• No further explanation may be asked or given.

MARK
• Examinees are strictly forbidden to use other materials,
including dictionaries.
• Violation of this rule may result in instantaneous disqualification.

SECTION ONE. PHONETICS

Part 1. Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from the others of the same
line. Circle your answers.
1. A. embrace B. facebook C. race D. surface
2. A. honor B. hour C. honest D. horrible
3. A. mission B. occasion C. condition D. production
4. A. opposite B. website C. cordite D. polite
5. A. education B. audition C. different D. donate
6. A. cottage B. heritage C. damage D. overage
7. A. heart B. heat C. seat D. meat
8. A. theater B. throughout C. Thailand D. think
9. A. look B. foot C. pool D. food
10. A. sure B. sit C. see D. set
Part 2. Choose the word whose main stressed syllable is different from the others of the same line.
Circle your answers.
11. A. parade B. sixteen C. little D. mature
12. A. piano B. museum C. introduce D. historic
13. A. graduate B. yesterday C. furniture D. consider
14. A. automatics B. politics C. economics D. mathematics
15. A. politely B. technology C. preparation D. procedure
16. A. photographer B. geography C. embarrassment D. photograph
17. A.

Your answers
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
SECTION TWO. LEXICO–GRAMMAR
Part 3. Choose the word that best substitutes for the underlined word or phrase in each sentence. Write
your answers in the numbered box.
21. _______ nobody takes more than his share, there will be plenty of food for everybody.
A. Except that B. Provided that C. Despite that D. Even if
22. I played game on my phone when I waited for my friends to _______ away the time.
A. waste B. throw C. quicken D. while
23. Under the sun’s heat, water _______.
A. melts B. evaporates C. rises D. floats
24. If you don’t like music, there will be no ______ in joining in music club.
A. point B. reason C. aim D. purpose
25. _______ is the part of a country with hills and mountains.

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A. Highland B. Rey C. Valley D. Bay
26. Would you mind closing the window? “_______”
A. No, I’m afraid not B. No, of course not
C. No, I can’t D. I’d rather you didn’t
27. Will you pick me _______ after the party?
A. up B. on C. over D. through
28. A number of sheep ________ eating grass now.
A. are B. is C. was D. were
29. He leads a quite difficult life; he can just _______.
A. run errands B. make ends meet
C. make allowance for it D. mind his own business
30. He opened the letter without _________ to read the address on the envelop.
A. caring B. worrying C. bothering D. concerning
31. The gardener tells me that everything ____________________ by the end of this year.
A. is going to planted                                                B. have been planted          
C. will be planted                                                      D. will have been planted
32. ______ everyone working here, I would like to thank you for your generous donation.
A. On the whole          B. On behalf of        C. With regard to         D. In view of
33. The volcano which had been _____ for years suddenly exploded.
A. passive                  B. idle                        C. immobile                D. inactive
34. “Your parents must be proud of your result at school.”  - “________________”
A. Sorry to hear that B. Of course          
C. I’m glad you like it  D. Thanks. It’s certainly encouraging.
35. We were _______ by the sunning scenery of Ha Long Bay.
A. bewildered B. overwhelmed C. preoccupied D. overjoyed
36. As the speaker finishes his speech, all the audience gave him a _____ applause.
A. round B. circle C. ring D. wheel
37. If _______ with pictures and diagrams, a lesson will be more interesting and comprehensible.
A. have illustrated B. was illustrated C. illustrated D. illustrating
38. Andrew is a very disciplined employee. He _______ a great importance to coming to work in time.
A. affixes B. attaches C. admits D. attributes
39. After the flash flood, all the drains were overflowing _______ storm water.
A. with B. from C. for D. on
40. When I finish writing my essay, I’m going to _______ and go to bed.
A. hit the big time B. make time C. hit the hay D. call it a day
41. Marry usually buys her clothes ________. It’s cheaper than going to a dressmaker.
A. in public B. on the shelf C. off the peg D. on the house
42. You are at _______ to do what you like.
A. freedom B. odds C. disposal D. liberty
43. ___________ he was lazy, he failed the exam.
A. Now that B. So C. Consequently D. Thus
44. Anyone ordering a new MP3 player _________ the end of the month will receive a free extra set of
headphone.
A. at B. in C. upon D. before
45. My job is so ______ that I don’t think I’ll be able to take a summer break.
A. persisting B. hard C. demanding D. tough
46. We _______ the beginning of the film if we had gone to the cinema 15 minutes earlier.

