UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI SASSARI Dipartimento di Scienze Umanistiche e Sociali Centro Linguistico di Ateneo Esame di Lingua Inglese Livello B1 Accertamento linguistico per insegnanti della scuola primaria (sample test) Name.. Surname.. Date of birth..
PART A: Listening comprehension Listening Task 1: Exercise 1: Listen to this radio interview with Pippa, a theatre actor. Are these statements about what she says True (T) or False (F)? 1. The new play opens tomorrow. 2. She has never worked as a movie actor. 3. She enjoys working in the theatre because of its atmosphere. 4. Actors are extremely superstitious. 5. People must wear only real flowers in the theatre. 6. It s bad luck to wear green clothes on stage. 7. It s very bad luck to say the word Shakespeare in Scotland. 8. You must never say break a leg to actors the day before a play. 4 marks Listening Task 2: Exercise 2: Listen to five people talking about crimes. Choose the option (a, b or c) that best completes each statement. 1) The man went to prison... 2) He started stealing... was poor. 3) A lot of boys in the woman s area... their cars. 4) She thinks they usually do it... expensive clothes. 1
5) The man admits stealing... suits. 6) He says some old ladies who steal... 7) The woman thinks that murderers... 8. The man... been in prison for 8 months. 16 marks /20 2
PART B: Reading Comprehension: Reading Task 1: Le Corbusier architect of the future? A) To some people, he is the father of a million ugly tower blocks, shopping centres and multi-storey car parks. To others, he was a genius, a man who dreamed of sage and comfortable cities for everyone, rich or poor. His name was Le Corbusier and his buildings can be seen in Europe, North and South America and Asia. B) Le Corbusier saw concrete and tower blocks as a way of providing inexpensive, quiet and spacious homes for everyone. He thought tower blocks should have their indoor streets with cafés, schools and sports centres, and be close to historic city centres. C) Le Corbusier used these ideas in one of his most famous designs, the twelve-storey Unité d abitacion in Marseille, built in 1952. Today, the tower blocks is home to 1,600 people. It s a popular address and neighbours get on well. It has an indoor shopping street, social clubs, a kindergarten, a gym and a hotel. There is even a swimming pool and a rooftop garden. D) However, perhaps the best example of Le Corbusier s vision for modern urban living is in India, 250km north of Delhi. There, he built one of the world s most unusual cities, Chandigarh. It is set around a large man-made lake and is full of parks, trees and flowers. It has 46 areas, each with its own apartment blocks, shops and services. One resident, Renjit Sehal, says: Chandigarh was for many a dream in the desert, a new beginning. People are terribly proud of being from Chandigarh. E) However, there is another side to the story. Other architects tried to use Le Corbusier s ideas, but their tower blocks were sometimes very different. They were cheaply built with small, dark apartments and paper-thin walls. They were built far from city centres, with no indoor shop or streets. Some writers on 3
urbanisation believe tower blocks like these create social problems, like crime and violence, and they blame Le Corbusier for the problems of modern city life. F) Laurent Bouvier, an expert on the architect, disagrees. With more than half the world s population now living in cities, he says it s time to look at Le Corbusier s work again. His ideas were misunderstood in the 20 th century, but they may be the answer to the problems of the 21 st. Read the article about Le Corbusier and answer the questions below. Which paragraphs A-F are about: Example: 1) 0) People s different opinions about his work A 1. A city he designed? 2. Why some people dislike his ideas? 3. Why his ideas might be important for the future 4. His ideas for tower blocks? 5. His tower block in France? /5 Reading Task 2: Read the article again and answer the following TRUE/FALSE questions: 1) According to Le Corbusier, tower blocks should have their own facilities. 2) People from Chandigarh are proud to live there 3) Architects blame Le Corbusier for the problems of modern city life 4
