Practice Test 53

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PRACTICE TEST 53

A. PHONETICS
I. Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from the others’ in each line.
1. A. sanctuary B. casino C. canary D. canon
2. A. tool B. spoon C. foot D. noon
3. A. diarrhea B. pharaoh C. haunter D. hypocrisy
4. A. impetus B. pathetic C. modem D. telepathy
5. A. species B. diligence C. cede D. ancestral
II. Choose the word whose stressed pattern is different from the others’ in each line.
1. A. preface B. huddle C. menace D. transpire
2. A. supplement B. conundrum C. stamina D. synchronize
3. A. epidemic B. preposterous C. catastrophe D. formidable
4. A. contrivance B. perpetual C. asylum D. stipulate
5. A. memorandum B. initiative C. accompany D. peninsular
B. LEXICO- GRAMMAR
Part 1. Choose the best option A, B, C, or D to complete the following sentences and write your 1. He’s never
been sympathetic towards us. That’s why I think even his best wishes to us always ring ______.
A. black B. blue C. hollow D. narrow
2. Do you think they are going to ______ any pressure on us to pay the damages for the broken gate?
A. administer B. implement C. exert D. deploy
3. His laziness at work made him ______ with his workmates.
A. improper B. disliked C. unpopular D. unappealing
4. The taxi drew ______ at the gate promptly at six o’clock.
A. up B. along C. outside D. over
5. After his father’s death, he ______ from Australia to France to find work.
A. transited B. emigrated C. migrated D. went
6. ______ cars usually have special and unique things that the owners wish to have. They are certainly more
expensive.
A. Man-made B. Custom-made C. Well-kept D. Well-dressed
7. Hardly had the van turned round the corner when one of the back wheels ______.
A. broke away B. turned out C. came off D. rolled down
8. No one can visit her because she has a very ______ disease.
A. intoxicating B. contagious C. corporal D. exasperating
9. ______ invisible to the unaided eye, ultraviolet light can be detected in a number of ways.
A. Although is B. Despite C. Even though it D. Although
10. ______ was caused by breathing impure air was once a common belief.
A. Malaria B. That malaria C. Why malaria D. Because malaria
11. Roger Williams was a clergyman, ______ the colony of Rhode Island, and an outspoken advocate of
religious and political freedom.
A. founded B. the founder of C. was the founder of D. the founded
12. ______ at home requires only three types of chemicals, several pieces of simple equipment, and running
water.
A. For the development of film B. To develop film
C. When film is developed D. In developing film
13. The bark of a tree thickens ______.
A. with age B. it gets older C. as older D. by age
14. Widely reproduced in magazines and books, ______.
A. Ansel Adams depicted the Western wilderness in his photographs.
B. the Western wilderness was depicted in the photographs of Ansel Adams.
C. Ansel Adams’ photographs depicted the Western wilderness.
D. it was through his photographs that Ansel Adams depicted the Western wilderness.
15. This new glue is very useful for small repairs as it ______ very rapidly.
A. thickens B. stiffens C. sets D. fixes
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16. Advertisers often aim their campaigns at young people as they have considerable spending ______.
A. power B. force C. energy D. ability
17. We’ve bought some ______ chairs for the garden so that they are easy to store away.
A. adapting B. adjusting C. bending D. folding
18. Alan’s photo was slightly too large for the frame so he decided to ______ it.
A. hack B. chop C. slice D. trim
19. Although the patient received intensive treatment, there was no ______ improvement in her condition.
A. decipherable B. legible C. discernible D. intelligible
20. ______ Roman mythology, the god Jupiter was accepted as the most powerful ruler of the heavens.
A. Like B. For C. With D. In
Part 2: The passage below contains 10 mistakes. Identify the mistakes and write the corrections

