Test 16

Task 1 READING
Read the text below. Mach choices (A - H) to (1 – 5). There are three choices you do not need to use.

Oscar Time

“Jim Broadbent?” my friend shouts at the television. “Who in the hell is Jim Broadbent!?” My friend is angry because he has just lost a bet (a fairly substantial sum of money — $ 25) because Ian McKellen did not get the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He continues his angry rant, “Iris? I’ve never even heard of Irisl” He almost begins foaming at the mouth, he is now furious because the actor he was sure would win, did not.

“Nobody saw Irisl” He shouts at all of us, “Jim Broadbent probably didn’t see Iris...whoever he is.”

After convincing him that Jim Broadbent is a talented actor and male star of the film Iris, my friends and I get back to the real action. We all hold our lists in hand, waiting for each result to unfold. A large group of us have chipped money to our “Oscar Pool”, where the person who guessed the most categories right would win everything. With the winnings at over $ 150, we’re all eager to win. So, we all cram into a small room, which would normally seat eight, but we press in about thirty-five. The more aesthetic people in our group decided to decorate the room with streamers, balloons, and almost life-size cut-outs of the Oscar statue. Though we can barely find room to sit, at least the room looks pretty.

So we scrunch into our extravagantly decorated room and munch on assorted snacks. Our layout of food is clearly the remnants of many cupboards, but at least we have variety. An old packet of M&Ms here, some tortilla chips there, and a package of odd-looking cookies, and we have a veritable feast.

As the night of Awards progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that I’m not going to take a penny out of the pot, and more so, my faith in the Australians as award winners is dwindling rapidly.

Unfortunately the award show is becoming a lot less entertaining. The host, Whoopi Goldberg, is incredibly boring, despite the fact that she finds herself very funny and is clearly revealing in an ever more outlandish array of costumes. Whoopi does not know that there are sideshows in the suburban room I’m sitting in that are much more entertaining than she is. Watching two of my good friends wrestle each other for the last jellybean is way funnier than any joke the host could come up with.

The more Oscars we watch being given away, the less we care. Honestly, who cares what a bunch of old white men (the Academy is overwhelmingly made up of this type) think about movies? Old white men certainly are not like anyone in my generation, so why are they supposed to be such imposing authorities on film for us?

We like to see our favourite stars being acknowledged for a good performance, but they do not always win and that doesn’t matter — we admire them anyway. Russell Crowe’s newer, longer hair and noticeably scruffy face makes him a bigger star than ever before. In addition, we all get to laugh at his accent. Will Smith is fun to watch, just because he is Will Smith. Nicole Kidman is looking ravishing as usual. Peter Jackson, the director of Lord of the Rings seems to feel awkward in his tuxedo, as he looks just like the friendly geek who just sold my friend a computer. All in all it is a good night to watch the stars. It is an exciting vicarious experience to see the happiness of those who won, and the disappointment of those who were not lucky enough to go home with a trophy.

But the real fun of the night is the night we made out of it. It is far more entertain to make an evening of the event, and socialize around it, rather than have the television the focal point. At the

end of the night, as we tally up the scores, it turns out that four people are destined to share the pot, so the winnings will not be the grand sum that anyone hoped for. So we feel a bit of an anticlimax, just like most of our favourite actors.

As for the next Academy Awards, we plan to emulate them in the years to come, and make our events ever more elaborate. Evening dresses and black ties? Food by the best caterer in town? Ah well, maybe at least a room we can all fit into.

1. In the room there were________________________
A 8 people
B 10 people
C 35 people
D 150 people
2. What looked odd?___________________________
A Md Ms
B Awards
C Australians
D cookies
3. The host’s name was___________________________
A Ian McKellen
B Oscar
C Iris
D Whoopi Goldberg
4. Peter Jackson was__________________________
A a director
B a film star
C an actor
D my friend
5. What do the winners feel?__________________________
A Disappointment
B Happiness
C Friendship
D Sorrow

Task 2 READING
Read the text below. For questions (6 – 10) choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D).

Overweight, underpaid

Sexual, racial and age discrimination are outlawed. Are sizeism and lookism the last prejudices?

Sonya is heavily overweight and used to what she describes as ‘fatism’ from the general public. But she hadn’t expected her obesity to affect her career prospects. ‘I knew the moment I turned up to my last job interview that my chances were low,’ she says. ‘When I met my two interviewers, I knew I’d lost immediately because of the way they looked at me. The thing that was most upsetting was that the telephone conversation I’d had with one of them beforehand suggested I had all the skills and experience necessary and the interview was just a formality.’

