MOCK TEST 3

II. LEXICO-GRAMMAR
Part 1. For questions 1-15, choose the correct answer A, B, C or D to each of the following questions.
Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
1.The town centre is full of shops selling a ______ range of goods.
A. variant B. diverted C. various D. diverse
2. Sniffer dogs are able to locate survivors beneath the rubble with ______.
A. precision B. correctness C. meticulousness D. exactitude
3. I'm afraid we can't process your order at the moment as there's been a technical______.
A. spill B. catch C. drop D. hitch
4. Sara brought in a lot of business last month; she should ask for a pay rise while she’s still on a______.
A. run B. roll C. rush D. roam
5. I'll ______admit that the company isn't doing well, but I don't think there's any need to panic.
A. readily B. overtly C. bluntly D. explicitly
6. His testing positive for drugs did nothing to ______the notion that most world-class athletes are taking
illegal substances.
A. dispel B. dissolve C. disclose D. disband
7. This shoe repairer is so quick that he can sole and heel your shoes in a______
A. split B. jiffy C. hurry D. flicker
8. We were all on a ______-edge until the very end of the Hitchcock film.
A. razor B. cliff C. knife D. chair
9. If you don't get_____ those invitations today, they’ll never arrive on time.
A. on B. from C. by D. off
10. His friends and family left him in the _____when he went bankrupt.
A. church B. end C. lurch D. street
11. Having seen the film that won the Oscar, I was disappointed; it wasn’t all_____up to be.
A. creased B. cracked C. lined D. valued
12. Talking this matter again is just flogging a dead _____; we don’t have anything new to discuss.
A. dog B. bird C. horse D. camel
13. “Robert concluded by pointing out that we cannot increase productivity with this poor machinery.”
“_____ an apt remark!”
A. How B. So C. Wasn’t it D. Was it
14. In _____ did I knock on the huge oak door, for nobody answered.
A. vane B. mane C. vein D. vain
15. During pioneer days a lot of land in the United States was up for_____.
A. grabs B. taking C. gain D. promotion
Your answers:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

11. 12. 13. 14. 15.

Part 2. For questions 1-4, write the correct form of each bracketed word in the corresponding
numbered box provided.
1. The speech by the headmaster at the salutation ceremony last week (SCORE) the importance of the
education of soft skills to students.
2. Other critics claim Mr Picketty ignores (ROCK) principles of economics.
3. In America, the online retailer has run out of the 700-page (COVER), which it sells for $25.
4. Since women are still fairly exotic creatures in the C-suite, they attract (PROPORTION) publicity when
they hit problems.
5. Customers are willing to pay (HAND) for anti-aging cosmetic products.
Your answers:
1. 2. 3.

4 5.

