English Placement Test V1

1. Robert _____ from the United States.

Sort the numbers into their correct order.

 3. My friend _____ in Guatemala.

4. Where ___?

5.  I ___ coffee.

6. ‘_____ to New York, Billy?’      ‘Yes, two years ago.”

7. Ulaanbaatar is _____ city I’ve ever lived in.

A vegetarian is someone _____ doesn’t eat meat.

______ these days.

I _____ watch television tonight.

 I wish I _____ more money!

_____ be famous one day?

It’s my birthday ___ Sunday.

I _____ thirty years old.

I ______ a headache.

Does your child _____ a uniform at her school?

What time is it?’                    ‘I have no _____.’

The meal was very expensive. Look at the _____!

How many _____ of trousers have you got?

Sarah came back from her Caribbean holiday looking really _____.

What was Lord Kelvin suggesting?

‘Heavier than air flying machines are impossible,’ said the well-known scientist Lord Kelvin in 1895. Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM in 1943, was wrong too when he said that he thought there would be a world market for only five or so computers.

Predictions can, of course, be wrong, and it is very difficult to predict what the world will be like in 100, 50, or even 20 years from now. But this is something that scientists and politicians often do. They do so because they invent things and make decisions that shape the future of the world that we live in.

In the past they didn’t have to think too much about the impact that their decisions had on the natural world. But that is now changing. An increasing number of people believe that we should live within the rules set by nature. In other words, they think that in a world of fixed and limited resources, what is used today will not be there for our children. We must therefore look at each human activity and try to change it or create alternatives if it is not sustainable. The rules for this are set by nature, not by man.

According to the text, which of the following statements is TRUE?

‘Heavier than air flying machines are impossible,’ said the well-known scientist Lord Kelvin in 1895. Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM in 1943, was wrong too when he said that he thought there would be a world market for only five or so computers.

Predictions can, of course, be wrong, and it is very difficult to predict what the world will be like in 100, 50, or even 20 years from now. But this is something that scientists and politicians often do. They do so because they invent things and make decisions that shape the future of the world that we live in.

In the past they didn’t have to think too much about the impact that their decisions had on the natural world. But that is now changing. An increasing number of people believe that we should live within the rules set by nature. In other words, they think that in a world of fixed and limited resources, what is used today will not be there for our children. We must therefore look at each human activity and try to change it or create alternatives if it is not sustainable. The rules for this are set by nature, not by man.

“shape” (line 4) is closest in meaning to:

‘Heavier than air flying machines are impossible,’ said the well-known scientist Lord Kelvin in 1895. Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM in 1943, was wrong too when he said that he thought there would be a world market for only five or so computers.

Predictions can, of course, be wrong, and it is very difficult to predict what the world will be like in 100, 50, or even 20 years from now. But this is something that scientists and politicians often do. They do so because they invent things and make decisions that shape the future of the world that we live in.

In the past they didn’t have to think too much about the impact that their decisions had on the natural world. But that is now changing. An increasing number of people believe that we should live within the rules set by nature. In other words, they think that in a world of fixed and limited resources, what is used today will not be there for our children. We must therefore look at each human activity and try to change it or create alternatives if it is not sustainable. The rules for this are set by nature, not by man.

The article suggests we should live in a _____ way.

‘Heavier than air flying machines are impossible,’ said the well-known scientist Lord Kelvin in 1895. Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM in 1943, was wrong too when he said that he thought there would be a world market for only five or so computers.

Predictions can, of course, be wrong, and it is very difficult to predict what the world will be like in 100, 50, or even 20 years from now. But this is something that scientists and politicians often do. They do so because they invent things and make decisions that shape the future of the world that we live in.

In the past they didn’t have to think too much about the impact that their decisions had on the natural world. But that is now changing. An increasing number of people believe that we should live within the rules set by nature. In other words, they think that in a world of fixed and limited resources, what is used today will not be there for our children. We must therefore look at each human activity and try to change it or create alternatives if it is not sustainable. The rules for this are set by nature, not by man.

Choose the best title for the article.

‘Heavier than air flying machines are impossible,’ said the well-known scientist Lord Kelvin in 1895. Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM in 1943, was wrong too when he said that he thought there would be a world market for only five or so computers.

Predictions can, of course, be wrong, and it is very difficult to predict what the world will be like in 100, 50, or even 20 years from now. But this is something that scientists and politicians often do. They do so because they invent things and make decisions that shape the future of the world that we live in.

