Part One: Expressions (Items 1-2)

Choose the best answer.
 

Towards the end of a business meeting (1-2)
Secretary: We need to book a meeting room for tomorrow. But there
aren’t many left. _____ (1) _____.
Boss: Please try your best to get us a room. You know we can’t
reschedule the meeting.
Secretary: ____ (2) _____. I’ll also make sure all the presentation slides
are ready on the computer.
Boss: Good. And don’t forget to organize the handouts for the meeting.
Secretary: Don’t worry. Ann and I will see to it.
Boss: Then that concludes our meeting. See you all tomorrow.

1)

2)

Part Two: Vocabulary (Items 3-4)

Item 3-4: Meaning in Context

Choose the best answer.

3)     I was bewildered to discover that one of our best employees had been dismissed.

4)      Automation, despite its benefits, can _____ the performance and talents of those who _____ it.

Part Three: Reading (Items 5-7)

Choose the best answer.

      The way we live in America is changing. We're moving away from the nuclear family model of the postwar era and rediscovering the old custom of several generations living under one roof. In the decades of prosperity that followed the Second World War, the single-family suburban home came to symbolize the American dream. Each nuclear family was supposed to be an island unto itself. In many towns and cities, zoning laws actually made multi-family living illegal. Similar laws also banned the use of a home for business. The family was limited to the sphere of consumption; production was supposed to take place in factories and offices far, far away from domestic happiness. Many of these outdated laws still exist, but it’s high time we scrapped them to reflect our changing habits. In an age of low wages, high housing costs and increased single parenthood, it makes sense for extended families to share houses - and to use them for commercial purposes, be that teleworking, or using the premises as a base for a start-up, or renting out a room on the Airbnb website. Allowing homes to meet flexible modern needs is one badly-needed piece of the policy mix that can revitalize America's middle class.

5)     According to the passage, which of the following partly contributes to a return to the old custom of several generations living together under one roof?

6)    In the decades following the Second World War, _____.

7)    In the last two sentences, the author implies that ___.

Part Four: Structure and Writing (Items 8-10)

Items 8-9

Choose the best answer.

8)    _________ the growth rings of the tiny crystalline structure in the inner ear of a fish reveal the age of the creature.

1. Fishermen have long known that

2. It is long known that fishermen see

3. Revealed by fishermen who have known that

4. As fishermen have known for a long time that

9)    Twelve footprints _________in northern Spain have thrown up the first compelling evidence that some land dinosaurs could swim, researchers reported.

Item 10

Choose the underlined part that is grammatically wrong.

10)    HIV/AIDS (1) is a (2) devastating disease (3) since it was (4) first (5) discovered in the early 1980s.