Key Competences Diagnostic Tests ESO2
Test 2: READING
Competences:
Linguistic communication
Mathematic and basic competence in science and technology
Cultural awareness and expression
1. Read the text.
Beaches of Many Colours
Close your eyes and imagine the perfect beach. It's probably sunny and peaceful, with beautiful blue water and golden
sand. Now imagine the sand isn't gold-it's white, black, red or even green. Unusual? Yes. Real? Absolutely! Welcome
to four of the most amazing beaches in the world.
The White
It's as white as snow, it's got the clearest water in the country and in the mornings, kangaroos visit it. What is it? It's
Hyams Beach in New South Wales, Australia. According to Guinness World Records, Hyams Beach has got the
whitest sand in the world. This is because the sand is 99% quartz-a white mineral.
The Black
The Lovina Beach coastal area on the island of Bali, Indonesia, is famous for its calm sea, tropical beaches and
dolphins. But it's also famous for its amazing black sand. The sand comes from volcanic rock. It arrived on the beach
as hot lava, but when it hit the cool ocean, the rock became a type of black sand.
The Red
Kaihalulu Beach on the island of Maui, Hawaii, is also called Red Sand Beach because of its incredible colour. The
colour comes from the red hills around it- another result of hot lava. It isn't easy to find Kaihalulu Beach, but you
won't be sorry for trying!
The Green
Papakolea Beach, or Green Sand Beach on the Big Island of Hawaii, is one of only three olive-green sand beaches in
the world. The sand comes from a mineral with a very appropriate name, olivine. This mineral also fotms a semi-
precious stone called petidot. So if you ever visit Papakolea Beach, maybe you'll be lucky and find a peridot in the
sand.
2. Complete the chart.
Name of beach:
Location:
Colour of sand:
Origin of colour:
3. Complete the sentences.
1. The sand on beaches is usually .......................................................................................................................... .
2. Kangaroos often ..................................................................................................................................................... .
3. Hyams Beach is in Guinness World Records because ................................................................................... .
4. People go to Lovina Beach because of the sand and because of ................................................................. .
5. A visit to Kaihalulu Beach is difficult because ................................................................................................... .
6. Peridot is ................................................................................................................................................................. .
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Photo: Shutterstock, Inc.
Test 2: WRITING
Competences:
Linguistic communication
Learning to learn
Cultural awareness and expression
Read the fact file and write a paragraph about a beach in the Bahamas.
Name of beach: Pink Sands Beach
Location: Harbour Island, Bahamas
Colour of sand: pink
Origin of colour: microscopic animals from the coral reef
• one of the best beaches in the Bahamas
Other information: • over 4.8 kilometres long
• great beach for swimming
...............................................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................................................
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Photo: Shutterstock, Inc.
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Test 2: LISTENING
Competences:
Linguistic communication
Social and civic competence
1. Listen and choose the correct answers.
1. Joshua is looking at a ...... about strange beaches.
a. book
b. website
c. magazine
2. The municipality ...... Glass Beach in 1967.
a. opened
b. created
c. closed
3. When people cleaned the beach, they couldn’t ...... .
a. move the big things
b. remove all the glass
c. find any glass
4. The glass changed because of the ...... .
a. sun
b. rain
c. ocean
5. Sophie wants to make something for her ...... .
a. birthday
b. brother
c. mother
6. Today, people mustn’t ...... .
a. take glass from Glass Beach
b. visit Glass Beach
c. stay at Glass Beach
2. Listen again and complete the sentences.
1. Glass Beach is in ..................................................................................................................................................... .
2. In the past, people threw furniture, household items, ..................................... and .....................................
on Glass Beach.
3. It became illegal to throw things on Glass Beach in ................................................................................ .
4. Sophie’s mother has got a ..................................... soon.
5. Today, the beach is part of a state .......................................................................................................... .
6. Nature changed the beach from something .................................... to something .................................... .
