Test 1.
Task 1.
Imagine that you are preparing a project with your friend. You have found some interesting material for the presentation and you want to read this text to your friend. You have 1.5 minutes to read the text silently, then be ready to read it out aloud. You will not have more than 1.5 minutes to read it.
If we look around us at the things we have purchased at some point in our lives, we would no doubt notice that not everything we own is being put to good use: the thick woollen coat which we thought looked trendy despite the fact that we live in a tropical country, the smartphone that got put away when we bought ourselves the newest model, the car that only gets used at the weekends, or even the guest room in our house that somehow got turned into a storeroom.
Those underutilised items may seem useless to some, but could be an asset to others. With the advent of the internet, online communities have figured out a way to generate profit from the sharing of those underused assets. Using websites and social media groups that facilitate the buying and selling of second-hand goods, it is now easier than ever for peer-to-peer sharing activities to take place. And this is known as the sharing economy.
Task 2.
You are going to study abroad for three months and want to find a gym you could attend. You’d like to get more information about this gym. In 1.5 minutes you are to ask five questions to find out the following:
1) location of the gym
2) Discounts for students
3) Entrance fee
4) Available kinds of payment
5) opening hours
Task 3.
These are photos from your photo album. Choose one photo to describe to your friend.
You will have to start speaking in 1.5 minutes and will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). In your talk remember to speak about:
· where and when the photo was taken
· what/who is in the photo
· what is happening
· why you keep the photo in your album
· why you decided to show the picture to your friend
You have to talk continuously, starting with: “I’ve chosen photo number …”
Task 4.
Study the two photographs. In 1.5 minutes be ready to compare and contrast the photographs:
· give a brief description of the photos (action, location)
· say what the pictures have in common
· say in what way the pictures are different
· say which way of preparing for classes presented in the pictures you prefer
· explain why
You will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). You have to talk continuously.
Test 2.
Task 1.
Imagine that you are preparing a project with your friend. You have found some interesting material for the presentation and you want to read this text to your friend. You have 1.5 minutes to read the text silently, then be ready to read it out aloud. You will not have more than 1.5 minutes to read it.
Some of the biggest and most expensive transportation projects in the world have involved building bridges. Bridges are crucial links that carry cars, trucks and trains across bodies of water, mountain gorges or other roads. As a result, they are one of the most important aspects of civil engineering and are subject to intense scrutiny, especially when they collapse.
Bridge collapses can be tragic events, leading to loss of life and serious property damage. That’s why bridge engineers, designers and builders must always take their jobs very seriously. The best way for them to prevent these accidents is to understand why bridges collapse in the first place. Understanding bridge collapses can lead to major changes in the design, construction and safety of future building projects.
Task 2.
You are going to stay at the hotel and now you’d like to get more information. In 1.5 minutes you are to ask five direct questions to find out about the following:
1) distance from the city centre
2) hotel facilities
3) single room price per night
4) Online reservation
5) If breakfast is included
Task 3.
These are photos from your photo album. Choose one photo to describe to your friend.
You will have to start speaking in 1.5 minutes and will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). In your talk remember to speak about:
· where and when the photo was taken
· what/who is in the photo
· what is happening
· why you keep the photo in your album
· why you decided to show the picture to your friend
You have to talk continuously, starting with: “I’ve chosen photo number …”
Task 4.
Study the two photographs. In 1.5 minutes be ready to compare and contrast the photographs:
· give a brief description of the photos (action, location)
· say what the pictures have in common
· say in what way the pictures are different
· say which way of preparing for classes presented in the pictures you prefer
· explain why
You will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). You have to talk continuously.
Test 3.
Task 1.
Imagine that you are preparing a project with your friend. You have found some interesting material for the presentation and you want to read this text to your friend. You have 1.5 minutes to read the text silently, then be ready to read it out aloud. You will not have more than 1.5 minutes to read it.
Critics of the 2015 film Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens have called the film unoriginal and predictable because the story so closely mirrors the very first Star Wars film in 1977. But, in fact, both films follow a structure that pre-dates all Hollywood films, that of the ‘hero myth’. That’s because director George Lucas based Star Wars on the ideas in Joseph Campbell’s 1949 book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Later editions of Campbell’s book even featured Star Wars’ hero Luke Skywalker on the front cover.
In his book, Campbell analyses myths from all over the world to describe the ‘monomyth’ – a pattern that you can see in myths from every culture. In short, a hero sets off from home on a journey, where he overcomes obstacles and defeats enemies to return with a prize. It’s a tale that has been told for thousands of years, from the Ancient Greeks with The Odyssey to JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books.
Task 2.
