assuage
envisage
pillage
ravage
In some countries, the confrontation between police and strikers on _____ has become a feature of life in the eighties.
Maria was just walking along the road when someone on a motorbike _____ her handbag.
_____ Alan for hours but he just doesn’t answer his mobile. I hope nothing’s wrong.
Laura is about _____ me.
When they were still _____, the Beatles used to play in a club called the Cavern, in Liverpool.
Fill each of the following blanks with ONE suitable word.
When rainforests are cleared and , millions of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere affecting climatic conditions and threatening us all severe flooding, drought, and crop failure. The rainforests at least half of the earth's species. At the current rate of devastation an 50 species worldwide become extinct every day.
One in four purchases from our chemists is derived from the rainforests. Scientists are caught in a race against time to find rainforest treatments for cancer, AIDS, and heart disease before they are forever. Tribal people in the rainforests have been shot, poisoned, and infected with diseases to which they have no resistance - to make room for logging, mining, and dams. If this destruction continues, only nine the 33 countries currently exporting rainforest timber will have any by the end of the decade.
Almost everyone will have part of the rainforests in their home, as do-it-yourself stores still supply and the construction industry still uses tropical hardwood for doors, window , and even toilet seats. Please help us the tropical rainforests now, before it is too late.
Read the text and choose the best answer to fill in the blanks.
THE VACUUM CLEANER
Until about 250 years ago, households did not take dirt as seriously as they do now - it was a fact of life, and that was that. Cleaning often consisted of an annual called 'spring cleaning' when the furniture was moved aside, and all the linen products in the house were cleaned. Carpets and rugs were taken outside, hung on ropes, and had the dust out of them - an exhausting and messy process.
The industrial revolution brought about a major change - as new products became available to make homes cleaner, a corresponding interest in 'domestic hygiene' appeared in households. This in turn led to the of further products, one of which was the vacuum cleaner.
has it that when one of the first vacuum cleaners was demonstrated, a kindly scientist took the proud inventor , and offered a bit of advice that was to become crucial to the future evolution of the product - 'make it suck, not blow'.
The first vacuum cleaners appeared in the 1860s in the United States. They were operated by hand pumps and were almost as as spring cleaning. It was only when electric motors had become sufficiently to become portable that vacuum cleaners became common household items. Most of today's major - including Electrolux and Hoover - were born in the 1920s.
The household dirt that vacuum cleaners suck up is mostly dead skin cells - humans millions of cells every day. A much smaller proportion comes from dust and soil carried into the house from .
Fill in the blank with an appropriate form of one of the words given to make a meaningful passage.
FLAMENCO DANCE
The essence of flamenco is a song, often accompanied by the guitar and improvised dance. Music and dance can be placed into specific groups. These categories are usually located across a continuum with subjects dealing with the profound to those that are light-hearted. (TYPE) the themes of death, anguish, and despair, in contrast to love, gaiety, and the countryside are (DRAMA) . In flamenco dance, the men's steps are intricate, with toe and heel-clicking. Footwork in women's dancing is of less importance, with the (GRACE) use of hands and body taking (PRECEDE) . In the dance, the arm, hand, and foot movements closely resemble those of classical Hindu dance. Essential to traditional flamenco is the performer's interpretation of the dance (HINDER) by the emotion of the music. Performances are often accompanied by rapid hand-clapping, finger-snapping, and (COURAGE) shouts. The dancers themselves frequently employ finger-snapping in complex rhythms including the use of castanets. This dance form was (PROFESSION) in the 19th century when Romany people first began to perform in cafes. In this environment, (DEPART) from the traditional form occurred. Unfortunately, the pressures of the (COMMERCE) stage meant that rehearsed routines replaced the (SPONTANEOUS) of the original flamenco performances.
Read the text below and look carefully at each sentence. Find errors at each sentence and correct them (there may be more than one error in each sentence).
If there is no mistake, write "x" in both blanks.
(1) First comes the PC, then the internet and e-mail; now the e-book is upon us, a hand-held device similarly in size and appearance to a videocassette. (2) The user simply rings up the website on their PC, selects the desired books, downloads them onto their e-book machine, and sits down to read them. (3) In turn a page, the user simply taps the screen. (4) E-book technology is evolving rapidly, and with some of the latest handholds you will even get internet access. (5) But why would one want an e-book machine with preference to a book? (6) Well, one selling point companies emphasized, when these devices hit the market a few years ago, which is the space they save when going on holiday. (7) E-books enlighten the load, literally. (8) Ten large novels can be put onto a device that weighs less than the average paperback. (9) One can understand why commercial interests seem to want us to change. (10) After all, the whole production process at first plan by author until delivery to the printer has been doing electronically for a while now, so why not save a few million trees and cut out the hard copy?
Mistake(s) in sentence (1):
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Mistake(s) in sentence (2):
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Mistake(s) in sentence (3):
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Mistake(s) in sentence (4):
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Mistake(s) in sentence (5):
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Mistake(s) in sentence (7):
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Read the following passage and choose which of the headings from A - I match the blanks. There are two extra headings, which do not match any of the paragraphs.
A. A central figure
B. A policy for the times
C. Seep but not heard
D. A fairer system
E. Playing the right part
F. Time well spent
G. A strong sense of involvement
H. The deciding factor
I. All-round improvement
At your service
Top chef and restaurant owner Giancarlo Curtis talks about what he looks for, apart from good food, when he eats out.
1.
Recently I went into a restaurant near my home where I have eaten several times over the years. It used to have an old-fashioned traditional style, but it has just re-opened after being completely renovated. The new surroundings seem to have given a lift to everything, from the food cooked by a new chef from Brittany in France, to the atmosphere and the quality of the service.
