Scotland

People come to this small northern country for many reasons, lured, perhaps, by the promise of
spectacular (1) ..., friendly natives, and a vibrant arts scene. Some are searching for their
family (2) ... or others just want to get away from it all and, digging (3) ... old memories from their
English Lit class of gallant heroes engaging in larger-than-life struggles, their (4) ... wander to
faraway lands, to somehow familiar yet different destinations. Why not go to Scotland? But what kind
of country are they coming to and what should they expect once they get there? Scotland (5) ... of an
area of 30, 418 square miles - so it's a fairly compact and "doable" country - with a population of
about five million people - not too small, not too big. It is one of three countries that form the
political (6) ... called Great Britain, the other two being, of course, England and Wales, which, along
with their fourth partner, Northern Ireland, becomes the United Kingdom. Scotland is bordered on
three sides by water and on its fourth by England, which has had both its advantages and
disadvantages. Geographically speaking, the country can be divided into three broad areas, the
Southern Uplands, the Central Lowlands, and the Highlands. Although the rugged
Highlands (7) ... about two-thirds of the land area, the (8) ... majority of the population lives in the
Central Belt between Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, and Edinburgh, Scotland's capital.

1. A) scene B) scenery C) view D) panorama

2. A) roots B) race C) basis D) source

3. A) off B) down C) on D) up

4. A) head B) brains C) spirits D) minds

5. A) consists B) includes C) embraces D) comprises

6. A) entirety B) entitle C) entry D) entity

7. A) take out B) take in C) take up D) take off

8. A) expansive B) vast C) expanding D) spacious

ANSWERS
 SCENERY
COLLOCATION SPECTACULAR SCENERY
(SCENERY => UNCOUNTABLE) The natural features of a particular part of a country that you can
see, such as mountains, forests, deserts etc:
Reunion Island is a wildly tropical Island with spectacular scenery.
ROOTS
COLLOCATION FAMILY ROOTS
Your relation to a place because you were born there, or your family used to live there:
Why not try to trace family roots when you travel?
UP
PHRASAL VERB DIG UP
To find hidden or forgotten information by careful searching:
They tried to dig up some dirt on their political enemies.
MINDS
COLLOCATION MINDS WANDER
If your mind, thoughts etc wander, you no longer pay attention to something, especially because you are
bored or worried:
Does your mind wander while performing daily tasks?
CONSISTS
VERB + PREPOSITION CONSIST OF
To be formed from the things or people mentioned:
The house consists of six rooms.
ENTITY
COLLOCATION POLITICAL ENTITY
A unit with political responsibilities:
A new autonomous political entity will be created to replace the existing Autonomous Region of
Muslim Mindanao.
TAKE UP
PHRASAL VERB TAKE UP
To fill or use an amount of space or time:
How much space will the wardrobe take up?
VAST
COLLOCATION VAST MAJORITY
Almost all of a group:
The vast majority of people can read and write.

The Microscope
An important invention in the development of science and medicine was the microscope. It
was (1) ... the principle that light could be “(2) ... ” or bent, by a glass lens. It was soon discovered
that tiny objects could be magnified (3) ... size when viewed through a glass lens that had been
ground and polished in a specific (4) ... . Although the principle was known to the Chinese as early as
1000 A.D, it was not until the 13th and 14th centuries in Europe (5) ... it was put to practical use in
the form of eyeglasses. In Europe the first microscope was invented by brothers Zacharias and Hans
Janssen, two Dutch eyeglass-makers, around 1590. They built a “compound” microscope, so called
because of its two lenses. The most significant development and use of the microscope during this
period, however, belongs to another Dutch optician, Antonie van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723). Born in
Delft, Holland, he became skilled at (6) ... very sharp and accurate magnifying lenses. Some of his
single-lens microscopes were able to magnify up the three hundred times (7) ... size, and around
1660 he began serious study using these instruments. He was the first to discover bacteria and other
microscopic organisms, calling these tiny creatures “animalcules”. (8) ... to this discovery, very small
creatures such as fleas and maggots were thought to “spontaneously generate” from a single source,
such as rotting meat in the case of maggots.

1. A) based upon B) based by C) based in D) based at

2. A) refracted B) retracted C) retorted D) retraced

3. A) by B) on C) in D) with

4. A) procedure B) manner C) fashion D) character

5. A) when B) than C) then D) that

6. A) granting B) grinding C) scraping D) rubbing

7. A) present B) substantial C) actual D) current

8. A) According B) Due C) Owing D) Prior

ANSWERS
BASED UPON
VERB + PREPOSITION BASE UPON
To use something as the thing from which something else is developed:
An opinion should be based upon facts, not guesses.
REFRACTED
VERB REFRACT
 If glass or water refracts light, the light changes direction when it passes through the glass or water:
Light is refracted when passed through a prism.
IN
PHRASE IN SIZE
How big or small something is:
They didn't have the boots in my size.
MANNER
IDIOM IN A MANNER
The way in which something is done or happens:
She greeted me in a friendly manner.
THAT
IDIOM IT WAS NOT UNTIL + PAST SIMPLE + THAT
Used to emphasize that something does not happen before a certain point in time or before something
else has happened:
It was not until midnight that I finally decided to go home.
GRINDING
VERB GRIND
To make something smooth or sharp by rubbing it on a hard surface or by using a machine:
I need a special stone for grinding knives.
ACTUAL
ADJECTIVE ACTUAL
Used to emphasize that something is real or exact:
The actual cost was higher than we expected.
PRIOR
PHRASE PRIOR TO
Before something:
All the arrangements should be completed prior to your departure.

