United Nations Language Proficiency Examination ENGLISH, Assignments of English Language

Download United Nations Language Proficiency Examination ENGLISH and more Assignments English Language in PDF only on Docsity! 1 Test Site Number ____________ Candidate Number ___________ United Nations Language Proficiency Examination ENGLISH (Practice Examination) Total time: 3 hours, 10 minutes Part II Suggested time II. Listening Comprehension (25 points) 40 minutes Ill. Reading Comprehension (30 points) 60 minutes IV. Vocabulary (10 points) 15 minutes V. Grammar (15 points) 25 minutes ES97BOOK 2 II. LISTENING COMPREHENSION (Approximate time: 40 minutes) (25 points) A. Dialogues In this part of the Listening Comprehension test you will hear five dialogues. You will hear each dialogue twice. After the second reading, the question will be read once. After you hear the question, mark your answer immediately. 1. The reason for the party is to celebrate ____________. (a) a birthday (b) a promotion (c) an anniversary (d) a victory 2. What does the woman find out about her leave? (a) She has lost several of her vacation days. (b) The record of her vacation days is wrong. (c) She has to take her vacation before January. (d) No one can take vacation leave in June. 3. What advice does the woman give? (a) Ask the superintendent about other apartments in the neighbourhood. (b) Ask the superintendent if he could lower the price of the rent. (c) Offer to give the superintendent some extra money for himself. (d) Forget about trying to find a large apartment in the city. 4. The woman in this conversation ____________. (a) asks the man to buy her a newspaper (b) does not need anything from the grocery (c) likes to shop for groceries by herself (d) thinks the man may spend too much money 5. The woman ____________. (a) thought that the man was acting too seriously (b) spilled coffee on the man's desk (c) told the man a very funny joke (d) brought the man a cup of coffee 5 C. News Items In this part of the Listening Comprehension test you will hear five news items. Each item will be followed by one question. You will hear each news item twice. After the second reading, the question will be read once. After you hear the question, mark your answer immediately. Be sure to begin with number 16 on your answer sheet. 16. How do scientists on Dr. Mortimer's research team explain their findings? (a) Mountain air is healthier than sea air. (b) People living at high altitudes are generally harder workers. (c) It is easier for people with heart conditions to live in thin air. (d) People living at high altitudes have to exert themselves more. 17. According to the news bulletin, what have doctors at Columbia University discovered? (a) Elegant living is rapidly becoming a serious health risk. (b) Excessive wine drinking led to the fall of the Roman Empire. (c) Lead crystal wine bottles may make the wine in them poisonous. (d) Port wine is seen as less elegant when served in lead crystal. 18. According to Professor Schwartz, why do so many women choose to retain their maiden names nowadays? (a) Only anti-feminists would be in favour of women taking their husbands' surnames. (b) Women may wish to keep their own names for professional reasons. (c) Women are less reluctant to get divorced nowadays. (d) Women may be reluctant to change their names for fear of appearing to be anti- establishment. 19. According to this report, which of the following statements is true? (a) Even “unleaded” petrol releases lead through a car's exhaust. (b) Cars that run on benzene need special filters on their exhaust. (c) Special filters have mistakenly been removed from many cars. (d) Cars using unleaded petrol should be fitted with special filters. 20. According to this news item, chronic gambling ____________. (a) is curable if treated with a series of appropriate drugs (b) can be cured through therapies that control impulses (c) may have a biological rather than a psychological basis (d) is often associated with alcoholism and drug addiction 6 D. Interview You will hear the following interview twice. First, you will hear the entire interview without interruption. The second time, the interview will be divided into two parts with questions following each part. Each question will be read once. After you hear a question, mark your answer immediately. 21. What does current research with the substance interferon seem to indicate about its usefulness in treating colds? (a) Interferon may have the effect of making those colds which do occur less severe. (b) Interferon appears to be of little real use in the prevention of the common cold. (c) Interferon may be the key to eliminating the common cold once and for all. (d) Interferon appears to eliminate cold symptoms without affecting the cold itself. 