Section 01.
The Reading section, has several short passages. After you read each passage, choose the correct answer
I: Reading
In this section of the Placement Test, you will read some short passages and answer questions about them. Choose the word or words that best complete the sentence. For each item, choose your answer.
You will have 20 minutes to complete this section.
Passage 1: What are you doing this weekend?
MARA: Sunday is the day when I usually have lunch with my Friends downtown. But, this week there´s a concert on Saturday, so I´ll see my friends then. Sunday I´m staying home.
1. This Saturday Mara’s going to:
Deselect Answer
Passage 2: What do you do?
EILEEN SWEET: I’m a hostess at a big restaurant. I greet people at the door and take them to their tables. Day after day, I always do the same thing. Someday I hope to have a more interesting job, but it’s OK for now.
2. Eileen thinks that her job is:
Deselect Answer
Passage 3: A vacation postcard
Dear Millie,
You wouldn’t believe Costa Rica! It’s really peaceful. Judy and I have beenstaying in a tent at a campground on the beach. We’re studying a little Spanish with a cute guy who teaches English in school here, but I think he’s learning more English than we are Spanish. Judy brought her guitar, so we enjoy singing around the campfire at night.
Love,
Sheila
3. Sheila and Judy are:Deselect Answer
Passage 4: Concentration, a special talent
People who have the capacity for intense concentration have a great advantage. Such people have the ability to ignore stimuli (sights, sounds, or anything that can distract a person) and are more likely to stay with the task at hand and to solve it. This ability can make all the difference between winning and losing in certain situations – for example, for the championship runner competing for a gold medal at the Olympics.
4. In this reading, concentration refers to a person’s ability to:Deselect Answer
5. Athletes who can concentrate are more likely to:
Passage 5: The Scot and the tea kettle
According to one story, a Scottish boy watched the steam lift the top off his mother’s tea kettle and realized the power of steam to make machines work. That boy, James Watt, would then go on to invent the modern steam engine in 1769. Actually, the history of steam technology records the successful work of several scientists and engineers before Watt. For example, in 1698, Thomas Savery had introduced a simple steam pump to remove water from mines, and 14 years later Thomas Newcomen invented a better pump. But these pumps weren’t efficient because they used so much fuel. In 1769, the Scottish boy, James Watt, figured out a way to save three-quarters of the fuel. To honor him, his last name became the name of a unit of energy.
6. The example of the boiling tea kettle shows that steam is:Deselect Answer
7. The first steam engines:
Passage 6: Wide open spaces
Visitors to the United States, especially those from Japan or the smaller countries of Europe, are likely to comment on the size and scale of everything. Although the downtown sections of some of the older cities suchas Boston and Philadelphia may look similar to their own larger cities, other aspects are likely to appear “out of scale.” For example, the average American farm is huge in comparison with the typical family farm of Europe and Asia. Across the Great Plains, farmers use great machines to plant and harvest enormous quantities of wheat. Such farms offer a dramatic contrast to the tiny farms of Europe or Asia, where intense human labor is more important. The main cities of the United States are connected by a vast system of high ways and super high ways moving end less streams of cars and trucks, while on the edge of the cities, sub urban developments and shopping centers with huge parking lots stretch for mile after mile. It’s as if Americans made everything larger, just to use up the available space.
8. To visitors, everything in the United States seems:
Deselect Answer
9. To Japanese and European visitors, the downtown sections of Boston and Philadelphia seem:
10. The typical American farm:
11. The article implies that people in the United States are influenced by:
Passage 7: Staying in touch
People don’t need to be in close physical contact to feel “connected” emotionally. Over the years, various means of communication have been used to enable human beings to keep in contact with one another. Letters, telegrams, and telephones have allowed individuals located in different places to share news and to interact with family, friends, and business relationships. In today’s world, with more and more people on the move, long-distance communication has become even more important. At the same time, changes in technology, particularly the introduction of computers and the increasing use of electronic mail, have made it easier than ever to stay in contact. There are two main reasons why e-mail has become so widespread: time and money. Although mail service and telephones can be found almost anywhere, a letter can take a long time to arrive and phone calls are often quite expensive. E-mail seems to be replacing other forms of communication for many purposes. As the use of computers has spread, many people use e-mail rather than regular mail to send personal messages. Because it has become so easy to send pictures and information via the Internet, it has also become commonplace to use e-mail in business. E-mail has even given rise to a new type of communication, the “chat room,” where groups of people who do not know each other personally can talk about topics of mutual interest. While some people are enthusiastic about communication in the modern age, others regret the growing depersonalization brought on by the use of e-mail. Communication has become so easy and yet so removed from the normal process of face-to-face interaction that researchers have concluded that a whole new culture of communication may be forming.
