Sample Proficiency Test 5
GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE 20 marks
READING 20 marks 2 hours 15 minutes
WRITING 20 marks
LISTENING 20 marks, approximately 30 minutes.
INSTRUCTIONS
1. GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE
Read these texts and choose the right answer. Only one answer is correct. Mark your answers on your answer sheet with a cross (X).
TEXT 1 (estimated time: 10 minutes)
WITCHES
Modern science started in the sixteenth century. However, most men and women knew __0_C_ of science. To them, the world was full of spirits and witches. Witches (nearly always women) were supposed __1__ their souls to the devil. In return, he had given them magic powers. They __2__ use magic and give people the ‘‘evil eye’‘. If they did so, their victims would be taken ill, or die, or be hit by bad luck.
Witches lived alone, apart from a cat __3__ helped them. So village people kept away from old women who lived alone with their cats. They hung horse-shoes and bunches of herbs over their own cottage doors to protect them __4__ the witches’ powers.
Not only the ignorant and poor believed in witches. In 1542, the gentry, merchants, and lords in Parliament made witchcraft a crime. The law stayed in force __5__ 1736. In that time, a few hundred women, most of them old, were hanged. (Witches were not burned in England.)
A simple chain of events could bring a ‘‘witch’‘ to trial. An old woman would come begging at a farmhouse door. The busy farmer’s wife would __6__ her off with nothing. Shortly after, the farmer would fall ill and die. His wife would remember the old woman, and accuse __7__ a witch. The old woman would be arrested and tortured. Under torture, she would ‘‘confess’‘ that she was a witch.
In the late seventeenth century, educated people stopped __8__ in witches. Poor old women were __9__ brought to court, but judges refused to find them guilty. The last hanging for witchcraft in England __10__ at Exeter in 1685.
0. A) anything B) enough C) nothing D) all
1. A) to be sold B) to be selling C) having sold D) to have sold
2. A) managed B) knew to C) were able D) could
3. A) that B) whose C) it D) what
4. A) from B) off C) of D) at
5. A) up B) since C) until D) from
6. A) refuse B) send C) pull D) deny
7. A) that she would be B) her of being C) that she was D) her to be
8. A) to believe B) to believing C) believing D) believe
9. A) even B) still C) no any longer D) not yet
10. A) had place B) was placed C) made place D) took place
TEXT 2 (estimated time: 10 minutes)
CHILD BRIDES
Last January a 13-year-old English girl __0_B_ an 18-year-old Turkish man under Islamic law, __ 11__ under both British and Turkish civil law the girl was too young. The marriage provoked a strong disapproval in Britain, __12__ eventually made the girl __13__ to Britain, where she was put under the protection of a court of law (because her parents were considered to have acted unreasonably in agreeing to the marriage).
Since its foundation in 1945, the United Nations __14__ into its major agreements the need to establish minimum age for marriage. But the custom of marriage is a highly sensitive cultural issue, mainly because it is __15__ connected with women’s rights and societal traditions and practices, and __16__ on marriage vary widely between countries. Some countries, particularly in West Africa, still do not have a legal minimum age for marriage.
In the West, a 13-year-old is still considered a child. Even getting married __17__ one’s late teens is not usually encouraged because married life is __18__ to interfere with a young woman’s education and will consequently restrict opportunities in later life. And there are also physical dangers __19__ giving birth so young.
Director of Anti-Slavery International Lesley Roberts, who campaigns for women’s rights within marriage, says that it is considered unwise for girls __20__ eleven or twelve to conceive.
0. A) married to B) married C) married with D) got married
11. A) even though B) nevertheless C) despite D) however
12. A) that B) which C) what D) it
13. A) to have returned B) to return C) return D) returning
14. A) wrote B) writes C) has written D) had written
15. A) such B) so C) enough D) many
16. A) lines B) tasks C) rules D) matters
17. A) at B) on C) in D) of
18. A) probably B) possibly C) unlikely D) likely
19. A) in B) on C) for D) with
20. A) so younger as B) as young as C) youngest than D) youngest as
2. READING COMPREHENSION
FIRST PASSAGE (estimated time: 20 minutes)
Read this text and then do the exercises on the next page.
