Practice Exam 1

Answer key
Reading and Use of English Taking all these things into account, I would say that
advances in technology have definitely made life easier
Part 1 for most people although not everyone.
1 B  2 C  3 D  4 C  5 D  6 B  7 B  8 A
Part 2
Part 2 2: Review
9 more 10 which 11 were 12 who/that  Example answer
13 there 14 how 15 whether 16 between I recently read Hannah by Julie Stephens. I’d seen the
film version, but the book’s even better. It’s very well
Part 3 written and has a really funny main character, who’s
17 currently 18 enables 19 global called Hannah Brown.
20 producers 21 effectiveness 22  poverty Hannah lives with her family in London. She has two
23 development 24 directly older sisters who she doesn’t get on with and she tries
to make their lives as difficult as possible, whenever she
Part 4 can. The plot mainly revolves around their relationship.
25  the manager to look into One day, she decides to play a trick on her sisters by
26  had run out of hiding all their clothes. They get a huge shock when they
27  make/have any/an objection to go to their wardrobes and find nothing there, and they
28  has been learning Japanese for get very annoyed with Hannah because they’ve made
29  was/had been more difficult than plans to go out that evening. A big argument follows.
30  insisted on seeing/was insistent on seeing Hannah has a great sense of humour, which is something
neither of her sisters has. She uses some very funny jokes
Part 5 on them.
31  B 32  C 33  C 34  B 35  D 36  A I’d certainly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys
reading humorous stories. The main character, Hannah,
Part 6 will keep you highly entertained and it’s a book I could
37 E 38 B 39 G 40 A 41 F 42 D read again without getting bored!
Part 7 3: Article
43 A 44 B 45 A 46 C 47 B 48 C Example answer
49 C 50 A 51 D 52 B Me and television
Can you imagine life without television? Personally, I
Writing can’t! We’re lucky nowadays as we have a huge variety
of channels to choose from and a greater choice of
Part 1: Essay programme than ever before. I watch TV every day, but I
Example answer limit my viewing to a maximum of three hours.
It’s often said that advances in technology make life There are certain programmes that I like, such as soap
easier, but is this really true? operas or comedies, which are on several times a week.
These are high-quality programmes. If I miss one of
One area where it is true is communication. We’re able
them, I can always catch up with my viewing later in the
to keep in touch with friends, even in different countries,
week. There’s also the handy option on some channels
and companies can deal with clients all over the world.
of watching a programme an hour later than the initial
It’s also possible for many employees to work from
broadcast.
home, which makes it easier for people to have a good
work/life balance. At weekends, when I have more time, I like watching the
film channel or a good drama series. I especially enjoy
Access to information has also become easier. In the past
science-fiction movies. Watching films is a good way of
people had to find information in books, which took up
passing the time, especially on a Saturday in winter.
lots of time. Now it is easily available on the internet, and
the only disadvantage is the need to check whether it’s I think the quality of television available to viewers has
accurate. Information online can be misleading. never been so good. Wouldn’t you agree?
On the other hand, older people sometimes find
technology hard to understand, and as technology
takes over more aspects of everyday life their lives
become more difficult. On top of that, some people rely
on technology too much, and find it difficult to cope if
technology goes wrong.

1 Answer key
 Practice Exam 1 Answer key
4: Email Tell me about an interesting film you’ve seen recently.
Example answer I saw a fascinating film about a space journey that went
wrong. The acting was brilliant and so were the special
Hi Oliver,
effects. I can’t remember the name of the film though!
Thanks for your email. It’s so nice to hear from you again.
What is your favourite activity to do at the weekend?
I hope you’re well.
I enjoy meeting up with my friends. We sometimes do
It’s great to hear that your friends want to visit my city. sports together or have a coffee. We don’t get time to do
I’m sure they’ll love it! If they can, tell them to book a that much during the week.
hotel in the Old City — that’s where most of the famous
What’s the most interesting place you have visited on
museums, like the National Museum and the Museum
holiday? Why?
of Technology, are. They should definitely visit both of
I went on holiday with my family to London, and it
those. I’d also recommend the outdoor antiques market,
was very interesting. There were so many fascinating
which is open on Sunday mornings. There are lots of
museums, and historical places to visit like the Tower of
cool things there — not only antiques. Finally, tell them to
London. We only stayed there for a week and I’d love to
check out some of the fish restaurants near the beach.
go back.
You can get great meals for really reasonable prices.
It’s best to visit in spring or summer when the days are Part 2
longer and the weather’s warmer. Winter’s not a good Example answers
time here because it gets dark so early. Apart from that, Candidate A
the weather’s not great. We often have quite a lot of The photographs show two groups of people staying
heavy snow and that makes it difficult to walk around in different places on holiday. In the first photograph
comfortably. there are some friends camping in the countryside, and
So, when are you going to come and visit me? I’d love to although the weather doesn’t look very good they’re all
show you around! smiling. In the second photograph there’s a group of
people standing on a balcony in a very expensive place
Harry like a hotel or a lodge. It could be in the mountains or in
a national park, because there are trees. They’re looking
Listening out at the view, and seem to be enjoying it. The campers
probably chose to go camping to save money, although
Part 1 they’re also enjoying the wonderful countryside and
1 A  2 C  3 C  4 C  5 B  6 A  7 C  8 B maybe they like feeling close to nature and getting away
from city life. The people staying in the lodge probably
Part 2 wanted to have a luxury break and they don’t want to do
 9 Texas 10  flying club 11 instructor cooking or anything like that.
12 funding 13 support 14 vacancies Candidate B
15 fuel 16 check 17 shifts I would definitely choose the hotel! I don’t like camping
18 colleagues at all, and I don’t enjoy cooking or sleeping outside
when I’m on holiday.
Part 3
Candidate B
19 G  20 D  21 H  22 C  23 F
Both the photographs show people doing activities
Part 4 outdoors, but they’re very different. The first photograph
shows a man cycling along a mountain path near a
24 A  25 B  26 A  27 C  28 B  29 C  30 B
lake, so it’s quite difficult physically, while the second
photograph shows a mother with her two small children
Speaking in a garden. They’re planting flowers or something like
that, and they all look very relaxed and happy. The man
Part 1 is probably enjoying the amazing views, and he’s also
Example answers enjoying the exercise he’s getting. He probably feels
Where are you from? he’s achieved something special. The woman is enjoying
I come from Italy, in the north of the country. In fact, I live telling her children about plants and nature, and they
just outside Milan. seem to be very interested in what they’re doing. She
probably likes the idea that she’s teaching the children
What do you like most about living there? something that they will continue to enjoy in future.
It’s a very beautiful city with lots of interesting buildings.
It’s also got lots of very expensive shops and I like Candidate A
looking at those! Well, I’m not interested in gardening but I do enjoy sport
so I’d prefer to go cycling. It must be amazing to be able
What sort of programmes do you enjoy watching on to cycle in such beautiful places.
television? Why?
It depends on how I’m feeling. If I want to relax then
I enjoy watching comedy programmes, but I also like
watching documentaries about nature and wildlife.

