Practice test 23

PART I: LISTENING
1. You will hear a holiday writer talking about a tourist destination called Antigua and
Barbuda, which is in the Caribbean. For question 7-15, complete the sentences with a word
or short phrase.
Speed boat trips 1. are available for visitors who want to go round Antigua quickly.
Sailing without someone who has detailed knowledge 2. of the local waters is not
recommended.
Before diving down to a wreck, holiday makers need to make arrangments 3. with a dive shop.
The good visibility 4. and water temperatures make the sea ideal for snorkelling.
Before interacting with stingrays, visitors are given safety tips 5. by experts.
There is sports memorabilia including a ________6. at the museum.
If it is kept in a cold environment 7. Antiguan pottery tends to break easily.
The location of the Decagon makes horse riding 8. an obvious choice of activity.
Guests whose main aim is to get both rest and relaxation 9. should book a suite at Blue Waters.
2. You will hear five short extracts in which different people are talking about a summer
job they had while they were at university.
You will hear the recording twice. While you listen, you must complete both tasks.
Task one
For question 1 - 5, choose from the list (A-H) what each speaker did during the summer.
A worked at a travel agency
B worked in hotel reception
Speaker 1 1
C worked for an insurance company 4
Speaker 2 2
D worked for a law firm 3
Speaker 3 3
E worked in a bakery 1 Speaker 4 4
F worked at a television studio Speaker 5 5
G worked in a bank 5
H worked for an accountant 2
Task Two
For questions 6-10, choose from the list (A-H) what lesson each speaker learnt from their job
experience.
A Respect has to be earned.
B Always stick to company policy.
C Never take anything for granted. Speaker 1 6
D Take the blame when necessary. Speaker 2 7

E Accept advice from colleagues. Speaker 3 8

Speaker 4 9
F Be prepared to take criticism.
Speaker 5 10
G Hard work doesn’t always pay off.
H Avoid talking about members of staff.

PART II.I: PHONETICS

a. Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from that of the
others. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
1. A. maturity B. situation C. intuition D. saturate
2. A. exploration B. pastoral C. corridor D. victor
3. A. attorney B. hormone C. sword D. incorporate
4. A. suffocate B. decimate C. excavate D. considerate
b. Choose the word whose main stressed syllable is placed differently from that of the
others. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
4. A. forseable B. contributory C. retrospect D. hypnosis
5. A. decompose B. premature C. minaret D. coincide
6. A. genocide B. anonymity C. manifesto D. miscellaneous
7. A. retrovirus B. indestructible C. advantageous D. abnormality

