READING COMPREHENSION

Read this extract from a job application form.

I am interested in this job because I am currently looking for an opportunity to use the skills I learnt in my college. I
have recently completed a 16-week part-time accounting course (AAT Level 2 Certificate). The course covered book-
keeping, recording income and receipts and basic costing. We used a wide range of computer packages, and I picked
up the accounting skills easily. I was able to work alone with very little extra help. I passed the course with merit. I
believe my success was due to my thorough work, my numeracy skills and my attention to detail. During the course, I
had experience of working to deadlines and working under pressure. Although this was sometimes stressful, I
always completed my work on time.

Unfortunately, the course did not include a work placement, so I have not practised my skills in a business setting,
and I am now looking for an opportunity to do so. I am particularly looking for a job in a small company such as
yours, as I believe I will be able to interact with a wider range of people, and as a result, learn more skills. I would
like to progress within a company and gain more responsibilities over the years.

Although I do not have work experience in finance, I have experience in working in an office environment. Before
starting the accounting course, I worked for 6 months in a recruitment office as a receptionist. My duties involved
meeting and greeting clients and visitors, taking phone calls, audio and copy typing and checking stock. I also had to
keep the petty cash and mail records. Through this work, I developed my verbal and written communication skills. I
had to speak confidently to strangers and deliver clear messages. I enjoyed working in a team environment. I
believe the office appreciated my friendly manner and efficient work.

Are the following statements true or false? Choose 'not in text' if the information is not there.

The candidate has a qualification in accounting.

The candidate has a university degree in accounting.

The candidate has worked as an accountant before.

The candidate worked with an accounting firm as a receptionist.

The candidate is familiar with some accounting software.

The candidate has worked as part of a team in an office environment.

The candidate has experience of record-keeping.

The candidate wants to learn on the job.

The candidate has a maths qualification.

The candidate can work by herself.

The candidate intends to study a further accounting course.

The candidate believes herself to be a careful worker.

Deadlines do not stress the candidate.

The candidate is applying for a job in a large firm.

Read the text and choose the correct answer.

Northacre Council Department of Education

Sixteen - What now?

You’re 16 and finally you can leave school! By now, you’re probably sick of teachers, desks, tests and exams. But
don’t just run for the exit. You need to think carefully about what to do next.

If you want a professional career, you will need to go to university and get a degree. To do that, you need to stay at
high school for another two years. But you needn’t stay at the same place. There are several options in the district
of Northacre.

St. Leopold’s School has the best pass rate of all the high schools in the district. It offers a wide range of subjects in
the humanities and sciences. St Leopold’s is, of course, a private school, so may be too expensive for you. But don’t
worry, there are several other options if you want to follow the academic route. Knowle Grammar School is a state
school, so there are no fees, and it has excellent tuition and facilities. It is a boys’ school from the ages of 11-16, but
from 16-18 it is co-educational. But it is selective, so you’ll have to pass an exam to get in. If you’re interested in
going into Business, check out Wyle River Academy. This school specialises in subjects like Business Studies,
Management and Economics. If you prefer the arts, look at the courses on offer at Northacre College. Here you can
study woodwork, art, textiles and much more.

Northacre College also offers a wide range of vocational qualifications. You can do a 1-year certificate or a 2-year
diploma in subjects like electrics, plumbing, roofing and hairdressing. If you’d prefer to work outdoors, look at
Milldown College, where there are courses in Farm Mechanics, Land Management, Animal Management and much
more.

A final option is to get an apprenticeship with a local or national company. You will get on-the-job training, gain
certificates or diplomas and start earning straight away. But be warned - places are limited! Find out more at the
Jobs Fair on 26th May at Northacre College.

1 The aim of the article is to…

advise young people about how to get to university.

tell young people about the options available.

advise young people to stay in education.

2 The article advises readers who want a professional career to…

go to university immediately.

stay at the same school for two more years.

go to high school for two more years, then get a degree.

3 St Leopold’s is the best school for…

good exam results.

humanities and sciences.

facilities.

4 You can only attend St Leopold’s school if you…

pay tuition fees.

pass an exam.
study both humanities and sciences.

5 You can only attend Knowle Grammar School if you…

pass an exam.

are a boy.

can afford the tuition fees.

6 Anna wants to work with horses. Where is the best place for her to study?

Wyle River Academy

Northacre College

Milldown College

7 Harry wants to be a builder. Where is the best place for him to study?

Wyle River Academy

Northacre College

Milldown College

8 Kevin wants to be a fashion designer. Where is the best place for him to study?

Wyle River Academy

Northacre College

Milldown College

9 Caroline wants to run her own company. Where is the best place for her to study?

Wyle River Academy

Northacre College

Milldown College

10 What is the problem with apprenticeships?

There are few available.

They are expensive.

They don’t give you any qualifications.

Write sentences 1-9 in the correct place in the text

1. We have local apocalypses in our world today, in the form of earthquakes, hurricanes and terrorist attacks.

2. TV shows have long launched spin-off products in the form of merchandise and video games.

3. If successful, the edutainment experiment could spawn a huge range of other TV show/university hybrid courses.

4. Part of this experiment is to find out whether the power of television can reduce the high drop-out rate
characteristic of MOOCS.

5. Until now, online learning experiences have been able to deliver great videos and quizzes, but student interaction
was minimal and the experience for learners has been impersonal.
6. Experts from the Centre for Education and Employment have reservations about the value of such online courses
where there is no formal assessment or contact between the students and those delivering the courses.

7. The course will consist of eight modules including a physics module on ‘the science of decay’, a public health
module on the study of epidemics and a mathematics module on population dynamics.

8. The University of California, which has a huge reputation to uphold, said that there had been no dumbing down in
the design of the course.

9. Millions of students sign up for online education courses each year.

The boundaries between education and entertainment are beginning to blur, and a new type of learning, in which
education merges with entertainment, is emerging – ‘edutainment’. _________________

But now US television company AMC has teamed up with the University of California to produce an online course
based on the TV show, The Walking Dead, which features apost-apocalyptic world ridden with zombies.

With an audience of 10 million, student numbers for the course are expected to be in the hundreds of thousands.
_____________________________

Academics from the University of California say that the online course will be a ‘legitimate educational experience’
and tackle serious issues from the fields of science, public health, nutrition, psychology and sociology.
______________. However, students will gain no formal qualifications or credits on successful completion of the
course.

________________________. It insisted that all modules had been made as academically rigorous as those taught
on the university grounds. One lecturer in social science stated that the university already used contemporary media
examples to make theories more relevant to students, and this course was merely taking this concept one step
further. ‘The curriculum is very real,’ says Josh Coates, head of Infrastructure and designer of the online platform.
_________________________.‘The fact that the context is this fictional world of an apocalypse is incidental. This
course gives us the opportunity to educate people about the science of disasters.’

The market for massive open online courses, or MOOCs, is rapidly expanding. ______________________. However,
millions fail to complete the courses, suggesting that they pose a real challenge to online learners.
__________________________

The university is taking this opportunity to hone the way it delivers online courses. ____________________. With
the increasing demand for online courses, these are issues that universities looking to invest in online learning are
increasingly having to face.

_____________________. They believe that TV shows may serve to attract students, but the academic element still
needs to outweigh the entertainment value for a university course to be officially recognised and respected.

Read the following text and write who said the following sentences. In some cases more than one option is
possible.

The Coach Hotel

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 164 reviews

Patsy190 writes:
6 of us stayed here for the weekend. The first thing we noticed on entering our room was how small it was. Our
rooms were clean, but the bed cover was stained. The furniture was really outdated, especially the bathroom, which
had an old pink suite and linoleum on the floor. The ‘shower’ was a hose that you fit onto the taps. The sink was in
the bedroom, right next to the television sockets which seems pretty unsafe to me. We had dinner there, and it was
well-cooked, but we were still hungry afterwards because the servings were so tiny. The drinks prices were
extortionate - £5 for a small glass of wine. My friend ordered a brandy and coke, but the waitress brought him
whisky and coke. When we complained, she just walked off! Not impressed. I would like to say it was cheap and
cheerful but at £120 a night, it was neither - overpriced and depressing more like.

MellowBunny writes:

Just returned from a 3 day break here, and thought that the Coach Hotel was very good value for money. I had
requested a quiet room and this was noted at reception. I got a great room - large, comfortable and clean, with a
seating area overlooking the racecourse. The only disappointing thing was that there were no tea/coffee facilities in
the room - not even a kettle. The furniture and decor was not particularly up-to-date, but that’s what you would
expect from an old hotel. There was a wide selection of well-cooked food on offer. At breakfast I had poached eggs,
and they were done to perfection. In the evening, I had a delicious three-course meal, and I wasn’t kept waiting for
ages between courses, which is definitely a plus when you’re dining alone. I found the staff friendly and always
willing to help.

TomWheeler writes:

The hotel’s is just 200 metres walk away from the racecourse, so it’s really convenient. There’s plenty of space to
park. The bed was comfortable with clean cotton sheets. Good power shower. I would agree with some of the less
favourable reviews on the site too, though. The room definitely needed some attention – it smelt musty and the
furniture was old, cheap and battered. The bin hadn't been emptied from previous guests, and there was other
rubbish on the floor. The fan in the bathroom was very loud, and the plumbing made strange noises in the night. The
walls were thin too. Breakfast was okay, but there wasn’t much of it.

JadeUnicorn writes:

Don’t be fooled by the pictures online. What you see is definitely NOT what you get! First, it’s not close to the city
centre – it’s at least a 35 minute walk. Furniture was old and dated, although the bed was comfortable. Tiny
bathroom, with an absurdly loud extractor fan. No lock on the bathroom door and no toiletries, not even soap. There
were cobwebs all over the hotel. The dining room is dark and uninviting, with no windows except one tiny one. The
food simply was the type that gives Britain a bad name. Instant coffee and cheap sausages. Service was poor, with
staff clearing the table while we were still eating.

1. The hotel was too expensive.

2. The decor was old-fashioned.

3. The service was poor.

4. The service was good.

5. The bed clothes were dirty.

6. The room was dirty.

7. The room was big.

8. The location was bad.

9. The shower was inadequate.

10. The food was bad quality.

11. The food was good.

12. The food portions were small.

13. The room did not have everything the reviewer expected.

14. The room wasn’t quiet.

Read the text and write the titles 1-10 in the correct place

Make the Most of your Free Time

1.

Studies say that people nowadays have more free time than ever before. Then why doesn’t it feel that way? These
days, our free time is usually spent watching television, using computers or communicating on our phones. Images
and information are constantly flashing into our brains, so it’s no wonder we don’t feel as if we have really switched
off. To really wind down and help us regain our energy levels, it is important to use our free time wisely.

2.

Think about what you want to achieve in your free time. Do you want to get fit, get creative or simply relax? Don’t
worry about what you ought to be doing, just think about what will make you feel more content.

3.

Plan when you are going to enjoy your free time, and treat it in the same way as anything else on your calendar. If
something else more important comes along, you can choose whether or not to postpone it, but never cancel it!

4.

Make sure you have everything you need to enjoy your free time in advance. If you’re looking forward to a nice long
bath, buy in bath oil and candles. If you want to get out in the countryside, get your boots and map ready, and don’t
forget to check the weather forecast.

5.

Don’t let anything else encroach on your free time. Ignore the washing up and the vacuuming. Don’t check your
inbox for messages and turn off your mobile phone. Otherwise, the lines between free time and everyday live will
begin to blur, and you won’t feel refreshed.

6.

In many free time activities, we take the role of consumer. When we watch TV, play video games or read, we are
only passively involved. Take on the role of producer for a change. Build a model, write a blog or make an animation
film. You will use a different part of your brains and will feel more energised as a result.

7.

But don’t go overboard. Many people worry too much about their free time activities. They want to do things that
will impress their friends, look good on their résumés or help them get a better job. But free time isn’t about that. It
is about doing an activity for enjoyment’s sake, so don’t let outside pressures influence your choice.

8.

Take the opportunity to expand your social circle. Everyone has different interests, so don’t expect your mates to be
into the same things you are. Give them a break for a while, join a club and get to know people with the same
interests as you. You can never have too many friends!
9.

You’ll really know you’re using your time wisely if what you’re doing helps other people. So find out what’s going on
in the community and lend a hand. Visit the elderly or help out in a children’s club. If socialising’s not your thing,
why not volunteer for a wildlife organisation?

10.

Once you’re relaxed and energised, you can think about what you’d like to improve in your life. Want to get fit?
Learn a skill? Improve your job prospects? There are plenty of groups, clubs and classes you can join that will set
you on a completely new life path. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and enjoy yourself!

1- Plan ahead

2- Get creative

3- Why it’s so hard

4- Meet likeminded people

5- Set a date

6- Do what you want

7- Establish your goals

8- Make a difference

9- Guard your time

10- Change your life

Read some real complaints that holidaymakers have made to holiday companies. Match the beginning to the end
of each complaint.

1- My fiancé and I were given a double-bedded room, not a twin-bedded room as we requested.

