_____ with the size of the whole earth, the highest mountains do not seem high at all.
Not until a student has mastered algebra _____ the principles of geometry, trigonometry, and physics.
My uncle pulled a few _____ and got me a job in the company where he works.
After a momentary ______ of concentration, Simon managed to regain his focus and completed the test.
_____ does not circle around the earth was proven by Galileo.
The recent economic downturn has significantly _____ the nation's financial reserves, raising concerns about its ability to fund future initiatives.
I suggest using showers instead of baths because baths use twice _____ showers.
_____ stay the night if it's too difficult to get home.
The interpreter gave only a _____ version of the old man's long rambling account.
Many countries still rely on rice as the _____ food.
_____ was the effect more powerfully felt than in the suburbs.
The _____ of the word is unknown, but it is certainly not from any Latin-based language.
A: "Hopefully, Peter booked the tickets for us yesterday."
B: "He _____ them yesterday. The booking office is closed on Saturdays."
A: "Oh well, I’m sure he’ll order them tomorrow then."
______ amusing in parts, this book is unlikely to be a best-seller.
_____, all the students couldn't do it well.
Emeralds are graded on their _____ and colour.
The teacher gave a lecture about the importance of _____ the benefits of a good education.
A: Where did you find this old thing?
B: My husband stumbled _____ out the attic.
A: Was Mary giving any help with your assignment?
B: Actually, _____ me extra reference material was very useful.
Going down white-water rapids in a canoe must be extremely ________! Does your heart start beating really fast?
The play wasn’t very good but it wasn't very bad either. _____, I’d say.
I get so stressed at work it’s hard sometimes to _____ in the evenings.
A little farther down the street _____.
It's not quite the sort of book you'd want to read from cover to cover but it's quite interesting to _____ now and then.
To solve this problem, it is advisable ______.
While her book describes the issue facing the country clearly and in great detail, it is regrettably _____ on solutions and specific ideas for achieving change.
Read the text below and decide which answer best fits each numbered blank.
The Birth of an App
As language learning stands the test of time of the recent wave of language prejudice that seems to have riddled places, it seems to be going in a similar direction to just about every other industry, automated and online. Web developers and business are all too aware of the amount of time we each spend on our mobile phones and let's face it, we all have a smartphone nowadays. Due to this fact, we are all seeking a way of learning a language an entertaining way that can make good use of this tool that we carry around in our pockets. For this reason, the App development industry is thriving and many ambitious young entrepreneurs are doing what they must to not miss the .
The only issue seems to be that with massive developments in technology, some developers seem to be missing the main point of learning a language, being “to communicate with other people”. This is why some Apps that though they are popular to date, are fatally . These Apps can be fantastic for to grips with the basics or even acquiring new vocabulary, but they will not exactly be the golden ticket to holding a fluent conversation. Having said that, what does the future hold for language learning Apps? The demand is forever growing so there must be a that can give the learner what they need to be able to master a foreign language. A clever team of developers and language enthusiasts seem to have hit the nail on the head in what is to be their latest product which has undergone 3 years of development and reached record levels of investment. Set to in 2019, Intercambio Idiomas has what it feels is the perfect balance between technology and learning material.
Choose the best answer to fill in each blank.
What is the world's largest desert? I’m sure the first that to mind is the legendary Sahara but that’s 3rd. It’s actually the desert on the Antarctic , measuring just under 14,000,000 kms2, closely followed by the Arctic desert. Most people living away from deserts associate this kind of with sand, but only 10% of deserts are actually made up of sand .
The term ‘desert’ in fact describes a landscape that receives almost no precipitation, meaning rainfall, snow, ice, or hail. The term can also apply to regions where there is greater evaporation of than rainfall. In other words, more water is absorbed back into the atmosphere than stays on or within the ground. So, in deserts, you’re mainly talking about ice sheets and a little rock, not sand, of course. The surface of many other deserts is comprised of loose rock where the finer particles of dust and sand have been blown away.
It may surprise you to know that deserts exist all over the globe, from the Kalahari in Africa to the Great Victoria in Australia and so on, and that they cover just over a fifth of the earth’s land area. The world’s largest hot desert, the Sahara, actually temperatures of 122 Fahrenheit degrees. Other arid deserts may not be so hot but in with the Sahara, they cool considerably at night.
An issue that is worrying geologists, governments, and the people who live on the edges of deserts is the way they are spreading. You might think that the reason for this is drought – but lack of rain is not the cause.
Fill each of the following blanks with ONE suitable word.
