Progress Test 2A.

1. Decide whether the following sentences are correctly formed. Put a tick () next to the correct sentences
and a cross () next to the incorrect ones.
1 Where Alex would work she didn't earn half as much as she does here. ____
2 If I remember rightly, we would often walk through this part of town at night. ____
3 While he was at university Bill used to spend three summers working on a farm. ____
4 Jim would lose his temper and then Millie would go out and slam the door. ____
5 Chloe told us how she would have a dental brace when she was a little girl. ____
6 For the last three years my school friends would organise annual reunions. ____
7 His cousin used to play for Manchester United. ____
8 Elliot said he would be a bad driver once but he's got much better. ____
9 The twins used to get confused with each other when they dressed alike. ____
10 Last summer we used to go on short holidays several times. ____ Mark __/10

2 Complete the sentences using the verbs in brackets. Use the past perfect continuous or simple.
1 I ______________________ (always, think) he was a kind man, but now I knew I was mistaken.
11 Mary ______________________ (see) Henry for over six months by then.
12 The gravestone ______________________ (become) overgrown with moss and was difficult to read.
13 They thought we ______________________ (follow) them on purpose.
14 The teacher could see that Ava ______________________ (copy) while he was out of the room.
15 The last time he ______________________ (see) his brother was just before the earthquake.
16 At that point most of the class ______________________ (learn) English for three years longer than I had.
17 He ______________________ (think) of changing his job for some time when he saw the advert.
18 The team ______________________ (not play) well recently so we expected them to lose.
19 Jocelyn _____________________ (know) about her friend‘s addiction from the start. Mark __/10

3.Complete the text with the verbs below. There are two words that you do not need to use.
budget repay going get afford buy take
When you leave your parents' home and start living on your own, you have to
1
_______________ responsibility for your financial decisions. Lots of young people like to 2_______________
pricey goods, which can 3_______________ them into debt, and they find it impossible to 4 ___________ the
money they've borrowed without 5 ____________ broke. Mark __/5

4.Complete the gaps with the correct expressions and idioms so that the second sentence has the same
meaning as the first.
1 The boys received some money after their uncle died. The boys have _______
into _______ _______.
2 The holiday to Cyprus was very inexpensive. The holiday was _______ _______.
3 Why did you spend some of the money that you had saved to use later? Why did you _______ into _______
_______?
4 If you don’t have enough money for essentials, you should restrict your spending. If you scarcely have
enough money to live on, you should _______ your _______.
5 How much did you pay? You were seriously overcharged! How much did you say you paid for your
notebook? You've been _______ _______. Mark __/5

5.Complete the sentences with an appropriate form of the words in brackets.

1 Property ___________ often knock down houses and build new ones in their place. (develop)
20 Squatters usually get ___________ in the end. (evict )
21 There is a nice fully- ___________ flat for rent on the sea front. (furnish)
22 The government is introducing a new housing scheme to reduce the number of ___________ people. (home)
23 Sometimes you have to pay a ___________ fee when you rent a flat. (maintain) Mark __/5

6.Complete the sentences with the correct form of the words or phrases below and add prepositions to make
prepositional phrases.
get involved benefit be in danger have confidence donate
1 Children ____________ more ___________ being outdoors than watching TV.
24 Cyclists are ____________ serious head injury when not wearing a helmet.
 25 I'm sure Lloyd will pass his exams. I have ____________ him.
26 Last year he ____________ several local sports organisations.
27 Every year my grandmother ____________ a large sum of money _________charity. Mark __/5

7. Complete the sentences with an appropriate verb from the words below in the correct form. Use used to,
would, the past perfect or past perfect continuous: make have do take get
1 I ______ confidence in my boss, but not any more. I no longer trust him.
2 We paid the builders after they ______ a lot of maintenance to our property.
3 When we got home, the landlord ______ possession of the property. We should have paid the rent!
4 A few years ago, Sally _____ stressed every time she had to perform, but nowadays she never gets nervous
about acting.
5 Jake ______ improvements to his property for months when, suddenly, the hurricane blew in and destroyed
everything. Mark __/10

8.Read the text. Match the sentences with the correct person A–D. There is one person you need to use twice.
People and money: a peek into our financial lifestyles