PART [Link]: LEXICO-GRAMMAR

a. Choose the best answer A, B, C, or D. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered
boxes provided.
1. When asked about his own party’s transport policy, the candidate _______ a sideswipe at
his opponent by mentioning the recent rail strikes.
A. made B. did C. took D. gave
take a sideswipe = If you take a sideswipe at someone, you make an unexpected critical remark
about them while you are talking about something else.
2. I wish he wouldn’t make such unkind and _______ remarks.
A. lapse B. disparaging C. inconsolable D. rough
disparaging = unpleasant comments
3. I hope you didn’t _______ exception to my comments.
A. find B. make C. take D. put
take exception (to sth) = kịch liệt phản đối, chống lại
4. It was _______ luck that the answer suddenly came to me in the middle of the exam.
A. pure B. clean C. dirt D. fresh
pure/blind luck = hoàn toàn nhờ vào may mắn, không gì ngoài may mắn (không liên quan gì
đến kỹ năng, sự chuẩn bị, tinh thần đồng đội,...)
5. As winter ends, I always seem to feel a _______ of energy.
A. charge B. do C. revival D. burst
6. Agreeing to do a bit of overtime could _______ to your advantage.
A. make B. spring C. create D. work
7. _______, I think your comments are very short-sighted.
A. In retrospect B. With all due respect
C. in earning D. With regard
with (all due) respect = used to express polite disagreement in a formal situation
8. To prevent those animals with populations that are dying out, some of them are being
_______ by humans.
A. multiplied B. produced C. replicated D. bred
9. I can’t help _______ what I should do next.
A. but to wonder B. except wonder
C. but wonder D. apart wonder
10. Scientists use the term climate change _______ for two or more decades because it is
more accurate than the tern global warming.
A. to refer to major changes in weather lasting
B. referring to major changes in weather to last
C. refer to major weather changes last
D. and refer to major changes in weather and last
11. I have _______ finished the task
A. prettily nearly B. nearly very C. very almost D. pretty nearly
pretty nearly = almost but not quite
12. There is _______ giant tortoise in _______ Galapagos Islands nicknamed _______
Lonesome George, who has never found _______ mate.
A. a / the / - / a B. the / the / - / a C. a / - / - / mate D. a / - / a / a
13._______ real work was done in the office while the boss was away.
A. Not a B. Not only C. No D. None
14. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. _______ of you is first in line?
A. Which B. Whose C. Who D. Whom
15. We should leave _______ 8.30.
A. any later than B. much later than C. no later than D. not later than
16. _______ from space, the earth is blue.
A. Though it is seen B. While being seen
C. Seen D. to be seen
17. Many people regard ______ the police have started carrying guns.
A. as a really bad idea when B. it a really bad idea if
C. it as a really bad idea that D. it to be a really bad idea for
18. She still has nightmares from _______ in a small dark cupboard for hours.
A. locking up B. having to be locked up
C. having been locked up D. having locked up
19. I’ve been revising all day but I don’t think much of it has _______ in.
A. Come B. gotten C. dived D. sunk
sink in = to be fully understand
20. Insurance companies had to _______ £10 million in storm damage claims.
A. Cough up B. put out C. give away D. squeeze up
cough up (v) = pay sth based on insurance contract
21. I don’t like jewellery that jumps _______ you.
A. Up B. out at C. over on D. at on
22. Mrs. Watts tick you ______ if you’re late again.
A. Up B. at C. on D. off
tick sb off = to speak severely to and criticise someone who has done something wrong
23. They might get married – it’s not _______ the bounds of possibility.
A. Over B. taken on C. beyond D. without
beyond the bounds of possibility = not possible
24. The word ‘chaos’ has _______ a special scientific meaning.
A. Included in B. taken on C. held of D. gasped up
25. Young men were tutored _______ the art of handling horses.
A. In B. on C. into D. within
26. He admitted that, _______ the benefit of hindsight, the original launch had not been
large enough.
A. In B. with C. from D. to
b. Complete these sentences, using the suitable form of the given words in brackets. Write
your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
1. He put much effort into the realisation of his dream. (REAL)
2. For most people, losing weight is a(n) unattainable goal due to lack of willpower. (ATTAIN)
3. Pointed shoes are recently making a comeback in fashion circles. (COME)
4. She uses persuasion and flattery to get what she wants. (FLATTER)
5. She was a(n) imposter who claimed to be a star. (IMPOSE) (pretend to be sb)
6. The designer worked relentlessly to organise the fashion show. (RELENT)
7. Mary was a(n) strikingly beautiful girl. (STRIKE)
8. Don’t judge people just on their physical characteristics. (CHARACTER)
9. Her creations exemplify haute couture fashion. (EXAMPLE)
10. The woman was unrecognise after her cosmetic surgery. (RECOGNISE)
c. For each set, think of one word which can be used appropriately in all three sentences.
Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
1. • Tina had a sarcastic expression on her face.
• The _________ of negative emotions can help one to come to terms with them.
• Jean used an unusual __________ which I hadn’t heard before.

2. • There are some striking examples of inefficiency which cannot be overlooked.

• Tim is a(n) __________ young man and so he’s used to being admired.
• Families of __________ workers will be paid subsistence by the Union in recognition
of their participation in the struggle.

3. • For more information about assessment you should speak to the __________ of
department.
• At mealtimes, my father usually sits at the head of the table.
• No, I won’t come mountain – climbing: I’ve no __________ for heights.
no head for heights = acrophobia, an irrational fear of height
4. • Our ski coach was a dynamic young Austrian chap.
• We travelled by __________, so we saw some wonderful scenery.
• At midnight Cinderella’s __________ changed back into a pumpkin.

5. • If you want to learn Spanish, ask if there’s a beginner’s __________ at the local
college.
• In the course of the conversation I realised I’d forgotten her name.
• It was a simple meal: the main __________ was roast chicken.

6. •
• We will coat the walls with sound-proof material so that they __________ most of the
noise coming from outside.
• We would rather advertising did not absorb so much of the company’s budget.
7. • These prices do not apply to weekends and holidays.
• The doctor instructed her to __________ the ointment twice a day on the affected
area.
• Unless you are British, you cannot __________ for a student grant.

