Straightforward Upper Intermediate Progress Test 4

(34) _______ most people are willing to give money to charity organizations.
(35) I’d give some money, but _______ how it is.
(36) It’s _______ difficult to find enough time to do everything.
(37) It’s important that you _____ yourself ______ and try to stick to them.
(38) Please try to keep to _______, otherwise we’ll have problems later on.
(39) We _______ get by on what people donate.
(40) _______ working with people.

Listening

Part 1
[Track 13] Listen to five short recordings. Are these sentences true (T) or false (F)?


(1) Neither Jed nor Mark would make a confession.
(2) Raul Rodriguez donated a huge sum of money to his home town because families there can only
afford bread.
(3) Brad prefers a relaxing holiday to one with a lot of adventure.
(4) The real pirate stories are just as exaggerated as the films.
(5) The police will contact the young man if he gets a reward.
Part 2
[Track 14] Listen to the recording. Choose the correct answer.
(6) Set-jetting is …
a) when rich people fly around the world . b) when people visit places they saw in a film.
c) when people go somewhere to make a film.
(7) According to the text the Lord of the Rings films made New Zealand …
a) more popular. b) less popular. c) a lot of money.
(8) Phi-Phi island is in …
a) New Zealand. b) Greece. c) Thailand.
(9) There was a cartoon film made about …
a) Penelope Cruz. b) set-jetting. c) Madagascar.
(10) More people want to visit Britain to …
a) visit the locations in films. b) see the films. c) make films.

Reading

Part 1
Read the article below and answer the questions.
(1) What were some early maps made from?
(2) Who used the sky to help them draw maps?
(3) Apart from travel information, what did some early maps show?
(4) What information was often missing in old maps?
(5) What is special about McArthur’s map?
Throughout history people have used maps, but these maps have not always been drawn on paper. In fact, some of the earliest maps were made on pieces of stone or sometimes simply by drawing a map on the ground to show travellers the way to go. The oldest maps that we still have today date back 4,000 years or so. A map is basically a kind of picture of an area and is designed to help people find their way from one place to another. However, to do this, it is necessary to know where you are starting from. The ancient Greeks invented a geographical grid using the stars as their starting points. They drew lines going from North to South – Longitude and lines going East to West – Latitude. Using these lines, it was possible to work out where you were and look at where you wanted to go on the map.
The use of stars to help navigate has long been known and so it should not come as a surprise to learn that
map-making relied heavily on the stars to help determine location. The Greeks were so fascinated by the night sky that they made as many maps of the skies as they did of the land around them.

Of course, maps can show far more than simple geographical features. Ancient maps often included drawings of people and animals to show who or what lived in a particular location. Some maps have amazing pictures of mythical creatures, like dragons or people with two heads. Maps like these were used not only to show locations but also to give people some idea of what they might find there – and often warn people of dangers.

Many old maps (and even some today) have large blank areas. In fact, many of the maps from the 15^th and 16^th centuries show the coastlines of countries and continents in detail, but very little of the inland areas. Nowadays, with the use of satellite technology, we have comprehensive maps of even the most remote areas of the world.

Of course maps can now show who owns the land, give population, economic or political information, as well as including physical features such as mountains, lakes, rivers and roads. Many maps of the world have the UK and Europe in the centre of the map. This is partly because the line of zero degrees longitude goes through Greenwich in London. However, there are maps that show the USA or China at the centre of the map. And, there is a map designed by Stuart McArthur, an Australian, that not only has Australia in the centre but also has the South Pole at the top of the map and the North Pole at the bottom. Many people, when they first see this map, think that it is upside down and try to turn it round. Of course, it isn’t upside down at all – it is simply a different perspective of the world.