EXAM PRACTICE 16

SECTION A: GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY (50 pts)

I. Choose the best option (A, B, C or D) to complete each sentence. Write the answer in the box
provided. (20 pts)
1. The picture is ______. The thief will be most disappointed when he tries to sell it!
A. priceless B. invalid C. unprofitable D. worthless
2. Thomas opened the letter without ______ to read the address on the envelope.
A. worrying B. caring C. bothering D. fearing
3. He ______ me to believe that they had left the district.
A. made B. led C. assured D. confirmed
4. You’re very quiet today. What have you got on your ______?
A. head B. mind C. spirit D. mood
5. It's not always easy to ______ the difference between fact and opinion.
A make B do C. say D. tell
6. This is ______ an important day.
A. fairly B. rather C. extremely D. pretty
7. He's a very well-behaved little boy. I rarely have to ______ my voice to him.
A. shout B. lose C. raise D. lift
8. After months of failure, the company finally ______on a brilliant idea.
A. hit B. burst C. struck D. shot
9. Because of the weather, Samantha's flight was ______.
A. undue B. unpunctual C. overdue D belated
10. It is believed that human beings have an unusually strong desire to ______ both with themselves
and against nature.
A. compete B. attack C. oppose D. combat
11. At 6.00, __________ was an hour before the plane took off, thick fog descended.
A. when B. which C. that D. what
12. I’d like to ______ this old car for a new model but I can’t afford it.
A. interchange B. exchange C. replace D. convert
13. If he discovers the truth, there’s no telling what ______ happen.
A. should B. shall C. would D. might
14. Religion and politics interest him almost ______.
A. equally B. the same C. similarly D. alike
15. The drivers have rejected proposals to end the strike and the other workers have come out in ____.
A. consent B. return C. sympathy D. collaboration
16. Nobody phoned while I was out, ______?
A. did they B. was I C. wasn’t I D. didn’t they
17. The man was ______ guilty of theft.
A. condemned B accused C. found D. convicted
18. These suggestions are ______ to be accepted by the majority of members.
A. unlikely B. impossible C. undoubtedly D. inconceivable
19. We were ______that if we didn't pay within five days, we would be taken to court.
A. explained B. threatened C. informed D. promised
20. In my ______, freedom of the press must be maintained.
A. mind B. view C. sight D. thought
Answers
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20.

II. Use the word at the end of each line to form a word that fits in each space on the same line.
Write the answer in the box provided. (10 pts)

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 ALLERGIES: THEIR CAUSES AND TREATMENT

The number of people in Britain receiving a new (1)_______ of allergies 1. DIAGNOSE

such as asthma, eczema and hay fever is increasing by five per cent every
year. There is some evidence to show that Britain's obsession with rules and
regulations to ensure (2)_______ in the home, supermarket and workplace is 2. CLEAN
reflected in the number of allergy (3)_______. One theory is that we have far 3. SUFFER
less (4)_______ to dirt and germs during childhood than we used to have, so 4. EXPOSE
our bodies do not have the opportunity to develop a resistance to allergens.
While we may look down on the unhygienic approach to food and general
living which people had in the past, there are some lessons we could learn
today by maybe being a bit less cautious.
Nobody would dispute the importance of (5)_______ advances. These 5. MEDICINE
include vaccinations given routinely to children which have (6)_______ our 6. REVOLUTION
lives by providing immunity to some life (7)_______ diseases. There is, 7. THREAT
however, some (8)_______ over whether they actually weaken our immune 8. CONTROVERSIAL
systems and are being given (9)_______ for diseases which are not 9. NECESSARY
dangerous. In the meantime, a whole industry has developed around
(10)_______ medicines which are very effective in treating allergies. 10. PREVENT

Answers
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

III. Complete each of the following sentences with one suitable particle or preposition. Write the
answer in the box provided. (10 pts)

1. How did that come ______? I can't understand how it happened.

2. He wanted to save money on a regular basis and put ______ fifty pounds a month.
3. Jane has taken ______ teaching like a duck to water.
4. Could you look ______ her number in the phone book?
5. He's against the idea, but I think I can talk him ______ it.
6. I have nothing but admiration ______ the way she tackled the problem.
7. I’m sorry, this letter is addressed to you – I opened it ______ mistake.
8. If her temperature goes up, send ______ the doctor.
9. They agreed to lend us the car ______ condition that we returned it before the weekend.
10. Many houses in the area were pulled ______ to make way for new construction.
Answers

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

IV. Read the text below carefully. There are TEN mistakes in the text below. Find, UNDERLINE
each mistake and write the correction on the corresponding line in the box provided. (10 pts)

