Life, Pre-Intermediate, Unit 12 Test

Vocabulary
1 Complete the text with the words in the box. There is an example at the beginning (0).
desert field forest garden mountain ocean park poacher river sponsor start
0 Behind the farm, there was a large, green ___field____ full of cows.
1 They walked through an ancient ____________ in which the trees were large and old. Few people had
been there before.
2 We climbed up to the top of the ____________ where the air was thin but the views were amazing.
3 There is an attractive ____________ in our city where children play – there is a lake, footpaths and a
lot of trees.
4 We walked along the ____________ to Henley, passing people who were fishing, and saying hello to
people on boats who went past.
5 It used to take weeks to sail across the ____________ from Europe to North America.
6 We like sitting in our ____________ – it’s small but it’s full of beautiful flowers.
7 It was hot in the ____________ . There were no plants, no water, and no sign of life.
8 A ____________ has killed a chimpanzee mother and taken her baby.
9 Don’t ____________ trying to run a wildlife rescue centre until you know what problems you face.
10 The computer company wants to ____________ the zoo to help protect animals and to get some
positive publicity.
(10 points)

2 Choose the correct option to complete the weather forecast. There is an example at the beginning
(0).
(0) Extreme / Dark weather will be moving in from the mountains early Saturday morning. A powerful
(1) cloud / storm will bring strong winds and a lot of heavy (2) rain / lightning. It’ll be so wet that there
may be a chance of a (3) shine / flood in the lower part of the town. Move your valuable belongings
upstairs. Watch out for loud claps of (4) hail / thunder in the sky, and dangerous, electrical (5) lightning /
bright, which may cause fires. If temperatures fall, there is a chance of (6) flood / hail – if these hard
balls of ice fall in your area, stay indoors. By Sunday morning, this weather front will have passed. On
Sunday, the sun will (7) storm / shine, and skies will be very (8) extreme / bright and blue. There may be
one white (9) cloud / rain in the sky, but no more than that. After the really (10) dark / thunder skies of
Saturday, the light, sunny skies of Sunday will feel very different.
(10 points)

Grammar
3 Complete the text with the correct form of the verbs in brackets. There is an example at the
beginning (0).
What (0) _would you do_ (you / do) if you (1) (be) alone on a desert island? Many of us dream of being
lost in paradise but it (2) ____________ (not be) much fun if you (3) ____________ (not have) any
friends with you. We asked an expert on survival what our chances of surviving on a desert island would
be. He was surprisingly optimistic. ‘If the island had water, you (4) ____________ (survive) for a long
time,’ he said. ‘You (5) ____________ (have) to catch fish to eat, and make some sort of shelter to
protect you from the sun, but if you (6) ____________ (do) that, you (7) ____________ (not die) … at
least, not for a long time.’ Being alone on a desert island has its advantages. It’s warm, there are fish in
the sea, and there are unlikely to be any diseases. ‘Desert islands are friendlier places than most,’ said
the expert. ‘If you (8) ____________ (try) to survive in a cold climate, you would die of cold, and if you
(9) ____________ (get) lost in a tropical rainforest, you (10) ____________ (catch) a disease.’ It seems
that desert islands aren’t the worst places to find yourself.
(10 points)

4 Complete the sentences by adding no, some, any or every to the word in brackets. There is an
example at the beginning (0).
0 I think I’ve got _something_ in my eye. It really hurts. (thing)
1 I don’t know ____________ who likes doing lots of homework. (body)
2 We looked ____________ but we couldn’t find Lucy’s phone. Perhaps it was stolen. (where)
3 I hadn’t read ____________ at all about the country before I visited it last summer. (thing)
4 There is ____________ outside. Should we open the door and let them come in? (one)
5 ____________ in my family has ever been abroad. In fact, we don’t even have passports! (body)
6 Did you do ____________ interesting on your holiday? (thing)
7 I invited ____________ at work to the wedding, and all the people in Susie’s office came, too! (body)
8 We didn’t go ____________ last weekend. We just stayed at home. (where)
9 There’s ____________ to do here. It’s quite a boring place in winter. (thing)
10 ____________ broke into the office at the weekend and took three of the computers. (one)
(10 points)