2.
Many hours of behind-the-scenes work must have gone into getting the service so good. The staff were very pleasant and the speed with which they reacted to customers' needs was excellent. When someone sneezed, a box of tissues appeared. I have never seen that before in a restaurant. The preparation has certainly paid off.
3.
Twenty years ago when people went out to testae ants, they probably never set eyes on the chef - probably didn't even know his name. But the person they did know was the head waiter. He was the important one, the person who could get you the best table, who could impress your friends by recognising you when you arrived.
4.
Things have changed, but I think what is going to happen with so many good new restaurants opening these days is that the waiters are going to become very important again. The level of service is what is going to distinguish one restaurant from another.
But we are talking about modem, unstuffy service, which is not four waiters hovering around your table making you nervous, but a relaxed presence, giving you the feeling there is someone there and providing help and advice when you need it. There is a fine distinction between a server and a servant, and this is what the best waiter has learnt to appreciate.
5.
Although they have to be commercial, the most popular restaurants aim to provide the kind of reception, comfort and consideration you would give to someone coming for a dinner party at your home. Service is not about the correctness of knives and forks and glasses - people really don't care about those things any more - nowadays it is about putting people at their ease.
6.
What's more, waiting staff need to have a stake in the success of the enterprise. I realised that when I opened my own restaurant. The staff, chefs and waiters did all the decorating and the flowers themselves and it worked well because the right atmosphere had been created by people who cared. . .
7.
Above all, the waiting staff should be consistent. which is why I have always preferred the custom of putting an optional service charge on the bill, rather than relying on discretionary tips so that all the stall feel valued. I don't like the kind of situation where there is a competition going on, with one-star waiter trying to outshine the rest. That affects the quality of the service as a whole.
Read the passage then choose the best answer to each question.
An eye for detail
Artist Susan Shepherd is best known for her flower paintings, and the large garden that surrounds her house is the source of many of her subjects. It is full of her favorite flowers, most especially varieties of tulips and poppies. Some of the plants are unruly and seed themselves all over the garden. There is a harmony of color, shape and structure in the two long flower borders that line the paved path which crosses the garden from east to west. Much of this is due to the previous owners, who were keen gardeners, and who left plants that appealed to Susan. She also inherited the gardener, Danny. 'In fact, it was really his garden,' she says. 'We got on very well. At first, he would say, "Oh, it's not worth it." to some of the things I wanted to put in, but when I said I wanted to paint them, he recognized what I had in mind.'
Susan prefers to focus on detailed studies of individual plants rather than on the garden as a whole, though she will occasionally paint a group of plants where they are. More usually, she picks them and then takes them up to her studio. 'I don't set the whole thing up at once,' she says. 'I take one flower out and paint it, which might take a few days, and then I bring in another one and build up the painting that way. Sometimes it takes a couple of years to finish.'
Her busiest time of year is spring and early summer, when the tulips are out, followed by the poppies. 'They all come out together, and you're so busy.' she says. But the gradual decaying process is also part of the fascination for her. With tulips, for example, 'you bring them in and put them in water, then leave them for perhaps a day and they each form themselves into different shapes. They open out and are fantastic. When you first put them in a vase, you think they are boring, but they change all the time with twists and turns.'
Susan has always been interested in plants: 'I did botany at school and used to collect wildflowers from all around the countryside,' she says. 'I wasn't particularly interested in gardening then, in fact, I didn't like garden flowers, I thought they were artificial - to me, the only real ones were wild.' Nowadays. the garden owes much to plants that: originated in far-off lands, though they seem as much at home in her garden as they did in China or the Himalayas. She has a come-what-may attitude to the garden, rather like an affectionate aunt who is quite happy for children to run about undisciplined as long as they don't do any serious damage.
With two forthcoming exhibitions to prepare for and a ready supply of subject-material at her back door, finding time to work in the garden has been difficult recently. She now employs an extra gardener but, despite the need to pain: she knows that to maintain her connection with her subject matter, 'you have to get your hands dirty'.
In the first paragraph, the writer describes Susan's garden as ______
What does 'this' in line 12 refer to?
What does Susan say about Danny?
What is Susan's approach to painting?
Susan thinks that tulips _______.
How does the writer describe Susan's attitude to her garden?
What point is Susan making in the final paragraph?
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
Someone must have seen the thieves escaping with the jewels. (MAKING)
=> The thieves ..... with the jewels.
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
In order to discover how the disagreement had started, Maw talked to each child separately. (ONE)
=> Mary talked to the children .......... attempt to discover how the disagreement had started.
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
Minnie meant well so you mustn't be offended by her comments. (AMISS)
=> Please ..... because she meant well.
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
There are so many different styles of ethnic cuisine to choose from these days. (SPOILT)
=> These days, we ..... when it comes to ethnic cuisine.
Complete the second sentence using the word given so that it has the same meaning to the first.
Ryan agonized over whether he should tell his host that the chicken was underdone. (QUANDARY)
=> Discovering that his chicken was underdone ..... should he tell his host or not.
Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning to the first.
I don't remember much about my mother, but I do remember she was very kind and loving towards us.
=> What little .....
Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning to the first.
I have frequently made stupid mistakes like that.
=> Many's .....
Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning to the first.
It was not until five years had elapsed that the Whole truth about the murder came out.
=> Not for another .....
Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning to the first.
The university didn't prepare to consider his application due to his lack of right qualifications.
=> Had ............
Complete the second sentence so that it has the same meaning to the first.
Experts think that all dogs evolved from wolves.
=> All dogs ..........