Advance Exams
Advance Exams
Advance Exams
EXAMS
ONLINE TEST
TEST 1
Phobias
The (0) ... of Phobia Awareness Week is to highlight the difficulties that many
people face in everyday situations. It is important to (1) ... between a fear and a
phobia. It's (2) ... usual for all of us to have our own peculiar fears, for example
being anxious around snakes or nervous about flying. However, only a very small
proportion of us actually have a phobia of these things. When these fears begin to
(3) ... you embarrassment or you feel that your life is being disrupted then you
would be wise to seek treatment for what could potentially be a phobia. By far the
most (4) ... phobia and potentially the most disruptive is agoraphobia. The word
derives from Greek and (5) ... means 'fear of the marketplace' but we apply it
today to describe a distressing condition in which people (6) ... going outside
because of the awful feelings of anxiety that arise. Treatment of phobias usually
consists of the patient (7) ... behavioural therapy during which they gradually get
used to being near the object or the situation that causes them fear. Drugs may be
prescribed to treat anxiety and many people opt for alternative therapy such as
acupuncture or hypnosis to help them come to (8) ... with their fear and conquer it.
(0) is
Stress
Stress (0) ... often called a 21st century illness but it has always been with us if
perhaps with different names. These days we regard stress (1) ... a necessary evil
of modern living. Yet stress is not negative and without (2) ... we would not enjoy
some of the highpoints in life (3) ... as the anticipation before a date or the tension
leading up to an important match. All these situations produce stress but (4) ... you
can control it and not the other way around, you will feel stimulated, not wornout.
However, unlike these situations, (5) ... are generally positive and easier to deal
with, sitting in a train that is running late, (6) ... stuck in a traffic jam or working to
a tight deadline are much harder to manage and control and can be a significant
cause of stress.
Stress is now recognised as a medical problem and as a signficant factor (7) ...
causing coronary heart disease, high blood pressure and a high cholesterol count.
Patients are often unwilling to admit to stress problems since they feel they are a
form of social failure and it is important that symptoms (8) ... identified in order to
avoid unnecessary suffering.
Word Formation
Read the text and then write the correct form of the word on the right.
There is an example at the beginning:
(0) unusual
1. Apparently, the restaurant in town has been bought out by someone else.
UNDER
I hear the restaurant in town .........................................
2. Sarah cried her eyes out immediately she was told she'd failed her driving test.
BROKE
Sarah ........................................ soon as she heard she'd failed her driving test.
3. The Government recently said our problems are the fault of the worldwide
economic slowdown.
PLACED
The Government have ........................................ the worldwide economic
slowdown for our problems.
5. He would never have guessed that at the age of 17 he would be playing for his
country.
LITTLE
........................................ that at the age of 17 he would be playing for his
country.
6. Feel free to telephone if you have any further problems.
CALL
Do not ........................................ if you have any further problems.
TEST 2
Pre-History
That fragment of pottery, that little piece of bone or (0) ... remains of an early
human tool are often the only evidence we have of our early history. However,
(1) ... a consequence of the work of archaeologists and others in this field, we have
over the years built up an extremely good understanding of early human
development. This is the case (2) ... the fact that there is no written evidence of
the period we term Pre-History. (3) ... is startling to note is that this period, which
predates the invention of writing, accounts for 99% of human existence. It was
(4) ... this time that discoveries that shaped the human race were made, early
settlements created that (5) ... to become our major cities and in general was the
time when the very foundations of human civilisation were laid. The evidence of our
pre-history can be found everywhere, from remnants of human existence buried
deep in the ground (6) ... ancient pathways and burial grounds. The first and
easiest place to start your exploration of prehistory is of (7) ... your local museum,
particularly (8) ... you are interested in discovering more about the area where you
live. You may also have a local archaeological group that would be prepared to let
you work as a volunteer.
Word Formation
Read the text and then write the correct form of the word in CAPITALS to
complete the gaps. There is an example at the beginning:
(0) knowledge
1. How can I make him understand that I don't want to see him any more?
ACROSS
How can I ......................................... that I don't want to see him any more?
3. Police are warning people to check for forged notes which are currently in
circulation.
LOOKOUT
Police are warning people to be ....................................... forged notes which are
currently in circulation.
4. It's possible that they got the wrong idea and thought the party was next week.
REACHED
They might ........................................ conclusion and thought the party was next
week.
