Dreams & Reality Test

Part A
Grammar and vocabulary

A Read the two sentences describing a situation and then write one sentence about the
same situation using the word if.

Example:
I am not tall. I can’t become a policeman.
If I were taller, I could become a policeman.

1 Sheila didn’t win the lottery. She is still poor.

…………………………………………………………

2 There is so much fog. The plane isn’t able to land.

…………………………………………………………

3 The students practise a lot. Their English is so good.

…………………………………………………………

4 Josh spent his time dreaming. He didn’t achieve anything.

…………………………………………………………

5 We ate all the cake. There isn’t any left for the new guests.
…………………………………………………………

B Choose the correct answer, a, b, c or d to complete the sentences.

6 If ……… hadn’t been so unlucky.

a I
b only I
c I am smarter, I
d I should

7 If you hadn’t worn a helmet, you ……… yourself when you fell off the bike.
a might have injured
b could injure
c were injured
d had injured

8 I wish ……… not shouted at her.

a I
b I have
c I did
d I had

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9 It’s a ……… that I wasted so much time.

a pity
b wish
c providing
d hope

10 That was stupid. You ……… thought more about what you were doing.
a would have
b had only
c should have
d regret to

11 We’ll go to the cinema later ……… you can think of something better to do.
a providing
b unless
c as long
d even

12 You can buy a ticket at a reduced price ……… you have a student card.
a providing
b unless
c as long
d even

C Rewrite the sentence so that it has a similar meaning, using the word given.

Example:
The letter isn’t ready yet.
written
I haven’t written the letter yet.

13 You can only go to the beach if you finish your chores.

providing
………………………………… you can go to the beach.

14 If I have some spare time, I’ll come over.

as
………………………………… some spare time, I’ll come over.

15 Mary won’t play in the team if she doesn’t feel better.

unless
Mary won’t play in the team ………………………………… .

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D Choose the correct words from the list a–k to complete the sentences. There is one
extra word you do not need.

16 I ……… you know where you’re going.

17 I ……… what will happen when the oil runs out.
18 Can you …….. yourself on a luxury yacht in the Mediterranean?
19 It is not uncommon for the news to ……… reality.
20 He didn’t have a good reason so he decided to ……… one up.
21 She didn’t like her job so she decided to ……… .
22 Few people read her book so the ideas in it had very little ……… .
23 I will ……… your advice.
24 We ……… time while we waited for the next lesson to start.
25 He likes to ……… to be more successful than he is.

a make
b distort
c quit
d marked
e envy
f picture
g wonder
h impact
i follow
j pretend
k suppose

E Complete the sentences with the correct form of the words in brackets.

Example:
I thought the film script was confusing (confuse).

26 The reporter was determined to ……………… (exposure) the truth about the company.
27 Starting a family is a huge ……………… (responsible).
28 I can’t describe the ……………… (happy) I felt.
29 You think it’s going to be horrible, but in ……………… (real) it’s quite pleasant.
30 I sometimes ……………… (fantasy) that I am the leader of our country.

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 Dreams & Reality Test
Part B
Reading, listening and pronunciation

F Reading

Read the magazine article about someone pursuing their dreams. Choose the correct
answer, a, b, c or d.

The visit
The two of us embraced in a warm hug at the airport terminal. It must have been five
years, maybe six since we’d last seen each other for a farewell meal in the cosy lounge of
my cousin’s house. It was Peter’s first time in Shanghai, and one of only two or three
visitors from home who’d been able to make the long flight. Home? I wondered what I
really meant by home now. I’d made so many new friends here and the once steady
stream of letters and emails I’d received from my friends and family back in Europe had
now dwindled to a trickle.

