TEST 2

PART I/ LEXICO-GRAMMAR
I/ Choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) to complete each sentence below.
1. Why did you ________ and mention the party to George? It was supposed to be a
surprise.
A. let the cat out of the bag B. put the cat among the pigeons
C. have kittens D. kill two birds with one stone.
2. It’s a shame to fall out so badly with your own ________.
A. heart to heart B. flesh and blood C. heart and soul D. skin and bone
3. They were able to ________ over their meal and enjoy it instead of having to rush back
to work.
A. loiter B. stay C. linger D. dwell
4. I thought something terrible had happened but it was all a ________ in a teacup.
A. storm B. gale C. breeze D. wind
5. It is necessary that the problem ________ solved right away.
A. would be B. might be C. be D. is
6. In the northern and central parts of the states of Idaho ________ and churning rivers.
A. majestic mountains are found B. found majestic mountains
C. finding majestic mountains D. are found majestic mountains
7. According to the ________ of the contract, tenants must give six months’ notice if they
intend to leave.
A. laws B. rules C. terms D. details
8. I know it’s difficult but you’ll just have to ________ and bear it.
A. laugh B. smile C. grin D. chuckle
9. I didn’t want to make a decision ________, so I said I’d like to think about it.
A. in one go B. there and then C. at a stroke D. on and off
10. We are not in a ________ hurry so let’s have another coffee.
A. dashing B. racing C. rushing D. tearing
II/ . The passage below contains 10 mistakes. Underline the mistakes and write their
correct forms in the space provided in the column on the right. (0) has been done as
an example.
When a celebrity, a politics or other person in the media spotlight loses their
temper in public, they run the risk of hitting the headings in a most embarrassing way.
For such uncontrolled outbursts of anger are often triggered by what seem to be trivial
matters and, if they are caught on camera, can make the person appear slightly
ridiculousness. But it’s not only the rich and famous who is prone to fits of rage.
According to recent surveys, ordinary people are increasingly tending to lose their cool in

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public. Although anger is a potentially destructive emotion that uses up a lot of energy
and creates a high level of emotional and physical stress - and it stops us thinking
rational. Consequently angry people often end up saying, and doing things they later have
cause to regret. So, how can anger be avoided? Firstly, diet and lifestyle may be to blame.
Tolerance and irritability certainly come to the surface when someone hasn’t slept
properly or has skipped a meal, and any intake of caffeine can make things worst. Take
regular exercise can help to ease and diffuse feelings of aggression, however, reducing
the chances of an angry response. But if something or someone does make you angry, it’s
advisable not to react immediately. Once you’ve calmed down, things won’t look half as
badly as you first thought.
0. line 1: politics 🡪 politician
Your answers:
Lines Lines
1. …….……🡪……………. 6. ….…..…🡪………….
2. …….……🡪……………. 7. ……...…🡪………….
3. …….……🡪……………. 8. ……...…🡪………….
4. …….……🡪……………. 9. …………🡪………….
5. …….……🡪……………. 10. …….…..🡪………..…

III/ Fill in each blank with a suitable particle or preposition.

1. Don’t forget the date. I'm banking __________ your help.
2. It was decided to break __________ diplomatic relations with that country.
3. The police arrived immediately after the call and caught the burglar __________ the
spot.
4. Over 3,000 workers were laid __________ when the company moved the factory
abroad.
5. They worked very hard in their new business venture and their efforts
eventually paid __________.

