Unit Test 1

Specific Competences Test: Listening, Reading, Writing

Specific Competence 1: Listening
1 01 Listen and tick (ü) the correct answers.!
1 What are you listening to?
A ☐a podcast B ☐ a vlog C ☐ a conversation
2 What is it about?
A ☐ making a time capsule B ☐ a life in an ancient city C ☐ a true story from the past
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2 01 Listen again. Complete the sentences with a number or a word.

1 The ship was as long as football fields.
2 The ship left the UK in 1912.
3 There were about people on the ship.
4 The speaker thinks the people felt at the beginning.
5 The _______ people were at the top of the ship.
6 On day everything went wrong.
7 The speaker thinks the people felt later.
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3 01 Listen again. Tick (ü) the correct answers.

1 When the ship left, people thought it was very … .
A ☐dangerous B ☐ safe C ☐ big
2 A cabin is a … on a ship.
A ☐ bedroom B ☐ kitchen C ☐ living room
3 An iceberg is … .
A ☐ a type of ice cream B ☐ a very small piece of ice C ☐ a very large piece of ice
4 When a ship sinks it goes … .
A ☐to a port B ☐ along the sea C ☐ to the bottom of the sea
5 A lifeboat is a special boat … .
A ☐ to take people on holiday B ☐ to help people at sea C ☐ to take people under the sea
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4 01 Listen again to check your answers.

1 Synchronize 2 • Specific Competences Unit Test 1

Specific Competence 1: Reading
5 Read the magazine article quickly and tick (ü) the correct answers.
1 What is Great Zimbabwe?
A ☐ a very old city
B ☐ a country in Africa
C ☐ a famous bird
2 What does Simon think about Great Zimbabwe?
A ☐ It’s creepy.
B ☐ It’s interesting.
C ☐ It’s modern.

/2

History Mag Online

1 We asked our readers to send us articles about historical places. Simon Chona visited
the country, Zimbabwe, in southern Africa, and he saw an ancient city.

Great Zimbabwe, by Simon Chona

2 Last month, I went to Zimbabwe. It’s a beautiful country next to my country, Zambia. We visited
the ruins of an ancient city called Great Zimbabwe. I love history, so I was very excited about
visiting Great Zimbabwe!
3 We went on a tour, and saw the amazing, old stone walls and buildings. We walked up a hill to
see the oldest part. Our tour guide told us about the history.
4 The word ‘Zimbabwe’ means ‘big stone houses’ in Shona. Shona is one of the languages in
Zimbabwe. The Shona people built Great Zimbabwe in about 1100, but nobody knows exactly
how old Great Zimbabwe is. Archaeologists think that about 10,000 people lived there. They
found many interesting objects from countries far away. They think that the Shona people sold
things to people from China, Syria and other places to get pots, clothes and other things that they
needed. But in about 1500, a lot of people left Great Zimbabwe. Archaeologists don’t know why
they left.
5 The walls are very big. I was very surprised! In some places, the walls are 11 m tall and 6 m
thick! On the walls there are eight stone birds, about 40 cm tall. Zimbabweans call this bird
‘Zimbabwe Bird’. It looks like an eagle. You can see Zimbabwe Bird on the flag of Zimbabwe.
6 I learned a lot, and I had a great day, but I was very tired when I got home.

2 Synchronize 2 • Specific Competences Unit Test 1

6 Read again. Tick (ü) the correct answers.
1 Where is the writer from?
A ☐Zambia
B ☐Zimbabwe
C ☐China
2 How many people lived in Great Zimbabwe?
A ☐
about 1,100
B ☐
about 1,500
C ☐
about 10,000
3 The most … part of Great Zimbabwe is on a hill.
A ☐modern
B ☐ancient
C ☐beautiful
4 How did the writer feel when he saw the walls?
A ☐surprised
B ☐excited
C ☐tired

5 How high are the walls in some places?

A ☐40 cm
B ☐6m
C ☐11 m

6 What is on the Zimbabwean flag?

A ☐ A picture of a building.
B ☐ A picture of a bird.
C ☐ A picture of a person.
/6

7 Complete the sentences with one or two words from the article.
1 This person shows tourists interesting places: . (Paragraph 3)
2 Some people in Zimbabwe speak this language: . (Paragraph 4)
3 These people study buildings and objects to learn about history: . (Paragraph 4)
4 A book with a lot of pages is very . (Paragraph 5)
5 This is a type of bird: . (Paragraph 5)
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8 Read the article again to check your answers.

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Specific Competence 2: Writing
9 Write a message to an English-speaking friend from Zambia, Chama. Imagine you had a fun day at
home last week, and you want to tell her about it.
a Think and plan
• First, remember or invent a fun day at home. (When was it? Who was there? What did you do? How did you
feel?)
• Think of one or two questions to ask your friend.

b Write
Now write your message on the lines below. Write 100–130 words.
Make sure you:
• use linkers (e.g. First of all, Next, Finally, etc.) to describe the order of events
• write two paragraphs about your fun day at home
• mention how you felt
• start and end your message in a friendly way (e.g. Hi / Hello, Best wishes / Write soon!)
• check your spelling, grammar and punctuation
• check that the message includes all the information from your plan

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Specific Competence 3: Interaction
10 Read the dialogue and tick (ü) the correct answers.
1 ‘Why don’t we … to the cinema?’
A ☐
going B ☐ go C ☐ goes
2 ‘I’m not so … on that idea.’
A ☐sure B ☐ rather C ☐ keen
3 ‘OK. How … going for a walk?’
A ☐on B ☐ about C ☐ for
4 ‘I’d … not do that.’
A ☐ sure B ☐ rather C ☐ keen
5 ‘Well, let’s watch a film at home … .’
A ☐ instead B ☐ suggest C ☐ really
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11 Imagine you are discussing what to do with a friend in the evening. Complete the dialogue.
A We could do our homework.
B 1I’m . (Disagree with the suggestion.)
A Why don’t we make a cake?
B 2I’d . (Disagree with the suggestion.)
A Let’s play a game.
B 3That’s . (Agree with the suggestion.)
/3

Specific Competence 4: Mediation

12 Imagine your English-speaking friend needs to choose an interesting historical place for a history
project. You think Great Zimbabwe is a good topic. Using the article on page 2, write a short message
telling them about Great Zimbabwe.
• Explain what Great Zimbabwe is.
• Give two interesting facts about it.
• Say why you think it’s a good choice for their history project.

/5

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