B1 Preliminary – Reading and Use of English
Part 1: Multiple Choice Cloze
How frogs survive the cold
Not many creatures can (0) stay alive in the freezing cold of the far north. However, there are a number of creatures which (1) to survive in places where the temperatures can fall as (2) as minus 28 degrees.
One of the most (3) of these creatures is the Alaskan wood frog. When it gets (4) cold in the winter months, up to two thirds of the water in the frog’s body actually freezes. But once the days begin to (5) slightly warmer in spring, the frogs thaw out again.
Scientists have long been trying to discover the process that makes this rebirth (6) and now they have discovered how it is done. The frogs produce a chemical in their body that resembles the antifreeze that people use to (7) their cars from freezing. This chemical in the frog’s body (8) in a very similar way in order to protect its most important organs.
Part 2: Open Cloze
World Pea Shooting Championships
Did you know that something naughty schoolchildren used to do is now a competitive sport? In the annual Cambridgeshire World Pea Shooting Championships, competitors have (0) to blow a dried pea through a small tube called a blowpipe. They aim at a round target 3.5m away.
The contest was first organised in 1971 by a teacher called John Tyson (9) had taken several blowpipes away (10) his pupils when they had used them at school. Now competitors come from all over the world to take (11) in the championships.
The pea is always supplied by the organisers to make (12) nobody cheats, but the tubes can be made of any material provided they are 30 cm long. Traditionally the tubes have (13) made of wood or plastic, but some people use other materials (14) carbon fibre. Even (15) some adults bring complicated equipment like lasers to focus on the target, they are regularly beaten by kids years younger than (16) using simple plastic tubes.
Part 3: Word Formation
Jersey
Jersey is one of a group of islands, known as the Channel Islands, lying not far from the coast of France. Politically it is a (0) monarchy ruled by the king or queen of Britain but it is not part of the UK or of the European Union. However, it does have a special (17) (RELATION) with both. The UK, for example, is responsible for the (18) (DEFEND) of Jersey. However, the island has its own parliament which is able to deal (19) (DEPEND) with other aspects of the country’s administration.
From an (20) (ECONOMY) point of view the country is considered part of the European Community which gives it (21) (ADVANTAGE) trading rights. For instance, the free (22) (MOVE) of goods between countries in this Community is permitted.
Jersey is a beautiful island which enjoys great (23) (POPULAR) with tourists. The fact that it is a relatively (24) (EXPENSE) destination is one of the things that attracts them.
Part 4: Key Word Transformation
Katy’s parents herself.
Paul now time skateboarding.
Sally your jacket home.
The climate changing.
The film on for more than two hours.
Dina is very good young children.
Part 5: Multiple Choice Reading
Once in a while you find yourself in an odd situation. You get into it by degrees and in the most natural way but, when you are right in the midst of it, you are suddenly astonished and ask yourself how in the world it all came about. If, for example, you put to sea on a wooden raft with a parrot and five companions, it is inevitable that sooner or later you will wake up one morning out at sea, perhaps a little better rested than ordinarily, and begin to think about it.
On one such morning, I sat writing in a dew-drenched logbook: May 17. Norwegian Independence Day. Heavy sea. Fair wind. I am cook today and found seven flying fish on deck, one squid on the cabin roof and one unknown fish in Torstein’s sleeping bag… Here the pencil stopped, and the same thought interjected itself: This is really a strange seventeenth of May – indeed, taken all round, a most peculiar existence. How did it all begin?
If I turned left, I had an unimpeded view of a vast blue sea with hissing waves, rolling by close at hand in an endless pursuit of an ever retreating horizon. If I turned right, I saw the inside of a shadowy cabin in which a bearded individual was lying on his back reading, with his bare toes carefully dug into the latticework in the low bamboo roof of the crazy little cabin that was our common home. Outside the cabin three other fellows were working in the roasting sun on the bamboo deck, looking as if they had never done anything else than float wooden rafts westward across the Pacific. Erik came crawling in through the opening with his instruments and a pile of papers.
’98° 46′ west by 8° 2′ south – a good day’s run since yesterday, chaps!’
He took my pencil and drew a tiny circle on a chart which hung on the bamboo wall a tiny circle at the end of a row of nineteen circles that curved across from the coast of Peru. Herman, Knut and Torstein too came eagerly crowding in to see the new little circle that placed us a good 40 sea miles nearer the South Sea islands than the last in the chain.
‘Do you see, boys?’ said Herman proudly. ‘That means we’re 850 miles from the coast of Peru.’
‘And we’ve got another 3,500 to go to get to the nearest islands,’ Knut added cautiously.
So now we all knew exactly where we were, and I could go on speculating. The parrot did not care; he only wanted to tug at the log. And the sea was just as round, just as sky-encircled, blue upon blue.
