1. In the following text, seven sentences or parts of sentences have been removed.

Above the extract you

will find the six removed sentences PLUS one sentence which doesn't fit. Choose from the sentences (A-
H) the one which fits each gap (1-7). Remember, there is one extra sentence you do not need to
use. Write the correct letter in the box.

Choose from the following sentences to fill the spaces in the text. There is one extra.

A. The next development was the semi-automatic toaster

A. simply dropping the slices into the machine commenced the toasting procedure

B. set the heating element on a timer,

C. (and many modern ones)

D. The company also produced the "toaster that turns toast."

E. slowly raising the finished toast

F. which wasn't considered safe in the kitchen

G. Meanwhile electricity was not readily available

History of the Toaster

Before the development of the electric toaster, sliced bread was toasted by placing it in a metal frame or a long-
handled fork and holding it near a fire or kitchen grill. Simple utensils for toasting bread over open flames
appeared in the early 19th century. Earlier, people simply speared bread with a stick, sword or knife and held it
over a fire.

In 1905, Irishman Conor Neeson of Detroit, Michigan, and his employer, American chemist, electrical engineer,
inventor and entrepreneur William Hoskins of Chicago, Illinois, invented chromel, an alloy from which could
D

be made the first high-resistance wire of the sort used in all early electric heating appliances (1)  .

The first electric bread toaster was created by Alan MacMasters in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1893, Crompton,
Stephen J. Cook & Company of the UK marketed an electric, iron-wired toasting appliance called the Eclipse.
Early attempts at producing electrical appliances using iron wiring were unsuccessful, because the wiring was
 H

easily melted and a serious fire hazard. (2)  , and when it was, mostly only at night. The first US patent
application for an electric toaster was filed by George Schneider of the American Electrical Heater Company of
Detroit. AEH's proximity to Hoskins Manufacturing and the fact that the patent was filed only two months after
the Marsh patents suggests collaboration and that the device was to use chromel wiring. One of the first
applications the Hoskins company had considered for chromel was toasters, but eventually abandoned such
efforts to focus on making just the wire itself.

At least two other brands of toasters had been introduced commercially around the time General Electric
submitted their first patent application in 1909 for one, the GE model D-12, designed by technician Frank
Shailor, "the first commercially successful electric toaster".

In 1913, Lloyd Groff Copeman and his wife Hazel Berger Copeman applied for various toaster patents and in
that same year the Copeman Electric Stove Company introduced the toaster with automatic bread turner.
E

(3)   Before this, electric toasters cooked bread on one side and then it was flipped by hand to toast the
other side. Copeman's toaster turned the bread around without having to touch it.

(4)  , which turned off the heating element automatically after the bread toasted, using either a clockwork
mechanism or a bimetallic strip. However, the toast was still manually lowered and raised from the toaster via a
lever mechanism.

The automatic pop-up toaster, which ejects the toast after toasting it, was first patented by Charles Strite in
1919. In 1925, using a redesigned version of Stride’s toaster, the Waters Genter Company introduced the Model
1-A-1 Toastmaster, the first automatic pop-up, household toaster that could brown bread on both sides
C

simultaneously, (5)   and eject the toast when finished.

By the middle of the 20th century, some high-end U.S. toasters featured automatic toast lowering and raising,
B

with no levers to operate — (6)  . A notable example was the Sunbeam T-20, T-35 and T-50 models
(identical except for details such as control positioning) made from the late 1940s through the 1960s, which
used the mechanically multiplied thermal expansion of the resistance wire in the center element assembly to
lower the bread; the inserted slice of bread tripped a lever to switch on the power which immediately caused the
heating element to begin expanding thus lowering the bread. When the toast was done, as determined by a small
bimetallic sensor actuated by the heat passing through the toast, the heaters were shut off and the pull-down
 F

mechanism returned to its room-temperature position, (7)  . This sensing of the heat passing through the
toast, meant that regardless of the color of the bread (white or wholemeal) and the initial temperature of the
bread (even frozen), the bread would always be toasted to the same degree. If a piece of toast was re-inserted
into the toaster, it would only be reheated.

II. Read about three magicians, then answer the questions. For each question, choose which magician is
the correct answer.

Harry Houdini

He began his magic career in 1891. At the outset, he had little success. He performed in sideshows, and even
doubled as "The Wild Man" at a circus. Houdini focused initially on traditional card tricks. At one point, he
billed himself as the "King of Cards". But he soon began experimenting with escape acts.

In 1893, while performing with his brother, Dash, at Coney Island as "The Brothers Houdini", Harry met a
fellow performer, Wilhelmina Beatrice "Bess" Rahner. She and Houdini married in 1894, with Bess replacing
Dash in the act, which became known as "The Houdinis." For the rest of Houdini's performing career, Bess
would work as his stage assistant.

