Proficiency specimen paper 1

Write your answers in the numbered box.. Write your answers in the numbered box.. Write your answers in the numbered box.. Deciding what ……… to focus on in university can be a difficult

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

EDUCATIONAL EXAMINATION

EXAMINATION OF PROFICIENCY IN ENGLISH

SPECIMEN PAPER 1

Approximate Time: 180 minutes

Student Name: Class: School:

• No further explanation may be asked or given

• Examinees are strictly forbidden to use other materials, including

dictionaries Violation of this rule may result in instantaneous

disqualification

MARK

SECTION ONE PHONETICS

Part 1 Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from the others of the same line Write your answers in the numbered box

Part 2 Choose the word whose main stressed syllable is different from the others of the same line Write your answers in the numbered box

Your answers

SECTION TWO LEXICO–GRAMMAR

Part 3 Choose the word that best substitutes for the underlined word or phrase in each sentence Write your answers in the numbered box

11 In the morning, she always ……… coffee, without which she cannot work properly

12 There was a lot of ……… as throngs of people tried to see the famous actor walking through the mall

13 My friend is so ……… – she never believes people are telling the truth

14 Deciding what ……… to focus on in university can be a difficult decision

15 When the forces on an object are balanced, you can say that the object is in ………

16 Due to the snowstorm, there was a slight ……… in my flight time

17 He has been trying to improve his grades but instead, they have remained as ……… as possible

18 A trap ……… disguise is what has come to be called a Trojan Horse

A offered a gift of B offers a gift in C offering a gift to D offered as a gift in

19 I would ……… eat out in an expensive restaurant than have dinner and do the washing at home

20 Then, ……… opening the door, Jerry found that his house had been broken into

21 Even a few drops of this liquid would represent a ……… dose for a small child

22 I cannot open the envelope because it is ………

23 The great leader was ……… during a public forum, but no suspect has yet to be caught

24 They were said to be ……… lovers but were never caught kissing in public

25 The polite usher ……… us to our seats in the theatre

Your answers

Part 4 Fill in each blank with one suitable preposition or particle from the following box Each word can only be used once Write your answers in the numbered box

26 Computer games are not so interesting to me anymore – I have gone ……… it

27 His parents pulled him ……… difficult periods of multiple financial problems

28 The portly women were excited about going into the city to indulge ……… a lavish buffet

29 He won simply because he was ……… no pressure to win

30 As the team shakes ………, their performance should improve

31 “Your credit card can be done ……… with already,” her father said

32 I am not friends with David anymore – we have fallen ………

33 A great sense of relief flooded ……… her when she heard that her father was all right 34 I do not understand what he is driving ………

35 The animals can be blending ……… the tall grass to avoid exposure Your answers 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Part 5 Supply the correct forms of the verbs given in brackets Write your answers in the column on the right The statistics on the safety of flying (36 BE) immensely comforting It seems that the chances of being involved in an accident (37 BE) a million to one – the equivalent of flying safely everyday for 95 years Try telling that to the white-faced, petrified aero-phobic, who (38 SEE) every frown on a stewardess’s face as a portent of disaster For some years now, psychologist Henry Jones (39 TRY) to tell them, and he (40 DO) a lot more besides He has developed both a theory and practice for treating air travel anxiety Apparently, it is a widespread phobia One American survey puts it as the fourth most common fear, preceded only by snakes, heights and storms Jones has had nearly 500 clients during the last decade Before they came to him, some of his clients (41 NEVER FLY), others had just one bad experience after years of flying One man (42 TAKE) over 200 flights a year for 5 years and (43 NEVER WORRY) up till then Then, one day on a flight to Chicago the pilot (44 ANNOUNCE) that they (45 GO) to turn back because of an engine fault The man had a panic attack and tried to get off the plane in mid-air After Jones’s course, the man overcame his fears and managed to fly again 36

