Name _______________________________________

C1 Progress Test 1B Units 1–3

1  Listen to a man giving a talk to some students 3 Read the sentences for describing a graph and
about different methods of finding your way choose the option a–c which does not fit in the
around an unfamiliar city. Decide if the sentence.
statements are true or false according to what
the speaker says. 1 A recent study _____ that more people than ever
prefer to shop online.
1 Certain methods of finding your way are clearly a showed
superior to others. TRUE / FALSE b demonstrated
2 The bearing method usually involves using a target c noticed
visible from the start of a journey. TRUE / FALSE 2 Numbers _____ steadily during the first quarter of
3 Building separate sections of a journey together is the year, reaching a high of 45,000 in March.
the key to the path integration method. TRUE / a rose
FALSE b decreased
4 Path integration places more demands on the c went up
memory than route following. TRUE / FALSE 3 During the second quarter of the year, the figures
5 During navigation, the human brain doesn’t use _____ and continued to remain steady in the third
images that are unimportant. TRUE / FALSE quarter.
a grew
2 points for each correct answer 10 b stabilized
c levelled off
2  Listen again. Complete the sentences with one
4 The number of online shoppers has _____ over the
word in each gap.
past six months and has, in fact, never been as high.
1 Passers-by may use __________ ways of giving a doubled
you the information you require. b halved
2 Path integration relies on remembering the c trebled
__________ direction in which you’ve been 5 _____, the number of visitors to the store has been
travelling. dropping steadily over the last year.
3 Checking stored information against newly a By contrast
collected environmental __________ is part of path b Comparing to
integration. c However
4 Route following may involve retracing your route
1 point for each correct answer 5
in order to reach a __________ location.
5 During navigation, our brains gather __________
of particular places and remember how they are
connected.

2 points for each correct answer 10

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Name _______________________________________

C1 Progress Test 1B Units 1–3

4 Read the article about multitasking from a what they’d expect if they had been taking excessive
business magazine. amounts of medication. IQ drops of fifteen points for
multitasking men lowered their scores to the average
Multitasking range of a child under ten years old.
As you’re on the phone dealing with an urgent enquiry, It has long been believed that damage to the brain as a
you’re processing the notes you took during your last result of multitasking was temporary, but new research
phone call and at the same time you’re speaking to suggests otherwise. Researchers at the University of
another colleague who’s just stopped by your desk to Sussex in the UK compared the amount of time people
check something with you. If this scenario sounds spend on multiple devices (such as sending text
familiar, then you’re just one of many people who feel messages while watching TV) to scans of their brains.
they are improving their productivity by multitasking – They found that high multitaskers had less brain
doing several things at once – to some degree. And in density in the region of the brain responsible for
our increasingly busy world, people who demonstrate sympathy and understanding, as well as cognitive and
the ability to multitask are considered to be both emotional control, suggesting that irreparable damage
organized and competent. But are we really more had been done.
effective when we do more than one thing at a time?
In the workplace, even if multitasking doesn’t seem to
Several studies have been carried out on the effects of be having a negative effect on your brain, it will add to
multitasking, with one of the most famous being any existing difficulties you have with concentration,
research conducted at Stanford University in the US. organization and attention to detail. Multitasking in
The common findings of these studies is that the meetings, for instance, and other social settings can
human brain is not designed to multitask well. Not indicate low social and self-awareness, two emotional
only does it affect personal performance, it may even intelligence (EQ) skills that are critical to success at
damage your brain, according to one study. work. If multitasking does indeed damage that part of
In their study, the Stanford researchers compared the brain responsible for emotional control, as current
groups of people based on the degree to which they research suggests, it will lower your EQ in the process.
tended to multitask and their beliefs that multitasking So every time you multitask you aren’t just harming
helps their performance. They found that ‘heavy your performance in the moment, you may very well
multitaskers’ – those who multitask a lot and feel that be damaging an area of your brain that’s critical to
it boosts their performance – were actually worse at your future success at work.
multitasking than those who prefer to do a single thing Keeping a check on your tendency to multitask could
at one time. The frequent multitaskers performed have welcome benefits. You’ll probably find that you
worse in the assigned tasks because they had more achieve more, have less stress and have more energy.
trouble organizing their thoughts and filtering out So what should people who are inclined to multitask
irrelevant information and were slower at switching do? Well, to put it simply, it’s important to stop. Plan
from one task to another. The study found that your day in such a way that you have blocks of time
multitasking reduces your efficiency and performance for various tasks. Minimize and manage your
because your brain can only focus on one thing at a interruptions, and aim to improve your concentration
time. When you try to do two things at once, your skills. You should see the benefits both mentally and
brain lacks the capacity to perform both tasks physically, both at home and at work.
successfully.
Research also shows that, in addition to slowing you
down, multitasking lowers your IQ. The Stanford
study found that participants who multitasked during
cognitive tasks – tasks which required a lot of thought
– experienced IQ score declines that were similar to

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Name _______________________________________

