TEST 2

PART II. LEXICO-GRAMMAR

Question 5. Choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) to complete each sentence below. (20 pts)
1. Why did you ________ and mention the party to George? It was supposed to be a surprise.
A. let the cat out of the bag B. put the cat among the pigeons
C. have kittens D. kill two birds with one stone.
2. It’s a shame to fall out so badly with your own ________.
A. heart to heart B. flesh and blood C. heart and soul D. skin and bone
3. They were able to ________ over their meal and enjoy it instead of having to rush back to work.
A. loiter B. stay C. linger D. dwell
4. I thought something terrible had happened but it was all a ________ in a teacup.
A. storm B. gale C. breeze D. wind
5. It is necessary that the problem ________ solved right away.
A. would be B. might be C. be D. is
6. In the northern and central parts of the states of Idaho ________ and churning rivers.
A. majestic mountains are found B. found majestic mountains
C. finding majestic mountains D. are found majestic mountains
7. According to the ________ of the contract, tenants must give six months’ notice if they intend to
leave.
A. laws B. rules C. terms D. details
8. I know it’s difficult but you’ll just have to ________ and bear it.
A. laugh B. smile C. grin D. chuckle
9. I didn’t want to make a decision ________, so I said I’d like to think about it.
A. in one go B. there and then C. at a stroke D. on and off
10. We are not in a ________ hurry so let’s have another coffee.
A. dashing B. racing C. rushing D. tearing
Your answers:
1. …………… 2. …………… 3. …………… 4. …………… 5. ……………
6. …………… 7. …………… 8. …………… 9. …………… 10. ………..…
question 7. The passage below contains 10 mistakes. Underline the mistakes and write their
correct forms in the space provided in the column on the right. (0) has been done as an
example.
When a celebrity, a politics or other person in the media spotlight loses their temper in public,
they run the risk of hitting the headings in a most embarrassing way. For such uncontrolling outbursts
of anger are often triggered by what seem to be trivial matters and, if they are caught on camera, can
make the person appear slightly ridiculousness. But it’s not only the rich and famous who is prone to
fits of rage. According to recent surveys, ordinary people are increasingly tending to lose their cool in
public. Although anger is a potentially destructive emotion that uses up a lot of energy and creates a
high level of emotional and physical stress - and it stops us thinking rational. Consequently angry

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people often end up saying, and doing things they later have cause to regret. So, how can anger be
avoided? Firstly, diet and lifestyle may be to blame. Tolerance and irritability certainly come to the
surface when someone hasn’t slept properly or has skipped a meal, and any intake of caffeine can
make things worst. Take regular exercise can help to ease and diffuse feelings of aggression,
however, reducing the chances of an angry response. But if something or someone does make you
angry, it’s advisable not to react immediately. Once you’ve calmed down, things won’t look half as
badly as you first thought.
0. line 1: politics  politician
Your answers:
Lines Lines
1. …….…………………. 6. ….…..…………….
2. …….…………………. 7. ……...…………….
3. …….…………………. 8. ……...…………….
4. …….…………………. 9. …………………….
5. …….…………………. 10. …….…..………..…

Question 8. Fill in each blank with a suitable particle or preposition. (10 pts)
1. Don’t forget the date. I'm banking __________ your help.
2. It was decided to break __________ diplomatic relations with that country.
3. The police arrived immediately after the call and caught the burglar __________ the spot.
4. Over 3,000 workers were laid __________ when the company moved the factory abroad.
5. They worked very hard in their new business venture and their efforts eventually paid __________.
6. As the day wore __________, I began to feel more and more uncomfortable in their company.
7. There was strong evidence to suggest that the judge presiding the case had
been bought _________.
8. It’s like a bolt _______ the blue.
9. I didn’t do much work, but I’m relieved that I scraped __________ my exam.
10. The unemployment data must be seen __________the background of world recession.
Your answers:
1. …………… 2. …………… 3. …………… 4. …………… 5. ……………
6. …………… 7. …………… 8. …………… 9. …………… 10. ………..…
PART III. READING