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Part 6 Fill in each blank with the most suitable form of the word in brackets Write your answers in the column on the right Recently, researchers have been kept busy picking lettuces under cover of darkness, but there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for this (46 APPEAR) bizarre experiment Tests have shown that the vegetables picked at night stayed fresh (47 CONSIDER) longer than those picked during the day, though the reason for this improved (48 LONG) is unclear Lunar gardeners claim to have known about the (49 BENEFIT) effects of nocturnal vegetable management for years, and those gardeners who believe in environmentally friendly organic methods see the idea of working with the moon’s influence as a continuation of their principles They claim to be following a tradition, long-established in various parts of the world, of working in harmony with the moon’s (50 GRAVITY) pull In England, lunar gardening reached its zenith in the 16th century, but the vagaries of the (51 PREDICT) climate meant that it survived only as part of an oral folklore tradition (52 CONFUSE), several different and sometimes contradictory systems are practised today Although all of them focus on the effects of moonlight and the moon’s pull on the Earth’s water, the exact science remains controversial There are some (53 HORTICULTURE) who regard the ideas with (54 SCEPTIC) Others, however, are more encouraging and less (55 DISMISS), and advocate further research, even though no discernible results have been forthcoming in support of any particular theory 46

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SECTION THREE READING

Part 7 Choose the word that best fits each of the blanks in the following passage Write your answers in the numbered box

No one else in the group (56) ……… have been as relieved as I was to leave the dense forest The thick (57) ……… had cut my knees and thighs and streaks of mud lined my shoes On (58) ………, I was probably the most inappropriately dressed I regretted not reading the

itinerary before leaving the house At the very least, I could have dressed suitably The area ahead was much better I walked more

confidently, even daring to walk (59) ……… the others instead of behind them For a while, I continued (60) ……… at the ground, out of habit trying to search for places where the ground had already been (61) ……… on

We were about to stop for a break when Jason, the leader, (62) ……… suddenly He held up both arms horizontally, forming a human barrier to prevent us from walking ahead I nearly bumped (63) ……… him Luckily, Ash gripped my arms to (64) ……… me Any further movement from me would have been (65) ………

Your answers

Part 8 Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow

MIGRATION Various types of migration have occurred perpetually throughout history The earliest evidence tells of groups of people who were

hunter-gatherers and nomads These people lived off the land that bordered their homes When resources were used up, survival was a matter of finding more resources Surprisingly, these groups were able to return to previous locations after several cycles of migration The lives of nomads were not as gruelling as it was usually made out to be Instead, their livelihood contributed to the ecological system and they were very much a crucial factor in the system

Nomadic life was plain and nomads possessed few personal assets Their environment was their source of survival, not just for food and drink but also for basic items like tools Clothes and jewellery were made from animal skin and beans respectively It was not difficult to obtain the materials prerequisite for whatever they needed The thought of rebuilding houses on a quotidian basis might seem daunting but it had become part and parcel of their daily routine Everyone chipped in to help build the houses and quickly as possible Contrary to popular belief, women were often seen joining pieces of wood together or packing straw and wood to form roofs It is a wonder that each new home could be made as comfortable as the previous ones

During the onset of industrialisation, factory work was commonplace Massive rural-urban migration took place Thousands of workers shifted from farm to factory work Assembly line work was supposed to provide a much better form of livelihood for these farmers than the rigorous work on the farm However, the supply of homes could not keep up with the demand and squatters became the new homes of these

workers They were not better off in the city compared to the countryside Hygiene was poor and there were exiguous water facilities

Overcrowding led to the outbreak of many diseases

Migratory farm labour was also common during the 1920s and 1930s Unversed and without land, these farmers were forced to migrate from one state to another in America in search of jobs in the different farms Jobs were aplenty during harvest time and luckily, these occurred at different times of the year, depending on the states At any one harvest, about two hundred thousand workers might be needed Fruit and berry crops required additional hands during harvest time but wheat played the most significant role in periodic rural migration Besides harvesting, packing of berry crops and other fruits also required a large amount of help Workers moved in groups together with their families Each acre of land was assured of help from both the young and old However, with technological advancement, there was fervent competition for jobs at the farms From the planting to the harvesting and later the packing as well, less and less manual labour was needed Five men replaced the three hundred men that used to perform a task and machinery was used for menial and repetitive work During the Great Depression in the 1930s, pea-pickers were also another migrant group of workers who found it arduous to make ends meet Staying in tents, these groups moved about from place to place However, when the harvest was poor, there was little that could be done Some of the men were actually workers in the city but many had lost their jobs The pea-pickers, who were the women, were left to bear the brunt of taking care of the family Large families with an average of seven children were commonplace The lucky ones outlived the ordeal on frozen vegetables that they had obtained the season before

Throughout history, people have moved from one place to another in search of better jobs and opportunities The hapless ones were usually the working lass Without proper education and armed with manual skills, many of them were in the clutches of the inevitable technological advancements

Choose the correct answer for each of the following questions Write your answer (A, B, C or D) in the numbered box

