PRACTICE TEST 41 (2024)

PART ONE: PHONOLOGY

A. Pick out the word whose bold part is pronounced differently from those of the others.
1. A. heifer B. eight C. sleigh D. feign
2. A. slaughter B. draught C. naughty D. plaudit
3. A. platter B. platoon C. plasma D. planet
4. A. myth B. mystify C. plywood D. dynasty
5. A. use B. dual C. bugle D. duvet
B. Underline the main stressed syllable of the following words.
epidemic, profound, symphony, vegetable, European, photography, terrific, comrade, canal, anatomy
PART TWO: VOCABULARY
A. Choose the word or phrase which best completes each sentence.
1. His personal problems seem to have been.…………..him from his work lately.
A. disrupting B. disturbing C. distracting D. dispersing
2. She said that she.…………..the opportunity to show that she could play a serious film role.
A. greeted B. rejoiced C. welcomed D. cheered
3. Nobody would .………….. any tears if these terrible schemes were abandoned.
A. pour B. leak C. spill D. shed
4. She is so.…………..on getting to the top of her profession that she never lets anything get in her way.
A. willing B. desperate C. eager D. intent
5. What are the main.…………..of this illness?
A. traces B. symptoms C. emblems D. tokens
B. Supply the correct forms of the words given in the parentheses.
1. He was.…………..(decide) thinner than he had been the year before.
2. She has great powers of .…………..(persuade).
3. A doctor needs to be.…………..(perceive) when she questions a patient.
4. .…………..(incident), did you know there was a fire in my neighborhood, too?
5. People who are very.…………..(argue) rarely have many friends.
PART THREE: GRAMMAR AND STRUCTURES
A. Put the verbs into the correct forms.
1. I think that people .…………..(become) tired of the poor quality of television programs, though they .…………..
(improve) lately.
2. I.…………..(consider) buying a house but now I (change) my mind.
3. They admitted to.…………..(be) members of the gang.
4. We regret.…………..(inform) you that your application (turn).…………..down.
5. It is essential that he.…………..(arrive) before six.
6. I’d rather.…………..(live) in Ancient Greece than Ancient Rome.
7. It’s bound.…………..(rain) tomorrow.
B. Fill in each blank with suitable prepositions.
1. This year’s conference coincided.…………..two other major conventions.
2. Is it possible to insure my bike.…………..theft?
3. The problem stems.…………..the government’s lack of action.
4. Being rich doesn’t count.…………..much on a desert island.
5. I pleaded.…………..John to change his mind, but he wouldn’t listen.
6. Peter has fallen.…………..his boss.
7. The play quite lived.…………..my expectations.
8. The thief made.…………..a valuable necklace.
9. Let’s push.…………..and try to reach the coast by tonight.
10. Apparently, a number of army officers were implicated.…………..the plot.
C. Finish each of the following sentences in such a way that it means the same as the given sentence.
1. Just after solving one problem, I was faced with another.
Hardly ………………………………………………………………………………………..
2. It is my impression that she’s enjoying her new job a great deal.
She seems…………………………………………………………………………………….
3. Jack loses his temper easily.
It doesn’t……………………………………………………………………………………...
4. As she hadn’t been there before, America was a whole new experience for her.
Not…………………………………………………………………………………………….
5. Such a ridiculous proposal isn’t worth serious consideration.
There is………………………………………………………………………………………...
D. Rewrite the following sentences using the words given in the parentheses. Please do not alter these words.
1. I was reluctant to make a promise to buy more goods from the same company. (COMMIT)
………………………………………………………………………………………................
2. Everyone who comes to this city notices the beauty of its architecture. (FAILS)
………………………………………………………………………………………................
3. Tina has a habit of upsetting people unintentionally. (INCLINED)
………………………………………………………………………………………................
4. I think you should be tolerant of other people’s weaknesses. (ALLOWANCES)
………………………………………………………………………………………................
5. The meeting was rearranged shortly before it had been due to take place. (NOTICE)
………………………………………………………………………………………................
PART FOUR: READING COMPREHENSION
A. Choose the most suitable word for each space.
Keeping fit and staying healthy have, not surprisingly, become a growth industry. (1) ………….. apart from
the amount of money spent each year on doctors’ (2) ………….. and approved medical treatment, huge sums are now
spent on health foods and (3) …………..of various kinds, from vitamin pills to mineral water, not to (4)
…………..health clubs and keep-fit (5) …………..and videos. We are more concerned than ever, it seems, (6)
…………..the water we drink and the air we breathe, and are smoking less, though not yet drinking less alcohol. This
does not appear to mean that (7) …………..and sneezes have been banished, or that we can all expect to live to a
hundred. To give a personal example, one of my friends, who is a keep-fit (8) …………..a non-smoker and a
teetotaler, and who is very (9) ………….. about what he eats, is at present languishing in bed with a wrist in (10)
…………..and a badly sprained ankle.
1. A. Poles B. Far C. Quite D. So
2. A. prescriptions B. surgeries C. hospitals D. payments
3. A. medications B. cures C. drugs D. remedies
4. A. notice B. mention C. know D. include
5. A. books B. television C. advice D. enthusiasts
6. A. than B. about C. for D. hence
7. A. colds B. coughs C. flu D. fevers
8. A. fanatic B. follower C. fad D. person
9. A. interested B. varied C. detailed D. particular
10. A. crutches B. plaster C. treatment D. danger