22. According to Dr. Jordan, what is one of the reasons why doing research on remedies for the common cold is so difficult? (a) The actual cause of the common cold has not yet been determined. (b) Adequate funding for research on the cold is no longer available. (c) Pharmaceutical companies stand to lose money if a cure is found. (d) Animals cannot be used in the research because they do not catch colds. 23. According to Dr. Jordan, which of the following is medically effective in treating a cold? (a) bed rest (b) antihistamines (c) lemon and honey (d) nothing 24. Who among the following would probably get the most colds in a single year? (a) a young boy (b) a young girl (c) a middle-aged man (d) a middle-aged woman 25. What possible explanation does Dr. Jordan give for the fact that people get more colds in the winter season and the rainy season? (a) People are more likely to be cold or wet during these seasons. (b) People tend to stay indoors and, therefore, in closer contact. (c) Viruses tend to multiply more rapidly in cold, damp conditions. (d) People's resistance seems to be lower during these seasons. 7 III. READING COMPREHENSION (Suggested time: 60 minutes) (30 points) A. Passages Read the following seven passages carefully. Select the response to the comprehension questions which most accurately agrees with what you have read. Mark your answers on your answer sheet. Begin with number 26. Passage 1 The potato, like other root crops, has an unearned reputation in some countries as an inferior food, or a poor person's staple. While roots are the main ingredient of the diet of half a million people, the potato's nutritive content of protein, fiber, minerals, and vitamins Bl, B2 and C hardly makes it inferior. Medical researchers report that potatoes are even better than milk for malnourished children, who often cannot digest milk. Potatoes provide a high-quality protein similar to that in dairy products. Unfortunately, the potato is still out of reach of a poor person's budget in many developing countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines. 26. According to this passage, why might potatoes be better than milk for children who are improperly nourished? (a) Potatoes contain quite a bit of calcium. (b) Potatoes have more B vitamins than milk. (c) These children often cannot assimilate milk. (d) These children often cannot find a supply. 27. The potato ____________. (a) does not deserve its bad reputation (b) is the main food for half a million people (c) is not available in many developing countries (d) can hardly be called nutritious Passage 2 "Anting" is a noun that is entering the language because of ornithologists, or bird watchers. Anting refers to an activity in which birds rub themselves with defence fluids or, sometimes, other bodily fluids of ants. In the past scientists thought anting had no function and that it was a vice like smoking or drinking. However, most ornithologists now think that birds use ant fluids to kill parasites. Among those ants that birds favour are the Azteca ants, which produce formic acid, a repellent so effective that it will drive off army ants. Birds often crash dive into Azteca nests and allow the insects to crawl all over their bodies, or they grasp them in their beaks and rub them through their feathers. The birds get such relief from their treatment that some appear to swoon and even lose their balance. 28. “Anting” ____________. (a) is an activity unique to bird watchers (b) refers to the killing of Azteca ants by parasites (c) is a relatively new word in the English language (d) refers to the way ants defend themselves 10 Passage 6 A long time back a reviewer ridiculed William Carlos Williams for saying one reason a poet wrote was to become a better person. I was fresh out of graduate school and I easily sided with the reviewer. But now I see Williams was right. I do not think Williams was advocating writing as therapy, nor the naïve idea that after writing a poem one is less depraved. I believe Williams discovered that a lifetime of writing was a slow, accumulative way of accepting one’s life as valid. We sweat through poem after poem to realize what dumb animals know by instinct and reveal in their behaviour: my life is all I have got. We are off to know ourselves, even if our method of learning is painfully convoluted. When you write you are momentarily telling the world and yourself that neither of you need any reason to be but the one you had all along. 