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Test 1
Reading

CPE Practice Test 1

PART 1 Reading Questions 1-8

For questions 1-8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. Mark your
answers on the separate answer sheet. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Example 0 A had B even C been D done 0 A B C D

The Invention of Television

Few inventions have (0) had more scorn and praise (1).......... them at the same time than television.
And few have done so much to unite the world into one vast audience for news, sport, information and
entertainment. Television must be (2).......... alongside printing as one of the most significant inventions
of all time in the (3).......... of communications. In just a few decades it has reached (4).......... every
home in the developed world and an ever-increasing proportion of homes in developing countries. It
took over half a century from the first suggestion that television might be possible before the first
(5).......... pictures were produced in laboratories in Britain and America.

In 1926 John Logie Baird’s genius for publicity brought television to the (6).......... of a British audience.
It has since (7).......... such heights of success and taken on such a pivotal function that it is difficult to
imagine a world (8)………… of this groundbreaking invention.

1. A taken over B heaped upon C picked on D given over

2. A awarded B rated C graduated D assembled

3. A location B site C post D field

4. A simultaneously B actually C virtually D substantially

5. A flaring B glimmering C sparkling D flickering

6. A attention B concentration C initiation D surveillance

7. A found B left C gained D reached

8. A without B shallow C bereft D lacking

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Cambridge PROFICIENCY CPE Practice Test 1 Reading

PART 2 Reading Questions 9-16

For questions 9-16 read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each
space. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Example: 0 LIKE
CPE Practice Test 1

The Subconscious and the Human Mind

like
The human mind is (0)................ an onion with many layers. The outer layer is our conscious mind, which helps with our daily
up/according to the reality principle. It is intelligent, realistic, logical and proactive,
decision-making processes working (9)....................................
so/especially in new situations where we have to employ rational thought processes to (11)....................................
(10).................................... work/find out what
between
to do and how to do it. However, it can only deal with (12).................................... five and nine things at any one time and is easily
overloaded.
on
The subconscious or main hidden layer of the onion works (13)............................. “auto pilot” i.e. reacting according to the pleasure
that in spite/ of external considerations.
principle in (14)............................. it seeks to avoid pain and obtain pleasure and survival, (15).........................
regardless
It is concerned with our emotions, imagination, and memories as well as our autonomic nervous system, which controls our internal
The/All/
organs automatically. (16).................................... four main functions are very closely interlinked; in other words, the mind affects. It
These/Its
is powerful and very clever at dealing with many complex instructions simultaneously, but is not ‘intelligent’ as such.

PART 3 Reading Questions 17-24

For questions 17-24, read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of the lines to form a word
that fits in the space in the same line. There is an example at the beginning (0).
Write your answers IN CAPITAL LETTERS on the separate answer sheet.

Example: 0 international

Battle to Save the Amazon NATION

botanist
As the Brazilian (0) international plane banked over the Amazonian rainforest, (17)...................................... BOTANY
unbroken
Ghilean Prance gazed at the dark-green canopy below: an expanse of trees almost (18).................................... BREAK
varieties/-ty of plant and animal life than any other place
for 2.5 million square miles, with more (19).................................... VARY
on earth.
outsiders knew more about the rainforest and its ecosystem than Prance. He had just
Few (20).................................... OUT
director of postgraduate studies at the National Amazonian Research Institute
been appointed (21).................................... DIRECT
in Manaus, the Amazonian region’s capital. Before that, as research assistant at and latterly a curator of the
prestigious New York Botanical Garden, he had spent almost ten years studying the forest.
(22).................................... PRESTIGE
In his search for new plant specimens he was more used to travelling on foot or by boat. But now,
governmental documents show that a road had been constructed through the Amazon
Brazilian (23).................................... GOVERN
basin. On this bright November morning he was flying out with two other course tutors and 14 botany
students to make sure its impact on the surrounding habitat was not as serious as he thought.
(24).......................... STUDY

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Cambridge PROFICIENCY CPE Practice Test 1 Reading

PART 4 Reading Questions 25-30

For questions 25-30, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using
the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between three and eight words, including the
word given. Here is an example (0).

CPE Practice Test 1

Example:
0 Mick will give you lots of excuses for being late but don’t believe any of them.
matter
No ………………………………. Mick gives you for being late, don’t believe any of them.

Write only the missing words on the separate answer sheet. 0 matter how many excuses

25. His argument was irrelevant to the case being discussed.

nothing
had nothing to do with
His argument .................................................................................................................................................... the case being discussed.

26. Karen sometimes appears very silly.

apt
is apt to be / appear
Karen ......................................................................................................................................... very silly sometimes.

