Mock Exam 3

Reading Comprehension (Part 1)

1. Reading for Gist
Read the five text items 1 - 5. Then read the headlines a -j. Decide which headline a - j goes best
with which text.

a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)

Police attack on Congress Palace

Burmese activists detained
Hakkinen victorious in Luxembourg Grand Prix
Schumacher and the Ferrari team
Whisky robber begins appeal
Car bombing kills seven
Whisky robber sentenced to prison
Seven people wounded by fundamentalists
Strike against tuition fees in Jszladny
School dispute

1.
Burmese police yesterday detained 109 activists and blocked all roads leading to the house of
the democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, to stop a congress of her party from taking place, a
senior government official said. He added: "How soon they are released will depend on the
situation of the other side. lf everything is normal and quiet, they could be released right away. If
it is not right, it may be a few days.

2.

A car bomb killed at least seven people and wounded 20 yesterday near the market in Boufarik,
Algeria, security forces said. Boufarik is 12 miles south of Algiers, the scene of previous
bombing blamed on Muslin fundamentalists.

3.
Attila Ambrus, known as "The Whisky Robber," began an appeal at the Supreme Court in
Budapest against a 15-year jail sentence he received after being convicted of 28 bank robberies
throughout the 1990s and a subsequent jailbreak after which he committed another two heists.
Prosecutors counter-demanded an increased sentence for the 38- year-old, whose nickname
came from his penchant for taking a shot of whisky before Bach crime.

4.
President Ferenc Mdl stepped in as arbitrator following a dispute over alleged segregation of
students in a school run by a private foundation in the town of Jszladny. Local Roma
representatives said the school, which charged tuition fees, effectively discriminated against
them. Mdl met with the town's mayor and the local Roma authority head and encouraged the
continuation of dialogue between those involved.

5.
Mika Hakkinen and his MCLaren Mercedes team outmanoeuvred Michael Schumacher and the
Ferrari team on Sunday to win the Luxembourg Grand Prix. The result ensured that the suspense
surrounding who will win the Formula One drivers' title will last until the final race of the
season, on Nov. lst in Japan. Under ominous rain clouds, Hakkinen got off to a good start from
third place on the grid, but remained behind the two Ferraris, driven by Schumacher and Eddie
Irvine, which were first and second Irvine had immediately overtaken Schumacher at the start of
the race. But after Irvine made a driving error at the chicane before the straightaway at the end
of the first lap, the German retook the lead to the deafening cheers of his home crowd of
140,000. On lap 24 Schumacher made his first pit stop, and it lasted 8.6 seconds. He came out
15.7 seconds behind Hakkinen, but the Fin then set the fastest lap, and gained ground before he
stopped in the pits on lap 27.
Reading Comprehension (Part 2)
Reading for Detail
Text 1
Read the following text, then choose the answers to questions 6-8 and mark your answer - a, b
or c- on the answer sheet.
Cyprus has clean hands on cigarette smuggling, say officials

Customs officials said Cyprus has for years kept its hands clean in an alleged UN sanction
- busting cigarette smuggling ring that is said to have poured billions of US dollars worth
of American tobacco into Iraq.
Tor three years now, we haven't had a single incident proving that the island was used as a
transit point for cigarette smuggling," Customs Department spokesman Iacovos Antoniou
told The Cyprus Weekly. Although conceding that authorities cannot be " 100% certain"
that smuggling had occurred in the past, Antoniou said the island now enjoys a reputation
abroad as a law-abiding country that has cracked down on the illegal practice.
"We've introduced strict measures to eliminate any kind of smuggling at our ports to the
point where we've nearly caused damage to our trans-shipping sector," said Antoniou.
Antoniou's remarks were prompted by a Sunday Telegraph report this week alleging that
Cyprus was "for years" used as a transit point to ship billions of American-made cigarettes
to Turkey and to Iraq. The report said facts emerged from a European Union law suit
against American tobacco giants RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris in connection with billions
of cigarettes smuggled into Iraq since the 1991 Gulf war in breach of UN sanctions.
Court documents filed in a New York court as part of legal action to curb tobacco
smuggling allege that American cigarettes were shipped from the US via the EU and
Cyprus since the early 1990s.
6. Customs Department spokesman Iacovos Antoniou told The Cyprus Weekly that
a) in the past the island was used as a transit point for cigarette smuggling.
b) the island had never been used as a transit point for smuggling.
c) there were no incidents to prove that the island had been used as a transit point for cigarette
smuggling for three years.
7. The Sunday Telegraph alleged that
a) the island had been "for years" a transit point to ship American cigarettes.
b) smuggling had also occurred in the past.
c) American made cigarettes were not sold to Iraq.
8. According to New York court documents
a) there should be legal action to curb tobacco smuggling.
b) in the past American cigarettes were transported from the US to Cyprus.
c) from the early 1990s on American cigarettes were shipped from the US through the EU and
Cyprus.