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Question 9. Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet
to indicate the correct word(s) to each of the questions. (10 pts)
Secretaries
What’s in a name? In the case of the secretary, or Personal Assistant (PA), it can be something
rather surprising. The dictionary calls a secretary “anyone who handles correspondence, keeps
records and does clerical work for others”. But while this particular job (1) _______ looks a bit
outdated, the word’s original meaning is a hundred times more exotic and perhaps more appropriate.
The word itself has been with us since the 14 th century and comes from the medieval Latin word
secretarius meaning “something hidden”. Secretaries started out as those members of staff with
knowledge hidden from others, the silent ones mysteriously (2) _______ the secret machinery of
organizations.
Some years ago “something hidden” probably meant (3) _________ out of sight, tucked away
with all the other secretaries and typists. A good secretary was an unremarkable one, efficiently (4)
_______ orders, and then returning mouse-like to his or her station behind the typewriter, but, with
the (5)_________ of new office technology, the job (6) __________ upgraded itself and the role has
changed to one closer to the original meaning. The skills required are more demanding and more
technical. Companies are (7) __________ that secretarial staff should already be (8) _________
trained in, and accustomed to working with, a (9) _________ of word processing packages. In
addition to this, they need the management skills to take on some administration, some personnel
work and some research. The professionals in the (10)_____ business point out that nowadays
secretarial staff may even need some management skills to take on administration, personnel work
and research.
1. A. explanation B. detail C. definition D. characteristic
2. A. operating B. pushing C. vibrating D. effecting
3. A. kept B. covered C. packed D. held
4. A. satisfying B. obeying C. completing D. minding
5. A. advent B. approach C. entrance D. opening
6. A. truly B. validly C. correctly D. effectively
7. A. insisting B. ordering C. claiming D. pressing
8. A. considerably B. highly C. vastly D. supremely

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9. A. group B. collection C. cluster D. range
10. A. appointment B. hiring C. recruitment D. engagement
Your answers:
1. …………… 2. …………… 3. …………… 4. …………… 5. ……………
6. …………… 7. …………… 8. …………… 9. …………… 10. ………..…
Question 10. Fill in each numbered blank with one suitable word to complete the passage. (10 pts)
My new friend’s a robot

In fiction robots have a personality, (1) _________ reality is disappointingly different.

Although sophisticated (2) _________ to assemble cars and assist during complex surgery, modern
robots are dumb automatons, (3) _________ of striking up relationships with their human operators.
However, change is (4) _________ the horizon. Engineers argue that, as robots begin to make
(5) _________a bigger part of society, they will need a way to interact with humans. To this end they
will need artificial personalities. The big question is this: what does a synthetic companion need to
have so that you want to engage (6) _________ it over a long period of time? Phones and computers
have already shown the (7) _________ to which people can develop relationships with inanimate
electronic objects.
Looking further (8) _________, engineers envisage robots helping around the house,
integrating with the web to place supermarket orders using email. Programming the robot with a
human–like persona and (9) _________ it the ability to learn its users’ preferences, will help the
person feel (10) _________ease with it. Interaction with such a digital entity in this context is more
natural than sitting with a mouse and keyboard.
Your answers:
1. …………… 2. …………… 3. …………… 4. …………… 5. ……………
6. …………… 7. …………… 8. …………… 9. …………… 10. ………..…
Question 11. Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet
to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions. (10 pts)
Birds that feed in flocks commonly retire together into roosts. The reasons for roosting
communally are not always obvious, but there are some likely benefits. In winter especially it is
important for birds to keep warm at night and conserve precious food reserves. One way to do this is
to find a sheltered roost. Solitary roosters shelter in dense vegetation or enter a cavity - horned larks
dig holes in the ground and ptarmigan burrow into snow banks - but the effect of sheltering is
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magnified by several birds huddling together in the roosts, as wrens, swifts, brown creepers,
bluebirds and anis do. Body contact reduces the surface area exposed to the cold air, so the birds keep
each other warm. Two kinglets huddling together were found to reduce their heat losses by a quarter,
and three together saved a third of their heat.
The second possible benefit of communal roosts is that they act as “information centers”.
During the day, parties of birds will have spread out to forage over a very large area. When they
return in the evening some will have fed well, but others may have found little to eat. Some
investigators have observed that when the birds set out again next morning, those birds that did not
feed well on the previous day appear to follow those that did. The behavior of common and lesser
kestrels may illustrate different feeding behaviors of similar birds with different roosting habits. The
common kestrel hunts vertebrate animals in a small, familiar hunting ground, whereas the very
similar lesser kestrel feeds on insects over a large area. The common kestrel roosts and hunts alone,
but the lesser kestrel roosts and hunts in flocks, possibly so one bird can learn from others where to
find insect swarms.
Finally, there is safety in numbers at communal roosts since there will always be a few birds
awake at any given moment to give the alarm. But this increased protection is partially counteracted
by the fact that mass roosts attract predators and are especially vulnerable if they are on the ground.
Even those in trees can be attacked by birds of prey. The birds on the edge are at greatest risk since
predators find it easier to catch small birds perching at the margins of the roost.
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. How birds find and store food.
B. How birds maintain body heat in the winter.
C. Why birds need to establish territory.
D. Why some species of birds nest together.
2. The word “conserve” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to ________.
A. retain B. watch C. locate D. share
3. Ptarmigan keep warm in the winter by ________.
A. building nests in trees
B. huddling together on the ground with other birds
C. digging tunnels into the snow

