The university sent me a letter _____ were congratulations for my successful application.
Backpacking is best suited for those who are in good physical condition _____.
I would rather you _____ with your friends in the park, instead of the garden.
_____ of all modern domestic poultry is the red jungle fowl is widely believed.
Shelves _____, the hypermarket was ready to open its doors to the public.
Only too late did I notice the elevator and realize that I _____ the wardrobe up three flights of stairs.
With their undeveloped immune systems, young infants are _____ to a wide range of minor ailments.
My mother gave me a _____ alarm clock because my old one was broken.
The hikers _____ so tired by the time they _____ the top of the hill that I’m sure they’ll first want to sit down for a rest.
The report would have been accepted _____ in checking its accuracy.
_____, playing music is an effective way for them to open their heart to the outside world.
He decided to leave one hour early, _____ caught in the traffic jam.
Vaccinating 80% of the population could ______ the progression of the contagious disease.
The doctor has stressed that his comments do not _____ criticism of the study.
The two legendary footballers consider themselves _____ enemies on the pitch.
Sarah delivered a(n) _____ appeal to the court and asked for mercy.
You'll really have to work hard if you want to make the _____ as a journalist.
The baker _____ customers into the shop with an appetising display of cakes.
He _____ unexpected resistance when he proposed the new policy changes.
Hospitals can easily spend over $200,000 a year to _____ CDs that are handed out to patients.
As planned, I left the town _______ the Jeep just at the crack of dawn.
The size of the pop-star's personal fortune was the subject of much ______ in the press.
It's _____ whether Sam will be well enough to play in the championship on Sunday.
The _____ of things was that he was sacked from a job that he had held for over twenty years.
Customers are tempted to break _____ with so many alluring products available online.
The actor responded to the interviewer's question with an angry _____.
Andy: I yearn for the prospect of England winning the World Cup. I think the whole country would really _____ afterwards.
Bob: I think I would pass out!
You'd better learn to handle yourself instead of _____, otherwise, intense emotions will likely instigate a momentary loss of control and possibly furious violence.
This is the only example portraying a Roman Emperor which has survived _____ from such an early age.
Read the passage and choose the best answer for each blank.
SAMOA
When reporting on foreign culture, the media often focus on what seems alien, and the Polynesian island of Samoa is certainly a target of this kind of reporting. Whenever a journalist comes looking for a story, they inevitably focus on the fa'afafine (Samoan men who dress as women) and most other aspects of Samoan culture. Almost without exception, they the valued place that a fa'afafine has in the community.
Fa'afafine as in the manner of a woman. In traditional Samoan society, when a family had a large number of male children, one would be selected to help his mother. The choice would be based on which son showed the most ability and interest in domestic , and he would then be dressed and raised as female. The choice was in no way based on the sexual the family believed the son might have. It was a choice based on who was best for a certain kind of labour. The fa'afafine's abilities in the home and in producing crafts, combined with physical strength, were a useful to Samoan communities. When the son grew up, he would marry and have children, as is expected of all Samoan men, but continue to a female identity. Modern-day Samoa has strong Christian beliefs, as well as a firm sense of cultural , and many Samoans the Western description of fa'afafine as homosexual.
Read the following passage and choose the best answer for each blank.
The environment is the fundamental source of all possible existence on planet Earth. However, over the recent years, the environment has been exploited because of which the environmental conditions are becoming worse . Pollution of air, water and land, mining, industrialisation, modern urbanisation, deforestation, release of chemical and landfills are some of the major factors that cause the gradual deterioration of the environment. With the disastrous pace of climate change, a result of pollution and exploitation of the environment, finding out ways to protect the environment from any further damage should be the first . Bringing back the environment to its original state is of importance and is the only solution. Working towards a common goal will be the easiest and fastest way to keep the environment from any more harm. Dots are to be connected between climate change, water , energy shortages, global health, food security and women's . Solutions to one problem must be solutions for all.
The leaders of the world are working to reduce the rapid degradation of the environment, organizations like the United Nations initiatives to create awareness and get people to take actions to curb the problems of the environment. Some of these initiatives include the 2019 Sustainable Development Summit, 2019 Climate Action Summit, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. all these measures are in action, individuals are also obliged to take steps to preserve the environment that everyone is a part of. With everyone's efforts, we can be sure that all of it will definitely a difference and help the environment in becoming healthy and sustainable.
Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each space. Use only ONE word in each space. The first one has been done as an example.
Vera Neuman was a designer and businesswoman whose products (0) found their way the homes of people across the USA. Vera was born in Connecticut in 1907 and showed artistic from an early age. After attending art college in New York, she got a job as a textile designer but didn't like being told what to do. Determined to develop her own styles, Vera started to produce tablecloths each item printed by hand in her kitchen.
But was her scarves that Vera's name. The good fabric was in short during the Second World War, but Vera was lucky enough to across some silk over from the manufacture of parachutes. Vera used it to design scarves with floral, abstract and geometric designs. These were an instant when they appeared in department stores during the 1950s they were of fashion, worn by celebrities such as the film star Marilyn Monroe. By 1969, the company which Vera had set up was employing 200 staff and producing 130 patterns per season.
There are 6 mistakes in the following text. The first mistake (0) has been identified and corrected as an example. Find the other 5 mistakes, write and correct them.
Write the mistakes in the order they appeared in the text.
| Line | RED BRICK BATTERIES |
| 1 | A project at Washington University is looking to combine emerging nanotechnology with one |
| 2 | of the world's oldest and more abundant materials in order to create more sustainable |
| 3 | buildings. Red bricks have been around from at least 4000 BCE and are one of the "greenest" |
| 4 | of common building materials. The minute holes in bricks absorb and store heat during the day |
| 5 | and emit it at night, reduce energy consumption for heating and cooling. Now scientists at |
| 6 | Washington University have developed a method to modify these bricks to store electricity as |
| 7 | well. Scientists use a material called PEDOT to cover the bricks with an external layer of |
| 8 | nanofibers which, when absorbed, mixes with the natural materials of the brick and allows |
| 9 | them to store electricity. When these bricks are connected to an electrical source, such as solar |
| 10 | panel, they can store an astounding amount of energy just 50 bricks are enough to power |
| 11 | emergency LED lighting for a small building for up to five hours. What is more, the bricks can |
| 12 | be recharged at least 10,000 times and each recharge spends only a few minutes. Potential |
| 13 | applications for these energy-stored bricks are endless and developers say they imagine a time |
| 14 | when you could "power a laptop directly from the walls of the house." |
Example: (0) Line 2: more -> most
| Line | Errors | Corrections |
Choose the correct heading for paragraphs A - F from the list of numbered headings i-ix. Write the correct number in each blank.
Demystifying Our Dreamworld
Paragraph A
As a teenager, Brenda Giguere went ice skating with her friends every week, but they improved much faster than she did. She could only go round in circles and got fed up with watching her friends effortlessly switching from backward skating to forward. Lying in bed one night, she thought she would try to practice those backward moves in her sleep. "Before long I was dreaming, I was skating, and I got very excited. It was so realistic. I felt the sensation of skating backward - the movement of my legs, the cool air, the feeling of propelling myself this way. Suddenly it all made sense as a set of logical, fluid, sequential body movements."
Paragraph B
Brenda later found out she had experienced what is called a "lucid dream". Lucid dreaming is one of the most controversial areas of dream research, partly because of misperceptions over how much individuals can influence their dreams - or indeed, whether they should. Those in favor say that lucidity is an important step in understanding dreams and argue that lucid dreams can take the horror out of nightmares, inspire new ideas, promote self-healing of physical ailments and unravel mysteries of the psyche that can improve a person's well-being.
Paragraph C
Lucid dreaming is a technique that has been practiced by Tibetan Buddhist priests for more than a millennium. Writings by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle also refer to the conscious exploration of dreams. And when the discovery of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep 50 years ago opened up new avenues of sleep research, it also strengthened the argument for lucidity. Today, the leading guru in this field is Stephen LaBerge, who founded the Lucidity Institute in 1987.
