D.G.

Khetan International School

Progression Test

Name : ____________________________ Subject: ESL PAPER 2

Grade : IX Div:__________ Unit : I
Pages : 11 Marks : 60 Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

EXERCISE 1
Read the following article about a new “flying” experience in Dubai, and then answer the questions
on the opposite page.
If you are looking for an activity that will give you thrills and excitement in the air without a plane,
try Skydive Dubai. It is a fantastic indoor skydiving facility located in Mirdif City Centre and gives
visitors the experience of flying as high as 12 metres above the ground. For the skydiver, it feels like
flying but you don’t have to jump out of a plane. A machine blows huge amounts of air into a vertical
wind tunnel and this keeps the diver floating throughout the whole experience.
IT’S SO POPULAR…
The indoor skydiving facility was an immediate success from the start and has continued to attract
an average of 200 to 250 visitors each day. It even has 1,200 online fans. The company plans to
increase the number of instructors so that even more visitors can enjoy the excitement of the
experience.
COMMUNICATION WITHOUT WORDS
Before starting the experience, skydivers have to put on the right clothing, which includes a flying
suit, a helmet, glasses to protect the eyes, and earplugs. The divers also receive a lesson on two
important details – what hand signals to use and the correct body positions. Skydive’s chief
instructor says, “We give instructions to the skydivers with hand signals because we are not able to
talk to them.”
Family and friends who come to watch find this very amusing.
SAFETY IS IMPORTANT
During the dive, the instructor checks the body position of the diver, who has to try to balance his
weight and fly on his own. The whole experience is carefully controlled and safety is very important.
But the real aim of the instructors is to make everybody fly. Even beginners can safely fly a couple of
metres off the ground by the end of the first session. More experienced skydivers can learn to
perform acrobatic movements and even fly in groups. Both children and adults have been eager to
try indoor skydiving. As the chief instructor says, “It’s a family experience. You don’t have to be
especially fit to do this. Anyone from the age of three to one hundred can take part. Everybody’s
dream is to fly. We make that dream come true here at Skydive Dubai!”
WHAT DOES IT COST?
Prices vary depending on the _me that you visit. It costs 165 dirhams for adults and 125 dirhams for
children during off-peak hours from Sunday to Thursday. It costs 195 dirhams for adults and 145
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dirhams for children on the other two days of the week. If you would like to see a film of the indoor
skydiving experience to decide whether it is just the activity for you, or if you want to book a lesson
online, then log on to www.skydive.com and follow the links.

a) What is the activity on offer at Skydive Dubai ?

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(b) What keeps the divers floating?

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(c) Why does the company plan to increase the number of instructors?
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(d) What evidence is there that Skydive Dubai is successful? Give two details.
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(e) Apart from clothing and equipment, what do skydivers receive before the experience?
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(f) Why do instructors have to communicate with their hands?

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(g) What is the main task of the instructor?

