PRACTICE TEST A1

I/ Listen and choose the correct letter A, B, or C

Global Design Competition
1. Students entering the design competition have to
A. produce an energy-efficient design.
B. adapt an existing energy-saving appliance.
C. develop a new use for current technology.
2. John chose a dishwasher because he wanted to make dishwashers
A. more appealing.
B. more common.
C. more economical.
3. The stone in John’s ‘Rockpool’ design is used
A. for decoration.
B. to switch it on.
C. to stop water escaping.
4. In the holding chamber, the carbon dioxide
A. changes back to a gas.
B. dries the dishes.
C. is allowed to cool.
5. At the end of the cleaning process, the carbon dioxide
A. is released into the air.
B. is disposed of with the waste.
C. is collected ready to be re-used.
II/ Listen and complete the notes below
Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer
 John needs help preparing for his (1) _________
 The professor advises John to make a (2) _________ of his design.
 John’s main problem is getting good quality (3) _________
 The professor suggests John apply for a (4) _________
 The professor will check the (5) _________ information in John’s written report.

III/ Listen and complete the notes below

Write ONE WORD ONLY for each answer.
THE SPIRIT BEAR
General facts
• It is a white bear belonging to the black bear family.
• Its colour comes from an uncommon (1) _________
• Local people believe that it has unusual (2) _________
• They protect the bear from (3) _________
Habitat
• The bear’s relationship with the forest is complex.
• Tree roots stop (4) _________ along salmon streams.
• The bears’ feeding habits provide nutrients for forest vegetation.
• It is currently found on a small number of (5) _________
Threats

• Habitat is being lost due to deforestation and construction of (6) _________ by logging companies.
• Unrestricted (7) _________ is affecting the salmon supply.
• The bears’ existence is also threatened by their low rate of (8) _________
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Going forward
• Interested parties are working together.
• Logging companies must improve their (9) _________ of logging.
• Maintenance and (10) _________ of the spirit bears’ territory is needed.
IV/ Choose the correct answer A, B, C or D to each of the following questions
1. The birth of their first child caused a lot of ________ in Angela and Ken’s lives.
A. uproar B. upheaval C. outcry D. overthrow
2. You have to be rich to send a child to a private school because the fees are ________.
A. astronomical B. astrological C. atmospherical D. aeronautical
3. When we were in Athens, I bought a ________ statuette.
A. white beautiful marble little B. marble beautiful little white
C. beautiful little marble white D. beautiful little white marble
4. The old man led a ________ existence after she left and refused even to see his children.
A. reclusive B. deserted C. remote D. vacant
5. At the beginning of the working day, the traffic ________ into the city centre.
A. strolls B. saunters C. ambles D. crawls
6. David’s leaving on Friday. I suggest we all ________ and get him a going- away present.
A. dish out B. chip in C. pass the buck D. pay on the nail
7. You can’t just demand ________, you have to earn it.
A. a respect B. the respect C. respect D. any respect
8. I subscribe to a ________ literary journal.
A. three-monthly B. quartered C. quarterly D. seasonal
9. It is a ________ conclusion that figures are going to be worse than last year’s.
A. foretold B. foregone C. prearranged D. pre-planned
10. Did you see Jonathan this morning? He looked like ________. It must have been quite a party last
night.
A. a wet blanket B. death warmed up C. a dead luck D. a bear with a sore head
11. We saw how honey was extracted from bee hives in the ________.
A. abattoir B. aviary C. apiary D. academy
12. Hilary reached the ________ of her journalistic career when she was finally awarded the Pulitzer
Prize.
A. acme B. climax C. epitome D. summit

V/ The following text contains 5 mistakes. Identify, underline the mistakes and write the corrections.
Lines
1 In the early part of the 20th century, Bob Tisdall became famous by winning four events in just
2 two hours in a university’s athletics competition. He won the 400 metres, the 100 metres
3 hurdles, the long jump, and putting the shot. Because at that time university athletics did the
4 front page of national newspapers, and as Tisdall was extremely handsome, he became very
5 well-known. He was offered parts in films and attractive jobs in business but he was more
6 interested in seeing the world and he took on a position in India. He forgot about sport for a
7 while but then someone reminded him that the Olympics were taking place in four months’
8 time. He decided to have go and went to Los Angeles, where he represented Ireland in the 400
9 metres hurdles. Although it was only the third time he had completed in this event, he won it
10 with a record-broken time of 51.7 seconds. This is remarkable if we compare Tisdall’s training
11 with the intense training that modern athletes undergo to prepare for the Olympics. Tisdall’s
12 “training” consisted of staying in bed for a week, going straight from his bed to the track – and
13 winning!

