A2 KET Test #44 - Reading & Writing

Henry

Henry goes to the robot club every Thursday afternoon. The school has some new tablets, so students don't need to bring their own. Henry always builds machines with his best friend because working together is faster and easier. Last term, their clever robot came first in a local competition! The group is very popular, and Henry's uncle often comes to help the science teacher. Henry usually uses his smartphone to control his robots, which is great fun.

Felix

Felix loves writing computer programs, so he joined the school coding group. He is making a funny game for smartphones, and he hopes people will buy it soon. The school computers are quite old, which means Felix must use his own laptop for the lessons. He wants to win a big competition next year, but he knows it will be difficult. He usually works alone because he needs a quiet space to think about his ideas.

Peter

Peter is learning to make short cartoons on a computer. His club meets on Fridays, which is a fantastic way to end the school week! He doesn't have a laptop at home, so he borrows one from the library. Peter's older sister is an artist, but she never helps him with his pictures. He shares his cartoons online for free. Next year, he will leave school, and after that, he hopes to study film at university.

Richard Hale – a young chess player

If you look at nine-year-old Richard Hale, you see a small, quiet boy with glasses. He does not look like a winner. But when he sits down at a chess board, everything changes. Last month, Richard played in the city chess competition, and he won games against many adults. Most of the players there were older than his father.

Richard learned to play from his sister, Nina, when he was six. Now he goes to the chess club at his school twice a week. At home, he reads about chess and thinks about new moves in bed. "For me, chess is not just a game," he says. "I think about it all day, and it is the biggest thing in my life."

His coach, Mr Wells, says that Richard is different from most young players. "Children often move too fast," he explains. "Richard usually sits quietly and thinks for a long time before every move."

At the competition, Richard played six games. He won the first five. In the last game, he played against a strong older player. At first, Richard was winning. But he was tired, and he began to move too fast. Then he made a big mistake and lost. He took second place and went home with a silver cup. "I was tired at the end, and I played too fast," he said.

Richard is not usually unhappy about the games he loses. After the last competition, he played that game again with Nina and found the move that went wrong. His next goal is the UK competition in the summer. "Next time, I will go slowly until the very last move," he says.

Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. It is in the Himalayas, 19.1throughagainstbetween Nepal and China. Every year, many people travel there because they want to climb to the top. However, climbing this mountain is very dangerous because the weather changes fast. There is often strong wind and 19.2hardheavystrong snow on the rocky paths. Climbers must 19.3carryholdwear special equipment on their backs to stay warm and safe.

The first people to stand on the top were Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Since then, thousands of climbers have 19.4triedplanneddecided to complete the difficult journey. Today, there are so many visitors that everyone must 19.5keepmakedo sure to take their rubbish home. They must bring their bags down to keep this famous mountain 19.6emptysafeclean for the future.