B. Read the following passage and choose the correct answers.

The video wave has swept too far. It bears a large responsibility for the declining interest in reading among
the young. If we don’t do something to stem the tide, the reading impulse will soon be drowned.
The time-honored way of improving reading is by reading fiction. Everyone, psychologists tell us, needs
stories. Cavemen told them round their fires. Mythologies and folk stories have been passed between generations for
centuries. Most of us are literate and in theory our fictional needs could be satisfied by reading.
But it’s not so. Today’s generation of average and below average school children rely on video, television and
film. While many of these offerings may be harmless in themselves, they do nothing to build up reading skills. They
arc replacing the consolidarity work which turns halting mechanical reading into the real thing. If some of the hours
children spend watching television were devoted to reading, the population would be better educated.
Watching a story is a totally passive pastime. Someone else has made all the decisions about casting, set,
clothing, facial expressions, tone and so on. Reading a story is an active partnership between writer and reader. Ideas
are sketched and the mind of the reader creates the rest.
 Why is dramatized fiction usurping the written kind? It is because children whose reading is hesitant cannot
readily identify and enjoy the plot. Watching something is easier. This is leading to a generation whose mental
processes are too stultified. The problem is that many children read very slowly. I worry, for instance, about children
who carry the same 100-word book about with them for a fortnight. I meet them daily. They conscientiously decode a
passage or two in a class and about the same again for homework. It is hardly surprising that such children then
declare that they find reading boring and prefer to watch television. Their difficulty is not reading the words - it is
interpreting them. They need to be able to read fast enough to feed the mind’s hunger for a story.
That means practice. Only by reading daily will a child become a strong and independent reader. Parents need
to be convinced of the importance of preventing their children from wasting their hours on inert viewing. Without the
television the child is likely to turn to books for entertainment.
I used to think that filmed version of enjoyable books were a spur to reading. I have changed my mind. Visual
images drown the imagination. A dramatization, seen once, can spoil your reading for ever. Dramatized fiction is the
literary equivalent of empty calories. It replaces the appetite for real food. Children must have a nutritionally
balanced reading diet.
1. What is the writer’s main objection to the “video wave”?
A. It prevents children from learning how to read properly.
B. It fails to provide children with enough good stories.
C. It has replaced the reading of traditional stories.
D. It exposes children to stories that they shouldn’t see.
2. According to the writer, dramatized fiction is different from written fiction because
A. it consists mainly of simpler stories.
B. it concentrates more on action than on character.
C. it does not contain as much detail.
D. it does not require use of the imagination.
3. What tends to put the children off reading fiction, in the writer’s opinion?
A. There arc frequently words in it that they can’t read.
B. They lose interest because of their reading deficiencies.
C. They are often required to do it for homework.
D. The stories they arc given take too long to develop.
4. What has the writer changed her opinion about?
A. The importance for children of reading.
B. The influence of parents on children’s reading.
C. The effect of filmed stories on children.
D. The power of children’s imaginations.
5. What is the purpose of the article?
A. To analyze the differences between dramatized fiction and written fiction.
B. To criticize parents for failing to encourage their children to read.
C. To urge greater concentration on developing children’s reading skills.
D. To encourage children to do more reading than watching television.
THE END

ANSWER KEYS TO T41

PART ONE
A.
1. A 2. B 3. B 4. C 5. D .
B.
epidemic, profound, symphony, vegetable. European, photography, terrific, comrade, canal, anatomy.
PART TWO
A.
l.C 2. C 3. D 4. B 5. B
B.
1. decidedly 2. persuasion 3. perceptive
4. Incidentally 5. argumentative
PART THREE
A.
1. have become, have been improved
2. was considering, have changed
3. being
4. to inform, has been turned
5. arrive (should arrive)
6. have lived
7. to rain
B.
l. with 2. against 3. from 4. for 5. with
6. out with 7. up to 8. off with 9. on 10. in
C.
1. Hardly had I solved one problem when I was faced with another.
2. She seems to be enjoying her new job a great deal.
3. It doesn’t lake Jack long to lose his temper.
4. Not having been to America before, she found it a whole new experience.
5. There is no point in considering such a ridiculous proposal seriously. There is no point in seriously considering
such a ridiculous proposal.
D.
1. I was reluctant to commit myself to buy / buying more goods from the same company.
2. No one who comes to this city fails to notice the beauty of its architecture.
3. Tina is inclined to upset people unintentionally.
4. I think you should make allowances for other people’s weaknesses.
5. The meeting was rearranged at short notice / without much notice.
PART FOUR
A. l. C 2. A 3. D 4. B 5. A
6. B 7. B 8. A 9. D 10. B
B. 1. A 2. D 3. B 4. C 5. C