THE AFRICAN LAWYER
Georgette Djaba, 39, lives in South London with her children and works as a family solicitor. She is of African origin and, unfortunately, has experienced racism:
When I walk into a courtroom, most strangers assume that I’m a social worker or a client and they’re always astonished when they realise I’m the lawyer. They look at me as if I have no right to be in my position. Last year, one white barrister even asked me not to sit next to her. But I learned long ago not to take racism personally. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
We came to London from Ghana, which was still a British colony, in 1972 when I was 12, because of political instability at home. We were already well-travelled by then – my father was an entrepreneur. At airports, white people would assume we were servants, and asked us to carry their luggage. My father always enjoyed telling them he was a businessman.
We moved to South London and from the outset we were ostracised. We lived in a beautiful five-bedroom house, but our neighbours wouldn’t let their children play with my brothers and me. They were very suspicious of my parents, thinking they were drug dealers.
At the private girls’ school I attended, the teachers were wonderful, but fellow pupils would ask: ‘‘Did you live in a tree in Ghana? Did you wear a grass skirt?’‘ They had never seen an African girl, except in corny films, and were merely ignorant.
But it did upset me that none of the white girls would play with me. I used to feel terribly lonely and left out. So when I left school I returned to Ghana to work and was there soon reunited with a childhood sweetheart.
We had a baby boy, but when I was in my 20s, the relationship ended. Afterwards I had a serious relationship with a black Ghanaian lawyer, and fell pregnant again. But having lived in the West, I found it very difficult to settle in Ghana, too. The men I met were very chauvinistic, and I had tasted freedom and seen how women can have their own careers and be equally successful. I wanted more from life.
So, when I was 24, I returned to Britain, where my daughter was born. I wanted to become a lawyer to help win justice and equality for all people. I enrolled at North London University, doing part-time secretarial work to pay my fees and support my children, and studying late into the night.
Though I love my work, I’m convinced my colour has made it much more difficult to be successful in a predominantly white, middle-class, male profession. For example, as we neared the end of the degree course, nearly all the white students had places at Law School and many had sponsorship from legal firms. Yet only a handful of black students found similar opportunities. I applied to about 400 law firms, but received rejection after rejection. In desperation, I wrote to the Society of Black Lawyers. With their backing, I was accepted by the college of Law, in London, a day before the course began.
All I want for my children, who were bullied at their London primary schools, and for future generations, is that they are treated fairly.
l
Identify the SIX TRUE statements below apart from the example (statement A) according to the text. Write the corresponding letters in the spaces provided on your answer sheet (numbers 21 to 26, in any order).
A. People get surprised when they know the writer is a lawyer. TRUE
B. People accept her status at work.
C. Once, when she was in a courtroom, a witness refused to sit next to her.
D. They went to London from Ghana when it became an independent country.
E. By the time she got to England they had already visited many places.
F. When they moved to London people refused to meet them.
G. Her parents made a lot of money as drug dealers.
H. She found it difficult to make friends at school.
I. When she was at school her classmates used to see films eating pop corn.
J. When she returned to Ghana she married a very young boy she had just met.
K. While living in Ghana she thought women in Britain were better treated.
L. When she was living in Ghana she felt free and was a successful lawyer.
M. She wanted to become a lawyer to take revenge for what she had suffered in her childhood.
N. She had to work in order to enter university.
O. Her children received unfair treatment at school.
Match the following words from the text with their definition or synonyms according to the context. There are two definitions that do not match. Write the corresponding letters on your answer sheet. The first one has been done for you as an example.
0. courtroom (line 3) G
27. outset (line 12)
28. degree (line 33)
29. handful (line 34)
30. backing (line 36)
A. beginning
B. small amount
C. support, help
D. university qualification
E. outer part
F. made by hand
G. room where a court of law meets
SECOND PASSAGE (estimated time: 20 minutes)
Read this text with gaps and then do the exercises on the next page.
FEAR OF FATHERHOOD
For most of my life I’ve been sure I would never be a father. Nor, to be frank, did I want to be. _____0____D_. When friends or even family members talked about their children, something inside me would simply switch off and I would find an excuse to change the subject.
I’m sure this was because my own parents’ marriage was unhappy and ended in the courts when I was 13. ______31______. So I grew up regarding marriage as a trap, an emotional agony that could only be prolonged by having children.