27. His aggressive attitude shocked me.

aback
was taken aback by
I ............................................................................................................................................ his aggressive attitude.

28. I did my best to arrive here on time.

effort
made every (possible) effort to
I ....................................................................................................................................... get here on time.

29. The meal was delicious apart from the chicken.

exception
With the exception of the chicken
....................................................................................................................................................... , the meal was delicious.

30. The match had to be cancelled due to the bad weather.

called
had to be called off because / on account of
The match .......................................................................................................................................................... of the bad weather.

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Cambridge PROFICIENCY CPE Practice Test 1 Reading

PART 5 Reading Questions 31-36

You are going to read an extract from an article. For questions 31-36, choose the answer (A, B, C or D)
which you think fits best according to the text. Mark your answers on the separate answer sheet.

Taming the Wildcat

Now, I have had, at one time or another, a fair amount In this case I was sure that the baby wildcat was quite
of experience in trying to get frightened, irritated or capable of killing the domestic kitten, if I introduced the
CPE Practice Test 1

just plain stupid animals to feed from a bottle, and I kitten to it instead of the other way round. So, once
thought that I knew most of the tricks. The wildcat kit- the tabby had settled down, I seized the wildcat and
ten I had, proceeded to show me that, as far as it was pushed it, snarling and raving, into the cage, and stood
concerned, I was a mere tyro at the game. It was so back to see what would happen. The tabby was delight-
lithe, quick and strong for its size that after half an ed. It came forward to the angry intruder and started
hour struggling, I felt a total failure. I was covered in to rub itself against its neck, purring loudly. The wild-
milk and blood and thoroughly exhausted, whereas the cat, taken aback by this greeting, merely spat rudely
kitten regarded me with blazing eyes and seemed quite and retreated to a corner. I covered the front of the
ready to continue the fight for the next few days if cage with a piece of sacking and left them to settle
necessary. The thing that really irritated me was that down.
the kitten had – as I knew to my cost – very well
developed teeth, and there seemed no reason why it That evening, when I lifted the sacking, I found them
should not eat and drink of its own accord, but, in this side by side, and the wildcat, instead of spitting at me
stubborn mood, I knew that it was capable of quite lit- as it had done up until now, contented itself with mere-
erally starving itself to death. ly lifting its lips in a warning manner. I carefully insert-
ed a large bowl of milk into the cage, and a plate of
I decided to try another tack. Perhaps it would eat if I finely chopped meat and raw egg, which I wanted the
had a companion to show it how. I chose a fat, placid wildcat to eat. This was the crucial test. line 60
female tabby cat and carried it back to the garage.
Now most wild animals have a very strong sense of The tabby, purring like an ancient outboard engine,
territory. In the wild state, they have their own particu- flung itself at the bowl of milk, took a long drink then
lar bit of forest or grassland which they consider ‘their’ settled down to the meat and egg. To begin with, the
preserve, and which they will defend against any other wildcat took no interest at all, lying there with half-
member of their own species that tries to encroach. closed eyes. But eventually the noise the tabby was
When you put wild animals into cages, cages become, making over the meat and egg – it was rather a
as far as they are concerned, their territory, too. So if messy feeder – attracted its attention. It rose cau-
you introduce another animal into the cage, the first tiously and approached the plate, as I watched with
inmate will, in all probability, defend it vigorously, and bated breath. Delicately it sniffed around the edge of
you may easily have a fight to the death on your the plate, while the tabby lifted a face that was drip-
hands. So you generally have to employ low cunning. ping with raw egg and gave a mew of encouragement,
Suppose, for example, you have a large spirited crea- slightly muffled by the portion of meat it had in its
ture and you get a second animal of the same species, mouth. The wildcat stood pondering for a moment and
and you want to confine them together. The best thing then, to my delight, sank down by the plate and started
to do is build an entirely new cage, and into this you to eat. In spite of the fact that it must have been
introduce the weaker of the two animals. When it has extremely hungry, it ate daintily, lapping a little raw
settled down, you then put the stronger one in as well. egg, and then picking up a morsel of meat, which it
The stronger one will, of course, still remain the domi- chewed thoroughly before swallowing. I knew my battle
nant animal, but as far as it is concerned it has been with the wildcat was won.
introduced into someone else’s territory, and this takes
the edge off any potential viciousness.

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Cambridge PROFICIENCY CPE Practice Test 1 Reading

31. How did the wildcat make the writer feel?

CPE Practice Test 1

A. anxious
B. inadequate
C. cunning
D. stubborn

32. The wildcat

A. was injured.
B. couldn’t eat because it had problems with its teeth.
C. was dying of starvation.
D. was capable of starving but wasn’t yet in a state of starvation.