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(h) What is the difference between the lessons for the beginners and the more advanced divers?
Give two details.
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(i) How much does it cost for a child to use the facility on Fridays?
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(j) Why should people use the website? Give two details.
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[Total: 13]
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EXERCISE 2
You are going to read a magazine article in which four people who use different social media
platforms will share about how, why and when they use their chosen media.
For questions a – j choose people from A to D. The people may be chosen more than once.
A ADA FISCHER
My job as a travel journalist requires me to constantly visit new places around the world, and I
use Instagram to post all my wonderful experiences. When I started travelling for work four
years ago, I wanted to find a way that I could share my unique experiences with other. I tried a
few other forms of social media, but none of them were really what I was looking for. My friend
suggested Instagram to me and I loved it immediately! I could post countless photos and very soon
I had lots of people, from all over the world, following me and liking my photographs. It was great
that I was finally able to share my travel experiences with so many people, and by posting all my
photographs on Instagram, I preserved all my memories of my travel.
B PAVLOS THEODOLOU
I’m currently studying in Nottingham University in the UK, I’m originally from Cyprus. I’ve
been using Facebook for years, but lately, ever since I’ve moved to the UK, it’s been the perfect
way for me to keep in touch with all my friends and family back home. It’s great because I can
post photos of my time here at Nottingham University 2/6 so they see how I am getting on, but at
the same time I get to call them, chat with them and even video chat without paying, which is
important for a student. It’s also great, because while they can see what I’m doing here in
the UK, I can see what they’re getting up to back in Cyprus. It makes me feel homesick
sometimes, but the fact that I can speak with them so easily makes being away from home for
such long periods a lot easier for me, and the distance seems less.
C RENATA FIERRO
When I gave birth to my second child I decided to become a stay-at home mum, but now they’ve
grown up a bit I want to be able to do some work from home. I’ve always been a very keen baker
and cook, so my sister suggested to me that I should start posting my recipes on social media. I
found Pinterest was the best way to do this, as I could create different boards on my profile for
different categories of recipes. My creation have been well received and lots of people have been
pinning my recipes and photographs onto their profiles I’m very proud when I see food that I
made appear on Pinterest. It gives me a sense of purpose and I have definitely become more
self-assured, and my creations have become much more adventurous.
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D ADRIAN LARSEN
A lot of school-age teenagers, like me in Norway, are really into social media, and recently
Snapchat has come onto the scene. I know a lot of people aren’t too sure about its suitability, but I
think it’s brilliant I get to play around with my friends taking ridiculous photographs with them,
adding silly effects and sending them to people I know. It’s a great laugh for when you’re out and
about with people, or you just want to document what you’re doing at that specific point in time.
The most important thing is that the photo or the video only lasts up to 10 seconds and then it
disappears forever, along with any embarrassment, thank goodness! You can also add a video or
photo to your story which lasts for 24 hours and all your friends on Snapchat can see it. It’s good
fun and always makes you laugh

Read all four paragraphs. For questions a-j, choose from the people A-D. The people may be
chosen more than once.

Which person ( A , B, C or D)…

a) decide not to go out to work because of a new baby ? _____________

b) does not stay at home or their work? _____________

c) feels more confident now? _____________

d) has a family member who gave them encouragement to do something ? _____________

e) is able to look back and remember places? _____________

f) is aware of feeling some discomfort because of photos and videos _____________

g) knows that not everyone thinks their choice of social media is appropriate? ____________

h) needs to consider the cost of social media? _____________

i) thinks that their choice makes home and family seems closer? _____________

j) uses their social medium to have a lot of fun? _____________

(TOTAL 10 MARKS)
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EXERCISE 3
Read the article about zebra crossings, and then complete the notes.
Using special effects to stop traffic
Zebra crossings can be found in most countries around the world. These are the alternating black
and white stripes which are painted on the road surface, and are designed to warn drivers that
pedestrians may be trying to cross the road. Unfortunately, research has shown that these crossings
are not always very effective. A recent study by Sweden’s Lund University revealed that in fact
three out of four drivers maintain the same speed or even speed up as they approach a crossing,
rather than stopping to allow to cross.
According to the study, only 5% of drivers stop even when they see someone trying to cross. In an
attempt to make zebra crossings safer, authorities in Taizhou and Xingsha in China asked a group
of artists to redesign them. The artists came up with an imaginative solution. They painted clearly
visible stripes on the road and in order to make these appear three dimensional (3D), the artists
used brightly coloured paint. In some places, they made the stripes on the road resemble solid
pieces of wood. So far, the new‑style crossings have been a success. As one person explains,
“Because of the 3D effect, drivers can’t help slowing down.” Traffic police have also noted that
many pedestrians were reluctant to use the old-style zebra crossings because traffic rarely stopped.
However, pedestrians are more confident in using the new‑style crossings. This is because they
realise that drivers are now more likely to give them a chance to cross.
In India, artists Saumya Pandya Thakkar and Shakuntala Pandya had seen images of some 3D
zebra crossings. So when the two women were invited to find a new way to make road crossings
safer in their home city of Ahmedabad, they decided to try out the same technique. Since new‑ style
crossings were painted across four of Ahmedabad’s most dangerous highways, the number of
accidents has decreased significantly, and there are now plans to try the idea in other areas of
India.
The idea is also appealing to business people looking for new markets. In China, one manufacturer
is already selling an alternative to the painted version of the 3D crossings – stick‑on versions which
are easier to install.

