Proficiency specimen paper 3

People in this village has an ……… appetite for news.. I could not believe that she, of all people, was such a ……… to you.. The island is ……… with absolutely nobody living there.. It is …

ENGLISH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY EXAMINATION SPECIMEN PAPER III

Examination Date: … / … / ……

Approximate Time: 120 minutes

Detached Part Number:

SECTION ONE PHONETICS

Part 1 Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from the others of the

same line.

1 A celebration B telecommuter C energising D commentator

2 A access B dragonfly C tradition D popularity

3 A subscribe B observance C resolute D represent

4 A precession B outcrosses C associate D possibly

5 A competitive B controversial C promote D commercial

6 A raspberries B spaciousness C aspersed D waspishly

Part 2 Choose the word whose main stressed syllable is different from the others of the same line.

7 A facsimile B influenza C conscientiously D multimedia

8 A inapplicable B congenially C diagonally D recoverable

9 A collaborate B commercially C fluctuation D impractical

10 A mysteriously B necessarily C originally D elaborately

11 A continuous B scandalous C malicious D delicious

12 A mutagenesis B socialisation C immobility D xylophonic

SECTION TWO VOCABULARY AND GRAMMAR

Part 1 Circle the letter (A, B, C or D) placed before the option that best completes each sentence.

13 People in this village has an ……… appetite for news

A inevitable B inexorable C insatiable D inedible

14 I could not believe that she, of all people, was such a ……… to you

15 The pupils are very fond of their teacher because she is as ……… as a mother

16 The girl was ……… to tears by the sight of the famine victims

17 We were ……… that the three-year-old child could actually speak a foreign language

18 The road twists and turns—it is ………

19 The island is ……… with absolutely nobody living there

20 The old lady died very ……… in her sleep

A willingly B peacefully C patiently D movingly

21 The contestants have to ponder over that question very carefully because there is no ………

answer

A straightforward B undemanding C effortless D cushy

22 With little experience, the doctor failed to ……… the pain

23 The pupils have been prepared for a ……… career

24 The silly boy only ……… at the memory, feeling rather embarrassed

25 Her choice of word, according to the professor, is a bit ………

Part 2 For each set, think of one word only which can be used appropriately in all three sentences.

26 He was afraid that his revolutionary proposals would ……… with strong opposition from

hardliners

The Chinese factories were operating nonstop churning out shoes to ……… the demand in

Europe

With only two hundred dollars a month, the family struggled to make ends ………

EXAMINERS

Names Signatures

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2

Detached Part Number

English Language Proficiency Examination

Date: … / … / ……

Place of Examination:

………

……… Examinee’s Name:

………

……… Ethnic Group: ……… Sex: Male / Female Date of Birth: … / … / …… Previous School:

………

………

Index Number

This paper comprises four pages Examinees are to work in and with this paper only The use of other materials is strictly prohibited Do not sign any symbolical marks in this paper Failure to obey these rules may result in instant disqualification.

27 It is irritating that they do nothing but ……… lies about our family The whole village is about

to believe their incredible stories

Do not allow the educational system to restrict your ability to think I urge you to ……… your wings and do things your way

He opened the jar, took out some jam with his knife and ……… it evenly on the warm toast

28 Marijuana is not regarded as a ……… drug, which is why some countries are thinking of letter people use it, at least for medical purposes

It is ……… to believe that there are no good people out there I am sure you can find some good-natured individuals in this area

I am trying to spare you learning things the ……… way Follow my advice and you do not need to make mistakes

29 Blankets and shelters were in ……… supply in the aftermath of the disaster

Nobody in the business knew his real name He was called Bill for ………

She reacted angrily when her name had not been included in the ……… list

30 Though the movie was widely ……… across the country, the sales were a disappointment for the studio

For a woman to get ……… in the business world seems to be a tall order in a predominantly male environment

This website was shut down soon after the Internet provider realised it ……… extreme views inciting violence

Part 3 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.

31 Urged ……… by the home crow, Saito forged ahead after just five kilometres and built up a two-minute lead

32 Remember to ice ……… the champagne for the party

33 When you mouse ……… this button, it plays a harmonious sound

34 He only smiled when we identified him ……… his famous brother

35 At this school, the first thing they teach you is how to think ……… yourself

36 When she saw her old house, all her memories came flooding ………

37 She messed ……… all the year and as a consequence, failed the final examination

38 Frodo tied the boat ……… and jumped ashore

39 The love of life shone ……… the author’s book, giving me as much inspiration as I could ever ask for

40 After many failed attempts, the police finally managed to get ……… the truth

Part 4 Fill in each blank with the most suitable form of the word in bold Write your answers in the

column on the right.