III. READING

Part 1: Read the following passage and do the task that follows

Assessing the risk

A
As a title for a supposedly unprejudiced debate on scientific progress, “Panic attack: interrogating our
obsession with risk” did not bode well. Held last week at the Royal Institution in London, the event brought
together scientists from across the world to ask why society is so obsessed with risk and to call for a “more
rational” approach. “We seem to be organising society around the grandmotherly maxim of ‘better safe than
sorry’,” exclaimed Spiked, the online publication that organised the event. “What are the consequences of
this overbearing concern with risks?”
B
The debate was preceded by a survey of 40 scientists who were invited to describe how awful our lives
would be if the “precautionary principle” had been allowed to prevail in the past. Their response was: no
heart surgery or antibiotics, and hardly any drugs at all; no aeroplanes, bicycles or high-voltage power grids;
no pasteurisation, pesticides or biotechnology; no quantum mechanics; no wheel; no “discovery” of America.
In short, their message was: no risk, no gain.
C
They have absolutely missed the point. The precautionary principle is a subtle idea. It has various forms, but
all of them generally include some notion of cost-effectiveness. Thus the point is not simply to ban things that
are not known to be absolutely safe. Rather, it says: “Of course you can make no progress without risk. But if
there is no obvious gain from taking the risk, then don’t take it.”
D
Clearly, all the technologies listed by the 40 well-chosen savants were innately risky at their inception, as all
technologies are. But all of them would have received the green light under the precautionary principle
because they all had the potential to offer tremendous benefits – the solutions to very big problems – if only
the snags could be overcome.
E
If the precautionary principle had been in place, the scientists tell us, we would not have antibiotics. But of
course, we would – if the version of the principle that sensible people now understand had been applied.
When penicillin was discovered in the 1920s, infective bacteria were laying waste to the world. Children died
from diphtheria and whooping cough, every open-drain brought the threat of typhoid, and any wound could
lead to septicaemia and even gangrene.
F
Penicillin was turned into a practical drug during the Second World War when the many pestilences that
result from were threatened to kill more people than the bombs. Of course antibiotics were a priority. Of
course, the risks, such as they could be perceived, were worth taking.
G
And so with the other items on the scientists’ list: electric light bulbs, blood transfusions. CAT scans, knives,
the measles vaccine – the precautionary principle would have prevented all of them, they tell us. But this is
just plain wrong. If the precautionary principle had been applied properly, all these creations would have
passed muster, because all offered incomparable advantages compared to the risks perceived at the time.
H
Another issue is at stake here. Statistics are not the only concept people use when weighing up risk. Human
beings, subtle and evolved creatures that we are, do not survive to three-score years and ten simply by
thinking like pocket calculators. A crucial issue is the consumer’s choice. In deciding whether to pursue the
development of new technology, the consumer’s right to choose should be considered alongside
considerations of risk and benefit. Clearly, skiing is more dangerous than genetically modified tomatoes. But
people who ski choose to do so; they do not have skiing thrust upon them by portentous experts of the kind
who now feel they have the right to reconstruct our crops. Even with skiing, there is the matter of cost-
effectiveness to consider: skiing, I am told, is exhilarating. Where is the exhilaration in GM soya?
I
Indeed, in contrast to all the other items on Spiked’s list, GM crops stand out as an example of a technology
whose benefits are far from clear. Some of the risks can at least be defined. But in the present economic
climate, the benefits that might accrue from them seem dubious. Promoters of GM crops believe that the
future population of the world cannot be fed without them. That is untrue. The crops that really matter are
wheat and rice, and there is no GM research in the pipeline that will seriously affect the yield of either. GM is
used to make production cheaper and hence more profitable, which is an extremely questionable ambition.
J
The precautionary principle provides the world with a very important safeguard. If it had been in place in the
past it might, for example, have prevented insouciant miners from polluting major rivers with mercury. We
have come to a sorry pass when scientists, who should above all be dispassionate scholars, feel they should
misrepresent such a principle for the purposes of commercial and political propaganda. People at large
continue to mistrust science and the high technologies it produces partly because they doubt the wisdom of
scientists. On such evidence as this, these doubts are fully justified.
 

Questions 1-6
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE               if the statement is true
FALSE              if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN    if the information is not given in the passage
1   The title of the debate is not unbiased.
2   All the scientists invited to the debate were from the field of medicine.
3  The message those scientists who conducted the survey were sending was people shouldn’t take risks.
4   All the 40 listed technologies are riskier than other technologies.
5   It was worth taking the risks to invent antibiotics.
6   All the other inventions on the list were also judged by the precautionary principle.
 

Questions 7-13
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage
Using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the Reading Passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet.
When applying the precautionary principle to decide whether to invent a new technology, people should also
the consideration of the 7…………………………., along with the usual consideration
of 8………………………….. For example, though risky and dangerous enough, people still
enjoy 9………………………….. for the excitement it provides. On the other hand, experts believe that future
population desperately needs 10………………………… in spite of their undefined risks. However, the
researchers conducted so far have not been directed towards increasing the yield
of 11…………………………, but to reduce the cost of 12………………………………. and to bring more profit
out of it. In the end, such selfish use of the precautionary principle for business and political gain has often
led people to 13………………………….. science for they believe scientists are not to be trusted.
 

Question 14
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 40 on your answer sheet.
14  What is the main theme of the passage?
A   people have the right to doubt science and technologies
B   the precautionary principle could have prevented the development of science and technology
C   there are not enough people who truly understand the precautionary principle
D   the precautionary principle bids us take risks at all costs

Your answers:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

11. 12. 13. 14.

Part 2: You are going to read an extract from a margazine article. Seven paragraphs have been
removed from the extract. Choose from the paragraph A-H the one which fits each gap (1-7). Write
your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
THE SOCIAL MEDIA PRODUCT PLACEMENT JUGGERNAUT

Social media is the air that celebrities breathe. No other platforms can keep them so relevant in the cut-throat
business of fame. But beyond satisfying their need to connect with the public, social media is also helping to
fill bank accounts. To maintain their fabulous lifestyle, celebrities can turn to social media where the world of
Instagram and influencer marketing awaits. And what a lucrative world it is.

1.

So what do we know about specific rates for social media posts? Mid-level reality TV stars can earn
anywhere from $1,000 to $20,000 for a brand sponsored Instagram post. This can go as high as $50,000 for
a TV sitcom star. That's a lot of money, but relatively low compared to the current crop of It-girl model who
can command up to $300,000 for a single Instagram post, or an A-list actor who can receive up to $500,000.

2.

