Optimise B2

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READING

Free time f orecasters

A A quick internet search for ‘unusual hobbies’ turns up some interesting results. Collecting things has always been a
popular hobby and you will find a huge range of weird and wonderful collections. (1) Hobbyists are
now investigating everything from plants to robotics and one in particular has a huge number of followers –
meteorology.

B If you’re wondering what it is, meteorology is the study of weather patterns, and meteorologists are the people
who bring us our daily weather forecasts. We all know the professional weathermen and women on local and
national T V but there are another 200,000 amateur meteorologists in the United States alone who contribute to
making our forecasts as accurate as possible. (2)

C One such meteorologist is Pierre Alan, who, at 15 years old, has been interested in the weather since he was only
six years old. (3) ‘I still keep a record of my readings but nowadays I upload the information to my
weather website,’ says Pierre. ‘I’m also more interested in trying to predict the weather, so I publish my
predictions on the website.’

D T he basic equipment for measuring the weather has really changed very little over the years; a thermometer for
measuring temperature, a barometer for measuring humidity, a rain gauge measuring rainfall and an anemometer,
which measures wind speed. (4) T he result is that there are thousands of weather hobbyists with
highly accurate equipment and the possibility of sharing their information with other meteorologists through the
internet. Pierre even has a webcam on his roof so that users of his website can see for themselves what the
weather is like!

E One of the disadvantages of a hobby like this is that a lot of people don’t think it’s cool. ‘Some of my friends have
made fun of what I do and they don’t understand why I like it,’ explains Pierre. ‘T hey think you have to be good at
football or a great dancer to be interesting. I don’t agree with them though because I think you have to do the
things that interest you. T hat’s what will make you happy and might even make a difference to the world.’
(5) In fact, Pierre has become famous for his often-accurate forecasts and he’s been invited to give
the weather forecast on several T V channels.

1 Read the article. Choose f rom sentences A–F the one which f its each gap (1–5). T here is one extra sentence you
do not need.

A However, what has changed is that most serious meteorologists now take digital measurements and for this you need
to connect the equipment to a computer.

B T hese amateurs, who are fascinated by meteorological events, give all their free time to observing the weather from
their homes and mobile weather stations.

C Fortunately, a lot of people agree with him and some people do think that meteorology is cool.
 D When he was starting out, he would measure the rain and snow fall in his garden with plastic cups and kept a diary of
daily weather conditions.

E He decided to stop studying the weather because the equipment was too expensive to maintain.

F However, another type of hobby which is becoming more popular is that of amateur scientist.

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GRAMMAR

2 Complete the text with one word in each gap.

Comenius

T he history of modern language learning can be traced back to the 17th century and an educator called Comenius. Until
that time, few people had the chance to learn a language and if they did, they (1) study Latin and little
else. T he general belief was that only a privileged few (2) capable of learning languages. Comenius,
however, (3) see things in this way. He believed that everyone had the capacity to learn a language and
set about developing a theory of language education. Amongst other things, Comenius argued that students needed to
study the spoken language and get (4) to hearing natural speech in order to learn. Although language
learning has progressed since Comenius’ day, these ideas (5) still central to language teaching today.

Score: /5

3 Find and underline the mistakes in the sentences, then correct them.

1 We’ve been discussing fascinating film about a trip down the Amazon river.

2 All the furniture were antique.

3 Juliet wants me to recommend an European city for her to visit in the holidays.

4 When I leave school, I’d like to get a job in fire brigade.

5 I think The Hunger Games was probably a last good book that I read.

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4 Complete the sentences with the words in the box. T here are two extra words you do not need.

all both every few little many much

1 A of my classmates hadn’t done the homework, so the teacher was disappointed.

2 Seville was a wonderful city but it was too hot when we went there.
3 Lorena has got two cats and of them are really cute.
4 We drove around looking for a hotel but one of them was completely full.
5 We get a lot of homework at school so it would be great to have a more free time.

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 5 Choose the correct words to complete the sentences.

