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NAME: ___________________________SURNAME:________________________________
SENIOR FOUR FINAL EXAM Paper 1 “L”
Time allowed: 2 hs
SECTION A: Reading Comprehension
Read the text and circle the correct option, true (T) or false (F).

A Broken Mirror, a Black Cat…Lots of Good Luck?

Nikos thought he was a rational man who did not believe that his luck was in any way changed
by black cats, walking under ladders or opening umbrellas inside the house.
One morning Nikos woke up and walked into the bathroom. As he was shaving, he noticed
that the mirror on the bathroom wall wasn’t straight. He tried to move it but, as soon as he touched it,
the mirror fell and hit the floor. It broke into pieces. ‘Seven years’ bad luck,’ he thought, but he didn´t
believe in that. After that, on his way to work, he saw a black cat running away from him. Later, he
saw a ladder across the pavement. He thought about walking around it, but he walked right
underneath the ladder.
Even though he wasn’t superstitious, he began to worry. He told his friends what had
happened. ‘Something bad will happen to you today!’ they all said. But nothing bad happened to
Nikos all evening. He sat at the café as usual, and everything was normal. `Nikos, come and play
cards for money with us!’ said one of his friends. ‘I’m sure to win!’ Nikos didn’t usually play cards, but
that night he decided to do it and he won. Then he played another game, and he won that one too. He
won quite a lot of money. ‘Go on then, Nikos,’ his friend shouted, ‘use all the money you have won to
buy lottery tickets!’ Nikos felt lucky and went straight to buy the tickets. Later at the café everybody
was watching the draw for the lottery on TV. The first number came out, for the third prize. It was
Nikos’ number. Then the second number was another of Nikos’ tickets and the first prize was Nikos’
number as well. Nikos immediately decided to do everything he had read in a book of superstitions
that would bring him bad luck. Surprisingly, with everything he did, he got luckier and luckier.
One of his friends got worried and told him: ‘Don’t you see that you are becoming
superstitious? You think you are only lucky when you break superstitions.’ The next day, Nikos
stopped breaking superstitions and became a normal man again. Sometimes he was lucky,
sometimes he wasn’t. He had realized that it was his belief in himself that made him lucky, not
superstitions.
Adapted from www.learnenglish.britishcouncil.org

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1. At the beginning of the story, Nikos thought that luck didn´t depend on superstitions. T F only

2. Nikos' friends thought that what had happened to him wouldn’t have an effect on his life. T F 1st
3. Nikos was persuaded to buy lottery tickets. T F
4. He won all three of the big lottery prizes. T F 2nd

5. Talking to a friend helped Nikos stop breaking superstitions. T F

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SECTION B: Language in Use

R
I) Choose the best option.

1. Susan apologised_______not arriving on time.

a) in b) about c) for
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2. Diving is _______an amazing experience. Everybody should try it at least once. only
a) so b) such c) most
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3. When I heard that you were getting married I was_______amazed. Congratulations!
a) absolutely b) too c) very
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4. I taught _______Italian watching films and TV programmes.
a) oneself b) me c)myself
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5. I don´t mind_______up, if you cook tonight.
a) do b) washing c) to do
R
II) Put the verbs in brackets in the correct form. Use modals if necessary.
Acupuncture
“If all the medicine in the world were thrown into the sea, it (1) _____________ (be) bad for the fish and
good for humanity”, said OW Holmes, Professor of Medicine at Harvard University.
Acupuncture is a treatment for pain and illness. Thin needles (2) _____________ (place) just under
the surface of the skin at special nerve centres around the body.
A significant event in the history of acupuncture (3) _____________(happen) in 1971, when a journalist
was on a work trip and his appendix (4) _____________ (remove) in China. Doctors used acupuncture
to reduce the pain of the operation, which greatly impressed the journalist.
Alternative medicine (5) _____________ (become) much more popular in the West in recent years. It
(6) _____________ (seem) that people are currently worried about the side effects of drugs, and
(7)_____________(turn) to treatments such as homeopathy, osteopathy, yoga, reflexology and
acupuncture to complement, or sometimes replace, Western medicine. AACI use
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Experimenting with acupuncture if one (8) ____________(fight) injury pain is common among
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sportspeople. Famous football players (9) _____________(wear) acupuncture needles in their ears
during the last football World Cup.
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The Queen of the United Kingdom is also interested in acupuncture, although she
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(10) _____________(not use) the treatment herself – she and many of her family members rely on
another alternative medical treatment, homeopathy, to keep them healthy. R

Finally, if you do decide to visit an acupuncturist, it is important that you check that they are qualified
and registered to practise acupuncture.
Adapted from www learnenglish.britishcouncil.org.

III) Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence. You
must use the WORD GIVEN and cannot change it.

1. My friend said “why don´t we have dinner out tonight?” INVITED

My friend __________________________________________________________________that night.
2. I forgot to buy my mother a birthday present. I feel sorry about that. SHOULD
I __________________________________________________________________a birthday present.
3. Mary had an argument with her boss, but she didn´t resign. DESPITE
____________________________________________________________________________ resign.
4. The music was very loud. We couldn’t have a conversation without shouting. SO
The music____________________________________________________________without shouting.
5. The government is building new railway stations to connect cities. BUILT
New railway stations_________________________________________________________________.
6. Allen scored three goals in the first game. He was the only player to perform well. WHO
Allen_____________________________________________________________________________.
7. We didn’t win the competition, so we didn´t get the free trip to Moscow. HAD AACI use
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If we_____________________________________________________________________to Moscow.
8. A painter is painting our house next week. HAVING 1st

We______________________________________________________________________next week.
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9. The economy will probably recover after the long recession. LIKELY
The economy____________________________________________________after the long recession. 3rd

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10. When I was younger, the shops were less crowded. USED
The shops_________________________________________________________when I was younger.

SECTION C: Writing

Choose ONE of the following and write 100-120 words.

a) You have decided to enter a short story competition. The competition rules say that the story must
start with the following words: “In my phone there was a picture of me asleep. I live alone.”
Write your narrative.

b) The local newspaper has organised a writing contest which you decided to enter. Write an article
about the following statement: Failure is Part of Success. Do you agree?

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