8. • My cat climbed up to a high position of the oak tree and could not make its way back
down.
• Our London __________ has a vacancy for an accounts manager.
• The __________ of philosophy dealing with morality is called Ethics.

9. • His __________ intelligent sense of humour made him popular.

• Mild, wet winters and dry summers are characteristics of the Mediterranean climate.
• The paint on this window isn’t dry yet, so don’t touch it!

10. • A long line of people stood outside the theatre, patiently waiting for possible
cancellations.
• I have John Wilcox on the line; he says it’s an emergency.
• The groom began his speech with a well-known __________ from a Shakespearean
sonnet.
on the line = at serious risk
e. Complete the following passage by filling each blank with ONE suitable word. Write your
answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
Forget about the traditional process of going to job interviews and answer question after
question with tired clichés and business buzzwords that is 0) nothing beneficial to an employer.
There is now a fascinating new designed to reveal deeper subtleties 1) _for___________
character. This technique, known as psychometric testing, has been breaking 2) into ground in
recruiting by using aptitude tests to examine candidates’ fluid and crystallised intelling.
Aptitude tests enable employers to objectively evaluate candidates’ intelligence by assessing 3)
_________their___ ability to think abstractly and strategy. The aim here isn’t to measure
experience of qualifications, 4) but to prepare a useful barometer of how someone can solve
problems. In addition to think aspects of the tests that explore crystallized intelligence look at
5) ____________ candidate has learnt from past experiences and their ability to apply this
to a context. There aren’t necessarily right or wrong answers. These tests simply requires
candidates to respond to the questions to the 6) ____________ of their ability be as honest
about 7) ___________ as possible. In this way, employers have a unique marker as to the 8)
___________ to which a candidate can flourish within business.

PART III: READING

a. Read the passage below and choose the best answer (A, B, C or D) to complete the
passage. Write your answers in the corresponding numbered boxes provided.
Environmental practices of big business
The environmental practices of big businesses are shaped by a fundamental fact that for
many of us offend our sense of justice. Depending on the circumstances, a business may
maximize the amount of money it makes, at least in the short term, by damaging the
environment and hurting people. That is still the case today for fishermen in an unmanaged
fishery without quotas and for international logging companies with short-term leases on
tropical rainforest land in places with corrupt officials and unsophisticated landowners. When
government regulation is effective, and when the public is environmentally aware,
environmentally clean big businesses may out-compete dirty ones, but the reverse is likely to be
true if government regulation is ineffective and if the public doesn’t care.
 It is easy for the rest of us to blame a business for helping itself by hurting other people. But
blaming alone is unlikely to produce change. It ignores the fact that businesses are not charities
but profit-making companies, and that publicly owned companies with shareholders are under
obligation to those shareholders to maximize profits, provided that they do so by legal means.
US laws make a company’s directors legally liable for something termed ‘breach of fiduciary
responsibility’ if they knowingly manage a company in a way that reduces profits. The car
manufacturer Henry Ford was in fact successfully sued by shareholders in 1919 for raising the
minimum wage of his workers to $5 per day: the courts declared that, while Ford’s
humanitarian sentiments about his employees were nice, his business existed to make profits
for its stockholders.
Our blaming of businesses also ignores the ultimate responsibility of the public for creating
the condition that let a business profit through destructive environmental policies. In the long
run, it is the public, either directly or through its politicians, that has the power to make such
destructive policies unprofitable and illegal, and to make sustainable environmental policies
profitable.
The public can do that by suing businesses for harming them, as happened after the Exxon
Valdez disaster, in which over 40,000m3 of oil were spilled off the coast of Alaska. The public
may also make their opinion felt by preferring to buy sustainably harvested products; by
making employees of companies with poor track records feel ashamed of their company and
complain to their own management; by preferring their governments to award valuable
contracts to businesses with a good environmental track record; and by pressing their
governments to pass and enforce laws and regulations requiring good environmental practices.
In turn, big businesses can expert powerful pressure on any suppliers that might ignore
public or government pressure. For instance, after the US public became concerned about the
spread of a disease known as BSE, which was transmitted to humans through infected meat, the
US government’s Food and Drug Administration introduced rules demanding that the meat
industry abandon practices associated with the risk of the disease spreading. But for five years
the meat packers refused to follow these, claiming that they would be too expensive to obey.
However, when a major fast-food company then made the same demands after customer
purchases of its hamburgers plummeted, the meat industry complied within weeks. The
public’s task is therefore to identify which links in the supply chain are sensitive to public
pressure: for instance, fast-food chains or jewelry stores, but not meat packers or gold miners.