You are considering starting English lessons and now you’d like to get more information. In 1.5 minutes you are to ask five direct questions to find out about the following:
1) courses available
2) duration of the course
3) price of a three-week course
4) Credit card acceptance
5) Number of students in the group
Task 3.
These are photos from your photo album. Choose one photo to describe to your friend.
You will have to start speaking in 1.5 minutes and will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). In your talk remember to speak about:
· where and when the photo was taken
· what/who is in the photo
· what is happening
· why you keep the photo in your album
· why you decided to show the picture to your friend
You have to talk continuously, starting with: “I’ve chosen photo number …”
Task 4.
Study the two photographs. In 1.5 minutes be ready to compare and contrast the photographs:
· give a brief description of the photos (action, location)
· say what the pictures have in common
· say in what way the pictures are different
· say which way of preparing for classes presented in the pictures you prefer
· explain why
You will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). You have to talk continuously.
Test 4.
Task 1.
Imagine that you are preparing a project with your friend. You have found some interesting material for the presentation and you want to read this text to your friend. You have 1.5 minutes to read the text silently, then be ready to read it out aloud. You will not have more than 1.5 minutes to read it.
Social media, magazines and shop windows bombard people daily with things to buy, and British consumers are buying more clothes and shoes than ever before. Online shopping means it is easy for customers to buy without thinking, while major brands offer such cheap clothes that they can be treated like disposable items – worn two or three times and then thrown away.
In Britain, the average person spends more than £1,000 on new clothes a year, which is around four per cent of their income. That might not sound like much, but that figure hides two far more worrying trends for society and for the environment. First, a lot of that consumer spending is via credit cards. British people currently owe approximately £670 per adult to credit card companies. That’s 66 per cent of the average wardrobe budget. Also, not only are people spending money they don’t have, they’re using it to buy things they don’t need. Britain throws away 300,000 tons of clothing a year, most of which goes into landfill sites.
Task 2.
You are considering going on this sightseeing tour and now you’d like to get more information. In 1.5 minutes you are to ask five direct questions to find out the following:
1) Length of the tour
2) If taking pictures permitted
3) Cancellation
4) discounts for students
5) refund for a ticket
Task 3.
These are photos from your photo album. Choose one photo to describe to your friend.
You will have to start speaking in 1.5 minutes and will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). In your talk remember to speak about:
· where and when the photo was taken
· what/who is in the photo
· what is happening
· why you keep the photo in your album
· why you decided to show the picture to your friend
You have to talk continuously, starting with: “I’ve chosen photo number …”
Task 4.
Study the two photographs. In 1.5 minutes be ready to compare and contrast the photographs:
· give a brief description of the photos (action, location)
· say what the pictures have in common
· say in what way the pictures are different
· say which way of preparing for classes presented in the pictures you prefer
· explain why
You will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). You have to talk continuously.
Test 5.
Task 1.
Imagine that you are preparing a project with your friend. You have found some interesting material for the presentation and you want to read this text to your friend. You have 1.5 minutes to read the text silently, then be ready to read it out aloud. You will not have more than 1.5 minutes to read it.
Studies suggest that the vast majority of teenagers do not really worship celebrities. Researchers have identified three kinds of fans. About 15% of young people have an ‘entertainment-social’ interest. They love chatting about their favourite celebrities with friends and this does not appear to do any harm.
Another 5% feel that they have an ‘intense-personal’ relationship with a celebrity. Sometimes they see them as their soulmate and find that they are often thinking about them, even when they don’t want to. These people are more at risk from depression and anxiety. If girls in this group idolise a female star with a body they consider to be perfect, they are more likely to be unhappy with their own bodies.
Task 2.
You are going to visit Dublin this summer and you’d like to have more information about the flights to Dublin. In 1.5 minutes you are to ask five questions to find out the following:
1) Duration of the flight
2) Dates for departure
3) Price of the ticket
4) Online reservation
5) Availability of meals
Task 3.
These are photos from your photo album. Choose one photo to describe to your friend.
You will have to start speaking in 1.5 minutes and will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). In your talk remember to speak about:
· where and when the photo was taken
· what/who is in the photo
· what is happening
· why you keep the photo in your album
· why you decided to show the picture to your friend
You have to talk continuously, starting with: “I’ve chosen photo number …”
Task 4.
Study the two photographs. In 1.5 minutes be ready to compare and contrast the photographs:
· give a brief description of the photos (action, location)
· say what the pictures have in common
· say in what way the pictures are different
· say which way of preparing for classes presented in the pictures you prefer
· explain why
You will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). You have to talk continuously.
Test 6.
Task 1.
Imagine that you are preparing a project with your friend. You have found some interesting material for the presentation and you want to read this text to your friend. You have 1.5 minutes to read the text silently, then be ready to read it out aloud. You will not have more than 1.5 minutes to read it.
