PLacement test

Choose the best option to complete each sentence.. Choose the best option to complete each sentence.. Complete each of the following sentences with a suitable preposition or particle.. 1

PLACEMENT TEST

  Duration: 120 minutes

This test has five sections and comprises seven printed pages

Section I – PHONETICS

A Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from the other three (5 pts)

B Choose the word whose stress pattern is different from that of the other three (5pts)

Section II – VOCABULARY

A Choose the best option to complete each sentence (10 pts)

11 Are you coming on the ……… to Cairo today?

12 If they are not careful with their accounts, the firm will go ………

13 The richest man is a ……… if he has no friends

14 Can you lend me your ………? I want to play golf this afternoon

15 We don’t know who wrote the letter It’s ………

16 The new work of Japanese scientists on AIDS has been ……… as a major breakthrough

17 In order to buy his house he had to obtain a large ……… from his bank

18 He earns his living by ……… old paintings

19 The children’s bad behaviour in class ……… their teacher beyond

20 Paradoxically, this successful entrepreneur is sometimes ………… and at other times reclusive

B Choose the word/phrase that has the same meaning as the underlined word/phrase (10 pts)

21 Phosphorus is used in paints for highway signs and markers because it is bright at night

22 A blizzard is a severe winter storm, which occurs in North America

23 Many people who want warm coats can buy fake furs

24 Influenza is an acute disease of the respiratory tract

25 The tops of a submerged mountain chain from the islands of Japan

26 A dog’s sense of smell is keener than that of a human being

27 Cowbirds will lay eggs in the nest of other birds if those nests are left unattended

28 Clouds float in the troposphere, the bottom layer of the Earth’s atmosphere

29 Brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, is often used in decorative metal–work

30 South Carolina’s mineral resources are abundant, but not all of them can be lucratively mined

C Supply the correct form of the words in parentheses (10 pts)

31 Since ……… has been so poor the class is being closed (ATTEND)

32 There are many few ……… zones in this city (INDUSTRY)

33 You survived the air crash It’s a ……… (MIRACULOUS)

34 We should reduce ……… in the area (POOR)

35 ……… might have proved that the suspect was at the scene of the crime (FINGER)

36 Water ……… when it is boiled (VAPOUR)

37 The wind, bees and butterflies are the agents of ……… (POLLEN)

38 Their ……… has spoilt their son, to a certain extent (PERMIT)

39 Dolphins, ……… species, sometimes jump above the surface of the water (MAMMAL)

40 He is a bad manager in that factory and everyone is in an attempt to ……… him (FAME)

Section III – GRAMMAR

A Choose the best option to complete each sentence (10 pts)

41 In some countries, people make rye bread, which is darker than bread ……… wheat

42 – “It starts raining outside.” – “Oh, ………!”

43 Jane agreed to assume Helen’s duties in the office while the ……… went shopping

44 He is said to be the ………

45 Jane is ……… of a musician

46 They damaged our car But we decide to let sleeping ……… lie and not take them to court

47 It’s no use crying over spilt ………

48 He is always saying things that as old as the ………

49 At least you don’t need to think about losing weight! You’re as thin as a ………!

50 I can’t identify the twin They are as like as two ……… in a pod

B Choose the underlined word or phrase that needs correcting in each sentence (5 pts)

51 I found my new contact lenses strange at first, but I got used to them at the end

52 Before printing presses were invented, only rich people like kings and dukes could afford buying books

A presses B only C like D buying books

53 The mountain sheep is known for its incredible agility, timid, and ability to withstand severe cold

54 Most ships move through the Suez Canal with their own power, but large ships must be assisted by a tugboat

55 In US, industries that generate hazardous wastes want to dispose of them as cheaply as possible

C Complete each of the following sentences with a suitable preposition or particle (5 pts)

56 I’ll never find ……… the name of that hotel we stayed in

57 Don’t leave that meat there too long, it’ll go ………

58 I can’t believe how much John takes ……… his father They look and act exactly the same

59 Look! I’m sorry to butt ……… but I think I can help

60 The management has decided to lay ……… 50 employees

Section IV – READING COMPREHENSION

A Read the following passages and answer the questions that follow (10 pts)

The search for alternative sources of energy has led in various directions Many communities are burning garbage and other biological waste products to produce electricity Converting waste products

to gases or oil is also an efficient way to dispose of waste

Experimental work is being done to derive synthetic fuels from coal, oil shale and coal tars But to date, that process has proven expensive Other experiments are underway to harness power with giant windmills Geothermal power, heat from the earth, is also being tested