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6. As the day wore __________, I began to feel more and more uncomfortable in their
company.
7. There was strong evidence to suggest that the judge presiding the case had
been bought _________.
8. It’s like a bolt _______ the blue.
9. I didn’t do much work, but I’m relieved that I scraped __________ my exam.
10. The unemployment data must be seen __________the background of world recession.
Your answers:
1. …………… 2. …………… 3. …………… 4. …………… 5. ……………
6. …………… 7. …………… 8. …………… 9. …………… 10. ………..…
PART II. READING
I/ Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet
to indicate the correct word(s) to each of the questions.
Secretaries
What’s in a name? In the case of the secretary, or Personal Assistant (PA), it can
be something rather surprising. The dictionary calls a secretary “anyone who handles
correspondence, keeps records and does clerical work for others”. But while this
particular job (1) _______ looks a bit outdated, the word’s original meaning is a hundred
times more exotic and perhaps more appropriate. The word itself has been with us since
the 14th century and comes from the medieval Latin word secretarius meaning
“something hidden”. Secretaries started out as those members of staff with knowledge
hidden from others, the silent ones mysteriously (2) _______ the secret machinery of
organizations.
Some years ago “something hidden” probably meant (3) _________ out of sight,
tucked away with all the other secretaries and typists. A good secretary was an
unremarkable one, efficiently (4) _______ orders, and then returning mouse-like to his or
her station behind the typewriter, but, with the (5)_________ of new office technology,
the job (6) __________ upgraded itself and the role has changed to one closer to the
original meaning. The skills required are more demanding and more technical.
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Companies are (7) __________ that secretarial staff should already be (8) _________
trained in, and accustomed to working with, a (9) _________ of word processing
packages. In addition to this, they need the management skills to take on some
administration, some personnel work and some research. The professionals in the
(10)_____ business point out that nowadays secretarial staff may even need some
management skills to take on administration, personnel work and research.
1. A. explanation B. detail C. definition D. characteristic
2. A. operating B. pushing C. vibrating D. effecting
3. A. kept B. covered C. packed D. held
4. A. satisfying B. obeying C. completing D. minding
5. A. advent B. approach C. entrance D. opening
6. A. truly B. validly C. correctly D. effectively
7. A. insisting B. ordering C. claiming D. pressing
8. A. considerably B. highly C. vastly D. supremely
9. A. group B. collection C. cluster D. range
10. A. appointment B. hiring C. recruitment D. engagement
II/ Fill in each numbered blank with one suitable word to complete the passage.
My new friend’s a robot
In fiction robots have a personality, (1) _________ reality is disappointingly different.
Although sophisticated (2) _________ to assemble cars and assist during complex
surgery, modern robots are dumb automatons, (3) _________ of striking up relationships
with their human operators.
However, change is (4) _________ the horizon. Engineers argue that, as robots
begin to make (5) _________a bigger part of society, they will need a way to interact
with humans. To this end they will need artificial personalities. The big question is this:
what does a synthetic companion need to have so that you want to engage (6) _________
it over a long period of time? Phones and computers have already shown the (7)
_________ to which people can develop relationships with inanimate electronic objects.

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 Looking further (8) _________, engineers envisage robots helping around the
house, integrating with the web to place supermarket orders using email. Programming
the robot with a human–like persona and (9) _________ it the ability to learn its users’
preferences, will help the person feel (10) _________ease with it. Interaction with such a
digital entity in this context is more natural than sitting with a mouse and keyboard.
II/ Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer
sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions. (10 pts)
Birds that feed in flocks commonly retire together into roosts. The reasons for
roosting communally are not always obvious, but there are some likely benefits. In winter
especially it is important for birds to keep warm at night and conserve precious food
reserves. One way to do this is to find a sheltered roost. Solitary roosters shelter in dense
vegetation or enter a cavity - horned larks dig holes in the ground and ptarmigan burrow
into snow banks - but the effect of sheltering is magnified by several birds huddling
together in the roosts, as wrens, swifts, brown creepers, bluebirds and anis do. Body
contact reduces the surface area exposed to the cold air, so the birds keep each other
warm. Two kinglets huddling together were found to reduce their heat losses by a quarter,
and three together saved a third of their heat.
The second possible benefit of communal roosts is that they act as “information
centers”. During the day, parties of birds will have spread out to forage over a very large
area. When they return in the evening some will have fed well, but others may have
found little to eat. Some investigators have observed that when the birds set out again
next morning, those birds that did not feed well on the previous day appear to follow
those that did. The behavior of common and lesser kestrels may illustrate different
feeding behaviors of similar birds with different roosting habits. The common kestrel
hunts vertebrate animals in a small, familiar hunting ground, whereas the very similar
lesser kestrel feeds on insects over a large area. The common kestrel roosts and hunts
alone, but the lesser kestrel roosts and hunts in flocks, possibly so one bird can learn from
others where to find insect swarms.

