FCE Reading and Use of English Test 10

Part 1
For questions 1-8, read the text below and decide which answer (А, В, C or D) best fits each gap. There is an
example at the beginning (0).
Example:

A band В set C branch D series

What is genealogy
Genealogy is a 0 _____ of history. It concerns family history, 1 _____ than the national or world history studied at
school. It doesn’t merely involve drawing a family tree, however - tracing your family history can also 2 _____ in
learning about your roots and your identity. The internet enables millions of people worldwide to 3 _____
information about their family history, without great 4 _____.
People who research their family history often 5 _____ that it’s a fascinating hobby which 6 _____ a lot about
where they come from and whether they have famous ancestors. According to a survey involving 900 people who
had researched their family history, the chances of discovering a celebrity in your past are one in ten. The survey
also concluded that the 7 _____ back you follow your family line, the more likely you are to find a relation who
was much wealthier than you are. However, the vast majority of people who 8 _____ in the survey discovered they
were better off than their ancestors.

1 A instead B rather C except D sooner

2 A cause B mean C result D lead
3 A accomplish B access C approach D admit
4 A fee B price C charge D expense
5 A describe B define C remark D regard
6 A reveals B opens C begins D arises
7 A older B greater C higher D further
8 A attended B participated C included D associated

Part 2
For questions 9-16, read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each
gap. There is an example at the beginning (0). In the exam, write your answers IN CAPITAL LETTERS on tho
separate answer sheet.
Example: AS

Motorbike stunt rider

I work 0 _____ a motorbike stunt rider - that is, I do tricks on my motorbike at shows. The Le Mans race track in
France was 9 _____ I first saw some guys doing motorbike stunts. I’d never seen anyone riding a motorbike using

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FCE Reading and Use of English Test 10

just the back wheel before and I was 10 _____ impressed I went straight home and taught 11 _____ to do the same.
It wasn’t very long before I began to earn my living at shows performing my own motorbike stunts.
I have a degree 12 _____ mechanical engineering; this helps me to look at the physics 13 _____ lies behind each
stunt. In addition to being responsible for design changes to the motorbike, I have to work 14 _____ every stunt I
do. People often think that my work is very dangerous, but, apart 15 _____ some minor mechanical problem
happening occasionally during a stunt, nothing ever goes wrong. I never feel in 16 _____ kind of danger because
I’m very experienced.

Part 3
For questions 17-24, read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of the lines to form a
word that fits in the gap in the same line. There is an example at the beginning (0).
In the exam, write your answers IN CAPITAL LETTERS on the separate answer sheet.
Example: COMMONLY

An incredible vegetable
Garlic, a member of the Liliaceae family which also includes onions, is 0 _____ used in 0.COMMON
cooking all around the world. China is currently the largest 17 _____ of garlic, which is 17.PRODUCT
particularly associated with the dishes of northern Africa and southern Europe. It is native 18.ILL
to central Asia and has long had a history as a health giving food, used both to prevent 19.EFFECT
and cure 18 _____ In Ancient Egypt, workers building the pyramids were given garlic to 20.SCIENCE
keep them strong, while Olympic athletes in Greece ate it to increase their resistance to 21.ADD
infection. 22.PRESS
23.ADVANTAGE
The forefather of antibiotic medicine, Louis Pasteur, claimed garlic was as 19 _____ as 24.SPICE
penicillin in treating infections. Modern-day 20 _____ have proved that garlic can indeed
kill bacteria and even some viruses, so it can be very useful for people who have coughs
and colds. In 21 _____ , some doctors believe that garlic can reduce blood 22 _____

The only 23 _____ to this truly amazing food is that the strong and rather 24 _____ smell
of garlic is not the most pleasant!