34. The author of this passage has come to realize the value of writing as ____________. (a) a means of coming to terms with your existence (b) an efficient way of understanding your true feelings (c) an aid to help you better understand your world (d) a potential therapy for your instinctive behaviour Passage 7 There is a special kind of person who is more likely than most to take the first step to help and to stay with the effort to the end: the altruist. According to Dr. Staub, "There is a pattern of child-rearing that seems to encourage altruism in later years. A warm and nurturing relationship between parent and child is essential, but not enough in itself. The parents who transmit altruism most effectively exert a firm control over their children. Although they are nurturing, they are not permissive. They use a combination of firmness, warmth and reasoning. They point out to children the consequences to others of misbehaviour - and good behaviour. And they actively guide the child to do good, to share, to be helpful." 35. This passage suggests that some adults have become altruists because their parents ____________. (a) taught them to feel sorry for the less fortunate (b) encouraged them in later years (c) were not only encouraging but also strict (d) taught them that misbehaviour deserves punishment 11 B. Texts In this section of the reading test, you will read two texts several paragraphs in length. Each text is followed by five comprehension questions. Mark your answer to each question on your answer sheet. Text A 1. To many developing countries, tourism has appeared to be a bonanza, a source of precious foreign exchange, a stimulant to foreign investment in splendid hotels and a creator of employment in service industries. Now there are many second thoughts as the real cost in economic distortion and pollution of the social environment is totalled up. 2. The, distortion arises from land speculation in tourist areas, inflation of land values in principal cities and the unbalanced development that caters to the requirements of pleasure seekers from abroad as much as to the needs of the indigenous people. Roads, water supply and telecommunications are often designed with tourism primarily in mind. One critic estimates that infrastructural expenses of this kind, plus imports of luxury items to create creature comforts for visitors, consume more than two thirds of the foreign exchange derived from tourism. 3. But such economic costs may well be less than the psycho-social impact. At a recent international conference, the mischief wrought by the tourist industry was frequently referred to as catastrophic, especially in those areas described in travel folders as “upspoilt paradises”. The conferees agreed that all too often travel does not heighten understanding between peoples of different cultures but intensifies prejudices on both sides and, among the host people, creates imitation, frustration, loss of traditional authenticity, commercialized hospitality and xenophobia. 4. This process has of course been observed before now, but it has been vastly accelerated by the speed, convenience and reach of the jet plane and by the economic feasibility of travel for masses of people. In Africa, for example, tourism is the most rapidly developing industry, with annual growth rates of 20 to 40 per cent in some countries. Moreover, the predominance of the packaged tour virtually precludes any real contact with local people and presents the traveller, not as an individual fellow human, but as a member of a closed party. 5. Though developing countries may be the most vulnerable, no country is immune. This year it is expected that visitors to one small Mediterranean country will outnumber the country's total population. To accommodate them, the most beautiful parts of the country's coast have been converted into tawdry vacationlands which create monumental pollution. So pervasive are the tourists there that the natives often feel like strangers in their own land. Though it may be too late to save this country, is there anything that can be done for areas where the numbers are not yet so great? Better education of both tourists and hosts seems the only hope. Now mark the one phrase which best completes the statement in the multiple-choice questions which follow. Be sure to begin with number 36 on your answer sheet. 