33. Why did the writer put the tabby cat in the cage first?
A. to make it aggressive.
B. the stronger animal will still remain dominant
C. to give it a chance to eat
D. to make it the dominant animal

34. How did the wildcat originally react to the tabby?

A. it welcomed it
B. it attacked it viciously
C. it made contented noises
D. it rejected it

35. Why was the test “crucial” in line 60?

A. Because the tabby might have prevented the wildcat from eating.
B. The wildcat might have attacked the tabby.
C. It was the moment that would determine the outcome of the attempt.
D. The wildcat might have attacked the writer.

36. What can be assumed from the fact that the wildcat ate “daintily”?
A. It wasn’t as hungry as the writer had thought.
B. It didn’t like the food.
C. It felt at ease.
D. It felt self-conscious

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Cambridge PROFICIENCY CPE Practice Test 1 Reading

PART 6 Reading Questions 37-43

You are going to read an article about media coverage of the weather. Seven paragraphs have been removed
from the extract. Choose from the paragraphs A-H the one which fits each gap (37-43). There is one extra para-
graph you do not need to use. Mark your answers on the separate answer sheet.

Getting up early on the morning of January 24th,

I thought the city seemed oddly quiet, but it wasn’t until
40 B

I looked out the window that I saw the snow. The

And the weather’s upward climb in the newsworthiness
CPE Practice Test 1

“Surprise Storm” that had hit the East Coast of the

stakes has also coincided with another trend; wild weather
United States that morning was making earnest headway,
is also now a standard component of reality-based pro-
having dumped as much as twenty inches of snow on
gramming on Fox and the Discovery Channel. And in
Raleigh, eight and a half on Philadelphia, and six on New
book publishing recent best-sellers like “The Perfect
York. This was a big shock considering the unusually mild
Storm”, “Into Thin Air”, and “Isaac’s Storm” have helped
weather that had been settled over New York as recent-
create a hot market for weather-related disaster stories.
ly as just a day ago.

41 F
37 H

This newsier approach to weather, with its focus on

Forecasters had seen a low-pressure system moving
weather events to help boost ratings, means certain kinds
toward the southeast on the National Weather Service’s
of weather get overblown while less telegenic but no less
satellite pictures, but all the major computer models
significant weather is overlooked. Take heat, for exam-
indicated the storm would head back out to sea. As Elliot
ple. Eight out of the ten warmest years on record
Abrams, the chief forecaster and senior vice-president of
occurred in the nineteen-nineties, the two others in the
the State College, Pennsylvania, forecasting company
eighties. (If the planet continues to warm at the present
Accu-Weather, told me later, “Who am I to say the
rate, some climatologists predict an increase in global
numerical guidance is wrong?”
surface temperatures of between 2.5 and 6 degrees by
the year 2100.)
38 C

Ever since widespread weather-data collection began,

42 A

shortly after the invention of the telegraph, in the 1840s,

This is an old complaint - that ratings-driven, storm-of-
accurate forecasting has been the goal of the weather
the-century-style coverage makes it harder to get accu-
report. But in recent years TV weather has given increas-
rate information about the weather - and it has been
ing time and emphasis to live pictures of weather, usually
heard here in New York at least as far back as when the
in the viewing area, but sometimes elsewhere if the
over-hyped Hurricane Gloria struck in 1985.
weather is atrocious and the pictures dramatic enough –
and this is transforming the modern-day weather report.
43 E

However grateful we may be for this lack of danger,

39 G

through war and bloodshed, it creates a psychological

The Weather Channel acknowledged this in a recent ad
need for some kind of real-life drama on our TV screens.
created by Chiat/Day which depicted weather enthusi-
So, when a big storm comes along, you can almost feel
asts in the guise of sports fanatics, their faces painted like
the nation girding its loins as people gratefully turn their
weather maps, rooting for lows and highs in a fictional
attention away from “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?”
“weather bar” known as the Front. At the same time, the
news, which once stuck to human affairs, now includes an
ever-growing number of weather-related stories.

