Part 1

You will hear some sentences. You will hear each sentence twice. Choose the correct
reply to each sentence (A, B, or C).

1. A She's thirty-nine.
B It was last week.
C It's a long time.

2. A I'm too tired.

B They're very good.
C Not at all.

3. A Happy New Year!

B Is she going to have a party?
C How old are they?

4. A Are you certain?

B Do you understand?
C Can you hear?

5. A I hope you'll feel better soon.

B it hurts a lot.
C Have you got an appointment?

6. A Have you got time?

B Near the station?
C I'd like to stay.

7. A No, it isn't.
B Not at all.
C Not today, thanks.

8. A Quite soon.
B It's soup and toast.
C I hope you're hungry.
 Part 2 You will hear someone giving a talk. For each question, fill in the missing
information in the numbered space. Write ONE WORD and/or A NUMBER for each
answer.

The Speakers' Club

For business presentations to colleagues or to get ready for an (9)…………………………….

Workshop leaders have a background in business or (10)…………………………. Sessions start
at (11)…………………………. Members are invited to try one of our (12).................................. once
a year. The first meeting is speech (13) ................................ but remember to reserve a place.
Membership costs (14)................................... per year or payment can be made each month.

Part 3
You will hear five short extracts in which people are talking about classical music.
For questions 15-19, choose from the list (A-H) the reason each person gives for
starting to play classical music. Use the letters only once. There are three extra
letters which you do not need to use.

A) following a family tradition

B) being introduced to a range of good music
C) the experience of attending a concert 15. Speaker 1 ……
D) the encouragement of a teacher 16. Speaker 2 ……
E) hearing it in an everyday situation 17. Speaker 3 ……
F) realizing the importance of starting young 18. Speaker 4 ……
G) the influence of someone famous 19. Speaker 5 ……
H) finding other types of music unexciting
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Part 4

You will hear someone giving a talk. Label the places on the map. There is ONE
extra option which you do not need to use.

Ground floor plan of theatre

2 box office …………….

0 theatre manager’s office …………….
2 lighting box …………….
1 artistic director’s offices …………….
2
2
2
3
Part 5 You will hear three extracts. Choose the correct answer (A, B or C) for each
question. There are TWO questions for each extract. Mark your answers on the
answer sheet.

Extract One
24. How does the boy feel about the main band?
A) disappointed by their performance
B) confused by all the advanced publicity
C) unsure whether he got value for money or not

25. What is the woman doing in her reply?

A) criticizing the support band
B) defending the approach of the media
C) agreeing with comments about the main band

Extract Two
26. What is the male presenter doing?
A) praising changes that the manager has made
B) suggesting that rumours about the manager are unfounded
C) describing a growing sense of dissatisfaction with the manager's performance

27. In the female presenter's opinion

A) the manager's strategy is the correct one
B) the real problem is a lack of talented players
C) the pressure on the manager is likely to increase

Extract Three
28. What does the woman particularly admire about the artist?
A) the originality of his work
B) the way his art has developed
C) the issues that his sculptures raise

29. What disappointed them both about the exhibition?

A) the pieces of work that had been chosen
B) the information provided for visitors
C) the way it had been laid out
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Part 6 You will hear someone giving a talk. For each question, fill in the missing
information in the numbered space. Write ONE WORD and/or A NUMBER for each
answer

Gordon says that, until quite recently, most food packaging consisted of a brown

paper bag.
Plastic packaging is supposed to keep food (30)………………………. and so make it

better.
Maggie Forbes is in charge of packaging and (31)............................. for a chain of

supermarkets.
She says that 30-50% of food is wasted in countries without modern packaging and

(32)............................. systems.
Maggie claims plastic packaging saves money, but Gordon suggests that it is a huge

(33)………………………… .
Maggie says food stored in the (34)…………….............. should be wrapped in plastic to

prevent loss of water content.

She points out that glass and stone containers are easily broken and very heavy.
Gordon is worried that plastic bags have a very bad effect on the (35)............................... .
Part 1 Read the text. Fill in each gap with ONE word. You must use a word which is
somewhere in the rest of the text.

Two American Festivals

Burning Man
Burning Man is an event that started in 1986 in Black Rock City, Nevada. People go
to the desert and build a giant community for nine days. At the end of the festival, they
burn a (1)……………………………… wooden statue of a man. That's where the name comes
from. The (2)………………………….. celebrates inclusion, community, and responsibility.
Everyone should share their talents so others can enjoy them for free. It is now also very
popular with young influencers on social media and other famous (3)………………………….. .

The Taste of Buffalo

The Taste of Buffalo in Buffalo, New York, is the largest 2-day food festival in the
country every year. Nearly half a million people visit the festival to eat special dishes
from over 50 restaurants. There are over 200 different (4)………………………….. to try! Most
of the food is from regional (5)……………………………. and it is a great family event. It is a
good place if you want to visit here as a (6)………………………………… .

Part 2
Read the texts and the statements A-J. Decide which text matches with the situation
described in the statements. Each statement can be used ONCE only. There are TWO
extra statements which you do not need to use.

A) Looking for a beach home? - this is it.

