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Upper-Intermediate B2(FCE)

Part One - Reading …../15 points

For questions 1-15, choose from the people (A-D). The people may be chosen more than once.

Which person:

  1. may have reacted to stress at work?…………..
  2. had had medical treatment that caused the memory problem?…………..
  3. seemed to be suffering from another medical condition?…………..
  4. had had an accident?…………..
  5. has only forgotten the events of one day?…………..
  6. enjoyed doing something which was also beneficial? …………..
  7. cannot remember relatives or past experiences?…………..
  8. must have confronted considerable danger?…………..
  9. will never get better?…………..
  10. is now thinking about many important issues?…………..
  11. did something no one had experienced?…………..
  12. had been exercising just before the problem started?…………..
  13. could not offer an explanation of what happened?…………..
  14. has had to make a completely new start?…………..
  15. was found in the water?…………..

Amnesia

It’s the subject of many books and films and fascinates us all but stories of real-life amniesiacs are also stories of suffering.

  1. Hanna Upp

One August morning, a twenty-three-year old schoolteacher went jogging. That is the last thing that Hannah Upp says she remembers before she was rescued from New York Harbor almost three weeks later. She disappeared the day before the start of term, leaving behind her wallet and her mobile phone. Was she running away from an overly demanding job? Escaping from a city that can overwhelm many people? What did she eat? Where did she sleep? How on earth did she survive for so long without money or any identification in one of the world’s biggest cities? Miss Upp is as much in the dark about all this as anyone else. While she was recovering after her rescue she was told that she was suffering from ‘dissasociative fugue’, a rare form of amnesia that causes people to forget their identity. The condition can last from a few hours to years. It happens suddenly and, without warning, can end just as suddenly and has no physical cause. ‘It has all been very weird,’ Miss Upp said. ‘It’s definitively made me reconsider everything. Who was I before? Who was I then? Who am I now?’

  1. Scott Bolzan

The videos show scenes from a full and prosperous life: a couple getting married, bringing up their children and going on family holidays. They’re precious memories. But the man who lived them cannot remember any of them. In fact, Scott Bolzan has no memory of any part of his life story. He has an extreme case of what is known as ‘severe retrograde amnesia’. He slipped and hit his head on the hard flooring of a bathroom and can remember nothing that happened before that. Over the past sixteen months, he has had to re-meet family and friends, re-learn his life story and rebuild a sense of identity. Doctors could find no physical explanation for his rare condition at first. ‘Then they worked out that I have no blood flow going to the right temporal lobe of my brain,’ said Bolzan. This is where all long-term memory is stored. Sadly, he’ll never recover. But he continues one day at a time, to create memories that will, hopefully, last a lifetime.

  1. Ralph Gilbert

Susan Gilbert thought her husband Ralph had had a stroke. What else could cause a healthy person suddenly to become disorientated and confused? More than eight hours after the onset of his symptoms Ralph was diagnosed with ‘transient global amnesia’, a temporary condition that affects a small percentage of people every year. There was no warning. He had been lifting weights to fill in time before going out to lunch with Susan’s parents. The amnesia came only moments after he finished his workout. He couldn’t remember where Susan and he were going and had dressed himself in clothes he claimed he had never seen before. In hospital, although he remembered who Susan was and his own name, he didn’t remember being taken there. Ralph was allowed to go home that same evening by which time his memory had, for the most part returned, except for the previous eight hours. That has forever been erased.

  1. Henry Gustav Molaison

Henry Gustav Molaison became the most studied patient in the history of brain science after an operation in 1953 left him unable to form new memories. Mr Molaison performed memory tests, filled in questionnaires and sat for brain scans each time as if for the first time. In between it all he did puzzles, hundreds and hundreds of them. In one experiment crosswords were used to test Mr Molaison’s capacity to learn to new facts. The researchers found that he was just as good at solving puzzles as healthy people his own age if he could draw on what he’d learned in the years before the operation. Mr Molaison stunned researchers over the years by learning some new facts. In particular, he seemed to be able to update pre-1953 memories. ‘One thing I found out is that I fool around a lot with crossword puzzles,’ he said. ‘And it helps me, in a way.’ ‘It helps you remember?’ his doctor asked. ‘It did,’ he said. ‘And,’ he added ‘ you have fun while doing it too.’

Part Two – Use of English …../45 points

  1. Open cloze. For questions 1-13, read the text below and think of the word that best fits each gap. Use only one word in each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0). …../13 points

Why people love postcards

In this age of instant digital communication, it seems to be 0) …..an….. odd contradiction that the humble holiday postcard
1) …………………………………………… never been so popular. There are more postcards being sent from exotic locations
2) …………………………………………… ever before. Emailing and texting may be perfect for communicating short pieces of information, 3) …………………………………………… for holidaymakers, the picture postcard is the only way of sharing
4) …………………………………………………….. own travel experiences with friends and family back home. Why should this
5) …………………………………………………….. ? There is a particular connection with the recipient and writing and posting a card requires a certain amount of physical effort 6) …………………………………………………. shows that you care about them.
7) …………………………………………………….. is a more thoughtful means of communication, and for the sender,
8) …………………………………………………….. is a certain pleasure in struggling to produce 9) ……………………………………….. most perfect message that includes all the important information in just a 10) …………………………………………….. words. People buy postcards not only to send to each other but also to keep for themselves – and of course, in either case they choose a card with
a picture which conveys a genuine dense of the place being visited. This 11) ………………………………………….. appear to be so they can share the experience with others but in 12) ………………………………………………. of this positive intention the message really being sent is – ‘I’m here in this amazing place – and you are 13) ………………………………………….!’

  1. Key word transformations. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between two and five words, including the word given. …./20 points
  1. Those twins are identical; they just look the same!

