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Practice Test A
06/10/2014 15:31
Contents
Paper 1 Reading and Use of English
Paper 2 Writing
13
Paper 3 Listening
15
Paper 4 Speaking
20
27
Acknowledgements 32
2
Practice Test X6 BOOK.indb 2
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B perfectly
C suitably
D appropriately
Kites
Kites are flown all around the world. Apart from a kite, all you need is some wind and (0)
a beach where you can stand. Kiting is an interest that (1)
were flown in Asia and by the year 1000 they played a significant (2)
instance, they were sometimes flown over a house to (3)
a hill or
people even thought kite-flying could encourage the winds to blow away the rain clouds and (4)
the crops from flooding. Eventually, however, scientists and inventors began to be (5)
potential of kites. (6)
then, large kites have been developed which can pull people and vehicles and lift
a fortune.
1 Agets
Bgoes
Cstands
Dcomes
2 Apurpose
Bfunction
Cposition
Drole
3 Aannounce
Btell
Cadvise
Dinform
4 Amaintain
Bprevent
Csupport
Davoid
5 Aattentive
Bsensitive
Cfamiliar
Daware
6 A After
BFollowing
CSince
DLater
7 Aremains
Bstays
Ccontinues
Dkeeps
8 Acharge
Bspend
Cpay
Dcost
of the full
T O
selected, the children are expected to attend training sessions. Teams consist (12)
different age groups and each age group has a slightly different start time (13)
running at the same time. There is one thing about the London Mini Marathon that makes (14)
compared to other mini races for kids. It is (15)
unique
race for adults but it is also run on part of the same course. This is (16)
the participants.
F A M O U S
for
FAME
NEIGHBOUR
him being pulled along in a cart by a robot which also has the
(18)
Wu Yulus (19)
, it
ABLE
OBSESS
FORTUNE
KNOW
INVENT
ASSIST
PRACTICE
chopping vegetables. His robots are like children to him and he gives
each one his family name.
There was such a big crowd waiting outside the stadium that I couldnt find my friends.
SO
There
find my friends.
The gap can be filled by the words were so many, so you write:
Example:
WERE SO MANY
Write only the missing words IN CAPITAL LETTERS on the separate answer sheet.
25
Despite having plenty of money, Josh decided not to buy the football boots.
EVEN
26
The dance class was cancelled because of a lack of interest among the students.
ENOUGH
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I know I didnt leave my bag at school because I took my phone out on the bus.
CANT
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TAKE
My grandfather
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We need to walk faster or the shops will be closed when we get there.
UNLESS
30
GIVEN
Free drinks
plenty of money.
interested.
my bag at school.
faster.
line 49
line 50
31
Why does the writer compare his story to those told in films?
A to illustrate the interest in stories of people succeeding through their own talents
B to suggest that the stories of real people can be made into good films
C to complain that film-makers are not so interested in the stories of sports people
D to show the importance of realising that everybody has a unique story to tell
32
The writer refers to the purchase of the table tennis table as good fortune because
B it was not a logical item for his parents to spend their money on.
C the garage was only just big enough for it to fit in.
33
Why did the brothers spend so much time playing table tennis together?
A
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What is meant by the other sports were just a front in lines 4950?
A The children didnt appreciate Mr Charters efforts to improve their table tennis.
B Mr Charters got annoyed that he had to spend time on sports other than table tennis.
C Mr Charters used other sports to find children who might be good at table tennis.
D Other sports Mr Charters taught were less popular with the children than table tennis.
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A The fact that Silverdale Road produced so many table tennis players can be explained.
B Similar circumstances in other parts of the world have not had the same results.
C It became clear that the success of Silverdale Road could only continue for a short time.
D The people in surrounding villages wished they had the same sporting facilities.
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He wishes he had had the chance to try other sports too.
C He is aware that success can take some of the pleasure out of a sport.
10
11
there is a need for the user to be patient at certain points in the game?
43
44
the faults in the way the game sometimes worked have been fixed?
45
the game has similarities to some films with a particular actor in them?
46
47
the game might not attract more users despite better graphics?
48
49
some of the games fans have recently been lost to competing games?
50
a vital part is played by the graphics in maintaining the users interest during the game?
51
52
12
Writing Part 1
You must answer this question. Write your answer in 140190 words in an
appropriate style on the separate answer sheet.
1 In your English class you have been talking about the importance of sport. Now your
English teacher has asked you to write an essay for homework.
Write your essay using all the notes and giving reasons for your point of view.
