Gold Experience B1+ Progress test 6

Name Class

Grammar
1 Complete the text with the past simple or past perfect simple form of the verbs in
brackets.

The Mystery of King Richard III

Richard III was a king of England. He became king in 1483, but he 1) died (die) just two years later at
the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. After his death, no one knew exactly what 2) ________________
(happen) to his body, and this situation continued until 2013 when archaeologists
3) ________________ (find) a skeleton under a car park in the city of Leicester, a place quite near to
the place where the king 4) ________________ (die). After scientists had finished their investigations,
they 5) ________________ (announce) that it was probably the body of the missing king. Finally, DNA
testing of a known living descendant of the king showed that the scientists were right and they
6) ________________ (solve) the mystery which had begun more than four hundred years ago.

2 Rewrite the sentences using the words given. Use between two and five words, including
the word given.
1 There is no other mountain in the UK higher than Ben Nevis.
THE
Ben Nevis is the highest mountain in the UK.
2 I wasn’t very interested in studying history until I went to a fantastic museum.
MUCH
I was ________________________________ in studying history after I went to a fantastic
museum.
3 I don’t think that studying art is as useful as studying history.

LESS

I think studying art ________________________________ than studying history.

4 My brother learns things faster than I do.

SLOWLY

I learn things ________________________________ my brother does.

GOLD EXPERIENCE B1+ PHOTOCOPIABLE © 2015 Pearson Education Ltd. 1

 5 The old castle looked small, but it was bigger than we had imagined.

AS

The old castle ________________________________ as we had imagined.

6 I had never had a better friend than Isobel.

THE

Isabel was ________________________________ had ever had.

10

Vocabulary
3 Choose the correct answers.
1 It’s difficult to work out/work through the exact date of a fossil.
2 I don’t often come up with/come across dinosaurs in my everyday life!
3 She had a lump in her throat/spine when she told them the sad news.
4 The cat’s sharp claws/wings scratched her leg.
5 Your terrible singing is really breathing/getting on my nerves!
6 We set out/set up early on our trip to the museum, so we would have lots of time.

4 Complete each space with one adjective only. The first and last letters are given to help
you.

An exciting performance
The most exciting thing I ever saw was a performance by some acrobats, who did 1) amazing tricks
which looked absolutely 2) t________g – I was afraid they would hurt themselves! Their routines were
very 3) c________d, as they twisted and turned through a number of very fast movements. It was
4) f________g to watch and very entertaining. All the audience loved it and the applause at the end was
5) d________g! I couldn’t hear myself clap because it was so loud! It was 6) w________l and I’ll never
forget it.

GOLD EXPERIENCE B1+ PHOTOCOPIABLE © 2015 Pearson Education Ltd. 2

 Listening
5 Listen and complete the sentences with one word in each space.
1 When Christi first visited the Arctic, she noticed the ________ first.

2 Christi uses the word ________ to describe the Arctic light in winter.

3 Christi wished she had taken some ________ with her on her first trip.

4 Christi warns everyone not to leave any ________ when they are away from the hotel.

5 In Christi’s opinion, the Northern Lights look like ________ because of the way they move.

10

Reading
6 Read the extract from a story and choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D).

The locked room

The door was slightly open. It had never been like that before. Every time I’d visited my grandfather’s
scary old house in the country, that door on the top floor had been shut and locked. When I asked him
about it, he always said something like ‘Nothing in there for you boy – forget it.’ But boys never forget
locked doors and I didn’t!
Then last month my grandfather had to go to hospital and Mum took me round to do some cleaning and
tidying. While she was clearing out some cupboards in the kitchen, I sneaked upstairs to have another
look at the mysterious locked room. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The door was slightly open.
I put my hand softly on the door. Should I go in? I could almost hear my grandfather’s voice saying
sternly, ‘No you don’t boy!’ But I couldn’t resist. I pushed the old wooden door and it opened. I
expected it to creak like old doors do in horror films, but it didn’t. It opened easily, without a sound and
I stepped into the dark room. My heart was thumping and I looked round. I had no idea what was in
there and why my grandfather had always kept it locked.
There was a little light coming through the window, but it was late afternoon in winter so it wasn’t very
bright. But it was enough to see round and I didn’t need to use my torch. It was like stepping back into
the past. It was decorated in the style of a hundred years ago. The rest of my grandfather’s house was
very modern with bright, light furniture that Mum had helped him choose. In here all the furniture was
heavy and old. There was an enormous wardrobe that was taller than my dad and the bed was huge with
an old-fashioned cover on it. But the strangest thing about the room was that it wasn’t dirty and dusty. It
was clean and I had the feeling that someone lived there. There was an empty plate on the table with
half an apple on it. And there was an open book on the bed. Suddenly I got goose bumps on my arms. I
could smell cigarette smoke!
Then something caught my eye. I turned quickly. My grandfather’s face was staring at me. My mouth
went dry but then I realised it was just a painting on the wall. But whose room was it? And why was it
always locked?

GOLD EXPERIENCE B1+ PHOTOCOPIABLE © 2015 Pearson Education Ltd. 3

 1 Why hadn’t he gone into the room before?
A his grandfather had told him not to
B it was always locked
C he wasn’t brave enough
D he always obeyed his mum
2 What is the boy’s first reaction when he sees the open door?
A fear
B surprise
C curiosity
D excitement
3 Why wasn’t there much light in the room?
A because there were thick curtains at the window
B there was no electricity in the room
C it was late in the day
D he had forgotten his torch
4 What does ‘It’ refer to the following line? It was like stepping back into the past.
A the other furniture in his grandfather’s house
B being in the locked room
C the lack of light in the room
D worrying about what was in the room
5 What did the boy find unusual about the room?
A no one had cleaned it for a long time
B there was a pack of cigarettes on the plate
C the furniture was very old-fashioned
D someone had been in there recently

10

GOLD EXPERIENCE B1+ PHOTOCOPIABLE © 2015 Pearson Education Ltd. 4

 Writing
7 Complete each sentence with one word only.
1 ________ first I didn’t understand what was happening.

2 ________ the afternoon the weather stayed cold and misty.

3 After a ________ I noticed an old woman who was looking at me strangely.

4 A ________ minutes later my phone rang and it was my sister.

5 ________ that week I heard that the police had arrested a thin man with a gold necklace.

Total: 50

Optional writing task

8 You see this notice in a teen magazine. Write your story in 140–190 words.
See your story published in next month’s magazine. Your story must begin with the words:
I opened the old book that I had found on the bench and inside there was a letter.
Your story must include:
 a map
 some jewellery

25

GOLD EXPERIENCE B1+ PHOTOCOPIABLE © 2015 Pearson Education Ltd. 5