In the past they didn’t have to think too much about the impact that their decisions had on the natural world. But that is now changing. An increasing number of people believe that we should live within the rules set by nature. In other words, they think that in a world of fixed and limited resources, what is used today will not be there for our children. We must therefore look at each human activity and try to change it or create alternatives if it is not sustainable. The rules for this are set by nature, not by man.

Monroe can _____ English.

I’m not interested _____ sports.

She likes _____ expensive clothes.

Jimmy _____ his father’s car when his mother called.

I was wondering _____ tell me when the next plane from Seoul arrives?

If I _____ him, I would have spoken to him, wouldn’t I?

I like your hair. Where _____?

I think Danny must _____ late tonight. His office light is still on.

Jane tells me John’s going out with Greta, _____ I find hard to believe.

What _____ this weekend, Anna?

The weather has been awful. We’ve had very _____ sunshine this summer.

Did you hear what happened to the government official? He _____.

I usually _____ up at about 7.30.

I _____ volleyball every week.

My sister _____ the cooking in our house.

Don’t forget to _____ the lights when you leave the office.

She was in _____ when she heard the happy news.

He _____ that he hadn’t stolen the computer, but no one believed him.

Could you _____ me that book for a couple of days, please?

Ricardo is _____ a lot of time at Reyna’s house these days!

Tourism for the People…

Read the text below. What type of organization is “Tourism for people”?

Many hotel chains and tour operators say that they take their environmental commitments seriously, but often they do not respect their social and economic responsibilities to the local community. So is it possible for travellers to help improve the lives of locals and still have a good holiday?

The Mongolian NGO, “Tourism for the People”, thinks so. It has pioneered the concept of the fair-trade holiday. The philosophy behind fair-trade travel is to make sure that local people get a fair share of the income from tourism. The objectives are simple: employing local people wherever possible; offering fair wages and treatment; showing cultural respect; involving communities in deciding how tourism is developed; and making sure that visitors have minimal environmental impact.

Although there is currently no official fair-trade accreditation for holidays, the Association of Tour Operators has worked hard to produce responsible tourism guidelines for its members. Some new companies, operated as much by principles as profits, offer a fantastic range of holidays for responsible and adventurous travelers.

Tourism for the People…

Read the text below. Which of the following is not one of Tourism for the People’s objectives?

Many hotel chains and tour operators say that they take their environmental commitments seriously, but often they do not respect their social and economic responsibilities to the local community. So is it possible for travellers to help improve the lives of locals and still have a good holiday?

The Mongolian NGO, “Tourism for the People”, thinks so. It has pioneered the concept of the fair-trade holiday. The philosophy behind fair-trade travel is to make sure that local people get a fair share of the income from tourism. The objectives are simple: employing local people wherever possible; offering fair wages and treatment; showing cultural respect; involving communities in deciding how tourism is developed; and making sure that visitors have minimal environmental impact.

Although there is currently no official fair-trade accreditation for holidays, the Association of Tour Operators has worked hard to produce responsible tourism guidelines for its members. Some new companies, operated as much by principles as profits, offer a fantastic range of holidays for responsible and adventurous travelers.

Read the text below. Choose the best answer.  According to the text, fair-trade travel is all about…

Many hotel chains and tour operators say that they take their environmental commitments seriously, but often they do not respect their social and economic responsibilities to the local community. So is it possible for travelers to help improve the lives of locals and still have a good holiday?

The Mongolian NGO, “Tourism for the People”, thinks so. It has pioneered the concept of the fair-trade holiday. The philosophy behind fair-trade travel is to make sure that local people get a fair share of the income from tourism. The objectives are simple: employing local people wherever possible; offering fair wages and treatment; showing cultural respect; involving communities in deciding how tourism is developed; and making sure that visitors have minimal environmental impact.

Although there is currently no official fair-trade accreditation for holidays, the Association of Tour Operators has worked hard to produce responsible tourism guidelines for its members. Some new companies, operated as much by principles as profits, offer a fantastic range of holidays for responsible and adventurous travelers.

Read the text below. Choose the best answer. According to the text, there are ­­_____ companies that are operated on principles as well as profits.

Many hotel chains and tour operators say that they take their environmental commitments seriously, but often they do not respect their social and economic responsibilities to the local community. So is it possible for travelers to help improve the lives of locals and still have a good holiday?