Notes
Write about:
1. getting fit
2. having fun
3. (your own idea)
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Writing Part 2
Write an answer to one of the questions 25 in this part. Write your answer in 140190 words in an
appropriate style on the separate answer sheet. Put the question number in the box at the top of the
answer sheet.
2 You have seen this announcement in an English-language magazine for schools.
Stories wanted
We are looking for stories to appear in our magazine. Your story
must begin with this sentence:
As soon as Joanna saw the woman at the back of the room, she
realized her life was about to change.
Your story must include:
some news
a journey
3 You have received this email from your English friend, Alex.
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our English class has had a discussion about what happens in Touching the Void. Now your teacher has
Y
given you this essay for homework:
Listening Part 1
Questions 18
01 You will hear people talking in eight different situations. For questions 18, choose the best
answer (A, B or C).
1 You hear two students discussing a TV programme they have just watched.
2 You hear a boy telling a friend about a sailing course he has just done.
3 You hear a teacher telling her students about a project they are going to do.
4 You hear a girl talking on the radio about her favourite band.
15
5 You hear two students talking about what happened in an art class at school.
A a ghost film.
B a documentary.
C a childrens story.
16
Listening Part 2
Questions 918
02 You will hear a young chef called Tom Neilson talking about the cookery competition he has just won.
For questions 918, complete the sentences with a word or short phrase.
In the local final you are also tested on various things such as (13)
in the kitchen.
Tom feels that competing in the national final is challenging because the
(16)
17
Listening Part 3
Questions 1923
03 You will hear five short extracts in which people are talking about school visits to places of interest. For
questions 1923, choose from the list (AH) what each speaker says. Use the letters only once. There are
three extra letters which you do not need to use.
Speaker 1
19
Speaker 2
20
Speaker 3
21
Speaker 4
22
Speaker 5
23
18
Listening Part 4
Questions 2430
04 You will hear an interview with an American girl who sings in a choir. For questions 2430, choose
the best answer (A, B or C).
24 What does Gina say about the members of her choir?
26 Gina feels that through mixing with people in the choir, she has learnt
A a little frightened
B slightly stressed
C ready to be criticised
19
A his personality
Speaking
About the Speaking test
The Speaking test lasts for about 14 minutes. You take the test with another candidate (called your
partner). There are two examiners one will speak to you and your partner, the other will only listen.
Both examiners will award marks. The listening examiner gives five different marks: grammar and
vocabulary, discourse management, pronunciation and interactive communication. The speaking
examiner awards one mark for overall performance.
Part 1 (2 minutes)
The examiner will ask you and your partner questions about yourselves. You may be asked
questions about everyday topics such as your family, how you spend your free time and your career
plans.
Part 2 (4 minutes: a 1-minute long turn for each candidate and 30 seconds for a response from the
second candidate)
In this part of the Speaking test, the examiner will show you two photographs and will ask you to talk
about them for one minute. Your partner will then be asked a question about your photographs.
Then the examiner will show your partner two different photographs. Your partner will talk about
these photographs for one minute. This time the examiner will ask you a question about your
partners photographs.
Part 3 (4 minutes)
Now the examiner will ask you and your partner to talk together. The examiner will give you a piece
of paper with a question written on it and some ideas to help you. You and your partner talk together
about the question, listening and responding to each others ideas, agreeing and disagreeing. You
should both take turns so that you speak for the same amount of time. The examiner will then ask a
further question to encourage you to summarise your discussion.
Part 4 (4 minutes)
The examiner will ask some further questions related to the Part 3 topic. The idea is to have a
discussion in a little more depth about the topic. The examiner may ask you to answer questions on
your own, or may encourage you to discuss questions with your partner.
20
Speaking Part 1
2 minutes (3 minutes for groups of three)
The interlocutor introduces him/herself and asks you and your partner your names as below:
Good morning/afternoon/evening. My name is
(Why?)
21
Speaking Part 2
1 Getting exercise
2 Holidays
Now, (Candidate B), here are your photographs (page 24). They show different kinds of holidays.
Id like you to compare the photographs and say what you think the young people are enjoying
about these different types of holiday.
When Student B has finished, the examiner asks Student A a question.
(Candidate A), what kind of holiday do you enjoy most? ... (Why?)
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23
What are the people enjoying about these different types of holiday?
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Speaking Part 3
4 minutes (5 minutes for groups of three)
Now, Id like you to talk about something together for two minutes.
Id like you to imagine that a secondary school has some money to spend on improving
the facilities. Here are some things your school could spend some money on and
a question for you to discuss. First you have some time to look at the task.
