F1 ENGLISH

Second Exam 2 NAME:___________________ DATE:_______________

SCORE:__________/153

Section A Reading Comprehension

Passage 1
Read the poem and answer the questions. (15%)
Old Charlie
By Josh Cheung

Old Charlie was a dear old soul

We miss him every day
His habits were strange
Some say deranged
But we loved him all the same

When he was a puppy

He was always getting mucky
But when he was older
He got much bolder
And used to climb up
On the postman’s shoulder

When he found a letter

He liked that even better
But when he saw a cat
He ran off just like that
Trying hard to catch it
Yet always falling flat
Old Charlie was a dear old soul

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 We miss him every day
His daughter is so clever
While Charlie was a terror
But we miss him all the same

Answer the following questions using the information in Passage 1.

1. In stanza 1, Charlie is describe as ________.
A. crazy but kind
B. odd but lovable
C. naughty but nice
D. expensive but fun

2. In line 7, ‘mucky’ means __________.

A. cute
B. dirty
C. naughty
D. intelligent

3. Charlie got ________ as the years passed.

A. braver
B. sillier
C. fatter
D. thinner

4. Which of the following is true?

A. Charlie was afraid of cats.
B. Charlie preferred letters to cats.
C. Charlie rarely caught cats.
D. Charlie sometimes caught up with cats.
5. In stanza 4, how does the writer feel?

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A. sad B. angry
C. proud D. happy

6. What is the rhyme scheme of stanza 2?

A. A-A-B-B-C-C
B. A-B-A-B-C-B
C. A-A-B-B-C-B
D. A-B-B-A-C-C

7. Find an example of alliteration in stanza 3.

_____________________________________________________________________________

8. Read the poem again and decide if the following statements are true(T), false(F), or not
stated(X).
a The writer thought his dog was perfect.
b Charlie loved dog biscuits.
c Charlie had lots of habits.

9. Complete the sentence below using ONE word. The first letter of the word has been given.
“We” in the poem probably refers to the writer’s ________________.

10. Put the events in the right order (1-5) using information in the poem. The first one has been
done for you. (4 marks)

The writer wrote a poem about Charlie.

Charlie died.
Charlie started living with the writer. 1
Charlie started sitting on the postman.
Charlie grew old.
Passage 2
Your cousin lives in Vancouver, Canada and goes longboarding in his free time. He has sent

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you an online article about the sport. Read the online article and answer the questions.

The risks and rewards of longboarding

On the steep roads of North Vancouver, a new extreme sport has been gaining speed. It is known
as longboarding, and depending on your view of extreme sports, it is either a thrilling display of
skill and energy or a fool’s errand inviting injury or even death.

The sport’s beginnings are unclear. Most longboarders agree that a version of the activity-a
person standing on a longer, wider version of a skateboard while travelling at high speeds down
a long, curving hill-emerged in Hawaii in around 1959. This was at the same time as the
appearance of normal skateboarding. Both pastimes resulted from the wish of surfers to practice
their sport on dry land. The result was a ‘sidewalk surfboard’-a surfboard with roller-skate
wheels attached underneath.

Today’s longboards are built using the latest skateboard technology and engineered for speed
and mobility. Like skateboarding, the sport requires only a board, but longboarders tend to cover
themselves with safety gear, including a helmet, knee and elbow pads, gloves, and even leather
suits. The only other thing longboarding requires is bravery-and plenty of it!

Like snowboarding back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, longboarding is an ‘extreme’ worry
for parents and city officials. In fact, the sport is banned in many places, including West
Vancouver, because many injuries-most of them serious-have resulted from the sport’s high
speeds and the boards’ lack of brakes. No longboarders have died yet-not in Vancouver-but most
non-longboarders agree that it is only a matter of time.

Answer the following questions in complete sentences using the information given.

1. In paragraph 1, ‘gaining speed’ means ________.

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A. becoming popular
B. causing trouble
C. falling out of favour
D. getting faster

2. Look at the word ‘inviting’ in paragraph 1. Now look at the dictionary entry for ‘invite’
below. Which meaning corresponds to the word in the sentence?