2- Siesta time should be banned.

3- I booked a one-bedroom apartment and my friend booked a three-bedroomed apartment.

4- The sand on the beach didn’t look like the sand in the brochure.

5- The guests in the next room were very noisy.

6- It took us nine hours to get back to England from Jamaica.

7- We bought some Ray-ban sunglasses from a street trader for £3.50.

8- I came on this cruise for some peace and quiet.

9- My friend came on this trip last year and saw the singer Gary Barlow.

10- All the restaurants in Goa served nothing but curry.

11- We booked a trip to a water park.

12- The brochure said that all the Slovenian reps spoke English.

a- It is your duty to warn us about this before we travel

b- No-one said we’d need to bring our swimsuits and towels

 c- Sometimes I wanted to buy things in the afternoons and I couldn’t

d- But the sound of the sea kept disturbing my sleep

e- You didn’t mention that they’d have foreign accents

f- It was yellow in the pictures, but in real life it was white

g- Now I have discovered that I am pregnant and I hold the holiday company responsible

h- Can you explain why he wasn’t on this one?

i- When I compared them, I found that hers was considerably larger

j- I don’t like spicy food at all

k- When we spoke to some American friends, we found out that they’d got home in three

l- It turned out that they were fake

Read the following text and choose the correct option

Memorandum

To all staff

The hospital is always trying to cut its carbon footprint, and to do this, we want to encourage staff, visitors and
patients to use environmentally-friendly forms of transport to and from the hospital. Therefore, we are making the
following changes, which will come into effect from 1st April:

Car Park A will stay as a staff car park, but, to encourage car sharing, it will only be available to cars containing 3
passengers or more. This rule will be in place between 7am and 6pm. A car park attendant will monitor users. Note
that cars do not have to leave the car park with three passengers. The parking fee will remain at the current price of
£1 an hour up to a maximum of £5 per day. If you are interested in car sharing and wish to find members of staff
who live in your area or along your route, please click on the link on the human resources page of the hospital
website. Car Park C, previously a staff-only car-park, will now be open to visitors at the increased cost of £2/hour up
to 5 hours, and £1 an hour after that. These new rates will also apply to staff/visitor Car Park E. Car Park B will only
be open to blue card holders. Only senior and emergency staff are eligible for this card.

Car park D will no longer be in use, as it will make way for an improved bus park. The current bus service (Service
56D) from the city centre will be replaced by two services. The service will be available to staff, patients and visitors
alike.

Service 57A will run from: Hebdon Town centre, Hebden Station, Critchley Park and Ride, Grafton Street Train
Station, Portchester City Centre (Bus Stop D on Mill Yard) to the hospital. The service will run 24 hours a day every
20 minutes between 7am and 7pm and once an hour during the night.

Service 62A will run from Oldgrave Town Centre, Kings Wood Park and Ride and Polegate Park and Ride to the
hospital every 15 minutes between 7.30 am and 7.00 pm and once every 30 minutes thereafter.

The buses will have a flat rate of £1 per journey. Staff will be able to buy a bus pass valid for 20 trips for just £15.
These can be purchased on the bus.

Staff can also purchase a Go! pass from the human resources website. The Go! pass costs £45 and entitles users to
park at any of the city’s park and ride services for just £2 a day. It is valid for one year.

There will also be an improved lock-up shed for bicycles and motorcycles in the former car park D. Hospital staff may
wish to take advantage of the voucher giving 50% off all cycles and cycle accessories bought from Perkin’s Wheels,
which is downloadable from the Human Resources website. Note that you will have to show your staff ID card at the
store when making purchases. There will be a fix-it session once a fortnight in car park D on Fridays at 2pm- 5pm. At
this time, bicycle mechanics from Perkins Wheels will give advice on bicycle upkeep and make minor bicycle repairs
free of charge.

We hope you will take advantages of these schemes.

1 Under the rules, staff can only park in car park A at noon if...

a) they hold a blue card.

b) there are three people in the car.

c) they stay for a maximum of 5hours.

2 The cost to park in Car Park A for 4 hours will be...

a. £1

b. £4

c. £5

3 Staff should _____ to find people to share a car with them.

a. go online

b. visit the human resources department

c. speak to their departmental manager

4 After April 1st, Car Park C will be for...

a. staff only

b. visitors only

c. staff and visitors

5 The cost to park in Car Park C for 8 hours will be...

a. £8

b. £13

c. £18

6 The cost to park in Cark Park E for 4 hours will be...

a. £4

b. £7

c. £8

7 The cost to park in Car Park B is ...

a. the same as car parks C & E.

b. the same as car park A

c. not given in the text.

8 A member of staff who does not have a blue card can park in...

a. car parks A, C & E.

b. car parks C, D & E.

c. car parks A, C & D.

9 Joe comes into Portchester by rail. Which bus service should he use to get to the hospital?

a. 56D

b. 57A

c. 62A

10 Joe sometimes works the night shift. What is the maximum time he may have to wait for a bus from the hospital
to the station?

a. 59 minutes

b. 14 minutes

c. 29 minutes

11 Jane has to make 8 return trips to the hospital from Oldgrave Town Centre for treatment. How much money will
she save by buying a bus pass?

a. £1

b. £4

c. £7

12 Sheila has a Go! pass, but she doesn’t have a bus pass. Every day she parks at Kings Wood Park and Ride and uses
the bus service to get to the hospital and back. How much does this cost her per day?

a. £2

b. £3

c. £4

13 What forms of transport will be able to use Car Park D after April 1st?

a. buses and cars

b. buses, bicycles and motorbikes

c. buses, cars, bicycles and motorbikes

14 Which is NOT true about Perkin’s Wheels?

a. It sells bicycles and motorbikes

b. It will sell goods to staff at half price

c. It will fix staff member’s bikes for no charge

Read about the illness Norovirus. Choose the correct question for each paragraph.

1._____________________________________________________________________
Norovirus is a common stomach bug. It is also called the Winter Vomiting Bug because it is more prevalent in winter.
It is caused by a very small virus and it is easily passed on from one person to another.

2._____________________________________________________________________

If you recover from norovirus, there is no reason why you should not catch it again. The virus changes constantly, so
your body cannot build up resistance.

3._____________________________________________________________________

Norovirus causes sickness and diarrhoea. You may also feel headaches, abdominal pains, or you may have a high
temperature.

4._____________________________________________________________________

Although unpleasant, norovirus is not dangerous. Most people make a full recovery within a couple of days. The
biggest danger is from dehydration.

5._____________________________________________________________________

Drink plenty of water. You should drink more than usual to replace fluids lost in vomit and diarrhoea. An adult
should drink around 1.2 litres per day.

6._____________________________________________________________________

Obviously, you will feel thirsty and your mouth will be dry. You may get headaches or feel dizzy. Your urine will be
dark and the quantity of urine small.

7._____________________________________________________________________

You can take Paracetamol or other pain-killers for any aches and pains, but there are no drugs that eradicate the
virus.

8._____________________________________________________________________

No. Because it is highly contagious, you risk passing it on to other people who are already in a weak state. Stay at
home and rest.

9._____________________________________________________________________

Take care to give them plenty of water or fruit juice. You can also use rehydration salts. Babies can drink milk as
usual. If you are pregnant, don’t worry, as there is no risk to the unborn child.

10.____________________________________________________________________

Only if your symptoms last longer than a few days, or if you are already suffering from a serious illness.

11.____________________________________________________________________

Yes, but stick to foods which are easy to digest such as soup, bread, rice and pasta. Avoid spicy foods.

12.____________________________________________________________________

Wash your hands frequently, and avoid putting your fingers in your mouth. Be aware that the virus can also spread
via towels and flannels, so don’t share them. Keep all surfaces clean and disinfected, not just in the bathroom but in
other areas too.

13._____________________________________________________________________

You will be infectious for a few days after your symptoms have passed, so avoid direct contact with people for at
least 48 hours after your symptoms pass. Stay away from work and keep young children out of school.

a- How can I avoid dehydration?

 b- Should I take any medication?

c- What is Norovirus?

d- How can I stop the disease spreading?

e- What are the symptoms?

f- Should I go and see my doctor?

g- How long should I stay at home?

h- Can I get it again if I’ve already had it?

i- What are the risks?

j- What are the signs that I’m dehydrated?

k- Should I eat anything?

l- What if my children are infected?

Preparation (this part should be done before reading the text)

Complete the gaps with a word from the box.

Chat role public vast harmless general gossip reality

1. something that is enjoyable and not damaging = _______________ fun

2. a type of TV programme that shows ‘real-life’ people in a particular situation = _______________ TV

3. a type of TV programme including interviews with or conversation about celebrities = a _______________ show

4. someone who another person wants to be like = a _______________ model

5. another way to say ‘famous’ is = in the _______________ eye

6. ordinary people = the _______________ public

7. approximately 80% or more = the _______________ majority

8. a publication in which you can read about celebrities’ private lives = a _______________ magazine

Are celebrities bad for you?

Celebrities are everywhere nowadays: on TV, in magazines, online. Is this preoccupation with famous people
harmless fun or is it bad for us? How many people are truly obsessed with modern media idols? And on the other
side of the coin, can fame be harmful to the celebrities?

Studies suggest that the vast majority of teenagers do not really worship celebrities. Researchers have identified
three kinds of fans. About 15% of young people have an ‘entertainment-social’ interest. They love chatting about
their favourite celebrities with friends and this does not appear to do any harm.

Another 5% feel that they have an ‘intense-personal’ relationship with a celebrity. Sometimes they see them as their
soulmate and find that they are often thinking about them, even when they don’t want to. These people are more at
risk from depression and anxiety. If girls in this group idolise a female star with a body they consider to be perfect,
they are more likely to be unhappy with their own bodies.

That leaves 2% of young people with a ‘borderline-pathological’ interest. They might say, for example, they would
spend several thousand pounds on a paper plate the celebrity had used, or that they would do something illegal if
the celebrity asked them to. These people are in most danger of being seriously disturbed.

What about the celebrities themselves? A study in the USA tried to measure narcissism or extreme self-centredness,
when feelings of worthlessness and invisibility are compensated for by turning into the opposite: excessive showing
off. Researchers looked at 200 celebrities, 200 young adults with Masters in Business Administration (a group known
for being narcissistic) and a nationally representative sample using the same questionnaire. As was expected, the
celebrities were significantly more narcissistic than the MBAs and both groups were a lot more narcissistic than the
general population.

Four kinds of celebrity were included in the sample. The most narcissistic were the ones who had become famous
through reality TV shows – they scored highest on vanity and willingness to exploit other people. Next came
comedians, who scored highest on exhibitionism and feelings of superiority. Then came actors, and the least
narcissistic were musicians. One interesting result was that there was no connection between narcissism and the
length of time the celebrity had been famous. This means that becoming famous probably did not make the
celebrities narcissistic – they already were beforehand.

So, what can we learn from this? People who are very successful or famous tend to be narcissists and are liable to be
ruthless, self-seeking workaholics. As we can see from celebrity magazines, they are also often desperate and lonely.
They make disastrous role models.

1. The article is about whether celebrity culture is harmful, for either the public or the celebrities themselves.

True

False

2. 15% of teenagers have an interest in celebrities that probably isn't a cause for concern.

True

False

3. Young people who feel they have an 'intense-personal' relationship with a celebrity do not experience any
negative consequences related to it.

True

False

4. A study found that celebrities were more self-centred than business administration masters students.

True

False

5. Celebrities from reality TV were found to be the most vain and exploitative.

True

False

6. Actors were the least self-obsessed group of celebrities.

True

False
7. The research concluded that the experience of being a celebrity made people more narcissistic than they were
previously.

True

False

8. The author says that celebrities tend to exhibit negative qualities and are therefore not good role models.

True

False

Complete the gaps with a word from the text.

1.p____________ = something we think or worry about a lot (noun, paragraph 1)

2.h____________ = damaging or injurious (adjective, paragraph 1)

3.w____________ = have or show feelings of profound devotion (verb, paragraph 2)

4.s____________ = a person with whom you feel a deep affinity or connection (noun, paragraph 3)

5.n____________ = excessive interest in or admiration of oneself

(noun, paragraph 5)

6.s____________ o____________ = behaving in a way that is intended to attract attention (phrasal verb, paragraph
5)

7.v____________ = excessive pride or interest in your own attractiveness (noun, paragraph 6)

8.r____________ m____________ = a person we look up to and want to be like (noun, paragraph 7)

Discussion

Do you agree that celebrities make disastrous role models?

Which celebrities do you think are good role models? Why? Can you think of any bad ones?

Read the following text and choose true or false

Are zoos a good thing?

Zoos are hugely popular attractions for adults and children alike. But are they actually a good thing?

Critics of zoos would argue that animals often suffer physically and mentally by being enclosed. Even the best
artificial environments can't come close to matching the space, diversity, and freedom that animals have in their
natural habitats. This deprivation causes many zoo animals to become stressed or mentally ill. Capturing animals in
the wild also causes much suffering by splitting up families. Some zoos make animals behave unnaturally: for
example, marine parks often force dolphins and whales to perform tricks. These mammals may die decades earlier
than their wild relatives, and some even try to commit suicide.

