Placement exam 300s
Language use 1: The following sentences are reduced to a shorter sentence; choose the only correct shorter option.
E.g. The fire extinguisher which was refilled yesterday is on the floor.
The fire extinguisher refilled yesterday is on the floor.
1. I need something that I can put out the fire with.
2. There’s a hurricane outside which is strong enough to rip trees from the ground.
3. The glacier which is next to the mainland is moving quickly.
Language use 2: Choose a correct comment of what possibly happened in the following sentences.
E.g. I can’t find my textbook. I had it this afternoon at work, but it’s not in my bag now.
Comment: You might have left it in the office.
4. My boyfriend promised to call me this afternoon, but he didn’t!
Comment:
5. I’m worried about my grandmother. She never goes out, but when I called her this afternoon, no one answered.
Comment:
6. I think I’ve been ripped off. I ordered a camera by email and sent off a check for a thousand dollars. That was six weeks ago and I haven’t received anything yet.
Language use 3: The third conditional.
Choose the correct form of the verb in brackets to make a third conditional sentence.
7. If they _____ (have) the time, they would have attended the meeting.
8. Jason _____ (recognize) the winner if he had been able to see them.
9. If I _____ (know) his name, I would have said hello.
10. If the president had been informed in time of the changes, he _____ (make) a different decision.
1 out of 4
Reading 1: Read the text and choose the correct options to complete the sentences.
That’s so unfair!
We all seem to have a built-in sense of what is fair and what’s not fair in life, but do we all have the same idea of what fairness is? Apparently not! A recent disagreement has reminded me that even close friends have different ideas of fairness.
I was feeling a bit down earlier. The reason I felt bad was that I made my close friend Charlotte upset last night by making some sarcastic comments about something she told me. Something that seemed so childish to me I could hardly believe I was hearing it, but she obviously felt so outraged about it, that my lack of sensitivity genuinely hurt her.
So, Charlotte’s aunt is moving from her enormous farmhouse to a small apartment, and she’s been going through all the stuff she needs to get rid of. She came over to Charlotte’s to give her an antique vase that Charlotte’s always loved. You’d think that Charlotte would be pleased by her aunt’s generosity. But no, instead of being thankful, she’s green with envy because her aunt is giving her sister her grand piano, and that’s worth far more than the vase.
I was astonished at her reaction, and I’m afraid I let it show. Charlotte has gained something lovely that she didn’t have before. Why can’t she just be happy for her sister? After all, the piano has to go somewhere. What shocked me most was that Charlotte doesn’t even play the piano! It’s fair to say that our evening ended awkwardly, and we didn’t share our usual hug when we said goodbye.
My friendship with Charlotte is important to me, and after a good night’s sleep, I wondered if I’d been a little hard on her. When I googled “fairness,” I discovered that it is, indeed, incredibly important to us, and it may be more of a biological thing than we realize. It seems that even monkeys display similar behavior to Charlotte. In one study, a monkey was taught to give the researcher a rock and received a cucumber in return. At first, the monkey was content with that, but it was when it saw a neighboring monkey being rewarded with a (much more desirable) grape that the trouble began. From then on, when the first monkey was given a cucumber, it would throw it back at the researcher and shake the cage in fury.
So even monkeys care about fairness. However, there is little agreement about what fairness consists of. Apparently, there are three main ideas, which can be summed up as “sameness,” “deservedness,” or “need.” In other words, some people think that everyone should be equal, some that we should be rewarded according to effort, and some that we should help those who need it most. When you think about how basic, yet conflicting, those concepts are, and the implications they have for governments, it’s no wonder we argue about politics!
Anyway, I feel better now that I know that what I saw as Charlotte’s selfishness may not be entirely under her control. I hope we’ll be able to mend our relationship, but I guess that telling her she’s acting like a monkey may not be the best way to go about it!
11. Charlotte has always loved the vase her aunt gave her, but ___
12. Sam thinks Charlotte’s feelings are unreasonable because
13. When she looked on the Internet, Sam realized that this type of jealous behavior is due to
14. The fact that people have different ideas about fairness means that
15. And, um, __________? How is “green therapy” different from taking a walk in the park?
16. _____some people benefit from those things.
17.__________ that people who live in cities spend most of their lives in buildings.
18. And,_____ , even when they’re outside, they’re looking at the screens in their hands.
19. And the nature that you talk about in cities – _______, a lot of that is artificial.
20. Sure, but,_____ , it’s not the same being out in nature and really spending time there.
21. the country, but, occasionally, when I’m stressed.
2 out of 4
22. Sam says that what she is talking about today cannot be accurately described as “fads”.
23. She wants to focus on people who avoid certain foods because they are allergic to them.
24. Vegans and vegetarians tend to be young people.
25. Some people don’t eat certain foods because they consider them to be unhealthy.
26. In the past, people didn’t worry at all how much sugar they ate.
27. The only reason some people don't eat bread is because they are allergic to wheat.
28. All of Sam’s recent dinner guests were avoiding a particular food.
29. She didn’t enjoy cooking for these people.
30. Sam agrees that the Internet has had an influence on people’s diets.
31. Tom reminds Sam that wealth has also influenced diet.
3 out of 4
Writing Section: Write a 150- word paragraph about ONE of the topics below. Plan your answer before you start writing.
Recuerde desarrollar la escritura (writing) del examen, para que su evaluación sea correcta y ubicarle en el nivel correspondiente. Si usted no desarrolla esta parte, no nos responsabilizamos si es colocado en un nivel diferente a sus conocimientos.
You have received an invitation to write about the following topic in your school magazine.
TOPIC: Touring holiday recommendation.
Think about: What places tourists should visit and activities they should do in your area/city, what they need to learn about the local area/city and its history, what the best way to travel around is - car, bike or bus.
In your English class, you have been talking about the environment. Write a paragraph stating your opinion about the following topic. Give reasons for your point of view.
TOPIC: Every country in the world has problems with pollution and damage to the environment.
Describe the problems and their causes. What are possible consequences of these problems? Do you think these problems can be solved? What should governments do to solve these problems?
A group of British teachers is going to visit your school for two days. The aim of their trip is to learn about how technology in education is used in your country. Write a paragraph to explain about the topic for the group leader. Your paragraph should include: Information about how technology is used to teach different subjects and a recommendation regarding what technological tools teachers should use in their classes. Give at least one reason for these suggestions.
Speaking – Use the Vocaroo application to record two to three minutes of speaking. Choose ONE of the OPTIONS below. Use the pictures given to answer the question.
Recuerde grabar su audio y pegar el link de la grabación en la parte oral (speaking) del examen, para que su evaluación sea correcta y ubicarle en el nivel correspondiente. Si usted no desarrolla esta parte, no nos responsabilizamos si es colocado en un nivel diferente a sus conocimientos.
Para abrir la aplicación de Vocaroo haga clic en el enlace y grabe su audio. Usted puede intentarlo algunas veces hasta que esté contento/a con su respuesta. Después copie el enlace del audio en el espacio que aparece en la parte de abajo en el Placement Test:
https://vocaroo.com 
