Ready for Advanced

Reading and Use of English

Part 2 Open cloze
For questions 1–8, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only
one word in each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Write your answers IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

Example: 0 IN

Facial recognition glasses coming soon

New software from Lambda Labs based (0) _________ San Francisco raises the prospect of never
forgetting a face (1) _________ .

The software enables a camera to detect faces and then identify them via a screen which sits above the
user’s right eye and is visible (2) _________ to them. However, the company has come up (3)
_________ pressure from American senators to answer questions the wearable computer raises over
privacy.

The first version of the software allows users to take photographs and tag them with information on
who is in them. Comparisons can then be (4) _________ between subsequent photos and those
previously uploaded. Future versions may (5) _________ allow real-time recognition of faces.

The company already makes software that allows the recognition of faces in digital photographs, and
claims it is in use by 1000 developers (6) _________ work generates 5 million attempts at recognition
per month.

They emphasize that the product is not yet fit (7) _________ public consumption, and limit its uses to
internet searches and finding directions. They argue that the software will remove the barriers (8)
_________ social interactions currently formed by mobile phones.

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Reading and Use of English

Part 4 Key word transformation
For questions 1–6, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first
sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between three
and six words, including the word given. Here is an example (0).
0 I’m definitely not going to invite my ex-boss to the party.
WAY
There __________________________________ my ex-boss to the party.

The gap can be filled with the words ‘is no way I’m inviting’, so you write:
Example: 0 IS NO WAY I’M INVITING

Write only the missing words IN CAPITAL LETTERS.

1 The police said they had recorded the conversation secretly.

HAVING
The police __________________________________ the conversation secretly.

2 All the pupils were told to write their essays again.

SINGLE
The teacher __________________________________ of the pupils rewrite their essays.

3 I will definitely lose the race to my sister-in-law.

BOUND
My sister-in-law __________________________________ me in the race.

4 Jack’s so annoying, he’s forever arriving late for work.

KEEP
I find Jack so annoying, he __________________________________ up late for work.

5 You should take advantage of all the sports facilities while you’re at university.
MOST
I recommend __________________________________ all the sports facilities while
you’re at university.

6 Many people have criticized the large number of cuts to the budget.
DEAL
The government cuts have come up __________________________________ criticism.

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Reading and Use of English

Part 7 Gapped text
You are going to read an extract from a newspaper article. Six paragraphs have been removed
from the extract. Choose from the paragraphs A–G the one which fits each gap (1–6). There is
one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.

Are ‘emoji’ dumbing us down or enriching our communications?

A few years ago, during a mildly flirtatious text message exchange, I was sent a picture of a ghost
followed by a picture of a balloon.
‘Ghost balloon,’ she noted, as an afterthought. I international expansion of emoji by urging
was stunned by these tiny images that magically Unicode to join the venture.
appeared among the familiar forms of the Roman
alphabet. ‘Tell me how to do the ghost balloon?’
In October 2010, a hand-picked selection of 722
I pleaded. She told me to enable a character set
emoji characters were finally cemented into
called ‘emoji’ on my phone, which I did, and I
Unicode across sets such as ‘Miscellaneous
sent her back a picture of a ghost, and a picture of
Symbols and Pictographs’, ‘Emoticons’ and
a balloon. ‘Ghost balloon,’ she replied. ‘What
‘Transport and Map Symbols’. As far as
does ghost balloon mean?’ I asked. Her reply was
computers were concerned, this effectively put
curt and emphatic. ‘Nothing’.
emoji on a par with the Roman alphabet. A pig
now has the code of U+1F437; any device that
But do emoji have a reductive effect on the way recognizes Unicode 6.0 and has an emoji font
we communicate? Or do they add a richness that installed will display a pig, if someone is kind
conventional language simply can’t convey? The enough to send you one. As well as this image
emoji story begins at the end of the 1990s, when you’ll find hand gestures, clothing,
an employee with a Japanese mobile network meteorological symbols, trains, planes and
began working on an idea that he thought might automobiles – a set of symbols that was thrashed
lure teenagers to the network. He and his team out at great length by committees.
created 176 characters, 12 pixels square, that took
inspiration from manga art and the Kanji
You won’t find much racial diversity among the
characters used in the Japanese writing system,
human characters, either – much to the chagrin of
and made them available for use in SMS
American singer Miley Cyrus, who called for an
messages. The cherries, suns, watches, birds and
‘Emoji Ethnicity Update’ on Twitter, while
broken hearts were instantly popular, and the two
cultural commentators thought: ‘Actually, she
competing Japanese networks rushed to produce
has a point’.
their own full-colour versions.

They provide the potential to bridge language

But with no emoji standard agreed between the
barriers and now the utopian idea of a pictorial
networks, a different kind of misunderstanding
language that can be understood by everyone has
began to brew; the pictures would only be
been taken a step further with iConji, a system
guaranteed to display properly if the sender and
that features over 1200 symbols and allows
recipient were using the same mobile network. It
construction of simple sentences. But that
wasn’t until 2006 that the three networks came to
inevitably involves the establishment of a lowest
some kind of consensus – and around the same
time, Google and Apple® prompted the