When rainforests are cleared and , millions of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere affecting climatic conditions and threatening us all severe flooding, drought, and crop failure. The rainforests at least half of the earth's species. At the current rate of devastation an 50 species worldwide become extinct every day.
One in four purchases from our chemists is derived from the rainforests. Scientists are caught in a race against time to find rainforest treatments for cancer, AIDS, and heart disease before they are forever. Tribal people in the rainforests have been shot, poisoned, and infected with diseases to which they have no resistance - to make room for logging, mining, and dams. If this destruction continues, only nine the 33 countries currently exporting rainforest timber will have any by the end of the decade.
Almost everyone will have part of the rainforests in their home, as do-it-yourself stores still supply and the construction industry still uses tropical hardwood for doors, window , and even toilet seats. Please help us the tropical rainforests now, before it is too late.
Fill each of the following blanks with ONE suitable word.
There is an example at the beginning (0).
Many parents find the fussy eating habits of their children distressing due to the fact that they feel that their offspring may not be obtaining proper nutritional benefits from the food that they eat. In (0) response to these concerns, the University of London has conducted extensive research in an to better understand why some children are more particular what they ingest than others. Their findings and conclusions have proved quite thought-provoking. The university initiated the study by collecting questionnaires from 244 mothers of children between seven and nine years old. In one of these surveys, specific questions were asked regarding: what the child’s food were, the length of time required for the child to consume a normal portion of food, whether there was an avoidance of particular food groups, and finally, whether the child had any control over the portion sizes being served. In a survey, the focus was placed primarily on how the care-giver (normally the mother) reacted to the child’s behavior. Again, the results of the study proved to be quite astounding. Researchers discovered that the more pressure the mother exerted on the child to encourage conformance to a certain eating pattern, the acquiescent the child was in its acceptance of the rigid rules of conduct placed on him during times. Regarding those mothers whose primary concern was to control portion size, for fear of encouraging in their child, there was strong evidence that these children had a tendency to overreact whenever the opportunity itself.
Read the text below and decide which answer best fits each gap.
My favourite place
This may be a surprising choice as it’s not comfortable or obviously (APPEAL) I’m sure many people gravitate towards the (GRAND) of Venice or the beauty of Sydney but the place that does it for me is a remote valley in Iceland. Far from anything man-made, it was created by a violent (NATURE) catastrophe. It would have been a challenging place to live under any circumstances but thousands of years ago a volcanic (ERUPT) under a glacier caused a flood that carved out a huge canyon. (TOWER) walls of rock on either side protect the valley from the (STRONG) of the ferocious Arctic winds. Here a forest has grown up in a (SHELTER) area of calm. I find it has its own (ATMOSPHERE) identity, which some may find (PLEASE) or even threatening. However, it draws me back time after time. I stay in the campsite and it gives me a new perspective on my everyday life. It makes me appreciate the formidable power and (ESCAPE) force of nature!
Six paragraphs have been removed from the extract of an article. Choose from the paragraphs A-G the one which fits each gap (1-6). Write the correct letter next to each paragraph. There is ONE extra paragraph which you do not need to use.
Missing paragraphs
A. He is confident that, if done properly, this combination of tourism and conservation can be 'a win-win situation'. 'People have a unique experience while contributing to conservation directly. Local people and habitats benefit through job creation, research and an alternative income. Local wildlife benefits from our work."
B. While there is indeed much to learn from many species not yet known to science, it's the already opened texts that attract the majority of us, however. And we are attracted in ever increasing numbers.
C. As people are able to travel to more extreme places in search of the ultimate wildlife experience, it's worth remembering that you don't have to go to the ends of the earth to catch rewarding glimpses of animals. Indeed, some of the best wildlife-watching opportunities are on our doorstep.
D. This growth has been stimulated by the efforts of conservation groups and natural history documentaries. Greater awareness of the planet has led to an increased demand for wildlife tours or the addition of a wildlife-watching component to traditional holidays. People want to discover nature at first-hand for themselves not just on a screen.
E. Despite being an important part of the population there, they have largely been excluded from the benefits brought to the region by tourism. This initiative is a concerted effort to enable them to take up jobs and run programmes themselves.
F. Earthwatch is a non-profit international environmental group that does just that. 'Participation in an Earthwatch project is a positive alternative to wildlife-watching expeditions, as we offer members of the public the opportunity to be on the front line of conservation,' says Claudia Eckardt, Earthwatch programme manager.