Part 4
For questions 25-30, complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the
word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between two and five words, including the word given.
Here is an example (0).
Example:
0. A very friendly taxi driver drove us into town.
DRIVEN
We _______________ a very friendly taxi driver
Example: 0. WERE DRIVEN INTO TOWN BY

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FCE Reading and Use of English Test 10

25. Joan was in favour of visiting the museum.

IDEA
Joan thought it would be _______________ to the museum.
26. Arthur has the talent to become a concert pianist.
THAT
Arthur is so _______________ could become a concert pianist.
27. ‘Do you know when the match starts, Sally?’ asked Mary.
IF
Mary asked Sally _______________ time the match started.
28. I knocked for ages at Ruth’s door but I got no reply.
LONG
I _______________ knocking at Ruth’s door but I got no reply.
29. Everyone says that the band is planning to go on a world tour next year.
SAID
The band _______________ planning to go on a world tour next year.
30. I’d prefer not to cancel the meeting.
CALL
I’d rather _______________ the meeting

Part 5
You are going to read an extract from a novel in which a young woman called Caitlin talks about her life on an
island. For questions 31-36, choose the answer (А, В, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
We live on the island of Hale. It's about four kilometres long and two kilometres wide at its broadest point, and it's
joined to the mainland by a causeway called the Stand - a narrow road built across the mouth of the river which
separates us from the rest of the country. Most of the time you wouldn't know we're on an island because the river
mouth between us and the mainland is just a vast stretch of tall grasses and brown mud. But when there's a high
tide and the water rises a half a metre or so above the road and nothing can pass until the tide goes out again a few
hours later, then you know it's an island.
We were on our way back from the mainland. My older brother, Dominic, had just finished his first year at
university in a town 150 km away. Dominic's train was due in at five and he'd asked for a lift back from the station.
Now, Dad normally hates being disturbed when he's writing (which is just about all the time), and he also hates
having to go anywhere, but despite the typical sighs and moans - why can't he get a taxi? what's wrong with the
bus? - I could tell by the sparkle in his eyes that he was really looking forward to seeing Dominic.
So, anyway, Dad and I had driven to the mainland and picked up Dominic from the station. He had been talking
non-stop from the moment he'd slung his rucksack in the boot and got in the car. University this, university that,
writers, books, parties, people, money, gigs.... And when I say talking, I don't mean talking as in having a
conversation, I mean talking as in jabbering like a mad thing. I didn't like it ... the way he spoke and waved his
hands around as if he was some kind of intellectual or something. It was embarrassing. It made me feel
uncomfortable - that kind of discomfort you feel when someone you like, someone close to you, suddenly starts

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FCE Reading and Use of English Test 10

acting like a complete idiot. And I didn't like the way he was ignoring me, either. For all the attention I was getting
I might as well not have been there. I felt a stranger in my own car.
As we approached the island on that Friday afternoon, the tide was low and the Stand welcomed us home, stretched
out before us, clear and dry, beautifully hazy in the heat - a raised strip of grey concrete bound by white railings
and a low footpath on either side, with rough cobbled banks leading down to the water. Beyond the railings, the
water was glinting with that wonderful silver light we sometimes get here in the late afternoon which lazes through
to the early evening.
We were about halfway across when I saw the boy. My first thought was how odd it was to see someone walking
on the Stand. You don't often see people walking around here. Between Hale and Moulton (the nearest town about
thirty kilometres away on the mainland), there's nothing but small cottages, farmland, heathland and a couple of
hills. So islanders don't walk because of that. If they're going to Moulton they tend to take the bus. So the only
pedestrians you're likely to see around here are walkers or bird-watchers. But even from a distance I could tell that
the figure ahead didn't fit into either of these categories. I wasn't sure how I knew, I just did.
As we drew closer, he became clearer. He was actually a young man rather than a boy. Although he was on the
small side, he wasn't as slight as I'd first thought. He wasn't exactly muscular, but he wasn't weedy-looking either.
It's hard to explain. There was a sense of strength about him, a graceful strength that showed in his balance, the
way he held himself, the way he walked...
31. In the first paragraph, what is Caitlin's main point about the island?
A It can be dangerous to try to cross from the mainland.
В It is much smaller than it looks from the mainland.
C It is only completely cut off at certain times.
D It can be a difficult place for people to live in.
32. What does Caitlin suggest about her father?
A His writing prevents him from doing things he wants to with his family.
В His initial reaction to his son's request is different from usual.
C His true feelings are easily hidden from his daughter.
D His son's arrival is one event he will take time off for.
33. Caitlin emphasises her feelings of discomfort because she
A is embarrassed that she doesn't understand what her brother is talking about.
В feels confused about why she can't relate to her brother any more.
C is upset by the unexpected change in her brother's behaviour.
D feels foolish that her brother's attention is so important to her.
34. In the fourth paragraph, what is Caitlin's purpose in describing the island?
A to express her positive feelings about it
В to explain how the road was built
C to illustrate what kind of weather was usual
D to describe her journey home
35. In 'because of that' in Paragraph Five (underlined), 'that' refers to the fact that
A locals think it is odd to walk anywhere.
В it is easier for people to take the bus than walk.