B) This home will be an Eastern love affair.
C) A Victorian beauty - close to the tube.
D) From this villa, a good view of the boats.
E) The buyer becomes a member on this site.
F) Set in fields - an old cottage home.
G) Houses near water and trees.
H) Luxury Spanish beach villa.
I) A fully serviced retirement home.
J) Escape to Lincolnshire
 Part 3 Read the text and choose the correct heading or each paragraph from the
list of headings below. There are more headings than paragraphs, so you will not
use all of them. You cannot use any heading more than once. Mark your answers
on the answer sheet.

A) The right qualities for the job

B) What makes him good at the job?
C) Towards agreement
D) The problem of the outdoor like
E) There to stay
F) Getting things done
G) Changes to the environment
H) The most suitable candidate
15. Paragraph I
16. Paragraph II
17. Paragraph III
18. Paragraph IV
19. Paragraph V
20. Paragraph VI

Looking after the countryside

The National Trust is an organization whose aim is to conserve the British
countryside. Gill Page visits the Lleyn Peninsula in North Wales and talks to one of
the wardens employed by the Trust to look after the beautiful areas it owns.

I. Common sense. That's what a National Trust Warden needs, according to Gareth
Roberts. 'And you definitely need to be good at handling people, because you're
continually dealing with farmers, visitors, conservationists and building firms.'

II. Gareth was born and bred on the Lleyn Peninsula and worked on his parents' farm
until he married. About 80 people applied for the post as National Trust Warden
for the Lleyn Peninsula. In the end, Gareth's local knowledge and farming
experience won him the job, despite his lack formal training. k of

III. "I find it particularly helpful that I still farm with my parents and that I can deal with
farmers on the same level and be aware of their problems. Also, they can't take me
in about anything!' he says. His farming life also means he is well able to cope with
the physical demands of the job - erecting fences, planting trees, building walls.
IV. Since he has been with the Trust, Gareth says he has come to understand more
about nature conservation. 'When I was a youngster,' he recalls, 'I used to pick
and press flowers, collect butterfly larvae and old birds' nests. And I thought to
myself recently, where would I find all those flowers, the birds' nests, the
grasshoppers now? It's really become clear to me that farming has affected the
countryside. It's not the farmers' fault-they were just doing what the government
told them."
V. Gareth says that, when he started his job, farmers and conservationists were set
against each other. Both sides wanted things done their way. Now they are talking
and can see each other's point of view. 'We're at the crossroads and there's just a
small step needed to join them together,' says Gareth.

VI. Conservation is one of the main aspects of Gareth's work, along with public entry
to the Trust's land, tree planting and maintenance, and meeting the Trust's tenant
farmers. 'My role is to make sure jobs get finished, with as little fuss and as
economically as possible. What I enjoy most is seeing projects completed,
although about half my time is spent on reports, signing bills and so on."

Part 4
Read the following text for questions 21-29.
Hazlitt's Hotel
I took a cab to Hazlitt's Hotel on Frith Street. I like Hazlitt's because it's intentionally
obscure to betray its purpose- It doesn't have a sign or a plaque or anything at all which
puts you in a rare position of strength with your cab driver. Let me say right now that
London cab drivers are without question the finest in the world. They are trustworthy,
safe and honest, generally friendly and always polite. They keep their vehicles spotless
in- side and out, and they will put themselves to the most extraordinary inconvenience
to drop you at the front entrance of your destination. There are really only a couple of
odd things about them.
One is that they cannot drive more than two hundred feet in a straight line. I've
never understood this, but no matter where you are or what the driving conditions, every
two hundred feet a little bell goes off in their heads and they abruptly lunge down a side
street. And when you get to your hotel or railway station or wherever it is you are going,
they like to drive you all the way around it so that you can see it from all angles before
alighting.
The other distinctive thing about them, and the reason I like to go to Hazlitt's, is
that they cannot bear to admit that they don't know the location of something they feel
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they ought to know, like a hotel, which I think is rather sweet. To become a London cab
driver you have to master something titled The Knowledge-in effect, learn every street,
hospital, hotel, police station, cricket ground, cemetery and other notable landmarks in
this amazingly vast and confusing city. It takes years and the cabbies are justifiably
proud of their achievement. It would kill them to admit that there could exist in central
London a hotel that they have never heard of. So what the cabbie does is probe. He
drives in no particular direction for a block or two, then glances at you in the mirror and in
an over casual voice says, "Hazlitt's - that's the one on Curzon Street, innit, guv?
Opposite the
Blue Lion?" But the instant he sees a knowing smile of demurral forming on your lips, he
hastily says, "No, hang on a minute, I'm thinking of the Hazelbury. Yeah, the Hazelbury.
You want Hazlitt's, right?" He'll drive on a bit in a fairly random direction. "That's this side
of Shepherd's Bush, innit?" he'll suggest speculatively. When you tell him that it's on Frith
Street, he says.
Course it is."Yeah,
I knowthat the one.place, lots of glass" "Actually, it's an eight- eenth-
it-modern
century brick building." "Course it is. I know it." And he immediately executes a dramatic
U-turn, causing a passing cyclist to steer into a lamp- post (but that's all right because
he has on cycle clips and one of those geeky slip stream helmets that all but invite you
to knock him over). "Yeah, you had me thinking of the Hazelbury" the driver adds,
chuckling as if to say it's a lucky thing he sorted that one out for you, and then lunges
down a little side street off the Strand called Running Sore Lane or Sphincter Passage,
which, like so much else in London, you had never noticed was there before.