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 D. burrowing into dense patches of vegetation
4. The word “magnified” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to ________.
A. combined B. caused C. modified D. intensified
5. The author mentions kinglets in the passage as an example of birds that ________.
A. protect themselves by nesting in holes B. usually feed and nest in pairs
C. nest together for warmth D. nest with other species of birds
6. Which of the following statements about lesser and common kestrels is TRUE?
A. The lesser kestrel feeds sociably but the common kestrel does not.
B. The lesser kestrel and the common kestrel have similar diets.
C. The common kestrel nests in larger flocks than does the lesser kestrel.
D. The common kestrel nests in trees; the lesser kestrel nests on the ground.
7. The word “forage” in the passage  is closest in meaning to __________.
A. fly B. assemble C. feed D. rest
8. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as an advantage derived by birds that
huddle together while sleeping?
A. Some members of the flock warn others of impending dangers.
B. Staying together provides a greater amount of heat for the whole flock
C. Some birds in the flock function as information centers for others who are looking for food.
D. Several members of the flock care for the young.
9. Which of the following is a disadvantage of communal roosts that is mentioned in the passage?
A. Diseases easily spread among the birds.
B. Food supplies are quickly depleted.
C. Some birds in the group will attack the others
D. Groups are more attractive to predators than individual birds are.
10. The word “they” in the third paragraph refers to ________.
A. a few birds B. mass roosts C. predators D. trees

Your answers:
1. …………… 2. …………… 3. …………… 4. …………… 5. ……………
6. …………… 7. …………… 8. …………… 9. …………… 10. ………..…
Question 12. Read the passage including seven paragraphs and do the following tasks. (10 pts)
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Task 1. The text has seven paragraphs, A-G
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 1-5 below.
List of Headings
i Different accounts of the same journey
ii Bingham gains support
iii A common belief
iv The aim of the trip
v A dramatic description
vi A new route
vii Bingham publishes his theory
viii Bingham’s lack of enthusiasm

Paragraphs Your answers:

Paragraph A iv
1. Paragraph B ………….
2. Paragraph C ………….
3. Paragraph D ………….
4. Paragraph E ………….
5. Paragraph F ………….
Paragraph G iii

The Lost City

An explorer’s encounter with the ruined city of Machu Picchu, the most famous icon of the Inca
civilisation
A
When the US explorer and academic Hiram Bingham arrived in South America in 1911, he was ready
for what was to be the greatest achievement of his life: the exploration of the remote hinterland to the
west of Cusco, the old capital of the Inca empire in the Andes mountains of Peru. His goal was to
locate the remains of a city called Vitcos, the last capital of the Inca civilisation. Cusco lies on a high
plateau at an elevation of more than 3,000 metres, and Bingham’s plan was to descend from this
plateau along the valley of the Urubamba river, which takes a circuitous route down to the Amazon
and passes through an area of dramatic canyons and mountain ranges.

