PRACTICE TEST 1

Part 1 Questions 1-5

 There are five questions in this part.
 For each question there are three pictures and a short recording.
 Choose the correct picture and put a tick  in the box below it.
 You will hear the piece twice

B C

1.Which hotel did the man stay at?

C

2. What does the woman’s sister look like?

C

3. What time does the bank close on Friday?

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 A B C
4. Who did the woman meet?

B C

5. Which is Jane’s hotel?

B C

Part 2 Questions 6- 15
Listen to the passage. Fill each of the blanks with ONE suitable word. You will hear the
recording twice.
Our question this week comes from China. Feng Tianqiang would like to know more about
movie star Tom Hanks.

Tom Hanks, at fifty-four, has one of the most successful and extensive careers in Hollywood. He
has (6) ..................... in television shows and movies, and done voice work for animated films.
He is also a movie director, producer and writer. He currently is part of the (7) ..................... of
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. For some time he was the Academy’s Vice
President. He won the Academy Award for best actor in back to back years. Spencer Tracy is the
only other actor to have done that.

Tom Hanks was born in California in nineteen fifty-six. His father and mother ended their
marriage when he was five. Tom and his two older siblings lived with their father. The youngest
child stayed with his mother.

Tom’s family moved a lot and his parents re-married. He once told a reporter that he had had
three mothers, four fathers, five schools and ten houses while growing up. The movie star said he
thinks the many changes helped him develop a sense of (8) ......................

Tom Hanks started acting in high school. He took (9) ..................... classes in college but left
before completing his studies. He has said he could not get parts in college plays so he left to
follow his professional dream. He moved to New York City.

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His first major (10) ..................... were on television. He won a lead role in the situation comedy
“Bosom Buddies” in nineteen-seventy-nine. But he became a star with the movie “Splash” in
nineteen eighty-four. More success came four years later with his starring part in the
(11) ..................... movie “Big.” He played a thirteen year old boy who wakes up one day in
grown man’s body.

Tom Hanks mainly worked in comedies in the early years of his career. His starring part in the
nineteen ninety-three movie “Philadelphia” changed his (12) ...................... He played a lawyer
who launches a case against his law office after it dismisses him because he has AIDS. The star
was (13) ..................... with his first Best Actor Oscar for his work in “Philadelphia.” His second
came the following year for his work in the movie, “Forrest Gump.”

Tom Hanks has a lot of interests that he has brought to film and television. His interest in the
experiences of World War Two soldiers led him to his involvement in the (14) .....................
“Band of Brothers” for the cable television station HBO. He was also named an honorary
member of the United States Army Rangers as a result. He also produced the thirteen-part series,
“From the Earth to the Moon” because of his support for human space travel. The actor is a
member of the National Space Society.

Tom Hanks is married to the actor Rita Wilson. They have two children together. He also has
two children from an earlier marriage.

Tom Hanks’ production company, Playtone, just announced three new (15) ...................... One is
a movie he wrote. He is also busy promoting the new movie “Larry Crowne,” which he directed
and stars in.

6. ………. 8. ………. 10. ………. 12. ………. 14. ……….

7.. ………. 9. ………. 11. ………. 13. ………. 15. ……….

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 PRACTICE TEST 2
Part 1 Questions 1-5
 There are five questions in this part.
 For each question there are three pictures and a short recording.
 Choose the correct picture and put a tick  in the box below it.
 You will hear the piece twice

B C

1.What does the girl’s pen friend look like now?

A B C

2.What does the boy decide to buy for his grandmother?

A B C

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3.Which sport will the woman learn on holiday?

A B C

4.What time will the train to London leave?

04:30 04:45 04:50

A B C

5. Which sport will the boy do soon at the centre?

A B C
Part 2 Questions 6- 15
Listen to the passage. Fill each of the blanks with ONE suitable word. You will hear the
recording twice.

Please, write your answers in the table below.

May first is an important date in the college admissions process in the United States. This is the
last day for high school seniors to accept or (6)..................... offers of admission in the fall.
Offers are sent by April fifteenth.

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Acceptance rates at the top colleges were lower than ever this year. No surprise, just more stress
from stories of top students getting rejection letters even from less (7) ..................... schools.

Numbers tell the story. The Education Department predicts that the number of high school
graduates in the United States will (8) ..................... the highest level ever this year. Three
million three hundred thirty thousand students are expected to graduate.

But not only are there more college applicants these days, they are also applying to more
colleges. Online and common (9) ..................... make the process easier. It can mean several
acceptances to choose from.

It also means more work for colleges to get the students they accept to accept them.