1. (n) an invitation to a party, wedding, meal, 2. (v) to ask someone to come to a party,
event, etc. wedding, meal, event, etc.
e.g. Did you get an invitation to Jason’s party? e.g. How many guests did Elsa invite to her
wedding?
3. (v) to politely ask someone to do something. 4. (v) to encourage something bad to happen,
e.g. The editor made a point to invite readers to especially unintentionally.
submit their own comments. e.g. Lowering the age that people can start
driving will only invite accidents.

3. Which phrase does the writer use in paragraph 1 of the article to say that some people view
longboarding a reckless and dangerous sport?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

4. According to paragraph 1, what two things must people have in order to go longboarding?
(2 marks)
a. ___________________________________________________________________________
b. ___________________________________________________________________________

5. Where do most longboarders think the sport started?

___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
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6. Who started the sport of longboarding? Why did they start it? (2 marks)
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________

7. Which of the following pictures best shows where the wheels on ‘sidewalk surfboards’
came from?

A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4

8. According to paragraph 3 of the article, what two things does longboarding require? (2 marks)
a. __________________________________________________________________________
b. __________________________________________________________________________

9. In paragraph 4 of the article, which word means ‘not allowed’?

____________________________________________________________________________

10. Why are most longboarding injuries serious?

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

11. What is the main idea of paragraph 4 of the article?

A. It is against the law to longboard in West Vancouver.
B. Longboarding is similar to snowboarding.
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 C. Many people believe that longboarding is too dangerous.
D. Snowboarding became popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

12. Which of the following is the best alternative title for this text?
A. From surfing to skateboarding
B. How to protect yourself when longboarding
C. Longboarding: fun or foolish?
D. Why longboarding should be against the law

Passage 3 (10 marks)

You are writing a blog entry to upload to your ‘Fun with Food’ blog. You have found a magazine
article containing some strange facts about food that you want to include in your blog entry.
Read the article and answer the questions.

Strange Food Facts

Ketchup as medicine
Did you know that the world’s favourite table sauce was once sold as medicine? In the early
1800s, ketchup was sold under the brand name Dr Miles’ Compound Extract of Tomato. The
‘medicine’ was used to treat indigestion and diarrhea. It was also marketed as an effective –
and tasty – way to prevent liver disease and cholera.

Square watermelons
Think watermelons are round? Think again! In the early 1980s, a Japanese farmer on the island
of Shikoku figured out a way to make the round fruit square, and thus easier to stack, pack and
store. He started growing watermelons in square glass boxes. Now the cube-shaped fruit is
sold all over Japan – although at double or even triple the price of normal watermelons.
Bouncing cranberries
Have you ever played basketball with a cranberry? Probably not. But you could if you wanted
to – because when cranberries are ripe enough to eat, they bounce! After being harvested, they
are sent to a factory and put through a very unusual test to check their ripeness. They are put
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 on a conveyor belt and moved towards a series of wooden barriers. The ripe cranberries
bounce over to the barriers, while the unripe ones fall off the conveyor belt into disposal bins.
The cranberries that manage to reach the end of the conveyor belt are wrapped in plastic and
then transported to food shops around the world.
1. In line 1, ‘you’ refers to the ________.
A. editor of the magazine
B. general public
C. readers who like ketchup
D. writer’s workmates

2. Ketchup is _______.
A. not as popular as other table sauces
B. still sold as medicine in some countries
C. the cause of several diseases
D. used as a table sauce all around the world

3. The word ‘marketed’ in line 10 could be replaced with ________.

A. bought B. made
C. sold D. used

4. The farmer started growing square watermelons because he wanted them to ________ than
round ones.
A. be easier to handle
B. grow larger
C. look stranger
D. taste better

5. Ketchup was used to treat ________.

a. cancer
b. diarrhea
c. indigestion
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d. liver disease
A. a, b and d
B. a, c and d
C. a, b and c
D. b, c and d

6. Square watermelons are ________.

A. a brand new invention
B. more expensive than round watermelons
C. more juicy than round watermelons
D. sold only on the island of Shikoku