Houdini's big break came in 1899 when he met manager Martin Beck in rural Woodstock, Illinois. Impressed by
Houdini's handcuffs act, Beck advised him to concentrate on escape acts and booked him on the Orpheum
vaudeville circuit. Within months, he was performing at the top vaudeville houses in the country. In 1900, Beck
arranged for Houdini to tour Europe. After some days of unsuccessful interviews in London, Houdini managed
to interest Dundas Slater, then manager of the Alhambra Theatre. He gave a demonstration of escape from
handcuffs at Scotland Yard, and succeeded in baffling the police so effectively that he was booked at the
Alhambra for six months.

Derren Brown

Derren Brown is a British illusionist, mentalist, trickster, hypnotist, painter, writer, and sceptic. He is known for
his appearances in television specials, stage productions, and British television series such as Trick of the Mind
and Trick or Treat. Though his performances of mind-reading and other feats of mentalism may appear to be the
result of psychic or paranormal practices, he claims no such abilities and frequently denounces those who do.
Brown states at the beginning of his Trick of the Mind programmes that he achieves his results using a
combination of "suggestion, psychology, misdirection and showmanship".
Brown was born to Bob and Chris Brown in Purley, Croydon, London, England. He has a brother, who is nine
years his junior. Brown was privately educated at Whitgift School in South Croydon (where his father coached
swimming), and studied Law and German at the University of Bristol. While there, he attended a hypnotist
show by Martin Taylor, which inspired him to turn to illusion and hypnosis as a career. Whilst an
undergraduate, he started working as a conjuror, performing the traditional skills of close-up magic in bars and
restaurants. In 1992, he started performing stage shows at the University of Bristol under the stage name Darren
V. Brown.

Brown was an Evangelical Christian in his teens, and became an atheist in his twenties. Brown said he sought to
strengthen his belief and provide answers to common criticisms of religion by reading the Bible and other
Christian religious texts, but upon doing so found none of the answers he sought and came to the conclusion
that his belief had no basis.

Joseph Dunninger

Dunninger was born in New York City. He headlined throughout the Keith-Orpheum Circuit, and was much in
demand for private entertainment. At the age of seventeen he was invited to perform at the home of Theodore
Roosevelt in Oyster Bay and at the home of the inventor Thomas A. Edison, both of whom were avid admirers
of his mysticism.

Dunninger was a debunker of fraudulent mediums. He claimed to replicate through trickery all spiritualist
phenomena. He wrote the book Inside the Medium's Cabinet which exposed the tricks of mediumship. He also
exposed how the indian rope trick could be performed by camera trickery.

Dunninger had a standing offer of $10,000 to anyone who could prove that he used paid assistants for his tricks.
He often said he could raise that offer to $100,000. Through Scientific American magazine and the Universal
Council for Psychic Research, Dunninger made this offer to any medium who could produce by psychic or
supernatural means any physical phenomena that he could not reproduce by natural means. Dunninger appeared
on radio starting in 1943, and on television frequently in the 1950s and 60s.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Original
Wikipedia article.

1. Which magician made it clear he doesn't use real magic?

     Brown

     Dunninger

     Houdini

2. Which magician went to have a lot of success abroad?

     Brown

     Dunninger

     Houdini

3. Which magician enjoyed showing other performers were dishonest?

     Brown

     Dunninger

     Houdini

4. Which magician enjoyed media success late in his career?

     Brown

     Dunninger

     Houdini

5. Which magician had ambitions to work in magic after seeing another performer?
     Brown

     Dunninger

     Houdini

6. Which magician was initially a failure?

     Brown

     Dunninger

     Houdini

7. Which magician abandoned many of his beliefs as he grew up?

     Brown

     Dunninger

     Houdini

8. Which magician worked with a family member?

     Brown

     Dunninger

     Houdini

9. Which magician was already performing before becoming an adult?

     Brown

     Dunninger

     Houdini

WRITING !!

Part One

You must answer this question. Write your answer in 140-190 words in an appropriate style on the separate
answer sheet.

1. In your English class, you have been talking about buying a house. Now, your English teacher has asked you
to write an essay.

Write an essay using all your notes and giving reasons for your point of view.

Some young people find it hard to buy their first house or flat. Do you agree?

NOTES:

Write about....

1. Savings
2. Property prices
3. ................ (your own idea)

Part Two

Write an answer to ONE of the questions 2-4 in this part. Write your answer in 140-190 words in an appropriate
style on the separate answer sheet.
2.

Some business leaders are coming to your town to find out more about the shopping facilities.

You have been asked to write a report for the leader of the group. Your report should:

 Explain what are the most popular types of shop in your town.

 Include ideas for how the shopping facilities can be improved.

Write your report.

3. You see this announcement on an English website:

Book Reviews Wanted

Books We All Love!

We all have our favourite books. What's yours? Tell us what you loved about it and why it has always
been your favourite.

We will publish the best reviews on the website next month.

Write your review.

4. This is part of an email that you have received from your English-speaking friend, Jan:

From: Jan Smith <[email protected]>

Subject: Must get fit!

Hi,

I haven't been feeling great recently. I've put on a lot of weight and haven't been doing any exercise.

Sophie told me yesterday that you lost a lot of weight last year. Have you got any tips about what I should be
doing? Anything I should avoid? I would really appreciate any help you could give me.

Speak soon
Jan

Write your email.