Horses
Horses and donkeys were (1) ... , comparatively late compared with other animals, probably around
4000 BC in Western Asia. By that time, people in many parts of the world were no longer (2) ... on
hunting and gathering their food, but had become nomadic stockbreeders or settled farmers, raising
livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats and, in the static communities, growing and harvesting food
plants.
They still hunted wild (3) ... , but could now do so with the (4) ... of domestic dogs, the close animal
companions who also helped them to protect and control their flocks and herds. Their needs for
meat, milk, skins and wool were being (5) ... , and it may not have been immediately obvious to them
that the horse had anything more to offer than the occasional (6) ... of the chase and a different type
of meat. The horse did have something more to offer. It had the potential to (7) ... nothing less than a
revolution (8) ... power and transport, a dramatic development that transformed the ability of humans
to wage war.

1. A) tamed B) accustomed C) trained D) domesticated

2. A) sustained B) reliant C) liable D) subject

3. A) game B) play C) sport D) contest

4. A) aim B) compliments C) assistance D) intention

5. A) met B) come C) undergone D) faced

6. A) kick B) thrill C) emotion D) inspiration

7. A) bring off B) bring in C) bring out D) bring about

8. A) on B) at C) in D) for

ANSWERS
DOMESTICATED
ADJECTIVE DOMESTICATED
To make a wild animal used to living with or working for humans:
The first animal to be domesticated appears to have been the dog.
RELIANT
ADJECTIVE + PREPOSITION RELIANT ON
Dependent on someone or something:
The baby is totally reliant on its parents for food, warmth and love.
GAME
NOUN GAME
Wild animals, birds, and fish that are hunted for food, especially as a sport:
 There are over 18 types of game birds to hunt in North America.
ASISTANCE
IDIOM WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF
Help or support:
He can walk only with the assistance of crutches.
MET
PHRASE MEET THE NEEDS
To do or satisfy what is needed or what somebody asks for:
How can we best meet the needs of all the different groups?
THRILL
PREPOSITION THE THRILL OF
A feeling of extreme excitement, usually caused by something pleasant:
The thrill of travelling at high speeds
BRING ABOUT
PHRASAL VERB BRING ABOUT
To make something happen:
His carelessness brought about his failure in the exam.
IN
NOUN + PREPOSITION REVOLUTION IN
A complete change in ways of thinking, methods of working etc:
Computers have caused a revolution in the way many people work.

Piracy
Piracy was not (1) ... by men like Blackbeard and ‘Black Bart’ Roberts. It has been around since man
first took to the sea, a maritime (2) ... that appeared in historical records since before the building of
the Egyptian pyramids. The Mediterranean, (3) ... known as the ‘(4) ... of civilization’, was also a
pirate hot-spot, which we know because the Ancient Egyptians (5) ... the time to describe the attacks
and their perpetrators.
As in any period, piracy in the ancient world flourished when there was a lack of central control, and
in areas beyond the (6) ... of major powers such as the Egyptians, the Assyrians or the Mycenaean
Greeks. The first known pirate group was the Lukkans, a group of sea raiders based on the south-
eastern coast of Asia Minor. They first appeared in the 14th century BC, when
Egyptian (7) ... recorded that they raided Cyprus, (8) ... there are suggestions that their piratical
activities started earlier.
1. A) disclosed B) invented C) discovered D) devised

2. A) scouter B) scout C) scooper D) scourge

3. A) besides B) likewise C) moreover D) otherwise

4. A) cradle B) cot C) crib D) hamper

5. A) passed B) made C) took D) set

6. A) limits B) reach C) horizon D) frontier

7. A) scribes B) scripters C) reporters D) playwrights

8. A) or B) because C) although D) despite

ANSWERS
INVENTED
VERB INVENT
To make, design, or think of a new type of thing:
When was printing invented?
SCOURGE
NOUN SCOURGE
Something that causes a lot of harm or suffering:
Vaccination has freed us from the scourge of smallpox.
OTHERWISE
PHRASE OTHERWISE KNOWN AS
In a different way to the way mentioned; differently:
Bismarck, otherwise known as 'the Iron Chancellor'.
CRADLE
IDIOM THE CRADLE OF
The place where something important began:
Why is Mesopotamia called the cradle of civilization?
 TOOK
IDIOM TAKE THE TIME TO
To spend enough time to do something:
If you take the time to read the directions carefully, you won't have any trouble installing the software.
REACH
PHRASE BEYOND THE REACH OF
The limit of someone's power or ability to do something:
She lives in Peru, well beyond the reach of the British authorities.
SCRIBES
NOUN SCRIBE
A person who made copies of written documents before printing was invented:
The scribes were the copyists of Scripture and teachers of the Law.
ALTHOUGH
CONJUNCTION ALTHOUGH
Used to mean 'but' or 'however' when you are commenting on a statement:
I felt he was wrong, although I didn't say so at the time.