The production of a stage play involves, as well as the words of the author, the physical presence of
the actors, their voices and gestures as orchestrated by the director, spectacle in the form of lighting
and "the set", and possibly music. In film, the element of spectacle is more prominent in the sequence
of visual images, heightened by various devices of perspective and focus. In film too, music tenets to
be more pervasive and potent than in straight drama. So, although the script is the essential basis of
both stage play and film, it is a basis for subsequent revision negotiated between the writer and the
other creative people involved; in the case of the screenplay, the writer may have little or no control
over the final form of his work.
Contracts for the production of plays protect the rights of authors in this respect. They are given
"approval" of the choice of director and actors and have the right to attend rehearsals. Often a good
deal of rewriting takes place in the rehearsal period and sometimes there is an opportunity for more
rewriting during previews before the official opening night.
In film or television work, on the other hand, the screenplay writer usually has no contractual right to
this degree of consultation. Practice in this respect varies very much from one production company
to another, and according to the nature of the project and the individuals involved. In short, while the
script is going through its various drafts, the writer is in the driver's seat, albeit receiving advice and
criticism from the producer and the director. But once the production is under way, artistic control
over the project tends to pass to the director. This is a fact overlooked by most journalistic critics of
television drama, who tend (unlike film critics) to give all the credit or blame for successor failure of
a production to the writer and actors, ignoring the contribution, for good or ill, of the director.
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Questions 1-7
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the reading passage? Choose:
TRUE (T)
if the statement agrees with the writer's claims
FALSE (F)
if the statement contradicts the writer's claims
NO INFORMATION (NI)
if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.
1. Novelists have fewer restrictions on their work than playwrights.
2. Novelists must agree to the demands of their editors.
3. Playwrights envy the simplicity of the novelist's work,
4. Music is a more significant element of theatre than cinema.
5. Experience in the theatre improves the work of screenplay writers.
6. Playwrights are frequently involved in revising their work.
7. Screenplay writers usually have the final say in how a TV drama will turn out.
8. TV critics often blame the wrong people for the failure of a programme.
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TEST 4
Read the text and answer the questions.
People with intellectual disability form one of the largest single disability groups in a community.
Intellectual disability refers to a general slowness to learn and function within society, and the
identification of intellectual disability is usually based on an assessment of a person's performance in
a variety of tests. An individual's level of performance, as assessed, can change with time and
circumstances. On occasions, an intellectually disabled person may perform better than at other times.
Evidence for this inconsistent level of performance comes from modern research and practice which
have shown that with skilled training and opportunity for development, people with intellectual
disability have much greater potential for acquiring skills and for participation in community life than
previously had been thought possible.
In many western societies, five categories of intellectual disability have traditionally been used in
order to indicate the perceived degree of difficulty an individual has with learning. All five may occur
in either children, adolescents or adults, and show as mild, moderate, severe, profound or multiple
intellectual disability. However, undue reliance on such categories and the consequent 'pigeonholing'
of individuals into one of the live categories can result in failure to provide the opportunities for each
person to develop.
For the majority of intellectual disabilities, there is no identifiable cause but there are some causes
that are well documented. They include: brain damage at birth due to lack of oxygen — prolonged
labour during childbirth; brain damage before birth due to factors such as rubella, drug or diet-related
problems; damage after birth due to illnesses such as encephalitis or accidents; hereditary defects in
the genes; abnormal chromosome count resulting in, for example, Down Syndrome.
Like everyone else, people with an intellectual disability need a rewarding job, a satisfying place to
live and a good social life. But they may need extra support to achieve these things. Good support
services are based on the principle of normalisation—which means enabling people to be part of the
community like everyone else. In turn, normalisation needs to be well-integrated into the community,
in order to be effective. Some of the services needed include assessment centres, training for
employment and support to keep jobs once they get them, residential accommodation that is
homelike. For children, early education and school education appropriate to the child's needs, are
essential. Without a strong community-based system of care, the intellectually disabled run the risk
of becoming a huge underclass as in the United States, where thousands of intellectually disabled are
homeless because of the American policy of de- institutionalisation.
With the introduction of the intellectually disabled into communities, there is a need to promote
awareness of communication. Although many people may have little experience in talking with an
intellectually disabled person, and anticipate great difficulty in communication, there are common
guidelines that can simplify the interaction. Firstly, it is useful to remember that people with
disabilities have feelings and can usually understand what is said, even though they sometimes may
take longer to respond. Speaking in the same friendly manner as you would to anyone else, and using
straightforward language and uncomplicated sentences, is also recommended. Being prepared to wait
a little longer for replies during a conversation with an intellectually disabled person, would
undoubtedly benefit the exchange. Above all, it is suggested not to talk about the person with someone
else within their hearing. Ultimately, the idea is to encourage intellectually disabled people to do
things for themselves.
