Name ____________________________

Class ____________________________

4 Grammar, Vocabulary, and Pronunciation

GRAMMAR
1 Complete the sentences with the correct word(s).
Example: As far as meals are concerned, were planning on bringing our own food.
concern are concerned concerned
1 On the one hand, we need the rain for our garden to grow. On ________ hand, we want
to sit in the garden and enjoy the sunshine!
other the other another
2 Please be on time for the bus. ________ youll make everyone late for the concert.
Other Other words Otherwise
3 ________ you dont really like your new job.
Obvious to me Obviously Obvious
4 I dont understand the instructions for getting to the show. ________, I dont even want
to go.
Its beside Beside Besides
5 Jules is coming for the weekend. ________ shes leaving her job to start her own
business, and she wants your advice.
Incidentally By incident Incident
6 A Do you like cricket?
B As ________ of fact, I love it.
matters if it mattered a matter
7 I think you should take the day off tomorrow. ________, your brother doesnt visit very
often.
After all After Its after
8 Its going to rain tomorrow, or ________ thats what the forecast said.
least at least leastly
8

2 Underline the correct word(s).

Example: Can I borrow / borrowed 20 euros until tomorrow as long as you dont need it?
1
2
3
4

Provided Mel brought / brings his guitar tomorrow, were going to have a sing-along.
If we have / had two more people, wed have enough to play a proper football match.
I would phone / have phoned to say I was going to be late if I hadnt lost my mobile.
Supposed / Supposing you got lost and couldnt find your way home. What would you
do?
5 Had I known it was your birthday, I would have made / made a cake.
6 Ill tell you everything as long as you will promise / promise not to laugh at me.
6
6

3 Complete the sentences with the gerund or the infinitive form of the verbs in
brackets.
Example: Id like you to phone (phone) my office and tell them Im ill.
1 I would hate him ________ (think) Im not interested in his project.
2 He dislikes people ________ (make) noise while hes studying.

Name ____________________________
Class ____________________________

4 Grammar, Vocabulary, and Pronunciation

3
4
5
6
6

Hes waiting for his train ________ (arrive).

My uncle advised me ________ (visit) Italy before the weather gets too hot.
Theyd better not keep me ________ (wait). Im too busy to waste time sitting here.
Please let me ________ (come) with you. I am bored all on my own.

6
Grammar total

20

VOCABULARY
4 Complete the words in the sentences.
Example: A civilian is someone who is not a member of the armed forces or the police
1
2
3
4
5
6

A s________ shoots at people from a hidden position.

A r________ is a sudden, illegal, often violent change of government.
A t________ is a formal agreement between two or more countries.
R________ are people who are forced to leave their home because there is a war.
A person who has been injured in a war is called a c________.
A c________ is when two armies agree to stop fighting temporarily.
6

5 Complete the sentences with the correct word(s).

Example: In the past, warriors used bows to shoot arrows at the enemy.
bullets bows shields
1 The soldier held his ________ tightly as he ran across the field shooting.
cannon machine gun missile
2 The tribe defended their village in the jungle by throwing ________ at the boats of the
soldiers as they came up the river.
sieges troops spears
3 The rebels ________ the bridge to stop the soldiers from getting supplies.
surrendered blew up defeated
4 After the attack on the city, all of the shops were ________ and almost everything was
stolen.
overthrown declared looted
5 A I really love war films.
B Really? Im not particularly keen ________ them.
on in with
6 The king was very proud ________ his soldiers for winning the battle.
with of for
6
6

Name ____________________________
Class ____________________________

4 Grammar, Vocabulary, and Pronunciation

6 Complete the sentences with one word.
Example: The story of a film and the things the characters do is called the plot.
1 The final ________ at the end of a film list the names of all of the actors and other
people who appeared in or worked on the film.
2 I loved Star Wars, but I dont remember the details of the conversation between Luke
Skywalker and Darth Vader. Dialogue ________ arent as important as the action.
3 I have quite a ________ friends who have taken a gap year.
4 My dad just bought a second-________ car. He saw an advert in the paper, and thought
the price was much better than buying a new car.
5 My grandmother is a lovely person, but can be very ________-minded and intolerant.
She thinks I should stop studying and get married as soon as possible.
6 My cousin and his wife are great parents. Their kids are three and five, but theyre so
______-behaved, we all actually enjoy going out to restaurants together.
7 When I was working as a tour guide, I got ________ on international travel. It gave me
an enormous high, and if I didnt get on a plane for a week or two, I became edgy and
tense.
8 Im completely fed up ________ the adverts at the cinema. They last at least 30
minutes, and the film is only 90 minutes long.
8
Vocabulary total