1 My mum’s annoyed because our dog slept on the sofa and now there’s a hair/hair all over the cushions.
2 If you’re having problems reading, you really should get some new glass/glasses.
3 I came across some useful information/informations about global warming on the internet.
4 A lot of new book/books are also published in a digital format which you can read on your tablet.
5 I’d be interested to know what leisure activity/leisure activities there are in your town.

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6 Complete the sentences with the correct f orm of the verbs in brackets.

1 In general, children in the UK (go) to school until they are around five years old.
2 Lorena (get) home late last night so she won’t get up early this morning.
3 Jonathan (not tell) you about the homework? We have to hand it in
tomorrow.
4 Wendy doesn’t find maths easy but she always (do) her best to answer the questions.
5 you ever (wonder) why we have so many exams at school?

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USE OF ENGLISH

7 Write a f orm of the word in capitals in each gap to complete the text.

Human T owers

A free time activity which has been increasing in (1) in recent years is Castellers POPULAR
or ‘Human T owers’. As the name suggests, it consists of building towers made out of people,
with adults and children standing one on top of another. T hese (2) towers can IMPRESS
th
consist of up to nine levels of people. Castellers were first recorded in the 18 century in
Catalonia, Spain, but the most famous groups have been in (3) since the early EXIST
th
20 century. Many Catalan towns have their own teams which compete with other towns in the
region to build the tallest towers. Despite being a particularly Catalan tradition, groups of
Castellers have made (4) all over the world, from Paris to New York. T his has APPEAR
raised international awareness of this activity and in 2010, UNESCO took the
(5) to recognise the Castellers as an important cultural event. DECIDE

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VOCABULARY

8 Complete the sentences with the words in the box. T here are some extra words you do not need.

broadcast cast credits flop on demand producer satellite viewers

1 I usually leave the cinema when the come on. I’d rather avoid the crowds than know who all the
actors are.
2 Bladerunner is one of the greatest sci-fi films ever but it was actually a when it first appeared in
cinemas.
3 Apparently, there were more than 30 million for the last World Cup final.
4 T he best thing about the internet is that you can watch your favourite programmes .
5 T he film of Les Miserables had a of more than 50 actors and actresses.

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9 Complete the sentences with one preposition in each gap.

1 I don’t think I’ll ever get bored studying English. T here’s so much to learn.
2 All of the instructors in our activity centres are experienced giving first aid.
3 Selena thought about taking a year off university but she decided it in the end.
4 It’s important that you pay attention this part of the talk because we’ll tell you how to enrol on the course.
5 In my opinion, there’s nothing wrong staying in bed late at the weekend.

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10 Complete the sentences with the phrasal verbs in the box in the correct f orm.

creep up behind dig up hurry up look up think up

1 We used to play a game where you your friends without them seeing you.
2 Rosie needs to or she’ll be late for school again.
3 T im spends too much time excuses for not doing his homework. It would be quicker to just do the
work!
4 I the meaning of the word before the lesson but I couldn’t remember it when the teacher asked
me.
5 We’ve been researching our family history and we a lot of interesting information.

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11 Complete the sentences with one word in each gap.

1 Dancing on Ice usually comes before the news, doesn’t it?

2 We had to act one of the scenes from Macbeth in our English class today.
3 Do you mind if I turn the T V ? T here’s a documentary I want to watch on the other channel.
4 My parents have bought a new widescreen T V but it takes too much space in the living room.
5 Do you fancy hanging in town tomorrow morning? We could go to that new café.

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12 Choose the correct word or phrase (A, B or C) to f ill each gap.

My sister’s university is taking a new approach to teaching called the flipped classroom. In traditional university classes,
(1) give classes to halls full of students. However, it can be difficult to
(2) everything the lecturer says and students often (3) with notes that are lacking
important information. In contrast, in the flipped classroom approach, the lectures are recorded and students watch
them on the internet. T hey can pause, rewind and play them as many times as they like. Universities often
(4) websites as well with quizzes and forums to help students understand the lecture. Although some
universities have been (5) following this approach, it’ll be interesting to see if it works.
1 A instructors B coaches C lecturers
2 A qualify as B concentrate on C succeed in
3 A dig up B look up C end up
4 A set up B use up C speak up
5 A criticised for B interested in C paid attention to

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