Many colleges and universities hold visiting days that offer a (10) ..................... to attend classes
and stay overnight; sort of a test drive. Some schools send (11) ...................... At least one
college has its international students write letters in the native languages of accepted applicants.

For many families, though, the most important thing colleges can do is show them the money.
Lately, top schools with lots of money have increased their (12) ..................... aid, putting
pressure on other colleges to do the same.

Deciding how many students to accept can be difficult. It involves trying to predict the number
of applicants who will decide to attend. Students may not like being put on waiting lists, but (13)
..................... can be costly. Some colleges have had to house new students in hotels because a
larger than expected number accepted admission offers.

This year, the weak economy has admissions officers nervous that some families may not be able
to pay for college as planned. The recent problems that spread from the housing market to credit
markets have even affected student (14) ......................

Colleges are also facing (15) ..................... in the population. The Education Department expects
the number of high school graduates to start going down after this year. This will happen as the
last of the children of the baby boom generation finish high school.

The number is not expected to start rising again until two thousand fifteen.

6. ………. 8. ………. 10. ………. 12. ………. 14. ……….

7.. ………. 9. ………. 11. ………. 13. ………. 15. ……….

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 PRACTICE TEST 3

Part 1 Questions 1-5

 There are five questions in this part.
 For each question there are three pictures and a short recording.
 Choose the correct picture and put a tick  in the box below it.
 You will hear the piece twice

B C

1.Which ring has the woman lost? B

A B C

2. Where will the party be?

A B C

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3. Which of Miranda’s things will Lucy be able to use?

A  C

4.Where do they decide to go?

A B C

5. What will the boy do first?

A B C

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Part 2 Questions 6- 15

Listen to the passage. Fill each of the blanks with ONE suitable word. You will hear the
recording twice.

Please, write your answers in the table below.

Paul McCartney is one of the most successful musical performers of all time. The singer,
songwriter, and (6) ....................... was raised in Liverpool, England. He first rose to fame as a
member of the Beatles.

He and John Lennon began playing music together at the age of fifteen. They played in a band
called the Quarrymen.

Then, in 1960, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and George Harrison began performing under the
name The Beatles. Drummer, Ringo Starr, (7) ....................... the group in 1962.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, has inducted Paul McCartney twice – once
as a member of The Beatles, and again, as a solo artist. More than thirty of his songs have been
number-one (8) ....................... in the United States.

Oprah Winfrey was born in the South, in a (9) ....................... part of the State of Mississippi.
Her parents were a soldier and an unwed teenage mother. The grandmother who raised her
taught her to read at an early age.

Oprah Winfrey made herself into a billionaire as a talk-show host, actress, producer,
(10) ......................., and magazine publisher. Her daytime talk show changed American
television and made her one of the world’s richest women.

Oprah has announced that she will (11) ....................... her talk show in the Fall of 2011. She is
expected to launch her own cable channel.

The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts normally honors performing artists. It says Oprah
Winfrey is being (12)....................... for her “soul-stirring performances on screen.”

She has appeared in several movies. She was (13) ....................... for a best-actress Oscar for her
first movie, the 1985 film, “The Color Purple.”

And she is not the first television host to receive a Kennedy Center honor. Late-night TV host,
Johnny Carson, was among the honorees in 1993.

This is the thirty-third year that the Kennedy Center Honors have been (14)........................ The
ceremony is recorded for television and raises a lot of money for the Kennedy Center. Presidents
attend the event and tickets can cost as much as $5,000.

Most years, there are five Kennedy Center honorees. But there have been up to seven people
chosen in some years.

Honorees are not always American. They can include foreign artists who have had a major
effect on American (15)........................

The process for choosing the honorees begins with nominations made by about 100 artists. From
those nominations, Kennedy Center executives produce a list of about fifteen names.

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Then, seven members of the Center’s executive committee make the final choices. The process
does not include an official vote.

6. ………. 8. ………. 10. ………. 12. ………. 14. ……….

7.. ………. 9. ………. 11. ………. 13. ………. 15. ……….

PRACTICE TEST 4

Part 1 Questions 1-5

 There are five questions in this part.
 For each question there are three pictures and a short recording.
 Choose the correct picture and put a tick  in the box below it.
 You will hear the piece twice

B C

1.What is the weather forecast for tomorrow?

A B C

2.What will they buy at the supermarket? A

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 A B C
3.Which T-shirt does the woman buy? A

A B C
4.What will the girl take with her on holiday?

A B C
5. Which exercise is the teacher describing?

A B C

Part 2 Questions 6- 15

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Listen to the passage. Fill each of the blanks with ONE suitable word. You will hear the
recording twice.

Please, write your answers in the table below.