FAMILY HISTORY
Line 1
2 In an age which technology is developed faster than ever before, many people are
3 being attracted by the idea of looking back into the past. One way they can make this is by
4 investigating their own family history. They can try to find out more about what their families
5 came from and what they did. This is now a fast-growing hobby, especially in countries with a
6 fairly short history, alike Australia and the United States.
7 It is one thing to spend some time going through a book on family history and taking
8 the decision to investigate your own family past. It is quite another to carry out the research
9 work successfully. It is easy to set about it in a disorganizing way and cause yourself many
10 problems that could have avoided with a little forward planning.
11
12 If your own family stories say you that you are connected with a famous character,
13 whether hero or criminal, not to let this idea take over your research. Just treat it as an
14 interesting possibility. A simple system for collecting and storing your information will be
adequate to start with; a more complex one may only get under your way. The most important
thing, though, is to get started. Who knows what you might find?
Your answers:
Line Mistakes Correction
0 1 which when
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Part 3: Complete each sentence with one suitable particle or preposition. Write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes provided. (1.0pt)
1. Moral and social responsibility should be integrated ______________ every child’s schooling.
2. It’s impossible to attend _____________ a task properly if you’re worrying about something else.
3. Kelly has great confidence ______________ her children’s abilities.
4. It’s a good idea to make notes ______________ what you’re reading if you want to remember it.
5. Unfortunately, many university courses do not provide students ______________ the basic study skills they
really need.
6. Jack took early retirement as he was losing his grip ______________ the job.
7. Apparently, an interest in reading in later life is closely related ______________ how much your parents
read to you as a child.
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8. Ron usually primes himself ______________ plenty of black coffee before starting the night shift.
9. I find it very hard to commit historical dates ______________ memory.
10. Lack of sleep can seriously interfere ______________ your ability to think rationally.
Part 4: Give the correct form of each bracketed word in the following passage. Write your answers in the
corresponding numbered boxes.
In an effort to escape from their hectic and (1. MATERIAL) _______________ city lives, more and
more Northern Europeans are buying houses in rural areas of France, Spain, Italy and Greece. Some relocate
permanently in search of a more meaningful existence. Those who cannot afford to give up their jobs seek a (2.
THERAPY) _______________ respite from their stressful lifestyle by relaxing for a few weeks each year in
their second home in the sun.
However, many of those who relocate permanently find that life in the country is not as quiet and (3.
EVENT) __________ as they had anticipated. Aspects of village life which seemed delightfully (4.
ATMOSPHERE) ____________ in the context of a two-week holiday can grate on the nerves when you love
with them on a daily basis. Recently a group of British residents in an Italian village took local farmers to court
because they found the smell of the villagers’ pigs (5. TASTE) _______________. In other cases, foreigners
have complained to neighbors about the enthusiastic early-morning crowing of their cockerels, or to village
priests about the regular tolling of church bells.
(6. UNDERSTAND) __________, the local inhabitants are somewhat (7. RESENT) _________ of these
attitudes. They argue that the foreigners have an (8. REAL) ___________ view of what country life is like and
that, since no one forced them to come and live in a village, they are being (9. CRITIC) ____________ by now
complaining about the (10. CONVENIENT) ____________ of rural life.
C. READING
Part 1. Read the following passage and decide which answer (A, B, C, or D) best fits each gap. Write your
answers in corresponding numbered boxes. (1.0 pt)
MICHAEL JACKSON
Jackson was born Michael Joseph Jackson in Gary, Indiana on August 29, 1958, and entertained
audiences nearly his entire life. His father Joe Jackson had been a guitarist, but was (1) ______ to give up his
musical ambitions, following his marriage to Katherine (Scruse). Together, they prodded their growing family's
musical interests at home. By the early 1960s, the older boys Jackie, Tito and Jermaine had begun (2) ______