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Questions 1-5
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the reading passage? Choose:
TRUE (T)
if the statement agrees with the writer's claims
FALSE (F)
if the statement contradicts the writer's claims
NO INFORMATION (NI)
if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.
1. Intellectual disability is an unchanging disorder.
A) True
B) False
C) No Information
2. Poor nutrition in mothers can lead to brain damage in newborns.
A) True
B) False
C) No Information
3. Down syndrome is the result of a shortage of oxygen at birth.
A) True
B) False
C) No Information
4. Work is the most urgent need for a person with disabilities.
A) True
B) False
C) No Information
5. Intellectually disabled people usually have hearing problems.
A) True
B) False
C) No Information
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TEST 5
Read the text and answer the questions.
The term 'documentary' did not come into popular use until the late 1920s and 1930s. It was initially
applied to various kinds of 'creative' non-fiction screen practice in the post-First World War, classical
cinema era. Originating films in the category have typically included Robert Flaherty's Nanook of the
North (1922), various Soviet films of the 1920s such as Dziga Vertov's The Man with the Movie
Camera (Chelovek s kinoapparatom, 1929), Walter Ruttmann's Berlin: Symphony of a City (Berlin:
die Sinfonie der Grostadt, 1927), and John Grierson's Drifters (1929). Yet 'documentary' cinema has
roots that lie further back in the reworking of a vital and long-established form that had flourished
throughout the second half of the nineteenth century – the illustrated lecture. Early documentarians
used the magic lantern to create complex and often sophisticated programmes out of a succession of
projected photographic images accompanied by a live narration, with an occasional use of music and
sound effects. By the turn of the century, films were gradually replacing slides while intertitles
usurped the function of the lecture -- changes that eventually gave rise to the new terminology. The
documentary tradition preceded film and has continued into the era of television and video, thus being
redefined in the light of technological innovations, as well as in the context of shifting social and
cultural forces.
The use of projected images for documentary purposes can be traced back to the mid-seventeenth
century, when the Jesuit Andreas Tacquet gave an illustrated lecture about a missionary's trip to
China. In the first decades of the nineteenth century, the magic lantern was often used to give audiovisual programmes on science (particularly astronomy), current affairs, travel, and adventure.
The ability to transfer photographic images on to glass and project them with the lantern was a crucial
leap forward in documentary practice. Lantern slide images not only achieved a new ontological
status but became much smaller and easier to produce. Frederick and William Langenheim, Germanborn brothers then residing in Philadelphia, achieved this result in 1849 and showed examples of their
work at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. By the mid-1860s the use of these slides in travel
lectures had become popular in eastern cities of the United States, with an evening's programme
typically focusing on a single foreign country. In June 1864, for instance, New York audiences could
see The Army of the Potomac, an illustrated lecture on the Civil War using photographs taken by
Alexander Gardner and Mathew Brady. Although the magic lantern had been used primarily to evoke
the mystical or fantastic in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, by the late 1860s it was
being used predominantly for documentary purposes and was assigned new names as a result -- the
'stereopticon' in the United States and the 'optical lantern' in England.
These documentary-like illustrated lectures flourished in western Europe and North America. In the
United States, several exhibitors toured the principal cities, giving a series of four or five programmes
which changed from year to year. In the last three decades of the nineteenth century, many noteworthy
documentary-like programmes were given by adventurers, archaeologists, and explorers.
Programmes on the Arctic were particularly popular from 1865 onward, and often displayed an
ethnographic bent. Lieutenant Robert Edwin Peary interrupted his efforts to reach the North Pole by
presenting travelogue-style lectures in the early and mid-1890s. Displaying 100 lantern slides in his
1896 lecture, Peary not only recounted his journey from Newfoundland to the Polar ice cap in heroic
terms but offered an ethnographic study of the Inuit or 'Esquimaux'.
Similar kinds of programme were offered in Europe. Magic lantern activities flourished particularly
in Britain, where the colonial agenda was strong: Egypt was a favourite topic, and illustrated lectures
such as War in Egypt and the Soudan (1887) were big moneymakers. Victorian audiences also
savoured lantern shows featuring local towns and countryside unaffected by the industrial revolution,
including several series of slides made by photographer George Washington Wilson (The Road to the
Isles, c. 1885). Illustrated lectures about seemingly primitive, impoverished peoples in distant locales
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had their counterpart in lantern shows on the urban poor. In Britain programmes such as Slum Life
in our Great Cities (c. 1890) treated poverty in a picturesque fashion, often attributing it to alcoholism.
In the United States the social issue documentary began with Jacob Riis, who gave his first
programme, How the Other Half Lives and Dies, on 25 January 1888. It focused on recent immigrant
groups, particularly Italians and Chinese, who lived in poverty and germinfested slums.