G. It is a term which is overused, but the principle behind it undoubtedly offers hope for the future of many endangered species, as money from tourism directly funds conservation work. It also extends to the consideration of the interests of people living in the places that tourists visit.
Close encounters of the wild kind
The rise of wildlife-watching experiences.
Wildlife observation has always proved inspirational for humans, it led Charles Darwin to provide us with a better understanding of how we evolved and it has inspired such everyday innovations as Velcro. US author Peter Matthiessen wrote: ‘The variety of life in nature can be compared to a vast library of unread books, and the plundering of nature is comparable to the random discarding of whole volumes without having opened them and learned from them’.
‘What is interesting is how much people are willing to pay to be in a wilderness environment’, says Julian Matthews, director of Discovery Initiatives, a company which takes people on small-group trips to more than 35 countries. It’s still a small part of the tourism industry but it’s undoubtedly expanding. There are definitely more and more people seeking wildlife experiences now’.
Matthews recognizes the contribution that television has made to our knowledge of nature, but he says ‘there’s no way to compare seeing an animal in the wild with watching one on TV. While a filmmaker may spend six months shooting an animal and will get closer to it than you ever will, there’s no greater pleasure than seeing an animal in its own environment. On film, you’re only getting the visuals and the sound. As impressive as they may be, it’s not the real thing.’ And the good thing is that tourists can now watch wildlife ‘live’ while helping to protect it – a concept that comes under the broad label of ‘ecotourism’.
In practice, this means that many tour operators, guided by ethical policies, now use the services of local communities, train local guides and have close ties to conservation projects. Tour operator Rekero, for example, has established its own school – the Koyiaki Guide School and Wilderness Camp – for Maasai people in Kenya.
Conservation organizations have also realized that tourism can help educate people and provide a valuable source of revenue and even manpower. The World Wildlife Fund, for example, runs trips that give donors the chance to see for themselves how their financial aid is assisting conservation projects in the field, and some organizations even allow tourists to take part in research and conservation.
Similarly, Biosphere Expeditions takes about 200 people every year on what its field operations director, Dr Matthias Hammer, calls an ‘adventure with a conscience’. Volunteers can visit six destinations around the world and take part in various activities including snow leopard, wolf and bear surveys and whale and dolphin research.
Of course, going in search of wildlife doesn’t always mean you will find it. That sightings of animals in large wild areas don’t come automatically is a fact of life. Although potentially frustrating, it makes sightings all the more rewarding when they are made. And the opportunity to do something to help both the environment and local people can only add to the experience.
Read the passage and do the following tasks.
MEASURES TO COMBAT INFECTIOUS DISEASE IN TSARIST RUSSIA
A. In the second half of the seventeenth century, Russian authorities began implementing controls at the borders of their empire to prevent the importation of plague, a highly infectious and dangerous disease. Information on disease outbreak occurring abroad was regularly reported to the tsar's court through various means, including commercial channels (travelling merchants), military personnel deployed abroad, undercover agents, the network of Imperial Foreign Office embassies and representations abroad, and the customs offices. For instance, the heads of customs offices were instructed to question foreigners entering Russia about possible epidemics of dangerous diseases in their respective countries.
B. If news of an outbreak came from abroad, relations with the affected country were suspended. For instance, foreign vessels were not allowed to dock in Russian ports if there was credible information about the existence of epidemics in countries from whence they had departed. In addition, all foreigners entering Russia from those countries had to undergo quarantine. In 1665, after receiving news about a plague epidemic in England, Tsar Alexei wrote a letter to King Charles II in which he announced the cessation of Russian trade relations with England and other foreign states. These protective measures appeared to have been effective, as the country did not record any cases of plague during that year and in the next three decades. It was not until 1692 that another plague outbreak was recorded in the Russian province of Astrakhan. This epidemic continued for five months and killed 10,383 people, or about 65 percent of the city's population. By the end of the seventeenth century, preventative measures had been widely introduced in Russia, including the isolation of persons ill with plague, the imposition of quarantines, and the distribution of explanatory public health notices about plague outbreaks.
C. During the eighteenth century, although none of the occurrences was of the same scale as in the past, plague appeared in Russia several times. For instance, from 1703 to 1705, a plague outbreak that had ravaged Istanbul spread to the Podolsk and Kiev provinces in Russia, and then to Poland and Hungary. After defeating the Swedes in the battle of Poltava in 1709, Tsar Peter I (Peter the Great) dispatched part of his army to Poland, where plague had been raging for two years. Despite preventive measures, the disease spread among the Russian troops. In 1710, the plague reached Riga (then part of Sweden, now the capital of Latvia), where it was active until 1711 and claimed 60,000 lives. During this period, the Russians besieged Riga and, after the Swedes had surrendered the city in 1710, the Russian army lost 9,800 soldiers to the plague. Russian military chronicles of the time note that more soldiers died of the disease after the capture of Riga than from enemy fire during the siege of that city.
