MOCK TEST 1

LISTENING
Listen to the audio and complete the sentences with a word or short phrase (1-3 words)
The speaker starts his discourse by looking at someone who may not want to continue doing
something, or that nobody may want this particular (1) ________ anymore.
The market can be weird, and you could be affected by (2) ________ beyond you.
The speaker’s thoughts are encompassed by the Japanese word ‘Ikigai’, which (3)
________ means that which gets you out of bed in the morning.
He goes on to talk about the fact that you never work out your Ikigai, whichever (4) ________ of
life you may be in.
It is affected by change, as you may need to care for someone, or your industry may have sort of
(5) ________ .
So, you are effectively dead, even if you are still alive, and the speaker finds this (6) ________.
Someone successful, who may be thought to have ‘made it’ can wake up with a profound sense
of (7) ________ .
This refers to despair, where monotony rules and what people, no matter how educated,
sophisticated or (8) ________ , really want is a sense of anticipation.
People are really only looking for wonder, although they were trained to work hard and (9)
________ and (10) ________ , to climb the ladder of success.
WORD FORM
1. What most of us remember from history books are the …………… events. (CLIMAX)
2. Suddenly we saw a …………… figure in the darkened room. (GHOST)
3. His gun was fitted with a …………… (SILENCE)
4. Josephine is a woman of great …………… (REFINE)
5. His grandfather had been a man of great …………… (LEARN)
6. This time he had an …………… reaction. (PREDICT)
7. Alice looks …………… in her new dress. (FANTASY)
8. My brother enjoys …………… so much I think he’ll never get married. (BACHELOR)
9. In this profession men …………… women by two to one. (NUMBER)
10. The courtiers burst into laughter when they heard the …………… (JEST)
ERROR CORRECTION

The passage below contains 10 mistakes. Underline the mistakes and correct them in the
space provided in the column on the right. (0) has been done as an example.
Human and primates, the family of apes, gorillas, and chimpanzees, among others, 0. Humans
divide many common traits. 1. ____________
While primates are deemed the most intelligent of animals, most researchers believed 2. ____________
they lack the capacity to produce language. However, a research project in the 1970s
at University of Georgia showed promise that chimpanzees have the ability to learn a 3. ____________
certain language, just as human children do. 4. ____________
The project used several chimpanzees as test subjects in which Lana, a female chimp 5. ____________
was the study focus. 6. ____________
Though the primates lack the vocal constructions to make human speech patterns, the 7. ____________
researchers created a language called Yerkish, using lexigram made up of symbols 8. ____________
that represent sounds and words. 125 symbols were placed on a keyboard, which 9. ____________
Lana was taught how to use the board to communicate with the researchers. She
successfully expressed her thoughts by pressing different keys in succession. In some
cases, she used up to seven at times. 10. ____________

READING
Part 1: Read the following passage and answer the questions from 1 to 10 that follow.
THE HISTORY OF THE GUITAR
The word 'guitar' was brought into English as an adaptation of the Spanish word
'guitarra’, which was, in turn, derived from the Greek 'kithara'. Tracing the roots of the word
further back into linguistic history, it seems to have been a combination of the Indo-European
stem 'guit-’, meaning music, and the root '-tar’, meaning chord or string. The root '-tar' is actually
common to a number of languages, and can also be found in the word 'sitar’, also a stringed
musical instrument. Although the spelling and pronunciation differ between languages, these key
elements have been present in most words for 'guitar' throughout history.

While the guitar may have gained most of its popularity as a musical instrument during
the modern era, guitar-like instruments have been in existence in numerous cultures throughout
the world for more than 5.000 years. The earliest instruments that the modern eye and ear would
recognise as a 'normal' acoustic guitar date from about 500 years ago. Prior to this time, stringed
instruments were in use throughout the world, but these early instruments are known primarily
from visual depictions, not from the continued existence of music written for them. The majority
of these depictions show simple stringed instruments, often lacking some of the parts that define
a modern guitar. A number of these instruments have more in common with the lute than the
guitar.

