PRACTICE LESSON 4 READING COMPREHENSION Part 1 Multiple choice questions You are going to read an extract from a short

t story. For questions 1-8, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text. The Swede, his face fresh from the pounding of Johnnies fist, made his way through the wind and snow to a saloon near the centre of the town. There was a long bar down one side with a bartender behind it. Four men sat at one of the tables. The Swede put his bag on the floor, asked for some whisky, and drank it quickly. The bartender mentioned the bad weather outside, but the Swede replied that he liked it, it suited him. He drank more whisky, then offered the bartender a drink. The bartender declined, but now felt comfortable enough to ask about the Swedes face. The Swede began to boast loudly: I thumped the soul out of a man down here at Sallys hotel. The interest of the four men at the table was aroused. Who was it? said one. Johnnie Sully, blustered the Swede. He will be pretty near dead for some weeks, I can tell you. I made a nice thing of him, I did. He couldnt get up. They carried him into the house. Have a drink? The men all felt a sudden reserve toward the Swede. No, thanks, one said. The group was made up of two local businessmen, a lawyer, and a gambler. The gambler was with this group because he was respected and trusted. He only took money people who had it, he had a nice family, and he never acted in an undignified way. The Swede continued to drink and brag about his fight. He tried to get the bartender to have a drink with him, but the bartender declined. When he asked the men at the table to drink, the bartender tried to quiet him. The men at the table heard all of this. Thanks. We dont want any more, one said. The Swede became belligerent. He demanded someone to drink with him. He walked to the table and put his hand on the gamblers shoulder. How about this? he asked, wrathfully. I asked you to drink with me. The gambler simply twisted his head and spoke over his shoulder. My friend, I dont know you. Oh hell! answered the Swede, come and have a drink. Now my boy, advised the gambler kindly, take your hand off my shoulder and go away and mind your own business. What? You wont drink with me, you little dude! Ill make you then! The Swede had grasped the gambler frenziedly at the throat, and was dragging him from his chair. The other men sprang up. The bartender dashed around the corner of his bar. There was a great confusion, then was seen a long blade in the hand of the gambler. It shot forward, and the Swede fell with a cry of supreme astonishment. The merchants and the lawyer ran out. The bartender looked astonished. Henry, the gambler said to the bartender, you tellem where to find me. Ill be home waiting forem. Then he vanished. A moment afterwards the barkeeper was in the street looking for help.

1. What was wrong with the Swedes face? A. It had been punched many times B. It was freezing cold. C. It looked like Johnnies fist. D. It looked like he needed a whisky. 2.Why did the men feel reserved towards the Swede? A. They didnt want to drink with him. B. They didnt like his attitude. C. They were gambling. D. The bartender gave them a signal.

3. Why was the gambler with such prominent people? A. They regarded him highly. B. They were playing cards. C. They were there on business. D. They were afraid of him.

4. Why did the bartender try to quiet the Swede when he yelled at the men? A. The Swede was carrying a knife. B. He knew the men didnt drink. C. He wantedto avoid trouble. D. They were discussing business.

5. How did the gambler respond to the Swede putting his hand on his shoulder? A. He was wild with anger. B. He didnt feel it right away. C. He was afraid. D. He was calm. 6. Why did the Swede become angry? A. The men were ignoring him. B. The barman annoyed him. C. He hated people who didnt drink. D. He felt rejected by the men.

7. Why did the merchants and the lawyer run away? A. The gambler told them to. B. They were afraid. C. They went to get help. D. They were chasing the gambler.

8. Who was the gambler referring to when he said: Ill be at home waiting forem? A. The authorities. B. The merchants and the lawyer. C. His family. D. Johnnie Sully (From Practice Exam Papers by Virginia Evans, 1998)

Part 2 Gapped text

Read the text , then match sentences A-H with gaps 1-7. There is one extra sentence. Stand up Comedian: How To Prevent Hecklers

