FC Practice Test 1 name:_____________________ score:____________%
Reading comprehension
part 1
You are going to read an extract from a novel. For questions 1-8, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.
I had never been married before so there was nothing in my past experience to go by but it was beginning to dawn on me that I was very nicely fixed. I am talking, of course, of material things. It would have been enough for me or anybody else to be paired with a beautiful girl whom I love and who loved me. I hadn't reckoned on the other aspects.
This business of studying my comfort, for instance. I thought such things had gone out of fashion, but not so with Helen. It was brought home to me again as I walked into breakfast this morning. We had at last acquired a table - I had bought it at a farm sale and brought it home in triumph tied to the roof of my car - and now Helen had vacated the chair on which she used to sit at the bench and had taken over the high stool. She was perched away up there now, transporting her food from far below, while I was expected to sit comfortably in the chair. I don't think I'm a selfish swine but there was nothing I could do about it.
And there were other little things. The neat pile of clothing laid out for me each morning; the clean, folded shirt and handkerchief and socks so different from the jumble of my bachelor days. And when I was late for meals, which was often, she served me with my food but instead of going off and doing something else she would down tools and sit watching me while I ate. It made me feel like a sultan.
It was this last trait which gave me a clue to her behaviour. I suddenly remembered that I had seen her sitting by Mr Alderson while he had a late meal; sitting in the same pose, one arm on the table, quietly watching him. And I realised I was reaping the benefit of her lifetime attitude to her father. Mild little man though he was she had catered gladly to his every wish in the happy acceptance that
line 20 the man of the house was number one; and the whole pattern was rubbing off on me now.
In fact it set me thinking about the big question of how girls might be expected to behave after marriage. One old farmer giving advice about choosing a wife once said: 'Have a blooming good look at the mother first, lad', and I'm sure he had a point. But if I may throw in my own little word of counsel it would have to be to have a passing glance at how she acts towards her father.
Watching her now as she got down and started to serve my breakfast the warm knowledge flowed through me as it did so often that my wife was the sort who just liked looking after a man and that I was so very lucky.
And I was certainly blooming under the treatment. A bit too much, in fact, and I was aware I shouldn't be attacking this plateful of porridge and cream; especially with all that material sizzling in the frying pan. Helen had brought with her to Skelton House a delicious dowry of fish, and these hung from the beams of the barn in an impressive array of cold-smoked kippers; a constant temptation. Some samples were in the pan now, and though I had never been one for large break! I did not object when she threw in a couple of large brown eggs for company.
1 After his marriage, the writer started to realise
A how badly prepared he was for marriage.
B that there were more benefits to it than he expected.
C that he had made a mistake.
D how deeply he loved his wife.
2 What was the writer reminded of at breakfast that morning?
A He could now afford new furniture.
B He no longer had to do anything for himself.
C He had no control over his wife's behaviour.
D His wife always considered his comfort before her own.
3 The writer suggests to us that, as an unmarried man, he
A often missed meals.
B had fewer clothes.
C was more untidy.
D usually ate alone.
4 What did the writer realise about Helen's relationship with her father?
A She often worried about him.
B She was very close to him.
C She was afraid of him.
D She respected him deeply.
5 What does the writer mean by 'and the whole pattern was rubbing off on me' in line 20?
A He was beginning to understand his wife's behaviour.
B Helen was now treating him as she had treated her father.
C He was becoming like his father-in-law.
D His wife's behaviour was beginning to annoy him.
6 How did the writer feel about the old farmer's advice?
A He partly agreed with it.
B It was unappreciated.
C He thought it was incorrect.
D He thought it was outdated.
7 What was Helen cooking?
A fish and eggs
B porridge and cream
C smoked meat
D a full English breakfast
8 All in all, what is the writer's attitude towards Helen?
A He is grateful for what she has brought into his life.
B He believes that she is changing his character for the better.
C He feels that he doesn't deserve her.
D He wishes she was less like her father.
PART 2
You are going to read an article about the world of advertising. Seven sentences have been removed from the article. Choose from the sentences A-H the one which fits each gap (9-15). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.
We take a look at some of the 'tricks of the trade' employed by the world of advertising in the battle for our
hearts, our minds and, most importantly, our cash.
