READING PART 1

You are going to read an article about new technology and students. For questions
1–6, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

Student life and technology

Science and technology By Debra Mallin, a business student at Greyfort University

Last Saturday, as my grandfather drove me and my sister home from a dinner to celebrate
his birthday, he got frustrated at not being able to remember the name of the singer of a
song he’d just heard on the
radio.
Without a second thought, I grabbed my
smartphone, searched for the song and
found the name, Bob Dylan. For me and my
friends, this is a completely natural course of
action, but it totally astonished my
grandfather, who didn’t understand how I
had checked the information so quickly. My
sister and I laughed and explained, but
afterwards, it made me think about how
much I depend on technology.

The list of the ways I use technology is endless: writing, planning, socialising,
communicating and shopping, to name a few. When I reflected on its impact on my
education, I saw that, for my fellow students and I, technology has been significant in
many ways. Returning to the story of my grandfather and the smartphone, he had asked
me more about how I used it and about university life. He said he thought we had an easy
life compared to previous generations. My sister caught my eye and we exchanged a
smile. But whereas she was thinking our grandfather was just being a typical 65-yearold,
I could see his point.

Not only are we lucky enough to have the same educational benefits as those of previous
generations, we have so many more as well. We still have walk-in libraries available to us,
and I can see why some students choose to find and use resources in these distraction-
free
locations. However, the only option for studying used to be sitting in these libraries with
as many books from your reading list as you could find, yet now a single search for your
chosen study topic online can immediately provide access to a huge range of resources. At
universities, interaction between students and university staff is another area that has
changed considerably with developments in technology. We can have face-to-face time
with our tutors when we need it, and also communicate using our electronic gadgets from
the comfort of our homes, or on the bus. The most popular means of doing this is via
instant messaging or social media – email is often considered too slow, and it has become
unacceptable for messages to be unanswered for any length of time.
While this puts an extra strain on the university’s academic support team, who usually
have to answer the queries as they come in, we students are greatly benefitted.

It’s important that we remember to appreciate how much the advances in technology
have given us.

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Electronic devices such as tablets, smartphones, and laptops are now standard equipment
in most classrooms and lecture halls, and why shouldn’t they be? The replacement of
textbooks with tablets allows students the luxury of having up-to-date, interactive and
even personalised learning materials, with the added benefit of them not costing the
earth.
When we compare the student life of the past and that of the present day, it is tempting
to focus on the obvious differences when it comes to technology. In actual fact, students
are doing what they’ve always done: embracing the resources available and adapting
them in ways which allow them to work more efficiently and to live more enjoyably. The
pace of change in technology continuously gathers speed, so we have to value each
innovation as it happens.

1. What does the writer illustrate by describing the incident in the car?
A The older generation’s frustration at people’s dependence on technology
B how unaware young people are of some effects of technology
C the difference in attitudes to technology between two generations
D how technology helps different generations communicate

2. What did the writer think of her grandfather’s comment, mentioned in the second
paragraph?
A It showed how out-of-date he was.
B It had an element of truth in it.
C It was an annoying thing to say.
D It made her feel sorry for him.

3. What does the writer say about getting study resources from libraries?
A She considers libraries more preferable places for study than home.
B She cannot understand why anyone chooses to go to a library now.
C She appreciates the fact that people can still study in libraries if they want to.
D She thinks libraries are limited by the quantity of resources they can store.

4. What disadvantage of new technology does the writer mention in the third paragraph?
A Those who can afford the best gadgets gain an unfair advantage.
B Sometimes slow internet connections make communication difficult.
C A heavier workload is created for teaching staff at the university.
D Students cannot escape from dealing with university issues.

5. What is the purpose of the question ‘Why shouldn’t they be?’ in the fourth paragraph?
A to express an opinion
B to introduce some problems
C to make a criticism
D to indicate uncertainty

6. What is the writer’s conclusion about students today in the final paragraph?
A They have such different lives to previous generations that it’s unwise to compare them.
B They deal better with change than previous generations did.
C They take advantage of new resources more quickly than previous generations did.
D They are behaving in a similar way to previous generations of students.