around the city; by 1964, Michael and Marlon had joined in. A musical prodigy, Michael's singing and dancing
talents were amazingly mature, and he soon became the (3) _______ voice and focus of the Jackson 5. An
opening act for such soul groups as the O-Jays and James Brown, it was Gladys Knight (not Diana Ross) who
officially brought the group to Berry Gordy's attention, and by 1969, the boys were producing back-to-back
chart-busting (4) ______ as Motown artists ("I Want You Back," "ABC," "Never Can Say Goodbye," "Got to
Be There," etc.). As a product of the 1970s, the boys emerged as one of the most accomplished black pop / soul
vocal groups in music history, successfully evolving from a (5) ______ like The Temptations to a disco
phenomenon. Solo success for Michael was inevitable, and by the 1980s, he had become infinitely more (6)
_______ than his brotherly group. Record sales consistently orbited, culminating in the biggest-selling album
of all time, "Thriller" in 1982. A TV natural, he ventured rather uneasily into films, such as playing the
Scarecrow in The Wiz, (7) _______ had much better luck with elaborate music videos. In the 1990s, the
downside as an 1980s pop phenomenon began to rear itself. Michael grew terribly (8) _______ and introverted
by his peerless celebrity. A rather timorous, androgynous figure to begin with, his physical appearance began to
change drastically, and his behavior grew alarmingly bizarre, making him a consistent target (9) ________
scandal-making, despite his numerous charitable acts. Two brief marriages – one to Elvis Presley's daughter
Lisa Marie Presley – were forged and two children produced by his second wife during that time, but the
purposes behind them appeared image-oriented. Despite it all, Jackson's (10) _______ and artistry as a singer,
dancer, writer and businessman are unparalleled, and it is these prodigious talents that will ultimately prevail
over the extremely negative aspects of his seriously troubled adult life.
1: A. forced B. asked C. suggested D. introduced
2: A. singing B. travelling C. performing D. appearing
3: A. important B. dominant C. major D. special
4: A. songs B. records C. products D. hits
5: A. school B. class C. group D. team
6: A. common B. famous C. popular D. excellent
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7: A. but B. and C. although D. because
8: A. child-like B. childhood C. childless D. childish
9: A. to B. by C. with D. for
10: A. love B. passion C. feeling D. attention
Part 2: Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only ONE word in each
space. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes. (1.5 pts)
The future at your fingertips
There is a scene in the film Minority Report in which Tom Cruise stands in front of a vast Perspex-like screen
housed in the police department’s Pre-Crime Unit. He gazes (1)______________ earnest at the transparent
surface, waving his hands across the tablet to swirl great chunks of text and moving images across the screen to
form a storyboard of yet-to-be-committed crimes. (2) ______________ a simple twist of his finger or a flick of
his wrist, pictures expand and enlarge, words scroll, and whole trains of thought come to tangible fruition with
there on the board. The year is 2054. Yet it seems the era of true touch-screen technology is already here.
Indeed, when Apple boss Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone in San Francisco a few years ago, he grandly
declared: “We’re reinventing the cell phone.” One of the main reasons for Jobs’ bold claim was the iPhone’s
futuristic user interface “multi-touch”. (3)______________ demonstrated on stage by Jobs himself, multi-touch
was created to (4) ______________ the most of the iPhone’s large screen. (5) ______________ most existing
smart phones, the iPhone has only one conventional button - all the (6) ______________ of the controls appear
on the screen, adapting and morphing around your fingertips as you use the device, (7) ______________ the
giant tablet in Minority Report. The demonstration iPhone handset certainly looked like re-invention, but multi-
touch, while it was new for Apple, is (8) ______________no means a new technology. The concept has been
around for years, waiting for the hardware side of the equation to get small enough, smart enough and cheap
enough to make it a reality. While it still remains something of a novelty now, there’s a good chance that the
(9) _________ years will bring many more computers and consumer gadgets that depend wholly or (10)
___________on multi-touch concepts.
Part 3. Read the following passage and choose the best answer to each of the following questions. Write your
answers in corresponding numbered boxes.
GARBAGE GURU

