UPPER-INTERMEDIATE 2023 – MID-TERM EXAM

Student’s Name: _______________________ Date: _______________________

1- Listening- Listen to a man talking about the typical characteristics of American people. Mark True
(T) or False (F). ____/ 10
a. He thinks Americans are hard-working. ___
b. People work to live. ___
c. They are a bit materialistic. ___
d. He’s an individualist. ___
e. He doesn’t think he’s a typical American. ___

Listen again and complete the sentences with only ONE word. ____/ 10

a. “… above all we are ________________ individualists”.

b. “We’re also very ________________ , and we think that if we work hard, we can _______________
anything”.
c. “The measure of _________________ for most people here is _______________”.
d. “We are __________________ concerned with ‘things’- possessions and the bigger the
_____________”.
e. “Personally I think I’ve inherited the ________________ optimism and _______________”.
f. “I hope I’m less ______________________ than many of my countrymen seem to be”.

2- Reading- Read the article and circle the best option: A, B or C. ____/20

There are times in the history of any great city when it feels that it’s at the centre of all that’s fashionable.
Though it was depressing and old-fashioned in the fifties, and a bit scruffy at the edges for most of the
seventies, London led the world of fashion during the “swinging” years of the sixties and during the
punk revolution at the end of the seventies. Showing the way were its fashion designers, notably Mary
Quant and Vivienne Westwood.

Mary Quant

Mary Quant left Goldsmith College, London, in the early fifties with very clear ideas of what she wanted
to achieve in the world of fashion. She was fed up with the idea that high fashion should be for the rich
and the middle-aged, and thought that it should be fun and liberating. She started making clothes
designed around simple shapes and patterns, and bright colours.

Mary had been lucky enough to meet and marry a wealthy businessman called Alexander Plunket Green
while she was at college, and it was his investment that allowed her to open a shop soon after finishing
her studies. Mary opened a boutique in the King’s Road, Chelsea, in the centre of London. The year was
1955. It was an immediate success, thanks to her innovative designs, comparatively low prices, and
eccentric window displays, which made the clothes look even more stylish.

By the mid sixties, Mary Quant was a household name. She had popularized, some people would say
invented, the mini skirt, which was arguably the most iconic fashion statement of the sixties, and she
had done more than anyone to make clothes youthful, sexy, and natural.
Vivienne Westwood

In 1971, Vivienne Westwood’s partner, and the father of her son Joseph, opened a shop in the King’s
Road called Let it Rock. His name was Malcolm Maclaren. Vivienne, who had briefly studied at the
Harrow School of Art in London, then started to sell her designs in the shop. They weren’t ordinary
clothes, nor were they inexpensive. She combined traditional British materials such as tartan with more
outrageous items like black leather, metal chains, large safety pins, razor blades, and dog collars.

After years of selling to a small, alternative set of customers, Vivienne’s designs were suddenly in
demand overnight after the punk rock band The Sex Pistols wore her clothes at their first gig. Perhaps
they loved the style, but it is more likely that their manager, Malcolm Maclaren, influenced their choice
of shop. Although probably motivated by Maclaren’s business interests, the clothes and band worked
well together. The band’s anarchic energy combined with Vivienne’s sense of punk style took the world
by storm in the late seventies, rocking the foundations of the fashion world. The influence of those
designs is still felt today.

In more recent years, Vivienne has introduced many other elements into her fashion design, such as
ways of cutting material borrowed from eighteenth-century clothes makers, and patterns first used by
indigenous South American peoples. She is always looking for the innovative and shocking, and her
ready-to-wear clothes, while no longer strictly punk, are still different and edgy.

1. London was trendy _________

A during the fifties B in the sixties C for the whole of the seventies
2. When Mary Quant finished college, she __________
A knew what she would like to do B was bored with fashion C designed clothes for wealthy people
3. In the early 1950s, high fashion clothes were __________
A colourful and fun B only worn by certain people C easy to make
4. Mary’s husband _____________
A helped her design the clothes B helped her to start her business C was also a student when she was at
college
5. When Mary opened her shop, ____________
A it was popular from the beginning B there were problems with the shop’s windows C she worked
hard on the designs
6. The writer of the text believes that Mary _____________
A invented the mini skirt B made the mini skirt popular C introduced young people to fashion
7. Vivienne sold her clothes in ______________
A her own shop B a shop that sold music and clothes C a shop owned by someone else
8. People liked Vivienne’s clothes because they were ___________
A different from other clothes that were available B much cheaper than high fashion garments
C used traditional designs
9. The punk band The Sex Pistols probably wore Vivienne’s designs because _________
A they liked the style B their manager decided they should wear them C they needed something
unusual for their first gig
10. Recently, Vivienne has started using ______________
A 18th century patterns B 18th century materials C 18th century techniques
3- Use of English
a- Tenses. Underline the correct option. ____/ 8
a) How do you get on / are you getting on in Paris? Sorry I haven’t written / I’m not writing before
but I train/ I’ve been training hard for my basketball team. We played / have played in a
tournament last week – we come / came third! I really enjoy / enjoyed taking part, but I haven’t
done / I wasn’t doing anything else for the past month.
b) Unfortunately, when Sarah’s big day arrived / was arriving, things have gone / went disastrously
wrong at first. For a start, it was raining / has been raining and as the traffic was so heavy, she
arrived / was arriving nearly ten minutes late for her interview. Then while she was crossing / has
crossed the road, a passing bus splashed / was splashing her with water. But inside the building her
luck changed / has changed. “Mr. Fortescue is expecting / has expected me”, she was telling / told
the receptionist. “He hasn’t arrived /doesn’t arrive yet”, s he was told. “Just take a seat”. Perhaps
everything would be all right after all.