The Mongolian NGO, “Tourism for the People”, thinks so. It has pioneered the concept of the fair-trade holiday. The philosophy behind fair-trade travel is to make sure that local people get a fair share of the income from tourism. The objectives are simple: employing local people wherever possible; offering fair wages and treatment; showing cultural respect; involving communities in deciding how tourism is developed; and making sure that visitors have minimal environmental impact.

Although there is currently no official fair-trade accreditation for holidays, the Association of Tour Operators has worked hard to produce responsible tourism guidelines for its members. Some new companies, operated as much by principles as profits, offer a fantastic range of holidays for responsible and adventurous travelers.

Choose the most appropriate title for the article.

Many hotel chains and tour operators say that they take their environmental commitments seriously, but often they do not respect their social and economic responsibilities to the local community. So is it possible for travellers to help improve the lives of locals and still have a good holiday?

The Mongolian NGO, “Tourism for the People”, thinks so. It has pioneered the concept of the fair-trade holiday. The philosophy behind fair-trade travel is to make sure that local people get a fair share of the income from tourism. The objectives are simple: employing local people wherever possible; offering fair wages and treatment; showing cultural respect; involving communities in deciding how tourism is developed; and making sure that visitors have minimal environmental impact.

Although there is currently no official fair-trade accreditation for holidays, the Association of Tour Operators has worked hard to produce responsible tourism guidelines for its members. Some new companies, operated as much by principles as profits, offer a fantastic range of holidays for responsible and adventurous travellers.

Who _____ in that house?

I’ll call you when I _____ home.

If you _____ me, what would you do?

I don’t know where _____ last night.

Wendy and her husband are coming to visit us tomorrow but I wish _____.

I’m so hungry! If only Maria _____ all the food in the fridge!

I regret _____ harder in school.

Surely Guadalupe _____ you if she was unhappy with your work.

Our neighbours aren’t very polite, and _____ particularly quiet!

We had expected that they _____ fluent English, but in fact they didn’t.

I’d rather _____ next weekend, but I do!

Eric is so knowledgeable. He can talk about _____ subject that comes up.

I always _____ sugar in my coffee.

I _____ TV every evening.

Can you give me a ____ ?

Before you enter the triathlon, please bear in _____ that you’re not as young as you used to be!

The breath test showed he had consumed more than three times the legal limit of alcohol, so the police arrested him for _____.

The meeting was _____ and not very interesting.

After the movie was released, the main _____ point was its excessive use of violence.

There have been several big _____ against the use of GM foods recently.

“grasp” (in bold letters) is closest in meaning to?

Read the text below. Choose the best answer.

Standards of spelling and grammar among an entire generation of English-speaking university students are now so poor that there is ‘a degree of crises’ in their written use of the language, the publisher of a new dictionary has warned. Its research revealed that students have only a limited grasp of the most basic rules of spelling, punctuation and meaning, blamed in part on an increasing dependence on ‘automatic tools’ such as computer spellcheckers and unprecedented access to rapid communication using e-mail and the Internet. The problem is not confined to the US, but applies also to students in Australia, Canada and Britain.

Students were regularly found to be producing incomplete or rambling, poorly connected sentences, mixing metaphors ‘with gusto’ and overusing dull, devalued words such as ‘interesting’ and ‘good’. Overall they were unclear about appropriate punctuation, especially the use of commas, and failed to understand the basic rules of subject/verb agreement and the difference between ‘there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’.

Kathy Rooney, editor-in-chief of the dictionary, said, ‘We need to be very concerned at the extent of the problems with basic spelling and usage that our research has revealed. This has significant implications for the future, especially for young people. We thought it would be useful to get in touch with teachers and academics to find out what problems their students were having with their writing and what extra help they might need from a dictionary. The results were quite shocking. We are sure that the use of computers has played a part. People rely increasingly on automatic tools such as spellcheckers that are much more passive than going to a dictionary and looking something up. That can lull them into a false sense of security.’

Beth Marshall, an English professor, said, ‘The type of student we’re getting now is very different from what we were seeing 10 years ago and it is often worrying to find out how little students know. There are as many as 800 commonly misspelled words, particularly pairs of words that are pronounced similarly but spelled differently and that have different meanings – for example, “faze” and “phase”, and “pray” and “prey”.’