C1 Progress Test 1B Units 1–3

Complete each sentence with one word from the 6 Each of the sentences contains one mistake.
article. The word must appear in the article. Underline the mistake and write the correct
word(s).
1 A lot of people believe that they are increasing their
__________ by multitasking. EXAMPLE:
2 Researchers at Stanford found that multitaskers
Try to reduce any mental activity just before
have difficulty thinking clearly and deciding which
bedtime; there are enormous benefits to trying so.
__________ is relevant.
3 The Stanford study has also shown that the human doing
brain does not have the __________ to successfully 1 Unfortunately, our new neighbours are something
focus on multiple tasks. like as friendly as our old ones were.
4 Multitasking during a work meeting can indicate a ____________________
decreased level of both personal and __________ 2 Igor has been walking around the city centre for
awareness. ages before he finally found the shop he was
5 Making a conscious effort to eliminate multitasking looking for. ____________________
may result in people experiencing higher levels of 3 By the end of next month, I have lived here for
energy and reduced __________. twenty-five years. ____________________
4 Has anyone heard of the marketing team? They
2 points for each correct answer 10
were supposed to get back to us this morning.
5 Read the article again and decide if the ____________________
statements match the opinion of the writer. 5 Aliona admitted she wasn’t keen on the film, but in
Choose ‘yes’ or ‘no’. If no information is given the same sentence she also says that she enjoyed the
in the article, choose ‘not given’. book it was based on. ____________________
6 Georgia is hoping to have completing the
1 The Stanford researchers found no difference renovations to her home by the end of the year.
between the performance of people who regularly ____________________
multitasked and those who did not. YES / NO / 7 Unfortunately, the new design isn’t ready yet. In
NOT GIVEN fact, the designers aren’t making a start on it yet.
2 Multitasking reduces the female IQ to a lesser ____________________
extent than the male IQ. YES / NO / NOT GIVEN 8 Our neighbour says she’s never met anyone as
3 Multitasking affects the area of the brain that talkative as my sister, and, quite frankly, neither
manages the way we deal with our emotions. YES / had I. ____________________
NO / NOT GIVEN 9 The telephone, what is considered to be one of the
4 Emotional intelligence is key to getting ahead in the greatest ever inventions, was invented by a Scottish
workplace. YES / NO / NOT GIVEN man. ____________________
5 To prevent the temptation to multitask, people 10 I’m at two minds as to what to cook for the dinner
should review their schedule of work several times I’m holding this evening. ____________________
a day. YES / NO / NOT GIVEN
1 point for each correct answer 10
2 points for each correct answer 10

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C1 Progress Test 1B Units 1–3

7 Choose the best option a–c to complete the 8 Despite trying hard to complete the marathon,
sentences. unfortunately in the end the athlete had to _____
and admit defeat.
1 Jake hadn’t planned to join us but he changed his a come off
mind at the very last _____. b work out
a time c give in
b minute 9 After so many successes, nobody could have
c hindsight predicted that the new James Bond movie would
2 Recent changes to the staff benefits package were turn out to be such a _____.
_____ gradually so everyone had time to get used a triumph
to them. b flop
a handled c breakdown
b overcome 10 Don’t try using that drinks machine. It’s _____.
c implemented a on the ball
3 I wouldn’t tell Briony about this development – you b at a loss
know how _____ she is, she’s bound to feel c out of order
strongly about it!
a sophisticated 1 point for each correct answer 10
b feisty
c prestigious
4 We couldn’t believe how stunning the views from
our hotel room were. They were _____ astonishing!
a utterly
b radically
c critically
5 Although the explorers _____ quite a few problems
during their expedition to the Antarctic, they
overcame them all.
a boosted
b tackled
c encountered
6 After arguing with each other, the couple opposite
me sat in total _____ for the rest of the journey.
a noise
b silence
c attention
7 I had high _____ after reading the online reviews of
this restaurant, but quite frankly it’s a
disappointment.
a expectations
b ideas
c morale

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C1 Progress Test 1B Units 1–3

8 You think that more could be done to attract

tourists to your town or city. Write a proposal
for the manager of your local tourist board.

In your proposal:
 state the aim of the proposal
 give background information
 propose ideas
 make recommendations

Write 200–250 words.

15

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Name _______________________________________

C1 Progress Test 1B Units 1–3

SPEAKING

Student A

9 Part 1

You and your partner are having a discussion in

your English class about success and achievement.
Think about a person you know – either personally,
or a well-known person from your country – who
has achieved a lot in their life. Describe their
achievements to your partner. Say:
 who the person is
 why their achievements have been significant
 what difference their achievements have made
to peoples’ lives
Part 2

Ask three questions about the person your partner

describes. You can ask for more details about the
person or achievements they describe, or any other
information that interests you.

20

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Name _______________________________________

C1 Progress Test 1B Units 1–3

SPEAKING

Student B

9 Part 1

Student A will start. Ask three questions about the

person your partner describes. You can ask for
more details about the person or achievements they
describe, or any other information that interests
you.
Part 2

Think about a person you know – either personally,

or a well-known person from your country – who
has achieved a lot in their lives. Describe this
achievement to your partner. Say:
 who the person is
 why their achievements have been significant
 what difference their achievements have made
to peoples’ lives

20

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