EXERCISES FOR GRADE 10 STUDENTS

I. Complete using the correct forms of provided words. More than one word may fit in some gaps.
concentrate • consider • contemplate • deliberate • gather • grasp • ponder • reckon • suppose
1. It took me quite a long time to _________________ what the aim of the game was.
2. The jury are still _________________, but they‟re expected to reach a verdict soon.
3. I ________________ from your tutor that you‟re thinking of changing course.
4. You really have to ___________________ very hard when you are doing calligraphy.
5. I‟m seriously ________________ asking for a pay rise tomorrow.
6. How long do you _______________ it‟ll take to get to Manchester?
7. I don‟t ___________________ I could borrow your lecture notes this weekend, could I?
8. If you‟ve ever _______________ the question „Why does the universe bother to exist?‟, then this is the book for you.
9. Let‟s not even _____________________ the possibility of failure.
II. Choose A, B, C or D that best fits each blank in the passage
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The Prime Minister's comments yesterday on education spending miss the point, as the secondary education system
also needs a major overhaul. Firstly, the system only views the weakest learners as having special (1) ___. The
brightest and most (2) ___ students are not encouraged to develop to their full potential. Secondly, there's too much
testing and not enough learning. My fifteen-year-old daughter, for example, has just spent the last month or so (3) ___
for exams. These aren't even real, important exams, as her GCSEs will be next year. They're just (4) ___ exams. Is the
work she's been doing really going to make her more (5) ___ about her subjects, or will she forget it all tomorrow? I
suspect the latter.
Thirdly, the standard (6) ___ doesn't give students any (7) ___ in developing practical work-related, living and social
skills, or in skills necessary for higher education. How many students entering university have the first idea what the
difference is between (8) ___ someone else's work and making good use of someone else's ideas? Shouldn't they
have been taught this at school? How many of them are really able to go about (9) ___ - a skill that's essential at
university because there are no teachers to tell you what to do - in an efficient way? Indeed, how many students (10)
___ from university totally unable to spell even simple English words correctly? The system is letting our children
down.
1. A. requests B. desires C. needs D. wants
2. A. inattentive B. ignorant C. intensive D. conscientious
3. A. cramming B. lecturing C reading D. practising
4. A. false B. mock C. fake D. artificial
5. A. knowledgeable B. intellectual C. academic D. intelligent
6. A. timetable B. lecture C. seminar D. curriculum
7. A. lesson B. subject C. tuition D. tutorial
8. A. writing B. going over C. plagiarising D. repeating
9. A. reviewing B. revision C. distance learning D. self-study
10. A. qualify B. graduate C. depart D. exit

THE NEW BRITISH LIBRARY

Originally commissioned 14 years ago, the new British Library was (0) ___ to open in 1990. However, the project has
been (1) ___ by political infighting, poor planning and financial problems. The most recent (2) ___ came in June when
inspectors discovered that 60 miles of new metal shelving had started to (3) ___ and needed to be (4) ___. That would
(5) ___ the opening of the project‟s first phase for yet another two years. “Things have gone from bad to worse,” said
Brian Lake, secretary of the Regular Readers, an association of writers and scholars who are not happy with plans for
the new library. “It is a grand national project that has become a great national scandal.”
It sounded like a splendid idea when the government (6) ___ its £164 million project in 1978. Sophisticated electronic
(7) ___ would help keep the library‟s irreplaceable stock at an optimal (8) ___ and humidity. A computer-controlled
delivery system would provide books to readers within minutes of a (9) ___ rather than days. And to (10) ___ other
needs of the reading public, the library would also include (11) ___ galleries, a restaurant and a conference hall.
That was the plan, (12) ___ The start of construction was delayed until 1982 by arguments about planning and by a
(13) ___ of government. Four years later, members of the cabinet ordered a (14) ___ report and discovered that the
committee responsible for (15) ___ the project hadn‟t met in four years.
0. A. projected B. supposed C. assumed D. pretended
1. A. delayed B. bothered C. infected D. restricted
2. A. comeback B. setback C. drawback D. cutback
 3. A. fade B. melt C. mould D. rust
4. A. substituted B. replaced C. abandoned D. rejected
5. A. distract B. destroy C. postpone D. postdate
6. A. imposed B. unveiled C. claimed D. manifested
7. A. items B. computers C. equipment D. tools
8. A. heat B. temperature C. cold D. warmth
9. A. reservation B. demand C. wish D. request
10. A. fit B. serve C. bring D. obey
11. A. exposition B. show C. exhibition D. demonstration
12. A. especially B. anyway C. eventually D. meanwhile
13. A. variation B. difference C. shift D. change
14. A. progress B. progression C. progressive D. progressing
15. A. guarding B. supervising C. overlooking D. watching
III. Fill in each blank with a suitable word to complete the passage
Learning a second language
Students learning English as a second language are sometimes given a word by their teacher and asked to (1)
_______ an explanation as to what that word means; in (2) _______ words, to provide a definition. The assumption is
that if you know a word, you can define it. Logically, that might make (3) _______, but in reality it is not always
reasonable to assume that. There are words and phrases that (4) ______ native speakers use in conversation without
much thought which can (5) ______ to confusion when you ask a native speaker to define them. (6) _____ the concept
of „Zeitgeist‟, for example, which has entered English (7) ______ German. It‟s undoubtedly much easier to use than it
(8) _____ to define. With a word (9) _____ „Zeitgeist‟, it may be more sensible to test the student‟s understanding in
ways (10) ______ than asking them to define it.

