T.R.

MANISA CELAL BAYAR UNIVERSITY- THE SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

PROFICIENCY EXAM APPLICATION PROCEDURE and INFORMATION

The MCBU School of Foreign Languages Proficiency Exam is given in two different sessions lasting for two (and in some cases three) days. On the first day, all candidates take the first
session of the exam which forms the written part of the proficiency exam. On the second day, the speaking exam is given to those candidates who have obtained a passing grade in the first
session. The candidates who get a grade of 70 or higher after both sessions will be considered to have passed the exam.

SESSION 1 – PART 1: This part includes four sections: listening, use of English, vocabulary, and writing.
A. Listening: The listening part is divided into two sections. The first part is the note-taking part in which the candidates listen to an academic lecture and take notes. Then they
answer 5 multiple choice questions using their notes. The second part is the while listening part in which one or two dialogues are played and the candidates choose the best
answers. There are 5 questions. For both parts, test takers listen to the audio texts twice.
B. Use of English: This part includes a gapped text (cloze) with 5 multiple choice questions. The second part contains 5 fill in the blanks type of questions to measure test takers’
grammar knowledge.
C. Vocabulary: This part includes a gapped text (cloze) with 5 multiple choice questions. The second part contains 5 fill in the blanks type of questions to measure candidates’
level appropriate vocabulary knowledge.
D. Reading Comprehension: This part contains two reading texts followed by 5 multiple choice questions for each text. The questions aim to test a candidate’s ability to use
reading skills to comprehend academic texts.
E. Writing: In this part, candidates write a well-developed academic essay in response to a given prompt. They are expected to write an essay between 200-250 words.

POINTS: 80 points = Listening = 15

Use of English= 15
Vocabulary = 15
Reading = 15
Writing = 20

DURATION: 120 minutes

SESSION 2 – PART 2: This part measures the speaking performances of the candidates.
F. Speaking: In this part, each candidate talks about a topic chosen randomly from a list of numbers representing speaking topics. After choosing their topic, the candidate is given
a 1-2 minute preparation time before they start to speak. Each candidate is expected to talk for at least 2-3 minutes.

POINTS: 20 points

DURATION: 10 minutes

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 T.R.
MANISA CELAL BAYAR UNIVERSITY- THE SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
PROFICIENCY EXAM SPECIFICATIONS

NAME OF THE TEST The School of Foreign Languages Proficiency Exam

LANGUAGE English
SKILLS TO BE TESTED (GENERAL) • Listening Comprehension
• Use of English (structure)
• Vocabulary
• Reading Comprehension
• Writing
• Speaking
TARGET GROUP Students at the School of Foreign Languages
LEVELS TESTED B2
PARTS OF THE TEST
Part 1 A. Listening Comprehension
I. Note-taking
II. While Listening
B. Use of English
C. Vocabulary
D. Reading Comprehension
E. Writing

Part 2 F. Speaking

ITEM&TASK TYPES
1st Part: Multiple Choice (4 choices), Writing
2nd Part: Interview, Monolog

LANGUAGE OF THE INSTRUCTIONS English

LENGTH OF THE TEST Part 1: 120 minutes Part 2: 10 minutes

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NUMBER OF ITEMS AND TASKS IN
THE TEST SECTIONS TOTAL
Part 1 A. Listening Comprehension 10 Items
I. Note-taking (5 items)
II. While Listening (5 items)
B. Use of English 10 Items
I. Cloze: Multiple Choice (5 items)
II. Multiple Choice (5 items)
C. Vocabulary 10 Items
I. Cloze: Multiple Choice (5 items)
II. Multiple Choice (5 items)
D. Reading Comprehension 10 Items
I. Text: Multiple Choice (5 items)
I. Text: Multiple Choice (5 items)
E. Writing 1 item
I. Essay Writing (1 item)
Total 41 Items
Part 2 E. Speaking 1 Item
I. Interview / Monolog / Roleplay
Total 1 Item
SCORING METHOD Raw scores will be used; Part 1: Machine scored, human scored Part 2: Human Scored
WEIGHTINGS OF ITEMS AND
SECTIONS SECTIONS CONVERTED TOTAL WEIGHTING
POINTS
A. Listening Comprehension 100 % 15
B. Use of English 100 % 15
C. Vocabulary 100 % 15
D. Reading Comprehension 100 % 15
E. Writing 100 % 20
Part 2 E. Speaking 100 % 20
Total 100 % 100