A Jim Gareth Money, or shall we say the constant absence of it, drives us crazy. I suppose it all started when I
was at university, and I'd borrowed quite a large sum by the time I graduated. When you are a fresh graduate, it's
difficult to find a good job and I got into debt quite rapidly. I haven't been able to repay what I borrowed for some
years now. My wife was in exactly the same situation when she graduated and she came into our relationship with
her own debts. Then there were the expenses with the wedding, of course, and now we're totally broke!
B Karen Jones Our situation became critical last year, as we were in danger of getting evicted from our house
because we weren't able to pay the mortgage. In the end we had to borrow a lot of money from my husband's
family. It has taught us a valuable lesson though: don't get a larger house than you can afford, especially for a rip-
off price, and certainly don't recklessly overspend on a lavish wedding if you're already in debt!
C Henry Pollack My wife says that I am really stingy with money, but I would call myself sensible. I don't
think spending wisely is mean at all. You see, I have always been in charge of our family finances and I think my
wife is grateful to me for taking that responsibility solely on myself. All my married life, I have been sitting down
with a glass of sherry on a Sunday evening to work out a weekly budget from our total income, planning carefully
what we could afford to buy and how much we would have to save up for the more costly items, such as a new
TV or washing machine. Unlike our friends, we go on holiday every year, and I can assure you that our earnings
are quite modest.
D Evelyn Simmons Our pensions are not much to boast about, but we are doing fine. We manage to pay our
bills, we've paid off our mortgage and we still have some money left over for life's little luxuries. And if times got
really hard, we have a few valuable items in our loft that could fetch quite a large sum at auction. We'll be fine, as
long as we have each other.
1 ___ almost had their house repossessed due to financial difficulties.
28 ___ is a precise financial planner.
29 ___ is planning to sell some of their possessions if difficult financial times come along.
30 ___ shared the same financial problems as his/her partner.
31 ___ has bought a property that was overpriced. Mark __/5
9.Write a story (200-250 words) about someone, who comes into a lot of money. Include the following points in
your story:
Describe how this person comes into a lot of money.
What does this person do with it?
What happens to all the money in the end?
Give the story a happy or a sad ending.

Total: ___/70
Progress Test 2B

1 Decide whether the following sentences are correctly formed. Put a tick () next to the correct sentences
and a cross () next to the incorrect ones.
32 There would be a sweet shop on the corner of our street. ____
33 As a student, Harry would work on a farm every summer. ____
34 My sister would cry at weddings but she hasn't since she got married. ____
35 For a while after she left university Jean would come and see us. ____
36 I think he used to smoke cigars when he was better off. ____
37 On my father's birthday we would always go for a picnic. ____
38 I used to get top marks at school many times. ____
39 My friend used to have a dog called Eustace. ____
40 Previously Janice would help me a lot more than she does now. ____
41 In the 1950s scientists used to make a lot of new discoveries. ____ Mark __/10
2 Complete the sentences using the verbs in brackets. Use the past perfect continuous or simple.
2 They ______________________ (drive) for several hours when it started to snow.
3 Matthew ______________________ (try) to give up smoking on several occasions.
4 I wasn't surprised when he resigned as he ______________________ (talk) about it for a while.
5 The overnight snow ______________________ (lay) a thick white blanket over the countryside.
6 When he scored his first goal he ______________________ (not play) in our team for long.
7 The detectives could see it ______________________ (rain) by the wet grass.
8 Jack ______________________ (refuse) to stay any longer so we'd all had to leave.
9 Caroline guessed James ______________________ (take) the car because the keys were gone.
10 Sarah ______________________ (date) Robert for years when they broke up.
11 Natalie couldn't remember if she _________________(turn off) the gas before she left. Mark __/10
3 Complete the text with the verbs below. There are two words that you do not need to use.
spend earn expense repay buying need save up
If you want to avoid owing money, you need to learn to 1 _______________ wisely and avoid
2
 _______________ costly things you don't really need. When you budget, you need to take into account how
much you 3 _______________ and how much goes out on essentials. If you 4 _______________ expensive items
such as a new washing machine, you will have to 5 _______________ for them instead of purchasing them on a
credit card. Mark __/5
4 Complete the gaps with the correct expressions and idioms so that the second sentence has the same
meaning as the first.
12 Helen's very sensible with money. Helen is good _______ _______ _______ .
42 Her parents have enough money for some luxuries in life. Her parents are _______ _______ .
43 He would make a lot of money if he sold his house. His house would be _______ a _______ if he sold it.
44 I like spending time looking for the cheapest bargains. I like to _______ _______ to try to find a bargain.
45 This shop charges too much money for everything. Everything in this shop is a ______ Mark __/5