Some readers may be disappointed or outraged that I place the ultimate responsibility for
business practices harming the public on the public itself. I also believe that the public must
accept the necessity for higher prices for products to cover the added costs, if any, of sound
environmental practices. My views may seem to ignore the belief that businesses should act in
accordance with moral principles even if this leads to a reduction in their profits. But I think we
have to recognize that, throughout human history, in all politically complex human societies,
government regulation has arisen precisely because it was found that not only did moral
principles need to be made explicit, they also needed to be enforced.
To me, the conclusion that the public has the ultimate responsibility for the behaviour of
even the biggest businesses is empowering and hopeful, rather than disappointing. My
conclusion is not a moralistic one about who is right or wrong, admirable or selfish, a good guy
or a bad guy. In the past, businesses have changed when the public came to expect and require
different behaviour, to reward businesses for behaviour that the public wanted, and to make
things difficult for businesses practising behaviours that the public didn’t want. I predict that in
the future, just as in the past, changes in public attitudes will be essential for changes in
businesses’ environmental practices.
Questions 1 – 5
Complete the summary using the list of words, A-J, below.
Write the correct letter, A-J, in boxes on your answer sheet.
Big businesses
Many big businesses today are prepared to harm people and the environment in order to make
money, and they appear to have no (1) D. Lack of (2) E by governments and lack of public (3) F
can lead to environmental problems such as (4) H or the destruction of (5) B.
A – funding B - trees C – rare species D – moral standards
E – control F – involvement G – flooding H – overfishing I – worker support

Questions 6 – 8
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in boxes on your answer sheet.
6. The main idea of the third paragraph is that environmental damage
A. requires political action if it is to be stopped.
B. is the result of ignorance on the part of the public.
C. could be prevented by the action of ordinary people.
D. can only be stopped by educating business leaders.
7. In the fourth paragraph, the writer describes ways in which the public can
A. reduce their own individual impact on the environment.
B. learn more about the impact of business of the environment.
C. raise awareness of the effects of specific environmental disasters.
D. influence the environmental policies of business and governments.
8. What pressure was exerted by big business in the case of the disease BSE?
A. Meat packers stopped supplying hamburgers to fast – food chains.
B. A fast – food company forced their meat suppliers to follow the law.
C. Meat packers persuaded the government to reduce their expenses.
D. A fast – food company encouraged the government to introduce legislation.

Questions 9 – 13
Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 3?
In boxes 9 – 13 on your answer sheet, write:
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this
9. The public should be prepared to fund good environmental practices. Y
10. There is a contrast between the moral principles of different businesses. NG
11. It is important to make a clear distinction between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour.
N
12. The public have successfully influenced businesses in the past. Y
13. In the future, businesses will show more concern for the environment. NG

Question 14
Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.
Write the correct letter in box 14 on your answer sheet.
14. What would be the best subheading for this passage?
 A. Will the world survive the threat caused by big businesses?
B. How can big businesses be encouraged to be less driven by profit?
C. What environmental dangers are caused by the greed of businesses?
D. Are big businesses to blame for the damage they cause the environment?

