ESOL International
Sample English Reading Examination
Level C2 Proficient
|
Instructions
to learners
Check that you have the correct paper.
Please complete the information on your mark
sheet.
DO NOT WRITE ON THIS PAPER.
Use black or blue ink. Do not use a pencil.
You may NOT use a dictionary.
There are 30 questions in this examination.
You must attempt all the questions.
Record your answers on the mark sheet.
Total marks available: 30
You have 75
minutes to finish the examination.
|
Text
1
|
No proof coffee causes obesity and
diabetes
|
1
|
|
'Is your
caffeine fix making you fat?' is the compelling question posed by the Mail
Online website, which goes on to report that a study 'shows five cups of
coffee a day could cause obesity.' But
the study in question
|
2
3
|
|
involved mice,
not people, and a chemical found in coffee, not coffee itself. The research have explored the
|
4
|
|
effects of a
substance called chlorogenic acid (CGA), a component of coffee. The rodents were given CGA to
|
5
|
|
to see how it affected their fatness and
glucose regulation, which is related to the risk of developing type 2
|
6
|
|
diabetes. Mice given a high-fat diet
supplemented with CGA appeared to display signs of worse glucose
|
7
|
|
regulation than those given the high-fat
diet only, which suggests that consuming high levels of CGA may not
|
8
|
|
be good for you.
__________ this finding, the headline 'five cups of coffee a day could cause
obesity' was way
|
9
|
|
off the mark. The study only demonstrated
that a high-fat diet made the mice fatter, but did not prove that CGA,
|
10
|
|
and by asociation coffee, makes you
fatter, as the headline implies. This study alone does not support the notion
that coffee causes obesity. Still, drinking five or more cups of caffeinated
coffee a day can lead to symptoms
|
11
12
|
|
such as
irritability and insomnia.
|
13
14
|
|
What did the research involve?
|
15
|
|
The researchers designed a
study that involved giving male mice a controlled diet over a 12-week period.
Mice
|
16
|
|
were either given:
|
17
|
|
18
|
|
19
|
|
20
|
|
The researchers say that they
used CGA at a dose that would be realistically attainable through the
diet (1g per kg of food),
rather than an exceptionally high experimental amount. In their article, they
describe how people
|
21
22
|
|
can obtain up to 1g of CGA from the daily
consumption of coffee, but do not specify how many cups or the
|
23
|
|
Strength of the coffee.
|
24
|
|
The researchers tested the
effects of the three diets on the following measures of metabolic syndrome:
|
25
|
|
26
|
|
27
|
|
28
|
|
is essential for maintaining blood glucose levels within a normal
range
|
29
|
|
30
|
|
31
|
|
Their analysis was appropriate
and looked at whether the above measures of metabolic syndrome were
influenced by the three different diets.
|
32
33
|
What
were the basic results?
|
34
35
|
|
The study found
that all the mice gained weight in the 12 weeks, with those on the normal
diet gaining the least.
|
36
|
|
Compared with
mice on the normal diet, both groups on the high-fat diet gained
significantly more weight, both
|
37
|
|
with and without
CGA. However, mice given the high-fat diet plus CGA were no slimmer than mice
fed a high-fat diet only. This is interesting,
as you can buy CGA extracts as a slimming aid, suggesting that it may be less
|
38
39
|
|
effective than
advertised. Mice given a high-fat diet plus CGA had increased insulin
resistance (a bad sign)
|
40
|
|
compared with
mice fed a high- fat diet only, which theoretically suggests a higher risk of
type 2 diabetes.
|
41
|
|
Likewise, the
livers of mice fed a high- fat diet supplemented with CGA appeared to _____ a
poorer fatty acid oxidation process than those given just the high-fat diet.
|
42
43
|
|
|
|
1.
According
to the text, which of the following statements is true?
a.
Study
confirms that coffee is a cause of obesity
b.
Study
confirms that CGA may cause mice obesity
c.
Study
confirms that CGA is harmless to people
d.
Study
confirms that coffee is harmless to mice
2.
What is
the effect of CGA administered to rodents?
a.
They
became obese
b.
They
developed diabetes
c.
Their
glucose regulation was worse
d.
It had
no effect on rodents
3.
According
to the article, the newspaper headline claims that:
a.
Too
much coffee will make you fat
b.
Too
much coffee may cause diabetes
c.
CGA
will make you fat
d.
CGA may
cause diabetes
4.
Which
of the following did the research involve?
a.
Mice
were given coffee and CGA only
b.
A
realistic dose of CGA was administered
c.
The
researchers tested the effects of obesity
d.
The
researchers tested the effects of the three diets on glucose regulation
5.
The
main purpose of the document is to:
a.
Persuade
the reader to drink less coffee
b.
Explain
the dangers of obesity
c.
Present
how caffeine may affect our body
d.
Instruct
the reader in maintaining a healthy lifestyle
6.
There
is a spelling mistake:
a.
On line
11
b.
On line
22
c.
On line
31
d.
On line
35
7.
The
word attainable in line 21 can be best replaced by:
a.
Edible
b.
Sustainable
c.
Achievable
d.
Consumable
8.
A
grammatical mistake has been made:
a.
On line
4
b.
On line
10
c.
On line
35
d.
On line
41
9.
A
missing word starting the sentence on line 9 is:
a.
However
b.
Despite
c.
In
spite
d.
Therefore
10.
What is
a correct grammatical form of a verb missing on line 42?
a.
Having
b.
Has
c.
Had
d.
Have
Text 2
|
Celebrate the 60th anniversary of the
Queen's coronation:
10 reasons why Heathrow should be
renamed.
|
 |
1
2
|
|
|
|
3
|
||
|
Heathrow is modernizing. In the past
few years it has opened
|
4
|
||
|
new terminals four and five. What
better way to signal this
|
5
|
||
|
transformation than naming it after
a person who soon
|
6
|
||
|
will be the UK’s longest serving Monarch?
|
7
|
||
|
So
far the Palace of Westminster has named Big Ben’s clock
|
8
|
||
|
after
her (the Elizabeth Tower now mirrors the Victoria Tower
|
9
|
||
|
at
the other end of the Palace of Westminster). And earlier this
|
10
|
||
|
year
forein secretary William Hague renamed a slice of
|
11
|
||
|
Antarctica
as Queen Elizabeth Land to mark the Queen’s 60
|
12
|
||
|
glorious
years.
|
13
14
|
||
|
That’s
about it though for large scale monuments to her reign (a best of the rest
list from the Cabinet Office
|
15
|
||
|
includes
the casting of some Diamond Jubilee bells, the naming of 60 Queen Elizabeth
Diamond Jubilee Woods, the lighting of beacons, a children’s play area, a new
Diamond Jubilee Electric Pullman train,
|
16
17
|
||
|
the
“Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Cup at the Hastings Music Festival” and
various EIIR plaques in churches and benches).
|
18
19
20
|
||
|
But
I have a better idea, one that will mean the Queen’s name is remembered daily
by Britons and visitors to this country alike, and which will allow Britain
to start a new relationship with a major piece of unloved
|
21
22
|
||
|
national
infrastructure: Heathrow airport. If you think about it, naming Heathrow
after our Queen makes sense.
|
23
24
|
||
|
1. Victoria has a
station, why can’t Elizabeth have an
Airport? Rail travel to Victorians was surely the
air
|
2. Heathrow needs
rebranding. The name, for many of us, is interchangeable with thoughts of
|
25
26
|
|
|
travel
of the modern Elizabethan age. So why
not
name
Heathrow after our Queen too?
|
being
stranded here, staring at departure boards glowing red with delay signs.
|
27
28
|
|
|
3. The life of the
airport has mirrored the Queen’s reign. The development of Heathrow started
in 1944
|
4. The Queen has a
building named after her at
Terminal
2 (the Queen’s Building, which she
|
29
30
|
|
|
eight
years before the Queen ascended to the throne. She has living and breathed the expansion
of
|
opened
herself). She also opened Terminal 5 herself).
|
31
32
|
|
|
Heathrow
through her reign.
|
.
|
33
|
|
|
5. Heathrow is
modernizing. In the past few years it has opened new terminals four and five.