b- Complete the sentences using the Future Perfect or Future Continuous. ____/ 12

1. The plane to Paris takes off at 9.00 and lands at 10.30

At 10 they _____________________________________ (fly) to Paris.
2. I save $2000 a month.
By the end of this year, I _____________________________________ (save) $24000
3. I leave home at 7.30. It takes an hour to drive to work.
At 8.00 tomorrow I _____________________________________ (drive) to work.
4. Our meeting starts at 2.00 and finishes at 3.30.
You can’t ring me at 2.30 because we _____________________________________ (have) a
meeting.
5. Sam is paying for his car. The last payment is in November.
By December he _____________________________________ (pay) for his car.
6. Their last exam is on May 31st.
By the end of May they _____________________________________ (finish) their exams.

c- Paraphrasing. Complete the second sentence so that it means the same as the first. Use the word
in BOLD without changing it. Write from two to five words. ____/ 30

1. We bought this house eight years ago. HAD

We ______________________________________________________________________ eight years.

2. The last time John came here was in 2001. SINCE

John hasn’t ________________________________________________________________ 2001.

3. The train leaves at 12:10. We won’t arrive at the station before that. LEFT
The train ________________________________________________________________ by the time we
arrive at the station.

4. Jane takes ballet classes on Mondays, from 6 to 8 pm. BE

Jane _________________________________________________________________ her ballet class.
tomorrow at 6:30 pm.
5. He isn’t likely to come to the meeting PROBABLY
He ___________________________________________________________________ to the meeting.

6. The STS will finish their English course at the end of December. HAVE
The English course __________________________________________________ the beginning of July.

7. They’ll probably never find the murderer. LIKELY

The murderer isn’t______________________________________________________________ found.

8. I can’t wait to see the sights in London. FORWARD

I am ______________________________________________________________ the sights in London.

9. The tennis players’ match is still going on. FINISHED

The tennis players match ___________________________________________________________ yet.

10. I won’t go if he doesn’t invite me. UNLESS

I won’t go ________________________________________________________________________me.

11. What time does your plane land tomorrow? WHEN

Can you tell me _____________________________________________________________ tomorrow?

12. I started learning English three years ago. BEEN

I _________________________________________________________________________three years.

13. Tom left without even saying goodbye. BEFORE

Tom _______________________________________________________ __________________
leaving.
14. We’ll be travelling tomorrow unless the weather is awful. IF
_______________________________________________________________________, we’ll be
travelling tomorrow.
15. Do you happen to know the time of the next train to London? COULD
I wonder _________________________________________________ me the time of the next train to
London.

d- Circle the correct option- ____/ 10

1. The students will have finished/ have finished the test in a couple of minutes.
2. This time tomorrow I’m sitting/ I’ll be sitting on the beach in Acapulco.
3. We normally have lunch at 1.00, so I’m sure we’ll have finished/ we finish by 2.00 at the latest.
4. I’ll have gone/ I’ll be going out this evening- I have tickets for the theatre.
5. It’s very late- they aren’t likely/ probably to come now.
6. They’ll have built/ will be building the stadium by the end of the year.
7. He’ll likely/ probably have already gone by the time you get there.
8. Don’t call Chloe now. If it’s eight o’clock, she’ll bath/ will be bathing the baby.
9. If we’re lucky, we’ll have sold/ we’ve sold our house by Christmas.
 10. You can be fined if you aren’t wearing/ won’t be wearing a seat belt in your car.
e- Order the words to make sentences. ___/14

1. had - a - map - taken - we - luckily

___________________________________________________________.

2. happily - are - and - I - married - my - wife

___________________________________________________________.

3. incredibly - yesterday - that - played - we - well

___________________________________________________________.

4. going - October - next - he’s - university - to

___________________________________________________________.

5. at - very - the - it - much - rain - fortunately - didn’t - weekend

___________________________________________________________.

6. often - for - class - is - late - Fiona

___________________________________________________________.

7. weekend - last - were - we - quite - weather - the - lucky - with

___________________________________________________________.

f- VOCABULARY. Include these expressions in coherent sentences. You are allowed to use more
than one expression in each sentence. Write at least 6 (six). ____/ 12

BIZARRE - GO WITH YOUR SHIRT - A PIECE OF CAKE - DEMANDING - RECRUITMENT AGENCY -

UNDER THE WEATHER - THINK ON YOUR FEET - BIG-HEADED - BREAK DOWN - COME ROUND - BE AWARE OF-

1. _

2. _

3. _

4. _

5. _

6. _
 UPPER-INTERMEDIATE 2023 – MID-TERM EXAM

Student’s Name: _______________________ Date: _______________________

Writing section

Choose ONE option and write 140-180 words in an appropriate style. Pay attention to tenses,
punctuation, vocabulary and connectors. ____/ 20
a) Write a short story. You are a kid and you must include this sentence: “You have great
expectations. You will one day be rich, very rich”. Your story can be inspired in “Great Expectations”.
Develop your story in three or four paragraphs.
b) Write an informal letter to a friend who lives abroad. Tell him/her about your birthday party: when
and where it was, who were invited, what the food was like, the music, what people were wearing,
etc. Ask your friend about his/her new life in another country.
c) Write a letter of complaint. You have bought a new TV recently and it is not working properly. The
image is not the way it should be and the volume is too low. Write to Mr. Marshall, the manager of
the company.
_

___________