Although celebrity endorsements have been around for as long as advertising itself, their foray into social
media is new territory. Traditional print and TV advertising is replete with famous faces pushing products we
doubt they use or consume, but there is an understanding that we accept the falsehood because we know
the game, we know they've been paid. The pseudo-ads posted as selfies on Instagram or Twitter, however,
usually contain no clear indication that money has changed hands, despite the fact that, in many cases, it's
legally required to do so.

3.

Beginning enthusiastically with "OMG", the original post was liked online by hundreds of thousands of
followers. There was no doubt that she had actually used the medication, as it had been prescribed by her
doctor. But had she included the mandatory information, it would have given the very distinct, and true,
impression that it was a promotion. Ever mindful of her public image, she was aware this may not go down
well with her followers. For her sins, she was forced to remove her gushing reviews from Instagram, Twitter
and Facebook, and repost with a huge risk of disclaimer.

4.
Celebrities love social media because it helps them to build some semblance of authenticity and social
intimacy with fans. First they create an image of openness and honesty with their online followers and then
they exploit it in their sponsored posts. One star, for example, recently confided that her "secret" to staying
trim was a certain weight loss tea. A photo of her looking slim and healthy, holding a cup of the miraculous
fat-melting infusion was there for all to see. No mention was made of frequent, grueling sessions with a well-
paid personal trainer. A clearly sponsored post — though honest — would have dismantled her credibility.

5.

As advertising professionals will tell you, that is exactly the goal of any ad — to sell an idea or a desirable
lifestyle, and it doesn't even have to be true or attainable. The personality vouching for the product isn't even
required to actually use it. All that needs to happen is for consumers to want some glamour and coolness to
rub off on them. That is how advertising works. But this sneaky new form of celebrity endorsement, with its
camouflaged product promotions requires consumers to completely suspend belief in order to place their
trust in someone with an agenda.

6.

As such, the language has to be just right, peppered with the kinds of casual terms friends use with each
other. Celebrities 'swear by' a new skincare product, are 'in love with' a new coconut water, 'can't live without'
a new protein shake. The more cynical among us might question the true author of these snappy captions —
is it the paid influencer or has the brand's marketing department come up with the text and tailored it to the
target audience? Because the audience is what it's all about. Keeping it is important, but first it has to be
found.

7.

So far, it's been a very successful strategy, and as long as a supply of famous faces are willing to accept
cash for comments, the use of social media as a unique advertising tool won't be going away any time soon.

Missing Paragraphs:

A. Make no mistake — they are raking in it. Even those who are no longer as famous as they once were can
be offered tantalizing amount by companies to promote products on the main personal social media
platforms —Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. The uber-famous with the largest followings are making
money hand over fist, and the amounts are staggering.

B. Besides failing to list the downsides of the product, the celebrity fell foul of the law by not being explicit
about the fact that she was paid to make the post. There are rules about this sort of thing, too. Celebrities
receiving payment to promote a product on their platforms are required to tag the post #ad or #sponsored —
something to indicate that a monetary transaction has taken place in return for their endorsement. So what's
preventing them from adding those few letters?

C. The beauty of influencer marketing for brands is that they don't have to build their target audience from
scratch — something which is costly and time-consuming as it involves extensive market research. Once the
influencer has been chosen, it is just a matter of getting the followers to support the brand, talk about it
themselves to others, and buy the products.

D. For that kind of money, celebrities are happy to plug a product hard. Juice cleaners, meal replacement
regimes, weight-loss teas, waist shapers, teeth whitening kits — they comprise a range of categories that are
perfectly suited to the highly narcissistic nature of the medium that is social media, requiring nothing more
than a love of selfies and a complete lack of shame. The questionable efficacy of the products is no deterrent
to the blatant money-grab.

E. But what makes people susceptible to such influence? When asked, consumers said they trusted
celebrities over brands. The problem with branded marketing content is that it is biased; influencer
marketing, on the other hand, does not come across as an overt marketing attempt. Instead, it looks like a
recommendation from a trusted friend.

F. Advertisers have a major responsibility to inform celebrities, bloggers and anyone else they're paying to
push a product that appropriate disclosures need to be made. Advertising should be identifiable as
advertising so that consumers know when they're hearing a marketing pitch versus an independent
viewpoint.

G. Advertising is powerful and its manipulation runs deep when consumers are gullible to such marketing
ploys. The endorsements — casually slipped in between a candid photo with a beloved pet and a carefree
snap with a close friend, for example — make unwitting followers feel that this product is simply a part of the
celebrity's daily life, and that they should make it a part of theirs too. They want it, and at that point, they're
hooked.

H. Disclosure with regards to medication is one of these instances. An American celebrity got into hot water
with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for promoting a medication without providing information about
possible side effects. The FDA, which is responsible for protecting public health through the regulation and
supervision of a range of products including dietary supplements, prescription and over-the-counter
medications, took a very dim view of this.