We live in an increasingly throwaway society. I meet an artist who is making a material difference.

Steve Bradley freely admits his work is garbage. “It’s true,” he says. “My work is rubbish.” As an
environmental artist, Steve’s spent most of his working life picking up the things that other people have thrown
away, and devising new ways to use art and humour to get us thinking about the environment. His work has
been concerned with what our attitudes to rubbish and the environment say about out society. But these aren’t
abstract gallery pieces for people in smart suits to spend a fortune on. Steve believes in taking art to the people:
a market stall in the city of Hull; a window on a street in downtown Tallahassee, Florida; and now, the Visitors'
Centre in an English National park where we meet.

I’d read about Steve in a tabloid newspaper. He explains the project that had earned this notoriety: “In Hull, I
picked up used lottery scratchcards off the streets and sold them on a market stall, three for 50p. Of course, they
were worthless, and that was the whole point. Kids wanted to know what I was doing, and I’d explain the
disappearing act to them, how something could be worth a pound (the cost of a scratchcard), then worth
nothing. It was a ploy, you know, to get them thinking about the value of things. You look at any drinks can, or
a bottle; the material you throw away is often worth more than the product you have paid for and consumed!”

“When I called the National Park authorities for permission to pick up rubbish in a famous beauty spot and do
something unspecified but vaguely arty next to the Visitors’ Centre, they were understandably wary that I
might give people the impression that our National Parks are filthy. But the truth is, the problem of litter isn’t
confined to the National Parks. Litter costs taxpayers 410 million pounds a year, or at least that’s what it costs
local government authorities to clean up across the UK. However, on private land – such as farmland – the cost
of clearing litter is met by the landowner, so the real cost is even higher. The National Park has now erased all

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bins from car parks and laybys, because it encourages people to take their litter home rather than leave it for
overstretched local authorities to deal with.

But there’s still plenty to be found – Steve and I are filling large black bin-liners with the stuff. He notices that
most crisp packets have been obsessively folded into any of origami-like structures, or tied into a knot: “I’ve
seen this in a few places; I call it pre-litter anxiety. There is obviously a time lapse between consuming the
contents and discarding the waste… it’s really rather creative behavior.”

On the grounds of the Visitors’ Centre, Steve sets up the campus where he’ll display the litter we’ve just
collected. A garden net is strung up between three trees and pegged to the ground by one corner. After about
one hour, a coachload of would-be art critics arrived, invited over for the occasion from a local school. They
are intrigued and eager to join in. they tie rubbish to the net and surround Steve with cheeky questions until
they’re chivvied back onto the coaches to their long-suffering teachers. Steve’s in his element as he adopts the
role of lively, gesticulating artiste. “So, Steve,” I say, surveying the scrasps of debris, drinks sweet wrappers
which have been retrieved and recruited into a new existence as art, rather than “What does it all mean?”
Refreshingly, he’s more interested in what the kids made of it than what he, as the artist, wants the work to say:
“I’m not looking for people to see anything specific in my work. If pressed, I want the audience to be surprised,
then laugh; but any emotion or reaction is good. It’s about raising their awareness of the environment they live,
work and play in.”

After spending the day with Steve, I’ve succumbed to garbage fever. As we untie the net, I feel a bit of regret at
destroying our original piece; this is my first venture into the world of modern art. From rubbish to litter to art,
then back to rubbish, our installation, entitled “Net Deposit”, is rolled into a bin-liner to be thrown away (again)
when we get home. Everyone has their own reasons for hating litter, but until now I’ve always kept my dislike
of detritus quiet. Who cares about a few crisp packets? Well, in his book, My first Summer in the Sierra,
published in 2011, the Scottish nature lover John Muir came to the conclusion that: “when we try to pick out
anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” In a nutshell, and about 70 years before
a single Greenpeace calendar was sold, he’d summed up the essence of ecology; that everything matters, even
the same things matter than others. I’m guessing, and suspect John Muir would never have dropped his own
packet at a beauty spot.

