APTIS READING TEST 2

PART 1

Choose the right word to complete the text.

Hi Sam,

I’m so happy you are coming for some / the / — weekend.

Tomorrow, when you get / reach / arrive to the airport, I’ll be at work so my
brother John will pick you up.

I’ll join you at 2pm at the burger restaurant and after / then / later lunch we can go
sightseeing.

On Saturday, we’ll go hiking. The weather has been nice in the end / although / so
far, so I think we’ll have a great time in the mountains.

Then, on Sunday, we could go to the science museum. Please, feel free / shy /
nice to suggest other plans.

See you,

Carter

PART 2

Order the sentences to make a story. The first one has been done for you.

A. Caroline woke up at 7 as usual, and then had a quick shower.

B. There was little traffic so she managed to get to the tall office block on time.

C. ‘Good morning, I have an appointment with Mr Olsen, the Human Resource

manager’, she said.

D. Then Caroline realised she had made a terrible mistake. She had gone to the
wrong address.

E. She entered the building and approached the woman at the reception desk.

F. Then she had an even quicker breakfast and dressed up. She had an important
job interview and didn’t want to be late.

G. The receptionist looked at her with her eyes wide open and said ‘sorry, but
there is no Mr Olsen here’
1. __A__ 2. _____ 3. _____ 4. _____ 5. _____ 6. _____ 7. _____

PART 3

Read the text and complete the gaps with words from the list. The first one is
done for you. There are more words than you need.

New technologies have brought about many changes to our daily life. They have
transformed the way we communicate with others, ___________________ up with the
news, buy things, or entertain ourselves. This technological revolution has
happened at such a rapid ___________________ that not everybody has been able to
adapt. On the other hand, there are the youngest generations, born and
___________________ in the technological era, and consequently genetically
programmed for the use of technology. However, for older generations, the
___________________ is such that a new term has been coined to define the reduced
or ____________________ knowledge on the use of basic computer software, the
Internet, social networks, etc. This ‘technology illiteracy’ is a worrying
____________________ that raises the question of whether technology has made our
life better, or on the contrary, it has ___________________ the generation and social
gap.

non-existing widened pace keep

argument
challenge put issue raised
goal

PART 4

Read the text and match each heading to a paragraph. There is one extra
paragraph you don’t need.

Headings

A. Behind bars
B. Taking over the family legacy
C. The subject matter of his works
D. Homesickness and loneliness
E. Criminal wrongdoing
F. Encouraged to leave past behind
G. Bankrupt and fall into disgrace
H. Raising a family
I. An act of justice and rebellion

1. ______ Tomorrow, coinciding with the birth anniversary of the best-selling

author Gabriel Goldberg, editorial Blue Pen is launching a special edition of
his complete works with prologue by Josephine Goldberg, the author’s
granddaughter, a poetess endowed with her grandfather’s talent, who set up
the Goldberg Foundation, whose aim is to discover, promote, and assist
young talent.

2. ______ Gabriel Goldberg was the only child of Samuel Goldberg, a middle-
class entrepreneur, and his wife Helen, a pianist. The family lived happily in
the small town of Greenfield. However, everything changed when the father
lost his business, incapable of repaying his money debts after the stock
market crash. Evicted from their house, they were forced to move in with
Gabriel’s paternal grandmother, a grumpy and authoritarian old lady.

3. ______ The woman agreed to take care of the family’s economic needs in
exchange for being entitled to decide on Gabriel’s education. Hence, she
sends the boy to a boarding school, where he receives a strict education.
He feels nostalgic, misses home and his parents, who now work for and are
submitted to the old lady’s authority. He writes to them regularly, but they
seldom write him back, and Gabriel grows more taciturn and miserable by
the day.

4. ______ He struggles to follow the rules and starts to misbehave and get
into trouble, receiving continual punishment. Gabriel learns the hard way
that life can be really harsh with those who do not abide by the norm.
Nevertheless, far from submitting, he grows more and more rebellious from
day to day, and when the school master publicly humiliates another student,
Gabriel stands up for his peer defying the headmaster authority, being
expelled from school.

5. ______ Not wishing to come back home to his aunt, Gabriel has no chance
to make a living. But he is now 17, impecunious and has no work
experience. Therefore, he starts shifting from one underpaid job to another
until he meets a man who offers him a job in a trade company. However, the
man is a notorious criminal who uses his company as a cover for his dirty
businesses. At first, Gabriel is just the errand boy, but soon he gets more
and more involved in his employer’s illegal affairs. By the age of 18, Gabriel
is already a common criminal, engaged in all kind of monkey businesses.

6. ______ One day, Gabriel was caught transporting illegal cargo. After a
speedy trial at which he refused to give his employer in, he was sentenced
to serve 14 months for smuggling. During his time in prison, Gabriel starts to
write as a way to release his anger and frustration. He wrote about his
childhood memories, his parents, his despicable aunt, the boarding school,
etc. The more he writes, the more relief he feels, so he writes tirelessly.

7. ______ This collection of short stories and poems caught the attention of
one of the wardens, a gentle man nicknamed ‘The Father’ who soon took
Gabriel under his protection and convinced him that he deserved better than
being minion of a delinquent. This man sent Gabriel’s collection of short
stories and poems to a friend editor, who was so impressed by the material
that he decided to publish it at once.

8. ______ Gabriel would always recall the publication of his first book as a
momentous event in his life, which took yet again an unexpected turn when
he met a primary school teacher called Carol and fell head over heels in love
with her. She felt the same for him, and after a few months they decided to
tie the knot in a private ceremony. Eleven months later, their son Samuel
was born. By then, Gabriel was a successful author, who had already come
to terms with his past and left his evil life behind.

KEY

PART 1

the, get, after, so far, free

PART 2

1A, 2F, 3B, 4E, 5C, 6G, 7D

PART 3

keep, pace, raised, challenge, non-existing, issue, widened

PART 4
1B, 2G, 3D, 4I, 5E, 6A, 7C, 8F