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SPEAKING PART 1 – PERSONAL QUESTIONS

1. Complete the examiner’s sentences and questions with the words in the box. Then
listen and check.

ambitions environment kind online on your own physically

project subjects

1. What are your work or study ......................... ?

2. Tell us about the ......................... which you find most interesting.
3. Do you prefer working or studying ......................... or with other people?
4. What ......................... of work would you like to do in the future?
5. Do you prefer mentally or ......................... challenging work?
6. What kind of ......................... do you enjoy working or studying in?
7. How often do you go ......................... to find out about something?
8. Tell us about an interesting work or study ......................... you’ve done recently.

IN PAIRS, ASK AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS

SPEAKING PART 2 – COMPARING PHOTOS

2. Complete the description of the photos using the words and phrases in the box.

The (1) ............................. between the two pictures is that they (2) ............................. show
people shopping. The (3) ............................. is where the people are shopping. The first picture
shows two men window shopping. It appears to be an expensive shoe shop, (4)
............................. the people in the second picture look as if they are at a market of some kind.
The market doesn’t look (5) ............................. the shoe shop. It could be a second-hand clothing
stall. The men in

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the first picture look like they’re relaxed. (6) ............................. , the women in the second
picture look serious.
The men in the first picture might be on a day out, (7) ............................. the women in the
second
picture could be shopping out of necessity. It’s difficult to say whether the men in the first
picture will actually buy the shoes they’re looking at. (8) ............................. , we don’t know
whether the women at the market will buy anything either.

3. Here are some photographs of people shopping. Talk about them with a partner.
Answer the questions.

Student A, here are some photographs (1 and 2) of people shopping in different ways. What
do you think are the advantages for the people of shopping in these different ways?

Student B, do you like shopping online? Why? / Why not?

Student B, here are some photographs (3 and 4) of people shopping for food in different
places. What might the people enjoy about shopping for food in these places?

Student A, which of these places would you prefer to shop in? Why?

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 SOME, ANY, MUCH, MANY, A LOT, (A) FEW, (A) LITTLE
SO, SUCH, SUCH AS
LINKERS
-Some and Any are used before plural nouns and uncountable
nouns
o Some is used in affirmative sentences. There are some letters for you.
o Some is used in questions when we want to encourage people to
say ‘yes’; for example in requests and offers. Would you like some
more tea?
o Any is used in negative and question form. I don’t have any new stories for you
o Any is used after words with negative meaning such as without, never,
seldom, rarely, hardly. I found a taxi without any trouble

- We use much and many mostly in question and negative. Much is used
with uncountable nouns, and many is used with countable plural nouns. Is
there much rice left?
o We often use much and many in affirmative sentences after too,
as, so and very. We’ve got too much milk. Take as much milk as you
want.
o In affirmative sentences, we normally use a lot (of), lots (of) and plenty
(of), not much and many. We use a lot (of), lots (of) and plenty (of) with
both uncountable nouns and plural nouns. We’ve got a lot of mil. He’s
got a lot of books
- Little and few without a are more negative idea. Little means “not much” or
“almost no”. Few means “not many” or “almost no”. There is little work to do.
The exam is extremely difficult and few students passed it.

- We use a little to express positive idea with uncountable nouns. I have a little sugar in
the jar.

- We use a few to express positive idea with plural nouns. There are a few people come
today.

1. WRITE COUNTABLES AND UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS

COUNTABLES UNCOUNTABLES

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 2. CIRCLE THE CORRECT ANSWERS

1) Do you know some / any Americans?

2) We need some / any more coffee.
3) She’s got some / any interesting friends.
4) I didn’t have some / any breakfast today.
5) He hasn’t done some / any work for ten years.
6) Have you got some / any brothers and sisters?
7) I’m having some / any problems with my car.
8) Are there some / any restaurants near here?