B
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When Bingham and his team set off down the Urubamba in late July, they had an advantage over
travellers who had preceded them: a track had recently been blasted down the valley canyon to enable
rubber to be brought up by mules from the jungle. Almost all previous travellers had left the river at
Ollantaytambo and taken a high pass across mountains to rejoin the river lower down, thereby cutting
a substantial corner, but also therefore never passing through the area around Machu Picchu.

C
On 24 July they were a few days into their descent of the valley. The day began slowly, with
Bingham trying to arrange sufficient mules for the next stage of the trek. His companions showed no
interest in accompanying him up the nearby hill to see some ruins that a local farmer, Melchor
Arteaga, had told them about the night before. The morning was dull and damp, and Bingham also
seems to have been less than keen on the prospect of climbing the hill. In his book Lost City of the
Incas, he relates that he made the ascent without having the least expectation that he would find
anything at the top.

D
Bingham writes about the approach in vivid style in his book. First, as he climbs up the hill, he
describes the ever-present possibility of deadly snakes, “capable of making considerable springs
when in pursuit of their prey”; not that he sees any. Then there’s a sense of mounting discovery as he
comes across great sweeps of terraces, then a mausoleum, followed by monumental staircases and,
finally, the grand ceremonial buildings of Machu Picchu. “It seemed like an unbelievable dream …
the sight held me spellbound …” he wrote.

E
We should remember, however, that Lost City of the Incas is a work of hindsight, not written until
1948, many years after his journey. His journal entries of the time reveal a much more gradual
appreciation of his achievement. He spent the afternoon at the ruins noting down the dimensions of
some of the buildings, then descended and rejoined his companions, to whom he seems to have said
little about his discovery. At this stage, Bingham didn’t realise the extent or the importance of the
site, nor did he realise what use he could make of the discovery.

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F
However, soon after returning it occurred to him that he could make a name for himself from this
discovery. When he came to write the National Geographic magazine article that broke the story to
the world in April 1913, he knew he had to produce a big idea. He wondered whether it could have
been the birthplace of the very first Inca, Manco the Great, and whether it could also have been what
chroniclers described as “the last city of the Incas”. This term refers to Cilcabamba, the settlement
where the Incas had fled from Spanish invaders in the 1530s. Bingham made desperate attempts to
prove this belief for nearly 40 years. Sadly, his vision of the site as both the beginning and end of the
Inca civilisation, while a magnificent one, is inaccurate. We now know that Vilcabamba actually lies
65 kilometres away in the depths of the jungle.

G
One question that has perplexed visitors, historians and archaeologists alike ever since Bingham, is
why the site seems to have been abandoned before the Spanish Conquest. There are no references to
it by any of the Spanish chroniclers – and if they had known of its existence so close to Cusco they
would certainly have come in search of gold. An idea which has gained wide acceptance over the past
few years is that Machu Picchu was a moya, a country estate built by an Inca emperor to escape the
cold winters of Cusco, where the elite could enjoy monumental architectrue and spectacular views.
Furthermore, the particular architecture of Machu Picchu suggests that it was constructed at the time
of the greatest of all the Incas, the emperor Pachacuti (c.1438-71). By custom, Pachacuti’s
descendants built other similar estates for their own use, and so Machu Picchu would have been
abandoned after his death, some 50 years before the Spanish Conquest.

Task 2. Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage?
Write
True if the statement agrees with the information
False if the statement contradicts the information
Not Given if there is no information on this

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6. Bingham went to South America in search of an Inca city.
7. Bingham chose a particular route down the Urubamba valley because it was the most common
route used by travellers.
8. Bingham returned to Machu Picchu in order to find evidence to support his theory.
Task 3. Complete the sentences below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
9. The track that took Bingham down the Urubamba valley had been created for the transportation of
__________.
10. Bingham found out about the ruins of Machu Picchu from a __________ in the Urubamba valley.
Your answers:
1. …………… 2. …………… 3. …………… 4. …………… 5. ……………
6. …………… 7. …………… 8. …………… 9. …………… 10. ………..…

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