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TEXT A
Irish
airspace to reopen after volcanic ash shutdown Test
designed by Lucas Valenzuela
Irish
airspace is due to reopen this afternoon after a seven-hour shutdown
caused by another volcanic ash cloud drifting south from Iceland. The
Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) said seven airports including Dublin
and Shannon would reopen for normal operations from one o’clock
after they were shut from six o’clock this morning as a
precautionary measure. But its chief executive Eamon Brennan warned
that Ireland "remains at risk" of further disruption in the
days and weeks to come. "The reason we have changed our advice
is because the ash cloud has moved towards the south, down towards
the Bay of Biscay," he told RTE Radio, the state broadcaster.
"At the moment the volcano is more or less dormant but should it
re-erupt again, we'd be faced with this problem."
Airspace
across Europe was closed down for up to a week last month after the
eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajökull volcano, but was re-opened
after emergency talks between European governments, airlines and
regulators. The new alerts did not disrupt transatlantic aircraft
flying over Ireland but the new closure did trigger the cancellation
of hundreds of flights in and out of Ireland, bringing fresh chaos to
thousands of people.
One
victim of the ban was the Republic of Ireland’s Transport Minister
Noel Dempsey, who had to cancel a trip to Brussels for talks with his
EU counterparts on the recent ash cloud travel chaos. As Britain's
election campaign entered its penultimate day, opposition
Conservative leader David Cameron briefly cancelled plans to visit
Northern Ireland due to the ban, but later said the trip would go
ahead. "We are battling through everything to make this happen,"
he said.
Heathrow
said that around 20 flights to and from the West London airport had
been cancelled this morning. "We are asking passengers to check
with their airlines before coming to the airport," said a
Heathrow spokeswoman. Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus said it had
cancelled all British and European flights scheduled to depart and
arrive into Dublin and other airports in the country until midday.
Eurocontrol,
the continent's air traffic control co-ordinator, said more than
100,000 flights to, from and within Europe had been cancelled between
April 15 and 21, preventing an estimated 10 million passengers from
travelling.
(From
Times
Online
May 4, 2010)
A.-
CONPREHENSION (4
points)
ANSWER
QUESTIONS 1-2 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE
YOUR OWN WORDS.
1.-.
How bad did the first shutdown affect transatlantic air traffic from
Ireland?
(1 point per answer
2.- Who and
how have been affected, apart from regular passengers and flying
companies’ owners?
ARE
THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE.? JUSTIFY
YOUR ANSWERS
WITH THE PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE TEXT, OR USE YOUR OWN
WORDS. (0.5
points per answer)
3.- Airspace
has been re-opened because there isn’t and there won’t be any
problem in the future.
4.- The
Republic of Ireland’s Transport Minister Noel has been the victim
of an assassination.
5.- David
Cameron intends to cancel his plans to visit Northern Ireland due to
the ban.
6.- According
to the text, all flights for the day to Dublin have been cancelled.
USE OF ENGLISH (3 points)
7.-
WHICH
WORD
DOES NOT HAVE THE SAME MEANING?
go ahead / go on / keep on / schedule (0.25 points)
8.-
FIND
A SYNONYM FROM THE TEXT FOR SECOND
LAST (0.25
points)
9.-
FIND
A WORD
IN THE TEXT
MEANING “Moving
without a specific direction. Aimless wandering” (0.25 points)
10.-
FIND
IN THE TEXT A SYNONYM
FOR PROHIBITION
. (0.25 points)
11. -
Put
the following sentence into the passive
voice:
(0.5 points)
We are
asking passengers to check with their airlines before coming to the
airport.
12. -
Put
the following sentence in reported
speech:
(0.5 points)
"The
reason we have changed our advice is because the ash cloud has moved
towards the south, down towards the Bay of Biscay," he told RTE
Radio,
13. -
Complete
the
following sentence:
(0.5 points)
We'd be
faced with this problem...............
14.-
Complete the following
sentence with just one appropriate word.
(0.5 points)
Airspace
across Europe will re-open ................................the
Iceland's Eyjafjallajökul volcano.
PRODUCTION (3 points)
WRITE
A COMPOSITION
OF APPROXIMATELY 120
WORDS.
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS, AND FOCUS
STRICTLY
ON IT.
1.- Flying is
the best way to travel. Discuss.
2.-
International Terrorism
TEXT B
Is eating bogeys bad for you?
According
to statistics, only 3 per cent of people eat their own bogeys. I say only
because, if I'm honest, I've always eaten mine and I've often caught my sons
having a quick nibble too. Are we really that unusual or, as I suspect, are
most people just too embarrassed to own up?
Well,
all that may change if an Austrian doctor named Dr Friedrich Bischinger has his
way. He says that people who pick their noses are healthier, happier and
probably better in tune with their bodies than people who don't.
At
this point, I should mention that the main risk of picking your nose is not the
dirt you might find there but the dirt you might introduce, which could
subsequently enter your body. So, if you're going to pick your nose, make sure
you do it with clean fingers.
Having
issued a health warning, let me now return to Dr Bischinger, who says, “With
the finger you can get to places you just can't reach with a handkerchief,
keeping your nose far cleaner. And eating the dry remains of what you pull out
is a great way of strengthening the
body's immune system.” Medically, it makes great sense and is a perfectly
natural thing to do. In terms of the immune system, the nose is a filter in
which a great deal of bacteria is collected, and when this mixture arrives in
the intestines, it works just like a medicine. I would recommend a new approach
where children are encouraged to pick their nose. It is a. completely natural
response and medically a good idea as well.
So
there you have it you can eat your own bogeys. But don't tell Mum and Dad I
said so.
NB:
However, you shouldn't eat your own earwax. This isn't good stuff.
