ENGLISH CHAMPION 2017 ROUND 1 – GRADE 8 (Test 2)

Look at the six sentences for this part.

You will hear a conversation between a boy, Carl, and a girl, Susanna, about a school concert.

Decide if each sentence is correct or incorrect.

If it is correct, choose the answer YES. If it is not correct, choose the answer NO. 

Susanna feels shy about playing her violin in public.

Carl and Susanna share the same opinion about practicing their instruments regularly.

Susanna’s parents refuse to allow her to give up violin lessons.

Carl’s aim is to have a career in music.

Susanna thinks she would enjoy working in another country.

Carl persuades Susanna to take part in the concert.

You overhear a student talking on the phone.

What does he say about life at college?

You will hear people talking in an extract. For questions choose the answer which fits best according to what you hear.

You hear two people talking about popular music.

The woman’s main point is that

What does the woman say about modern performers?

Read the text and answer the questions below.

Craigie Aitchison

The painter Craigie Aitchison was born in Scotland. He came to London intending to study law but went to art school instead. There he found the traditional drawing classes difficult but still kept on painting.

In his late twenties, he was given money by the Italian government to study art and became interested in early Italian artists, which shows in some of his work. He loved the greens and browns of the Italian fields and the clear light there and wanted to put this light into his paintings.

This led him to paint colors thinly one on top of another from light to dark, but he insists he's never sure what the results will be. He says, 'It's a secret - because I don't know myself. I don't start by painting yellow, knowing I'm going to put anything on top.' Like most talented people, Aitchison makes it sound easy. 'Anyone can do the colors - you can buy them. I simply notice what you put the colors next to.'

Unlike some artists, he never does drawings before he starts a painting, as he feels that if he did, he might get bored and not do the painting afterward. Instead, Aitchison changes his paintings many times before they are finished. This explains why his favorite models are people who don't ask to see their pictures while he's painting them. 'If I feel they're worried and want to look at the painting, I can't do it.'

Since moving to London years ago, he has not felt part of the Scottish painting scene. He says he is not interested in following any tradition, but just paints the way he can. However, his work still influences young British painters.

What does the writer do in the text?

What can readers learn about Aitchison from the text?

What does Aitchison say about his use of color?

Aitchison prefers models who don’t

What might a visitor at an exhibition say about Aitchison’s work?

You are going to read an article about an environmental campaigner. Six sentences have been removed from the article. Choose the sentence (A - G) which fits each gap (1 – 6). There is one extra sentence which you do not need to use.

A. I went home and checked this out. 

B. I try not to get affected emotionally if drivers respond in this way.

C. I also tell them that it saves money and avoids breaking the law.

D. I decided to have these conversations on a regular basis after that.

E. I find this fact always takes my victims by surprise.

F. It’s not the sort of mistake that you make twice.

G. I’ve been distributing them in this way ever since.

Would you turn off your engine, please?

I was walking around my neighborhood in New York one spring evening two years ago when I came across a stretch limousine parked outside a restaurant. The driver's clients were inside having dinner, and he had his engine running while he waited. It really bothered me. He was polluting the air we breathe as well as wasting huge amounts of fuel, so I knocked on the driver's window.

I explained to him that he didn't need to waste his boss's money or pollute our air. I addressed the issues politely and, after a ten-minute chat, he agreed to shut off" the engine. I felt empowered - I could make a difference in our environment.  15.1 So whenever I see a driver sitting with the car engine running, I go over and talk to him or her.

Six months later, I talked to a guy who turned out to be an undercover police officer. He told me he wouldn't turn off his engine because he was on a job, but asked me if I knew there was actually a law against engine idling, as it's called.  15.2 Sure enough, under New York City's traffic laws, you could be fined up to $2,000 for engine idling for more than three minutes.

 I had small business cards printed up that referred to the relevant law on one side and the penalties on the other, and started to hand them out to idlers. 15.3. It's surprising how many people are unaware that they could get a fine. That's why I start my encounters the same way every time.

