Aiming high 1

Vocabulary: Collocations
1 Complete each of the gaps with one of the
nouns from the box.

challenge success motivation

ambition failure

a The film Star Wars was an overnight

_____________ .
b I have a burning _____________ to travel
to Australia.
c When pupils tire of studying, a system
of rewards can help increase student
_____________ .
d Sadly, my attempts to learn Japanese
met with complete _____________ .
e The government faces the formidable
_____________ of reducing unemployment.

2 In exercise 1, the words in bold are

‘collocates’ of the nouns you wrote. This
means that they are often used together
with those nouns. Write a new sentence
for each noun, using the collocates in bold.
The sentences must be true.

3 Compare and discuss your sentences

with another student.

4 In sentence e in exercise 1, the verb face

collocates with challenge. Which of the five
nouns do each of the following pairs of
verbs collocate with?
fulfil a/an _____________ end in _____________
realize result in
achieve _____________ improve _____________
enjoy lack
take up a/an _____________
rise to

5 The adjective formidable also collocates with challenge. All three words in each of
the groups below can be used in combination with one of the nouns from exercise 1.
Write an appropriate noun in each of the spaces.
a major/new/daunting _____________
b secret/lifelong/main _____________
c total/continued/dismal _____________
d huge/great/resounding _____________
e high/strong/poor _____________

6 Study the collocations in this section for two minutes, then close your book and
write down as many as you can remember. Compare your results with your partner’s.

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1 Aiming high

Listening Multiple choice 1.1–1.3

Part 1
1 What awards, international and national, are well known in your country?
Have you ever won an award, prize or trophy for anything? If so, how did you feel about
receiving it?

2 You will hear three different extracts. For questions 1–6, choose the answer (A, B or C)
which fits best according to what you hear. There are two questions for each extract.

What to expect in the exam

There are four parts to the Listening paper. In Part 1 you will always hear three short extracts from different
conversations. There are two multiple-choice questions for each extract.
In the exam, you will hear each extract twice before the next one is played.

Extract One
You hear two musicians from the same group talking about an awards ceremony.
1 According to the man, why did the group not attend the ceremony?
A They believed it would be morally wrong.
B They were busy doing concerts.
C They did not expect to win.
2 According to the woman, the people who voted for the group
A have been loyal fans for a long time.
B will soon lose interest in their music.
C agree with their ideals and beliefs.
Extract Two
You hear part of a radio discussion in which two people
are talking about sport.
3 The first man says that the home team lost because
A some team members were inexperienced.
B their training has not been effective.
C they were too confident of a win.
4 Both speakers dislike the way that two players
A react to media attention.
B are behaving in a disloyal way.
C have little to offer as role models.
Extract Three
You hear two university students talking about a fund-raising
event called 40-hour Famine.
5 According to the woman, the purpose of 40-hour Famine is to
A encourage students to do some charity work abroad.
B persuade people to give money to charity regularly.
C help people understand the effects of famine on
people’s lives.
6 After taking part in last year’s 40-hour Famine event, the man
says he was
A proud of what he had achieved.
B determined to do better in the future.
C disappointed he had not fulfilled his aim.

3 Do you know of any cases where someone has turned down an award? Why did
they reject it?
Talk about something you failed to achieve. How disappointed were you?

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 Aiming high 1

Word formation: Nouns

1 Which suffixes are added to the following verbs to create nouns?
achieve motivate fail

2 Complete each gap with an appropriate noun form of the word in capitals at the
end of the line. Use each suffix in the box once only and make any further spelling
changes necessary. The noun you require may also need a plural ending or a negative
prefix (un-, in-, im-, dis-,etc). There is an example at the beginning (0).

-hood -ship -ure -al -ness -ation

-ance -ence -iety -ity -ment -age -cy

publication is a book of verse on the theme of relationships.

0 His latest ___________ PUBLISH
1 Light _____________ will be served from 3.30pm in the main hall. REFRESH
2 Union members expressed their _____________ of the management’s offer by APPROVE
walking out of the meeting.
3 In her _____________ to answer the phone, she almost fell down the stairs. EAGER
4 In the interests of safety, a number of standard _____________ need to be followed. PROCEED
5 Her 5000-metre run paled into _____________ when compared with the marathon SIGNIFY
her grandfather completed the following week.
6 The _____________ of the device is what has made it so popular. SIMPLE
7 I cannot comment; I have been sworn to _____________ on the matter. SECRET
8 The cost of _____________ has increased by 10% this year. MEMBER
9 Customers will be required to pay for any _____________ . BREAK
10 There is every _____________ that prices will continue to rise next year. LIKELY
11 He valued his _____________ too much to ever want to get married. DEPEND
12 It’s quite natural to experience a certain amount of _____________ on your first ANXIOUS
day at work.

3 Using the same suffixes as in exercise 2, write noun forms for the following words.
The same suffix is needed for all three words. Some words require further spelling
changes. The exercise begins with an example (0).

0 notorious notoriety
_____________ various variety
_____________ sober sobriety
_____________

1 please _____________ expose _____________ close _____________

2 appear _____________ annoy _____________ rely _____________
3 store _____________ short _____________ pack _____________
4 rehearse _____________ renew _____________ propose _____________
5 efficient _____________ intimate _____________ vacant _____________
6 enjoy _____________ require _____________ commit _____________
7 prosperous _____________ original _____________ familiar _____________
8 leader _____________ companion _____________ partner _____________
9 neighbour _____________ father _____________ adult _____________
10 absent _____________ persistent _____________ evident _____________
11 selfish _____________ tired _____________ careless _____________
12 explain _____________ interpret _____________ apply _____________

4 Look back at the reading text on page 8 and underline those nouns which have been
formed by the addition of a suffix to a verb, adjective or another noun. Add them to
the list in exercise 3.

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