Reading Practice Test 4 [B2]

Part 1

– 8 questions –

Questions 1-8

Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. There is an example at the beginning.

Example (0)

A) situation B) place C) position D) site

Environmental Concerns

Earth is the only (0) …….. we know of in the universe that can support human life. (1) …….. human activities are making the planet less fit to live on. As the western world (2) …….. on consuming two-thirds of the world’s resources while half of the world’s population do so (3) …….. to stay alive we are rapidly destroying the very resource we have by which all people can survive and prosper. Everywhere fertile soil is (4) …….. built on or washed into the sea. Renewable resources are exploited so much that they will never be able to recover completely. We discharge pollutants into the atmosphere without any thought of the consequences. As a (5) …….. the planet’s ability to support people is being reduced at the very time when rising human numbers and consumption are (6) …….. increasingly heavy demands on it. The Earth’s natural resources are there for us to use. We need food, water, air, energy, medicines, warmth, shelter and minerals to (7) …….. us fed, comfortable, healthy and active. If we are sensible in how we use the resources they will (8) …….. indefinitely. But if we use them wastefully and excessively they will soon run out and everyone will suffer.

1.

2.

2.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Part 2

– 8 questions –

Questions 9-16

Read the text below and think of the word which fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap.

Gutenberg

Part 3

– 8 questions –

Questions 17 – 24

Read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of the lines to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line. There is an example at the beginning (0).

An incredible vegetable

Part 4

-6 questions-

Questions 25-30

Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between two and five words, including the word given.

Part 5

-6 questions-

Questions 31 – 36

You are going to read an extract from a novel in which a young woman called Caitlin talks about her life on an island. Choose the answer which you think fits best according to the text.

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We live on the island of Hale. It’s about four kilometres long and two kilometres wide at its broadest point, and it’s joined to the mainland by a causeway called the Stand – a narrow road built across the mouth of the river which separates us from the rest of the country. Most of the time you wouldn’t know we’re on an island because the river mouth between us and the mainland is just a vast stretch of tall grasses and brown mud. But when there’s a high tide and the water rises a half a metre or so above the road and nothing can pass until the tide goes out again a few hours later, then you know it’s an island.

We were on our way back from the mainland. My older brother, Dominic, had just finished his first year at university in a town 150 km away. Dominic’s train was due in at five and he’d asked for a lift back from the station. Now, Dad normally hates being disturbed when he’s writing (which is just about all the time), and he also hates having to go anywhere, but despite the typical sighs and moans – why can’t he get a taxi? what’s wrong with the bus? – I could tell by the sparkle in his eyes that he was really looking forward to seeing Dominic.

So, anyway, Dad and I had driven to the mainland and picked up Dominic from the station. He had been talking non-stop from the moment he’d slung his rucksack in the boot and got in the car. University this, university that, writers, books, parties, people, money, gigs…. And when I say talking, I don’t mean talking as in having a conversation, I mean talking as in jabbering like a mad thing. I didn’t like it …. the way he spoke and waved his hands around as if he was some kind of intellectual or something. It was embarrassing. It made me feel uncomfortable – that kind of discomfort you feel when someone you like, someone close to you, suddenly starts acting like a complete idiot. And I didn’t like the way he was ignoring me, either. For all the attention I was getting I might as well not have been there. I felt a stranger in my own car.

As we approached the island on that Friday afternoon, the tide was low and the Stand welcomed us home, stretched out before us, clear and dry, beautifully hazy in the heat – a raised strip of grey concrete bound by white railings and a low footpath on either side, with rough cobbled banks leading down to the water. Beyond the railings, the water was glinting with that wonderful silver light we sometimes get here in the late afternoon which lazes through to the early evening. We were about halfway across when I saw the boy. My first thought was how odd it was to see someone walking on the Stand. You don’t often see people walking around here. Between Hale and Moulton (the nearest town about thirty kilometres away on the mainland), there’s nothing but small cottages, farmland, heathland  and a couple of hills. So islanders don’t walk because of that (line 23). If they’re going to Moulton they tend to take the bus. So the only pedestrians you’re likely to see around here are walkers or bird-watchers. But even from a distance I could tell that the figure ahead didn’t fit into either of these categories. I wasn’t sure how I knew, I just did.

As we drew closer, he became clearer. He was actually a young man rather than a boy. Although he was on the small side, he wasn’t as slight as I’d first thought. He wasn’t exactly muscular, but he wasn’t weedy-looking either. It’s hard to explain. There was a sense of strength about him, a graceful strength that showed in his balance, the way he held himself, the way he walked….

Questions

31. In the first paragraph, what is Caitlin’s main point about the island?

32. What does Caitlin suggest about her father?

33. Caitlin emphasises her feelings of discomfort because she……….

34. In the fourth paragraph, what is Caitlin’s purpose in describing the island?

35. In ‘because of that’ in line 23, ‘that’ refers to the fact that……….

36. What do we learn about Caitlin’s reactions to the boy?

Part 6

-6 questions-

Questions 37 – 42

You are going to read a magazine article about a type of fruit.  Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A – G the one which fits each gap. There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

Part 7

-10 questions-

Questions 43 – 52

You are going to read part of an employee handout regarding working with businesses in other countries. For each question, choose from the countries (A-D). The countries may be chosen more than once.