‘Lookism’ is the latest discrimination to hit the workplace, according to the law firm, Eversheds. Victims of the trend are judged by employers on aspects of their appearance ranging from weight to clothing and from hairstyle to body piercing. Some are turned down for jobs, others miss out on promotion. The latest research has revealed a culture of appearance discrimination sweeping businesses across the world. A staggering 16 % of Americans believe they have been discriminated against because of the way they look and 33 % believe that those who are more physically attractive are more likely to get promoted.

Discrimination claims involving alleged lookism are surging in the US. In fact, there are only two states of America that have specific laws against appearance discrimination. In other states, lawyers are turning to discrimination laws relating to issues like gender, race and disability. So if someone is overweight because of a clinical problem, they can claim disability discrimination.

There are examples of lookism issues already arising in the UK as well. A couple of years ago, Fitness First received widespread criticism after a leaked email claimed that larger employees did not fit the firm’s image. In the UK, we don’t have any laws against appearance discrimination, but Ms Emma Harris, an associate at Eversheds, believes it won’t be long before we do. ‘I think it’s only a matter of time before some kind of beauty bias legislation comes into play,’ she says. In the meantime, victims of lookism are, like most Americans, relying on sex, race and disability discrimination. Among the British who have been successful in an indirect discrimination claim are Matthew Thompson, who last year argued that he had suffered sexual discrimination because he was forced to wear a tie while his female colleagues weren’t, and a man who was made to cut his long hair by his employers.

6. Before her last job interview, Sonya_____________________
A had expected problems getting the job.
B had never felt discriminated against.
C had not realized how overweight she was.
D had thought the interview would be a formality.
7. During the interview_______________________
A Sonya was surprised there were two interviewers.
B she didn’t like the way the interviewers looked.
C the interviewers were surprised at her qualifications.
D she had a feeling she wouldn’t be accepted.
8. Lookism_________________________
A is not limited to job applicants.
B is opposed by one third of Americans.
C only affects unattractive and overweight people.
D has been researched for many years now.
9. In the USA________________________
A lookism is forbidden by federal law.
B race discrimination is more widespread than lookism.
C the number of cases related to lookism is growing.
D lawyers turn down people who claim appearance discrimination.
10. In the UK_______________________
A there is public acceptance of lookism.
B legal regulations against lookism are expected soon.
C victims of lookism have no chance to claim their rights.
D there has been no cases related to lookism so far.

Task 3 READING
Read the text below. For each of the empty space (11—15) choose the correct answer (A, B, C, D).

How kids get their kicksLack of exercise means that children are much less fit than they used to be. Leigh Childs is a sports trainer who thinks he may have the answer to this problem.

It was a Thursday evening in a very ordinary-looking gym above a pizza restaurant in the English provincial town of Swindon. This may, at first, seem an unlikely place to go in search of an answer to children’s growing health problems. But there I met a man who’s convinced he has the solution. Leigh Childs, a sports trainer, runs a tae kwon do class in the gym. When I arrived young boys and girls, dressed in their white uniforms, were kicking and punching the air. The place was alive with determined energy, full of clapping and laughing.

This is apparently what happens when children learn the sport. Originating in Korea, tae kwon do is what is known as a (11)________ art. In Britain it is often also called kick-boxing. Leigh told me that the younger a person starts to exercise in this way, the greater are the long-term benefits. So he’s keen to get as many children involved as possible.

To this end, he has just released a video for kids called Kick-boxing Fitness. It takes children through an aerobic-style work out, alive with kicks and punches, with Leigh leading the way through a popstar-style headset. And it couldn’t have come at a more opportune time. Research studies have shown (12)________ fitness levels amongst British kids have been falling in recent years, a trend that seems to have come from the other side of the Atlantic.

We all know the causes: computer games, too much television, lifts to school. Last week, a nationwide survey showed that over one third of six- to eight-year-olds do less than an hour’s physical exercise per week. Where it is provided at school, this is usually with teachers who have very little specific training and without access to good sports facilities. The government’s response has been to issue a report which says that primary school children should be doing at least two hours of sport per week.

Leigh Childs, it seems, (13)________ have the answer, “I would like to take martial arts into schools,” he says.

And not only because of the fitness benefits. Learning self-defence is also important these days, as is discipline and self-confidence. Leigh, aged twenty-eight, first got involved in kwon do because he was not well-built and his grandfather thought he ought to know how to defend himself. He so enjoyed the sport that he went on to become five times national champion before going on to set up his own school. ‘Kids are materialistic. They want the next pair of designer trainers,’ he says. ‘I teach them about dedication and hard work.’