RAIN MAKING

When it rains, it does not always pour During a typical storm, a (41

COMPARE) small amount of the locked up moisture in each cloud reaches the

ground as rain So the idea that human intervention—a rain dance, perhaps—

might encourage the sky to give up a little (42 ADD) water has been around

since prehistoric times More recently, would-be rain makers have used a more

direct (43 PROCEED)—that of throwing various chemicals out of aeroplanes in

an effort to wring more rain from the clouds, a practice known as ‘cloud

seeding’

Yet such techniques, which were first developed in the 1940s, are (44

NOTORIETY) difficult to evaluate It is hard to (45 CERTAIN), for example,

how much rain would have fallen anyway So, despite much anecdotal evidence

of the advantages of cloud seeding, which has led to its adoption in more than 40

countries around the world, as far as scientists are concerned, results are still (46

CONCLUSIVE) That could be about to change For the past three years (47.

RESEARCH) have been carrying out the most extensive and (48 RIGOUR)

evaluation to date of a revolutionary new technique that will substantially boost

the volume of (49 RAIN).

The preliminary (50 FIND) of their experiments indicate that solid evidence of

the technique’s effectiveness is now within the scientists’ grasp

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SECTION THREE READING

Part 1 Circle the letter (A, B, C or D) placed before the option that best completes each sentence.

It was still dark as she (51) ……… down the back stairs and drew back the (52) ……… of the kitchen door as noiselessly as possible It made a loud (53) ……… sound She must remember to oil it! Every time it happened she thought that, but never remembered until the next time it made the same noise It never seemed to wake the (54) ……… of the house, though Probably because it was so early

The grass was (55) ……… with dew as she crossed the lawn in front of the house Wet feet, again She (56) ……… have worn her wellingtons, but she did not know where they were She might have left them in Maeve’s house, or Sheila could have borrowed them She often borrowed them, even though they were about three (57) ……… too big She had lost one of hers and was afraid to tell Mam about it Sheila was careless and was always losing things

She heard bird (58) ……… as she reached the riverbank and saw the first (59) ……… of the sun shining (60) ……… the Doonagh Hills

Part 2 Fill in each of the following gaps (61—70) with one suitable word Write your answers in the numbered box.

Man is a unique being He is (61) ……… from all other creatures in that he does not merely form part of the environment Man reshapes his environment (62) ……… will to suit his purposes He does not have a natural habitat and is able to adapt (63) ……… to living in different environments Among the many ways in which Man has changed his environment are the building of cities and roads, the (64)

……… of land for farming and the reclaiming of land from the sea (65) ……… some of the changes are harmless, some are extremely harmful to the environment

An example of a harmful consequence of Man's actions is (66) ……… of pollution Through the use of scientific knowledge and advanced technology, Man has increased his well-being and life (67) ……… In the process, (68) ………, he has also brought about the growing problem of worldwide pollution One of the main sources of air pollution is motor vehicles Gases emitted from the car (69)

……… do contain many chemicals, which are harmful to people, animals and plants Industry also contributes significantly to the pollution

of the environment There is no majority city in the world today in which we can breathe fresh, clean (70) ……… It is, therefore, important for us to be environment-conscious and avoid actions, which bring about harmful effects to our environment

Your answers

Part 3 Read the following article about books Write the letter that represents the publishers (A—E) that are mentioned.

71 ……… mentions reviewers taking the opportunity to display

their own experience

72 ……… describes how good reviews can contribute to the

commercial failure of a book

73 ……… says that writers and publishers do not react to negative

reviews in the same way

74 – 75 ……… and ……… suggest that the length of a review may

be more important to publishers than what they actually say

76 ……… feels that certain books are frequently overlooked by reviewers

77 ……… talks about the sales of some books being stimulated by mixed reviews

78 ……… says the effect of reviews on sales does not have a regular pattern

79 – 80 ……… and ……… say that some books succeed whether they are reviewed or not

DO REVIEWS SELL BOOKS?

We asked five leading British publishers about the effect of the reviews of a book on its commercial success Here is what they said.

Publisher A

Reviews are absolutely key for publishers—the first part of the

newspaper we turn to The Book Marketing Council found some

years ago that when questioned on why they had bought a particular

book, more people cited reviews than any other prompting influence

(advertisements, word of mouth, bookshop display, etc.)

