PRACTICE TEST

A. MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

I. PHONOLOGY
Pick out the words whose sound is different from that of the others in each group.
1. A. congestion B. mongolism C. crankshaft D. congregational
2. A. atypical B. anxiety C. irradiance D. capitulate
3. A. rhinestone B. rhinoceros C. coaxingly D. coercive
4. A. boulder B. boulevard C. bouffant D. bouillon
5. A. regimental B. reservoir C. detrimental D. deviance
Choose the word whose stress pattern is different from that of the other three.
1. A. controversial B. predeterminer C. hypodermic D. tantalizingly
2. A. columbine B. combover C. commentate D. comestibles
3. A. defendant B. defecate C. deferment D. demeanor
4. A. readdress B. readjustment C. realignment D. recitative
5. A. recuperative B. recrudescence C. redevelopment D. redistribute
II. VOCABULARY and STRUCTURES
WORD CHOICE - VOCABULARY
Choose the best options to complete the following sentences.
1. Dr Frampton is in charge, but for all ___________ purposes, her assistant runs the office.
A. real B. true C. original D. practical
2. Her children __________ to her.
A. mean all the world B. are world C. are meaningful D. have worldly meaning
3. People who live in glass houses shouldn't ____________ .
A. look down B. throw stones C. close their gates D. share anything
4. I'm going to get a dress for the ball, whether I have to _________, borrow or steal one.
A. beg B. ask C. request D. take
5. Busy as he is, he makes sure he spends a few hours __________ time with his children every day.
A. full B. a part-time C. quality D. perfect
6. Andy's going through a bit of a ________ at the moment - his wife wants a divorce.
A. bad situation B. poor condition C. tough decision D. rough patch
7. Her computer crashed an hour ago and she's lost a morning's work - she's not a happy ____ at the moment.
A. bunny B. world C. cat D. rabbit
8. I'm a _________ sleeper - the slightest noise wakes me.
A. swallow B. short C. sound D. light
9. The uphill stages of the race will really sort the________ from _________.
A. sheep/the goats B. chalks/cheese C. lions/rabbits D. dogs/cats
10. Instead of defending traditional values, the church frequently seems ___________ and irresolute.
A.far-fetched B. strong-willed C. weak-kneed long-awaited
GRAMMAR AND STRUTURES
1. Could you work on Saturday, ______________?
A. if it isn’t necessary B. should the need arise
C. if the need rises D. should the need rise
2. A: Do you think England will win? – “_______”
A. I doubt so B. I doubt it C. I don’t doubt D. No, I doubt
3. The city _________ to recommend it
A. has little B. doesn’t have C. hasn’t got D. isn’t having
4. _________ to save the child from drowning, she nearly lost her own life
A. Owing to attempting B. By attempting
C. wherefor attempting D. In attempting
5. Under its new conductor, _____________ an international reputation.
A. the orchestra has established B. has the orchestra established
C. the orchestra has been established D. has the orchestra been established
6. His handwriting is like ________.
A. the writing a much younger child B. a much younger child
C. that of a much younger child D. that a much younger child wrote it
7. I like to travel but, __________ , I'm very fond of my home.
A. then again B. so there C. otherwise D. or else
8. I won't have those kids _________ all over my flowerbeds.
A. run B. ran C. running D. to run
9. I got food ___________ at that cheap little seafood restaurant.
A. poison B. poisoned C. to poison D. poisoning
10. Red Cross officials _________ to the prison for the first time a few days ago.
A. allowed access B. were allowed access C. were allowed to access D. allowed to access
PREPOSITIONS PHRASAL VERBS
1. All kinds of rumours are ____________ the school closing.
A. flying away B. coming around C. flying around D. getting about
2. Most people are fairly confident that the workers will ___________ in the end.
A. win through B. come over C. play off D. break up
3. The company tried to ______________ its employment of illegal immigrants.
A. cheat on B. take away C. bring off D. cover up
4. The radio station played a Billy Joel song, and I found myself singing _________ to it.
A. along B. on C. in D. at
5. What do you ___________ the new boss? Is he easy to work with?
A. do for B. make of C. get at D. place in
6. Luke's ___________ for the college football team, so he’s always busy on the weekend.
A. working on B. making up C. trying out D. building into
7. He gets ___________ by the other boys because he's so small.
A. over B. picked on C. cheated out D. through
8. When we first hit ___________ the idea, everyone told us it would never work.