Perhaps it had all begun ten years earlier, on a little island in the Marquesas group in the middle of the Pacific. Maybe we would land on the same island now, unless the northeast wind sent us farther south in the direction of Tahiti and the Tuamotu group. The island was called Fatu Hiva; there was no land between it and us where we lay drifting, but nevertheless it was thousands of sea miles away. I could see the little island clearly in my mind’s eye, with its jagged, rust-red mountains, the green jungle which flowed down their slopes toward the sea, and the slender palms that waved along the shore. I remembered so well how we sat there on the lonely beach and looked out over this same endless sea, evening after evening. I was accompanied by my wife then, not by bearded pirates as now. We were collecting all kinds of live creatures, and images and other relics of a dead culture.
Part 6: Gapped Text
A. She was doing the challenge to raise money for a number of charities.
B. And she was right to expect it to be tough.
C. As is the rule on such swims, Nell was accompanied by a team on a range of craft.
D. Not only was she one of the youngest people ever to complete the swim, but she also did it in only 26 hours, 37 minutes and 45 seconds, arriving more than three hours ahead of schedule.
E. But she had to abandon her next challenge after doing 32 kilometres of a 48-kilometre swim on August 13 this year.
F. They all applauded her achievement and, after being helped out of the water, she shouted a big thank you to everyone.
G. One of the toughest points of the swim was as she approached St Catherine’s Point, when the current pushed her back more than a kilometre.
The Isle of Wight is a large island about 380 square kilometres off the south coast of Britain. You need to be an extraordinarily strong swimmer to swim round the island as it means covering a distance of over 110 kilometres. Yet this feat has just been completed by a nineteen-year-old woman called Nell O’Connor.
Nell became one of the few people to have ever swum solo, non-stop, around the Isle of Wight – a notable feat for a couple of reasons.
(37)
The swimmer was welcomed by a large crowd as she touched Ryde Pier, the point where she set off last Friday at 10.31am. The ferry that leaves the island for the mainland every hour had even delayed its departure to let passengers watch her arrival. Hundreds of people were waiting on deck as well as on shore. (38) She was officially congratulated by Brian Merriman on behalf of the European Swimming Association. He is no stranger to long-distance swimming himself as he has swum across the English Channel on several occasions.
Before setting off Nell had said that she was well aware that she was attempting a very challenging task, particularly because she could not avoid occasionally having to swim against the tide. (39) She saw sunset and sunrise and had to race against the clock to reach critical points to beat the time.
Indeed, she frequently felt as if she was spending hours swimming on the spot. (40) A decision then to head inshore allowed her less tide to swim against and within an hour she was making forward progress again.
Speaking to reporters after the swim, Nell said that knowing people were thinking of her and willing her on definitely helped when the going got really tough. Her reason for doing the swim also spurred her on. (41)
The swim was carried out under the generally accepted rules of the sport wearing just a standard swimming costume, goggles and a swimming cap. It was the culmination of the three-year Seven Island Swim Challenge which Nell had set herself. She had already successfully completed circumnavigations of five other islands. (42) This happened because strong winds combined with bitterly cold water to force her to give up on her attempt to swim round Foula, one of the Shetland Islands, in the far north of the British Isles.
Part 7: Multiple Matching
Southern Fun Park is a brilliant theme park on the south coast and is situated close to the popular resort of Telton. Perhaps its one drawback is that, unlike the larger parks on the north coast, it operates seasonally. Included in its attraction line-up are a single small rollercoaster, a selection of off-the-shelf thrill rides, and a variety of water slides. The park first opened to the public in 1979…
B Air World
The aircraft-themed Air World is one of the world’s largest indoor theme parks… The building is impressive in that it’s designed to resemble the side profile of the body of a jumbo jet… Air World opened in November, 2013, and has an appropriate location close to the country’s first-ever airstrip.
C Sunlands
Located on the edge of the capital, it hosts an array of thrilling rollercoasters… The park’s headline attractions are Titan (once the tallest coaster in the country), Pluto (the world’s tallest dual-track wooden coaster) and Dracula… Sunlands opened in June 1962 as the midway area of the capital’s extravagant ‘Centenary Exhibition’.
D Adventure Town
Open all year round, the park’s most famous attraction is Rolling Rainbow, one of few wooden coasters remaining that still requires a brakeman to control its speed… Live entertainment is a major part of Adventure Town’s appeal…
E Starry World
Starry World is an attractively unusual space-themed attraction aimed primarily at the under-tens. It has a small but not uninteresting selection of rides and is also popular because it is home to an action centre offering archery, laser shooting and golf.
Which of the theme parks…
- is praised for being situated in a fitting place? 43.
- has developed from something that was part of a major event? 44.
- has made good use of a former industrial site? 45.
- is noteworthy for the opportunities it offers for sport? 46.
- was built in a style to match its theme? 47.
- frequently hosts impressive musical performances? 48.
- has potentially inconvenient opening times? 49.
- has an exciting ride that holds a record for its size? 50.
- has an attraction that is operated in a traditional way? 51.
- is most likely to appeal to one age group? 52.