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OBJECTIVES Listening Comprehension
To assess the language user’s ability to:
• understand main ideas
• locate specific information;
• understand details;
• draw inferences,
Use of English
To assess the language user’s knowledge of:
• complex grammatical structures including Tenses (Narrative), Passive, Modals, Relative Clauses, Past Modals, Mixed Cond., Wish/if only, Reported
Speech, Future Perfect Tense, Future intentions and plans, Present Perfect Continuous Tense, Gerund/infinitive etc.
Vocabulary
To assess the language user’s knowledge of:
• words and phrases in different fields (academic, political, social, scientific etc.) not requiring expertise;
• the function of lexical structures in various contexts;
• collocations and vocabulary related to different fields but familiar to the everyday user;
• complex word formation principles;
• the use of certain words, phrases and idiomatic expressions that contribute to the meanings of particular expressions;
• the function of words and phrases in specific texts.
Reading Comprehension
To assess the language user’s ability to:
• understand main ideas;
• understand details;
• recognize reference signals;
• draw inferences;
• guess the meanings of words.
Writing
To assess the language user’s ability to:
• express his/her ideas in a well-developed academic essay;
• justify his/her opinions with reasons and supporting details;
• provide descriptions of solutions to a problem
• use grammatical knowledge to form complex sentences, to make clear descriptions, and to state and discuss different points of view;
• employ complex grammatical structures and vocabulary to ensure coherence and cohesion in an academic essay.
Speaking
To assess the language user’s ability to:
• respond to questions and to interact in conversational English, using a range of functions in tasks such as dialogues, picture talk or role-play;
• exchange information on a wide range of topics within their field with confidence;
• suggest solutions to problems;
• tell a story about something sad, dangerous, or funny and include interesting details.

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 T.R.
MANISA CELAL BAYAR UNIVERSITY
THE SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
ENGLISH PROFICIENCY EXAM
SAMPLE

Name- Surname: Duration: 120 mins.

PART I: LISTENING (https://youtu.be/ZA9TzKvpK2M)

A) NOTE TAKING
You will listen twice. Listen and take notes. Then, answer the questions 1-5 by using your notes.
1. How long do most people in the UK spend commuting a day?

a) 19 minutes b) 35 minutes c) 45 minutes d) an hour

2. Train delays and cancellations or traffic jams can make your commute _____________.

a) exciting b) interesting c) frustrating d) longer

3. To avoid very packed trains, Penny suggests ________________.

a) trying an earlier or later train b) trying a different carriage

c) changing your form of transport d) changing your destination

4. What can put commuters in a bad mood?

a) having no one to talk to b) feeling tired

c) listening to other people’s complaints d) talking on the phone long hours

5. You can reduce stress levels by _______________________.

a) commuting by car b) trying some gentle physical exercise

c) doing aerobics after work d) listening to music before work

B) WHILE LISTENING
Listen and answer the questions 6-10. You will listen twice.
6. According to the guest, the noticeable problem over the last 10 years is _______________.

a) bullying b) depression c) increasing addictions d) stress

7. The woman is complaining that ________________.

a) there is no choice of school dinner b) children eat and drink unhealthy things at school

c) school dinners are very expensive d) her children don’t like the food served for school dinners

8. The woman says that her children ____________________.

a) never eat healthy meals b) never listen to what she and her husband say about food

c) always eat healthy food at school d) eat unhealthy food when they are away from their parents

9. The guest’s advice is ______________________________.

a) to show the children that eating healthily is cool

b) for the children to laugh at those who eat fast food

c) to become a vegetarian
 d) for the children to explain to their friends what is wrong with fast food