It wasn’t until my early thirties that I met someone who gave me cause to question my certainty. ______32______. I knew Anne-Marie wanted to be a mother one day and I felt she would make a wonderful one. By the time we married, I had succeeded in disguising my unease about having a family.
Fourteen months later she discovered she was pregnant. My initial reaction was one of amazement at how happy I felt. ______33______. But soon my reactions became more complicated. After the exhilaration of the first week, something else was growing.
We decided not to tell anyone our news for a while, ‘‘in case anything goes wrong’‘. The pregnancy felt like a shared conspiracy, a covert game being played by two participants who didn’t know all the rules just yet. ______34______. It allowed me to pretend that it wasn’t really happening.
After a short time I began to see that what I was doing was ridiculous. I tried to confront the reality of what was happening. How could someone with a childhood like mine ever begin to cope with this role? Statisticians tell us that most children of divorce will end up in unhappy marriages themselves.
I think my fear improved our relationship. ______35______. I would silently repeat them, thinking about the words, and whenever I did that, the fear receded. Yes, our marriage might fail – but whose might not?
As soon as I stopped worrying about my own damaged childhood, I felt my wife and myself become closer. There were no big chats about the future, we simply seemed to accept that suddenly it was there. I think of my wedding day as the happiest day of my life. ______36______.
I had managed to stop thinking I was doomed to be a bad parent, but that isn’t the same thing as believing you’ll be a good one.
Adapted from The Sunday Telegraph
Fit these sentences into the gaps of the text. There are two sentences that do not belong to the text. Match the gap numbers with the letters as in the example (number 0 in the text). Write your answers on the answer sheet.
A. Even after their separation, we children continued to be the focus of their arguments.
B. After a few weeks the bad dreams stopped.
C. Certainly it forced me to consider the promises I had made to my wife on our wedding day.
D. The very idea was painful enough to make me avoid discussing it. EXAMPLE
E. I never knew what extinction meant until the pregnancy.
F. Even my attitude to the prospect of having children softened a little during our courtship.
G. However, the first month of the pregnancy was the real beginning of our marriage.
H. For several days I walked around feeling both cheerful and positive.
I. A lot of couples say this is fun, although for me the secrecy had other uses too.
Find a word or expression in the text above for each of the following definitions. You are given the grammatical category of the words you need to find. The first one has been done for you as an example.
0. Noun reason, justification (between lines 1 & 10) excuse
37. Noun very great pain or suffering of mind or body (between lines 1 & 10)
38. Verb changing the usual appearance so as to hide the truth
(between lines 11 & 20)
39. Adjective hidden, not openly shown (between lines 11 & 20)
40. Verb diminished, became weaker or less intense (between lines 21 & 31)
3. LISTENING COMPREHENSION
You will have 1 minute 30 seconds to read the questions before you hear each passage. Each passage will be played twice.
FIRST PASSAGE
You are going to hear a passage on the town of Gallup. Listen to it and choose the most appropriate alternative A, B, or C according to the text. Mark your answers on your answer sheet with a cross (X).
0. Gallup lies on Route 66 that goes from B
A) New Mexico to Chicago.
B) Chicago to Los Angeles.
C) Los Angeles to New Mexico.
41. The Navajo Indian Reservation is the ….. Indian Reservation in the USA.
A) biggest B) oldest C) most traditional
42. Native Americans traditionally have
A) broad faces and flat cheekbones. B) broad noses and prominent cheekbones.
C) broad faces and high cheekbones.
43. Indian shops sell
A) souvenirs. B) jewels. C) postcards.
44. The Navajos
A) have lived in this region for hundreds of years.
B) arrived in this region in the mid 50s.
C) have lived in this region for less than a hundred years.
45. You may not be warmly welcomed by the Navajos because
A) they do not trust their Hopi neighbours.
B) they preserve their traditional way of life.
C) they have been unfairly treated by all governments.
46. The land is
A) rich both agriculturally and in natural resources.
B) agriculturally poor but rich in natural resources.
C) agriculturally rich but poor in natural resources.
Sample exam 2004 8
SECOND PASSAGE
You are going to hear an interview with David Willetts, the worldwide known musical performer. Are the following statements True, False or Not Mentioned? Write T (True), F (False) or N (Not mentioned) on your answer sheet.
