LISTENING

Time: 15 minutes

Task 1

For items 1-8 listen to a radio programme about stress that mobile phones can
cause and decide if the statements (1-8) are true (T), false (F), or the information is
not given (NG) in the recording. Then circle your selected answers on the answer
sheet. You will hear the recording twice.

1) It's a phone-in programme about happy people. T F NG

2) A few years ago, the two studio guests decided to live without their mobile
phones. T F NG

3) In his job, Kevin edits a pop magazine. T F NG

4) One of Kevin's colleagues rang him three times while he was busy working on a
review. T F NG

5) Kevin went out to buy a new mobile phone immediately. T F NG

6) Simone's phone fell into the bath, and stopped working. T F NG

7) Simone needed the phone to keep in touch with friends and relatives.

T F NG

8) Simone thinks people should keep a traditional notebook for addresses instead
of a mobile. T F NG

Task 2

For items 9-15 you will hear a woman called Sarah talking about a sport called
free-diving. For each item (9-15) choose A, B or C according to the text you hear.
Then circle your selected answers on the answer sheet. You will hear the recording
twice.
9) What does Sarah say about the history of free-diving?
A It has always been an extreme sport.

В It was once a way of finding food.

С It's less than four hundred years old.
10) What does Sarah say about free-diving today?

A It requires special equipment.

В It's non-competitive.

С It has several different names.

11) How did Tanya Streeter spend a lot of her childhood?

A training to be a diver

В sailing and fishing

С playing in the sea

12) Tanya realised she was a talented free-diver after ...

A she'd entered her first free-diving competition.
В she'd had one lesson in free-diving.
С she'd been doing it for a while.
13) What are the risks of free-diving?
A There aren't any risks involved.
В It is harmful for breathing.
С Free-diving is potentially dangerous for the brain.
14) How does Tanya train?
A She exercises for five hours every day.
В She swims in the sea every day.
С She goes running every day.
15) What advice about free-diving does Sarah give to beginners?
A Practise in the sea whenever possible.
В Take proper lessons.
С Enter as many competitions as you can.

Transfer your answers to the answer sheet!

 READING
Time: 25 minutes
Task 1
You are going to read a text about present-day explorers. Read the text and for
questions 1-10, choose from the people (A-C). The people may be chosen more than
once. For each question circle the correct option (A, B or C) on the answer sheet.

Which explorer

1 made his first trip when he was a teenager?

2 travelled in the company of animals?

3 holds the record for being the first human ever to walk the length of a river?

4 left behind things essential for his journey?

5 crossed interntional borders on one trip?

6 writes books and paints pictures?

7 spent more than two years on his expedition?

8 received advice from local people before going on his expedition?

9 crossed an ocean several times?

10 faced dangers coming from wild animals and humans?

Great explorers

The tradition of explorers dates back centuries, when intrepid men set off across
the ocean to discover new lands. Hundreds of years ago, there were many famous
explorers from places like England, Portugal, Italy, France and Spain. One of the
reasons they travelled was to find wealth in other places such as gold, silver and
spices. Others travelled to expand their king's lands. The public have always
looked up to these explorers as heroes, even if they were unsuccessful. Since that
time, people have continued to search the world for undiscovered places. They've
been to the frozen land of Alaska, the deepest part of the Amazon rainforest, the
depths of the oceans and the tops of the highest mountains. They've even explored
space. These days, most places in the world have already been discovered, but
there are still plenty of remote regions where it’s challenging – and at times
dangerous – to get about. Here are three modern-day explorers that have continued
the tradition.
A Benedict Allen

Benedict Allen is a British explorer who visits remote places and learns about the
people that live there. He became the first person to walk the Skeleton Coast of
Namibia in southern Africa, preparing himself for the task by learning from the
nomadic Himba tribe. The expedition took Benedict three and a half months,
during which he walked about 2,000 kilometres with three unwilling camels.
Together they survived extreme temperatures; went over the highest sand dunes in
the world and crossed the rocky terrain of the north. During the last twenty years,
Benedict's explorations have included crossing the Northeast Amazonian on foot
and by canoe. He had also crossed the Amazon Basin at its widest point, single-
handed and without the help of a map or compass.

