PRACTICE TEST 34

LEXICO-GRAMMAR
PART 1: Choose the best option.
1. There was a great scandal when it turned out that the Bishop, who was meant to be_____, had a son.
A celibate B immaculate C singular D separated
2. Mozart was a very________musician and had written several concertos by the age of 10.
A endowed B gifted C expert D qualified
3. According to psychiatrists, many violent criminals harbour feelings of ________and insecurity.
A shortage B insufficiency C scarcity D inadequacy
4. Many students find the concept of a fourth dimension difficult to_________.
A hold B clutch C grab C grasp
5. Charles Babbage’s ‘difference engine’ is widely regarded as the ________of modern computers.
A precedent B precursor C ancestor D antecedent
6. During the Asia Tsunami, an ________200.000 people lost their lives.
A estimated B assumed C envisaged D approximated
7. It is ________that the Minister of Justice should be accused of corruption
A sarcastic B sardonic C ironic D cynical
8. You can’t believe a word that woman says –she is a ________liar.
A committed B compulsive C impulsive D devoted
9. You really ought to go to bed –you look absolutely.
A weary B weak C shattered D tired
10. I think that this painting can be ________in a number of different but equally valid ways.
A dissected B interpreted C translated D rendered
11. The photo would have been wonderful had it not been________focus.
A beyond B far from C out of D without
12. Although they are often criticized in the press, single mothers_____for only a very small proportion of
government spending.
A account B cause C create D cost
13. He felt _________that at last the surgery was successful.
A relieved B smoothed C resigned D conceded
14. The judge show that the murderer had shown a callous ________for human life.
A disregard B ignorance C omission D neglect
15. The countries of the West are noted for their conspicuous ________ of energy.
A absorption B consumption C dissipation D depletion
16. Social workers admitted feeling utterly ________when faced with the problem of drugs and violence.
A aimless B pointless C clueless D helpless
17. Tracy said she had been very lonely since_____up her boyfriend.
A finishing B ending C stopping D splitting
18. We had a long and exhausted car _________before reaching our final destination.
A journey B trip C voyage D excursion
19. The older inhabitants looked on the festival as an opportunity to bridge the ____between the newcomers
and themselves.
A hole B gap C blank D crevice
20. The tourist office was able to recommend several places of _______interest which we decided to visit.
A ancient B authentic C historical D historic
PART 2: Find and correct ten mistakes/ errors in the following passage.
Having a roof over your head is a basic human need, but there are 1.2 billion people in the world with
adequate housing. This may change thanks for a revolutionary, low-cost use of 3D printers to construct
houses. With 3D printing, materials are joined together or reinforcing by using a computer-controlled
device to create a three-dimensional object. Two companies have joined forces to try and ease homeless
around the world by building affording homes using 3D printing. Tech company ICON has developed a
method for printing a one-floor, 60-square-meter house out of cement in a day for just $10,000. This is a
fraction of both the time and cost needing to build a similar construction using conventional methods.
ICON has teamed up with the non-profit, internationally housing organization New Story. Together, they
will start building homes in developing countries. Their joint venture will see 100 new homes constructing
in El Salvador next year. New Story's co-founder Alexandria Lafci acknowledged that the 100 homes were
just a drop in the ocean. She said: "There are over 100 million people living in slum conditions, in what we
call survive mode." She also saw possibilities for 3D-printed houses to become regular in richer countries in
years to come. However, she said that for the moment: "The tech is ready now to print very high-quality,
safe homes in the places we're building."
PART 3: Fill in each gap with ONE suitable preposition.
1. If you draw ____________ income from your investment too quickly, it may not last long.
2. They agreed to the policy ___________ the understanding that it would be to their benefits.
3. Pack it ____________ will you? Your guitar playing is getting on my nerves.
4. Further ____________ the road, some more policies are sure to be introduced.
5. Clever people never bite _______________ more than they can chew.
6. I think it would be fun to swan _______________ Europe in the summer.
7. That old, crazy man once claimed he was descended ____________ William Shakespeare.
8. Without any information to bank on, we landed ourselves ___________ the most boring job of the lot.
9. She gets so nervous at the thought of examinations that her mind completely blanks _____________.
10. She gambled ____________ the house even though it was not hers.
PART 4: Fill in each gap with the corect form of the word given.