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Ready for Advanced
common denominator, of simplifying language to
get the message across.
‘Ghost balloon’ may have had no intrinsic
meaning, but it created an instant association
with the person who sent it to me and came to
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Progress Test 4
mean something specific. It certainly stimulated
the creative side of my brain, ‘I am wrestling
with the etiquette of 21st-century
communication.’ And I don’t know about you,
but that’s something I need to express pretty
much every day. Ghost balloon.
4
A Only in Japan, perhaps, would these catch on quite so fast. ‘[In conversation] we tend to
imply things instead of explicitly expressing them,’ says Japanese author Motoko Tamamuro, ‘so
reading the situation and sensing the mood are very important. We take extra care to consider other
people’s feelings when writing correspondence, and that’s why emoji became so useful in email and
text – to introduce more feeling into a brevitized form of communication.’
B As a whole though, emoji are still unmistakably Japanese; there isn’t one for cheese, but you
will find one for bento box, there’s no Easter egg, but there is a Kadomatsu, the Japanese pine
decoration associated with New Year.
C They are just unnecessary pictures that add precious little meaning to written communication.
Or at least that’s probably what the vast majority of people over the age of 25 think of emoji, but this
set of glyphs is now sweeping the Western world. We’re embracing emoji ranging from the angry
face to the tomato to the hospital to the ghost, and indeed the balloon.
D One emoji aficionado says the apps on modern iPhones and Android phones allow us to
engage a part of our brain which uses symbolic and visual thinking. He believes this is why they have
gained so much popularity – they rake in well over $3m each month.
E However, emoji is different, it is more about embellishment and added context; it’s about in-
jokes, playfulness, of emphasizing praise or cushioning the impact of criticism, of provoking thought
and exercising the imagination.
F But if you’re not satisfied with the variety of emoji at your disposal, a huge industry exists to
embellish and enhance your messages with whatever pictures you like. Line, the dominant message
app in Japan with over 100 million users, allows in-app purchases of extra emoji. Meanwhile, other
apps have moved into the realm of ‘stickers’: sets of images, a little larger than emoji, that people can
buy and send to each other in order to convey emotions that some would say words simply can’t
express.
G With this additional party they were able to achieve standard handling of computer text, and
move towards their aim of guaranteeing that symbols display properly across devices worldwide.

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Listening
Part 3 Multiple choice
You will hear part of a radio interview about computer gaming addiction. For questions 1–6,
choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what you hear.
1 When Dave asked if he could have some video games as a present,
A his parents eventually gave in.
B his parents had a row about it.
C other relatives bought the games for him.
D his parents felt he had spoiled Christmas.

2 How did John feel initially about his
A He was worried about the type of
them.
B He did not really like it, but he was
C He was happy that the games helped
teenagers.
D He was concerned, because his son
son playing the computer games?
friends who came round to play
not unduly concerned.
his son to interact with other
seemed on edge all the time.

3 John and his wife started to worry about Dave when

A his teacher called them in to discuss his academic progress.
B they read one of his essays and were shocked by the content.
C they noticed he had not been producing any exceptional work.
D he told them the subjects at school were becoming more difficult.

4 What does John say about Dave’s substitute teacher?

A She was unfamiliar with Dave’s academic potential.
B She caused Dave to lose interest in his schoolwork.
C She was unable to control Dave’s behaviour in class.
D She should have encouraged Dave to work harder.

5 What alarmed John most about Dave?

A how his health started to deteriorate
B how he was unable to control his emotions
C how he was no longer his usual helpful self
D how he was treating his sister badly

6 How did John react when he saw Dave’s school report?

A disappointed that Dave had let himself down
B shocked that Dave had failed all of his subjects
C surprised that Dave had the courage to show it
D thankful he had proof that Dave needed help

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Vocabulary
For sentences 1–15, underline the correct alternative.

1 My daughter’s got a/an dislocated/upset/sprained stomach, so she’s off school.

2 I fell over during the tennis tournament and chipped/bruised/blocked my tooth.

3 Anyone who cycles along those winding mountain roads is risking life and
soul/thrills/limb.

4 My teenage daughter behaved so badly last year that I was on the

brink/limit/boundary of a nervous breakdown.

5 I feel absolutely dreadful, I’ve got a blinding/mild/minor headache.

6 Parents are encouraged/insisted/conceded to drop in and help with pupils who have
difficulty with reading.

7 The health minister refused/denied/apologized making the comments reported in

the press.

8 Management have threatened/objected/protested to close down the whole factory.

9 A/an high number/amount/figure of school leavers are deciding not to go to

university due to the increase in fees.

10 There’s a small extra charge/rate/price if you require an early morning wake-up call.

11 If the product is faulty, we give customers a/an full/intact/utter refund as long as they
have a receipt.

12 The local council has done precious/veritably/precisely little to resolve the housing
shortage.

13 Getting a forest fire under control is a daunting/heavy/scared task.

14 All my assistants are expected to overthrow/uphold/undertake a small amount of

research each term.

15 I turned down the offer of a job abroad as it would have entailed

uprooting/overturning/downplaying my family.

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Writing
Part 1 Essay
Your class has recently attended a panel discussion about the increasing popularity of
cosmetic surgery. You have made the notes below.

Arguments for and against cosmetic surgery

• dangers

• social pressures

• benefits to self-esteem

Some opinions expressed in the discussion:

‘People should grow old naturally.’

‘If you feel bad about your appearance, cosmetic surgery is the answer.’

‘My friend’s surgery went wrong.’

Write an essay discussing two of the issues in your notes. You should explain which issue is
most important when considering cosmetic surgery, giving reasons in support of your
answer.

You may, if you wish, use the opinions expressed in the discussion, but you should use your
own words as far as possible.

Write your essay in 220–260 words

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