1. In the first paragraph, we learn that Steve Bradley’s art


A. has not been well received in some circles.
B. is not based on an entirely original concept.
C. is intended to raise awareness of certain issues.
D. has been taken quite seriously by some buyers.
2. What was the main aim to Steve’s project in Hull?
A. He wanted to get press coverage for his activities.
B. He was trying to raise money for environmental causes.
C. He wanted to encourage young people to clean up their area.
D. He was trying to draw attention to the way resources are wasted.
3. When Steve approached a National Park for permission to create a work of art there, the authorities
A. assumed he would be critical of their litter policy.
B. were concerned that he might attract negative publicity.
C. felt that his activities would be more appropriate elsewhere.
D. were worried that people would see this as a waste of public money.
4. To Steve, what does the example of the folded crisp packets suggest?
A. People feel guilty about the places where they drop litter.
B. some people may actually discard litter accidentally.
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C. He’s not the only person to be artistic with litter.
D. Litter is not only dropped by thoughtless people.
5. When the schoolchildren arrive at the Visitors’ Centre, the writer observes that Steve
A. clearly enjoys the performance aspect of his work.
B. doesn’t really have the approval of their teachers.
C. is surprised by the children’s reaction to his work.
D. gets pleasure from explaining the meaning of his art.
6. After her day with Steve, the writer
A. has begun to realise how frustrating his work is.
B. feels angry that their work will not be preserved.
C. realised that she has begun to understand modern art.
D. no longer feels so negative about the problem of litter.
7. At the end of the article, the writer quotes John Muir in order to
A. illustrate how her own views have changed through meeting Steve.
B. question some of the assumptions that we may have about ecology.
C. demonstrate that there has long been a link between art and ecology.
D. underline her view that the work Steve does is actually of great value.
8. The word “ploy” in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to
A. story B. trick C. problem D. demonstration
9. The word “chivvied” in paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to
A. hurried B. elbowed C. shouldered D. jostled
10. The word “it” in paragraph 5 refers to
A. his work B. the waste C. the park D. the view
Part 4. Read the following extract and answer do the tasks that follow.
A The world’s first wild algae biodiesel, produced in New Zealand by Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation,
was successfully test driven in Wellington by the Minister for Energy and Climate Change Issues, David
Parker. In front of a crowd of invited guests, media and members of the public, the Minister filled up a diesel-
powered Land Rover with Aquaflow B5 blend bio-diesel and the drove the car around the forecourt of
Parliament Buildings in Central Wellington. Green Party co-leader, Jeanette Fitzsimons was also on board.
Marlborough-based Aquaflow announced in May 2006 that it had produced the world’s first bio-diesel derived
from wild microalgae sourced from local sewage ponds.
B “We believe we are the first company in the world to test drive a car powered by wild algae-based
biodiesel. This will come as a surprise to some international bio-diesel industry people who believe that this
break-through is years away,” explained by Aquaflow spokeperson Barrie Leay. “A bunch of inventive Kiwis,
and an Aussie, have developed this fuel in just over a year”, he comments. “This is a huge opportunity for New
Zealand and a great credit to the team of people who saw the potential in this technology from day one.”
C Bio-diesel based on algae could eventually become a sustainable, low cost, cleaner burning fuel
alternative for New Zealand, powering family cars, trucks, buses and boats. It can also be used for other
purposes such as heating or distributed electricity generation. There is now a global demand for billions of
litres of biodiesel per year. Algae are also readily available and produced in huge volumes in nutrient rich waste
streams such as at the settling ponds of Effluent Management Systems (EMS). It is a renewable indigenous
resource ideally suited to the production of fuel and other useful by-products. The breakthrough comes after
technology start-up, Aquaflow, agreed to undertake a pilot with Marlborough District Council late last year to
extract algae from the settling ponds of its EMS based in Blenheim. By removing the main contaminant to use
as a fuel feedstock, Aquaflow is also helping clean up the council’s water discharge – a process known as bio-
remediation. Dairy farmers and many food processors too, can benefit in similar ways by applying the
harvesting technology to their nutrient-rich waste streams.
D Blended with conventional mineral diesel, bio-diesel can run vehicles without the need for vehicle
modifications. Fuel derived from algae can also help meet the Government B5 (5% blended) target, with the
prospect of this increasing over time as bio-fuel production increases. “Our next step is to increase capacity to
produce one million litres of bio-diesel from the Marlborough sewerage ponds over the next year,” says Leay.
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Aquaflow will launch a prospectus pre-Christmas test as the company has already attracted considerable
interest from potential investors. The test drive bio-diesel was used successfully in a static engine test at
Massey University’s Wellington campus on Monday, December 11.
E Today Algae are used by humans in many ways; for example, as fertilizers, soil conditioners and
livestock feed. Aquatic and microscopic species are cultured in clear tanks or ponds and are either harvested or
used to treat effluents pumped through the ponds. Algaculture on a large scale is an important type of
aquaculture in some places. Naturally growing seaweeds are an important source of food, especially in Asia.
They provide many vitamins including: A, B, B2, B6, niacin, and C, and are rich in iodine, potassium, iron,
magnesium and calcium. In addition commercially cultivated microalgae, including both Algae and Cyan-
bacteria, are marketed as nutritional supplements, such as Spirulina, Chlorella and the Vitamin-C supplement,
or Dunaliella, high in beta-carotene. Algae are national foods of many nations: China consumes more than 70
species, including fat choy, a cyano-bacterium considered ad a vegetable; Japan, over 20 species. The natural
pigments produced by algae can be used as an alternative to chemical dyes and coloring agents.
Questions 1-6:
Which paragraphs contain the following information? Write the correct numbers i -vii in the spaces
provided. There are two pieces of information that you do not need.
i. It is unnecessary to modify vehicles driven by bio-diesel.
ii. Some algae are considered edible plants.
iii. Algae could be part of a sustainable and recycled source.
iv. A promising future is awaiting the algae bio-diesel.
v. Algae bio-diesel is superior to other bio-fuels in lots of ways.
vi. New Zealanders have welcomed a new alternative fuel form.
vii. Overgrown algae also can be a potential threat to environment.