0. David Willetts played the leading male role in The Phantom of the Opera. T
47. David used to play the piano for his mother.
48. The King and I was David’s first amateur performance.
49. David thinks that he is not well paid for what he does.
50. He thinks that performers’ reputation depends on their last interpretation.
51. People have to queue for hours to buy the tickets for David’s show.
52. David believes that he has to give more than 100% when he acts.
53. When he’s on the stage, he’s very conscious of the effect he has on the audience. 54. He regrets he can’t bring much help for people with disfigured faces.
THIRD PASSAGE
You are going to hear a report on the Royal Scotsman, a luxury train. Listen to it and fill in the blanks with one word you hear. Write your answers on your answer sheet.
0. The Royal Scotsman offers exclusive tours between London, _____, and the Scottish Highlands.
0. Edinburgh
55. The train has four sections: an Observation car, two Dining Cars, four _____ Cars, and two extra cars.
56. The train is usually pulled by a diesel locomotive but in the Highlands it is replaced with a _____ engine.
57. One of the two principal railway routes follows the north-west of England and the other the north-east _____ .
58. The passengers got to know each other over _____ tea.
59. The train passed through the university city of Oxford and the _____ town of Banbury.
60. After disembarking in Warwick, they _____ the train in Stratford-upon-Avon.
4. WRITING
Write two compositions (150 – 180 words each ) on the following topics:
(estimated time: 45 minutes)
1. You were visiting some friends in their flat late one evening when you heard someone shout ‘‘Fire’‘. Describe what happened next.
2. Your friend, Anna, has just lost her job. Write to her and include these points:
• Offer your support,
• ask her about her plans for the future,
• invite her to spend a few days with you.
KEY
FIRST PART: ______ / 60 (pass mark 40) Correction of Writing: Yes / No WRITING: ______ / 20 (pass mark 12) Called for oral exam: Yes / No
1. GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE ______ / 20
TEXT 1
1. A B C D 2. A B C D 3. A B C D 4. A B C D 5. A B C D
6. A B C D 7. A B C D 8. A B C D 9. A B C D 10. A B C D
TEXT 2
11. A B C D 12. A B C D 13. A B C D 14. A B C D 15. A B C D
16. A B C D 17. A B C D 18. A B C D 19. A B C D 20. A B C D
2. READING COMPREHENSION
FIRST PASSAGE
21. __E__ 22. __F__ 23. __H__ 24. __K__ 25. __N__ 26. __O__
(in any order)
27. __A__ 28. __D__ 29. __B__ 30. __C__
SECOND PASSAGE
31. __A__ 32. __F__ 33. __H__ 34. __I__ 35. __C__ 36. __G__
37. agony (line 7)
38. disguising (line 11)
Sample exam 2004 11
39. covert (line 16)
40. receded (line 24)
3. LISTENING COMPREHENSION
FIRST PASSAGE
41. A B C 42. A B C 43. A B C
44. A B C 45. A B C 46. A B C
SECOND PASSAGE
47. ___F___ 48. ___T___ 49. ___N___ 50. ___T___
51. ___N___ 52. ___T___ 53. ___F___ 54. ___F___
THIRD PASSAGE
55. Sleeping 56. steam 57. coast 58. afternoon 59. market 60. rejoined
Sample exam 2004 12
FIRST PASSAGE
Another country
Gallup is an unremarkable but not untypical New Mexico town. It lies on the old route 66, that runs from Chicago through three time zones and eight states to Los Angeles. The main street is lined with fast food joints, cheap motels, seedy bars and bottle shops. At night time the desert town is lit up by an endless array of neon signs and billboards. When not passed by completely, it is a convenient stopover between Santa Fe to the east and the Grand Canyon to the west.
What many passing motorists do not realize, however, is that Gallup sits on the southern border of the largest Indian reservation in the United States – the Navajo Nation – that covers some 25,000 square miles and stretches northwards as far as Lake Powell in Utah. Look around more closely and you begin to notice the broad faces and high cheekbones of Native Americans. Indian curio shops do a brisk trade selling silver and turquoise jewelry to the tourists. Outside town you might be lucky enough to see a local rodeo, where all the bronco riding and steer roping is done by Indian cowboys.