20

PRONUNCIATION
7 Match the words with the same sound.
coup high-minded besieged
hang up refugee

gambling

Example: troops coup

1 dialogue ________, ________
2 edgy ________, ________
3 short-sighted ________
5

8 Underline the stressed syllable.

Example: composer
1
2
3
4
5

review
substance
anxious
become
harmless
5
Pronunciation total
Grammar, Vocabulary, and Pronunciation total

10
50

Name ____________________________
Class ____________________________

4 Grammar, Vocabulary, and Pronunciation

Name ____________________________
Class ____________________________

4 Reading and Writing

READING
Read the article and tick ( ) A, B, or C.

HELP YOURSELF
In the last couple of decades, self-help books have been a publishing phenomenon,
often topping the bestseller lists. Readers have lapped up their advice on how to do
a wide variety of things, from becoming successful and rich to improving their
relationships. If youre facing a particular problem in your life, theres a host of selfhelp books for you. If you have the idea that you want to improve yourself in some
way, there are any number of self-help titles just waiting to advise you. If you want a
successful career, no problem step-by-step guides will tell you exactly what to do.
But, despite their enormous success, theres a question many people ask: do these
books actually do what they claim to?
Obviously, as in any field of publishing, some self-help books are better than others.
Some may be based on actual research and case studies theres some substance
to them that suggests they can, at least to some extent, be taken seriously. Others,
however, amount to little more than psychobabble empty nonsense dressed up as
serious psychological insight. These books bombard the reader with a mass of
meaningless jargon, disguising the fact that they have nothing to say beyond the
obvious that you would not need to buy a book to know. Its the latter category that
has given self-help books a bad name among critics of the genre.
The kind of advice given in self-help books is often more or less the same. What
really amount to pretty standard statements are made in many of them, but does this
advice stand up to scrutiny? Psychologists who have studied a range of self-help
books connected with happiness say the answer to this is not always. They say
that although the emphasis the books place on aiming for good relationships with
families, friends and colleagues has, in some ways, some scientific basis in terms of
what does actually lead to personal happiness, in other ways the advice given is
actually false.
For example, the books commonly tell you that it is good to express your anger; the
psychologists say this simply causes you to remain angry. You are often told to try to
think happy thoughts when you are sad; the psychologists say that attempting to do
this simply emphasizes your unhappiness for you. The books tell you to focus
entirely on your aims in life, looking only at the desired outcome; psychologists say
you need to focus just as much on the problems you have to overcome in order to
reach your goals. The books tell you to keep praising yourself to increase and
maintain a high level of self-belief; the psychologists say that actually this doesnt
work because you need praise from other people in order to increase your selfesteem.
Perhaps the key question on self-help books is: do they work? Do people feel they
have directly helped them? Whatever critics may say, do the people who buy and
read them get real results from them? The answer to this question appears to be
sometimes. Research indicates that the kind of book that deals with a particular
problem can be effective in helping people with that problem, particularly if the
problem in question isnt a severe one, for example mild depression or anxiety. The

Name ____________________________
Class ____________________________

4 Reading and Writing

situation is less clear with books dealing with personal growth or development.
Some people do say that these books have helped them but it is by no means
certain, and hard to measure, whether this is really the case.
What is clear about all self-help books, however, is that they offer people hope. The
actual advice they give and whether or not this is accurate or effective is probably
less important than the fact that they tell the reader that change is possible, that
there is hope of a better life, that people can overcome difficulties and improve
themselves and their situation. While this may sound like a good thing, there is,
however, a downside to it. To get people to buy them, these books often make
exaggerated claims about what they will do for people. They can raise unrealistic
expectations in the reader, suggesting that a better life can quite easily be achieved,
that anyone can get what they want out of life. The truth is of course that changing
yourself and your life may be very difficult indeed and require an immense amount
of effort, if it is even achievable at all. So self-help books are open to the claim that
they present a false picture that can only lead to disappointment in the end.