A. off B. with C. within D. upon
9. Just ___________ yourself together. There's no point crying about it.
A. pull B. get C. finish D. pride
10. I was waiting in the bus queue when two men ____________ in in front of me.
A. join B. push C. put D. climb
III. READING COMPREHENSION
Read the passage and choose the best answer to each question (10 points)
WARNING ON GLOBAL WARMING
Global warming could cause drought and possibly famine in China, the source of much of Hong Kong’s
food, by 2050, a new report predicts. Hong Kong could also be at risk from flooding as sea level rose. The report
recommends building sea-walls around low-lying areas such as the new port and airport reclamations. Published
by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the report, which includes work by members of the Chinese
Academy of Meteorological Sciences, uses the most recent projections on climate change to point to a gloomy
outlook for China.
By 2050 about 30 to 40 percent of the country will experience changes in the type of vegetation it supports,
with tropical and subtropical forest conditions shifting northward and hot desert conditions rising in the west
where currently the desert is temperate. Crop - growing areas will expand but any benefit is expected to be negated
by increased evaporation of moisture, making it too dry to grow crops such as rice. The growing reason also is
expected to alter, becoming shorter in southern and central China, the mainland’s breadbasket. The rapid changes
make it unlikely that plants could adapt.
“China will produce smaller crops. In the central and northern areas, and the southern part, there will be
decreased production because of water limitations,” Dr. Rik Leemans, one of the author of the report, said during a
brief visit to the territory yesterday. Famine could result because of the demands of feeding the population -
particularly if it grows - and the diminished productivity of the land. “It looks very difficult for the world as a
whole,” he said.
Global warming is caused by the burning of large amounts of fossil fuels, such as coal and oil, which
release gases that trap heat in the atmosphere. World temperatures already have increased this century by about 0.6
degrees Celsius and are projected to rise by between 1.6 degrees and 3.8 degrees by 2100.
Dr. Leemans said China’s reliance on coal - fired power for its industrial growth did not bode well for the world
climate. “I think the political and economic powers in China are much greater than the environmental powers, and
greenhouse gas emissions could accelerate,” Dr. Leemans said. “China is not taking the problem seriously yet,
although it is trying to incorporate this kind of research to see what is going to happen.”
The climate change report, which will be released tomorrow, focuses on China but Mr. David Melville of WWF -
Hong Kong said some of the depressing scenarios could apply to the territory. Food supplies, for instance, could
be affected by lower crop yields. “Maybe we could afford to import food from elsewhere but you have to keep in
mind that the type of changes experienced in southern China will take place elsewhere as well,” he said. Sea levels
could rise as glaciers melted and the higher temperatures expanded the size of the oceans, threatening much of
developed Hong Kong which is built on reclaimed land. Current projections are that sea levels worldwide will rise
by 15 to 90 centimeters by 2100, depending on whether action is taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“Hong Kong has substantial areas built on reclaimed land and sea level rises could impact on that, not only
on Chek Lap Kok but the West Kowloon Reclamation and the Central and Western Reclamation - the whole lot,”
Mr. Melville said, adding that sea - walls would be needed. Depleted fresh water supplies would be another
problem because increased evaporation would reduce levels. Mr. Melville said the general outlook could be helped
if Hong Kong used water less wastefully and encouraged energy efficiency to reduce fuel - burning. He also called
on the West to help China improve its efficiency.
1. Overall, what sort of picture is painted of the future effects of global warming?
A. disastrous B. potentially disastrous
C. relatively optimistic D. on balance things are going to be satisfactory
2. What is this passage?
A. a report B. a preview of a report
C. an article describing a response to a report D. an article previewing a report
3. Mr. David Melville suggests that in the future more food could be imported into Hong Kong. He thinks these
measures could be……… .