We can infer from the style of the text that this article was printed in a…

Standards of spelling and grammar among an entire generation of English-speaking university students are now so poor that there is ‘a degree of crises’ in their written use of the language, the publisher of a new dictionary has warned. Its research revealed that students have only a limited grasp of the most basic rules of spelling, punctuation and meaning, blamed in part on an increasing dependence on ‘automatic tools’ such as computer spellcheckers and unprecedented access to rapid communication using e-mail and the Internet. The problem is not confined to the US, but applies also to students in Australia, Canada and Britain.

Students were regularly found to be producing incomplete or rambling, poorly connected sentences, mixing metaphors ‘with gusto’ and overusing dull, devalued words such as ‘interesting’ and ‘good’. Overall they were unclear about appropriate punctuation, especially the use of commas, and failed to understand the basic rules of subject/verb agreement and the difference between ‘there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’.

Kathy Rooney, editor-in-chief of the dictionary, said, ‘We need to be very concerned at the extent of the problems with basic spelling and usage that our research has revealed. This has significant implications for the future, especially for young people. We thought it would be useful to get in touch with teachers and academics to find out what problems their students were having with their writing and what extra help they might need from a dictionary. The results were quite shocking. We are sure that the use of computers has played a part. People rely increasingly on automatic tools such as spellcheckers that are much more passive than going to a dictionary and looking something up. That can lull them into a false sense of security.’

Beth Marshall, an English professor, said, ‘The type of student we’re getting now is very different from what we were seeing 10 years ago and it is often worrying to find out how little students know. There are as many as 800 commonly misspelled words, particularly pairs of words that are pronounced similarly but spelled differently and that have different meanings – for example, “faze” and “phase”, and “pray” and “prey”.’

Kathy Rooney carried out research to see…

Read the text below. Choose the best answer.

Standards of spelling and grammar among an entire generation of English-speaking university students are now so poor that there is ‘a degree of crises’ in their written use of the language, the publisher of a new dictionary has warned. Its research revealed that students have only a limited grasp of the most basic rules of spelling, punctuation and meaning, blamed in part on an increasing dependence on ‘automatic tools’ such as computer spellcheckers and unprecedented access to rapid communication using e-mail and the Internet. The problem is not confined to the US, but applies also to students in Australia, Canada and Britain.

Students were regularly found to be producing incomplete or rambling, poorly connected sentences, mixing metaphors ‘with gusto’ and overusing dull, devalued words such as ‘interesting’ and ‘good’. Overall they were unclear about appropriate punctuation, especially the use of commas, and failed to understand the basic rules of subject/verb agreement and the difference between ‘there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’.

Kathy Rooney, editor-in-chief of the dictionary, said, ‘We need to be very concerned at the extent of the problems with basic spelling and usage that our research has revealed. This has significant implications for the future, especially for young people. We thought it would be useful to get in touch with teachers and academics to find out what problems their students were having with their writing and what extra help they might need from a dictionary. The results were quite shocking. We are sure that the use of computers has played a part. People rely increasingly on automatic tools such as spellcheckers that are much more passive than going to a dictionary and looking something up. That can lull them into a false sense of security.’

Beth Marshall, an English professor, said, ‘The type of student we’re getting now is very different from what we were seeing 10 years ago and it is often worrying to find out how little students know. There are as many as 800 commonly misspelled words, particularly pairs of words that are pronounced similarly but spelled differently and that have different meanings – for example, “faze” and “phase”, and “pray” and “prey”.’

them (in bold letters) refers to:

Read the text below. Choose the best answer.

Standards of spelling and grammar among an entire generation of English-speaking university students are now so poor that there is ‘a degree of crises’ in their written use of the language, the publisher of a new dictionary has warned. Its research revealed that students have only a limited grasp of the most basic rules of spelling, punctuation and meaning, blamed in part on an increasing dependence on ‘automatic tools’ such as computer spellcheckers and unprecedented access to rapid communication using e-mail and the Internet. The problem is not confined to the US, but applies also to students in Australia, Canada and Britain.

Students were regularly found to be producing incomplete or rambling, poorly connected sentences, mixing metaphors ‘with gusto’ and overusing dull, devalued words such as ‘interesting’ and ‘good’. Overall they were unclear about appropriate punctuation, especially the use of commas, and failed to understand the basic rules of subject/verb agreement and the difference between ‘there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’.