On the other hand, by bringing people and animals together, zoos have the potential to educate the public about
conservation issues and inspire people to protect animals and their habitats. Some zoos provide a safe environment
for animals which have been mistreated in circuses, or pets which have been abandoned. Zoos also carry out
important research into subjects like animal behaviour and how to treat illnesses.

One of the most important modern functions of zoos is supporting international breeding programmes, particularly
for endangered species. In the wild, some of the rarest species have difficulty in finding mates and breeding, and
they might also be threatened by poachers, loss of their habitat and predators. A good zoo will enable these species
to live and breed in a secure environment. In addition, as numbers of some wild species drop, there is an increased
danger of populations becoming too genetically similar. Breeding programmes provide a safeguard: zoo-bred
animals can be released into the wild to increase genetic diversity.

However, opponents of zoos say that the vast majority of captive breeding programmes do not release animals back
into the wild. Surplus animals are sold not only to other zoos but also to circuses or hunting ranches in the US or
South Africa, where some people are willing to pay a lot of money for the chance to kill an animal in a fenced
enclosure. Often, these animals are familiar with humans and have very little chance of escaping.

So, are zoos good for animals or not? Perhaps it all depends on how well individual zoos are managed, and the
benefits of zoos can surely outweigh their harmful effects. However, it is understandable that many people believe
imprisoning animals for any reason is simply wrong.

Modern zoos can offer animals a living environment that is as good as their natural habitats.

True

False

One of the reasons zoo animals become distressed is because they are separated from their families.

True

False

Dolphins and whales usually live longer in zoos than in the wild.

True

False

People who have visited zoos are more likely to support animal conservation and protection.

True

False

Zoos protect animals from being used for scientific research.

True

False

Endangered animals kept in zoos are less likely to meet a mate and breed.

True

False

In their natural habitats, animals suffer problems related to human activity.

True

False

Endangered species often lack genetic diversity in their population.

True

False

Zoos promote genetic diversity by breeding animals and then releasing them back into the wild.

True

False

If zoos have more animals than they can look after, they always give them to another zoo or release them back into
the wild.

True

False

Animals that have been bred in captivity quickly adapt to life in hunting ranches.

True

False

The author thinks that, on balance, zoos are generally a good thing.

True

False

Complete the gaps with a word from the box.

Habitat suicide tricks illnesses mate wild environment species

1.Even the best artificial environments cannot come close to an animal's natural _______________.

2.Whales and dolphins in zoos are often made to perform _______________.

3.Distressed and depressed zoo animals sometimes try to commit _______________.

4.Zoos can provide a safe _______________ for animals that have been mistreated or abandoned.

5.Zoos carry out important research into how to treat _______________.

6.International breeding programmes are particularly important for endangered _______________.

7.In the wild, some of the rarest species have difficulty finding a _______________.

8.One criticism of breeding programmes is that they do not always release animals back into the _______________.

Discussion

Have you ever been to a zoo?

What do you think about zoos? Are they a good thing, or is it cruel to keep animals in captivity?

Read the following text and choose the correct option

 Choosing a musical instrument

Many people would like to learn how to play a musical instrument, but they are put off by one big problem: what to
play? Here are a few questions to help you decide.

What kind of music do you like?

Many instruments are versatile, but some are more suited to certain types of music. Although there is some classical
repertoire for the saxophone, for example, people associate it more with jazz, and it is not a permanent feature of
many orchestras. Some instruments may lend themselves better than others to the music you like, so consider this
before you start.

Do you want to play with other people?

Think about your long-term future as a musician. If you want to play with other people, what sort of instrument
would be most practical? The initial attraction of playing a dazzling solo instrument like trumpet, violin, flute or lead
guitar might fade when you realise how many other people are competing with you to get the main part with the
same instrument! If you want to play rock music, there will always be a demand for bass players or drummers, and if
you fancy being part of an orchestra, the bassoon is a great bet to make sure you are always needed.

Where are you going to practise?

Many people live in flats and practising the drums, for example, will drive your neighbours crazy. Think about where
and when you are going to practise, as well as the patience of the people you live with or near. Electric versions of
instruments like the piano, drums, guitar and even violin give you the option of playing into the night using
headphones, while your housemates sleep in peace. Alternatively, you may need to consider going to a school or a
community centre to practise.

How much money can you spend?

This is quite a big factor. A lot of instruments can be purchased in different price ranges, for example, guitars. But
this doesn’t alter the fact that many, such as the piano, are always pretty expensive. If you can’t afford your chosen
instrument, will you be able to borrow someone else’s or hire one?

Are there any physical limitations?

If you’re small and don’t like lifting heavy objects, you won’t want to carry around a double bass. Apart from that,
use your common sense, and don’t let your perceived physical shortcomings put you off. Who says small skinny
people can’t play the tuba? It’s true that some wind instruments require a lot of lung power but with the right
coaching, everyone can develop the right technique.

Still not sure?

Talk to people you know who already play instruments. They might even let you try theirs. It’s also a good idea to
find an experienced music teacher, preferably one who plays a few different instruments, who can give you some
advice and push you in the right direction.

If you find an instrument you love and that suits your needs, you’ll find the time spent choosing was well worth it.
Good luck with making your choice!

1.Many people think about learning a musical instrument but don't because...

a.they haven’t got enough time to practise.

b. they don’t know which instrument to choose.

c. they can’t afford a musical instrument.

d. they think it will be too difficult.

2.If you play the saxophone,...

a.you can’t play classical music.

b.there might be fewer opportunities to play classical music.

c.you can easily play in an orchestra.

d.you should only play jazz.

3.Playing a popular solo instrument...

a.is the best way to get into a band.

b.is only for people who are really confident.

c. means you will always perform on your own.

d. can be a drawback if you want to play with others.

4.Electric instruments ...

a.are too noisy if you live too close to other people.

b. can’t be played at night.

c. are best for public performances.

d. are a good idea to avoid disturbing other people.

5.Guitars...

a.are normally relatively cheap.

b. are only for buyers with big budgets.

c. start quite cheap and go up to very expensive.

d. are worth paying more money for.

6.Before choosing an instrument you should...

a.consider the size and weight of the instrument.

b. avoid wind instruments if you are small and slim.

c.reflect on your physical limitations.

d.make sure you have the correct technique.

7.An experienced music teacher can...

a.tell you if you have the ability to learn a particular instrument.

b. lend you their instruments to try.

c. give you valuable guidance.

d. demonstrate the different instruments for you.

8.The best summary of the author's attitude is...

a.don't worry, just go for it!

b. playing an instrument is not for everyone.

c. you can always change your mind.

d. considering your choice of instrument will pay off in the future.

Complete the gaps with a word from the box.

can’t afford a good bet the right coaching lends itself to

dazzling physical shortcomings put off by drive your neighbours crazy

1. Many people are ____________________(discouraged by) not knowing which instrument to learn.

2.The saxophone ____________________ (is suitable for) jazz.

3.The initial attraction of playing a ____________________ (amazing, brilliant) solo instrument might fade when you
realise how many other people play it as well.

4.Playing the drums is ____________________ (a clever choice) if you want to play in a band.

5.Practising a loud instrument late at night will ____________________ (make your neighbours extremely irritated
or exasperated).

6.You can borrow or hire an instrument if you ____________________ (don’t have enough money to buy) one.

7.Even small, slim people can play the tuba, so don’t let your perceived ____________________ (problems or
limitations with your body) put you off.

8.Everyone can develop the right technique with____________________ (someone teaching them to do it well).

Discussion

Do you play a musical instrument?

Which instrument would you like to learn? Why?

Preparation

Circle the best word to complete these sentences.

1.It is your irresponsibility / responsibility / responsible to take the dog for a walk.

2.I remember when the phenomenon / phenomena / phenomenal of sending text messages started.

3.This year’s trending / trendy / trend for big colourful handbags appeals to young and old alike.

4. She suffers from depressed / depressing / depression in the winter.

5.Young children can suffer from anxiety / anxious / anxiously when they are separated from their parent.

6.I think he made a reason / reasoning / reasonable request when he asked us to help him.

7.It is a worry / worried / worrying business but I’m sure it will all be OK.

8.The film is OK for teenagers and adults but inappropriate / appropriate / appropriacy for small children.

Read the following text and choose the correct option

FOMO

posted 2 hours ago by Mr Braddock, Sixth Form teacher

Everybody knows how important it is for students to get a good night’s sleep every night. You aren’t able to do your
best and keep up with all of your responsibilities unless you sleep well. I’m sure you already know that you should go
to bed at a reasonable hour. Most experts agree that the optimum number of hours is eight, and this has been
accepted as common sense for as long as I can remember. However, I was young once and I know that most of you
get much less sleep than that – and in some cases it will be affecting your schoolwork.

I read an interesting article in a teachers’ magazine recently. They did a study of 848 students in Wales. Worryingly,
the results showed that teenagers are facing a new problem. They may go to bed and get up at appropriate times
but a growing number are waking up in the middle of the night, not to use the bathroom or have a snack but
because of a new phenomenon: FOMO – fear of missing out!

According to the article, schoolchildren are suffering because of a growing trend to wake up during the night to
check social media. Afraid of missing a comment or opportunity to take part in a chat, teenagers are waking at all
times of the night, going online and getting involved. All this when they should be sound asleep.

Experts are worried about this growing trend and the report reveals some worrying statistics that I’d like to share
with you:

 23% of 12 to 15-year-olds wake up nearly every night to use social media. Another 15% wake up at night
once a week for the same reason.

 One in three students are constantly tired and unable to function to their full capacity

 Students who use social media during the night are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety.

So, I’d like to ask you to be responsible when it comes to social media. Be brave! Switch off your devices at night. The
world won’t end and your social media will be waiting to greet you in the morning! I give you my word that you
won't have missed anything important.

1.Students won’t be able to perform well...

a. if they have phones in class.

b. unless they use common sense.

c. if they don't sleep well.

2.The writer is worried by ...

a. what he has read in the press.

b. what other teachers have told him.

c. whathe is seeing with his pupils.

3.Research shows that schoolchildren are tired because they ...

a. are going to bed very late.

b. are waking up in the middle of the night.

c. are getting up too early in the morning.

4.Fear Of Missing Out is ...

a. anxiety about not having the latest technology.

b. an irrational need to go out all the time.

c. a fear of missing opportunities for interaction on social media.

5.Nearly a quarter of 12 to 15-year-olds wake up to use social media ...

a. once a night, on average.

b. almost every night.

c. once a week.

6.Students who use social media during the night ...

a. have weaker immune systems.

b. do worse in exams.

c. have a higher incidence of depression and anxiety.

Match the two parts of the sentences and write a–h next to the numbers 1–8.

1........Students need a.were involved in the study.

2........Experts think b.to get a good night’s sleep.

3........Getting too little sleep can c .an interesting article.

4........A teachers’magazine published d.your mobile at night.

5........848 Welsh students e.affect your schoolwork.

6........FOMO is f. we need eight hours’ sleep.

7........Almost a quarter of those tested wake up g.a growing trend in teenagers.

8........The author suggests switching off h.nearly every night.

Write the correct word to fill the gaps.

FOMO means fear of _______________ out. A recent study in a teachers’ _______________ observed a large group
of students in Wales. The _______________ of the survey were worrying. Although students go to bed and get up at
a reasonable time, they are not getting enough _______________. Many students wake up in the middle of the night
to _______________ their social media. They are afraid of missing a comment or taking part in a _______________.
These students are more likely to suffer from depression or _______________. It is a good idea to _______________
off your mobile at night because, of course, the world won’t end!

Discussion

Do you think FOMO is common where you are?

Preparation

Match the things you need to know when leaving home with their description and write a–e next to the numbers
1-5.

1........How to budget a.Learn some simple, cheap and healthy recipes to impress your flatmates.

2........How to cook b.Be slightly formal when emailing university lecturers. Don't post
anything on social media you wouldn't want employers to see.

3........How to make friends c.Plan to minimise debt, pay all the bills, eat and still have enough money
for some fun.
4........How to be professional d.Take responsibility for yourself. Manage your time and balance your
social life with your studies.

5........How to be independent e.Relax, be yourself, and don't feel you have to be cool

Read the following text and choose the correct option

Leaving home

Going away to university is always a tricky time, both for the students who are leaving home and their parents who
are staying behind. We got advice on how to cope from a student daughter and her dad.

A daughter’s advice to parents, by Kerry Price

My parents drove me to uni at the beginning of the first term. That was great, but then they hung around, so it was
hard to chat to the people in the rooms near mine. It’s best if you leave us to unpack ourselves.

Don’t ask us to come home during term time. There’s a lot going on at weekends, there just isn’t time.

Get another interest or a pet if you feel lonely without us. Don’t make us feel guilty about leaving home!

It is quite interesting to hear about your experiences at uni, but remember that it was a LONG time ago so don’t go
on about it so much. Things have changed a lot. Now we have a lot more debt and it’ll be harder to find a job in the
future.