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A E

CPE Practice Test 1

But heat doesn’t do particularly well on television. But it’s not only the broadcaster’s doing: the pub-
You can track down a blizzard on Doppler radar as lic’s fascination with wild weather is apparently
it moves up a map of the East coast, but you can’t inexhaustible. We live in peaceful, prosperous
watch heat. And drought, as Robert Henson, a times, when the only tangible external threat to
writer at the University Corporation for home and hearth is weather.
Atmospheric Research and the author of a book
about TV weather-casting, told me recently, “is the F
ultimate non-event. You usually hear about drought This is not so much a new market, though, as a
only when some rain event comes along to end it.” revival of one of the oldest genres in publishing.
This increased in Mather’s 1684 book “Remarkable
B Providences”, which includes several chapters on
From 1989 to 1995, according to the Centre for extreme weather around New England and was
Media and Public Affairs, weather coverage wasn’t one of the early thrillers of the New World.
among the top-ten topics on the nightly network
news. In 1996, it was eighth, and in 1998 it was G
fourth – more than eleven hundred weather-related In some respects, these broadcasts seem more like
stories ran together. news than like “weather” in the traditional sense.
Weather “events” are hyped, covered, and ana-
C lyzed, just like politics and sports.
For the previous three weeks, unreasonably balmy
conditions had been the topic of small talk every- H
where: Why was it so warm? Wasn’t it weird that I turned on the Weather Channel, as I always do for
there was no snow? Was it another sign of global big storms. The forecast may have been inadequate,
warming? Then, wouldn’t you know, the first big but the live coverage was superb. In New York City,
storm of the season comes along, and the National the Weather Channel was out in force, filming cars
Weather Service, the federal government’s agency, driving through slushy puddles and reporters stick-
doesn’t put out an advisory until ten o’clock the ing rulers into the snow in Central Park. I settled in
night before. (The N.W.S. had been on the network for a little voyeuristic weather-watching, an experi-
news just a week earlier, announcing new weather ence that has become a condition of modern life.
super computers, which are supposed to make fore-
casts even more accurate.)

D
Opinions concerning the causes of global warming
remain highly contentious. But many climatologists
now believe that rising temperatures produce more
extreme weather - not just more frequent heatwaves
and droughts but also more storms and floods.

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Cambridge PROFICIENCY CPE Practice Test 1 Reading

PART 7 Reading Questions 44-53

You are going to read an extract from an article on two books. For questions 44-53, choose from the
sections (A-E). The sections may be chosen more than once.

Mark your answers on the separate answer sheet.

CPE Practice Test 1

In which section are the following mentioned?

the feeling of being responsible for a death 44 C

the problem of putting literature into categories 45 A

another novel referred to in the novel 46 E

using language in different ways 47 B

characters who don’t easily accept change 48 E

the refusal to embrace the way of life of either of two elders 49 D

different types of colonies 50 B

one of the novels being made into a film 51 A

death playing a role to help a community 52 C

the difficulty in defining the sub-genre of certain publications

53 A

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Cambridge PROFICIENCY CPE Practice Test 1 Reading

A C
Both Purple Hibiscus and Once Were Warriors Both texts deal with the uncertainties of the formation
are post-colonial novels, in the sense that they and reformation of identities. Working with, yet at the
were written, and deal with subjects of the posi- same time questioning and unsettling, the bildungsro-
tion of independence as opposed to the colonial man format, Once Were Warriors and Purple Hibiscus

CPE Practice Test 1

state of being in both a universalising sense and present identities snaking through notions of pre-colo-
a personal one. Purple Hibiscus was published nial identities alongside colonial and postcolonial ones.
in 2004 and is set in Nigeria, the author The certainty of the very survival of Kambili and Beth in
Cinamanada Ngozi Adichie’s homeland. Once Once Were Warriors seems, to an extent, to be staked
Were Warriors was written by a Maori New on pre-colonial notions of identity formation. The chief
Zealander, Alan Duff, in 1990 and has since met at Beth’s funeral articulates this in sorrow for the young
with international acclaim through the silver girls death; ‘we are what we are only because of our
screen. But, what has contributed to making this past […] we should never forget our past or our future is
is another lengthy tale. Both books sit happily lost’. The death of Grace directly influences Beth to
on the shelf labelled “postcolonial literature,” address her situation and that of the individuals in Pine
but such careless sweeps of the categorising Block. Although Grace’s death is linked to the rape, Beth,
tongue are exactly what such authors are who is unaware of this, questions her involvement in
attempting to avoid. Their works don’t reinforce the death of her daughter. ‘Could I have prevented it?’
the boundaries, leaving readers feeling warm echoes out from every movement Beth makes after this.
and cosy. Colonialism, precolonialism and a Why does the young girl have to die? Is it to highlight
whole set of other blunt “isms” can be argued injustices in the Maori community, to make the commu-
as being explored by these authors. nity, to an extent, stand up and demand to be heard?