By the early 1890s highly portable 'detective' cameras allowed amateur and professional
photographers to take candid pictures, often without the knowledge or permission of their subjects.
Alexander Black used pictures he took of his Brooklyn neighbourhood to give an illustrated lecture
he alternatively titled Life through a Detective Camera and Ourselves as Others See Us. Most of the
basic genres of documentary -- covering travel, ethnography and archaeology, social issues, science,
and war -- were in place before the arrival of cinema. Many were evening-length single-subject
programmes, while others were much shorter, designed to occupy a twenty-minute slot on a
vaudeville bill or as part of a multi-subject, magazine-style format. Ethical issues about the
relationship between documentarians and their subjects had been encountered, though rarely given
much attention. In short, documentary screen practice had become an important part of middle-class
cultural life in Europe and North America during the second half of the nineteenth century.
Questions 1-10
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the reading passage? Choose:
TRUE (T)
if the statement agrees with the writer's claims
FALSE (F)
if the statement contradicts the writer's claims
NO INFORMATION (NI)
if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.
1. The meaning of the term ‘documentary’ has not changed since it first emerged.
2. The first documentaries were in fact ‘illustrated lectures’, filmed and provided with intertitles.
3. The first known illustrated lecture was an account of a religious mission.
4. New developments in lantern slides by Brothers Langenheim was hailed a triumph in the 1851
Exhibition in London.
5. The shift in the scope of application of lanterns in the second half of the 19th century resulted in
the change of the terminology.
6. The boom in illustrated lectures in the 1870s-1900s gave a push for the development of some
branches of science, especially archaeology and ethnography.
7. In Britain, there was no admission charge for lantern shows that covered the expansion of the
British Empire.
8. In the USA, lectures on the life of the poor in slums were often accompanied by the lecturers’
negative remarks.
9. At the end of the 19th century the senators introduced a bill that would prohibit filming people
without their prior consent.
10. All illustrated lectures were separate programs designed to occupy an entire evening.
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ANSWER KEY
Matching Headings
Test 1:
1B
2D
3C
4G
5A
6E
2D
3E
4C
5A
6F
7B
2F
3G
4H
5A
6B
7C
1I
2J
3A
4K
5G
6E
7D
8F
9B
10 H
1I
2B
3F
4E
5A
6D
7G
8C
1I
2D
3F
4A
5H
6B
7G
8E
2I
3E
4C
5D
6A
7F
2I
3F
4D
5H
6C
1M
2E
3K
4F
5J
6A
7B
8D
9H
2C
3F
4H
Test 2:
1H
Test 3:
1E
Test 4:
Test 5:
Test 6:
Test 7:
1J
Test 8:
1G
Test 9:
Test 10:
1J
5B
6E
7I
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Multiple-Choice Questions Based on a Narrative Text
Test 1:
1C
2A
3C
4B
5C
2C
3A
4D
5B
6B
2B
3D
4C
5A
6D
7B
2B
3A
4D
5B
6D
7C
2D
3B
4A
5B
6C
7D
1C
2B
3D
4C
5A
6D
7B
8C
2C
3A
4C
5B
6C
7C
2A
3D
4C
5B
6A
7B
1D
2C
3B
4A
5C
6B
7A
8D
1D
2B
3A
4C
5B
6C
7C
8D
9C
10 A
Test 2:
1C
Test 3:
1C
Test 4:
1B
Test 5:
1B
Test 6:
Test 7:
1D
Test 8:
1B
Test 9:
Test 10:
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Matching Sentence Endings and Matching Lists
Test 1:
1D
2H
3B
4F
5A
2A
3E
4H
5B
2A
3D
4B
5C
2A
3B
4C
5D
1D
2B
3E
4F
5E
6A
7C
8C
1E
2C
3I
4B
6D
7H
8A
9G
10 F
11 I
12 C
13 G
1E
2B
3G
7A
8C
9A
Test 2:
1C
6F
7D
6B
7A
14 D
15 A
16 E
4C
5A
6H
10 D
11 B
12 C
Test 3:
1B
Test 4:
1D
Test 5:
Test 6:
5F
Test 7:
13 A
65
EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
FOR TEACHERS
VIVA VOX
“True – False – No Information” Questions
Test 1:
1 NI
2F
3 NI
4T
5F
6T
2F
3 NI
4 NI
5T
6F
1T
2F
3 NI
4F
5 NI
6T
7F
8T
2T
3F
4 NI
5F
1F
2F
3T
4 NI
5T
6 NI
7F
8 NI
9 NI
10 F
Test 2:
1T
7 NI
Test 3:
Test 4:
1F
Test 5:
66
EXAM PREPARATION COURSE
FOR TEACHERS
VIVA VOX