A. efficient B. sufficient C. insufficient D. inefficient
4. In paragraph 2, negated is closest in meaning to……… .
A. made possible B. made ineffective C. reduced D. paid for
5. In paragraph 7, depleted could be replaced by which of the following?
A. reduced B. poor C. decaying D. decimated
6. The main point of paragraph 3 is to describe:
A. effects of changes in the climate of China on food production
B. future changes in the climate of China
C. effects of changes in the climate of China on the growing season
D. projected future changes in the climate of China
7. The main point of paragraph 5 is to describe
A. global warming
B. the effects of global warming
C. the causes and projected effects of global warming
D. the causes and effects of global warming
8. In paragraph 7, which point is Mr. Melville NOT making ?
A. suggesting that there is a potential disaster in Hong Kong
B. suggesting that reclamation areas are at risk
C. criticizing current safeguards
D. making a call for action
9. How would you describe the Dr. Leemans’ attitude towards China?
A. mainly favorable B. critical C. supportive in theory D. admiring
10. In paragraph 5, reliance is closest in meaning to which of the following?
A. stress B. emphasis C. dependence D. referendum
Read the passage and do the tasks that follow. (10 pts)
A.
Besides the earth’s oceans, glacier ice is the largest source of water on earth. A glacier is a massive stream or sheet
of ice that moves underneath itself under the influence of gravity. Some glaciers travel down mountains or valleys,
while others spread across a large expanse of land. Heavily glaciated regions such as Greenland and Antarctica are
called continental glaciers. These two ice sheets encompass more than 95% of the earth’s glacial ice. The
Greenland ice sheet is almost 10,000 feet thick in some areas, and the weight of this glacier is so heavy that much
of the region has been depressed below sea level. Smaller glaciers that occur at higher elevations are called
alpine or valley glaciers. Another way of classifying glaciers is in terms of their internal temperature. In
temperate glaciers, the ice within the glacier is near its melting point. Polar glaciers, in contrast, always
maintain temperatures far below melting.
B.
The majority of the earth’s glaciers are located near the poles, though glaciers exist on all continents, including
Africa and Oceania. The reason glaciers are generally formed in high alpine regions is that they require cold
temperature throughout the year, in these areas where there is little opportunity for summer ablation (loss of
mass), snow changes to compacted firm and then crystallized ice. During periods in which melting and
evaporation exceed the amount of snowfall, glaciers will retreat rather than progress. While glaciers rely heavily
on snowfall, other climatic conditions including freezing rain, avalanches and wind, contribute to their growth.
One year of below average precipitation can stunt the growth of a glacier tremendously. With the rare 7 exception
of surging glaciers, a common glacier flows about 10 inches per day in the summer and 5 inches per day in the
winter. The fastest glacial surge on record occurred in 1953, when the Kutiah Glacier in Pakistan grew more than
12 kilometers in three months.
C.
The weight and pressure of ice accumulation causes glacier movement. Glaciers move out from under themselves,
via plastic deformation and basal slippage. First, the internal flow of ice crystals begins to spread outward and
downward from the thickened snow pack also known as the zone of accumulation. Next, the ice along the ground
surface begins to slip in the same direction. Seasonal thawing at the base of the glacier helps to facilitate this
slippage. The middle of a glacier moves faster than the sides and bottom because there is no rock to cause friction.
The upper part of a glacier rides on the ice below. As a glacier moves it carves out a U-shaped valley to a riverbed,
but with much steeper walls and flatter bottom.
D.
Besides the extraordinary rivers of ice, glacial erosion creates other unique physical features in the landscape
such as horns, fjords, hanging valleys, and cirques. Most of these landforms do not become visible until
after glaciers have receded. Many are created by moraines, which occur at the sides and front of a glacier.
