EFL Regional Competition for 9th Grade Primary School Students

Student’s CODE: ________________________

Time allotted: 60 minutes Total points: ______/70

Use of English

Part one

Underline the word in the list that has a different or opposite meaning. Follow the example (0).

0. quit stop start give up

1. tidy sloppy neat orderly
2. manage direct control hire
3. reply scheme plan design
4. suppose assume declare believe
5. fragile decent delicate breakable
6. wreck ruin restore spoil
7. prompt delayed rapid quick
8. serious private personal confidential
9. announce declare believe publish
10. hole border edge boundary
11. bare contrary naked nude
12. lean obtain gain acquire
13. vague ambiguous idle unclear
14. narrate abuse tell describe
15. harsh gentle tender soft
16. modify rebuild transform change
One point for each answer: _________/ 16

Part two

For each question, complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first, using between one
and three words.
0. Taking pictures is not allowed in here.
You are ___not allowed to__ take pictures in here.
1. "Why don't we go to the beach?", I said.
I suggested _______________________ to the beach.
2. My brother has borrowed the car from me.
I _______________________ my brother the car.
3. Jenny told me about the accident.
I _______________________ the accident by Jenny.
4. We both like pizza more than chicken.
We both prefer pizza _______________________ chicken.
5. Does classical music interest you?
Do you _______________________ classical music?
 6. Ronald is fifteen. Alice is fifteen, too.
Ronald is _______________________ Alice.
7. How much does the plane ticket to London cost?
What is _______________________of the plane ticket to London?
8. Unfortunately we had too many pictures to put on the walls.
Unfortunately we didn’t _______________________ space for all our pictures.
9. I don’t think I put my best pictures in the exhibition.
I’ve produced ________________________ pictures than the ones I put in the exhibition.
10. Our parents all suggested that we should have another exhibition soon.
Our parents all said: ‘Why _______________________ have another exhibition soon?’
11. Niko practises at a stadium quite near his house.
Niko’s house is not very _______________________ from the stadium where he practises.
12. She gets to school in ten minutes.
It _______________________ ten minutes to get to school.
13. His team had an important match last week.
There _______________________ an important match last week for his team.
14. I really enjoy playing basketball.
I’m very keen _______________________ basketball.
One point for each answer _________/14 points

Part three

Fill the gaps with a suitable modal verb. Follow the example (0).

0. I __can’t___ speak French.

1. I didn’t feel very well yesterday. I ____________________________ eat anything.
2. You __________________________ eat so much chocolate. It’s really bad for your teeth.
3. _________________________ you open the window, please?
4. I _________________________ be able to help you, but I’m not sure yet.
5. Already as a child Mozart ___________________________ play the piano beautifully.
6. I really _______________________________ try to get fit.
7. The cafeteria was full. I ________________________________ find a seat anywhere.
8. ___________________________________ I take a photograph of you?
9. Whose is this bag? - I don’t know, but it _________________________ be Jackson’s.
10. His story_____________________________ be true, but I still think he’s wrong.
11. On Fridays we wear casual clothes, so you ____________________________ wear your uniform.
12. I’m so hungry I _____________________________ eat a horse!
13. The test starts at 10.30. You ___________________________________ be late.
14. You ___________________________________ be tired. You’ve only just got out of bed!
15. She ________________________________ be very pleased with herself. She got the best grades.

One point for each answer _________/15 points

Part four

Read the text below and circle the suitable word for each gap.

Women and Science

It is difficult to understand why, but women and science are not automatically associated (0) _____ each
other, even (1) _____ the first woman scientist was (2) ____ in Alexandria, in Egypt, in 370 AD. Her name
was Hypatia, and her father, who was the director of Alexandria’s University, (3) ___ sure his daughter had
the best education available. It was not normal, at this time, for women to have (4) ___ to study, and after
studying in Athens and Rome, she returned to Alexandria (5) ____ she taught mathematics. She became
famous (6) ____ her knowledge of new ideas, and wrote several important mathematical works, (7) ____
no copies of her books have survived. Hypatia was very interested in technology and (8) ____ several
scientific tools to help with her work, but this story has an unhappy ending. Many rulers of that time were
afraid of science, and (9) _____ connected with it was in danger. As a consequence, her life was (10) ____
risk and one day in March 415, she was attacked in the street and killed.

(0) A) with B) in C) for D) of

(1) A) despite B) of C) though D) after

(2) A) begun B) born C) developed D) grown

(3) A) could B) made C) said D) put

(4) A) classes B) customs C) opportunities D) teachers

(5) A) where B) how C) there D) which

(6) A) from B) for C) by D) of

(7) A) so B) as C) or D) but

(8) A) did B) experimented C) invented D) learnt

(9) A) anyone B) nobody C) all D) something

(10) A) in B) high C) of D) at

Onepoint for each answer: _________/10

Part five

Underline the incorrect word or phrase in each sentence and write the corrected word or phrase on the
line. Follow the example (0).

0. The field is full of sheeps. ___The field is full of sheep.___________

1. I spoke to her twice so far.

__________________________________________________________________________________
2. Mark didn’t do his homework. So did I.
__________________________________________________________________________________
3. Gerry said me to do my homework.
__________________________________________________________________________________
4. We think about selling this house. It’s too big for us.
__________________________________________________________________________________
5. I’ll see my doctor later today.
__________________________________________________________________________________
One point for each answer: _________/ 5

Part six

Complete the gaps in the text with words from the box. Be careful! There are extra words.

announced became better cancelled clean clear

could damaged like repaired reported
should small throw turn down worse worst

It began as a plan for a very normal 16th birthday party. MertheWeusthuis wanted a quiet celebration with
a 1. _______________________ group of friends in her family home in the small Dutch town of Haren.
2.___________________________ many teenagers, she decided to send out invitations via a social
network site. But Merthe made one big mistake: she used open-access settings on Facebook, so it wasn’t
just her friends who 3. ____________________________ see details of the event.

The number of invitation acceptances quickly snowballed into an avalanche. Not marking the event as
‘private’ meant the electronic invitation was eventually seen by 240,000 people, of whom 30,000
confirmed online that they planned to attend. To make matters 4. ________________________________,
an unauthorised campaign was launched to promote the party by means of a dedicated website and
Twitter account, which received hundreds of thousands of hits. The party 5. _________________________
known as ‘Project X Haren’ after the 2012 American film Project X in which three high school students
6. __________________________ a birthday party that spins out of control. Video trailers for Merthe’s
party were produced, with scenes from Project X edited in, and they were posted on YouTube. T-shirts
featuring Merthe’s face were also made, all without her knowledge or consent.

Even after Merthe’s parents 7. _________________________ the party, the publicity didn’t stop. Local
media 8. ____________________________ on the forthcoming event and teenagers turned up to
have their pictures taken outside the Weusthuis family home. On the evening the party was to have taken
place, about 5,000 teenagers began gathering in Haren, many outside the Weusthuis house. When it
became 9. _________________________ that there was nothing to gatecrash, violence broke out and 500
riot police equipped with helmets, shields and batons were brought in to control the crowd. Shops in the
centre of Haren were vandalised and looted, journalists were attacked, cars were set on fire or overturned
and street signs and lamp posts were 10. ________________.

One point for each answer: _________/ 10