Your answers:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7.

Part 3. For questions 1-10, read a text about technology and travel and choose from the sections (A-
E). Write your answers in the corrresponding numbered boxes provided.

Has technology robbed travel of its riches?

A Jan Morrris

I began travelling professionally just after the end of the Second World War, and I travelled mostly in
Europe, where famous old cities lay ravaged. Travelling in this disordered region was not easy.
Currencies were hard to come by, visas were necessary almost everywhere, food was often scarce,
trains were grimy and unreliable and air travel was reserved largely for privileged officialdom. I‟m sorry
to have to say it, because those times were cruel indeed for many Europeans, but I greatly enjoyed my
travelling then. The comfort and safety of modern transport means that while travel is a lot less fraught
than it used to be, it has lost some of its allure for me. Partly, I am almost ashamed to admit, this is
because now everybody else does it too! Travelling abroad is nothing unusual, and even if we haven't
actually been to the forests of Borneo or the Amazon jungles, have certainly experienced them via
television or the internet.
B Pico Iyer
The world is just as interesting – as unexpected, as unvisited, as diverse – as it ever was, even though
the nature of its sights and our experience of them have sometimes changed. I once spent two weeks
living in and around Los Angeles airport – that hub of modern travel and, although it wasn't a peaceful
holiday, it offered as curious and rich a glimpse into a new century of crossing cultures as I could
imagine. Places are like people for me and, as with people, the wise, rich, deeply rooted places never
seem to change too much, even though they might lose some hair or develop wrinkles... Though the
tides of history keep washing against a Havana or a Beirut, for instance, their natural spiritedness or
resilience or sense of style never seems greatly diminished. My motto as a traveller has always been
that old chestnut from the writings of Marcel Proust: "The real voyage of discovery consists not in
seeking new sights, but in seeing with new eyes".
C Benedict Allen
Now, the world is open to us all. Grab your camera or pen and hike! So these couldn't be better times
for the average person – we may all share in the privilege. Is it exploration? Well, if it's not advancing
knowledge, no. Those who today flog to the Poles are not explorers, they are simply athletes. Yet,
exploration isn't entirely about assembling proven fact. Dr David Livingstone made many discoveries in
Africa but his biggest role was actually as communicator, giving the nineteenth-century Europeans a
picture of the continent. Take Ed Stafford's recent walk along the length of the Amazon. Not a greatly
significant journey in itself, with 2,000 miles of it along what is essentially a shipping lane. Yet the
journey was saved from irrelevance and self-indulgence because along the way he documented the
Amazon for his time, which is our time.
D Vicky Baker
Personally, I relish the fact that we can now forge new contacts all around the world at the
click of a button and a quick email can result in the type of welcome usually reserved for a
long lost friend. I also relish the fact that we are less likely to lose touch with those whose
paths we cross on the road that we get to explore places we wouldn‟t have stumbled across
had we left it all to chance. Does all this detract from the experience? I hardly think so. There
is nothing to stop you following a random tip you saw on an obscure blog and ending up who
knows where. Sure, it's a far cry from what came before, but one day these will be a
generation's "good old days" too. And if you have the time and the money to go off into the
back of beyond without so much as a guidebook let alone a smartphone, if haphazard
wandering is your thing, those days aren't over either.
E Rolf Potts
Many of the older travellers I met when I first started vangabonding fifteen years ago – some
of them veterans of the 1970s hippy trail across Asia – argued that my travel experiences
were tainted by luxuries such as email and credit cards. These days I am myself tempted to
look at younger travellers and suggest that smartphones and micro-blogging are
compromising their road experiences. Any technology that makes travel easier is going to
connect aspects of the travel experience to the comforts and habits one might seek back
home – and can make travel feel less like travel. There are times when a far-flung post office
encounter or directions scribbled onto a scrap of paper can lead a person into the kind of
experiences that make travel so surprising and worthwhile. That means 21st-century
travellers must be aware of when their gadgets are enhancing new experiences, and when
those gadgets are getting in the way

Which writer Your answers:

suggests that places retain their essential identity despite the passage of time? 1.
refers to a tendency for each generation of travellers to look down on the next? 2.
expresses a personal feeling of nostalgia for some of the hardships in the past? 3.
feels that travel can still be spontaneous and unpredictable in the age of the 4.
internet?
explains how even seemingly pointless journeys can have a worthwhile outcome? 5.
questions the use of a term in relation to one type of traveller? 6.
reveals a slight sense of guilt in an attitude towards the modern traveller? 7.
offers a word of caution for those who want to get the most out of a trip? 8.
mentions valuable insights gained from observing other travellers? 9.
insists that modern travellers can do without modern technology if they so desire? 10.