Paragraph D
LaBerge believes that the state of awareness reached during lucid dreaming is akin to that of being awake. With colleagues, he has developed electronic devices that give the dreamer a reminder during REM Sleep to try to become lucid. The "Nova Dreamer" is a sleep mask that emits a flashing light or sound cues when the user is dreaming (detected by eye movement). LaBerge claims that this increases the dreamer's chances of becoming lucid threefold, as evidenced by research he has carried out. Ed Wirth, who has used the Nova Dreamer, says the flashing light becomes incorporated into his dreams, like the flickering image of a TV screen. Of the 600 or so dreams a year that Wirth recalls, only five or six are lucid, but their effect is powerful and overwhelming. He flies in his dreams and walks through walls: "You can turn a threatening situation into a funny situation. It eliminates the whole nightmare. They, in effect, have changed my life. For me, it's an exploration."
Paragraph E
Not everyone shares this enthusiasm. Rosalind Cartwright, the Grande dame of sleep medicine research, believes the whole concept has been overblown. Cartwright, director of the Sleep Disorders Service and Research Center at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, says: "It's a wish to control things out of their usual function and time. It is trying to redesign the mind in a way I don't think is necessarily helpful. It gives people false hope."
Paragraph F
LaBerge admits he doesn't have all the answers yet, but feels lucky to be able to work in such a fascinating field. His goals are simple: to learn more about lucid dreaming and to make it more accessible to the public. At the moment, he's experimenting with chemical inducements to increase the release of acetylcholine, the main neurotransmitter in REM sleep, in order to encourage seasoned lucid dreamers to have more of them. He's also testing herbal supplements such as galantamine, which is extracted from daffodil bulbs, to promote a similar effect. But LaBerge laments that more isn't being done. Research funds are not exactly pouring in for lucid dreaming, and his business operates on a shoestring with a six member staff, lots of volunteers and funding from grants, donations and sales.
List of headings
| i. Interacting with others in your dreams | vi. The product to enhance your dreamtime |
| ii. A competitor exploiting the commercial side | vii. Undermining rumors in the press |
| iii. Skepticism within the specialist field | viii. A bridge between sleeping and waking |
| iv. Dream to improve your technique! | ix. Current research priorities |
| v. Not just a modern-day phenomenon |
Matching:
|
Paragraph A: Paragraph B: Paragraph C: |
Paragraph D: Paragraph E: Paragraph F: |
Read the following passage and choose the correct answer to each of the questions.
In January 1997, reporter Susan Jeffreys of the London Sunday Times informed a colleague that J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy The Lord of the Rings had been voted the greatest book of the 20th century in a readers’ poll conducted by Britain’s Channel 4 and the Waterstone’s bookstore chain. Her colleague responded: "What? Has it? Oh, dear. Dear oh dear oh dear."
Attitudes in America are arguably more relaxed about this kind of thing. No one from the American educated classes expressed much dismay when a 1999 poll of American online bookshop Amazon.com customers chose The Lord of the Rings as the greatest book not merely of the century but of the millennium. Tolkien’s book is so deeply ingrained in popular culture, after all, that a great many of today’s American academics and journalists probably still have those dog-eared paperbacks they read avidly in eighth grade with their hallucinatory mid-1970s cover art, stashed somewhere in the attic.
Furthermore, members of the U.S. intelligentsia fully expect to have their tastes ignored, if not openly derided, by the public at large. To some American intellectuals, it seems gratifying, even touching, that so many millions of readers will happily devour a work as complicated as The Lord of the Rings. Whatever one may make of it, it’s a more challenging read than Gone with the Wind, not to mention Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”.
Hugely ambitious in scope, The Lord of the Rings occupies an uncomfortable position in 20th-century literature. Tolkien’s epic poses a stern challenge to modern literature and its defenders. (Tolkien on his critics: “Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible, and I have no cause to complain since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing they evidently prefer.”) Yet The Lord of the Rings has enjoyed massive and enduring popularity. It would seem that Tolkien’s work supplied something that was missing among the formal innovations of 20th-century fiction, something for which readers were ravenous. But what was it, and why was it important?
Answering this question properly would probably require a book rather than an article. But it seems that the crux of the matter lies in Tolkien’s wholehearted rejection of modernity and modernism. This is what so powerfully attracts some readers, and just as powerfully repels others. In his book J.R.R. Tolkien: Auther of the Century, T.A. Shippey expands on this notion by arguing that Tolkien saw his realm of Middle-earth not as fiction or invention, but as the recovery of something genuine that had become buried beneath fragments of fairy tale and nursery rhyme.
