D.Education



fcread02

Dimitris Sclias
our homepage> agglikanow.gr

Time allowed for all passages: 1 hour 15 minutes
Please read carefully:
Each test has got 4 passages with 35 questions. To complete the test you have to answer all 35 questions.
Time allowed to complete the test (all the questions) 1 hour 15 minutes.
Do not waste any time, if you can't answer one question, guess it and continue.
You must try to complete the test within the time limit, otherwise you'll have to take the test again.
To pass the test successfully you must get at least 70% correct answers.
To move the yellow chart just left click on it.

To verify the results of the quiz, press the button 'Verify'
question 1

TEST 02
fcread02
You are going to read a newspaper article about climbing. Choose the most suitable heading from the list A-I for each part (1-7) of the article. There is one extra heading which you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning (0).

A Early imperfections
B Something in common
C The demand for indoor practice
D Useful attachments
E Indoor climbing is preferred
F The inventor of the wall
G Putting up with nature
H A lighter construction method
I Watching the expert

Going up the wall
Once climbers went to the mountains. Now a challenging climb can be had anywhere, indoors or out.
0............-> the answer is -> I
The crowd holds its breath. High above them on the climbing wail, hanging upside down by the tips of two fingers, is the French climber Francois Lombard. He is competing in the World Cup Climbing Championships at Birmingham's National Indoor Arena.
1...
The National Indoor Arena is more famous for staging the TV show Gladiators but the television programme and the World Cup Climbing Championships share at least one feature - The Wall. And the fact that either event is possible is the result of a new and rapidly developing technology.
2...
Until the mid-1960s, climbers practised their skills on cliffs in areas where there was a plentiful supply of good climbing angles. During the winter they would either tolerate the cold weather, go walking instead or climb on snow and ice in Scotland.
3...
However, as the sport developed it was increasingly important for top climbers to keep fit. With the cliffs unusable for much of the year, they used brick-edges or stone buildings to 'work out' on. This allowed them to keep their fingers strong, and beat off the boredom of not being able to climb. It wasn't long before many sports centres started building walls specifically for the task, using bricks with special edges to cling on to.
4....
Many of these early walls followed the example set by Don Robinson, a teacher of physical education who, during the mid-1960s, constructed a climbing wall in a corridor of his department at Leeds University. Robinson developed the idea of setting natural rock in a block of concrete, which could then be included in a wall.
5...
Scores of climbing walls of this kind were built in sports halls up and down the country throughout the 1970s but they had obvious design problems. Walls could only be built in a vertical plane, whereas cliffs outside have features like overhangs and angled slabs of rock. There was the added drawback that once the walls were up they couldn't be altered and climbers would eventually tire of their repetitive nature, despite thinking of every combination of holds possible.
6...
In 1985, a Frenchman, Francois Savigny, developed a material which he moulded into shapes like those that climbers would find on the cliffs. These could be fixed onto any existing wall and then taken off when climbers got bored with a particular combination.
7...
French manufacturers also began to experiment with panels on a steel framework. Concrete had proved too heavy to create overhanging walls without major building work, but steel frames could be erected anywhere as free-standing structures. A system of interchangeable fixtures gave climbers an endless supply of new holds.
question 2

TEST02
Passage 2 Part 2
You are going to read an extract from a short story. For Questions 8-14,. choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according t0the text.

In the lumberyard by the lake, where trees from the woods were turned into boards for construction work, there was an old brick building two floors high, and all around the outside walls were heaped great piles of soft sawdust. There were many of these golden mountains of dust covering that part of the yard right down to the blue lake. That afternoon, bored with having nothing else to do, all the fellows followed Michael up the ladder to the roof of the old building and they sat with their legs hanging from the edge looking out across the lake. Suddenly Michael said, 'I dare you to jump down,' and without thinking about it, he pushed himself off the roof and fell on the sawdust where he lay rolling around and laughing. 'I dare you all!' he shouted. 'You're all cowards,' he said, encouraging them to follow him. Still laughing, he watched them looking down from the roof, white-faced and hesitant, and then one by one they jumped and got up grinning with relief.
In the hot afternoon sunlight they all lay on the sawdust pile telling jokes till at last one of the fellows said, 'Come on up on the old roof again and jump down.' There wasn't much enthusiasm among them, but they all went up to the roof again and began to jump off in a determined, desperate way till only Michael was left and the others were all down below grinning up at him calling, 'Come on, Mike. What's the matter with you?' Michael wanted to jump down there and be with them, but he remained on the edge of the roof, wetting his lips, with a silly grin on his face, wondering why it had not seemed such a long drop the first time. For a while they thought he was only fooling them, but then they saw him clenching his fists tight. He was trying to count to ten and then jump, and when that failed, he tried to take a long breath and close his eyes. In a while the fellows began to laugh at him; they were tired of waiting and it was getting on to dinnertime. 'Come on, you're a coward, do you think we're going to sit here all night?' they began to shout, and when he did not move they began to get up and walk away, still shouting. 'Who did this in the first place? What's the matter with you all?' he called. But for a long time he remained on the edge of the roof, staring unhappily and steadily at the ground. He remained all alone for nearly an hour while the sun, like a great orange ball getting bigger and bigger, rolled slowly over the grey line beyond the lake. His clothes were wet from nervous sweating. At last he closed his eyes, slipped off the roof, fell heavily on the pile of sawdust and lay there a long time. There were no sounds in the yard, the workmen had gone home. As he lay there he wondered why he had been unable to jump; and then he got up slowly and walked home feeling deeply ashamed and wanting to avoid everybody. He was so late for dinner that his stepmother said to him coldly, 'You're big enough by this time surely to be able to get home in time for dinner. But if you won't come home, you'd better try staying in tonight.' She was a well-built woman with a fair, soft skin and a little touch of grey in her hair and an eternally patient smile on her face. She was speaking now with a controlled severity, but Michael, with his dark face gloomy and miserable, hardly heard her; he was still seeing the row of grinning faces down below on the sawdust pile and hearing them laugh at him.
Now Choose the right answer A, B, C, or D
8. Why did the boys first climb on the building?
A to test their courage
B to pass the time
C to keep out of the way of the workmen
D to get a better view of the woods