7. Where are the watermelons grown?

A. in a glass bowl
B. in a glass box
C. in a wooden bowl
D. in a wooden box

8. When cranberries are ‘ripe’, they are ________.

A. not ready to eat
B. ready to eat
C. thrown away
D. too hard to bounce

9. Which of the following pictures best shows ripe cranberries are compared to in the article?

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A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4

10. Which of the choices best describe the sequence of events in the sale of cranberries?
A. harvested/ tested for ripeness/ sent to a factory/ transported to food shops
B. sent to a factory/ harvested/ transported to food shops/ tested for ripeness
C. harvested/ sent to a factory/ tested for ripeness/ transported to food shops
D. tested for ripeness/ sent to a factory/ transported to food shops/ harvested

Section B Vocabulary (30 marks)

Fill in the blanks with the words/ phrases in the boxes. Make changes if necessary. Each
word/ phrase can be used once only.

aromatic stand out combination

dishes sprinkled marvellously
paradise offered grated

New Restaurant Review: Fishermania in Wan Chai

One would think that, being a food 1. __________, Hong Kong would have some 2. __________
seafood restaurant. While there are a few that 3. __________ from others, it’s hard to find a
quality restaurant that focuses on 4. __________ fresh and sustainable seafood to customers.
This is where Fishermania comes in. Recently opened in Wan Chai, this seafood restaurant will
just turn anyone into a seafood lover.

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Given that we were at a seafood restaurant, we were ready to get our hands messy with some
fresh-from-the-ocean 5. __________. To start, we ordered the Seafood Platter, which was a
perfect 6. __________ of oysters, scallops, clams, king crab legs, plus blue, pink, and red shrimps.
We 7. __________ the platter with some lemon juice and 8. __________ lemon peel to bring a
refreshing 9. __________ to the dish. Aside from the fact that the dish caused our jaws to drop,
we were blown away by how incredibly fresh the seafood was.

flavours a must foodie skilfully

awards brownies put off fond of
vermicelli atmosphere vegetarian

Moving onto the mains, we all shared a bowl of lobster 10. __________ (lobster yee mein) with
brandy tomato sauce. Though some of us at the table were a bit 11. __________ by the
presentation as it was not that attractive, the pasta was 12. __________ cooked by its
13. __________-winning chef, and the lobster was fresh and plentiful. That being said, we would
prefer it to be de-shelled to make eating a little easier and less messy. We most certainly ended
our main courses on a high notes as Chef Gianna saved the star of the evening for last: the salt
baked sea bass. If you’re dining out with a group of four or more people who are 14. __________
fish, this is a must-order dish.
We finished off our over-indulgent meal with a dessert. The 15. __________ was so dense and
chewy, and the splash of cherry sauce added a fruity 16. __________ throughout.
Whether you’re looking for a casual drink, a fancy dinner or even a 17. __________ meal (not
only for the veggies), Fishermania is a great restaurant for all 18. __________. With a casual
and cozy 19. __________, friendly and helpful staff, plus fresh and tasty food, Fishermania is
20. __________ for all seafood lovers.

Section C Tenses (10 marks)

Complete the following email with the correct forms of the words in the brackets. Use simple
present, simple past, present continuous, simple future, gerunds and to-infinitives only.

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 From: alex_1@hotmail.com
To: Erica_p@yahoo.com
Date: 8th May, 2017
Subject: My new kitty
Hi Erica

I got a new kitty last weekend. I 1. __________ (name) him Socks because he has black fur
and white paws. He enjoys 2. ____________ (play). His favourite toy is a stuffed mouse.
Right now, he 3. ____________ (chase) the mouse back and forwards across the floor.
4. ____________ (take) care of Socks isn’t always easy, though. I need 5. ____________
(feed) him in the morning, and make sure he always 6. ____________ (have) fresh water. I
even help him 7. ____________ (brush) his teeth!
Socks is quite naughty. Last night, he chewed a hole in my mum’s favourite blanket. It isn’t
possible to get angry at him, though-not when he 8. ____________ (look) at me with his cute
eyes!
When 9. _________ you ________ (get) back from Shanghai? I look forward to 10.
____________ (introduce) you to the newest member of my family.
Alex

Section D Cloze (10 marks)

You are writing a blog entry about your dog. Fill in each blank with one word which best fits the
meaning of the text.