Part American and part Third World, the Navajos and their Hopi neighbours have lived in this region for centuries. Despite being U.S. citizens, they do not really consider themselves a part of the national melting pot and retain strong links with the traditional Indian way of life. Part of the reason for this is the maltreatment they have received from the U.S. government over the years and the Mexican and the Spanish before them – so don’t expect a warm welcome.
The Navajos enjoy sovereignty over this immense but agriculturally unproductive land. The area is rich in natural resources – oil, timber, coal, uranium, water- which have been the major source of income for the reservation residents in the past. But these are depletable resources and some to them are fast disappearing. To avoid a future crisis, Navajo policy makers are now looking to widen their economic base. But the transition is not an easy one.
Time: 2:07
SECOND PASSAGE
David Willetts
Having played the leading male roles in both THE PHANTOM OF OPERA and LES MISÉRABLES, David Willetts is one of the top musical performers in the world today. His meteoric rise to fame came within just five years of turning professional.
Born in Birmingham in 1952, he and his sister used to sing at home with their mother accompanying them on the piano. His first amateur performance was in THE KING AND I, and from this and other small stage productions he was hired for his first professional role in LES MISÉRABLES in 1985.
SPEAK UP: How do you manage to keep your enthusiasm for the character and your interpretation fresh?
DAVID WILLETS: I think the first thing, anybody who’s in our business as performers will tell you, that to be paid for doing a job you really enjoy is one of the most wonderful things in the world. So there’s always that, that you go out there knowing that it’s no one’s right, it’s no one’s privilege, to be up there doing this; it’s something that, you know, you’ve worked hard for, and you have to keep … the old cliché, you know, about you’re only as good as your last performance is very, very true. So there’s two things, A: You try and be as good as you can every night because it’s your reputation, and you are trying … the product that you’re selling is yourself. So that’s one side of it. But the other side of it is a pride in your job, and also the fact that people have had tickets to see this show for 12 months, and this is their big day. For them it’s an opening night, you know, and this is the way I look at it: you can’t go out and give 99 per cent, you have to go out and give 110 per cent. And that’s what it’s all about, and this is why people keep coming back.
Sample exam 2004 13
SP: Jean Valjean in LES MISERABLES and the Phantom – has playing these characters left any sort of lasting impression on you?
DW: Well, there’s various things, there’s various things. I mean, you don’t realize when you’re doing a character and you’re performing a show what effect you have on the public. You don’t realize because what you’re doing is your job, and you’re out there to create a character. And from the letters that I have from people who are disfigured, for instance – you know, when I’m doing now the Phantom – both kind of visually and maybe mentally, when they come to see the show, they write me letters saying, ‘‘Well, you know, maybe life isn’t so bad after all, maybe we can cope and you’ve shown us something that… and maybe a way of handling the situation’‘. And you don’t realize that, and it makes you very, very humble to realize that there are people out there… I mean, I can take this make-up off every night, there’s people who have got these problems for the rest of their life. And, you know, if we can … if I as an actor can bring some sort of help or looking to the future for these people, then that s a great feeling.
Time: 2:53
THIRD PASSAGE
The Royal Scotsman
There are only a handful of luxury trains left in the world. One of the few still in operation is The Royal Scotsman, which runs exclusive tours between London, Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands. The train is made up of an Observation Car with open-air verandah, two Dining Cars, four sleeping Cars and two cars for the crew and train services. A total of thirty-two passengers can be carried in luxurious comfort. The train is usually pulled by a diesel locomotive, but on part of the Highlands section this is replaced with an old-fashioned steam engine.
There are two principal railway routes between London and Scotland. One runs up the north west of England, and the other follows the north-east coast. During the 1920s and ‘30s increasingly sumptuous trains were introduced, culminating in The Coronation on the western route and The Flying Scotsman on the eastern route. The Royal Scotsman, which began operating in 1985, continues this tradition of travelling in grand style.
Friday, Day 1: London to Stratford.