The Best Books

Are there 1,000 books that all of us should read sometime in our lives? Throughout this year, we will be recommending
a collection of books that, when taken (1) _____ a whole, will form a library of 1,000 titles that will inspire and satisfy
(2) _____ kind of reader imaginable. Book lists appear from time to time, often arousing controversy (3) _____ being
too elitist or too populist. But our list is the result of consultations with book buyers and booksellers, people who know
and love books.
Currently, there are well over a million books (4) _____ print. Add to these another 100,000 books published each year
and the choice for readers becomes bewildering, (5) ________ certain books, both classics and contemporary works,
stand (6) _____. While our list doesn‟t identify classics (7) _______ the traditional sense, many of the works included
are considered to be classic books. The list aims to make the reader aware of (8) ______ is available that is
stimulating, rewarding and inspiring. (9) _______ else does one learn about a good read other (10) _____ by
enthusiastic recommendation?
This month we are highlighting fifty books from the area of business and reference. These fifty titles represent the
perfect business and reference library for your needs, (11) _______ personal or professional. Our selection will help
you to expand and enhance your understanding of today‟s fast-changing world of business.
Look out for next month‟s fifty choices, which will (12) ______ you a step nearer completion of your 1,000-book library.
IV. Read the text and answer the questions
The new way to be a fifth-grader
Khan Academy is changing the rules of education
I peer over his shoulder at his laptop screen to see the math problem the fifth-grader is pondering. It's a trigonometry
problem. Carpenter, a serious-feced ten-year-old, pauses for a second, fidgets, then clicks on ”0 degrees." The
computer tells him that he's correct. "It took a while for me to work it out," he admits sheepishly. The software then
generates another problem, followed by another, until eventually he's done ten in a row.
Last November, his teacher, Kami Thordarson, began using Khan Academy in her class. It is an educational website
on which students can watch some 2,400 videos. The videos are anything but sophisticated. At seven to 14 minutes
long, they consist of a voiceover by the site's founder, Salman Khan, chattily describing a mathematical concept or
explaining how to solve a problem, while his hand-scribbled formulas and diagrams appear on-screen. As a student,
you can review a video as many times as you want, scrolling back several times over puzzling parts and fast-
forwarding through the boring bits you already know. Once you've mastered a video, you can move on to the next one.
Initially, Thordarson thought Khan Academy would merely be a helpful supplement to her normal instruction. But it
quickly became far more than that. She is now on her way to "flipping" the way her class works. This involves replacing
some of her lectures with Khan's videos, which students can watch at home. Then in class, they focus on working on
the problem areas together. The idea is to invert the normal rhythms of school, so that lectures are viewed in the
children's own time and homework is done at school. It sounds weird, Thordarson admits, but this reversal makes
sense when you think about it. It is when they are doing homework that students are really grappling with a subject and
are most likely to want someone to talk to. And Khan Academy provides teachers with a dashboard application that
lets them see the instant a student gets stuck.
For years, teachers like Thordarson have complained about the frustrations of teaching to the "middle" of the class.
They stand at the whiteboard trying to get 25 or more students to learn at the same pace. Advanced students get
bored and tune out, lagging ones get lost and tune out, and pretty soon half the class is not paying attention. Since the
rise of personal computers in the 1980s, educators have hoped that technology could save the day by offering lessons
tailored to each child. Schools have spent millions of dollars on sophisticated classroom technology, but the effort has
been in vain. The one-to-one instruction it requires is, after all, prohibitively expensive. What country can afford such a
luxury?
Khan never intended to overhaul the school curricula and he doesn't have a consistent, comprehensive plan for doing
so. Nevertheless, some of his fans believe that he has stumbled onto the solution to education's middle-of-the-class
mediocrity. Most notable among them is Bill Gates, whose foundation has invested $1.5 million in Khan's site. Students
have pointed out that Khan is particularly good at explaining all the hidden, small steps in math problems—steps that