4) Delhi is 350 km north of Chandigarh. 5) Le Corbusier first tower block wasn t built in Marseille. /5 Reading Task 3: Read the following text and choose the correct word for each space. The first is done for you. Why do people yawn? Example: Everyone yawns babies, children, teenagers, adults 0 the truth is that we don t completely understand why. Many people think that we yawn when we are tired or bored because 1 bodies are trying to get more oxygen to the brain. In 1987, Robert Provin 2 the University of Maryland decided to test this idea. He asked groups of students to 3 different levels of oxygen for 30 minutes, and counted how many times they yawned. The 4? All the students yawned about the same number of times. So the traditional theory isn t true, probably. It fails to 5 a lot of other questions. Why do some illnesses make people yawn more? What about group yawning, when someone starts yawning 6 they see other people yawning? One study suggests we yawn when our brains are 7 hot. Yawning is simply a way of cooling the brain and helping it to work 8. It seems that we yawn not when we are bored, but as a way of cooling our brains 9 we are tired or ill. Group yawning probably started many thousands of years ago, when it helped small groups of people to concentrate 10 notice dangers. 5
0) But 1) 6) 2) 7) 3) 8) 4) 9) 5) 10) /10 6
PART C: Writing and Use of English Writing Task 1: Write an email in reply to the one below. You can t go to the party; apologise and explain your reasons in approx. 120 words. Dear Sean, How are you? Maria Ruiz (our colleague from Porto) is retiring next month and so we are planning to have a surprise dinner for her on the 8 th. Hope you can make it! PS: we have booked a table at the Chinese Restaurant in Galgorm, 6.30pm next Friday. Yours, David /8 7
Use of English Task 1: Complete the following sentences: Example: 0) Ian the seminar for two weeks. Ian hasn t been to the seminar for two weeks. 1) Annah and George (run) this restaurant for the past four years. It is doing really well. 2) Marco: What time is she arriving? Marco asked... 3) When I was at school we (allow) to bring mobile phones into the classroom. 4) Amy cares the environment a lot. She recycles everything she can. 5) Shall we ask Luke for a lift? I d rather not (rely) on him, he s usually late for everything. 6) Jessica is very good at (listen) to people. She doesn t interrupt at all. /6 8
Use of English Task 2: Correct the mistake: in each sentence there is ONE mistake. Find it and rewrite the sentence correctly. Example: 0) You don t open the window!... Don t open the window! 1. I made much mistakes in the test by not paying attention.... 2. Shall we have other cup of coffee before we go home?... 3. The article you writted is very good. Would you consider writing another one?... 4. When I go camping it takes me a night or two to get used to sleep in a tent.... 5. Did you use to riding a bike before you got your car?... 6) Small companys depend on overdrafts and there is little risk capital on offer. /6 9
PART D: Speaking Speaking Task 1: Candidates are invited to speak about themselves. Topics may include personal details, special interests, hobbies, present occupation and future prospects (30 second approx.). Example: My name is Lucia and I am a school teacher. I teach children... This is followed by a candidate candidate interaction phase of about 2-3 minutes (examiner s prompts). Example (pair work): In a shop: customer shop assistant interaction On the phone: travel agent-customer Speaking Task 2: Candidates are requested to perform a talk on a given topic (eg. telling a story, speaking about a film they saw recently, something they read in the newspaper, a special event they attended). Candidates will have had time to prepare briefly before the exam. Example: Last week I went to the cinema with my best friend and we watched The Black Dahlia. It tells the story... /7 /7 10
Speaking Task 3: Conversation: examiners will ask questions (see the example below): How do you do? What do you do? How long have you been working as a...? Do you enjoy working for...? How do you get to work? What s your favourite leisure activity? Do you practice any... over the weekend? How about Christmas? What do you usually do on Christmas Eve? When do you plan to retire? What do you see yourself doing in ten years time? Can you speak any Russian? Have you ever been to Russia? That is all for now. Thank you. Goodbye. /6 Personal details Listening Reading comprehension Writing Speaking /81 /81 /81 /81 /81 Overall score: /81 11
KEYS LISTENING Exercise 1 (4 points): 1 F 2 F 3 T 4 T 5 F 6 T 7 F 8 F Exercise 2 (16 points): 1 b 2 b 3 c 4 a 5 c 6 c 7 b 8 a READING COMPREHENSION Task 1: 1. D 2. E 3. F 4. B 5. C Task 2: 1. True 2. True 12
3. False 4. False 5. True Task 3: 1. too 2. from 3. breathe 4. result 5.answer 6. because 7. too 8. better 9. when 10. and WRITING Use of English 1: 1. have been running 2. M. Asked what time she was arriving 3. were not allowed 4. for / about 5. rely 6. listening Use of English 2: 1. many mistakes 2. another cup 3. the article you wrote 4. get used to sleeping 5. use to ride 6. companies 13