Those twins are identical; it’s impossible ………………………………………………………………………………. between them. DIFFERENCE

  1. He said he was very happy that everyone had come to the party.

He said ………………………………………………………………………………………………. that everyone had come to the party. WONDERFUL

  1. A very friendly woman gave us directions when we got lost.

When we got lost we ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. a very friendly woman. GIVEN

  1. I prefer playing football to tennis.

I ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….… tennis. RATHER

  1. Do you think I have to get a visa to visit the country.?

Do you think ……………………………………………………………………………………………..… to get a visa to visit the country.?NECESSARY

  1. If no one turns up for the meeting, you can go home.

You can go home, …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..… turns up for the meeting. LONG

  1. If it isn’t too cold, we’ll go skiing tomorrow.

We’ll go skiing tomorrow ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… too cold. UNLESS

  1. The plane was so crowded that I couldn’t sleep on the long flight.

The plane was …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….… sleep on the long flight. TOO

  1. ‘Don’t leave the building without locking up, John,’ said the manager.

The manager reminded John …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… the building. LEAVING

  1. Sue was late for work because her bus was delayed.

If Sue’s bus ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… would not have been late for work. TIME

  1. Multiple choice cloze. For questions 1-12, read the text below and decide which word (A, B, C or D) best fits each gap. There is an example at the beginning (0). …../12 points

Dolphin talk

We have long suspected that there is some kind of 0) …A… between dolphins and humans – but is there any 1) … of actual two-way communication with them? A group of scientists are trying to ‘co-create’ a language with dolphins that humans can 2) … . We already know that captive dolphins can be 3) … to understand hundreds of words, and can 4) … understand some grammar – for instance, the difference between ‘bring that fish to me’ and ‘bring me to that fish.’ However, until now people could neither understand nor 5) … to the underwater noises dolphins use to communicate with each other. Now scientists are building a small 6) … made up of a computer and two hydrophones which are 7) … of detecting the full range of dolphin sounds. A diver 8) … the computer in a waterproof case strapped to his chest and lights show the origin of a sound 9) … up by the hydrophones. The diver also has a handheld instrument that acts as a 10) … of mouse and keyboard, and which enables him to choose what kind of sound to 11) … in response. But will we really be able to understand dolphins’ words? Do they have words? And what if it 12) … that they’re terrible conversationalists? That would be a disappointment!

  1. A empathyB senseC comfortD support
  2. A luckB chanceC destinyD fate
  3. A solveB seeC hearD interpret
  4. A trainedB exercisedC practisedD rehearsed
  5. A yetB stillC evenD however
  6. A respondB answerC returnD acknowledge
  7. A engineB toolC deviceD machine
  8. A suitedB capableC complementD able
  9. A fetchesB bringsC getsD carries
  10. A pickedB takenC foundD selected
  11. A matchB combinationC connectionD collection
  12. A haveB doC makeD be
  13. A gives upB comes acrossC goes onD turns out

Part Three – Grammar …./20 points

Choose the correct answer.

  1. The teacher … my story about the dog eating my homework.
  1. didn’t believeb. wasn’t believingc. didn’t believed
  1. We …. to London before.
  1. didn’t beb. haven’t beenc. wasn’t
  1. I’d like …. a better job.
  1. getting b. to gettingc. to get
  1. Where are you? I…. for an hour!
  1. am ringingb. have been ringingc. rung
  1. Teachers hate students ….. during class.
  1. textb. textingc. to text
  1. I didn’t laugh …. your story because I didn’t find it funny.
  1. forb. byc. at
  1. Tell me, ….. did you pay for them?
  1. how manyb. how muchc. a lot
  1. Could you give me …. advice how to begin a collection?
  1. someb. anyc. an
  1. Stop! You …. play with that light switch, Julian.
  1. mustn’tb. don’t have toc. may not
  1. If you ….. a million dollars, what would you buy?
  1. will winb. would winc. won
  1. My hair ….. very long.
  1. isb. arec. were
  1. I have always dreamed about visiting ….. Mongolia.
  1. -b. ac. the
  1. Sandra asked me …. .
  1. did I know Emma.b. if I knew Emma.c. I knew Emma.
  1. I need to ….. .
  1. have my hair cutb. have cut my hairc. my hair have cut
  1. Your invoice ….. at the moment.
  1. printsb. is printedc. is being printed
  1. The surgeon definitely won’t perform the operation if the patient …… weight.
  1. doesn’t loseb. won’t losec. loses
  1. The ….. job for me would be teaching!
  1. badb. worsec. worst
  1. Be careful! You …. if you keep doing that.
  1. are going to fallb. will fallc. are falling
  1. I can’t get ….. contact lenses.
  1. get used to wearb. get used wearingc. get used to wearing
  1. While I ….. on the beach, an old woman tried to sell me some new sunglasses.
  1. was readingb. readc. had read

Part Four – Writing…../20 points

Look at the task and an e-mail a student has written in response. Some of the expressions the student used are too formal. Write a new e-mail replacing the formal phrases with more informal ones.

It was your best friend’s birthday last week and you completely forgot about it. Write an email apologizing, explaining what happened and suggesting something you could make up for it.

Dear Anya,

Earlier today I received a message from Dan. He told me that it was your birthday last week. I cannot apologise profusely enough. I am afraid I completely failed to recall that it was on 30th June. My only excuse is that I have recently been concerned about my forthcoming examinations and have been dedicating my time exclusively to revision. I suppose that was the reason the date on which you celebrate your birthday passed without my being aware of it. I sincerely trust that I can make amends for this in some way. I got you a really nice present that I know you’ll just love. I wonder if having dinner on Tuesday 14thJuly at Chez Maurice might appeal to you. I could give you your present then. I look forward to receiving your reply.

Yours sincerely,

Sara

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