9. When the boys jumped after Michael, they
A were grateful to him for the idea.
B wanted to do it again immediately.
C felt pleased at what they had done.
D found the jump harder than expected.

10 Why didn't Michael make the second jump immediately?
A The ground seemed further away.
B He thought his friends had been foolish.
C He was trying to trick his friends.
D He wanted something to drink.

11 How did Michael's friends react when he didn't jump?
A They left immediately.
B They were not surprised.
C They remembered how they had felt themselves.
D They thought he was joking.

12 When Michael finally jumped the second time, he
A was proud of himself.
B improved on his first lump.
C could not understand what had stopped him.
D was not so angry with his friends.

13 When his stepmother criticised his behaviour, Michael
A wished he had come home earlier.
B was thinking about something else.
C had not expected her to behave like this.
D was glad she was a patient woman.

14 What is the writer trying to do in this text?
A describe a difficult experience in Michael's life
B show how children can work together
C show the dangers of life in the countryside
D describe Michael's fear of his family
question 3

TEST02
Passage 3 Part 3
You are going to read a magazine article about a girl and the job she does. Eight sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-I the one which fits each gap (15-21). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use. There is an example at the beginning (0).

A At around 3pm, the cleaning work done, Sarah then prepares tea for the new guests.
B Sarah enjoys cooking and, after leaving school, supported herself during holidays by working as a cook.
C 'There's nothing worse than coming in to a messy kitchen the next morning.'
D As soon as the guests are gone, Sarah starts cleaning madly.
E 'On a good day we can be up there until 4.30 pm.'
F 'A frightful day,' she says, 'when you certainly don't want to be cooking breakfast with a terrible headache.'
G She gets up at 7 am to walk the mile or so to the chalet, which sleeps up to 18 guests each week.
H It is soon time for dinner duty again and perhaps a drink later, but not always.
I Being a chalet girl isn't a career, she says, but an enjoyable way to spend a year or two before settling down.
Keeping the holiday-makers happy

A chalet girl's work is never done, Sarah Sutherland - Pilch tells Veronica Lee in between making beds and delicious dinners. This is the second year as a chalet girl for Sarah Sutherland-Pilch, a 24-year-old from west Sussex. Known by her nickname, Puch1 Sarah works for a company in Val d' Isere, France, cooking and cleaning for visitors who come to ski and stay in the wooden houses, known as chalets, that are characteristic of the area. Sarah graduated in French and History of Art from Oxford Brookes University last summer. >0.........the answer is -> I
'It's a good way to make contacts.
I meet successful people every week.'
Sarah does not 'live in'. 15... She has her own breakfast before preparing that of the guests. 'They get the works - porridge, eggs, cereals, fruit and croissants.' When the last of the guests has had breakfast, by about 9.30 am, Sarah clears up and either makes the afternoon tea, which is left for the guests to help themselves, or cleans the rooms - 'the worst part of the job,' she says. By about 11am she is ready to go on the slopes herself. She skis as much as possible. 16... Sarah returns to the chalet in time to pre pare dinner and takes a shower before doing so but does not sleep. 'It's fatal if you do,' she says.
Dinner, a three-course affair, is served at 8 pm and coffee is usually on the table by 10pm. Sarah clears away the dinner things and fills the dishwasher. 17.... Sometimes she will stay and chat with t e guests, other times they are content to be left alone. 'Good guests can make a week brilliant - breakfast this morning was great fun - but some weeks, for whatever reason, don't go e so well.' Sarah meets her friends in the chalet where she lives - and they go out at about 11 pm. 'We usually start off in Bananas, might go to G Jay's and perhaps Dick's T-Bar at the end of the evening,' she says. But Sarah never stays out too late on Saturday night as Sunday is her busiest time of the week. 18...
Work begins earlier than usual on Sunday, since breakfast for guests who are leaving has to be on the table by 7am. 19... 'We just blitz the place - clear the breakfast, strip the beds, get everything ready.' If she hasn't already done the week's shop on Saturday, Sarah does it now. 20…'They get here at around 4.30 pm. Sometimes they are disorientated and full of questions. I'm sure it's the mountain air that does something to them.'
Between tea and dinner, Sarah takes any guests needing boots or skis down to the ski shop and then gets a lift back to the chalet from one of the ski shop staff. 21... 'Sometimes I'm so tired I just have an early night,' she says.
question 4