B D
That remnants of colonialism and pre-colonial- Indeed, it is death that stalks the corridors of these two
ism are present in each text indicates the novels. It is the death of Eugene, the ‘colonial product’ in
boundaries between pre-colonial and colonial Purple Hibiscus alongside the death of Papa-Nnukwu the
states of being are not as established, in a post- ‘pre-colonial product’ that lead to questions of where to
colonial existence, as the frame of the words turn in terms of identity formation. The colonial figure is
denote. What are the implications of depicting, dead; he doesn’t present ways of being to his children
potential pre-colonial situations within the colo- that seem acceptable to them; he is too violent, too
nial tongue? Both Once Were Warriors and dominating for their generation. But, as well, Papa-
Purple Hibiscus, potentially present colonial and Nnukwu, who is adored by his grandchildren, seems like
pre-colonial notions of history or histories, but an inadequate role model to wholly guide the younger
from different post-colonial positions. With generation into futures that are still in the making.
Nigeria having been a colony of occupation, as
opposed to the settler colony of New Zealand,
relations between the coloniser and the
E
colonised differ greatly between the two cultural
entities. With the coloniser, potentially, obscur- By introducing Purple Hibiscus with the sentence ‘Things
ing and abstracting the area between pre-colo- fall apart’, Adichie is immediately paying homage to
nial and postcolonial existences, any pre-colo- Chinua Achebe’s same-named novel published in the
nial notions must always be partly located with- mid-twentieth century, which depicted a hamlet in Africa
in a colonial perspective. Nonetheless, the pre- on the eve of nineteenth-century colonialism. Everyday
colonial uttered in the colonial tongue renders lives and everyday disputes fill page after page. The reader
that colonial tongue as being somewhat altered is with the hamlet when its inhabitants are devastated. We
in the process. The colonial tongue both makes are invited to sit in another seat. To see how it might have
and unmakes itself by using the same tools for felt to be utterly subjugated by foreigners. The beauty of
different ends. The dragging of heels back and comparing the two Nigerian novels is in their dealings
forth over the hot coals of second-hand lan- with Christianity. Indeed, in Things Fall Apart, church mis-
guages renders the happy branding of “post- sionaries come to the hamlet to ‘save them from hell and
colonial” of those who dare to make the colo- damnation’ and Okonkwo, the head of the hamlet, is
nial tongue their own seem like an unrefined immediately distrustful. He is closed to change as is the
broad-brushes attempt to depict the hairline Catholic ‘colonial product’ of Eugene in Purple Hibiscus.
cracks in a china doll. The stubbornness each character shows, but towards dif-
ferent ends, demonstrates the meaninglessness of asser-
tions of power for the sake of assertions of power.

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Cambridge PROFICIENCY CPE Practice Test 1 Writing

Writing
PART 1 Writing Question 1

Read the two texts below.

Write an essay summarising and evaluating the key points from both texts. Use your own words throughout as far as
possible, and include your own ideas in your answers.
CPE Practice Test 1

Write your answer in 240-280 words.

1.

Organic Shopping
Organic food sales have rocketed in the past decade, but how many of
those who buy organic food understand what GM (Genetically Modified)
food actually is? A hundred years ago, in some parts of the world everything
was organic; therefore, nothing was organic. It has also come to represent
something of privilege nowadays in that those able to pay for it tend to be
financially better off. Not buying organic food can even cause raised eye-
brows in certain circles almost like the openly-GM shopper is a sinner.

Organic food: the way to a healthier

and happier future
Organic farming was developed in reaction to the use of large-scale farms
and the introduction of chemicals into farming practices. A large number of
people don’t want to feed chemically-drenched apples to themselves or
their families. The side effects of consuming these chemicals aren’t entirely
known yet, but vast numbers of people are simply unwilling to take the risk.
Not only are these chemicals potentially harmful to humans, but also to the
habitats on which they are sprayed.

Write your essay.

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Cambridge PROFICIENCY CPE Practice Test 1 Writing

PART 2 Writing Questions 2-4

Write an answer to one of the questions 2-4 in this part. Write your answer in 280-320 words in an appropriate style on

CPE Practice Test 1

the separate answer sheet. Put the question number in the box at the top of the answer sheet.

2. A local magazine has asked readers to send in articles on their preferences in public transport.
Say which methods you prefer, explain your reasons and assess whether or not your preferences
are similar to those of the majority of people where you live. If there are problems with some
forms of transport say what they are and what might be done about these problems.

Write your article.

3. You have been playing a historically based game as part of an afterschool club. You have agreed
to write a review about the game for the club’s website. In your review you should give your
opinion of the game and say whether you think games are a good way of learning about history.

Write your review.

4. An online blog in English has invited readers and visitors to send in emails sharing embarrassing
things that have happened to them. You decide to send an email to them in which you briefly
describe an embarrassing story. Say whether you think these embarrassing moments help us and
explain why.

Write your email.

43