(1) You're in the spotlight, holding a mic, and the audience before you sits, engaged, in the dark. You just finished a joke. "I've been asking this girl out for a long time, so yesterday she finally said yes. But then I realized she's now too old for me". Moments later, out of the darkness before you, a man shouts "You're a stalker!" Oh no, a heckler! You decide to ignore him. Then you hear another shout out. "You stalk old ladies". (2) What do you do? Ignore him? Shout back? Apologize? Cry on stage? Here are some tips to follow so you can entertain the audience while getting rid of the annoyance. Stay professional and don't get angry or be rude to the heckler. He's obviously a jerk, so don't become one as well. The audience has paid for an entertaining show, not a fight. Michael Richards, best known for his character of Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld, did a horrible job of handling a heckler in November of 2006. (3) Some members of the audience were heckling Richards, and he called them jerks, then called the Black hecklers racist names and made references to lynching. All of this was caught on a cell phone video and of course released to the world. Richards not only lost

favor with his audience, but he came out looking like the villain, inappropriately handling the hecklers. (4) Have a few anti-heckler lines in your pocket. For example, after you were heckled, you could have shouted back "Your mother didn't mind being stalked" or "Your wife called me the same thing". Have a few general lines ready for your routine, just in case. Many hecklers are satisfied when they get a line fed back to them, and they feel like part of the show. (5) If the heckler continues, take it up a notch. Start conversing with the heckler and winning him over as a friend. You might start with "...so, what do you do for a living?" He'll say, "I'm an insurance salesman". "Where's your office", you respond. "Downtown Los Angeles", he says. What's the address?" "Why" "I thought I'd drop in and bother you at your job. See how you like it". At this point, the audience is on your side and might applaud. Everyone can understand not wanting to be interrupted at work. Keep in mind that this dialogue is taking away from your time on stage. So keep it brief. Sometimes you may get into some edgy argument with the heckler and it looks like he might beat you. (6) If a heckler throws something at me, and it sounds like the game's over and I just got fried, I have a standard line I use that works EVERYTIME. I say, "You know it might look like I don't have a comeback, but if I wanted my comeback I'd wipe it off your mom's face!" Nobody I have ever met has been able to come back from that. (7) After a couple minutes, it gets old, and you're using up your time on stage. The audience is there to hear you, not some dumb drunk. So if the heckler keeps shouting at you, simply say. "I'm gonna continue with my work, and I hope I don't hear from you again.' Now you've drawn a line in the sand. At this point, the audience may even applaud again. The show with the drunk is over. The heckler is now seen as a provocateur that can either shut up...or risk getting thrown out. (Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Logan_Parker )

A. The incident made world headlines, calling Richards a racist. B. Don't let that happen, you must control the situation you can do this with what I call, a Heckler destroyer. C. Just remember, having a dialogue with a heckler is entertaining to the audience, only for a while. D. Picture yourself performing on stage at a club. E. This was the infamous incident at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood that was seen around the world.

F. A drunken heckler is interrupting your set. G. Not all hecklers are that easily dismissed. H. These people may or may not have talent (more often the latter if the truth be known). Part 3 Multiple matching For questions 1-15, choose from the cities(A-H). Some of the cities may be chosen more than once. When more than one answer is required, these may be given in any order. There is an example at the beginning. (0). For answers 14 and 15 choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text. Which city or cities would you recommend for someone who: is interested in Greek culture? (0) B enjoys English drama? (1) has an interest in international foods? (2) enjoys fairy tales? (3) likes jazz? (4) likes opera? (5) (6) enjoys the theatre? (7) (8) likes large crowds? (9) (10) wants a large choice of performances to attend? (11) (12) appreciates perfect acoustics? (13) wants to see something performed in that place for the first time? (14) is interested in the visual arts? (15)