b. You are going to read a newspaper article about singing in choirs. Six paragraphs have
been removed from the article. Choose from the paragraphs A-G the one which fits each
gap (41-46). There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.
Mark your answer on the separate answer sheet.
Introducing choral music to children is like opening a door to a magical world
Here’s an important question. What’s calming, therapeutic, healthier than drugs, and could well
prolong your life? Answer: singing in a choir.
41 ____________________________________
In fairness, there was a specific angle to this study, which compared the collective experience of
choral singing to that of taking part in team sports. Choirs apparently win hands down, because
there’s a stronger sense of being part or ‘a meaningful group’, related to ‘the synchronicity of
moving and breathing with other people’. And as someone who since childhood has used
singing as a refuge from the sports field, I talk no issue with that.
42 _______________________________________
I know there are occasional initiatives. From time to time I get invited as a music critic to the
launch of some scheme or other to encourage more collective singing among school-age
children. There are smiles and brave words. Then, six months later. Everything goes quite –
until the next launch of the next initiative.
43 ________________________________________
I know a woman who’s been trying hard to organise a performance of Benjamin Britten’s Noye’s
Fludde – perhaps the greatest work ever devised for young children to sing together – as a
tribute to the composer’s centenary this year. But has she found her local schools responsive?
Sadly not: it was all too much trouble.
44 _________________________________________
We sang Herbert Howell’s Like as the Hart. And whatever it did or didn’t do for mu
cardiovascular system, my emotional health, or any of the other things that turn up in research
papers, it was the most significant experience of my childhood. It opened a world which 11-year-
olds from unfashionable parts of east London don’t generally get access. It was magical,
transcendent. It spoke possibilities.
45 ______________________________________________
The other weekend I was in Suffolk, celebrating Britten, where in fact there were a lot of
children privileged enough to be pulled into the centenary events. There was a great Noye’s
Fludde in Lowestoft. And on the actual birthday countless hordes of infant voices piled into
Snape Maltings to sing Britten’s school songs, Friday Afternoons, part of a project that involved
100,000 others, internationally, doing likewise.
46 _____________________________
Just think: if we could finally get Britain’s children singing, it would filter upwards. And we
wouldn’t need university researcher. We’d just do it, and be all the better for it.
 A. It was an extraordinary experience that many of those children will carry with them all
their lives, like my experience all those years ago. There’s a plan for it to be repeated every
year on Britten’s birthday. But that will only happen if there are resources and sustained
commitment (for a change).
B. In fact, I have no argument with any of these piles of research – bring them on, the more
the better – because what they have to say I true. The only thing I find annoying is that
such an endlessly repeated truth results in relatively little action from the kind of people
who could put it to good use.
C. One of my enduring life regrets is that I never got the chance to take part in such an event
as a child. I guess I went to schools where it was also too much trouble. But I did, just
once, aged 11, get the chance to go with a choir and sing at Chelmsford Cathedral.
D. But being there was even better. And as I was sitting near the choir – who were
magnificent – I saw the faces of the boys and thought how fabulously privileged they
were to have this opportunity given to them
E. And that, for me, is what a choir can offer. All the physical and mental pluses are a happy
bonus. But the joy and thrill of access to that world of music is what counts.
F. It’s not a new discovery: there are endless dissertations on the subject, libraries of
research, and celebrity endorsements. But people have short memories. So vey time
another academic paper is published, it gets into the news – which was what happened
when the University came up with the latest ‘singing is good for you’ revelation.
G. The hard fact is that most state schools don’t bother much with singing, unless someone
in the hierarchies of government steps in to make it worth their while. They say they
don’t have the resources or the time. And even when a worthwhile singing project drops
into their lap, they turn it down.

PART IV. WRITING

1.. United’s loss against Newcastle could only be described as a disaster. SHORT
United’s loss against Newcastle ___________________________ disaster.
2. They were completely ignorant that their lottery ticket had won. KNOW
Little did they know that they had won the lottery.
3. You could always count on Steve to have a great idea at meetings. SLEEVE
Steve always _______________________________ at meetings.
4. As long as he stayed out of trouble, he was free to go. CONDITION
He was released ____________________________ make any more trouble.
5. They didn’t believe him until they’d questioned him for hours. SUBJECTED
They ___________________________ before they believed him.
6. Would she feel offended if I offered to help. AMISS
Would she take it amiss if I offered to help?
take sth amiss = to be offended by something that someone has said to you
7. When Mary starts talking, no one else can say anything because she is speaking too much.
EDGEWAYS
 When Mary starts talking, _________________________________
8. You need to make sure that he has enough money to pay for the car before you sell it to
him. COLOUR
You need to see the colour of his money before you sell him the car.
see the colour of s.o’s money = phải chắc chắn rằng người mua có đủ tiền để trả thì mới bán
hàng cho họ
9. I was determined to go despite any difficulties. WATER
I was determined to go, come hell or high water.
come hell or high water = dù cho có điều gì khó khăn hay nguy hiểm xảy ra
10. The head teacher is well known for his reliability and dedication.
The head teacher is reputed to be reliable and dedicated.