My English Exams

Question

0 Yesterday I took my final English exams. Answer sheets will be taken to the capital soon where expert teachers will begin correcting and marking them. It will take some time for them to complete this (about one month) because 16,000 students had the English exam simultaneously across the country. By now, the corrections must have already begun and while they are looking into our answer sheets we students are very nervous about our results. Even though I think I did quite well at the test, I thought I could post some questions in this forum that worry me the most. 02br02br00Here we go. 02br02br006. An experimental [subdivision] of science has received a grant. 02br00An experimental 01i00___________________________02i00 of science has received a grant. 02br02br00In this, a student had to replace the word subdivision with another word which, when inserted into the sentence with a gap, would have the same meaning (ie both sentences must mean exactly the same). The words to choose from were given ina text before this task. I can't give you the entire text but the word which I picked up from the text and wrote in the space was 'derivative'. Some of my classmates wrote 'branch'. What do you think of this? 02br02br00In the 1980s and 1990s, however, there has been (7) 01i00______________________02i00 growing interest in fitness among young adults. 02br02br00In this, you had to think of only one word which would suit the gap. This was quite difficult for me. 02br02br00Finally, we had to write an e-mail message to refuse an invitation to an official event. Is such a message formal or informal? 02br02br00Thanks. 0-

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

0Hello Rokas-- good luck on your exam score! You gave an interesting description of the examination process-- I wonder if you would tell me the name of your country. 02br
02br
006. I think your classmates got it right, unless there was a third and better choice than 'branch'. A derivative is not a subdivision, it is a result, a product. 02br
02br
007. 'a' is the most likely (if not the only) word choice. 02br
02br
008. It's an 'official' event, so the email refusal should be formal-- and courteous. 0-

Rokas · Answer

0 Yes, certainly. I live in Lithuania and they call this system "National Exams". This is used for the final assessment of every subject, not just English, before leaving school. 02br
02br
00I hope no one is angry if I give a link to the PDF version of the exam paper for those who are interested in what this exam was like. Here is the link: 05000 0250hrefhttp://193.219.137.75/EasyAdmin/sys/files/angluVBE_pagr_int.pdf

Meneldil · Answer

0 For number 7, wouldn't 'much' also fit quite adequately (as well as 'a')? 0-

Mister Micawber · Answer

0Very interesting, Rokas, thank you. Parts of it remind me of the Japanese uninversity entrance examinations. Links are fine here for information related to our discussions. 02br
02br
00And yes, 'much' seems to work OK in #7 too. 0-

Paco2004 · Answer

0 Hello 02br
02br
00I had a look on the file. I think the questions are much more practical than those we find in the entrance exams of Japanese colleges. I tried the part of "Sports and Fitness". 02br
01blockquote

00Put a word in the blank after the number 12br
12br
10Sport and Fitness 12br
12br
10The British are very fond [0] of sport, but many people prefer to watch rather [1] 11i10___ take part. Many go to watch football or cricket at the ground, but many more sit [2] ____ home and watch sport on TV. Most people today [3] ____ relatively little general exercise. Over the last 30 or 40 years lifestyles have changed considerably and many people now travel even the shortest distances by car or bus. Lack of exercise combined [4] ____ eating too many fatty and sugary foods is one of the reasons [5] ____ people are becoming too fat. Experts are particularly concerned that children spend a lot of their free time watching TV or playing computer games [6] ____ of being physically active. In the 1980s and 1990s, however, there has been [7] ____ growing interest in fitness among young adults and today many belong to a sports club or do sport [8] ____ their main leisure activity. In Britain most towns have [9] ____ own amateur football and cricket team, and people also have opportunities to play sports [10] ____ as tennis and golf. Some people go regularly to a leisure centre where [11] ____ is a hall for playing badminton or squash. Many sports centres arrange classes in aerobics and step. Some people work [12] ____ regularly at a local gym and do weight training. Others [13] ____ fit by walking or cycling. Many people now go abroad on a skiing holiday each year. Unfortunately, there are very few dry slopes in Britain [14] ____ they can practise. Membership of a sports club or gym can be expensive and [15] ____ everyone can afford the subscription. Some companies now provide sports facilities for their employees or contribute [16] ____ the cost of joining a gym and a swimming pool, [17] ___12i10 is highly appreciated by the employees and their families.12blockquote