Over half a century ago, scientists found that they could record the electrical
signals of the brain at work. What at first appeared a random hotchpotch of
activity became a pattern of elegant waves (1. RHYTHM) determined. Ever 1.
since, scientists have wondered whether the secrets of our thoughts, (2. 2.
PERCEIVE) and even (3. CONSCIOUS) itself might be hidden in the patterns 3.
of our brain waves. The question of why we have brain waves is, (4. ARGUE), 4.
as hotly debated today as it was when the patterns were discovered. But the 5.
meaning, and even the existence, of fast rhythms in the alert brain is highly (5. 6.
CONTROVERSY). 7.
What is problematic is that you cannot perceive these rhythms directly, they are 8.
so well hidden in the noise created by other brain activity, but many (6. 9.
SEARCH) now hold the (7. CONVINCE) that the significance of these brain 10.
waves should not be (8. ESTIMATE).
The latest suggestion is that the rhythms could be (9. DECIDE) in detecting
progresses going on in different regions of the brain. Some believe that these
rhythms might even interact, and in doing so help the brain to package
information into (10. COHERE) thoughts. How we bring together these related
signals of the brain is a puzzle as yet unsolved.
READING
PART 1: Choose the best options to complete the passage.
Why did you decide to read this, and will you keep reading to the end? Do you expect to understand every
(1)__ part of it and will you remember anything about it in a fortnight’s time. Common sense (2)___ that
the answers to these questions depend on “readability” – whether the (3)____ matter is interesting, the
argument clear and the (4)___ attractive. But psychologists are discovering that to determine why people
read –and often don’t read –technical information, they have to (5)___ not so much the writing as the
reader.
Even the most technically confident people often (6)__instructions for the video or home computer in
favour of hand-ons experience. And people frequently take little notice of consumer information, whether
on nutritional labels or in the small print of contracts.
Psychologists researching reading tend to assume that both beginners and (7) ___ readers read everything
put in front of them from start to finish. There are (8)___ among them about the role of the eyes, memory
and brain during the process. Some believe that fluent readers take (9)____ every letter or word they see;
other insist that readers rely on memory or context to carry them from one phrase to another. But they have
always assumed that the reading process is the same: reading starts, comprehension (10)___, then reading
stops.
1 A absolute B one C single D unique
2 A suggests B transmits C advises D informs
3 A subject B topic C content D text
4 A pattern B formation C layout D assembly
5 A examine B inquire C trace D calculate
6 A miss B omit C pass D ignore
7 A competent B sufficient C considerable D valid
8 A objections B arguments C contests D separations
9 A up B over C out D in
10 A sets B occurs C issues D establishes
PART 2: Fill in each gap with ONE suitable word.
Perhaps the greatest value of biodiversity is yet unknown. Scientists have discovered and named only 1.75
million species — less than 20 percent of those (1)________ to exist. And of those identified, only a (2)
________ has been examined for potential medicinal, agricultural or (3) ________ value. Much of Earth’s
great biodiversity is (4) ________ disappearing, even before we know what is missing. Most biologists
agree that life on Earth now is (5) ________ with the most severe extinction episode since the event that
drove the dinosaurs to (6) _______ 65 million years ago. Species of plants, animals, fungi and microscopic
organisms such as (7) ________ are being lost at alarming rates – so many, in fact, that biologists estimate
that three (8) ________ go extinct every hour. Scientists around the (9) _________ are cataloging and
studying global biodiversity in hopes that they might (10) _______ understand it, or at least slow the rate of
loss.
PART 3: Read the passage and choose the best options to answer the questions.