Critics of zoos would argue that animals often suffer physically and mentally by being enclosed. Even the best artificial environments can’t come close to matching the space, diversity, and freedom that animals have in their natural habitats. This deprivation causes many zoo animals to become stressed or mentally ill. Capturing animals in the wild also causes much suffering by splitting up families. Some zoos make animals behave unnaturally: for example, marine parks often force dolphins and whales to perform tricks. These mammals may die decades earlier than their wild relatives, and some even try to commit suicide.
On the other hand, by bringing people and animals together, zoos have the potential to educate the public about conservation issues and inspire people to protect animals and their habitats. Some zoos provide a safe environment for animals which have been mistreated in circuses, or pets which have been abandoned. Zoos also carry out important research into subjects like animal behaviour and how to treat illnesses.
Task 2.
You are considering booking a table in the restaurant and now you’d like to get more information. In 1.5 minutes you are to ask five direct questions to find out the following:
1) online booking
2) location of the restaurant
3) Discounts for students
4) opening hours
5) Cancellation
Task 3.
These are photos from your photo album. Choose one photo to describe to your friend.
You will have to start speaking in 1.5 minutes and will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). In your talk remember to speak about:
· where and when the photo was taken
· what/who is in the photo
· what is happening
· why you keep the photo in your album
· why you decided to show the picture to your friend
You have to talk continuously, starting with: “I’ve chosen photo number …”
Task 4.
Study the two photographs. In 1.5 minutes be ready to compare and contrast the photographs:
· give a brief description of the photos (action, location)
· say what the pictures have in common
· say in what way the pictures are different
· say which way of preparing for classes presented in the pictures you prefer
· explain why
You will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). You have to talk continuously.
Test 7.
Task 1.
Imagine that you are preparing a project with your friend. You have found some interesting material for the presentation and you want to read this text to your friend. You have 1.5 minutes to read the text silently, then be ready to read it out aloud. You will not have more than 1.5 minutes to read it.
The first drawings on walls appeared in caves thousands of years ago. Later the Ancient Romans and Greeks wrote their names and protest poems on buildings. Modern graffiti seems to have appeared in Philadelphia in the early 1960s, and by the late sixties it had reached New York. The new art form really took off in the 1970s, when people began writing their names, or ‘tags’, on buildings all over the city. In the mid seventies it was sometimes hard to see out of a subway car window, because the trains were completely covered in spray paintings known as ‘masterpieces’.
In the early days, the ‘taggers’ were part of street gangs who were concerned with marking their territory. They worked in groups called ‘crews’, and called what they did ‘writing’ – the term ‘graffiti’ was first used by The New York Times and the novelist Norman Mailer.
Task 2.
You are considering renting a flat and now you’d like to get more information. In 1.5 minutes you are to ask five direct questions to find out the following:
1) Distance from the city center
2) Directions to the flat
3) Location of the flat
4) Price for two months
5) Available kinds of payment
Task 3.
These are photos from your photo album. Choose one photo to describe to your friend.
You will have to start speaking in 1.5 minutes and will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). In your talk remember to speak about:
· where and when the photo was taken
· what/who is in the photo
· what is happening
· why you keep the photo in your album
· why you decided to show the picture to your friend
You have to talk continuously, starting with: “I’ve chosen photo number …”
Task 4.
Study the two photographs. In 1.5 minutes be ready to compare and contrast the photographs:
· give a brief description of the photos (action, location)
· say what the pictures have in common
· say in what way the pictures are different
· say which way of preparing for classes presented in the pictures you prefer
· explain why
You will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). You have to talk continuously.
Test 8.
Task 1.
Imagine that you are preparing a project with your friend. You have found some interesting material for the presentation and you want to read this text to your friend. You have 1.5 minutes to read the text silently, then be ready to read it out aloud. You will not have more than 1.5 minutes to read it.
For years video games have been criticised for making people more antisocial, overweight or depressed. But now researchers are finding that games can actually change us for the better and improve both our body and mind.
Games can help to develop physical skills. Pre-school children who played interactive games such as the ones available on Wii have been shown to have improved motor skills, for example they can kick, catch and throw a ball better than children who don’t play video games. A study of surgeons who do microsurgery in Boston found that those who played video games were 27 per cent faster and made 37 per cent fewer errors than those who didn’t. Vision is also improved, particularly telling the difference between shades of grey. This is useful for driving at night, piloting a plane or reading X-rays.
Task 2.
You are considering visiting the place and now you’d like to get more information. In 1.5 minutes you are to ask five direct questions to find out the following:
1) Age restriction
2) necessity to book in advance
3) price per person
4) Membership in a club
5) Special offers
Task 3.