10. The man’s son __________________________________.

a) never switches his computer off

b) argues with his parents about switching off the computer

c) switches off the computer when he is told to but goes back soon

d) has got a lot of computer games

PART II: USE OF ENGLISH

A) Read the paragraph and fill in the blanks with the best answers.
There is a lower incidence of cancer in Asia (11) _______ people smoke heavily, which may accounted for by high
consumption of tea, particularly green tea, according to a review article (12) _______ by a Yale School of Medicine
researcher. "A full explanation (13) _______ be made for the 'Asian paradox,' which refers to the very low incidence
of both heart disease and cancer in Asia, even though consumption of cigarettes is greater than in most other
countries," stated Bauer Sumpio in the Department of Surgery. "But we now have some theories." He (14) _______
one theory is that the average 1.2 liters of green tea consumed daily by many people in Asia offers the anti-oxidant
protective effects. Tea, according to studies, also can improve alcohol metabolism, kidney, liver and pancreatic
function, protect skin and eyes. Tea (15) _______ in managing and preventing allergies, diabetes, bacterial and reduce
or cure diseases and improve neurologic and psychological health.

11. a) that b) which c) where d) ---

12. a) publishes b) published c) publishing d) is published

13. a) cannot b) may not c) mustn’t d) doesn’t have to

14. a) will say b) said c) had said d) has been saying

15. a) had been used b) has used c) used d) has been used

B) Choose the best answer.

16. Jack ________ have been at home last night because the lights were off and the curtains were closed.
a) mustn’t b) can’t c) shouldn’t d) may not
17. According to the Star Science magazine, scientists __________ the search about the life in other planets by 2050.
a) will complete b) will have completed c) are going to complete d) have completed
18. With the new rules and regulations, our company _________ us to join seminars every two months.
a) gets b) has c) lets d) makes
19. Report the sentence.
Eve to Tom: “You need to call me after you’ve got ready.”
a) Eve said that she needed to call Tom after he had got ready.
b) Eve told Tom that she needed to call him after she got ready.
c) Eve told Tom that he needed to call her after he had got ready.
d) Eve said that Tom needs to call her after he got ready.
20. Choose the sentence with the similar meaning.
I wasn’t promoted because I never worked responsibly.
a) If I had worked responsibly, I would have been promoted.
b) If I worked responsibly, I would be promoted.
c) I might be promoted if I worked responsibly.
d) Unless I worked responsibly, I could be promoted.

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PART III: VOCABULARY
A) Read the paragraph and fill in the blanks with the best answers.
Water is considered as one of our most _______ resources today; to put it simply, without water there would be no
life. Unfortunately, many of us seem to have forgotten this fact, and now the world is _______ the danger of running
out of fresh water. The actual amount of water on earth has changed little since the time of the dinosaurs. The problem
has been caused by people’s misuse of our water _______. This not only means that we have polluted our rivers and
seas, but also that we are wasting a great deal of this precious resource._______, this cannot be allowed to continue in
the same manner. Unfortunately, the destruction of the rain forests has made this problem worse since much of the
rain which falls is lost because it _______ into the sea.

21. a) secondary b) precious c) relevant d) steep

22. a) attracting b) leading c) facing d) nodding

23. a) approach b) construction c) convention d) supply

24. a) Clearly b) Regularly c) Safely d) Promptly

25. a) runs off b) get through to c) fall behind d) give off

B) Choose the best answer.

26. Complete the table with the correct words.
Noun Adjective Verb
safety 1) ____?____
surprise surprising 2) ____?_____
3) ____?____ fortunate

a) 1- safe / 2- surprised / 3- fortunately b) 1- safe / 2- surprise / 3- fortunately

c) 1- safely / 2- surprise / 3- fortune d) 1- safe / 2- surprise / 3- fortune

27. What is the antonym of the bold faced word?

Walt Disney once said that he could never convince the financiers that Disneyland was feasible because dreams
offer too little guarantee.

a) conscientious b) prudent c) impulsive d) disadvantageous

28. As the leading company in the market, we try our best to ______________needs of our customers.
a) satisfy b) make c) afford d) press
29. Children who suffer from prolonged diseases _____ benefit less from education than healthy children.