Vincent Van Gogh was born in Groot Zundert, in The Netherlands on March 30th 1853, to parents
Theodorus Van Gogh, a preacher, and Ana Cornelia Carbentus. In 1869 at the age of 16, Van Gogh began a
career, not as a painter, but as an art dealer with the firm Goupil & Cie. He spent 7 years at Goupil & Cie
where daily contacts with works of art kindled his appreciation of paintings and drawings. Gradually
Vincent lost interest in his work and decided to try his hand teaching at a Catholic School for boys. His
growing interest religion and his desire to help the poor eventually drove him to become a clergyman. In
1878, he became a lay preacher in one of the most impoverished regions in Western Europe: the coal-
mining district of the Borinage in Belgium. Vincent sympathized with the poverty-stricken miners and gave
away most of his food and clothing to ease their burdened lives. His extreme commitment to the miners
drew disfavor from the church, which dismissed him of his post. Vincent, however, decided to remain with
the miners and began to paint them and their families, chronicling their harsh conditions.
Soon after, thanks to his brother’s financial help, Vincent decided to go to Brussels in 1880 to begin
studies in art. During the next 10 years, Vincent painted around 872 painting. In 1882, Vincent began living
with Clasina Maria Hoornik, also known as Sien, and her children, in the Hague. Their volatile personalities
and the strain of living in complete poverty created stormy relationship. Vincent was devoted to Sien and
her children, but art always came first. As his drawing and painting skills advanced, his relationship with
Sien deteriorated and they parted ways in September 1883.
 In 1886, Vincent moved in with his brother-Theo in Paris where he met Paul Gauguin and various
other artists, who had a tremendous impact on his ongoing evolution as an artist. Never truly happy in large
cities, Vincent decided to move to Aries Province in the south of France, where he rented a studio and
invited Paul Gauguin to live with him. In December 1888, Vincent experienced a psychotic episode in
which he cut off a piece of his left ear. After his episode, he was in and out of asylums for the next year. It
was thought that Van Gogh was actually epileptic and that is why people thought he had fits of insanity
throughout his life. He painted one of his best-known painting, Starry Night, during one of his stays in the
asylum. In mid-1890, Vincent left the asylum and spent the last few months of his life in Auvers, France.
On July 27th 1890, Vincent Van Gogh shot himself in the chest. Two days later he died with his younger
brother-Theo by his side. He left behind a wonderful array of paintings that make him one of the most
influential painters of our time.
1: The word "chronicling" in paragraph 1 is closest meaning to "_________".
A. recording B. classifying C. suffering D. colouring
2: Van Gogh decided to become a clergyman due to ________.
A. his love of art B. his teachings at the Catholic School for boys
C. the Goupil & Cie art dealer firm D. his developing enthusiasm in Christianity
3: Vincent's extreme commitment to the miners resulted in ________.
A. his painting the miners and their families B. his sympathizing with the miners
C. the church discharging him of his duty D. the church giving food and clothing to the miners
4: The word "deteriorated" in paragraph 2 is closest meaning to "_________".
A. detested B. became worse and worse C. developed D. turned down
5: Vincent and Clasina's relationship was stormy because of ________.
A. his devotion to art B. the stress of living in poor conditions
C. her children D. their tame personalities
6: Vincent first went into an asylum because ________.
A. he painted Starry Night B. he was epileptic
C. he cut off part of his ear D. he was insane throughout his life
7: Vincent went to Aries because ________.
A. he did not get along with his brother, Theo B. he wanted to live in Gauguin's house in Aries
C. he wanted to live in a bigger city D. he disliked big cities
8: Vincent moved to Paris ________.
A. in order to evolve as an artist B. to live with his brother
C. to meet other artists D. to live with Paul Gauguin
9: Van Gogh was believed to be ________.
A. insane B. a loner C. epileptic D. an inadequate painter
10: The word "episode" in paragraph 3 refers to "_________".
A. important event in his life B. unbelievable fact
C. unfortunate time D. one of several parts of a story on television
PART 4: Read the passage and do the tasks follow.
