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READING COMPREHENSION
FINAL TEST
YEAR 2021-22

25 minutes

Task 1 Darcey Bussell

Most people in the UK know Darcey Bussell today because she was a judge on the popular TV dance
programme, 1Strictly Come Dancing. But she was also a very talented ballet dancer.

She was born in London in April in 1969 to an Australian father and a British mother. She lived in London
with her family. Her parents separated when she was just three years old and her father moved back to
Australia. Darcey got married in 1997 and the family moved to Australia in 2008 but returned in 2012. These
days, she lives in London with her husband and two daughters.

When Darcey started ballet, she was five years old and at first found it boring. She said she spent a lot of the
lesson time lying under the piano. But she started to enjoy it and went to many different London dance
schools in her teenage years. When Darcey was still at school, a choreographer, Kenneth Macmillan, saw
her. He thought her skill was brilliant and gave her a leading role in his ballet. After this performance, she
joined the Royal Ballet and became principal dancer there when she was very young. She was only 20 years
old! In her 20-year career, she played 80 different roles like Princess Aurora in Sleeping Beauty and the
Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker.

So she can dance. But she can also do other things. Many famous photographers took pictures of her for
magazines like Vogue and Vanity Fair. In 2009, she joined Strictly Come Dancing. People saw her when they
watched TV on Saturday nights. She wasn’t only famous for people who liked ballet. Now millions of people
all over the world knew her. Her writing started in 2008 with a series called Magic Ballerina. The books are
about a young girl who finds out that her shoes have magic powers. In 3 years, 23 different Magic Ballerina
books were published.

Task 2 Spending Time with Family

When I was a child, I loved doing so many things. I played the trumpet, spent time with my friends, did my
boring homework and still had time to watch TV. We ate dinner as a family around the table at 6 o’clock
when my dad got home from work and sometimes played a board game before bed. We didn’t often go on
holiday and this was OK. It wasn’t easy to find the money for a five-person family to go on a beach holiday in
Spain. When we were lucky, it was a camping holiday in England. But this wasn’t great when it rained.

Now I’m a teacher with a family. I’ve got three lovely children. We are always busy. I enjoy spending time
with them but this is difficult to find. I teach all day and mark homework all night. At weekends if I’m lucky, I
buy the newspaper or buy myself and the children some new T-shirts or school shoes when we’re at the
supermarket. We can go on beach holidays every year. Buying flight tickets and booking hotels online are
cheap and easy, not like it was 20 years ago. And we have a great time. The weather is usually amazing and
we play tennis, jump in the sea with a snorkel or go sightseeing.

The difference between now and then is this. I was happy in the past and that’s the same now. But now,
because many parents spend 8 hours a day working, family time is short – the time we relax all together is
great, but it’s usually just two weeks a year. In my childhood, life was simple but there was more
communication every day. When I can I try to get everyone around the table for a game. It’s difficult to do,
but it’s a lot of fun when you can!
 READING COMPREHENSION
FINAL TEST
YEAR 2021-22

NAME GROUP

25 minutes
TASK 1
Read the article Darcey Bussell. Then complete the sentences with a word from the article.
An example (0) has been done for you. (5x1 points)

0
Darcey Bussell was a _______on Strictly Come Dancing.
1 She was only_____ when her parents separated.

2 Darcy lived in _____ for four years.

3 She thought ballet was _____ when she started to dance.

4 Kenneth Macmillan loved her _____ as a dancer.

5 She became more _____ because of Strictly Come Dancing.

Task 1 EXAMPLE 0
Darcey 1 2 3 4 5
Bussell
Answers judge

Teacher ✔

TASK 2
Read the blog post Spending Time with Family. Match the questions (1–5) to the answers
(a–f). An example (0) has been done for you. (5x1 points)
0 How many members there are in the family c a three
1 How many years ago plane tickets were expensive b eight
2 How many hours mums and dads work every day c five
3 The time the family ate in the evening d two
4 How many children the writer has e six
5 How many weeks the family goes on holiday for f 20

Task 2 EXAMPLE 0 1 2 3 4 5
Spending Time with Family
c
Answer
✓
Teacher
 LISTENING COMPREHENSION
FINAL TEST
YEAR 2021-22

NAME GROUP

TASK 1
Listen to the conversation and decide whether the statements (1–5) are true (T) or false (F).
Underline the correct answer. An example (0) has been done for you. You will hear the recording twice.
You now have 1 minute and 30 seconds to read the items. (5x1 points)

STATEMENTS TEACHE
T F
R
EXAMPLE
✓
0. Erica can’t meet tonight because she has a concert. X

1. Erica’s grandfather is having a birthday party on Saturday.

2. The new Italian restaurant is near the station.

3. The restaurant is usually busy on Saturdays.

4. Matteo isn’t going to buy the expensive tickets.

5. Giulia can’t come because she is going skiing on Saturday

TASK 2
Listen to five people talking about their memories of school trips. Match each speaker (1–5) with
what they say (a–f). An example has been done for you. You will hear the recording twice. You now
have 1 minute and 30 seconds to read the items. (5x1 points)
This person
a was happy because the weather was great. 1 Sandy __
b enjoyed doing things the other people didn’t. 2 Ben __
c has got bad memories of the bus trip. 3 Matilda __ and f
d has got a favourite picture from the trip. 4 Will __
e wanted to go home after the first night. 5 Marta __
f spent a lot of time inside.
0 1 2 3 4 5
School trips Sandy Ben Matilda Will Marta
EXAMPLE
f
Answer
✓
Teacher