STATE EXAM IN ENGLISH (Y)

Video Listening Comprehension Test

Belarusian State University Date________ April 2017
Faculty of International Relations Student’s Name _____________________________
IR, IL Departments Score: _________ out of 50
Mark: ______

Presentation Time: 10 min x 2

Time allowed: 40 min
Number of Questions: 50
Maximum Total Score: 50
Instructions:
You will watch the video featuring one EuroNews coverage. You will have to provide the information on
what you hear. Read the instructions to the test carefully before watching.
Questions 1-6. Mark the following statements as True (T) or False (F)
1. Rescuers in Italy are now trying to get through thick ice and debris to reach the survivors. T
2. The avalanche has destroyed a hotel in northern Italy. F (central)
3. The archaeological pieces were mainly recovered from European countries. F (Central American)
4. After his surprise extradition from Mexico, drug kingpin Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman appeared in a US
court and pleaded guilty. F (not guilty)
5. A portrait of the Queen has been re-issued showing her wearing jewels given to her by her farther King
George VI as a wedding gift in 1947. T
6. The Trump’s reaction on the wide-spread protests against the temporary ban on refugees and people from
Muslim countries was firm. T
Questions 7-23. Fill in the gaps using the words from the video:
“As part of the 7. extradition process we had to assure the Mexican government that the 8. death penalty
would not be sought in this matter. So he is, as it stands if he’s 9. convicted of the CCE, he’s facing a mandatory
10. life sentence And for all of the narcotics-related, narcotics trafficking sentences, he is also 11. facing a
maximum sentence of life,” explained US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Robert Capers.

Meanwhile there have been 12. demonstrations across the country for a second day. The American Civil Liberties
Union says it will help people with 13. valid visas or 14. refugee status who have found themselves 15. detained in
transit or at US airports. In Los Angeles protesters 16. denounced Trump’s actions. “I came today to send a 17.
message to Trump and his administration that we don’t want any 18. ban, we don’t want any wall. We don’t want a
19. fascist USA.”

“Forensic experts have also 20. discovered Jalilov’s genetic traces on a bag containing an 21. explosive device left
at Ploshchad Vosstaniya metro station. This 22. evidence as well as the 23. surveillance cameras give us reason to
believe the person behind the terrorist act in the train was the same who left that bag at Ploshchad Vosstaniya
station,” said Svetlana Petrenko, spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee in St Petersurg.
Questions 24-28. Answer the following questions (all of them are based on precise information from the
episode):
24. Why was the rescue effort in Italy slow to begin?
The snow storm and the avalanche blocked the access for emergency services

25. What archaeological findings have been returned to Guatemala?

Archeological pieces of Mayan origin

26. What jubilee does Britain’s Queen Elizabeth celebrate?

Sapphire jubilee, commemorating 65 years on the throne

27. Who did the demonstrators in Washington welcome?

air passengers who’d been allowed through

28. What ban of Donald Tramp’s administration was declared as a “massive success”?
the enforcement of a temporary ban on refugees and people from seven Muslim-majority countries

Questions 29-33. (Circle the right answer)

29. The tragedy in Italy happened ____________
a) a few hours after four earthquakes hit the area
b) five hours after four earthquakes hit the area
c) two hours after four earthquakes hit the area

30. The archaeological items of Mayan origin are soon to be put on show in ________ of the central American
countries main museums
a) seven
b) several
c) some

31. What wasn’t mentioned in the episode about the Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman?
a) he was the head of the Sinaloa cartel
b) he played a key role in in Mexico’s drug war
c) he was sentenced to death penalty

32. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth became the UK’s longest-reigning living monarch in 2015 at the age of ____.
a) 89
b) 98
c) 88

33. The suspected suicide bomber who killed ______ people and injured ______ in the St Petersburg underground
has been identified by Russian authorities as 22-year old Akbarzhon Jalilov, a Russian of Kyrgyz origin.
a) 14; 50
b) 14; 15
c) 40; 50

Questions 34-43. Combine the words into phrases

34. emergency a) ban
35. snow b) origin
36. archaeological c) Day
37. temporary d) services
38. widespread e) Jubilee
39. Mayan f) countries
40. drug g) pieces
41. Sapphire h) empire
42. Accession i) storm
43. Muslim-majority j) protests

34d 35i 36g 37a 38j 39b 40h 41e 42c 43f

Questions 44-47. Choose the right word

44. Hopes had been __________ fast of finding any of the 30 people reported missing after avalanche destroyed a
hotel in Italy
a) hating b) fading c) facing

45. The majority of the archaeological items had been _________ in the 1960s and 70s.
a) looted b) rooted c) suited

46. It is tradition for the Queen to spend Accession Day in private at her Sandringham Estate and return to
Buckingham Palace _________ days later.
a) two b) a few c) flew

47. The bomb went off between two stations and the driver of the train, Alexander Kaverin, has been __________
for his decision to keep the train going until the next station to make evacuation easier.
a) amazed b) phased c) praised

Questions 48-50. Provide the definitions of the words given below and indicate the episodes where these
words were mentioned.
48. refugee - a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or
natural disaster.
 49. death penalty - punishment by execution.
50. military intervention – the movement of troops or forces of one country into the territory or territorial
waters of another country