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 Finally, there is safety in numbers at communal roosts since there will always be a
few birds awake at any given moment to give the alarm. But this increased protection is
partially counteracted by the fact that mass roosts attract predators and are especially
vulnerable if they are on the ground. Even those in trees can be attacked by birds of prey.
The birds on the edge are at greatest risk since predators find it easier to catch small birds
perching at the margins of the roost.
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. How birds find and store food.
B. How birds maintain body heat in the winter.
C. Why birds need to establish territory.
D. Why some species of birds nest together.
2. The word “conserve” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to ________.
A. retain B. watch C. locate D. share
3. Ptarmigan keep warm in the winter by ________.
A. building nests in trees
B. huddling together on the ground with other birds
C. digging tunnels into the snow
D. burrowing into dense patches of vegetation
4. The word “magnified” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to ________.
A. combined B. caused C. modified D. intensified
5. The author mentions kinglets in the passage as an example of birds that ________.
A. protect themselves by nesting in holes B. usually feed and nest in pairs
C. nest together for warmth D. nest with other species of birds
6. Which of the following statements about lesser and common kestrels is TRUE?
A. The lesser kestrel feeds sociably but the common kestrel does not.
B. The lesser kestrel and the common kestrel have similar diets.
C. The common kestrel nests in larger flocks than does the lesser kestrel.
D. The common kestrel nests in trees; the lesser kestrel nests on the ground.
7. The word “forage” in the passage  is closest in meaning to __________.
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 A. fly B. assemble C. feed D. rest
8. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as an advantage derived by
birds that huddle together while sleeping?
A. Some members of the flock warn others of impending dangers.
B. Staying together provides a greater amount of heat for the whole flock
C. Some birds in the flock function as information centers for others who
are looking for food.
D. Several members of the flock care for the young.
9. Which of the following is a disadvantage of communal roosts that is mentioned in the
passage?
A. Diseases easily spread among the birds.
B. Food supplies are quickly depleted.
C. Some birds in the group will attack the others
D. Groups are more attractive to predators than individual birds are.
10. The word “they” in the third paragraph refers to ________.
A. a few birds B. mass roosts C. predators D. trees

III/ Read the passage including seven paragraphs and do the following tasks. Task
1. The text has seven paragraphs, A-G
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-viii, in boxes 1-5 below.
List of Headings
i Different accounts of the same journey
ii Bingham gains support
iii A common belief
iv The aim of the trip
v A dramatic description
vi A new route
vii Bingham publishes his theory
viii Bingham’s lack of enthusiasm

Paragraphs Your answers:

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 Paragraph A iv
1. Paragraph B ………….
2. Paragraph C ………….
3. Paragraph D ………….
4. Paragraph E ………….
5. Paragraph F ………….
Paragraph G iii

The Lost City

An explorer’s encounter with the ruined city of Machu Picchu, the most famous icon
of the Inca civilisation
A
When the US explorer and academic Hiram Bingham arrived in South America in 1911,
he was ready for what was to be the greatest achievement of his life: the exploration of
the remote hinterland to the west of Cusco, the old capital of the Inca empire in the Andes
mountains of Peru. His goal was to locate the remains of a city called Vitcos, the last
capital of the Inca civilisation. Cusco lies on a high plateau at an elevation of more than
3,000 metres, and Bingham’s plan was to descend from this plateau along the valley of
the Urubamba river, which takes a circuitous route down to the Amazon and passes
through an area of dramatic canyons and mountain ranges.

B
When Bingham and his team set off down the Urubamba in late July, they had an
advantage over travellers who had preceded them: a track had recently been blasted down
the valley canyon to enable rubber to be brought up by mules from the jungle. Almost all
previous travellers had left the river at Ollantaytambo and taken a high pass across

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mountains to rejoin the river lower down, thereby cutting a substantial corner, but also
therefore never passing through the area around Machu Picchu.

C
On 24 July they were a few days into their descent of the valley. The day began slowly,
with Bingham trying to arrange sufficient mules for the next stage of the trek. His
companions showed no interest in accompanying him up the nearby hill to see some ruins
that a local farmer, Melchor Arteaga, had told them about the night before. The morning
was dull and damp, and Bingham also seems to have been less than keen on the prospect
of climbing the hill. In his book Lost City of the Incas, he relates that he made the ascent
without having the least expectation that he would find anything at the top.

