Exam insight 4

 

EXAM TASK 1  Listen to recordings 1-4. Then answer the questions for each recording. Speak for no longer than 1 minute. 1 a What is the name of the bank account they are advertising? ...    b Where can you find more information about it? ... 2 a How long has Janet's company been successful? ...    b Are her products expensive? ... 3 a What did the Businessperson of the Year start out by selling?  ...    b How many shops has he got around the world? ... 4 a What did the population of Britain use to be? ...    b Why do the supermarkets know the real population figure? ...

1.  Select Record Audio to record yourself.
2.  If you want to add a note to your teacher, write it in the Comments box.
3.  Select Submit to dropbox to send the recording to your teacher.

Reading

2Read the short text. Explain what the underlined words 1–9 refer to. 

You need to use normal letters and capital letters correctly in this task.

Robert Peary reaches the North Pole

Every day the four Eskimos with ¹me became more keen and interested. When we stopped to make camp, ²they would climb a small hill and look north, hoping to see the Pole. ³They were now certain we would get ⁴there this time.

The icy wind burned our faces. A long time after we made camp each day, ⁵they hurt so much we could hardly sleep. The Eskimos also complained about ⁶their noses, which I had never heard ⁷them do before. The last march north ended within sight of my ⁸goal, but I was too tired to take the last few steps. I had a few hours sleep. But when I woke up, I thought: 'The Pole at last. My dream for twenty years. I have done ⁹it.'

• 1'me' refers to 

• 2'they' refers to 

• 3'They' refers to 

• 4'there' refers to 

• 5'they' refers to 

• 6'their' refers to 

• 7'them' refers to 

• 8'goal' refers to 

• 9'it' refers to 

• 
  

Reading

3EXAM TASK Read the text about Roald Amundsen's arrival at the South Pole. Some parts of the text have been removed. Complete the text with sentences A–F. There is one sentence that you do not need. 

EXAM STRATEGY

• ■Read the text through first, ignoring the gaps.

  ■Pay attention to words that refer to something in the sentence before or after the gap, e.g. it, that, we.

  ■Read the whole text at the end to see if it makes sense and if each gap-fill sentence is correct.

Arriving at the South Pole (1911)

That night in the tent it was like the night before a big party. Everyone felt that something great was about to happen. 

¹

 

On each occasion I felt like I had as a little boy the night before Christmas.

In the morning the weather was fine, as if made for our arrival at the Pole. 

²

 

Then we set off in the usual way. Nobody said much, but everybody looked around much more. Hansen's neck seemed to grow longer and he tried to see a little further ahead. But all he could see was endless flat countryside.

At three in the afternoon a cry of 'Stop!' rang out from all the drivers at exactly the same time. 

³

 

We had reached the Pole. The journey had ended. I know it would be natural to say that I had achieved my life's goal. But I had not. To be honest, I cannot imagine anyone in a more different and opposite place at that moment. Since childhood, I had dreamed of the areas around the North Pole. And yet, here I was at the South Pole. Can you imagine anything more upside down?

We believed we were now at the Pole. Of course, we all knew we were not standing on the exact spot. 

⁴

 

But we were so near it could not make any difference. We congratulated each other, shaking each other by the hand.

Then we carried out the most important act of the whole journey. We planted the flag. I decided that we should do this together – five frozen, weather-beaten hands pushing it into the frozen ground. It was not for one man to do this. 

⁵

 

It was the only way I could show my thanks in this icy, empty place.

• AWe looked at our kilometre counters. We had come the full distance.

  BWe could not be sure where that was because of the instruments we had.

  CI woke up several times during the night.

  DOutside we heard the noise of the flag in the wind.

  EIt was for everyone who had risked their lives and stayed together.

  FWe had breakfast more quickly than usual and were out of our tent sooner.

Use of English

4EXAM TASK Read the email. Choose the correct answers to complete gaps 1–10. 

EXAM STRATEGY

• ■Read the text to find out what it's about.

  ■Read the options.

  ■Choose the option that fits the grammar and the meaning of the sentence.

Hi Sally

I want to tell you about the amazing time I 

¹hadam havinghavewas having

 

running in the London marathon this year. I 

²am alwaysbeing alwaysalways behave always been

 

terrible at sport, especially at school, so I never thought I 

³succeedsucceedingwill succeedwould succeed!

Did you know that two athletes and a journalist started the London marathon in 1981 and that the course is over forty-two kilometres long? I 

⁴trainedtrainstrainam training

 

for six months – can you believe that I 

⁵madewentdidgoing

 

running every morning? – to make sure I 

⁶finishwill finishcould finishhave finished

 

the race. I also raised £500 for charity which was a great feeling. It's fantastic 

⁷feltto feelhave feltfeel

 

part of something so big and successful – I 

⁸heardam hearinghearsis hearing

 

that over 30,000 people ran this year. Of course, the weather was typical – it 

⁹rainhas rainedrainedis raining

 

on the day, but all the runners kept warm by running so much!

How about 

¹⁰to runrunwill runrunning

 

in the marathon with me next year?

Love

Ted

SPEAKING EXAM STRATEGY Before you start speaking, think about what you want to say for each point in the exam task. Always give a reason for your arguments. Think of useful expressions for giving opinions, agreeing and disagreeing.

5  Give reasons and justifications for these arguments. Speak for no longer than one minute. Learning foreign languages is useful ... While travelling, we should know something about the culture of the country we visit ... Always know what your goals are ...

1.  Select Record Audio to record yourself.
2.  If you want to add a note to your teacher, write it in the Comments box.
3.  Select Submit to dropbox to send the recording to your teacher.

EXAM STRATEGY Before you start speaking, think about what you want to say for each point in the exam task. Always give a reason for your arguments. Think of useful expressions for giving opinions, agreeing and disagreeing. EXAM TASK 6  Imagine your friend from the USA wants to open a business in your country and is wondering if he needs to learn the language. Explain why it is a good idea and include the following points: why learning the language in your country is useful for your friend and his business. how long you think it will take to learn. information about language courses. other forms of learning Speak for no longer than one minute.  Select Record Audio to record yourself.  If you want to add a note to your teacher, write it in the Comments box.  Select Submit to dropbox to send the recording to your teacher.

Writing

7Rewrite the sentences using a formal style. 

EXAM STRATEGY

• ■When writing a letter, check the style you need to use.

  ■When you've finished writing, make sure you've included all the information that's needed and that it's organized properly.

• 1Tell me more about the cool scholarship.

• 2What's the course about?

• 3Thanks a lot for your help. Write soon!

EXAM STRATEGY When writing a letter, check the style you need to use. When you've finished writing, make sure you've included all the information that's needed and that it's organized properly.

EXAM TASK 8  You see an advert for scholarships in a subject you love for talented young people. Write a letter asking for more information about the scholarships. Ask about the following points: the dates of the scholarship and the hours of study. the entry requirements. the topics you will study. any qualification you will receive.

1.  Write your task in another program (e.g. Word).
2.  Save the file to your computer.
3.  Upload your file.
4.  If you want to add a note to your teacher, write it in the Comments box.
5.  Select Submit to Dropbox to send your work to your teacher.