Please don’t check up on us or our friends on Facebook. I know it’s a public site, but we have the right to some
privacy.

Don’t change anything in our bedrooms. We have only half left home - we’ll be back in the holidays, so please don’t
touch anything.

We’d still like to come on family holidays with you. Don’t forget to include us just because we’re not there all the
time.

A father’s advice to students, by Stuart Price

Don’t complain so much about how much work you have to do. We work a lot too. You’re an adult now, get used to
it.

Put up with the fact that we refused to get a dog while you were at home, then suddenly bought one as soon as you
moved out. We miss you!

Just because you’re at university studying very complex subjects, it doesn’t mean that you’re more intelligent than
everybody else. Don’t treat your family as if they were stupid; we’re really not.

Let us come and visit you now and again. We promise to try not to embarrass you in front of your friends. We just
want to see you for a short time and take you out for a meal.

Don’t waste so much time on Facebook. You need time for all that work you have to do, remember?

We might make a few changes to your room, so deal with it. It’s great to have a guest room at last, but we won’t
change things too much, promise.

Don’t forget to call home from time to time and don’t get annoyed if we phone you. It’s not pestering. If we didn’t
call, you wouldn’t know that we care.

1.When children leave home to go to university, it's ___.

a.the moment they've been waiting for

b. a difficult experience

c. more difficult for parents than for children

d. more difficult for children than for parents

2.Kerry says when students first go to uni, parents should ___.

a.give their children a lift and then stay a while

b.give them a lift and then leave

c. let their children find their own transport

d. help them unpack their things

3.Kerry thinks students should ___.

a.do everything they can to avoid upsetting lonely parents

b. go home regularly while everyone gets used to the change

c. not feel bad about spending weekends in their university town

d. avoid visiting their parents too much during term time

4.Kerry thinks Facebook is ___.

a.a good way to send private messages to family

b. a good way to show her parents what she's doing with her friends

c. a space that parents should keep away from

d. great for parents as long as you're careful with your privacy settings

5.Stuart thinks students sometimes ___.

a.look down on people who are not studying

b. ask for help with their work too much

c. talk about their university subjects too much

d. forget that their parents were young once

6.Stuart says parents would like to ___.

a.stay for at least one night when they visit

b. meet their son or daughter's university friends

c. come and visit at least once a fortnight

d. visit every so often and go to a restaurant together

7.Stuart is ___.

a.hurt that his daughter won't talk to him on Facebook

b. critical of the amount of time his daughter spends on Facebook

c. a big fan of Facebook

d. confused about how to use Facebook properly

8.Stuart promises to ___.

a.make only minimal changes to his daughter's bedroom

b. keep his daughter's bedroom exactly as she left it

c. redecorate his daughter's bedroom and turn it into a guest bedroom

d. clean his daughter's old room before she comes back to visit

Complete the gaps with a verb phrase from the box.

take her out hang around going on put up with leave home

check up on give her a lift go on about

1.The text gives two points of view about the difficult time when young people_______________.

2.Kerry was happy that her parents agreed to _______________ when she first went to uni.

3.Kerry advises parents not to _______________ while their children are trying to chat to their new roommates.

4.Kerry says students can't come home at weekends because there's so much _______________.

5.Kerry wishes her parents wouldn't _______________ their university days so much.

6.Kerry says parents should not use Facebook to _______________ their children.

7.Stuart thinks children just have to _______________ the fact that their parents might get a pet when they leave.

8.Stuart says he would like to see Kerry occasionally and _______________ for dinner.

Discussion

Do you agree with Kerry’s advice?

Are you looking forward to leaving home? Why or why not?

Preparation

Complete the sentences with a word from the box.

Lack distracts storage peers revise process rota

Siblings improve efficient

1.He _______________ me by playing music when I’m studying.

2.I need to _______________ for my end-of-year exams.

3.I have two _______________ –one sister and one brother.

4.We have a _______________ system for housework and it’s my turn to do the washing-up today.

5.I need to find _______________ space for my things while I am travelling.

6.Some plants may die when there is a_______________ of rain.

7.Slow down! I can't_______________ all the information if you speak too quickly.

8.If the weather doesn’t_______________, we won't be able to have a picnic.

9.My _______________ at school are quite competitive at exam time.

10.Sharing a car is a more_______________ way of travelling to work every day.

Read the following texts and do the exercises

Study problems – help is here

Ask E-tutor

Hi! I’m E-tutor, or Emma. I’m here to help with any study-related problems, whether big or small.

Post a message on the forum below.

Meg

What should I say to my sister?

Hi, E-tutor. Unfortunately, I share a bedroom and a desk with my elder sister. She continually distracts me because
she's noisy and disorganised. I think she's disrespectful. I’ve got exams in a fortnight and I desperately need to revise.
I can’t concentrate when she’s studying too and the desk is always overflowing with stuff so I can’t find anything. If I
try to have a dialogue with my sister, she gets annoyed. Can you help?

E-tutor

Re: What should I say to my sister?

Hi, Meg. That’s a common complaint between siblings. Why don’t you discuss a rota system so that you use the desk
at different times? Or maybe you could study at the local library, cultural centre or community centre a few days a
week. Make sure you’ve got storage space for everything on your desk: folders and containers for your paper and
stationery. If everything has its own place, it will be easier to keep orderly. It might even be enjoyable to do this
together. If it’s easier to write instead of talking face to face, try messaging her and explain how awful you feel.

Rudy

Against the clock

My problem is time – or lack of it! Next month I’ve got 12 exams in three weeks. How can I possibly study for all of
them? It’s complicated. I think it's impossible.

E-tutor

Re: Against the clock

Hi, Rudy. It isn’t impossible but you DO have to get started NOW. Make a study plan and highlight periods of study
time for each subject. Make a detailed plan for this week and then do the same for the weeks ahead. It’s better to
study for an hour or so a day than just once a week, all day. Your brain needs time to process information.

Hayley

Disaster
My problem is silly and a bit embarrassing. I just find it hard to study. I always stop and start and I keep getting the
impression that I’m learning the wrong things. I’m a disaster. I don’t think you can really help me.

E-tutor

Re: Disaster

Hayley, your problem isn’t silly at all! It's very real and lots of people experience the same thing as you. Sometimes
things improve if they join a study group. Set up a group and meet a couple of days a week after school to study
together. Take turns to give presentations and teach other what you know. It's called 'peer teaching' and is an
effective and efficient practice for lots of students.

Who is it about? Write the name next to the sentences

This person feels embarrassed about a problem. _________________

This person is advised to study a little every day.__________________

This person is panicking because of insufficient time.________________

This person isn’t sure about which things need to be studied.___________________

This person has exams in two weeks’ time.____________________

This person is advised to create a detailed plan for studying.___________________

This person is advised to study outside the house.___________________

This person is advised to study with other people.________________________

This person shares study space with a member of the family.____________________

Circle True or False for these sentences.

1.Meg doesn’t respect her sister.

True

False

2.Meg finds it difficult to talk to her sister.

True

False

3.E-tutor thinks Meg’s problem is unusual.

True

False

4.Rudy believes he has an impossible task.

True

False

5.E-tutor thinks Rudy needs to start studying immediately.

True

False
6.Rudy needs to study a little and often.

True

False

7.Hayley is confident that her problem can be solved.

True

False

8.E-tutor recommends that Hayley studies with a teacher.

True

False

Discussion

Have you got any study problems or tips to share?

Preparation

Write a definition for each disaster using relative clauses.

 solar flare

 oil spill

 volcano eruption

 flood

 nuclear accident

 meteor strike

 hurricane

 space junk collision

 global warming

Read the following text and choose the correct option

The end of life on Earth?

It weighed about 10,000 tons, entered the atmosphere at a speed of 64,000km/h and exploded over a city with a
blast of 500 kilotons. But on 15 February 2013, we were lucky. The meteorite that showered pieces of rock over
Chelyabinsk, Russia, was relatively small, at only about 17 metres wide. Although many people were injured by
falling glass, the damage was nothing compared to what had happened in Siberia nearly one hundred years ago.
Another relatively small object (approximately 50 metres in diameter) exploded in mid-air over a forest region,
flattening about 80 million trees. If it had exploded over a city such as Moscow or London, millions of people would
have been killed.
By a strange coincidence, the same day that the meteorite terrified the people of Chelyabinsk, another 50m-wide
asteroid passed relatively close to Earth. Scientists were expecting that visit and know that the asteroid will return to
fly close by us in 2046, but the Russian meteorite earlier in the day had been too small for anyone to spot.

Most scientists agree that comets and asteroids pose the biggest natural threat to human existence. It was probably
a large asteroid or comet colliding with Earth which wiped out the dinosaurs about 65 million years ago. An
enormous object, 10 to 16km in diameter, struck the Yucatan region of Mexico with the force of 100 megatons. That
is the equivalent of one Hiroshima bomb for every person alive on Earth today.

Many scientists, including the late Stephen Hawking, say that any comet or asteroid greater than 20km in diameter
that hits Earth will result in the complete destruction of complex life, including all animals and most plants. As we
have seen, even a much smaller asteroid can cause great damage.

The Earth has been kept fairly safe for the last 65 million years by good fortune and the massive gravitational field of
the planet Jupiter. Our cosmic guardian, with its stable circular orbit far from the sun, sweeps up and scatters away
most of the dangerous comets and asteroids which might cross Earth’s orbit. After the Chelyabinsk meteorite,
scientists are now monitoring potential hazards even more carefully but, as far as they know, there is no danger in
the foreseeable future.

Types of space rocks

 Comet – a ball of rock and ice that sends out a tail of gas and dust behind it. Bright comets only appear in our
visible night sky about once every ten years.

 Asteroid – a rock a few feet to several kms in diameter. Unlike comets, asteroids have no tail. Most are too
small to cause any damage and burn up in the atmosphere. They appear to us as ‘shooting stars’.

 Meteoroid – part of an asteroid or comet.

 Meteorite – what a meteoroid is called when it hits Earth.

1.The damage caused by the Russian meteorite ___.

a.could have been much worse

b.was huge

c. was greatly reduced by the early warning system

d. was much worse than the one in Siberia one hundred years ago

2.The Siberian meteorite ___.

a.hit a forest

b.hit a big city

c. caused glass to shower over people

d. damaged trees when it exploded

3.On the same day as the meteorite exploded over Chelyabinsk, ___.

a.there was another, related, asteroid event

b. there was another, unrelated, asteroid event

c. scientists realised that an even bigger asteroid could hit Earth

d. scientists issued a warning for 2046

4.The Russian meteorite ___.

a.had been predicted by scientists

b. came as a surprise

c. was too small to worry about

d. will come close to Earth again in the future

5.Experts say that comets and asteroids could ___.

a.wipe out all animal life, leaving only plants

b. kill a significant proportion of the Earth's human population

c. put an end to all plant and animal life on Earth

d. cause as much damage as the Hiroshima bomb

6.A small asteroid ___.

a.can still cause a lot of damage

b. is not a problem if it is spotted early

c. cannot cause any significant harm

d. is actually more dangerous than a larger one

7.Earth has been relatively safe thanks to ___.

a.pure luck

b. luck and the protective force of another planet from our solar system

c. early warning systems set up by NASA

d. luck and our position in relation to the sun

8.Scientists say ___.

a.it is impossible to monitor all the potential hazards

b. we are not in any danger for the moment

c. a meteorite is likely to hit Earth sooner or later

d. their early warning systems will protect us

Complete the gaps with a phrase from the box.

Spot injured flattened wiped out cross struck monitor cause

1.When the meteorite exploded on 15 February 2013, many people were______________ (hurt) by falling glass.

2.The explosion of another small object______________ (made flat) many trees.

3.Scientists weren't expecting the Russian meteorite because it had been too small for anyone to______________

(see or notice).

4.It was probably a large asteroid colliding with Earth that______________ (made extinct) the dinosaurs.
5.65 million years ago, an enormous object______________ (hit) the Yucatan region of Mexico with a force of 100
megatons.

6.Even a much smaller asteroid can______________ (do) a lot of damage.

7.Jupiter protects Earth by diverting away the dangerous comets and asteroids that might______________ (pass
from one side to the other of) Earth's orbit.

8.Scientists will now______________ (observe or check regularly over a period of time) potential hazards even more
carefully.

Discussion

Do asteroids scare you? Why or why not?

Have you ever experienced any type of natural disaster?

Preparation

Match the sentence halves to make things that can go wrong at a party. Write a–f next to the numbers 1–6.

1........Someone breaks a.gatecrash the party

2........Loads of people you don't know b.in your parents' bed

3........Someone spills c.embarrassing photos from the party on Facebook

4........The neighbours complain d.their drink on the carpet

5........Your mates post e.an expensive glass

6........Someone falls asleep f.about the noise

Read the following text and choose the correct option

The Facebook party that became a riot

It began as a plan for a very normal 16th birthday party. Merthe Weusthuis wanted a quiet celebration with a small
group of friends in her family home in the small Dutch town of Haren. Like many teenagers, she decided to send out
invitations via a social network site. But Merthe made one big mistake: she used open-access settings on Facebook,
so it wasn’t just her friends who could see details of the event, lots of strangers could too.