teachers often gloss over. He has an uncanny ability to inhabit the mind of someone who doesn't already understand
something.
However, not all educators are enamoured with Khan and his site. Gary Stager, a long-time educational consultant and
advocate of laptops in classrooms, thinks Khan Academy is not innovative at all. The videos and software modules, he
contends, are just a high-tech version of the outdated teaching techniques—lecturing and drilling. Schools have
become "joyless test-prep factories," he says, and Khan Academy caters to this dismal trend.
As Sylvia Martinez, president of an organization focusing on technology in the classroom, puts it, "The things they're
doing are really just rote." Flipping the classroom isn't an entirely new idea, Martinez says, and she doubts that it would
work for the majority of pupils: "I'm sorry, but if they can't understand the lecture in a classroom, they're not going to
grasp it better when it's done through a video at home."
Another limitation of Khan's site is that the drilling software can only handle questions where the answers are
unambiguously right or wrong, like math or chemistry; Khan has relatively few videos on messier, grey-area subjects
like history. Khan and Gates admit there is no easy way to automate the teaching of writing—even though it is just as
critical as math.
Even if Khan is truly liberating students to advance at their own pace, it is not clear that schools will be able to cope.
The very concept of grade levels implies groups of students moving along together at an even pace. So what happens
when, using Khan Academy, you wind up with a ten-year- old who has already mastered high-school physics? Khan's
programmer, Ben Kamens, has heard from teachers who have seen Khan Academy presentations and loved the idea
but wondered whether they could modify it "to stop students from becoming this advanced."
Khan's success has injected him into the heated wars over school reform. Reformers today, by and large, believe
student success should be carefully tested, with teachers and principals receiving better pay if their students advance
more quickly. In essence, Khan doesn't want to change the way institutions teach; he wants to change how people
learn, whether they're in a private school or a public school—or for that matter, whether they're a student or an adult
trying to self-educate in Ohio, Brazil, Russia, or India. One member of Khan's staff is spearheading a drive to translate
the videos into ten major languages. It's classic start-up logic: do something novel, do it with speed, and the people
who love it will find you.
Questions 1-5
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
1. What do you learn about the student in the first paragraph?
A. He has not used the maths software before.
B. He did not expect his answer to the problem to be correct.
C. He was not initially doing the right maths problem.
D. He did not immediately know how to solve the maths problem.
2. What does the writer say about the content of the Khan Academy videos?
A. They have been produced in a professional manner.
B. They include a mix of verbal and visual features.
C. Some of the maths problems are too easy.
D. Some of the explanations are too brief.
3. What does this reversal refer to?
A. going back to spending fewer hours in school
B. students being asked to explain answers to teachers
C. swapping the activities done in the class and at home
 D. the sudden improvement in students‟ maths performance
4. What does the writer say about teaching to the ‘middle’ of the class?
A. Teachers become too concerned about weaker students.
B. Technology has not until now provided a solution to the problem.
C. Educators have been unwilling to deal with the issues.
D. Students in this category quickly become bored.
5. Students praise Khan’s videos because they
A. show the extent of his mathematical knowledge.
B. deal with a huge range of maths problems.
C. provide teaching at different ability levels.
D. cover details that are often omitted in class.
Questions 6-10
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in the reading passage? Write:
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

6. Thordarson's first impressions of how she would use Khan Academy turned out to be wrong.
7. Khan wished to completely change the way courses are taught in schools.
8. School grade levels are based on the idea of students progressing at different rates.
9. Some principals have invited Khan into their schools to address students.
10. Khan has given advice to other people involved in start-up projects.
Questions 11-14
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-G, below.
11. Bill Gates thinks Khan Academy ____
12. According to Gary Stager. Khan Academy ____
13. Sylvia Martinez regrets that Khan Academy ____
14. Ben Kamens has been told that Khan Academy ____