66 The word “perpetually” as used in the first line can be best substituted by the term ………

67 Why were nomads able to live on very few assets?

A They were too satisfied to seek possessions of other things B They were able to manage with their assets

C They retrieved other needed things from their environment D They made other things from natural materials

68 Why does the writer mention “the supply of homes” and “exiguous water facilities” in the third paragraph?

A To lessen the lures of urban life B To compare life in the city and in the countryside

C To relinquish the disaffection towards urban life to readers D To concentrate on the lack of infrastructure

69 How did the Great Depression affect the pea-pickers?

A The introduction of machines made them redundant B They were left with the responsibility of family care

C The crises left them in makeshift tents D They had to search for a longer time for food

70 The word “exiguous” used in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to the word ………

A inadequate B ample C indulgent D inexhaustible For each of the following sentences, decide whether they are true, false or not given by writing T, F or NG respectively in the numbered box 71 The working class was forced to compete for their jobs in light of mechanisation 72 Rural-urban migration resulted from the need for better living conditions 73 Wheat harvesting required more farmhands than any other kinds of crops 74 Metropolitan area observed minimal spreading of diseases 75 Nomads are believed to have lived more exhaustingly than they actually did Your answers 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 Part 9 Complete the following passage by filling in each blank with one suitable word Write your answers in the numbered box HOW MANY SENSES ARE THERE? The obvious answer is that there are five; but, (76) ……… most such answers, this one is wrong In (77) ……… to the generally recognised sense of vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste, human beings (78) ……… known to have a further one, called kinaesthesia, (79) ……… we are aware of the relative position of our limbs, the tensions in our muscles and (80) ……… on Clearly, then, psychics and fortune tellers should talk about having “a seventh sense” (81) ……… than a sixth! There has been a lot of debate, most (82) ……… which has been conducted outside scientific circles, about the possible existence of (83) ……… a sense – or, to be more accurate, set of senses We generally refer to them collectively (84) ……… ESP (Extra Sensory Perception), thereby embracing the supposed abilities of telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition But in so (85) ………, we are probably – assuming that these abilities exist at (86) ……… – mixing chalk with cheese Clairvoyance, for example, has (87) ……… little to do with precognition as vision (88) ……… to do with touch The problem is that we do not as (89) ……… have any way of knowing for sure and, (90) ……… scientists reluctant to address the subject, answers may be a long way off Your answers 76 77 78 79 80

81 82 83 84 85

86 87 88 89 90

SECTION FOUR WRITING Part 10 Use the word given in bold and make any necessary additions to write a new sentence in such a way that it is as similar as possible in meaning to the original sentence Do not change the form of the given word 91 It will not hurt to tell her that you do not love her anymore LOSE You her that you do not love her anymore 92 I forgot his birthday last week and do not know how to make it up to him AMENDS I do not know his birthday last week 93 It looks as though the economy is now starting to recover at last SIGNS The economy at last 94 Sharon and I are not speaking to each other TERMS Sharon and I each other 95 I think she is now a little unsure about coming with us SECOND I think she is now with us Part 11 For Questions 96 – 150, write a composition of between 300 and 600 words on the following topic If you were able to travel back to any place and time in history, where and when would you choose? Describe what you might experience and why you would choose this particular place and time

THE END

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

EDUCATIONAL EXAMINATION

EXAMINATION OF PROFICIENCY IN ENGLISH

SPECIMEN PAPER 1

41 had never flown 42 had taken 43 had never worried 44 announced 45 were going

46 apparently 47 considerably 48 longevity 49 beneficial 50 gravitational

51 unpredictable 52 Confusingly 53 horticulturists 54 scepticism 55 dismissive

91 You have nothing to lose by telling her that you do not love her anymore

92 I do not know how to make amends for forgetting his birthday last week

93 The economy is starting to/is showing signs of recovery/recovering at last

94 Sharon and I are not on speaking terms with each other

95 I think she is now having second thoughts about coming with us

Part 11 For this part of the Paper, markers may refer to the following scheme of grading the composition:

Contents (15 marks): The student must be able to:

- Refer to a particular place and time

- Describe possible experiences

- Explain reasons for this choice

Organisation and cohesion (15 marks): Clear paragraphing May be in article or narrative format

Command of Language (15 marks): Language of description and evaluation Vocabulary specific to the place and time

Handwriting and Presentation (10 marks): The student’s handwriting is intelligible and space is cleverly used

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