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Test 2: SPEAKING
Competences:
Linguistic communication
Cultural awareness and expression
Student A
1. Complete the chart about a beach you know.
Name of beach:
Location:
Description of the beach:
Things to do there:
An experience I had at the
beach:
2. Tell your partner about the beach in your chart.
Useful Language
The beach is called …
It’s in …
The beach has got …
At the beach, you can …
When I was at the beach, …
3. Listen to your partner and complete the chart about your partner’s beach.
Name of beach:
Location:
Description of the beach:
Things to do there:
An experience I had at the
beach:
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Test 2: SPEAKING
Competences:
Linguistic communication
Cultural awareness and expression
Student B
1. Complete the chart about a beach you know.
Name of beach:
Location:
Description of the beach:
Things to do there:
An experience I had at the
beach:
2. Listen to your partner and complete the chart about your partner’s beach.
Name of beach:
Location:
Description of the beach:
Things to do there:
An experience I had at the
beach:
3. Tell your partner about the beach in your chart.
Useful Language
The beach is called …
It’s in …
The beach has got …
At the beach, you can …
When I was at the beach, …
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Test 2: LISTENING
Sophie: Hi, Joshua. What are you looking at?
Joshua: Oh, hi Sophie. It’s a website about the strangest beaches in the world. Look at this one: Glass
Beach in California, USA.
Sophie: What are those colourful shiny stones? There are millions of them! They look like glass.
Joshua: That’s because they are glass.
Sophie: What? A glass beach?
Joshua: Yes. Actually, it’s really amazing. Many years ago, it wasn’t a nice beach and people from the area
threw everything there: old furniture, household items – even old cars. They threw a lot of glass
items, too. Then, in 1967, the municipality closed the beach and it became illegal to throw things
there.
Sophie: What happened to all of the furniture and cars?
Joshua: Well, people cleaned the beach many times. They moved all of the big things, but there was too
much glass.
Sophie: So that’s the glass from people’s homes? But it doesn’t look like pieces of glass. They’re beautiful
small rocks.
Joshua: That’s because of the ocean. For over forty years, the ocean washed the glass and changed the
shape of all the pieces. And because people threw glass of different colours, the stones are
different colours, too.
Sophie: Can people go to the beach now?
Joshua: Yes, it’s a popular place to visit.
Sophie: I want to go there and get some of that glass. I’m sure you can make beautiful things with it. I’ll
make something for my mother. It’s her birthday soon.
Joshua: Oh, you mustn’t take any of the glass now.
Sophie: Why not?
Joshua: The beach is a protected area now. It’s part of MacKerricher State Park. If you try to take any of the
glass, they’ll probably stop you.
Sophie: That’s amazing! So in the past, it was illegal to throw things on the beach, but now it’s illegal to
remove things from the beach.
Joshua: Exactly! Nature took something ugly and made it beautiful. We don’t want to make it ugly again.
Sophie: Nature’s an amazing thing.
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ANSWER KEY
ESO 2 TEST 2
Reading
2.
Name of Hyams Lovina Kaihalulu Papakolea
beach: Green
Sand
Beach
Location: New Bali, Maui, Big Island,
South Indonesia Hawaii Hawaii
Wales,
Australia
Colour of white black red green
sand:
Origin of quartz volcanic red hills / olivine
colour: rock lava
3. 1. golden
2. visit Hyams Beach (in Australia)
3. it has got the whitest sand in the world
4. its calm sea, tropical beaches and dolphins
5. it isn’t easy to find
6. a semi-precious stone
Writing
Accept all logical and grammatically correct answers.
Listening
1. 1. b 3. b 5. c
2. c 4. c 6. a
2. 1. California, USA
2. old cars, (a lot of ) glass
3. 1967
4. birthday
5. park
6. ugly, beautiful
Speaking
Accept all logical and grammatically correct answers.
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IH-009-463