Bad posture normally starts in our teenage years when we slouch around with our
(0) ..................... trying to look cool. But hands up those who now while away
their days sitting in front of a computer where it’s (1) ............... too easy to
neglect something as essential as good posture.
As we grow older these poor (2) .................. are exacerbated, but by taking
action immediately we can not only look and feel better but protect our body for the
future. Make sure you sleep on a firm mattress at night. (3) .......... lying flat on
your back; instead try sleeping in a curled position on your side. The (4) ..............
revival in platform shoes doesn’t help and wearing shoes with heels more than
several centimetres high is just asking for (5) ............... Don’t load everything into
a bag that you wear on one shoulder or you’ll end up lopsided. (6) ............... the
weight evenly by wearing a rucksack or even a bag around your waist. When you
get home from a day’s studying or work it’s all too (7) .................. to slump on
the sofa in front of the telly. Sitting in this way may feel comfortable but it prevents
you from breathing properly. Try to sit (8) ................ with the stomach pulled
firmly in.
Thai Food
No other national cuisine enjoys quite the degree of popularity that Thai food (0) ... .
Ten years ago it was a rarity in Europe and the United States and prior (1) ... that it was
virtually unknown. Now Thai cooking has become (2) ... of the West’s favourite exotic
styles of cooking. As well as the growing popularity of Thai restaurants throughout the
world, there has been an increase little by little in (3) ... availability of ingredients on
supermarket shelves.
One of the things that makes Thai cooking (4) ... challenging is the sheer variety of
types of dish.
Thai food lies between Chinese and Indian cuisine, with influences from Burma,
Cambodia and Malaysia, (5) ... of which has had an effect on Thailand at different
stages of its history. Some of the ingredients come from far afield. Chillies, to
give (6) ... one example, are originally from Central and South America but were
incorporated quickly (7) ... the national diet. Taken all (8) ..., these influences from
abroad have made Thai cooking a strongly regional set of cuisines.
Word Formation
Read the text and then write the correct form of the word on the right:
1. You could have been seriously injured not wearing a seat belt.
THINK
You should ......................................... seriously injured not wearing a seat belt.
4. It's not likely to happen but if you're not satisfied with the product we'll refund
your money.
EVENT
........................................ that you are not satisfied with the product your
money will be refunded.
5. It's one thing to think there's a demand for your product and another to actually
make a sale.
WORLD
There's ........................................ between thinking there's a demand for your
product and actually making a sale.
TEST 1º
(Exit)
CAE Reading and Use of English
Rebecca had a sudden whiff of the glue that Katy was applying to make one of her
artistic creations. Her daughter was seated on a cushion right in the middle of the room,
looking like an island, surrounded by a sea of cardboard cut-offs, sequins, felt-tip pens,
and pristine sheets of white A4 paper that she had disobediently pinched from her
father’s study. She really should be working at the kitchen table, Rebecca thought, but I
don’t have the appetite for the outburst that might happen if my genius-daughter-at-
work is disturbed. Every three minutes and 50 seconds Katy got up to replay Kylie
Minogue’s version of ‘The Locomotion’.
“Why don’t you listen to the CD all the way through, Katy?” her dad said, who was
sprawled out on the other sofa. “You’d like the other songs as well.”
“Nah, too boring.”
Rebecca glanced at David and then said, “I could do with something to perk me up.” Her
words trailed off with a heavy sigh, and then a yawn. It was the first in a series of hints
that she would like him to get up and make her a cup of tea.
On the lamp table next to the sofa, she noticed a letter that had been delivered a week
ago, advertising exercises classes and a slimming club. She had kept it on the table as a
reminder, or perhaps to conjure up the same kind of magical effect that people believe
in when they splash out on membership to a fancy gym without going near the place
more than once every two months.
“Have you seen this flyer?” she said to her husband. “Just the thought of going for a
workout makes me want to go and lie down.” Once more she didn’t get a response.
“Who’s going to make the tea then?” was her third and most blatant attempt to get a
drink before she died of thirst.
He stood up. “I suppose it’s my turn. Again.” He went off into the kitchen while Rebecca,
the victor, snuggled a bit further into the sofa. Charlie, who’d been asleep on the
sheepskin rug, now started up with his own brand of baby chatter. He was attempting to
cover the whole repertoire of vowel sounds this afternoon, like a singer performing
warm-up exercises. Then, occasionally, he jammed his fingers into his mouth to make a
sound approaching an elongated ‘w’.