[15 seconds]
Now, talk to each other about why these things might be useful for most students.
The examiner then asks you to decide something together.
Thank you. Now you have about a minute to decide which two things you
would not spend the money on.
Speaking Part 4
4 minutes (6 minutes for groups of three)
The examiner asks you some questions related to the activity in Part 3.
Here are some examples of questions you might have:
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Some people say students spend too much time studying and not enough time doing other things.
What do you think?
Should schools provide sports facilities or should children do sport outside school?
Do you think schools should have an orchestra? Why? / Why not?
Which activities do you do outside school? Which do you enjoy the most?
Do you think drama is an important subject to include at school? Why? / Why not?
ome people say that practical subjects like design and technology and art are as important as
S
academic subjects. What do you think?
computer room
drama studio
school bus
music room
tennis courts
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Writing
Part 1 Answer guidelines
1
Style
The essay is always written for the teacher so it needs
to be written in a formal style; without contractions, for
example. In your answer you need to show that you can
give your opinion, with reasons. For this task you are free
to agree or disagree with the idea that it is good for all
young people to do sport. To do this well you will need to
be able to communicate your ideas clearly, give examples
and present advantages and disadvantages.
Content
You need to answer to the essay question by writing about
both of the content points given on the question paper, and
by providing one content point of your own. Whether you
agree or disagree with the essay question, it is important
that you argue from your own point of view. You many feel
there are a number of disadvantages to doing sport, or that
not all sports are equally suitable for young people because
they are too aggressive or dangerous.
Organisation
Plan your essay before you begin to write in order to
present your ideas in a logical way. You will need to decide
what each paragraph is about. In the first paragraph, you
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Organisation
Plan what you want to say in each paragraph of your email.
You might want to start by showing excitement at Alexs
visit (Thats fantastic news!). Your first paragraph could
give factual details about the town (size, location and so
on) then the second paragraph could focus on the towns
special qualities: is it relaxing, friendly, busy, etc.? You
might want to deal with the last two questions together
(what young people can do and whether Alex would like it)
as it would be natural to do so. The final paragraph could
then be an offer to show Alex around.
4
Style
The review should be neutral but to keep the reader
interested you will need to use lively language and full
sentences when you describe your favourite TV series. Do
not use bullet points or subheadings. Remember, you want
the reader to choose your review to be put on the website
next week.
Content
Think of a TV series you want to write about you might
want to use that as the title of your review. You will need
to give the reader a summary of the storyline of the series
and descriptions of the main characters. You should use
a range of narrative tenses, including present and past.
Explain clearly why you like the series: is it the quality of
the dialogue, the relationships between the characters or
perhaps how funny or dramatic it is? Is there a particular
episode that you can talk about that highlights the things
you like about the series? Although this is your favourite
TV series you are reviewing, it is fine if you want to
include a couple of things that you dont like so much or
that you hope improve as you continue to watch. End by
recommending the series. If you think that not all young
people would like it, only those with a particular interest,
then that would be good to include.
Organisation
Before you start to write, plan what each paragraph of
your review is going to be about. Each of your paragraphs
should answer the separate questions asked in the task
(what it is about / why you like it / whether other young
people would enjoy watching it). Avoid just writing a list
of all the things you like about the show. Instead, focus on
the two or three main things that you like and write fully
about them.
5
Style
The essay should be neutral or formal as you are writing
it for your teacher to read. You will need to use a range of
past tenses to explain what happened in the story and how
Joe managed to survive.
Content
You will need to present the main parts of the story that
lead to Joes survival. You might also want to talk about
his personality, as his courage and mental strength also
helped him to survive. You will need to have a good
knowledge of the main details of the story to answer this
question.
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Organisation
You will need to plan what you want to write and
think about what the focus of each paragraph is going
to be. For example, in your first paragraph you could
start with a brief description of Joe as an individual,
his strengths and qualities. Each of the following
paragraphs could then focus on an event in his journey
down the mountain and you could relate the decisions
he made and the way he coped with problems to the
personal qualities you mentioned in the first paragraph.
Listening
Part 1
1 B 2 A 3 B 4 A 5 A 6 C 7 C 8 B
Part 2
9 hotels
10 pop stars
11 main course
12 cost
13 safety
14 advice
15 timetable
16 ingredients
17 presentation
18 (kitchen) knives
Part 3
19 E 20 C 21 A 22 H 23 G
Part 4
24 B 25 C 26 C 27 C 28 A 29 B 30 A
Recording script
Part 1
You will hear people talking in eight different situations. For
questions 18, choose the best answer, A, B or C.
