B2 LEVEL – UNIT 1

SUPPLEMENTARY LISTENING & BLC READING – VOCABULARY REVISION

Part A. Fill in each blank with the most appropriate word from the box. Do not change the forms of
the words. There are more words than you need.

households deny orient disobey

aggresive explicit phases field

affair outnumber ability hinder

obey stages overcome obedient

A new product from the Kitch

Corporation has been taking the country by storm lately. It is called the kitchgizmo, and Kitch promises
that it will make life in the kitchen much easier. It has the 1.__ability__ to perform various functions
related to cooking, so people working in their kitchens can carry out many of their kitchen duties using
this machine.

One of the most interesting things about the kitchgizmo’s rise in popularity from a business perspective
is the way it has been marketed. Kitch decided to use a very 2.__aggressive___ sales strategy. They sent
salespeople door to door, and they trained their salespeople not to take “no” for an answer. They taught
them how to 3.__overcome___ people’s resistance to buying the machine. As a result, the company has
received a lot of criticism for their sales tactics. However, those in charge of the sales department at the
Kitch Corporation 4.__hinder___ any wrongdoing. They insist that their salespeople have done nothing
wrong. They also point out that the company’s salespeople are reminded to 5.__obey___ the law. The
company does not tolerate any illegal activity on the part of any of its employees.

However one may view those tactics, they have certainly paid off for the company. A recent survey has
found that a kitchgizmo can be found in one out of every four 6.__households___ in the United States.
That’s right; 25% of all American kitchens have a kitchgizmo. In fact, kitchgizmos 7._outnumber___
every other type of kitchen gadget on the market. That is to say, there are more kitchgizmos in people’s
homes than any other similar type of product. Indeed, in the 8.__field___ of kitchen appliances, the
Kitch Corporation is the undisputed leader. The company has come to dominate the industry thanks to
the kitchgizmo.

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Part B. Fill in each blank with the most appropriate word from the box. Do not change the forms of
the words. There are more words than you need.

code referring sufficient

alter ensuring revolution

When Clyde Robertson was in elementary school, he was taught to make art projects out of egg cartons
in art class. He and his classmates would 1. _alter the empty egg cartons in various ways. They would
make the changes using simple tools like scissors and paint brushes. His teachers probably didn’t imagine
that he would still be doing it twenty years later.

Now known simply as “Clyde,” he has imitated the methods he was taught as a child to create fine art.
The methods which he copied from his teachers are still used in schools today, but Clyde claims to use
them in a more refined way. He has many admirers who think it was fantastic to use his childhood art
projects as his inspiration to produce great works of art as a mature artist. Some even see his work as a
2. _revolution__ in art. They believe that his art has the power to completely change the course of art
history.

On the other hand, he also has his share of critics. Many have pointed out the absence of originality in
his work. They say that nothing he does is new. Those critics are 3. _sufficient__, of course, to the fact
that children in schools all over the world are doing what Clyde does every day—and have been doing so
since before Clyde was born. That is to say, he is only doing what thousands of children do every day.
They say that Clyde cannot call himself an artist if that is all he is doing.

Furthermore, the critics are very disappointed that more people cannot see how silly Clyde’s art is. They
had hoped that people would be smart enough to see that Clyde is not a true artist. As one critic has
explained, there is a 4. _code_ among artists. It is a rule which requires an artist to be original—to do
something which has not been done before. Clyde, according to his critics, is going against that.

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Part C. Fill in each blank with the correct form of the word in parentheses.

1. Some conspiracy theorists believe that the moon landing of 1969 was __staged_____ (STAGE).

2. Our boss hinted that we shouldn’t wear jeans to work, but he never __explicitly__ (EXPLICIT)
stated that it was against the rules to do so.

3. The company was found to be guilty of _sexuality (SEX) discrimination after it was proven that
they intentionally avoided hiring women.

4. The _orientation__ (ORIENT) of the carrot is important: it must be inserted into the kitchgizmo
so that the pointy end goes in first.

5. The fact that Margaret did not complete her MBA degree could be a(n) __hindrance___
(HINDER) for her in finding the kind of job she is looking for.

6. The soldier was punished for __disobeying___ (OBEY) a direct order from his squad leader.

7. It is a(n) _undeniable__ (DENY) fact that computers have improved our access to information.

8. Copernicus proved that the earth _revolutions__ (REVOLUTION) around the sun.

9. Does that dry cleaning shop do _altering_ (ALTER)? I need to have my pants shortened.

10. In his speech yesterday, the CEO’s comment about “recent troubles” was a(n) _referring (REFER)
to the decline in internet sales.
11. The police had _insufficient__ evidence to arrest him, so they had to release him after two hours
of interrogation in the police department. (SUFFICIENT)

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Part D. Fill in each blank with a word from the box that best fits in each collocation.

affair sexually stage obey phase

1. X stereotyped behaviour ; X attractive X = __sexually__

2. the initial X; to X something out; to go through a X X = _phase__

3. an extramarital X; current Xs X = _affair__

4. X an order; X the law; X your parents X = __obey__

5. X 4 cancer; Exit X left; to X a play; X diving X = _stage__

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