I spoke to one of Leigh’s pupils, 12-year-old Gareth Davies, a promising champion of the future.

‘I started because it was fun’, he says. “Now I know I’m good (14)________ and it gives me more self-confidence. If you go along to a football club, half the kids there don’t listen to what’s going on. But here, you have to show respect”.

But what about the experts, do they agree with Leigh Childs? I asked Professor Collins, head of sports performance at Edinburgh University. He agrees that martial arts can be superb for some children because it’s a structured way of getting all-round physical exersises He too approves of the self-discipline, of the children’s energies in a positive way. He offers a note of caution, however. ‘It’s the quality of the instructor that matters. And even then, it’s not a sport that’s going to work for everybody. Some children just don’t like combat sport, they find it too aggressive.’ Leigh would (15)________ that tae kwon do will not suit all children. He denies that it is violent, however.

‘You get hurt in all sports, but there are fewer injuries in martial arts than in football or rugby’. He prefers to see the sport as a way of relieving stress. There’s no doubt that Leigh is doing his best for kids. And even the most couch potato amongst them should be persuaded watch his video.

# A B C D
11 martial sports game fine
12 when that who why
13 have is able wants could
14 with to at for
15 follow state agree suggest

Task 4 READING
Read the text below. Match choices (A—G) to (16—20). There are two choices you do not need to use.

Gateway to the Global Village (16)________

Indian

After the Irish, the Indian community is the second largest in London. The first Indians arrived in 1597 and more came after the founding of the East India trading company in the seventeenth century. Numbers increased when India became independent in 1947 but the community really took off in the 1950s and 1960s with employment opportunities around Heathrow airport. Although ‘Little Indians’ exist all over London, the most striking is the district of Southall in West London, not far from the airport. Here Indian foodstalls and video shops are everywhere, spicy aromas fill the air, and women stroll around wearing the typical colourful sari, just as in India. In McDonald’s, the piped music is refreshingly Indian.

( 17)________

Portuguese

The supermarkets and shops in Lambeth and Stockwell Roads are the most obvious indication that you are in ‘Little Portugal’, but there is much more to this community than that. Over 20,000 Portuguese live south of the River Thames. The majority have come from the island of Madeira rather than from the mainland of Portugal. This close-knit community is mad about football and folk-dancing and holds its own carnival every February. It’s a community that is determined to hold on to its traditions and it’s a great place to experience Madeiran culture.

( 18)________

Caribbean

When the ship Emperor Windrush docked in 1948 with its 500 immigrants, it marked the start of the main 50 period of Caribbean immigration, stimulated by British economic expansion. Since then, over 300,000 have established vibrant communities all around 55 London. The greatest Caribbean celebration is the Notting Hill Carnival, now Europe’s largest street party, which takes place every August. However, Brixton, in South London, is the hub of the community. As you step out of the Underground station into Brixton Market, your senses are stimulated by the noise, the bright colours and the rhythmic sound of Caribbean music. This is one of the best places to shop for food in London. However, the area has become a very popular place to live and prices are rising.

( 19)________

Japanese

Finchley and Hendon in North London are the principal centres for Japanese people. The national affection for golf has had a noticeable effect on these areas — if you drive up Finchley Road, you have an almost unlimited choice of golf shops and courses. Other than this, there is little evidence of a community. Although there are restaurants and foodstores here, most socialising takes place at home. It isn’t as permanent as other communities, either — many Japanese arrive on five-year contracts in the banking and technology sectors and then return home afterwards. The best restaurants tend to be in central London, where most of the community works.

( 20)________

Polish

The Polish community isn’t as distinct as some other ethnic communities in London. Andrzej Morawicz, President of a well-known Polish club, puts this down to integration. ‘When you are a large enough community, it’s easy to hold on to your culture and customs. In comparison, the Polish community has become part of British society to a large extent, so keeping up traditions isn’t so easy’. All the same, you can hear Polish conversations along King Street in Hammersmith, West London, where newsagents’ windows are full of advertisements in Polish for the benefit of the local community. There are also plenty of clubs, restaurants and food shops that help to keep traditions alive. There is even a daily Polish-language newspaper, Dziennik Polski.

Which community

A is associated with a specific means of speaking?
B arrived in 1597?
C can regularly be seen in the Chinatown?
D at first consisted of 500 immigrants?
E lives and works in a different area?
F is associated with an annual social event in February?
G can easily find things to read in their own language?