A.- CONPREHENSION (4
points)
|
|
ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-2 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN WORDS.
1.-How does eating bogeys help you? (1 point per answer)
2.- Why is the author of the article suspicious about the data of people
who eat their own bogeys?
ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE.? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE
TEXT, OR USE YOUR OWN WORDS.
(0.5 points per answer)
3.- The author has never eaten bogeys.
4.- Young children who pick their nose shouldn’t
worry about anything.
5.- All doctors agree that people should not pick their nose.
6.- According to the author, picking your nose is
quite weird, uncommon.
USE OF ENGLISH (3
points)
|
|
7.- WHICH WORD DOES NOT HAVE THE
SAME MEANING? recommend / suggest / advise / refuse (0.25
points)
8.- FIND A SYNONYM FROM THE TEXT FOR CERUMEN (0.25
points)
9.-
FIND A WORD IN THE TEXT MEANING “Something
which is said or written to tell people of
possible danger or problem” (0.25
points)
10.- FIND IN THE TEXT THE OPPOSITE OF REACTION . (0.25
points)
11. - Put the following sentence into the passive voice: (0.5 points)
With the finger you can wipe some places better than with a
handkerchief.
12. - Put the following sentence in reported speech: (0.5 points)
He said
to me, “you shouldn't eat your own earwax.
13. - Join the two sentences into just one: (0.5
points)
Children
are encouraged to pick their nose. Children should not do it in public.
14.- Join the following sentences in
an appropriate way (do not use OR AND or
BUT). (0.5
points)
Only 3
per cent of people admit having eaten their own bogeys. I've always eaten mine
and I've often caught my sons having a quick nibble.
WRITE A COMPOSITION OF
APPROXIMATELY 120 WORDS. CHOOSE ONE
OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS, AND FOCUS
STRICTLY ON IT.
1.- We live in a hypocritical world. Discuss.
2.- Use of Statistics.
TEXT C
Police
have faked the murder of a pregnant woman in a sting operation to foil a
conspiracy to kill her. In a scheme that could have been taken from a Hitchcock
thriller, detectives arranged for Kermen Basangova, the head of a civil service
academy in St Petersburg, to be “stabbed” in the street in front of witnesses.
News that Mrs Basangova had died in hospital was leaked to the Russian media in
an elaborate ruse to catch three employees at the academy who had hired a man
to kill her.
Mrs
Basangova, 34, told reporters that the operation was so full of secrecy that
even her family did not know that her murder was being staged. Although she was
pregnant, she said that she had worried most “about relatives with weak hearts”
once news of her death began to circulate.
The
trap was set after the would-be murderer tipped off police that he had been
offered 360,000 roubles to kill Mrs
Basangova, the rector of the State Polar Academy. He identified her deputy, Vladimir
Lukin, 70, as the man behind the conspiracy. Detectives told Mrs Basangova
about the plot and persuaded her to play the murder victim in the scheme to
catch the conspirators. She agreed and was taken to hospital after the fake
murder outside the academy by a masked, undercover policeman on Tuesday.
Students and staff who witnessed the murder apparently had no idea that it was
staged. Neither did police who arrived to cordon off the scene of the attack,
which was full of pools of fake blood. They believed that they were dealing
with a real crime.
Mrs
Basangova was kept under guard while detectives leaked news of her death. A
police spokesman said that the plotters were arrested when they handed money to
the hired killer. Mrs Basangova alleged
that the murder plot was linked to financial violations that she uncovered
after becoming rector at the Polar Academy.
A.- COMPREHENSION (4
points)
|
|
ANSWER QUESTIONS 1-2 ACCORDING TO THE INFORMATION GIVEN IN THE TEXT. USE YOUR OWN WORDS.
1.-How did the police know about the plan to kill Mrs. Basangova? (1 point per answer)
2.- Who did the fake killling?
ARE THESE STATEMENTS TRUE OR FALSE.? JUSTIFY YOUR ANSWERS WITH THE PRECISE WORDS OR PHRASES FROM THE
TEXT, OR USE YOUR OWN WORDS.
(0.5 points per answer)
3.- Mrs Basangova was mostly worried about her
unborn baby.
4.- The person behind the conspiracy was Mrs
Basangova’s boss.
5.- Mrs Basangova refused to act out her own death.
6.- All witnesses and the police knew about the
hidden plan.
USE OF ENGLISH (3
points)
|
|
7.- WHICH WORD DOES NOT HAVE THE
SAME MEANING? trick
/ trap / ruse / failure (0.25
points)
8.- FIND A SYNONYM FROM THE TEXT FOR PERSONNEL (0.25
points)
9.-
FIND A WORD IN THE TEXT MEANING “Something
masked, concealed, in disguise” (0.25
points)
10.- FIND IN THE TEXT THE OPPOSITE OF DISMISSED . (0.25
points)
11. - Put the following sentence into the passive voice: (0.5 points)
They believed that they were dealing with a real crime.
12. - Put the following sentence in reported speech: (0.5 points)
“The plotters were arrested when they handed
money to the hired killer”, the police spokesman said.
13. - Join the two sentences into just one: (0.5
points)
News
that Mrs Basangova had died in hospital was leaked to the Russian media. Mrs
Basangova was pregnant.
14.- Join the following sentences in
an appropriate way (do not use OR AND or
BUT). (0.5
points)
Mrs Basangova was pregnant. Mrs Basangova
agreed to play the murder victim in the scheme to catch the conspirators.
WRITE A COMPOSITION OF
APPROXIMATELY 120 WORDS. CHOOSE ONE
OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS, AND FOCUS
STRICTLY ON IT.
1.- Mass Meadia.
2.- Mobbing.