D. Tsar Peter I imposed strict measures to prevent the spread of plague during these conflicts. Soldiers suspected of being infected were isolated and taken to areas far from military camps. In addition, camps were designed to separate divisions, detachments, and smaller units of soldiers. When plague reached Narva (located in present-day Estonia) and threatened to spread to St. Petersburg, the newly built capital of Russia, Tsar Peter I ordered the army to cordon off the entire boundary along the Luga River, including temporarily halting all activity on the river. In order to prevent the movement of people and goods from Narva to St. Petersburg and Novgorod, roadblocks and checkpoints were set up on all roads. The tsar's orders were rigorously enforced, and those who disobeyed were hung.
E. However, although the Russian authorities applied such methods to contain the spread of the disease and limit the number of victims, all of the measures had a provisional character: they were intended to respond to a specific outbreak, and were not designed as a coherent set of measures to be implemented systematically at the first sign of plague. The advent of such a standard response system came a few years later.
F. The first attempts to organise procedures and carry out proactive steps to control plague date to the aftermath of the 1727-1728 epidemic in Astrakhan. In response to this, the Russian imperial authorities issued several decrees aimed at controlling the future spread of plague. Among these decrees, the 'Instructions for Governors and Heads of Townships' required that all governors immediately inform the Senate - a government body created by Tsar Peter I in 1711 to advise the monarch - if plague cases were detected in their respective provinces. Furthermore, the decree required that governors ensure the physical examination of all persons suspected of carrying the disease and their subsequent isolation. In addition, it was ordered that sites where plague victims were found had to be encircled by checkpoints and isolated for the duration of the outbreak. These checkpoints were to remain operational for at least six weeks. The houses of infected persons were to be burned along with all of the personal property they contained, including farm animals and cattle. The governors were instructed to inform the neighbouring provinces and cities about every plague case occurring on their territories. Finally, letters brought by couriers were heated above a fire before being copied.
G. The implementation by the authorities of these combined measures demonstrates their intuitive understanding of the importance of the timely isolation of infected people to limit the spread of plague.
Complete the sentences below. Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
An outbreak of plague in prompted the publication of a coherent preventative strategy.
Provincial governors were ordered to burn the and possessions of plague victims.
Correspondence was held over a prior to copying it.
Which TWO measures did Russia take in the seventeenth century to avoid plague outbreaks?
Which TWO statements are made about Russia in the early eighteenth century?
Read the following passage and do the tasks that follow.
CUTE buses: a new direction for public transport
It seems like a normal bus, except that it moves almost silently, and it does not give off any exhaust fumes. Instead, a small cloud of white steam emerges from the roof. But this is no ordinary vehicle. It is part of an experiment that could revolutionize public transport in our cities, providing sustainable, non-polluting transport from renewable energy resources.
A. Urban transport is a major problem in the countries of the European Union, where over 75% of the population lives in towns and cities. It is becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile individual needs and expectations of personal mobility with the preservation of the fabric of our cities and with the quality of life of their inhabitants. Transport is already one of the chief contributors to health and environmental problem in urban regions, and increasing levels of congestion mean that in some cities the average speed of traffic at peak times is slower than it was in the days of the horse and cart. In addition, exhaust fumes are a major contributor to rising levels of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere, as well as being a source of carbon monoxide and particulate matter. With experts forecasting an increase of 30% in the total number of kilometers traveled by 2030, urban transport systems have to face the challenge of meeting citizens’ needs for mobility through the development of innovative and sustainable methods of transport.
B. To address this problem, the European Commission has allocated $18.5m to a project entitled CUTE (Clean Urban Transport for Europe), one of the most ambitious experiments in energy and transport taking place today. The aim of the project is to investigate the role that hydrogen and fuel cells could play in providing a safe, clean, and efficient means of public transport. In order to do this, the nine participating cities have each been supplied with three buses which are powered by hydrogen rather than by diesel fuel. The buses, produced by Mercedes Benz Citaro, contain tanks of compressed hydrogen in the roof, which supply fuel cells. Here, the hydrogen molecules are split and electricity is produced to power the bus, together with pure water which escapes into the atmosphere as a stream. The buses only need refueling once a day and can travel at speed of up to 100kph.