2 Answer key
 Practice Exam 1 Answer key

Part 3 Part 4
Example answers Example answers
A: Ok — so we have to talk about things that people How important do you think it is to learn another
do when they’re learning a new language. I think language? Why/why not?
listening to songs is a really good way of learning a I think it’s very important. Everyone travels a lot
language, and it helps with pronunciation too. nowadays, even if it’s only on holiday, and lots of
B: I agree with you that it helps pronunciation and business is done in different countries, so it’s really
it’s fun, but sometimes the grammar in songs isn’t important for people to speak other languages. I think it
accurate, so you might learn something wrong and helps countries understand each other, too.
then you’d have to correct it. It’s better to read books, Do you think it’s easier to learn a language when you’re
because then you learn lots of new words and the young? Why/Why not?
grammar’s right, though a book can take a long time I definitely think it’s easier for children to learn a
to finish sometimes and that can be a bit depressing. language than adults. They don’t think about the
A: You have a point about the time it takes. I guess you grammar so much, and learn it in a more natural way.
can find out about people by reading about them, I think they enjoy speaking a different language, too.
though, and perhaps you can learn about the culture Older people sometimes find it difficult to remember
of the country as well as the language, which is good. new words.
B: What do you think about playing games? I guess What do you think is difficult about learning English?
they’re fun, but you have to know a lot of words if Why?
you’re playing a word game. I really enjoy learning English, but I find the
A: I don’t really enjoy them, to be honest, though my pronunciation difficult. There are lots of words that are
brother does. I don’t think they help me with learning spelled differently from the way they’re pronounced, and
a language very much and my friends think more that makes it hard to know the right way to say them. It
about winning the game, not the language they’re can be embarrassing if you get it wrong!
using. I’d rather talk to native speakers — that’s a great
Some people say the best way to learn another
way to learn.
language is to live in the country. Do you agree? Why /
B: You’re probably right. And nowadays you can practise why not?
with native speakers on social networking sites. I chat I agree that is the best way to learn another language, but
to people a lot on those and it really helps me. it’s not possible for many people to do that. I think that
A: I chat a lot with my friends, but I’ve never thought with technology we can watch films in other languages,
about using social media for language learning. I and talk to people from other countries on social media
tend to take the traditional approach, like I keep a so that it’s easier to learn another language now than it
notebook of new vocabulary and learn it by heart. I was in the past. I’d love to go and live in another country,
remember words better that way because I think it though — it would be a great experience.
helps me to see them written down as well as hear
Do you think everyone can learn another language if
them in a conversation.
they work hard? Why / why not?
B: Actually, I do think it’s a good idea to keep a note of I think everyone can learn a language up to a certain
new things — then you can look back at them and see level, but maybe it takes talent to get really really good
how many of them you can remember. But you still at it, as well as hard work. You have to practise a lot,
have to use them, not just be able to repeat them. and keep trying to get better. Of course, if you live in
So practising with a native speaker’s probably the the country that makes it much easier to get fluent in
best idea. the language.
Do you think it would be a good idea if everyone, in
B: So which of these things is least useful for learning every country spoke the same language? Why / why
a new language? We said that talking to native not?
speakers was the best thing to do, didn’t we? No, not really. I think that you would lose a lot of culture
A: Yes, and you said that listening to songs wasn’t so that way. It’s important for every country to keep up its
good because the grammar might be wrong. traditions. It would be good if there was one language
in the world that everyone understood, but I think that
B: That’s right. And books take a long time to read, don’t
individual countries should have their own language.
they?
A: Sometimes. You thought that keeping a notebook
with new vocabulary was good in one way but you
might not be able to use the words properly, so that
isn’t useful.
B: So which one shall we choose?
A: Let’s go with reading books, because they can be
difficult to understand which can put people off
learning the language.
B: I agree — let’s choose that

3 Answer key