Advanced Material for the Gifted School year: 2019 - 2020

COUNTDOWN2020
FURTHER 02
PART ONE: USE OF ENGLISH
I. WORD CHOICE
Choose the word which best completes each sentence below.
1. The newspaper story was based on an interview which had been done off the ______.
A. script B. record C. key D. tape
2. Before we make a decision you should ______ all the issues involved.
A. weigh through B. weigh out C. weigh up D. weigh down
3. Sociologists believe dull these factors will ______ lead to over-population.
A. sullenly B. ultimately C. vigorously D. vehemently
4. I read some pretty ______ news about the economy today.
A. challenging B. jumpy C. disconcerting D. cutting
5. Her condition is improving, but she’s not out of the ______.
A. dark B. cupboard C. woods D. fire
6. The hotel, though obviously grand in its day, appeared rather neglected and ______ when we checked in.
A. tumble-down B. downcast C. down-and-out D. run-down
7. After the catastrophic defeat, the ______ of the army made their way back to their mountain strongholds.
A. survivors B. remnants C. wounded C. deserters
8. He hadn’t prepared a speech, he just made a few remarks ______.
A. off the cuff B. at first sight C. up his sleeve D. out of the back of his neck
9. Martin needs to get a ______ on his finances if he’s not to face serious difficulties with the bank.
A. grasp B. grip C. clutch D. clasp
10. The young lady was the _______ of his father.
A. image B. likeness C. picture D. portrait
11. Six novels a year, you say? He’s certainly a _______writer.
A. fruitful B. fertile C. virile D. prolific
12. It was too late to _______ of the contract.
A. back away B. back down C. back out D. back up
13. It must be true. I heard it straight from the _______ mouth.
A. dog’s B. horse’s C. camel’s D. cat’s
14. The handwriting is completely ______ . This note must have been written a long time ago.
A. inedible B. indelible C. illegible D. unfeasible
15. Ellen decided that election to the local council would provide a _______ to a career in national politics.
A. springboard B. melting-point C. milestone D. highway
II. WORD FORM
Give the correct form of the words given in the brackets.
1. An ______ (DETERMINE) number of workers have already been exposed to danger.
2. Gerald was very naughty in your absence. In fact, he behaved most ______ (CREDIT)! I refuse to look after
your child again!
3. The lake near to where I live is one of the deepest and most ______ (VOLUME) in the world.
4. Our car ______ (APPRECIATE) by $1500 in the first year we owned it.
5. Look! I know you’ve lost your wallet, but there’s no use in keeping on ______ (MOAN) the fact. Someone has
stolen it and that’s all there is to it!
III. SENTENCE TRANSFORMATION
Rewrite these sentences.
1. Tim insisted on being told the complete story.
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 Advanced Material for the Gifted School year: 2019 - 2020

→Nothing but ___________________________________________________

2. Doing something different is risky, but for Los Angeles Times, introducing a new style to a long-established
publication has been the right decision. (BREAKING)
→There are ___________________________________________________
3. People became aware of the damage to the ozone layer when an enormous hole was discovered over the
South Pole.
→It was the ___________________________________________________
4. Just thinking about his face at that moment makes me laugh.
→The very __________________________________________________
5. The staff hated Frank’s new policies so intensely that they went on strike.
→So intense ___________________________________________________
6. The change in the company’s logo didn’t make any difference to the majority of its customers. (CONSEQUENCE)
7. People have rumored that you might be getting married soon. (GRAPEVINE)
8. Bruce said that the situation at work was like a family argument. (LIKENED)
9. The restaurant became famous because of the chef’s unique recipe. (MAP)
10. It’s uncertain whether the band’s tour will take place. (BALANCE)
PART TWO: READING COMPREHENSION
I. Read the passage and choose the correct answer
I have just come home after viewing some astonishing works of art that were recently discovered in Church Hole
cave in Nottinghamshire. They are not drawings, as one would expect, but etchings, and they depict a huge range
of wild animals. The artists who created them lived around 13,000 years ago, and the images are remarkable on
a variety of counts. First of all, their sheer number is staggering, there are ninety all told. Moreover, fifty-eight of
them are on the ceiling. This is extremely rare in cave art, according to a leading expert, Dr Wilbur Samson of
Central Midlands University. Wall pictures are the norm, he says, "But more importantly, the Church Hole
etchings are an incredible artistic achievement. They can hold their own in comparison with the best found in
continental Europe." I am not a student of the subject, so I have to take his word for it. However, you do not have
to be an expert to appreciate their beauty.

In fact, it is the wider significance of the etchings that is likely to attract most attention in academic circles, since
they radically alter our view of life in Britain during this epoch. It had previously been thought that ice-age hunters
in this country were isolated from people in more central areas of Europe, but the Church Hole images prove that
ancient Britons were part of a culture that had spread right across the continent. And they were at least as
sophisticated culturally as their counterparts on the mainland.

An initial survey of the site last year failed to reveal the presence of the etchings. The reason lies in the
expectations of the researchers. They had been looking for the usual type of cave drawing or painting, which
shows up best under direct light. Consequently, they used powerful torches, shining them straight onto the rock
face. However, the Church Hole images are modifications of the rock itself, and show up best when seen from a
certain angle in the natural light of early morning. Having been fortunate to see them at this hour, I can only say
that I was deeply—and unexpectedly—moved. While most cave art often seems to have been created in a
shadowy past very remote from us, these somehow convey the impression that they were made yesterday.

Dr Samson feels that the lighting factor provides important information about the likely function of these works of
art. "I think the artists knew very well that the etchings would hardly be visible except early in the morning. We
can therefore deduce that the chamber was used for rituals involving animal worship, and that they were
conducted just after dawn as a preliminary to the day's hunting."

To which I can only add that I felt deeply privileged to have been able to view Church Hole. It is a site of
tremendous importance culturally and is part of the heritage, not only of this country, but the world as a whole.

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1. According to the text, the images in Church Hole are:

A. particularly beautiful cave paintings

B. superior in quality to other cave art in Britain

C. aesthetically exceptional

D. unique examples of ceiling art

2. What is the cultural significance of these images?

A. They reveal the existence of a single ice-age culture in Europe.

B. They indicate that people from central Europe had settled in Britain.

C. They prove that ancient Britons hunted over large areas.

D. They suggest that people in Europe were more sophisticated than Britons.

3. What does the writer say about the discovery of the images being made public?
A. Many people visited the cave within hours of its discovery.

B. The images in the cave are vulnerable to damage.

C. The measures taken to protect the images have proved ineffective.

D. The discovery of the images should not have been made public.

4. Why were these images not discovered during the initial survey?

A. They were not viewed from the right angle.

B. People were not expecting to find any images.

C. Artificial light was used to explore the cave.

D. The torches used were too powerful.

5. The word “these” in paragraph 4 refers to

A. expectations B. modifications C. researchers D. images

6. What conclusions does Dr Samson draw from the lighting factor?

A. Rituals are common in animal worship

B. The artists never intended to make the images visible.

C. The images were intended to be visible at a certain time of day.

D. Ice-age hunters worshipped animals in the cave.

7.According to Dr Caruthers

A. We cannot make inference from cave art

B. The images in Church Hotel do not serve any particular function

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C. experts know nothing about life 13.000 years ago.

D. The function of such images is open to question.

8. It seems that the writer

A. can now envisage the life of ice-age hunters more vividly.

B. was profoundly impressed by the images in the cave.

C. has now realized the true significance of the cave art.

D. thinks that the images should receive more publicity.

II. You are going to read an article about the effects of tourism on local people. For questions , choose
from the people (A-E). The people may be chosen more than once.
LIVING WITH TOURISM
Five people describe how tourism has affected their home town.
A Leonor Sousa
It can’t be denied that tourism has attracted investment, which has certainly raised living standards here, but the
cost in other respects has been extremely high. Take the effect on the environment, for instance. When my
parents were young this used to be an area of fields and woods, but now everything is covered in concrete. The
tourists themselves aren’t responsible for this,- it’s the construction companies, property developers and estate
agents who are to blame because they’re the ones making all the money. They’re all based in the big cities and
bring in their own people, so they hardly create any employment at all for local residents.
В Yusuf Demir
When I was growing up in my home town there was a path I used to walk along to go to school, and last summer I
went to see if it was still there. It was, but the view from it had changed completely. Now there is a vast shopping
mall, with a cinema and cafes alongside. I don’t actually mind that, because it means there are lots more things to
do, and I also like the fact that it has a really international atmosphere. It’s good for local people to meet visitors
from other parts of the world, try new kinds of food and hear about different ways of living.
C Matt Walker
Tourism has changed this town so much, even in the years since I was at junior school. In those days there was a
football pitch near the harbour where we would kick a ball around, but it’s gone now, which is a pity. In the harbour
itself luxury yachts owned by people from richer parts of the country have replaced the fishing boats, to the extent
that there is now no sign of what used to be the main source of income and employment locally. In the evenings
the town is certainly a lot livelier, but sometimes people start doing things they would never think of doing back in
their own home towns, and then the police have to be called.
D Trisha Chandra
I was just a child when tourism first took off here and those incredibly ugly houses were built for summer visitors.
The residents really should have protested about that. It was all the fault of the town council, who only ever
thought in the short term and seemed to give planning permission to anyone who applied to build anything.
Nowadays there’s talk of ecological tourism, but that’s just a way of making people feel less guilty about the harm
they are doing by making a few insignificant changes, such as re using towels in their hotel rooms.
E Daniela Navarro
I know some of the new hotels and holiday apartment blocks are unattractive, and that the bars, restaurants and
nightclubs that cater for tourists have changed the nature of the town, but without them unemployment –
particularly among the young – would be far worse than it currently is. That, though, is as far as the economic
benefits to the town go, as the only ones making any real money out of all this are the big tour operators and the
owners of hotel chains, none of whom are actually based in this country. Also, very few tourists learn our

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language. I know it must be difficult for them because most of them are quite old, but it means there’s little
communication between us and them.
Which section ……
1. misses a place they used to go to as a child? __
2. states that tourism provides a considerable number of jobs for local people? __
3. wishes local people had opposed the construction of certain holiday homes? __
4. claims that tourism has destroyed a traditional industry? __
5. blames the tourist industry for spoiling the local countryside? __
6. feels that the presence of people from other cultures benefits the local community? __
7. criticises the behaviour of tourists in their town? __
8. says the town is wealthier than it was before it became a tourist resort? __
9. believes that most of the profits from the local tourist industry go abroad? __
10. is not convinced that so-called green tourism actually benefits the environment? __

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