B1 PET Test #6 - Reading

3/21/2020 12:01:08 PM

Choose the correct answer that goes with this text.

  • The bad weather will make a lot of public transport late tomorrow.
  • Snow that is falling will cause a number of problems tomorrow.
  • Students should watch for announcements in case they are unable to attend classes tomorrow.

Choose the correct answer that goes with this text.

  • Mrs. Walsh wants students to contact her with plans for recycling around the school.
  • Mrs. Walsh intends to let students know which of their suggestions the school will use.
  • Mrs. Walsh wants students to go to the hall today to help recycle rubbish.

Choose the correct answer that goes with this text.

What does Mum want to know?

  • how to find the sports shop that's repaired Tom's racket.
  • whether the sports shop will still be open when she finishes work.
  • if Tom is going to be available to pick up his racket.

Choose the correct answer that goes with this text.

Jade wants Lucy to

  • tell Jade if she knows where a missing item is.
  • accompany Jade on a shopping trip into town.
  • help Jade to replace something she's lost.

Choose the correct answer that goes with this text.

  • To attend a Melt tour concert, check the site regularly to find out more.
  • You’ll soon be able to buy tickets for Melt's concerts on this website.
  • Melt has just started touring again even though they've had problems in the band.

Read the following descriptions of eight department stores. 

Department store

A. Hallwick's 
People often visit Hallwick's just for the displays of lights that make it so attractive to shop here. And it was the first to sell clothes made of pure, natural cotton, grown in conditions that avoid creating pollution. The assistants are polite and will help with any questions about goods.

B. Crozier's
This store is in a beautiful new building. One floor is full of toys and board games like chess, and downstairs there's a huge variety of cakes, sweets and also fresh food that's perfect for making a meal! The roof garden is popular here in summer, and the friendly staff serves delicious lunches.

C. Stafford's:
This store is popular for its range of good quality sportswear at very reasonable prices, which is hard to find elsewhere. And on the ground floor, you'll find displays of their famous handmade candies - great for celebrations! And Stafford's is always the first to offer new designs in men's and women's clothing, too!

D. Barton's 
Barton's has been here since it opened in 1930, and still has its huge glass door and beautiful windows. The first floor is fantastic for children, as it's packed with things to play with - at reasonable prices. And downstairs, you'll find a huge selection of amazing fresh food rarely found elsewhere.

E. Gardener and Bell's
This store has been here since 1950, and is the place for cool clothes and jewellery, as it updates its items every few weeks many are made from environmentally-friendly materials. The sportswear section has clothes and equipment for almost any sports, although prices can be high.

F. Davidson's
This traditional-looking store opened in 1886, and still offers high-class, fashionable goods at reasonable prices, with many made from natural materials. The men's clothes are particularly recommended, and there's also an area of selling nothing but beautiful jewellery. And on fine days, try the rooftop restaurant - the food is fantastic.

G. Ford and Madecroft's
The café here serves fantastic meals but also has amazing chocolates and frozen desserts of all kinds, and the bakers produce fantastic biscuits and cakes to take away. Upstairs, you'll find a display of toys and also a huge range of board games together with instructions to help you play.

H. Oldridge's
The customer service here is the best anywhere in the city and staff will help you find what you're looking for, from jewellery to children's toys. And the café here, probably one of the most attractive you'll ever visit, serves the biggest ice creams anywhere, too - and the best cakes!

(Adapted from Pet for school trainer 1 for revised exam from 2020)

The people below all want to find a department store to visit in their city. Decide which department store would be the most suitable for each person.


Jasmine would like to find a store where they can eat outside, and her dad wants somewhere known for its good-quality suits. They also want to buy a necklace for Jasmine's mum.


Peter wants to buy some special sweets for his grandma's birthday, and his older sister, Nell, wants to see the latest women's fashions. They also need to buy new tennis T-shirts without spending a lot.


Maria wants a store selling clothes that use materials produced without damaging the environment. Her mum would like somewhere that has great customer service and is beautiful inside. 


John enjoys cooking, and wants to buy some unusual ingredients. His parents like stores that have been in the same buildings since they were young, and that have great toys for John's young sister. 


Samuel and Mark want to visit a store with a good selection of chess sets. They'd like to have some delicious ice creams and buy something made in the store to eat later.

Read the passage and answer the questions.

Survival on the Andes

On Friday, October 13, 1972, a plane that had been flying from Uruguay to Chile with 45 people on board crashed into a mountain in the Andes. How some of the passengers managed to live is one of the great survival stories.

Twenty-nine people died in the crash and in the weeks following it. On the mountain, it was freezing cold and the survivors stayed inside the crashed plane to stay warm. They had very little food and were in very great danger while they waited for a rescue team. After 11 days on the mountain, they found a small radio on the plane and they heard the news that the rescue teams had stopped searching for them. All hope was gone. They were alone and terrified.

Days became weeks. Two months after the crash, after they had waited for summer to arrive, three of the passengers, Roberto Canessa, Nando Parrado and Antonio Vizintin, left to search for help. Each man wore three pairs of socks, with a plastic bag around each foot to keep the water out, boots, four pairs of trousers and four jumpers. Many of the clothes were from the people who had died in the crash. They also took with them a large sleeping bag that they had made. Only they could save the others now.
How did these brave young men cope with the journey? None of them had climbed mountains before and it was hard. They climbed very dangerously, icy peaks, trying to reach the top of the mountain. Some days later, exhausted and cold, they reached it. They had imagined this moment for days. On the other side of the mountain, they wanted to see a valley below that would take them out of the mountains.

But instead of a valley, they saw more of the same snowy peaks. Lots of them. They weren't near the end of the mountains; they were in the middle of them. What could they do now? But there was still hope. Parrado saw two low peaks about kilometers away that didn’t have snow on them. If they could get there, they would be out of the high Andes. But to reach the peaks, they would need to walk for more days and they didn’t have enough food. But Parrado had a solution: Vizintin could return to the plane and he and Canessa would take his food. They agreed with the plan, and Canessa and Parrado continued their journey.

As they walked, the area around them slowly began to change. The men discovered a small river; the sun was warmer. After a few days of walking, the snow had disappeared completely and flowers were everywhere. “This is the valley,” Canessa said excitedly. “This is the way out!” 

Soon, they saw a few cans on the ground and some farms animals in a field. They knew there must be people somewhere nearby. On December 21st, after ten days, the exhausted men reached the town of Los Maitenes in Chile, and a rescue team went to save the other passengers high up in the Andes.

What had happened to them? Fortunately, they had all survived as they waited for the others to get help. The memories of the crash in the Andes would be with them forever, but their ordeal was over. They had made it out - alive.

(Source: Close-up B1 pre-intermediate student’s book)

What is the writer doing in this text?
  • giving advice on how to survive
  • explaining incredible past events
  • showing that air travel is dangerous
  • writing an imaginative story
Why were the three men disappointed?
  • The view from the mountain was not very good.
  • They didn't know how to return to the plane.
  • They realized they had more problems.
  • They had not brought enough warm clothes.

Vizintin returned to the crash site because _____.

  • he had lost hope
  • he didn't agree with Parrado's solution
  • he didn’t want to walk any further
  • there wasn’t enough food for three people

Parrado and Canessa knew they were close to safety because _____.

  • they saw things that belonged to people
  • they discovered a river
  • they had been walking for ten days
  • there were flowers in the snow
Which best describes what happened to the people on Flight 571?
  • The survivors of the crash waited for many weeks in the plane for someone to find and rescue them.
  • Tragically, 29 people died when the plane they were traveling in crashed into a mountain in the Andes.
  • In a terrible situation, and with no hope at all, the survivors found a way to save themselves.
  • To stay warm in the freezing cold, they wore the clothes of the people who had died in the crash.

Five sentences have been removed from the text below. For each question, choose the correct answer from A-G. There are three extra sentences that you do not need to use.

A. Students have also shared their own ideas about music.

B. And creating music can make you feel the same way.

C. So it could be that these school subjects are linked in some way.

D. These explain why music affects us in certain ways.

E. And there was a difference between the two.

F. It could also help with learning a second one.

G. But it isn't really what's happening.

H. This is particularly important when performing with other people.

What's the point in studying music?

Many children have music classes when they attend school. And it's thought that music can really help children with learning other subjects.

For example, one research project looked at what happened when a class of children was divided into groups and given a simple task to do, with one group listening to music while completing it, and the other completing the task in silence. The first group performed better than the second. So this seems to suggest that music can improve performance in certain areas.

So how exactly can you benefit from studying music? According to some studies, musical training can develop the part of your brain that's involved with language, so you can understand your own language better. And that's a very useful skill to have. What's more, young people who've studied music also seem to score more highly in other areas such as maths. For example, reading music includes learning about a quarter and half notes, which are basically fractions, like in maths. And when you're learning about rhythm, you're counting the notes in a piece of music. So they do appear to be connected.

Music also lets you explore new ideas, think in a creative way, and gain in confidence. lf you're learning the guitar, for example, it can be really exciting when you're able to start inventing your own pieces of music. And when you do that, you're practicing your listening skills because you have to listen carefully to the music you're making. It's certainly essential when you join an orchestra, for example.

One of the biggest benefits, of course, is that listening to music helps you to be less stressed. That should always be in a relaxed atmosphere, though, to be effective. And who knows? Maybe your musical knowledge will open up a great career path for you in the future!

(Adapted from Pet for school trainer 1)

A brief history of apples

Do you always have a piece of fruit for your lunch? If you do, it's probably an apple! This is true particularly in places like western Europe, where apples have grown for hundreds of years. So it would be easy to that's where they came from originally.

In fact, though, the fruit we know today has been on an extraordinary over the centuries. Research suggests modern apples originally came all the way from Kazakhstan in Asia, and up in Europe partly because of people carrying goods along the famous Silk Road, from western Europe all the way to China in the east. This helped to spread apples in both . People down their apples after they'd finished eating them, and the seeds entered the ground and produced new types of apple trees. Farmers were then able to start developing a much range of apples.

(Adapted from Pet for school trainer 1 for revised exam from 2020)

For each question, write the correct answer in the gap. Write ONE word in each blank.

Learning to swim

by Sophie Webber

Last month, I did something amazing, which I'd almost begun to think wasn't possible. l actually swam one length of the swimming pool! I know it doesn't seem like achievement because swimming is something that everyone seems to learn really easily. But there was just way I could manage it. And it wasn't as if I hadn't tried. Apart all the lessons I had at school, I also went swimming with Dad week. But in of all the practice I was getting, I still wasn't able to swim.

Then one day, when I thought Dad was holding me up in the water as usual, I suddenly realized - he wasn't! I was swimming on own, without help! After that, I swam several lengths of the pool.

So if you're having trouble learning something, don't give up. It will definitely happen one day!

(Adapted from Pet for school trainer 1 for revised exam from 2020)