5 Complete the sentences with an appropriate form of the words in bold.

13 The owners took ______________ of their house once the squatters had left. possess
14 The ______________ of houses is very poor in this area. available
15 The local council has made numerous ______________ to the housing estate. improve
16 Now I've bought new furniture, I wish I had a more ______________ flat. space
17 We have to pay the rent we owe within a week to avoid ______________ . evict Mark __/5
6 Complete the sentences with the correct form of the words or phrases below and add prepositions to make
prepositional phrases: danger forge a relationship wave goodbye value benefit
18 He is ______________ losing his job if he's consistently late.
46 We had to ______________ the many luxuries we had been used to when Dad lost his job.
47 I really ______________ Jack ______________ his honesty.
48 Tom tried unsuccessfully to ______________ his boss.
49 You'd really ______________ doing this computer course, you know. Mark __/5
 Complete the sentences with an appropriate verb from the words below in the correct form. Use used to,
would, the past perfect or the past perfect continuous: make get rent value forge
41. Jerry started his new job last Monday. He’s so sociable that, by the end of the day, he ______ relationships
with everyone in the office.
42. Jane ______ the flat for six months when Joe moved in to live with her.
43. I ____ people for their confidence and social skills, but nowadays I think people who are kind and generous
are the best sort of friends.
50 My friends and I were squatters a few years ago. We _____ evicted from flats every two or three months, but
we just found somewhere else to live.
51 After selling the property, Jake realised that he ______ a profit. He was very pleased. Mark __/10
7 Read the text. Match the sentences with the correct person A–D. There is one person you need to use
twice.
People and money: a peek into our financial lifestyles
A Jim Gareth
Money, or shall we say the constant absence of it, drives us crazy. I suppose it all started when I was at university,
and I'd borrowed quite a large sum by the time I graduated. When you are a fresh graduate, it's difficult to find a
good job and I got into debt quite rapidly. I haven't been able to repay what I borrowed for some years now. My
wife was in exactly the same situation when she graduated and she came into our relationship with her own debts.
Then there were the expenses with the wedding, of course, and now we're totally broke!
B Karen Jones
Our situation became critical last year, as we were in danger of getting evicted from our house because we weren't
able to pay the mortgage. In the end we had to borrow a lot of money from my husband's family. It has taught us a
valuable lesson though: don't get a larger house than you can afford, especially for a rip-off price, and certainly
don't recklessly overspend on a lavish wedding if you're already in debt!
C Henry Pollack
My wife says that I am really stingy with money, but I would call myself sensible. I don't think spending wisely is
mean at all. You see, I have always been in charge of our family finances and I think my wife is grateful to me for
taking that responsibility solely on myself. All my married life, I have been sitting down with a glass of sherry on
a Sunday evening to work out a weekly budget from our total income, planning carefully what we could afford to
buy and how much we would have to save up for the more costly items, such as a new TV or washing machine.
Unlike our friends, we go on holiday every year, and I can assure you that our earnings are quite modest.
D Evelyn Simmons
Our pensions are not much to boast about, but we are doing fine. We manage to pay our bills, we've paid off our
mortgage and we still have some money left over for life's little luxuries. And if times got really hard, we have a
few valuable items in our loft that could fetch quite a large sum at auction. We'll be fine, as long as we have each
other.

19 ___ almost had their house repossessed due to financial difficulties.

20 ___ is a precise financial planner.
21 ___ is planning to sell some of their possessions if difficult financial times come along.
22 ___ shared the same financial problems as his/her partner.
23 ___ has bought a property that was overpriced.
Mark __/5
8 Write a story (200-250 words) about someone, who comes into a lot of money. Include the following points
in your story:
 Describe how this person comes into a lot of money.
 What does this person do with it?
 What happens to all the money in the end?
 Give the story a happy or a sad ending.
Total: ___/70