12br
02br
00My try is as follows. Please check and point out errors. 02br
00 [1] to [2] at [3] have [4] with [5] why [6] instead [7] a [8] for [9] their [10] such 02br
00 [11] where [12] out [13] keep [14] where [15] not [16] to [17] which 02br
02br
00As to [7], I suppose null [no word] could be also a right answer. Am I right? 02br
02br
00paco 0-

Khoff · Answer

0 Hi Paco - I wrote down my own answers before looking at yours - here is what I got, and I noted where I thought your answers were also good. I'd say you did very well! 02br
02br
001) than 02br
002) at 02br
003) get 02br
004) with 02br
005) null (I think "why" is also okay.) 02br
006) instead 02br
007) a 02br
008) as ("for" is okay.) 02br
009) their 02br
0010) such 02br
0011) there 02br
0012) out 02br
0013) stay or get ("keep" is also fine.) 02br
0014) where 02br
0015) not 02br
0016) to 02br
0017) which 0-

Paco2004 · Answer

0 Ugh, I mistyped! #11 should be "there" of course. Thank you, Khoff! 02br
02br
00paco 0-

Khoff · Answer

0 Yes, I thought #11 was probably a typo.  Nice job, Paco. 0-

Paco2004 · Answer

0 Hello Khoff 02br
02br
00How about these questions? 02br
01blockquote

02br
10For questions 6-10, find in the text words which mean the same as the underlined words below. 12br
12br
10[6] An experimental subdivision of science has received a grant. 12br
10--> An experimental 11i10_______12i10 of science has received a grant. 12br
10[7] Education is said to be the most important thing in career development. 12br
10--> Education is said to be of 11i10_______12i10 in career development. 12br
10[8] Students’ work is supervised by their professor. 12br
10--> Students are working 11i10_______12i10 of their professor. 12br
10[9] His personal property is approximately calculated to cost two million pounds. 12br
10--> His personal property is 11i10_______12i10 at two million pounds. 12br
10[10] We need a new and original way to deal with the problem of parking. 12br
10--> We need a 11i10_____12i10 approach to the problem of parking. 12blockquote

12br
02br
00My try is like this; 02br
00[6] area (field, branch) [7] the greatest importance [8] under supervision [9] estimated [10] creative 02br
02br
02br
00paco 0-

Rokas · Answer

0Hello again.05002br
02br
00I'm very happy that people take interest in this exam and would like as many people as possible to look through the paper and give some comments on the difficulty and appropriateness of this exam (as it is given for students for whom English is their second language). Thanks. 02br
02br
00Now, I finally got round to looking through the exam counting mistakes I have made and predicting my final result. There are some doubts that trouble me all the time and I'd like to clear things up a little. 02br
02br
00USE OF ENGLISH 02br
02br
00PART I 02br
02br
00Pretty good here but I expect to have lost 1-3 pts in this section. "Dangerous" (if one can call them so) gaps are with numbers 3, 7, 12 and 13. My answers were as follows: 02br
02br
00... 02br
003. take 02br
007. at first I thought about 'a' but wrote 'much' in the end 02br
0012. out 02br
0013. STAY (I knew about 'keep' but for some reason I forgot that) 02br
02br
00I'd like to know what other possible answers are for 3, 7, 12 and 13 and whether my answers are correct. By the way, it is already known that many students in Lithuania have never heard of such a phrasal verb "to work out". But I reckon [7] will be the question to start the most discussions. 02br
02br
00PART III (KEY WORD TRANSFORMATIONS) 02br
02br
00Not so good in this section. I am interested in possible transformations of 1,2,6 and 7. My answers: 02br
02br
001. wouldn't she let her son 02br
002. advised him to go 02br
006. him that he asked [this is wrong, right?] 02br
007. help laughing when we 02br
02br
00In 1, the problem is that they count w o u l d n' t = w o u l d n o t as two words, which gets the word count to 6 and in the task you are allowed to use 2-5. Any alternative transformations? Let's have a discussion. 02br
02br
00READING 02br
02br
00TEXT I 02br
02br
00Problem with #4. My (and my teacher's) answer: 4. A, some suggest 4. C. What do you think? 02br
02br
00TEXT II 02br
02br
00Problem with #3. My answer: 3. A, others suggest 3. D. What do you think? 02br
02br
00Well, I guess that's all. Apart form that, I lost 3 pts in the listening part of the exam and undoubtedly, a couple more in the writing task. 02br
02br
00I'd be glad if we could have a discussion about everything concerning this exam. Thanks again, I hope you join.051010id111id1

My English Exams

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions