4TH ADOLESCENTS 2014

A – Rewrite the following sentences with the correct form of the verbs in
brackets present perfect simple or present perfect continuous. (10)

1. I hope the bus gets here soon. We (wait)

__________________________ for years.
2. Paul can’t play football because he (break)
_____________________________ his leg.
3. I (go) _________________________ to the cinema
twice this week.
4. The latest gossip is that Charlie and Lola (split
up)_____________________________
5. I am afraid Becky’s piano isn’t getting better, she (not practise)
_________________________ enough recently.
6. My brother (act) _________________________ strangely recently. I wonder what
is the matter with him?
7. How long (you learn) _________________________ English? ‘Since I was 8”
8. I (not see)___________________________ my cousin since 2006.
9. My aunt (not feel) _________________________well since she left the hospital.
10. We (be) ___________________________her since 6 0’clock.

B – Complete the sentences with the verbs in their correct form. They express
condition (Conditional 2 and 3). (6)

1. If I (know) ________________________ the answer to the question I would have

told you.
2. Would you be upset if I (cancel) ______________________ the meeting?
3. If I had spoken good English, I (not need) __________________________ a
translator.
4. I’d come to the concert with you if I (have) _____________________ a ticket.
5. If you had nowhere to live, where (you live) ____________________________?
6. You would have done better at school, if you (not be) ____________________ so
lazy.

C – Rewrite the following sentences into reporter speech

with the beginning given. (9)

1 “You shouldn’t drink alcohol tonight since you have to drive

back home.”
My friend advised me__________________________________
2. “Your exams are really well, children.”
The teacher remarked that________________________________
3. “When will we meet for dinner?”
Tony asked me ____________________________________________________________
4. “I travelled to Rome twice last year.”
Sally commented that_______________________________________________________
5. “I won’t do the washing up for you, Dan.”
Dan’s sister refused _________________________________________________________
6. “When will the plane land?”
The passenger wanted to know_______________________________________________
7. “How about wearing smart clothes to Tom’s party next Friday?”
Adam suggested____________________________________________________________
8. “I’ve forgotten to lock the garage when I’ve left this morning.”
Mandy said________________________________________________________________
9. “Do we have to bring the dictionary tomorrow?”
The children asked the teacher_______________________________________________
D) Rewrite the following sentences into passive voice. (6)
1. Charles Dickens wrote Oliver Twist in the 1840s.
_________________________________________________
2. They make these shoes of plastic.
__________________________________________________
3. My dad is repairing my bike in this moment.
__________________________________________________
4. They will announce the winner’s name next week.
__________________________________________________
5. Students must wear the school uniform at all times.
___________________________________________________
6. The general public cannot see them at the moment.
___________________________________________________

E -Reading comprehension. (8)

Are you becoming a digital goldfish?

Goldfish have pretty boring lives, so maybe it’s a good thing they can only concentrate
for nine seconds! But according to new
research, humans are becoming like goldfish.
Our attention span (the amount of time we
concentrate on one thing) is getting shorter…
and it’s all because of technology.
‘We move quickly from one site to another on
the web,’ says Doctor Ted Selker, a computer
scientist from Massachusetts,’ and we are
losing the ability to concentrate.’ With millions of websites to choose from, the
attention span of the average internet user is just seconds. There are other digital
distractions too: email, instant messaging and quickie movies on websites like
shortpan.com.
Some people are worried about the effect on young people. ‘You need time to
understand and think about what you read,’ says secondary school teacher, Julia Wood,
from London. ‘Young people move from one website to another all the time and their
brains become full of useless information but there is no time to make sense of it. I am
trying to persuade my pupils to read more books, so that they concentrate on one
subject for longer.’
Other teachers are trying more unusual methods to improve students’ concentration.
Welsh secondary school teacher Anne Savan was so worried about one class of fifteen-
year-old boys that she started playing Mozart during her Science lessons. She says that it
had an amazing effect: ‘The music made them calmer, and their concentration was much
better.’
In some Scottish schools, they have a technological solution to the problem. Pupils start
their school day with brain-training games, using Nintendo games consoles. Again,
teachers say that there is a big improvement in pupils’ concentration.
But not everyone believes that there is a problem. Professor Ray Cole, an educational
psychologist says: ‘On the web, young people learn to make quick decisions about what
is and isn’t worth reading. They might look at five unhelpful websites very quickly,
before stopping and reading a sixth useful website more carefully. In a world with so
much information available, this is an important skill.’
- Read the text. Are the sentences true or false?

1. People generally stay on websites for very short periods of time. ____
2. Because of the technology our attending spam is growing. _______
3. Email and instant messaging are good for people’s concentration. ____
4. Julia Wood is an American school teacher. _______________
 5. Julia Wood says her pupils get a lot of information online but don’t think about
it. ____
6. Anne Savan Is a music teacher who thinks that Science is good for her pupils’
concentration. ____
7. The experiment with Nintendo games in Scottish schools failed. ____
8. Ray Cole believes that people learn useful skills surfing the internet. ____

- Listening. (6)
You will hear someone who lives in LIDSEY talking in the radio. Fill in the gaps.
LIDSEY
Number of people who live there: ___________________________
Type of business the woman runs: ___________________________
Food grown locally: potatoes and _______________________
A local company makes: ________________________
Tourist attractions: _____________________ and __________________

Writing. (5)
Your teacher has asked you to write a short story beginning with the words:
‘A few years ago, when we were coming home from holiday...’ Write about
120 words