What better
|
6. Naming Heathrow
after the Queen will make it
harder
for London Mayor (and possible future
|
34
35
|
|
|
way
to signal this transformation than naming it after a person who will soon be
the UK’s longest serving monarch?
|
Tory
Party leader) Boris Johnson to shut down
Heathrow
and open a new hub airport in the Thames estuary (the thinking is that the UK
can only support one hub).
|
36
37
38
39
|
|
|
7. Other airports have
done it. If Liverpool has John
|
8. It will ______
tourism. The Royal family is our
|
40
|
|
|
Lennon,
Belfast has George Best airport, Paris has
|
greatest
export. Heathrow, in itself, is not. Surely
|
41
|
|
|
Charles
de Gaulle, and New York has JFK, why can’t
London
have the Queen Elizabeth II airport?
|
people
will feel better about flying to Queen Elizabeth II airport than plain old
Heathrow?
|
42
43
|
|
|
9. It would mean that
Heathrow was not named after Baroness Thatcher, as was suggested after
|
10. It’s a
good idea.
|
44
45
|
|
|
her
death in April.
|
|
46
|
|
11. Which landmarks mentioned in the
text are not named after the Queen?
a. A piece of land
b. An electric train
c. Westminster Abbey
d. A tower
12. The tone of this document can be
best described as:
a. Analytical and scientific
b. Formal and explanatory
c. Light hearted and factual
d. Humorous and descriptive
13. One of the reasons Heathrow
Airport should be renamed is:
a. The Queen is the longest serving
monarch
b. The Queen is the second longest
serving monarch
c. Other airports are named after a
monarch
d. The Queen owns it
14. According to the text, Boris
Johnson:
a. Is currently a Mayor of London
b. Is currently a leader of the Tory
Party
c. Will be a leader of the Tory
party in the future
d. Wants to rename Heathrow
15. According to the text, which
statement is true?
a. Heathrow is a modern airport
b. Tory party plan to close Heathrow
down
c. The Royal family export many
things
d. Heathrow has a bad name
16. A spelling mistake has been made:
a. On line 5
b. On line 11
c. On line 21
d. On line 41
17. A word has been missed out in Reason
8. It is:
a. Raise
b. Bring
c. Boost
d. Cause
18. A grammatical mistake has been
made:
a. On Line 16
b. On line 23
c. On line 25
d. On line 32
19. A ‘hub airport’ in reason 6 is
understood as:
a. Small airport
b. Large airport
c. Airport used as a transfer point
d. An important airport
20. Which word should always be
spelt with a capital letter?
a. Victorians
b. Queen
c. Leader
d. Tower
Text 3
|
The Demise of Modern Foreign Languages
Recent
years have seen a considerable decrease in the uptake of Modern Foreign
Languages in English schools. This trend became particularly apparent in 2004
following the Labour government’s decision to make the study of MFL
non-compulsory at GCSE level in state schools. Owing to the challenging
nature of foreign languages as a discipline, even fewer students are choosing
to pursue language studies. This trend clearly has long-term implications.
Over the last decade, MFL departments in a number of universities throughout
England have closed; continuing cuts in funding suggest that others will
inevitably follow. By extension, in our increasingly global world, there is a
risk that the next generation of native English speakers will lack both basic
linguistic and intercultural competence and the much more advanced abilities
required to become highly skilled language professionals such as translators
and interpreters.
Once a
classical tool for teaching and assessing language, translation decreased in
popularity in the 1970s as it was commonly believed to be too teacher-centred
and grammar-focused. This trend was reinforced by the ‘cultural turn’, which
encouraged a more communicative approach in all disciplines, including
language pedagogy. Nevertheless, in recent years, translation as a
language-teaching strategy has begun to regain popularity.
Against
this background, colleagues and I believed that it would be instructive to
carry out a small scale study in this field. Its aim would be threefold:
first, to determine if, and how, translation is currently employed as a
strategy for teaching and assessing language at both GCSE and AS-/A2 levels;
second, to explore whether using translation as a strategy for teaching and
assessing French in secondary schools could help revive the popularity of the
study of MFL in England; third, to begin to establish how this could be
achieved.