Thomas Harriot
The Discovery of Refraction
A When light travels from one medium to another, it generally bends, or refracts. The law of refraction
gives us a way of predicting the amount of bending. Refraction has many applications in optics and
technology. A lens uses refraction to form an image of an object for many different purposes, such as
magnification. A prism uses refraction to form a spectrum of colors from an incident beam of light.
Refraction also plays an important role in the formation of a mirage and other optical illusions. The law of
refraction is also known as Snell’s Law, named after Willobrord, Snell, who discovered the law in 1621.
Although Snell’s sine law of refraction is now taught routinely in undergraduate courses, the quest for it
spanned many centuries and involved many celebrated scientists. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that
the first discovery of the sine law, made by the sixteenth-century English scientist Thomas Harriot (1560-
1621), has been almost completely overlooked by physicists, despite much published material describing
his contribution.
B A contemporary of Shakespeare, Elizabeth I, Johannes Kepler and Galilei Galileo, Thomas Harriot
(1560-1621) was an English scientist and mathematician. His principal biographer, J. W. Shirley, was
quoted saying that in his time he was “England’s most profound mathematician, most imaginative and
methodical experimental scientist” . As a mathematician, he contributed to the development of algebra, and
introduced the symbols of ”>” , and ”<” for ”more than” and ”less than.” He also studied navigation and
astronomy. On September 17, 1607, Harriot observed a comet, later Identified as Hailey-s. With his
painstaking observations, later workers were able to compute the comet’s orbit. Harriot was also the first to
use a telescope to observe the heavens in England. He made sketches of the moon in 1609, and then
developed lenses of increasing magnification. By April 1611, he had developed a lens with a magnification
of 32. Between October 17， 1610 and February 26, 1612，he observed the moons of Jupiter, which had
already discovered by Galileo. While observing Jupiter, s moons ， he made a discovery of his own:
sunspots, which he viewed 199 times between December 8, 1610 and January 18, 1613. These observations
allowed him to figure out the sun’s period of rotation.
C He was also an early English explorer of North America. He was a friend of the English courtier and
explorer Sir Walter Raleigh, and travelled to Virginia as a scientific observer on a colonising expedition in
1585. On June 30, 1585, his ship anchored at Roanoke Island ，off Virginia. On shore，Harriot observed
the topography, flora and fauna, made many drawings and maps, and met the native people who spoke a
language the English called Algonquian. Harriot worked out a phonetic transcription of the native people’s
speech sounds and began to learn the language, which enabled him to converse to some extent with other
natives the English encountered. Harriot wrote his report for Raleigh and published it as A Briefe and True
Report of the New Found Land of Virginia in 1588. Raleigh gave Harriot his own estate in Ireland, and
Harriot began a survey of Raleigh’s Irish holdings. He also undertook a study of ballistics and ship design
for Raleigh in advance of the Spanish Armada’s arrival.
D Harriot kept regular correspondence with other scientists and mathematicians, especially in England but
also in mainland Europe, notably with Johannes Kepler. About twenty years before Snell’s discovery,
Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) had also looked for the law of refraction, but used the early data of Ptolemy.
Unfortunately, Ptolemy’s data was in error, so Kepler could obtain only an approximation which he
published in 1604. Kepler later tried to obtain additional experimental results on refraction, and
corresponded with Thomas Harriot from 1606 to 1609 since Kepler had heard Harriot had carried out some
detailed experiments. In 1606, Harriot sent Kepler some tables of refraction data for different materials at a
constant incident angle, but didn’t provide enough detail for the data to be very useful. Kepler requested
further information, but Harriot was not forthcoming, and it appears that Kepler eventually gave up the
correspondence, frustrated with Harriot’s reluctance.
