Unit 2 Insight Advanced. Grammar and reading test.

Total points
1.Underline the correct words (a–d).8points
In the 1920s and 1930s, murder mysteries became incredibly popular in Britain.
Among the great 1________ for this golden period were Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery
Allingham and Agatha Christie. Dorothy L. Sayers, who 2________ to religious writing
later in life, first introduced the world to her famous detective, Lord Peter Wimsey, in
1923. By then, Agatha Christie 3________ her first novel, The Mysterious Affair at
Styles. Published in 1921, it featured the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, who always
seemed to be ready and willing to 4________ whenever a murder was committed – he
was quick to investigate, and never took long to find the killer.
Middle-class ladies themselves, Sayers, Allingham and Christie wrote detective stories
set in country houses in which just about every main 5________ was middle class. The
majority of readers who loved the books were also middle class. In part, the popularity
of these detective stories can be seen as a desire by many middle-class British readers
of the time to return to an earlier age when life seemed more stable. It was hard to
6
________ living in the new and rapidly changing world of the 1920s, so they found
solace in the world of the country house murder, where they knew that the crime
7
________, and that the murderer would pay the 8________ for his or her crime.

1 a writers responsible b responsible writers c concerned writers d writers

concerned
2 a would have turned b was due to turn c had been turned d would turn
3 a would already write b had already written c already used to write d would
have already written
4 a bury his head in the sand b spur into action c take the initiative d turn a
blind eye
5 a involved character b character involved c character involving d involving
character
6 a be used to b used to c get used to d forever be
7 a would be solved b would solve c would have solved d would have been
solved
8.a jeopardy b confession c penalty d conviction

2.Complete the sentences with the words below and a suitable form to describe
habitual behaviour. 5p

not / join not / own forever / lie get / live continually / interrupt

Simon’s friends lost respect for him because he ____was__forever lying

_______________________ about where he had been and what he had done.
Since the death of his parents three years ago, Pedro _____ got used to living
________________________ on the streets, and nowadays makes money by shining
shoes.
In our childhood, our older cousin James came to stay, but he _______didn’t
join________________ in any of our games because he considered himself too mature
and serious.

1
That man over there ________is continually interrupting___________________ the
speaker and upsetting the audience. I think the security guard should ask him to
leave.
In the 1950s, young people _______didn’t own______________________ a lot of
technological gadgets, but nowadays almost everybody I know has a smart phone and
a tablet.
3.Complete the sentences with used to, would, get used to or be used to (positive
or negative). Where possible use both “used to” and “would”. 11p

I wouldn’t like to share an office.I ______________________________(possess) my private

space.
The kids _____________________________ (sit) at the table for so long, so they started
running around.
Sorry, I _____________haven’t got used to speaking_____________________________(speak)
English so please forgive my mistakes.
Kate never __________got used to eating__________________________(eat) frogs’ legs,
although she lived in France for 15 years
When my brother and I were young, we, unfortunately, ________wouldn’t see
_____________ (see) our father that often. He _______used to go
_____________________________ (go) off on business trips abroad and when he was home
he ____used to work______________ (work) late at his office.
My co-worker Jeff once told me how he __________used to tease/would
tease____________________ (tease) his little sister until she cried.

4.Complete the sentences using future in the past forms (was/were about, bound, due and
would). You might need to use the negative form. 13p

The student __________would understand___________(understand) her if she had

spoken more slowly.
If I had left earlier, I_______wouldn’t miss___________________ (miss) my flight.
Peter _______was about to leave________________ (leave) when his boss asked me to
work overtime.
The two oil companies, which ___________were due to merge
_______________ (merge) in February, also provided considerable technical assistance.
He promised he__________would meet_____________ (meet) me later, but he didn’t show
up.
They __________were _about to eat_________________(eat) when the fire alarm went off.
Mark _______was about to buy_____________________(buy) that stock when he heard the
news about the company.
Benjamin, our genius, ________was bound to know_________________ (know) how to
solve any technical problem.
The truth _______was bound to come out__________________ (come out) in the end
because he was unable to lie any more.
The start of the film was super. I hoped it _______would get ________________(get)
better, but in fact it got worse as it went on.
He ________was due to spend_____________________ (spend) three more years
in prison before being
deported to Britain in 2001.