I hadn’t meant it to be this way. I’d taken a short-term contract with a firm specialising in
installing and delivering software solutions to some of the new companies setting up in the
gleaming skyscrapers of Shanghai’s business district. But, as luck would have it, one of
these contracts was with a local TV company who were keen to take me on to help advise
on some of the English language content of their news stories. Interest had soon followed
with offers of work from a local magazine for business travellers flicking through feature
articles while waiting for clients in hotel foyers, and from a local radio station. Strange, but
true. I’d started here as a consultant, but in China’s fast moving economy, I’d ended up
staying – fascinated by the pace of life and the ‘can-do’ attitude of local people.

But Peter’s visit was disturbing. Sure, he was impressed by the views across the Bund
afforded by my apartment, and by the ultra-modern architecture and neon adverts along
Shanghai’s bustling streets, thronging with street markets, pavement restaurants and
24-hour traffic. We lived in different worlds. He’d stayed back in the UK and was living a
comfortable suburban lifestyle with a family saloon car, holidays abroad and a nine–five
job in a steady career. I was living in a constantly changing and fast-moving city.

I’d taken him to karaoke with a group of my friends. I’d enjoyed it, but it struck me that
Peter was completely unused to the cultural intimacy of singing your heart out in a four
metre square soundproofed room with three or four others and a TV monitor. I soon
realised that what he most wanted to do was spend some quiet time with me, catching up
with how I felt about the direction my life was taking. But unfortunately we never quite got
round to it. I found myself thinking how little time I’d actually spent reflecting on anything
longer term than what my next deadlines were, and what I was going to say on tomorrow’s
radio show.

To Peter’s disappointment, I also found myself remarkably disinterested in news about my

football team’s success, despite the fact that, as students, we’d watched almost all of their
home games together; and even photos of our university friends’ weddings left me thinking
that these were all people and events from a long-lost past, a different time in my life when
my time was freer and when I had very little idea of what I wanted to do.

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Peter left after staying a fortnight. In a sense, despite all the cheerfully reassuring
salutations at the check-in desk I think we both knew it would probably be the last time
we’d meet. It had gone well. We’d seen and done a lot. But, as I returned to the city on the
airport train link, buying my ticket in my accented Chinese, I wondered whether home was
really here in the city or back in the comfortable surroundings of a more conventional life
choice in the UK.

31 From the article we learn that the author …

a has a new job in China.
b is planning to go back to the country of his birth.
c regrets leaving the country of his birth.
d has been educated at a university.

32 The author spends time with a man who …

a wants to start a new life in Shanghai.
b he hadn’t seen for some time.
c has visited him several times.
d didn’t enjoy meeting the author’s friends.

33 In the article the author compares …

a his life in China with Peter’s life in the UK.
b his first job in China with his new job.
c architectural styles in China and Europe.
d the pace of life in China and Europe.

34 In the article the author regrets …

a that he has lost contact with most of his European friends.
b introducing Peter to his friends.
c not spending enough time catching up with Peter.
d moving to Shanghai.

35 The author finds Peter’s visit disturbing because …

a he realised that Peter was no longer his friend.
b he had been too busy to make him feel welcome.
c it reminded him of what he’d given up.
d he had stayed too long.

G Listening
Listen to five people talking about dreams. Choose the correct answer, a, b or c.

36 Speaker one says he …

a works more than he has to.
b wishes he could spend more time with his children.
c regrets not having studied harder at school.

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37 Speaker two says that …
a people are only thinking of themselves.
b her country will have a problem.
c people should dream less.

38 Speaker three believes that …

a the world will never be rational.
b life in the 17th and 18th centuries was better.
c the people of the world should work together.

39 Speaker four says that …

a dreams never come true.
b we dream more if the room is dark.
c dreams reveal something true.

40 Speaker five says that …

a people should join hands.
b we must find a way to stop fighting.
c a perfect future would be boring.

H Pronunciation
Listen to six sentences and underline the stressed word.

Example:
It’s the spiders I can’t stand.

41 I’m a lot more interested in documentaries nowadays.

42 Everybody knows he’s a liar.

43 I had to do it.

44 I wish I could go.

45 Will you stay here?

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