ALBERT EINSTEIN Answers

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 Albert Einstein is some of the best-known scientists of the Example: some à one
twentieth century. Yet he was not the particularly good student. ...................... à .....................
At school in Munich, he got reasonable grades in nearly all ...................... à .....................
subjects, and was outstanding in mathematics and physics, but ...................... à .....................
he disliked doing that he was told. He didn't like exams and nor ...................... à .....................
did he like attending classes because he left school early. ...................... à .....................
Despite failure the entrance exam, Einstein was eventually ...................... à .....................
admitted to the federal Institute of Technology in Zurich in 1896. ...................... à .....................
Although he did fairly well like a student in Zurich, after ...................... à .....................
graduation he was unable to get a job in a university, mainly ...................... à .....................
because he was thought being extremely lazy. Instead, he ...................... à .....................
worked in a secondary school where he taught mathematics and ...................... à .....................
physics, both of them he was good at. ...................... à .....................
Some two years later, in 1902, Einstein has got a job at the ...................... à .....................
Swiss patent office in Bern. In 1905, his special theory of ...................... à .....................
relativity was publishing - one of the greatest intellectual ...................... à .....................
achievement in the history of human thought. ...................... à .....................

SECTION B: READING (30 pts)

I. Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C, or D) best fits each space. Write the
answer in the box provided. (10 pts)
HAIRSTYLES
Hairstyles are not just about looking smart we also use them to (1)______ statements about
ourselves. We can (2)______ our hair longer or shorter than other people to give the (3)______ that we
are different or we can style our hair in imitation of a pop celebrity and (4)______ that people will think
we are fashionable.
In the UK in the early 1960s, the Beatles' “mop-hair” style was copied by boys who, on the whole,
wanted and (5)______ to shock their parents. Later, middle-class “hippies” let their hair grow long to
(6)______ their commitment to an alternative lifestyle. In the 1970s, “skinheads” shaved their heads
and (7)______ to represent the working class; and for those who felt themselves part of a multi-cultural
society dreadlocks were (8)______ fashion.
In recent years, though, men's hairstyles have been more dictated by fashion icons like the
footballer David Beckham who changes his look every few months, (9)______ from styles anywhere in
the world.
In fact, one consequence of the Beckham phenomenon is that boys spend as much time and
money (10)______ their appearance as girls and it's not uncommon for boys to cover their hair in so
much gel that it's rock solid!
1. A. do B. cause C. make D. give
2. A. wear B. support C. hold D. carry
3. A. thought B. meaning C. design D. impression
4. A. propose B. hope C. wish D. suggest
5. A. required B. expected C. supposed D. anticipated
6. A. explain B. create C. perform D. show
7. A. allowed B. admitted C. claimed D. said
8. A. in B. with C. at D. on
9. A. borrowing B. using C. lending D. operating
10. A. for B. in C. on D. of
Answers
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

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II. You are going to read an article in which four people talk about cheating in exams. Choose
from the people (A-D). The people may be chosen more than once. (10 pts)

Which person or people:

cheated by asking a friend to tell them the answer? 0. __ B __

was caught cheating in an exam? 1. ______

didn’t let a friend copy their work? 2. ______
regrets trying to cheat in an exam? 3. ______
cheated more than once? 4. ______
cheated by asking a friend to tell them the answers? 5. ______
didn’t get caught because a friend helped them? 6. ______
tried to cheat by writing notes on a part of their body? 7. ______
only tried to cheat in the subject they weren’t good at? 8. ______
decided not to cheat again after a bad experience? 9. ______
thinks it is always wrong to cheat? 10. ______

CHEATING IN EXAMS

A. This happened when I was about 14 years old. The last exam of the year was history, which had
always been my worst subject. I was useless at remembering dates and people’s names so I
decided to write the dates and names of the important events we’d studied on the inside of my
arm and then wore a jumper to cover it up so noone could see. Unfortunately though, it was a
really hot day. I really wanted to take my jumper off but I couldn’t. I realized after about ten
minutes that there was no way I would be able to look at what I’d written without the teacher
seeing and I just wished I hadn’t done it. I felt so hot and uncomfortable and was really worried
about the teacher seeing and catching me that I didn’t do very well in the test at all. I was too
distracted. I think I probably would have got a better result if I hadn’t tried to cheat. I learnt a good
lesson though.