Task 5 READING
Read the text below. For each of the empty space (21—26) choose the correct answer (A, B, C, D).

Vegetables

We are frequently told these days, that we should eat more vegetable as part of a healthy diet.

However, a large (21)________ of people are still not taking this advice. One of the reasons could be that they (22)________ bad memories of the few vegetables they were forced to eat by (23)________ parents when they were children. (24)________ the other hand, potatoes are one (25)________ of vegetable which we are familiar (26)________ although we do not perhaps think of them as healthy food to eat.

# A B C D
21 amount volume number quantity
22 possess have take own
23 their them they theirs
24 From At With On
25 form type species fruit
26 at for from with

Task 6 READING
Read the text below. Choose from (A—H) the one which best fits each space (27—33).There are two choices you do not need to use.

To the west and north of Trafalgar Square is (27)________, which is usually regarded as (28)________ because it is London’s shopping and entertainment hub. (29)________ is Oxford Street, where such large department stores as Selfridges, John Lewis, and Marks and Spencer are located. Other well-known shopping areas include Knightsbridge, (30)________ of Harrods department store; and Piccadilly, where Fortnum and Mason specializes in (31)________.

The main entertainment attractions are scattered throughout the Soho and Covent Garden sections, northeast of Piccadilly. Soho and Covent Garden were created (32)________ in the 17th century, but now are home to shops, theatres, and street entertainers. The Royal Opera House and most of London’s 40 or so major theatres are here, as are (33)________, and hundreds of restaurants, cafes, and bars.

A the West End
B as residential areas
C the location
D the centre of town
E the large movie houses
F the best food
G fine food
H the busiest shopping area
I the best place

Task 7 READING
Read the text below. For each of the empty space (34—46) choose the correct answer (A, B, C, D).

Athens (Greece), city in south-eastern Greece, capital and largest city of the (34)________.Athens dominates the(35)________, (36)________, and(37)________ life of modern Greece.

Athens is a sprawling city (38)________ on the Attic Plain of south-eastern Greece. Mountains rise in a semicircle (39)________ the city. They (40)________ the peaks of Pernis, and Hymettos (Imittys). At least one of these peaks can be (41)________ from nearly every street in Athens. Located about 8 km (about 5 mi) southwest of Athens is Piraeus, Greece’s largest seaport. Piraeus overlooks the Gulf of Saronikys (Saronic Gulf), an arm of the Aegean Sea. Two (42)________, the Kifisys in the west and the Ilisys in the east, flow through the city.

Athens is often called the cradle of Western civilization for its momentous cultural (43)________ during the 5th and 4th centuries bc. The city still holds a wealth of ancient buildings, monuments, and artworks from the (44)________ age of Ancient Greece, (45)________ museums devoted to Greek art, culture, and history. Many of the cultural highlights of Athens were renovated in (46)________ for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.

# A B C D
34 country countryside countries county
35 economy economic economics economical
36 culture cultured cultures cultural
37 politics political politician politically
38 located locating location to locate
39 rounded surrounding around round
40 to include including included include
41 seen saw to see seeing
42 rivers’ rivers river river’s
43 achieved achievements achievement achieving
44 classical classic class classically
45 as not as such as as well as
46 preparation prepared preparing prepared

WRITING
Read the text below. Fill in the each gap with the one word which best fits each space (47-50).

Famine

Hunger is one of the most serious problems facing the developing world. Famine and drought are partly to blame, but civil war has also contributed to the (47)________ situation.

Large charity organizations try to (48)________ problem.

They collect (49)________ from people in order to buy food, clothes and (50)________ supplies. However, distribution of these goods is not always easy. When a country is at war, supplies often disappear before they reach their destination and many people continue to go hungry.

51. You have found a job as a photographer in a magazine.

Write a letter to a friend describing your job routine, the qualities needed for this job and your feelings about it.

1.C; 2.D; 3.D; 4.A; 5.B; 6.A; 7.D; 8.A; 9.C; 10.B; 11.A; 12.B; 13.D; 14.C; 15.C; 16.D; 17.F; 18.D; 19.E; 20.B; 21.C; 22.B; 23.A; 24.D; 25.B; 26.D; 27.A; 28.D; 29.H; 30.C; 31.G; 32.B; 33.E; 34.A; 35.B; 36.D; 37.B; 38.A; 39.C; 40.D; 41.A; 42.B; 43.B; 44.A; 45.D; 46.A

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