UNIT 7: Skills Test B

Dictation 3 You overhear a girl recommending a new bookshop.

She thinks the man
You are going to listen to a recording about how A would prefer it to online shopping.
films are usually based on something already B should make time for a snack there.
written. Listen to the whole recording once. Then C would be able to get useful advice from the
you will hear the recording again with pauses for assistants.
you to write down what you hear. Make sure you
spell the words correctly. 4 You hear a news report about a new school rule.
What does the reporter say about the rule?
A It is popular with parents and teachers.
B There should be no problems making it work.
. C Some students are unhappy with its conditions.
........................................ 5 You hear part of a conversation with an artist. The
artist
........................................
A thinks art classes are helpful for beginners.
B gets inspiration mostly from his dreams.
........................................
C recommends a mixed media course at the local art
school.
........................................
6 You hear a media studies lecturer talking to her
........................................
class. The teacher
........................................ A believes TV and radio are becoming more popular
again.
B says politicians and celebrities make money from
advertising.
C states that a lot of people get their news from social
media.

7 You hear a teacher talking to students about a film

club. Why is he talking to his class?
A to encourage them to remain involved with it
B to inform them about changes to a particular project
C to remind them about future plans
___/10
8 You hear two friends talking about performing in a
school show. What do they agree about it?
Listening A There should have been more rehearsals.
B It is difficult to remember what to do on stage.
You are going to listen to people talking in ten C It would be awful to make a mistake in the
different situations. For questions 1–10, choose performance.
the answer (A, B or C) which fits best according to
what you hear. 9 You hear two friends talking about learning to read
and write. How do they both feel about it?
1 You hear two friends talking about a public event. A pleased that they were taught at an early age
What do they agree about it? B grateful to their parents for their help
A how impressive the show was C happy that they are both good at reading and writing
B how important training was for the dancers now
C how well the city had organised the event
10 You hear a famous actress talking about starting
2 You hear part of an interview with a writer. What does acting. What influenced her the most?
he say about starting a new book? A her friend’s support
A He enjoys writing without a definite story in mind. B her mother’s encouragement
B It’s good to take the same approach in all his books. C her enjoyment of the classes
C He hopes to start a new book every year. ___/20

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Reading
Task 1
You are going to read an article about the famous novelist Charles Dickens. For questions 11–18, choose from
the members A–D. The members may be chosen more than once.

Which member(s):

11 admires Dickens for getting what he wanted in life? ​

12 talks about how Dickens’ own life made him very aware of social problems? ​
13 explains how publishers helped to keep Dickens’s readers interested? ​
14 explains how most people get to know Dickens’s work these days? ​
15 gives examples of things Dickens did to improve society? ​
16 mentions that Dickens worried about money even as an adult? ​
17 says that readers these days prefer modern books? ​
18 thinks that even today life is hard for people at the bottom of the social ladder? ​
___/16

Task 2
Read the article again and answer the questions in your own words.

19 Which were the two worst aspects of Dickens’s childhood? Use information from the article and your own words to
explain your answer.

20 Do you think Dickens’s work can interest readers today? Why or why not? Give two reasons, using information from
the article and your own words.
___/4

Total: ___/50

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What do you know about Charles Dickens?
This week Book Club invites members to write about England’s most famous novelist
C
A There have been a huge number of adaptations of
Born in 1812, Charles Dickens was the second of eight Charles Dickens’s work for TV, stage and film – more
children. He didn’t have an easy start. His father had a than 200, in fact. It is through these adaptations more
habit of spending too much and the family were always than through reading the original texts that many
short of cash. They moved house constantly with his people get to know his work today. As a result, almost
parents struggling to pay the rent. Life reached a crisis everyone is familiar with at least a few of Dickens’s
point in 1824, when Charles was twelve. His father had stories and characters. One reason for their continuing
got into serious debt and his mother had sold and lasting popularity, whether as books or on screen,
everything the family owned, but still there wasn’t is that Dickens is not afraid to look critically at the dark
enough to pay the money they owed and put food on side of Victorian society, revealing a tough, hard world.
the table. His father was sent to debtors’ jail and young In fact, to describe disgusting housing or terrible
Charles was forced to leave school and get a factory working conditions, for instance, or cruel and strict
job, working ten hours a day in his attempt to earn people we use the word ‘Dickensian’, a term which
enough money to get his father out of prison. This comes from Charles Dickens’s name. Sadly, many of
experience left Dickens with a fear of poverty for the Dickens’s views of society are still relevant today.
rest of his life. But Dickens’s extremely difficult People still beg on city streets, society is still cruel to
childhood had a positive side; it gave him great the poor and opportunities are not equal.
understanding of the lives of poor people and he was
able to write about life at the bottom of society from his D
own personal experience. In the course of thirty-four years, Charles Dickens
wrote fifteen long novels with strong storylines,
B complicated plots, unexpected twists and unforgettable
There’s a reason that Charles Dickens was characters with extraordinary names – Fagin, Oliver
fantastically popular in his time. There was a brilliant Twist, The Artful Dodger, Uriah Heep, Ebenezer
way of getting his audience hooked; his novels were Scrooge, Tiny Tim and Abel Magwitch. He also wrote a
printed just a chapter at a time in weekly or monthly huge number of short stories and newspaper articles.
magazines, and each chapter ended with the hero in He used his sharp observation and dark humour to
an extremely dangerous situation or with a shocking bring people’s attention to problems in the society of
discovery about a main character. Just as with soap his time. It’s really easy to learn something about the
operas today, it made people hungry for more. Anyone injustice and awful living conditions of Victorian
who couldn’t read tried to get someone more educated England from books like Oliver Twist, Hard Times,
to read the new chapter to them when it came out. Bleak House, Nicholas Nickleby and David
Today the books are classics and still sell well but they Copperfield. Apart from writing fiction, Dickens
aren’t as popular as in Dickens’s day. For one thing, contributed money to help poor children and worked
they’re far from being quick and easy to read. The hard to get laws changed on child employment. By the
old-fashioned language as well as the length of the time he died in 1870, this hardworking, energetic and
novels requires a lot more concentration than today’s talented writer had achieved what he deserved. His
popular novels. childhood dreams of fame, success and climbing the
social ladder had come true and he had become a
literary celebrity in England and America.

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