a) punctually b) randomly c) inevitably d) immeasurably

30. As a teenager, it is rather _____ that my cousin thinks he knows what life is like for an elderly person.

a) vigorous b) presumptuous c) worrisome d) ambitious

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PART IV: READING COMPREHENSION
PASSAGE 1:
In 1984, the Guinness Book of Records described Sir Ranulph Fiennes as the world’s number one explorer, who is still
alive. Since then, he has continued to break world records and to take on some of the most difficult challenges on
Earth. People are amazed by his breathtaking achievements which also arise admiration and excitement. Then, who
is Sir Ranulph? Sir Ranulph, who is also a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II, was born into a wealthy, aristocratic family in
1944. When he was eighteen, he became a soldier in the British Army and spent a lot of time in Oman in the Middle
East. During that time, he became the youngest captain in the army, learned about survival skills and took up the
sports of climbing and skiing.

In the late 1960s, after almost eight years of service, Sir Ranulph left the army. He has been an adventurer ever since,
and has had expeditions all over the world. On two of his early expeditions, he went down the River Nile in a boat
and then crossed a huge Norwegian glacier on a sledge. He really enjoyed using it on the ice. However, at the
beginning of 1980s, he made one of his first really famous journeys. With two old friends, he set out on an amazing
and risky adventure, which took over three years to finish. They sailed south to the Antarctic, crossed the South Pole,
then sailed north to the Arctic, and finally travelled to the North Pole. They didn’t get back to Britain until 1982. It
was the first time anybody went round the world in this direction, using only surface transport. Nobody has been
able to do it again since.

Since visiting both poles, he has decided to discover a lost city in the deserts of Oman and Yemen and has also walked
across the Antarctic. This journey was record-breaking because it was the first time that someone went across the
continent only on foot and by skiing. In other words, Sir Ranulph, who was almost fifty years old at the time, didn’t
use any tools at all. He went on this journey alone, and it took him ninety-three days. Then, in 2009, he climbed
Mount Everest – although he was sixty-five years old, and had the fear of heights. It is really a big achievement for a
person who is scared of high places!

Naturally, there has been a price to pay for his bravery. Not all of his expeditions have been successful, and he has
had some terrible experiences. In 2000, for example, he tried to walk across the Arctic alone, and his sledge and all
his equipment fell through a hole in the ice. Sir Ranulph had to pull everything out with his hands, and the ice was so
cold that he got severe frostbite. When he got back home, doctors cut off the ends of some of his fingers. He also
lost toes to frostbite and had a heart attack in the same year.

Sir Ranulph completed his most amazing challenge in 2003, when he was nearly sixty. He ran seven marathons in
seven days to raise awareness for the homeless and orphan children. He started by running a marathon in South
America, flew to Antarctica and ran another marathon the next day, then he completed marathons in Australia,
Singapore, Britain, Egypt and the USA although they made him feel a bit tired. There have been some amazing
explorers in history, but few have achieved so much as Sir Ranulph Fiennes.

31. Sir Ranulph Fiennes was still a teenager when he __________.

a) was in the Middle East working as a soldier
b) left the army to be an adventurer
c) met his aristocratic family for the first time
d) decided to break world records

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32. Sir Ranulph ran marathons in different continents because he wanted to__________.
a) break another world record b) see different places in the world
c) complete new challenges d) help children in need
33. In line 3 “breathtaking” means __________.
a) ordinary b) worldwide c) wonderful d) scientific
34. In line 30 “they” refer to __________.
a) countries b) marathons c) explorers d) children
35. Which of the following is the best title for this text?

a) The Most Amazing Adventures of Old Explorers

b) The Difficulties of Exploring the World
c) The Most Difficult Challenges in Antarctic
d) The World’s Greatest Living Explorer

