English test paper

the 8th grade

Date:_____________________
Pupil:_________________________________________

I. Read the text attentively and do the post reading activities: 20 p.

A LACONIC ANSWER

The Lacons lived in that part of Southern Greece which was called Laconia. The people who lived
there were very brave. They loved their Motherland and defended it from all the enemies. Everybody
knew that their life was very simple. They tried to follow the laws of their country and never spoke long.
“The shorter the better”, was their rule. “Never use more words than you need”, was another rule. And
nowadays as you probably know a very short answer is often called a laconic answer, because the Lacons
usually gave such short answers.
In Northen Greece there was a land called Macedonia. King Philip ruled there. He was not very
clever and he was not very brave, but he wanted to become king of all Greece. So, he collected a great
army and soon became master of all Greece. Only Laconia was not conquered. Then King Philip wrote a
letter and sent it to the brave Lacons. The letter said: “If I win the battle with your army, I will become
your king and ruin your great city.”
A few days later an answer was brought back to him. King Philip found only one word in it. The word was
very short, and that was “IF”.

Nr. Item Score

1. a. Answer the questions: A
Where was Laconia situated? 1
________________________________________________________________________ 2
Who ruled Macedonia? 3
________________________________________________________________________ 4
What did King Philip write to the Lacons in his letter? 5
________________________________________________________________________ 6

2. b. Say TRUE or FALSE: A

King Philip was clever and brave. _________ 2
The Lacons tried to follow the laws of their country and never spoke long.________ 4

3. c. Match the parts of the sentences: A

Never use more the better. 1
The shorter than you need. 2
Only Laconia was not conquered 3
4. A
1
d. Find the antonym for the word friends - _______________
2
e. Find the synonym for the word courageous - _____________________ 3
4
5 f. Define the word “laconic”. A
__________________________________________________________________ 1
2
__________________________________________________________________
3
__________________________________________________________________
II. Grammar:

Open the brackets, underline the correct variant, fill in the blanks or report the sentences. 22 p.

Nr. Item score

1. A
There is ______ garden behind _______house. 1
2
2. A
Catherine (to be)_______in the garden. She (to pick)___________cherries. 1
2
3
4
3. A
Her voice sounded (strange/strangely) on the phone. 1

4. A
We often go to the beach _______ summer. 1
2
5. If we (to buy)_________a car now, we wouldn’t have any money left. A
1
2
6. “Are you sorry for what you did?” the mother asked the little boy. A
1
_____________________________________________________________________
2
_____________________________________________________________________ 3
4
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
7. Fill in the gaps with the right form of the verb in the Perfect or Perfect Progressive
Tenses either active or passive:
a) When I arrived at the party, Tom (to go already) _______________________ home. A
1
b) By this time tomorrow the book (already, to publish) _______________________ . 2
c) I (to wait) ___________________________ for two hours but she has not come yet. 3
4
d) By 2013, I _________________________________ (to live) in Madrid for 5 years. 5
e) How long (you to know) ___________________________________________ him? 6
7
f) The instructions (to give) ____________________________________ by the clerk.
g) I’m not hungry. I just (to have) ____________________________________ lunch.

III. Outline your opinion on the following subject in 25-30 words : 13 p.

Nr Item Score
1. “A friend in need is a friend indeed”. A
1 2
______________________________________________________________
3 4
______________________________________________________________ 5 6
______________________________________________________________ 7 8
______________________________________________________________ 9 10
______________________________________________________________ 11 12
______________________________________________________________ 13