B Ed Stafford

In 2010, Ed Stafford, a former British Army captain, completed a record-breaking

journey when he became the first person to trek the entire length of the Amazon
River. He started at the source of the river, which is in the mountains of Peru, and
finished 859 days and about 7,000 km later on the Atlantic coast of Brazil. One of
the biggest challenges was dealing with wildlife. Stafford came across electric eels,
lethal vipers and giant anacondas. As if that wasn’t enough, Stafford suffered an
estimated 50,000 mosquito bites and a tropical fly laid its eggs in the skin of
Stafford’s head. But some of the humans he encountered were even more
threatening than the wildlife. Stafford had been warned to stay away from certain
notorious villages, but on one occasion he was chased by five or six boats full of
angry locals. They were armed with guns and bows and arrows. Stafford thought
they were going to kill him. But in fact, the village chief accompanied Stafford for
47 days of the walk and they ended up becoming good friends.

C Fedor Konyukhov

Fedor Filippovich Konyukhov is a Russian explorer. He was born on 12 December

1951, on the coast of the Sea of Azov. Since the days of his childhood, he wanted
to travel and discover the world, but he didn't just want to visit new places, he
wanted to have a challenge too. At the age of 15, he rowed across the Sea of Azov
in a fishing boat! By the age of fifty he had accomplished more than forty amazing
trips and climbs. These included crossing the Atlantic Ocean fourteen times, once
in a rowing boat. Not only is Konyukhov an explorer, he's an artist and a writer
too. He's painted more than 3,000 paintings of his travels and he's been the author
of many books.
 Task 2

Read the text about Helen Keller, a world-famous writer and public speaker who
overcame blindness and deafness to become influential in the world of American
politics. For statements 11-20 decide whether they are true (T) or false (F). Circle
the correct option (T or F) on your answer sheet.

11) Helen lost her sight and hearing following a childhood illness.

12) A relation of one of the family servants gradually taught Helen sign
language.

13) Anne Sullivan was Helen's teacher, companion and friend for many yars.

14) Anne Sullivan was partially blind.

15) The first word that Helen understood through finger-spelling was 'doll'.

16) It took Helen 25 years of hard work to master clear distinct speech.

17) Helen didn't study at Harvard because they didn't accept disabled people at
that time.

18) Helen became the first deaf and blind woman to complete her higher
education.

19) The social and political causes Helen supported included radical extremism.

20) Helen wrote books for ordinary people but only gave speeches to politicians
and celebrities.

Silent Darkness

Helen Keller was born in 1880 in Alabama, with the ability to both see and hear,
like any normal child. But six months later, she contracted a serious illness,
possibly meningitis. The illness left her both deaf and blind. As she grew up, she
learned to communicate with the daughter of the family cook using sign language
that they invented together. But Helen was an unhappy child and often flew into a
rage. Her mother was very patient with her and tried to help her. She had read
about the successful education of another deaf-blind child, and when Helen was
seven she contacted a special school for blind children in Boston. The director of
the school suggested that Helen work with Anne Sullivan, who was herself
visually impaired and a recent graduate of the school. It was the beginning of a 49-
year relationship between pupil and teacher.
Anne travelled to Helen’s home and immediately began teaching her ‘finger-
spelling’: spelling out words on the palm of Helen’s hand. The first word she tried
to teach her was ‘doll’ – Anne had brought Helen a doll as a present. But Helen
could not make the connection between the letters and the objects and became very
frustrated. After about a month, however, there was a breakthrough. Helen realized
that the movements of Anne’s fingers on her palm, while she poured water over
her other hand, signified ‘water’. By the end of the day Helen had learned thirty
new words.

In 1890 at the age of 10, Helen travelled with Anne to Boston, where she attended
a school for the deaf. She began speech lessons and for 25 years she worked hard
to learn to speak so that other people could understand her. She spent 10 years at
schools in Boston and New York, gradually improving her communication skills.
Anne Sullivan sat next to her in all her classes. As well as speech and finger-
spelling, Helen had by this time mastered several other methods of
communication, including touch-lip reading, Braille, and typing. She also studied
normal school subjects, and in 1900 Helen decided to apply for university. She
wanted to go to Harvard, one of America’s top universities, but Harvard didn't
accept women at that time, so Helen applied for a place at Radcliffe College in
Boston. Again, Anne went with her and helped her with her studies. During her
time at university, Helen wrote her autobiography, called The Story of my Life. In
1904, she graduated from Radcliffe, becoming the first deaf-blind person to gain a
degree.

Helen was determined to help other people with disabilities and travelled widely
giving talks and meeting with politicians and celebrities. She and Anne visited
over 40 countries. She became a socialist, a feminist, a pacifist and fought for the
rights of disabled people as well as for women’s right to vote. At the time, people
thought her views were really radical and extreme, but her fame spread and people
read her books – she wrote 12 of them – and came to hear her speak.