D
Bingham writes about the approach in vivid style in his book. First, as he climbs up the
hill, he describes the ever-present possibility of deadly snakes, “capable of making
considerable springs when in pursuit of their prey”; not that he sees any. Then there’s a
sense of mounting discovery as he comes across great sweeps of terraces, then a
mausoleum, followed by monumental staircases and, finally, the grand ceremonial
buildings of Machu Picchu. “It seemed like an unbelievable dream … the sight held me
spellbound …” he wrote.

E
We should remember, however, that Lost City of the Incas is a work of hindsight, not
written until 1948, many years after his journey. His journal entries of the time reveal a
much more gradual appreciation of his achievement. He spent the afternoon at the ruins
noting down the dimensions of some of the buildings, then descended and rejoined his
companions, to whom he seems to have said little about his discovery. At this stage,
Bingham didn’t realise the extent or the importance of the site, nor did he realise what
use he could make of the discovery.
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F
However, soon after returning it occurred to him that he could make a name for himself
from this discovery. When he came to write the National Geographic magazine article
that broke the story to the world in April 1913, he knew he had to produce a big idea. He
wondered whether it could have been the birthplace of the very first Inca, Manco the
Great, and whether it could also have been what chroniclers described as “the last city of
the Incas”. This term refers to Cilcabamba, the settlement where the Incas had fled from
Spanish invaders in the 1530s. Bingham made desperate attempts to prove this belief for
nearly 40 years. Sadly, his vision of the site as both the beginning and end of the Inca
civilisation, while a magnificent one, is inaccurate. We now know that Vilcabamba
actually lies 65 kilometres away in the depths of the jungle.

G
One question that has perplexed visitors, historians and archaeologists alike ever since
Bingham, is why the site seems to have been abandoned before the Spanish Conquest.
There are no references to it by any of the Spanish chroniclers – and if they had known of
its existence so close to Cusco they would certainly have come in search of gold. An idea
which has gained wide acceptance over the past few years is that Machu Picchu was a
moya, a country estate built by an Inca emperor to escape the cold winters of Cusco,
where the elite could enjoy monumental architectrue and spectacular views. Furthermore,
the particular architecture of Machu Picchu suggests that it was constructed at the time of
the greatest of all the Incas, the emperor Pachacuti (c.1438-71). By custom, Pachacuti’s
descendants built other similar estates for their own use, and so Machu Picchu would
have been abandoned after his death, some 50 years before the Spanish Conquest.

Task 2. Do the following statements agree with the information given in the
passage?
Write
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 True if the statement agrees with the information
False if the statement contradicts the information
Not Given if there is no information on this

6. Bingham went to South America in search of an Inca city.

7. Bingham chose a particular route down the Urubamba valley because it was the most
common route used by travellers.
8. Bingham returned to Machu Picchu in order to find evidence to support his theory.
Task 3. Complete the sentences below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
9. The track that took Bingham down the Urubamba valley had been created for the
transportation of __________.
10. Bingham found out about the ruins of Machu Picchu from a __________ in the Urubamba
valley.
KEY TEST 2
PART I. LEXICO-GRAMMAR
I/
1.A 2.B 3.C 4.A 5.C 6.D 7.C 8.C 9.B 10.D
II/
Lines Lines

2 1. headings -> headlines 8 6. rational -> rationally

3 2.uncontrolling -> uncontrolled 10 7. Tolerance -> Intolerance

4 3. ridiculousness -> ridiculous 12 8. worst -> worse

5 4. is -> are 12 9. take -> taking

6 5. Although -> Yet 15 10. badly -> bad

III/

1.on 2.off 3.on 4.off 5.off

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 6.on 7.off 8.from 9.through 10.against
PART II. READING

I/

1.C 2.A 3.A 4.B 5.A 6.D 7.A 8.B 9.D 10.C
II/

1.but 2.enough 3.incapable 4.on 5.up

6.with 7.extent 8.ahead 9.giving 10.at
III/

1.D 2.A 3.C 4.D 5.C 6.A 7.B 8.D 9.D 10.B
IV/

1.vi 2.viii 3.v 4.i 5.vii

6.TRUE 7.FALSE 8.NOT GIVEN 9.rubber 10.farmer

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