There is some uncertainty about the exact date of the earliest six-string guitar. The oldest
one still in existence, which was made by Gaetano Vinaccia, is dated 1779. However, the
authenticity of six-string guitars alleged to have been made prior to 1790 is often suspect, as
many fakes have been discovered dating to this era. The early nineteenth century is generally
accepted as the time period during which six-string guitars began taking on their modern shape
and dimensions. Thus for nearly two hundred years, luthiers, or guitar makers, have been
producing versions of the modern acoustic guitar.

The first electric guitar was not developed until the early twentieth century. George
Beauchamp received the first patent for an electric guitar in 1936, and Beauchamp went on to co-
found Rickenbacker, originally known as the Electro String Instrument Company. Although
Rickenbacker began producing electric guitars in the late 1930s, this brand received most of its
fame in the 1960s, when John Lennon used a Rickenbacker guitar for the Beatles' debut
performance on the Ed Sullivan show in 1964. George Harrison later bought a Rickenbacker
guitar of his own, and the company later gave him one of their earliest 12-string electric guitars.
Paul McCartney also used a Rickenbacker bass guitar for recording. The Beatles continued to use
Rickenbacker guitars throughout their career, and made the instruments highly popular among
other musicians of the era.

The Fender Musical Instruments Company and the Gibson Guitar Corporation were two
other early electric guitar pioneers, both developing models in the early 1950s. Fender began
with the Telecaster in 1950 and 1951, and the Fender Stratocaster debuted in 1954. Gibson began
selling the Gibson Les Paul, based partially on assistance from jazz musician and guitar
innovator Les Paul, in 1952. The majority of present day solid-body electric guitars are still
based largely on these three early electric guitar designs.

Throughout the history of the guitar, an enormous number of individuals have made their
mark on the way in which the instrument was built, played and perceived. Though some of these
individuals are particularly well known, like the Beatles or Les Paul, the majority of these people
are virtually invisible to most modern guitar fans. By looking at the entire history of the guitar,
rather than just recent developments, largely confined to electric guitars, it is possible to see
more of the contributions of earlier generations.

Questions 1-5

Complete the sentences. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for
each answer. Write your answer in the numbered box.

1. Despite differences in _________, 'guit-' and '-tar' appear in the word for 'guitar' in many
languages.

2. Instruments that we would call acoustic guitars have been made and played for approximately

_________.

3. The ________ of acoustic guitars have not changed much in 200 years.

4. Les Paul, the well-known ________ guitarist, was involved in the development of the electric
guitar.

5. Most ________ of the guitar know little about its rich history.

Questions 6-10

Complete the summary. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each
answer. Write your answer in the numbered box.

Instruments similar to the guitar have been played by musicians for over (6) ________ years.
What we know about many of these instruments comes from (7) ________ rather than actual
physical examples or music played on them. In some ways, these early stringed instruments were
closer to (8) ________ than the guitar as we know it today. We do have examples of six-string
guitars that are 200 years old. However, the (9) ________ of six-string guitars made by guitar
makers who are also known as luthiers before the final decade of the eighteenth century is often
open to question.

Although the electric guitar was invented in the 1930s, it took several decades for electric guitars
to develop, with the company Rickenbacker playing a major part in this development. Most (10)
________ electric guitars in use today are similar in design to guitars produced by the Fender
Musical Instruments Company and the Gibson Guitar Corporation in the 1950s.

