Name:

Intermediate Skills Test 1A

Reading
1 Read paragraphs 1–5 and choose the best headings A–F from the list. There is one extra heading.

Fashion trends of the future

1 It can be extremely frustrating when the battery of your smartphone runs out and you’re
miles away from home – and your charger. However, clothes manufacturers are currently
working on designs with soft solar panels, which collect energy from the sun. The clothes will
allow the wearer to charge their phone once he or she has been outside in the sun for a while.
2 Thanks to the growing number of cars in our city centres, the air isn’t getting any better.
Enter the personal air purifier. The user wears it on the arm like a watch or a bracelet, and
turns it on when the pollution gets bad. The device takes in and cleans the polluted air and
lets it back out into the atmosphere to be used again.
3 Smartphones with GPS are great, but difficult to use if you’re riding a bike. Now there’s a
helmet that makes finding your way around a lot easier. The helmet has a built-in system that
uses lights on the left or right to show the rider where to turn. The user enters the address of
their destination into the device, and then he or she is away.
4 If you’re looking for something original to wear, then you needn’t look further than the
designs of Ying Gao. These are dresses that use the latest technology to detect when
someone is looking at them. When this happens, tiny motors make parts of the garments
move in patterns. Some of them also light up in the dark.
5 Runners will be able to avoid injury in the future by wearing a kind of smart sock. The
sock is attached to a band around the ankle that detects how the wearer’s foot is moving.
Sensors in the sock communicate data to the band which sends on the information to an app.
If the user is in danger of hurting his or her foot, he or she will receive a warning.

A Take a deep breath ___

B Are you looking at me? ___
C Non-stop power ___
D Close to the heart ___
E Watch your step ___
F Show me the way ___

Mark: ___/10

Listening
2 12 Listen to a radio programme about people with incredible memories. Are the sentences true
or false?
1 Stephen Wiltshire’s pictures are mostly of areas where a lot of people live. ___
2 Stephen usually flies over the city for more than an hour before he draws it. ___
3 Stephen doesn’t find it easy to be sociable. ___

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 4 Stephen’s teachers didn’t help him with art at school. ___
5 Stephen hasn’t done any drawings of cities outside Europe. ___

Mark: ___/10

Use of English
3 Complete the text with the correct words A, B or C.
The first week I moved to London to start university, I bought a 1___ shirt at Camden Market. I was really pleased 2___ the
shirt because it was so comfortable, but I wanted 3___ it for a special occasion. At the time, I 4___ to go out much, so the
shirt stayed in my cupboard for a few weeks. Then one day, a friend of mine 5___ me to a party at her house the following
weekend. I spent ages 6___ ready and, of course, I wore my new shirt. I’ll never forget 7___ to that party because the
dancing was so crazy. Before that, I 8___ a bit embarrassed about dancing in public, but that night, everyone went wild,
including me. I made a lot of new friends at the party and after that, I started going out much more. I 9___ the shirt any
more because it 10___ a bit scruffy, but it’s impossible for me to throw it away. Whenever I see it hanging in my cupboard I
remember my friend’s party and that crazy dancing.
1 A baggy green trendy B trendy baggy green C green trendy baggy
2 A about B of C with
3 A save B saving C to save
4 A didn’t use to B not used to C didn’t used to
5 A had invited B invited C was inviting
6 A get B getting C to get
7 A go B going C to go
8 A always felt B was always feeling C had always felt
9 A don’t wear B m not wearing C doesn’t wear
10 A looks B looks like C looks as if

Mark: ___/10

Writing
4 You have received an email from an exchange student who is coming to stay at your house for a week.
Write a reply (120–150 words) to him / her. Include the information below.
 apologise for not replying immediately
 what your town is like
 what clothes you usually wear
 a question about his / her likes and disikes

Mark: ___/10

5 Write a narrative (220–250 words) about the best day of your life. Include the information below.
 where you were, when and who with
 how you had prepared for the day
 what happened on the day
 how you felt at the end of the day

Mark: ___/10

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 Total: ___/50

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