The
resulting study focuses on a number of state secondary schools in a city in
England. In order to obtain concrete results, it centres on a teaching
profile and on three questionnaires - for GCSE, AS and A2 levels respectively
- which adopt a structured, multi-choice format. The responses which these
four surveys generate are analysed quantitatively and initial responses to
the study’s key questions are provided.
|
21.
What is
meant by the phrase ‘non-compulsory’?
a.
You
have to do it
b.
You do
not have to do it
c.
You
must not do it
d.
You may
do it with permission
22. Where would you likely to see the above text?
a.
In a
professional magazine
b.
In a
textbook
c.
In a
local newspaper
d.
In a
national newspaper
23. The above text can be described as:
a.
Chatty
and descriptive
b.
Informal
and persuasive
c.
Formal
and factual
d.
Formal
and instructive
24. According to the text, which statement is true?
a.
Translation
as a method of language teaching is becoming popular again
b.
Translation
is considered to be an outdated method of teaching
c.
Translation
is no longer taught in schools
d.
Native
English speakers cannot be translators
25. The word ‘quantitatively’ relates to:
a.
The study
b.
The
number of schools
c.
The number of responses
d.
The number of surveys
Text 4
|
The nuclear family is the traditional
family structure in the West. This term, originating in the 1950s, describes
families consisting of a father, a mother, and their offspring. Under this structure, the family is seen as the basic
unit in society; the father functions as the breadwinner and the mother as the homemaker. Nowadays,
alternative family types are becoming more prevalent, such as single-parent families,
families headed by same-sex parents, and extended families where families
live with their kin, which may
include several generations. Extended families are less common in North
America, where it is not uncommon to place grandparents in retirement homes.
A Social Trends survey in 2009 reported radical
changes in child rearing and
marriage practices in the United Kingdom. Figures showed that while 30
percent of women under thirty had given birth by the age of 25, only 24
percent had tied the knot.
This marked the first time childbirth had become the first major milestone in adult life, ahead of
marriage. In 1971 in the U.K, 3/4 of women were married by the age of 25 and
half were mothers.
Judging by the high rates of divorce and the
increasing number of children born out of wedlock, it would appear that the family as an institution is in decline. American
sociologist Stephanie Coontz believes so too, but for different reasons.
Coontz points out that marriages are usually no longer arranged for political
or economic reasons, and children are no longer required to contribute to the
family income. The vast majority of marriages nowadays are founded on love.
She believes this shift towards love and free choice has actually weakened
both the family by making it optional and the bond between the husband and wife by making it contingent on emotional fulfilment.
|
26. The word ‘offspring’ used in the first
paragraph can be best replaced with:
a.
Grandparents
b.
Children
c.
Ancestors
d.
People who live under the same
roof
27. The text
suggests that:
a.
Only women used to have a paid
work in the past
b.
Both men and women used to work
in the past
c.
Only men used to have a paid work
in the past
d.
Men used to bring bread home
28. According
to the text, which statement is true:
a.
Extended families means that
other relatives live under the same roof
b.
Extended families means that
parents and children live under the same roof
c.
Extended families means that
grandparents contribute to bringing up children
d.
Extended families means that
grandparents live in care homes.
29.The
phrase ‘out of wedlock’ could be best understood as:
a.
Children of the same sex parents
b.
Children with a single parent
c.
Children of parents who are
divorced
d.
Children of parents who are not
married
30.The text
suggests that in 2009:
a.
Only 30% of women in the UK got
married
b.
Only 30% of women had children
c.
Only 24% of women having a child
under 25 were married
d.
24 % of women under 25 had
children
End of Examination
NOCN
The
Quadrant
Parkway
Business Centre
99 Parkway Avenue
99 Parkway Avenue
Sheffield
S9 4WG
S9 4WG
UK
E-mail:
nocn@nocn.org.uk
Tel:
+44 (0) 114 2270500
Fax:
+44 (0) 114 2270501
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου