Mid-term test

A. Multiple Choice
Skimming (5)
Questions 1-5
Read the passage. Then answer the questions below.

The Creators of Grammar

No student of a foreign language needs to be told that grammar is complex. By changing word
sequences and by adding a range of auxiliary verbs and suffixes, we are able to communicate tiny
variations in meaning. We can turn a statement into a question, state whether an action has taken place
or is soon to take place, and perform many other word tricks to convey subtle differences in meaning.
Nor is this complexity inherent to the English language. All languages, even those of so-called
'primitive' tribes have clever grammatical components. The Cherokee pronoun system, for example,
can distinguish between 'you and I', 'several other people and I' and 'you, another person and I'. In
English, all these meanings are summed up in the one, crude pronoun 'we'. Grammar is universal and
plays a part in every language, no matter how widespread it is. So the question which has baffled
many linguists is - who created grammar?
At first, it would appear that this question is impossible to answer. To find out how grammar is
created, someone needs to be present at the time of a language's creation, documenting its emergence.
Many historical linguists are able to trace modern complex languages back to earlier languages, but in
order to answer the question of how complex languages are actually formed, the researcher needs to
observe how languages are started from scratch. Amazingly, however, this is possible.
Some of the most recent languages evolved due to the Atlantic slave trade. At that time, slaves from a
number of different ethnicities were forced to work together under colonizer's rule. Since they had no
opportunity to learn each other's languages, they developed a make-shift language called a pidgin.
Pidgins are strings of words copied from the language of the landowner. They have little in the way of
grammar, and in many cases it is difficult for a listener to deduce when an event happened, and who
did what to whom. [A] Speakers need to use circumlocution in order to make their meaning
understood. [B] Interestingly, however, all it takes for a pidgin to become a complex language is for a
group of children to be exposed to it at the time when they learn their mother tongue. [C] Slave
children did not simply copy the strings of words uttered by their elders, they adapted their words to
create a new, expressive language. [D] Complex grammar systems which emerge from pidgins are
termed creoles, and they are invented by children.
Further evidence of this can be seen in studying sign languages for the deaf. Sign languages are not
simply a series of gestures; they utilize the same grammatical machinery that is found in spoken
languages. Moreover, there are many different languages used worldwide. The creation of one such
language was documented quite recently in Nicaragua. Previously, all deaf people were isolated from
each other, but in 1979 a new government introduced schools for the deaf. Although children were
taught speech and lip reading in the classroom, in the playgrounds they began to invent their own sign
system, using the gestures that they used at home. It was basically a pidgin. Each child used the signs
differently, and there was no consistent grammar. However, children who joined the school later,
when this inventive sign system was already around, developed a quite different sign language.
Although it was based on the signs of the older children, the younger children's language was more
fluid and compact, and it utilized a large range of grammatical devices to clarify meaning. What is
more, all the children used the signs in the same way. A new creole was born.
1. In paragraph 1, why does the writer include information about the Cherokee language?
A. To show how simple, traditional cultures can have complicated grammar structures
B. To show how English grammar differs from Cherokee grammar
C. To prove that complex grammar structures were invented by the Cherokees.
D. To demonstrate how difficult it is to learn the Cherokee language

2. What can be inferred about the slaves' pidgin language?

A. It contained complex grammar.
B. It was based on many different languages.
C. It was difficult to understand, even among slaves.
D. It was created by the land-owners.

3. All the following sentences about Nicaraguan sign language are true EXCEPT:
A. The language has been created since 1979.
B. The language is based on speech and lip reading.
C. The language incorporates signs which children used at home.
D. The language was perfected by younger children.

4. In paragraph 3, where can the following sentence be placed?

It included standardised word orders and grammatical markers that existed in neither the pidgin
language, nor the language of the colonizers.
A
B
C
D
5. 'From scratch' in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to:
A. from the very beginning
B. in simple cultures
C. by copying something else
D. by using written information

Direction: Choose the best synonym for the following words.

6. Entire
A. half
B. whole
C. most
D. pure
7. Brief
A. near
B. half
C. short
D. close
8. Terrified
A. anxious
B. nervous
C. Scared
D. horrified
Direction: Choose the best antonym for the following words.
9. Awful
A. laughable
B. unthinkable
C. wonderful
D. pitiful
10. Captivity
A. bondage
B. caprice
C. liberty
D. slavery

Part B – Fill in the blanks.

Complete the sentence with Simple Present, Simple Past and Future Tense.
I. Complete the table with the correct SIMPLE PRESENT! (5)

POSITIVE (+) NEGATIVE (-) INTERROGATIVE (?)

Example: They are late. They are not late. Are they late?
1. He travels a lot He does not travel a lot. Does he travel a lot?
2. You smoke You don’t smoke Do you smoke?
3. She is in the room She is not in the room. Is she in the room?
4. He has time He does not have time Does he have time?
5. He is tall He is not tall Is he tall?

II. Anna’s friend Della was on holiday in Jamaica. Read the letter to Anna and complete
it with the correct verbs. (10)
* invited * stopped * talked * travelled * stayed * enjoyed
* didn’t sleep * didn’t get * watched * was * listened
Dear Anna,
I had a fantastic holiday in Jamaica. It was hot and the sea was blue and lovely.
I ..…travelled.… by plane from London to Kingston. I really ……enjoyed…… the flight. It
was eight hours long but I …didn’t sleep…… at all because I ……was……… so excited.
During the flight I ………listened………… to the music, ……watched……… a film and
……talked……… to the girl in the seat next to me.
I ……stayed…… with my aunty and uncle in Kingston. They ……stopped…… me
on a trip to Montego Bay. We ……invited…… at an Orchid Farm. It was brilliant. On my
last night there I ……didn’t get…… to bed until 4 o’clock in the Morning!
See you soon!
Love,
 Della
III. Put in 'will' or 'be going to'.(5)
1. A: We don't have any bread.
B: I know. I ______will_______ get some from the shop.
2. A: Are you busy tonight? Would you like to have coffee?
B: Sorry. I ___be going to____ go to the library. I've been planning to study all day.
3. A: Why do you need to borrow my suitcase?
B: I ___be going to ____ visit my mother in Scotland next month.
4. A: I'm really cold.
B: I ___will____ turn the heating on.
5. A: Are you going to John's party tonight?
B: Yes. Are you going too? I ____be going to_____ give you a lift.

C. Essay
(Communication, Previewing & Predicting, Scanning, and Understanding Paragraph)

1. What is the meaning of communication, elaborate its types and elements? (25)
2. What is the aim of Scanning and Skimming? (10)
3. What is the similarity of Scanning and Skimming? (10)
4. Elaborate 3 (three) differences between Scanning and Skimming? (15)
5. Write down 2 (two) possible main ideas from the topics below: a. Covid-19 b.
Travelling (10)

-Good Luck-

1. Communication is the activity of sending and receiving information, which can be

one-on-one or between groups of people, and can be face-to-face or through
communication devices.
2. Scanning is aim to find some specific information
Skimming is aim to find some general informasion by only focuses on the related
words or sentences that can answer the reader’s questions.
3. The reader use both of that technique to find information quickly
4. Scanning:
- In scanning the reader don’t need to read the whole passage, sometimes the
readerjust gonna have to focus on certain paragraph.
- The reader have search for the specific piece of information.
- The reader have to find the key word to obtain the information that reader
Skimming :
- the reader objectivity is to obtain the general information from the passage.
- the reader would read the first and the last sentence from each paragraph to obtain
main idea of each paragraph.
-
5. Covid-19:
- dead victim rising since 2020 to early 2021 and decreasing begin since late 2021.
- Covid19 make a big impact on educational system that student have to stay home,
. and not only student, this happened to worker as well.
Travelling :
- being exhausted because of work is gonna be tough, that’s why travelling is gonna
be the answer of that problem
- travelling is believed as mental “medicine” if you are getting burnout.