Moraines are formed when material is picked up along the way and deposited in a new location. When many
alpine glaciers occur on the same mountain, these moraines can create a horn. The matter horn, in the Swiss Alps
is one of the most famous horns. Fjords, which are very common in Norway, are coastal valleys that fill with
ocean water during a glacial retreat. Hanging valleys occur when two or more glacial valleys intersect at varying
elevations. It is common for waterfalls to connect the higher and lower hanging valleys, such as in
Yosemite National Park. A cirque is a large bowl-shaped valley that forms at the front of a glacier. Cirques
often have a lip on their down slope that is deep enough to hold small lakes when the ice melts away.
E.
Glacier movement and shape shifting typically occur over hundreds of years. While presently about 10% of the
earth land is covered with glaciers, it is believed that during the last Ice Age glaciers covered approximately
32% of the earth’s surface. In the past century, most glaciers have been retreating rather flowing forward. It is
unknown whether this glacial activity is due to human impact or natural causes, but by studying glacier
movement, and comparing climate and agricultural profiles over hundreds of years, glaciologists can begin to
understand environmental issues such as global warming.
Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph
I. Glacial continents V. Glaciers through the years
II. Formation and growth of Glaciers VI. Types of Glaciers
III. Glacial Movement VII. Glacial Effects on Landscape
IV. Glaciers in the last Ice Age VIII. Glaciers in National Parks
1. Paragraph A ………….
2. Paragraph B ………….
3. Paragraph C ………….
4. Paragraph D ………….
5. Paragraph E ………….
Write T (true), F (false) or NG (not given) before each statement
6. ………… Glaciers exist only near the north and south poles.
7. ………… Glaciers are formed by a combination of snow and other weather conditions.
8. ………… Glaciers normally move at a rate of about 5 to 10 inches a day.
9. ………… All parts of the glacier move at the same speed.
10. ………. During the last Ice Age, average temperatures were much lower than they are now.
Your answer
IV. GUIDED CLOZE TEST
Passage 1
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct
word for each of the blanks from 1 to 10.
      Face-to-face conversation is two-way process: You speak to me, I reply to you and so on. Two-way
(1)______depends on having a coding system that is understood by both (2)______ and receiver, and an agreed
convention about (3)______ the beginning and end of the (4) ______. In speech, the coding system is the language
like English or Spanish; the convention that one person speaks at a time may seem too obvious to (5)______. In
fact, the (6)______ that people use in conversations and meetings are often non-verbal. For example, lowering the
pitch of the voice may mean the end of a sentence; a sharp intake of breath may signal the desire to (7)______,
catching the chairman’s (8)______may indicate the desire to speak in a formal setting like a (9)______, a clenched
fist may indicate anger. When these (10)______ signals are not possible, more formal signals may be needed.
1. A. interchange      B. exchange               C. correspondence     D. communication
2. A. announcer        B. transmitter             C. messenger              D. sender
3. A. signing             B. symbolizing           C. signaling                D. showing
4. A. message           B. topic                      C. idea                        D. theme
5. A. judge                B. mention                 C. recognize               D. notice
6. A. signals              B. symptoms              C. symbols                 D. signs
7. A. interchange      B. interfere                 C. interrupt                D. intercept
8. A. elbow               B. eye                         C. shoulder                 D. hand
9. A. chat                   B. debate                   C. broadcast               D. lecture
10. A. visual               B. auditory                 C. verbal                     D. sensory
Passage 2
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct
word for each of the blanks from 1 to 10.
The traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write, or the ability to use
language to read, write, listen, and speak. In modern contexts, the word refers to reading and writing at a level (1)
_______ for communication, or at a level that lets one understand and communicate ideas in a literate society, so
as to take (2) _______ in that society. The United Nations, Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) gas drafted the following definition: “Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create,
communicate and compute, using printed and written materials (3) ________ with varying contexts. Literacy
involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his, or her (4)
_______ and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society.”
Many policy analysts consider literacy rates a crucial measure of a region’s human capital. This claim is
made on the (5) ________ that literate people can be trained less expensively than illiterate people, generally have
a higher socio-economic (6) __________ and enjoy better health and employment prospects. Policy makers also
argue that literacy increases job opportunities and access to higher education. In Kerala, India, for example, female
and child mortality rates declined (7) _________ in the 1960s, when girls who were educated in the education
reforms after 1948 began to raise families. Recent researchers, (8)_________, argue that correlations such as, the
one listed above may have more to do with the effects of schooling rather than literacy in general. Regardless, the
(9) ________ of educational systems worldwide includes a basic (10) ______ around communication through test
and print, which is the foundation of most definitions of literacy.
