progress test

A

Unit

Unit 1

progress test

A

Reading

1

Read the text.

A SUPRISE AT SEA

Picture this: You’re in a boat, a small one, easily 4,000
miles away from home. You’re being tossed from one
wave to another in appalling conditions. Your mast
has been damaged in a fierce storm and you haven’t
eaten for two days whilst trying to fix your craft and
remain afloat. [

1

] You wait, hoping beyond

hope that someone has heard you and can reach you
before conditions worsen still further.
You’re lucky. The message gets relayed to a cruise
liner that is carrying thousands of passengers on the
holiday of a lifetime and just happens to be in your
vicinity. [

2

] You are very grateful. You are

taken on board where you’re given food and medical
assistance and start to feel human again. You travel
with the liner safely to land. Your small boat has
unfortunately had to be abandoned in the ocean but
you are safe thanks to the cruise liner.
So far, a straightforward sea rescue. [

3

]

It’s certainly not unheard of for large vessels to come
to the aid of smaller ones, particularly in
the big oceans where you can drift for days without
seeing another boat. [

4

] The yachtsman

whose boat got into trouble was John Fielder, a thirty-
two-year-old man from a tiny village on the south
coast of England called Warsash. Last year John was
sailing a trimaran called (appropriately) ‘Dangerous
When Wet’ from the Caribbean island Antigua to
Rhode Island, north of New York, when he got into
trouble. [

5

] She was the latest addition

to the fleet of the US based Princess Cruises and
it was captained by Captain Clark. Captain Clark
and John Fielder had never met before, which is not
surprising. What is surprising is that it turned out
the two men live round the corner from each other in
that tiny village of Warsash on the south coast! In all
probability they buy their newspapers from the same
shop but didn’t meet until their paths crossed 4,000
miles away in the middle of the ocean!
An amazing coincidence! If you can beat that write
in to ‘What a coincidence!’, People Today Magazines,
Bristol. We’re waiting for your story.

2

Complete the text with sentences A–F. There is
one sentence you do not need.

A Less than two hours later the enormous boat

is alongside you, having altered course to
come to your rescue.

B This happens from time to time when small

boats run into difficulties in heavy weather.

C But there is a twist to this tale.
D He was stunned by the coincidence.
E The cruise liner that came to his assistance

was the Crown Princess.

F Finally you admit defeat and put out an SOS call.

Mark

/10

Vocabulary

3

Complete the sentences with the words in the box.

argumentative grumpy tolerant naive
reserved flexible stubborn hot-headed
courteous level-headed

1 I was very

when I went to

university but I’m much more experienced
now.

2 The staff at the airport were all very

to us. It was a pleasant

surprise.

3 My cousin is quite

and

doesn’t say much.

4 In today’s society people need to be

and listen to others’ points

of view.

5 My dad was very

when he

was young and got into a lot of trouble.

6 Don’t be so

! You can

always find something to smile about.

7 My sister is so

you’ll never

persuade her to apologise to him.

8 You’re being very

today!

You’ve disagreed with everything I’ve said!

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Unit 1

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Unit

Unit 1

7 Katy and I

(know)

each other since we were at primary school
together.

8 What

(you do) to your

hair? It looks great!

Mark

/8

6

Rewrite the sentences beginning with the words
in bold.

1 We not only went out for a meal but we went

dancing too.

2 I had never before seen such a beautiful sunset.

3 There has rarely been such a high wind.

4 They had no sooner started the exercise than

the lesson bell rang.

Mark

/4

Listening

7

≤

4.01

Listen to the people talking about

being lucky. Complete the sentences with the
correct speakers A–E.

1 Speaker

didn’t expect to achieve what

he/she did so quickly.

2 Speaker

doesn’t plan ahead.

3 Speaker

was successful because he/she

was relaxed.

4 Speaker

saved some money.

5 Speaker

had a surprising exam result.

Mark

/10

9 We’re lucky to have Jill as an employee. She’s

and can change her hours

if we need her to.

10 I don’t think winning a lot of money will

change Sam. He’s very

.

Mark

/10

Grammar

4

Choose the correct answers.

1 Jake phoned me just after he was leaving /

had left the party.

2 Did you see Jan at the concert? She wore /

was wearing a red coat.

3 Peter wouldn’t lend me his dictionary because

he

didn’t finish / hadn’t finished his

homework yet.

4 I saw your sister in town yesterday. She

talked / was talking to a couple of friends.

5 While I was walking to the shops, it suddenly

started / was starting to get very windy.

6 They had waited / had been waiting for half

an hour by the time David arrived.

7 When I got to the classroom, the teacher already

started / had already started the lesson.

8 When the exam results came through we all

were celebrating / celebrated!

Mark

/8

5

Complete the sentences with the present perfect
simple or continuous form of the verbs in brackets.

1 Where

(you stay)

for the last few days?

2 I

(have) this cold

since I went swimming last Friday.

3 How often

(you be)

to the USA?

4 I

(often wonder) if

learning another language would be difficult.

5 How long

(you

go out) with Freddy?

6 What

(you eat)?

There are red marks on your shirt.

B

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3

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Unit

Writing

8

Imagine you witness a large fire and see fire-
fighters save a young child from the building.
Write the story of the rescue for a magazine. Use
the writing guide to help you.
Paragraph 1:

Say what you were doing when the

fire started.

Paragraph 2:

Say what happened and describe

the scene.

Paragraph 3:

Describe how the fire-fighters

saved the child.

Paragraph 4:

Comment on the bravery of the fire-

fighters and what happened to the other people
involved.

Mark

/10

Total

/60

Unit 1

B