Tess saves the day!

Does your dog have a job? 1. __________ does! Once a week, I take Tess to a home for the
2. __________ and let her meet the old people there. She’s a little dog-but she has a very big
heart!
Yesterday, I took Tess to a home 3. ____________ Hong Kong Island. Tess let each person
play with her for a 4. ____________, as she always does. However, for 5. ____________

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 reason, she didn’t want to play with an elderly man 6. ____________ a beard. She just stood
in front of the man and barked 7. ____________ him.
8. ____________ was Tess behaving this way? At first, I thought she didn’t like the man’s
beard. The man had a strange look on his face. Suddenly, she put her paws on the man’s lap
and started barking louder. A nurse ran to the man. ‘He’s having a heart 9. ____________!’
she shouted.
Soon an 10. ____________ arrived and took him to hospital. He was saved –thanks to Tess!

Section E Prepositions of time and location (10 marks)

Complete the itinerary below by filling in the blanks with suitable prepositions.
Hong Kong Heritage Walk
One of the Hong Kong’s greatest attractions is its contrast between the old and the new, and
the best way to truly experience this unique culture is to explore the city on foot. A tour that
will interest all those who are nostalgic is available 1. ________ Christmas Eve. This three-
hour walk takes you into the heart of the downtown and the back streets of the old city to have
a taste of the past Hong Kong.
The tour will begin 2. ________ St. John’s Cathedral 3. ________ Garden Road, Central,
Hong Kong 4. ________ 9 o’clock 5. ________ the morning. The cathedral is the oldest
Anglican church 6. ________ the Far East. It was declared a monument of Hong Kong 7.
________ 1996. After visiting the cathedral, participants will walk up Government Hill to
Government House, which used to be the official residence of the Governor from 1855 to
1997, when the city was under British rule, and is currently the official residence of the Chief
Executive of Hong Kong. After that, the tour will take you to the Former French Mission
Building, a declared monument located 8. ________ 1, Battery Path, Central, Hong Kong. It
housed the Court of Final Appeal of Hong Kong 9. ________ 1 July 1997 10. ________ 6
September 2015.
Hong Kong Heritage Walk provides an excellent opportunity for you to trace the footsteps of
the people in the past. It is a tour that will surely impress the old soul.

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Section F Countable and Uncountable Nouns (10 marks)
Read the letter below and complete it with the correct singular, plural or uncountable form of
the nouns in the word box. Each noun can be used once only.

course fish pasta meal seafood

ingredient cookie lesson egg instructor

Dear Betty,

It’s a long time since I received your last letter. How are you?

My mum will leave for Shanghai next month to visit my grandma, so I’ll have to prepare 1.
________ for myself. I started a cooking 2. ________ recently. There are six 3. ________ in
total. It was my first lesson yesterday. I had to make fried rice with 4. ________ such as fish.

I’m not very good at cooking so I listened carefully to my teacher. I prepared all the 5.
________: 6. ________, 7. ________ and rice. The fried rice had a golden colour and looked
great. I tried it when I got home. It was sweet. I must have added sugar instead of salt to it! I
think I’ll have to listen more carefully to the 8. ________ next time.

In the next lesson, I ‘ll learn how to make 9. ________ and 10. ________. I’m looking
forward to it already.

Cheers,
Susan

Section G Adverbs of manner and degree (10 marks)

Jennifer is writing a diary entry. Complete her diary entry using the adverb forms of the
adjectives in the box. Each adjective can be used once only.

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 fast real hard gentle simple
basic perfect extreme public good

Dear Diary,

Today was 1. __________ the most embarrassing day in my life! It was 2. __________
courageous of me to confess my love to Arthur, but things just didn’t go 3. __________ with
me.

