Exam insight 5

 Listening

1Look at the questions in exercise 2. Match the words in the box with the recording you think you will hear them in. 

EXAM STRATEGY

• ■Read each question carefully and try to predict what the recording will be about.

MOVE
• accident
• actual
• chemist
• cost
• fridge
• iPad
• kitchen
• movie
• newspaper
• night
• produce
• small
• story
• succeed
• test
• tired

Recording 1

Recording 2

Recording 3

Recording 4

2EXAM TASK Play the recordings 1–4, listen and choose the correct answers. 

• 1What is the intention of the first speaker?

  To raise money for a new company.To say how the energy crisis will be solved.To give information about a new scientific development.

• 2What does the woman think about Bond films?

  She thinks the reviews were wrong.She likes films with lots of action.She loves all the Bond films.

• 3What does the speaker say about Teflon?

  It was invented to use in the space programme.It was discovered by someone trying to make a new gas.It was first used to make non-stick frying pans.

• 4Why will the magazine Newsweek only be available online?

  In order to be different.Because it will save money.In order to attract more advertisers.

Reading

3EXAM TASK Read the text about penicillin. Some parts of the text have been removed. Complete the text with sentences. There is one sentence that you do not need. 

EXAM STRATEGY

• ■Work out what each paragraph is about. Then find a sentence that is on a similar topic.

  ■Check the grammar and meaning of the sentences before and after the gap. Make sure your chosen sentence fits.

MOVE

• AHis attempts to treat humans failed because he just did not have enough of the antibiotic.

  BOver the next fifty-three years it was studied in various countries by a number of scientists.

  CAnd the hard work of his team should not be forgotten either.

  DOf course, penicillin is one of the most widely used antibiotic treatments of all time.

  EHowever, it was not until 1939 that any intensive research was done into the drug.

  FBy June 1942, they had made enough penicillin to treat just ten patients.

  GFleming himself thought it might be useful as an antiseptic.

Alexander Fleming in 1928, I hear you say. Everyone knows the answer to that. Well, everyone is wrong. Alexander Fleming actually rediscovered it.

Penicillin was first written about in 1875 by John Tyndall. 

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These included a French medical student, Ernest Duchesne, who sent a paper about it to the Institut Pasteur in Paris. This famous research institute ignored Duchesne's findings on the grounds that he was too young!

Scientists were aware of the properties of penicillin, but medical science was not advanced enough at the time for anyone to realize that it might become a life-saving medicine. 

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But he was convinced that it could not remain in the human body long enough to kill bacteria.

In 1930, it is reported that Cecil Paine successfully used penicillin to treat a small number of patients with eye disease. 

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Then Howard Florey and a team of researchers made great progress in showing the effects of penicillin.

The main difficulty for Florey was availability. 

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The Second World War had just started and Britain had neither the money nor the resources to invest in mass-production. Florey therefore took his team to the US to continue his work.

Producing large quantities of the drug was not an easy task. 

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However, further research and the chance discovery that a cantaloupe melon was the best place to find high quality penicillin speeded up the process considerably. By June 1945 over 646 billion units a year were being produced.

So who really discovered penicillin? Well, many people. Scientists before Fleming knew about it. Fleming obviously plays an important role in the story, but even he stopped studying it at one point. Florey deserves a lot of the credit. 

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Finally, it is worth remembering that the Nobel Prize for medicine awarded in 1945 went not to Fleming alone, but was shared with Florey and Ernst Boris Chain, a member of Florey's team.

Use of English

4Read the text about recycling. Complete the text with the correct form of the verbs in brackets. 

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

EXAM STRATEGY

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

  ■Look for clues in the text such as time references or whether there is or isn't a subject pronoun to decide which tense you need for each gap.

  ■Read the text through at the end to check the verbs are correct.

We all want 

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(help) the environment, but do you ever 

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(worry) that the world's problems are so big there are no solutions? No doubt, you 

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(hear) this before, but it's true – small actions can really 

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(make) a difference. For example, electric lighting 

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(use) twenty per cent of the world's electricity. As a result, about 700 million tonnes of carbon 

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(release) into the atmosphere every year. Changing to energy-saving light bulbs could help reduce this. Is recycling really worth it? Yes. Each glass jar that 

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(recycle) saves enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours. And glass can 

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(reuse) an infinite number of times. 

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(turn down) your heating at home by two degrees can save about 1,000 kilograms of carbon every year. Imagine if one hundred people in your area 

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(have) the same idea. Don't give up – small changes can produce big results if enough people make them.

Speaking

5Look at the photos below and note three differences between them. 

EXAM STRATEGY

• ■First, look at the photos carefully and think about what the people are doing.

  ■Use question words to help you prepare what you are going to say, e.g. Who?, What?, Where?, Why?, How?

  ■Think about the vocabulary you need to describe the photos.

SPEAKING EXAM STRATEGY First, look at the photos carefully and think about what the people are doing. Use question words to help you prepare what you are going to say, e.g. Who?, What?, Where?, Why?, How? Thnk about the vocabulary you need to describe the photos.

EXAM TASK 6  These two photos show ways in which you can help the environment. Compare and contrast them. Include the following points: the places and what the people are doing. the people and theie feelings. reasons for doing the activity. Which photo would be most suitable for a school recycling project? Why? Speak for no longer than one minute.

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.

WRITING EXAM STRATEGY Organize your letter into paragraphs. Try to add as much interest as possible to your writing. Include adjectives and adverbs when you describe people or tell a story.

EXAM TASK 7  You have just seen a great film about the life of a famous artist or athlete. Write a letter to a friend. Include the following points: describe when and where you saw the film. give some information about the film's main character. give your opinion about the actor's performance. encourage your friend to see the film.

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.