Reading
Today’s Science Blog: tell us about the Moon
A
It’s hard to imagine how life on our planet would be different if something like the Moon had never
existed. If we didn’t have a Moon, there would be no lunar tides, and a world where the seas didn’t
move would have a big effect on nature. There would also be no total solar eclipses – when the Moon
moves in front of the sun – and we would notice that. More importantly, big rocks in space called
asteroids which, for millions of years, have crashed into the Moon, would hit Earth instead. Everybody
knows that asteroids have hit Earth and destroyed life – an asteroid killed the dinosaurs, for example. If
there were more asteroids, perhaps the chance of life on Earth developing would be smaller. Perhaps
there would be no us.
B
The Moon has played an important part in a lot of cultures. If it wasn’t there, we would, I suppose, tell
stories about different things, but it is true that many of our traditional stories are about the Moon. We
talk about dreaming of the Moon, and aiming for the Moon, and we look at the Moon and think of love
or mystery, of happiness or sadness. It is important to us. We have always wanted to go there. That’s
why there was a race to the Moon between the USA and the USSR in the 1960s, and why we have a
space industry today.
C
The Moon’s gravity pulls most strongly on the side of the Earth closest to the Moon and least strongly on
the side of the Earth farthest from the Moon. The Earth’s gravity pulls, too and, as a result, material
comes away from the surface of the Moon. If you lived on the Moon, you would see how strongly the
pull of the Earth has an effect on the Moon’s surface. Forces pull water from the Earth towards the
Moon, particularly when there is a new Moon or a full Moon.
D
There are a number of theories. One is that the Earth and the Moon began life at the same time, and
developed next to each other. Pieces of rock came together to make our planet, but some pieces of rock
moved in the other direction and came together to make the Moon. Another idea is that the Moon was
a piece of rock in space that was passing the Earth, but got caught in its gravity. There are, however,
problems with both these theories. Most scientists think that a big rock hit Earth when the solar system
was young and parts of our planet flew into space. These rocks then came together to make the Moon.

5 Read the science blog. Match the questions to the paragraphs (A–D) that answer each question.
There is an example at the beginning (0).
0 Why are there high tides when there is a full Moon? _____C______
1 What happened to the dinosaurs? ____________
2 How was the Moon formed? ____________
3 What would Earth be like with no Moon? ____________
4 Is it possible the moon used to be part of the Earth? ____________
5 How has the Moon helped our imagination? ____________
6 When did people first try to go to the Moon? ____________
7 How does gravity affect what happens on the Earth and on the Moon? ____________
8 Do scientists agree on how the Moon started? ____________
9 In what ways does the Moon protect Earth from disaster? ____________
10 How does the Moon make us feel? ____________
(10 points)
Listening
6 [Track 110] Listen to an interview with Dr Holly Wilson about going to Mars. Choose the correct
ending (A, B or C). There is an example at the beginning (0).
0 The presenter says that Dr Holly Wilson is an expert on
A space.
B science.
C Mars.
1 In Dr Wilson’s opinion, if we wanted to set up a space colony on Mars, we would
A not have to improve technology.
B be able to do it with 1970s technology.
C need more advanced technology.
2 Dr Wilson says the main reason why we don’t go to Mars is that
A nobody wants to go to a place that is so dangerous.
B governments don’t have any money to spend on big projects.
C it seems a better idea to spend money on other things.
3 Dr Wilson says that to set up a colony on Mars we need to get more support from
A scientists.
B politicians.
C ordinary people.
4 According to Dr Wilson, the majority of people think that exploring space is
A uninteresting.
B very interesting.
C not very interesting.
5 Dr Wilson thinks the chances of building a colony on Mars are
A unlikely.
B likely.
C impossible.
6 Dr Wilson says that people might pay for a space colony on Mars if the reason was
A political.
B scientific.
C economic.
7 Dr Wilson thinks that space tourism
A would be too expensive for people to do.
B wouldn’t make enough money to support a colony.
C would be a good reason to build a colony.
8 Dr Wilson thinks that a Mars colony might be paid for by
A a government’s military department.
B an international tourist agency.
C rich business people.
9 Dr Wilson says that
A Mars only has a few minerals.
B we don’t know what minerals there are on Mars.
C there are a lot of minerals on Mars.
10 In Dr Wilson’s opinion, there needs to be
A more major companies interested in finding Mars’ minerals.
B more scientific research into the type of minerals on Mars.
C better technology in order to get minerals from Mars.
(10 points)