Reading Comprehension (Part 2)

Reading for Detail
Text 2
Read the following text, then choose the answers to questions 9-10 and mark your answer - a, b
or c- on the answer sheet.
Christmas Cards from Red Cross

Christmas cards are now available from the Cyprus Red Cross Society. All proceeds from sale of
the cards, which are priced at 20 cents each, including an envelope, will go towards funding the
Red Cross's Children's Sanatorium, which caters for children with serious physical disabilities.
There are two cards to choose from. The first is a depiction of a 15th century icon of "The Holy
Mother Holding Christ As An Infant" as depicted in Athanasios Papageorgiou's book "Icons of
Cyprus." The second choice is a depiction of a water colour painting of the endemic cedar
(Cedrus brevifolia) by Marvel Christophides, from her collection "Our Heritage."
The cards are available from the offices of the Red Cross throughout the island. For more
information telephone the organisation's Central Office on 22 666955.
9. All the money obtained by selling the cards
a) will be given to a Children's Home.
b) will be sent to a Nursing Home.
c) will fund physically disabled children.
10.The first card
a) is a depiction of a water colour.
b) shows a religious scene.
c) costs more than the second.

Reading Comprehension (Part 3)

Selective Reading
Read questions 11-20 and then read the advertisements a-1. In which of the advertisements can
you find what you are looking for?
For each of the items 11-20, decide which advertisement goes with the situation described.

11. You are interested in getting a degree by distance learning.

12.You and your family would like to settle down in America.

13.You are interested in holidays where there are programmes for persons without a partner.
14.You want to visit the largest bowling club in Budapest.
15.You want to go to a restaurant offering seasonally inspired dishes and a big choice of
different wines.
16.You are keen on pizzas and salads.
17.You would like to try Mediterranean dishes and cocktail specialities.
18.You want to enjoy the atmosphere of English pubs.
19.You are interested in what cooking might have been like in the Middle Ages.
20.You are interested in girl show and striptease.

Language Elements (Part 1)

Read the following text and decide which word or phrase a, b or c is missing in items 21-30.
If you want to keep fit, you have to eat healthy food. But some parents do not care what their
children eat. They are just happy to pack a lunch box with crisps and sweets. The pace of life in
21. . fast-moving world is such that many parents 22. have time to do basic
household chores, let alone cook. For this reason, the consumption of fast food 23. .
dramatically - but is this a good thing or not?
The main argument 24. of fast food is the fart that it is convenient, leaving working
mothers with more time to concentrate on more important things. Service in fast-food
restaurants is quick and efficient, and one is able 25. . with a minimum of fuss. On the
other 26. fast food is not particularly healthy, especially when eaten regularly, and can
although be 27. . expensive compared to cooking at home. Also, many people are of the
opinion that fast food has contributed to a breakdown in society because of the 28. . that
it discourages people from sitting down to eat a home-made meal with family and friends, and
29. . enjoying the conversation that goes with it.
To sum up, although fast food is a convenient, short-term solution to the problems of a highpressure lifestyle, it should not 30. . replace healthier, more traditional ways of eating.

21. a) of today
b) today's
c) present

24. a) in connection with

b) concerns
c) in favour

27. a) enough
b) rather
c) such

22. a) no at all
b) no longer
c) not even

25. a) to eat his meal

b) to eat one's meal
c) to eat their meal

28. a) fact
b) idea
c) thought

23. a) has risen

b) have risen
c) rige

26. a) site
b) foot
c) hand

29. a) by
b) to
c) from
30. a) allowed to
b) is allowed to
c) be allowed to

Language Elements (Part 2)

Read the following letter and decide which word or phrase a - o is missing in items 31-40.

Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing to express my strong 31. . with my recent stay at the Grand Hotel Spa.
Contrary 32. . your advertisement's claim that guests would be offered a selection of 33.
. we had to make do with 34. . poor-quality food every day.
Moreover, I 35. . appalled to find that the "luxury suite" I was promised was, in reality, a
36. . room with barely enough space to move around. In addition, the only 37 . ....
from my window was of the hotel's car park.
On leaving I was also 38. . for drinks I had had in the bar, even though your
advertisement clearly states that the price was 39. . . Furthermore, I also had to pay extra
for an aerobics class I took.
I insist 40. . some compensation for my experience or I will be forced to take this matter
further.

Yours faithfully,
Stephen Small

a) advertise

b) on

f) charged

g) manager

k) dissatisfaction 1) meals

c) all-inclusive
h) small
m) the same

d) such

c) view

i) was

j) regret

n) to

o) with

Letter Writing
A distant English acquaintance of yours would like to come to Hungary to teach English.
As you yourself work in a secondary school, too, your friend ask you to write a character
reference about him/her. The following points should be mentioned in your letter.

Express your thanks for considering your name as a character referee.

Politely refuse the favour and give reasons for that.

As you would like to help, promise your assistance in finding a new job in Hungary,
check where an English speaking teacher would be needed.

Express your hope that he/she will find a job in Hungary and promise that you will help
him/her with everything, if he gets to Hungary.

Finally note that he/she should find someone else who knows him better than you do.