ENGLISH OLYMPIAD

TEACHER
PART ONE: LISTENING / 6*2= 12points / ……
You will hear a conversation between a mother and her son about preparing for exams.
Write true (T) or false (F)
1. Richard thinks that last-minute studying is best. ……….
2. Laura thinks that a revision timetable is a good idea. ……….
3. With his present system, Richard will be able to revise everything. ……….
4. Richard agrees that his present lifestyle is crazy. ……….
5. Coffee and chocolate help Richard to work better. ……….
6. Richard has been exercising properly. ……….
PART TWO : READING / 23 points / ……
Read the following passage carefully and then answer all the questions.
A Walking Holiday in Costa Rica by Mary Novakovich
It was hard to avoid a slight sense of panic in the arrivals lounge at San Jose airport. Scores of taxi
drivers swarmed round us, making it difficult to find our guide who was to look after us during our
walking holiday. I know it’s a typical scene in many airports, but the lateness of the hour and the
unfamiliar warmth of the night were having an unsettling effect.
Finally, I spotted Juan Carlos, who quickly took charge and deposited us in the Hotel Buena Vista in
nearby Alajuela. Daniel, the waiter, ignored the late hour and gave us a free fruit drink. “You’ll want to
drink this while you’re in Costa Rica,” he said. “We call it Refresco, because it freshens you up.” I speak
the barest minimum of Spanish, so the addition of “dos Refrescos, por favor” to my limited vocabulary
was very useful.
We also learnt the Costa Rican catchphrase “pura vida”, meaning pure life. Costa Ricans say pura vida to
mean “hello”, “cheerio”, “that’s great” – whatever you like. It’s one of the many beguiling things about
this small country. Costa Rica is full of bewildering contrasts with some of the most unreasonably
beautiful and bizarre scenery I’ve ever seen.
Alajuela was only a stopover, so we set off the next day to Lake Arenal, home to one of the country’s
many volcanoes. But we had a few mini-wonders to experience along the way first. There was the small
café in Mirador Cinchona, for example,which is a lookout post over a vast garden that resembles a
compact rainforest, complete with toucans, hummingbirds and a huge waterfall in the distance. It also
had a pet spider, a tarantula, whose six-year-old minder offered us a chance to hold it. I was the only one
to take her up on it. It felt deliciously creepy.
Back on the road, Juan Carlos braked abruptly and skidded over to the kerb. “Sloth!”he called out. We
scrambled out of the car and looked excitedly up in the trees. Sure enough, a three-toed sloth was making
its leisurely way down the tree. What a delight!
After another few hours over Costa Rica’s potholed roads, we made it to the Arenal Observatory Lodge.
Arenal last had a major eruption in July 1968, when 80 people died, and new mountains were created by
lava flow. The volcano is still active, and on a clear day you can see steam blowing out of it; on clear
nights, a stream of red lava can be seen flowing down. It would have been an astonishing sight had it not
rained solidly for the two days we were there.
Our first walk was through cloud forest to the crater of neighbouring volcano Cerro Chato. It’s a steep
enough climb when the weather is dry, but the relentless rain had turned the terrain into rivers of mud.
The forest lushness could not be hidden completely, however, and now and then a flash of vivid orange
ginger lilies would appear. The reward for climbing a kilometre to the top should have been a view of
Cerro Chato’s lake, but we had to make do with the admittedly rare experience of eating our packed
lunch with our heads literally in the clouds.
Juan Carlos had promised us hot springs, a bonus that comes with staying in a volcanic region. The most
famous in the area is Tabacon Grand Spa Thermal Resort, which is expensive and usually overcrowded.
Instead we soothed our aching muscles in the smaller Eco Termales Hot Springs in La Fortuna, which
has four large pools descending into each other. Mercifully, it had stopped raining long enough for us to
lie in the steamy water and watch the bats swoop madly as dusk fell. There was a restaurant, too, which
served an extremely good version of the Costa Rican national dish casado: rice and spicy refried beans
with various extras such as chicken and beef, palm heart salad and fresh fruit juice.
I had thought that Arenal was determined to stay hidden during our stay, but the volcano emerged from
the clouds long enough to show off about two-thirds of itself. The views we missed seeing at the lodge
were made up for on the road out of Arenal and around its enormous lake. We saw not only the lake
itself, but also groups of howler monkeys hanging about in trees and gangs of cuddly coatis venturing out
into the road.

Near the Nicaraguan border we were struck by an abrupt change of scenery: the lush rainforest turned
into hot, dry savannah with more volcanic mountains in the distance.