These are photos from your photo album. Choose one photo to describe to your friend.
You will have to start speaking in 1.5 minutes and will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). In your talk remember to speak about:
· where and when the photo was taken
· what/who is in the photo
· what is happening
· why you keep the photo in your album
· why you decided to show the picture to your friend
You have to talk continuously, starting with: “I’ve chosen photo number …”
Task 4.
Study the two photographs. In 1.5 minutes be ready to compare and contrast the photographs:
· give a brief description of the photos (action, location)
· say what the pictures have in common
· say in what way the pictures are different
· say which way of preparing for classes presented in the pictures you prefer
· explain why
You will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). You have to talk continuously.
Test 9.
Task 1.
Imagine that you are preparing a project with your friend. You have found some interesting material for the presentation and you want to read this text to your friend. You have 1.5 minutes to read the text silently, then be ready to read it out aloud. You will not have more than 1.5 minutes to read it.
Every time you go online you leave a trail. This is just like a real footprint. It reveals where you’ve been, how long you stayed and what you’ve been doing there. Every time you register for an online service, send an email, download a video or upload a photo, the information can be accessed and your digital footprint can be revealed. This shouldn’t necessarily be worrying but it is advisable to be aware of your digital footprint and to be cautious and sensible when you are online.
All kinds of people are interested in your digital footprint. It’s now quite common for colleges, universities and employers to check out the online profiles of possible candidates as part of their application process. There are cases of people having missed out on jobs and places in college because their digital footprint didn’t impress the recruiters. So, remember: keep safe, don’t put too much personal information online and always think carefully before you post something. Ask yourself, ‘Would I be happy for absolutely everyone to see this?’
Task 2.
You are considering visiting the exhibition and now you’d like to get more information. In 1.5 minutes you are to ask five direct questions to find out the following:
1) opening hours
2) discounts for retired people
3) Entrance fee
4) price per person
5) Beginning of the exhibition
Task 3.
These are photos from your photo album. Choose one photo to describe to your friend.
You will have to start speaking in 1.5 minutes and will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). In your talk remember to speak about:
· where and when the photo was taken
· what/who is in the photo
· what is happening
· why you keep the photo in your album
· why you decided to show the picture to your friend
You have to talk continuously, starting with: “I’ve chosen photo number …”
Task 4.
Study the two photographs. In 1.5 minutes be ready to compare and contrast the photographs:
· give a brief description of the photos (action, location)
· say what the pictures have in common
· say in what way the pictures are different
· say which way of preparing for classes presented in the pictures you prefer
· explain why
You will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). You have to talk continuously.
Test 10.
Task 1.
Imagine that you are preparing a project with your friend. You have found some interesting material for the presentation and you want to read this text to your friend. You have 1.5 minutes to read the text silently, then be ready to read it out aloud. You will not have more than 1.5 minutes to read it.
One of the most important modern functions of zoos is supporting international breeding programmes, particularly for endangered species. In the wild, some of the rarest species have difficulty in finding mates and breeding, and they might also be threatened by poachers, loss of their habitat and predators. A good zoo will enable these species to live and breed in a secure environment. In addition, as numbers of some wild species drop, there is an increased danger of populations becoming too genetically similar. Breeding programmes provide a safeguard: zoo-bred animals can be released into the wild to increase genetic diversity.
However, opponents of zoos say that the vast majority of captive breeding programmes do not release animals back into the wild. Surplus animals are sold not only to other zoos but also to circuses or hunting ranches in the US or South Africa, where some people are willing to pay a lot of money for the chance to kill an animal in a fenced enclosure. Often, these animals are familiar with humans and have very little chance of escaping.
Task 2.
You are considering attending the lecture and now you’d like to get more information. In 1.5 minutes you are to ask five direct questions to find out the following:
1) duration of the lecture
2) how to register
3) if children under ten allowed
4) Discounts for students
5) If taking pictures permitted
Task 3.
These are photos from your photo album. Choose one photo to describe to your friend.
You will have to start speaking in 1.5 minutes and will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). In your talk remember to speak about:
· where and when the photo was taken
· what/who is in the photo
· what is happening
· why you keep the photo in your album
· why you decided to show the picture to your friend
You have to talk continuously, starting with: “I’ve chosen photo number …”
Task 4.
Study the two photographs. In 1.5 minutes be ready to compare and contrast the photographs:
· give a brief description of the photos (action, location)
· say what the pictures have in common
· say in what way the pictures are different
· say which way of preparing for classes presented in the pictures you prefer
· explain why
You will speak for not more than 2 minutes (12–15 sentences). You have to talk continuously.