For questions 21-24, choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D.

21. The narrator said that he liked London cab drivers because they
A) can be trusted and nice to deal with.
B) can drive in a straight line.
C) know all the hotels and streets in the city.
D) make friends easily.
22. Which of the following statements about London cab drivers is true according
to the narrator?
A) They prefer driving in a straight line.
B) They prefer side streets to main streets.
C) They have little bells in their cars.
D) They let you see your hotel from all angles.
23. A reason why the narrator liked to go to Hazlitt's was that
A) cab drivers liked driving there.
B) it was in the center of the city.
C) cab drivers didn't know where it was.
D) it was an old brick building.
24. According to the narrator, to be a London cab driver, one has to
A) be ready to study the city for years.
B) be knowledgeable.
C) be proud of the city.
D) know all streets and places in London.

For questions 25-29, decide if the following statements agree with the information
given in the text. Mark your answers on the answer sheet.

25. It was easy to recognize Hazlitt's Hotel from its layout.

A) True B) False C) No Information
26. Cab drivers usually try to take passengers as near as possible to their destinations
regardless of rough routes.
A) True B) False C) No Information
27. There are several requirements for becoming a cab driver in London.
A) True B) False C) No Information
28. Cab drivers do not hesitate to ask about the route to the destination for passengers.
A) True B) False C) No Information
29. Hazelbury and Hazlitt's Hotels are situated in different parts of London.
A) True B) False C) No Information
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Part 5 Read the following text for questions 30-35.

Giving and receiving feedback

Your manager stops you and says she needs to have a word about your performance in
the recent project. You worry about it all weekend, wondering what you might have done
wrong. When you step into her office on Monday morning she begins by praising you for
the good work you've done on the project, and you wonder if this is the obligatory praise
that starts off the typical "feedback sandwich'. You know how the
feedback sandwich goes: say something nice, say what you really want to say, say
something nice again.
In an attempt to inject some positivity into their feedback, many man- agers rely on
sandwiching negative feedback between two positive comments. However, when
feedback becomes such a routine, employees can start to perceive positive feedback as
simply a form of sugarcoating the negatives, thus diminishing its value. Instead, positive
feedback should not simply be seen as something to cushion the negative, but should
be delivered so as to reinforce and encourage good performance. Below are three tips
to help you make positive feedback count.
1. Don't always follow positive feedback with negative feedback
When positive and negative feedback always appear to go hand in hand, the
positives can become devalued and ignored. Ensure there are times when positive
feedback is given for its own sake and resist the temptation to offer constructive
criticism.
2. Cultivate a 'growth mindset'
Psychologist and 'growth mindset' proponent Carol Dweck spoke of the plasticity
of the brain and our ability to develop skills and talents that we might not have been
good at to start with. Many of us tend to focus our praise on the end result and seemingly
innate talents, e.g. 'You really have an eye for details' or 'You have a real talent for
organizing events'. However, research suggests that by focusing on the process of how
things are done - praising effort, experimentation and problem-solving strategies-we
can encourage the development of new skills and the continued honing of talents.
3. Create a culture of offering positive feedback
Make giving positive feedback part of your team/department/company culture.
Don't just wait for special moments like appraisals to give feedback. Offer informal
positive feedback when making small talk or when walking down a corridor. Feedback
doesn't have to only come from the higher ranks either. Encourage peer feedback among
team members and colleagues and actively ask them for positive comments on each
other's performances on tasks.
It might take time to counter the effects of an environment where there is a cynical view
of positive feedback, but in the long run, by embracing positive feedback, you can not
only enhance working performance but also enrich the quality of life in the workplace.

For questions 30-33, fill in the missing information in the numbered spaces.
Write no more than ONE WORD and/or A NUMBER for each question.

Managers often use the strategy of (30)…………..…………….. negative feedback after

and before positive comments which results in decreasing the value of positive
comments.
Dweck claims that it is more important to pay much attention to the
(31)……………………….…… of successful works done by employees rather than focusing
the final result.
It is advised not to wait for special occasions for giving positive feedback since it is
possible to give positive feedback frequently which is actually (32)…………………………….
Although people still have (33)………………………… perspectives towards positive
feedback, this will not last long since it improves work efficiency.

For questions 34-35, choose the correct answer A, B, C, or D.

34. What does the 'feedback sandwich' involve?
A) Giving positive feedback by accompanying it with negative feedback
B) Giving negative feedback by accompanying it with positive feedback
C) Creating a feedback culture in an organization
D) Devaluing positive feedback
35. The 'growth mindset' idea is that...
A) we can become good at things that we might initially not seem to have a talent for.
B) we should focus on honing the talents that we are born with.
C) the end result is more important than the process.
D) we must not tell people that they are good at certain things.