2
When the new system was introduced there ______was bound to be _____________ (be)
major changes.
If Joshua hadn't been going so fast, he __wouldn’t have to pay________________________
(pay) the fine.

5 Replace the underlined past forms. Use each of the following at least once:
used to, would + infinitive, past continuous, past perfect. 7p
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, coach journeys out of London 1 were
extremely dangerous because of robbers called ‘highwaymen’ who waited for their
victims near the major roads. Highwaymen 2 often robbed the coaches and their
passengers in lonely areas of heathland or woodland. Before the seventeenth century,
most armed robbers 3 committed their crimes on foot, but what made highwaymen
more effective and more romantic was that they 4 were often on horseback. In the
mid-eighteenth century, scores of highwaymen 5 operated in open, empty moorland –
places such as Hounslow Heath and Finchley Common, which are still open fields
today, but are now, of course, surrounded by London suburbs. Of course, it’s not as if
coach drivers weren’t aware of the dangers lurking in the bushes. The problem was
that they had little choice but to head out on the roads. Many highwaymen, such as
Dick Turpin, who tormented coach passengers on the high road between York and
London, 6 became famous long after they 7 were hanged for their crimes. This was
because songs and legends were written which exaggerated and celebrated their
adventures.
1___used to be________________________
2_______would often rob____________________
3________would often commit___________________
4_________would often be__________________
5_______were operating____________________
6________had became__________________
7_______were hanging____________________

6 Underline or highlight the incorrect form (1only) in each sentence. 7p

Elliot lives in a nice area these days, but he ______________ in a violent neighbourhood
during his teens.
a lived b would live c used to live
Hamish left Claire. She ________________ really upset about it when I saw her.
a felt b would feel c was feeling
Just as Melanie ________ the shop for the evening, somebody arrived and started
banging on the door.
a was about to close b was closing c would close
While he ________________ in France, Peter met the girl he was to marry.
a lived b was living c had lived
The gang ________________ they had no chance of escape long before the police arrived
at the scene.
a had known b were due to know c knew
After she ________________ the house, Louisa came across a used bullet casing behind
the wardrobe.
a swept b was sweeping c had swept
Two men started hammering on the door just as Thompson ________________ the
money from the safe.
a was bound to take b was taking c was about to take

3
7 Complete the text using the correct narrative tenses.15p
Thousands of years ago, the Jade Emperor of China __________organized___________
(organize) a race for animals. He proudly announced that the first 12 animals to finish
___were given________ ( give) a place in the Chinese Zodiac, and have a year named
after them.
The cat and the rat, both late-risers _____asked____________(ask) the ox to wake them
at dawn on the day of the race. The day came. The ox __tried ______________(try) to
wake the cat and the rat, but without success. They _______would
open__________(open) their eyes, turn to the other side and go back to sleep. The race
_______was________(be) about to start. Unwilling to leave them, the ox
_______lifted_______(lift) them onto his back and started running. The rat woke up just
as the ox _______was crossing___________(cross) the last hurdle, a river. The sly rat
knew that he _____would never beat_____________ (never beat) the cat in the race. He
______took_______(take) the chance fate offered him and pushed the cat off the ox’s
back. When the ox reached the other side, the rat _____jumped_________(jump) off and
scampered to victory, just ahead of the ox. The tiger came third, but he _________was
cheating______(cheat). When he __crossed________________(cross) the river, he used the
backs of the animals swimming across as stepping stones, and __was
leaping___________(leap) from one to another.
The cat wasn’t among the first twelve. In fact, she was lucky to finish after he almost
_________drowned_________(drown) in the river. So is it any wonder that cats chase
rats? They can never forget the humiliation.

8 Complete the text using the verbs from the box in narrative tenses.(10p)
Hit slip leave snow go scrape fly fall lie realise

When I lived in London, Matt and I 1____were going______________ to the theatre every
Friday night. One Friday we went to see Romeo and Juliet. The weather was really
treacherous when we 2______had left____________ the theatre. It 3____was
snowing______________ for quite a while and there was a thick covering on the road
and pavements. While Matt 4________scraped__________ ice off the windscreen, he
5
_________slipped _________ and 6_______fell___________ on the pavement. He
7__________lied_____________ there not moving. I 8_____realized_____________ he
9______had hit____________ his head so I had to take him to hospital. Luckily, he was
OK as we 10__________flew________ to New York the following day.