VI/ Supply the correct form of the words in brackets to complete each of the following sentences.
1. There’s so much fighting between rival groups that the country has become practically ________.
(govern)
2. Management decided that the office was ________ and sacked three junior typists. (man)
3. I’ve read that many performers suffered feelings of ________ as children. (adequate)

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4. Hurricanes themselves in the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean, usually in the form of a ________
weather system. (pressure)
5. Jack got in a lot of trouble for ________ breaking school rules. (persist)
6. ________ in our diet helps in digestion, so it is good to consume more fruits and vegetables. (rough)
7. Steve’s bought a ________ little gadget for tuning his guitar. (hand)
8. We still don’t know whether the plan will ever come to ________ or not. (fruit)
9. I really believe that it would be a major mistake to ________ any drugs that are currently illegal.
(crime)
10. James got into trouble for ________ a police officer. (person)

VII/ Read the following passage and decide which answer best fits each gap.
Stories about how people somehow know when they are being watched have been going around for
years. However, few attempts have been made to investigate the phenomenon scientifically. Now, with
the completion of the largest ever study of the so- called staring effect, there is impressive evidence that
this is a recognizable and (1) _____ sixth sense. The study involved hundreds of children. For the
experiments, they sat with their eyes (2) _____ so they could not see, and with their backs to other
children, who were told to either stare at them or look away. Time and time again the results showed
that the children who could not see were able to tell when they were being stared at. In a (3) _____ of
more than 18, 000 trials carried out worldwide, the children (4) _____ sensed when they were being
watched almost 70% of the time. The experiment was repeated with the (5) _____ precaution of putting
the children who were being watched outside the room, separated from the starters by the windows. This
was done just in case there was some (6) _____ going on with the children telling each other whether
they were looking or not. This (7) _____ the possibility of sounds being (8) _____ between the children.
The results, though less impressive, were more or less the same. Dr Sheldrake, the biologist who
designed the study, believes that the results are (9) _____ enough to find out through further
experiments precisely how the staring effect might actually (10) _____.
1. A. genuine B. accepted C. received D. sure
2. A. shaded B. wrapped C. masked D. covered
3. A. sum B. collection C. mass D. total
4. A. correctly B. exactly C. thoroughly D. perfectly
5. A. attached B. added C. connected D. increased
6. A. pretending B. lying C. cheating D. deceiving
7. A. ended B. omitted C. evaded D. prevented
8. A. delivered B. transported C. transmitted D. distributed
9. A. satisfying B. convincing C. concluding D. persuading
10. A. come about B. be looked at C. set out D. be held up

VIII/ Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A-E and G-I from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-xi in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

i      A fresh and important long-term goal

ii     Charging for roads and improving other transport methods
iii    Changes affecting the distances goods may be transported
iv    Taking all the steps necessary to change transport patterns
v     The environmental costs of road transport
vi    The escalating cost of rail transport
vii   The need to achieve transport rebalance
viii  The rapid growth of private transport
ix    Plans to develop major road networks
x     Restricting road use through charging policies alone
xi    Transport trends in countries awaiting EU admission

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1 Paragraph A ________
2 Paragraph B ________
3 Paragraph C ________
4 Paragraph D ________
5 Paragraph E ________
6 Paragraph G ________
7 Paragraph H ________
8 Paragraph I ________