As you know, I’m a timid girl who has always shied away from baring my heart to anyone. It
is 4. __________ impossible for a shy girl like me to tell anybody about my crush on Arthur,
but I did it 5. ____________ today. I still remember how 6. ____________ and
7. ____________ my heart raced when I told the whole class that I’d been carrying a torch for
Arthur for 6 years. I understand 8. ____________ that Arthur has no feelings for me at all
since he has never asked me out, and it’s 9. ____________ a case of unrequited love, but I
just couldn’t help confessing my attraction to him as I probably won’t even see him after
graduation and I don’t want to regret not telling him how much I care about him for the rest of
my life. Frankly, I was still hopeful that I wouldn’t get rejected.

To my dismay, Arthur just smiled 10. ____________ at me (he has always been such a
gentleman) and said, ‘I do appreciate your audacity and I believe we’ll be friends forever,
won’t we?’ His words cut me down to size and I left the classroom alone with a heavy heart.
That’s the most embarrassing moment in my life! I’ll never do such a stupid thing again, I
swear!

Section H Sentence making (20 marks)

Eddy and Jay are planning their graduation trip on the phone. Complete their conversation using
questions and short answers. Make sure that you add a question word when necessary and choose
the correct tense for each verb. Follow the examples.

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Eddy Jay, I’m planning a trip after graduation. e.g. Do you want to join me? (want/ join/
you/ to/ me)
Jay e.g. Yes, I do. (Yes) I bet that will be a great way to start a new chapter in my life.
1. _________________________________________________ (you/ any ideas/
have/ the trip/ about)
Eddy 2. ____________________ (Yes) I’m thinking of travelling to northern Europe,
home to the happiest people on Earth according to the World Happiness Report.
Jay Really? 3. ________________________________________________ (the
happiest/ the northern Europeans/ on Earth/ be)
Eddy Perhaps it’s because they enjoy better working and living conditions, more freedom
and quality time with their family and friends. Anyhow, it’s a very complicated task
to measure people’s happiness and well-being. I’m trying to figure it out by
travelling to the countries in person.
Jay I see, so 4. __________________________________________________ ( you/
visit/ be/ countries/ going to)
Eddy Demark, Switzerland and Iceland are the top three on my list for sure since they’re
found to be the happiest countries among a total of 156.
5. _________________________________________________ (you/ three
countries/ visit/ the/ with me)
Jay 6. ____________________ (Yes) I’m also interested in these three countries. I’m a
bit concerned about the weather there, though. 7.
__________________________________________________ (the weather/
summer/ be/ in/ like)
Eddy No worries. We’re travelling at the right time as May to September is the best
season for visiting northern Europe. It’s bright and cool, with temperatures varying
from 10 degree Celsius to 25 degree Celsius.
Jay Sounds good. Then 8. __________________________________________ (be/
budget/ your)

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 Eddy I guess it should be around $10,000, depending on how many countries we visit.
9. ________________________________________ (you/ think)
Jay $10,000 is quite a lot!
10. __________________________________________________ (possible/ be it/
to narrow down/ to only one/ our destinations) As students, we don’t have much
money to set aside for travelling, do we?
Eddy Sure! Let’s start saving for the trip today and get away from it all in summer.

Section I Proofreading (13 marks)

There is one mistake in each numbered line of the online forum. Correct the mistakes.
Underline a word that is incorrect and write the correct word above it.
Mark the position of a missing word with a ‘^’ and write the missing word above it.
Cross out an unnecessary word with an ‘X’.

1.
Cici: Hi, everyone! I’m new to Hong Kong. Do anyone know
2.
any cool places visit?
3.
Alan: I like the Ng Tung Chai waterfalls on the Tai Mo Shan. I’m going to
4.
visit there in Sunday. It should be beautiful there now because
5.
there was heavily rain yesterday.
6.
Jojo: Yes, it’ll be amazed to visit the waterfalls this weekend. Don’t
7.
forget to bring camera!
8.

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 Alan: Don’t be worry, I won’t forget my camera!
9.
Harry: I’m going to visit Hong Kong Wetland Park tomorrow. There have
10.
lots of colourful birds and peaceful pond. We may also find the
11.
saltwater crocodile ‘Pui Pui’, which was used to be kept indoors

before being released to the external pool to meet visitors.

12.
Star: I’m going surfing in Shek O last Sunday. Last weekend, I caught a
13.
huge wave there-check it up!

End of Paper

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