Question 1. You hear two students discussing a TV
programme they have just watched.
Girl:
Boy:
Girl:
Boy:
Me too.
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Boy:
Girl:
Great.
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Girl:
Boy:
Girl:
Boy:
Girl:
Great!
Part 2
You will hear a young chef called Tom Neilson talking about
the cookery competition he has just won. For questions
918, complete the sentences with a word or short phrase.
Well, Im going to talk about a cookery competition Ive
been taking part in called Young Chef, and actually Im really
pleased, cos Ive got a place in the national final!
So, Young Chef is a competition for students aged 1416
who are studying catering. I actually found quite a few
competitions you can enter, and theyre usually run by the
food industry. This one is different though, its organised
by a chain of (9) hotels. It was first started about ten
years ago, and I discovered it was because they wanted
to attract more young people into working for them as
chefs. Apparently some research had shown that very few
teenagers considered a career as a chef, even though they
admired the top chefs like Jim Marsh in the same way they
do famous (10) pop stars. That really surprised me!
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Part 3
You will hear five short extracts in which people are talking
about school visits to places of interest. For questions
1923, choose from the list (AH) what each speaker says.
Use the letters only once. There are three extra letters which
you do not need to use.
Speaker 3
We went to a place called Dinosaur Island last month on a
school visit. At the visitor centre we did a lot of interactive
stuff like weighing fossils. It was fascinating. Ive always
loved that kind of stuff, and I decided while I was there that
Im going to work in science when I finish school. I really
enjoyed going on a walk along the beach too, to collect
fossils. Our teacher thought wed have an expert guide
with us but in the end there was just us and it was more fun
really. Hes really nice and he didnt give us any worksheets
or anything
Speaker 4
We went on a school visit to the Eden Project as part of
our biology course on the environment. Its a huge place! I
couldnt believe my eyes when I got there. We spent a day
learning about the rainforest and had a talk from someone
whos spent his whole career studying it. It was so inspiring
to hear about his experiences. We found out about the links
between the UK and the rainforest too, you know, through
things like the plants we get medicines from. And at the end
of the day we went into the souvenir shop, which had some
fantastic stuff.
Speaker 5
Im doing media studies this year, and we got a great visit
to a film studio as part of our course. I couldnt believe how
hands on it was! I knew we were going on a sort of behind
the scenes walking tour, and I thought wed just have a
guide to show us round and talk to us. But we walked round
the sets, tried on costumes, and were shown how to do
special make-up. And the best thing of all was the special
effects show at the end. I loved it! Id recommend the visit to
anyone
Part 4
You will hear an interview with an American girl who sings in
a choir. For questions 2430, choose the best answer (A, B
or C).
Interviewer:
Gina:
Hi
Interviewer:
Gina:
Interviewer:
Gina:
Oh yes!
Interviewer:
Why is that?
Gina:
Speaker 1
I went on a visit to London this year with my school, and
this time we went to the British Museum. Our teacher said
thered be lots of hands-on stuff and there was. And really,
I had the best time ever. We had a worksheet to fill in in
some of the galleries, and you could learn a lot doing that.
The visit made history feel well, alive to me. I used to think
it was really dull. Not any more though. What I really loved
was that everything was bright and colourful in the exhibits
we went to.
Speaker 2
Our school visit was to an outdoor activity centre this year. I
wasnt keen on the idea at first. I was hoping for a trip to the
science museum, like last year. They said it was going to be
all team challenges and climbing trees and mud and stuff,
which didnt sound like my scene at all. When we got there,
though, the activity leader let us choose which activities
we did. I decided to try rock climbing, so I spent a morning
being taught the basics, and then doing an easy climb. Id
never done anything like it before, and it was great!
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31
Interviewer:
Gina:
Interviewer:
Gina:
Interviewer:
Gina:
Interviewer:
Gina:
Interviewer:
Gina:
Interviewer:
Gina:
Thank you.
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Acknowledgements
The authors and publishers acknowledge the following sources of copyright
material and are grateful for the permissions granted. While every effort
has been made, it has not always been possible to identify the sources
of all the material used, or to trace all copyright holders. If any omissions
are brought to our notice, we will be happy to include the appropriate
acknowledgements on reprinting.
Photos
Key: T=Top; B=Below
p.23T: Mark Herreid / Shutterstock; p.23B: Nik Taylor / Alamy; p.24T:
bikeriderlondon / Shutterstock; p.24B: franckreporter pxcm / Getty.
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