A. is only suited to subjects where questions have exact answers.

B. can teach both the strongest and the weakest pupils in a class.
C. means the teaching of other school subjects will have to be changed.
D. only prepares students to pass exams.
E. could cause student achievement to improve too quickly.
F. requires all students to own the necessary technology.
G. is unlikely to have a successful outcome for most students.
V. Read the text and choose A, B, C or D to answer the questions
As the twentieth century began, the importance of formal education in the United States increased The frontier
had mostly disappeared and by 1910 most Americans lived in towns and cities. Industrialization and the
bureaucratization of economic life combined with a new emphasis upon credentials and expertise to make schooling
increasingly important for economic and social mobility. Increasingly, too, schools were viewed as the most important
means of integrating immigrants into American society.
The arrival of a great wave of southern and eastern European immigrants at the turn of the century coincided
with and contributed to an enormous expansion of formal schooling. By 1920 schooling to age fourteen or beyond was
compulsory in most states, and the school year was greatly lengthened. Kindergartens, vacation schools,
extracurricular activities, and vocational education and counseling extended the influence of public schools over the
lives of students, many of whom in the larger industrial cities were the children of immigrants. Classes for adult
immigrants were sponsored by public schools, corporations, unions, churches, settlement houses, and other agencies.
Reformers early in the twentieth century suggested that education programs should suit the needs of specific
populations. Immigrant women were one such population. Schools tried to educate young women so they could
occupy productive places in the urban industrial economy, and one place many educators considered appropriate for
women was the home.
Although looking after the house and family was familiar to immigrant women, American education gave
homemaking a new definition. In preindustrial economies, homemaking had meant the production as well as the
consumption of goods, and it commonly included income-producing activities both inside and outside the home, in the
highly industrialized early-twentieth-century United States, however, overproduction rather than scarcity was becoming
a problem. Thus, the ideal American homemaker was viewed as a consumer rather than a producer. Schools trained
women to be consumer homemakers cooking, shopping, decorating, and caring for children "efficiently" in their own
homes, or if economic necessity demanded, as employees in the homes of others. Subsequent reforms have made
these notions seem quite
out-of-date.

