9Skills Test

Reading
Name ................................................................................................................................................

Class .......................................................... Date ....................................................................

1a Read the text and complete the table.

name Christopher Columbus James Cook
nationality 1
___________________________ 5
___________________________
year born 1451 6
___________________________
year of first journey 2
___________________________ 7
___________________________
Caribbean 8
___________________________
sailed to 3
___________________________ New Zealand
4
___________________________ 9
___________________________
10
__________________________
name of ship(s) Santa Maria Endeavour
11
__________________________
12
__________________________

12

Explorers
Christopher Columbus
Christopher Columbus was a great
Italian explorer. He was born in
Genoa, Italy in 1451. He sailed to
the Caribbean and South America
four times. People in Europe wanted
to buy spices and beautiful things
from India and other countries in
Asia. Columbus wanted to find a
fast route from Europe to India. On his first journey in 1492
he sailed west from Spain in his ship Santa Maria. When
he saw land, he decided it was India – but it wasn’t. It was
a Caribbean island! Later on he visited Venezuela and
Mexico. He was only the second European to visit America,
and after his journeys, many Europeans travelled to North,
Central and South America and lived there.
James Cook
James Cook was a British explorer.
He was born in 1728. He sailed to the
Pacific Ocean three times, and was the
first European to visit Australia and
Hawaii. On his first journey he sailed
from England in 1768. His ship’s
name was Endeavour. He travelled
to Tahiti, and then sailed around
New Zealand. He arrived in Australia in 1770, and was the
first European to meet the people who lived in Australia.
On his second journey, Cook travelled to the Pacific Ocean
again on his ship called Discovery. He looked at the sun,
moon and stars and made new maps of the places he
travelled to. On his last journey he visited Hawaii in his ship
called Resolution.

1b Read the text. Decide if the information is Right, Wrong or Doesn’t say.
1 Christopher Columbus was born in 1452. 6 Columbus was the first European to visit America.
a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say
2 Columbus sailed to the Caribbean and South 7 Columbus died in America.
America three times. a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say
a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say 8 James Cook was a British explorer.
3 Columbus wanted to find a fast route from Europe to a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say
India.
9 Cook was born in 1758.
a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say
a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say
4 His ship was called Santa Maria.
10 Cook wanted to live in Tahiti.
a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say
5 Columbus liked the Caribbean island. 11 On his first journey Cook sailed on Discovery.
a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say
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 12 Cook was the first European to meet the people 14 On his last journey Cook visited Hawaii.
who lived in Australia. a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say
a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say 15 Cook studied animals on his visits.
13 Cook made maps. a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say
a Right b Wrong c Doesn’t say
15

Over to you…

2 Answer the questions.

1 Where did you go for your last holiday? ________________________________________________________________________________
2 How did you travel there? ________________________________________________________________________________
3 What interesting things did you see there? ________________________________________________________________________________
4 What other interesting things did you do on your holiday? _______________________________________________
8

Listening
3a 10 Listen to Maria and Omar and decide if the information is true (T) or false (F).
1 Yuri Gagarin was an American astronaut. 6 Yuri travelled in space at over
2 Yuri was the first person to fly in space. 28,000 kilometers per hour.
3 Yuri was born in 1961. 7 Yuri was the first person to orbit the earth.
4 Before he was an astronaut, Yuri worked 8 Yuri landed back on earth by parachute.
as a pilot. 9 Yuri’s spaceship is now in a museum
5 Yuri travelled in space for 108 minutes. near St Petersburg.
10 Yuri died in a plane crash.

3b 10 Listen again and check your answers.

20

Writing
4 Write a paragraph (30-40 words) about My holiday. Include this information:

• Where you went

• How you travelled there
• What you did during the day
• What you ate
• The best thing about the holiday
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________ 20

Total 75

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