Placement Test

This test will evaluate both your reading and writing comprehension skills
in English;
From questions 1 to 18, you must choose only one alternative.
For question 19, you will have to write a composition about a topic.
Time limit: 1/2 hour
Read the following texts and choose only one alternative for each question:

TEXT 1

Every day more and more of us find that computers have become part of our
daily background: magazines we read have been typeset by computers, architects
have designed our houses with the help of computers, our payslips are printed by
computers, we pay bills prepared by computers, using checks marked with computer
symbols, and the payments result in bank statements prepared by computers. Even
more directly associated with the machines are those who use them in their day-to-day
work – scientists and storekeepers, clerks and directors, soldiers and sailors,
accountants and engineers – besides the growing numbers of computer personal who
are responsible for making the machines do the work. Each of us, whether layman,
computer user or computer technician, will have problems with computer terminology.

1- The text talks about :

a- ( )Computers,
b- ( ) Magazines,
c- ( ) Scientists,
d- ( )Technicians,
e- ( ) Companies.

2- In the text, which one is not an occupation:

a- ( )Soldiers,
b- ( ) Engineers,
c- ( ) Architects,
d- ( )Directors,
e- ( ) Machines.

3- How can computers help architects?

a- ( ) Saving time,
b- ( ) Printing by computers,
c- ( ) Paying bills,
d- ( )Designing our houses,
e- ( ) Having problems with terminology.

4- Who thinks that computers have become part of our daily background?
a- ( )Scientists,
b- ( ) Houses,
c- ( ) Architects,
 d- ( )Computers,
e- ( ) More and more of us.

5- Which alternative is not mentioned in the text about the activities provided by
computers:
a- ( ) Our payslips are printed by them,
b- ( ) We can watch videos,
c- ( ) We pay bills,
d- ( ) Magazines we read have been typeset by computers,
e- ( ) Architects have designed our houses with them.

6- Which activity is resulted in banking statements:

a- ( ) Having problems with computers,
b- ( ) Designing houses,
c- ( ) Paying bills ,
d- ( ) Printing payslips,
e- ( ) Growing numbers,

7- Why is “scientists and storekeepers, clerks and directors, soldiers and sailors,
accountants and engineers” mentioned in the text?

a- ( ) To give examples of people who are extremely associated with

computers,
b- ( ) To compare social classes,
c- ( ) To show a group of people who don’t use computers a lot,
d- ( ) To mention people who have a computer personal,
e- ( ) All the alternatives above are correct.

8- Why does the text say: …” whether layman, computer user or computer
technician,…”?
a- ( ) To explain jobs related to computers,
b- ( ) To show the people who do their work with computers,
c- ( ) To contrast architects, scientists and all the occupations mentioned in the text,
d- ( ) To explain that everyone will have issues to understand specific names related
to computers,
e- ( ) To give examples of people who use personal computers.

9- The main conclusion of the text is:

a- ( ) As computers are more and more present in everyone’s lives, we will all have
to know how to understand computer terminology,
b- ( ) Although computers are present in our lives, it will be easy for people to
understand computer terminology,
c- ( ) Fewer people will be using computers because they will have problems to
understand computer terminology,
d- ( ) Magazines, banks and professionals have been using computers for a long
time,
e- ( ) Personal computers will do the work.
 TEXT 2

In the beginning, there was the analog cell phone. And then the cell phone went
digital. And that provides a clearer connection and more reliability. Now the future of
technology appears to be in the hands of the mobile phone industry. Cell phones and
handhelds are everywhere. The future is now, and it is wireless. Except the future is
still the future. Wireless technology is relatively young. The first generation has been
around only since the early 1980s, when analog voice transmission networks were
introduced. The second generation took over in the mid-‘90s with the advent of digital
wireless voice and data networks, giving us the capabilities that spawned the cell
phone revolution we know today.

Now comes the so-called third generation – or 3G – which generally refers to

networks capable of connecting to the Internet at speeds 40 times the rate of today’s
cell phones, promising Internet connections will be fast enough to download streaming
audio and files, swap digital photos, and hold teleconferences. It will also use the
existing spectrum space more efficiently and increase the speeds with which basic data
can be transmitted over wireless devices.

10- Text number 2 talks especially about…:

a- ( ) The future,
b- ( ) Wireless devices,
c- ( ) Cell phones,
d- ( )Computers,
e- ( ) Transmission networks.

11- When did the first generation of wireless technology start?

a- ( ) In the early 80’s,
b- ( ) In the mid 90’s,
c- ( ) In the future,
d- ( ) Everywhere,
e- ( ) Now.

12- Which came first?

a- ( ) 3G.
b- ( ) Digital cell phone,
c- ( ) Third Generation,
d- ( )Analog cell phones,
e- ( ) Speed.

13- And example of handhelds is…:

a- ( ) IPod,
b- ( ) TV,
c- ( ) Car,
d- ( )Satellite
 e- ( ) Transmission networks.

14- 3G stands for….:

a- ( ) Downloading,
b- ( ) Increasing speed,
c- ( ) Generally refers ,
d- ( ) Networks capable of connecting to the Internet,
e- ( ) 40 times faster than in the past.

15- According to the text, with 3G technology it is possible to…:***

a- ( ) Erase digital photos,
b- ( ) Schedule teleconferences speed,
c- ( ) Network,
d- ( ) Decrease speeds
e- ( ) Download audio and files,

16- The text doesn’t mention…:

a- ( ) The use of 3G devices,
b- ( ) The evolution of cell phones,
c- ( ) When wireless technology started,
d- ( ) What will come after 3G generation,
e- ( ) Other wireless appliances.

17- Which part of the text shows best that the text was not written recently?***
a- ( ) “Now the future of technology appears to be in the…”
b- ( ) “…Schedule teleconferences speed.”
c- ( )” … Now comes the so-called third generation – or 3G..”
d- ( ) “…analog voice transmission networks were introduced.”
e- ( ) “The first generation has been around only since the early 1980s.

18- Reading the text, we can’t say that…

a- ( ) The cell phone industry has grown quite fast throughout the years,
b- ( ) People are getting more and more access to wireless technology,
c- ( ) The cell phone industry has slightly developed itself in the past 30 years,
d- ( ) Analog Cell phones were the first ones,
e- ( ) Cell phone can transmit data over wireless devices.

“What impacts technology has caused in my

personal and professional life”

- Write between 20 to 200 words.