12 36. According to the author of the text, tourism in developing countries ____________. (a) has been an invaluable stimulant to economic development (b) may not be as economically beneficial as was originally hoped (c) has had greater economic costs than psycho-social impact (d) has become a total social and economic disaster for all concerned 37. The development stimulated by tourism ____________. (a) has often not directly benefited the native inhabitants (b) has not produced any foreign revenue for the host countries (c) has not improved the infrastructure in most countries (d) has all been concentrated in the capital cities 38. Participants in a recent conference on tourism expressed the belief that __________. (a) places described as “unspoilt paradises” are not the best areas for tourists (b) the lack of hospitality from host country people causes frustration in tourists (c) the economic costs of tourism are probably less than critics imply (d) tourism does little to improve understanding between people of different countries 39. The author feels that the undesirable aspects of tourism ____________. (a) are the biggest problem developing countries currently face (b) have been aggravated by too much contact between tourists and local people (c) have been aggravated by the widespread availability of travel opportunities (d) can no longer be overcome by most of the Mediterranean countries 40. The author says that people in one Mediterranean country ____________. (a) have found their monuments to be polluted (b) are apt to be outnumbered by tourists (c) have frequently had to move to arid vacationlands (d) have found themselves outnumbering tourists 15 IV. VOCABULARY (Suggested time: 15 minutes) (10 points) The following section contains 10 questions. Select the one word or group of words that best completes each sentence. Be sure to begin with number 46 on your answer sheet. 46. The resolution was adopted for three ____________ reasons. (a) compelling (c) corrosive (b) concentrate (d) covetous 47. It is ____________ that she reach the capital with the prisoner's pardon. (a) unimportant (c) haphazard (b) imperative (d) fortunate 48. Because they did not want him to succeed, they made every effort to ________ his plans. (a) pursue (c) prevent (b) flaunt (d) thwart 49. John brought all the ____________ he needed for the camping trip. (a) glare (c) gore (b) gear (d) gleam 50. Several members of the department ____________ her statement. (a) reformed (c) verified (b) signified (d) informed 51. I strongly resent your last comment. Kindly ____________ it. (a ) take back (c) remove (b) withdraw (d) recall 52. The development of microprocessors represents a great technological ____________. (a) break-out (c) break-up (b) breakdown (d) breakthrough 53. She appeared to be ____________ with troubles. (a) burdened (c) lauded (b) buoyant (d) lucid 16 54. The woman was shocked by the _______________ details of the crime. (a) simple (c) unaffected (b) pompous (d) lurid 55. This contract is _______________; on no account can it be breached. (a) defining (c) tying (b) fastening (d) binding The following section contains 10 questions. Select the one word which is closest in meaninq to the word underlined in the given sentence. Be sure to begin with number 56 on your answer sheet. 56. It is important that our organization help to defray the cost of the operation. (a) uncover (c) offset (b) deter (d) determine 57. When we reached the evacuation centre, the area was ablaze. (a) cleared out (c) in distress (b) on fire (d) built up 58. The report was concerned with the prospects of outer space exploration. (a) difficulties (c) possibilities (b) costs (d) goals 59. He is one of the most emulated photographers. (a) admired (c) studied (b) rewarded (d) copied 60. Susan paid the delivery man grudgingly. (a) unwillingly (c) dejectedly (b) generously (d) quickly 61. The doctors in the emergency room are known to be callous. (a) friendly (c) insensitive (b) concerned (d) methodical 62. This programme has resulted in greater prosperity for the farmers of the region. (a) adversity (c) appreciation (b) affluence (d) autonomy 17 63. Were the diplomat's answers candid? (a) planned (c) silly (b) honest (d) convincing 64. His report is justly famous for its approach to pollution. (a) simply (c) only (b) recently (d) rightly 65. The minister withstood all objections to the proposal. (a) denied (c) answered (b) resisted (d) excused V. GRAMMAR (Suggested time: 25 minutes) (15 points) In each of the following items select the one word or phrase that best completes the sentence. Be sure to begin with number 66 on your answer sheet. 66. He wondered ____________. (a) why did she persist in making the error (b) why she persisted in making the error (c) why did she persist to make the error (d) why she persisted to make the error 67. A: "How many weeks have passed since the committee last ____________?" B: "I think it's been about three weeks." (a) has met (c) met (b) had met (d) has been met 68. A: "Has the secretary finished typing the report?" B: "I ____________, but I'll ask." (a) doubt it (c) don't think it (b) doubt so (d) don't believe it 69. Due ____________ a shortage of textbooks, not everyone got a copy. (a) of (c) at (b) to (d) from 70. Tony ____________ his car painted just before he wrecked it. (a) has had (c) has have (b) had had (d) had have