1. Why were the writer and her companions visiting Costa Rica?
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2. What two reasons does the writer give for the sense of panic she refers to in paragraph one?
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3. What do we learn about the writer’s feelings towards the spider from the phrase ‘deliciously creepy’
(line 19)?
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4. Which word in paragraph six tells you that the roads in Costa Rica were not in good condition?
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5. Give three things from paragraph eight which the writer enjoyed about the Eco Termales
Hot Springs resort.
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6. Explain, using your own words, how the scenery changed as they approached Nicaragua.
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7. Explain, using your own words, what the writer means by:
(a) ‘my limited vocabulary’ (line 8);
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(b) ‘our heads literally in the clouds’ (line 33);

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(c) ‘determined to stay hidden’ (line 41).

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8. Re-read paragraphs three to seven. Choose three short phrases which the writer uses to suggest her
excitement at what she saw in Costa Rica.
Explain how each of these phrases helps to convey her sense of excitement at what she saw.
Phrase: ....................................................................
Explanation: ...................................................................................................................
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Phrase: ....................................................................
Explanation: ...................................................................................................................
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Phrase: ....................................................................
Explanation: ...................................................................................................................
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PART THREE: GRAMMAR and VOCABULARY / 20*1=20 points / ……
Choose the correct answer
1. Some advertisements work by transmitting …………….messages to the consumer.
A. subconscious B. subliminal C. underhanded D. devious
2. Many ………….…products, such as washing powder, are harmful to environment.
A. household B. housing C. home-based D. homing
3. When I asked him if I could photograph him he simply …………..his head in agreement.
A. shook B. bowed C. nodded D. shrugged
4. Greg rarely goes out, he spends most of his time …………………..in books.
A. sunk B. immersed C. submerged D. captivated
5. …………….. students will be called to interview with the relevant Head of the department.
A. Wishful B. Eventual C. Prospective D. Conclusive
6. He has some very ………..habits. He always has a bath with his clothes on.
A. strange B. rare C. uneven D. foreign
7. If you don’t know how to spell a word, look it ……… in the dictionary.
A. after B. up C. out D. for
8. We are going to have our house ……….. The decorators are coming next week.
A. done up B. done in C. made over D. made away with
9. Shall I ask the waiter for the bill, darling, when you …….. your coffee?
A. will finish B. shall finish C. will have finish D. have finished
10. He asked me …………… have and I offered him # 7.
A. what room could he B. what room he may
C. which room he could D. which room could he
11.I won’t allow you ………….for the meal.
A. pay B. paying C. to pay D. that you should pay
12. That’s the man ………killed my cat.
A. whose dog B. the dog of whom C. which dog D. the which dog
13.He wanted to know …………..there.
A. how long time I had been B. how long I had been
C. how long time had I been D. how long had I been
14. I’m going to the passport office …………..
A. to stamp my passport B. for stamping my passport
C. to have stamped my passport D. to have my passport stamped
15. He didn’t know ……….or stay at home.
A. to go B. if that he should go C. if to go D. whether to go
Complete sentences with words formed from the words in capitals.
16. …………………………is a growing problem in rich countries as well as poor. HOME
17 Studying Eastern religions completely altered my ………………..of life and death. PERCEIVE
18. The …………………… system will allow the locals to farm the land themselves. IRRIGATE
19. Her ………………………..to co-operate infuriated the Manager. REFUSE
20. The new manager is not bad, but he lacks the leadership and ………………………… of the previous
one. SENSETIVE
PART FOUR: TEACHER’S KNOWLEDGE /1*15=15 points/
Match the textbook rubrics with the lesson aims listed A, B or C.
LESSON AIMS : A . Developing pronunciation skills B. Developing reading skills
C. Developing vocabulary
1. Choose the best summary of paragraph. ..……..
2. Listen and group the words according to whether they have two, three or four syllables. Practice
saying them in pairs. ………
3. Complete this chat with the correct prefixes or suffixes. ………
4. Indicate on the map the way that Kate went, according to the information given. ………
 5. Read and listen to the dialogue and underline the weak forms. ……….
6. Circle the noun in each set which does not collocate with have. ……….
Match the student activities with the learning aids listed A-G. Mark the correct letter ( A-G ) on
your answer sheet. There is one extra option which you don’t need to use.
Learning aids

A. overhead transparencies
B. workbooks
C. authentic printed materials
D. flashcards
E. video clips
F. role cards
G. bilingual dictionaries

7. ____ Students, in groups, look at leaflets and brochures to get ideas on content and
language for a formal writing task.
8. ____ The whole class does a task to develop the skill of listening for detail.
9. _____ Students act out conversations as doctors and patients.
10. _____ Students complete extra grammar practice activities at home.
11. _____ During formal presentations at the front of the class, students display the results
of information they have collected.
12. _____ Students are prompted by the teacher to call out the names of objects one after the other.
Choose the correct answer.

13. ………is a group of words which together mean something different from the meaning of the
individual words.
A. An idiom B. A phrase C. A clause
14. An appropriate …………is the style of language that best fits a particular situation.
A. rhytmn B. context C. register
15. Two or more words that often go together are called ………………
A. comparatives B. collocations C. conjunctions

WRITING /20 points/