9.Complete the article with sentences A–G. There is one sentence that you do
not need. Total 16p
A He was put in the janitor’s cupboard – solitary confinement – and the other
prisoners were punished because of his actions.
B Each of them was to play their role as convincingly as they possibly could.
C The lead researcher had also been sucked into the experiment and had lost
clarity.
D The idea was simple – take a group of volunteers, tell half of them they are
prisoners, the other half prison wardens, place them in a makeshift jail and watch
what happens.
E The guards saw this as a challenge to their authority, broke up the
demonstration and began to impose their will.

4
F The abusive prison guard, Mr Eshleman, also felt he gained something from the
experiment.
G It snapped him out of the spell.

Read the article again and match the people, Philip Zimbardo (PZ), Dave
Eshleman (DE), Christina Maslach (CM) and Clay Ramsey (CR), to the statements.
Which person…

doesn’t regret being involved in the experiment, but wishes they had done things
differently? _DE___
believes that the experiment was unnecessary and hasn’t proved anything? _CR___
made a recommendation to a colleague with regard to prudent action? __PZ__
feels embarrassed about taking part in the experiment and blames others for what
happened? _CM___

Forty years ago a group of students hoping to make a bit of holiday money turned up
at a basement in Stanford University, California, for what was to become one of the
most notorious experiments in the study of human psychology. 1__D______ The
Stanford prison experiment was supposed to last two weeks. However, it was to end
abruptly just six days later, after a string of mental breakdowns, an outbreak of
sadism and a hunger strike.
‘The first day they came there it was a little prison set up in a basement with fake cell
doors and by the second day it was a real prison created in the minds of each
prisoner, each guard and also of the staff,’ said Philip Zimbardo, the psychologist
leading the experiment.
The volunteers had answered an advertisement in a local paper and both physical and
psychological tests were done to make sure only the strongest took part. ‘After the first
day I noticed nothing was happening. It was a bit of a bore, so I made the decision I
would take on the persona of a very cruel prison guard,’ said Dave Eshleman, one of
the wardens who took a lead role.
At the same time the prisoners, referred to only by their numbers and treated harshly,
rebelled and blockaded themselves inside their cells. 2____B____
‘Suddenly, the whole dynamic changed as they believed they were dealing with
dangerous prisoners, and at that point it was no longer an experiment,’ said Prof
Zimbardo.
It began by making them do press-ups or other exercises and humiliating them. ‘The
most effective thing they did was simply interrupt sleep, which is a known torture
technique,’ said Clay Ramsey, one of the prisoners. ‘What was demanded of me
physically was way too much and I also felt that there was really nobody rational at
the wheel of this thing so I started refusing food.’ 3____G____
‘It was rapidly spiralling out of control,’ said prison guard Mr Eshleman who hid
behind his mirrored sunglasses and a southern US accent. ‘I kept looking for the
limits – at what point would they stop me and say “No, this is only an experiment and
I have had enough”, but I don’t think I ever reached that point.’
4
___A_____ ‘The experiment was the right thing to do, the wrong thing was to let it go
past the second day,’ he said. ‘Once a prisoner broke down we had proved the point –
that situations can have a powerful impact – so I didn’t end it when I should have.’
In the end it was a fellow psychologist who intervened. Prof Zimbardo had been dating
Christina Maslach, a former graduate student, and when she saw what was happening

5
in the basement she was visibly shocked, accusing him of cruelty and calling for
immediate halt. 5___C_____
Prison disturbances in the US drew attention to the Stanford experiment and, all of a
sudden, the dramatic results became well known in the US and all over the world. ‘The
study is the classic demonstration of the power of situations and systems to
overwhelm good intentions of participants and transform ordinary, normal young men
into sadistic guards or for those playing prisoners to have emotional breakdowns,’ said
Prof Zimbardo.
6
___F_____ ‘I learned that in a particular situation I’m probably capable of doing things
I will look back on with some shame later on,’ he said. But prisoner Mr Ramsey felt
the experiment should never have taken place as it had no true scientific basis and
was ethically wrong. ‘The best thing about it, is that it ended early,’ he said.
But Prof Zimbardo calls this ‘naïve’ and argues the work was a very valuable addition
to psychology. ‘It does tell us that human nature is not totally under the control of
what we like to think of as free will, but that the majority of us can be seduced into
behaving in ways totally atypical of what we believe we are,’ he said.