The number of invitation acceptances quickly snowballed into an avalanche. Not marking the event as ‘private’
meant the electronic invitation was eventually seen by 240,000 people, of whom 30,000 confirmed online that they
planned to attend. To make matters worse, an unauthorised campaign was launched to promote the party by means
of a dedicated website and Twitter account, which received hundreds of thousands of hits. The party become known
as ‘Project X Haren’ after the 2012 American film Project X in which three high school students throw a birthday
party that spins out of control. Video trailers for Merthe’s party were produced, with scenes from Project X edited in,
and they were posted on YouTube. T-shirts featuring Merthe’s face were also made, all without her knowledge or
consent.
Even after Merthe’s parents had cancelled the party, the publicity didn’t stop. Local media reported on the
forthcoming event and teenagers turned up to have their pictures taken outside the Weusthuis family home. On the
evening the party was to have taken place, about 5,000 teenagers began gathering in Haren, many outside the
Weusthuis house. When it became clear that there was nothing to gatecrash, violence broke out and 500 riot police
equipped with helmets, shields and batons were brought in to control the crowd. Shops in the centre of Haren were
vandalised and looted, journalists were attacked, cars were set on fire or overturned and street signs and lamp posts
were damaged.

However, Facebook was also involved in the clean-up effort in the days after the riot. A group called ‘Project Clean-X
Haren’ was set up to gather and organise volunteers. Another group named ‘Suspect-X Haren’ was created to help
police identify and arrest the rioters by sharing photos and videos of the event.

A number of other 'Facebook parties’ have spiralled out of control, including the 16th birthday party of British
teenager Bradley McAnulty in April 2012. Bradley had not posted details of the event on the internet, and had been
careful to ask his friends not to, but somehow the news leaked out and appeared on Blackberry Messenger as well as
Facebook. More than 400 gatecrashers invaded his family home in Poole, Dorset, causing extensive damage.

1.Merthe Weusthuis made the mistake of ___.

a.using Facebook to organise her birthday celebration

b. letting her friends invite their friends to her party

c. inviting people she did not really like to her party

d. not checking who could see her online invitation

2.The number of confirmed guests ___.

a.did not reflect the reality

b. got out of control almost immediately

c. was manageable until the Twitter campaign

d. suddenly shot up when people started watching the YouTube video trailers

3.'Project X Haren' was named after ___.

a.another party in the same area

b. the group who promoted the party online

c. a party video on YouTube

d. a film

4.Local journalists ___.

a.gave the event publicity

b. tried to discourage people from attending

c. gathered outside the house

d. started the violence

5.Violence broke out when ___.

a.teenagers arrived in large numbers

b. people realised there was no party

c. rival gangs turned up

d. gatecrashers saw the riot police

6.After the riot, Facebook was used to ___.

a.plan another party in Haren

b. send messages of support to Merthe and her family

c. help rioters get in contact with each other

d. help the town recover from the violence

7.Bradley McAnulty ___.

a.made the same mistake as Merthe Weusthuis

b. sent invites via Blackberry Messenger

c. had taken steps to prevent problems

d. posted details of the event online

8.In Bradley McAnulty's case, ___.

a.only a small number of people arrived

b. the gatecrashers were well behaved

c. the gatecrashers caused a lot of damage to his home

d. the gatecrashers caused a lot of damage to his town

Complete the gaps with a phrase from the box.

take place broke out set on fire turned up send out

leaked out named after brought in

1.Merthe used her Facebook page to______________ invitations.

2.The event was ______________a party in a film.

3.Teenagers______________at the house to have their photos taken.

4.5,000 teenagers gathered in Haren on the night the party was supposed to ______________.

5.When it became clear there was no party, violence ______________.

6.Riot police were______________to control the crowds.

7.Shops were vandalised and cars were ______________.

8.Even though Bradley McAnulty had been careful, news of his party ______________ and appeared on Blackberry
Messenger.

Discussion

Is Facebook a good way to organise a party? Why or why not?

Are you careful with your privacy settings on social network sites?

Read the following text and do the exercises below

The history of graffiti

The first drawings on walls appeared in caves thousands of years ago. Later the Ancient Romans and Greeks wrote
their names and protest poems on buildings. Modern graffiti seems to have appeared in Philadelphia in the early
1960s, and by the late sixties it had reached New York. The new art form really took off in the 1970s, when people
began writing their names, or ‘tags’, on buildings all over the city. In the mid seventies it was sometimes hard to see
out of a subway car window, because the trains were completely covered in spray paintings known as
‘masterpieces’.

In the early days, the ‘taggers’ were part of street gangs who were concerned with marking their territory. They
worked in groups called ‘crews’, and called what they did ‘writing’ – the term ‘graffiti’ was first used by The New York
Times and the novelist Norman Mailer. Art galleries in New York began buying graffiti in the early seventies. But at
the same time that it began to be regarded as an art form, John Lindsay, the then mayor of New York, declared the
first war on graffiti. By the 1980s it became much harder to write on subway trains without being caught, and
instead many of the more established graffiti artists began using roofs of buildings or canvases.

The debate over whether graffiti is art or vandalism is still going on. Peter Vallone, a New York city councillor, thinks
that graffiti done with permission can be art, but if it is on someone else’s property it becomes a crime. ‘I have a
message for the graffiti vandals out there,’ he said recently. ‘Your freedom of expression ends where my property
begins.’ On the other hand, Felix, a member of the Berlin-based group Reclaim Your City, says that artists are
reclaiming cities for the public from advertisers, and that graffiti represents freedom and makes cities more vibrant.

For decades graffiti has been a springboard to international fame for a few. Jean-Michel Basquiat began spraying on
the street in the 1970s before becoming a respected artist in the ’80s. The Frenchman Blek le Rat and the British
artist Banksy have achieved international fame by producing complex works with stencils, often making political or
humorous points. Works by Banksy have been sold for over £100,000. Graffiti is now sometimes big business.

Write the paragraph headings next to the paragraphs. One heading is not needed.

Art or vandalism?

Increasing exposure and attention

The future of graffiti

Famous graffiti

artists

Not just a modern phenomenon

1.paragraph 1 ______________________________

2.paragraph 2 ______________________________

3.paragraph 3 ______________________________

4.paragraph 4 ______________________________

5.not needed ______________________________

 Choose the correct option

1.Why was the seventies an important decade in the history of graffiti?

a.That was when modern graffiti first appeared.

b. That was when modern graffiti first became really popular.

c. That was when graffiti first reached New York.

2.What is a 'masterpiece' in graffiti?

a.A really high-quality piece of graffiti.

b. A work of graffiti showing the artist's name.

c. A full piece of graffiti, like those seen on subway trains.

3.What was the main motivation for the first taggers?

a.Showing which streets belonged to which gangs.

b. Creating a strong visual identity for their 'crew'.

c. Sending coded messages to other gangs.

4.Who coined the phrase 'graffiti'?

a.New York gangs who had a lot of Italian immigrant members.

b. A newspaper and an author.

c. The man who was the mayor of New York in the late seventies.

5.How did things change after the first war on graffiti?

a.It was considered a more serious crime.

b. Graffiti artists had to find different places to paint.

c. New York looked a lot cleaner.

Complete the gaps with a noun from the box.

spray paints stencil property springboard vandal taggers crews canvas

1.People who graffiti their names are called ______________.

2.Graffiti is usually done with______________.

3.Taggers originally worked in groups called ______________.

4.A piece of heavy fabric on which a painting can be created is called a______________.

5.Something that someone owns is called their ______________.

6.A person who deliberately destroys or damages someone else's property is called a ______________.

7.If something helps to start an activity or process, we say it is a ______________ to doing something.
8.A piece of plastic, cardboard or other material with a design cut into it to reproduce that pattern is called a

______________.

Discussion

What do you think about graffiti? Is it art or vandalism?

Read the following text and choose the correct option

The history of zombies

Zombies are everywhere these days – on television, in movies and in books. The current image of the terrifying flesh-
eating zombie comes from George Romero’s 1968 classic film Night of the Living Dead. Nowadays many people like
to frighten themselves with the idea of the ‘Zombie Apocalypse’, and enjoy learning how to destroy zombies by
decapitation or shooting them in the head.

However zombies are not new. The term, from the Kongo word nzambi which means ‘spirit of a dead person’, has
been long associated with the Vodou religion of Haiti (popularly known as Voodoo). As with West African Vodun,
from which it is descended, Vodou has strong ties to the supernatural and magic practised by witch doctors called
bokors.

In Haitian culture zombies are not evil creatures but victims. They are said to be people who have been killed by
poisoning, then reanimated and controlled by bokors with magic potions for some specific purpose, usually to work
as slave labour. The bokors were widely feared and respected. It is said that they used to be in the service of the
secret police and those who defied the authorities were threatened with being turned into the living dead.

For a long time most people assumed that zombies were nothing more than mythical figures, like werewolves and
vampires. However this changed in the 1980s when a man called Clairvius Narcisse claimed that he had been turned
into a zombie by means of drugs and forced to work on a sugar plantation for two years before escaping. Wade
Davis, a Harvard scientist, investigated the claim and obtained something called ‘zombie powder’ from Haitian
bokors. The main active ingredient was a neurotoxin found in puffer fish which could be used to simulate death. The
bokors also explained to Davis that a second poison, made from the datura plant, known as the zombie cucumber,
was given to victims after they were revived from their death-like state. This kept the ‘zombies’ in a submissive state
so that it was easy to force them to work. Davis wrote several books on the topic, including The Serpent and the
Rainbow, later made into a horror film by director Wes Craven.

Although the book was very popular with the public, some scientists were sceptical of Davis’s claims. They said the
amounts of toxin in the powder samples he found were inconsistent and not high enough to produce zombifying
effects. Although many people in Haiti still believe in zombies, there have been no publicised cases in the last few
decades and Davis’s theory remains controversial. The Zombie Apocalypse seems unlikely to take place soon.

1.According to the text...

a.zombies are represented in different ways in different TV programmes, films and books.

b.our current understanding of what a zombie is comes from a seminal sixties film.

c.people do not find zombies as frightening now as they did in the past.

d.people like zombies because they show us the dark side of humankind.

2.‘Zombie’...
a.is a Haitian and West African religion.

b.is a witch doctor who practises magic.

c.comes from the Kongoword ‘nzambi’.

d.means ‘victim’.

3.In Haitian culture, zombies are...

a.living people who are kept in a death-like state by poisoning.

b.dead people who have been brought back to life by poisoning.

c.people who are being punished for disloyalty to the secret police.

d.witch doctors who have poisoned themselves with their own medicine.

4.Clairvius Narcisse...

a.claimed he was a real-life zombie.

b.said working on a sugar plantation turned people into zombies.

c.took ‘zombie powder’ to appear dead in order to escape the plantation where he worked.

d.told a Harvard scientist that he knew how to turn people into zombies.

5.Wade Davis...

a.identified the poisons in Clairvius Narcisse’s blood.

b.experimented with different substances naturally available where Clairvius Narcisse lived.

c.thought Clairvius Narcisse’s condition was psychological.

d.asked local witch doctors how to make a zombie.

6.The Serpent and the Rainbow...

a.proved Narcisse’s theory with rigorous scientific evidence.

b.presented the case with scepticism.

c.was popular with zombie fans but not scientists.

d.was a fictional account based on the real-life story.

Complete the gaps with a word from the box.

Widely controversial mythical sceptical evil horror submissive inconsistent

1.In Haitian culture, zombies are victims, rather than_______________ (morally bad or wrong) creatures.

2.In Haiti, the ‘bokors’ were_______________ (by a large number of people) feared and respected.

3.Many people think that zombies are_______________ (based on a traditional or legendary story) creatures, like
vampires or werewolves.

4.The ‘bokors’ told Wade Davis that poison was used to keep the ‘zombies’ in a (obedient and unresisting)
_______________ state.
5.The Serpent and the Rainbow was made into a _______________ (a genre made to cause fear in the audience)
film.

6.Some scientists were_______________ (not convinced)about Davis’s claims.

7.They said the amounts of toxin in the powder sample were_______________ (not always the same) and not
enough to cause zombifying effects.

8.Many people still believe in zombies in Haiti, but Davis’s theory remains _______________ (causing public
disagreement).

Discussion

Are you a zombie fan?

Why do you think people like frightening themselves with zombies so much?

Read the following text. Then read the questions and write the correct country.

Scotland USA Japan Italy Iceland (x2) Korea Asia, Africa and South America

Which part of the world ...

1.... has a dish which is not that tasty, but offers the diner a thrill of danger?_____________

2.... eats an animal which is cut up into pieces while still alive?_____________

3.... gets valuable nutrition from eating small creatures?_____________

4.... offers a dish that probably needs lots of ketchup?_____________

5.... eats a fish that has undergone a period of chemical change?_____________

6.... likes a dairy product that houses some baby insects?_____________

7.... doesn't waste much of the animal when they produce a well-known local dish?_____________

8.... eats chunks of food on small wooden sticks?_____________

Complete the gaps with a verb from the box.

