Test 12

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY

Underline the correct variant:

1. They are questioned/being questioned by the police at the moment.

2. She is/has been promoted again.

3. It has been done/has to be done by next Friday.

4. It should be done/should have been done last week.

5. It is dealt/is being dealt with at the moment.

6. The tablets must take/must be taken with food.

7. I can't see it- it must be taken/have been taken.

8. Do you think the project will be finished/is finished by Friday?

9. Their house was bought/has been bought last week.

10. The bridge is still built/is still being built.

Choose the right variant:

11. It has been drawn to my attention that some staff are leaving early on Friday. This shall stop.

A) The speaker probably uses the passive as a way of not giving the name of the person who told him

B) The speaker uses the passive to sound clever and educated

12. It is supposed to be really good.

A) The speaker isn't certain

B) The speaker is certain

13. The Prime Minister is rumoured to be about to resign.

A) The speaker wants to associate themselves with the rumour

B) The speaker wants to put some distance between themselves and the rumour

14. It might get done.

A) GET is an informal passive construction

B) GET is a formal passive construction

15. The pills should be taken after meals.

A) The passive is used because it is not known who is going to take the pills

B) The passive is used as a way of making the instructions less like an order and more polite

16. My wallet was stolen.

A) The passive is used to focus on what is really important to the speaker; their wallet

B) The passive is used because the speaker does not wish to tell us who stole the wallet

17. 'Catch 22' was written by Joseph Heller.

A) The speaker is talking principally about Joseph Heller

B) The speaker is talking principally about 'Catch 22'

18. It is said to be the best restaurant in the area.

A) This is the speaker's opinion

B) This is not necessarily the speaker's opinion

19. The painting was sold for a fortune.

A) We are more interested in the buyer

B) We are more interested in the picture

20. The letters are posted at five o'clock every day.

A) It is important who posts the letters

B) The time they are posted is important

21. He had to pay a (fee/fare/fine/bill) for parking in a prohibited area.

22. Private school (fees/fares/fines/bills) are very expensive.

23. Most people leave a (bill/fare/tip/fine) in restaurants.

24. Bus (fees/fares/fines/bills) are going up.

25. You must pay your phone (fee/fare/fine/bill).

READING

Read the following text about loyalty card schemes and choose the best answer a, b, or c to questions 1 to 7:

If you ask supermarkets and department stores they will probably tell you that loyalty card programmes are designed to help them ‘reward valuable customers with better prices.’ This sounds fine, but is the phrase ‘valuable customers’ really an industry code meaning ‘shoppers who spend the most money’? Are the cards merely designed to identify and reward the wealthiest shoppers?

The argument is this: advertising and in-store promotion convinces shoppers that the cards are there to save them large amounts of money, but the stores see the cards as data collection devices designed to help them monitor who buys what. This information is then used strategically to raise prices and increase profits. Here’s how it works:

Each time you scan a card, every item you purchase is recorded into a computer file linked with data from your card application. Eventually, based on many shopping trips over a period of time, a picture begins to emerge of your shopping habits and household characteristics. This is then linked to broader ‘market segments’ based on age, race, income level, family size and neighbourhood. The real goal is to determine how profitable each market segment is to the store, and to treat customers in those segments accordingly.

Though we all have to eat, supermarkets have been scrambling to cater to the wealthiest shoppers ever since researchers discovered that 75% of a store’s profits come from the top 30% of its customers. Cards help the supermarket identify those big spenders and keep the stores well stocked with the products they like to buy. The result is that items preferred by ‘top’ customers begin appearing in greater numbers on the store shelves, while low-cost items get squeezed off the shelf.

The loyalty marketing experts who sell card programmes to the supermarkets encourage this phenomenon. In fact, they have even suggested that supermarkets use card data to identify and ‘discard’ low income customers altogether.

Card information is also used to set prices, with big spenders setting the standard for what everyone else must pay. An item that once sold for £1 may be raised to £1.49 if card data shows that the high profit customers will still buy it at that price. As new technology allows card programmes to grow more sophisticated, such customer segmentation will grow deeper. Those who want to escape from price manipulation should shop away from these stores until they get the message.

1. In which part of a newspaper would you find this article?

a) in the food section

b) in the business section

c) in the health section

2. Loyalty cards help stores to…

a) understand their customers better.

b) offer more discounted products.

c) spend less on advertising and promotional campaigns.

3. According to the text, loyalty card schemes benefit…

a) all customers.

b) mainly high-income customers.

c) mainly low-income customers.

4. The verb cater to (line 16) is closest in meaning to:

a) understand

b) attract

c) provide what is required

5. Loyalty marketing experts are encouraging supermarkets to…

a) stock more high-cost products.

b) value all customers.

c) introduce more special offers.

6. In the future, technology will enable stores to…

a) know even more about different market segments

b) be more efficient.

c) offer better value to customers.

7. The article recommends that shoppers should…

a) complain about loyalty card schemes to stores.

b) only spend money on low-cost items in stores.

c) boycott those stores that operate loyalty card schemes.

USE OF ENGLISH

Read the text and then write the correct form of the word in CAPITALS to complete the gaps. There is an example at the beginning:

KITCHEN HYGIENE

The next time you go to the supermarket don't forget to buy the (0)biggest bottle of kitchen cleaner you can to (1)_________ your work surfaces. Recent (2)_________ research in America has shown that the kitchen is often the most (3)_________ of all the rooms in the home. The (4)_________ of food, heat and dampness means the kitchen is (5)_________ a breeding ground for bacteria that can cause stomach upsets and vomiting. The study at the University of Arizona examined 15 homes over 30 weeks. Levels of (6)_________ were certainly not below average yet cutting boards and dishcloths were found to contain bacteria in far greater number than elsewhere in the home. (7)_________ say ignorance is the cause of the problem and point out that (8)_________ cleaning can lead to serious food poisoning. The (9)_________ ? Make sure you clean all work surfaces (10)_________ and keep an eye on that dishcloth!

BIG INFECT SCIENCE HYGIENE COMBINE POTENTIAL CLEAN RESEARCH EDEQUATE SOLVE DAY