Some experts expect utility companies to revive hydroelectric power derived from streams and rivers Fifty years ago hydroelectric power provided one third of the electricity used in the United States, but today it supplies only four percent The oceans are another potential source of energy Scientists are studying ways to convert the energy of ocean currents, tides and waves to electricity Experiments are

also underway to make use of temperature differences in ocean water to produce energy

61 Which is the best title for the passage?

A The Use of Water Products for Energy

B The Search for Alternative Sources of Energy

C Efficient Ways of Disposing of Waste

D New Discoveries in Geothermal Power

62 Fifty years ago one third of the electricity in the United States was provided by ………

63 In the second paragraph, the phrase “synthetic fuels” could best be replaced by which of the following:

64 Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as an alternative source of energy?

65 According to the author, the impracticability of using coal, oil shale and coal tars as sources of energy is due

to ………

A their being time consuming

B their being money consuming

C the scarcity of sources

D the lack of technology

 SECOND PASSAGE QUESTION 66 TO 70

A The lane was very, very old The hedges were so high that in summer they would form a tunnel of

green Earthworks stood at the summit of the hill above the cottage Here the people of earlier times had lived and died, worked their magic and honoured their dead, until later invaders had arrived, and driven them out, and lived off a past that was none of their own

B Much of what is not empty was not always so bare The mountains were covered in trees at one

time, but climatic change and the felling of timber for smelting iron means that there are no trees there now The many ruined farms, and the stone walls which are built over the hills in all except the bleakest places, remind us that this is not quite untreated nature

C The mountains are older than anything else in the world No water has ever covered them, and

the sun, who has watched them for countless ages, may still discern in their outlines forms that were his before our globe was torn from his bosom They are sinking beneath the newer lands Their main mass is untouched, but at the edge their outposts have been cut off and stand knee-deep, throat-knee-deep, in the advancing soil They are like nothing else in the world, and a glimpse

of them makes the breath catch

D There is a level surface of limestone This is quite bare and divided into curly-edged but squarish

blocks, called clints, separated by deep ditches known as dykes This is the result of rainwater dissolving the stone along regular lines of weakness in its structure

66 In which passage does the write describe the landscape through human imagery?

67 Which passage implies that change took place through human conflict?

68 How many of these passages describe social change?

69 What do we learn from passage C?

A Farmers are reclaiming the land around the mountains

B The weight of the mountains is causing them to sink

C The level of the land near the mountain is changing

D The heat of the sun is drying up the land

70 Which passage makes the greatest emotional impact?

B Read the following passage and choose the options that best complete the blanks (10 pts)

Most people think of computers as very modern inventions, products of our new technological age But actually the idea for a computer was (71)………… out over two centuries ago by a man (72)………… Charles Babbage

Babbage was born in 1791 and (73)………… up to be a brilliant mathematician He drew up plans for several calculation machines (74)………… he called ‘engines’ But despite that fact that he (75)………… building some of these he never finished any of them Over the years people have argued (76)………… his machines would ever work Recently, however, the Science Museum in London has finished building (77)………… engine (78)………… on one of Babbage’s designs

It has taken six years to complete and more (79)………… for thousand parts have been specially made Whether it works of not, the machine will be on show at a special exhibition in the Science Museum

to (80)………… people of Babbage’s work

C Read the following passage and fill in each blank with only ONE suitable word (10 pts)

Words are the main thing we use in communicating what we want to say The (81)……… we say words is also important Our tone of voice can (82)……… many emotions and show (83)………we are pleased or angry, for instance

Speech is a very important way of (84)………with other people It’s necessary to speak a language to talk to and to understand other people Learning a (85)………is very important But you only have to know about 2,000 (86)………to speak it well

As well as talking with our voices we can also (87)………with our bodies This may seem surprising at first, but if you watch 2 people having a (88)………you will see that it is true People often move their (89)………to emphasize what they are saying and to show the person listening to them that they are saying (90)………important

Section V – WRITING

A Rewrite the following sentences in such a way that their meanings remain unchanged (5 pts)

91 Robert opened the drawer and took out a knife

→ Opening ………

92 Although he had a good salary, he was unhappy in his job

93 The teacher started to write the lesson plan right after he returned home

94 The hardware of that computer was infected with viruses

95 It would have been a superb weekend if the weather had been better

B Use the word given to rewrite the following sentences in such a way that their meanings remain unchanged You must not alter the word in any way (5 pts)

99 My neighbor assumes that he can use my lawnmower whenever he likes GRANTED

 THE END