Part 2: Some parts of the following passages have been removed. Read the passage and then
choose from the list A-J given below the best phrase to fill each of the spaces. Some of the
suggested answers do not fit at all. Write your answer in the numbered box. (0) has been done
as an example.
PEDAL POWER
If you are trying to get around central London when the traffic is bad and you can’t find a
taxi, (0)____________: pedal-powered rickshaws are becoming increasingly popular in the
capital. In fact, it is estimated that 350 of them now cruise the streets, though there is no official
licensing procedure for these diminutive vehicles, so precise numbers are not available. And this
is exactly the problem; it is claimed by residents’ associations and taxi drivers. Since rickshaws
are not subject to the same regulations as other vehicles, (1) ____________. Consequently, the
areas around popular tourist sights are sometimes packed with stationary pedicabs, as the
rickshaws are also known. And (2) ____________ as no specific law is being broken.
On the other hand, (3) ____________, which naturally get stuck in traffic jams like other
motor vehicle. And unlike traditional London cabs, pedal-powered rickshaws cause no pollution
whatsoever. Many tourists like them because they are an amusing, unusual way to get around.
But are they potentially dangerous? Well, (4) ____________. Some taxi drivers claim the three-
wheeled vehicles are inherently unstable and may tip over if the driver takes a corner too
quickly. Rickshaw drivers insist that they drive almost exclusively in the narrow streets of the
city centre, where (5) ____________. There has as yet been no serious accident involving a
pedicab, but the government is considering some form of regulation just to be on the safe side.
A. it could hardly be any different in this context
B. it is difficult for traffic police to do anything about them
C. it never seems to cause too much inconvenience
D. it very much depends who you talk to
E. it annoys pedestrians as much as motorists
F. it is clear that there is a need for an alternative to taxis
G. it is impossible to gain enough speed for this to be a problem
H. it is not clear whether they are subject to parking restrictions
I. it is tempting to try an alternative
Part 3: Fill each blank with ONE suitable word. Write your answer in the numbered box
provided below the passage. (0) has been done as an example.
 Although the (0)________ in the global temperature by 4 per cent predicted by many
scientists may not sound like much, it is the difference between (1)________ and the last Ice
Age, when huge glaciers (2)________ Europe and most of Britain. Nobody knows exactly what
would happen in a warmer world, (3)________ we do know some things. Heat a kettle and the
water inside it expands. The temperature of the world has climbed more than half a degree this
century, and the oceans have risen by at (4)________ 10 cm.

But just as it takes several minutes for a kettle to begin (5)________, so it may have
taken the oceans thirty years to swell. This means that the global warming we are now
(6)________ is a result only of the carbon dioxide we have dumped into the atmosphere up to
(7)________ 1960s. Since then, the use of fossil (8)________ has increased rapidly. Scientists
working for the United Nations and European governments have (9)________ warning that what
the Dutch and the people of the East Anglia will need to do will be to build more extensive sea
defences. Many of the world’s greater cities are at (10)________, because they are located at sea
level. Miami, (11)________ entirely built on a sandbank, could be swept away. But the effects of
(12)________ sea levels will be much worse for the developing countries. With a metre rise in
sea levels, 200 million people could become (13)________.

There are other fears too, (14)________ to a recent United Nations report. The plight of
the hungry in the northern Africa could (15)________, as rainfall in the Sahara and beyond is
reduced by 20 per cent.
WRITING
Read the following extract and use your own words to summarise it. Your summary should be
between 100 and 120 words long.
Buying things today is so simple. Just enter a shop, say a book store, choose the desired book
and pay for it. Long ago, before the invention of money, how did people trade?
The most primitive way of exchange should be the barter trade. In this form of transaction,
people used goods to exchange for the things that they had in mind. For instance, if person A
wanted a book and he had a spare goat, he must look for someone who had the exact opposite,
that is, that someone, say person B, must have a spare book of person A's choice and is also in
need of a goat. Having found such a person, the problem does not end here. A big goat may
worth not only one book, hence person B may have to offer person A something else, say five
chickens. However, he runs the risk of person A rejecting the offer as he may not need the
chickens. The above example clearly illustrates the inefficiency of barter trading.
Many years later, the cumbersome barter trade finally gave way to the monetary form of
exchange when the idea of money was invented. In the early days, almost anything could qualify
as money: beads, shells and even fishing hooks. Then in a region near Turkey, gold coins were
used as money. In the beginning, each coin had a different denomination. It was only later, in
about 700 BC, that Gyges, the king of Lydia, standardized the value of each coin and even
printed his name on the coins.
Monetary means of transaction at first beat the traditional barter trade. However, as time went by,
the thought of carrying a ponderous pouch of coins for shopping appeared not only troublesome
but thieves attracting. Hence, the Greek and Roman traders who bought goods from people
faraway cities, invented checks to solve the problem. Not only are paper checks easy to carry
around, they discouraged robbery as these checks can only be used by the person whose name is
printed on the notes. Following this idea, banks later issued notes in exchange for gold deposited
with them. These bank notes can then be used as cash. Finally, governments of today adopted the
idea and began to print paper money, backed by gold for the country's use.

ESSAY
“Failure is the stepping stone to success.”
Do you think failure is necessary for success in life? Support your view with reasons and one
example. Write an essay in about 250 words.