A United Nations conference on rising food prices ended with an agreement to invest more in
agriculture. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said food production needs to increase fifty
percent by two thousand thirty to meet (6) ................... demand. The cost, he said, could top
fifteen to twenty billion dollars a year over a number of years.

About one hundred eighty countries were represented at the three-day summit meeting last week
in Rome. The final declaration called for (7) ................... support for agricultural production,
including seeds, fertilizer and other supplies. It also urged countries to (8) ...................
agricultural trade barriers.

The delegates nearly failed to reach a final agreement. There were (9) ................... from Latin
America on trade-related issues.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says agriculture is the main support for seventy
percent of the world's poor. Yet, the F.A.O. says, aid to agriculture fell almost sixty percent from
nineteen eighty-four to two thousand four. In nineteen eighty, seventeen percent of official
development (10) ................... went to agriculture. By two thousand six that share was three
percent.

The meeting in Rome was officially called the High-Level Conference on World Food Security:
the (11) ................... of Climate Change and Bioenergy. Using food crops to make fuel was a
major point of debate. In the end, Jacques Diouf, head of the F.A.O., said differences of opinion
about biofuels were too wide to settle. Some countries called for international guidelines on
production. But the final declaration called only for in-depth study to make sure biofuels do not
(12) ................... food security.

The European Union and the United States both support biofuels. Before the conference,
American Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said biofuels play only a small part in
(13) ................... food prices. He said other causes include rising energy prices and poor harvests
in major grain-producing countries. He also noted increased restrictions on food
(14) .................... High food prices have increased hunger and poverty and produced rioting in
some countries. In addition to short-term (15) ..................., countries are being urged to think of
longer-lasting answers to feed a growing world. The final declaration said eight hundred sixty-
two million people are still undernourished in the world today. And it noted that food prices are
expected to remain high in the years to come.

6. ………. 8. ………. 10. ………. 12. ………. 14. ……….

7.. ………. 9. ………. 11. ………. 13. ………. 15. ……….

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 PRACTICE TEST 5

Part 1 Questions 1-5

 There are five questions in this part.
 For each question there are three pictures and a short recording.
 Choose the correct picture and put a tick  in the box below it.
 You will hear the piece twice

B C

1.What was damaged in the storm? roof

A B C
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2.What does the man decide to take?

A B C
3.Which is the woman’s jacket?

A B C
4. Which sport is not included in the price of the holiday?

A B C

5. Which postcard will they send?

A B C

Part 2 Questions 6- 15
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Listen to the passage. Fill each of the blanks with ONE suitable word. You will hear the
recording twice.

Please, write your answers in the table below.

Today we remember a man who was considered one of the best teachers in the United States.
Jaime Alfonso Escalante was born in nineteen thirty in La Paz, Bolivia. Both his parents were
teachers. He taught math and (6) .................... in his home country for twelve years.
In the nineteen sixties, Jaime Escalante and his wife Fabiola came to the United States. During
the next several years, he learned to speak English and repeated his college education and
teacher (7) .....................
In nineteen seventy-four, Mr. Escalante was hired at Garfield High School to teach mathematics.
The school was in a poor area of Los Angeles, California. Many of the students had
(8) .................... problems with illegal drugs, gangs and violence. The school was in danger of
losing its official (9) .................... to operate.
Mr. Escalante’s students were mostly Mexican-Americans from a Spanish-speaking area of the
city. Many were the worst students at the school and thought to be “(10) .....................” But Mr.
Escalante pushed the group to work hard. He told them basic math was too easy and that they
had the ability to do harder work.
He told his students that he believed in them, but they must have the (11) .................... to be
successful.
Jaime Escalante started an advanced math program with a small group of students. Advanced
Placement is a program of college-level classes and tests. In nineteen eighty-two, eighteen of
his students took the Advanced Placement test in calculus. They all passed.
Officials at the testing company suspected the students of (12) ..................... Mr. Escalante
protested. He said the students were being rejected because they were Hispanic and from a poor
school. He urged his students to take the test again.
Twelve of the students repeated the test. And again, all of them passed. Five earned top scores.
Mr. Escalante’s students went on to become engineers, scientists and university
(13) ..................... The advanced math program at Garfield became extremely successful over
the next several years.
Jaime Escalante received many teaching (14) .....................including the Presidential Medal of
Excellence in Education. A movie about his success, “Stand and Deliver,” was released in
nineteen eighty-eight. It influenced other teachers to use his (15) ......................
Jaime Escalante retired from teaching in nineteen ninety-eight and later moved back to Bolivia
with his wife. He died earlier this year. He was seventy-nine years old.

6. ………. 8. ………. 10. ………. 12. ………. 14. ……….

7.. ………. 9. ………. 11. ………. 13. ………. 15. ……….

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