1. A. adaptable B. suitable C. adequate D. important
2. A. comfort B. control C. part D. honor
3. A. associated B. worked C. appropriated D. related
4. A. ability B. knowledge C. performance D. behavior
5. A. foundation B. ways C. grounds D. basics
6. A. condition B. request C. state D. status
7. A. dramatically B. extremely C. actually D. accurately
8. A. additionally B. however C. therefore D. consequently
9. A. focus B. demand C. majority D. main
10. A. content B. concept C. contact D. context
B. WRITTEN TEST
OPEN CLOZE TEST
Passage 1
Complete each gap in the following passage with ONE word.
The first two decades of the 20th century were (1) __________ by the microbe hunters. These hunters had (2)
__________ down one after another of the microbes responsible for the most dreaded scourges of many centuries:
tuberculosis, cholera, diphtheria. But there remained some terrible diseases for (3) __________ no microbe could
be incriminated: scurvy, pellagra, rickets, beriberi. Then it was discovered that these diseases were caused by the
(4) ___________ of vitamin, a trace substance in the diet. The diseases could be (5) __________ or cured by
consuming foods that contained the vitamins. And so in the decades of the 1920’s and 1930’s, nutrition became a
selence and the vitamin hunters replaced the microbe hunters.

In the 1940’s and 1950’s, biochemists strived to learn (6) ___________ each of the vitamins was essential for
health. They discovered that key enzymes in metabolism depend on one or (7) ___________ of the vitamins as
coenzymes to perform the chemistry that provides cells with energy for growth and function. Now, these enzymes
hunters occupied center stage.

You are aware that the enzyme (8) ___________ have been replaced by a new breed of hunters who are tracking
genes – the blueprints for each of the enzymes – and are discovering the effective genes that cause inherited
diseases – diabetes, cystic fibrosis. These gene hunters, or genetic engineers, use recombinant DNA technology to
identify and clone genes and introduce them (9) __________ bacterial cells and plants to create factories for the
massive production of hormones and vaccines for medicine and for (10) _________crops for agriculture.
Biotechnology has become a multibillion- dollar industry.

Passage 1
Complete each gap in the following passage with ONE word.
The ocean bottom – a region (1) _________ 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth – is a
vast frontier that even today is largely unexplored and uncharted. (2) ________ about a century ago, the deep –
ocean floor was completely inaccessible, hidden (3) __________ waters averaging over 3,6000 meters deep.
Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth's surface, the
deep – ocean bottom is a hostile environment (4) ___________ humans, in some ways as forbidding and remote as
the void of outer space.
(5) _________ researchers have taken samples of deep – ocean rocks and sediments for over a century, the
first (6) ___________ global investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968, with the (7)
___________ of the National Science Foundation's Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Using techniques first
developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the DSDP's drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain
a steady position on the ocean's surface and drill in very deep waters, extracting samples of sediments and rock (8)
_________the ocean floor.
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15 – year research program that ended in November 1983. (9)
_________ this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and took almost 20,000 core samples of seabed
sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites around the world. The Glomar Challenger's core samples have allowed
geologists to reconstruct (10) ___________ the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to
calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today, largely on the strength of evidence
gathered during the Glomar Challenger's voyages, nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics
and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes that shape the Earth.