Passengers boarded the train at Paddington Station. We were welcome aboard by a piper in full regalia and a glass of champagne. The train left the station on schedule at 2.30 pm and passengers got to know each other over afternoon tea as we passed through the Thames Valley. The train continued through the university city of Oxford and the market town of Banbury before arriving in Warwick. Here we disembarked. We rejoined the train in Stratford-upon-Avon in time to change for a formal dinner while a group of musicians played classical music in the Observation Car.
Time: 1:41
Sample exam 2004 14
MARKING SCHEME FOR THE WRITING
OI Overall Impression
Prior to analysing the composition, the examiner must read it through for an overall impression regarding two aspects:
a) extent to which it relates to the exercise that was set (relevance).
b) extent to which the text as a whole is comprehensible.
5 marks Fully relates to the exercise set; coherent, pertinent and fully comprehensible at the first reading.
4 marks Between 5 and 3.
3 marks Does not fully relate to the exercise set. Certain expressions must be reread and even after doing so may not be fully understood.
2 marks Between 3 and 1.
1 mark Hardly relates to the exercise set. Almost every sentence has to be re-read and even after doing so may not he fully understood.
0 marks The question has either not been answered or does not relate to the exercise set.
LR Linguistic Range
5 marks Language is suitable for the level required and the exercise set, shows variety and ability to adapt structures, vocabulary and connectives to the different aspects of the exercise.
4 marks Between 5 and 3.
3 marks Limited command of the language for the level expected, but adequate for the exercise set. Some repetition of the same structures, vocabulary and connectives.
2 marks Between 3 and 1.
1 mark Very poor language for the level expected; too few structures frequently repeated; shows a very limited vocabulary, with hardly any connectives.
0 marks Either no answer or too short to enable adequate assessment.
LA Linguistic Accuracy
The same mistake, though frequently repeated, will only be taken into account once.
5 marks Syntax, morphology, spelling and punctuation are correct or nearly correct.
4 marks Between 5 and 3.
3 marks Syntax, morphology, spelling and punctuation are sufficiently correct, with some mistakes.
2 marks Between 3 and 1.
1 mark Contains a wide range of all kinds of mistakes.
0 marks Either no answer or too short to enable adequate assessment.
Sample exam 2004 15
ORAL EXAM
You will be required to talk about the points below. You may use the picture for extra ideas. The examiners might ask you more questions or discuss your views.
OLD AGE
(Pictures)
1. Old people in your family. Your grandparents.
2. Changes brought about by old age.
3. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these alternatives:
a) An elderly mother or father living with their son/daughter and his/ her family. b) Old people living on their own with or without some sort of help at home. c) Nursing homes.
Sample exam 2004 16
MARKING SCHEME FOR THE ORAL TEST
Communication Skills
5 marks Candidate speaks coherently and appropriately to this level. Ideas and opinions are expressed with ease and fluency.
4 marks Between 5 and 3
3 marks His/her discourse is generally coherent but not entirely appropriate to this level. Expresses ideas and opinions with visible effort, though he/she can make him-/herself understood.
2 marks Between 3 and 1
1 mark Discourse limited to short sentences and the language is inappropriate to the level. He/she has very little fluency, and can hardly make him-/herself understood.
0 marks
Pronunciation
5 marks Fully understandable. Pronunciation and intonation are largely correct, although influence from L1 may be clearly evident.
4 marks Between 5 and 3
3 marks May be understood but there is a strong influence from L1. The poor pronunciation and intonation require some effort from the listener in order to be understood.
2 marks Between 3 and 1
1 mark A considerable effort is required on the part of the listener.
0 marks
Grammatical Competence
5 marks Uses a broad range of syntactic structures and morphological elements without systematic mistakes.
4 marks Between 5 and 3
3 marks Uses a sufficient though limited range of syntactic structures and morphological elements with few, serious mistakes.
2 marks Between 3 and 1
1 mark Uses a very limited range of syntactic structures and morphological elements, with many mistakes.
0 marks
Vocabulary
5 marks Varied and appropriate. Enables candidate to express him-/herself adequately.
4 marks Between 5 and 3
3 marks Limited, though appropriate in general. Enables candidate to express him-/herself without great difficulty.
2 marks Between 3 and 1
1 mark Very limited and repetitive vocabulary.
0 marks
Each examiner will award 5 points for each aspect considered, according to the candidate’s overall performance. The final result is given by the sum of the total marks awarded by the examiners.