12. The main idea of the article is that:
Deselect Answer
13. Modern communications enable people to:
14. In comparison with a telephone call, e-mail is:
15. _______ is a new type of communication made possible by e-mail.
Passage 8: Biofeedback
When biofeedback was first developed a number of years ago, it caused a lot of excitement. People hoped that biofeedback could be used to cure all kinds of physical and mental problems. Biofeedback is the name for a medical technique that helps people treat certain problems by becoming more aware of their own bodies. In biofeedback, instruments that measure bodily functions such as muscle tension, temperature, and blood flow are attached to the body. The instruments produce signals – for example, a series of sounds (beeps) or a flashing light – that the person can hear or see. The patient then uses the information to help gain control over the function. The most widely used biofeedback instrument is the electrom yograph, or EMG. The EMG is used to measure muscle tension. It is made up of several electrodes, which are placed on the skin near a particular area, depending on the symptom. For example, for headaches, a symptom often caused by excessive tension in the neck muscles, the electrodes are placed on the forehead or near the back of the neck. When the tension is present, the EMG produces a signal and the patient is taught to respond by relaxing the appropriate muscles. In many cases, the relaxation of these muscles causes the headache to go away. While biofeedback has not turned out to be a cure-all, it has been used successfully to treat a limited number of problems – especially those caused by chronic tension.
16. At first, people were very _________ biofeedback.
Deselect Answer
17. Biofeedback instruments ___________.
18. Blood flow is an example of a:
20. According to the article, biofeedback:
Section 02.
The Vocabulary & Grammar section, has 30 items. Choose the correct completion for each item.
Vocabulary & Grammar
In this section, you will answer questions about the use of English. Choose the word or words that best complete the sentence. You will have 15 minutes to complete this section.
1. “Are the bags ready?”“Yes, .”
Deselect Answer
2. I live __________ 4040 Oak Avenue.
3. “I like to cook.”“__________ do I.”
4. David enjoys ________ sports on TV.
5. _________ everyone I know plays a musical instrument.
6. Yesterday’s game caused a lot of _________.
7. We hope _________ you again soon.
8. This apartment is _________ one we’ve seen all week.
9. Tom’s never bought a new car, ________ he?
10. The package still hasn’t arrived. I wish I __________ it earlier.
11. Can you tell me where ____________?
12. My suitcase would have been much lighter if I __________ all my books
13. I met Carl many years ago. ______ him for a long time.
14. This book is interesting. It’s really worth _________.
15. If fewer people drove cars to work, ______ less pollution
16. Would you mind ______ down the radio?
17. Are you interested __________ shopping with me?
18. The washing machine needs ________.
19. By this time tomorrow, __________ in Montreal.
20. You look tired. You must _______ hard today.
21. I am used _______ the bus to work.
22. The tie _______ costs only $10.
23. Everyone took an umbrella ______ me.
24. Before ________ to bed, I usually brush my teeth.
25. I bought an audio course ______ I could improve my French.
26. Maria is ________ intelligent girl in our class.
27. You’d better tell Joe ______ in here.
28. Susie feels really tired today. She should _______ to bed earlier last night.
29. Barry’s uncle recommended that he ________ more money.
30. The more you practice speaking English, _______ it gets.
Section 03.
The Listening section, you will hear nine conversations and answer one or more questions about each one. Before you listen to a conversation, read the question or questions. Then listen to the conversation. Answer the questions after the conversation ends. Choose the correct answer for each question.
You will have 20 minutes to complete this section.
Situation 1: Ann and Tomas are at a coffee shop. They’re talking when Yoshicomes in.
Conversation 1
- ________are meeting for the first time.
Deselect Answer
Situation 2: Rick and Sharon are at a restaurant.
Situation 3: Sven calls Marcos’s home. Marcos’s roommate answers thetelephone.
Situation 4: A reporter is giving today’s weather forecast.
5. In Miami, it will be _______.
Situation 5: Dom calls Phil about playing golf.
7. They’re going to ________.
Situation 6: Sherry and Jill are both going on summer vacations with theirfamilies. They are talking about their plans.
9. Sherry wishes she had time to ______.
Situation 7: Melanie is talking to George about her laptop computer.
12. George doesn’t usually lend things because _______.
Situation 8: Henry and Gloria are talking about their trips abroad.
14. Henry says he “would have liked to have seen Brazil.” He means that he _________.
15. Gloria went to Poland because _________.
Situation 9: Barbara and Eddie are talking about their new jobs.
18. At Delaney’s, Eddie works _______.
19. Barbara always wanted to ________.
