Saratov State University

Galina Nikitina

TEST YOUR ENGLISH SKILLS:

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTS

Study guide for the 1st – 3rd-year students

of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Language Teaching Methods doing the course “Practice of Oral and Written Speech”

Saratov

Saratov University Press

2019

Саратовский национальный исследовательский государственный

университет имени Н. Г. Чернышевского

Г. А. Никитина

Т Е С Т Ы ПО АНГЛИЙСКОМУ ЯЗЫКУ

Учебно-методическое пособие для студентов 1–3-го курсов

факультета иностранных языков и лингводидактики по дисциплине «Практика устной и письменной речи»

Саратов Издательство Саратовского университета

2019

Посвящается 110-летнему юбилею Саратовского национального исследовательского

государственного университета имени Н. Г. Чернышевского

FOREWORD

This manual may help you to get ready for the kind of tests aimed at different aspects of the English language usage. How well can you use English grammar and vocabulary? Check your knowledge and skills with the help of the following tasks:

1)use the correct tense-forms of the verbs in brackets;

2)put in articles where necessary;

3)put in prepositions where necessary;

4)put the sentences in order to make up the text;

5)use the word given in the box at the end of the line to form a word that fits the gap with the same number;

6)translate the Russian words into English;

7)fill in the gaps in the text choosing the best variant given after the text;

8)spot one error in each sentence and write down the correct sentence;

9)complete the text choosing the word for each gap from the box.

Doing the tasks suggested you will come across a number of different

activities. Consider the following descriptions of activity-techniques.

Activity-Technique Descriptions

Gap-filling

The tasks under this title are supposed to be done in the following way: think which word you need to insert either into the blank space next to the text or the blank chart provided under the text. There may be different variants: either you have no possible answers suggested or there are all the words you will need mixed in one box. In the second case choose one word to fill in the gap. Or else there are Russian equivalents of the words that you need to translate in order to complete the sentence.

Multiple choice

To complete the tasks under this title you need to choose one right variant from the answers suggested near the gap, in the column beside or under the sentence.

Cloze test

This kind of a test consists of a portion of the text with certain words removed. You are asked to replace the missing words. These tests require the ability to understand the context and vocabulary in order to identify the correct

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TEST 1

1. USE THE CORRECT TENSE-FORMS OF THE VERBS IN BRACKETS

Technique-type: form-building

There 1) (to stand) a doll’s house, a dark, oily green, picked out with bright yellow. Its two solid little chimneys glued on the roof, 2) (to paint) red and white, and the door 3) (to gleam) with yellow varnish, was like a little slab of toffee. Four windows 4) (to divide) into panes by a broad streak of green.

The Burnell children 5) (to see) never anything like it in their lives. All the rooms 6) (to paper). There 7) (to be) pictures on the walls, 8) (to paint) on the paper. Red carpet 9) (to cover) all the floors except the kitchen. What Kezia 10) (to like) more than anything 11) (to be) the lamp. It 12) (to stand) in the middle of the dining-room table, an exquisite little lamp with a white globe. It 13) (to fill) even all ready for 14) (to light). Though, of course, you

15) (not can) 16) (to light) it.

But perfect, perfect little house! Who 17) (can) possibly 18) (to mind) the smell of it. It 19) (to be) of the joy, part of the newness. They burned

2. PUT IN ARTICLES WHERE NECESSARY

Technique-type: multiple choice

We have 1) a / the / – Geography twice 2) a / the / – week, on 3) a / the / – Wednesdays and ______ Fridays, and it’s not really a subject I look forward to. I’m fine on the unimportant details that you can just remember – 4) a / the / – capital cities of 5) a / the / – countries, things like that. It’s all the important things like understanding why 6) a / the / – people

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live here and not there that I can’t do, and that seems to be most of it. All that seems too complicated and my brain just gives up!

______ Biology is very interesting, although I’m not 7) a / the / – best in the class. I don’t understand people who prefer ____ Physics or _____

Chemistry because those subjects don’t seem connected to real life. I love 8) a / the / – gardening and you can actually apply what you learn in the classroom to the garden. It makes 9) a / the / – big difference when you know why you have to do 10) a / the / – certain things with your plants.

3. PUT IN PREPOSITIONS WHERE NECESSARY

Technique-type: multiple choice

5)There are a lot of cases like that. Let’s take the last car accident, ________

instance.

8)– I wanted to find my teddy-bear and... -... And turned your room

________ ?

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5.USE THE WORD GIVEN IN THE BOX AT THE END OF THE LINE TO FORM A WORD THAT FITS THE GAP

WITH THE SAME NUMBER

before being overcome by the details. An additional way to use this story is to help workshop 6) ______________ think about the balance they must achieve between life and work, and to help them focus first on what is most 7) ____________ in their lives.

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6. TRANSLATE THE RUSSIAN WORDS INTO ENGLISH

Technique-type: gap-filling

1) Исследователи from the 2) Королев-

ского Free Hospital in London think that drugs might stop the virus 3) ВИЧ/СПИД IVIDS getting established, even if a non-infected person is exposed. They are 4) призывают for studies to test their theory. 5) Беременные women with 3) ВИЧ are often given a short course of anti- 3) ВИЧ drugs before the birth of the baby to minimise the chance of the virus being passed from mother to child. However, the idea of giving similar drugs to 6) взрослым, even in low doses,

has never been fully 7) исследована. New 3) ВИЧ cases are increasing in the UK 8) несмотря на continued 9) общественную health campaigns, and the extension of life offered by anti-3) ВИЧ drugs means that many more people are likely to embark on relationships with people who do not have the virus. Dr Mike Youle of the 2) Королевского Free Hospital told the BBC: “I would feel that if we had agents that could treat 3) ВИЧ, they would also be likely to 10) предотвратить 3) ВИЧ and this should be evaluated. There are animal studies that show you can 10) предотвратить infection with these drugs.”

(BBC. Learning English. News about Britain, November, 2003)

7.FILL IN THE GAPS IN THE TEXT CHOOSING THE BEST VARIANT GIVEN AFTER THE TEXT

Technique-type: cloze-test

Thomas Edison started 1) __________________________ on the railway 2) __________________ he was twelve, 3) __________________ newspapers and snacks. There were long periods 4) ________________________ nothing for him to do. So he built a little laboratory in the luggage 5) ____________

where he could carry 6) _______________________ experiments when he was not selling things to passengers. Another way that he occupied himself was by reading. He joined 7) __________________________ library and read every single book in it.

One day, when he was waiting at a station he noticed a small boy who was playing by the track, 8) __________________ that a train was approaching. Edison ran out and grabbed the child just 9) ______________________ time. The child’s father was so grateful that he offered to teach Edison to be a telegraph operator. Edison 10) ____________________ the offer and soon he was having regular lessons. After a year, he was good enough to get a job in the telegraph office. He continued to read and experiment, wherever had time.

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At 11) __________________ twenty one he left telegraph office to devote all his time to being an inventor. He was going on to invent the electric light bulb, the phonograph and the movie camera.

8.SPOT ONE EXTRA WORD IN EACH LINE AND WRITE IT DOWN IN THE BOX NEXT TO THE LINE. SOME OF THE LINES

MAY BE CORRECT

Technique-type: error-correction – extra word

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