Jump mix slice chew wriggle disturb choke boil

1.To make haggis, you ______________ the heart, lungs and liver with the other ingredients, put it inside a sheep’s
stomach and ______________ it for three hours.

2.In Korea, they ______________ up the baby octopus and serve the tentacles as they continue to ______________
around.

3.You have to be careful to______________ the tentacles fully, to make sure they don’t stick in your throat and
______________ you.

4.The tiny worms in Casu Marzu cheese can ______________ 15cm if you ______________ them.

Discussion

Which of the foods mentioned would you be willing to try?

What’s the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten?

Preparation

Write the type of computer game next to the description.

Fighting game Role-playing game (RPG) Strategy game Platform game Racing game Shooter

1.A game that involves travelling and jumping across platforms, often with obstacles and other elements like ladders.

_______________

2.A game that focuses on one-on-one combat against an opponent._______________

3.A game whose main focus is combat involving guns or other projectile weapons such as missiles._______________

4.A game in which the player controls a central character. They explore the game world, solve puzzles and take part
in tactical fights to complete their quest._______________

5.A game that requires careful planning and tactics to achieve victory, often from a godlike perspective over the
game world._______________

6.A game in which the player races against opponents in some type of transportation._______________

Read the following text and choose the correct option

 Video games are good for you!

For years video games have been criticised for making people more antisocial, overweight or depressed. But now
researchers are finding that games can actually change us for the better and improve both our body and mind.

Games can help to develop physical skills. Pre-school children who played interactive games such as the ones
available on Wii have been shown to have improved motor skills, for example they can kick, catch and throw a ball
better than children who don’t play video games. A study of surgeons who do microsurgery in Boston found that
those who played video games were 27 per cent faster and made 37 per cent fewer errors than those who didn't.
Vision is also improved, particularly telling the difference between shades of grey. This is useful for driving at night,
piloting a plane or reading X-rays.

Games also benefit a variety of brain functions, including decision-making. People who play action-based games
make decisions 25 per cent faster than others and are no less accurate, according to one study. It was also found
that the best gamers can make choices and act on them up to six times a second, four times faster than most people.
In another study by researchers from the University of Rochester in New York, experienced gamers were shown to
be able to pay attention to more than six things at once without getting confused, compared with the four that most
people can normally keep in mind. Additionally, video games can also reduce gender differences. Scientists have
found that women who play games are better able to mentally manipulate 3D objects.

There is also evidence that gaming can help with psychological problems. At the University of Auckland in New
Zealand, researchers asked 94 young people diagnosed with depression to play a 3D fantasy game called SPARX and
in many cases, the game reduced symptoms of depression more than conventional treatment. Another research
team at Oxford University found that playing Tetris shortly after exposure to something very upsetting – in the
experiment, a film of traumatic scenes of injury and death was used – can actually prevent people having disturbing
flashbacks.

The effects are not always so positive, however. Indiana University researchers carried out brain scans on young men
and found evidence that violent games can alter brain function after as little as a week of play, affecting regions in
the brain associated with emotional control and causing more aggressive behaviour in the player. But Daphne
Bavelier, one of the most experienced researchers in the field, says that the violent action games that often worry
parents most may actually have the strongest beneficial effect on the brain. In the future, we may see many
treatments for physical and neurological problems which incorporate the playing of video games.

1.Only relatively recently have people started to realise ___.

a.the harmful effects of video games

b. the beneficial effects of video games

c. how much we don't know about video games' effects

d. how much video games affect the people that play them

2.Very young children show improved ___ after playing video games.

a.muscle control and co-ordination

b. social interaction

c. decision-making

d. ability to differentiate between different colours

3.Playing video games helps doctors ___.

a.do operations and read X-rays

b. make decisions under pressure

c. operate complex equipment

d. tend to more than one patient at a time

4.Video gamers' decision-making speed is significantly improved by ___.

a.years of gaming experience

b. long periods of game playing

c. playing video games in short bursts

d. certain types of video game

5.Women who play video games demonstrate ___.

a.faster reaction speeds

b.reduced stress levels

c. better spatial awareness

d. better multitasking ability

6.In one research study, the video game Tetris helped people to ___.

a.improve their concentration

b. overcome depression

c. forget disturbing experiences

d. make decisions faster

7.Research shows that violent video games ___.

a.have no negative effects on players

b. only affect players' brains after extended hours of play

c. may have positive and negative effects on the brain

d. only affect players' brains in beneficial ways

8.In the future, computer games may be used for ___.

a.treating a variety of medical problems

b. training doctors to deal with emotional pressure

c. helping parents to deal with difficult teenagers

d. treating prisoners with a history of violent behaviour

Complete the gaps with a noun from the box.

Shades attention decisions behaviour errors skills field scans difference

1.Playing video games improves the speed at which people can make______________.
2.Video gamers also demonstrate an improved ability to pay ______________to several things at once.

3.Pre-school children who play video games have been shown to have improved motor ______________ .

4.Playing video games also has a beneficial effect on vision, increasing players' ability to tell the ______________
between varying______________ of grey.

5.Surgeons who play computer games work faster and make fewer______________.

6.Researchers from Indiana University investigated the effects of violent video games by doing some brain
______________on video gamers.

7.Their research showed that violent video games affect emotional control and may cause more aggressive
______________.

8.Daphne Bavelier is one of the most experienced researchers in her ______________.

Preparation

Match the words with similar meanings and write a–h next to the numbers 1–8.

1........suitable a.a track

2........a trail b.to show

3........details c.to leave

4........to abandon d.complicated

5........to reveal e.a purpose

6........a function f.information

7........complex g.an employer

8........a recruiter h.appropriate

Read the following text and choose the correct answer

Your digital footprint

Every time you go online you leave a trail. This is just like a real footprint. It reveals where you’ve been, how long you
stayed and what you’ve been doing there. Every time you register for an online service, send an email, download a
video or upload a photo, the information can be accessed and your digital footprint can be revealed. This shouldn’t
necessarily be worrying but it is advisable to be aware of your digital footprint and to be cautious and sensible when
you are online.

Six top tips for taking care of your digital footprint

 Don’t forget to log off when you leave a website, especially if you are using a shared computer. If you don’t,
someone can easily pretend to be you!

 Don’t tell anyone your passwords and don’t write them down in an obvious place. Make them more complex
by using a combination of letters, numbers and punctuation marks.

 Tell an adult if you come across anything online that makes you upset, anxious or concerned. There are ways
to report inappropriate or abusive content and in most cases web managers respond rapidly.

 Remember your favourite websites by using the history button and the bookmark function on your
computer or mobile device. This is a way that your digital footprint can work in your favour, but remember
to clear your browser history regularly.
  If you want to post comments online, you don’t have to use your own name. Invent a nickname to use
instead. You can also use a picture instead of a real photo.

 Protect your identity online. Be careful about who you share personal information with and always think
twice before sharing details like your email, home address, school or phone number with someone.

Think about the future

All kinds of people are interested in your digital footprint. It's now quite common for colleges, universities and
employers to check out the online profiles of possible candidates as part of their application process. There are cases
of people having missed out on jobs and places in college because their digital footprint didn’t impress the
recruiters. So, remember: keep safe, don’t put too much personal information online and always think carefully
before you post something. Ask yourself, ‘Would I be happy for absolutely everyone to see this?’

1.When you go online,you ...

a.can choose what information is recorded about you.

b. leave a trail showing where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing.

c. send information to recruiters.

2.If people search for information about you, they can find your ...

a.bookmarked websites.

b. passwords.

c. digital footprint.

3.Someone could pretend to be you if you don’t log off when ...

a.abandoning a site.

b. posting a comment.

c. sharing a photo.

4.You should make your passwords difficult to guess by ...

a.using all capital letters.

b. making them complex.

c. including a symbol.

5.If a user reports inappropriate content,...

a.web managers usually react immediately.

b. recruiters often respond.

c. other users want to read what they’ve said.

6.You should report abusive remarks on the internet ...

a.if you think they are really serious.

b. in all cases.

c. if you can find the contact and have time.

7. To remember your favourite websites, you can use the...

a.browser.

b. bookmark function.

c. mobile device.

8. Think carefully before ...

a.sharing your favourite website online.

b. sharing your comments online.

c. sharing personal information online.

Discussion

How do you take care of your digital footprint?

Read the text below and match the headings A to H with paragraphs 1 to 5. There are two more headings than
you need.

A. Boys prefer video games; girls prefer communicating online.

B. Reading is not dead. (EXAMPLE)

C. Most young people spend too much time looking at screens.

D. Teens can look at more than one screen at a time.

E. The Digital Revolution is not making young people more creative.

F. Kids who use social media get more exercise than kids who play videogames.

G. Kids with smartphones watch less TV.

H. TV and music are not losing popularity.

The Truth About Kids and Tech

A new study reveals some surprises about kids and technology. Common Sense Media, a non-profit group focused
on helping children, parents and teachers better understand media and technology, has conducted a study. It looked
at a wide range of media-related activities, from old methods like reading and listening to the radio, to new favorites
like using social media and video chatting. More than 2,600 kids from around the country were surveyed. Here are
some facts that the study revealed about tweens (8 to 12 years) and teens (13 to 18 years).

(0) B. Reading is not dead. (EXAMPLE)

While the average time young people spend reading, either in print or on a screen, is only 30 minutes per day, kids
who took the survey say reading is one of their favorite activities.

1. _____________________________________________________

One in five tweens uses more than six hours of screen media each day, and 18% of teens are looking at their screens
for more than 10 hours a day. Often they’re doubling up on screens, watching television on one while chatting with
friends on another.
2. ______________________________________________________

Among tween boys, 71% enjoy playing video games, twice as many as tween girls. And while more than 25% of teen
boys list playing video games as their favorite media activity, only 2% of teen girls do. Teen girls, meanwhile, spend
about 40 minutes more each day on social media than boys do

3. ______________________________________________________

For tweens, TV is still the top media activity. They enjoy it the most and watch it every day. In fact, 47% of tweens
have television sets in their bedrooms. For teens, while 57% have TV sets in their rooms, music is the reigning form
of entertainment. However, only about a third listen to music on the radio. Most teens listen to it on their
smartphones.

4. ______________________________________________________

Kids report spending about an hour each day being active. For gamers, that average drops to 47 minutes, the lowest
for any kind of media consumer. Social media users are the most active, spending one hour and 13 minutes per day
doing some form of physical activity.

5. ______________________________________________________

So far, kids are too busy consuming to be doing much producing. Tweens spend an average of five minutes and teens
nine minutes per day making something with all their digital tools, whether it’s art, music, or writing.In a statement,
Common Sense Media chief executive officer James P. Steyer said that the study “provides parents, educators and
the media industry with an excellent overview of what kids are doing today and how we can make the most of the
media and technology in their lives."

Read the text below and complete the sentences with a maximum of 4 words. The first one (0) has been done as
an example for you.

The Importance of Music in Schools

"Music helps the mind develop and grow," my dad often says, and I have found this to be very true. It is a proven
fact that participating in a music program in school will help develop your brain to a higher level and faster than
other students. Music actually improves communication between the right and left sides of the brain, allowing you
to gain better comprehension and memorization skills.

So, why do we need music in our schools? Well, because music is everything.Music is science. It is exact and
demands acoustics. The conductor's score is a graph that contains volume changes, melody and harmony, all the
while keeping the group at a constant pace.

Music is math. It is based on the rhythmic subdivisions of time, done in a split second.

Music is history. The music you hear or play is usually an indication of the time and environment in which it was
created.

Music is physical education. It requires an immense amount of coordination of fingers, hands, arms, lips, cheeks and
facial muscles. Not to mention control of your diaphragm, back, stomach and chest muscles to make sure every note
comes out clearly and in pitch.

Music is a foreign language. Its terms are usually in Italian and the music is not in any language known to man. It is its
own language and uses symbols to represent ideas.

Music is the universal language that everyone understands and can relate to. Music is what brings everything
together.

Most of all, music is art. It is the greatest form of art that allows a human to take boring notes on a page, and
transform them into an emotion and feeling you cannot measure.
Music is just as important as all the classes you are required to take, and it is critical that music classes remain in
schools. Not only to provide a place for students to belong, but also something that will help their minds grow and
develop like no other class.

0. A number of mental skills get better if you go to a music program in school.

1. Music has elements that change or staythe same, comparing it to...

__________________________________________________________

2. Music is a reflection of when it was composed, it can be related to...

__________________________________________________________

3. Sport and music both need a lot...

__________________________________________________________

4. Because music communicates ideas it can be compared to a...

__________________________________________________________

5. Musicians create art by reading...

__________________________________________________________

6. For many reasons, music lessons should...

__________________________________________________________

Read the story below and complete the text with the correct phrase. There are two phrases you do not need to
use. The first one (0) is given as an example.