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FCE Reading and Use of English Test 10

C people have everything they need on the island.

D there is nowhere in particular to walk to from the island.
36. What do we learn about Caitlin's reactions to the boy?
A She felt his air of confidence contrasted with his physical appearance.
В She was able to come up with a reason for him being there.
C She realised her first impression of him was inaccurate.
D She thought she had seen him somewhere before.

Part 6
You are going to read a newspaper article in which a former ballet dancer talks about the physical demands of the
job. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-G the one which fits each gap
(37-42). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Good preparation leads to success in ballet dancing

A former classical ballet dancer explains what ballet training actually involves.
What we ballet dancers do is instinctive, but instinct learnt through a decade of training. A dancer’s life is hard to
understand, and easy to misinterpret. Many a poet and novelist has tried to do so, but even they have chosen to
interpret all the hard work and physical discipline as obsessive. And so the idea persists that dancers spend every
waking hour in pain, bodies at breaking point, their smiles a pretence.
As a former dancer in the Royal Ballet Company here in Britain, I would beg to question this. 37 __. With expert
teaching and daily practice, its various demands are easily within the capacity of the healthy human body. Contrary
to popular belief, there is no need to break bones or tear muscles to achieve ballet positions. It is simply a question
of sufficient conditioning of the muscular system.
Over the course of my dancing life I worked my way through at least 10,000 ballet classes. I took my first at a
school of dance at the age of seven and my last 36 years later at the Royal Opera House in London. In the years
between, ballet class was the first thing I did every day. It starts at an early age, this daily ritual, because it has to.
38 __. But for a ballet dancer in particular, this lengthy period has to come before the effects of adolescence set in,
while maximum flexibility can still be achieved.
Those first classes I took were remarkably similar to the last. In fact, taking into account the occasional new idea,
ballet classes have changed little since 1820, when the details of ballet technique were first written down, and are
easily recognised in any country. Starting with the left hand on the barre, the routine unrolls over some 75 minutes.
39 __. Even the leading dancers have to do it.
These classes serve two distinct purposes: they are the way we warm our bodies and the mechanism by which we
improve basic technique. In class after class, we prove the old saying that ‘practice makes perfect’. 40 __. And it is
also this daily repetition which enables us to strengthen the muscles required in jumping, spinning or lifting our
legs to angles impossible to the average person.
The human body is designed to adapt to the demands we make of it, provided we make them carefully and over
time. 41 __. In the same way, all those years of classes add up to a fit-for-purpose dancing machine. This level of
physical fluency doesn’t hurt; it feels good.

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FCE Reading and Use of English Test 10

42 __. But they should not be misled: there is a difference between hard work and hardship. Dancers have an
everyday familiarity with the first. Hardship it isn’t.
A. Through endless tries at the usual exercises and frequent failures, ballet dancers develop the neural pathways in
the brain necessary to control accurate, fast and smooth movement.
В. The ballet shoe offers some support, but the real strength is in the muscles, built up through training.
C. As technology takes away activity from the lives of many, perhaps the ballet dancer’s physicality is ever more
difficult for most people to imagine.
D. Ballet technique is certainly extreme but it is not, in itself, dangerous.
E. The principle is identical in the gym - pushing yourself to the limit, but not beyond, will eventually bring the
desired result.
F. No one avoids this: it is ballet’s great democratiser, the well established members of the company working
alongside the newest recruits.
G. It takes at least a decade of high-quality, regular practice to become an expert in any physical discipline.