1. It can be inferred from paragraph 1 that one important factor in the increasing importance of education in
the United States was
(A) the growing number of schools in frontier communities
(B) an increase in the number of trained teachers
(C) the expanding economic problems of schools
(D) the increased urbanization of the entire country
2. The word "means" is closest in meaning to
(A) advantages (B) probability (C) method (D) qualifications
3. The phrase "coincided with" is closest in meaning to
(A) was influenced by (B) happened at the same time as
(C) began to grow rapidly (D) ensured the success of
4. According to the passage, one important change in United States education by the 1920's was that
(A) most places required children to attend school
(B) the amount of time spent on formal education was limited
(C) new regulations were imposed on nontraditional education
(D) adults and children studied in the same classes
5. Vacation schools and extracurricular activities are mentioned to illustrate
(A) alternatives to formal education provided by public schools
(B) the importance of educational changes
(C) activities that competed to attract new immigrants to their programs.
(D) the increased impact of public schools on students.
6. According to the passage, early-twentieth century education reformers believed that
(A) different groups needed different kinds of education
(B) special programs should be set up in frontier communities to modernize them
(C) corporations and other organizations damaged educational progress
(D) more women should be involved in education and industry
7. The word "it" refers to
(A) consumption (B) production (C) homemaking (D) education
VI. Fill in each blank with a suitable particle
1. I need to think _______ your offer very carefully before I make a decision.
2. Lee came _____ _____ the brilliant idea of booking a clown for the end-of-term party.
3. It‟s time you faced _____ _____ the fact that you‟ve got responsibilities now.
4. I‟m going to have to brush _____ _____ my spoken German before I go to Munich.
5. I didn‟t like the idea at first but I‟ve come _____ _____ it now.
6. There‟s nothing to swot _____ _____ as it‟s a general knowledge quiz.
7. I was unable to make _____ what the speaker was saying because we were right at the back of the hall.
8. We finally puzzled _____ a way to get the band into the hotel without the press knowing.
9. I‟ve been reading _____ _____ the history of English language teaching recently.
VII. Complete idioms using the provided words to form
bell • bend • dark • hairs • head • leg • stock • two • uptake • what • wits • wood
1. The name Alan Hickson rings a _______ but I can‟t place him.
2. Stop wasting time splitting _______ and look at the big picture.
3. Ask Simon about the sales targets. He always knows what's _______.
4. You‟ve got to have your _______ about you to succeed in advertising.
5. Don‟t let success go to your _______, will you?
6. No one told us that Diana was leaving, but we all put two and _______ together.
7. I‟m going to go round the _______ if they don‟t turn that music down soon.
8. Let‟s take _______ of the situation before we make a final decision.
9. How did they manage to keep me completely in the _______ about this for so long?
10. The problem with Jane is that sometimes she can‟t see the for _______ the trees.
11. It took Dan a long time to understand what was going on. He‟s usually quicker on the _______ than that, isn‟t he?
12. Frankly, you‟re completely wrong and you haven‟t got a _______ to stand on.
VIII. Fill in each blank with one of the provided words
appearances ● best ● clockwork ● date ● delay ● fuss ● glimpse ● guess ● heart ●
leave ● line ● mind ● prime ● terms ● senses
1. We expect Mike to drop us a _________ as soon as he arrives in Mexico.
2. Mr Dalton tried to keep up _________. However, the rest of the party knew he was awfully depressed after the
divorce.
3. You could have avoided making so much _________ about so trivial a problem.
4. I've told you it's impossible to get in touch with detective Parker because he has been on _________ in Spain since
last Thursday.
5. We didn't have to wait long for the copy as the clerk was most kind and made it without any _________.
6. I'm not sure about the exact number, but at a _________ he has invited about fifty guests to his birthday party.
7. The manager and the singer have been on very good _________ with each other. They even seem to be close
friends.
8. Gordon McAlister was a man of great success. He made a big fortune in the _________ of his youth and lived
comfortably ever after.
9. Stop spraying the paint on to me! Have you taken a complete leave of your _________?
10. I can't think how he succeeded in winning Jenny's _________ being so rude and vulgar to other girls.
11. You may feel absolutely safe to tell me whatever you know. I won't give you away, for sure. Go on, speak your
_________
12. He isn't good enough to become the champion. At _________ he may take the second place.
13. Mark never changes his routines. He is as regular as _________.
14. Whitney has never seen the boy she is meeting this evening. In fact, their appointment is a blind _________.
15. It is out of the question for me to give an exact description of the burglar as I only caught a _________ of his face
when he rushed towards the door.
IX. Rewrite the following sentences using provided words so that their original meanings do not change
1. I like all the people working as managers in this company. WHO
I like everyone ______________________________________________ position in this company.
2. The service was first-class and the rooms were excellent too. ONLY
Not ______________________________________________ the service was first-class too.
3. You have two possibilities - driving there or going by train. EITHER
You ______________________________________________ there by train.
4. At the concert I didn't play as well as I expected. SHOULD
I_________________________________________________ at the concert.
5. The food at this restaurant is delicious and the prices are very reasonable. MEALS
This restaurant ______________________________________ very reasonable prices.
6. Jack has several close friends that he talks to about how he feels whenever he has a problem. SHARE
Jack has several close friends ________________________________ whenever he has a problem.
7. Pauline asked me to have a quick look at the report before it was made public. EYE
Pauline asked me ________________________________________ the report before it was made public.
8. The twins are so alike that most people find it hard to distinguish one from the other. DIFFERENCE
The twins are so alike that not many people __________________________________________ them.
9. Surely if Sandra had caught the train, she‟d be here by now. MISSED
Sandra _________________________________________________________ she‟d be here by now.
10. Unfortunately. Katie has decided to withdraw from the competition. PULL
Unfortunately. Katie has made up ____________________________________ the competition.
11. Sometimes friends stop appreciating each other and that‟s a pity. GRANTED
Sometimes friends start _____________________________________________ is a pity.
12. Children in this country usually start attending school when they‟re six. AGE
Children in this country usually attend __________________________________________ six.
13. It might well rain tomorrow so I think you should take your umbrella. IN
Don‟t forget to take your umbrella ___________________________________________ tomorrow.
14. That man over there lost his temper in the public meeting. HANDLE
That‟s _________________________________________________ in the public meeting.
15. We honestly all found it almost impossible not to laugh when we saw Josh's new haircut. FACE
Honestly, __________________________________________ almost impossible when we saw Josh‟s new haircut.
16. The phone bill was so expensive that Dave was furious. ARMS
Dave was _________________________________________________ an expensive phone bill.