He lay underneath a baby gym, which consisted of a tubular frame in patriotic colours of
red, white and blue and a top bar, from which dangled two clowns, one on a swing and
one in a position that Rebecca thought was called a pike. (It was a long time ago that
she had achieved her gold star award in the trampoline.) Once Charlie made eye contact
with Rebecca, his happy babbling began to turn into a grizzle.
Does Charlie want feeding again?” Rebecca asked in the baby voice that irritated them
all, herself included. She bent down to scoop her son up.
“Mum, he doesn’t want feeding again. You’ve only just fed him,” Katy said.
“I’ll try – just in case he’s hungry.” In the kitchen she warmed through the mush of
potatoes and broccoli that Charlie liked and took it back through to be with Katy.
Luckily, the baby was actually ready for a feed, which meant that Rebecca not only
saved face with her daughter, but showed that she had no need to feel guilty about
sending her husband to make the tea. David walked back in the sitting room that very
minute, her cup of Earl Grey with its delicate scent of bergamot wobbling in its saucer.
In his other hand he clutched a large mug. Rebecca gave him a warning look that dared
him not to put the cups down on the oak blanket box that served as their coffee table.
Its surface was already scarred by two rings where hot drinks had been carelessly
placed directly onto it.
“Thanks. You’re a treasure.” She settled down to feed Charlie, knowing that her tea
would be the perfect temperature to drink in one go by the time he had had enough.
“Where’s Katy got to?” David said, after a few minutes. The answer came from upstairs
as they heard the sound of their older child passing through the curtain in the doorway
of her bedroom. It was like those beaded curtains that used to be in fashion when
Rebecca was a child, but instead of beads this one was formed from a dazzling collection
of pink, purple and silver shimmering plastic squares. She couldn’t remember which one
of them had named it the ‘jingle-jangler’ but it was very apt.
At networking events, I will often look to start a conversation with people who are on
their own. It is much easier than breaking into a group conversation and the chances
are they won’t tell you to leave them alone and go away. Very few people go to
networking events for solitude.
1
When approaching these people you are already at an advantage because they will both
respect your courage (which they have probably lacked) and be grateful that you’ve
taken the time and effort to relieve them from their anxiety. They are probably just as
nervous as everyone else, and they’ll be delighted to get into a conversation with you.
You’ve rescued them from walking around, avoiding interrupting other people for fear of
rejection.
2
Having spoken to them, try not to leave them on their own again because you’ll just
return them to the same state as you found them. Move on with them and introduce
them to someone else.
3
If someone is talking and you interrupt, or ask if you can join them, people will stop
listening to the person who’s talking, and invite you into their group. That’s great for
you but not so nice for the person who is talking. Stand just on the edge of the group
and wait for the appropriate time.
4
Alternatively, it may be that they’re talking about something in which you have an
interest, in which case, when there’s an appropriate pause, you can just say, “Excuse
me, I heard you mention so-and-so. Can I ask you a question? Are you involved in
that? And you’re in the conversation. Or it may just be that you have a pause, and you
ask “May I join you?” But it’s always best to wait for the right pause in the
conversation.
5
While the guide lines above are important, you need to be aware of the body language
of people talking to each other and networking events. Whether in couples or groups,
people will always send very clear signals about approachability by the way they are
standing.
6
Reading this body language may mean that you are better advised approaching two
people rather than a group.
A. The one thing I try to avoid is approaching two people who are in discussion. If you
see two people talking together, they may be building a rapport and interruption may
break that. Alternatively, they may be discussing business.
B. The easiest way to approach a group is to catch the eye of one of the participants
and smile. Usually they should invite you to join them at the appropriate juncture.
C. The other advantage of this is that your companion, in introducing you, may well talk
about how you’ve helped them, how great you are at what you do or praise you in
another way that you would not have been able to do. This will awaken a greater
interest in you from the new contact than may otherwise have been possible.
D. You can often find these people around a bar or buffet table (they’ve probably read
the advice above!) or by the walls. Nervous people on their own seldom stand in the
middle of a room unless they are milling around trying to pluck up the courage to
approach someone. Often they will be admiring the art on the walls or the flora in the
room, which gives you a nice topic with which to start a conversation.