“However fanciful Tolkien’s creation of Middle-earth was,” Shippey writes, “he did not think that he was entirely making it up. He was ‘reconstructing’, he was harmonising contradictions in his source texts, sometimes he was supplying entirely new concepts (like hobbits), but he was also reaching back to an imaginative world which he believed had once really existed, at least in a collective imagination.”
The book is also deeply grounded in Tolkien’s linguistic expertise – he invented whole languages for his characters. Sometimes he became so absorbed in the creation of languages, in fact, that he put the story itself aside for months or years at a time, believing he could not continue until some quandary or inconsistency in his invented realm had been resolved. But Tolkien’s immense intellect and erudition is not the source of his success; without his storytelling gift, The Lord of the Rings would be little more than a curiosity. And this gift seems to stem straight from his refusal to break from classical and traditional forms.
Tolkien himself often spoke of his work as something ‘found’ or ‘discovered’, something whose existence was independent of him. It’s wise to tread lightly in this sort of interpretation, but it seems clear that he believed his work to be something given, something revealed, which contained a kind of truth beyond measure. As a result, his details have the weight of reality, linguistic and otherwise, and because of this his great sweep of the story feels real as well; you might say that his imaginary castles are built with a certain amount of genuine stone. Other writers’ fantasy worlds are made up. Tolkien’s is inherited.
Which of the following statements do you expect the writer not to agree with?
When the lord of the Ring was voted the greatest book of the 20th century, _____.
It is implied in the second paragraph that The Lord of the Rings _____.
What do we learn about Gone With the Wind?
What was Tolkien's reaction to criticism of The Lord of the Rings?
The word "repels" in paragraph 5 is CLOSEST in meaning to _____.
According to Shippey, Tolkien believed that the world he described _____.
According to the writer of the article, the details in Tolkien's work _____.
Five paragraphs have been removed from the passage.
A. Even if an influencer's audience never grows above the tens of thousands, that doesn't automatically mean that they will have less of an impact than one with hundreds of thousands as larger followings can sometimes result in reduced engagement.
B. This type of attitude from an influencer may be frustrating and even surprising to company executives who are used to focusing on the bottom line. However, the freedom to choose what they will endorse results in a level of authenticity that is important in ensuring the marketing campaign is successful, making it more worthwhile in the long run.
C. Knowing who and what you are working with is key. It's important for the brand to have a history of interaction with the influencer in order to understand factors such as how they respond to negative feedback, how often they post new content and whether it is of consistent quality.
D. So, why this return to the promotional basics? These pop culture personalities are so effective precisely because of how much influence they have over their audience; they are so engaged and responsive to the people that follow them that these followers are more likely to trust something that they endorse.
E. One such successful blogger is Daniella Barbosa, who writes about healthy eating. She says that the most effective campaigns she has worked on were those that allowed her to help determine the content. 'I once worked with a supermarket chain which turned up with a list of recipes for me to cook; I felt they just wanted to use me for my skills and audience. On the other hand, another whole food brand told me which products they wanted to promote and asked me to use them in the way I thought best. It was a much more enjoyable experience.
F. The key is to find someone who is 'on brand', whose own personal brand and audience aligns with the target market of the company's products. Many influencers will readily turn down an offer that doesn't fit with their ideology, even if it means rejecting a large fee.
G. There are so many social media personalities and bloggers nowadays that it's hard to stand out from the crowd. Influencers have to believe in their own potential to sell a product or a brand.
Read the following passage. Choose from paragraphs (A-G) the one which best fits each gap. There is one extra paragraph that you do not need to use.
Influencer marketing promotes products and services using people that consumers admire and respect. Called 'influencers', these people are usually prominent users of social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and You Tube, with impressive audiences. Social media influencers are seen as an authentic and trusted source-and using them can be an effective strategy. In a somewhat paradoxical twist, the most forward-thinking brands are relying on the simplest, most traditional form of advertising; word-of-mouth.
This could also be indicative of a certain level of cynicism from consumers, who get tired of having products pushed on them by companies. Think about it this way: are you more likely to buy something that your friend recommended or something recommended by the company making money off that product?
