Academic Year: 2022-2023

Class: TP/IC2_ESTP Instructor: TOURE Issa

Test 1
Course ID: English for Public Works (Engineers) October 26, 2022
Student’s full name: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Timing: 120 minutes

A. Choose the correct answer. (4.5 pts)

Overland transport in the United States was still extremely primitive in 1790. Roads were few and short,
usually extending from inland communities to the nearest river town or seaport. Nearly all interstate commerce
was carried out by sailing ships that served the bays and harbors of the seaboard. Yet, in 1790 the nation was on
the threshold of a new era of road development. Unable to finance road construction, states turned for help to
private companies, organized by merchants and land speculators who had a personal interest in improved
communications with the interior. The pioneer in this move was the state of Pennsylvania, which chartered a
company in 1792 to construct a turnpike, a road for the use of which a toll, or payment, is collected, from
Philadelphia to Lancaster. The legislature gave the company the authority to erect tollgates at points along the
road where payment would be collected, though it carefully regulated the rates. (The states had unquestioned
authority to regulate private business in this period.)
The company built a gravel road within two years, and the success of the Lancaster Pike encouraged
imitation. Northern states generally relied on private companies to build their toll roads, but Virginia
constructed a network at public expense. Such was the road building fever that by 1810 New York alone had
some 1,500 miles of turnpikes extending from the Atlantic to Lake Erie.
Transportation on these early turnpikes consisted of freight carrier wagons and passenger stagecoaches.
The most common road freight carrier was the Conestoga wagon, a vehicle developed in the mid-eighteenth
century by German immigrants in the area around Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It featured large, broad wheels able
to negotiate all but the deepest ruts and holes, and its round bottom prevented the freight from shifting on a hill.
Covered with canvas and drawn by four to six horses, the Conestoga wagon rivaled the log cabin as the primary
symbol of the frontier. Passengers traveled in a variety of stagecoaches, the most common of which had four
benches, each holding three persons. It was only a platform on wheels, with no springs; slender poles held up
the top, and leather curtains kept out dust and rain.
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 1. Paragraph 1 discusses early road building in the United States mainly in terms of the
(A) popularity of turnpikes (B) financing of new roads
(C) development of the interior (D) laws governing road use
2. The word "primitive" is closest in meaning to
(A) unsafe (B) unknown
(C) inexpensive (D) undeveloped
3. In 1790 most roads connected towns in the interior of the country with
(A) other inland communities (B) towns in other states
(C) river towns or seaports (D) construction sites
4. The phrase "on the threshold of" is closest in meaning to
(A) in need of (B) in place of
(C) at the start of (D) with the purpose of
5. According to the passage, why did states want private companies to help with road building?
(A) The states could not afford to build roads themselves.
(B) The states were not as well equipped as private companies.
(C) Private companies could complete roads faster than the states.
(D) Private companies had greater knowledge of the interior.
6. The word "it" in ‘though it carefully regulated’ refers to
(A) legislature (B) company
(C) authority (D) payment
7. The word "imitation" is closest in meaning to
(A) investment (B) suggestion
(C) increasing (D) copying
8. Virginia is mentioned as an example of a state that
(A) built roads without tollgates (B) built roads with government money
(C) completed 1,500 miles of turnpikes in one yea
(D) introduced new law restricting road use
9. The "large, broad wheels" of the Conestoga wagon are mentioned an example of a feature of
wagons that was
(A) unusual in mid-eighteenth-century vehicles
(B) first found in Germany
(C) effective on roads with uneven surfaces
(D) responsible for frequent damage to freight
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 B. Choose the word or phrase that most appropriately completes the sentence. (5.5 pts)

1. The movie The Lost Weekend is really _______ seeing.

a. worthy b. worthwhile c. worth it d. worth
2. The investment company was accused _______ to take all the money.
a. to try b. for trying c. that they tried d. of trying
3. Ann will be amazed _______ how fast her grandson has grown.
a. that b. at c. for d. in
4. _______, we didn’t need to meet the applicant after seeing her resume.
a. It suffices saying b. Suffice it to say c. To say suffices it d. To suffice it
5. The fisherman wanted to free the dolphin without letting the fish _______ away.
a. getting b. to get c. get d. gets
6. _______ economists’ predictions, the stock market still has not recovered.
a. Although b. Despite c. Regardless d. On the contrary
7. An inspiring mentor, Dr. Higgins _______ the best in his interns.
a. brings across b. brings up c. brings over d. brings out
8. _______ the difficulty of the material, the teacher took extra time teaching it to her students.
a. Because recognizing b. By recognizing c. Recognizing d. To recognize
9. What qualifications _______ in order to become president?
a. must someone have b. must have someone c. someone must have d. have someone
10. We will have to be very efficient during our meeting;
I have an appointment this afternoon, so _______eleven thirty.
a. we’ll finish up to b. we’ll have to finish by c. we should finish until d. we could have finished at
11. The towers of the new bridge are fifty-six meters _______the old one.
a. as high as those of b. as high as c. higher than of d. higher than those of

C. Most of these sentences have a mistake in them. Write TRUE (T) or FALSE (F). (5 pts)

1. We're late because they're re-surfacing the motorway and the traffics are terrible.

2. I think it's a pity Rebecca had her hairs cut short because she looked much more attractive before.

3. Fortunately, the check-up was less unpleasant experience than I had expected.

4. Bread are expensive in the grocery store on the corner.

5. George had good luck when he first came to State University.

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 D. Present Simple or Present Continuous? Fill in the gaps with the correct form of the verbs in
brackets. (5 pts)

1. This workshop ……………… (take place) in the Art Gallery every Wednesday from 10am-12pm.

2. The whole team ………………………… (perform) well at the moment. I believe they will win.

3. In the UK students ………………………………… (enter) law undergraduate degree programmes

immediately after high school.

4. Natural gas spot prices ………………………………… (fall) as a result of relatively warm weather in
much of the U.S.

5. Green plants ……………………… (consume) carbon dioxide and………………… (release) oxygen

under the influence of light.

6. What …………………………… (you/do)? I ………………………… (try) to write an essay.

7. Please be quiet! I ………………………………… (want) to watch the game.

8. The company ………………………… (operate) a wide range of cultural sightseeing every year.

9. My parents ………………………………… (sail) around western Italy this summer, and probably
won't be back until late September.

10. Paula is busy right now. She ……………………………… (talk) on the phone with her dad.
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