Naturally, there are some people who are critical of the new 3D crossings as a way of helping pedestrians to
cross roads. Some claim that the bright colours on the road could distract drivers and stop them from
concentrating on driving safely. Others point out that the 3D crossings could cause drivers to stop
suddenly. This could potentially cause accidents with the vehicles behind. However, so far, there is
very little evidence to support these criticisms.

In the past, the US city of Philadelphia has also tried using 3D shapes to slow down traffic, but
critics of the experiment raised an objection that could equally apply to the 3D zebra crossings in
China and India. Namely, won’t they stop being effective once drivers get used to them? Only time
will tell!
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Make short notes under each heading.

Appearance of the new 3D zebra crossings:

• ........................................................................................

 ........................................................................................

 …………………………………………………………

Advantages of the new 3D zebra crossings:

• ........................................................................................

• ........................................................................................

• ........................................................................................

What critics say about the new 3D zebra crossings:

• ........................................................................................

• ........................................................................................

 ........................................................................................

(Total 9 marks)
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EXERCISE 4

Read the blog about learning lots of languages.

Write a summary about what people should do if they want to learn lots of languages.

Your summary should be about 100 words long (and no more than 120 words long). You
should use your own words as far as possible.

You will receive up to 7 marks for the content of your summary, and up to 7 marks for the
style and accuracy of your language.

Learning lots of languages

A question many people ask is whether it’s possible to learn many different languages, and if
so, how to do it. Well, here are some answers.

Any language consists of vocabulary, grammar and sounds. However, the culture of where the
language is spoken also contributes towards understanding a language. Therefore, learners
need to make sure they have a good understanding of culture as well as language.

Some people wrongly believe that learning many things at the same time will speed up the
process when, in fact, it damages it. With this in mind, learning a maximum of two
languages at any one time is a good idea. Three languages are too many and will slow down
learning. The modern world is obsessed with speed and wanting everything done by
tomorrow. This is particularly harmful to language learning – learners need to spend at least
two years learning their chosen languages before moving on to the next ones.

While we’re talking about time, only spending a few minutes reading some words from a
dictionary each day is not going to get anyone far in learning a language. It’s necessary to have
around two hours per day which can be used to focus on language learning.

Some languages are quite similar to others in that they often share vocabulary and grammar,
for example, and this can cause confusion. Choosing two languages that are very different
from each other is advisable. Learning Spanish and Italian at the same time, for example, is
not a good approach because they’re too alike. Instead, one way of helping learning is to
choose an ‘easy’ language and a relatively ‘difficult’ one. By ‘easy’, I mean one that’s related to
a language you already know, whereas the ‘difficult’ one might be totally unlike anything
you’ve learned before. Giving the more ‘difficult’ language about 75 per cent of study time,
and the ‘easy’ one about 25 per cent should be about right.

And finally, to learn anything well, it has to be practised regularly, so be sure to study the
languages every day. Good luck!
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(Total 14 marks)
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EXERCISE 5

A friend is coming to your country for the first time and will be arriving just before a national
celebration.
Write a letter to your friend.
In your letter you should:
• describe what the celebration is;
• outline what you and your family do on the day of the celebration;
• explain what your friend may find particularly interesting.
Any one of the pictures above may give you some ideas, but you are free to use any ideas of your
own. Your letter should be between 100 and 150 words long. Do not write an address.
You will receive up to 7 marks for the content of your letter, and up to 7 marks for the style
accuracy of your language.
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(TOTAL 14
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