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Variant 9.
SECTION 1. Listening (15 minutes)
Listen to five people talking about social media. Complete the sentences with
one word.
1. Amy admits that she probably ____________quite a lot of time every day on
social networking sites.
2. Brian mentions that it’s ______________ to communicate online.
3. Carol believes that people will soon
move on to another way of
______________with each other.
4. David writes reviews of things he has seen at the ____________ or the cinema
or concerts.
5. Emma uses social media to keep in touch with her cousins who live
_____________
ANSWERS FOR THE LISTENING
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
SECTION 2. Reading (30 minutes)
Part 1.
Read a teenager called Jim’s blog about moving away from the city to live in
the countryside. For each question, choose the best answer, a or b.
A year ago, just before the summer holidays, my parents
announced that they were
planning to move out of the city to live in the countryside. They said they were
tired of their stressful lives in the city, and the high prices. My mother’s a writer,
so if there’s
an internet connection, she can work wherever she is. My father’s a
musician, so it isn’t that simple for him, but he explained that he hoped he could
find work locally, teaching children to play the piano and the guitar.
Well, the news
was completely unexpected, and of course my sister and I weren’t
interested in hearing about all the advantages of being out of the city – the open
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spaces, the wildlife, enjoying the changing seasons, no pollution, all that sort of
thing. We didn’t want to leave our friends, or all the facilities available to us. My
sister’s mad about skateboarding, and we both suddenly realised
that our school
wasn’t too bad, despite all the homework!
Instead of listening to us and changing their minds, my parents insisted that it was
a great idea. According to them, we were young enough to handle such a big
change in
our lives fairly easily, and they said they had dreamed of doing this for
years. Even worse, they told us they had found a big house in a small village, and
that they were selling the flat we lived in so they could buy it. My sister and I
imagined it must be a ruin. After all, how could we possibly afford a big house?
But actually, we could, because houses are reasonably cheap in the countryside
compared to
those in the city, and when they showed us pictures of it online, we
saw that, in fact, it looked pretty nice.
A month later, here we all are, in a tiny village thirty kilometres from the nearest
town. We’ll have to get up early to catch a bus to school when the new term starts,
which I’m definitely not looking forward to. My sister’s taken up mountain biking
with
some of the local kids, so she’s happy. I still miss my friends, but some of
them are coming to stay next week, and I’ve made some new ones, too. One of
them’s
into making animated films, and I’ve discovered that’s really interesting.
Who knows, maybe I’ll be a famous film-maker one day!
1. Why had Jim’s parents decided to leave the city?
a) They wanted to feel less worried and more relaxed.
b) They couldn’t afford to live there any longer.
c) The jobs they did had changed.
2. How did Jim feel about moving?
a) surprised his parents hadn’t asked him what he thought about it
b) worried about the way his life would change
c) grateful for the chance to go to a different school
3. Jim’s parents said that
Jim and his sister were
a) able to deal with the move.
b) right to be excited about the future.
c) lucky to have this opportunity.
4. What does Jim say about their new house?
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a) It was older than their flat in the city.
b) It was better than he had expected.
c) It was extremely expensive.
5. What is Jim pleased about now?
a) He has found a new hobby.
b) He lives fairly near his new school.
c) He is going to visit his old friends soon.