Celine Leroy, a fashion and lifestyle blogger, claims to only accept offers from companies whose products have something to do with her brand identity, saying, 'For example, I recently reviewed some rainbow-coloured nail varnishes on my vlog. It made sense because my logo has a rainbow in it. On the other hand, I turned down some lucrative offers to advertise products because they had nothing to with what I stand for. I'm not just going to push any old product onto my followers'.
Eric Woodward, a video game YouTuber, confirms this need for caution. 'A lot of my followers have been watching my videos since they were the poorly-edited ones I made with bad lighting in my university halls,' he says. 'They helped me get to where I am now; by liking and sharing my videos, so I don't feel it's fair to exploit that to make some quick cash. There is so much competition nowadays that I feel protecting my brand is the most important thing. Otherwise, people will just unfollow me and follow someone else'.
In addition to freedom over who they work with, most influences prefer to have freedom over how they work. One of the crucial mistakes brands make when approaching influences is to assume that they know best. It's easy to forget that although an influencer may have limited tools at their disposal, those tools were enough to enable them to become powerful marketing force.
As with most things in business, timing is everything. While bidding for a well-known influencer to represent your product might get a brand immediate coverage, building a relationship with someone with fewer followers could bring bigger returns in the long run.
So, at the same time as brands are moving into a future of social media-based advertising strategies, they are also leaning on the age-old adage of quality over quantity.
Use the word given in capitals to form a word that fits in the space.
LIFE IN EXTREME CONDITIONS
Until relatively recently, it was thought that extreme heat and cold presented (MOUNT) problems to living organisms and that all life existed in a narrow range of favourable temperatures. However, the discovery of extremophiles has forced a (ASSESS) of that view.
Extremophiles are bacteria that survive, and even thrive, in (SEEM) impossible conditions. (PROBABLE) as it may seem, some exist at temperatures exceeding 80° in geysers and hot springs, while others live in the freezing conditions of the Antarctic (WILD). While most species of large animals are threatened by global warming, even to the point of extinction, that kind of ecological change may actually benefit the extremophiles. These organisms may survive long after the human race.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in a bracket. You must use between TWO and FIVE words, including the word given. Do not change the word given.
Nowadays I consider taking up a hobby to be far less important than I used to. (IMPORTANCE)
=> Nowadays I don't attach nearly up a hobby as I used to.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in brackets. You must use between TWO and FIVE words, including the word given. Do NOT change the word given.
I know it was a waste of money - don't make me feel worse about it! (SALT)
=> I know it was a waste of money - there's no need to by reminding me!
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in brackets. You must use between TWO and FIVE words, including the word given. Do NOT change the word given.
The meeting will be an opportunity for everyone to express their feelings. (VENT)
=> The meeting will be an opportunity for everyone their feelings.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in brackets. You must use between TWO and FIVE words, including the word given. Do NOT change the word given.
They received many letters of support after they had appeared on television. (FOLLOWING)
=> They received many letters of support on television.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in brackets. You must use between TWO and FIVE words, including the word given. Do NOT change the word given.
You have no hope of succeeding if you are so careless with your work. (BOUND)
=> You unless you are careful with your work.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in a bracket. You must use between THREE and FIVE words, including the word given. Do not change the word given.
Although the bill was passed two years ago, the government has made the implementation of the law more complicated at a local level. (WEATHER)
=> The bill was passed two years ago, but the government has the law at a local level.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in brackets. You must use between TWO and FIVE words, including the word given. Do NOT change the word given.
The film stars doesn't put their numbers in telephone books so that nobody can ring them up. (RINGING)
=> If the film stars put their numbers in telephone books, they would .
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in a bracket. You must use between TWO and FIVE words, including the word given. Do not change the word given.
Fans were anxious waiting for the final whistle. (BREATH)
=> Fans waiting for the final whistle.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in brackets. You must use between TWO and FIVE words, including the word given. Do NOT change the word given.
Guy made absolutely sure nothing would go wrong when he planned the expedition. (CHANCE)
=> Guy when he planned the expedition.
Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word in brackets. You must use between TWO and FIVE words, including the word given. Do NOT change the word given.
She speaks Spanish very well. (COMMAND)
=> She Spanish.