European Festivals A. Edinburgh Venues through Edinburgh. The Edinburgh Festival. The 48th festival begins on 14 August and the programme includes 587 groups from 36 countries giving an outstanding 13,415 performances. The choice on offer ranges from Shakespeare through comedy, music, dance and theatre to 78 exhibitions. The entertainment is held at a variety of venues from conventional theatres to a swimming pool. Until 3 September. B. Epidavros Ancient theatre of Epidavros, in the Peloponnese, west of Athens. The Epidavros Festival. As a part of the festival the Karolos Koun Art Theatre will perform production of Plutus by Aristophanes, directed by Mimis Kougioumzis on 13 and 14 August. The theatre, built by Polyclitus the Younger in the 3rd century BC, is famed for its perfect acoustics. C. Glasgow Mclellan Galleries, 270 Sauchiehall Street, David Hockneys Fairy Tales. A touring exhibition of drawings by David Hockney which illustrate the six fairy tales by The Brothers Grimm. Rather than interpret the stories as they are told, Hockney has chosen details to suggest moods and incidents, and some of the images were inspired by old masters such as Leonardo da Vinci. Some of the tales, such as Rapunzel or Rumpelstiltskin, are familiar, while old Rinkrank and The Little Sea Hare are less well known. Until 16 October. D. Innsbruck Venues throughout Innsbruck. Insbruck Festival of Old Music. The festival weeks offer baroque opera and concerts played on original instruments. This is the first year that the festival has included stage versions of German baroque opera. Until 27 August.

E. Malmo Venues through Malmo. Malmo Festival. The programme includes the worlds largest dragon boat competition, international cuisine, music, dance, performing artists and attempts on the crayfish eating record. 14-16 August. F. Marciac Through the streets of Marciac, in southwest France. Jazz in Marciac. International gather in this 13th century walled town for a week of solid jazz. the concerts are mostly held in the open air of a towns streets - sometimes spontaneously- or in large marquees. Up to 5000 people have been known to gather each evening. Until 15 August. G. San Sebastian Venues throughout San Sebastian.Quincena Musical. This is a large festival with an extensive programme. Visitors can choose from opera, ballet, orchestral concerts, church concerts, chamber music and recitals. This years highlights include Bizets Carmen on 15, 17, 19 August and flamenco ballet on 21, 22 August and music of the 20th century during 22-26 August. Many of the orchestra concerts and opera and ballet are held in the magnificent Victoria Eugenie theatre. Until 31 August. H. Vaxjo Venue throughout Vaxjo, Kronobergs, Sweden. Karl-Oscar Festival. This annual event celeberates Swedish emigration to America, and other connection between these two countries. There are large gatherings in the streets, market stalls, music, dancing and the event concludes with special celebrations including processions, on Minnesota Day, 14 August. (from Practice Exam Papers by Virginia Evans, 1998)

WRITING A fan letter Task 1 Fill in the gaps with the given words: introducing yourself, language, stalker, first names, salutation, punctuation, Dear, readable Writing a fan letter can be a good way to get some practice in writing. You can really motivate people to write fan letters, to someone that they're really interested in, and really admire, so this could be a good project for a student to do. You want to write your fan letter in the appropriate letter writing format, so you begin with (1) , and then the name of the person. If it's an older adult, or an adult, usually using the proper title, such as Mr. or Ms., is more appropriate and a last name. If it's someone who is more of a peer, then using (2)

is fine, and use a comma after the address,

after the (3) , and then begin the letter by stating why you're writing. Whether it's to express thanks for their work, or just to say, give them a specific compliment, or you can start by (4)

, saying a little bit about who you are, and why you're writing. Be sure to include

language that's, use proper (5) . Don't use bad grammar, and be sure to use complete sentences, in your fan letter. This just makes it more readable. It shows respect for the reader, so even if it's a fairly casual letter that you're writing, be sure to proofread it and edit it, so that it's (6) , and easy for the person to access. Now, you also want to be careful about being perceived as a (7) , so just try to pay attention to the kinds of things that you're saying in your fan letter, so that it doesn't feel invasive in any way to the reader, so just to sum it up, write a letter using proper English, and spelling, and (8) . Express your reason for writing and say a little bit about yourself, and be sure not to overstep boundaries. Those are some ideas about how to write a fan letter.

Partially correct Marks for this submission: 6/8. Task 2 - A fan letter You simply adore an actor or an actress and you have seen all his/ her films. Write a fan letter to him/ her mentioning how much you admire him/ her and asking him/ her to send you a photo with an autograph. Answer: Dear Leo, I write you to know that I'm one of the manu fans you have in the all world. I didn't like your performance from the start because everybody was in love with that year when TITANIC had the premiere. Another movie which I enjoyed was Blood Diamonds

USE OF ENGLISH Part 1 Multiple choice cloze

For questions 1-12, 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). There is an example at the beginning: (0) in (0)A) atB) inC) onD) to

There is a monster (0) the left corner of my living room. It (1) the happiness of our home. For, without (2), the monster is trying to win my three-year-old daughters love. It is, of course, the television set. In recent weeks, I have noted that her happy greetings of Daddy, daddy have been almost (3) replaced by demands for My telly, my telly. Worse, like many children of that age, she is discovering that she can switch on the TV herself. Toys, teddy bears and even ice cream have become (4) interesting than the god in the corner. She watches anything that appears on the screen. Thats why I was so interested in learning about Professor Junger s research work. She has (5) completed a two-year study with the conclusion that the machine age has truly taken (6) our childrens lives. them She tested 187 children in five schools (ages three to six) and discovered that 38 per cent of (7) said they preferred the television to their fathers.

The tests were cleverly constructed so that the (8) question of the study would not be known. For instance, the children were also asked: do you preferdogs and cats? The fact that television has so (9) attraction for children (10) both parents and teachers. What should (11) do? Sell the television? Or just hope that the child will become interested (12) some other things too?

Part 2 Open cloze

Read the text below and think of the word which best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0).

Before the railway was invented (0) people travelled by stagecoaches. If often happened (1) highwaymen held up the passengers and robbed them of their possessions. One of the journeys there (2)

an old gentleman who said he had ten guineas in his pocket and

did not know where to hide them. A lady sitting (3) boots which he did.

to him advised him to put them in his

Shortly afterwards a highwayman forced the coach to stop (4) passengers. The lady (5)

demanded the purses of the

him that she had no money, but the gentleman sitting next to her (6)

some money in his boots. The unfortunate traveller was obliged to take (7)

his boots,

and sure enough, the highwayman found the money. (8)

the robber had gone on his way , the gentleman turned on the lady and reproached her with

her treachery, saying that she (9)

have known the thief.

It must seem like that to you, she replied, but the truth of the matter is this. I have several thousand pounds in banknotes in my bag. If I had not drawn the highwaymans (10) guineas, he would (11)

to your ten

found my money. As it is, I beg you to accept these hundred guineas in

compensation for your loss and your humiliation. At first the gentleman refused to take the money, but then realizing (12) she did, he was impressed with her generosity and presence of mind.

the lady had actedas

Part 3 Word formation

Read the text below. Use the word given in capitals at the end of some of the lines to form a word that fits in the gap in the same line. There is an example at the beginning (0). Example: (0) LIVING

Prague is a music-lovers dream, where the sounds of Mozart come drifting from every corner of the city. Its also a (0) living, LIVE (1) (2)

fairy tale with its cobbled streets, Gothic spires, BREATH faades, and a magnificent hilltop castle presiding over it all. FANCY

The Prague Spring Festival is one of the most (3) festivals. In supremely beautiful (4)

of European music FAME

, from lavish castle ballrooms to verdant SET

royal gardens, it stages a range of international as well as Czech (5) In (6)

PERFORM

to enjoying concerts in private halls that are open only for ADD

special performances, you will get to know this magical city through (7)

walking tours, one focusing on the history of Prague, PERSON

and another on Pragues (8)

heritage. MUSIC

Our accommodation for the week is a historic, (9)

restored inn RECENT

close to the Charles Bridge, in our favourite part of the city picturesque and (10)

little Venice.PEACE

The hotel rooms provide views of Charles Bridge, (11) or the river, immortalized by Smetana in his (12)

Lesser Town, COLOUR poem, "Vltava."SYMPHONY

Part 4 Key word transformation

Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first one, using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between two and five words, including the word given 1. How long have they been married?GET When

married?

2. Mary is visiting us tonight.COMING Mary

tonight.

3. She will have finished by noon.UNTIL She

noon.

4. It took them two hours to get home.SPENT They

home.

5. I can hardly wait to get there. FORWARD I

there.

6. Peter doesnt play handball anymore.USED Peter

handball.

7. She last called me two days ago.HAS She

two days.

8. When did you leave your last job?SINCE How long

your last job?

9. He proved to be a villain. TURNED He

villain.

10. He hasnt drunk alcohol for two months.GAVE He

two months ago.

Partially correct Marks for this submission: 28/47.