European transport systems

1990-2012
What have been the trends and what are the prospects for European transport systems?
A It is difficult to conceive of vigorous economic growth without an efficient transport
system. Although modern information technologies can reduce the demand for physical transport by
facilitating teleworking and teleservices, the requirement for transport continues to increase. There are
two key factors behind this trend. For passenger transport, the determining factor is the spectacular
growth in car use. The number of cars on European Union (EU) roads saw an increase of three million
cars each year from 1990 to 2010, and in the next decade the EU will see a further substantial increase
in its fleet.
B As far as goods transport is concerned, growth is due to a large extent to changes in the European
economy and its system of production. In the last 20 years, as internal frontiers have been abolished, the
EU has moved from a “stock” economy to a “flow” economy. This phenomenon has been emphasised
by the relocation of some industries, particularly those which are labour intensive, to reduce production
costs, even though the production site is hundreds or even thousands of kilometres away from the final
assembly plant or away from users.
C The strong economic growth expected in countries which are candidates for entry to the EU will also
increase transport flows, in particular road haulage traffic. In 1998, some of these countries already
exported more than twice their 1990 volumes and imported more than five times their 1990 volumes.
And although many candidate countries inherited a transport system which encourages rail, the
distribution between modes has tipped sharply in favour of road transport since the 1990s. Between
1990 and 1998，road haulage increased by 19.4%, while during the same period rail haulage decreased
by 43.5%, although – and this could benefit the enlarged EU – it is still on average at a much higher
level than in existing member states.
D However, a new imperative-sustainable development – offers an opportunity for adapting the EU's
common transport policy. This objective, agreed by the Gothenburg European Council, has to be
achieved by integrating environmental considerations into Community policies, and shifting the balance
between modes of transport lies at the heart of its strategy. The ambitious objective can only be fully
achieved by 2020, but proposed measures are nonetheless a first essential step towards a sustainable
transport system which will ideally be in place in 30 years‟ time, that is by 2040.
E In 1998, energy consumption in the transport sector was to blame for 28% of emissions of CO2，the
leading greenhouse gas. According to the latest estimates, if nothing is done to reverse the traffic growth
trend, CO2 emissions from transport can be expected to increase by around 50% to 1,113 billion tonnes
by 2020 ， compared with the 739 billion tonnes recorded in 1990. Once again, road transport is the
main culprit since it alone accounts for 84% of the CO2 emissions attributable to transport. Using
alternative fuels and improving energy efficiency is thus both an ecological necessity and a
technological challenge.
F At the same time greater efforts must be made to achieve a modal shift. Such a change cannot be
achieved overnight, all the less so after over half a century of constant deterioration in favour of road.
This has reached such a pitch that today rail freight services are facing marginalisation, with just 8% of
market share, and with international goods trains struggling along at an average speed of 18km/h. Three
possible options have emerged.

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G The first approach would consist of focusing on road transport solely through pricing. This option
would not be accompanied by complementary measures in the other modes of transport. In the short
term it might curb the growth in road transport through the better loading ratio of goods vehicles and
occupancy rates of passenger vehicles expected as a result of the increase in the price of transport.
However, the lack of measures available to revitalise other modes of transport would make it impossible
for more sustainable modes of transport to take up the baton.
H The second approach also concentrates on road transport pricing but is accompanied by measures to
increase the efficiency of the other modes (better quality of services, logistics, technology). However,
this approach does not include investment in new infrastructure, nor does it guarantee better regional
cohesion. It could help to achieve greater uncoupling than the first approach, but road transport would
keep the lion‟s share of the market and continue to concentrate on saturated arteries, despite being the
most polluting of the modes. It is therefore not enough to guarantee the necessary shift of the balance.
I The third approach, which is not new, comprises a series of measures ranging from pricing to
revitalising alternative modes of transport and targeting investment in the trans-European network. This
integrated approach would allow the market shares of the other modes to return to their 1998 levels and
thus make a shift of balance. It is far more ambitious than it looks, bearing in mind the historical
imbalance in favour of roads for the last fifty years, but would achieve a marked break in the link
between road transport growth and economic growth, without placing restrictions on the mobility of
people and goods.

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

9 The need for transport is growing, despite technological developments. ________

10 To reduce production costs, some industries have been moved closer to their relevant consumers.
________
11 Cars are prohibitively expensive in some EU candidate countries. ________
12 The Gothenburg European Council was set up 30 years ago. ________
13 By the end of this decade, CO2 emissions from transport are predicted to reach 739 billion tonnes.
________

IX/ Finish each sentence in such a way that it means exactly the same as the sentence printed before
it.
1. Their marriage failed probably because of their incompatibility. (down)
The ..............................................................................................................their incompatibility
2. Everything turned out all right in the end, despite some initial problems. (place)
Despite some initial problems, ..................................................................................eventually.
3. Their grandparents established the business in that city almost fifty years ago. (set)
It is ............................................................................................................................in that city.
4. This festival wouldn’t have been possible without your financial support. (made)
Your financial support ...............................................................................................take place.
5. It’s a pity that the stewardess gave us the impression that everything was going well. (led)
If only ..............................................................................................everything was going well.
6. All the guests had arrived by 10 o’clock, when the announcement was made. (time)
The announcement was made at 10 o’clock ...............................................................................
7. Entering the site without protective headgear is strictly forbidden. (account)
...........................................................................................the site without protective headgear.
8. I can’t cope at all with my new job, and that bothers me. (depth)
I wish .......................................................................................................................my new job.
9. You’re asking for trouble by arguing with the boss so aggressively like that. (ice)
You’re .........................................................by arguing with the boss so aggressively like that.

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10. Ian was ill yesterday so he didn’t go into work. (weather)
Ian was .............................................................................. yesterday so he didn’t go into work.