TEST02
Passage 4 Part 4
You are going to read a magazine article about five orchestral Conductors. For Questions 22-35 choose from the conductors (A-E). The Conductors may be chosen more than once. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Giving directions to an orchestra is never easy Anne Inglis talks to five new conductors about their work.
A............. ANNE MANSON
When Anne Manson, 30, asked if she could attend conductor Claudjo Abbado's practice sessions in Vienna, she found herself standing in for an absent assistant. She was then asked to help on another opera the next season. 'I had to take the first orchestral rehearsal for Abbado. No, I wasn't nervous. I always had a good attitude to standing up in front of an orchestra.' American-born Manson works with a well-established London-based opera company which concentrates on modern works. She is also building a reputation in other European countries, which she has visited with financial aid from the British Arts Council, and, since that first occasion, she has assisted Abbado on several more projects.
B............ANDREW CONSTANTINE
'The most difficult part of being a conductor is deciding how to convince people to present you with the right opportunities,' says Andrew Constantine, 31, who won a major competition in 1991, after failed attempts in two other contests. Looking back, he is grateful for the timing: 'If it had happened any earlier, I am sure I would have disappeared without trace.' The competition provided many performance opportunities and a period as assistant to a well known conductor, but Constantine is finding it difficult to lose the 'competition' label: 'If in three years' time my name is still associated with the competition then I will be worried,' he says. 'But orchestras such as the English Chamber Orchestra who took me on after the competition are now inviting me back. If this doesn't happen, your career will gradually fall to pieces.'
C............... WASFI KANE
Wasfi Kani, who set up Pimlico Opera, loves the long practice period which is part of any opera production. 'The music is worth four weeks' attention,' says Kani, who started conducting seriously in her late twenties. After university, she supported herself by working in London's commercial centre until Pimlico Opera turned fully professional two years ago. Starting lessons with Sian Edwards was the key moment for her. 'I saw her conduct and realised she was the same size as me - I had always been taught by much bigger people which makes a huge difference.' She likes the complicated nature of opera: 'There are lots of arguments, and you've got singers' personalities to consider...'
D...............ROGER VIGNOLES
'Conducting has come upon me as something of a surprise, but it holds great fascination for me,' says Roger Vignoles, 48. In fact, it's not such a strange career move. He started out as a resident musician with an 6pera house, and worked with good conductors. Last year he was asked to direct Handel's Agrippina from the piano at a festival, something he had never done before. 'It was much less difficult than I thought. I found I knew the music well, I knew what I wanted it to sound like, and I tried my best to get the performance I wanted. Fortunately, people have respected my ability as a musician generally. I am benefiting from every piece of experience I've ever had, both in musical style and in the actual business of performing. Now I will do whatever people ask me to do so I can find out what I like doing.'

E................. WAYNE MARSHALL
It was back in 1986 that the conductor Simon Rattle noticed a young assistant conductor on one of his productions and told his agent about Wayne Marshall. Marshall, now 32, soon found himself conducting a musical in London at short notice, a difficult beginning. He even had to deal with some over-relaxed professional musicians reading newspapers during the show: 'I was just tough with them. I always gave a clear beat and got the best result I could. A lot of orchestral musicians I've seen don't seem to need advice and instruction from a conductor. But I'm never afraid to ask what I want. If people see you're worried, it gets worse. I've never studied conducting. formally and no book tells you how to conduct but people have been kind to me. I am determined and I know what I like.'

Which Conductor or Conductors........

has an open mind about the work he/she accepts? -> 0....the answer is-> d
did not plan to become a conductor? 22
have had difficulties with other Performers? 23 24
talks about the problems Of getting suitable work? 25
enjoys the preparation for a performance? 26
have had no professional training as Conductors? 27 28
had an unexpected experience early in their Careers? 29 30
is glad he/she did not succeed Sooner? 31
received help from a national organisation? 32
created his/her Own musical Company? 33
mentions a Possible danger he/she faces? 34
thinks it is essential to appear Confident? 35

To see the results of the test, please press the button *Verify *at the top of this page.