II. WORD FORM
1. Use the correct form of the word in brackets.
1. A young person who is not yet an adult and who is guilty of committing a crime is called juvenile
________________ (deliquency)
2. The President looked ________________ with over 60% of the vote. (assail)
3. One of the aims of ______________ is to contribute to an understanding of the human race.(ethnology)
4. A _____________ zone has been created on the border between the warring countries. (military)
5. I was under the _________________ that the course was for complete beginners. (apprehend)
6. It's that _________________ tone of hers that I can't bear. (patron)
7. He was strongly attracted by her _____________________ of dress and behaviour. (peculiar)
8. We need to have _____________ systems for early detection of the virus (response)
9. He's a reserved, ______________ person. ( tacit)
10. Premature disclosure of the test sites might lead to __________________ of the experiment. (valid)
2. Use the correct form of the words given in the box to complete these sentences.
Bear – doubt – exceed – impress – marry – depress – produce – industry – grow - high
Basic to any understanding of Canada in 20 years after the Second World War is the country's (1) _________
population growth. For every three Canadians in 1945, there were over five in 1996. In September 1966 Canada's
population passed the 20 million mark. Most of this surging (2) ________ came from natural increase. The
depression of the 1930's and the war had held back marriages and the catching – up process began after 1945. The
baby boom continued through the decade of the 1950's, (3) __________ a population increase of nearly fifteen
percent in the five years from 1951 to 1956. This rate of increase had been (4) __________ only once before in
Canada's history, in the decade before 1911, when the prairies were being settled. (5) ____________, the good
economic conditions of the 1950's supported a growth in the population, but the expansion also derived from a
trend toward earlier marriages and an increase in the average size of families. In 1957 the Canadian birth rate
stood at 28 per thousand, one of the (6) _________ in the world.
After the peak year of 1957, the birth rate in Canada began to decline. It continued falling until in 1966 it stood at
the lowest level in 25 years. Partly this decline reflected the low level of births during the (7) _____________ and
the war, but it was also caused by changes in Canadian society. Young people were staying at school longer, more
women were working, young (8) _____________ couples were buying automobiles or houses before starting
families, rising living standards were cutting down the size of families. It appeared that Canada was once more
falling in step with the trend toward smaller families that had occurred all through the Western world since the
time of the (9) ___________ Revolution.
Although the growth in Canada's population has slowed down by 1966(the increase in the first half of the 1960's
was only nine percent). Another large population wave was coming over the horizon. It would be composed of the
children of the children who were born during the period of the high (10) ___________ rate prior to 1957.
III. ERROR IDENTIFICATION
Identify 10 errors in the following passage and correct them
LINE
1 Normal houses are full of hazardous waste. The most important hazardous
2 waste in the homes is batteries. If you throw them out with your other
3 garbage, they are open at the landfill. The poison inside moves through rain
4 water and other liquids to the bottom of the landfill. Then they can pollute
5 the natural water in the ground. We should use rechargeable batteries.
6 Other hazardous water in homes is motor oil. Don’t throw old motor oil in
7 the ground and throw in on the garbage. It poisons the environment. We
8 should recycle motor oil.
9 Painting is another kind of hazardous waste in homes. Some cities have
10 “Paint Exchange Day”. If you bring in open, unused blue paint and want
11 red, they give you red, sometimes they mix the paints together into strange
12 colours. If you paint walls with them, you help save the environment.
SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION
Rewrite the sentences with the given words or beginning in such a way that their meanings remind
unchanged. You MUST NOT change the given words in any away.
1. She has a huge amount of influence over bring ing about the prison reform act. (INSTRUMENTAL)
→ ___________________________________________________________________
2. You will just have to take a chance (LUCK)
→ ___________________________________________________________________
3. I am ashamed of lying to you about my age. I am a bit older than you. (BENDING)
→ I regret _____________________________________________________________
4. They have narrowed the many applicants down to three. (SHORTLISTED)
→ They have __________________________________________________________
5. Travelling all day yesterday and having a disturbed night cause me to be tired . (WHAT)
→ I am _______________________________________________________________
6. It was seriously damaged, so it cost thousands to repair.
→ The damage was _____________________________________________________
7. The article doesn’t mention the names of the people involved.
→ Nowhere __________________________________________________________
8. They're advising to keep children out of the sun altogether.
→ They’re advising __________________________________________________
9. Parents of young children need to know everything that is happening around them
→ Having eyes ______________________________________________________
10. She could deal with the difficult situation in the exam successfully and could write her essay brilliantly
→ She rose __________________________________________________________