B. My friend and I had the same surname so we always ended up sitting next to each other, or one
behind the other, in exams at school. We worked out this system where we would pass a piece of
paper to each other with the answers to the questions. Sometimes we just passed it by hand if we
were sitting close enough and other times we’d throw it on the floor for the other person to pick
up. It was quite a good system and I’m sure we both got higher marks. Unfortunately, a teacher
did see us doing it once. I was just leaning down to pick up a paper my friend was passing back
to me when a teacher appeared out of nowhere and picked it up first. There was no way we could
deny what we were doing, it was so obvious. The teacher didn’t say anything until the end of the
exam and then when she collected our papers she wrote a big zero at the top. We didn’t do it
anymore after that, it had been good before but we decided it wasn’t worth the risk.

C. I used to always cheat in my maths exams when I was at school. We were allowed to take a
calculator with us into the exam and I used to write all the important formulae that we were
supposed to remember on the inside of the calculator case. I did it lots of times. I don’t regret it at
all. I was quite good at maths anyway but I’m sure I got better results as a result of cheating. In
other exams like chemistry and physics, I sometimes wrote notes on bits of tissue then pretended
I needed to blow my nose and looked at my notes during the exam. It worked really well. There
was only one time I was almost caught; I dropped the tissue on the floor by accident just as a
teacher was walking past. He was about to pick it up when my friend, who had also seen what
had happened, deliberately knocked over his water bottle. The teacher was so busy clearing up
the water I think he forgot about me. If you’re clever enough to work out a way to cheat and not

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 get caught then I think you deserve to get good marks. It’s like that in the real world; if you can do
something more easily and with less hard work then you will. Why not?

D. I’ve never cheated in an exam and really don’t see the point. I mean sooner or later people will
find out if you know something or not. If you cheat to get better results then you’re lying to
yourself as well as to everyone else. Rather than spending your time thinking of really clever and
original ways to cheat without anyone realizing, you should just spend that time studying. I’m sure
it will help you a lot more in the long run. A friend once tried to read my answers in an exam while
pretending to pick something up off the floor. As soon as I realized I covered my work so he
couldn’t see. He was quite annoyed with me afterwards but I didn’t think it was fair that he should
do well because of my hard work.
III. Read the text below and think of a word which best fits each space. Use only ONE word in
each space. Write your answers in the box provided. (10 pts)

THE ALEXANDRA PALACE

The Alexandra Palace in north London was built with private funds as a "People's Palace".
Serviced by (1)_______ own station, it was opened in 1873 and was extremely well attended until two
weeks after its opening, it burnt down. It was replaced by a slightly larger building which opened in
1875 (2)_______ featured, among other things, a splendid organ and the Great Hall, (3)_______ was
the size of a football pitch. Despite the extraordinarily (4)_______ range of events staged there from
dog shows to great concerts and banquets, from elephant displays to bicycle matches - it always
operated at a loss and by 1877 much (5)_______ the park around it (6)_______ been sold to
speculative builders, leaving only about half of the original land.
In 1900, a committee was appointed whose principal duty was (7)_______ run the Palace and
park "for the free use of the people forever". There were, (8)_______, powers to charge for entry so
that the substantial costs could be covered. The Palace continued, with varying degrees of success, as
an entertainment centre. In the 1930s it was probably most notable for being the home of the world's
first high definition television broadcasts.
In 1980 the building was once (9)_______ devastated by fire and reduced to a ruin. It
(10)_______ then decided to restore it and to create a major exhibition centre with community facilities,
such as a restaurant and a health club.
Answers

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
SECTION C: WRITING (20 pts)

I. Complete each of the following sentences in such a way that it is closest in meaning to the
one printed before it. Use the word given. Do not alter the word in any way. (10 pts)

1. The theatre was practically empty. HARDLY

There ........................................................................................... the theatre.
2. It won't help if Tania goes to see the manager. POINT
There's ............................................................................. to see the manager.
3. She's worked very hard in the garden. DEAL
She's done ..................................................................................... in the garden.
4. You can borrow my computer, but you must look after it. AS
You can borrow my computer ....................................................................... after it.
5. You should stop going to late night concerts. TIME
It’s ........................................................................................... to late night concerts.
6. I thought you’d accepted his offer. UNDER
I was ............................................................................that you’d accepted his offer.

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7. This door is an emergency exit and must never be locked for any reason. ACCOUNT
On .......................................................... be locked because it is an emergency exit.
8. The launch of the new product is scheduled for the end of August. DUE
The new product ...................................................................... at the end of August.
9. Sally showed absolutely no fear when climbing the wall. DISREGARD
Sally showed ....................................................... her own safety when climbing the wall.
10. “No, I really don't want to stay the night, Sophia,” Ann said. STAYING
Ann ................................................................................. at Sophia's house.
II. Write a paragraph about your ideal school in the year 2030.
You should write about 150 words. (10 pts)
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--- The End ---

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