6. FILL IN THE GAPS WITH MUCH, MANY, A LOT OF, LITTLE, OR FEW

1. We have had __________________ subjects to learn in English this year.

2. How __________________ do we have to read this week?
3. __________________ Americans don’t like George Bush
4. There aren’t __________________ books in the library.
5. I think he drank __________________ wine last night.
6. I have __________________ friends in my life.
7. I didn’t use ________________ salt, that’s why _________ people didn`t finish their dish.
8. It has rained very __________________ this summer, that’s why the grass is so brown.
9. __________________ people know as much about computers as Jack does.
10. I’m having __________________ trouble passing my driving test.
11. I have __________________ friends but not that many.
12. How __________________ juice is left in the bottle?
13. John had __________________ money with him so he couldn’t even buy a bus ticket.
14. __________________ time and money is spent on education in Great Britain.
15. I know __________________ Spanish so I am going to have a problem when I get there.

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SUCH: + adjective + uncountable noun plural
SUCH A: + adjective + countable noun singular
SO: + adjective or adverb // + much or many + noun
UNCOUNTABLE WORDS: News, weather, advice, luggage, information, food.

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 7. PUT IN SO, SUCH OR SUCH A

1) He’s difficult to understand because he speaks _______ quickly

2) I like Tom and Ann. They’re _______ nice people
3) It was a great holiday. We had _________ good time
4) I was surprised that he looked _________ well after his recent illness
5) I have to go. I didn’t realise it was ______ late
6) He always looks good. He wears _________ nice clothes
7) It was ______________ boring film that I fell asleep while I was watching it.
8) I can’t decide what to do. It’s _____________ problem

LINKERS
Unless: a menos que
While, but, whereas: mientras que,
Furthermore, besides, in addition, moreover: Además, es más
However, nevertheless, on the other hand: sin embargo, aun así, de otra manera
On account, due to, because of, owing to: a cuenta, debido a, por culpa de
Therefore, as a result, consequently, so: por lo tanto, por eso, entonces, como resultado
So as to, to, in order to: con el fin de, para
Despiste, in spite of: a pesar de
Because: porque
Even though, although, in spite of the fact that: aunque, a pesar del hecho de

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 8. COMPLETE THE GAPS WITH A LINKER

1. The students revised for their math exams. _____________________ they wrote their history essay
yesterday morning.
2. Carol always does her best ________________ help people
3. __________________ the thick fog, lots of cars were held up on the motorway
4. The factory installed new devices. ___________________ its emissions to the environment have
dropped.
5. Andy helps a lot at home. __________________- his sister never tidies her room.
6. You will not pass the exam ____________ you do your best.
7. Mary bought that black dress _____________ being too expensive for her.
8. My car had a puncture, __________ I was late for the meeting yesterday
9. You’d better wear warm clothes ________________ it gets colder tonight
10. _____________ the company made a profit, the workers weren’t given a pay rise
11. Peter complained _____________ the soup tasted awful
12. Miles does not earn a lot. ______________, he goes on holiday every year
13. John likes flying ____________ his wife hates it.
14. Why don’t you phone James ____________ he is free tonight?
15. You’d better get changed _________ we aren’t late for the party
16. __________ complaining about the faulty mixer, we didn’t get a refund
17. Everybody got shocked ______ the bomb explosion
18. I couldn’t send you a message _____________ I didn’t have your e-mail address
19. Peter is always on a diet. __________ his sister can eat whatever she likes without putting on weight
20. Most people go jogging _______ keep fit
21. Dan has to make an appointment with Dr. Black ____________ he’s got a bad cold.
22. My sister paints really well. _________ my brother prefers reading
23. __________________ Pete had promised to phone us, he forgot.
24. The interview to the candidate was a failure. _____________ the interviewer interrupted him all the
time.
9. ANSWER TO THIS EMAIL

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