E. When you do approach them, take care not to dive in aggressively but be empathetic
to their nervous state. Ask them if they mind if you join them before introducing
yourself, rather than running up asking “So, what do you do then?”
F. If you see a group of people talking, approach the group, but don’t butt in.
Remember, as Susan Roane says in How to Work a Room, “There is a difference
between including yourself in other people’s conversations and intruding on them.”
G. If their body language is ‘closed’, and they are facing each other, you should avoid
interrupting them. If they are more ‘open’ and they are standing at an angle that leaves
room for another party in the conversation, you are likely to be more welcome.
Part Eight: Multiple Matching (Page 1, 2)
You are going to read an article containing reviews of recently-published
books. For questions 1-10, choose from reviews (A-F). The reviews may be
chosen more than once.
Book Corner
A round-up of the latest fiction and non-fiction from Beth Young.
A Reading a new novelist is a bit like asking a stranger out on a date. You never quite
know if this is the start of a beautiful relationship. You check the blurbs, the publicity
photograph, and flick through the book to look for the two essentials: entertainment and
substance. Beginner’s Greek by James Collins is certainly big on the latter, weighing in
at 400-plus pages. And the quotes on the back cover have the effect of a bunch of
friends saying to you, ‘Go on, you’ll get on brilliantly’. Early indications are that this blind
date could lead to a deeper relationship. Beginner’s Greek is described by The New York
Times as a “great big sunny lemon chiffon pie of a novel” about romantic love amongst
the American middle classes. It is indeed delicious.
B In Manil Suri’s second outing The Age of Shiva we have a broad-sweeping, epic novel
with an unforgettable heroine so wilful yet flawed that it calls to mind that other famous
leading lady, Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind. The story begins at a firework party
in Delhi where Meera falls disastrously in love. We follow her journey to Bombay,
marriage and obsessive motherhood, with occasional flashbacks to a childhood that was
marred by political turmoil. Mathematics professor, Suri, captures the fluidity of the role
of women with a beautiful kind of precision.
C Devotees of playwright David Mamet, whose screen work includes Wag The Dog and
the award-winning Glengarry Glen Ross may be less than enamoured of Ira Nadel’s new
biography, David Mamet: A Life in the Theatre. It may seem churlish to question the
minutia of incidents that abound in this comprehensive tome, but whilst Nadel is clearly
striving for accuracy one feels there ought to have been more sifting, more mining for
the gold amongst the biographical trivia. In addition, Nadel’s tone is somewhat dry and
academic and seems at odds with the brilliance of David Mamet’s own writing. That said,
the book offers a sound introduction to the life and career of the man hailed as one of
America’s most outstanding writers.
D Can any Mother help me? is the true story of a desperately lonely mother who, in
1935, appealed to other women through the letters page of a women’s magazine.
Writing under a pseudonym, the woman known as Ubique (meaning ‘everywhere’) little
realised that she would be the trigger for the launch of a new and private magazine that
would last for the next fifty years. The Cooperative Correspondence Club was formed to
offer comfort and support to wives, often well-educated women, who craved stimulation
beyond the drudgery of family life. Jenna Bailey has done a superb job of organising and
editing this compendium, adding her own insightful commentary.
E Subtitled, The Life and Times of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, Jessie Child’s debut
historical biography, Henry VIII's Last Victim, was the worthy winner of last year’s
Elizabeth Longford Prize. Henry Howard’s victim status is owing to the fact that he was
the final person to be executed by King Henry VIII, a mere nine days before the king
himself expired. Although killed ostensibly for treason, the Earl of Surrey’s only real
crime it seems was leading an unsuccessful army campaign in France. Only 29, he was
also a distinguished poet with a fine literary voice, a persona which refutes his
reputation as the spoilt son of the Duke of Norfolk.
F This is the 25th outing for T. Keneally but he’s lost none of his writing powers. The
Widow and Her Hero takes real life events during the Second World War as its
inspiration and builds a tale of love and intrigue. Grace looks back on her life to recall
her courtship with the hero of the title, the handsome Captain Leo Waterhouse. Leo is
tragically killed whilst on a secret mission but it is many years before Grace discovers
the facts about his death. Keneally made fans galore when Schindler’s Ark was published
and later made into the award-winning Steven Spielberg film, Schindler’s List. The
Widow and Her Hero will bring him even more fans.
7) A book that would be appreciated by people without much previous knowledge of the
subject.