1 Paragraph A ___________
2 Paragraph B ___________
3 Paragraph C ___________
4 Paragraph D ___________
5 Paragraph E ___________
Questions 6-10
Complete the following summary of the paragraphs of Reading Passage, using no more than two words
from the Reading Passage for each answer. Write your answers in the spaces provided.
Bio-diesel based on algae could become a substitute for (6) ________ in New Zealand. It could be used to (7)
________ vehicles such as cars and boats. As a results, billions of litres of bio-diesel are required worldwide
each year. Algae can be obtained from (8) ________ with nutrient materials. With the technology
breakthrough, algae are extracted and the (9) ________ is removed from the settling ponds. Dairy farmers, and
many processors can adopt such (10) ________ technology.
D. WRITING (5.0 pts)
Part 1. Finish each of the following sentences in such a way that it means exactly the same as the sentence
printed before it. There is an example at the beginning (0))
(0): I haven’t seen him for two years
1. There aren’t many other books which explain this problem so well.
→In few other books ______________________________________________.
2. You may be disqualified if you don’t obey the regulations.
→Failure ________________________________________________________.
3. I fully intend to find out who is responsible for the graffiti.
→ I have every ___________________________________________________.
4. It was inevitable that they should feel personally degraded.
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→Their _________________________________________________________.
5. She was going to hand in her notice when her boss decided to promote her.
→ She was on the point _____________________________________________.

Part 2. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence. Do not change
the word given. There is an example at the beginning (0)
(0): Why don’t we have a picnic this weekend?” said Andy (HAVING)
Andy suggested ___having a picnic that ___weekend
1. You look exhausted, so I think it will be good for you to take a vacation. (do)
I think it will ___________________________________________________.
2. The critics undervalued his new book. (opinion)
The critics had a _________________________________________________.
3. He talked about nothing except the weather. (conversation)
His sole ________________________________________________________.
4. My brother had very little money but managed to make ends meet. (on)
My brother got __________________________________________________.
5. The film fell short of my expectations. (to)
The film didn’t come _______________________________________________.

Part 3: Essay writing


“Learning about the past has no value for those of us living in the present.” In about 200- 250 words, write
an essay to express your opinion on the proposal. Use reasons and examples to support your position.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………........................................................................................

-The end-

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