Authors’ reaction to reviews is slightly different from publishers’

Both are devastated by no reviews, but publishers are usually more

equable about the bad reviews, judging that column inches are what

matter and that a combination of denunciation and ecstatic praise

can actually create sales as readers decide to judge for themselves

Publishers probably get the most pleasure from a review that

precisely echoes their own response to a book—they are often the

first ‘reader’

Publisher B

While publishers and the press fairly obviously have a common

interest in the nature of book review pages, one also needs to

When the reviews are favourable, of course, they are worth infinitely more than any advertisement The reader knows that the good review is not influenced by the publisher’s marketing budget:

it is the voice of reason, and there is no doubt that it helps to sell books Publishers themselves often claim that they look for size rather than content in reviews

The actual effect of reviews on sale is the inscrutable heart of the whole business Good reviews can launch a book and a career and occasionally lift sales into the stratosphere: but never entirely on their own There has to be some fusion with other elements—a word-of-mouth network of recommendation, a robust response from the book trade, clever marketing

Publisher D

The relationship in Britain between publishing and reviewing? I

wish I knew! In the United States it is simple: the New York Times

can make or break a book with a single review Here, though, the people in the bookshops often do not appear to take much notice of

remember that their requirements substantially differ: a newspaper

or magazine needs to provide its readers with appropriately

entertaining material; a publishing house wants to see books,

preferably its own, reviewed, preferably favourably

Without any question, book reviewing is ‘better’—more diverse,

less elitist—than 40 years ago, when I began reading review pages

That said, there is still a long grumbled-about tendency to neglect

the book medium read by a majority—namely paperbacks The

weekly roundups are not really adequate even if conscientiously

done And even original paperbacks only rarely receive serious

coverage

But publishers should not complain too much Reviews are an

economical way of getting a book and an author known There is no

question that a lively account of a new book by a trusted name can

generate sales—even more if there are several of them

Publisher C

Reviews are the oxygen of literary publishing; without them, we

would be cut off from an essential life-source Because the books we

publish are generally not by ‘brand-name’ authors, whose books sell

with or without reviews, and because we seldom advertise, we

develop on the space given to our books by literary editors

them

It sometimes takes 20 years of consistently outstanding reviews for people to start reading a good writer’s work Yet some of the most dismally received books, or books not yet reviewed, are the biggest sellers of all So it is all very unpredictable, though non-fiction is less so

Mind you, non-fiction does allow reviews to indulge themselves

by telling us what they know about the subject of the book under review rather than about the book itself

Publisher E

Of course, all publishers and all writers dream of long, uniformly laudatory reviews But do they sell books? I once published a biography The reviews were everything I could have craved The book was a flop—because everybody thought that, by reading the lengthy reviews, they need not buy the book

Does the name of the reviewer make a difference? Thirty years ago, if certain reviews praised a book, the public seemed to take note and obey their recommendations These days, it is as much the choice of an unexpected reviewer, or the sheer power or wit or originality of the review, which urges the prospective buyer into the bookshop

SECTION FOUR WRITING

Part 1 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.

She through to shortlist for the position

82 My grandfather had completely forgotten that he phoned me last night RECOLLECTION

My grandfather phoning me last night

83 If Matt had not taken up politics, he might have become a famous art historian NAME

Had it himself as an art historian

84 Nadia’s friend arrived just as she was about to leave the restaurant POINT

Nadia was just the restaurant when her friend arrived

85 Louise felt offended by the fact that she was left out by her friends EXCEPTION

Louise leaving her out

Part 2 For this part (86—100), within a paragraph, describe the kind of media that you like most and explain why.

THE END MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

41 comparatively 42 additional 43 procedure 44 notoriously 45 ascertain

81 stands a good chance of getting/being put

83 not been for Matt/Matt’s taking up politics, he might have gotten/made a name for

84 on the point of leaving

85 took exception to her friends

86 – 100 For this part of the Paper, markers may refer to the following scheme of grading the composition:

Contents, Organisation and Cohesion (7 marks): The student possesses the ability to argue confidently and wholly Points are made

with both arguments and examples to support The composition has a positive effect on the reader

Command of Language (6 marks): The student employs a good range of vocabulary and a grammatical selection of appropriate

structures

Handwriting and Presentation (2 marks): The student’s handwriting is intelligible and space is cleverly used.