Anne remained Helen’s constant companion until her death in 1936. A young
woman called Polly Thompson, who had worked as a secretary for Helen and
Anne since 1914, then became Helen’s new companion. Helen continued to travel
and to write into her old age, but at the age of 81, she suffered a stroke and spent
the rest of her life at her home in Connecticut. She died in 1968, just a few weeks
before her 88th birthday. Helen received many awards and honours in her life and
through her many speeches and books, she brought inspiration and encouragement
to millions of people. Helen's life and achievements show that what may seem like
an imperfection need not hold anyone back in life.
Transfer your answers to the answer sheet!
 USE OF ENGLISH

Time: 20 minutes

Task 1

Read the text below and choose the correct word to complete each gap (1-10). For
each question, mark the correct letter (A, B or C) on your answer sheet.

Britain: a mix of cultures

Britain has always been a mixture of different nationalities and cultures. The
country itself is made up of four nations – England, Scotland, Wales and
(1)........................................................ – each with its own cultural heritage. Back
in the 17th century, Britain became a global power and gained an enormous
empire. (2)........................................................., the British Empire had reached a
territorial size larger than that of any other empire in history and was home to 458
million people – a fifth of the world’s population! But forty years later, most of the
colonies had (3).........................................................., and immigrants from
Britain’s former colonies had begun to arrive in the UK and contribute to its
multicultural society.

The longest-established ethnic minority in Britain is the black Caribbean

population. After (4)...................................................., there was a labour shortage
in the UK and people from Jamaica and Trinidad, former British colonies, were
encouraged to come and work in Britain. In 1948, 500 came over on the steamship
Empire Windrush, and throughout the following decade, thousands more arrived.
Caribbean culture – especially food and (5).............................................. such as
ska and reggae – gradually became part of British life.
(6)............................................................ – the biggest street festival in Europe –
was started by Caribbean immigrants.

Another wave of immigration to the UK occurred in the 1960s and 1970s.

(7)......................................................... were formerly part of the British Empire,
and many people arrived from those countries. Asians in Britain formed a close
community and on the whole retained their own customs and languages. However,
Indian food is now part of British culture, with Indian restaurants found all over the
country serving (8).........................................., one of Britain’s most popular meals.

Since the expansion of (9)......................................................... in 2004, the UK has

seen more immigrants from (10)...................................................... Most come to
work in Britain and then return home after a few years, but others have chosen to
settle in their new homeland.
 1 A Ireland B Northern Iceland C Northern Ireland
2 A In the early19th century B At the end of the С By the 1920s
19th century
3 A started wars B gained independence С became dependencies
4 A World War One B World War Two С the Revolution
5 A drink B tastes С musical styles
6 A The Notting Hill Carnival B Mardi Gras С Carnival of Santa
Cruz de Tenerife
7 A China and Vietnam B India and Pakistan С Japan and Korea
8 A curry B fish and chips С pudding
9 A the British B the British Empire С the European Union
Commonwealth
1 A the USA B continental Europe С the Soviet Union
0

Task 2

Read the text below and choose the correct preposition to complete each gap
(11-20). For each gap write the correct preposition on your answer sheet.

A selfie victim

A teenager in the UK, Danny Bowman, became addicted (11) ...........................

'selfies' and spent up to ten hours a day taking around 200 photos of himself with
his phone. This was a true case of addiction: it was harmful (12) .............................
his education and his friendships and responsible (13) ...........................................
several health problems. Experts are aware (14) ...................................... the
condition and say it is becoming more and more common. Danny first posted
selfies on Facebook when he was fifteen and soon became obsessed
(15) ................................. reading his friends' comments. Although he was pleased
with many of the things his friends wrote, he was also very sensitive
(16) .................................... criticism. Before long, he was feeling very dissatisfied
(17)......................................... his appearance. He took more and more photos of
himself. His parents became very worried (18) ............................................... his
behaviour. Because they were both mental health nurses, they were familiar
(19)............................................ addictions. They knew that Danny needed help.
Now, after months of hospital treatment, Danny has been successful
(20).......................................... beating his addiction. But it's a growing problem,
with many other cases similar to Danny's.

Transfer your answers to the answer sheet!

 WRITING

Time: 30 minutes

Imagine your school is making a time capsule about life in your country now.
What things do you think should be inside a time capsule.

Write a blog post for the school website (around 100-140 words), describing
three objects that tell people about ...

• nature and/or places

• sport and/or entertainment

• culture and/or traditions

Write in about 100-140 words on the answer sheet.