PASSAGE 2:
The prolific Kepler space telescope has had to give up its prime planet-hunting mission after engineers failed to find a
fix for its hobbled pointing system. Nasa's observatory lost the second of its four reaction wheels in May, meaning it
can no longer hold completely steady as it looks towards the stars. Engineers have worked through a number of
possible solutions but have failed to find one that will work. Kepler has so far confirmed 135 planets beyond our Solar
System. But it still has more than 3,500 "candidates" in its database that have yet to be fully investigated, and the vast
majority of these are expected to be confirmed as planets in due course. The $600m (£395m) observatory was
launched in 2009 to try to find Earth-sized worlds orbiting their host stars in the so-called habitable zone. This is the
distance from the star where, given the right atmospheric conditions, temperatures might allow water to persist on a
rocky surface in a liquid state. In essence, Kepler has been attempting to find planets that have the best chance of
supporting life. Its method of detection involved looking for the minute dips in light as planets passed in front of their
stars. It is an extremely tricky measurement to make, with the total light changing just tiny fractions of a percent. And
it demanded Kepler be held absolutely still during the observations - something it needs a minimum of three spinning
momentum wheels to achieve. The spacecraft launched with four wheels, and experienced its first failure in the
hardware set in July 2012. A second wheel went down earlier this year. Officials liken the difficulty of controlling
Kepler now to that of a shopper trying to push a supermarket trolley with a jammed wheel. "The wheels are
sufficiently damaged that they cannot sustain spacecraft pointing and control for any extended period of time,"
confirmed Charles Sobeck, Kepler's deputy project manager. Kepler completed its prime mission in November 2012,
so it has already worked beyond its minimum requirements. But Nasa still hopes to get some use out of the
spacecraft, such as hunting perhaps for asteroids and comets.

36. What is the main purpose of employing the Kepler telescope?

a) To discover ordinary comets b) To observe celestial flying objects

c) To find out earth sized stars d) To discover planets beyond solar system

37. One can infer from the paragraph that____________________.

a) Though the Kepler telescope cannot be used for its primary mission anymore, NASA will still make use of it.
b) The Kepler telescope is very expensive and it couldn’t meet the expectations of NASA researchers.

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 c) All the planets the Kepler telescope has found are habitable just like the Earth.

d) The Kepler’s method of detection is not as tricky as it is thought.

38. In line 11, the word “it” refers to______________.

a) the Kepler telescope b) the mission of NASA

c) the duty of NASA engineers d) the detection of the planets

39. The word “failure” in line 13 most likely means__________________.

a) success b) achievement c) breakdown d) accomplishment

40. What would be the best title for this passage?

a) Kepler: Nasa retires the telescope from planet-hunting duties b) Kepler: Mission new planets

c) Kepler: The new wonder from NASA d) Kepler: Speeding research

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 CRITERIA POINTS

PART V: WRITING Title (1p)

Choose one of the topics below and write a well-developed essay. (Minimum 200 Hook (1p)

words)
Background Information (1p)

Thesis Sentence (3p)

Body Paragraphs (4p)

1. Some people think that wearing school uniforms is good, some people
disagree. Do you think students should wear uniforms at school? Discuss. Concluding Paragraph (3p)

Transitions, Signal Words

&Vocab.(2p)
2. Some people think that education should be free, some people disagree. Do
you think that people should pay money for education? Discuss. Grammar (3p)

Spelling &Punctuation (2p)

Out of Format (Zero p)

Irrelevant Content

(Zero/ - 5 p)

TOTAL

……………………………………………..

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PART VI: SPEAKING

Sample Speaking Topics:

1. Do you think that talent is only based on genetics or can people’s environment affect their talent? Why?

2. What problems do people with disabilities face? What solutions can you suggest to deal with this problem?

3. What are the reasons of sleep deprivation for adolescents? How can we avoid it?

ANSWER KEY

1- C 5- B 9- A 13- A 17- B 21- B 25- A 29- C 33- C 37- A

2- D 6- C 10- C 14- B 18- A 22- C 26- D 30- B 34- B 38- D

3- A 7- B 11- C 15- D 19- C 23- D 27- D 31- A 35- D 39- B

4- C 8- D 12- B 16- C 20- A 24- A 28- A 32- D 36- D 40- A

*MCBÜ Yabancı Diller Yüksekokulu Müdürlüğü Sınavların içeriklerinde değişiklik yapma hakkını saklı tutar

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