E Apart from the correspondence with Kepler, there is no evidence that Harriot ever published his detailed
results on refraction. His personal notes, however, reveal extensive studies significantly predating those of
Kepler, Snell and Descartes. Harriot carried out many experiments on refraction in the 1590s, and from his
notes it is clear that he had discovered the sine law at least as early as 1602. Around 1606, he had studied
dispersion in prisms (predating Newton by around 60 years), measured the refractive indices of different
liquids placed in a hollow glass prism, studied refraction in crystal spheres, and correctly understood
refraction in the rainbow before Descartes.
F As his studies of refraction, Harriot’ s discoveries in other fields were largely unpublished during his
lifetime, and until this century, Harriot was known only for an account of his travels in Virginia published
in 1588, ，and for a treatise on algebra published posthumously in 1631. The reason why Harriot kept his
results unpublished is unclear. Harriot wrote to Kepler that poor health prevented him from providing more
information, but it is also possible that he was afraid of the seventeenth century’s English religious
establishment which was suspicious of the work carried out by mathematicians and scientists.
G After the discovery of sunspots, Harriot’ s scientific work dwindled. The cause of his diminished
productivity might have been a cancer discovered on his nose. Harriot died on July 2, 1621, in London, but
his story did not end with his death. Recent research has revealed his wide range of interests and his
genuinely original discoveries. What some writers describe as his “thousands upon thousands of sheets of
mathematics and of scientific observations” appeared to be lost until 1784, when they were found in Henry
Percy’s country estate by one of Percy’s descendants. She gave them to Franz Xaver Zach ，her husband’s
son’s tutor. Zach eventually put some of the papers in the hands of the Oxford University Press, but much
work was required to prepare them for publication, and it has never been done. Scholars have begun to
study them ， , and an appreciation of Harriot’s contribution started to grow in the second half of the
twentieth century. Harriot’s study of refraction is but one example where his work overlapped with
independent studies carried out by others in Europe, but in any historical treatment of optics his
contribution rightfully deserves to be acknowledged.
QUESTION 1-5
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs B-E and G from the list of headings below. Write the
correct number, i-x, next to the paragraphs.
List of Headings
i A misunderstanding in the history of science
ii Thomas Harriot’s biography
iii Unknown reasons for his unpublished works
iv Harriot’s 1588 publication on North America studies
v Expedition to the New World
vi Reluctant cooperation with Kepler
vii Belated appreciation of Harriot’s contribution
viii Religious pressures keeping him from publishing
ix Correspondence with Kepler
x Interests and researches into multiple fields of study
Example Answer
Para A i
1. Paragraph B 2. Paragraph C 3. Paragraph D
4. Paragraph E 5. Paragraph G
QUESTION 6-10
Answer the questions below using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Various modem applications base on an image produced by lens uses refraction, such as 6_____________.
And a spectrum of colors from a beam of light can be produced with 7____________. Harriot travelled to
Virginia and mainly did research which focused on two subjects of American 8_____________. After, he
also enter upon a study of flight dynamics and 9_______________ for one of his friends much ahead of
major European competitor. He undertook extensive other studies which were only noted down personally
yet predated than many other great scientists. One result, for example, corrected the misconception about
the idea of 10____________.
WRITING
PART 1: Rewriting the following sentences.
1. It was the goalkeeper that saved the match for us.
→Had............................................................................................................................................
2. Tim insisted on being told the complete story.
→Nothing .....................................................................................................................................
3. Jane’s husband will be returning from South America quite soon.
→It won’t ..................................................................................................................................... .
4. The permit expires at the end of this month.
→The permit is not .......................................................................................................................
5. I don’t really like her, even though I admire her achievements.
→Much as ....................................................................................................................................
6. As an antidote to their disappointment, he bought them ice-cream. (OFFSET)
→ .............................................................................................................................................
7. If interest rates are cut, the economic situation may improve. (REDUCTION)
→ .............................................................................................................................................. .
8. I don’t personally care if they come or not. (MATTER)
→ ..............................................................................................................................................
9. Local residents said they were against the new traffic scheme. (DISAPPROVAL)
→ ..............................................................................................................................................
10. Products which seem to lack credibility are not popular. (CALL)
→ ..............................................................................................................................................
___ THE END___