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A. would have never missed B. would never miss
C. would never have missed D. never missed
47. Paula would like to__________ by the time he is 45.
A. travel B. to travel C. be going to travel D. have traveled
48. ___________, the balcony chairs will be ruined in this weather.
A. Leaving uncovered B. Having left uncovered C. Left uncovered D. Been left uncovered
49. The strike was ______ owing to a last-minute agreement with the management.
A. called off B. broken up C. set back D. put down
50. I’m amazed that this game ever___________ - it’s so silly!
A. took in B. caught on C. took up D. caught by
51. The match will be screened on ITV with _______ commentary by Sandy Curley.
A. lively B. live C. alive D. living
52. ___________, he cannot make ends meet.
A. Hard though he works B. Although he work hard
C. He works hardly D. Hard as he work
53. Everyone hoped that he would ________ after the operation.
A. pull through B. pull over C. fall down D. pull out
54. _______ new hostel for _________ poor is being built in ________town center.
A. The/the/a B. A/Ø/ the C. The/ a /a D. A/ the/ the
55. I saw him hiding something in a ___________ bag.
A. small plastic black B. black small plastic
C. small black plastic D. plastic small black

Your answers
11. 12. 13. 14. 15.
16. 17. 18. 19. 20.
21. 22. 23. 24. 25.
Part 4. Fill in each blank with one suitable preposition or particle from the following box. Each word
can only be used once. Write your answers in the numbered box.

Your answers
26. 27. 28. 29. 30.
31. 32. 33. 34. 35.
Part 5. Supply the correct forms of the verbs given in brackets. Write your answers in the column on the
right.

Part 6. Fill in each blank with the most suitable form of the word in brackets. Write your answers in the
column on the right.

SECTION THREE. READING

Part 7. Choose the word that best fits each of the blanks in the following passage. Write your answers in
the numbered box.

56. 57. 58. 59. 60.

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61. 62. 63. 64. 65.
Part 8. Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.

Choose the correct answer for each of the following questions. Write your answer (A, B, C or D) in the
numbered box.

Your answers
66. 67. 68. 69. 70.
71. 72. 73. 74. 75.
Part 9. Complete the following passage by filling in each blank with one suitable word. Write your
answers in the numbered box.
Your answers
76. 77. 78. 79. 80.
81. 82. 83. 84. 85.
86. 87. 88. 89. 90.
SECTION FOUR. WRITING
Part 10. Use the word given in bold and make any necessary additions to write a new sentence in such a
way that it is as similar as possible in meaning to the original sentence. Do not change the form of the
given word.

Part 11. For Questions 96 – 150, write a composition of between 300 and 600 words on the following
topic.

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THE END

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING EXAMINATION OF PROFICIENCY IN

EDUCATIONAL EXAMINATION ENGLISH
SPECIMEN PAPER 1
Concerned Subject: ENGLISH LANGUAGE ANSWER KEY
Approximate Time: 180 minutes

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1. A 2. C 3. C 4. D 5. A
6. B 7. A 8. B 9. D 10. A
11. A 12. D 13. C 14. D 15. B
16. D 17. A 18. D 19. A 20. B
21. A 22. C 13. B 14. C 15. D
26. off 27. through 28. in 29. under 30. down
31. away 32. out 33. over 34. at 35. into
36. is 37. are 38. sees 39. has been trying 40. has done
41. had never flown 42. had taken 43. had never worried 44. announced 45. were going
46. apparently 47. considerably 48. longevity 49. beneficial 50. gravitational
51. unpredictable 52. Confusingly 53. horticulturists 54. scepticism 55. dismissive
56. C 57. A 58. B 59. C 60. C
61. B 62. A 63. C 64. B 65. D
66. D 67. C 68. B 69. B 70. A
71. T 72. NG 73. T 74. F 75. T
76. like 77. addition 78. are 79. whereby 80. so
81. rather 82. of 83. such 84. as 85. doing
86. all 87. as 88. has 89. yet 90. with
91. You have nothing to lose by telling her that you do not love her anymore.
92. I do not know how to make amends for forgetting his birthday last week.
93. The economy is starting to/is showing signs of recovery/recovering at last.
94. Sharon and I are not on speaking terms with each other.
95. I think she is now having second thoughts about coming with us.
Part 11. For this part of the Paper, markers may refer to the following scheme of grading the
composition: Contents (15 marks): The student must be able to:
- Refer to a particular place and time. - Describe possible experiences
- Explain reasons for this choice.
Organisation and cohesion (15 marks): Clear paragraphing. May be in article or narrative format.
Command of Language (15 marks): Language of description and evaluation. Vocabulary specific to the place and time.
Handwriting and Presentation (10 marks): The student’s handwriting is intelligible and space is cleverly used.

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