Unit 5  Test

Vocabulary
1  Write the word which best fits the gap in each sentence. Here is an example (0).
0 Once great friends, Harry and George haven’t spoken since they fell ___________ .out
1 It’s a very ___________-written book – the author’s clearly talented and has a way with words.
2 The car was ___________ damaged in the crash. In fact, the garage said they couldn’t repair it.
3 Although relatively poor, the island’s population is ___________ literate. Few can’t read or write, and
most go on to university on the mainland.
4 We hoped to go away for a few days, but our plans fell ___________ at the last moment because
Sophie had an emergency at work.
5 I didn’t realize you knew so much about the council’s plans. You seem very ___________ informed.
Who’s been telling you things?
6 My parents are reasonably well-___________ . That’s why they can help me pay my rent.
7 The wedding reception was ___________ organized. There wasn’t enough food, and there was
nowhere for guests to go when it started to rain.
8 Young people tend to do things on the ___________ of the moment. They never plan ahead.
9 Now I’m fifty-four, I suppose I have to admit to being ___________-aged.
10 When I was a teenager, I fell ___________ this Italian guy. I was so in love that I spent all my
money on a ticket to Rome.

___ / 10

2 Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. There is an example at the
beginning (0).
Mumbai
Mumbai’s a huge (0) ___ – indeed, it’s the most populous city in India with eighteen million people living there.
Today, the city’s (1) ___ , with new businesses opening every day, and much of the population (2) ___ a rise in
living standards. As a result, however, developers are beginning to make plans to build in more historical
run-down areas. They want to build luxury apartment (3) ___ for the wealthy, replace traditional markets
with shopping (4) ___ , and replace busy roads with car-free pedestrian (5) ___ . No doubt the plans will
(6) ___ the local economy by bringing jobs, new infrastructure and wealthy residents to these poorer suburbs,
but many fear that what will be lost is the colour and character of the old communities. There’s also the danger
that current residents won’t be able to (7) ___ to live in the expensive new high-rises. If the developers (8) ___ to
their current plans, despite the campaigns against them, many of the places that once gave Mumbai its unique
flavour will disappear. For me at any (9) ___ , and I’ve lived in Mumbai all my life, it doesn’t make (10) ___ to
replace the traditional with the modern, just because the money’s there. Mumbai needs a rethink.

0 A consortium B obstruction C strait D metropolis

1 A enhancing B thriving C increasing D rising
2 A adding to B making better C benefitting from D improving to
3 A blocks B rises C areas D parks
4 A halls B spaces C stations D malls
5 A regions B zones C parks D spaces
6 A boost B add C thrive D allow
7 A help B afford C enhance D involve
8 A stay B point C stick D remain
9 A account B state C rate D stage
10 A certain B sense C point D need

___ / 10

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 Grammar
3 Complete the text using the to infinitive or the -ing form of the verbs in brackets. There is an example at the
beginning (0).
to create
As part of proposals for a new rail link, developers want (0) ____________ (create) an entire new station
alongside the existing Euston Railway Station in London. It’s all part of an effort to help (1) ____________ (make)
Euston a more modern and reliable transport hub. The vision is bold. Imagine (2) ____________ (have) a walkway
to connect up the station with Euston Square underground station. It’s just one of the many ideas that’ll allow
visitors to London (3) ____________ (access) the city with the minimum of fuss. Proposals suggest
(4) ____________ (build) six new platforms which, in turn, will allow train companies (5) ____________ (operate)
more services and passengers (6) ____________ (travel) to all parts of the country without having to change station.
Naturally, if the government decides (7) ____________ (go) ahead with such a major project, it’ll involve
(8) ____________ (spend) a lot of taxpayers’ money. However, it’s vital that London chooses (9) ____________ (invest)
in its rail infrastructure. The alternative is to risk (10) ____________ (lose) custom to other transport operators.

___ / 10

4 Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not
change the word given. You must use between two and four words, including the word given. Here is an example (0).
0 Please don’t forget to write emails.
REMEMBER
remember to write
Please ______________________ emails.
1 I’m sorry I didn’t send Jo an invitation.
REGRET
I ______________________ Jo an invitation.
2 We had no intention of spending the night there.
MEAN
We ______________________ the night there.
3 The twins have memories of their stay at their grandparents’ cottage.
REMEMBER
The twins ______________________ at their grandparents’ cottage.
4 I’d rather read books than go clubbing.
TO
I prefer ______________________ clubbing.
5 Jamie made no attempt to stop her leaving.
TRY
Jamie _____________________ her leaving.
6 Despite numerous warnings, homeowners have kept on building unsafe structures.
CONTINUED
Homeowners ______________________ unsafe structures despite numerous warnings.
7 ‘I’m really sorry for cracking your phone screen. It was an accident,’ Sheila said.
MEAN
Sheila apologized for cracking my phone screen and said she _____________________ it.
8 After completing his first novel, Wilson wrote eight more.
ON
Wilson ______________________ eight more novels after completing his first.
9 Simon’s father hasn’t sent him money since he moved abroad.
STOPPED
Simon’s father ______________________ him money after he moved abroad.
10 I apologize for saying this but I’m afraid you haven’t achieved the grade necessary to complete the course.
REGRET
I ______________________ that you haven’t achieved the grade necessary to complete the course.