Part 7
You are going to read a newspaper article about a young professional footballer. For questions 43 - 52, choose
from the sections (A - D). The sections may be chosen more than once.
Which paragraph...
43. states how surprised the writer was at Duncan’s early difficulties? __
44. says that Duncan sometimes seems much more mature than he really is? __
45. describes the frustration felt by Duncan’s father? __
46. says that Duncan is on course to reach a high point in his profession? __
47. suggests that Duncan caught up with his team-mates in terms of physical development? __
48. explains how Duncan was a good all-round sportsperson? __
49. gives an example of how Gavin reassured his son? __
50. mentions Duncan’s current club’s low opinion of him at one time? __
51. mentions a personal success despite a failure for the team? __
52. explains how Duncan and his father are fulfilling a similar role? __

Rising Star
Margaret Garelly goes to meet Duncan Williams, who plays for Chelsea Football Club.
A
It’s my first time driving to Chelsea’s training ground and I turn off slightly too early at the London University
playing fields. Had he accepted football’s rejections in his early teenage years, it is exactly the sort of ground
Duncan Williams would have found himself running around on at weekends. At his current age of 18, he would
have been a bright first-year undergraduate mixing his academic studies with a bit of football, rugby and cricket,
given his early talent in all these sports. However, Duncan undoubtedly took the right path. Instead of studying, he
is sitting with his father Gavin in one of the interview rooms at Chelsea’s training base reflecting on Saturday’s
match against Manchester City. Such has been his rise to fame that it is with some disbelief that you listen to him
describing how his career was nearly all over before it began.

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FCE Reading and Use of English Test 10

В
Gavin, himself a fine footballer - a member of the national team in his time - and now a professional coach, sent
Duncan to three professional clubs as a 14 year-old, but all three turned him down. ‘I worked with him a lot when
he was around 12, and it was clear he had fantastic technique and skill. But then the other boys shot up in height
and he didn’t. But I was still upset and surprised that no team seemed to want him, that they couldn’t see what he
might develop into in time. When Chelsea accepted him as a junior, it was made clear to him that this was more of
a last chance than a new beginning. They told him he had a lot of hard work to do and wasn’t part of their plans.
Fortunately, that summer he just grew and grew, and got much stronger as well.’
C
Duncan takes up the story: ‘The first half of that season I played in the youth team. I got lucky - the first-team
manager came to watch us play QPR, and though we lost 3-1, I had a really good game. I moved up to the first
team after that performance.’ Gavin points out that it can be beneficial to be smaller and weaker when you are
developing - it forces you to learn how to keep the ball better, how to use ‘quick feet’ to get out of tight spaces. ‘A
couple of years ago, Duncan would run past an opponent as if he wasn’t there but then the other guy would close in
on him. I used to say to him, “Look, if you can do that now, imagine what you’ll be like when you’re 17, 18 and
you’re big and quick and they won’t be able to get near you.” If you’re a smaller player, you have to use your brain
a lot more.’
D
Not every kid gets advice from an ex-England player over dinner, nor their own private training sessions. Now
Duncan is following in Gavin’s footsteps. He has joined a national scheme where people like him give advice to
ambitious young teenagers who are hoping to become professionals. He is an old head on young shoulders. Yet
he’s also like a young kid in his enthusiasm. And fame has clearly not gone to his head; it would be hard to meet a
more likeable, humble young man. So will he get to play for the national team? ‘One day I’d love to, but when that
is, is for somebody else to decide.’ The way he is playing, that won’t be long.

Answer Keys
Part 1
1. B - rather. 'Rather than' is used to contrast it with the second clause and means 'instead of, as opposed to'.
'Instead' shouldn't be picked as it is used with 'of' preposition.
2. C - result. 'To result in something'. The only verb here that works with the 'in' preposition. 'Lead' fits
lexically, however it should be used with 'to': 'Increased unemployment might lead to higher crime rates'.
3. B - access. To get access, to use, to be allowed to use something.
4. D - expense. The focus here is people who spend money, not the providers of such information, therefore
'charge' shouldn't be used.
5. C - remark. 'To remark' is to point out, to mention, to say what you notice.
6. A - reveal. To reveal is to make known, to uncover, to learn something that remained a mystery.
7. D - further. The bigger part of one's family past you take, the more likely you are to find something.
8. B - participated. To participate in something. 'Included' would need the passive passive here, so we can't
choose it.

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