C. The nine participating cities vary widely in their local conditions and the type of operating systems they use, allowing data to be collected and comparisons to be made between the different systems. One decision the transport authorities in each city have to make is the source of the hydrogen they use for fuel. This may be produced either from renewable resources or from fossil fuels. At present only around 40% of the energy required for the production of hydrogen on the project comes from renewable resources such as wind power. Amsterdam and Hamburgboth use energy from this source to produce hydrogen for their buses. Stockholm also uses a renewable resource, in this case, hydropower, while making use of solar power. In cases such as these, it may be possible to have a zero-emission system, with no harmful by-products given off at any stage of the project. However, other cities such as Porto and London use natural gas or other non-renewable resources to produce hydrogen.
D. In addition to deciding on the means of production, the cities also have to decide on the location where the production of hydrogen is to take place. The on-site production of hydrogen removes the need for its transportation by truck in liquid or gas form, which is again an advantage in ecological and financial terms; this solution is used by several cities including Madrid. In London, however, in order to make the hydrogen available to other users, the authorities decided against on-site production plant being some way from the bus depot.
E. The varying geographical and climatic conditions of each city also allow information to be collected on a range of operating conditions for the buses. In some cities, such as London, buses have to be able to perform in congested traffic, while in Madrid and Porto in summer they have to be able to contend with the hot climate in addition to this. Bus transport in Porto also has to cope with extreme geographical conditions since the city is built on a steep hillside, and the same is true of Luxembourg and Barcelona. In Stuttgart, on the other hand, which has a widespread population, the buses’ ability to travel long distances is tested.
F. The overall remit of the project, therefore, involves a comparison of performance and costs involved in three main areas: the production of hydrogen, the organization of infrastructure (for example, the location of hydrogen refilling stations), and the use of the buses in varying operational conditions. There is still some way to go before hydrogen buses will be replacing ordinary public transport on a large scale - at present running costs are ten times higher, which does not make them a commercial proposition - but it is beginning to look as if the days of the diesel driven bus are numbered.
Traffic may cause problems both to city buildings and to residents.
The most efficient way to solve urban transport problems is to increase the use of public transportation.
The chemical reaction which produces power for the hydrogen bus takes place in the fuel cell.
The nine cities in the CUTE project have zero-emission systems for their hydrogen buses.
The reading passage has six paragraphs labeled A-F. Write letter A-F in the blanks. You may use any letter more than once.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
1. a contrast between the two main methods of hydrogen production:
2. a reason why hydrogen-powered buses may not be widely used for some time:
3. a comparison of traffic conditions in the past and present:
4. a justification for the transportation of hydrogen by road to refuel London buses:
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
He was extremely happy because he won that scholarship. (MOON)
=> Had ..........
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
Nice art works from litter should be exhibited now. (LAUNCHED)
=> It's high ..........
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
Sean did all the illustrations for the book but no one acknowledged his work. (CREDIT)
=> Sean wasn't ............
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
The waiters in the new restaurant were very inefficient. (SHODDY)
=> We received ............
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
Looking back, I really believe I did everything I could do to stop her. (MORE)
=> I can honestly say, with ..........
Complete the second sentence, using the word given so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence. Do NOT change the word given in brackets in any way and write no more than EIGHT words in total.
Considering that Luke is so young, you must admit he’s making excellent progress as a musician. (ACCOUNT)
=> If you Luke is, you must admit he’s making excellent progress as a musician.
Complete the second sentence, using the word given so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence. Do NOT change the word given in brackets in any way and write no more than EIGHT words in total.
I hear you're a little unsure about going up to Whitebridge for the reunion. (SECOND)
=> I hear you're up to Whitebridge for the reunion.
Complete the second sentence, using the word given so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence. Do NOT change the word given in brackets in any way and write no more than EIGHT words in total.
Graham Gooch wants nothing more than to bury the bitter memories of last winter. (HEART)
=> Graham Gooch has the bitter memories of last winter.
Complete the second sentence, using the word given so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence. Do NOT change the word given in brackets in any way and write no more than EIGHT words in total.
That historian is famous for his vast knowledge of primitive life. (AUTHORITY)
=> That historian is primitive life.
Complete the second sentence, using the word given so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence. Do NOT change the word given in brackets in any way and write no more than EIGHT words in total.
As the research data was corrupted moments before the conference presentation, David became frantic. (BESIDE)
=> David was corrupted moments before the conference presentation.