Skills Test 3A*

3 Listen again. Choose the correct

Listening
Track 5
1 Listen to a talk about asteroids.
Are the sentences true (T) or false
(F)?
1 Asteroids are small stars.
2 Some asteroids are made of
metal.
3 Our solar system is 45 billion
years old.
4 There are millions of asteroids in
the solar system.
5 Ceres is a large planet.
6 Some asteroids have the same
orbit as Mars.
7 It is possible that asteroids were
created when the Moon crashed
into the Earth.
8 Many kinds of animals
disappeared 65 million years
ago.
9 In 1989 a large asteroid nearly hit
Earth.
10 Scientists know that thousands of
very large asteroids will hit Earth
in the next million years.
options.
1 The taxes of King Charles I were
fair / unpopular.
2 When the civil war ended,
Charles I came out of prison /
was executed.
3 Cromwell closed all the shops /
theatres in England.
4 People were not allowed to play
any / most sports.
5 People were not allowed to have
food / decorations at Christmas.
6 The new king arrived from
France / Holland.
___/6 marks
Reading
Text 1
4 Read the blog and answer the
questions.
1 What kind of party did Cherry
throw?
2 Who was Cherry dressed as?

___/10 marks 3 What did the guests have to

drink?

Track 6 4 Did the guests dance?

2 Listen to a talk about Oliver
Cromwell. Complete the sentences 5 What gifts did the guests receive
with numbers. Use one number in when the party ended?
each gap.
1 England didn’t have a royal ruler
years ago. ___/5 marks
2 Oliver Cromwell became a
politician at the age of . 5 Read the blog again. Choose the
3 The English Civil War started in correct answers.
. 1 The guests received an invitation
4 Cromwell died in . weeks before Cherry’s party.
a four b six
___/4 marks 2 The food for the party was made
by .
a Cherry’s mum
b Cherry and her mum
3 When the writer gets bored at a
party, she .
a makes an excuse and leaves
b stands around
4 What did Myrtle win?
a a telescope
b a treasure chest
5 In the blogger’s opinion, the main
reason Cherry’s party was
successful was because
a the guests were given gifts
b she had planned it properly
___/5 marks
Text 2
6 Read the article. Match the
headings (A–G) to the paragraphs
(1–7).
A Don’t waste time wishing for
things you can’t have
B How important is money?
C Look after your health
D People don’t always do the right
.
thing
E Learn all the time
F Life isn’t always good
G You are not the only important
person in the world

Last weekend, my friend Cherry threw a party. We ___/7 marks

all received our invitations in the middle of May.
‘Come to my party on 30th June,’ the invitation
said. ‘Don’t wear a dress or jacket and tie. It will be
a fancy dress party with a pirate theme.’
7 Read the article again. Complete
the sentences. Use one word in
When we arrived, Blackbeard the pirate greeted us each gap.
at the door. It was Cherry, of course, in her
costume. Then she showed us the way to the 1 The article is about the things
garden. It looked amazing! She had made hundreds
of pirate flags, and she had hung them from the
a(n) should do.
trees. She had painted old wooden boxes to look 2 If our dreams aren’t realistic, they
like treasure chests and put them on the patio probably won’t come
instead of chairs. There was a table with fruit juice .
in jugs, and Cherry’s mum – with help from Cherry 3 The writer thinks that
– had spent hours making delicious sandwiches,
doesn’t end when
pies, salads and a curry. There was ice cream and
even a cake with a pirate ship on it. people graduate from school or
university.
Lots of parties aren’t planned properly. People
stand around and wait for something to happen, but ___/3 marks
nothing ever does; they sit on sofas and chat; some,
like me, make an excuse to leave early. But this
party was different. Cherry’s brother had prepared
a great playlist, and it was perfect for dancing. But Being an adult
the best part was the treasure hunt. Cherry’s dad
had hidden a ‘treasure’ in the house and we had to 1

find it. We were given pieces of paper with the first
clue. There were ten clues and the last one was a
map with the ‘treasure’ marked on it. I didn’t find it
– a girl called Myrtle was the lucky one – but we
had a lot of fun looking for it. And guess what! The
‘treasure’ was a telescope!
When you are a child, you’re the most important
person in the world to your parents. They do
everything for you, so it usually takes many years
to realise that other people are important, too.
Some people never learn this simple truth – but real
adults do.

The party ended at midnight. Cherry’s mum 2

switched off the lights and we were in the dark for
a minute. When she switched them back on, she
had a treasure chest full of chocolate ‘money’ for
us.
I’ll never forget this party. It was incredible and I
had the time of my life.
Everyone makes mistakes, but when things go
wrong, real adults don’t lie about what happened.
They don’t blame someone else and they don’t
make excuses. They aren’t afraid or too proud to
apologise for their mistakes and try and learn from
them.
3
Dear Sir/1
Dreams can come true, but real adults know these
dreams must be realistic. If you’re 1.50 metres tall, Photographer’s 2
you can’t be a professional basketball player. But
sometimes it doesn’t matter if you’re only 1.50
metres. Can you make things? Then maybe you can I was very 3 to see your
be a good carpenter. Are you good with animals? advertisement in The Herald on Friday.
Then maybe you can be a vet. Adults work hard for I am writing to 4 for the 5
the things they have. as a photographer’s assistant. I have
6
4 been interested in wildlife
Real adults look after themselves. They know they photography and for years it has been
should eat their vegetables, exercise regularly and my 7 to go to Africa. If I travelled
get eight hours of sleep every night. They also to Kenya with your team, I would see
know that it’s all right to eat sweets, drink cokes animals in their natural habitat, and I
and stay up all night – occasionally.
would love that.
5
8
Real adults understand about money. They know I came to Africa, I would be a
they can’t go to the supermarket without it, they very 9 member of the team. I
can’t buy a house or clothes or holidays. They also am fit, hardworking and enthusiastic
know that although some money is necessary for a
good life, making money should not be our goal in and I learn quickly. My favourite
10
life. are photography and bird-
watching, so I already have some
6 11
of taking photographs out of
Real adults know that education is important. They doors. I have never photographed very
also understand that education is not only what
happens at school or university. It happens all large wild animals, but I 12 new
through life. They know that they can get one in skills quickly.
many ways: from books, the internet, other people,
life, the mistakes they make, travelling, from I very much 13 that you will
thinking a little every day. choose me for your team. I look
7 forward to 14 from you.
Real adults know that sometimes life is boring and
occasionally it’s exciting. It isn’t always happy and Yours 15 ,
it isn’t always sad. Sometimes they must do things
that they don’t want to do. At other times they are Peter Johnson
free to do anything they want. They know that
good and bad things happen, but they also know
that all things pass. ___/15 marks

9 Read the job advert and write a

Writing letter of application.
8 Complete the application letter Doctor needed for expedition to rainforest
with the words in the box. We are looking for a doctor to join our team on an
always apply expedition to the Costa Rica rainforest. We are
going to look for new kinds of plants and animals.
assistant dream
experience faithfully
hearing hobbies hope ___/15 marks
if interested job
learn madam useful Total: ___/70 marks