I say: 'Excuse me for bothering you, but are you aware that it is against the law in New York City to idle your car for more than three minutes? 15.4 They want to know who I am, am I a cop? I tell them that I'm just a concerned citizen and want to make sure we improve our environment and address our oil addiction.

We usually have a discussion and I always try to conclude the encounter on a positive and polite note, saying how great it would be if they shut off their engine so we can all have a better environment. 15.5. Most are convinced by these arguments. Indeed, I'm successful seventy-eight percent of the time. Although, of course, there are people who are aggressive or who won't do it. My success rate with cops is only five percent.

I keep an Excel spreadsheet so that I have a precise record of each of my encounters. If I get an aggressive reaction, I list their comments and highlight them in red. 15.6 I don't give up, however, and try to approach them professionally. But my feelings do get hurt on occasion. Then I remind myself that because I make the first approach, I'm actually the aggressor in this situation. My victims are just sitting there thinking; 'Who is this guy?'

To date, I have had 2,500 encounters and, overall, I have made a difference. I'm in touch with the Department of Energy in Washington and my work is endorsed by the American Lung Association. And recently a New York traffic cop wrote the city's very first ticker for idling.

For these questions, read the text below and decide which answer best fits each gap. 

Taking photographs ruins the memory, research finds

Our obsession with recording every detail of our happiest moments could negatively 16.1makeaffectrespectbenefit our ability to remember them, according to new research.

Dr. Linda Henkel, from Fairfield University, Connecticut, described this as the ‘photo-taking impairment effect’. She said, ‘People often whip out their cameras almost mindlessly to capture a moment, to the point that they are missing what is happening 16.2quiterightmerelybarely in front of them. When people rely on technology to remember for them – 16.3assumingcountingsettlingswearing on the camera to record the event and thus not needing to attend to it fully themselves – it can have a negative 16.4impactresultfactorreflection on how well they remember their experiences.’

In Dr. Henkel’s experiment, a group of university students was led on a tour of a museum and asked to either photograph or try to remember objects on display. The next day each student’s memory was tested. The results showed that people were less 16.5negativefaithfulfactualaccurate in recognizing the objects they had photographed 16.6confrontedmeasuredcomparedmatched with those they had only looked at.

At the beginning of the summer, Cindy was 160 cm tall. At the end of the summer, she measured her height again and discovered that it had increased by 5%. Measured in cm, what was her height at the end of summer?

Which expression is equivalent to 

A train traveled at an average speed of 72 kilometers per hour for 2 hours and 48 kilometers per hour for 3 hours. What is the total number of kilometers that the train traveled?

Which of the following options is true about all metals?

A vein is responsible for:

The items in this part have four underlined words or phrases. You must identify the one underlined expression that must be changed for the sentence to be correct.
Dreams are commonly made up of either visual and verbal images.

Choose the underlined part that needs correction.

The Yale Daily News is oldest than any other college newspaper still in operation in the United States.

The items in this part have four underlined words or phrases. You must identify the one underlined expression that must be changed for the sentence to be correct.
Mary Rinehart was a pioneer in the field of journalist in the early twentieth century.

The items in this part have four underlined words or phrases. You must identify the one underlined expression that must be changed for the sentence to be correct.
The Dave Brubeck Quartet, one of the most popular jazz bands of the 1950’s, had a particularly loyal following on campuses college.

The items in this part have four underlined words or phrases. You must identify the one underlined expression that must be changed for the sentence to be correct.
In the architecture, a capital is the top portion of a column.

Choose the sentence which is closest in meaning to the one in bold.
It is possible that our boss' indecision lost us the contract to rebuild the school.

Choose the sentence which is closest in meaning to the one in bold.
The sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti set up his workshop in his hometown of Florence, which was a republic at the time.

Choose the sentence which is closest in meaning to the one in bold.
Buying new clothes is something that I almost never make the effort to do.

Choose the sentence which is closest in meaning to the one in bold.
We are currently out of stock of these blouses in your size.

Choose the sentence which is closest in meaning to the one in bold.
There is nobody in this office that will offer a different opinion to the one I gave you.