A. went to Hollywood

B. couldn't go on

C. had delicious

D. was closed

E. had lots of stars

F. stayed at our Grandpa's house

G. had really big

H. was this really big wave

I. loved the food there

J. was really cool

My Holiday in California

At the end of May we went to California in America. We stayed in the Hotel Irvine for four days which was a brilliant
hotel and then we (0) F _ for a week which was also really cool. Grandpa has a cool house and he also has the Disney
Channel, which we loved!
The first couple of days, we went to Del Taco. This is a Mexican restaurant like you've never seen in England before.
It has tacos, quesadillas (the soft ones) and it also has burritos. Del Taco was my favourite place to eat because it
(1)__________ Mexican food. We also went to Rubio’s (king of the fish taco) which is another Mexican restaurant.
My sister BooJam went to a sandwich place called "Which Witch" and she (2)__________.

We went to Knottsberry Farm and I went on the Jaguar rollercoaster ride. My sister (3) __________ because she
was too small. The queuing was very scary because it was in an Egyptian tomb, but the ride was really good. One of
the rides (4) __________. It was a ride where you got to lie down and fly in Camp Snoopy. I loved it and so did my
sister too. We also went on a ride where we bounced up and down and that was so much fun.

We (5) __________ to look around. Our tour guide was Grandpa. We saw the Hollywood Sign, Mann’s Chinese
Theatre, the handprints in the concrete on the floor and the Hollywood Walk of Fame which (6)__________ on the
floor. I saw the handprints of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.They are my favourite characters
from Harry Potter.

Los Angeles has lots of swimming pools. We went in a swimming pool with diving boards and had lots of fun
swimming around and diving.We went to Newport Beach and I was swimming in the sea and there (7) __________
and I had to cling onto the sand as the wave washed over me. It really hurt but it was also cool at the same time. We
also bought necklaces for each other.

You are going to read an article about a social media site for girls. For questions 1-6, choose the answer (A, B, C or
D) which you think best fits according to the text.

How a 16-Year-Old Girl Started a Multimillion Dollar Social Network

By Teen Kids News

Juliette Brindak started a social networking site for tweens when she was 16, and it’s doing better than
ever. Miss O and Friends generates 10 million monthly visits, a twenty-fold increase from its inception in 2005. It’s
also worth around $15 million, according to early investor Procter & Gamble.

When she was ten, Brindak drew characters for a set of five friends she called “Cool Girls,” who were all inspired by
real-life girls.The main cool girl, Miss O, represents her younger sister Olivia. The set of “Cool Girls” would eventually
become “Miss O and Friends.”

In the beginning — like many startups — Brindak reached out to family members and friends for investment money.
Her mother, a graphic designer, brought her drawings to life while her father, who has a background in business,
aided in the fundamentals of creating the company.

What started out as a few sketches on the way home from a family vacation quickly ballooned into a haven for
millions of adolescents. The site was ranked the third largest girls-only Web site in 2011, according to Inc.
Magazine.

Now, at 23, Brindak isn’t as in tune with what tween girls are looking for, so she uses the site as an avenue to
understand their needs. Through polls, quizzes, and the “Girl2Girl” wall, members are able to keep Brindak
updated. “In November 2011, girls were writing on the Girl2Girl wall asking if we could get them tickets to
a One Direction concert. This was the first time we ever heard about One Direction and we were able to create
a concert/sponsorship with Simon & Schuster’s ‘Dork Diaries’ books and winning tickets.” She’s made it possible—
through contests — for her users to see celebrities, such as Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers, in
concert. Currently, she’s offering an all-expense paid trip to Canada for four lucky fans to see Taylor Swift’s
show.

Through high school and college, the site has continued to improve. When it was originally launched, there
was little more than a few catchy graphics. “There was a homepage, which had the five Miss O characters and
simple flash animations,” Brindak says. “There was hardly anything to it, but it was definitely a start.” Now
the site boasts message boards, quizzes, games, music, and more.

But managing the site as a college student at Washington University in St. Louis was no easy task. “One teacher, who
ironically was an entrepreneur and taught my class on social entrepreneurship, was the only one who wouldn’t
budge about dates. I had a final on the same day I had to fly out to California for a really important meeting
and he said that if I missed it, I would get an entire letter grade taken off my final grade. Luckily, the meeting got
moved, but I was so shocked about his reaction.”

Instead of the typical business majors most entrepreneurs study, Brindak decided to focus on Anthropology
and Public Health because her site revolves around women’s health issues. “I was able to learn so much about
cultures around the world and also become informed and aware about different ways that I can reach out to
women,” Brindak says. “The goal for the site was, and still is, to help young girls build confidence and self-esteem.”

To share her users’ stories with the world, Brindak published the book Miss O & Friends: Write On! The Miss O &
Friends Collection of Rockin’ Fiction, a compilation of user-submitted stories.

Brindak tells us she plans on publishing more books in the near future. “We started off with a business plan
that we have used as our guide, but that business plan is always changing. We continue to find new ways to
engage girls, to generate revenue, and new outlets that are appropriate for Miss O and our community.”

1. When the website first appeared...

A. It included photos of Juliette’s family.

B. Only two sites for girls had more visitors.

C. It needed some financial help.

D. Juliette’s parents gave up their jobs to help her.

2. What do we learn in the third paragraph?

A. Members provide information to help the site stay relevant.

B. The website now sells tickets for musical events.

C. Juliette was a fan of One Direction.

D. Site members can pay to meet famous singers.

3. How is the site described in paragraph four?

A. It’s quite basic, but is getting better.

B. There is a wide range of elements.

C. The original cool girls now sing.

D. It was more difficult to make in the beginning.

4. What do we learn about Juliette’s time at university?

A. She found her exams difficult to pass.

B. She had to cancel a business trip because of an exam.

C. She was surprised by a teacher’s reaction.

D. Some teachers were unhappy she was working and studying.

5. How did she decide on her degree subject?

A. Her ambition was to work in the health system.

B. It was typically chosen by business people.

C. She wanted to travel and work in other countries.

D. She thought it was relevant to the aims of her website.

6. What does Juliette say about the future?

A. She wants to write another book.

B. The site will follow the original design.

C. She would like to encourage more international contributions.

D. She hopes to promote her members’ writing

Read the following text and choose the correct option

The principles of the New High Protein Diet

This diet is the most effective way of losing body fat. Remember, if we go on a starvation diet, we lose weight but
not much fat. In starvation mode, we use up our energy stores of carbohydrate first (in the form of a substance
called glycogen). However, the body can store only a little glycogen, and this is used up within two days. Then we
start breaking down fat and protein. But we can’t afford to lose body proteins: our muscle mass decreases, we
become noticeably weaker, and our immunity is compromised because the lack of protective immunoglobulin
proteins means we are subject to an increased risk of infection. Not good!

Sure, we look slimmer, and we certainly weigh less, but we are weaker and becoming unhealthy. There is no point in
dieting if it’s going to make us ill. And, of course, because we need our muscles, when we even slightly stray from the
diet, our bodies immediately rebuild muscle and we regain all of the ‘lost’ weight very quickly. Yet another diet fails –
because it was never going to work in the first place. And we have succeeded in making ourselves considerably less
healthy in the process. Not only have we gone through a period of reduced immunity and a lack of proteins,
minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and other essential nutrients, there is evidence that so-called ‘yo-yo’ dieting of this
nature is detrimental to health in the longer term.

Quite simply, we are going to virtually eliminate all refined carbohydrates and sugars (which are also carbohydrates),
leaving us with a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet. Of course, you may have heard of high-protein diets before,
and they all failed because the carbohydrates were not restricted. Remember, unless you switch off the mechanism
to make fat, and switch on the mechanism to burn fat, it is very difficult to lose body fat. On this diet, you will be
cutting out virtually all refined carbohydrates so that body fat is burned preferentially, to provide energy. Sugar,
starch, white flour, cakes, bread, pasta and rice are the usual culprits. These foods have very little nutritional value
and, what’s more, can cause medical and fat problems. Of course, there are forms of these carbohydrates – such as
wholemeal rice, wholemeal bread and wholemeal pastas – that do have nutritional benefits and which you can
reintroduce later, but in the initial stage of the diet, you have to reduce all carbohydrates, to switch on the fat-
burning mechanism.

You should definitely cut out all pasta, rice, cakes and biscuits, and stick to a maximum of one slice of bread per day.
Your body will rapidly adjust to a healthy, high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, and will burn body fat. The bottom
line is that you don’t need refined carbohydrates and processed sugars. These foods provide energy and no other
form of essential nutrition – and when you eat more than the energy you can use immediately the rest is stored as
fat. One point to be aware of is that refined carbohydrates can appear in many unexpected sources. You probably
know that bread, cakes, pastries, biscuits, pies, pizzas, potato crisps and fried potato chips all contain refined
carbohydrates, but pasta, rice, most breakfast cereals, most tinned foods, many pre-packaged foods, tinned
vegetables, tinned soups, and prepared sauces do as well… In fact the list goes on and on. Virtually all ‘fast foods’
contain very high proportion of refined carbohydrates – as well as hydrogenated fats – and if your diet is high in
refined carbohydrates and hydrogenated fats, you will definitely put on weight. If you’re worried that by cutting out
refined carbohydrates you’ll have virtually no foods left to choose from, fear not. In fact, high-protein and nutritious
foods such as meat, poultry, fish, shellfish and eggs are all open to you, along with vegetables, cheese, spices and
herbs, from which you can easily produce delicious, healthy and quick meals. You’ll be relieved to hear that you
don’t have to live on a diet of lettuce and tomato. On the contrary, you will be eating virtually limitless; quantities of
very tasty food complemented by delicious sauces and dressings: in other words, real food!

What about fats in your diet? I’ve advised you to cut out refined carbohydrates and eat a high-protein diet, but what
about the amount of fat you consume? This is going to seem a strange thing to say, and it’s against all of the dietary
advice you’ve been given in the past, but if you follow the principles of this diet carefully, you don’t need worry
about how much fat you’re consuming. No, I have not gone mad, and I’m certainly not advocating a high-fat diet, but
most of the ‘bad’ fats are actually integrated into the sugary, starchy foods you have already excluded, and you will
naturally avoid them when you stop eating these foods. So by excluding the refined carbohydrates, you have
excluded the ‘bad’ fats from your diet at a single stroke.

1. Starvation diets

a. are good because you lose a lot of fat and proteins.

b. are harmful because of the loss of body proteins.

c. help us reduce muscle mass but without causing further problems.

2. If we fail to follow this starvation diet strictly,

a. we become really muscular.

b. we become weaker.

c. we put on weight fast again.

3. When people follow a starvation diet,

a. they become vulnerable to diseases.

b. they put their health at stake on the spot.

c. they run the risk of immediate health problems.

4. In a high protein diet, carbohydrates

a. are banned, although they are considered beneficial.

b. are used as a primary source of energy.

c. can be consumed only under certain circumstances.

5. The problem with carbohydrates is that

a. if their intake is not used up what is left turns into fat

b. it is difficult to stop eating them.

c. your body doesn’t adjust easily when you don’t eat them.

6. Following the new high protein diet

a. you can have/make delicious dishes.

b. you can only eat meat, poultry, fish, shellfish and eggs.
c. you have to weigh all the protein you have.

7. The new high protein diet

a. does not include any kind of fat.

b. fosters the consumption of sugary foods.

c. prohibits you to have refined carbohydrates

Read the following text and complete gaps 1-5 with a phrase from the ones below. There are two extra ones you
do not need to use.

Why are so many men secret dieters?

A survey has found that one in three men wouldn’t tell anyone they were on a diet. So why is there so much shame
surrounding this issue?

Before they even start dieting, men have difficulty accepting that they have a problem in the first place.

When you’re trying to diet in secret in a busy office, says Dave Briscoe (not his real name), a researcher from Surrey,
the trick is to accept each treat that is offered – but only one chocolate, and the smallest piece of cake. Accept less,
and you’ll be suspect. Accept more, and your plan will fail. “That was the rule I kept to,” he says, “to avoid people
asking awkward questions.”

Briscoe isn’t the only man who has dieted in secret. A survey of more than 600 men, conducted for the home
delivery brand Diet Chef, found 90% wanted to lose weight, ____1_____ – even friends and family. It seems that too
much shame still exists around weight and a good proportion of people at any one time are likely to be dieting
secretly. But this issue seems to affect men and women in different ways.

Phil Mundy, a food and diet writer says many men are unwilling to say they are on a diet _____2______. He thinks
there might be more willingness among younger men to discuss weight in public – but the problem is, if they do, says
Briscoe, it’s still considered acceptable “to take the piss out of them, in a way you never would with women. It’s seen
as just a part of office banter, but for men it’s equally upsetting. Why wouldn’t it be?”

Bob Baker (again, not his real name), from Brighton, says the moment it becomes possible to discuss weight is often
_____3_____, and feels proud of their achievement. At that stage, Briscoe agrees, men will often start talking about
it, “but in my experience they’ll make it sound simpler, more sensible and easier than it probably was. They just cut
out a certain food, or stopped eating after a certain time. They won’t be telling the whole truth; just a version. They
won’t be saying: ‘Actually, _____4______’. They want to portray it like a DIY problem. ‘There was a

problem, and I fixed it.”

There are mixed outlooks _____5_____; support from family and friends can, of course, be helpful, but divulging
your diet to anyone who might respond with fat jibes could prompt a sorry descent into comfort eating, says Mundy.
When it comes to this subject, we probably all just need to grow up, so it can be discussed honestly and clearly. It’s
not an uncommon problem – and it shouldn’t be an unspeakable one.

a. to have had eating disorders

b. on whether it is healthier to be open

c. when a secret dieter has shifted a good few stone

d. that highlight the importance of being open-minded

e. this has been quite a big part of my everyday thoughts

f. but almost one in three wouldn’t tell anyone about their diet plans

g. because it involves admitting they have a problem in the first place

Read the following text and write the correct heading above each paragraph

10 things you should never do when starting a new job

Congratulations! You’ve finally secured a new job, and now you want to start off on the right foot. You want to be
careful not to make any career-ending mistakes. So, what should you NEVER do when starting a new job?

Title1 ____

You learned this in first grade, when the teacher began keeping track of tardies: Being on time matters. Factor in
extra time if there’s traffic, construction, or other reasons to expect a delay.

Title 2 ____

Before starting your job, talk with the hiring manager or human resources professional to make sure you understand
what constitutes acceptable outfit for your new workplace. There’s nothing more embarrassing than showing up
wearing something that doesn’t fly with your supervisors.

Title 3 ____

Many companies require new employees to go through a training process before starting a new position. While it
may be tempting to skip these sessions or treat them lightly, don’t do it. Even if your training managers won’t be
your direct supervisors, they are watching you.

Title 4 ____

No matter where you’re working, there are certain processes, tools, and forms that make up the standard operating
procedures of your company. You may have been introduced to these through a very organized, systematic
orientation, or you may feel like you’re expected to absorb them by osmosis. If you were formally informed, consider
yourself fortunate, if not, don’t feel shortchanged or frustrated. Instead, take initiative and master the basics on your
own.

Title 5 ____

It’s understandable that you may need help or guidance during your first few weeks at a new job, and asking co-
workers for assistance or just to answer questions can be perfectly acceptable. But remember, you were hired
because managers believed in your ability to get the job done. Ask for help if you need it, but believe in yourself and
prove that you can do the work yourself.

Title 6 ____

Your employer isn’t paying you to chat with your girlfriend or even your kids’ babysitter. Make a personal policy of
limiting personal phone calls and texts to your lunch break, except for emergencies.

Title 7 ____

Most likely, you and your employer agreed to a certain salary during the hiring process. So don’t change your mind
before you even show up at work. Don’t expect more money until you’ve worked long enough to prove your value to
the employer.

Title 8 ____
Of course you want to make a good impression as soon as you arrive at a new job, and show your new employer
they made the right choice in hiring you. However, be cautious of suggesting new policies or strategies during your
first few weeks, as it may not be the best way to demonstrate you are a team player. At first, take time to really
understand and learn your job, then over time, you can make suggestions and changes as situations arise, and as
your input and expertise is called upon.

Title 9 ____

In a new job, there will always be a learning curve, and effective supervisors understand that. Inevitably, you’ll be
asked to do something or expected to know something that you don’t yet know or know how to do. Rather than
saying you can complete the task on your own, tell the truth and “don’t be afraid to say, ‘I don’t know,’

Title 10 ____

You may be so eager to start your new job that you don’t want to stop and ask questions. But by skipping even the
most basic questions, you are setting yourself up for failure.

a. Don’t show up late

b. Don’t be dishonest

c. Don’t try to change things

d. Don’t dress unprofessionally

e. Don’t be afraid to ask for help

f. Don’t avoid the job orientation

g. Don’t demand a higher income

h. Don’t lose confidence in yourself

i. Don’t spend time on private matters

j. Don’t take too long before you start work

k. Don’t feel disappointed if you are not given total support

Read the following text and choose the correct answer

Egypt travel guide

Courtesy and hospitality are important when doing business in Egypt. The host of a business meeting will usually
offer tea or a small snack before commencing. It’s polite to refuse the first offer, but once the host insists, the guest
should then accept.

Alcohol is legal, but should be avoided until visitors know their Egyptian colleague’s attitude towards drinking, and, if
acceptable, should be drunk in moderation. It is not considered suitable for women to over-indulge in alcohol. If
invited to a business lunch, expect food to be lavish and plentiful.

Throughout the Arab world, it is considered bad manners either to display anger or to openly criticize another
person in public. Tact and diplomacy are always required. In social life, punctuality is almost laughable. For business,
visitors should be on time but expect locals to be often late, and do not take offence. Men should not offer to shake
a woman’s hand, and vice versa, unless clearly invited to do so. Men and women should dress smartly for business
meetings – suits and tie for men; suit for women or smart trousers/skirt/jacket – and always dress modestly.
Shoulders and knees should never be shown.
Economy:

On taking power in 1970, Anwar al-Sadat introduced a policy of infitah (openness) towards investment. Egypt’s
economy underwent rapid growth during the 1970s with the quick expansion of the oil industry, tourism and the
Suez Canal, and it has continued to expand in subsequent decades.

The tourist sector is expanding rapidly, particularly along the Red Sea and Mediterranean coasts, despite sporadic
terrorist activities of Islamic fundamentalists. Agriculture, which relies on irrigation from the Nile, employs one-third
of the working population. Foreign aid, especially from the USA, is an important source of government funds.

Internet:

There are internet cafés in the main cities, including Cairo, Alexandria, Dahab and Luxor. Even small, more remote
towns including Siwa will have at least one venue, usually in the market area. Connection is usually reliable. Tourists
can also access the Internet in hotels, with in-room Wi-Fi available, though often at a costly price.

Media:

The Egyptian press is one of the most influential and widely read in the region, while Egyptian TV and the film
industry supplies much of the Arab-speaking world with shows from its Media Production City. Press freedom is
encouraged. Press laws which allow prison sentences for libel have encouraged self-censorship on sensitive issues.

1. At a business meeting in Egypt, …

a. refusing food or drink is acceptable

b. tea will be offered when they reach a deal

c. it is bad manners to repeatedly reject the drinks offered

2. Which one is right?

a. Women are not allowed to drink alcohol

b. Women can drink alcohol but only moderately

c. Foreign people shouldn’t drink alcohol in any case

3. Choose the correct option.

a. Local people are always on time

b. Shaking hands is banned to women

c. Foreign business people are required to be punctual

4. In the 1970s…

a. Islamic activists prevented its economy from growing

b. Egypt’s economy was based mainly on three sources

c. Egyptian oil industry grew rapidly without any foreign help

5. With regards to media and communication...

a. Internet connection in hotels is expensive

b. there is no Internet access in small towns

c. journalists have their work censored before it is published

Read the following text and choose the correct option

Have we taken security too far?

What’s the difference between a medical student and a convict? The answer: A convict doesn’t pay $50,000 a year
for the privilege of being fingerprinted and patted down. I am referring, of course, to the increasingly stringent
security measures that have come to characterize modern educational testing. As student evaluation techniques
have migrated from face-to-face assessment to computer-based exams administered in dedicated testing centers,
evaluators have become less and less likely to know examinees, leading to heightened precautions around exam
security.

I recently interviewed a group of fourth-year medical students who had just taken Step 2 of the United States
Medical Licensing Clinical Knowledge Examination at test-administration centers. Each of the students had paid $560
for the privilege, and had devoted nine hours to the single-day exam, which consists of eight sections of 40 to 45
questions each. Over the day, they received a total break time of 45 minutes. Students must pass the exam to obtain
a medical license, and scoring well is an important factor in gaining admission to competitive medical specialties. So
anxiety tends to run high.

This inevitable anxiety is compounded by Checkpoint Charlie-esque security measures. IDs are checked. Each student
wears a unique number on his or her shoulder throughout the day. Students are fingerprinted each time they enter
and exit the testing room (up to 16 times). They are patted down and asked to roll up their pants legs and pull their
pockets inside-out. If they wear a jacket or sweater into the exam room, they cannot take it off. They are warned
that they will be under constant camera surveillance.

One of the students, a former U.S. marine, said he had found the entire atmosphere of the exam eerily familiar. He
had served in Iraq, helping to preside over the return of inhabitants to Fallujah after the city’s recapture by U.S.
forces. “It was weird,” he said. “They were using many of the exact same procedures and equipment we used in
Fallujah. It took so long for them to verify identities that you almost didn’t dare leave the room, for fear you couldn’t
get back in time. I finally had to show one of the examiners how to do it properly.” Of course, these techniques are
not merely for medical students. Aspiring accountants and architects, students sitting for the GRE, and prospective
employees of Silicon Valley companies are all subjected to these medieval measures.

Some might say that a high-security approach to testing students is not only necessary but laudable. In the case of
medical testing, the health of the nation is a vital resource, and we cannot afford to place it in the hands of
physicians who might have succeeded through academic dishonesty. Who would want a loved one to be cared for by
a physician who had cheated on the medical-licensing exam? As public policy, exam hawks argue, we should demand
the very highest security in all such testing.

But perhaps we have gone overboard. After all, the core of the patient-physician relationship is trust. The
Hippocratic Oath, which has shaped the ethics of medicine for many centuries, enjoins the physician to respect
patients’ privacy and dignity and to always put each patient’s interests first. We entrust to our physicians all sorts of
matters we would not share with anyone else—private details of our health and personal relationships, access to
intimate parts of our bodies, sometimes even our lives. We want to trust our physicians. No one is arguing that
security is unnecessary, but perhaps we haven’t quite yet found the sweet spot.
1. Exam security has become stricter because …

a. most exams are done on computers

b. evaluators don’t often know the examinees’ identities

c. evaluators prefer not to know who the examinees are

2. The examination …

a. is a privilege to take

b. is unnecessarily long

c. puts students under great pressure

3. When they are taking the exam, students …

a. are watched all the time

b. must remain in total silence

c. must ask for permission to take their sweaters off

4. According to the ex-marine, …

a. the staff were not competent enough

b. identification processes are always time consuming

c. it was advisable not to leave the exam room till the end

5. According to the writer, the security measures described are …

a. peculiar

b. outrageous

c. far too strict

6. The writer concludes that …

a. security is not necessary

b. a midpoint should be reached

c. it’s getting difficult to rely on our GPs

Read the following text and complete each gap with the correct phrase. There are two extra phrases that you do
not need to use.

How to stay fit, happy and healthy

If you’ve been listening to the news you already know about our national obesity levels rising by the day. It has never
been more important _____1_____ and to get an adequate amount of exercise and sleep to keep yourself fit and
healthy. Though it may feel like really hard work at first, once you adopt an exercise routine and start _____2_____ ,
you’ll forget you ever did things differently.

Here are just four of the top adjustments to make:

1. Get more sleep!

Sleep is huge and almost a third of the US population doesn’t get near enough to staying physically and mentally
healthy. If you are sleep deprived, try changing your habits in order _____3_____
2. Strive for a better diet

Look at your diet and what you’re eating now and make changes where you see fit. If you are susceptible to
snacking, keep a piece of fruit or a few nuts at hand. The key is to eat small meals throughout the day. Reduce
portion sizes, take out white bread and replace with whole grains and make sure each meal contains at least one
portion of fruit and – or vegetables. Healthy food doesn’t have _____4_____ , and you can get an abundance of low
priced fruit and veggies, like apples, bananas, potatoes and peas.

3. Stop all those bad habits

Take a look at your current lifestyle and make a small list of everything you do that is not good for your health. This
could be anything, from eating too much junk food or drinking too much caffeine, to smoking or drinking. Start the
process of breaking these habits one by one. Some will be easy, while others may take months or maybe years
_____5_____ , but the sooner you start fighting, the better.

Some addictions (like smoking, drugs or alcohol) are incredibly bad not only to your health, but also to your
pocketbook. If you smoke and – or drink, start by cutting back on how many drinks you have, or cigarettes you
smoke, in a day, and if necessary, seek medical advice and assistance _____6_____ .

4. Exercise, exercise, exercise

We all should be doing at least 30 minutes of exercise, 3 to 4 or more times a week, ____7_____. This can be pretty
much anything that is physical, like walking, cycling, running, swimming to weightlifting, etc. This too does not have
to be expensive, and you can get a great work out without joining any costly gyms. Most of these exercises are
inexpensive, and just doing a cardiovascular exercise, like walking, jogging, or walking on a treadmill a few times a
week will do your body (and heart) good.

a. to adapt to a new situation

b. to reduce your protein intake

c. to watch what you are eating

d. to change your sleep patterns

e. to be expensive in the least bit

f. to get a full eight hours every night

g. to maintain good health and keep fit

h. to make further steps towards stopping completely

i. to get rid of and eradicate completely from your life