For questions 1–8, read the text below anddecide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. There is an example at the beginning. (0)
Don’t miss the event of the year!
Now in its seventh (0)___season__ , this year, the Rogers Estate Festival starts a day earlier: on Thursday, which means visitors have a whole extra day to enjoy it. This showcase of art and music takes place in a (1)______ like no other, with the castle ruins in the background. This year’s line-up includes an array of talented actors alongside a very (2) selection of both local and international musicians and visual artists.
Visitors can take (3) ________ an impressive range of exhibits and experience both the permanent and (4) _________ collections through their five senses. In addition to large-audience sessions, there will be more intimate moments, including poetry recitals, (5)______ by soloists plus painters and sculptors at work. Last but not least, on Friday, we are in for a special (6) __________ . Belinda Wilde, our guest of honour this year, is (7) ________ her debut at the festival, giving us a preview of a new (8)______ of her famous symphony. If you still haven’t bought your pass to the festival, what are you waiting for?
For questions 1 – 8, read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0).
The oldest leather shoe in the world
Archaeologists (0) …report….. that a perfectly preserved 5,500-year-old shoe has been discovered in a cave in Armenia in south-west Asia. It is (1) …….. to be the oldest leather shoe ever found.
The shoe was made of a single piece of leather, stitched at the front and back, and was shaped to fit the wearer’s foot. It had been (2) …….. with grasses, either for warmth or to make sure it kept its shape. ‘The shoe is relatively small but we can’t say for (3) …….. whether it was worn by a man or a woman,’ says Dr Ron Pinhasi, an archaeologist on the research (4) ……… ‘We thought at first that it was about 600-700 years old because it was in such good shape.’
Shoes of this type from later periods have turned (5) …….. in archaeological excavations in various places in Europe, and shoes of a very similar design were still being used on the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland as (6) …….. as the 1950s. It’s (7) …….. a style which (8) …….. popular for thousands of years.
Read the following text and answer the questions below:
Play to win
16-year-old Harry Moore writes about his hobby, tennis.
My parents have always loved tennis and they’re members of a tennis club. My older brother was really good at it and they supported him – taking him to lessons all the time. So I guess when I announced that I wanted to be a tennis champion when I grew up I just intended for them to notice me. My mother laughed. She knew I couldn’t possibly be serious, I was just a 4-year-old kid!
Later, I joined the club’s junior coaching group and eventually took part in my first proper contest, confident that my team would do well. We won, which was fantastic, but I wasn’t so successful. I didn’t even want to be in the team photo because I didn’t feel I deserved to be. When my coach asked what happened in my final match, I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t believe I’d lost – I knew I was the better player. But every time I attacked, the other player defended brilliantly. I couldn’t explain the result.
After that, I decided to listen more carefully to my coach because he had lots of tips. I realised that you need the right attitude to be a winner. On court I have a plan but sometimes the other guy will do something unexpected so I’ll change it. If I lose a point, I do my best to forget it and find a way to win the next one.
At tournaments, it’s impossible to avoid players who explode in anger. Lots of players can be negative – including myself sometimes. Once I got so angry that I nearly broke my racket! But my coach has helped me develop ways to control those feelings. After all, the judges have a hard job and you just have to accept their decisions.
My coach demands that I train in the gym to make sure I’m strong right to the end of a tournament. I’m getting good results: my shots are more accurate and I’m beginning to realise that with hard work there’s a chance that I could be a champion one day.
Read the text below and decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap.
This car runs on chocolate!
Scientists have built a 300kph racing car that uses chocolate as a fuel! The project is (1) ………… to show how car-making could (2) ………… environmentally friendly. The car meets all racing car (3) ………… apart from its fuel. This is a mixture of waste chocolate and vegetable oil, and such ‘biofuels’ are not (4) ………… in the sport yet. It has to be mixed with normal fuel so that all parts of the car keep working.
Carrots and other root vegetables were used to make some parts inside and outside the car. Even the mirrors are made from potatoes! The sides of the car (5) ………… a mixture of natural materials from plants as well as other recycled materials.
The project is still young, so the scientists have not yet found out how ‘green’ the car is. They are planning many experiments to compare its (6) ………… against that of normal racing cars.
Read the following text and answer the questions below.
A family of dancers
The women in the Watson family are all crazy about ballet. These days, Alice Watson gives ballet lessons, but for many years, she was a dancer with the National Ballet Company. Her mother, Hannah, also had a full-time job there, making costumes for the dancers.
Alice’s daughter Demi started learning ballet as soon as she could walk. ‘I never taught her,’ says Alice, ‘because she never let me.’ Now aged sixteen, Demi is a member of the ballet company where her mother was the star dancer for many years.
Alice’s husband, Jack, is an electrician. They met while he was working at a theatre where she was dancing and got married soon after. ‘When Demi started dancing, the house was too small for her and Alice to practise in so I made the garage into a dance studio. Now the living room is nice and quiet when I’m watching television!’ he says.
Last month, Demi was invited to dance in the ballet Swan Lake. Of course, Alice and Hannah were in the audience and even Jack was there, which made it very special for Demi. Jack says, ‘I’m not that interested in ballet myself but it’s fantastic seeing Demi taking her first steps with Alice’s old company!’ Demi was wearing a dress that Hannah made for Alice many years before.
‘It was very exciting for all of us,’ says Hannah. ‘Demi’s way of dancing is very like Alice’s. I know I’m her grandmother, but I think she has a great future!’