1 In the first paragraph, what does the writer emphasize about self-help books?
A The fact that one person might buy many of them.
B How quickly the genre became popular.
C The number of them available.
2 In the second paragraph, the writer expresses a preference for self-help books which
________.
A dont use any jargon at all
B explain technical terms in a clear way
C give examples to support their advice
3 The writer says that self-help books containing a lot of psychobabble ________.
A are seldom popular with readers
B have affected the reputation of all self-help books
C exist in greater numbers than other kinds of self-help book
4 What does the writer say about self-help books connected with happiness?
A There is evidence to support some of the advice they give.
B They vary more than other kinds of self-help book.
C They are the most popular kind of self-help book.
5 Psychologists say that some advice in books about happiness ________.
A could produce different bad feelings in people
B could make people feel worse than they did
C is too hard for people to carry out
6 Which of the following do psychologists believe?
A You wont have greater self-confidence unless other people praise you.
B Focusing on problems is more important than focusing on goals.
C Thinking only about aims can result in greater unhappiness.
7 Research into whether self-help books really help people suggests that ________.
A those dealing with personal growth and development are the least useful
B people want to believe that they have helped them a lot
C they are not very useful for serious problems
8 What do all self-help books have in common, according to the writer?
A They all contain some useful advice.
B They all have the same basic message.
C They all sympathize with the reader.
9 When asking whether self-help books work, the writer suggests that ________.

Name ____________________________
Class ____________________________

4 Reading and Writing

A this may be more important than whether the advice is correct
B not enough attention has been paid to this
C readers may not be honest about this
10 The writer concludes in that last paragraph that self-help books ________.
A are more influential than is generally thought
B may actually be harmful to people
C are only taken seriously by certain kinds of person

Reading total

10

WRITING
Choose one of the essay titles below and write about the pros and cons in
approximately 250 words:
1 Gadgets make daily life easier or do they?
2 The success of a company depends on the happiness of its employees.
3 Self-help books can do more harm than good.
Writing total

10

Reading and Writing total

20

Name ____________________________
Class ____________________________

4 Listening and Speaking

LISTENING
1 Listen to five people talking about various historical films. Match the speakers
(15) to what they say about the films (AH).
Speaker 1
Speaker 2
Speaker 3
Speaker 4
Speaker 5
A It was different from what I had expected before I saw it.
B It has a personal connection for me.
C Most people remember one particular scene from it.
D I liked it so much that I saw it over and over again.
E I remained affected by it for some time after Id seen it.
F One particular scene affected me emotionally a great deal.
G The acting is the most impressive aspect of it.
H I found elements of it unrealistic.
5

2 Listen to an interview about computer addiction. Tick ( ) A, B, or C.

1 What does the interviewer say about computer addiction in his introduction?
A It causes disagreement among experts.
B It affects a great many people.
C It is unlikely that it really exists.
2 Colin says that one reason why computer addiction is a difficult subject is that
________.
A it is easy for people to be addicted to computers without realizing it
B people dont want to think that it is similar to common addictions
C reasons why people use computers for a long time vary considerably
3 What is Colins point about hobbies?
A Many people spend longer doing hobbies than using computers.
B People dont usually think that a hobby can be an addiction.
C They can be just as addictive as computer use.
4 What does Colin say about computer-game addiction?
A Official bodies are likely to accept that it exists in the future.
B It is something that many people might notice.
C Experts cannot agree on a clear definition of it.
5 What is Colins personal opinion on computer addiction?
A Some people think they have an addiction but they dont.
B More people will believe that computer use can become an addiction.
C Certain behaviour probably indicates the existence of an addiction.
5
Listening total

SPEAKING
Student A

10

Name ____________________________
Class ____________________________

4 Listening and Speaking

1 Ask your partner these questions.
1
2
3
4
5

Which historical films have you seen and enjoyed?

What have you recently tried to persuade someone to do?
Why are self-help books so popular?
What kind of addictions are caused by modern gadgets?
Which gadgets do you always have with you when you go out?

2 Now answer your partners questions.

3 Now talk about one of these statements, saying if you agree or disagree. Give
reasons.
1 It does not matter if a historical film is factually inaccurate.
2 Advertising is harmful to a lot of people.
3 Addictions are the greatest problem in society today.

4 Now listen to your partner. Do you agree with him/ her?

Speaking total

15

Listening and Speaking total

25

Student B
1 Answer your partners questions.
2 Now ask your partner these questions.
1
2
3
4
5

Which recent historical films have been very popular?

How easy is it for people to persuade you to do something?
If you bought a self-help book, what would it be about?
What kind of problems cause people to buy self-help books?
What kind of things are people in your society obsessed with?

3 Listen to your partner. Do you agree with him/ her?

4 Now talk about one of these statements, saying if you agree or disagree. Give
reasons.
1 Historical films are a good way for people to learn about history.
2 There is no point in anyone reading a self-help book.
3 An obsession is not necessarily a bad thing.
Speaking total

15

Listening and Speaking total

25