Kathy Rooney, editor-in-chief of the dictionary, said, ‘We need to be very concerned at the extent of the problems with basic spelling and usage that our research has revealed. This has significant implications for the future, especially for young people. We thought it would be useful to get in touch with teachers and academics to find out what problems their students were having with their writing and what extra help they might need from a dictionary. The results were quite shocking. We are sure that the use of computers has played a part. People rely increasingly on automatic tools such as spellcheckers that are much more passive than going to a dictionary and looking something up. That can lull them into a false sense of security.’

Beth Marshall, an English professor, said, ‘The type of student we’re getting now is very different from what we were seeing 10 years ago and it is often worrying to find out how little students know. There are as many as 800 commonly misspelled words, particularly pairs of words that are pronounced similarly but spelled differently and that have different meanings – for example, “faze” and “phase”, and “pray” and “prey”.’

According to Beth Marshall, students today…

Read the text below. Choose the best answer.

Standards of spelling and grammar among an entire generation of English-speaking university students are now so poor that there is ‘a degree of crises’ in their written use of the language, the publisher of a new dictionary has warned. Its research revealed that students have only a limited grasp of the most basic rules of spelling, punctuation and meaning, blamed in part on an increasing dependence on ‘automatic tools’ such as computer spellcheckers and unprecedented access to rapid communication using e-mail and the Internet. The problem is not confined to the US, but applies also to students in Australia, Canada and Britain.

Students were regularly found to be producing incomplete or rambling, poorly connected sentences, mixing metaphors ‘with gusto’ and overusing dull, devalued words such as ‘interesting’ and ‘good’. Overall they were unclear about appropriate punctuation, especially the use of commas, and failed to understand the basic rules of subject/verb agreement and the difference between ‘there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’.

Kathy Rooney, editor-in-chief of the dictionary, said, ‘We need to be very concerned at the extent of the problems with basic spelling and usage that our research has revealed. This has significant implications for the future, especially for young people. We thought it would be useful to get in touch with teachers and academics to find out what problems their students were having with their writing and what extra help they might need from a dictionary. The results were quite shocking. We are sure that the use of computers has played a part. People rely increasingly on automatic tools such as spellcheckers that are much more passive than going to a dictionary and looking something up. That can lull them into a false sense of security.’

Beth Marshall, an English professor, said, ‘The type of student we’re getting now is very different from what we were seeing 10 years ago and it is often worrying to find out how little students know. There are as many as 800 commonly misspelled words, particularly pairs of words that are pronounced similarly but spelled differently and that have different meanings – for example, “faze” and “phase”, and “pray” and “prey”.’

Choose the best title for the article.

Read the text below. Choose the best answer.

Standards of spelling and grammar among an entire generation of English-speaking university students are now so poor that there is ‘a degree of crises’ in their written use of the language, the publisher of a new dictionary has warned. Its research revealed that students have only a limited grasp of the most basic rules of spelling, punctuation and meaning, blamed in part on an increasing dependence on ‘automatic tools’ such as computer spellcheckers and unprecedented access to rapid communication using e-mail and the Internet. The problem is not confined to the US, but applies also to students in Australia, Canada and Britain.

Students were regularly found to be producing incomplete or rambling, poorly connected sentences, mixing metaphors ‘with gusto’ and overusing dull, devalued words such as ‘interesting’ and ‘good’. Overall they were unclear about appropriate punctuation, especially the use of commas, and failed to understand the basic rules of subject/verb agreement and the difference between ‘there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’.

Kathy Rooney, editor-in-chief of the dictionary, said, ‘We need to be very concerned at the extent of the problems with basic spelling and usage that our research has revealed. This has significant implications for the future, especially for young people. We thought it would be useful to get in touch with teachers and academics to find out what problems their students were having with their writing and what extra help they might need from a dictionary. The results were quite shocking. We are sure that the use of computers has played a part. People rely increasingly on automatic tools such as spellcheckers that are much more passive than going to a dictionary and looking something up. That can lull them into a false sense of security.’

Beth Marshall, an English professor, said, ‘The type of student we’re getting now is very different from what we were seeing 10 years ago and it is often worrying to find out how little students know. There are as many as 800 commonly misspelled words, particularly pairs of words that are pronounced similarly but spelled differently and that have different meanings – for example, “faze” and “phase”, and “pray” and “prey”.’