___ / 10

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 Reading
The growth of our cities
A D
There once was a time when big cities thrilled and amazed Those cities will be bigger than ever. A megacity has more
people. ‘It is the metropolis of the universe, the garden than ten million inhabitants. In 1995 there were fourteen;
of the world,’ Ibn Khaldun, the Arab historian, wrote of soon there will be more than twenty. And the ranking
Cairo in 1382. English traveller Thomas Coryat described will have shifted: the five largest cities today will, in a
Renaissance Venice as a ‘beautiful queen.’ French artist few years, probably be overtaken by rapidly merging
Marcel Duchamp, in 1915, called New York City ‘a mega-cities in Asia. Of course, population numbers
complete work of art.’ Since their appearance in about by themselves don’t determine a city’s prospects, and
3, 000 B.C., cities have always been the natural centre explosive growth is not necessarily the determining factor.
of everything that mattered: the temple, the court, the ‘City problems,’ one authority points out, ‘mostly have to
market, the university. And for anyone who’s slightly do with weak, ineffective, and usually unrepresentative
ambitious, there’s little choice. Shakespeare left Stratford city governments.’
to go to London, after all; not the reverse. E
B According to most social scientists, the optimistic ones at
Of course, your own city may not immediately inspire least, none of this is inevitable. Many people today consider
words like ‘peerless’ or ‘paradise.’ However urban life slums to be the fate of the Third World, but experts remind
strikes you, though, there is one thing that can’t be denied: us of the horrific lower depths of London, Paris and New
cities worldwide have been growing ever more rapidly. York that inspired the great social movements of the 19th
Some of this growth has occurred in the developed world − and 20th centuries, and novelists Charles Dickens and
Las Vegas, for example, grew by eighty-three per cent in Victor Hugo and photographer Jacob Riis against the
the nineties. But the most dramatic increase has been in festering tenements, sweatshops, and child labour that
the Third World. Almost all the world’s population growth blighted these cities. Today, they point out, these cities
over the next thirty years will take place in the cities of are now among the First World’s proudest metropolises.
developing countries. By the year 2030, for the first time in Solutions have been found before.
history, sixty per cent of the world’s people will be living in F
urban environments.
To discover how people are coping with drastic urban
C growth, photographer Stuart Franklin and I went to São
Experts believe this growth is actually good news in Paulo, Bangkok, Lagos and Hyderabad. I was prepared
some ways. ‘Cities are the fundamental building blocks to be overwhelmed, and I was. But it wasn’t the choking
of prosperity,’ says Marc Weiss, chairman of the Prague air, the crushing slums and mindless skyscrapers that left
Institute for Global Urban Development, ‘both for the the deepest impression. It was the people, so tenacious,
nation and for families.’ Industrial and commercial ingenious and hopeful. These massive cities are not, as
activities in urban areas account for between fifty and they may first appear, just big, crowded, ugly places.
eighty per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in They’re full of life. Even in the anonymous parts on the
most countries of the world. ‘There’s the crazy notion that edges of the great cities, I found that what appeared to
the way to deal with a city’s problems is to keep people be each city’s greatest problem − all those people − is in
out of them,’ Weiss continued. ‘But the problems of rural fact her richest resource. How to make cities work is the
life are even more serious than those of the city.’ For problem.
better or worse, urban-watchers are clear on one point:
the quality of life for most people in the future will be
determined by the quality of cities.

5 You are going to read an article about cities. For questions 1–10, choose from the sections (A–F). The sections may
be chosen more than once. There is an example at the beginning (0).
In which section does the writer
0 define a megacity? ____D
1 express a personal and optimistic view of cities? ___
2 quote historical authors? ___
3 admit that not all cities appear thrilling or amazing to their citizens? ___
4 contrast how cities have changed in recent years in two different parts of the planet? ___
5 say that cities have been viewed in negative terms in the past? ___
6 say why cities are necessary structures in countries around the world? ___
7 say why some modern cities are not successful? ___
8 say that there is an inevitability about the way that people are attracted to cities? ___
9 quote the view that living in the countryside is worse than living in urban environments? ___
10 describe the profile of current city dwellers? ___
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