The perfect world
A few years ago, a company called Space Marketing came up with a plan to send a mile-long advertisement into space. Using light reflected from the sun, it would beam out a message as large as the moon that could be seen by every single person on the planet as it orbited the Earth.
Needless to say, this would have been one advert that couldn't have been thrown out with the junk mail or switched off by remote control. 9… Advertising standards agencies eventually decided not to allow Space Marketing to go ahead with their plans and they were forced to abandon them, but not before several major companies had made serious enquiries about launching their logos into space.
Space may indeed be the final frontier for advertisers, because on Earth we are already surrounded by advertising wherever we are and whatever we are doing. 10… There are the promises of health and vitality on the cereal packet we ate from this morning, for example, and the ad that we saw on the side of the bus we caught to work. And what about the logos we see on the clothing of the people we walk past in the streets?
Most of the time, we are probably not even aware of these less obvious advertising tactics, but that doesn't mean that they aren't effective. 11… You are in a packed cinema, watching the latest Hollywood blockbuster. There are adverts before the film, there may even be adverts during a break in the film, but are there any during the film? Well, look carefully at the make of car your favourite actor is driving. And what about his watch? Can you see what brand it is? Chances are, you can, and the company that owns the brand is likely to have paid thousands for it to appear in the film.
Whilst products are most often 'placed' in this way in movies and TV series, they also sometimes appear in music videos, video games, plays and even books. 12… You may not realise you are being influenced by a technique that sounds so simple, but advertisers consider product placement to be a highly effective form of advertising. After all, they would not be willing to spend as much money as they do on it if they didn't truly believe it worked.
In fact, associating products with cool, exciting lives seems to be one of the most common forms of advertising. 13…
And let's not forget the power of pure entertainment! 14… If the consumers are looking forward to the next 'episode' of an ad, once again the product has become associated with something 'cool' and is therefore likely to see a considerable rise in popularity.
So, whether Space Marketing eventually succeeds in launching ads into space or not is perhaps a less important issue than it might seem. 15… Our everyday lives are already strongly influenced by advertising, whether we realise it or not.
A The hope is to convince people to believe that if they can have the products, then they can have the cool, happy lifestyles of their heroes, too.
B Apart from the obvious adverts that we see every day on TV, on billboards and in newspapers and magazines, there is a whole 'other world' of advertising messages fighting for our attention.
C However, this is a truly inescapable form of advertising.
D Nowadays, many TV adverts have become more like soap operas with a series of humorous adventures complete with their own cast.
E To a certain extent, this would not change a thing.
F To advertising executives and agencies, it would have been 'a dream come true'.
G Take 'product placement', for example.
H Some advertising companies even employ 'cool hunters' or marketing professionals to find out for them exactly what young people find cool.
PART 3
You are going to read a magazine article about people who go to music festivals. For questions 16-30, choose from the people (A-D). The people may be chosen more than once.
Which person
has had their opinion about a festival altered? 16…
doesn't leave as soon as the festival ends? 17…
appreciates the diversity of performers at the festival? 18…
is relieved at not having to stay overnight at the festival? 19…
finds a particular way an audience responds exciting? 20…
enjoys an event in which festival-goers take part, too? 21…
cannot buy festival tickets in advance? 22…
was impressed by an outstanding performance at a festival? 23…
does not need to buy a ticket to attend the festival? 24…
once didn't attend a festival event due to illness? 25…
has to make arrangements a long time ahead of the festival? 26…
first attended the festival by chance? 27…
is sometimes forced to miss the festival? 28…
boasts about a family member's performance skills? 29…
particularly likes the fact that the festival is a sociable event? 30…
Summer Music Festivals
A
Nick Hendon has been going to the Cambridge Folk Festival for over twenty years. "Our house is barely a stone's throw from Cherry Hinton Hall, where the festival is held, so I don't have to put up with staying in a mud-filled tent for the weekend, British summers often being rather damp," he jokes. At first, he used to go with friends from university but now that he is married with two children, it has become an annual family event. "Both Sarah and I are avid folk music fans and the kids really enjoy the party atmosphere of the festival and the fact that they can run wild," he explains. The festival isn't just strictly folk music though, and a wide variety of artists perform. Nick likes to think that the word 'folk' actual...
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